It is the coldest season of the year, and the sunny weather that lasts for more than ten days, although it is impossible to melt the snow, but under the strong and dry north wind that lasts for more than ten days, the earth cover has become dry snow that is not easy to melt.

At this time, in addition to gathering nearly 18,000 elite soldiers and horses and requisitioning tens of thousands of elite and strong people from various counties, Xu Mingzhen also transported a large number of war materials from Huo, Shou and other places with great difficulty.

Of course, in addition to Xu Mingzhen personally organizing craftsmen in Gaocheng to urgently create a batch of shield cars, partial vans and other combat weapons, Xuzhou Jiedu envoy Han Yuanqi also transported a batch of high-quality weapons such as bed crossbows and scorpion cannons from Sizhou along the Huai River.

It's hard to walk with a lot of snow on the ice, but it's easier to walk than a snowy post road.

Seeing that the Tangyi soldiers were moving frequently in Huaiyang Mountain, and they couldn't wait for the time to become more mature, Xu Mingzhen couldn't wait to advance in front of Anfeng Village with his soldiers and horses.

Organized several counterattacks and interceptions, and saw that the intention of the Shouzhou army to encircle and encircle was unusually resolute, Tian Cheng simply abandoned Anfeng Village on the seventh day of the first month of the first month, and led more than 2,000 elites with Han Donghu, Su Lie and other generals to retreat to the Wujinling River Valley (Shen Jiaji) in the upper reaches of Nanqishui, and joined Han Qian.

Not to mention that a large number of elite soldiers and horses have already dispersed into Huaiyang Mountain, even if the more than 7,000 elite generals before were left in Anfeng Village, once they were besieged by the Shouzhou Legion, which had a more dominant force, there would be no chance of victory.

The advantage of internal combat can be called that the Shouzhou Army can continue to mobilize more men and materials in the future, which is not something that the Tangyi soldiers can completely compete with with a part of their sophisticated weapons.

In fact, the weapons made in Xuzhou have not been improved in essence, and the bed crossbows and scorpion cannons made by Xuzhou are sharp, and the Shouzhou Army can not only imitate, but also create more and more cumbersome shield cars and partial vans to resist and weaken.

The Shouzhou army was in a hurry to rescue Anfeng Village, and the light army came to help, only to fall into the trap here, and lost a part of the precious elite soldiers and horses.

The Anfeng village parapet wall is thin, the depth of the village is limited, once the Shouzhou army will set up the whirlwind cannon, in addition to breaking through the siege, so many soldiers and horses left in the village is absolutely no way to live.

Shen Jiaji is located on the inner side of the valley pass where the Nanqishui River passes through the Wujin Mountains, and the terrain on the outermost side of the valley is quite dangerous.

Therefore, in Han Qian's original plan, the strategic point of intercepting the Shouzhou army outside Huaiyang Mountain has always been the Wujinling River Valley, where Shen Jiaji is located, rather than Anfengzhai.

The initial choice of Anfengzhai as the goal of "dividing and attacking together" was to confuse the Shouzhou generals and use the strategy of encircling the point to help, and only by first defeating the edge of the Shouzhou army in the early stage could they gain more time for their subsequent advance into Huaiyang Mountain.

Now it can be said that Han Qian's intention to launch this raid operation has been completely penetrated, even if there is no holy decree from Zhu Yu from Weizhou, Xu Mingzhen is also very clear in his heart, if he still thinks of sparing the soldiers and horses, he can't annihilate or expel this Tangyi soldier at all costs, not to mention that Chaozhou and Chuzhou will not be guaranteed, and Shouzhou, Huo, Guang and other prefectures will also be directly exposed to the Tangyi soldiers, and then the day of tranquility.

They had been delayed by heavy snow for more than 20 days before, and they couldn't delay it any longer, at least not to delay the battle in April and May, when the Huaiyang Mountains were full of rain and the water level of the streams and rivers had skyrocketed, even if they didn't consider the Tangyi Naval Army warships coming over, it would be difficult for them to attack the mountains from downstream.

The mouth of the valley where the Nanqishui River flows out of the Wujin Ridge, together with the river channel and the river beach in it, is about three miles open, and the river beach is relatively stable and open, which is conducive to the use of troops, but at this time, from the steep slopes of the two wings to the middle of the river, are filled with tall fences with dense stubble.

Behind the fence every thirty or fifty steps, there stood a tall sentry tower, where bed crossbows, crossbow cannons and other weapons were placed, and more than twenty cyclone cannons were placed directly behind the fence wall.

The carriage of the Tornado Cannon was blocked by a fence, but the long pole of the cannon pole protruded high.

Shen Jiaji was originally a medium-sized village built along the hillside valley on the east side of the river valley, Xu Mingzhen, Wen Ruilin and others were surrounded by guards, risking the risk of Tangyi soldiers attacking and intercepting, at this time climbed a low ridge on the north side, looked over the fence wall, and could see that on both sides of the valley south of the fence, there were camp tents and newly built houses.

These barracks are also divided into different areas by a series of fences.

In addition to the river valley in front of you, the gaps in the terrain of the two wings of the mountains are relatively easy to climb, and you can see the fortifications and generals built by the Tangyi soldiers.

It is definitely not possible to rush into an attack, there is simply no room for their superior troops and horses to launch an offensive, let alone use heavy weapons against heavy weapons.

Xu Mingzhen led hundreds of elite soldiers and horses first, and killed a low ridge called Meitang Mountain on the northeast side of Shenjiaji, and established an outpost position on the west side of Meitang Mountain, first curbing the possibility of Tangyi soldiers killing from Shenjiaji on a large scale.

Xu Mingzhen then transferred tens of thousands of elite and strong people requisitioned from Shounan and Huodong counties, cut down trees, built a larger-scale camp on the relatively open river beach on the west side of Meitang Mountain, and risked the severe cold weather to widen the passage between Yongfeng Village and Xujiaji, so as to transfer more soldiers, horses, and weapons to build heavy weapons such as whirlwind cannons.

Xu Mingzhen made up his mind this time, regardless of the casualties, until the Tangyi soldiers in front of him were annihilated, or forced to withdraw from Huaiyang Mountain if they could not support it.

In addition to holding a foothold at the foot of the west of Meitang Mountain and building a camp to prepare for a subsequent large-scale attack on Shenjiaji from the front of the river valley, Xu Mingzhen also continued to send small groups of elite soldiers and horses to directly attack from the gaps on both sides of the valley that were relatively easy to climb.

The battle suddenly became brutal, and it was only a tentative intersperse and attack from the two flanks, and the Tangyi soldiers suffered more than 500 casualties in ten days.

Of course, there were also some casualties in this, which were caused by the Tangyi soldiers trying to kill Shen Jiaji head-on, to attack and delay the Shouzhou army to build a camp at the foot of Meitang Mountain, and the two sides fought in the river valley.

Although the casualties of the Shouzhou army were greater, on the northeast slope of Huaiyang Mountain, the men, horses and materials that the Shouzhou army could mobilize could be said to be ten times more than the Tangyi soldiers.

Xu Mingzhen was obviously willing to replace this battle that Shouzhou must not lose at two to three times the cost of casualties.

As long as it is human, everyone has the instinct to fear life and death.

The tug-of-war in the valley on the north side became increasingly fierce, and the cottages on the south side mobilized the poor people at the bottom, slaves and maids to open warehouses and distribute grains, and distribute fields.

Han Qian had previously assembled the Mabu Army near Shenjiaji, with eight battalions of 5,000 soldiers, and another three battalions of 2,000 auxiliaries, of which more than 4,000 men and horses had been recruited in the past 20 days, and an average of more than 200 people were recruited every day, but since the Shouzhou Army approached Wujinling, only 30 or 50 people were recruited every day.

On the 22nd of January, the river beach camp at the foot of Meitang Mountain was almost completed, and more than 20,000 main soldiers and horses of the Shouzhou Army were stationed from the periphery, and the attack on the Shen Jiaji defense fortress from the front was finally launched.

Under the cover of the cave house car, they braved the stone bullets thrown by the Tangyi soldiers from behind the fence and the cold and froze to dig a trench, and transported the parts of the whirlwind cannon built separately to the front and assemble them, and smashed them towards the opposite fence wall.

To put it simply, the cave house car is made of thick wood and the frame is placed on the wheels and pushed to the front.

Pawns can hide in them to avoid arrows and shots, and people can also hide directly under the cave carts to build fortifications.

Of course, stone bullets weighing more than 100 catties were blasted by heavy cyclone cannons from four or five hundred paces away, and the cave house car would also be smashed and scattered.

However, the early confrontation between the two sides was to concentrate their forces on bombarding each other's whirlwind cannons as much as possible in order to gain a greater advantage on the battlefield.

The Tangyi soldiers placed the whirlwind cannon behind the fence wall, which was covered by the fence wall, and undoubtedly had a greater advantage, but the Shouzhou army fought for consumption regardless of casualties, especially when the requisitioned strong people were completely pushed to the front as consumables, and the whole battle became extremely cruel and bloody for the Tangyi soldiers......

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In previous years, the weather in Jinling City would be almost warmer in late January, but last night the north wind blew all night, and when the sky dawned, it seemed that there were signs of snow.

There have been several snowfalls around the New Year's Festival, and in the early spring of late January, the river ice shows no signs of melting, and it is so cold that people want to wear all the clothes at home.

After attending the wedding ceremony where the newlyweds were absent, the old man Han Wenhuan did not stay in Liyang after all, but returned to Jinling City with Han Daoming, Han Daochang and other Han family children.

Han Qian led the elite of Tangyi soldiers directly into the depths of Huaiyang Mountain, thinking of taking advantage of the rare opportunity to fundamentally reverse the confrontation situation in Huaixi.

At this time, the most important thing for the Han family to do in Jinling, or what they could do, was to do everything they could to urge Jingxiang, Huaidong, and Li Zhihe's Zuo Longque Army, which was personally stationed in Shuzhou, to launch a counteroffensive against the Liang army and the Shouzhou army on their respective defensive lines.

As long as this is the case, we can contain the enemy army more, effectively relieve the pressure on the Tangyi soldiers, and finally succeed in gaining a foothold in the hinterland of Huaiyang Mountain.

The second is to guard against someone in the court secretly pulling back their legs.

Since Yang Yuanpu ascended the throne, in addition to the enthronement ceremony and the two queen canonization ceremonies, Han Wenhuan, who has never been to the court and participated in the court meeting, returned to Jinling from Liyang this time.

Even if Han Wenhuan did not have a serious ministry assignment, he was regarded as a scholar to recuperate at home, but he was also awarded the title of prince and prince after he was made a marquis, and at the same time he was the grandfather of Han Qian, the marquis of Qianyang and the head of the camp in Tangyi, and the father of Han Daoming, who was the secretary of the household department and the governor of the political affairs.

Not only can they not refuse, but they also have to be given a seat at the court meeting, and enjoy the same treatment as Yang Zhitang, the king of Shou, and Shen Yang, the ruler of the emperor, and the queen mother can be regarded as worthy of meritorious ministers.

Han Wenhuan didn't talk much when he participated in the court meeting, but as long as he was there, selling the old was also an invisible deterrent.

At least Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, Zhang Chao, Du Chongtao, Zhou Bingwu and others would not think about having a fierce dispute with an old man who was nearly eighty years old and looked like he would be excited to death at any time, but behind him there was the support of the entire Han family, Xuzhou and Tangyi.

Han Wenhuan represents the Han family, and Han Daoming stands on behalf of the Han family, which has a completely different subtle impact on people's hearts.

In addition, Han Wenhuan also went to Shouwang's Mansion every once in a while to find Yang Zhitang for tea.

Yang Zhitang is currently the most important person in the clan, but in terms of seniority, he is only a distant cousin of Emperor Yanyou and King Xin, he may not need to be too polite to Han Daoming, but in front of Han Wenhuan, he can only regard himself as a junior.

Han Wenhuan did this, at least in the past month or so, there was no obvious disadvantage to Tangyi or the issuance of a decree to curb Tangyi, and it also ensured that there was no crack in the covenant between Shouwangfu and Tangyi at this juncture, and although the Huaidong and Huaixi forbidden armies did not launch a more active offensive against Zhongli, the Liang army in Sizhou, and the Shouzhou army west of Chaohu, they did not deliberately shrink their troops and horses at this juncture.

It's just that it's the end of January now, and it looks like it's freezing cold, which is really worrying.

Han Wenhuan got up early in the morning, stood in the courtyard and looked up, saw Han Chengmeng walking in from behind, and said: "At this time in previous years, even if the ice on the stream and river has not melted, it will be much thinner-every household has to pull the ears of the stubborn children and tell them not to run to the river ice-the beginning of spring this year may really be delayed by ten days and half a month compared with previous years......"

In order to ensure that the Huaidong side would not maliciously shrink the soldiers and horses back from the defense line at this juncture, Han Chengmeng was personally responsible for the money and food escorted to Huaidong on both occasions.

He also just came back from Yangzhou yesterday, and when he heard his grandfather sigh so emotionally, he also knew what he was worried about.

According to the situation in previous years, even if the river ice has not completely melted now, as long as it becomes thinner, the Tangyi naval warships can be called to break through the river ice and directly enter the upstream river to the west and north of Chaohu Lake, and the situation will become favorable to Tangyi.

Although before the summer and autumn rainy season, the water level of the upper reaches of these streams and rivers in the Longtan River is very shallow, and it is difficult for the Tangyi naval warships to directly communicate with the Tangyi soldiers who have entered the hinterland of Huaiyang Mountain, but the Tangyi infantry naval army has a strong ability to coordinate operations, even if it enters the lower reaches of these rivers and attacks along the river, it can also force the Shouzhou army to invest more troops to block and cut off these rivers.

This will greatly alleviate the pressure on the raiding soldiers and horses in the Huaiyang Mountain.

This is also a factor that was taken into account when the initial combat plan was drawn up.

However, the temperature in early spring this year is much colder than last year, which means that there is an unexpected factor.

Han Qian led a lone army to fight deep into the enemy's territory, and he was most afraid of accidents.

At present, Xu Mingzhen not only gathered more than 30,000 elite soldiers and horses in Gaocheng, but also ordered Wen Bo to abandon the defensive fortress on the periphery of Chuzhou City, and asked him to gather more soldiers and horses and transfer them to the west flank of Chuzhou.

Xu Mingzhen ordered this, obviously to further take Chaozhou City as the core, strengthen the defensive line blockade in the area east of Huaiyang Mountain, and then let him use the superior soldiers and horses to exhaust the Tangyi soldiers in the north of Huaiyang Mountain.

"Fortunately, the princes of the imperial court still understand the overall situation, and Huaidong has not dragged any feet." Han Chengmeng said with emotion.

"Where do they know the overall situation, they just don't dare to imagine Han Qian's dilapidated situation after the defeat of Huaiyang Mountain." Han Wenhuan stroked his snow-white long beard and said.

"It would be nice if I could persuade Xinjin Marquis Li Zhihe and Zhou Shu to send troops from Shuzhou and Suizhou." Han Chengmeng said.

"It's not that simple, unless you agree to their conditions......" Han Daoming walked in from outside the courtyard at this time, took over his son Han Chengmeng's words, and said.

"What conditions did they propose?" Han Chengmeng heard his father say this, of course, he thought that most of the people in the Red Mansion had handed over the news to his father, and asked eagerly.

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"Although the Tangyi soldiers fought extremely tenaciously in the Wujinling River Valley, the Shouzhou Army launched a large-scale attack from the front of the river valley, and the cumulative casualties in twelve or three days had exceeded 2,000; If it is counted from the time when it passes north from the first line of Fucha Mountain, the cumulative casualties of the Tangyi soldiers will not be less than 35,600 - even if Han Qian enters Huaiyang Mountain to encourage the untouchables to enlist in the army, but compared to the surprise attack troops of the Tangyi soldiers from Chuzhou and Fucha Mountain, this casualty is not low. Although the casualties of the Shouzhou army were more heavy, the Shouzhou army mobilized a large number of men and horses on the inner line, and they took turns to fight, and they were able to withdraw the wounded and sick soldiers to the rear in time, so that the morale of the generals in the front has not been greatly affected, and more than 30,000 soldiers and horses have been gathered at the northern foot of Wujin Ridge, and they are getting stronger and stronger. As far as I can see, if such a cold weather lasts for another ten days and half a month, no matter how elite and resilient the Tangyi soldiers are, no matter how many more casualties they accumulate, it will be impossible to support them any longer......"

His Royal Highness of Cishou Palace, the candlelight is flickering and shaking, and I don't know which crack in the hall the breeze comes in, Yao Xishui and they have the secret agents of the Weaving Bureau lurking at the northeast foot of Huaiyang Mountain to send back the latest information from the spying at any time, and she is now very optimistic about the final result of Han Qian's raid on Huaiyang Mountain led by the elite of Tangyi soldiers.

Of course, she didn't gloat this time.

"Today's inverted spring cold is really cold, I still have frozen hands and feet when I go out, and the pond in the palace is still frozen solid, not to mention the streams on the north bank of the Yangtze River," Chun Thirteen Niang said with a slight twist of her eyebrows, "Qianyang Hou Han Qian should have misjudged the changes in the weather this year. If this ghost weather can still warm up as scheduled in previous years, not only will the Tangyi Navy be able to exert its advantages west of Chaohu Lake and attract enemy troops, but after the ice of the Nanqishui River thaws, even if the water will not be much before the rainy season comes, it will greatly suppress the attack launched by the Shouzhou Army from the downstream......"

"You are worried here, is it possible that Han Qian lost his troops in Huaiyang Mountain this time, and even the most elite part of the Tangyi soldiers were annihilated by Xu Mingzhen, isn't it exactly what you are looking forward to?" Wang Chan'er sat lazily on the gorgeous phoenix couch, her beautiful eyes glanced at Lu Qingxia, Yao Xishui and others who were sitting opposite, and asked lazily.

"You also know that we bear the hatred of the destruction of our family and the country, not to embarrass you, or to get along with Your Majesty, nor to be unfavorable to Da Chu, in fact, we don't want to see Da Chu destroyed at the hands of Liang Jun more than anyone else."

Lu Qingxia looked over unhappily and said.

Wang Chan'er smiled disdainfully and said, "It's useless for you to comfort me with these words at this time, let's still think about how to deal with the situation after the Tangyi raid soldiers and horses were annihilated by Xu Mingzhen......

"The Marquis of Qianyang acted rashly this time, and it may be inevitable to be frustrated, but his elite soldiers and horses were accustomed to fighting in the mountains when they were in Xuzhou, and escorting him back to Tangyi should not be a big problem, even so, the Tangyi soldiers will be greatly injured this time," Lu Qingxia said, "No matter how the princes of the court were suspicious of the Marquis of Qianyang in the past, they did not dare to imagine the defeat and death of the Marquis of Qianyang at this time, so the Empress Dowager sent Zhihe to Suizhou at this time, and the governor Ying followed Deng Xiangjun to the military of the prefectures, and led the Zuowu Guard Army and the soldiers of the five prefectures out of the three passes of Jingbei and entered the western part of Huozhou, For the Marquis of Qianyang to contain the main force of the Shouzhou army, I believe that the princes of the court will not oppose ......"

In the later period, Emperor Tianyou deliberately restricted the military power of the commander-in-chief, in addition to granting the authority of the defense envoy and the head of the camp to control the locality, he no longer set up the post of the commander of the local control power.

This is also a practice of Emperor Yanyou to inherit the previous emperor since he ascended the throne.

Even if Lu Qingxia secretly reached a deal with the Zheng clan to exchange defense areas, it was impossible for Li Zhihe to easily take full charge of the military and political affairs of the five states of Xiangbei with the authority of the envoy.

However, at present, Li Zhihe led his troops to send troops from the gap between Tongbai Mountain and Huaiyang Mountain, and entered the western part of Huozhou, so as to contain more Shouzhou troops for the Tangyi soldiers trapped in Huaiyang Mountain.

"The mourning family is soft-spoken, even if the Marquis of Xinjin is strongly recommended, His Majesty and the princes of the court will not listen to the mourning family." Wang Chan'er said lazily.

The princes of the imperial court are not stupid, Han Qian may not be able to last more than half a month in Huaiyang Mountain, and now he has ordered Li Zhihe to supervise the military of the five states of Xiangbei, how can it be possible to gather the state soldiers of the five states of Xiangbei to Yingshan County and Lishan County after a month, and then from Jiuli Pass, Pingjing Pass, and Wusheng Pass to the west of Huozhou, then get the donkey year and the month of horses?

If it is just to transfer the Left Armed Guards to the west of Huozhou first, and there is a commander to make Zhou Shu to command, why do you need Li Zhihe to go to the capital to supervise the military of the five states in Xiangbei?

It stands to reason that Li Zhihe was in Shuzhou, and led the Zuo Longque Army to set off directly from the Lujiang defense line and kill the area on the west bank of Chaohu Lake, so that he could better contain the Shouzhou Army for Tangyi.

Of course, Wang Chan'er could also guess that Lu Qingxia might use this as a condition for sending troops and secretly negotiate a deal with the Han family, but why did she Wang Chan'er go to this troubled water?

Could it be that she is really a puppet who obeys her words and is manipulated by them in everything?

"After Empress Li was relegated to Mingyang Palace, the palace was overcast, and her skin had a lot of red rashes, worried about infecting the second prince, and the queen mother also took special care of handing over the second prince to Zhao Guiren, who had just entered the palace, to take care of it," Lu Qingxia said, "To be honest, just a child who can't walk, looks good, even if there are suddenly one or two more fetal marks on her body, Queen Li is in a coma after being demoted, and most of them won't be able to tell the difference, right?" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Wang Chan'er stood up straight suddenly, her beautiful eyes stared at Lu Qingxia like a cold knife and asked.

"I mean, the second prince taken care of by Zhao Guiren somehow grew a red mole the size of a fragrant head on the left side of his thigh, I think most of Queen Li won't care about this." Lu Qingxia said.

"You take the second prince over and be personally supported by the mourning family, and the mourning family can promise you everything else." Wang Chan'er's hand holding the armrest of the phoenix couch couldn't help but tremble slightly, staring at Lu Qingxia's eyes and said.

"Then we have to give the order of the Queen Mother, so that we can act according to the order." Lu Qingxia bowed slightly and said.