Chapter 429: Short Soldiers (4)
The source of Meizhu Creek is out of the western foot of Jieling Mountain, although the stream is shallow and slow, it is the boundary river between Runzhou and Xuanzhou, and flows into the territory of Jingzhaofu to the west.
At the beginning of August, it is already the mid-autumn season, but the weather on the south bank of the Yangtze River has not completely cooled down, the scorching sun at noon still gives people a scorching heat, and in the shallow valley surrounded by low mountains on the south bank of Meizhu Creek, there are broken soldiers and banners everywhere, and there are corpses lying down vertically and horizontally.
Blood seeped into the black soil and solidified, and the breeze blowing between the heavens and the earth carried a faint smell of blood.
Seeing the Chishan Army generals on the south bank retreating to Nantang Village, Yin Peng did not have the ecstasy of repelling the Chishan Army at this moment, it was a fluke that their generals did not collapse, and they no longer had the ability to catch up and entangle, and the Chishan Army that still had spare strength took the initiative to withdraw into Nantang Village at this time, which represents a fact that they are extremely unwilling to see has happened!
In the farther direction, a puff of black smoke rose straight up, which should be transmitting some signal.
Yin Peng looked at Wang Wenqian in amazement, Langxi City fell so quickly?
Even if Gu Zhilong's elite of the tooth army was transferred away from the mountain, there were still more than 4,000 Xuanzhou soldiers guarding Langxi City.
What's more, Gu Zhijun had personally sat in Langxi for several months before, and it was impossible for him to do nothing, how could Langxi's defense be so weak, and he only lasted for more than a day before falling?
At this time, there were dozens of scouts in the rear, galloping over:
"Your Highness personally led the silver halberd guards to come, less than ten miles away from here, and you are going to do your best to entangle the Red Mountain Army on the south bank!"
The scout grabbed the reins, and the weather turned cold, but the war horse under his crotch was running so wildly, and it was also hot and sweaty, and beads of sweat fell like rain.
Hearing this news, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen looked at the Chishan army on the south bank that had already withdrawn into Nantanghan, and there was a suffocating bitterness and unwillingness to gnaw at their hearts.
It's a millimeter, it's a thousand miles!
If the defenders of Langxi City support for a while and do not fall, if the Chishan army on the south bank delays for a while and does not withdraw to Nantang Village, or if His Royal Highness can come a moment earlier, the eight hundred silver halberd guards will be like an incomparably sharp blade, breaking up the six or seven thousand Chishan troops on the south bank, and taking Nantang Village first after annihilating them.
Even if Han Qian captured Langxi City first, he would still be a remnant of the army, so they could use Nantangzhai as a springboard, and after meeting with the main force of the Xuanzhou army, they would in turn besiege the remnants of the Chishan Army in Langxi City.
Now how are they going to fight?
In just two days of fighting, the casualties of the Chishan army were extremely heavy, only on the south bank of Meizhu Creek, the Chishan army dropped 2,000 corpses, the wounded should still be above this number, it is believed that the casualties of the Chishan army's strong attack on Langxi City and the interception of Xuancheng reinforcements in Honglinbu should not be lower than this number.
But in any case, the Chishan Army still has 17,800 troops capable of fighting on the Eastern Front in a short period of time.
They and the Xuanzhou soldiers failed to hold Langxi City, nor did they defeat any of the Chishan troops that intercepted all the way, how to fight next?
Yes, in order to intercept them on the north bank of Meizhu River, the Chishan Army suffered heavy casualties, and the attrition was less than 4,000 people, but after joining the reinforcements from its eastern front, there were still nearly 7,000 soldiers and horses who withdrew into Nantangzhai in an orderly manner at this time.
And their casualties here are not necessarily better than those of the Red Mountain Army.
The reinforcements from Huijintan, Yangyang, and Danyang also invested a total of more than 11,000 troops in the valley west of Nantangzhai and south of Meizhu Creek, which is three or four miles wide, but there were also 4,000 casualties.
In other words, with a considerable number of elite troops, they only fought a draw with the Chishan Army on the battlefield?
Now the Chishan Army can withdraw to Nantangzhai to rest, and the remnants of the soldiers who retreated to the north bank of Meizhu River to rest and recuperate are exhausted, and the morale of the army is extremely low, and they have not collapsed, mainly because the old soldiers of the Chuzhou Army are resilient, but the overall situation is worse than that of the Chishan Army on the south bank, and they are on the verge of collapse, and they urgently need to withdraw to Liyang City to rest.
You can't expect His Highness to lead a silver halberd guard of only 800 people to storm Nantang Village, right?
I believe that Gu Zhilong's Xuancheng reinforcements attacking Honglinbu from the south should also be tired, Langxi City has fallen at this time, and the morale of Xuancheng reinforcements in a short period of time is also a heavy blow, at this time, they can only be forced to retreat to Xuancheng first, and they have no ability to fight again in a short time.
The resilience of the Chishan Army is too strong, it is really hard to imagine that these cheap people dare to fight so hard and don't take their lives seriously at all.
The fall of Langxi City, the Chuzhou Army and the Xuanzhou Army were forced to withdraw, which can not only boost the morale of the Chishan Army, but also get a rare opportunity to breathe, so that they can use the materials captured by Langxi City to quickly recover their vitality, and even make the combat effectiveness of the Chishan Army better than before.
After all, the material conditions of the Chishan Army before were so embarrassing and simple.
But what if not?
Wang Wenqian deeply regretted that even if the original proposal to blockade the eastern flank of the Chishan Army was not adopted, after the Chishan Army marched south into Fuyushan, he should have insisted on increasing the garrison on the southern front to more than 20,000 troops.
If they could have 10,000 more elite soldiers and horses here at this time, the outcome would definitely be completely different!
But what's the use of regretting?
Since the Chishan Army has not completely withdrawn into Nantang Village, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen also have to keep an eye on them here, and they can't go to greet Yang Yuanyan, the king of letters, in person.
After a stick of incense, thousands of horses' hooves kicked the land on the north bank of Meizhu Creek like a storm.
Yang Yuanyan didn't expect him to come with his personal guards in person, but after all, he was still a step slower, seeing that only a small number of soldiers of the Chishan Army were still stranded outside Nantang Village on the south bank, he angrily stabbed the horse lance into the soft mud on the stream.
"Your Highness, please give Weichen eight hundred cavalry!" Wang Wenqian said.
"......" Yang Yuanyan looked at Wang Wenqian in confusion.
"Before the attack on Langxi City, Gu Zhilong had sent people over to ask for help and serve His Royal Highness, but Langxi City should have fallen at this time, and Gu Zhilong may change his hexagram at any time," Wang Wenqian said, "At this time, the Chishan Army should not have the ability to block the passage between the west bank of Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain, and Weichen will rush to Xuancheng to find Gu Zhilong and finalize this matter to prevent him from changing his hexagram!" ”
Gu Zhilong was most likely eager to eat Han Qian alive at this time, but in the face of the cruel reality, especially the Chuzhou Army was temporarily unable to attack the Chishan Army on a large scale from the north to help Gu Zhilong recapture Langxi City, the remnants of the Xuanzhou Army would almost be forced by the Chishan Army to the inner line south of Nanyi Lake, Wang Wenqian was really not sure at this time that Gu Zhilong would not succumb to the force of Yue Yang and the Chishan Army.
If that is the case, the situation on the southern front will be too bad for the Chuzhou army, and it may be the worst blow suffered by the Chuzhou army since it crossed the river, and it will also trigger a series of uncontrollable chain reactions.
Now he asked to lead 800 cavalry to Xuancheng, in addition to strengthening the confidence and strength of the Xuanzhou soldiers to resist the Chishan army, there is also a point, even if he can't ask Gu Zhilong to send some of his family to Dantu as hostages, he must urge Gu Zhilong to immediately kill Han Wenhuan, Han Daochang, Han Jun and others who fell into his hands, to ensure that Gu Zhilong has no possibility of falling to Yueyang.
If this step can be achieved, even if the Chishan Army temporarily takes away Langxi City, it does not mean that the Chuzhou Army will definitely lose on the southern front.
Listening to Wang Wenqian's explanation, Yang Yuanyan can also realize the seriousness of the situation.
The cavalry under Zhao Zhen has fought until now, and there are less than 400 people left to continue fighting, Yang Yuanyan was just about to transfer 400 people from the silver halberd guard to Wang Wenqian to take him to Xuancheng to see Gu Zhilong, at this time, there were several horses from the southwest of the mountain to beat horses around.
"Langxi City has been captured by the Chishan Army, but in addition to the wounded soldiers, the besieging soldiers and horses of the Chishan Army have no intention of entering Langxi City to rest, and more than 4,000 remnants of the army gathered a group of weapons and went straight to the direction of Honglinbu in the south - in addition, there are a large number of soldiers and horses in the direction of Guangde who are moving towards Langxi City, and will enter Langxi City in an hour!" The scout Gu couldn't take a sip of water, and reported the information of the southern front to Yang Yuanpu and Wang Wenqian with a smoking voice.
"Han Qian wants to attack Xuancheng next? Where does he have troops to draw from the Eastern Front? Yang Yuanyan's face was as gloomy as water, and he also gasped at this time.
On the eve of the raid on Langxi, the Chishan Army had 3,000 troops left in Jiudu Mountain and Xianshan Lake on the eastern front, and the 4,000 Qiu paste army led by Li Puna to guard against the movement in the direction of Huzhou, but in addition to leaving more than 1,000 garrison soldiers and horses in Guangdezhai, in just two days, Han Qian's main force of nearly 26,000 Chishan Army was put into three battlefields on the western front.
It can be said that in the raid on Langxi City, Han Qian had already squeezed out all the strength of the Chishan Army.
The Chishan army fought fiercely for two days, with more than 8,000 casualties, leaving 17,800 tired soldiers, 7,000 in Nantangzhai, and more than 10,000 remnants and tired soldiers on the front line of Langxi and Honglinbu.
"Han Qian doesn't necessarily want to rush to take Xuancheng strongly, his first step is to block the passage for us to enter Xuancheng to contact and meet Gu Zhilong,"
Wang Wenqian's heart was full of powerlessness at this moment.
Yes, how could Han Qian be satisfied after taking Langxi City?
Yes, after the Chishan Army showed its superior combat effectiveness, how could Han Qian sit and watch Gu Zhilong join the Chuzhou Army and continue to threaten the western flank of the Chishan Army?
How could a figure like Han Qian not see the strategic significance of connecting Hengzhou through Rao, Hong and Yuan after opening up the Xuanhui channel?
Wang Wenqian said bitterly,
"The Chishan Army is no different from the Wandering Army, the old and weak women and children can be mobilized regardless of whether they are strong or not, and Han Qian only needs to encourage a group of women and children to help him defend the city for two or three more days at this time - and the most serious mistake we made in the past was to seriously underestimate Han Qian's ability to mobilize and organize the old and weak women and children......"
At present, Zhao Zhen's troops are already tired, the casualties are too heavy, and the morale is extremely low, and it is extremely lucky that he does not collapse.
Although Yang Yuanyan's eight hundred silver halberd guards can fight, they have already rushed nearly two hundred miles of muddy roads in a row, if they continue to rush another hundred miles and collide with the Chishan Army in the north of Xuancheng, what are the chances of victory?
What's more, Zhao Zhen led the remnants to retreat to Liyang to rest, and Han Qian was able to transfer two or three thousand capable soldiers from Nantang Village to the south, even if Gu Zhilong dared to lead the five or six thousand remnants of Xuancheng to fight out of the city, what were the chances of victory?
In other words, before yesterday, Wang Wenqian would have suggested that Xin Wang Bo, after all, the combat toughness of the Silver Halberd Guards was unimaginable to ordinary elites, but now that Wang Wenqian retreated, he really didn't know how much potential the ragged Chishan Army could squeeze out in Han Qian's hands.
Once these cheap breeds, the fierce fierceness that is not afraid of death is released, it is unimaginable combat power, just like the original Dragon Bird Army, who dares to imagine that they can withstand the bloody siege of the elite of the Liang Army for so long when defending Xichuan?
In this battle on the south bank of Meizhu River, the casualties of the Chishan army were even heavier than them, but even so, the morale was still extremely high, but the physical consumption of its generals was too great and their bodies were too weak, otherwise this battle would be their embarrassment and defeat back to Liyang.
Who could have imagined this before the war?
It's just that at this time, if you don't send troops to Xuanzhou to meet Gu Zhilong, after two or three days, from Nantangzhai to Langxi City to Honglinbu on the front line, and even the key pass between Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain are firmly grasped by the Chishan Army, isn't Gu Zhilong's contact with the northern line completely cut off?
Could it be that the main force of the Chuzhou Army was able to completely ignore the threat of the Shouzhou Army and the Nanya Forbidden Army at this time, and move the main force southward?
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