After Zhang Xing learned that the 20,000 reinforcements of the Northern Wang Army had arrived in the north of Raocheng, he exclaimed in his heart that it was dangerous. If he hadn't resolutely carried out the orders of the Eastern Palace, and conquered Raocheng at any cost in one day, the tide of the battle would probably have turned around when the 20,000 soldiers and horses arrived.

These 20,000 reinforcements may not be able to eat the more than 60,000 soldiers and horses led by Zhang Xing, but they can ensure that Li Shangqing's troops can retreat. After all, Li Shangqing's department was the elite of the cavalry of the Luoyang Army, and in a decisive battle on the plain, more than 10,000 elite cavalry could influence the development of the battle situation at any time.

In addition to ordering the army to be stationed and advancing, Zhang Xing was also investigating the movement of reinforcements along the way. When he learned that the soldiers and horses were stationed in place, Zhang Xing also felt puzzled.

Dongwangfu now has more than 60,000 soldiers and horses, stationed in the city, which can be said to be offensive and defensible. The Luoyang Army's reinforcements are only more than 20,000 people, and they are not elite divisions that have been in battle for a long time.

Just when Zhang Xing felt hesitant and didn't know whether to attack or rest and wait, a guard came to report, saying that an enemy messenger had come to see him.

"Let people come to the tent!"

Zhang Xing set up a temporary Chinese army tent in the open space of the garrison camp in Raocheng, which was spacious and easy to set up tents. And mainly because there are too many dead bodies in the city now, the soldiers are still cleaning up, and at the same time, many houses in the city are on fire and burned, and the people in the city must be temporarily resettled.

The two envoys, one tall and one short, both appeared to be in their thirties, and came in civilian clothes rather than military uniforms.

When they arrived at the big tent of the Chinese army, the two envoys did not say anything, but they were pressed to the ground.

"General. The two armies are at war...... Don't cut it to make. The tall envoy was held down and shouted.

"Two armies at war? We are under the orders of His Majesty to sweep away the rebellion, and the rebel has no right to say such things! Zhang Xing shouted.

The tall envoy continued to shout: "We have come to abandon the darkness and turn to the light!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Xingcai ordered his entourage to let the two go. The two envoys patted the clothes on their bodies, and then took out a letter from their bosoms and said, "This is a letter from my general. He also asked the general to convey it to His Majesty and the King of the East on his behalf. ”

"Who is your commander?" Zhang Xing asked the attendant to take the surrender letter, but he didn't read it, because it didn't meet Han Jian's order, and Han Jian didn't say that he would surrender on the battlefield. Although he also knew that the surrender of 20,000 Luoyang troops would mean the loss of one or the other. It's good for war.

The tall envoy said, "The commander of our army." It is Sun Shaoqian, the general of the Eastern Martial Guard. ”

Zhang Xing came out of Luoyang City with Han Jian, and naturally knew that Sun Shaoqian had led his pursuers to chase after him, but he intended to let him go. Zhang Xingdi and Sun Shaoqian still have a lot of respect.

When he took the letter and read it, his brow furrowed. Because it was not Sun Shaoqian who wrote the letter at all. It was Sun Shaoqian's subordinate general named Wang Yue.

"You General Sun. Why don't you write a letter yourself? Zhang Xingyu asked.

The tall envoy said in a loud voice: "Sun Shaoqian doesn't know the current affairs, he has taken refuge in rebellion, and he has been killed by us. Now it is General Wang who is in charge of the battle, and it is General Wang who specially ordered us to come and surrender. ”

When Zhang Xing heard this, he couldn't help but be angry. He admired Sun Shaoqian very much, seeing that Sun Shaoqian was killed by this group of generals who ate inside and out, and he came to surrender without shame, how could he not be angry.

But Zhang Xing is also very aware of the current situation, although Sun Shaoqian is a famous general and quite prestigious, but after all, he has the mission of being a general, even if he knows that Yang Yu is rebellious, he did not defect in battle, but only withdrew when he was chasing the East Wangfu and the South Wangfu and his party.

This also shows that if Sun Shaoqian is still the main general, he will definitely not surrender.

"You two go down first, this matter ...... General Rongben thought again. Zhang Xing said with a gloomy face.

Waiting for the two envoys to go down for the time being to wait for news, Zhang Xing asked people to light the lamp. At this time, it was already night, he estimated the time, if Yunjin's soldiers and horses continued to approach the direction of Raocheng, it should be about sixty or seventy miles northeast of Raocheng, and only twenty or thirty miles away from the Huai River.

According to Han Jian's military order, after capturing Raocheng, there was no need to pause, and he continued to lead his troops north to attack Yunjin's department. In Han Jian's estimation, if Zhang Xing could capture Raocheng and annihilate Li Shangqing's entire army, then Yunjin would never fight south of the Huai River, but would lead his troops across the river and approach in the direction of Luozhou.

Although the Dongwangfu can take back more than a dozen cities occupied by the Luoyang army at that time, it has not achieved the effect of a decisive battle, and once the Luoyang army retains its strength, this war is equivalent to not over. After that, the war changed rapidly, and any outcome was possible.

Han Jian's meaning was to take advantage of the decisive battle before the Yunjin Department crossed the river to the north and completely annihilated the Yunjin Department.

At this time, the 20,000 horses that originally belonged to Sun Shaoqian became a vital part.

The 20,000 reinforcements, if led by Sun Shaoqian, would inevitably set off to the north to join the Yunjin Division, that is, the large army, and continue to go north when they learned that Raocheng had fallen. That's in line with Han Jian's vision. At that time, Zhang Xing's department and Lin Zhan's department had more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and more than 60,000 soldiers and horses fighting Yunjin, and the chance of winning in one go was very great.

But now Sun Shaoqian was killed by the adjutant general, and the adjutant general ordered to be stationed and sent people to surrender.

Originally, Zhang Xing was very reluctant to accept this surrender army, but now, if he does not accept it, it will mean that the 20,000 soldiers and horses will become a stumbling block for his remaining 50,000 soldiers and horses to go north. It is likely that his army will not be able to leave north to join Lin Zhan's troops within the time limit.

"General Zhang, how do you reply? Already urging over there? The adjutant came to the tent and reported to Zhang Xingyu.

"Accept the conditions and send someone to contact you outside the city." Zhang Xing was a little helpless in his heart, and said that he had no choice but to make such an arrangement.

Zhang Xing sent people to surrender outside the city with the envoys overnight, which was related to whether his soldiers and horses could go north as scheduled.

Zhang Xing didn't sleep for several days, and he couldn't have the slightest rest. But he still ordered the whole army to rest for one night and then set off the next day.

At the same time, this night, Zhang Xing also had to find out whether the more than 20,000 soldiers and horses of the Luoyang Army had really surrendered or surrendered. Any small decision may be related to the change of the battle situation, and he knows that he cannot be lazy. After all, now that the East King is in Jiangdu City, there are many things that he can't ask for instructions directly, and he believes that even if Han Jian knows about this matter later, he won't blame him for not listening to orders.

At midnight, Zhang Xinggang fell asleep for a while, and then got the news that Wang Yue, the commander of the soldiers and horses outside the city, had personally brought a small number of followers to Raocheng to surrender, and in order to show his sincerity, Wang Yue would even enter the city to meet him in person.

Zhang Xing was a little annoyed in his heart, although he wanted to kill Wang Yue, but he knew that killing Wang Yue would only cause a "mutiny" of more than 20,000 soldiers and horses outside the city, and the chaos would be impossible to clean up at that time.

Zhang Xing was patient and met Wang Yue in person, only to know that Wang Yue was not a young general, but a "veteran" in his forties and fifties.

After getting Zhang Xing's permission, Wang Yue was officially promoted to the level of Zhang Xing's "deputy marshal", nominally promoted, but in fact he was transferred to Zhang Xing's side, so that he was separated from the generals under his command.

Wang Yue also knew very well that this was the "basic treatment" of the surrendered generals, since he surrendered, and the big war was imminent, in order to prevent him from surrendering, he would naturally be transferred from his post, and the generals sent by Zhang Xing cooperated with the generals in the original Luoyang Army to coordinate the dispatch of the army.

By dawn on April 26. The reception was basically completed, and Zhang Xing sent more than 10,000 soldiers and horses all the way to the north, while more than 20,000 men and horses outside the city, Zhang Xing was placed in the Chinese army, broke up the original overall formation, and went north with the large army of the Chinese army.

At noon on 27 April, after a rapid march of one day and one night, the army was already less than 20 miles away from the Huai River. At this time, Zhang Xing's department was less than ten miles away from Yunjin's department.

Originally, Yunjin had already sent some men and horses to cross the river, and originally thought that with the speed of the soldiers and horses of the Eastern Palace, his army could cross the Huai River along the way, but halfway early he found that the soldiers and horses of the Eastern Wangfu were coming too fast, and it was not all the way to the soldiers and horses all of a sudden, but Zhang Xing and Lin Zhan had a total of nearly 100,000 troops.

At this time, Yun Jin also had two choices in front of him. Because there are not many boats and not many people can cross the river for a while, he can choose to continue to transport troops across the river, but before the soldiers and horses of the Dongwangfu are killed, he can only transport the main generals across the river, and the soldiers who transported the river are only more than 10,000 people, and ignore the more than 30,000 horses left on the south bank, but this will also mean that he originally had less than 50,000 horses left, and there were less than 20,000 left.

This is tantamount to self-defeat without a fight.

Yun Jin obviously doesn't want to admit defeat, Yun Jin is also an experienced general, and he is also familiar with military books, he naturally knows very well that "breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat" and "fighting against the water", and now his situation is very similar to Han Xin more than a thousand years ago, they are all backed by a big river, and the soldiers immediately occupy a disadvantage.

But he is convinced that he himself will become a second Han Shin.

Therefore, before the soldiers and horses of the Dongwangfu fully reached the river bank, the eight or nine thousand men and horses who originally crossed the river were transported over, and then the cauldron was sunk to fight against the water.

Yun Jin naturally knew very well that Han Xin was able to win at the beginning, not just because he was backed by a river, but also because he had a lot of preparations. But at the moment, there are very few conditions he can use, and he can't get into the back of the soldiers and horses of the Dongwangfu diagonally, and there are no reinforcements, so he can only deploy on the riverbank.

And around the riverbank, there were no towns, and there were no deep cities with high walls, so he could only build temporary fortifications.

In his opinion, as long as he can hold on, he will have the opportunity to "kill out", but he didn't expect to block the back road.

Originally, he also flashed in his mind, he wanted to take the initiative to attack, taking advantage of the fact that the soldiers and horses of the Dongwangfu had just come from afar, and before he had time to rest, he made a surprise attack and killed him by surprise.

This was originally the best strategy, but he felt that it was too risky to do so, and there were many soldiers and horses in the Dongwang Mansion, so it was not something that could be attacked casually.

From the beginning of the fortifications, the end of the whole battle was already doomed. (To be continued......)