Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 416: A Master Meets a Lengtouqing

"Commander, the reinforcements from bandits have passed through Wuzhou."

The lights in the big tent were dim, Pan Mei, Dang Jin, Yin Chongke and other major generals were listening to the scout's report.

From time to time outside the tent, the sound of wind mixed with drums and horns could be heard, roaring loudly in the night.

Marching and fighting is a very tiring thing, not to mention fighting to the death, just running around and exhausting along the way can kill people.

For the reinforcements sent by the Southern Han Dynasty, everyone was not too surprised, they were all expected, and it was almost unnecessary to guess.

In any war, there are not many choices in strategic deployment most of the time, and more lies in the competition of army morale, combat effectiveness, logistical supplies, execution capabilities and organizational level.

Just as they besieged Hezhou, the Southern Han Dynasty would inevitably send troops to rescue them, and they would inevitably send troops to stop them.

Almost any general with a little brain can think of this, but in the process, who can win is a comprehensive competition between the soldiers of both sides.

And what determines the outcome more is the geography of mountains and rivers.

Pan Mei looked dignified and paced slowly, "If we want to stop the reinforcements, what do you think is the best place?"

"Heshui is the only way. If they want to rescue them, they have to cross the river. If they want to cross the river, they have to attack halfway to drive them down to feed the fish and shrimp." Han Baozheng immediately said, "Commander, I am willing to lead the army."

Han Baozheng expressed his thoughts, and at the same time asked Ming, as a general of Shu who surrendered, he was very eager to prove himself. Although he performed well in the Battle of Hedong, he was not the main striker after all.

This time he was even more eager to prove himself, Pan Mei just nodded slightly, without coming to a conclusion.

Hejiang, located in the south of Hezhou, has a big bend to the west, from east to west to north and south, connecting the south. If the enemy wants to support, they must cross the Hejiang River.

Attacking at halfway, in fact, they all understand and understand this truth. They have fought Huainan, destroyed Jingchu, and annexed Shu, so they naturally know the difficulty of the beach fight.

Especially in the battle with Zhou Xingfeng's army in Wuping, if they didn't rely on the power of gunpowder, it would be difficult for them to gain a firm foothold on the beach.

But these are not the key points. Although Han Baozheng is eager to fight and has a commendable spirit, he is a general in Sichuan after all, and lacks the rich experience in the battlefield like Dang Jin and his old generals in the later Zhou Dynasty.

Pan Mei traced the scriptures in the big tent with her fingers: "The key point is that the river stretches for hundreds of miles south of Hezhou, and there are many places to cross the river. It is difficult to determine where they will cross the river."

Han Baozheng blushed a little, and immediately stopped talking.

Indeed, this is the most important thing. It is absolutely impossible to disperse the troops along the hundreds of miles of river. That would be to weaken oneself, and there is no defense at all. It is difficult to support, and they may have already crossed the river when they reach the opposite side.

It will be even more troublesome if the generals on the opposite side know how to fight. If they are facing the Liao army, they must have sent a large number of forwards with a team of hundreds of cavalry to go deep everywhere, scattered around the long line of defense, in order to confuse them on the riverside and make them engage in battle. It is not clear where the main force will cross the river, and then it will be possible to cross the river.

This is actually very similar to the hide-and-seek game I played when I was a child, except that when I lost and was caught by my playmates, I would only laugh and laugh. If I lose at this time, tens of thousands of lives will die, and even the country will be destroyed.

Fortunately, Pan Mei and the others are also veterans, very experienced, and they understand this truth in their hearts.

The veteran Liu Renshan, who was also eager to show off, immediately glanced at the map, and then said solemnly: "I thought that I could concentrate the reinforcements on the riverside for interruption, and send more scouts to investigate both sides. It is best to cross the river to the opposite side and find the enemy. The army sent troops to stop it."

As he spoke, he pointed to a tributary that flows into the He River, the Mawei River.

"The navy can stand by in the Mawei River, so that we will not be exposed, and can quickly enter the Hejiang River to support the infantry, and if the infantry is too late to stop the reinforcements, the navy can be blocked first, waiting for support."

In this strategic deployment of the Southern Han Dynasty, he was responsible for leading part of the navy to fight with the main force of the army, and the main navy was led by Si Chao, Guo Tingwei, Wang Huan, Cao Bin and others.

"Two elite cavalry troops of 1000 men were selected from the army to patrol the banks on both sides of the Mawei River. Once there is a situation in the eastern section, the cavalry in the eastern section will quickly support them. If there is a change in the western section, the cavalry in the western section will quickly support them. If there is a battle report outside the jurisdiction, do not move."

Everyone nodded, and Liu Renshan's suggestion was much more mature.

The water route is definitely faster than the land route. Based on the scout information, the water army will be used as a response force on the river to block the point of crossing the river. The army will divide the elite cavalry as a support force for rapid mobile response. Knowing where the bandit army crossed the river, the follow-up army will support them one after another, annihilate the crossing troops on the beach, and drive them back into the water.

"What do you guys think of General Liu's words?" Seeing that everyone was just thinking and didn't speak, Dou Yilian, the military supervisor, asked. He didn't know much about wars, but he had a strong sense of mission, and felt that it was a great thing for the officials to appoint him as the military supervisor. trust, now he is more anxious than all the generals.

All the generals in the big tent nodded one after another, they all felt that Liu Renshan's method was useful, seeing this, Dou Yi also breathed a sigh of relief.

The coach, Pan Mei, thought for a while and said affirmatively, "This method is feasible. Next, let's discuss the specific arrangement and arrangement."

The night was quiet, the candles were flickering, the wind outside the big tent was blowing the horns, and the lights were shining in the night. There were many discussions in the big tent, and everyone had their own opinions. The discussion lasted until the middle of the night.

Generally speaking, the core generals of the Qin army were all generals who followed Emperor Shi to conquer the world, and they were already used to discussing things in this way.

The city wall of Hezhou towers high in the night, and the fire on the top of the city is condescending, just like the stars twinkling in the sky, it seems to be uneasy like jumping
In the end, after deliberation, Pan Mei decided to divide the army into two groups.

As the commander-in-chief, Pan Mei continued to lead troops to besiege Hezhou and prepare for the siege. With Liu Renshan as the commander of the southern capital of Hezhou, he led the army to block the reinforcements from the Southern Han Dynasty.

Among them, [-] sailors were deployed at the mouth of the Mawei River into the Hejiang River, and [-] soldiers were stationed in Daguizhai on the southeast river side of Hezhou. It was originally the camp of the Southern Han Army, but it was taken down by them as a garrison.

At the same time, [-] elite cavalry were selected and divided into two teams, with the Mawei River as the boundary, patrolling the east and west sections of the river as a quick-response mobile support force.

After the arrangements were made, the Qin army immediately demonstrated strong execution capabilities, and all troops were deployed in place in just one and a half days, entering a state of preparation for combat.

This kind of organization also amazed Liu Renshan, who was leading the main force of the Qin army for the first time, and felt that they were not wronged when they lost in Huainan.

This remark was very subtle, and it was very helpful to the generals of the Qin army who were not convinced by him. At the same time, they also said that the most powerful army in Huainan was Liu Renshan's army. They also played for more than a year, and they admired them very much.

In this way, the atmosphere gradually became harmonious. Although Liu Renshan was strict in running the army, he was not a reckless man after all, but a Confucian general. He knew how to lead troops in battle.

Soon, a large number of Qin Army scouts began to cross the He River to explore the route of the Southern Han reinforcements. This link is extremely important.

At this stage again, Liu Renshan was even more surprised to find that the scouts of the Qin army were very elite, paid well, and had a large number, far exceeding the scale of scouts of other troops. The soldiers were also proud to be able to join the scouts.

Other generals told him about the government's scouting reform in the army. After all, the government attached great importance to intelligence and information when fighting.

And Liu Renshan also quickly realized the great benefits brought by the scouts.

The Southern Han army had just arrived in Wuzhou, more than 250 miles away from Hezhou, and their movements had already been reported to their tents by the scouts from the south.

It seems that every move of the Southern Han army is under his nose, more than 200 miles away!That was no joke, and the Southern Han Army knew nothing about their situation.

Two days later, he began to have some doubts. The reinforcements of the Southern Han Dynasty went north along the Hegu Avenue, and soon reached Cangwu, and then continued northward, marching towards Hezhou along the mountain and flat road.

But there was no division of troops at all, and he didn't intend to conceal the whereabouts of the main force of his army, so he walked straight along the road to the shore of Heshui
Liu Renshan thought to himself that they should confuse their own judgment and make some actions at the last moment, that is, when choosing a ferry, so their spirits are still tense.

The terrain on both sides of the Hejiang River is flat, and there are many available ferries. If tens of thousands of troops need to pass through, there are only two, Yewu Ferry in the east and Yulin Ferry near Hezhou City.

Liu Renshan thought differently. If he faced the possibility of a large army blockading the other side, he would definitely let the main force stay behind and send forwards to pretend to cross the river at more than a dozen ferries. They were exhausted, scattered their forces, and then found a weak point of defense to concentrate their forces to cross in one fell swoop.

This is the safest way. Thinking of this, he repeatedly ordered the scouts not to worry about the forward troops of the Southern Han Army. Even if it was dangerous, they had to go deep into the enemy's rear and detect the movement of their main force. Only in this way could they find out where they were going to cross the river.

But on the third day, he was shocked again.

Because the Southern Han army did not send forward troops to various ferries to confuse them, but went directly to Yewudu, a large ferry farther to the east from Hezhou, and it was the main force, tens of thousands.

Liu Renshan repeatedly confirmed to the scouts that everything was correct. The main force of the Southern Han Dynasty really went to Yewudu.

Liu Renshan didn't react to this incident for a long time. In the end, he was furious. He felt that the Southern Han army was insulting him. He felt that their blockade troops were vulnerable, so he swaggered and exposed the whereabouts of the main force, meaning to invite them to a decisive battle on the beach? ?

After confirming the information the next day, Liu Renshan felt like a fool for the first time. He made careful arrangements and deployments, and used various tactics to confuse his vision and disturb his judgment. Thinking of the straight person on the opposite side, I just came here!Just didn't pay attention to them.

In fact, he didn't know that the leader of the Southern Han Army was not a general of the country, but an eunuch who rose to the top position because he could please the lord. He knew nothing.
So that day, after confirming that the main force of the Southern Han Dynasty had arrived near Yewudu, the various ministries deployed by the Qin Army along the Hejian coast began to shrink and move closer to the north bank of Yewudu, and set up ambushes on the beachhead forest and the side of the road. He entered the He River, ready to intercept the Southern Han Army's troops crossing the river at any time.

(End of this chapter)