Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1031 Suppression and Anti-Suppression
Above the Huai River, masts are like forests, and military flags are flying.

On April [-], the fleet left Qingkou and Huaiyin, and proceeded westward one after another.

On the [-]th, Pioneer arrived in Xuyi.

On the north bank of the Huai River, rangers kept coming and going, staring at this huge fleet and sending messages back.

Xuyi and Huaiyin are the key points of defense in the lower reaches of the Huai River, and have been contested by military strategists from the north and the south since ancient times.

Qingkou is near Huaiyin. If you go upstream and with the wind, if you sail at night, you will arrive in two or three days.If there is no boat at night, three or four days are enough.

At this time, the Yellow River has not taken the Huai River into the sea, and the Huai River is wide and deep, which is where the boat masters can use their skills.

Seen from the shore, the huge fleet stretches as far as the eye can see, extending directly to the distant horizon.

The northerners were amazed at this, just as the southerners were amazed at the large-scale cavalry group.

Compared with Zhu Quanzhong's Yellow River navy, he was extremely ashamed.

Shao Shude was resting by the Bian River, washing and feeding the war horses himself.

Far and near, large and small tents are scattered.They were so arrogant that they didn't even build a camp. When camping at night, they just dug a trench and put up some tents. In fact, they didn't have the conditions to build a camp, because they didn't bring all kinds of tools.

"So, Yang Xingmi came in person?" Shao Shude asked, throwing the horse to Li Yixian.

"Yes, General Yang sent someone to arrest two rangers from the Huai army and torture them out." The messenger replied.

"Yang Xingmi probably also knows that I'm here." Shao Shude said: "This is trying to take advantage of me."

You can capture the opponent's ranger, and of course the other party can also capture your ranger. I don't know the specific combat deployment, but you can still ask about the general situation.

There are a total of 3 or [-] people on Shao Shude's journey, and they are currently scattered in various places. The furthest one has even traveled to Surabaya to spy on Suqian on the other side of the river—Suqian, whose real name is Suyu, originally belonged to Sizhou, Baoyingyuan It was renamed in [-] and placed under Xuzhou.

They did not cross the river blindly.Surabaya is not Bianshui, and it is not so easy for pure cavalry troops to cross.Even if the navy did not intercept them, it would be a hassle to get back after crossing the river, and the supplies might not always be available, the horse's appetite was too great.

But the arrival of this cavalry unit still made the Huai army extremely nervous.They sent out patrolling rangers to alternately patrol along the coast, and if they found someone logging, they immediately reported back—logging was obviously a prelude to building a pontoon bridge.

Taking the Japanese army as infantry, they are divided into Tunhong County and Xucheng, and are desperately searching for grain and hay in the countryside.The people in Sizhou were miserable, but they were powerless to resist.

Of course, searching alone is definitely not enough.There are only four counties in Sizhou, with about one hundred thousand people. It is impossible to supply such a huge cavalry group, and the food and grass have to be transported by water. In war, it is really inseparable from the river. The larger the scale, the more logistical it is. Difficult to stay away from the logistics center.

"Send an order to Dai Siyuan, and you can slowly gather your troops. If the bandit army is too large, you can give up Xucheng and retreat north." Shao Shude ordered.

Xie Tong's eyes rolled, and he had already thought of the true meaning.Xia Wang was afraid that he wanted to lure the enemy to go deep, so he let the Huai army go north as much as possible.In addition, it is also very problematic to praise the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army.With the same strength, it is not necessarily possible to win the Huai army, let alone the fact that they have more soldiers.

"Your Highness, if the Huai army goes north along the Bian River, they may not be able to intercept its grain road." Xie Tong said, looking at the quietly flowing Bian River.

"Yes. But let's try the quality of the Huai army first. If there is no opportunity, I will go by myself." Shao Shude said.

"The Huai people may directly attack Hong County and Suzhou, and cut off our army's supply road." Xie Tong said again.

"He can't stop it." Shao Shude said: "If the boat division enters Bianshui to Suzhou, I will mobilize a large army to help, or there may be a good opportunity to wipe out the enemy, don't worry."

Bianshui is not as wide as Surabaya, let alone Huaihe.It is very inconvenient for the boat masters to come in and be crowded. It is difficult to turn around.If Yang Xingmi lingered here for a long time, and waited until the troops from all walks of life in the direction of Xuzhou went south, he might lose a piece of meat.

In this battle, it all depends on how Yang Xingmi chooses.Xia Jun has the initiative, and the Huai Army actually has some initiative. It is the proper meaning to see each move and take one step at a time.

******
Above Surabaya in the southeast of Peixian County, the flames were soaring into the sky, and the sound of killing filled the field.

It will be exactly three quarters of Yin time, and the night is thick.More than [-] transport ships sailing from the direction of Xiapi were moored on the river loaded with arrows, wound medicine and other various supplies.

In fact, they had been targeted by Ge Congzhou, the recruiter from the north of Xuzhou, but they hadn't found a chance.

But the Huai army is also a human being, and they will be slack and careless.No, just a little inattentiveness allowed the thousands of soldiers of the Longchamp Army who attacked at night to seize the opportunity, and released many small boats from the upper reaches. The boats were loaded with a lot of firewood and kerosene, and after being ignited, they floated down the river. Straight to the Huai army fleet.

Using fireboats to deal with navy is a classic operation, but the success rate is actually not high.

In the past, Shi Siming used this trick when he wanted to burn down the pontoon bridges in the three cities of Heyang.However, Li Guangbi had already made preparations, and ordered the soldiers to hold back the fire boat with spears and bamboo wormwood, and it burned and sank in a short while, posing no threat at all.

This is still dealing with fixed targets.

It will only be more difficult to deal with active targets such as ships.If the enemy is a little prepared, it will be difficult to succeed.

However, isn't the Huai army unprepared...

It was the first time that the Longxiang Army launched a fireboat raid. Their hands were relatively raw, and there was a problem with the calculation of the advance. Many ships sank midway, which made people cover their faces.However, many ships managed to float past, and the Huai people were in a hurry, yelling and shouting to put out the fire.

At this moment, there were many black shadows attacking the shore again.They are all carefully selected archers in the army. They are tall and have long arms. At this time, under the command of the officer, they pick up their bows and set up arrows, and throw them towards the Huai army transport ship.

If this is normal, there is actually no threat.Ships in wartime are generally treated with fire protection, so they are not so easy to ignite. Even if there are flames, there will not be too many. Naturally, someone will go to put them out without too much effort.Moreover, there are crossbows with a longer range on the ship. When they see the gathering of enemy troops on the shore, they will launch them directly and keep them from fleeing in embarrassment.

However, isn't the Huai army unprepared...

And they are not serious sailors, most of them are civilian ships that were temporarily conscripted during the war, and they have been slightly modified—to put it bluntly, they are the water version of the "Tuan Tuantuan".

So things got bigger.

The fireboat ignited the transport ships of the Huai Army, first one, then two, three...

At the dock on the shore, the fighting between the two sides also became fierce.

Long Xiang's army selected those who dared to die, and rushed straight to the wall guarded by the Huai army. After attacking for half an hour, they killed more than [-] Xuzhou soldiers.After killing Xing, they set the pier on fire, and the flames lit up the entire river.

The Huai people on the transport ship were in a mess.

Regardless of the general's orders, the sailors jumped into the river and disappeared.

The officers also let out a long sigh, gave up, jumped into the river and fled.

The ship continued to burn, and under the raging fire, the city of Peixian could be seen clearly.

Zhang Chao, the envoy of suppressing soldiers and horses, saw it and kept his mouth shut.

The soldiers followed behind him, dumbfounded.

More than 30 transport ships were burned, although the loss was not small.But for Pei County, it was not fatal. Gein had sent food, weapons, and even [-] reinforcements to Zhou Ben before.

But the blow to morale is not small, there is no doubt about it.

Zhang Chao touched the old injury on his shoulder, his face was solemn.This is the injury Zhong Fu suffered when he went out of the city to hunt down Xia General Yan Bao last time, and it has not healed yet.That time, [-] sergeants were lost, and they were all elite fighters.

The Xia people's Longxiang, Gongchen, and Pengsheng armies led a large group of Yanzhou Tutuan peasants and continued to attack the city. Now there are only [-] people left in the city, and their morale is low.

Alas, it seems that the Huai people's navy is also unreliable.

Zhang Chao went down the tower silently.If the contact with the outside world is cut off, he doesn't want to keep it.Either break out, or...

Why do you have to sacrifice your life for Yang Xingmi!
******
The southeast wind is blowing more and more fiercely, and the army like a long dragon is winding along, and the formation is strict.

Li Tangbin, commander of the Xuzhou camp, has just received the order.

"Everyone, the main force of the Huai army is marching westward, looking for a decisive battle with the king." Li Tangbin announced.

Qian Shousu, deputy envoy of the Yi Cong Army, Wang Jingluo, Marquis of Duyu, Liu Zhijun, the envoy of the Dragon and Tiger Army, Hua Wenqi, the deputy envoy, and others remained unchanged.

King Xia's subordinates have many cavalry, can't they escape if they can't beat them?Basically invincible.

"Your Majesty has an order, and since we are going in secret, we should look for an opportunity to harass Xu and Si and shake the morale of the bandits." Li Tangbin said: "The whole army turns and goes south!"

Li Tangbin has fought for many years and has his own prestige.Once the order was given, it was quickly conveyed to all ministries, and soon, the Yicong and Dragon and Tiger armies changed their marching direction and marched towards Qingkou.

Li Tangbin also laid out the overall situation of the battlefield in his mind.

The main force of the Huai army was originally stationed on the front line of Xiapi and Qingkou, which is right.Surabaya is the lifeline of Xuzhou and must be guaranteed.And Xuzhou is a strong city with a large army stationed and surrounded by mountains and rivers. It is a rare big city with mountains and rivers in the Central Plains to the east of Luoyang.

It should be Yang Xingmi's original idea to rely on Xuzhou Jiancheng to wear down the strength and morale of the Xia army, and then invest in the main force of the Huai army who is waiting for work.If the towns of Hedong and Hebei in the north start again, they may still win a big victory, and then the situation will suddenly become clear.

Li Tangbin himself could understand Yang Xingmi's careful thinking. He didn't think that King Xia, who had been in the army for 20 years, could not see through it.

To put it bluntly, Yang Xingmi was not confident.

I have no confidence in the combat effectiveness of the Huai Army, and I have no confidence in the strength of Huainan.So they didn't dare to take the initiative to invite a battle as soon as they went up, and more than one hundred thousand troops from both sides lined up in the field to decide the outcome.

He wanted to wait for the Xia army's combat effectiveness and morale to be severely weakened before investing in the elite soldiers in his hands, so that his confidence would be much greater.

There is nothing wrong with Fang Lue, and Li Tangbin also appreciates it very much.But marching and fighting is a battle of wits and courage. Suppressing and counter-suppressing each other all want the enemy to be in a bad state and the combat power to be weakened, while oneself is in a full state to maintain combat power and morale.

Yang Xingmi's intentions were too obvious, and now that he was mobilized by King Xia and his old man, his flaws had already been revealed.

But Li Tangbin still didn't want to understand something.

Sizhou is actually not particularly dangerous.Yang Xingmi shouldn't have moved westward so early, looking like he was looking for a decisive battle. Why?
From a military point of view, it's not appropriate to do this. Li Tangbin doesn't know what he thinks.

But no matter what happened to him, Li Tangbin decided to follow his own pace.

Ziqing Town, who served as the Jiedu envoy himself, organized more than a dozen sea-going ships, and was preparing to transport a large amount of grain and grass ashore to be stationed in Haizhou.

I heard from Silla sailors that the wind was not in the right direction at this time, which was not conducive to sailing. Fortunately, there was a southward current near the shore, which could slowly float over.

The problem of food and grass was solved, and Li Tangbin no longer had to worry about the future.The two armies of Yi Cong and Dragon and Tiger were active again. This time they were going to attack Suqian, but after receiving the news, he decided to fight Qingkou, which is more deadly.

After the army set off, the cavalry went out everywhere, and even crossed Surabaya and marched westward, trying their best to disperse the enemy cavalry and block the battlefield.

The sooner it is discovered by the enemy, the better.

(End of this chapter)