Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1033 It's All Bad News

"Your Majesty, General Xu, please transfer Feng Guojun's right wing across the north to reinforce the Qingkou Camp." In Linhuai City, a messenger brought the latest news.

Qingkou has 5000 people stationed in the left wing of the Fengguo Army, plus Wan Huainan Tutuan peasants. The camp has been built for a long time, and it is relatively strong.It stands to reason that more soldiers and horses can be stationed, but except for the period when the main force of the navy is stationed there, most of the time there are not many troops.

The reason is also very simple.Qingkou is the confluence of the Surabaya River and the Huai River. The terrain is low-lying, humid, and muddy. Reeds are scattered one after another, and small swamps and small puddles are dotted.If these can be tolerated, and efforts are made to transform them, then it is fatal to be easily flooded.

When the main force of the navy is there, there is no problem. The enemy does not have the ability to build dams upstream to stop the water.Now that the main force of the navy is gone, everything is hard to say.

Of course, there is another reason that has to be mentioned.As a general, you must know the time.The rainy season is not far away, when it will rain twice in three days, sometimes it will be torrential rain, and the Surabaya and Huai River will skyrocket, and many places in Qingkou will be submerged and become a water town. At that time, there will be no way to garrison troops.

"No." Yang Xingmi refused very flatly, and Xuan added: "Qingkou camp still has more than 20 ships, which is enough for defense. If it is not possible, dig a few dikes and divide the battle between the two armies." It turned into a yellow mud pond. The northerners are not used to water, and their strength is greatly reduced in the yellow soup, so they are bound to withdraw their troops."

"Follow orders." After the clerk drafted the military order and printed it, the courier saluted and retired.

Gao Xu stroked his beard lightly, staring at the map.

Qingkou Daying Camp is located on the north bank of the Huai River, on a low-lying terrain, densely covered with swamps and reeds.Daying is located on a relatively dry high place, but this height is also relative, and the overall terrain is still lower than the two sides of the Huaihe River.

No matter from which point of view, this place is not suitable as a military important place.But its location is really good. Surabaya enters the Huaihe River here, the waterway extends in all directions, and the transshipment cost is low. It is a very suitable water distribution center.

The Xia people's intention to destroy this center is very obvious, and now they can only defend it.

After a while, another messenger came.

"There was civil strife in Peixian County, the town envoy Zhang Chao killed the deputy general Zhou Zunzhi, and brought the city down." This news made the government hall collectively silent.

Zhang Chao is the nephew of Zhang Tingfan, the governor of the Probation Army, and Zhou Zunzhi is from Suzhou, who is considered to be a member of the Huai Army.

Zhou Zunzhi also had soldiers and horses, that is, the [-] soldiers recruited into the army in Suzhou had a lot of combat experience.He was killed, and it is conceivable that the fate of these soldiers was not very good. They were either killed or forced to surrender.

Among the counties in Xuzhou, Feng County was conquered by Zhu Zhen, Teng County surrendered directly, Pei County is now also lost, and the outer barriers in the north of Xuzhou have been lost.It can be imagined that the tens of thousands of troops led by Ge Congzhou and Zhu Zhen are rushing southward, heading straight for Xiaoxian and Pengcheng.

There are no more soldiers to support!Yang Xingmi's brows were twisted into a Sichuan character, obviously very distressed.

It stands to reason that Xuzhou's troops are sufficient to defend the city, but if you don't show anything and let them fight alone, is their will so strong?How long can you keep it?
The civil strife in Pei County has sounded the alarm, how can we not take it as a lesson?
"Your Majesty, Xuzhou has just issued a reward, and the morale should still be maintained." Seeing that the lord was in a dilemma, Gao Xu sighed secretly, and said with relief: "General Zhou is stationed in Xiapi, and there are thousands of them. Although they are not elite and brave men, But it is also a big support at the critical moment. Xuzhou can still maintain it, so don’t worry.”

"There are conditions for the Xuzhou defenders to persevere..." Yang Xingmi sat down with a wry smile.

Now, he has to face up to his mistakes.

Self-made people are not accidental, they must have an extraordinary side.Yang Xingmi was obsessed with ghosts for a while and couldn't listen to opinions. Now facing the increasingly severe battle situation, he had to pay attention to it.

This is what war looks like, and the battle situation can change fundamentally without a large-scale confrontation between the two sides.Looking at it now, being transferred by the Xia people was a mistake.

The Bashan army has been going north for six days, and the other armies have also been going north for five days. Up to now, Shao Shude has no intention of fighting him at all. He is elusive, and you don't even know where he is now.

There were more than [-] Japanese infantry defending the city of Hong County, but Yang Xingmi was hesitant about whether to besiege the city.Once you set up your posture and do your best, it will not be that simple to retreat.

Gao Xu thought for a while, and was about to speak, when another messenger came and said, "Qian Liu sent Gu Quanwu [-] soldiers out of Huzhou to Taihu Lake."

This is to attack Su and Changzhou.

The three prefectures of Run, Chang and Su are the earliest developed places in the south of the Yangtze River, and Runzhou is the administrative seat of Zhexi Town.Qian Liu took the position of Jiedushi from Zhou Bao, but lost Run, Su, and Chang. How could he give up?

In the previous battles, there were fewer victories and more losses. This time, when the main force of the Huai army went north, why not take the opportunity to make trouble?

When Gu Quanwu's army came, the first to bear the brunt were Suzhou Yang Shihou and Changzhou Taimeng. Runzhou Anrenyi and Xuanzhou Tianyu might also be affected.

"Send an order to An Renyi and Tian Yu, and the soldiers and horses of the four states will gather together to—" At this point, Yang Xingmi pondered for a long time.

Gao Xu looked at him and suggested, "It's okay to use An Renyi as the envoy, and Tian Xi is the deputy."

"Okay, let's do it like this." Yang Xingmi made a decision.

Among An, Tian, ​​Tai, and Yang, Yang Shihou should be the most capable, but he is an outsider with limited trust, so he cannot be entrusted with a big responsibility.Tian Yu is also capable, but he is too ambitious to give him this chance.An Renyi's ambition is not small, and Yang Xingmi knows it well.However, Taimeng's ability and prestige are insufficient. After much deliberation, An Renyi can only be put in command and unified command.

In addition to these states, there are also some states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River that were sealed to his subordinates.

Shengzhou was conquered by Yang Shihou, but Yang Xingmi did not give it to him, but held it in his own hands, and now it is governed by civilian officials.However, it is said that during this Northern Expedition, whoever makes great achievements will be rewarded with Shengzhou.

The rich land of Xuanzhou is in the hands of Tian Xie.

The governor of Shezhou is Tao Ya.

Both of them are Yang Xingmi's Yuan Cong elders, but Tao Ya is honest and honest, more obedient, and Tian Xun is more thorny.

The fact that Yang Xingmi gave away the land in Jiangnan wantonly does not mean that he likes to do so.There is really no way, the meritorious service in the war must be rewarded, and the goods cannot satisfy the appetite of the warriors, they prefer the territory, unless the atmosphere is reversed, the goods can also satisfy the warriors, but I don’t know that day How long will it take to wait, perhaps only the founding of the country is possible.

Fortunately, Caotou King in these places has no obvious signs of rebellion, and there is no shortage of taxes that should be paid or soldiers.The Huai army system has just made do with it, and internal conflicts are far from reaching the stage of outbreak.And when the power of the government army built by him becomes stronger and stronger, he can slowly start to cut down the feudal clan.

Of course, that was the original plan.From the current point of view, unless he defeated Xia Jun in Xusi, he could only continue to hug his old brothers to keep warm.

Three bad news came one after another in the morning, even if Yang Xingmi had a good temper, this meeting would be too much for him.He patted the table heavily, and said angrily: "You don't know how to change the tea when it's cold?"

The soldiers were obedient and immediately went to make tea.

"Your Majesty..." Gao Xu also sat down, hesitating.

"I know what you're going to say." Yang Xingmi stood up irritably, and said, "But since leaving the army, he has repeatedly lost troops and lost generals. It might not be beautiful to just retreat. Besides, Xuzhou has not been lost yet, how can we say goodbye?"

Gao Xu didn't intend to persuade Yang Xingmi to withdraw directly. Although he really wanted to do so, he also knew that the success rate of such persuasion was very low. He had another way of speaking.

"Your Majesty, our army has been going north for many days, and the Xia bandits have avoided fighting. It is not an option to continue to toss." Gao Xu said: "It is better to march eastward with the whole army and cooperate with Generals Xu and Zhou to besiege Li Tangbin's troops."

Yang Xingmi was also annoyed by the fact that he couldn't catch the main force of the Xia army, so he immediately asked, "How about a siege?"

"Let General Xu stick to the camp first, and the thieves won't be able to take it down in a short time. After his morale is exhausted, our army will build a dam upstream to block the water, and then the water will flood Qingkou. Qingkou is low-lying, and no one will die for a while. , but it can cause chaos in the bandit army. When the bandits fled northward in a panic, away from the flood, my new force launched a hunt."

Good guy, this is drowning your own people and enemies together, it's ruthless enough.With the current water level of the Huaihe River, when it pours down, it is true that no one will die.Moreover, the defenders have camps, so it is difficult to be washed away by the flood, and they are still in a relatively high place, let alone die.On the other hand, Xia Jun may indeed be washed away by the flood, at least it is certain that the establishment will be disrupted.Without the establishment, it would be stragglers, vulnerable to a single blow, and the main force of the Huai army formed an establishment to hunt down and kill more than 2 people like Li Tangbin.

"Send people in advance to inspect the downstream, and go through it all to see where it is suitable to build a dam to stop the water." Yang Xingmi ordered.

Immediately, a civil official drafted the order and handed it over.

Yang Xingmi looked at it and said, "Send it, and execute it immediately."

Gao Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the first step was successful.

"However, in my opinion, the possibility of success in this matter is still too small." Yang Xingmi's mood improved a little, and he was not so anxious. He sat back on the bed and said, "Building a dam to stop the water is not a temporary thing." It will be done in a while, and the movement is too big, so it is easy to be discovered. Do you have a better plan for water attack?"

"Your Majesty, northerners are good at horses, and southerners are good at boats. If you want to defeat Shao thief, you really can only make a fuss on the water." Gao Xu said: "It won't be long before the rainy season comes, heavy rains will pour, and the river will skyrocket. Summer thief The cavalry will be useless, if Your Majesty doesn't mind, just open the embankment of the Huaihe River, let the flood wash away all the soldiers and horses that the Shao bandits are proud of. Afterwards, our army can go north by boat and pursue them calmly."

"No!" Yang Xingmi said subconsciously: "Break open the embankment, and the people of Sizhou will be eaten by fish and turtles, how can I bear it."

"Your Majesty has a kind heart, so I made a slip of the tongue." Gao Xu repeatedly pleaded guilty.

Yang Xingmi's face was a little unnatural, cloudy and sunny, and he remained silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)