Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Experienced generals like to fight for reinforcements in the mountains.

After getting this battle report, Shi Congyun was in a good mood, and went to find Zhou Xian that night.

The development of the war was even smoother than he had imagined. According to his original estimate, it would take at least half a month to reach Hezhou. He did not expect that he could reach Hezhou City in one day and one night just relying on the party's advanced forward.

Once the Chinese army has gained a firm foothold near Hezhou, his follow-up overall deployment can be gradually rolled out.

.......

The morning sun shone on Zhou Xian's ruddy and smooth shoulders, and the lazy beauty hugged his neck in a daze like a baby. Emperor Shi wished that he would never go to bed early, but finally he got up with difficulty.

The front line was still fighting, so he didn't dare to go to sleep all day, so he could only gently take the beauty's slender hand and climb out of bed with difficulty.

Gentle Township, Hero Tomb, if you really want to climb out, it is more difficult than fighting.

Emperor Shi thought in his heart, and reluctantly glanced at Zhou Xian who was still in a drowsy sleep, before he left the hall and asked the maids outside to wash up.

It's so cool to be an emperor, he couldn't help thinking.

......

Guizhou, Jingjiang Junzhen, people come and go along the river, and boats in the river come and go in an endless stream.

A large ship by the river, with military flags everywhere, surrounded by many soldiers, looks like an ordinary place. On the wide deck at the bow, Li Chengjin, the governor of Guizhou, is listening to the battle report from the east.

When he heard that the Northern Army had reached the city of Hezhou, he felt relieved after being frightened.

He was not gloating, but when he first heard that the army from the north was coming, he thought that he must bear the brunt, because Guizhou is where Jingjiang Town is located, and all the warships of the country are manufactured here, and a large number of naval forces are stationed there. One hundred thousand, but there are actually more than 3 people.

He originally thought that if the Qin State wanted to fight south, it would probably follow Qin Shihuang's marching route, from the north road of Guizhou, to attack Guizhou directly, so he was afraid that he would drag his family and his mouth to live on a boat by the river. If the situation is not right, run away immediately.

It's not how timid he is, but that Guizhou has no conditions for resistance at all.

The Lord Zeng ordered Wu Huai'en, the recruiter from the northwest, to manage the warships in Guizhou and train the navy.As a result, Wu Huai'en was eventually killed by his subordinates.

In the memorial, he wrote that Wu Huai'en was killed by angry subordinates because of the harshness of Wu Huai'en's control, "the supervisors are strict, the talents are not equal to those who are good, and the system is lax, and the system is sloppy".

But the situation is far more complicated than that. Wu Huai'en is indeed harsh, but most of the generals who serve as soldiers are harsh. It's more because he doesn't respect the local conditions and wants to force the soldiers to be trained as he expects. The punishment is also very harsh. , Offended the locals.

There are many local clans in Guizhou, and there are even cases where the pronunciation is different for ten miles. One or a few villages can unite with each other and exclude outsiders. In this case, the government can only use force to deter them from paying taxes. .

It's like when someone commits a crime, they don't know how to report it to the officials. Usually, the elders in the village, or the clan, or someone with authority make the decision, and then use lynching to solve it.

If there is a conflict between the villages, it is not reported to the officials, but it is resolved privately, basically helping relatives but not helping relatives, and paying more attention to blood relatives.

Therefore, during the spring plowing every year, there will be large-scale brawls caused by competition for water sources and other issues. In the past, the government's army could not solve the problem, but only maintained order and prevented bloodshed from spreading.

Under such circumstances, the situation here is very special. The local people can pay taxes and allow them to participate in hard labor, but they must not forcefully implement the royal law of the court, trying to make them change their customs and abolish lynching, otherwise it will attract big Scale backlash.

He, Li Chengjin, understood this, so he won over the leaders of all parties, the elders of the clan, and became the governor of Guizhou.

However, Wu Huai'en, the recruiter from the Northwest before, was assassinated by the locals because he didn't respect the local customs and wanted to forcefully implement what he had done in the army.

Because of this, it is impossible to unite the small army and the people to fight against the unified dispatch of the north. The army like a wolf and a tiger is simply impossible. The young and strong from many villages pull together, and the old and new enemies may not have fought against the northern army. I started fighting myself first.

Based on this situation, Li Chengjin never thought about how he would organize resistance if the Qin army came over, he only thought about how he would escape if the Qin army came over.

When the news that Qin Jun was going to Hezhou was confirmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, but he still didn't dare to disembark, so he could only say happily: "Thank God, Bodhisattva bless you, it seems that they want to fight south from Hezhou."

But he still didn't dare to disembark. If the Qin army suddenly turned around and attacked westward, or if Hezhou was too difficult to attack and could not be attacked for a long time, the Qin army might also turn around and head west to attack Guizhou first.

"No matter what, send more people to the west, and don't stop for a while. You must find out the news about the Qin army, and you will be rewarded for doing it well!" He ordered again.

"Yes, Li Inspector, don't worry." His subordinates were overjoyed and got off the boat at a cheerful pace. To him, Qin Jun hadn't been seen yet, but the reward in front of him was real.

Li Chengjin thought in his mind that he could mobilize a few generals in the navy. In fact, in order to win over the various clan villages, he basically gave the officers to the children and relatives of the clan elders over the years, and recruited troops by themselves.

In this way, not only can the local people be wooed by the military salary, but also the prestigious local elders can recruit troops for him, but the bad result of this is that there are more than 3 navy troops in Guizhou in name, but in fact there are not many commanders he can mobilize. , There are not many naval forces that can be mobilized.

Moreover, the local people are responsible for recruiting and training soldiers. Ninety-nine percent of them have never been outside in their lives, let alone fighting, they don’t know what a large-scale water battle is, and they have never even seen the army in the north. If you don't know anything about it, it's no wonder that the trained soldiers can fight.

The only thing he thought about was to mobilize all he could to protect himself and his family.

He really wanted to run back to Panyu, but he didn't dare to run for fear of being killed by the king.

He thought that he could only go to the Guanyin Temple to worship in the afternoon, and pray for the blessing of the Bodhisattva. The Qin army will continue to go south from Hezhou and not go west...

Chapter 415, Pan Chongche

The news of the soldiers approaching the city soon reached the south, and the Panyu Palace suddenly became panicked.

They heard the news that Qin State was going to send troops, but they didn't expect this day to come so soon.

The palace was in chaos, and Liu Yu hurriedly summoned his most trusted court ladies and eunuchs, as well as his most trusted witch, Fan Huzi, to discuss this matter. Fan Huzi was still mysterious and said that he would go to public divination to spy on the secrets of heaven.

Liu Yan didn't dare to delay, so he immediately found someone to replace him, and then he began to gather everyone in the hall to discuss countermeasures, but most of them hesitated and had no idea at all.

Only someone whispered a few words, "Your Majesty, why don't you go find Pan Chongche?"

Liu Yan also realized immediately, "Yes, go and call Pan Chongche."

The eunuch nodded, but when he was about to go out, he was suddenly stopped by Liu Yan, "Wait a minute!" He rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not going to call, I'm going to invite you, and I'll go with a gift."

The eunuch nodded and reacted.

If anyone can fight in the Southern Han Dynasty today, it must be Pan Chongche.

More than ten years ago, the old Chu generals Liu Yan, Wang Kui, Sun Lang, Zhou Xingfeng and others rebelled, captured Changsha, and expelled the army of the Southern Tang general Bian Hao. Later, it developed into Wuping led by Zhou Xingfeng. It was attacked by Shi Congyun a few years ago, and Wuping King Zhou Xingfeng was also captured to Daliang.

After Zhou Xingfeng and others rebelled against Chu, they did not work together. Among them, Wang Kui wanted to take advantage of the victory and develop southward, occupying the land of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Thirteen years ago, 13 barbarians from Huihedong attacked Chenzhou where they were attacked. At that time, the king of the country ordered Pan Chongche to lead the rescue.

When the armies of the two sides met, Pan Chongche looked at the troops coming from Hunan from a high altitude, and saw that their deployment was disorderly and disorganized, so he judged: "Weary and unorganized, we can be defeated."

After that, Wuping did not dare to go south to invade.

But after that, Pan Chongche gained a high position and power because of his military exploits, and many people were jealous, especially the eunuchs who were close to the lord of the palace.

Under their constant remonstrance, Liu Yu also suspected that Pan Chongche had the intention to rebel.

So the eunuch Xue Zongyu was sent to Daying to check the situation.

After Xue Chongyu came back, he said that Pan Chongche didn't care about military affairs every day, but just wore more than a hundred actors and actresses in beautiful clothes, played jade flutes, and danced and sang and danced day and night.

Since then, Pan Chongche has lost his military power, and he has been frustrated, dispirited and quite aggrieved.

The matter gradually came to light later on. It turned out that the eunuch Xue Chongyu had failed to extort bribes from Pan Chongche, so he made that argument, but no one vindicated him. The eunuchs and maids around the king wished that Pan Chongche would die, so as not to lose their power However, the lord of the country didn't care at all, or forgot.

Pan Chongche left the center of power, led troops outside all year round, depressed and frustrated, now that the army is overwhelming, everyone thinks of him.

......

There was a panic in the country, and the army outside the city gathered one after another. Finally, the next afternoon, the eunuch who had been sent to look for Pan Chongche returned, reporting the news with a dejected and terrified expression.

"Your Majesty, Pan Chongche said... He said that his eyes were ill and he couldn't see clearly. He was afraid of delaying His Majesty's important affairs, so he didn't want to lead the army to repel the Northern Army..."

"What!" Liu Yan was furious, grabbed the jade cup in his hand and dropped it.

The eunuch didn't dare to dodge, his head was bloodied, he could only kowtow and beg for a detour: "Your Majesty forgive me, Your Majesty forgive me, it's the servant who is incompetent!

But Pan Chongche lived in the barracks, and there were soldiers and generals who supported him. He didn't come out to see the servants when they left. He only asked his adjutant to come out and say that his eyes were ill, so he couldn't come to lead the army, and he didn't see anyone alive or dead.

The slaves said it was His Majesty's will, but he didn't see him, and even drew his knife. The slaves really have nothing to do!I think he really doesn't want to come, and he just doesn't take His Majesty seriously!Even rebellious! "

The eunuch burst into tears, but everyone was terrified, not only afraid of the king's anger, but also a greater uneasiness, if Pan Chongche didn't come to lead the army, who would be able to resist Qin's army?

For a while, many people in the court pretended to be calm, but they were in a panic.

"Dog, I'm going to kill him!" Liu Yan blushed with anger.

The maid Lu Qiongxian next to her was still awake, and even reminded: "Your Majesty, you can't turn against him at this time."

Liu Yu also reacted, and could only grit his teeth. He is clever and immediately understood what it meant. Pan Chongche was a general who had led troops in victorious battles. He was in a hurry, if he did something outrageous, he would be in trouble.

"Hurry up and discuss with me someone to lead the troops to rescue Hezhou!" Liu Yan said impatiently, not wanting to talk too much about Pan Chongche.

All of a sudden, everyone started to discuss.

At this time, although many people were afraid, they still had hope. As long as they blocked the Qin army this time, they would live a stable life again.

There are such precedents in history. Didn't Pan Chongche stop the 13 troops in Chudi [-] years ago and quell the disaster of war? Now if it happens again, the good old days can be restored.

Thinking of this, everyone started discussing it, but most of the people who recommended it were people related to Lu Qiongxian and Fan Huzi.

And not everyone has that kind of courage and self-confidence. Several people who were recommended declined with various reasons until one person stood up, Wu Yanrou, one of the favored eunuchs beside the king.

He very confidently asked to lead the troops to the north to rescue Hezhou, and said seriously: "Your Majesty, what Pan Chongche could do back then, the servants could do, and for the lord of the country, I would not hesitate to die in the north. I will definitely stop the northern army Bingfeng."

The lord Liu Yan was overjoyed, and said three good things in succession: "Good, good, you are as close as my godson. If you can resist Qin's army, you will be my godson."

"Yes!" Wu Yanrou said happily.

Liu Yan raised his hand and wanted to say something, but he stopped quickly, took off the jade belt around his waist, and handed it to Wu Yanrou in front of all the officials.

Wu Yanrou was so excited that her hands trembled and her voice trembled a little. She even put her head down and took it with both hands, "Your Majesty, even if I die in the north, I will stop them!"

......

Early the next morning, the morning fog had not yet cleared, and there were crowds of people outside Panyu. The first batch of reinforcements gathered more than 2 people. Under the leadership of the eunuch Wu Yanrou, they began to go north to support Hezhou. Near Panyu, the follow-up The army also began to gather one after another.

.......

Under the city of Hezhou, dark clouds pressed down on the city, flags were fluttering, drums and horns sounded continuously, resounding in all directions, and galloping riders came and went on the muddy avenue.

Even if it has been filled with stones several times, after a light rain, under the trample of tens of thousands of people, no matter how good the road is, it will become muddy, and no matter how hard the stone is, it will be crushed into powder.

The strength of a single person is insignificant, but when hundreds or thousands of people gather together, they become unstoppable, and that is where people are most powerful.

Tens of thousands of Qin troops have completed the siege of Hezhou City. Numerous trenches are criss-crossed and are being dug out by the auxiliary soldiers. They are criss-crossed in front of the city head for several miles. This is for the siege troops to avoid the arrows at the city head when they approach the city wall. The riprap was used by the Qin army who had been fighting for so many years, and the auxiliary soldiers were also working hard, but in just a few days, the trenches were almost under the city.

Chapter 416: A master meets a stunned young man

"Commander, the reinforcements from bandits have passed through Wuzhou."

The lights in the big tent were dim, Pan Mei, Dang Jin, Yin Chongke and other major generals were listening to the scout's report.

From time to time outside the tent, the sound of wind mixed with drums and horns could be heard, roaring loudly in the night.

Marching and fighting is a very tiring thing, not to mention fighting to the death, just running around and exhausting along the way can kill people.

For the reinforcements sent by the Southern Han Dynasty, everyone was not too surprised, they were all expected, and it was almost unnecessary to guess.

In any war, there are not many choices in strategic deployment most of the time, and more lies in the competition of army morale, combat effectiveness, logistical supplies, execution capabilities and organizational level.

Just as they besieged Hezhou, the Southern Han Dynasty would inevitably send troops to rescue them, and they would inevitably send troops to stop them.

Almost any general with a little brain can think of this, but in the process, who can win is a comprehensive competition between the soldiers of both sides.

And what determines the outcome more is the geography of mountains and rivers.

Pan Mei looked dignified and paced slowly, "If we want to stop the reinforcements, what do you think is the best place?"

"Heshui is the only way. If they want to rescue them, they have to cross the river. If they want to cross the river, they have to attack halfway to drive them down to feed the fish and shrimp." Han Baozheng immediately said, "Commander, I am willing to lead the army."

Han Baozheng expressed his thoughts, and at the same time asked Ming, as a general of Shu who surrendered, he was very eager to prove himself. Although he performed well in the Battle of Hedong, he was not the main striker after all.

This time he was even more eager to prove himself, Pan Mei just nodded slightly, without coming to a conclusion.

Hejiang, located in the south of Hezhou, has a big bend to the west, from east to west to north and south, connecting the south. If the enemy wants to support, they must cross the Hejiang River.

Attacking at halfway, in fact, they all understand and understand this truth. They have fought Huainan, destroyed Jingchu, and annexed Shu, so they naturally know the difficulty of the beach fight.

Especially in the battle with Zhou Xingfeng's army in Wuping, if they didn't rely on the power of gunpowder, it would be difficult for them to gain a firm foothold on the beach.

But these are not the key points. Although Han Baozheng is eager to fight and has a commendable spirit, he is a general in Sichuan after all, and lacks the rich experience in the battlefield like Dang Jin and his old generals in the later Zhou Dynasty.

Pan Mei traced the scriptures in the big tent with her fingers: "The key point is that the river stretches for hundreds of miles south of Hezhou, and there are many places to cross the river. It is difficult to determine where they will cross the river."

Han Baozheng blushed a little, and immediately stopped talking.

Indeed, this is the most important thing. It is absolutely impossible to disperse the troops along the hundreds of miles of river. That would be to weaken oneself, and there is no defense at all. It is difficult to support, and they may have already crossed the river when they reach the opposite side.

It will be even more troublesome if the generals on the opposite side know how to fight. If they are facing the Liao army, they must have sent a large number of forwards with a team of hundreds of cavalry to go deep everywhere, scattered around the long line of defense, in order to confuse them on the riverside and make them engage in battle. It is not clear where the main force will cross the river, and then it will be possible to cross the river.

This is actually very similar to the hide-and-seek game I played when I was a child, except that when I lost and was caught by my playmates, I would only laugh and laugh. If I lose at this time, tens of thousands of lives will die, and even the country will be destroyed.

Fortunately, Pan Mei and the others are also veterans, very experienced, and they understand this truth in their hearts.

The veteran Liu Renshan, who was also eager to show off, immediately glanced at the map, and then said solemnly: "I thought that I could concentrate the reinforcements on the riverside for interruption, and send more scouts to investigate both sides. It is best to cross the river to the opposite side and find the enemy. The army sent troops to stop it."

As he spoke, he pointed to a tributary that flows into the He River, the Mawei River.

"The navy can stand by in the Mawei River, so that we will not be exposed, and can quickly enter the Hejiang River to support the infantry, and if the infantry is too late to stop the reinforcements, the navy can be blocked first, waiting for support."