On March 30 of the second year of Jianwen, on the last day of spring, the sky over Beiping suddenly began to become agitated.

Overlooking the surface, the two armies lined up in the early morning relative to the Baigou River.

Baigou Hebei, the battle flag hunting, the horn sounds, the black pressure stretches for several miles, you can't see the edge at a glance, under the bright armor on their bodies, this team seems to be an iron wall standing in the north of Baigou Hebei.

Baigou Henan, the same army appeared, they wore the same armor, held the same weapons, arranged in a neat phalanx, but looked at the army of Hebei coldly, like a majestic Great Wall across Henan.

Heyang City, a city built on the Baigou River, played a huge role in the confrontation between Song and Liao.

After more than 400 years, it played a role again and became a city that the southern army could rely on, while the Yan army in the north stood in the open Hebei land.

The Baigou River is no more than a mile wide, but it separates the two armies and becomes a 'city wall' between the two armies.

Whoever wants to launch an attack must first break through this 'city wall', and all the bridges connecting this 'city wall' have been destroyed by Wu Gao and Xu Kai's orders.

"This number, I'm afraid it's no less than 100,000, Yan Wei has brought out everything that can be brought out."

On the south bank of the river, Hu Guan looked at the battle of the Yan army on the north bank, with a solemn expression.

Although it was far away, he could still see a lot of black horses.

"I heard that the Tatar Duke Zhao Tuoliegan led tens of thousands of troops to the south to join Yan Rebellion, Yan Rebellion has cavalry available in his hands, I am afraid that there are no less than 20,000 troops, and to fight with it, we must rely on the water network and limit its four hooves."

Wu Gao held his hand on the hilt of the sword, and his expression was equally solemn.

However, compared with Zhu Di, Wu Gao still felt that Zhu Gaoxu brought him more pressure.

He fought with Zhu Di, at least he could fight in short arms, and the number of wins and losses was five or five.

But if you fight with Zhu Gaoxu, he will hit you with cannons when he is far away, and when he is close, he will arrange a baggage truck to match with a firearm, and on the one hand, he has to fight with him in a short fight, and on the other hand, he has to guard against his firearms, which is really a headache.

"Calculate the time, Cao Guogong should be in Cangzhou now."

Wu Gao looked at the gradually brightening sky and calculated when Li Jinglong would be able to reach the front line.

Like him, Zhu Di on the other side of the river was also calculating when Li Jinglong would be able to reach the front line.

"Calculating the time, Li Jiujiang's 70,000 army going north should take five days to reach here, and we have to defeat Wu Gao in five days."

Zhu Di grabbed the beard, and there were many more fresh faces around him.

After the total annihilation of Chen Hui and Teng Ju's headquarters, he learned that Li Jinglong had returned to defense, and he immediately led the army to withdraw to Beiping, and at the same time accepted the surrender of the Tatar Duke Zhao Tulegan, and organized 7,000 cavalry.

These 7,000 cavalry, plus the previous 3,000 small Dazi battalion, there are also as many as 10,000 cavalry.

With the addition of his original cavalry, as well as the cavalry that captured Chen Hui and Teng Ju, he now has more than 26,000 cavalry alone.

Behind him, there were 50,000 horsemen and 60,000 foot soldiers, totaling 136,000 men.

"Your Highness, if we can defeat Wu Gao here, then the number of the southern army will plummet to 200,000, and it will be difficult to compete with our army."

At the same time as Zhu Neng spoke, Zhang Yu on the side also said:

"If we can really defeat Wu Gao, as long as our army crosses the Baigou River and goes south, we can completely cooperate with the Second Highness of Qingzhou to surround Li Jinglong's 200,000 troops on the vast plain of Beiping."

At the same time as Zhang Yu opened his mouth, Qiu Fu also followed: "I heard that Li Jinglong went north without fighting with His Second Highness this time, leaving only Li Jian and Sheng Yong's 100,000 soldiers and horses in the south to guard against His Royal Highness. ”

Marching to fight a war is not to see whose army is strong and can conquer, but to see whose logistics are better.

In history, the Yan army failed to go south many times, and the reason why it did not dare to go deep was that there was no stable granary.

But at present, Zhu Gaoxu has taken most of the three prefectures in Ludong, and he will be able to harvest millions of stone grain by waiting until September, which can fully support the Yan army's plan to attack Xuzhou and approach Huai'an.

In this regard, Zhu Di was also very happy: "The second brother should be faster than us, maybe when we finish this battle, the second child will have already won Qingzhou Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion." ”

"When the time comes, we will take Xuzhou again, and the Huai River in the south will not be a concern."

They talked eloquently, imagining that they would join Zhu Gaoxu, and go all the way to Xuzhou and Huai'an.

It was only under their gaze that the ranks of the Southern Army suddenly rioted.

"What's going on? Reinforcements coming? ”

Zhu Di took the monocular "borrowed" from Wang Yi and looked at the south bank, although he couldn't see clearly, he could see a light cavalry team appearing on the south bank.

"Li Jiujiang has arrived?" Zhu Di was stunned, because only Li Jinglong, Yu Tongyuan, and Ping'an could lead the light cavalry to Heyang, and several of them followed Li Jinglong's activities.

"It can't be, right?" Zhu Neng couldn't believe it when he heard this: "It's four hundred miles from Texas to here, and even if it's an elite person, it will take five days to arrive." ”

"I don't believe it, but that posture looks like Li Jiujiang."

Zhu Di held a telescope, like a voyeur, constantly spying on the situation of the Southern Army.

The generals on the side were very anxious, and Zhu Neng said directly: "When I see His Royal Highness in the future, I have to ask for a few more binoculars for the brothers." ”

"This Li Jiujiang is very anxious to see the posture......"

Zhu Di watched the arrival of the light cavalry and began to inspect Jiangfang, and immediately became happy.

He also thought that Li Jinglong was frightened by his army and thought about how to defend himself, but he didn't want Li Jinglong to only think about attacking at this moment.

"Guogong, why are you in such a hurry?"

Wu Gao and Hu Guan followed Li Jinglong closely, wondering why he was in a hurry to inspect Jiangfang and go to see the destroyed bridge.

In the face of the inquiries of the two, Li Jinglong, who had been running wildly for two days, couldn't care about the embarrassment on his face, and only after scanning the surroundings did he speak solemnly: "The Bohai Shu people raided Huai'an lightly, and now they have crossed the Huai River. ”

"This ...... This ......" Hu Guan was stunned, and so was Wu Gao.

Rao had fought with Zhu Gaochu before, but he had never seen such a crazy side of Zhu Gaoxu.

Raid Huainan lightly, what if you hit Huainan?

Without baggage and artillery, would he be able to take Yangzhou City?

Yangzhou City is two zhang high and three zhang wide, even if it is shelled with naval guns, it is difficult to break the city in a short time, not to mention that even if Yangzhou is taken, it will take several months to build a ship.

A few months is enough for Mu Chun and Song Shengqin in Yunnan and Ganliang.

"I think he has something to rely on, on the way here, I received an expedited Muyangtang ride, among which the reason why the Bohai Shu people were able to quickly take the Yunti Pass was the artillery of hundreds of warships."

"If he wants, he can completely disassemble part of the artillery to attack Yangzhou by land, attract the Yangtze River Naval Division to aid Yangzhou, and then send the Bohai Marine Division to raid the Yangtze River estuary."

"Therefore, I have sent someone to send a message to Sheng Yong and Chen Xuan, no matter what Zhu Gaoxu does, they are not allowed to leave the Yangtze River estuary for half a step."

When Li Jinglong came, he had already thought clearly on the road, Zhu Gaoxu just wanted to attract the attention of the Yangtze River sailors to rush to the aid of Yangzhou, and then raid the mouth of the river.

Although this is difficult to do, as long as there is the slightest possibility, Li Jinglong has to reach out and snuff it out.

"The number of thieves is probably no less than 100,000."

Li Jinglong looked at Hebei with a solemn expression.

The worst thing happened, Zhu Gaoxu raided Huainan lightly, Zhu Di poured his nest down the Baigou River, and the southern army fell into a two-sided battle, and the north and south spanned more than a thousand miles.

Such a distance, even if it is eight hundred miles expedited, it will take a day and a half to reach him, and it will be another day and a half to deliver it back.

Three days of coming and going is enough to change a lot of things.

"How long will it take to repair the ferry and the stone bridge in the narrows?"

Li Jinglong asked Wu Gao, but Wu Gao hesitated for a moment when he heard this, and then calculated: "About five days." ”

"Five days ......" Li Jinglong frowned when he heard this, but finally waved his hand: "Repair the ferry, and send Butang to arrange along the Baigou River, there are many Yan and Ma herds, and it is completely possible to search for a breakthrough along the river, our army is a foot pawn, and it is inconvenient to move." ”

"Order that all the horses and horses be gathered together and handed over to 20,000 soldiers to ride."

Li Jinglong concentrated the horses of the whole army and then organized them into horse infantry.

In doing so, it can be said that he abandoned the mobility of 100,000 people, but for now he had to do it.

With the Baigou River as an obstacle, even if Zhu Di wants to cross the river, he can only cross the river in batches, and it is impossible for more than 100,000 troops to cross the river in full.

In this way, 20,000 people will have a great effect.

Soon, Wu Gao began to operate according to Li Jinglong's explanation, and soon a group of less than 20,000 horse infantry officers and soldiers were formed, and they began to search along the river, and this scene was also detected by the cavalry searched by the Yan army, and transmitted back to Zhu Di.

"Li Jiujiang, this kid is really hard to deal with......"

After getting the news, Zhu Di grabbed his beard, obviously feeling troubled by Li Jinglong, who suddenly arrived at the front line.

However, even if Li Jinglong arrived, it could not stop his determination to cross the river for a decisive battle.

As long as this battle is over, the second child will cooperate with himself and serve as the main attacker, and he will be able to fight in Yangzhou in a year at most, and use Yangzhou Shipyard to build ships and cross the river.

Zhu Dizhi was so proud that he no longer cared about Li Jinglong's actions, but asked his cavalry to search for a place where he could cross the river.

"One... Two... Three! ”

"Push hard!"

When Zhu Di and Li Jinglong were wrestling, Zhu Gaoxu, who had already reached the south of the Huai River, was leading the army on the way to Yangzhou.

On the dirt road, which is not wide, the horses are pulled with difficulty.

The Huainan River network is dense, and although the official road is five zhang wide, the road is not smooth, and the speed of the artillery carriage is not very fast.

Occasionally, when the gun cart got stuck, the horse infantry dismounted and came to push the cart.

With 300 artillery pieces and 10 base ammunition, the Bohai Navy successfully reduced its marching speed from more than 130 miles a day to 60 or 70 miles.

At such a speed, Zhu Gaoxu and the others have not yet entered the territory of Yangzhou Mansion, but they are only more than 20 miles away.

"Twenty-five miles further forward will enter the territory of Baoying County, and we are only about two hundred and forty miles away from Yangzhou."

Chen Chang took the map and communicated with Zhu Gaochu on horseback, and Zhu Gaochu frowned slightly when he heard this.

He thought that the Huainan water network would hinder the march, but he didn't expect the Huainan water network to be so dense, just like now......

"Your Highness!"

The voice of Ta Yu came from the front of the team, he got up and ran from the south, and when he came to Zhu Gaoxu, he made a bitter face: "The bridge in front has been demolished. ”

"Sure enough......" Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly, he had long thought that the Jiangnan squire would hinder him from going south, but he didn't expect this group of people to come so quickly.

"How long will it take to fix?"

"About an hour." The tower was lost, and Zhu Gaoxu also bowed his head: "The repair is, we don't have to rush this time, our army has enough food to eat for half a month." ”

"Yes!" The tower lost its answer, and then turned the horse's head and left.

After he left, Chen Chang frowned and said: "According to the drawings given by Yang Shanren, from here to Yangzhou, we have to pass through at least seventy-six large and small bridges, if this group of squires demolishes every bridge, then we will be delayed for at least seven days." ”

"Divide ten teams of 1,000 centaurs and infantry to go first to ensure that the bridge is not demolished." Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth without thinking, and Chen Chang also bowed his head, and instead called Dol and Qi to lead more than 10,000 horse infantry to the south first.

It was not so easy to dismantle the bridge, and although the squires could mobilize conscription to demolish the bridge, they did not have enough gunpowder, and it was unrealistic to destroy all the bridges.

Zhu Gaoxu only needs to make the ten bridges on the way of the army worry-free, and even if the tenth is destroyed, the horse infantry can urgently repair the bridges.

"According to the time, Sheng Yong should be able to arrive in Yangzhou tomorrow."

"As long as it doesn't rain, we'll be there in three days."

Chen Chang calculated the time, and Zhu Gaoxu looked at the dazzling sun: "There is little rain in Huainan in April, which is why I chose to raid lightly at this time." ”

"We don't have to be fast, don't forget that our task is to attract the attention of the southern Jianghuai army, and the real main force is not us."

"Yes!" Chen Chang nodded and continued to chat with Zhu Gaoxu about other matters.

As time passed, they also walked over the repaired bridge and continued their march forward.

It wasn't until dusk that they arrived at Huailou Town, south of Baoying County, where the people seemed to have heard that the Bohai Navy was coming, so they all fled.

Huailou Town was close to the canal, but at this moment the canal's boats disappeared out of thin air, and it was obvious that Sheng Yong was ahead of them and transferred all the canal boats.

"Your Highness, there is no trace of the march, and the southern army should go to the west of the canal."

In Huailou Town, Zhu Gaoxu rarely sat down to rest, and saw Chen Chang come to report the news.

He didn't think it was strange to him, Sheng Yong set out from Muyang, all the way to the official road next to the canal, and when the straight-line distance and the road were unobstructed, he was naturally faster than them, even if Zhu Gaoxu threw down the artillery, the light cavalry raid could not catch up with him, and the water network in Huainan was born to restrain the cavalry in the north.

What's more, since he knew that he had crossed the Huai River, Sheng Yong would naturally not stupidly take the official road to the east of the canal, thinking that he should take the official road to the west, and then go south to the canal, go around to the west of Yangzhou City and enter the city, so as not to give himself a chance to surprise him.

"He should arrive in Yangzhou soon, as long as he arrives in Yangzhou, Zhu Chenggong's side can act."

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were calm, and he did not regard Sheng Yong's arrival in Yangzhou as a failure, but felt that Sheng Yong's arrival would make the entire Jiangnan focus its attention on Yangzhou......

"I heard that the rebels are about to hit Yangzhou!"

"Hit Yangzhou? Isn't that about to cross the Yangtze River? ”

"Is the capital still safe?"

"The capital must be safe! You haven't seen that Jiangdongmen has been crowded with people these days, and those are all refugees from Jiangbei. ”

As Zhu Gaoxu expected, when he led the army to gallop to Huainan and Sheng Yong led his troops to settle in Yangzhou, the people of the entire Jiangnan were panicked, especially the people in Yangzhou, Tongzhou and other Jiangbei provinces.

In the past, the ferry boat, which had a general business, suddenly became popular, and it could pull more than a dozen times a day, making a lot of money.

From 29 March to the first day of April, no less than 30,000 people fled to the capital in just three days, resulting in a mixed bag of fish and dragons in the capital and many cases abounding.

Such a situation, from the reaction of the people to the temple, caused many officials to be worried.

Many of them did not know about the soldiers, and when they asked about the Yangtze River, they could only say "the Yangtze River is dangerous", and they could not say anything else.

Therefore, in their opinion, since the thief army has reached Yangzhou, it is probably not far from crossing the Yangtze River.

However, for the generals such as the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, they were not worried at all that Zhu Gaoxu would be able to cross the Yangtze River.

Not to mention that he has not yet captured Yangzhou, even if he has captured Yangzhou, there is no way to assemble a river crossing boat division in a short time, no matter how sharp his sailors are, how to break through from Haikou in the face of the dozens of Shazhou forts at the mouth of the Yangtze River, as well as the rolling river?

As long as there are no problems with the sailors at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Zhu Gaoxu will not be able to cross the river, which has become the consensus of everyone.

Under such a consensus, Zhu Yunwen also had concerns about the Yangtze River sailors.

Just like in the current Wuying Palace, he summoned the officials of the six ministries and five prefectures in Beijing, and even Guo Ying, whom he hated, was summoned.

In front of the ministers, he asked: "Right now, all of you Aiqing should know that only the Yangtze River Sailor can protect the Yangtze River, although I trust Chen Xuan and Yang Li, but I am still worried that there are some people with ulterior motives among the Yangtze River Sailors." ”

"Therefore, I would like to ask, do you want to investigate the Yangtze River Sailor thoroughly?"

As soon as Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth, the ministers looked at each other, and Huang Zicheng was shocked when he heard this: "Your Majesty, the Yangtze River Sailor should be thoroughly investigated, but it should be handed over to Chen Xuan and Yang Yu for thorough investigation, and it is best for the imperial court not to send someone to investigate." ”

Huang Zicheng thought simply, Yang Yu and Chen Xuan, the son of the former died in battle for the imperial court, and the latter had nothing to do with Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, and it should be impossible for the two to take refuge in Zhu Gaoxu.

Let them investigate thoroughly, so as not to involve the imperial court, and not to let the sailors of the sailors complain about the imperial court.

In this regard, Zhu Yun shook his head, but he was still not at ease: "Do the forts on the south bank of Shazhou and the Yangtze River have to be handed over to the guard to take over?" ”

"Your Majesty......" Qi Tai stood up and said: "At present, the gunners in the Jiangdong area are all from the Yangtze River Naval Division, and the reason is that the soldiers and horses have been transferred to the north, and if they are handed over to the garrison soldiers of the guard post to take over, I am afraid they will not be skilled." ”

"Your Majesty!" Guo Ying suddenly spoke, which made everyone pay attention to him, and at the same time, their eyes were complicated.

Zhu Gaochu is Guo Ying's grandson-in-law, if Zhu Gaochu really enters Nanjing, then Guo Ying will definitely benefit.

In this case, Guo Ying did not avoid suspicion, and actually took the initiative to stand up, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Chen Xuan and Yang Yu can be transferred to Beijing, and His Majesty will test the loyalty of the two and reward them, and then transfer them back to Jiangkou to garrison."

Guo Ying's proposal is very good, but the bad thing is that it comes out of his mouth.

The proposal that came out of his mouth, even if it was a good one, Zhu Yunwen would never accept it, who knows if he was helping Zhu Gaoxu or the court.

"Marquis Wuding's suggestion is good, but I want to hear more."

Zhu Yunwen smiled kindly, and those who didn't know thought that he had a very close relationship with Guo Ying.

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen ignored his words, Guo Ying could only sigh.

Of course, he feels sorry for his granddaughter, but he is also Zhu Yuanzhang's Guo Si.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted Zhu Yunwen to inherit the unification, and he supported it from the bottom of his heart, but Zhu Gaoxu ......

For a while, Guo Ying thought of Zhu Gaoxu.

Looking back now, that kid seems to have been restless, but he didn't expect that kid would make such a big fuss, and he actually bypassed the Jianghuai defense line and went straight to Yangzhou.

"Your Majesty can send someone to reward the two, see what their attitude is, and then decide whether to summon the two into Beijing."

Qi Tai saw that Zhu Yunwen did not agree to Guo Ying's suggestion, so he could only speak in another way.

Sure enough, after he opened his mouth like this, Zhu Yunwen did not refuse again, but bowed his head and said: "Since this is the case, let's follow Mr. Qi's method." ”

"In addition, I also want to ask, can Yangzhou City be defended?"

Zhu Yunwen looked directly at Qi Tai, and Qi Tai returned the salute when he heard the words: "Yangzhou City was built by Emperor Taizu Gao, the city wall is tall and wide, and there is a water warehouse, and hundreds of thousands of stones of grain are stored, which is enough for the people in the city to eat for several months." ”

"Moreover, it relies on the canal and the Yangtze River, so it is easy to transport grain and gunpowder."

"Even if the thief army besieges Yangzhou, it will be difficult to take it in a short time."

"Your Majesty's will to transfer north has been sent to Dezhou, Song Xuan and Liu Zhen of Dezhou have led 60,000 soldiers and horses south, as long as Wu Gao and his horse go south, he should be able to catch up with the 60,000 army in Xuzhou and control the 60,000 army to the south."

"In addition, Li Jian's division in Qingcheng also began to launch an offensive against Denglai, and now the Bohai Sea Division is all in the south, and there are only a few thousand defenders in Dengzhou who are unable to resist Li Jian."

"At that time, the three provinces will be recovered, and the back road of the Bohai Shu people will be cut off, and there will be only ...... death"

Qi Tai talked eloquently, after all, in his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu was killing himself by traveling south lightly this time.

That's 40,000 people, not 40,000 people, 40,000 people need food is an astronomical amount, and the land north of the Yangtze River has long been ruined because of the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the wealth of the Han and Tang dynasties and the Song Dynasty has long been gone.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu looted Huaidong, it would only be two or three months at most, and Li Jian and Li Jinglong should be able to solve Denglai and repel Zhu Di by then.

As long as they adjust their troops and horses to the south, Zhu Gaoxu's 40,000 people will have to annihilate Huaidong.

"In this way, I will be relieved."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu hit Yangzhou, Zhu Yunwen listened to a lot of persuasion, except for mobilizing troops and horses to protect Jiangnan, he no longer interfered in other actions.

In this way, Li Jinglong was given the opportunity to play freely......

"Bohai Chronicle": "Up to Huainan, Yong defended himself with Yangzhou, Jianwenjun transferred 40,000 soldiers to attack Qingzhou, Gao Chi went south, and 60,000 troops went to Yangzhou with Xuan and Zhen. ”

"Ming Shizong Record": "On the army in Huainan, all the prefectures and counties surrendered, and as a last resort, they went southwest of the river into Yangzhou, Jianwenjun was afraid that Yangzhou would lose, so he raised the army of 160,000 to help, and sent 100,000 soldiers to attack Qingzhou. ”

Shangwen said: "Jianwen Jun is afraid of me, although hundreds of thousands of people can help? "Lead the troops to Yangzhou."

(End of chapter)