Chapter 685 is like a bamboo

Outside the sword, it was suddenly rumored that the thistle was in the north, and the clothes were full of tears when I heard it for the first time.

But seeing where his wife is worried, he is crazy about poetry and books.

Singing during the day must be indulged in wine, and green chūn is a good companion to return home.

That is, from Ba Gorge through Wu Gorge, then go down to Xiangyang to Luoyang.

Du Zimei, a great realist poet of the Tang Dynasty and known as the "poet saint" by later generations, avoided trouble in Sichuan when he was in the history of An. When he heard the news that the Tang Army had recovered Hebei and Henan, he improvised this widely circulated poem "Wen Guanjun Collected Henan and Hebei". However, if he lived in the Song Dynasty, I am afraid that he would have to prepare to write "Wen Guanjun Collects Hedong" at this time.

From the winter of the ninth year of Jianwu, Xu Wei began to prepare for the Eastern Expedition. He ordered Qin Feng, Yongxing, and Liangxing to each take out the grain stockpile, and requisitioned a part of it from Sichuan, both from Sichuan to transfer Zhao Kai, and Shaanxi to transfer Liu Ziyu to give a sum of money, plus the reserves of the Xuanfu Disposal Division, solved the problem of money and grain, and shipped it to Tongzhou.

Because of the dispatch of the three divisions this time, he had to personally lead the team. Before the army sets out, the most important thing is to arrange the family. He is the highest governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and once he travels, according to the system, he should be the Xuanfu judge to preside over the daily affairs of the Xuanfu Disposal Division. But if he is in charge, can he rest assured?

So, on this expedition, he decided that Ma Kuo and Zhang Qing would stay. In this way, a military staff officer and a supervisor should be able to contain Wan Qiaowei in the Xuanfu Disposal Division. In fact, Xu Wei has always wanted to win over Zhang Jun. In fact, Zhang Jun does not have any outstanding talents, but this person is better than the middle and impartial. Although he is a member of the central government and a civil servant, he should have something instinctive about Xu Wei.

But after working together for so long, Xu Wei found that this person can support and be flexible when it is beneficial to the overall situation. It will not be like Wan Qiao, who is constrained for the sake of restraint and opposes for the sake of opposition. It is precisely because of this that he has always been close to Xu Wei and kept an appropriate distance.

After arranging the internal affairs, Xu Wei sent people to Hexi to greet Xiao Hulira, the commander of the Liao army, saying that the western army was ready and expected to launch an attack in late February, so that the Liao army could move. At the same time, he also reminded Xiao Lili to guard against the party members. From Song Liao bī forcing Western Xia to cede the land to the present, for such a long time, the Jurchens have not reacted, which is very abnormal, you must be careful.

Xiao Lira was overjoyed after receiving the news, and he also listened to Xu Wei's advice. So it was decided that in this eastward expedition, he personally led the capital to deploy Yelu Yanshan, and the capital supervisor Yelu Tiege went out to fight, leaving the troops and horses and the deputy marshal Xiao Chara to sit in Hexi, in case there was a change. He also replied to Xu Wei that if the Western Army launched an offensive in late February, then the Liao Army would set off in early March. In this way, it disturbed the hearing and hearing of the Luàn Jin Army and interfered with its deployment.

The two armies of Song and Liao sharpened their knives and prepared to take revenge. And at this time, what are the Jurchens doing?

After the Western Xia were forced to cede land and sue for peace, and separated from the Dajin Kingdom, the Jurchens passed through the most anxious period since their founding. It was precisely because of Dajin's inability to rescue the party that it led to the tripartite alliance of Song, Liao, and Xia. This is a huge threat to the Dajin Kingdom! It is not difficult for people who have no eyesight to notice, and next, I am afraid that the two sides of Song and Liao will start a counteroffensive!

Wushu naturally understood this, and after deciding not to support the party, he began to carefully arrange defense. He judged that if the Khitans got Hexi, they would not come from Mobei again, and the most likely route to march was to attack Yanyun from the north of Hengshan, borrowing the Xia Realm, and attacking Yanyun obliquely. Xu Wei, on the other hand, has two possibilities. The first is to get out of the Tiger Prison Pass and attack the Central Plains, in order to establish a great achievement in recovering the old capital Tokyo; The second is to cross the Yellow River and march to the east of the river to cooperate with the Khitans. Both of these situations are more likely, but Wushu thinks that Xu Hu'er is the most likely based on his understanding of Song Ting and Xu Wei, and he is afraid that he will still enter the Central Plains. Because compared with the three Jin Dynasty places in Hedong, the Central Plains is more significant.

Therefore, the first thing Wushu did was to transfer the troops originally arranged on the Western Front to guard against Yelu Dashi into Yanyun, and together with the elite of the Jin Army stationed in Yanyun, they were stationed in different divisions, focusing on the three western states. Immediately afterwards, he ordered Uyan Puluhun, who remained in Tokyo City, to step up his defenses.

The third thing, Wushu considered, although Xu Hu'er was most likely to enter the Central Plains, he could not fail to defend Hedong. So, he ordered to pacify Han Chang in Hedong.

On the seventh day of the lunar month, Tongzhou, Pujindu.

Since the "gift" of the Jin army out of the country a few years ago, the Western Army and the Jin Army have confronted each other across the Pujin pontoon bridge. This large pontoon bridge was built in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, in order to erect this pontoon bridge, the Tang Dynasty could be said to have poured the power of the country, which was by no means alarmist. Before the construction of the Pujin pontoon bridge, it was planned to use four iron oxen on each side of the river, a total of eight iron oxen, as fixed anchors. This iron bull alone weighs 80,000 catties each! Together with the iron man of the morning glory, the iron pillar of the ship, the iron chain connecting the ship, and the iron mountain winch, the iron used in the construction of the Pujin pontoon bridge accounted for eighty percent of the national pig iron production at that time!

It can be said that the Pujin pontoon bridge is the "Three Gorges Project" of the Tang Dynasty!

More than 400 years have passed since the pontoon bridge was built. The people of Hedong and Shaanxi rely on this large pontoon bridge to come and go, and in people's impressions, it is almost not a building, but as immortal as the mountains and rivers. However, things are impermanent......

In the evening, the sky had already darkened, and the long pontoon bridge flew quietly over the Yellow River. On the barrier on the west bank of the river, the officers and soldiers of the west were still cruising back and forth as usual, occasionally looking up at the opposite bank, which was also a subconscious action. Because it has been a long time since the voice of Jin Ge has been heard here.

"Hey, there's someone on the bridge?" A patrol soldier suddenly stopped.

"Where? Didn't look at it. The companions also stopped, and the leader of the team looked over when they heard the sound, but who was there anyone who was blind in the dark? However, out of an abundance of caution, they stayed where they were and looked at it carefully for a while, confirming that there were no anomalies before continuing to patrol.

After a while, the sky became darker and darker, and in this wax moon, as soon as it was dark, I couldn't see my five fingers. When the patrol team had finished patrolling and was about to change shifts, the soldier shouted again: "No! There are people on the bridge! ”

"No, brother, are you glow-in-the-dark? You said earlier that you saw people, but now it's darker, what do you think? His companion scoffed.

"I can really see some of them at night, and there's really movement on the bridge!" The soldier insisted.

"That's it! Don't say it! Get back! The team leader shouted and led the brothers down the castle. Another team immediately came up to take over the patrol.

After this team went down to the city, before they had time to go far, the city suddenly shouted: "There are people on the bridge!" There are people on the bridge! Then a shrill trumpet sounded!

The team was shocked! How? Can that guy really see things at night? I didn't have time to think about it, so I rushed to the city with the original team! He pulled the soldier past him and shouted, "Look again! ”

The soldier stared wide-eyed into the distance and said sharply, "Someone is piling things on the bridge!" ”

"What's going on? What's the situation? The officer on duty at night rushed up and asked loudly.

"Sir! There's movement on the bridge! The officers and soldiers shouted in unison.

"What's going on? What's moving? The officer asked repeatedly.

"Someone piled up stuff on the bridge! It's all piled up to more than 20 feet away! The soldier replied in a loud voice.

"More than twenty feet? Can you see it from twenty feet away? It's dark! The officer was a little unconvinced.

The team general hurriedly explained: "Commander, this guy can really see things at night, and he was the first to discover the anomaly!" ”

When the commander heard this, he no longer hesitated, and resolutely ordered: "The troops go to the city!" Ignition! Get ready to meet the enemy! As soon as the military order was given, the guards who were already preparing to rest grabbed their weapons and rushed to the city. But until all the personnel were in position, there was still no enemy attack. However, no matter the officers and soldiers, no one dares to be careless, this Pujin pontoon bridge is the main road connecting Hedong and Shaanxi, once the Jin army attacked, it would enter the Guanzhong Plain!

But left and right, waiting for some people to come up sleepy, but there was still no sign of the enemy's attack. The commander became suspicious, and was thinking about whether to send a team of people to the bridge immediately to see what was going on, and something happened immediately. First, it was the soldier who could see at night who spotted a sparkling fire rising from the east coast.

Immediately afterwards, many soldiers began to shout "Fire!" Fire! "When a fire broke out on the bridge, everyone understood what was going on! The Jin Army is burning the bridge! They're going to burn this pontoon!

On the seventh day of the first month of the ninth year of Jianwu, the Jin army of Hezhong Prefecture took advantage of the night fire to burn the Pujin pontoon bridge. This is a good deed that Han Chang took the order of Wushu and ordered the defenders of Hezhong Mansion to do. The Tang Dynasty poured the power of the country to build, more than 400 years of communication between Hedong and Shaanxi, representing the strength and wisdom of the Pujin pontoon bridge was burned down. The Jurchens certainly don't know how much manpower and financial resources the Tang Dynasty used to build this pontoon bridge, and they certainly don't know how many people contributed their strength and wisdom to build this pontoon bridge, and they don't know that this actually represents the pioneering spirit of human beings to nature. So, a big fire burned to a pulp.

The Jin army tried to prevent the western army from crossing the Yellow River and advancing to the east of the river by burning the pontoon bridge. The news was quickly reported to Yang Yan, and Yang Da was shocked when he heard the news, and immediately reported to Xingyuan. After Xu Wei learned about it, he was also deeply surprised, when did the Jin army think that it was reduced to the point of blocking the pace of the Western Army by burning bridges?

But to be honest, the destruction of the Pujin pontoon bridge did cause difficulties for the Western Army. In this way, if the Western Army wants to cross the Yellow River, it can almost only rely on boats. Before the fight started, Jin Jun gave a dismount first. Someone asked, the Jin army burned the pontoon bridge, do we have to change our battle plan? Xu Weiya gritted, don't change, everything is as usual!

In order to prepare for the Eastern Expedition in advance, and in order to retaliate against the Jurchens for burning the Pujin pontoon bridge, Xu Wei sent people to secretly infiltrate the Hedong boundary. Ordered the rebels from all walks of life to attack everywhere in Hedong from the end of this year to the end of next year, not seeking anything else, but to create trouble for the Jin army!

The rebel armies in Hedong were dozens of large and small, two of which were the most famous. One is the Shao family brothers who helped Xu Wei participate in the defense of Pingyang in the past; The other is that after the fall of Pingyang City, the hornless Niu Yang Jin who escaped was recruited by his subordinates to raise trouble. In recent years, the Jurchens have encircled and suppressed Hedong very fiercely, and many weak rebel armies have either been annihilated or surrendered. Among them, the remnants of the Shao family brothers suffered the greatest loss, and they had not heard the news for a long time, either they were destroyed or hidden in the mountains. And this branch developed from the remnants of the Hu'er Army is also struggling to support, and has sent messages to Xu Wei many times: "There are hundreds of thousands of righteous teachers in Hedong, all of whom are under the banner of Xu, and I wish the public to cross as soon as possible." ”

Now, at last, they're looking forward to it. Therefore, when Xu Wei's messenger arrived, after delivering the order. The soldiers of the rebel army all felt that they were in tears, so they launched many officiations between the lunar month and the first lunar month. Attack the state and county, and harass the Jin army. At first, Jin Jun thought that this was Luàn thieves snatching New Year's goods, but he didn't pay much attention to it. But then something happened that made them unable to sit still. A Jin official who was sent to Hedong from Yanjing to serve as the prefect of Longde Mansion was intercepted and killed by the righteous army when he was halfway down the road. Counting it, this prefect who returned to the west before he took office is still a distant clan. So the impact is extremely bad! Without waiting for Yanjing's order, Han Chang organized troops to encircle and suppress them, vowing to kill all these people!

Hedong began to move, while at the same time, the western army was already beginning to assemble in Tongzhou. In mid-February, Qin Feng Jingluo pacified the Division, Yongxing Jingluo pacified the Division, and Liangxing pacified the Division of the Three Roads Army, plus the soldiers and archers, a total of 63,000 horse infantry troops gathered in Tongzhou.

Xu Wei held a grand oath-taking meeting, and Wang Yan, the pacification envoy of Liangxing from Hedong, made a generous statement in front of the whole army, calling on the soldiers to return to their hometown in Hedong without fear of sacrifice! The whole army, because of the high morale, can't wait to grow a pair of wings as a birdman and fly across the Yellow River!

Subsequently, after careful consideration, Xu Wei appeased the deputy envoy Wu Lan with Yongxing Jingluo, and led 18,000 people out of Tongguan, through Shaanzhou, into Henan Prefecture, and carried out the original plan. And he himself, commanding the remaining troops, prepared to "forcefully cross" the Yellow River.

As expected in advance, the Jin army set up heavy troops in Hezhong Prefecture, and the Western Army organized boat divisions to force crossings from Pujin Pass and Fenglingdu several times, but they were all beaten back. From then on, Xu Wei began to be "passive", often organizing a tentative attack every two or three days.

On the other end, Wu Lan is progressing much more smoothly. He led 18,000 soldiers and horses, including thousands of troops from Yongxing Shuaisi, thousands of Liang Xingsi, more than 4,000 troops under his own control, and thousands of soldiers and archers transferred by Xu Wei. Out of Tongguan, through Shaanzhou, into Henan Mansion, all the way through unimpeded.

When he arrived in Luoyang, the guard general Yang Congyi also rushed to the army to offer condolences and make a strong reputation. Wu Luan's troops quickly rushed to the foot of Beibi Mountain, and after careful reconnaissance, confirmed that there was no Jin army stationed on the opposite bank, so they chose to cross the river between Heqing County and Heyang County. Yang Congyi gave strong support, and within a few days, hundreds of large and small ships were collected, so that Wu Lu's troops could cross the Yellow River in one day.

After crossing the Yellow River, the first target was Huaizhou. Huaizhou is small, and the Jin army stationed in it is extremely limited. When Wu Xuan's divine soldiers generally appeared under the city of Huaizhou, the governor of Huaizhou was already frightened and broke through the city without much trouble. After taking Huaizhou, Wu Xuan did not stop at all, and immediately waved his army north, tracing the Qinshui to fight upward.

In early March, the soldiers came to Yangcheng County, Zezhou, and there were more than 1,000 Jin troops in the county. Wu Luan failed to persuade him to surrender and ordered a strong attack. After a day of fighting, the city could not fall, and Wu Ling ordered Liang Xing to personally lead the team and break the city within a time limit. The soldiers worked together to break through the city, and all the surrendered Jin troops were killed.

After taking Yangcheng County, Wu Lan did not attack north immediately, because across the Qinshui, it was Jincheng County, where Zezhou Prefecture was located. Yangcheng County is lost, and the Zezhou Jin army will come to attack. He then ordered his troops to camp on the west bank of Qinshui, and sure enough, on the third day, the Jin army in the city of Zezhou Prefecture appeared on the east bank of Qinshui.

Wu Lan thought that he was going to fight, but who knows, in the early morning of the fourth day, the Jin army on the other side was gone.

"This is a strange thing, how did you run away overnight?" On the west bank of Qinshui, Wu Xuan, who was dressed all over his body, said with his beard.

"I think I was afraid of our army and fled." Liang Xing replied on the side.

Wu Lan shook his head, no, Jin Jun hasn't reached that point yet, something must have happened! Otherwise, not so!

"That's it, since the enemy army has fled by itself, the herald troops have packed up their equipment and prepared to go north!" Wu Xuan said loudly. As soon as he turned around, he heard the soldiers shouting, saying that there were soldiers and horses on the west bank.

He turned abruptly to look, and sure enough, he saw a crowd of people on the west bank, interspersed with flags. After waiting for a while, the two armies confronted each other across the river, and the soldiers of Wu Xuan's department suddenly found that the other party was actually fighting Xu Ziqi! At that time, the soldiers didn't think much about the word "Xu" until the other party sent someone to shout across the river.

"Whose troops are on the other side?"

Naturally, there was no need to hide the head and tail, and immediately an officer shouted: "We are the Shaanxi troops!" Where did you come from? Want to die? ”

"But Xu's troops?" The other party asked loudly.

"Xu Zhaoyi? Ha ha! Wait for what year this is the yellow calendar! Now our king has already been promoted to the king of the county, so he will not be discussed! The officer laughed.

The man immediately struck his horse back, and after a while, he heard the joy of the east coast! Those soldiers were thunderous with joy, and the scene was lively! This has confused the Western army on the West Bank, what's going on? Seeing this, Wu Lan guessed that this could be the Hedong Righteous Army?

Sure enough, someone immediately shouted across the river: "Sir! We are righteous teachers! It was originally the old department of Yang Jin in Pingyang City! ”

When Wu Lan heard this, he was overjoyed, and personally shouted: "Since it is Yang Jin's old department, it is my brother Paoze, you can quickly cross the river!" ”

The other party should go down and say that he would cross the river immediately to join the division. Wu Lan turned around and walked towards the camp, throwing down a sentence: "Be careful, I am afraid of fraud!" Liang Xing understood and secretly ordered the troops not to loosen their bows and arrows.

After a while, the other party began to cross the river. However, although this army was known as the righteous army, they seemed to see that the western army was on guard, so they were especially careful when crossing the river, not showing their blades, not holding bows and arrows, in order not to let the western army be distracted.

Their army was about three or four thousand men, and it took a long time to cross them all. Several leaders found Liang Xing and asked for the name of the general of the unified army, and after learning that it was Wu Lan, they all smiled and said that it was the younger brother of Wu Dutong. Because Wu Jue once served as Xu Wei's capital commander before his death, these lone troops left behind in Hedong are still commensurate with the capital commandery.