Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 630: Stable as Mount Tai
Shao Shude didn't know why it had been raining continuously since March.

The weather in this season is really a bit chaotic, maybe it's not a good sign.

However, for agricultural production, it may not be such a bad thing.Crops need a lot of water during the growing season, so you should be happy if you're not affected by war and your fields aren't abandoned.

It is impossible to tell how much the water level of the Pi River has risen.The originally clear river water has become very turbid, which is a sign of a large amount of sediment washed down from the upper reaches.

There are also many dead branches and leaves on the river, and occasionally some dead animals are seen.

In the past few days, human corpses have become more common, one after another drifting downstream, into the Huai River.

Most of them are the corpses of Liang Jun who died in battle.Since the battle three days ago, the Liang army tried to cross the river again in the past two days. One of them was an adventure at night, but they were all thwarted, and they probably lost nearly 2000 people.

By this time, they had given up the idea of ​​crossing the river by boat, because the transport capacity was small and the efficiency was low. Even if they got ashore, the number of people was seriously insufficient, and they were easily driven down the river.

Liang Jun's latest move is to collect the ships and go upstream to find a place to build a pontoon bridge.

But their every move was closely watched by Zhu Jing's "guerrilla".The construction of the pontoon bridge required a lot of manpower, and it was impossible to hide it. The meeting was only half built before it was burned down by Xia Jun with a fireboat.

The [-] Cai recruits on the west bank of the river became more and more confident as they fought. They had lost a lot of their original fear, and they had recovered.Too few Liang soldiers could come over at one time, and they often had no backup. They could completely rely on their superiority in numbers and take advantage of the chaos when the enemy army just crossed the river to win the battle.

Of course, everything is easier said than done.

In order to prevent Liang Jun from crossing the river, Shao Dashuai also tried his best.He went into battle several times and led five hundred cavalry soldiers to save the field many times, otherwise Liang Ren would probably have succeeded.

For example, when crossing the river for the first time, the three hundred Liang soldiers almost directly defeated more than a thousand recruits from the Cai people. If Shao Shude hadn't personally brought the cavalry to come at the critical moment, it would have been a dead end, and the Liang people would have successfully crossed the river.

"It's raining continuously. I didn't like it at first, but now it seems that it has helped a lot." Shao Shude rode his horse and walked on the bank of the river.

The river surface is much wider and the water depth is much deeper. There is no longer a section of the river that can be waded directly during the dry season in winter.

"Marshal, beware of the people of Liang taking a detour to smuggle people. In the past when they attacked Lingzhou, Lu Huaizhong crossed the river tens of miles upstream, and stormed the bandit barracks on a stormy night, breaking them down." Chen Cheng subconsciously walked outside Shao Shude, reminding .

"Zhu Jing attacked the Liang people a few times, and the momentum was greatly increased, and the number of his troops expanded to three thousand. With their army and horses who are familiar with the geography, it is not so easy for the Liang people to turn around from the south." Shao Shude said: " In the prosperous Tang Dynasty and Huoshan area, there are many swamps, mountains and forests, and the terrain is complex. I think Liang people have given up crossing the river from the south side. This is not the same as when Hanlang and Kang Yuancheng were attacked. The terrain of Lingzhou is flat and you can't see the end at a glance. , there are roads everywhere, and it is completely different from Shouzhou.”

"It's not on the south side, what about the north side?" Chen Cheng said again: "Zhe has encountered bandit troops in Huaibei since ancient times. There are more than [-] people, and it may not be possible to stop them."

The [-] cavalry from ancient times encountered more than [-] men from Shi Shucong's troops near Yingshang County.

After some testing, it was found that this infantry-based unit was difficult to deal with. After two days of harassment, they didn't look too tired or about to collapse. Instead, they continued to move forward despite the harassment.

Zhe Conggu was also a wise man, he immediately dispatched a thousand riders and charged into every village along the Huai River, destroying and burning all boats, big and small.

Liang Jun then stopped and returned to Yingshang County to rest.At the same time, the cavalry scouted a lot of ships near the Yingkou camp. They might still use these ships to continue to advance upstream, so they had to guard against them.

"One day counts as one day." Shao Shude's thoughts were very clear, and he immediately said: "Pi Shui is not my bottom line. It is acceptable for the whole army to retreat. The essence of this battle lies in delay. Zhu Quanzhong's time is not as good as mine. Sufficient, every day he waits, his rear will be turned upside down. I want to see, what's the point of him fighting me on the front line of Caizhou and Pishui?"

The fighting in White Dog City was fierce.

Pang Shigu's soldiers are actually not many, only [-] or [-] cavalry can fight, and the rest are all prefecture and county soldiers or Tutuan villagers.With this strength, after besieging Baigou City for several days, problems were quickly exposed and it was impossible to attack.

Other strategies also worked.

Yang Shihou divided his troops and marched westward. As a result, the city was too lazy to take care of it and turned a blind eye. The plan to lure the enemy out of the city failed in the end.

Now Pang Shigu is also sitting on the wax.Shao Shude reckoned that he might want to capture Baigou City and retreat after explaining to Zhu Quanzhong.Otherwise, with 3 people going south, could it be that they came for a spring outing?

"Partially speaking, our army is in danger." Shao Shude said: "For example, Hengshan defending Baigou City will definitely suffer heavy casualties. For example, our Pishui defense line is not very secure. But overall, our army's battle situation is as stable as Mount Tai. Unless Zhu Quanzhong doesn't want to live anymore."

……

"I can't live through this day." In the north of Yangwu County, Zhengzhou, the county magistrate fled in a hurry, throwing away his helmet and armor.

The county magistrate is also a warrior, but he was defeated, just like his men.

A few days ago, the Xia thief crossed the river in Yangwu County and left quickly. Unexpectedly, a few days later, he killed another carbine and came back to loot wantonly.

Food, mules, horses, etc., all the necessary things were taken away, which was said to be much more ruthless than the first wave of Qibizhang who crossed the river.

Weizhou in Weibo Town now seems to be a huge loophole in Liang Jun's Yellow River defense line.

The Xia army crossed the river twice, the whole damn thing broke into Weibo territory first, and then crossed the river south.

Wei Bo was fighting fiercely with Li Keyong, and the remote counties on the north bank of the Yellow River, such as Xinxiang and Jixian, were left alone, and all the soldiers were drawn away.If Xia Jun is willing, he can even occupy one or two county towns without any difficulty.

Two waves of [-] cavalry and infantry crossed the river, which made Liang people very uncomfortable.

A while ago, I chased and intercepted Qi Bizhang. I don’t know how many people chased them to Huazhou. Now you will release the second batch for me?

The magistrate of Yangwu County was conscientious. He was worried that the ferry would be lost, so he personally brought hundreds of strong men to defend it, but he was defeated unexpectedly.Five thousand riders flooded to various counties and townships in Zhengzhou like a torrent, searching for food and hay like crazy, and then swimming and fighting, which made people exhausted.

Some people are more courageous and still stay in the village to farm.Some people were unbearable to be looted, so they packed up their belongings and ran to the city, or took refuge in other places—places that looked safer.

But is there still a safe place along the Yellow River?

The magistrate of Yangwu County didn't know, he didn't think...

The news quickly spread back to Bianzhou, and Zhu Quanzhong, who had just returned from the Song and Bo areas, immediately summoned his generals to discuss matters.

In fact, it is still the old faces of Jingxiang, but there is also a newcomer: Deng Jiyun.

The former general of Liang Jun was captured alive by Li Cunxiao and surrendered to Li Keyong.

Although Li Keyong rewarded the mansion, property, and remarried Deng Jiyun, he didn't trust him deep in his heart.

The official position was given, but no real power was given, so he could only go out with him.For example, when Li Kuangchou was attacked in Youzhou, Deng Jiyun joined the army and even fought in battle.

But those soldiers were not under his control. In fact, they were all assigned to him temporarily by Li Keyong. After the battle, he returned to Jian, and Deng Jiyun became a polished commander again.

This time Weibo was conquered, Zhang Cunjing and Ge Congzhou led [-] Liang troops to help.

In the Battle of Weizhou, Ge Congzhou led an army of [-] infantry to defeat Li Keyong's son Li Luoluo, and killed the Tielin army in pieces.Deng Jiyun took advantage of the chaos and rushed back to the Liang army. Zhu Quanzhong was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately recalled him to Bianzhou and rewarded him more.

Well, Deng Jiyun's wife and children are still there, Zhu Quanzhong didn't kill them, on the contrary, he gave some rewards from time to time over the years, Deng's family is doing well, which makes Deng Jiyun even more grateful.

As for his Jinyang's wife and children, uh, that's out of the question.

"Your Majesty, Yang Xingmi has something to say. He wants to take Chu, Hao, and Shouzhou, and give them all to Huainan." Jingxiang made a trip to Yangzhou, and expected to delay a lot of time, but Yang Xingmi spoke quickly and had a big appetite. Jingxiang couldn't make the decision, so he hurried back to Bianzhou.

"This is taking advantage of the fire to rob." Zhu Quanzhong didn't show anger on his face, it was obvious that this was within his expectation.

Yang Xingmi is not very strong, but he is very ambitious. To be honest, Zhu Quanzhong looks down on him very much.

Zhang Jian, the Sizhou governor, took refuge in Yang Xingmi, which made him very annoyed, but he couldn't bear it.

Now asking for the three states of Chu, Shou, and Hao is a bit of a slap in the face. If there is a choice, Zhu Quanzhong would like to send troops to destroy him.

But how?After Sun Ru was destroyed by him, Yang Xingmi recruited at least tens of thousands of people, and his strength is not what it used to be.If he raises troops to go north, given the current situation, Zhu Quanzhong does not know where to draw troops.

"Your Majesty, Yang Xingmi is not that idiot." Jing Xiang glanced at Zhu Quanzhong's face, relieved his heart, and said, "Although he is greedy for the four states of Chu and Shou, at this juncture, he will not go north in a big way."

Zhu Quanzhong understands this.Yang Xingmi actually provided a lot of convenience for sending troops this time, and obviously he was also worried that Shao Shude would be too difficult to control.

"Today we still need to solve the matter of Xia's thieves plundering Zheng and Hua states." Jing Xiang continued: "Qibizhang's troops should have rushed to Puzhou. It is appropriate to order He Delun, Wang Zhongshi, and Liu Zhijun to adjust their deployment and intercept the thieves. The road to Bianzhou in the south. On the other hand, the front line of Songzhou..."

"Song Zhou is fine." Zhu Quanzhong stretched out his hand to stop him, and said, "If Xia Bandit dares to do something that would be outraged by gods and men, then just do it."

Everyone turned their attention to it, and the king really could endure what ordinary people couldn't bear.

"Your Majesty, if the Xia bandits break into Songzhou, it will be a big trouble if they don't do such evil things and just plunder the people." Jing Xiang said: "In the area of ​​Hua and Zheng, tens of thousands of people have fled in ten days. Deserted, the village is ruined. If it goes on like this, I’m afraid it’s not an option.”

Zhu Quanzhong frowned and clenched his right hand into a fist. After a long time, he let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Does Jing Sima have a strategy?"

"Your Majesty, it's time to make up your mind." Jing Xiang raised his voice and said, "The king's foundation is in Bianzhou. If thieves break in, let alone the farming, what will the common people and scholars think? What will the generals think? Now please send your troops back to the north."

Zhu Quanzhong was noncommittal.

In fact, the defense is too passive, the best way is once and for all, take the initiative to attack the Xia people and cover their lair, and the crisis will be solved.More precisely, to launch the Second Heyang War, bring back the [-] troops sent to Weibo, gather the clan's Shucong and Zhu Zhen's troops, and mobilize prefectural and county soldiers and Tutuan villagers. question.

But last year's Heyang battle failed. The reasons are very complicated, which are related to the inability to overcome the difficulties, the reactivation of Erzhu and other factors.

If we attack again this year, can we succeed?Zhu Quanzhong was not sure.

What's more, in the current situation, it may be difficult to gather troops for a while.

Shao Bandit's tactics are really disgusting. If you want to concentrate your forces, you must give up some directions. Shao Bandit will definitely take advantage of the gap and use it as a breakthrough, forcing you into a dilemma.

You sent Bian Song Hua Zheng's soldiers to the south to aid Cai and Shou, but Wei Bo opened a big hole, allowing Xia Bandit's mounted infantry to slip in.

If you transfer Xu Su and Cai Ru's troops to the north, the two Huaihe Rivers will be in danger.

When the soldiers who transferred Luoyang moved eastward, they were directly rushed to Hulao Pass, joined forces with Heyang, and attacked Bianzhou directly.

what would you do?Move the whole body with one hair.

"How long will it take for Shi Shucong and Pang Shigu to defeat Xia Bandit?" Zhu Quanzhong asked.

No one can answer that.

Can Pang Shigu conquer Baigou City and Xinxi County, which are guarded by Xia Thieves?Disaster.

There were not many ancient soldiers in the stronghold built by crossing the Huai River in the north during the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. How sure is he to attack the city?
In contrast, Shi Shucong's Shouzhou direction is the most likely to make a breakthrough, but now it seems that the action is too slow, and has not yet crossed the river.If we continue to fight, when will it be?
"I have ordered Zhang Cunjing and Ge Congzhou to lead their troops back to the south." Zhu Quanzhong saw that everyone was silent, so he made his own decision: "We will wait until these 3 people arrive in Huazhou and see the situation."

Jing Xiang sighed secretly.

But this response can't be called wrong, and of course it can't be called right. In fact, I'm afraid it's hard to have any correct way to deal with it now.

But he felt that the lord was obviously indecisive in doing things, so it was better to act swiftly and decisively than before.

If the delay continues, the states of Bian, Song, Bo, Ying, Cao, Xu, and Su may all be corrupted, and then the trouble will be big.

On the other hand, what if the southern line wins?Xia Bandit retreated back to Tang Deng Sui, and after licking the wound, he would come back at any time, and he couldn't be wiped clean at all.

It's better to concentrate our forces, annihilate or drive away the intruding Xia thief cavalry, and then let Wei Bo watch over his yard, don't let people wading at will, and improve the defense line of the river on his own side-this is actually the post-Liang Dynasty in the era of Liang Jin struggle for hegemony. In this way, the two sides faced each other across the river, staring at the opponent's every move. In a year of hundreds of battles, the Jin people still failed to break through the front line of defense. As for the people who later detoured into Yunzhou and broke into the south bank of the Yellow River, that is another matter. up.

It's a pity that this plan also has a fatal problem, that is, too many troops will be occupied, which will lead to emptiness in the south.It would also be very troublesome if the Shao thief deployed a brigade of cavalry on the southern line and crossed the Huai River to the north.

It turned out to be such an unsolvable deadlock!

(End of this chapter)