Chapter 1057 Xiangfan
In the long wild-leaf corridor, cars and horses gathered, and flags were like forests.
Among the hillsides on both sides, there are scouts and rovers that appear and disappear from time to time.
The drums are endless, from beginning to end, you can hear them for 200 miles.
The rear army had not yet entered the corridor, and the front army had already guarded the sage to arrive in Duyang.
Silver Gun Left Camp, Heihu Left Camp, Personal Army, One of the left and right Jinwu Guards, One of the left and right Feilong Guards, One of the first and second battalions of the Yellow Head Army, One of the Yicong, One of the fallen geese, All the catchers, Youzhou Tu The total number of cavalry commanders is more than 50,000, plus tens of thousands of children from the military commanders of the prefectures and military commanders who were conquered from Luonan, tens of thousands of men and women from Yingchuan, Runan, Chen, Liang and Jiyin counties, and tens of thousands of men and women from Bianliang. There were 10,000 Ding Zhuang from Hebei and 10,000 military troops from Shaofu, with more than 100,000 military soldiers and logistics auxiliary soldiers.
As for the logistics of transferring grain and grass, it will not take almost October to gather in large quantities to transport grain and grass military funds to Nanyang.
Considering that the materials that have been transported to the front line on a small scale and low intensity for more than half a year, the gap this month is nothing.
There are almost 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers providing services to them, and the consumption of war is really amazing.
Of course, if there is a canal that leads directly to the front line, the number of logistics personnel can be reduced by more than half and the cost can be reduced by more than 70%.
On September 21, Shao Shen led more than 3,000 Zuo Xiao Cavalry Guards to Wancheng. The first thing he did was to integrate the Hu soldiers of various tribes with scattered disciplines and disobedience.
At the same time, Wang Dun's old subordinates and the Jingzhou shogunate Mao Bao arrived in Xiangyang with his merits.
They set out from Jiangling, took a boat to Yangkou, and then arrived in Xiangyang.
This river was excavated by Du Yu, using the dense lakes between Jiangling and Xiangyang to clear the old canals in the pre-Qin period. Therefore, a river channel connecting Mianshui (Hanshui) and Yangtze River was opened, greatly shortening the Jiangling and Xiangyang. The distance between them does not need to detour from Xiakou and other places.
Of course, merchants are generally not willing to take this road, because the surrounding swamps and lakes are everywhere, the reed marsh is endless, and there are not many people. They are more willing to go to Xiakou to take a detour and collect goods there, but if it is a military operation, then That's another matter.
After arriving in Xiangyang, Mao Bao would not leave. He and the five thousand reinforcements he brought were stationed in Fancheng to stop the Liang army.
In the afternoon of the same day, Xiangyang Prefect Deng Yue arrived on a boat across the river.
He is also Wang Dun's old subordinate and has a good relationship with Mao Bao.
After Tao Kan opened the mansion, they were all retained, one for joining the army and the other for the prefect of Xiangyang.
As soon as they met, Deng Yue pointed to the soldiers brought by Mao Bao and said in surprise: "The governor doesn't give him some elite soldiers, who are these?"
The soldiers were cutting down trees in the wild and packing hay and firewood. On the one hand, they kept it for their own use. On the other hand, they did not give them the Liang people to make them unable to pick or even build siege equipment nearby, which consumed their time and energy.
But these sergeants have some images...
Many people have disheveled hair and some things like ghostly talismans on their faces. These are barbarian soldiers!
Mao Bao was also helpless and said, "Boshan, over the years, the troops that can be fought in Jingzhou have not exceeded 40,000. You have ten thousand people, which account for 41. The governor wants to suppress the local area, but also Leave some people everywhere to support me. If I can bring two thousand elite soldiers and three thousand barbarian soldiers here, you should be content."
After saying this, Deng Yue was speechless.
The enemy is coming in full force, and it is difficult for the governor to do so. He must keep a sufficient number of troops on hand, help everywhere at any time, or check for omissions and make up for the situation to save the crisis.
There are already 10,000 heavy troops stationed in Xiangyang, and it is already very good to send you two thousand elite troops and three thousand barbarian troops.
If you still want reinforcements, there are probably only barbarians, and that's enough.
"Shuozhen, how are you going to defend?" Deng Yue no longer cared about this question and instead asked about the war.
"If Xiangyang is not protected, the bandits will definitely go down the Mian River and attack Jingling, Jiangxia and Nanjun." Mao Bao said: "And Fancheng is the Chongping in the north of Xiangyang, so they must guard it no matter what. The former king governor ( Wang Dun) I have kindness to me, alas, things have come to this point, I just serve the country with death."
Deng Yue didn't want to hear these words. He is willing to fight for the court, but he will just let it go if he is to serve the country with death.
"Boshan has also fought with Le Kai several times. Where does he come from every time?" Mao Bao asked back.
"From the Ji River upstream of the Mian River, take the detour on the south side; or attack Fancheng directly." Deng Yue said.
"That's right." Mao Bao said: "The navy is the key to defending Xiangyang."
After saying that, he pointed to the south bank separated by water and said, "Xiangyang is located in the water curve, with rivers on the west, north and east sides. This is a natural chasm. There is Fancheng on the north bank of Mian River, which is separated from Xiangyang. The rivers face each other and support each other. As long as there is a contact between the boat master, it is not difficult for the two cities to protect each other. The weak point lies in the south of Xiangyang City, so Xianshan must be kept firmly and there is no need to lose. "
"I have divided my troops into four thousand and stationed in the city in the mountains." Deng Yue said: "Today, I have sent many refusals to the rich and powerful families in various counties, which is really heartbreaking."
"Do your best." Mao Bao said, "If you are too anxious, these wealthy families may surrender to the enemy. Shao Zhe is too powerful."
Deng Yue nodded and said, "The truth is reasonable, and now I can only talk about all the people."
Mao Bao frowned slightly when he heard this.
Deng Boshan is like this, and the morale of the Xiangyang defenders is not high.
*******
Shao Shen rectified his troops in Nanyang, which did not mean that he had no action.
As a general who once penetrated deep behind enemy lines, he was not the kind of person who was stable. In fact, after rectifying a batch, he sent a batch to the front line.
The first batch of two thousand Xianbei cavalry went south, led by Qifu Wuzhen, the chief commander of Qifu tribe, headed from Wancheng south, passed Xinye, and went straight to the northern border of Fancheng.
When the first batch of arrow rain fell, the Jin soldiers who were picking wood fled one after another, threw down ox carts, firewood and even tools, got into the reed marsh, and rowed a boat and ran. More than ten people who had not had time to run were blocked on the shore, their eyes full of despair.
Dozens of riders looked at them from afar, drove them away from the river as much as possible, and then shot arrows in circles, trying to get out of contact.
Among the woodcutters, there were two guards, but they were shot to death at the moment of the raid.
The Xianbei cavalry knew very well the threat of the infantry archers to them, so they concentrated on shooting and killing them as soon as possible.
The remaining dozen people mostly used axes for chopping wood, plus a few long spears, and ran away without any cover.
The sound of arrows breaking through the air continued, and several people were shot to death in an instant, and the rest surrendered in despair.
The leader of the team threw out a bundle of leather ropes and called on the people below to tie the prisoners, and waved to a distance.
More than a hundred cavalry emerged from the other side of the stream.
Obviously, they were ambushed to prevent being attacked by the enemy, but they just didn't work.
After many battles in Huainan, the Ministry of War has compiled the cavalry combat experience in areas with dense water nets into a book and distributed a part of it. As for whether to learn or not, it is your business. Just don’t shout if you suffer a loss.
No mistakes, one song, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one reading!
Throughout late September, the Xianbei and the Diqiang tribes of Hezhou that went south in advance were constantly cleaned up in Fancheng.
The main job is to prevent the thief army from going out to pick wood, and also to hunt messengers and scouts, and to turn the enemy into blind and deaf people step by step.
Of course, this is impossible.
How could the Jin army become a real deaf and blind man when they are within the radiation range of Yunmengze? At least water transportation is difficult to cut off, and land transportation is not necessarily the case.
However, it is already a great victory to be able to hinder the enemy from collecting military information, make them unable to understand the situation in the north, and try to slow down their speed of obtaining intelligence.
At the end of September, the Fancheng defenders had almost never gone out, relying solely on ships to travel everywhere, transporting messengers, resources and equipment.
On the first day of October, Mao Bao climbed the city to look out, but saw enemy cavalry on both sides of Fancheng. He even threw out a banner several miles away from the west of the city and built a camp that could be garrisoned for thousands of people.
Of course, there are no enemy troops in the north and south of the city. Because there is a lake north of Fancheng and the south of the city is backed by Mianshui, the enemy can only attack from the east and west sides.
"We are all building a floating bridge." The general of the Sutra Department reminded Mao Bao to come to the west city, holding a golden crow hanging down from the west, and putting on a pergola in his hand, and observing carefully.
Above the Mian River, thousands of infantrymen—perhaps dismounted cavalry—are cutting down trees and building temporary floating bridges.
After the bridge is built, they will rely on camps and cross the river to the south and raid the rear of Xiangyang.
Is it really good to stick to this? Mao Bao had questions about this tactic for the first time.
It seems safer to act passively and be beaten until you can't afford it, but everything has its pros and cons. This will help boost the arrogance of the enemy and weaken the morale of the military and civilians on your own.
Moreover, if Shao Zhe did not come to attack Fancheng and Xiangyang, but just siege, and refused to leave, and fought hard with heavy casualties, what should he do?
The most difficult way to hurt others is to use it.
At this moment, he suddenly rode in the west of the city and dismounted from afar.
A soldier picked up a bow and arrow on the top of the city and looked at Mao Bao.
Mao Bao never gave an order and planned to hear what the other party said.
"General Mao." Seeing that no one was shooting arrows on the city, the person who came was even more courageous. He walked forward more than ten steps and shouted: "I am a guest at Duke Pan's Mansion in Xingyang. Does the general still remember the old friendship between the two families?" br>
Old friendship? No existence. The Pan family in Xingyang is a large family, and even the Zheng family is short of them. What kind of friendship can they have with a rich man like the Mao family?
"For the sake of hearing the local accent, I will spare you from death. You will go quickly, and I am afraid of being killed by the arrow." After that, Mao Bao personally picked up the bow and took the arrow, flew out with a arrow, and landed in front of the messenger for several steps.
"General Mao." The envoy was shocked, but he was still a little unwilling, so he said, "The Emperor of Daliang always likes cold people. If you come to surrender, you will be rich and noble. Now 800,000 infantry and cavalry are heading south to Jingzhou, and then you will be fine. You should think about it carefully——”
The messenger was still waiting to say something else, but when he saw Mao Bao take out another arrow, he immediately cursed and ran back to the horse in a panic and left.
Mao Bao gently retracted the arrow, looked at the messenger's back as he was leaving, snorted coldly, and then frowned again.
Cold snorted for his subordinates to listen to them, so that they could firmly defend themselves.
Frowning was because he was worried. Shao Zhe had used so many troops and was definitely unwilling to return empty-handed. Regardless of the final result, the defenders of Fancheng and Xiangyang will definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Now, I don't know how many people can survive until the end...
Starting from the second day of October, as Mao Bao guessed, more and more Liang army infantry and cavalry went south.
They let Xiangfan, which was closely guarded, not fight, and instead persuaded the surrounding counties to surrender, and invited representatives of the noble families and county officials to visit Jingyang to meet the saint.
Military wars were fought by Shao Shen, while political wars were Shao Xun's affairs. For Nanzheng, the latter may be more important.
(This chapter ends)