In the long corridor of wavy leaves, there are many carriages and horses, and a forest of flags.
On the hillsides on both sides, there are scouts and rovers who appear and disappear everywhere.
The sound of the drums is continuous and can be heard from beginning to end 200 miles away.
Before all the rear troops entered the corridor, the front troops had already escorted the holy driver to Duyang.
Yinqiang left camp, Heishao left camp, Qinjun, one section of Jinwu Guards on the left and right, one section of Feilong Guards on the left and right, the first and second battalions of Huangtou Army, one each of Yi Cong and Luoyan, all the Zhusheng Army, and Youzhou Tu
The total number of cavalry governors is more than 50,000, plus levies
From Luonan, there are tens of thousands of soldiers from the army, from the five counties of Yingchuan, Runan, Chen, Liang, and Jiyin, there are ten thousand soldiers, from Bianliang, there are ten thousand soldiers, from Hebei, there are ten thousand soldiers, and from the Shaofu, there are ten thousand soldiers.
There are more than 100,000 soldiers and auxiliary troops in total.
As for the logistics and civilian support for transporting grain and grass, it will be almost October before a large-scale assembly is carried out to transport grain, grass and military supplies to Nanyang.
Considering that supplies have been transported to the front line on a small scale and with low intensity for more than half a year, this one-month gap is nothing.
There are 50,000 soldiers, and almost 200,000 to 300,000 people are providing services to them. The consumption of the war is really staggering.
Of course, if there is a canal that leads directly to the front line, the number of logistics personnel can be reduced by more than half, and the cost can be reduced by more than 70%.
On September 21st, Shao Shen led more than 3,000 Zuo Xiao cavalry guards to Wancheng. The first thing he did was to integrate the Hu soldiers from various tribes who were undisciplined and not under each other.
At the same time, Wang Dun's old troops and the Jingzhou shogunate joined the army and Mao Bao arrived in Xiangyang to escort the supplies.
They set out from Jiangling, took a boat to Yangkou, and then arrived in Xiangyang.
This river was dug by Du Yu, using the dense lakes between Jiangling and Xiangyang, and then dredging the old canal from the pre-Qin period, thus opening a channel connecting the Mianshui (Han River) and the Yangtze River, greatly shortening the distance between Jiangling and Xiangyang.
There is no need to move back from Xiakou and other places.
Of course, merchants are generally reluctant to take this road. There are swamps and lakes around Gein, endless reed swamps, and not many people. They prefer to go to Xiakou detour to collect and distribute goods there, but if it is a military operation, then
That's another matter.
After arriving in Xiangyang, Mao Bao would not leave. Together with the 5,000 reinforcements he brought, he stationed in Fancheng to stop the Liang soldiers.
In the afternoon of that day, Deng Yue, the governor of Xiangyang, arrived on the other side of the river by boat.
He is also an old member of Wang Dun and has a good relationship with Mao Bao.
After Tao Kan opened his government, they were all retained, one to join the army and the other to be the governor of Xiangyang.
As soon as they met, Deng Yue pointed at the sergeants brought by Mao Bao and said in surprise: "The governor doesn't even give some elite soldiers, who are these people?"
The sergeants were cutting down trees and collecting hay and firewood in the wild. On the one hand, they kept it for their own use, but on the other hand, they did not give it to the Liang people, so that they could not collect wood or even build siege equipment nearby, which wasted their time and energy.
But the image of these sergeants is a bit...
Many people have disheveled hair and have things like ghost drawings on their faces. These are barbarian soldiers!
Mao Bao was also a little helpless and said: "Boshan, for so many years, the number of troops that can be fought in Jingzhou has never exceeded 40,000. You have 10,000, which is already 41 of the total. The governor wants to suppress the local area, but also
Leave some people to support everywhere. I can bring two thousand elite soldiers and three thousand barbarian soldiers, and you will be satisfied."
Having said this, Deng Yue was speechless.
The enemy is coming fiercely, and it is very difficult for the governor. He must keep a sufficient number of soldiers and horses on hand to support everywhere at any time, or to check for leaks and fill gaps to save the crisis.
Xiangyang has already garrisoned 10,000 heavy troops. I will send you 2,000 elite troops and 3,000 barbarian troops, which is already very good.
If you still want reinforcements, there is a high probability that they will only be the barbarians, and that will be enough.
"Shuozhen, how are you going to defend?" Deng Yue stopped worrying about this question and asked about the war.
"If Xiangyang is not protected, the thieves will definitely go down the Mian River and attack Jingling, Jiangxia, and Nanjun." Mao Bao said, "And Fancheng is the second largest screen in the north of Xiangyang. It must be defended no matter what. In the past, the king governor (
Wang Dun) has been kind to me, but as things have come to this, I can only repay the country with my death."
Deng Yue didn't want to hear these words. He was willing to fight for the court, but he had to forget about dying to serve the country.
"Boshan has fought against Lucai several times. Where did he come from every time?" Mao Bao asked.
"Climb up the Mianshui River to the Jihe River and detour to the south; or attack Fancheng directly." Deng Yue said.
"That's right." Mao Bao said, "To defend Xiangyang, the navy is the key."
After that, he pointed to the south bank separated by water and said: "Xiangyang is located in the meandering water, to the west and north,
It is bordered by rivers on three sides in the east, which is a natural moat. On the north bank of Mianshui River is Fancheng, which faces Xiangyang across the river and is at the corner of each other. As long as there are boatmen in contact, it is not difficult for the two cities to protect each other. The weak point is in the south of Xiangyang City.
, so Xian Mountain must be firmly defended and there is no room for loss.”
"I have divided my troops into four thousand and stationed them in the fortress in the mountains." Deng Yue said, "Today, there are many wealthy and powerful people in the counties. There is a lot of shirk, which is really chilling."
"Do your best." Mao Bao said: "If we are pushed too hard, these wealthy families may surrender to the enemy. The Shao thieves are too powerful."
Deng Yue nodded and said, "Shuo Zhen's words make sense. Now we can only talk about human affairs."
Mao Bao frowned slightly after hearing this.
With Deng Boshan like this, the morale of the Xiangyang defenders is not high.
****
Shao Shen's reorganization of troops and horses in Nanyang does not mean that there is no action at all.
As a general who has gone deep behind enemy lines, he is not the kind of person who is steady and steady. In fact, after sorting out a batch, he will send a batch to the front.
The first group to go south was two thousand Xianbei cavalry, commanded by Qifu Wuzhen, the chief of the Qifu tribe. They went south from Wancheng, passed through Xinye, and reached the northern border of Fancheng.
When the first batch of arrows rained down, the Jin soldiers who were collecting firewood fled one after another, leaving behind the bullock carts, firewood and even tools, got into the reed swamps, and ran away in small boats.
More than ten people who had no time to run were blocked on the shore, their eyes full of despair.
Dozens of horsemen watched them from a distance, driving them away from the river as much as possible, and then circled and fired arrows to try to get out of contact.
Among the woodcutter were two archers who were guarding them, but they were shot to death at the moment of the surprise attack.
The Xianbei cavalry were very aware of the threat posed by the infantry archers to them, so they concentrated on shooting them immediately.
The remaining dozen or so people, most of whom had axes for cutting firewood and a few long spears, fled in all directions.
The sound of arrows piercing the air continued, killing several people in an instant, and the rest surrendered in despair.
The leader of the team threw out a bundle of leather ropes, beckoning the people below to tie up the prisoners, and at the same time waved to someone not far away.
More than a hundred riders appeared on the other side of the stream.
Obviously, they were ambushed to prevent the enemy from attacking from behind, but it just didn't work.
After going through many battles in Huainan, the Ministry of War has compiled the experience of cavalry combat in areas with dense water networks into a book and distributed some of them. As for whether to learn or not, it is your business. If you suffer a loss, just don't call it out.
Throughout late September, the Xianbei tribe of the Qifu tribe and the Qiang tribe of Hezhou clan who had gone south in advance were continuously cleaning up the area in Fancheng.
The main task is to prevent the bandits from going out to collect firewood, and also to hunt and kill messengers and scouts, step by step to make the enemy blind and deaf.
Of course, this is impossible.
Being within the radiation range of Yunmengze, how could the Jin army become truly deaf and blind? At least water transportation is difficult to cut off, and land transportation is not guaranteed.
However, it is already a great victory to hinder the enemy from gathering military intelligence, to keep them unclear about the situation in the north, and to slow down the speed at which they obtain intelligence.
By the end of September, the defenders of Fancheng had almost stopped going out at all, relying solely on ships to travel everywhere to transport messengers, supplies, and equipment.
On the first day of October, Mao Bao climbed up to the city and looked over. He saw enemy cavalry on the east and west sides of Fan City. A few miles away in the west of the city, a flag was even raised grandly, and a roughly built camp for thousands of people was built.
Of course, there are no enemy troops in the north and south of the city. There is a lake to the north of Gainfan City, and the south of the city is backed by Mian River. The enemy can only attack from the east and west sides.
"They are all building the pontoon bridge." The Sutra General reminded, Mao Bao came to Xicheng, holding the golden crow hanging in the west,
Put up a tent with your hands and observe carefully.
On the Mian River, thousands of infantrymen - perhaps dismounted cavalrymen - were cutting down trees and building temporary pontoon bridges.
After the bridge is built, they will use the camp as a basis to cross the river south and attack the rear side of Xiangyang.
Is it really good to defend like this? Mao Bao had doubts about this tactic for the first time.
It may seem safer to assume a posture of being beaten passively and dragged until you can no longer afford it, but there are pros and cons in everything. This will increase the enemy's arrogance and weaken the morale of your own soldiers and civilians.
Moreover, what should we do if the Shao thieves do not come to attack Fancheng and Xiangyang, but just besiege them and refuse to leave, even if they suffer heavy casualties?
It is most difficult to defeat someone with this strategy of hurting others.
At this moment, a horse suddenly galloped up from the west of the city and dismounted from a distance.
There was a soldier at the top of the city, picking up his bow and arrow, and looked at Mao Bao.
Mao Bao never gave an order, intending to listen to what the other party had to say.
"General Mao." Seeing that no one was shooting arrows at the top of the city, the visitor became more courageous. He walked forward for more than ten steps and said loudly: "I am a guest of Mr. Pan's mansion in Xingyang. General, does he still remember the old friendship between the two families?"
Old friendship? It doesn’t exist. The Pan family in Xingyang is a wealthy family, and even the Zheng family is a head shorter than them. How can they have any friendship with rich people like the Mao family?
"For the sake of hearing the local accent, I will spare your life. If you go quickly, you may be killed by an arrow." After saying that, Mao Bao picked up his bow and arrow, flew out with an arrow, and landed a few steps in front of the envoy.
"General Mao." The envoy was startled, but still unwilling to accept it, and said: "The Emperor of Daliang always likes cold people. If you come to surrender, you can expect wealth. I am riding 800,000 troops south to Jingzhou. If it is too late, they will all turn into powder."
Jun Yi thought about it carefully. The messenger was still waiting to say anything, but he saw Mao Bao taking out another arrow. He immediately cursed secretly, and the wolf and fox ran back to the horse, got on the horse and left.
Mao Bao gently retracted the arrow, looked at the messenger's retreating back, snorted coldly, and then frowned.
Lengheng is for the subordinates to listen to, so that they can strengthen their determination to defend.
The frown was a sign of worry in his heart. Having used so many soldiers and horses, Shao Thief would definitely not be willing to return empty-handed. Regardless of the final result, the defenders of Fancheng and Xiangyang would definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Of the people standing next to him now, I don’t know how many of them can make it to the end————
Starting from the second day of October, as Mao Bao guessed, more and more Liang Jun troops moved south on foot.
They spared Xiangfan, which was well defended, and refused to fight. Instead, they persuaded surrounding counties to surrender, and invited representatives of wealthy families and county officials who were willing to surrender to Yang to face the Holy Spirit.
Chapter completed!