Groups of armored cavalry marched through the territory of Yicheng County in an endless stream, trampling the wheat fields that were about to be tasseled beyond recognition-these were all cavalry that was urgently transferred north from Jinan to help Yanjing, and they had been in an endless stream since the 19th without interruption.

Although there is a gallop road to go in Yannanxi, if they honestly take a gallop road five or six zhang wide, tens of thousands of cavalry will not be much faster than the infantry brigade to Yanjing. At present, in order to speed up the march, except for the large river that cannot be directly crossed by the water, we have to stop to rest and eat, and pass through the narrow pontoon bridge in turn, all other places are trying to grab time and speed as much as possible, and we have no way to use it as fast as possible......

Naheduodi straddled his horse, surrounded by the horsemen in the middle, his left leg was lame in the battle of Yangxin, and he was not completely healed, but it did not affect the horse and horse battle—he did not command tens of thousands of cavalry to cross the battlefield with pride, and only the gloom that could not be erased and the heroism of going to the death battle.

The second child fainted and was unconscious, his life and death were uncertain, the queen mother and the princes and ministers refuted the proposal to abandon the capital, and decided to stick to Yanjing, what choice could Ye Jiduodi have? I can only lead the 30,000 cavalry in Jinan at this time to rush to the aid of Yanjing, give it a go, and bet the final fate of Dayan on the decisive battle of Yanji!

Ye Jiduodi didn't even bother to think about how bad the impact on the Henan and Shandong defense lines would be after the collapse of the Lock Sea Defense Line, and whether it was possible to cause the collapse of the entire defense line......

Some peasant households scattered in the fields watched from afar as the Yanhu horse soldiers trampled the wheat fields. As long as the peasants came to entangle because of the destroyed wheat fields, the cavalry could not care about driving away these onlookers, and they could not even care whether the Huaidong army's eyeliner was hidden in them.

"Just let them go to Yanjing?" Zhou Xingwu asked Luo Shoushan on his side in a suppressed voice, they were all dressed as farmers, squatting in the field with hoes, and watching the large force of Yanhu cavalry pass by in the distance.

"Let's go back first." Luo Shoushan suppressed his voice and said, seeing that it was getting late, he gestured with several eyeliners on the periphery, and retreated from the Zhao family village behind Zhou Xingwu first, and then sneaked into the Cangyan village in the southeast of Luancheng under the cover of night.

Cangyan Village was originally a private village, just ten days ago, Luo Shoushan led two battalions of soldiers and horses of the Taihang Mountain Independent Town Division to lurk in Cangyan Village, driving a large force of Yanhu cavalry from Yicheng to cross, Luo Shoushan personally went down the mountain to feel the situation.

Touching the mountain and climbing the slope, rushed to Cangyan Village, the sky was about to dawn, and Wu Jingze, a staff officer, led another three battalions of soldiers and horses to come to support, so that the strength gathered at the eastern foot of the middle vein of Taishan increased to 3,000 people, and it was also the most elite first brigade of the independent town division of Taihang Mountain; The Wei Zhongjun also rushed over to grasp the latest battle situation nearby.

Luo Shoushan and Zhou Xingwu ignored the fatigue of climbing the mountain, surrounded the oil lamp, and reported to Wu Jingze about the transit of Yanhu Jinan's cavalry from Yicheng outside the mountain: "There should be a horse team crossing tomorrow, if we decisively send troops, we can bite their tails......"

"Hu Gouzi doesn't go to Taiyuan from Jingcheng, we still have to be patient." Wu Jingze shook his head and vetoed Luo Shoushan and Zhou Xingwu's proposal to fight.

On the north side of Cangyan Mountain is the Jingcheng Road, which is known as the Taihang Eight Mountains, which is the most important and important passage connecting the Jizhong Plain and the Jinjiang River. This road is strange and dangerous, traversing the hinterland of Taihang Mountain, there is the saying of "the car can not be square, and the riding can not be in a column", which is the sixth plug of the nine stops in the world.

When deducing the battle situation before the war, the military department repeatedly deduced the various possibilities of Yan captives abandoning Yanjing and fleeing west.

Yan Lu abandoned Yanjing and fled westward, there were three routes: one was to take Puyin and flee to Datong; The first is to go to the military capital through Juyong Pass and escape to Xuanfu; One is to go to Jingcheng and flee to Taiyuan. Datong and Xuanfu are too northern, once the Yanfu in Yanjing fled to Datong and Xuanfu, it was difficult to take care of the captives who were still on the defense line in Henan and Shandong at this time, so it was more likely to flee to Taiyuan by Jingcheng Road.

Before the war, the purpose of the temporary reorganization of the independent town division of Taihang Mountain was to prevent Yan Lu from fleeing to Taiyuan and prolonging the war indefinitely-the independent town division has been moving from the southern foot of Taihang Mountain to the vicinity of Jingcheng Road for more than a month, and from the hinterland of Taihang Mountain, into the middle section of the treacherous Jingcheng Road, there are many dangerous terrains that can completely intercept the enemy.

Since Yan Yu wanted to abandon the capital, and even transferred Jinan's soldiers and horses to aid Yan Ji, the plan of the independent town division to intercept the retreating enemy in Jingcheng Road naturally fell into vain......

Luo Shoushan, Zhou Xingwu and other generals, including those from Taihang Mountain, naturally did not want to miss this battle, did not want to be unable to make an inch, since Hu Gouzi did not plan to flee from Jingcheng West, they wanted to pull the soldiers out of the hinterland of Taihang Mountain to fight a field battle.

The military department also expected this situation and did not advocate going out of Taihang Mountain too early. After all, the combat strength of the independent town division was weak, and the 20 four-pound light guns cast in the mountains were also quite limited in ammunition, and they could not withstand the consumption of several battles, and there were no conditions for fighting with a large force of Yanhu cavalry in the open southwestern Hebei plain.

"Isn't it a Yang Spring?" Wei Zhonglong also wanted to fight a big battle, but on the whole he had to obey the unified deployment of the military department, unless the military department had the latest directives, unless there were excellent fighters to grasp immediately, otherwise he could not go against the overall situation because he was eager to fight. You can't go out of the mountains to fight, but Yangquan is located in the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains, and hitting Yangquan does not violate the overall battle plan of the military headquarters.

Wu Jingze frowned and pondered, and said: "Hu Gouzi did not flee Taiyuan from Jingcheng West at this time, but it does not mean that they did not flee from Jingjing to Taiyuan after suffering a big defeat in Jinhai - if we hit Yangquan at this time, we will fight the grass and startle the snake, and eventually lose the remnants of Yanyu and flee in the direction of Datong and Xuanfu." In that case, it will be a lot more troublesome to pursue in the future, and I think it's better to wait for the remnants of the enemy to fall into the net......"

Wei Zhonglong frowned, and he desperately wanted to fight a few battles, but thinking that the enemy of Yangquan was less than two thousand, it was not fun to fight; Endure not fighting for a while, and wait for the remnants of Yan Lu to flee from Jingcheng West after the defeat of Jinhai, maybe they can really get the opportunity to fight a big battle - as long as they can be different according to the soldiers, Yan Lu wants to join the remnants of the defense line from Henan and Shandong, and it is likely that they will still choose to go to Taiyuan by Jingcheng.

"Okay, listen to you, and we'll be patient for a while, waiting for the remnants of the enemy to come." Wei Zhonglong said.

Luo Shoushan muttered: "If you fall short, it's not like you won't be able to win a battle." ”

Wu Jingze laughed and said: "Where will you not be able to fight a battle, after defeating Yanjing, the recovery of Shandong and Henan will be responsible for Huaiyang and Changhuai, and the recovery of Guanzhong will be responsible for the Changshan army, but Jinzhong is the closest to us, and I am afraid that there will be no war to fight?" ”

****************

The Dengzhou Naval Division did not survive a day before the whole army was wiped out, and the news that the sea defense line was completely torn through to the Huaidong Army was delayed until the 22nd, and then it reached Xuchang.

This was undoubtedly a blow to the people of Xuchang who were full of thoughts before the 22nd that the Huaidong Army and the Changhuai Army would send troops from Xuzhou to the Northern Expedition, and it was a blow to their eyes.

Prior to this, Dong Yuan was preparing for Xuchang's self-reliance, and had publicly publicized the fact that Chongguo Gonglin was bound and usurped, and the prelude to the collapse of the forest had been unveiled.

There was no turning back when the bow was opened, and the prelude to the fall of the forest was unveiled, and there was no possibility of making peace with the Huaidong Army, and Dong Yuan, Liu Tingzhou, and Yuan Guizheng also resolutely broke with the Huaidong Army and resisted to the end.

Prior to this, Dong Yuan constantly transferred troops and generals, changed the defensive deployment of Xuchang's periphery, and withdrew heavy troops from the northern front and deployed them to the south of Xuchang, intending to contain Xuzhou, Huaiyang and Wuyang flanks for Yanhu, so as to weaken the Huaidong Army's Northern Expedition......

Who would have thought that the Huaiyang Army in Xu Shou and the Changhuai Army in Wuyang would also stand still, and the coastal defense line that Yanhu regarded as "the solidity of the golden soup" would be torn apart by the Huaidong Army in just two or three days?

Yuan Guizheng just laughed madly, and after repeatedly confirming that the news of the collapse of the Beiyan Lock Sea Defense Line was correct, he turned around and left in silence; Yuan Jinsheng was still relieved, and chased after him, only to save his father, who was about to commit suicide by hanging the beam, and wept for a long time, only to feel that there was no way out in front of him.

Liu Tingzhou also lost his spirit overnight, and his messy hair turned into snow.

And Ren Jiwei, who has been staying in Xuchang to contact the two armies, has also become a headless fly - Yuzhou is still actively preparing for the establishment of a new emperor, Cao Yiqu is still dreaming of "serving the Son of Heaven to order not to be subordinate", and when the news of the destruction of the entire naval division of Dengzhou in Northern Yan is transmitted, it will be half a month later, to say the least.

Dong Yuan sat in the quiet room all night, and Chen Juxian sat outside the quiet room, worried that he would not be able to withstand such a big blow and Xueyuan returned to power. In the early morning of the 23rd, the door of the quiet room opened from the inside, and Chen Juxian saw the envoy who came out of the quiet room, and the frost hair on his temples seemed to be thicker than yesterday.

"You send someone to invite Lord Liu, Lord Yuan, Lord Ren and Zhong Rong!" Dong Yuan's face sank like water, and there was no panic on his face, as if he was still confident and had a plan.

Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Guizheng rushed to Ren Jiwei in despair, they didn't think that Dong Yuan could come up with any good solutions, but when things came to a desperate juncture, everyone still needed to brainstorm so that they had a chance to tide over the difficulties.

"Let's go, let's leave immediately," Dong Yuan stared at Liu Tingzhou, Yuan Guizheng, Chen Juxian, Zhong Rong, Ren Jiwei and others, and said, "We can't care about Luo Jian and Liang Chengdong, we must immediately withdraw from Xuchang to vote for Chen Zhihu......"

"Will Yeziro Rongyan give way?" Yuan Guizheng asked.

They sacrificed Liang Chengdong and Luo Jian, and even wanted to hide from them the news of the annihilation of the Dengzhou Naval Division, and used their two divisions to attract the attention of the Changhuai army and the Changshan army, which was likely to advance north from Fangcheng, so as to buy them time to withdraw from Xuchang. However, to flee to Guanzhong to vote for Chen Zhihu, you must borrow from Hezhong Mansion, and Ye Jiluo Rongyan, who is in Hezhong Mansion, will get out of the way at this time?

"If the sea defense line is lost, the morale of the Northern Yan army in the Henan and Shandong defense lines will suddenly collapse, and the Hezhong Mansion will not be able to defend it," Dong Yuan said, "Ye Ji Luorong will not understand this truth, we go to Guanzhong, Ye Ji Luorong will also seize the time to withdraw to Jinnan, as long as we do not threaten him, he will not stand in our way......" Speaking of this, Dong Yuan paused, his eyes were fixed on Liu Tingzhou, "The most critical question at the moment, is Xiao Kuian reliable?" ”

In order to overthrow the forest, Dong Yuan transferred Xiao Kuian's department, which was quite close to Lin Tie, from the front of Fangcheng to the north in advance, so Xiao Kuian's department was just blocking the road where they fled to Hezhong Mansion. If Xiao Kuian is unreliable and temporarily blocks them, they will have no way into the sky and no way to enter the ground.

The fall of the Suohai defense line means that the entire Shandong and Henan defense lines will soon collapse, and there is no possibility of further support, if you want to survive, you must have longer legs and faster feet than others, but will Xiao Kuian lead his troops to flee to Guanzhong with them to vote for Chen Zhihu, even Liu Tingzhou, who single-handedly promoted Xiao Kuian as a commander, cannot assert......

"Since it is unreliable, Lord Liu must be decisive!" Dong Yuan stared at Liu Tingzhou and said word by word.