Kai Fu Han

Chapter 127 Out of the City
In came the soldiers of the third fleet.

"Reporting to the leader, on June 25th, the Jin Kingdom fleet from Jinxi Port dispatched three ships to explore southward. Two ships were captured by our third fleet and one escaped. Today, our military exploration ship discovered that the Jin Kingdom is located in Jinxi Port The fleet was dispatched in large numbers."

"The warships dispatched by the Kingdom of Jin this time total more than fifty ships."

It's a misfortune.

It is also possible that the five-county alliance in the Shandong Peninsula communicated a letter to the Jurchen navy division in Jinxi before the operation.

After the Xinghan League reorganized its army, it had 600 land troops, including 800 infantry battalions and 800 cavalry battalions.

During the expedition to the Liaodong Peninsula, a battalion of 600 men was deployed to participate in the attack, leaving the Xinghan Alliance with only 2000 land troops.

"Two thousand versus five thousand, the defense should still be able to last for a while." Ye Chuan persuaded Liu Xinqi, worried that Liu Xinqi would decide to withdraw the navy back to Penglai for defense.

"I understand, we can't go back now, otherwise we will really be attacked from both sides and our morale will be damaged." Liu Xinqi replied.

However, after all, Penglai is the basic base of the Xinghan League, so it has to be saved.

If the city is captured by the five-county coalition, even if it can be recaptured later, the losses will be heavy.

Moreover, even if the five-county coalition does not attack the city and only destroys the villages around Penglai City, just like what the Xinghan League is doing to the Liaodong Peninsula, the Xinghan League will also suffer heavy losses.

After thinking for a while, Liu Xinqi asked the messenger:

"Has the third fleet started to retreat?"

"When I set off, the fleet was already slowly retreating, leading the Jin Dynasty Navy to the designated combat sea area as planned." the reporting soldier replied.

"Ye Chuan, please arrange for someone to send a message to the first fleet, asking them to immediately give up the robbery and go to the waters of Tieshan Waterway to prepare for a decisive battle." Liu Xinqi arranged.

"Okay." Ye Chuan responded and immediately went out to send someone to deliver the message.

Liu Xinqi temporarily put aside the affairs of Penglai County. Now thinking about the affairs of Penglai County is beyond his reach and will only disturb his thoughts.

The only thing we can do now is to end the decisive battle at sea as soon as possible, and then quickly return reinforcements, hoping that it will be late.

All the ships in the second fleet began to turn around and sail south to the Tieshan Waterway.

……

Penglai County, Liu Family Courtyard.

Liu Xinang, Luo Cheng, Liu Lizhen, Liu Lisheng, Zhou Xinyuan and other senior managers gathered together to discuss matters.

"We can definitely deal with the Huang County troops west of Huangshui first. This can reduce some of the pressure on defending the city." Liu Lizhen said.

"We have already missed the battle. Just now news came from the Military Intelligence Department that the troops of Laizhou and Laiyang have merged with the troops of Huang County." Liu Xin'ang replied: "And the Yellow River itself is a natural barrier. This is why Huang County's troops dare not stop. Because they are on the west bank of the Yellow River, they can completely attack us when we are crossing the river." Then Liu Xinang continued to review:

"It was my mistake this time. My thinking was too limited. After receiving the intelligence before, I could have immediately sent troops to bypass Huangshui by sea, attack the Huangxian army from the side, and destroy them."

"Let's not discuss the past. The most important thing for us now is how to solve this crisis. We can't rely too much on the navy to retreat to support us. It is possible that they are also entangled by the Jin Guo navy at this time." Zhou Xinyuan said: " We have to find a way to save ourselves.”

"Actually, our advantage is still huge, but everyone doesn't see it." Luo Cheng said.

Liu Xinqi insisted on training Luo Gao to succeed Luo Cheng because he found that Luo Cheng's military talent and strategic vision were much higher than his political talent. However, Luo Gao's growth was too slow, so he could only keep Luo Cheng in the Ministry of Finance for the time being.

"Minister Luo, tell me." Liu Xinang said modestly.

"In fact, there is no need to use regular troops to defend the city, and it is a huge waste to keep the cavalry in the city. Now we have 200 infantry and 800 cavalry. It is completely possible to leave the infantry in the city to defend the city, eight The Hundred Cavalry Battalion went out of the city to find or create a fighting opportunity.”

"But with 200 people, even the city wall is not enough." Liu Xinang said.

"There is no need to arrange dense human walls on the city wall in advance for defense. Just deploy troops at the city gate and four corners. For other sections of the city wall, it is enough to arrange security personnel. One person for five meters or one person for ten meters is enough. .You know, we can definitely mobilize our troops faster in the city than they can mobilize outside the city. After determining their attack direction, we will have enough time to mobilize enough troops to set up defenses." Luo Cheng replied.

"Moreover, we do not only have these [-] infantrymen. The former Liujiapu Dingzhuang and the people who benefited from the "Xinghan League Land Law" and "Xinghan League Debt Law" are our potential helpers. I believe that as long as we initiate the convening, there will be a lot of people responding."

Zhou Xinyuan agreed: "Lord Luo is right. If Penglai City is breached and the Xinghan Alliance is eliminated, the happy life they have foreseen will leave them again. The grain that was put into the granary after the summer harvest will be robbed. , this feeling of gain and loss is something no one would want to try.”

The five county coalition forces are not good people. If they send troops and win, they will definitely want to get benefits. This benefit cannot be obtained from the gentry of the same class, so they can only be robbed from the common people.

"I understand. I will lead the cavalry out of the city right now. It's up to you to take care of the city." Liu Xin'ang suddenly realized and decided.

"Don't worry, go out and fight and look for opportunities. If there is no chance, harassing them so that they can't plunder the people with peace of mind can be considered a victory. Don't worry about the city, we will definitely be able to hold it." Luo Cheng replied on behalf of everyone.

At present, the largest official position in the city is Luo Cheng, the Minister of Political Affairs. Although Liu Xinqi plans to separate the military and political affairs, after all, those here have experienced decades of society in which culture is more important than military affairs. It will definitely be difficult to change for a while. After Liu Xinqi left, the person in charge became Luo Cheng , the remaining officers in the military department were also willing to obey his arrangements.

……

After Liu Xinang left the city, he led the cavalry troops directly to the southeast. There were now more than 3000 infantrymen gathered on the west side of Huangshui, and there was a river across the river. There must not have been many opportunities there in the past.

But Mouping and Wendeng counties in the southeast have an opportunity to take advantage of it. If they haven't converged yet, they can eat them all one after another.

After the cavalry troops marched ten miles, they began to dismount and lead their horses on foot, maintaining their power and preparing for battle at any time.After walking for more than ten miles again, I met a spy from the Military Intelligence Department returning to Penglai from the south.

"Three hours ago, the troops of Mouping and Wendeng counties marched to a distance of fifty miles to the south of here. It should be thirty miles away now." The spy dismounted and reported to Liu Xin'anghui.

Hearing the latest information, Liu Xinang immediately dispatched five additional teams of scouting cavalry to head south to investigate more detailed information.

(End of this chapter)