Fenghou

Chapter 1188
The tense situation of the war didn't just happen in Haizhou. In the far northern grassland, a team of hundreds of carts was driving on the grassland mightily.

This is a team transporting siege weapons, starting from Yanshan Mansion, passing through Juyongguan, and heading north along the Yanghe River.

Two hundred siege ladders and seven heavy-duty catapults were carried on the cart. The catapults were disassembled into parts and shipped. When the nomadic army attacked Taiyuan, special craftsmen would be responsible for assembling them.

The Taihang Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains are connected as one, and the majestic and dangerous mountains for thousands of miles completely isolate the connection between Datong Prefecture and Yanshan Prefecture. Only the two major rivers, Sanggan River and Yanghe River, break through the barrier between Taihang Mountain and Yanshan Mountain, and thus form a Two important strategic passages have been established, Feihuxing and Junduxing.

Feihu Xing starts from Daizhou in the south of Datong Prefecture and leads to Yizhou in Yanshan Prefecture, while Jundu Xing runs along the Yanghe River from the northern periphery of Datong Prefecture, passes through Juyongguan, crosses the Yanshan Mountains, and enters the hinterland of Yanshan Prefecture.

It was the beginning of March at this time, and everything on the grassland was revived, warblers were flying, grass was growing, and everything was full of vitality.

Five hundred Jurchen cavalry escorted the convoy northward to the Tata Department's station.

At this time, night was about to fall, the team stopped advancing, the chief commander yelled loudly, and the cart surrounded the city. The mules were unhitched from the cart, and they grazed and rested in the circle with the horses. A fire was lit, and several fires were lit on the periphery.

This is mainly to defend against the invasion of wolves, and the mules pulling the cart are the targets of wolves.

As night fell, the Jurchen soldiers gathered around the fire to roast mutton and drink heavily, and it was very lively. At this moment, dozens of arrows shot 'whoosh!Whoosh! When the shots came, the Jurchen soldiers were hit by arrows one after another, screaming and falling to the ground.

The other soldiers were lying on the ground and did not dare to move. After a while, no more arrows came. The chief commander picked up an arrow. The arrow was roughly made, and it looked like a nomad's arrow.

He looked to the west again, and saw dozens of herdsmen on horseback on the lower hills in the distance under the moonlight.

The commander-in-chief got angry and got up and yelled something. Five hundred Jurchen soldiers got on their horses one after another, and the soldiers divided into two groups to outflank the herdsmen who were hundreds of steps away.

There were still more than a hundred steps away from the herdsmen. The herdsmen turned around and continued to run westward. They were not running fast. They felt that they could catch up.

Not long after they left the station, hundreds of cavalry from the Western Army came quietly from the east. More than a dozen Chinese craftsmen were the first to spot the cavalry and shouted in shock, but dense arrows shot through their chests mercilessly.

Although they were all Han Chinese, they served the Jurchens and were enemies of the Western Army. The cavalry of the Western Army did not hesitate to kill them.

A dozen craftsmen were all shot, and they immediately took out the kerosene bags, poured kerosene on the siege weapons, and lit them with torches.Before leaving, he chopped off the big wheel axle with a knife.

The Jurchen cavalry chased for three miles, but still failed to catch up with dozens of herdsmen. At this moment, a soldier suddenly shouted, and the Jurchen commander turned his head and saw their camp was ablaze.

"Oops!"

The Jurchen commander suddenly realized that they had been tricked, and that what they were chasing was no herdsman at all.

In Dangtu County on the Yangtze River, more than [-] Wanshi cargo ships slowly docked at the dock of Dangtu County. Teams of soldiers stepped down from the dock. There were [-] Western troops under the command of Liu Qiong and Tang Qian.

Their goal is also Haizhou, and Liu Qiong will lead the [-] troops to capture Donghai Island.

Haizhou is actually composed of two parts. Most of the land is land. The government is located in Qushan County, which is close to the sea. The other part is Donghai Island. A narrow strait separates the island from the mainland.

The island is quite large, with several fishing villages dotted around it, and there is a county in the far west, Donghai County.

Although the strategic goals of the Western Army and the Song Army are both Haizhou, their strategies are different. The Song Army is attacking in two lines, focusing on land, while the Western Army is attacking in a single line, abandoning the land and only attacking islands.

Liu Qiong and Tang Qian came to the barracks, and Wang Qing, the military commander of Dangtu County, invited them to the tent.

"How is the imperial army?" Liu Qiong asked.

"I just got the news that the imperial court's [-] troops have entered Haizhou. Wang Jian's [-] troops fought fiercely with Jin Bing's signing army in Liguo Town, west of Haizhou. The signing army retreated and retreated to Qushan County. Wan Dajun surrounded Qushan County from three directions."

"How about the navy?"

"I heard that Han Shizhong sent troops, but the number was not too large. There were only [-] troops and [-] large ships. This is the news from the navy, so it should be more accurate."

Liu Qiong laid out a map and asked, "How many naval forces are there in the imperial court?"

"About [-] people!"

"Since there are [-] troops, why only [-] are sent? What's the reason?" Liu Qiong was really puzzled.

Wang Qing whispered: "I heard that Han Shizhong wrote to the emperor against the Northern Expedition. Could it be that he doesn't want to cooperate with the Song army?"

Liu Qiong shook his head, "Impossible, Han Shizhong is very loyal, he opposes Gui Gui, but once the court decides to go to the Northern Expedition, he will definitely go all out. He sent [-] troops, it should be the court's will, not his decision."

Tang Qian, who has been silent all this time, said: "I guess this has something to do with the court's offensive strategy. The court advances from south to north. The land part is very important to the court, and the island part is dispensable. Perhaps the court thinks that taking the land, the island It will be handed over naturally, without spending too much manpower and material resources."

Wang Qing quickly said: "General Tang is right. All the supplies of Donghai Island come from land. Once the imperial court takes Qushan County, it will cut off the supply of the island. The soldiers and civilians of Donghai County will not last for a few days!"

Liu Qiong stared at the map and asked, "Which line did the opponent's navy take?"

"They went north along the canal, went east to the sea after reaching the Huaihe River, and then took the sea route to Donghai Island."

Liu Qiong nodded, "Let's rest for two days, and then set off according to the established plan!"

Two days later, the fleet of the Western Army continued to set off. They did not follow the example of the Song Army by taking the canal, but went directly to the sea from the Yangtze River, and then detoured northward.

Tang Qian only guessed half of the intention of the Song army to send only [-] troops. The strategic goal of the Song army was to advance northward. Tasteless, tasteless to get, but a pity to discard, so only [-] troops were sent to attack Donghai Island.

Tang Qian guessed this point correctly, but he didn't guess half of the answers. That is, the establishment of the Song Army Navy was too short, and the training was far from enough. Only [-] people could barely fight. This is the most important reason.

Thirty thousand-stone ships sailed on the old course of the Huaihe River. This is also the new Yellow River. The river is surging, and the fleet goes down the river.

Han Shizhong stood on the big boat, staring at the distant river with gloomy eyes. Seagulls appeared on the river, and they were about to reach the mouth of the sea.

In fact, Han Shizhong did not approve of this Northern Expedition. The imperial court simply did not have the strength to participate in the competition for Shandong Road.

It's all because of the emperor's impulsive mind. Although the decision to attack Shandong Road in an all-round way has been canceled and the strategy of cannibalization has been changed, Han Shizhong still has no meaning. Since occupying those states can't change the overall situation, it will cost a huge amount of money. The gain outweighs the loss , It is better to use the money to build a navy.

Speaking of the navy, it is only a recruit of Han Shizhong. It has been almost a year since he made the plan of [-] new warships last year, and not even one has started construction. It is still in the state of drawing. Said that there is no money to build ships, so his current navy is still dominated by civilian cargo ships, and the imperial court can't even pay for the transformation of civilian ships.

How can Han Shizhong be happy when he spends millions of guns and supplies hundreds of thousands of stones for a meaningless northern expedition.

At this time, the deputy general Wang Gui stepped forward and said: "Commander, the sea is just ahead, I heard that the wind and waves are quite strong, why not wait for a day or two!"

Han Shizhong immediately ordered: "Send a boat to have a look. If it's not the wind and waves, then continue to go north!"

(End of this chapter)