Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 242: Soldiers sent to Hebei

Since ancient times, mountains to the south and water to the north have been called Yang; mountains to the north and water to the south have been called Yin.

Puyang gets its name because it is located in the north of Pu River.

In the maps of later generations, there is no trace of the Pu River. Puyang was located to the north of the Yellow River in later generations, which is also believed to be due to the diversion of the Yellow River.

At least for now, today's Puyang is still south of the Yellow River.

Puyang County has jurisdiction over four counties including Puyang, Linqiu, Juancheng and Baima. Among them, Puyang is governed by the county and Linqiu is governed by the state. They are more than 200 miles apart.

Ninety miles to the west from Puyang is Baima (east of present-day Huaxian County, Henan Province), which is the place where Guan Yu killed Yan Liang during the battle between Cao and Yuan in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

On the other side of Baima is Liyang, an important town in Hebei Province (now Junxian County, Hebi, Henan).

Liyang and Ye County both belong to Wei County and are less than 200 miles away from Ye City.

After Murong Ke crossed the river south and invaded Qingzhou, Yao Xiang rushed from Linqiu to Puyang, led his army to march by day and night, and moved to Baima.

In Yao Xiang's view, this battle is related to whether he can create an imperial foundation. He should lead the soldiers himself and cannot rely on others.

In this time and space, Quan Yi was poached by Huan Xi, and Xue Zan from Taiyuan also became attached to the Fu family because Fu Jian occupied Hedong. Now, the civil servant Yao Xiang relies on most is Wang Liang.

Since the beginning of summer, the climate has become increasingly hot. The ice and snow in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and its tributaries have melted, causing the water level to rise sharply. Naturally, there is no possibility of people and horses wading through the water. This only occurs during the dry season or the ice period.

"Since the Yan army crossed the river, they have made rapid progress. I saw that all the troops in Jibei have surrendered. I can tell that Duan Gong has lost the support of the people.

Yao Xiang wanted to attack Jizhou, so he had no choice but to build a bridge and cross the river.

"Now, although Duan Gong and Murong Ke are at odds with each other in Jishui, I'm afraid they won't last long.

No one would have thought that in the huge Jibei, no one could resist the Yan army.

Wang Liang knew that Yao Xiang wanted to send troops in advance, so he coughed and replied:

"My lord, I have sent people to measure the depth of the water level, and the materials for building the pontoon bridge have been prepared. I only need to give an order from my lord to build a bridge to cross the river."

Wang Liang's face was pale and he looked sick.

Of course, he was indeed ill.

However, the development of things is really unpredictable.

Yao Xiang stood at the top of Baima City, looking eastward, and said to Chang Shi Wang Liang:

"Time waits for me!"

As the Yan army moved south, Qingzhou was in chaos, which was suitable for spies' activities, and Yao Xiang could easily know the development of the battle between Yan and Qi.

Duan Zhen initially suggested that Duan Kwan deploy defenses along the river, but Yuan Fan refuted it by saying that the Yellow River was not a natural barrier. In fact, at this time, the Yellow River had a large water flow, so it was not an exaggeration to call it a natural barrier.

However, the situation in Qingzhou is really not optimistic.

All the garrison generals from various places surrendered to the city, forcing Duan Gong to lead his troops out of the city and set up defenses along the Jishui River.

According to Yao Xiang's original plan, he had to wait until the Yan army crossed Jishui and approached Guanggu City before he could send his troops north.

Wang Liang had been ill for some time. Yao Xiang originally wanted him to rest, but Wang Liang knew the importance of this battle and insisted on taking over the preparations before crossing the river, and arranged them in an orderly manner.

Yao Xiang was very satisfied after hearing Wang Liang's report. Seeing that the preparations for crossing the river had been completed, he couldn't wait to follow him:

"Quickly send an order to Jingmao (Yao Chang) and order him to take charge of the bridge construction immediately. Before dawn tomorrow, I want to see five pontoon bridges connecting the two sides of the bank!"

The attendants resigned accordingly. Yao Xiang was really anxious at this time.

The prerequisite for his plan to seize Jizhou was that Murong Ke was trapped in the quagmire and could not escape to rescue Hebei in a short period of time.

However, after witnessing the development of the situation in Qingzhou, Yao Xiang really lost confidence in whether Duan Gong could hold back Murong Ke.

At present, Duan Gong was greatly disappointed because of his mutilation of his siblings. Yao Xiang believed that as long as Murong Ke successfully crossed Jishui, the winner and Duan Gong would be determined soon, and there would be no stalemate.

Once the battle in Qingzhou is settled, Yao Xiang may face the danger of Murong Ke attacking Yanzhou and Xuzhou from Qingzhou.

And if he stood still and watched Murong Ke capture Qingzhou, Yao Xiang himself would be in an extremely embarrassing situation because there was no danger to defend the Central Plains.

After the personal entourage withdrew, Yao Xiang's eyes fell on Wang Liang again.

Wang Liang looked haggard and emaciated, as if a gust of wind could blow him down.

Yao Xiang said with emotion:

"Sir, you still need to take care of yourself. Leave some things to the people below. Don't do everything yourself."

Wang Liang felt warm in his heart when he heard this, but he still shook his head and said:

"It's just an old illness. It's not important. Returning to Hebei is related to the rise and fall of the lord's foundation. How can Liang just sit idly by and ignore it."

Yao Xiang sighed:

"It is truly a blessing in my life to have my husband as my assistant."

With Yao Xiang's high regard for Yao Chang, it was natural to take him with him for such a big thing as attacking Hebei, leaving his brother Yao Yi to guard Xuzhou. As for Wang Liang, due to illness, he was not suitable to join the army in the battle, so he would be left in Yanzhou.

Yao Xiang was ordered to build pontoon bridges. Yao Xiang was always at ease when he was doing things. Sure enough, before dawn, five pontoon bridges were erected on the Yellow River.

At this time, the south bank of the Yellow River was naturally ablaze, and 50,000 Qiang troops had gathered on the south bank. They held torches and illuminated the night into day.

The Yan army on the north bank was not deaf or blind. As early as when the Qiang people built the pontoon bridge, the Yan army scouts had already informed the matter to General Li Yang.

However, Murong Chui also chose to shrink his troops in Yecheng, planning to lure the enemy deeper. Therefore, Liyang was empty, and even if the defender wanted to attack the Qiang while they were halfway across, he was too stretched to mobilize his troops.

In the weak morning light, Yao Chang was ordered to lead the front army across the Yellow River and form a formation behind the river.

Due to the skyrocketing water level, the beach was soft and almost turned into a quagmire under the trampling of the Qiang army.

Fortunately, the difficult road did not prevent the Qiang army from crossing the river. Until daybreak, all 50,000 Qiang troops arrived in Hebei.

Yao Xiang was still reorganizing his troops, but Yao Chang had already led his troops to attack Liyang.

Baima and Liyang are only more than twenty miles apart. At noon, Yao Chang's troops came to Liyang City, and the defender had already abandoned the city and left.

Yao Chang was not surprised by this. They were able to figure out the battle situation in Qingzhou, and naturally they could not be blind to Liyang, which was only separated by a river.

Murong Chui's intelligence about Li Yang's defenders had already appeared on Yao Xiang's desk a long time ago.

If Liyang's defense had not been empty, Yao Xiang would not have planned to use Liyang as a springboard in Hebei.

Instead, we must divide our forces to besiege Liyang and attack Yecheng. We must not waste precious time on besieging Liyang.

When he learned that the defender had abandoned the city, Yao Xiang felt deeply that conquering Liyang without a fight would give him a good start in capturing Jizhou and make him more confident in this battle.

At this time, Murong Ke was still in a stalemate with Duan Keng on the north bank of Jishui, seven hundred miles away from Yecheng. When he learned the news, he was afraid that the Qiang army would also attack Yecheng.

(End of this chapter)