Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 424: Fighting in Hedong (XII)
Perhaps Murong Jun realized that Dongyuan City would be difficult to capture in a short period of time, or perhaps he wanted to put more pressure on Huan Xi who was on the northern front.

Murong Jun finally chose to divide his troops again, leaving one army to besiege Dongyuan County, while he led the main force deep into Hedong County.

As for the candidate for the chief general who would be besiege Dongyuan County, Murong Jun, facing Murong Ke's recommendation, hesitated for a long time and finally excluded Murong Chui.
Although the nursery rhyme released by Huan Xi did not cause the brothers to kill each other, its impact was real.

At least in this battle, he would not let Murong Chui take control of the military power.

Murong Jun chose veteran general Fu Yan to lead the troops to besiege Dongyuan County, preventing Yang An from leaving the city and threatening the logistical supplies of the Yan army.

This is also the reason why 20,000 soldiers must be left behind. It is not known how many of Yang An’s 5,000 soldiers are left in the city, but as the party defending the city, the casualties will not be too great. Without enough soldiers, they will not be able to be watched at all.

On the top of Dongyuan City, Yang An received a report from the scouts and learned that the Yan army had divided its troops to besiege the city and the main force had already marched westward. He finally put his mind at ease.

He has given his all and tried his best, not only delaying the Yan army for several days, but also forcing Murong Jun to divide his troops. As for the rest, it will be left to Xie Ai and Shen Jin.

Xie Ai had 60,000 infantry and cavalry, and Shen Jin had 10,000 elite soldiers. Although Shen Jin was the governor of Bingzhou, he only needed to defend Anyi County, while Xie Ai was responsible for the rest of the counties in Hedong County except Anyi, Wenxi and Dongyuan.

"Quickly send someone to inform Governor Shen and Minister Xie of this matter."

Yang An told his relatives to believe.

In fact, Xie Ai and Shen Jin had been paying close attention to the battle situation in Dongyuan County. As for Wenxi County, with their confidence in Huan Xi, they naturally did not need to worry too much.

Especially Xie Ai, he had fought with Fu Jian and knew Fu Jian's strength.

The reason why Fu Jian was able to escape unscathed after his defeat in Hetao last year was entirely because Xie Ai and Deng Xia only pursued him without fighting.

Compared with Huan Xi, the young Fu Jian was still too immature.

Three days is neither long nor short, but it is an extremely torturous time for the soldiers of the three parties who are about to face each other in a decisive battle.

Especially when a war is approaching.

Hedong County, Wenxi County.

The day agreed upon by Huan Xi and Fu Jian had arrived, and at five o'clock in the morning, the cooks had prepared the meal.

The soldiers from various camps of the Liang army were having a meal.

Fei Liantu, who was going to the battlefield for the first time, was nervous and did not pick up his chopsticks.

Fei Lianhelong had followed Huan Xi in battle for many years and had seen all kinds of recruits, so he was no longer surprised. The only difference was that it was his son Fei Liantu who was nervous before the battle this time.

"Don't be distracted. We are about to fight a fierce battle. You need to eat a full stomach so that you can have strength."

Feilian Helong reminded.

Fighting is a strenuous job, there is no reason to go to the battlefield on an empty stomach.

Matters involving life and death are no joke.

Fei Liantu came back to his senses and even though he had no appetite, he still ate his food in big mouthfuls. Today's food was much better than usual.

After all, even prisoners had to eat a bowl of last meal before going to the execution ground, and their heads would be chopped off only after they had eaten and drunk enough.

What's more, the soldiers are about to go to the battlefield and fight for their lives with swords in hand.

In any case, the soldiers of Liang State were much more self-conscious than the imperial guards of Song Dynasty. At least they would not make a fuss before the battle and demand to be rewarded. After the soldiers had breakfast, they were not in a hurry to leave the camp. At this time, it was just dawn, and Huan Xi shuttled between the camps to boost morale.

It is nothing more than recalling the glorious years of the past with the soldiers, recounting their brilliant achievements, and establishing the belief in victory with the soldiers.

This is what Huan Xi always does whenever there is a war.

When the battlefield is at a stalemate, it is a sense of faith that unites people's hearts.

As for Fu Jian, he was also trying to boost the morale of his troops. He never tired of emphasizing his own numerical advantage while exaggerating Murong Jun's battle achievements.

According to Fu Jian, Murong Jun had already conquered Dongyuan County, and even Anyi County was in danger. Anyway, it was impossible for the lower-level soldiers to tell whether this was true or not.

In fact, if the allied forces of Yu and Yan did not have an absolute advantage in numbers, these Yu army soldiers would not be willing to leave the camp to fight with the Liang army.

At the same time, Shi Yue also led 5,000 infantrymen from Wenxi County out of the city. It was not that they were going to ambush in advance, but their actions could not be concealed from Fu Jian at all.

For a battle like this where the time and place have been agreed upon, both sides will confirm safety again and again. If one side suddenly sends out a large number of scouts to cover its own actions, it is tantamount to making it clear that it has other plans, and perhaps the battle will be called off.

Therefore, during these three days, although there were frequent conflicts between the scouts of both sides, the scale was not large, and Huan Xi and Fu Jian were able to understand each other's every move.

Shi Yue's 5,000 infantrymen were recruited out of the city by Huan Xi to join the battle. After all, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Having 5,000 heavily armored infantrymen might be able to play a miraculous role on the battlefield.

As for the Wenxi County, it was handed over to the local state and county soldiers for guarding, with Shi Yue's deputy general in charge, and it was the VIP viewing seat for this battle.

As the war approached, no matter which side they were on, there was no more laughter and joy among the soldiers.

If we fight a war, people will die.

Especially this kind of battle with open battle formations and swords and guns is different from a surprise attack. Unless one side is a motley crowd and retreats in large numbers when they see the situation is not good, otherwise, even the winner will suffer heavy casualties.

No one knows whether they can survive after this battle.

The solemn atmosphere not only lingered in the hearts of the Liang army soldiers, but also in the hearts of the Yu army.

It was already bright, and Huan Xi and Fu Jian left the camp almost at the same time and headed for the battlefield they had agreed on in advance.

Huan Xi was riding on the horse, looking calm, even relaxed.

He is the commander-in-chief of the three armies. If even he has a tense face, it will undoubtedly affect the soldiers' confidence in this battle.

Fu Jian also understood this simple truth.

Although he was unsure, it did not stop him from acting as if he was sure of winning in front of others.

In this battle, Huan Xi divided the Jinwei Yicong into two parts. One of them was led by Xie Xuan. The number of people was reduced from 5,000 to 3,000. They were all sons of the Liang army who died in the battles over the years.

They are basically new recruits and do not bear any combat missions. They only need to surround Huan Xi and feel the atmosphere of the battlefield up close. Once victory is achieved, these new recruits may participate in the chase and take the opportunity to see blood.

The other part was led by Huan Qian, and its number increased from 5,000 to 7,000. The extra 2,000 men were veteran soldiers selected from the elite cavalry of the Former Liang.

These elite cavalrymen of Former Liang needed to be used on the battlefield, following Huan Qian and engaging in close combat with the enemy.

They cannot act as an observation group on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)