Chapter 603: The Scramble (3)
For the plot in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, through the recitation and explanation of the pen, Duoduo and other Manchurian nobles of the Eight Banners are very clear. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
In their opinion, the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in Guandu is similar to the current battle with Li Huayu. Cao Cao's soldiers were short of food and the rear was unstable, and countless officials had private contacts with Yuan Shao. However, Cao Cao made a surprise attack and burned the Wuchao grain storage, which immediately turned the tide.
Now, the 4,000 cavalry led by Azig himself, carrying the deep expectations of the nobles of the Eight Banners, rushed all the way from Shanxi, surpassing Li Zicheng's brigade, and did not intercept Li Zicheng, just went all the way to the east! It was so shocked that the soldiers of Dashun were worried in their hearts, and they didn't know where these Tartars would suddenly appear!
The 4,000 elite horsemen selected by Azig were really elite divisions selected from more than 100,000 people under his command. The Bayala soldiers of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, the Condor of the Eight Banners of Mongolia, the crow soldiers under Wu Sangui, and the old battalion soldiers of the former Dashun Army.
The equipment of one person, three horses, and four horses allowed him to transfer almost all the spare horses in the army!
The war horses like clouds spread across the land between Shanxi and Henan like a flood.
The states and counties along the way, seeing this huge Qing cavalry, all fell in despair. Azig did not have time to surrender, so he ordered people to enter the city to collect some grain and grass, change the guides, and tell the state and county officials to guard the city, and our Qing army will arrive later. After that, we continued to gallop east.
He had already listened carefully to the information he needed, and the Li Huayu Department of the Southern Guangdong Army consumed a huge amount of grain, rice, and military supplies every day, and completely relied on the river to transport water from Shandong to the Zhangde front line for consumption! As long as he promised to cut off the river for a few days, his younger brother Duoduo in Zhangde Mansion would be sure to defeat this Grand Prince Li! Then the two brothers can take advantage of the precious time window of Li Huayu's retreat and turn around to deal with Li Zicheng's great shun army!
"Quick! Speed up, to the east! Azig kept giving orders urging the troops to speed up the march, and the Mongolian eagle archers, who were good at long-distance running, grew up on horseback, and the Bayala soldiers who lived on fishing and hunting in Liaodong were so tired that they could not lift their arms, so they had to wrap their arms tightly with cloth, so as not to be sore and weak, and unable to hold the horsewhip.
Thousands of miles away, along the way, Azig didn't know whether the tired war horses were a thousand or fifteen hundred. However, as long as Li Huayu's grain route can be cut off and Duoduo has a chance to defeat him, it will kill and injure thousands of horses, what is it?!
His goal is Weihe!
Wei River, Han called Baigou, Sui called Yongji Canal, Song said Yu River, Ming called Wei Cao, Qing Dynasty because the river originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, terminated in Tianjin Wei, take its first and last two ends of the word "Wei" and the name of the word "Wei River", has been used to this day. The Weihe River is usually referred to as a section from Hehe Town, Xinxiang to Guantao County, Hebei Province. Geographical Chronicle: 347 kilometers long, of which 240 kilometers in Henan Province; Henan Provincial Chronicle? Water conservancy is said to be 344.5 kilometers long and has a basin area of 14,970 square kilometers. In Henan Province, the length of the river is 2,865 kilometers, and the basin area is 14,580 square kilometers. It is 100 kilometers from Hehe Town to Saponaria Tree, which is locally called the Grain River.
Wei River belongs to the Haihe River water system, originates in Jincheng County, Shanxi Province, flows through Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong 4 provinces, enters the South Canal from Linqing City, Shandong Province, flows into the Haihe River through Tianjin, with a total length of 966 kilometers, runs through 14 counties and cities in Henan Province, including Boai County, Jiaozuo City, Xiuwu County, Huojia County, Xinxiang County, Xinxiang City, Ji County, Qi County, Jun County, Hua County, Tangyin County, Neihuang County, Qingfeng County and Nanle County.
The predecessor of the Wei River was basically the Yongji Canal of the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty, which was formed on the basis of Cao Cao's digging of the white ditch and the connection of some natural rivers and the early Yellow River. In ancient times, the transportation and business transportation were very complicated, and the sails came and went, and there was an endless stream. In modern times, it is still an important route for material exchanges between northern Henan and Tianjin.
Cao transport ships can be transported directly to Anyang City through the Anyang River, a tributary of the Wei River!
The vast majority of the military grain and grass consumed by Li Huayu's troops were connected and transferred from the mouth of the Yellow River, along the Yellow River and the canal all the way to the west, through Guanxian and Linqing, into the Weihe River water system, and directly arrived at Li Huayu's camp. Provide a steady stream of material support for Li Huayu's war.
By the way, according to the rescue agreement signed between Li Huayu and Li Zicheng, the various bulk materials purchased by the Dashun Army were also roughly delivered to the west along the Yellow River through this route, and in Henan.
Azig's preferred target was this section of the Guantao Territory in the Wei River.
It happens to be bounded by the Wei River, the east is the crown county and Linqing of Dongchang Mansion, and the west is the pavilion pottery. Not far to the southwest is Zhangde Mansion in Henan Province. Once successful, it will have an immediate impact on the war.
"Master, walk forward for half a day, there is the section of the Chenggouwan River in Guantao County, where the river is narrower, the flow speed is slower, the water flow is much less, and the boats will walk much slower in this section. It's a good place for us to start! ”
The words of the guide made Azig, who was born in Liaodong and grew up on horseback, seem to understand whether he understood or not. The guide and the pen had to explain to him for a long time.
Originally, the Zhanghe River and the Wei River were called the Zhangwei River after they merged into one in the Lianggou Bay of Guantao County. The Zhangwei River flows northward from Chenggouwan, turns a corner in a market town called Jianzuka, winds north-east to Linqingzhou, and finally joins the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, or reaches Kyoto, or east into the ocean.
The supply fleet of the Nanyue Army, which came from east to west, was naturally affected by the geographical environment here, and the river narrowed, and the water volume and flow speed were affected, so they had to reorganize and reduce their speed.
In a large forest, a short rest for an hour allowed the cavalrymen who had been galloping for days to dismount and stretch their bodies, and prepare weapons and arson. By the way, fill the war horse with a handful of fried beans and minced salt, so that these poor lives can get a little replenishment.
A "All on board!" "Let the cavalrymen who were lying on the ground enjoying the comfortable feeling of stretching their muscles and bones had to put an end to this enjoyment, reluctantly stood up, straightened their horses, and turned over their horses.
Azig didn't say much, but ordered someone to raise his gold-weaving dragon and led hundreds of Bayala soldiers to rush out of the woods. Behind him, thousands of cavalry rolled up a huge thunderstorm and galloped towards Chenggou Bay, which was more than ten miles away.
All the people have such a thought, rush to Chenggou Bay, cut off the Wei River transport, not only can make a great contribution, but also make a fortune.
However, the cavalry who rushed to the vicinity of the Chenggou Bay River were extremely stunned. The ironclad situation in front of them made them dizzy.
It is an exaggeration to say that the copper wall is impregnable. However, an impenetrable earthen wall stood on both sides of the river.
Seeing the thousands of cavalry that suddenly appeared by the river, horses several times the number of people, a rapid and loud gong sounded on the earthen wall, and in an instant, the alarm sounded for dozens of miles.
"Damn brute! When was this wall built! ”
Although the earthen wall is not high, it is more than one person high. There is a low wall inside the wall for the watchman to stand and walk. Not far away, there are also gun emplacements and arrow holes, although it is very simple, but for the cavalry light advance of Azig, it is an insurmountable golden city soup pool.
This is Fan Xiaozeng's masterpiece.
On the way to report to Li Huayu's command, he led the staff of the staff office to report to Li Huayu, and discovered the fatality of this transportation artery of the Nanyue Army. Although he couldn't think of any other solution, he knew how the Qin soldiers defended their grain routes back then, as he was familiar with the war examples of the past dynasties.
Xiang Liang to Dingtao, and then broke the Qin army, Xiang Yu and others beheaded Li You, benefiting Qin, and having pride. Song Yi admonished Xiang Liangri: "Defeat and defeat the arrogant and lazy." Today, the soldiers are less and lazy, the Qin soldiers are increasing, and the ministers are afraid of them. Xiang Liangfu listened. Song Yi made Yu Qi. Dao met the envoy of Qi Gao Ling Junxian and said: "The general sees Wu Xinjunhu? The minister said that the army of Wuxin Jun would be defeated. If you walk in a hurry, you will avoid death, and if you move quickly, you will be in trouble. "Qin Guoxi raised troops to benefit Zhang Han, attacked the Chu army, broke the Dingtao, and Xiang Liang died. Zhang Han ordered Wang Li, Shijian surrounded the giant deer, Zhang Han's army was in the south, and built the Yongdao and lost the Su.
This is a record of how the Qin soldiers defended their own transportation lines in the twenty-four history books, and what the Qin soldiers could do two thousand years ago, Fan Xiaozeng could naturally do it.
At that moment, he used the general staff office to defend the local garrison and the government, allocated money and grain, recruited people to build long walls in these key areas of Chenggouwan, and sent flood soldiers to guard them.
The low-hanging fruit in front of him was hindered by this earthen wall that was tens of miles long, and Azig couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva as he looked at the little white sails in the river, the sailors and soldiers running nervously on the ship, the soldiers escorting it, and the large amount of supplies covered with tarpaulins on the side of the ship.
"These stupid Nikans! I thought that a low wall would be able to stop the king! How about the Great Wall, this king has entered the customs countless times! ”
Thinking of this, Azig was immediately more convinced, and he had included those large ships with a very low waterline in his successes.
"Dismount and rush! Destroy this earthen wall! Set fire to the ship again! ”
Thousands of elite cavalry of the Qing army dismounted together, each lined up, carrying spears, short knives, big axes, and screaming viciously and rushed down to the Hetao.
In the river, the flood soldiers guarding the river and the escort soldiers and horses of the fleet were also trembling and lined up behind the earthen wall, and the spears and knives in their hands were already soaked with sweat.
The sailors of several inland water divisions dragged the three-pounder guns on the ship ashore and hurriedly placed them on the gun emplacements.
"Don't be afraid! The Tartars were light horses and did not carry artillery. They can't open our wall! As long as we hold on, they don't dare to delay too long in the hinterland! ”
The battalion officers of the inland river division who escorted the supplies were smiling happily and looked at the Qing army that had spread from the Hetao area. Beside him, several leaders of the Cao boat and the stewards of the Cao Gang were also gearing up.
The military achievements of the Nanyue Army are so rich that they have long coveted them. Now, at last, there is such an opportunity.
A few gunshots, accompanied by the roar of the three-pounder cannon, the swords and guns of the two sides began to intertwine back and forth, greeting each other's vital points.
The first round ended with Azig's men having to retreat in embarrassment. It is no wonder that thousands of miles of rushing are coming, and they are already sleepy and tired, and they have to immediately carry out field battles, and the demand for physical strength is huge.
What's more, the other side occupies the advantage of the terrain, relying on fortifications, condescending. I don't want to kill or hurt many of your soldiers, as long as I can delay time. As a result, Azig's forwards were defeated in disarray.
Knowing the situation of his subordinates, Azig did not feel sorry for these tired and panting soldiers, but ordered them to rest in place, and ordered someone to prepare hot water for food and boil some tea.
"Let's take a break. After eating, a few of you will lead people to attack the long wall! Azig pointed to several former Dashun army officers who had joined the Qing army in Shanxi. He knew that most of Li Zicheng's subordinates had grown up in battles of varying scales, from the siege to the county seat, all the way to cities like Nanyang, Luoyang, and Xi'an. Therefore, letting these people attack the long wall in front of them is precisely for them to have a place to use.
Those elites from the Dashun Army also prepared arrogantly with their own faces.
Azig sat under a willow tree, in the saddle of his own saddle, and looked at the long wall in the distance.
"When did these barbarians build this wall?! It's so hard to deal with! ”
He didn't know that this long wall, in the opinion of Fan Xiaozeng, the initiator, was far from meeting the design requirements.
In Fan's original design, he wanted to build gravity retaining walls on both sides of the river. The so-called gravity retaining wall is relatively rare in the northern plains, but it is widely used in the mountains and the south.
After the Yangtze River flood in 1998, many rivers and dams in the Yangtze River basin adopted this technology. In the case of mountainous areas, it can be used to prevent landslides and landslides. If it is used for river dams, it is used as reinforcement.
Another function is to make courtyard walls (walls) and fortresses. All you need is rubble, cement, sand, and water
In parts of Shandong's mountainous regions, Li Huayu has already adopted this technique to prevent landslides and build roads. Of course, artillery forts and fortresses were built in many places.
In Li Huayu and Fan Xiaozeng's opinion, this thing is much simpler to build than a city, and it also saves a lot of money. First of all, the foundation trench is excavated in the predetermined area, and the bearing layer can be dug up, and then the rubble that can be obtained everywhere in the mountain is thrown into it and piled up a layer, and then the mortar (cement, fine sand and water mixture) is poured on the rubble, and finally it is smoothed by hand. And so on and so forth. The standard construction process is to lay a layer of rubble on a layer of mortar, except for the reservation of drainage outlets, which is a bit technically difficult, it is basically a super simple construction project. First, there is no need to burn bricks, and second, there is no need to chisel the stones into squares, and the only thing that needs to be done is to keep the outermost façade flat. In addition, it is necessary to supervise whether the construction team is cutting corners, whether it is in strict accordance with the technical requirements, and a layer of mortar is laid for each layer of rubble. Otherwise, after a long time, it will become loose and loose due to internal pressure problems.
Of course, this was based on the industrial foundation of the Nanyue Army, and the cement known as burnt ash could be transported to Shandong as the ballast of the sea ships for the construction of the eldest prince. In this large plain where Shandong and Henan Zhili meet, the stone is extremely difficult to find.
However, it is not that difficult.
There are no stones, here are wattles and wicker. These wattles, wicker and wicker are woven into pieces and then erected with wooden strips or bamboo. The pre-dug trench acts as a barrier on both sides, after which the soil is filled in the middle. Fill in a layer of soil and ram it once. The rammed layer is then mixed with lime and then the soil is filled.
This is known as the method of plate building.
Before the Han Dynasty, most of the cities and palaces were built in this way. The difference is that before the Han Dynasty, the rammed earth was breaded with wood, and after the Han Dynasty, it was wrapped with stone. Of course, before the Han Dynasty, some important places were also stone-clad rammed earth. There are also city walls made of rubble mixed with lime and clay, such as the Great Wall of the Qin and Han dynasties.
The earthen wall made of rubble burnt ash masonry is not so strong, but it is better because of the low cost and fast speed. Except for gathering the people to build the long wall and pay for some rations, there was basically no other expenses.
Each person has done enough work according to the prescribed amount of work every day, and in addition to ensuring three meals a day made of serious grain, he can also get a salary of 20 yuan a day. If you are willing to work overtime, you can get overtime pay of 10 cents per shift. With these wages, the people can go to the grain and rice stores attached to the canteens of each section to buy grain, rice, oil and salt at the internal price of the cost, and take them home for the whole family to spend the winter.
As a result, the labor force in several nearby states and counties immediately caught the news. It's the winter farming season, and there is a war going on nearby, so you don't want to find a place where you can eat a stable meal?
In less than ten days, the construction of the long wall, which was dozens of miles long, ordered by Fan Xiaozeng was completed. It was in front of Azig's eyes.
Although this earthen wall is not too strong according to Fan Xiaozeng's judging criteria, it is more than enough to deal with the Azig who did not carry artillery and siege equipment for the light army.
Not to mention the 4,000 light cavalry of Azig who wanted to complete the surprise attack, even if it was the Twist Army at the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was also famous for its cavalry, and it was helpless in the face of the long wall built by the Huai Army relying on the river, so it could only choose another way.
However, Azig is not a twister. The Twist Army can fight on the move, and there is no other way to go here. But his Azigh's purpose is this river, and he wants to burn the boats in the river!
At the sound of an order, those proud soldiers and fierce generals who had changed from the Dashun army to the Qing army rushed down the Hetao, holding short axes and broadswords in their hands, and the other hand was often a round shield, a leather shield and other things. Some people unconsciously shouted, "Irrigation!" Fill it! Pour it in! "I probably remembered the days when I was under Cao Ying or other marshals.
There was a bang, and more than a dozen of the soldiers who rushed to the front fell.
Once again, the two sides met each other. (To be continued.) )