Of course, Xu Mingzhen was also very aware of the situation at hand.

The palace coup launched by Lu Qingxia in mid-July failed to cause any waves in Jinling City. Xu Mingzhen was also heartbroken and directly ordered the execution of the Bianjing-appointed generals and servants who had been detained by Susong and other states in the previous period in Guoyang. More than a hundred people presented themselves to Weizhou, respected Zhu Rang as emperor, and was granted the title of Huainan County Prince. Sima Tan then killed the envoys sent by Emperor Liang Zhu Yu to Xuzhou to lobby, respected Zhu Rang as emperor, and was granted the title of Huaiyang County. king.

This also means that there is no room for relaxation between the Tangyi Army and the Shouzhou Army except for a battle.

On both sides of the Jiaoshan Gorge, in addition to the main force of 50,000 troops assisting Bian, there is also a forward camp on the north bank with a scout cavalry of more than a thousand people led by Shen Peng and Zhao Ci. They will also coordinate with the troops supporting Bian to march north to join the battle.

The cavalry led by Shen Peng and Zhao Ci seems a little insignificant, with only a thousand people, but it will give the aiding army to the Bian Army to carry out the Northern Expedition in the legal name of the Liang-Chu Allied Forces.

At the same time, this scout cavalry is mainly composed of generals recruited from Boqiao, Chen, Song and other places. They are familiar with the terrain between Yingwu and will be responsible for liaising with local areas and conducting guerrilla operations.

Although Xu Mingzhen had replaced the officials and generals in the four prefectures and counties of Qiaobo and Songsu before the end of June, in such a short period of time, he could only barely control the defense of the main cities on both sides of the Guishui River in the nineteen counties of the four prefectures.

Not to mention that Xu Mingzhen was not yet able to extend his tentacles to every corner of the wider countryside. Even the officials, civilians and soldiers within the cities and towns of the four prefectures and nineteen counties may not completely submit to the rule of Yong Shouzhou Army.

This also destined Xu Mingzhen's rule on both sides of the Wushui River to be superficial.

If Han Qian only lets Tian Cheng, Wen Bo, Lin Haizheng and others lead the Tangyi Army, that is, the Chu Army in the eyes of Liang Guo's subjects, to the north, it will be difficult to protect the local forces on both sides of the Whirlpool River and the refugee forces who have been displaced by floods. It became a huge obstacle to resist the northward advance of the reinforcement army in Bian.

Based on this, Han Qian wrote a special letter to Liang Emperor Zhu Yu. In addition to asking Liang Emperor Zhu Yu to formally issue an order inviting the Tangyi Army to the Northern Expedition, he also asked him to send a scout troop to assist the main force of the Bian Army in the battle.

The main purpose is to hope that the Liang Army scouts led by Shen Peng and Zhao Ci can contact local forces and refugee forces, win them over, and become a cutting and weakening force for the Shouzhou Army on the west bank of Guishui, instead of them going north. of obstacles.

Xu Mingzhen was also very aware of his own disadvantages, so it was impossible to disperse more than 70,000 troops and horses in the vast area north of the Huaihe River to give the main force of the reinforcements to Bian an opportunity to divide and attack.

Seeing that Tangyi was gathering more and more soldiers and horses in Jiaoshan Gorge, in August, Xu Mingzhen decisively abandoned the walled city west of Wushui and near the Huaihe River, and moved all the garrison troops and horses to the northeast toward the coast of Wushui.

When Wang Chan'er's edict from the Queen Mother reached Jiaoshan Gorge, the Shouzhou Army, with nearly 200,000 soldiers and civilians, retreated to Suzhou east of Guoshui, relying on Sima's Xu Si Army. Its forward force of 10,000 elite troops retreated to Qiaozhou to rule. Within the city of Woyang, abandon all the cities south and west of Woyang.

However, on the northwest side of Woyang City, there are still 40,000 elite Shouzhou troops guarding Dancheng, Luyi, Dakang, Wuting, Xinji, Bozhou and other cities on the west bank of the middle reaches of the Woyang River.

The three cities of Luyi, Taikang and Bozhou, like Woyang City, are all built on the Woshui River.

The Tangyi Navy cannot enter the upper reaches of the Whirlpool River to fight. The Shouzhou Army defends these three cities. They can support each other through the Zuolou Fleet Navy warships that retain a certain strength, and they can also control the east bank of the Whirlpool River with Shouzhou. The hinterland of Suzhou and Songzhou are connected into an organic whole.

The three strongholds of Dancheng, Xinji, and Wuting are located to the west of Wushui. They can be said to be the protruding parts of the Shouzhou Army deviating from Wushui. However, the distances from Wushui range from thirty to fifty miles on average, and the shortest distance between them is

Only more than twenty miles.

This also means that it is difficult for the aiding Bian army to simply separate any city for siege.

Among the cities in Woxi, Wuting and Taikang are less than fifty miles away from Chenbian Post Road. The cavalry troops can attack Chenbian Post Road in half a day starting from Wuting and Taikang.

A moving train of baggage and people.

This means that the reinforcements to Bian can neither besiege any city alone, but once they want to bypass the cities on the west bank of the Whirlpool River and go directly north to meet up with the Bianjing defenders, they will be back to the retreat they were originally worried about.

You are in a predicament where you will be intercepted by multiple enemy forces at any time.

The aiding Bian army fought from south to north. The Shouzhou army might not dare to form formation directly on the west bank of the Wushui River and fight in the field with the elite troops of Tangyi who had their backs to the Huaihe River. However, the aiding Bian army bypassed Wuting and headed north from Taikang to meet the Huaihe River.

To open a distance of three to four hundred miles, at this time the enemy only needs a single cavalry to cut off, destroy the Chen-Bian Post Road, and cut off the continuous supply of grain and grass transported north from Shouzhou, Haozhou, etc. At this time, if Xu Mingzhen

They were too timid to pull out the main force of the Shouzhou Army and block the retreat of the aiding Bian Army from the rear, so they were not enough to be called Tangyi's formidable enemy.

By then, not only is the main force of the Shouzhou Army likely to be dispatched in large numbers, I am afraid that even the Xu Si Army is likely to cross the Si River, Wushui River, and enter the west bank of the Wushui River to participate in the interception of the aiding Bian Army.

The Military Intelligence Staff Department put forward many operational scenarios and plans, and after repeated studies and discussions, they could only stick to the point where the old Chenzhou tributary was destroyed by war at the end of the previous dynasty and is now included in the old governance of Dancheng in Danxian County within the boundaries of Chenzhou Prefecture's Wanqiu County.

Fight a tough battle with the Shouzhou Army and fight a stupid battle.

It is impossible to siege Dancheng from all directions. The current combat plan is that Wen Bo will lead a partial division to be deployed on the east wing to intercept enemy troops coming from Guoyang or other east coasts of Guoshui. The main forces are in Tiancheng and Lin Haizheng.

The leaders slowly approached Dancheng from south to north.

Even if they could not draw the enemy troops out of the city to fight in the field, they concentrated their efforts on storming the south city of Dan City and drove the defenders out of Dan City.

As long as Dancheng is captured, the reinforcements to Bian can gain a certain depth of defense on the east wing of Chen-Bian Post Road. They don't have to worry about walking along the Chen-Bian Post Road, which is more than two hundred miles long, and the troops and horses of Chen-Bian Post Road will be raided and cut off by enemy cavalry at any time.

.

The so-called "a good fighter has no illustrious name", and the so-called "a good fighter has no miraculous victory, no reputation for wisdom, and no heroic deeds" are all referring to the situation at hand.

Both sides are mature and prudent generals, and their strength is equal. It is impossible for any major or fatal flaws to be exposed. The battle process is destined to be unremarkable, with no twists and turns as imagined.

And even with Tangyi's rise to this day, it is impossible to bet on a battle that will determine the overall situation of the world on a clever plot or a wrong move.

On the third day after Wang Chan'er's hand-written edict was transmitted from Xiangcheng to the camp on the south bank of Jiaoshan Gorge, Jinling's edict to aid Bian in attacking Hu came belatedly.

Although Han Qian only officially signed the summer troop dispatching order on the day he received the Jinling edict, the third brigade Jianrui led by Xue Chuan, Su Lie, and He Liufeng had already crossed the Huaihe River and advanced 70 to 80 miles north in three directions.

Han Qian did not personally lead the troops northward, but handed over the command of the reinforcements to Bian to Tian Cheng, Wen Bo, Lin Haizheng, Xi Faer and others led the main force northward. He symbolically crossed the Huaihe River and entered Xiacai County.

Supervise the battle at the camp on the north bank of Jiaoshan Gorge.

Han Qian also temporarily set up the Zhizhiya tent in the north bank camp. In addition to Yang Qin, Tan Xiuqun served as the general manager and deputy general manager of the north and south camps of Jiaoshanxia. They were jointly responsible for the defense of the Jiaoshanxia camp and the upstream and downstream Huaihe River, as well as the defense of Xiacai.

In addition to the construction of the new city, Feng Liao, Guo Rong, Xi Xunqiao, who took over as the governor of Haozhou after Lin Haizheng, Wen Muqiao, who served as counselor of the Zhizhi Envoy Office, Guo Que, Feng Yi and others also accompanied Han Qian in the construction of the new city.

The camp on the north bank of the gorge supervised the battle.

More than ten miles north of the camp on the north bank, a brand new city is under construction.

In order for the Tangyi Army to withstand the offensive launched by Weizhou rebels and Mongol cavalry in the future through the Pingchuan area between the Ying and Wu rivers, it is extremely necessary to build a military fortress - Ying - on the north bank of the Huaihe River east of the Yingshui.

The floods on both sides of the river also limited the possibility of enemy troops moving southward from the western Yingzhou and Caizhou areas west of Yingshui. Emperor Zhu Yu of the Liang Dynasty officially located the north bank of the Huaihe River, east of the mouth of the Yingshui River, and west of the mouth of the Woishui River.

The Xiacai area was allocated to Tangyi.

If this is not the case, Tangyi will only build defenses along the south bank of the Huaihe River in the future. In the cold winter, when the Huaihe River freezes, it will be extremely difficult to prevent small groups of enemy cavalry from scattering southward to harass. By then, there will be a large area along the south bank of the Huaihe River where farming production safety will be difficult.

be protected.

No matter what the cost, building the breakthrough part of the defense line on the north bank of the Huaihe River will effectively curb the enemy's cavalry attacks.

The Yu River passes through the Ying River and flows into the sea. The areas on the west bank of the Ying River in Xuzhou, Chenzhou and Yingzhou were flooded on a large scale. Almost two to three million fields and three to four hundred thousand houses were inundated by floods.

Tangyi and Liang Jun set up more than 40 refugee camps in Caizhou, Ruzhou and the south bank of the Huaihe River, housing more than 300,000 victims in the four months before and after.

However, this is not all about the disaster caused by the Yuhe River in Hehuai.

The terrain on both sides of the Yingshui River is high in the west and low in the east.

There is also Tongbai Mountain on the west bank of Yingshui River, and the remaining veins of Funiu Mountain are crisscrossed with peaks and ridges, and the terrain is higher.

From the east bank of Yingshui River to the coast of Woshui River, this area runs almost northwest to southeast, with a length of more than 600 miles, a width ranging from 130 to 180 miles, and a total area of ​​nearly 100,000 square miles.

The prismatic area is a flat plain.

Except for the Liangdu Gyeonggi area, this area has been mainly controlled by Xu Mingzhen's Shouzhou Army since last autumn.

Since spring and summer, due to the impact of the Yu River diverting water from the Huai River, the disaster situation in this area has become more serious and severe.

This also determines that the number of victims forced to leave their homes in this area is far greater than that on the west bank of Yingshui River.

Previously, the Shouzhou Army blocked the passage leading to the north bank of the Huaihe River from Xiacai and other places. In addition to some of the affected refugees being forcibly moved to the east bank of Guoshui, a large number of people were stranded in Mengcheng, Lichuan and other places fishing for fish and crabs to satisfy their hunger.

Han Qian decided to build a camp on the north bank and Xiacai New City at this time, and use the camp on the north bank and Xiacai New City to construct the defense line on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and spend a lot of effort to build a pontoon bridge over the Jiaoshan Gorge. Another purpose was to achieve the ultimate goal.

Receive the refugees in this area as quickly as possible and evacuation them to the south bank of the Huaihe River.

Standing on the north cliff of Jiaoshan Gorge, Han Qian was wearing scale armor and carrying a horizontal sword at his waist, looking at the turbid Huaihe River to the south.

Even though the water level drops day by day, the Huaihe River is still so mighty at this time. The water has flooded the remaining embankments on the north and south banks. The water surface of the Huaihe River to the west of Jiaoshan Gorge is fully open for twenty miles.

Even after winter comes, the floods will eventually recede, but they cannot recover the areas on both sides of the breached embankment east of Xingyang. This flood will happen again and again next year and the year after that, year after year.

In areas flooded by the Yu River, salinization and sand accumulation will become more and more serious, making the land barren.

In any case, a large embankment will be built on the south bank from Jiaoshan Gorge to the west to Bagong Mountain in the next year. In addition to reclaiming wasteland, it will also prevent the floods of the Yu River from eroding the fertility of the land on the south bank.

In addition, there are enough young people gathered in the Xiacai area. At the end of the year, we will start to open a hole on the east bank of the Ying River and dig a main canal to divert the water from the upper reaches of the Ying River from the north bank to the lower reaches, so as to reduce the overflow caused by the Xia Shi Gorge.

Narrow, a large flood detention area is formed in the upstream, reducing the pressure on the south bank embankment and flood discharge.

No matter how much surplus materials primary industrial products and Chishan Society's trade can bring to Tangyi, the construction of the farming and primary industrial product production system within Huaixi will always be the foundation of Tangyi.

Han Qian stood on the cliff, talking to Feng Liao, Guo Rong, Wen Muqiao and others. Han Donghu and Huo Li led their guards to guard the bottom of the cliff. At this time, Wang Che held a letter and newspaper and climbed up panting.

Hillside, reporting with Han Qianzhen:

"I have just received a news report that Xu Sidu general Chu Mu will lead an infantry of 6,000 horses out of Xuzhou westward and advance quickly to the east bank of Woshui. It is expected to arrive in Woyang before noon tomorrow and meet up with Xu Jin..."

Han Qian took the letter and glanced at it without saying anything.

If Yang Yuanyan did not cross the lower reaches of the Huaihe River from Chuzhou to put pressure on Xu Si's army, Xu Si's army would inevitably divide its troops and enter the west bank of Guoshui to participate in the pursuit and interception of the aid to Bianjing. This was something they had predicted before.

The new letter only confirmed their previous guesses. It can even be predicted that the 6,000-horse infantry led by Chu Mu is only the first Xu Si army to enter the battle on the east bank of Guoshui. There should be more in the future.

Xu Si's army marched westward.

Faced with such a letter, he didn't need to say anything.

At this time, Han Qian was more concerned about when the main force of the Mongol cavalry would penetrate the west bank of the Uishui River south of Bianjing.

After the Mongols invaded the south, they initially contacted Zhu Rang. Liang Shixiong's Weizhou rebels disrupted the Hehuai River, and annexed Wang Yuankui's Dingheng army to seize Luze and other places. Later, they annexed Tian Weiye and Jin Prince Shi Jizu's troops and besieged the Dingheng army.

Taiyuan.

After capturing the entire territory of the Jin Kingdom, the Mongols expelled the Jin crown prince Shi Jizu, Tian Weiye, and Wang Yuankui and attacked Guanzhong. Even though the Jin crown prince Shi Jizu was killed at the hands of Liang Emperor Zhu Yu, the main force attacking Yongzhou and Huazhou at this time was

They were Wang Yuankui and Tian Weiye, plus the Pingxia people who had joined them.

Outside Guanzhong, the main force responsible for attacking Bianjing at this time was Liang Puppet Emperor Zhu Rang's army. The main force responsible for defending Heluo under Liang Emperor Zhu Yu's strong attack was Liang Shixiong's army. At this time, Xu Mingzhen's Shouzhou Army was
To be continued...