Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 150 First Floor Second and Third Floor

At the beginning of March in the fourth year of Xiande in the Zhou Dynasty, wars broke out along the Huaihe River again, and the surrounding people did not dare to plow in the spring, and most of them fled south to north for refuge.

Last year, Zhengyang along the Huaihe River went through a major battle, and this time the main battlefield was moved to the vicinity of Zijin Mountain in the north of Shouzhou City.

However, the conflict and contact between the two armies did not only occur on Zijin Mountain and the eastern foot of Zijin Mountain.

In fact, in Huainan, since last year, in the vast area from Zhengyang to Xiacai, Shouzhou, Tushan, Wokou, Haozhou, Dingyuan, Qingliuguan, Chuzhou, Liuhe, Hezhou, and Yangzhou, the two armies have been fighting from time to time. Both had skirmishes and wars.

The battle has been going on, especially the cavalry units of the Zhou army represented by Shi Yanchao's troops. Every now and then, they will find opportunities to go out to attack and plunder the Southern Tang army's food roads.

And the Southern Tang army will also rely on the water army to launch small-scale counterattacks in some places on the river bank.

The two sides have never stopped coming and going, but they are all local fights, with limited casualties, and it is not enough to affect the overall outcome in the short term. Only a few years, more than ten years of long-term persistence may affect the overall situation.

However, the atmosphere of Yangchun March's offensive this time is obviously different from the past.

Countless Zhou army troops are constantly dispatched between the Huaihe Feishui, and the army's flags are everywhere on the mountains, and in many cases they can stretch for dozens of miles.

Cavalry and infantry with neat armor and polished weapons came and went in groups of hundreds of people on the road.

The old people who have experienced wars in the vicinity know that there is rarely a group of more than 12 soldiers on patrol at ordinary times. If a group of hundreds of people often appears, it means that the army has made a big move and a big battle is about to be fought.

On the sixth day of March, there was a light rain in the morning, and the woods beside the Huaihe River were misty and covered with a thin layer of thick fog. From a distance, the large tent of the Southern Tang Army became faintly visible.

The Huaihe River is already rich in water resources. In many places, the water can seep slowly by digging a few meters down. Further downstream in the east, various tributaries, lakes and ponds are densely covered. Now it rains again, and people come There is mud almost everywhere in the crowded barracks.

After the rain stopped in the morning, the sun faintly revealed its position, already higher than the treetops in the distant forest. When the scouts released came back, Zhang Yongde got the news and reported it to Shi Congyun.

Zhang Yongde didn't understand what he said yesterday, but Shi Congyun felt that probably only Luqiu Zhongqing and Pan Mei understood what he meant.

Those are not important, if Zhang Yongde was so smart, I would have sent him out to lead the army alone.

The most important thing at the moment is the commander-in-chief of each army, and most of them can rest assured.

The navy commanders Si Chao and Li Chuyun can rest assured that Zhao Kuangyin, Wang Shenqi, and Xiang Xun are not incompetent, they are all capable and intelligent.

As for his father, Shi Yanchao, although his brain is full of muscles, he is the most at ease, because his father will definitely carry out his orders to the letter, and he doesn't have to worry about defeating the Southern Tang Army.

For the first time, he understood why Guo Rong likes a strong general like Shi Yanchao, he is obedient and can fight, so he is not as restless as him.

"Shi Zhaozhuo, the puppet Tang army on the Huaihe River sent many scouts, and our scouts met several times when they went east, and Zhu Yuan is a man who knows how to fight.

Please give a certain [-] cavalry soldiers to guard every intersection in the southeast every day to intercept and kill them. If they can't kill all of them, at least they will be scared, and they should not investigate the situation of our army. "

Shi Congyun looked at the map in front of him, roughly deduced the positions of the armies, and shook his head: "No, anyway, they will know sooner or later. It might be better if they know that they are about to be encircled."

Zhang Yongde was a little confused and didn't ask any more questions.

"I think our army's camps need to be strengthened, and we need to build more trenches outside.

There were many soldiers in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and their recruiting from the north made Zhu Yuan not to be underestimated. If you want to confront for a long time, you must have a comprehensive plan. "Pan Mei changed the topic beside her.

Shi Congyun agreed with what Pan Mei said, so she nodded and said: "You will preside over this matter, and I will transfer all the auxiliary soldiers to you."

Pan Mei took the order, and then went out to organize people to do things.

Southern Tang's current north recruiter Zhu Yuan, after launching a counterattack last year, successively recovered two states and many counties from the Zhou army, and defeated Luo Yanhuan.

He and Liu Yanzhen and others before him are obviously not in the same category. They have war experience and are not vegetarians, so they should not be underestimated.

Afterwards, Shi Congyun stared at the map in front of him, calculated the positions of the troops in his mind, and asked Luqiu Zhongqing, "What time is it now?"

"It's almost noon."

Shi Congyun carefully estimated the time, and said loudly: "The messenger!"

At this critical moment, the messengers have been waiting for orders, and they will come over as soon as they hear the sound.

"Here's an order to order Shi Yanchao's troops to leave Dingyuan and arrive in Huainan City two days later! It's on the west bank of the Xihao River, on the edge of the Huai River. Cut off the riverside avenue, and march with great fanfare."

"We must outflank the retreat of the puppet Tang soldiers!" Zhang Yongde said excitedly.

Luqiu Zhongqing just shook his head lightly, and Shi Congyun didn't explain much.

Then he wrote three secret letters, called the soldiers, and told them solemnly that they must be delivered to Zhao Kuangyin, Xiang Xun and Shi Yanchao, the sooner the better.

In the afternoon, the sky began to clear up gradually. Shi Congyun ordered another [-] civilians to be dispatched from Shouzhou to help Pan Meixiu fortify the camp and make the confrontation between the army and the Southern Tang army more stable.

Wang Shenqi and Gao Huaide sent people to ask for instructions on the next step of combat. Shi Congyun wrote them a few large characters, "Deep ditch and high fortress, don't fight with each other" is not very pretty.

The sun was setting to the west, Xu Wenzhen rode his horse across the muddy road, the Huaihe River in the distance was sparkling in the sun, the camp was full of people, and many soldiers shuttled back and forth non-stop.

The soil in the camp was trampled back and forth by the people, and after a light rain, it was as slippery as if it had been coated with oil.

So even though the matter was urgent, he still rode very carefully, not daring to speed up, scolded a few times in his heart, very upset.

The surrounding soldiers saluted him one after another, but Xu Wenzhen didn't have time to respond.

When he was outside the big tent, a soldier led his horse. After he got off the horse, he hurried in.

As soon as I entered the big tent, I saw that all the people were waiting for Zhu Yuan, the envoy Zhu Yuan, the supervising army Bian Hao, and the generals of all armies.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dim light in the big tent, he immediately opened his mouth to report: "It's not as expected by the commander-in-chief!
The scouts who came back from the south found that the avenue to the west of Dingyuan was full of cavalry from the Zhou army. There were a lot of people and horses, and judging from the flag, it should be the number one general of the Zhou army. "

"Great handsome!"

"The commander-in-chief is really good at predicting things and planning strategies!"

"."

Everyone complimented him, Zhu Yuan, who was in his thirties with a big beard, laughed loudly, and then raised his hand to silence everyone.

"After all, he's just a brat who hasn't even grown his hair yet, and he knows everything when he starts!
In terms of playing style, it is indeed well-planned and experienced. No wonder Liu Yanzhen is not his opponent.In Zijin Mountain, we almost caught his way.

But seeing that he didn't mobilize the south troops to fight us after leaving Zijin Mountain, and didn't continue to encircle Shouzhou with all his strength, but instead built camps and trenches there to confront us, the old man felt that he had a trick behind him! "

After finishing speaking, he pointed to the illustrated scriptures in front of him, "Then Shi Yanchao was originally near Yangzhou, and what he did seemed to be to abandon Yangzhou and fight us on the banks of the Huaihe River, encircling us here.

He personally led the army, confronted us here with Wang Shenqi and others, and then let his father lead the cavalry to encircle us from the east!
It's a good idea, but it's a pity that it's still too tender in front of the old man!The old man just let him steal the chicken without losing money, hahaha"

The generals laughed and listened to the coach's confident speech, and Xu Wenzhen also laughed along with a lot of relief. To be honest, when he first heard the news, he himself was shocked and a little confused.

Zhou's army has always been better than them in field battles, and Long Jie Jingqi led by Shi Yanchao is the most outstanding!
From the defeat of Zhengyang, to the defeat of Qingliuguan, to the battles of Liuhe and Yangzhou, Shi Yanchao was famous, and his elite cavalry left a huge psychological shadow on the soldiers and generals of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

When he learned that Shi Yanchao was not in Yangzhou, but had already rode westward and came towards them from Dingyuan, he was anxious and afraid.

It wasn't until Zhu Yuan's words that he realized that since Zhu Yuan had expected Zhou Jun's coach to attack them with one hand and three sides, he must have a plan in his chest and had a countermeasure.

Immediately he felt relieved, and Zhu Yuan's image in his heart also grew taller, as expected of the general who defeated Zhou Jun twice in a row.

"The old man already has a countermeasure. First of all, let people go to Tushan and Haozhou to ask for help, and ask them to send more people to reinforce.

Secondly, dig deep trenches in the east, set up deer villages to resist horses, and prepare to resist the cavalry of the Zhou army. Since we all know that they will come, we should dig more pits for the horses in advance and set up traps.

Dispatch most of the troops to the west to resist the army of Wang Shenqi, Shi Congyun and others.

At the same time, let the boats by the river be ready at any time, and in case of emergency, you can go to Tushan to get reinforcements from the water army at any time. The food road on the water will continue, and we will be invincible! "

Speaking of this, Zhu Yuan laughed again, "Hahahaha! Then Shi Congyun may have some skills. He played well before, but he still doesn't have a thorough and long-term perspective.

The old man fought against the Zhou army many times and won, relying on seeing through the strengths and weaknesses of the two armies.

The Zhou army has many horses and horses, and they are good at field battles but weaker than attacking tough ones. We are not their opponents in field battles.

Our army has many infantry, and the armor is better than theirs, but people can't run as fast as horses, and the heavy armor will slow down the speed, so we are good at defending and weaker than field battles.

If I were the commander-in-chief of the Zhou army, I would definitely gather all my troops to encircle Shouzhou and use Shouzhou as a bait to fight for reinforcements.

Shouzhou can't be lost, then we have to try to get close to Shouzhou to try to get out of the siege, and we are bound to fight with them in the wide area south of Zijin Mountain and north of Shouzhou, which is very disadvantageous to us!
The old man had been forced to build tunnels and dig holes to approach Shouzhou before, and wanted to avoid field battles with the Zhou army as much as possible. "

After listening to his words, everyone nodded.

"I didn't expect Zhou Jun to be replaced by a commander-in-chief, and he would take the initiative to send troops to besiege us, wouldn't that be just right!

What we are good at is sticking, they are weaker than attacking, this is not to use his weaknesses to touch our strengths!

The old man affirms that in this battle, as long as you all work together and work hard, the Zhou army will surely be beaten to death by the Huaihe River! "Zhu Yuan said confidently.

As soon as these words came out, everyone's confidence was greatly boosted. They already had a large number of people, and what the commander said was right. As long as they fought defensively, they would not suffer any losses in most cases!

Now that the war has been fought, both sides have almost understood each other.

Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed the same as what the commander said. Most of the time they suffer the most from field battles with Zhou Jun.

If you fight defensive battles and city defense battles, Zhou Jun will suffer more, and this has been the case in most cases this year.

Thinking of this, everyone trusted Zhu Yuan more in recruiting from the north.

After the big tent meeting, Xu Wenzhen was already full of confidence in the next battle.

That Zhou army coach Shi Congyun was said to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, still too young. He thought that the commander only thought of the first floor, and he was on the second floor, who could encircle and destroy their main force with a surprise attack.

But in fact, it's not that simple, the commander-in-chief had long thought of the third floor, but Shi Congyun presumptuously stayed on the second floor, waiting to be tricked.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little excited. Is this a silent game between the two armies' commanders?

He had never thought about this before, but now he has personally experienced it. These things are quietly determining the overall situation of the entire Huainan, thousands of miles of land.

Is this the so-called planning and strategizing!He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Just as he was thinking, the commander-in-chief came out and said to him, "How about writing the letter to Haozhou for reinforcements in your name?"

Xu Wenzhen saw that Zhu Yuan, who was about the same age as him, looked uncomfortable, and understood what was going on, nodded and said: "Don't worry, Commander, I will draft the order and send the messenger to Haozhou."

Zhu Yuan nodded, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much."

Xu Wenzhen watched him go away, and understood why the commander asked him to write it instead of sending the letter for help himself.

Zhu Yuan was at odds with Qi Wang Li Jingda.

It is Qi Wang Li Jingda and his supervisor Chen Jue who sit in Haozhou.

The two had disputes over power, one was recruiting envoys from the north, and the other was the marshal of the soldiers and horses of the various realms. Who had the final say in the battle in Huainan, both of them had opinions on each other in their hearts.

In addition, Li Jingda was too weak and had no prestige in the army. Last year, he led a large army across the river, but was beaten to death by the Zhou army general Zhao Kuangyin near Liuhe in the south.

If Li Jingda is not a member of the royal family, then what is he?What is the ability to sit in Haozhou, why should he be the marshal of all the soldiers and horses, and command the armies in Huainan?

This is where Zhu Yuan refused to accept him, and it was also where many generals refused to accept. A general with military exploits and skills was restrained and commanded by a weak and incompetent clan prince everywhere, and everyone was angry.

In comparison, Zhu Yuan, who relied on his military exploits to get to the top, won Zhu Yuan's hearts much more.

Xu Wenzhen shook his head, he didn't want to participate in the fight for power and profit among these high-level officials, and he didn't have that ability.

He wants to finish this battle well, the commander has seen through Zhou Jun's tactics of recruiting envoys, and the chances of winning the battle in the future are great!

If they fight well this time, and the Zhou army suffers serious casualties here, they will continue to advance westward, and then relieve the siege of Shouzhou, and then go to the Bohai Sea to contact the Khitan and Northern Han in the north, and it will take another year or two to completely drive the Zhou army out. Huainan is also feasible!

Xu Wenzhen didn't think about the future, nor did he think about it at all. Driving Zhou Jun out of Huainan was already the greatest expectation, and it was also the most urgent thing at the moment.

Zhu Yuan didn't procrastinate. After the order was issued, all the soldiers began to get busy in the afternoon according to the previous instructions.

On the second day, the scouts from all directions reported back one after another, and things really happened as the commander expected!
Two groups of Zhou troops at the foot of Zijin Mountain in the west are building trenches and fortifications, making a confrontation with them. The cavalry of the Zhou army in the east has already left Zhengyang and is approaching them. Flank them!
However, these were all expected by the commander-in-chief Zhu Yuan. The soldiers were dispatched and prepared early, repaired the traps and fortifications, and knew how to fight this battle, how to fight!
At this point in the matter, everyone is full of confidence, because Zhou Jun thought that he could catch his surprise and attack from three sides. Didn't they have already prepared well and waited for work with leisure, just waiting for Zhou Jun to come to the Huai River to die!

(It’s reasonable to give yourself a day off on May [-]st~)

(End of this chapter)