Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 771 Princess Dou Hongxian

There are thirteen counties in Hejian County.

In the seventh year of Daye, the household registration population of the whole country was counted. According to the official inspection statistics, there were a total of 17 households in the county, with a population of more than 880 million.

Although it is still not comparable to Qinghe, Wu'an, and Xindu counties, its registered population is also in the forefront of the nearly [-] counties in the world.

Now the population of Hejian is not as good as in the early years, but after Dou Jiande's strong rise, as the capital of the Xia Kingdom, the population is also rapidly gathering here.

In Leshou City, there are no less than [-] soldiers and civilians in one place.

But in the face of the menacing Liaodong Army, Xia Jun who stayed behind was still panicked.

Although the number of people is the foundation of the army, the problem now is that the main force of the Xia army is going to Henan, and the Liaodong army has nearly 10 troops surrounded by the four routes.

critical time.

Dou Jiande's continued wife, Empress Cao of the Cao family, showed a rare decisiveness. He rejected Fan Yuan's proposal to lead an army to break out of the encirclement and go south to find Dou Jiande.

"I live happily ever after with a hundred thousand soldiers and civilians. Hejian used to have thirteen counties, but now only three or four counties have been occupied. Don't be alarmed."

Cao's family has slaughtered pigs for generations. His grandfather is a butcher, his father is a butcher, and his eldest brother Cao Bao is also a butcher.Cao's father met Dou Jiande in the early years. When Dou fled abroad, he stayed in Cao's family for a while. It was because of this relationship that Dou Jiande later married Cao.

"Generals, please immediately send people to the counties in Hejian to withdraw all the soldiers, horses and civilians. When they come back, they will bring back all the food, grass and supplies, and burn them on the spot if they can't take them away for a while."

After Dou Jiande proclaimed himself emperor, he implemented the state and county system of Emperor Wen. He changed Hejian County and Bohai County into Mo, Ying, and Cang Prefectures. As the border of Fanyang and the capital of the country, Dou Jiande still established Some military towns.

For example, in the south of Xiong County, he set up three gates of Waqiao.

Leshou faces the Hutuo River in the west and the canal in the east. These two major rivers are the outer defense line of Leshou. At the same time, it relies on the Fox Lake in the north and the swamp in the south to build a relatively complete defense network.

Although Leshou is located on a plain and lacks sufficient mountains and rivers, these rivers, lakes, and swamps are not impossible to defend. In addition to some fortresses built, it can be said that they still have some impact resistance.

Cao's plan is simple.

It was very difficult to break through, after all, Guo Xuan had already made a detour to the south of Le Shou, blocking their way southward.The east is the sea, and the west and north have several large armies, so they can only stand firm and wait for help.

And fortifying the wall to clear the field is undoubtedly a very active defense plan.

In particular, the river network near Leshou is densely covered, and there are many lakes and swamps. In addition, spring is beginning to rain continuously, and the river ice melts. It is the time when the spring water surges.

The rivers and swamps around Leshou will slow down the movement of the army, and the most important thing will be a huge burden on the logistics of food transportation.

Even Empress Cao, who is a woman, knows that it is difficult to move an inch if the army has no food. Don't look at the Liaodong Army's four-way attack, but they were all outside the pass not long ago. Xubabu defeated Hengshan Wei Daoer again. It can be said that the result of the battle was brilliant, but it had already reached a limit.

Going forward, although the Luo family army's soldiers are still sharp, but their logistics and supplies can't keep up, so the speed of the sword and the strength of the soldiers will not help.

At this time, Princess Xia entered the palace from the outside.

"Queen, generals."

"your Highness."

Empress Cao looked at the stepdaughter, "Mother Xian, why are you here?"

"I heard that the Liao soldiers have already attacked. I'm here to hear what the queen mother and the ministers have in mind."

Empress Cao said that she would fortify the walls and clear the country, waiting for the emperor's return.

"The minister suggested that the empress should not only withdraw the soldiers and horses, but also send soldiers and horses to scatter and ambush in the reed marshes of the river, and attack the Liao soldiers' food and grass supplies. This will also greatly slow down their attack."

Gao Junya quickly said, "The princess's suggestion is good. Let's send out some elite soldiers and spread them out. Instead of going head-to-head with the Liao soldiers, we will only attack the grain, grass, and transportation teams behind them."

At this time, Dou Hongxian also continued, "When the country is in danger, I asked my mother to allow me to lead my female battalion to harass the rear of the Liao army."

Cao Hou said, "For the matter of war, there are naturally all the generals. How can the princess go out and take risks? She should stay in the capital."

But Dou Hongxian refused to listen to this stepmother. She has always been stubborn, and usually she will not change the things she decides.

"Although the queen mother is willing to spend a happy life with her subjects and has a plan to fortify the wall and clear the country, we still have little chance of winning in the face of the Liao soldiers' four-way attack. We can't just sit here and expect the enemy to make mistakes. We can only take the initiative to attack, even if it is Even if you take risks, you have to take them, and only by attacking can you have a chance."

After finishing speaking, Dou Hongxian didn't wait for Empress Cao to reply, turned around and left.

Soon, Empress Cao learned that Dou Hongxian had left the palace, so she went to her women's camp, ordered [-] female soldiers, and left the camp outside Leshou City, heading north.

When Empress Cao heard this, she just kneaded her temples with her fingers. After all, this was not her own daughter. In fact, Empress Cao was not a few years older than her stepdaughter Dou Hongxian.

"Forget it, let her go, I believe His Majesty is also aware of the princess' temper."

The northern border of Xia Kingdom, Mozhou.

This place is to the north of Huhu Lake, the Great Lake, to the south of Juma River, according to the lower reaches of Jiuhe River, the rivers and lakes are connected, and the waterway transportation is convenient.

However, after Dou Jiande captured Hejian, he changed the two counties of Hejian and Bohai to the three prefectures of Moyingcang, and because Fanyang Shanggu in the north was not captured, and the terrain here is low-lying, with rivers, lakes and saline-alkali ground everywhere. It is rare, and these years of war and banditry have made it even less crowded.

In order to prevent the soldiers from the north from going south, Dou Jiande accepted the advice of his advisers and set up three passes at Waqiao, Yijin and Yukou on the border with Fanyang.

At the same time, it is also beneficial to the topography here. The water retention is so clogged that the Xu, Bao, Sha, Tang and other rivers in the Nine Rivers are deliberately blocked, so that a water Great Wall with twists and turns of [-] miles and a width of [-] miles has been formed here.

The entire northern part of Mozhou, at the junction with Fanyang, is full of lakes and swamps, which makes the three passes of Waqiao the only way to go. The Xia army can only guard against the enemy going south from Yang by occupying the three passes.

Of course, several armies are not just heading south from Fan Yang.

Siye is stationed in Xiongxian County to the north of Waqiao Pass, facing the three passes of Mozhou, Luo Siye is not afraid, but now the spring rains are continuous, the roads are muddy, and the rivers are soaring, but his logistics and food cannot keep up. Do not pause the attacking pace.

After inspecting around outside, Siye came in and wiped the rain from his face.

"This damn rainy day, have the messengers sent to the other routes gone out?"

"Under the festival, we have already sent out. According to the instructions of the festival, we asked the other troops to suspend the attack and stay where they are. After the spring rain has passed and the logistics supply has been replenished, we will attack again."

"Well, be careful, don't be dazzled by the momentary victory. Guo Xuan has already rushed to Xindu County, but his supplies are still in Fanyang, more than 300 miles away."

A school captain said, "Guo Jieshuai can also supply supplies on the spot?"

"With tens of thousands of horses, how can it be so easy to replenish food and grass? Let's talk about it first."

Among Guo Xuan's tens of thousands of horsemen, there are mainly Fan Yang soldiers, Beiping soldiers, and the Shanggu bandits and Hengshan bandits who have surrendered. Among them is Liu Hongji's cavalry, but in this season, the terrain is full of rivers and rivers. Bo, the cavalry can't exert its power at all in this season, and it is not as easy to use as the infantry.

(End of this chapter)