Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 901
In the field, Xiao Yuandong galloped along with a dozen or so knights.

Although the governor personally led troops to settle in Suanzao, the situation on the south bank of the Yellow River did not improve. On the contrary, it became worse because of the need to divide troops to occupy various strongholds to build defense lines.Therefore, before the follow-up reinforcements arrived to strengthen the defense line, Xiao Yuandong's task was even heavier.

Although there was no official reward due to the tense military situation at the moment, Xiao Yuandong and his troops have been very energetic and elated recently.Previously, the governor rewarded the army a little bit, confiding that if there were no accidents, when the battle was settled, all of Xiao Yuandong's troops might be included in the scope of Jiagong granting fields in the future.

Although Jiagong granting land is still being discussed within the Dudu Mansion and has not been directly issued, some relevant content has already been circulated.For ordinary soldiers, they may not have the ambition to become a marquis, and the stimulation of simple rewards of money and food will be reduced to a certain extent, but the fields and acres are definitely something to cheer about.

In addition to the good vision of ordinary soldiers, all the commanders from Xiao Yuandong down have also been promoted.Although the large-scale reinforcements had not yet arrived, some small units of cavalry with higher mobility had already arrived, forming a cavalry brigade of 2000 men in total, and handed it over to Xiao Yuandong to lead.A few days later, Chen Liu would have another thousand cavalry, and all of them would be merged into Xiao Yuandong's army of guardians.

For Xiao Yuandong, this was definitely a big surprise.

The Huainan army is full of generals and commanders now, and there is no shortage of old, middle-aged and young people. Those below the military marquis and lieutenant belong to the grassroots commanders. These commanders either select strong men from the ranks of soldiers, or select some descendants of the village clan. serve as.

Further up are the middle-level generals such as Banzhu and Junzhu. Many children who followed the governor to the north in the early years, such as the children of the northern and southern families from the former Zhaowu Ministry, mostly held this position.Of course, although the positions are the same, if the troops assigned to them are different, the status will still be different.

Right now, since all the armies are directly under the command of the Dudu Mansion, the generals of the Shengwu Army and the cavalry are usually slightly higher than others. As for the other ministries, there is no obvious difference.Nowadays, many young generals in Huainan are mostly at this level, such as Shen Yun, Xie Yi, including Xiao Yuandong.

As for going up further, the rank of superintendent is added to the original military position.After adding the rank of supervisor, not only command the troops of the headquarters, but also all the army, civilians, materials, etc. in the area can be called upon in the event of a war.Therefore, after adding the rank of supervisor, it is considered to have truly entered the sequence of senior generals of the Huainan Army.

The Huainan Army previously had five generals with the title of supervisor, and later, with the successive recovery of the counties in southern Henan and the expansion of the army, some more were added one after another. At present, there are only 13 generals with the title of supervisor, and some of them are only There are no more than seven or eight people who actually lead the front-line combat troops in charge of the army and local village training.

Most of these supervisors are veterans, and only Shen Mu and Yu Manzhi are among the younger generation.Shen Mu has nothing to say, he is a bit older than those young generals, and earlier he was one of the cavalry generals of the Huainan Army, and later guarding Qiao County, no matter his qualifications or ability, he is already good enough.

As for Yu Man's being able to add the title of governor, it is a bit interesting, and it has a bit of nepotism.But there is no way to do this. My father is the governor of Jingzhou, and my father-in-law is the governor of Xuzhou. In the entire Huainan army system, it can be said that this kid has the strongest background except for the governor.

Moreover, all the generals in Huainan also knew that the reason why Yu Man was able to add the title of governor was also related to the Xuzhou plan of the governor later.Therefore, after being awarded the title, he was kicked out of Huainan and went to Xuzhou.As for Shen Mu, he also had similar considerations.

In this way, among the young generals in the Huainan Army, the only two supervisors have been sent to Xuzhou.Xiao Yuandong was awarded the title of Supervisor this time, and he is already the only one among the young generals in Huainan who is still in the headquarters.

Therefore, Xiao Yuandong was really overjoyed after learning that he had added this honor.He doesn't have a very clear idea of ​​fame and status, but the key is that this time he got the title of governor, he took a big step away from Xie Yi, Shen Yun and others. Those people had ridiculed him earlier that he was lucky. Gong, this time he finally cleared his name!
Therefore, even though the mission of the cavalry has been doubled during this period of time, in addition to sweeping the countryside and cruising the surrounding areas, they are also responsible for coordinating the various divisions of troops on the front for hundreds of miles, but Xiao Yuandong has no complaints, and feels as light as a swallow Every time I ride my horse, I feel that if I don't hold on to the reins, my body will float to the sky in the next moment.

The only regret is that Shen Yun, Xie Yi and others are currently in Nanyang, which makes him less excited to show off.Although there are still Ying Dan and others in the army, but these people have lower qualifications than him, even if they have not been promoted, they have fallen behind him before, and now they are directly under his command, so he is really embarrassed to show off too much. Always maintain a bit of Shangguan's decency.

At present, the Huainan army has occupied several important ferry crossings around Yanjin, such as Shimenjin, Dushijin, Jijin, Lingchangjin, Baimajin, etc., but only maintained a few hundred garrisons.The main task of these garrisons is to monitor the enemy's situation, collect information about the surrounding terrain, and build camps and strongholds so that reinforcements can come in later, take over defense and attack.

With such a weak force, once the land of Hebei comes south, it will certainly be unable to resist, and even retreat will not be easy.Right now, the only Huainan army that can move quickly here is the [-] cavalry led by Xiao Yuandong, so he has almost no free time every day. Commander, at the same time, we must always be ready to rescue everywhere.

Dushijin is located in the upper reaches of Lingchangjin. It is not well-known in the military nowadays, and due to lack of repairs, the Yellow River here is quite silted up, and it is no longer suitable for large and medium-sized warships to quickly cross and dock.But at the end of the Later Han Dynasty, this was the front line of the battle between Wei Wu Cao Cao and Hebei Yuan Shao.

Currently, the Huainan army stationed in Dushijin is only a hundred or so, but there are more than 500 servants. In addition to monitoring the river surface, they are also responsible for mowing the dense pampas grass and weeds on the banks of the Yellow River. In addition to crossing intrusions, these pampas grasses are also extremely important military supplies. They can not only be used to tie straw rafts for crossing rivers, but also weave reed felt to build camps and camps. They can even be used to protect ships and block fires in water battles. Attack, crossbow and other attacks.

When Xiao Yuandong arrived at the Dushijin camp, it was in the afternoon. Under the scorching sun, Huainan soldiers were organizing labor to dig trenches and repair the camp. Later, more than 2000 troops will be stationed here and it will be used as a front-line military storage camp. The current project volume Less than half of it was completed, and tall pampas grass and other objects were piled up on the open space, waiting to be dried and processed.

When Xiao Yuandong and others arrived, the defenders in the camp quickly greeted them. Looking at these knights, there was no lack of envy. After all, they are all front-line combat troops. They can travel around on horseback, but they have to dig ditches here. It is miserable.

"Where are your lieutenants?"

Xiao Yuandong reined in his horse and stopped, looking curiously into the camp, the commander here is also his acquaintance, his name is Yu Du, and he is also from Zhaowu's old department.Previously, Xiao Yuandong was full of ambitions after being promoted, so he would inevitably show off a few times during the camp tour, which naturally aroused the envy and jealousy of the other party, and often even avoided him altogether.

"The soldier inspected the river bank and has not returned yet."

A military marquis stepped forward and replied, looking at Xiao Yuandong with undisguised admiration and envy.The Huainan army elsewhere is not aware of Xiao Yuandong's promotion, but in the current south bank of the Yellow River, he has already become the most dazzling star.

The point is that it doesn't matter if a person is famous, but he can also lead the contract. All the soldiers under his command have to make great achievements. Even if the soldiers have no desire to fight for courage, they all want to follow such a lucky and talented general.

"Haha, Yu Ba must be avoiding me again, so that's okay, I'll just wait for him to return."

Xiao Yuandong laughed when he heard the words, got off his horse, and handed the horse to the guarding soldiers to wash and feed.But before he entered the camp, he saw Yu Du, who was covered in mud on the other side, had brought a few soldiers out of the camp, and he stood there with his hands behind his back, waiting with an arrogant expression on his face. come here.

Yu Du was also a young man in his 20s, wearing light armor. Seeing Xiao Yuandong standing there, his expression had become unsightly. He waved his hands to prevent others from following him, and walked up by himself, saying angrily, "Xiao Kuai Leg, is your leg broken?"

"Among the battalion, when meeting the general, don't be presumptuous!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yuandong's face turned black. His nickname has been around for a long time. When he was young and frivolous in Jiangdong in his early years, he kicked down the eminent monk Zhu Fashen, so he was nicknamed so by his acquaintances.Later, after crossing the river, the nickname took on another meaning. It was said that he only made several meritorious deeds thanks to his quick legs, such as the effortless recovery of Suanzao Kongcheng this time.

In the past, Xiao Yuandong was ashamed of this, and anyone who dared to call this nickname in person would definitely have to fight with the other party.But now that the governor is rectifying his name, he also feels that he should be a bit more generous, but he still can't help but bully his bad friend and make him feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, if I wasn't bad at riding, I wouldn't be overtaken by stupid people!"

When Yu Du heard this, he saw that the other party's armor was bright and shiny, but he was covered in mud and looked downcast, his aura inevitably weakened a bit.In fact, as a veteran of Zhaowu's old department, he is not so miserable. He can serve as a lieutenant of the Shengwu Army, which is almost the same as the other leaders of the other departments. He has also accumulated two battles before this battle. Take it a step further.

The reason why he looks down and out now is that there were too few troops before, and originally some of his men and horses were also transferred away to stay at the Huting.But when he thinks that he is also a former member of Zhaowu, he is only a mere soldier, but his old friend has become a senior general in the army, and his mood is inevitably gloomy.

Seeing the other party like this, Xiao Yuandong also put away his ostentatious posture, pulled Yu Du to sit on the ground, patted him on the shoulder and sighed: "Yu Ba, you don't have to be so discouraged, the governor is not a person who does not sympathize with old feelings, and there will be wars later. No chance to stand out? You don't have to force yourself to compete with me. Isn't this a self-inflicted boredom? You kid is weaker than me in strength, inferior to me in wit, and your appearance is not to be expected, and your bearing is not worth mentioning... ..."

"Shut up, thief!"

Yu Du was a little moved at first, but when he heard the back, he immediately lowered his face, raised his foot and kicked out.Xiao Yuandong rolled on the ground and burst out laughing.

"You are just rampant in front of me right now, and you can only stand by and watch me fight and defeat the bandit army in the future!"

Yu Du said angrily, this is not bad, whether it is crossing the river to attack Hebei, or fighting in the water on the river, he will have a chance to fight, but Xiao Yuandong may not.This battle in the future will be the first battle of the Huainan Army's Northern Expedition to Hebei, and its significance is not inferior to that of the previous Huaishang battle. If he can succeed, it will definitely be a super reward, and he may not have no chance to catch up.

"I'm too lazy to compete with you right now. You came today just in time. A few thieves were caught on the river in the morning. If you don't come, I'm planning to send someone to escort Suanzao."

Yu Du stood up, patted the dust and grass on his body and said.

"It's just a few thieves, you can keep it in the camp. I won't bother with such trivial matters now."

After hearing the words, Xiao Yuandong also stood up and waved his hands and said, it is not easy to completely clear the Yellow River front for hundreds of miles. Each battalion occasionally captured some Hebei scouts or local refugees. If the number is not too large, they will keep it for themselves. All are manpower shortages.

"Small matter? Ha, if I told you that these little thieves have a lot of background, you wouldn't bother to ask?"

"How old is it? Could it be that you can still pick up the thief general on the river bank?"

Xiao Yuandong had just picked up a lot of jujubes, so he naturally sneered at the luck of others.

"Although he is not the general, he is the envoy of the general."

Yu Du originally intended to show off a bit, but when he thought of the opponent's unrivaled luck, he suddenly felt dull, so he said: "It is the envoy sent by the thief to Chenliu, and he is going to go south to contact Chen Guang's rebels." .It may not be the only way, I am weak here and it is difficult to defend against."

Hearing this, Xiao Yuandong's expression changed immediately, and he asked a few more questions seriously, and then went to see the Hebei envoys, not daring to neglect, so he immediately asked someone to bring back the horse, and before leaving, he said to Du: "The current line of defense Weakness, Yu Ba, don't force yourself, I will send a quick note to the governor, even if there is no additional troops, I can arrange troops to patrol here later, so as not to be too dangerous."

Yu Du nodded after hearing the words. He found the enemy here on the Yellow River defense line for hundreds of miles. If it is an isolated case, it means that the enemy army is quite well-arranged on the north bank of his defense area, and it is very likely that it will become an enemy army. The location of the rush.If he is a little careless, his strength may be killed here.

In a few moments, Xiao Yuandong took the excessive letterhead and put it into his bosom, and told himself to be careful, then he took the prisoners and led the crowd and ran towards Suanzao.

In just two or three days, Suanzao has undergone tremendous changes.Many messy and redundant camps have been dismantled, and the obtained wood and stone materials have been deployed around several earthen cities.The Huainan Army currently has less than [-] troops left here, and the distribution in this city group is very weak.

After Xiao Yuandong returned to Suanzao, he took the captives straight to the main camp, and when he arrived at the main camp, he found that more than a dozen bloody heads had been hung outside the camp gate.

In the camp, Shen Zhezi was standing in front of the desk with several generals and whispering around a slightly crude map.This map is the river line map recently drawn by various people and horses. Although it is still crude, the basic topography of the south bank of the Yellow River has been outlined, which is very valuable for the distribution of troops later.

Although the Huainan Army has prepared such books, they are all old books more than ten years ago.Although the current Yellow River is not as willful as later generations, but after more than ten years, many diversions and landforms have undergone great changes.An occasional negligence in a section may have serious consequences.

"Commander, Du's camp captured the Hebei Tianni envoy by the riverside at Duyu."

After Xiao Yuandong entered the camp, he rushed to report.

"Caught again? After the interrogation, he will be beheaded."

After Shen Zhezi heard the words, he raised his head and said with a smile. The other generals in the tent explained a few words, and Xiao Yuandong realized that this was not the first batch of discoveries. Today alone, the Huainan Army found multiple strands of Hebei Tianni dispatched in different river sections. The envoys, without exception, were sent to Chenliu to contact Chen Guang to attack the Huainan army.

After the interrogation was over, the prisoners brought back by Xiao Yuandong had the same answer as expected.

"This Tian Ni, there is a bit of scheming, but it's just too much."

At this time, the atmosphere in the tent was a bit dignified, but Shen Zhezi was still relaxed, and clicked on the map a few times before returning to the desk.

"Yes, the reason why he dispatched envoys from the upper and lower reaches of the river is to confuse our army and cover up the direction of attack. In addition, he believed in contacting Chen Guang, which is to mislead our army and his people about the attack period. It is also fast to go to Yongqiu here. It will take ten days, in order to lure our army to slack off."

The one who answered was Bian Zhang, another student of Shen Zhezi, who is currently serving as a military commander in the Shengwu Army.

The Huainan Army's defense line in Henan was weak, and it didn't hide it. Moreover, Yanjin and Jijun were across the river, so it was impossible for Tian Ni in Hebei to not know.If he really intends to contact Chen Guang, it is impossible to send envoys on such a large scale, and leak the news when he is captured all the way.

Moreover, the Huainan army is still at a disadvantage in the current comparison of the strength of the two sides. If Tian Ni is really coming to attack, there is no need to contact Chen Guang at all. Make a wrong judgment.

This strategy is not considered brilliant, but it is beneficial without cost, and the cost is only the lives of a few envoys.Moreover, if the news was really conveyed to Chen Liu, it might really stir up Chen Guang, causing confusion to the Huainan Army's rear, and delaying the Huainan rear reinforcements.

Even without mentioning these things, the Huainan army really doesn't know when the opponent will launch an attack and where it will launch the attack.Although the waterway of the Yellow River is open, since there are many ferries around Yanjin, one night is enough to cross the river. By then, the concentration of troops will soon tear apart the defense line that is ineffective.

Shen Zhezi stood silently before the desk for a long time, and raised his pen to circle several locations, including Huting to Baimajin.

Hu Ting is the location where the bandit General Tian Ni was operating before, and the attack from here can gain a little advantage. Moreover, once it breaks through, Xingyang, which has not been recovered for a long time, will become chaotic again, directly threatening the Huainan Army's logistics waterway, and may even destroy The Peach Leopard Army who was blocked by Guo Song in Hulao City was liberated.

On the other side of Baimajin is Liyang, an important town in Hebei. It is one step away from Yecheng. No matter if the southerners go north or the northerners go south, it is a place that must be contested. It is also the most convenient place for the Shikan army to mobilize the south. It will be the main battlefield of the next battle.Therefore, Shen Zhezi had to take down the sliding platform near Baimajin first, even at the risk of dividing his troops, in order to accumulate as much advantage as possible before the decisive battle.

There is also Jijin in the middle, which is the nearest ferry to Suanzao, and the straight-line distance between the two places is even less than [-] miles. It can be said that as long as they can successfully land on the shore, they will soon be at the city of Suanzao.

Although the enemy army in Ji County surpassed the current Huainan Army's strength along the Yellow River, Shen Zhezi felt that the opponent would not divide their troops to attack, but would concentrate their forces to break through.

From using this tactic to lure the enemy before the start of the war, we can know that the enemy general should be a cautious person, and the Huainan army also has a reputation for bloody battles. The tactic of luring the enemy has become superfluous.

"Hu Ting is too far away from the water, it is difficult to hide, the enemy's advance and retreat are not calm, and the people in Hebei have no coordination with each other, it is even more difficult to respond to the lone army hanging outside the peach leopard."

Xiao Yuandong went forward to erase Hu Ting. He recovered Suanzao with his own hands, and he had a deeper understanding of the rift between the enemy's various ministries, so he didn't think the enemy would take the risk of going upstream to cooperate with Taobao.

After Shen Zhezi heard the words, he nodded, recognized Xiao Yuandong's judgment, and felt more clearly the growth of his old subordinates. If he can win this battle, the future jurisdiction of the Huainan Metropolitan Government will be greatly expanded, and these young generals will also be able to play their own role. It's time.

"Liyang should not be possible. If the people of Ji County attack from Liyang, they will lose their chances. What's more, Liyang is close to Yecheng, and news is passed. Ten days have passed, so it is difficult to achieve the effect of a surprise attack."

Another general, Xing Yue, also spoke up, and then all the generals in the tent started talking about it, and all possible crossings were erased.Although these ferry crossings seem to be densely packed along the long course of the Yellow River, the shortest distance between them is tens of miles. In such a battle, the distance of more than ten miles can often have a great impact on the war.

In the end, there are only three remaining enemy troops who may come to attack the ferry, Dushijin, Jijin, and Lingchangjin. These three locations are very likely. Although they are all within the range of Yanjin, Dushijin and Lingchangjin There is still a distance of more than 50 miles between Lingchangjin and Jijin in the middle.

Shen Zhezi has been listening to the discussion of the generals with folded arms. After everyone has no more statements, he takes up his pen and marks the location of Lingchangjin: "All battalions maintain basic vigilance and concentrate on defending Lingchang. There are traces of the enemy, use the fire as a sign, and surrender the jujube."

After everyone heard the words, they all looked at the governor, wanting to hear the reason why the governor chose Lingchang.In their view, these three ferries are the most likely locations, and it is really difficult to make a choice.The governor's choice was so determined, presumably because of reasons they didn't realize.

"Lingchang..."

Shen Zhezi threw down the brush and said with emotion.The rest were all at a loss when they heard this. They naturally knew the name of this place, but what did it have to do with choosing this place?
However, after a moment of contemplation, someone still came to his senses and said with a smile: "If you really choose this to attack, this thief general Tian Ni has a lot of ambition."

　The two chapters were published together. . .Also, I started to confuse Jijin with Lingchangjin, the positions were reversed, so let’s leave it at that

　　
　
(End of this chapter)