The pontoon bridges on both sides of the Huai River were erected for three full days.

While the pontoon bridge was being erected, a ship shuttled across both sides of the Huai River.

At noon on the 24th, General Zhang Shuo boarded a naval ship.

This ship can carry more than 20 naval soldiers and an additional 100 land divisions. It is considered the most powerful warship in Daliang.

This section of the Huai River is not very wide, but the water is very fast and not very easy to walk on.

While the boat was sailing, Zhang Shuo stood on the bow and looked quietly at the rocky mountains on the other side.

This mountain is split in two by the Huai River, and is divided into two parts: East and West Shishan Mountains.

When the Huaihe River flows through here, it turns a corner and flows from east-west to southwest and northeast, so it is called the East Bank and the West Bank - of course, it can also be said to be the South Bank and the North Bank.

Originally, there were 2,000 Jiangzhou soldiers stationed in Dongxi Shishan, both on land and water. Fortunately, they were transferred away by Zu Yue more than half a month ago, but they encountered a big obstacle.

Otherwise, before crossing the river, a water battle first needs to break out, and then the mountain city with difficult terrain needs to be attacked.

As long as the defenders have a strong will, cooperate with land and water, and have sufficient food and grass, it will not be easy to fight.

The naval battleship quickly arrived on the other side.

General Duzhi Zhonglang also served as the envoy of Dushui, and Yang Bao, the commander of the navy, stood on Dongshi Mountain and pointed at the Huaihe River.

The navy officers and soldiers, who were like worker ants, carried axes, saws, and pulled oxcarts to the woods, cut down the trees, made them into wooden piles, and then transported them to the shore.

Countless strong men jumped into the waist-deep water, sounding trumpets again and again, and set up wooden stakes at the downstream of the East and West Ershi Mountain to deter the enemy's boatmen who might go upstream.

Obviously, they could not defeat the Jin Navy and could not "block them openly". They could only use wooden stakes or iron cables to "block them secretly"

.

In any case, the Jin navy must not be allowed to cut off the army's retreat, otherwise there is a risk of the entire army being annihilated.

The soldiers of Yinqiang Zhongying who had crossed the river earlier were lining up on the east bank of Huai River.

When their feet stepped on the solid ground, they all became lively and energetic, each checked their equipment and then headed east as a team.

Thirty miles east of Ershi Mountain, another force was carried across the river by the navy.

Yao Lan had a sick look on her face, standing in the soft mud of the river bank, walking with difficulty.

The condition of the Proton Army soldiers is not very good.

When they moved to Runan and Xiangyang before, many of their people could not adapt to the environment. Now when they arrived in Ruyin, it rained continuously for months and diseases abounded in the army. Many people died, even Yao Lan was infected.

When it comes to adapting to the environment in Huainan and Huaibei, they who were born in Yongqin were far inferior to the Henan Bataru group from Yinqiang Zhongying. But under the military order of Rushan, there was no possibility of retreating.

They evacuated the sick people to Ruyin County, and the remaining more than 3,000 horsemen crossed the river in batches and headed towards Bagong Mountain.

Huan Fu led 4,000 people to camp on the mountain city. When he saw someone crossing the river, he immediately climbed up and looked into the distance.

In his sight -

The first batch of cavalrymen crossing the river had already mounted their horses and began to gallop slowly.

In the land of Huainan, large-scale cavalry troops are not common. When they galloped, Shouchun soldiers and civilians were all eclipsed.

However, the cavalry only ran for a while and then stopped. In the rainy season, the land was muddy and slippery, and many people fell off their horses. At this time, they were yelling like mud monkeys.

Behind the cavalry, boats were passing by on the river bank.

They seemed to be scrambling for time to deliver as much military supplies, food and fodder as possible before the Jiangdong Navy arrived.

Some infantry troops also began to form formations.

The clothes come in all kinds of colors, and some people even wear brocade robes, which is really outrageous.

The equipment is also different, and it seems that they all use what they are more comfortable with.

The formation is not very neat. It can only be said that it is worse than the ordinary peasant soldiers, but it is much worse than the elite soldiers, and it is not even as neat as the Jiangdong soldiers.

From these characteristics, we can basically analyze that this army has not been in the army for a long time, and most of the soldiers are the children of wealthy families. If there is anything that can be used, it may be their personal bravery and their skills.

There are endless crowds of people on the other side of the river waiting to cross.

The young servants pulled the timber and spread it out along the river, either building a pontoon bridge or preparing to sink piles to block the river. Thinking of this, Huan Fu suddenly became worried.

Don't transport troops, transport more grain, arrows, and medicine across the river.

Once the food route was cut off by the Jiangdong navy, they would have to rely on the accumulated supplies.

There was a cry at the foot of the mountain.

Huan Fu looked around and saw that the first batch of proton troops crossing the river had arrived at the foot of the mountain and were negotiating with their own sergeants deployed outside.

Huan Fu calmed down and went down the mountain.

******

"Everyone, the matter has come to this, what else can you say?" In the Shouchun Prefect's Mansion, Zu Yue's face was full of displeasure, and he was furious at the officials who had been "invited".

Everyone looked at each other, but they were not too panicked.

Is there really no trace of a large-scale rebellion? That's impossible.

It has been several months. Smart people have long seen something coming and are mentally prepared.

The less smart ones gradually realized it and made their own choices.

Only fools suddenly realize it now, and then their faces turn ashen.

He looked ugly for no other reason than there were several bloody corpses lying in the yard.

In times of national calamity, there are always a few people who are either "chatty" or "ignorant of current affairs" and are unyielding and killed, but most of them can't stand the test of life and death and can only surrender.

Those who are a little bit loyal will find a way to escape after the situation stabilizes.

Those who were not so loyal followed the trend and served in the new dynasty.

At this moment, he was questioned by Zu Yue, and soon Shouchun Ling and Jun Cheng took the lead and said in unison: "We are willing to serve Daliang Zhengshuo."

Zu Yue smiled with satisfaction, then became a little suspicious, but said nothing.

The officials looked helpless at the expression on his face.

If we don't surrender, you'll get angry and kill.

We surrendered, but you suspected the fake surrender.

What do you want?

Fortunately, Zu Yue knew that he was worrying about gains and losses, and after controlling the turbulent emotions in his heart, he ordered: "In this case, you will still stay in your original posts and go back to the government offices to raise funds, allocate funds, and recruit servants to respond to Master Wang."

.In some counties and towns, please go and persuade them so that the commanders will understand the current situation and return to their correct ways as soon as possible."

"As ordered." Everyone said in unison.

Zu Yue took one last look at everyone, and then left the prefect's mansion surrounded by his personal entourage.

The streets were filled with groups of soldiers, led by their respective officers, gathering outside the city.

As I walked, I heard voices.

"General Zu will take us back to Xuzhou. There is no need to panic, just follow orders."

"Liu Kun's group of people have fled with us and experienced life and death together. They will never attack your family members."

"In the past ten years or so, you have had many marriages with each other. Will your in-laws take action against your in-laws? No."

"As long as you call me back, you will definitely get a hundred responses, don't doubt me."

These are words of comfort, but there are also words of intimidation, such as "The Jin court does not treat us as human beings at all, and drives us around at will, like chickens and dogs."

"Many of you have children who are about to get married, but they are still lonely ghosts. It is so difficult to become a citizen. Who do you think the Minister of Post Office is?"

"Now that you have done something, you can't think about it any more. Once defeated, based on the virtue of Minister Jian Post, I'm afraid they won't all try to kill us."

In addition, there are also words to undermine the situation, but it is not unreasonable to say, "Why should a man worry about not having a wife? Shouchun is strictly controlled and it is inconvenient. When we go to Chengde, Hefei and other counties, we can just grab them as much as possible."

"Isn't it better to take a bride and take it home than the old thing at home?"

"Perhaps after the war is over, the bride is pregnant and has the money to buy a family property.'

"There is only one thing. We must fight bravely. If we lose, we will lose everything. Even if we can retreat to Huaibei, the Liang people will not look at you seriously."

So much more.

Generally speaking, every officer has a different personality, different knowledge, and different methods of winning people's hearts.

Under their instigation, the sergeants were a little angry, a little worried, and a little hesitant. They reluctantly gathered together, formed an array outside the city, and then received their rations. The target was: Hefei.

******

The distance from Shouchun to Hefei is no less than three hundred miles, and of course it cannot be reached in a short time.

At this time, a group of vanguard fleets had appeared on the surface of Chao Lake.

They set out from Ruxuwu with more than 20 ships of various sizes and more than 3,000 soldiers.

After receiving the news, Gao said goodbye to He Chong, took only a few followers, and took a small boat to go north.

The boatman was very old and his hair and beard were all white. He didn't know what happened, but he was just satisfied with the generous fare he received for this trip.
To be continued...