Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 149 The Weight of the Southern Tang Army

Wang Shenqi leaned on the mossy tree trunk, chewed the dried meat soaked in the stream, and then stuffed a few grain cakes. There were hundreds of armors around him, blood and mud everywhere, and his whole body was covered with blood. Soldiers who were drenched in sweat before withdrawing from the front.

After fighting for a long time, their physical strength was exhausted. They pulled out Tang Jun's many sentry towers and several camps. At this time, they were exhausted and replaced by the people behind.

In the battle between the narrow mountain roads, the role of the bow and crossbow was brought into full play. When attacking the mountain, his archery skills played a huge role.

At the beginning, the camps at the mountain pass were the strongest and most difficult to attack. The Tang army also used trees thicker than a millstone as cover. At the beginning, several of them died. The stones and logs rolled down, and several bones were broken.

Unable to attack for a while, he opened his bow and set up an arrow in a rage, shooting and killing several Tang soldiers who were pushing stones on it with a hundred steps, and then scared the Tang people on the mountain.

Wearing two layers of armor and five layers of cowhide, the warriors took the opportunity to hold the arrows and chopped down the wooden fence with an axe. Then many armored Tang soldiers rushed in, like tigers entering a flock of sheep, killing a large number of Tang soldiers, and the Tang soldiers behind ran back one after another.

After Wang Shenqi gained experience, the crossbowmen could not shoot through their armor after successive attacks. The key was rolling stones and logs. As long as they were shot and rushed into the camp, Tang Jun would not be their opponent at all.

After fighting the first two camps, the soldiers cooperated closely, and the more they fought, the more familiar they became, and the smoother they fought.

At the same time, Zhou Jun also launched attacks in different places. For a while, it seemed that the whole mountain was full of their troops, and Zhou Jun's people were everywhere.

Many times, across a mountain ridge is my brother. Everyone shouted, and the brother on the opposite side echoed across the mountain. The whole Zijin Mountain was suddenly full of Zhou Jun shouting and killing, and Tang Jun was shocked. He probably thought they were coming Wan Dajun.

Afterwards, the battle became smoother and smoother. The Tang army gradually changed from desperately resisting to being difficult to parry, and then collapsed at the touch of a touch, shrinking in an all-round way. The battle continued until the afternoon. Although the final decision was not yet made, Wang Shenqi felt that victory was in sight!

So I retreated to rest for a while. In the dense forest of Zijin Mountain, dappled sunlight poured down from the gaps in the trees, and the air smelled of rotting leaves and blood, mixed with some faint stench of soil.

Across the woods, you can still hear the constant shouting and killing from all over the mountain.

After a while, a messenger found him, "Master Wang Xiang, the commander-in-chief has ordered that the Southern Tang army must be driven out of Zijin Mountain before dark tomorrow!"

Wang Shenqi nodded, "Go back and report to the commander-in-chief, maybe you don't have to wait for tomorrow, you can win tonight!"

After the messengers left, Wang Shenqi dragged his exhausted body, gathered the crowd again, and prepared to attack the forefront of the mountain.

In the afternoon, the sun was setting and Wang Shenqi was standing on the top of the peak. He could see the Tang army camp in the valley below. On the north side of the valley, Gao Huaide's cavalry had pierced through the fence of the outer net and were rushing into the camp.

On all sides of the mountain, there are many small groups of Zhou Jun troops gathering towards the camp in the valley.

However, from his perspective, he could see more clearly that the main force in the camp was retreating to the east mountain pass, intending to retreat to the Huaihe River.

The few commanders who joined him were impatient, and they all begged for orders to kill them quickly.

But Wang Shenqi knew that it would not work. The so-called Wangshan ran a dead horse, went down from their mountain, and waited until it was dark over there, and the Tang army had obvious intentions to withdraw from the valley and join their main force on the Huaihe River in the east. If you pursue rashly, you might run into the Tang army camped by the Huaihe River.

"Order all the armies, if the Tang army passes the eastern mountain pass, don't rush to pursue it, and hold your ground to occupy Zijin Mountain." Wang Shenqi has always been steady.

From his point of view, chasing him out hastily would lead to a lot of variables, and he immediately sent people to report the situation here to Shi Congyun, who was recruiting outside Shouzhou City.

During the war, many things were different. Wang Shenqi still didn't understand Shi Congyun's intentions, so he didn't know whether his actions in this battle could make the general happy.

But no matter what, he has his own judgment in his heart, and it is impossible to think about the coach's preferences before deciding how to play.

That night, Zhou armies from all walks of life converged one after another in the Tang army camp on Zijin Mountain, and the cavalry led by Gao Huaide also quickly joined the crowd.

Everyone cheered, the Southern Tang army's camp on Zijin Mountain had been captured, but they did not make direct contact with the Tang army's main force.

After successive defeats in the fortified battles at the checkpoints on the mountain, the main force of the Tang army abandoned the camp in the valley, all withdrew from the eastern mountain pass, and retreated to the Huaihe River.

However, Wang Shenqi and Gao Huaide also had different opinions on the issue of whether to pursue or not. Gao Huaide insisted on continuing to pursue and expand the results of the battle.Wang Shenqi felt that the main force of the Tang army was retreating in an orderly manner. After leaving the eastern mountain pass, there was still the main force of the Tang army behind them. If they pursued rashly, they might be ambushed.

The two had their own reasons and opinions, and in the end they quarreled with each other.

Gao Huaide is not his subordinate, but the commander of Xiangzhu and the commander of the same level as him. The two of them fought together, and neither could control the other. In the end, they couldn't stop them. Gao Huaide led hundreds of elite cavalry out of Dongshan Pass to pursue Tang Jun.

Wang Shenqi didn't want to talk to him at first, but Gao Huaide is a man who can fight, but he is brave and fearless!

But I also thought that everyone was fighting under Brother Yun, Gao Huaide and Shi Congyun had a good relationship, if something happened to Gao Huaide, it would be bad for the whole battle situation, and it would not be good for the coach Yun Brother.

So, regardless of the previous confrontation and unhappiness, Dong Zunhui and Shen Zhiyi were sent to lead the cavalry to Dongshan Pass. If there was an accident ahead, they would respond to Gao Huaide.

Dong Zunhui was the general of the cavalry, and Shi Congyun, the cavalryman of the Crane Army, had been asked to lead him. Originally, he wanted to send Luo Yanhuan, who had more experience in actual combat and had been fighting with Commander Shi for a long time.

However, I quickly thought that Luo Yanhuan was ordered by Marshal Shi to defend Shuzhou last year, and then he was defeated by Southern Tang general Zhu Yuan and lost Shuzhou. Now the Tang army is recruiting Zhu Yuan.

Wang Shenqi is a cautious person. He was afraid that Luo Yanhuan would also fight with the Southern Tang army due to new and old hatreds, and could not control his emotions, so he replaced Shen Zhiyi and Dong Zunhui to lead the army together.

Wang Shenqi, who doesn't know how to drink, has always been so calm.

In the evening, news came from the front that after Gao Huaide came out of the eastern mountain pass, he was indeed attacked by the Southern Tang army.

Relying on his own bravery, Gao Huaide stabbed to death a commander of the Southern Tang Army among the many Southern Tang Army, but the general situation still could not be changed, and he was defeated one after another, all the way to the west. Fortunately, Dong Zunhui and Shen Zhiyi led troops to respond , Slightly defeated the Southern Tang army's front and beheaded more than [-] people at the mountain pass before the Southern Tang army gave up their pursuit.

After returning, Gao Huaide, covered in blood and injured on his shoulder, personally went to his tent to thank him. He also readily apologized, admitting that he hadn't thought carefully and acted recklessly. If he hadn't sent someone to respond, he might have confessed there.

Wang Shenqi immediately understood why this man had a good relationship with Brother Yun, and he turned out to be a straightforward and fierce general.

The next day, Marshal Shi from the south also came with a new order. He didn't mean to blame him for slacking in and fearing the war. Confrontation, they must not be allowed to enter Zijin Mountain, and at the same time build high camps, dig deep trenches, and do not fight the main force of the Southern Tang Army on the Huaihe River for the time being.

Wang Shenqi listened to the order, and then began to implement it. First, Gao Huaide led the iron cavalry army and Dong Zunhui to go out of the eastern mountain pass to control the main road of the mountain pass, and then the troops gradually moved eastward.

In this way, they are equivalent to going through the entire Zijin Mountain Cave, reaching the Huaihe River in the east, and seeing the Southern Tang Army's camp by the Huaihe River in the distance.

Wang Shenqi, Gao Huaide and others looked at the Southern Tang camp on the Huaihe River. There must be more troops than them, because the main force of the Southern Tang army is concentrated there, and their side is only two of the many troops in Huainan.

It's just that they don't know what the commander-in-chief's intentions are, and how they plan to fight next. They can only rely on Zijin Mountain in the rear, set up a camp more than five miles away from the Southern Tang camp, dig a trench, and confront the Southern Tang army. Waiting for subsequent commands.

But they didn't know that Shi Congyun ordered Li Chongjin to retreat back to Shouzhou on the same day he ordered them to march east, and took over the siege troops of tens of thousands of people, and continued to siege Shouzhou tightly.

At the same time, he led people across the Feishui River, and took over the 2000 cavalry of the Hu Jie Army, and Zhao Chao personally led an army of the Hu Jie Army (over [-] men).

Afterwards, with Zhang Yongde leading the tiger cavalry and Zhao Chao as the vanguard, they approached eastward along the foot of Zijin Mountain.

The next day, Shi Congyun also saw the big camp of the Tang army on the Huaihe River in the north, and the endless camp flags, covering a large section of the Huaihe River.

Shi Congyun ordered the Tang army to stop advancing seven miles away. Although the view to the north was blocked by some stretching hills of Zijin Mountain, he knew that Wang Shenqi and Gao Huaide's army camp was no more than twenty miles away.

He, Wang Shenqi, and Gao Huaide's troops formed a triangular confrontation with the Southern Tang army on the opposite side, one from the south and one from the north, and for a while neither side dared to advance.

Most of the Southern Tang army did not dare to advance aggressively because they were afraid of the Zhou army's field combat capabilities.

Zhou Jun did not dare to advance because of the large number of Southern Tang troops. At this time, the Southern Tang Army was recruiting Zhu Yuan, Yong'an Jiedushi Xu Wenzhen and other generals from the north, with a total of about 4 troops!
At this time, although they had Wang Shenqi and Gao Huaide's troops, plus Shi Congyun's Zhao Chao and Zhang Yongde's troops, they were only more than [-] people, and the Zhou army did not dare to move rashly in the face of the huge disparity in strength.

This army is already the main force of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Huainan, and the rest of the troops are mainly distributed in Tushan, Haozhou and other places, but they are far less numerous than here.

The Southern Tang Kingdom also understood the importance of coming to Shouzhou, and it can be said that it has spent a lot of money to rescue Shouzhou this time.

The army of the Southern Tang has been marching along the banks of the Huaihe River, and camped on the riverside, relying on their navy.

Even if you can't fight, as long as you can stick to it for a period of time, you can safely withdraw along the Huaihe River with the support of the navy, or use the navy to support troops and materials to turn defeat into victory, or directly use boats to evacuate people along the river.

This style of play caused Zhou Jun to suffer a lot of local losses before, and it was just like this that when Guo Rong returned to Daliang for the first time, he made up his mind to build a navy. Too bad!

Now the Southern Tang army still has this idea. The main army found that it could not defeat the Zhou army in mountain warfare. After suffering a certain loss in Zijin Mountain, it immediately withdrew from Zijin Mountain and retreated to the Huaihe River to set up camp.

Their main water village is in Tushan downstream, about 100 miles (more than 50 kilometers) away, and the water route is faster than the land route. If the situation is not right, they only need to send ships down the river to report, and the navy will soon be able to support them.

Shi Congyun couldn't help thinking that the Southern Tang army was not good at field battles, but their tactical thinking was very good. No wonder they fought against the Zhou Dynasty for three years in history.

It was still cowardly at the top of the country, sent people to ask for peace many times, and the will to fight was not firm. There were several times when they were afraid of angering Da Zhou and fighting with them, the king directly ordered the Zhou army to be released and not allowed to pursue.

After fighting like this for three years, Guo Rong's greatest achievement in his life was to win Huainan in the Southern Tang Dynasty, but most of his time was spent on this matter.

If the high-ranking officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty were determined to fight, and there were more generals who dared to fight like Liu Renshan and Lin Renzhao, and instead of letting the cowardly royal family go to the front to lead the troops, but handing over the military power to the generals, then it is still uncertain who will win the battle with the Zhou army. It can be seen.

Shi Congyun thinks this kind of tactical thinking is worth learning.

But Shi Congyun's goal has been achieved.

He never imagined that he could eat the main army of the Southern Tang Dynasty with his mere troops here. The attack on Zijin Mountain was to drive the Southern Tang Army to the east, prevent them from reinforcing Shouzhou, and make the Shouzhou defenders despair.

Leading Zhang Yongde and Zhao Chao to the north to form horns was to contain the Southern Tang army, so that they would not dare to attack the king and Gaobu rashly, forming a stable confrontation.

In this way, his initial strategic intention has been achieved.

In the evening, Shi Congyun ate dried meat, dried vegetables, and rice, and made a poop. Afterwards, Zhang Yongde, Luqiu Zhongqing, Zhao Chao, Pan Mei, the supervisor of the army, and more than a dozen people, including officials and generals, followed him to beat Ma Deng. Go to a small hill to the east of Daying Camp, and look at the Southern Tang Army camp in the distance, which is endless in the distance, reflecting the light in the setting sun, and observe the situation.

"Shi Zhaochao, when will we start fighting?" Zhang Yongde asked directly, and everyone looked over one after another, with different expressions, but there must be fear in it, because there are too many Nantang troops on the opposite side.

Shi Congyun shook his head and rubbed his chin: "Don't worry, take your time. I brought you here not to fight them to the death, but to hold them and don't let them attack Wang Shenqi and Gao Huaide in the north."

"Ah?" Zhang Yongde said directly: "Then what's the point of working so hard?" No one else would say this, he is the recruiter appointed by the government, the general in Huainan, and the generals would not say that.

But Zhang Yongde doesn't have those scruples anymore, he is a relative of the emperor, and he is also the head of the front office.

Shi Congyun felt that his words were not malicious, but his EQ was low, and his strategic intentions became more and more obvious, so he didn't have to hide it from everyone.

So he said inscrutablely: "I have fought in Huainan for more than a year in Dazhou, and I have repeatedly seen the saw. Now, think about it, if you lose all the prefectures and counties that you occupy, and change to Shouzhou, would you be willing?"

Everyone nodded in unison, they were so willing!

Dazhou's war in Huainan was originally a triumphant song, but because Shouzhou was nailed there like a nail, they could not be peaceful in the rear. Tens of thousands of main forbidden troops, [-] militia farmers, and a large number of them were trapped in Shouzhou. It is because of the fists and kicks that he fights so hard and passively, and often gets caught in a tug-of-war.

But we can't ignore it. The Ru River, Ying River, and Huai River converge in Shouzhou, and most of the food, grass, and supplies have to go nearby. If we ignore it, the battle ahead will be even more impossible.

"If you lose it in other places, you can call it back. If you lose that place in Shouzhou, you can take it. It won't hurt to let it all go out. You will get it back sooner or later!" Zhang Yongde gritted his teeth. .

"That's right!" Shi Congyun nodded: "We have to find a point in the war!
The specific tactics can be used in a variety of ways, each with unique moves, but the strategy must be precise and clear!

Only with a precise and clear overall strategy can we fight well and get twice the result with half the effort.

For example, although there are many states and counties in Huainan, the weight is not in the states, but in Shouzhou for the same reason.

The Southern Tang army is not our opponent in field battles. They always lose more and win less when fighting us, but why they can always persist, repeatedly seesaw with us, and even gradually counterattack, because they have a navy!

Although there are many troops in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the weight is not in the army, but in the navy! "

(End of this chapter)