Wu Su Dashi and Xiao Yiqing soon left the city and rushed to the embankment on the north bank, surrounded by their cavalry, in order to observe the changes in the battle situation closely.

He also sent an order to the forward generals who entered the south bank through flags. The focus of the battle was on the east flank, focusing on attacking the weak Han Yuan Qi troops. However, the Tangyi army array on the west flank was trying to contain them before their superior cavalry attacked from the flank.

At this time, it was still determined to push eastward.

Wusu Dashi even saw several groups of heavy armored infantry with a strength of three to five hundred people, directly breaking away from the main forward array of the Tangyi Army, and quickly rushed directly to the center of the west wing array of their Yanyun Infantry Camp, forcing

They did not dare to shift the focus of the battlefield eastward excessively.

Once they sent out a small group of cavalry to advance through the gap, the small group of Tangyi soldiers who rushed in quickly retracted and formed a formation on the spot using large shields and spears to resist their cavalry attack, while there were more in the rear.

The armored soldiers crossed forward.

It was obvious that the elite Tangyi army could not worry about being cut up on the battlefield. The Tangyi soldiers who entered the intersecting combat area of ​​the two armies even continued to divide into groups of hundreds and spread to the periphery, deliberately making the battlefield more fragmented.

This also allowed the Tangyi army to control greater depth on the West Road battlefield, making it easier for the Tangyi soldiers in the rear to advance forward more quickly, intersperse, and annihilate the soldiers and horses they missed.

In the Hehuai War, Tangyi's army fought very conservatively in Xiacai, Danxian and other places.

The main purpose at that time was to attract the main enemy forces to the southern front, so that the Bianjing soldiers and civilians could withdraw from the northern front across Yingshui. At the same time, on the southern front, Tangyi's troops and horses were also at an absolute disadvantage in terms of scale, and almost none of them were in the city.

Fight in formation outside.

When the Tangyi army defended the city, more generals and soldiers from the countryside were bravely pulled up to the city wall to practice. Both sides relied heavily on cyclone cannons and other equipment to bombard each other, so there was no obvious advantage or disadvantage.

At this moment, Wu Su Dashi could still see that the Tangyi Army had a more obvious advantage at the tactical level, especially in small-group dispersed operations. It was not only unafraid of being cut, but even eager to cut each other in staggered combat zones.

, trying to gain greater advantages on fragmented local battlefields by using sophisticated weapons and armor and sophisticated tactical skills.

It is often said that Jianghuai soldiers are weak, but this is obviously not suitable for professional generals of the Tangyi Army who have been recruited into the army for many years, experienced countless bloody battles, and had adequate daily supplies.

Even if the forward generals threw three groups of heavy armored cavalry into the west flank, it would be difficult to tear apart the Tangyi Army's heavy armored infantry array.

Even in the chaotic and staggered combat zone, it is impossible to form a charge front, but the heavy armored cavalry is not afraid of strong bows and crossbows. After approaching, they use long-edged knives and heavy spears to stab and chop from above. They can easily kill light armored cavalry and infantry on the battlefield.

The pawn array was torn apart.

At this time, facing the heavy armored infantry of the Tangyi Army, their heavy armored cavalry did not exert the expected advantages and effects.

The heavily armored infantry of the Tangyi Army were extremely defensive and were not afraid of the two sides crowding together for a melee.

On the watchtower on the north bank embankment, with the help of a lookout glass, Wu Su Dashi could clearly see that the Tangyi Army's armor could directly withstand the gravity slashing of the blade, and then used a strong shield to block the stab from the side with a heavy spear.

This made it impossible for their heavy armored cavalry to take advantage of the combat advantages they were accustomed to.

And because the horse armor could not protect the shins and feet of the war horses, it became a weak point for the Tangyi army to attack. They watched tall war horses fall down one after another, and the heavy armored cavalry soldiers were also thrown off their horses one after another.

After getting up, he was not pressed on the horse, and could only fight in a mass on the chaotic battlefield.

The west route array could not expand to the south, and was even beaten to the bank by the Tangyi Army. The flanks of the east route array were exposed. Seeing a group of cavalry gathering on the east bank of the Yichuan River in the direction of Xixuan Temple, Wusu Dashi was worried about the east bank.

The flanks exposed by the route array would become vulnerable to attack, so the troops on the east route could only be ordered to give up the advance on Han Yuanqi's troops and shrink back simultaneously.

Han Qian obviously would not rush into a decisive battle on the first day. At least in a short period of time, he had too few direct lineage elites available on the Heluo battlefield and could not withstand the consumption. The main goal of the early operations was to ensure that the enemy could not attack the south bank.

Standing on the ground, you can even use the mountains and hills on both sides to restrict the enemy troops to the mouth of the Yiluo River, so that their front cannot extend into the territory of Yanshi.

In ten days and a half, the ice along the Yu River will gradually melt.

Yuhe has the most serious and typical case of harassment in the Central Plains.

Every winter and spring, the ice in the middle and lower reaches of the Yu River melts later in spring than in the upper reaches, or freezes earlier in winter than in the upper reaches. Ice dams formed by ice will block the rivers, making the rivers unsmooth, and water from the upper reaches will flood the land on both sides.

The Mongols built a dam to cut off the river in Wuzhi County, forcing the Yu River to divert southward from the levee breach on the east side of Xingyang City. This would actually aggravate the Yu River flood disaster in the section from Mengjin to Xingyang.

This also means that even if the enemy temporarily establishes a foothold at the mouth of the Yiluo River, it will not be able to enter Yanshi County with higher terrain. When the Yu River enters the peak flood season, it must first retreat to the north bank.

The enemy's new offensive can only be launched again after the cold flood season has passed and they can use boats to cross the Yu River...

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Wen Ruilin and Guo Duanduo did not stay at the Luohe battlefield for too long. They left Han Qian the next day and left Luoyang southward with the first group of generals heading south.

The Songnan Plank Road was built between Funiu Mountain and Songshan Mountain. It is currently the main passage out of Heluo, through Rucai, and south to Huaixi.

Take the hastily built Shuanglonggou Plank Road to enter Shangluo, then take Wuguan Road via Dengjun to Huaixi. The road is narrower, more dangerous, and more tortuous.

Although there have been many mountain people, hunters and medicine farmers in the southern foothills of Songshan Mountain and the northern foot of Funiu Mountain for thousands of years, and hundreds of villages are located there, because Heluo leads to western Henan, one has to go through the Jialu River and the Shaying River.

The waterway can either go through Songshan Mountain or the Mashiping Post Road at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain, which connects the states in western Henan. Since the previous dynasty, there has not been a formal construction between Funiu Mountain and Songshan Mountain from the south of Heluo to Chen, Cai and other places via Ruzhou.

The official post.

The terrain in the north of Funiu Mountain and the southern foot of Songshan Mountain does not seem to be high, but streams and ravines cut the terrain into pieces, so that there is no complete channel connecting the two places in southern Songshan.

Zhu Yu returned to Caizhou and captured Xinzheng first, but was unable to attack the important town of Xingyang in a short period of time. After the Yu River burst its banks, the shallow silt area between Xingyang and Xinzheng was completely flooded, and then he was forced to lead his troops regardless of casualties.

Songnan enters the south of Heluo.

Fortunately, Zhu Yu's prestige in the hearts of the local forces in southern Heluo was extremely high, so he tore through the rebels' interception in Songyang and other places, and then attacked all the way along the Yichuan River to Luoyang City.

When Wen Ruilin and others passed the Songnan plank road, it was only February 10th. The climate in Songyang was slightly warmer, the ice and snow had melted, and the narrow post road was trampled into mud by the passing people and horses.

The endless chants of "Hey!" resounded on this post road. Not only were thousands of carriages and horses passing by, but more than 20,000 able-bodied people gathered on both sides of the post road to collect materials, break up the fallen rocks, and collect materials.

Scoop river sand to fill muddy potholes.

Han Qian has not yet directly adjusted the local officials in Heluo, but the magistrates of Ruyang and Songyang counties were replaced by Huo Xiao and Guo Xiao respectively even before the official resignation.

Establish a township inspection department.

Their mission is to mobilize manpower and materials from the two counties as quickly as possible to further repair and widen the Songnan Plank Road.

The Songnan Plank Road is currently the most important lifeline of Daliang. In the early stage, it is not only limited to people and horses, but more importantly, how much ordnance and supplies can pass through will directly determine the direction of the Heluo war.

Although elite troops were previously dispatched from Xiacai, Danxian and the three closest places to Guangzhou to march north to Heluo, the generals only carried armor with them. Even because of the narrow plank road, nearly 20,000 troops and horses were stranded in Ruzhou.

Not to mention the crossbows and various chariots as well as the many fine iron components used to build warships.

The current transportation capacity of the Songnan Plank Road is that when the weather is fine, hundreds of military horses and camels can be used to transport more than a thousand stones of supplies every day.

If only 20,000 to 30,000 shi of combat supplies can be transported into Heluo in a month, it may not be able to meet the food and fodder gap for 80,000 generals, let alone significantly increase the combat effectiveness of the armies.

Wen Ruilin returned to the Songnan Plank Road at this time, and he could also see the strength of Tangyi after taking over Ruyang and Songyang counties directly.

Along the way, there were almost thirty cable bridges entering the construction stage at the same time. This was only twenty days after Ruyang and Songyang counties were taken over.

The capacity of the Songnan plank road is limited, and the terrain is secondarily steep. It is mainly cut by streams and ravines from north to south, and from south to south. These ravines are deep and steep. Even though Liang Jun built pontoons along the road in the past six months, or the slopes and ridges are winding

It is still extremely inconvenient to go to a narrow place and build a wooden beam bridge.

The key is that carriages cannot pass, which directly limits the transportation capacity.

First building a simple iron cable bridge, and then gradually building an iron beam bridge, gradually expanding and improving the transportation capacity of the Songnan Plank Road is the key to whether the situation in Heluo can truly be stabilized.

If the capacity problem of the Songnan Plank Road cannot be solved, even if the battle situation on the northern flank of Luoyang remains in stalemate until next year, the situation will not be alleviated, but will become more convenient for the Mongols to transport men, horses, and supplies to Mengzhou, Xingyang, and Yongzhou, which will eventually force them to occupy

to achieve absolute strategic advantage.

Wen Ruilin and others walked through the Songnan Plank Road and went south along the Mashi Ping Post Road, which was much smoother. They arrived in Yingshang three days later and prepared to cross the Huaihe River and go to Shouzhou first.

Along the way, they could see the old people of the Liang Kingdom in places such as Heluo, Cai Ru, Xu Chen and other places. When they saw the death of the late emperor, the envoys were established in Tangyi of Chu, and the official list of the new leader of the Liang Kingdom was abdicated by the Marquis of Guizhou Yang.

, I was full of surprise and disbelief, and I couldn't calm down in a short period of time.

However, along the way, in addition to the entire team of heavy troops and troop transports, Wen Ruilin and the others could also see returning veterans and military attachés from the counties in Huaixi who had been summoned to go north. Although their faces were full of disbelief.

, but more importantly, it is exciting and enthusiastic.

Wen Ruilin could completely imagine why they were so excited, but it was also true that he had more mixed feelings in his heart.

Thinking rationally, this is the best choice. Otherwise, even if he supports the King of Luo to succeed him, it is difficult to imagine that he can defend Heluo in front of the Mongol people who are well prepared. However, he has mixed feelings in his heart.

It’s not clear what the outcome will be when he takes up his post at the Nanneishi Mansion, nor is it clear how the Chu court and other forces will react violently to the whole thing...

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Liangzhou is sandwiched between the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains, making it difficult for cold currents to invade. In early spring, it is much warmer than the Heluo area. During the previous dynasty, Liangzhou City was built on the north bank of the Han River. The outer city wall was eight miles deep. When the population was at its most prosperous, the outer city wall was

There were tens of thousands of households within it, but the outer city wall had long been destroyed by the war. The Shu army later only rebuilt the inner city.

Before the counties in Liangzhou were annexed, there were only 15,000 or 6,000 households. Although Liangzhou had the largest population in the county, the total number of households was only 6,000, and they mainly lived in rural villages.

The inner city was slightly more prosperous because of the garrison, but the outer city was in ruins and desolate.

At this time, the city outside Liangzhou was full of people, but they were all young generals who had been kidnapped from Xiangfan, Ying, and fled westward with Deng Jun and other places. They were all dressed in blue and green, with yellow faces and thin skin.

Although Liangzhou occupies the fertile Hanzhong Basin between the Bashan and Qinling Mountains and has millions of acres of land that can be cultivated, the problem is that the reclamation of wasteland requires the investment of agricultural tools, cattle and mules. Before the new season's harvest, more than 20,000 generals

As a result, nearly 100,000 small families need to ensure the supply of food rations.

Liangzhou did not have enough farm tools and livestock, so nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians withdrew westward from Yunyang, Fangling and other places. The rations for adults were only half a catty per day, and the rations for women and children had to be halved on this basis, along with wild vegetables and leaves.

Or tree bark, they swallowed it together, and they didn't even have the strength to stand up and walk. How could they be expected to use the simplest bone and stone hoe to clear wasteland and build canals? In this era when there was very little meat and meat, the rations for adults during the farming period were

The standard is to eat two kilograms of coarse grains a day plus a small amount of salt or miso.

No matter how simple the conditions for cultivation are, there must be enough seeds, right?

Liangzhou was able to carry it up to this point without running out of food. Fortunately, Li Zhigao had cultivated an additional 200,000 acres of new fields on both sides of the Han River in the previous two years. When Xiangbei was defeated, Liangzhou had hundreds of thousands of grain reserves.
To be continued...