Facing Li Xiu's huge surprise, Han Qian just said calmly:

"We built two trestles nearly twenty miles long between Xihua and Yanling to pass through the floodplain area, so that when the enemy's main force is completely attracted to the south and southeast sides of the Chen-Bian Post Road, the Bianjing soldiers and civilians can

Evacuate as quickly as possible!"

Two trestles nearly twenty miles long!

Li Xiu suddenly understood why the war in Xia Cai was so urgent during this period. The number of craftsmen Tangyi invested in Xia Cai was so demanding. They actually built two trestles at the same time to the west of Chen-Bian Post Road to pass through the floodplain.

, ensuring the rapid withdrawal of soldiers and civilians from Bianjing.

Li Xiu had never thought about the possibility of building a floating bridge before, but the terrain in the floodplain area is complex. Even if the impact of water flow is not considered, the difficulty of building a floating bridge is far greater than that of a stream with gentle flow.

The flooding in floodplain areas may be deep or shallow, but generally speaking, shallow siltation is common.

Especially after autumn, with the reduction of upstream water and the decrease of rainfall in the Hehuai area, the floods gradually receded. In many places, the water has receded, but the remaining mud in the yellow flood area is deep, like a swamp, causing mules and horses to sink.

It's extremely difficult to walk in there.

All pontoons used to build trestles need to be specially built before they can be used to build pontoons in floodplains. Existing civilian boats cannot be requisitioned for modification.

The total length of the two trestles is thirty to forty miles. Just this kind of special pontoon boat would require building three to four thousand new ones, right?

Li Xiu guessed that it would not be later than May at the earliest. Han Qian then began to mobilize a large number of craftsmen and craftsmen and concentrated them in several shipbuilding yards in Shouzhou and Huoqiu. However, in just five months, he was able to build such a

With a huge number of special-purpose pontoons, how strong is Tangyi’s shipbuilding capability?

As long as these pontoons are pre-made at the shipbuilding yard, then go north through the Yingshui River, and after arriving at the predetermined location, they can be quickly laid from the central river channel to the edge of the floodplain. Naturally, there is no need to worry about being noticed by the Mengwu scouts who are blocked by the floodplain.

Of course, if hundreds of thousands of women and children want to evacuate to Yanling and near the entrance to the floating stacks in Xihua County, it cannot be done in three to five hours. Before that, the main force of the enemy must be completely isolated in the floating stack passage.

outside.

Previously, everyone thought that Chen Bianyi Road was the only channel for Bianjing soldiers and civilians to evacuate to the south and west before the Hehuai River was frozen. The early combat deployment of the Tangyi Army and the Bianjing garrison also centered on Chen Bianyi Road.

Even the 6,000 advance troops led by Kong Xirong were being held back by the Mongols at the south end of the Chen-Bian Post Road. They only had elite troops but could not deploy.

Now it seems that all this is a plan to attack the east and attack the west. The purpose is to attract the main enemy force to the southern front, to the east and south sides of Chen-Bian Post Road. Hundreds of thousands of Bianjing soldiers and civilians will move from the west of Chen-Bian Post Road.

The floating stack was newly built on the side, and the golden cicada successfully escaped from its shell.

Perhaps until now, Wu Su Dashi, Xiao Yiqing or Xu Mingzhen still thought that hundreds of thousands of Bianjing women and children and more than 50,000 Liang-Chu coalition troops had been successfully blocked north of Chenzhou.

"The so-called big battle is just a bait to lure the enemy?" Li Xiu asked in shock.

"Not necessarily. If the main force of the Mongolian cavalry does not go south, I still want to drive all the Shouzhou army to the east bank of Wushui. In that case, the situation will be more favorable!" Han Qian said behind his hands, "Now we can only

Said it was a tie with them!"

With more than 10,000 casualties, they successfully evacuated hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians from Bianjing, and even diverted more than 300,000 people from Danxian, Wuting, Xiacai, Woyang and other places to go south. How can you call it a draw?

Even if this move is far from reversing the situation in Hehuai, it can't be said to be a tie, right?

This situation is infinitely better than hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians being annihilated in Bianjing City and millions of people between Yingshui and Guoshui being controlled by Zhu Rang.

Han Qian had no obligation to appease Li Xiu's shock. He immediately asked him to go to the long desk where the map was spread out and introduce the battle plan for the Wuting garrison in Danxian County.

In one day, the soldiers and civilians of Bianjing will be able to completely withdraw to Yanling and Xihua. The advance troops are quickly withdrawing southward through the two long floating bridges, and then go to the new embankment on the south side of Wanqiu via the military and civilian boats staying in the upper reaches of Yingshui River.

evacuation.

On the north side of the two floating towers in Yanling and Xihua, there are several strong small fortresses built on the two wings, which can be used by Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun to withstand the enemy's rank after he led the Bianjing garrison and the aiding Bian army to withdraw.

We had to pursue them from behind, but all the troops and horses on the northern front were withdrawn within half a month, so it was not a big problem.

What is more troublesome now is that the Danxian and Wuting villages guarded by Wen Bo and Tan Xiuqun are completely surrounded by enemy forces.

Since the main force of the aiding Bian army left behind enough war equipment and food when they moved north, the two cities were not afraid of the enemy's strong attack in a short period of time, but the Tangyi army still needed to support them.

The plan is to use the special container ships and pallets removed from Yanling and Xihua at the mouth of Danxi River - the Danxi River is relatively shallow, floods in summer and autumn, and the river is silted up with sediment, making it unnavigable after the water level drops in winter -

—Build a trestle bridge to Yatou Ridge on the west side of Dancheng to form a support point to aid Yingdan City to the east and Yingwu Pavilion to the northeast.

If the enemy army does not give up the siege of Dancheng and Wuting, and considering that the muddy ground will freeze solid in another month at most, and the Mongolian cavalry will be able to gallop freely, then Li Xiu will need to lead his troops at Crow Head.

Ridge, taking advantage of the steep terrain to hold on until the ice and snow melt in the spring of next year, and then make other plans.

Of course, in the future, Yatou Ridge will also be considered as a front camp fortress on the west bank of Yingshui River that directly threatens the enemy's foothold in the central and western parts of Bozhou, but in the later stage, it will basically be considered to hand it over to the Liang Army for garrison.

"You don't need to worry about the safety of the Li clan. After you lead your troops north, I will arrange for Dou Rong to lead an elite brigade to station there to protect Cai's east wing." Han Qian could see a hint of worry in Li Xiu's eyes and said.

.

Once it is discovered that the soldiers and civilians of Bianjing have successfully escaped from their shells, the enemy, unwilling to be frustrated, will most likely launch a more violent offensive against Xia Cai. However, if Han Qian orders Dou Rong to lead his troops to defend Xia Cai's east wing and use the Li family's new village as the main camp, Li Xiu will

But he wasn't too worried that the Li family's new village would be captured by the enemy.

After all, the core combat strength of Tangyi's military level is more than a little stronger than the more than a thousand rural soldiers he leads; and after two months of construction, the Li Family Xinzhai, as the main support point of the east wing, has already improved its defensive strength.

been greatly strengthened.

And Li Xiu also understood that with Han Qian's arrangement, he still had to use the main battle camp to resist the enemy's crazy counterattack against Cai's defense line. In comparison, Yatou Ridge's early defensive operations were not heavy, so he called in the Xiangyong auxiliary troops to garrison.

That's enough. Later, when the main force of the reinforcement army withdraws from the north, Han Qian's troops will be completely abundant.

…………

…………

"Day, day, day, let me tell you, where have all the craftsmen and craftsmen of his grandma gone? In the past few years, no one has played dirty tricks with adults!"

Li Xiu brought Li Chi back with a new combat mission. After knowing the details, Cao Ba could only curse and lament.

Li Xiu knew deeply that all this could not be covered by conspiracy and tricks.

It was impossible for the Mongols not to be prepared for Han Qian to take a secluded route to evacuate the soldiers and civilians from Bianjing. They chose the right time to push the war to its climax before the river in Beidi was completely frozen for a month. The calculation can be said to be very accurate.

After the main force of the Mongol cavalry went south to participate in the war, both the Shouzhou Army and the Xu Si Army showed considerable combat effectiveness and morale.

However, who would have thought that in just four or five months or a little more than half a year from the beginning of preparations for the Northern Aid to today, Han Qian would secretly prepare to build two bridges across the floodplain area in the upper reaches of Yingshui River, with a total length of nearly forty miles.

What about the floating stack channel?

In addition to the nearly 4,000 new special-purpose pontoon ships, considering that the floating stacks need relatively reliable stability when large numbers of people and horses pass quickly, hundreds of sets of giant anchors consume up to three to four million kilograms of iron, which is almost the same as the Jinling official

The total output of the iron smelting yard over a year.

Military strength can never be simply measured by the size of troops and horses.

Since Tangyi has the ability to build ultra-long floating stacks to pass through floodplains, the floodplains on both sides of the Yingshui River can be said to be more of an obstacle to the Mongol troops marching from east to west than from Yingshui.

The water is an obstacle for troops advancing to the west and east.

This will also directly limit the subsequent control of the Shouzhou Army or the Mongols over the area between Yinggui.

Even the Mongols were aware of Han Qian's plot at this time, and wanted to bypass the main force of the aiding Bian army that was blocked in the west of the middle section of the Chen-Bian channel, and mobilize troops from the periphery to attack Yanling and Xihua, but it was too late.

Is it possible for the Mongols to turn their backs on the defensive and attack from the south at all costs to support the main force of the Bian Army?

Li Xiu thought that the Mongol people would not be so impulsive.

The forces of both sides near the Chen-Bian Post Road were of similar size. In particular, more than 50,000 enemy troops entered the south side of the Chen-Bian Pass in a hurry. They had previously considered cutting off the Chen-Bian Pass.

There were more than 50,000 enemy troops on the south side of the Chen-Bian Pass, especially when there were more than 6,000 Kong Xirong's advance troops in the south threatening their back and flank. They hurriedly reversed the offensive and defensive momentum and took the initiative to attack mainly with the cavalry infantry.

With the main force of the Bian stronghold to rely on, the chance of winning will never exceed 30%.

Li Xiu and Cao Ba gathered more than ten troops to convey the new battle instructions. When Dou Rong led the guard battalion to station and handed over the defense, Li Xiu left Li Chi and Li Yan brothers behind.

He and Cao Ba gathered more than a thousand warriors from the countryside to take a boat up the Huaihe River and enter the Yingshui River.

On the 6th, we arrived at the mouth of Danxi River on the west side of Danxian County.

This was the first time Li Xiu entered Yingshui by boat, and the first time he entered the core of the floodplain.

Although it has already entered winter, the water levels in the upper reaches of the Huai River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River have dropped, and even the water levels in the upper reaches of the Yu River have dropped to the same period last year. However, after the Ying River merges into the incoming water from the upper reaches of the Yu River, the flow rate will be higher.

It is seven or eight times larger than the same period in previous years.

Even though the water levels in most of the flood plains on both sides have receded at this moment, the remaining embankments on both sides of the Yingshui River are almost still submerged under water. At most, a large number of houses have collapsed in the mud.

Along the way, you can often see the rotten corpses of people and animals along the coast. Groups of black crows are hovering in the air like oppressive black clouds, making noisy cries.

It’s hard to imagine how the two sides of Yingshui River are flooded when the water level is at its highest in summer!

"General Li, Brigadier Cao..."

At this time, there was already a boat bridge water camp, which was stationed at the mouth of Danxi River in advance. A dozen large floating boats were linked together with iron ropes, and a giant anchor was lowered to build a floating dock sixty or seventy steps square in the middle of the river.

A military attaché from Zhouqiao Water Camp waited for Li Xiu and Cao Ba to board the floating dock and reported the situation nearby.

The scale of the southward retreating troops and civilians in Yanling is more than half smaller, and they have all withdrawn. The first batch of flat box ships and pallets can be transported to the mouth of Danxi River at night for paving to the western foot of Yatou Ridge, 17 or 18 miles to the east.

Floating stacks pass through floodplains.

The weather was not very cold at this time.

Yatou Ridge extends no more than four miles from east to west, and its eastern foot is about eleven or twelve miles away from the remaining city of Dan County. Its main peak is only more than twenty feet high, and its surrounding areas are depressed. When the flood recedes, it is filled with mud, like a swamp.

When the floating stacks are laid, even a tall horse cannot wade through the deep mud.

In fact, the enemy had already realized that they had succeeded in a plan to attack the east and attack the west, but the situation was already established. In a hurry, they did not dare to attack the main force and the defenders of Bianjing in the north. They could only withdraw part of them to Wuting.

Between Danxian and Danxian, they planned to eat up the two elite Tangyi troops who stayed behind in Wuting and Danxian County to satisfy their hatred.
To be continued...