Chapter 59 Preparations for the Battle of Huaiqing

This tunnel is very deep, and in addition to the torch lighting, there are one lighting hole after another directly above, and the sunlight shines down directly, like a lamp.

The ground and the dome are several zhang wide and three zhang high.

As for this height, it is usually sparse in the back. But in this day and age, it is very lenient. And He Xi also felt that there are many places here that are soil. But there are still a lot of places, rocks.

In this way, hundreds of meters were dug out by force, which is a very large project.

Dig so deep without deflecting, these holes above your head are not just ventilation holes. It is also used for positioning. Overhead, and underfoot, there is a cement paved ground.

Although He Xi also knows that the quality of cement in this era cannot be compared with the quality of cement in later generations, these cements are substandard products in later generations. At this moment, He Xi still has a feeling of flashing back to the construction site of the future.

And to be at the forefront. Ge Tiangong stopped He Xi and said, "Teacher, it's not safe in front of you."

He Xi looked at the dome above his head was no longer the same, it was a layer of heavy wooden planks. Beneath the planks is a two-story scaffolding on which people dig up the earth and masonry with various tools, and at the same time excavate a certain amount of space, and then use the wood to top it.

That's it little by little.

He Xi didn't know who invented this method. It seems to be similar to the working principle of the shield machine in later generations, and the dome is supported while digging, and the back is reinforced with cement reinforcement. Just grind it into it slowly.

He Xi read this, and was sure that he was doing a good job below, at least he didn't lie to him.

He Xi asked Ge Tiangong, "How long will it take for this section of the road to be repaired?"

Ge Tiangong said, "There are about five months left. In fact, there are not many major projects left, and all other projects have already ended. Only a few tunnels and bridges remain. And these places can't get up quickly at all, not like now, no matter how it is arranged, these are the only people."

"However, the disciple has already arranged for someone to take the road and transport the railroad tracks over. I've already started to repair the same section."

"I can assure you that by this time next year, this railway will go straight to the Yellow River."

Seeing this, He Xi secretly said in his heart, "It will take another year. Another year.".

It's a year of patience.

Of course, He Xi's patience does not mean doing nothing.

At this moment, there are fights from Yulin, Yanmen Pass, Jingjing, along the Yellow River, Jinan, and even Penghu on the sea. Even Ye Shen had already proposed the Battle of Hanoi and went straight to Huaiqing Mansion. Launched the Battle of Huaiqing.

The key to this battle lies in the importance of Huaiqing.

Huaiqing is the Jiaozuo of later generations.

Location matters.

Huaiqing is sandwiched together by the Yellow River of Wangwu Mountain in Taihang Mountain, forming a long and narrow strip. It seems to be closed, but in fact it extends in all directions. During the Battle of Changping, the King of Qin personally went to Hanoi to encourage the army and civilians to go north to support.

To the west, it leads directly to the east of the river. And the east of the river is the road of the Yellow River, and it is separated by a river from Shaanxi.

Although facing the Yellow River in the south, the Yellow River in this area is not the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the river course is fixed, so it is not a hanging river on the ground. That's not all, but more importantly, there are many famous ferries here, such as Mengjin. That is, when King Wu was fighting, he would meet the princes.

That is, from here, cross the Yellow River and go straight to Luoyang. It can be done.

More importantly, the road from the southeast to Shanxi. The most convenient is to pass through Huaiqing, or Zhangde, and take the Taihang Eight Classics into Shanxi. Now as long as the Northern Army takes Huaiqing, the southeast of Taihang Mountain is owned by the Northern Army.

If the Southern Army wants to have any practice with Shanxi, it will either go to Hedong or Shaanxi. In short, make a big circle. It will not be convenient for many things in Shanxi.

He Xi felt that Ye Shen's hand could not be said to be bad.

But there is also a great danger. After all, as mentioned earlier, Huaiqing Mansion, near the mountains and rivers, lacks one on three sides, and there is only a gap in the east. Once the lone army is deep, the enemy can also catch the turtle in the urn.

He Xi knew that this was the southern army, and Ye Shen's dissatisfaction. He couldn't help but agree.

In comparison, the strategic focus has shifted to Shaanxi. In fact, it is very unfavorable to the southern army, which has mastered the large number of troops of the Beijing imperial court before, and if the decisive battle starts in the Central Plains. Between the Huanghuai and the Jianghuai, several decisive battles were fought, which was enough to go straight to Nanjing.

Ye Shen's idea is feasible militarily.

There are two problems, the first is the military risk, the risk of the Yellow River. The risk of a decisive battle.

How to avoid the Southern Army from replacing soldiers with water and turning the Qianli Plain into a Ze country. No matter how sure you can be sure that the decisive battle will be won. Even if it's not Xu Da, it's Fu Youde. Let Ye Shen himself say, Ye Shen can't guarantee that he will be able to defeat Fu Youde.

In fact, the military risk is still secondary, after all, Beijing has now gained a firm foothold, and is no longer afraid of defeat, although the last defeat will greatly damage its vitality. But there is already the possibility of recovery, not as before the battle of the river, once defeated, the overall situation is irreversible.

The political risks are the greatest.

In other words, if Ye Shen won three decisive battles and finally destroyed Nanjing, then how should Ye Shen's prestige and strength be checked and balanced by the imperial court?

That's all that matters.

He Xi and Zhu Xiongying have not discussed, but they actually have a tacit understanding.

He Xi would not suppress Ye Shen and prevent him from making meritorious contributions, but the mountains in the army must not all belong to Ye Shen. He Xi can't tolerate it, let alone Zhu Xiongying.

Opening up the second battlefield is also an opportunity for another person to make meritorious contributions, and in the future, the Western Army may have a slightly weaker momentum than the Southern Army, but it is also enough to contain it. With the other means in He Xi's hands, it is absolutely impossible for Xungui to form a whole group.

Don't look at anything else, just look at what the countries in the world are like that are still military juntas, and you will know why these military men cannot be allowed to take power.

Many things, to do the front, you can't wait for the situation to be formed, then you want to get up and do it, it's too late.

In this case, Ye Shen may or may not understand. However, all the generals of the Southern Army are estimated to be dissatisfied, without him, this blocks their opportunity to make meritorious contributions, for these generals, military merit is everything to him. This situation is to provoke the anger of the people.

It is necessary to let the following emotions have some catharsis.

The Battle of Huaiqing was also put on the agenda. Cut off Hanoi, drink the Yellow River, look at Luoyang, cut the root of Shanxi, and break the spine of the Central Plains. If Qu can do well. It would be great if the Western Army and the Southern Army could meet at Tongguan.

He Xi couldn't stop the Huaiqing Campaign, so he could only control the scale and time.

If the westward advance is very smooth, then the battle of Huaiqing will be fought later. Now that the westward advance is progressing slowly, I am afraid that after the railway is repaired, it will not be able to move southward in a big way, so the Beijing court will have the energy, and it will naturally be able to focus on the Huaiqing war.

He Xi secretly decided that the focus of this year's war would be the Battle of Huaiqing.

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In Taiyuan City, Geng Bingwen suddenly got up and coughed, a large pool of blood spit on the ground, Geng Rui saw this and immediately went to support Geng Bingwen and said, "Father, how do you feel?"

Half of Geng Bingwen's injuries were arrow wounds, nothing else. It was Qu Neng who shot him an arrow outside Yanmen Pass. When I was young, such an injury was nothing at all. But now Geng Bingwen is in his sixties.

This arrow greatly damaged Geng Bingwen's vitality.

But another reason is anger.

In the battle of the Sanggan River, Geng Bingwen fought unstoppably and did his best. Not to mention the exhaustive calculations of the organs, in the end, he was still a sixty-year-old veteran, and after he personally hung up, he killed seven in and seven out. It can be regarded as stabilizing the morale of the army.

Otherwise, as soon as the cavalry collapsed, the cavalry of the Northern Army dared to chase the rout and rush into the Yanmen Pass.

In this way, Shanxi is in danger and Taiyuan is in danger.

But no matter how much effort Geng Bingwen put into this battle, how much Qu Neng was angry, but this battle was essentially a defeat. Because he was calculated by the other party from the beginning.

The right time and place are not in me.

If someone else goes out, it is estimated that the whole army will be wiped out. But Geng Bingwen was only damaged

There were more than 10,000 elite cavalry, and there were many cavalry losses in the Northern Army, just because the Northern Army controlled the battlefield, and some of the wounded were treated in time.

In general, the casualties were much less than those of the Southern army.