Lord of the House

(Second update, 5,000-word chapter for a red ticket)

While Huaidong troops, horses and supplies were gathering from all directions to Huangzhou, Yanhu's movements in the north did not stop.

However, after winning Nanyang, it was definitely not an easy task to move more than 200,000 troops from the northern front to the southern front.

This is not an activity in an area controlled by oneself. There are post stations along the way for the soldiers to rest, and supplies are also taken care of by the postmasters. Roads, bridges and boats can also allow local officials to arrest Ding Zhuang from the local area. The 200,000 horses only need their own It is not difficult to travel a thousand miles in ten days.

Yang Xiong buried a pile of wrecked ships in Hanjin to block the estuary of the Hanshui River, and blocked the invincible Huaidong Shuiying warships from the Hanshui, making the Hanshui completely under the control of the Shejia Navy.

Walking from the east bank of the Han River, it is a relatively safe hinterland, and 200,000 soldiers and horses can quickly go south, but the main attack direction of Yanhu is Jingzhou on the west bank of the Han River, not the eastern Hubei area on the east bank.

To go south from the west bank of the Han River is to march in front of the enemy, the vanguard goes first, to cut trees and set up camps, to clear road obstacles, to resist the counterattack of the defenders, to pave roads and bridges, and then to go ahead with food and grass, until these preparations are completed. After that, it is time for the main force to go south.

Of course, 200,000 soldiers and horses may also be quickly inserted into Shicheng in the upper reaches of the Han River, and then cross the Han River from Shicheng, or besiege Jingmen, or bypass Jingmen and directly attack Jingzhou.

It was not difficult for Yan Hu to just march in front of the enemy. He dispatched 10,000 elites to be the vanguard, but Ye Jiluorong was not worried that the Jingmen guards would have the courage to come out to fight in the field.

The crux of the problem is not whether to march on the west bank or the east bank, or to be stuck on the Han River.

From Xiangyang to Shicheng, they all belong to the upper reaches of the Han River. The shallow and broad silt beaches are often six or seven miles or even ten miles, while the river banks are narrow and flat, and it is easy to erect a pontoon bridge, which is usually two to three miles wide.

It is called Xiangfan in the world, but it is actually two cities, the big city on the south bank is Xiangyang, and the north city is Fancheng.

Xiangfan Tiezhuan Ancient Ferry is named after the iron pillars of the ferry boats are dissolved in the rocks. This place is the narrowest section of the river in the upper reaches of the Han River, and the river surface is more than 600 paces wide.

In the early days, Luo Xiancheng had people set up a pontoon bridge to connect Xiangyang and Fancheng. After Luo Xiancheng decided to surrender to Yan, he was about to hand over Xiangyang and Fancheng to Shejia soldiers and horses. Shewenzhuang asked Su Tingzhan as a general, and then pulled iron cables to lay a pontoon bridge between Fancheng in Xiangyang to cross the Han River for the main force of Beiyan soldiers and horses. Get ready to fight Jingzhou in the south.

Because the Han River passes through the Xiangfan section, it is difficult to drive piles and fix the boat. The fixation of the pontoon bridge is almost entirely dependent on the iron cables fixed on the rocks on both sides of the river.

The longer the pontoon bridge, the greater the pulling force the iron cable bears, and the thicker the iron cable needs to be made, which also makes the iron cable's own weight greater.

Not to mention other things, it is to stretch an iron cable with a length of more than 600 steps and a weight of more than 10,000 catties over the Han River to fix the boat and bridge. The difficulty is unimaginable for ordinary people. What's more, the iron cable is used to fix the boat bridge. In addition to bearing the impact of the upstream water, there are hundreds or even hundreds of people and horses standing on the pontoon at the same time when crossing the bridge.

Building a pontoon bridge with a length of 100 steps is simpler; building a pontoon bridge with a length of 200 steps is not as simple as building two pontoon bridges with a length of 100 steps. Eight hundred steps!

After the autumn of the Han River, the upstream rain does not rest, which makes the water upstream of the flowing water fierce and has a great impact on the pontoon. The pontoon bridge erected by Luo Xiancheng’s people in the early days, when a flood crossed the border in mid-August, the entire pontoon bridge was washed away due to the too-thin iron cables, leaving only half of the boat bridge, and it was not re-erected until early September.

In the early days, Ye Jiluorong sent Su Tingzhan and Meng Anchan to lead a 30,000-foot ride south to Shicheng to support the defense line in eastern Hubei. To stand, but the main crossing point of the army south can only be located in Xiangfan.

This is the same as what Lin Fu and others predicted in Huangzhou. The difficulty of erecting the pontoon bridge and the amount of materials consumed made Ye Ji Luo Rong difficult to make up his mind to build two more pontoon bridges in Shicheng.

When attacking Jingzhou, Ye Jiluorong naturally had to use Zhou Fan and Tian Chang, who were good at siege warfare, as the main force.

However, when these two troops attacked Nanyang, they suffered more than 10,000 casualties. After the massacre, they also needed to rest and replenish new soldiers. It was almost at the beginning of September that he started from the periphery of Nanyang and entered Fancheng to start crossing the Han River.

The north city wall of Xiangyang is built on the stone cliff on the south bank of the Han River. Ye Ji Luorong's armor is dressed in a scarlet shirt, and his beard is full, which makes the tall man look extraordinarily heroic. The water and the army horses that were rushing to cross the Han River seemed to stand on the ground made of iron juice at the head of Xiangyang City, which made people feel that it was difficult to shake him.

Although Shewenzhuang was named the King of Fujian, he deliberately kept a low profile in front of Ye Jiluorong, wearing a brocade robe, like a rich man, with a thin ancient face and two mane hairs that were born early, but occasionally there are still leaks in the eyes that have been honed over the years. of sharpness.

Tian Chang's department was the vanguard, and had already headed south to attack Jingmen the day before yesterday, and Zhou Fan's department had only crossed the Han River in two days.

Therefore, Zhou Fan was still in Xiangyang City, standing at the head of the city, accompanied by Ye Ji Luorong, She Wenzhuang, and Xiangyang guards Ajige and Yan Ting dispatched to serve as the Han Chen Haobo and other civil and military officials of the prefect of Xiangyang.

Xiangyang is an important place in the north of Xiangyang, and it is the rear of the food and grass for the Jingzhou army in the south.

"Huangpi sent a letter to the cavalry, saying that Huaidong's troops and horses had been transferred into Huangzhou. As of the sixth day, there were 50,000 soldiers in the infantry alone. In addition to the navy and cavalry, the number of troops gathered around Huangzhou was almost 50,000. Ninety thousand people," Azige said, "they moved so fast, Donghai Fox seems to be watching the movement on our side and decides whether to transfer its troops in Luzhou to the west."

When Azig said this, he naturally blamed the slow crossing of the river, the lack of pontoon bridges, and the lack of ferries.

Hu Zongguo slandered in his heart: If there were no extravagant family, just ask Luo Xiancheng to help you, I am afraid that 200,000 soldiers and horses may not be able to pass through in a month. The two pontoon bridges used twelve iron cables, and the iron materials alone cost nearly 100,000 catties. This is still the foundation that Jiang Ning has saved. I have never seen you able to replenish so much iron materials from Yanji to the south.

"It's all my fault that I can't build two more floating crossings, so that the army's crossing the river is blocked, and I ask Prince Mu to punish him." Shewenzhuang Xiaoyi pleaded guilty.

Ye Jiluorong glanced at Shewenzhuang and knew that he was deliberately keeping a low profile, but he also liked his attitude of being a little wing, and said: "It is a great achievement to be able to create a bridge in advance, and Nanzhang and Zhongyi are the two cities. All of them descend, as long as our army crosses the Han River, we can wave our horses directly at Jingmen..."

The pontoon bridge is 800 paces long. If people walk across the bridge in two columns next to each other, the pontoon bridge will carry nearly 2,000 people at the same time. If the carrying capacity of the pontoon can reach this level, one day will be enough for 200,000 horses to cross the Han River.

The weight of only 2,000 people adds up to more than 300,000 catties, and even the weight of the bridge body becomes extremely heavy; The pulling force will also become enormous, beyond what Xiangfan Pontoon Bridge can bear.

The two pontoon bridges that Su Tingzhan ordered to erect can only pass four hundred people at a time, and if they pass cavalry, they can only pass fifty or sixty cavalry at a time; this greatly delays the speed of people and horses crossing the river.

Even so, the efficiency of two pontoon bridges to cross the river is still higher than the two hundred ferries that are simultaneously dispatched to cooperate with crossing the river.

When the She family abandoned Mindong, they moved a large number of shipbuilding craftsmen to the west with the army. However, after occupying Jiangxi, although there were craftsmen, they did not have enough time to dry the plates for shipbuilding, and they did not have enough time to organize people to go into the deep mountains and old forests to cut giant trees. Therefore, only small and medium-sized warships could be built in Jiangzhou. In the Jiangzhou navy, a ship with a capacity of more than 200 stone is considered a big ship. Even though these boats have been used for a long time, the shape of the boat has become more and more serious, and the water leakage has become increasingly serious.

The pontoon to leave, the ferry to carry cargo, Tian Chang and Zhou Fan's two foot soldiers combined, but only 60,000 people, including hundreds of thousands of stone grain and grass, to cross the Han River, it took a whole five days.

Next, the 40,000 elite cavalry of Ye Ji Luorong's headquarters, except for 10,000 horses who will go from the east bank of Hanshui to Shicheng to continue to strengthen the defense line of eastern Hubei, the other 30,000 cavalry will cross south from Fancheng - think about three Ten thousand cavalrymen are going south on the pontoon bridge. The speed is so slow that they may be comparable to four or five times the number of infantrymen. It takes six or seven days to think about it. Shewenzhuang is also a headache.

In any case, the shape and weight of the war horse are also four or five times the weight of an ordinary adult, and no one is so safe when crossing the river.

Azige thought it was slow to cross the river, and Zhou Fan wanted to delay it for two more days.

In the attack on Nanyang, Tian Chang did not do much, Zhou Fan was fighting for his merits, and the casualties of the siege were mainly concentrated on his side. Although Ye Ji Luorong called Tian Chang as the vanguard this time, and went to cut off the defenders of the Jinghu Army at the periphery of Jingzhou, Zhou Fan still hoped to get a longer rest time, so he would rather slowly cross from Fancheng to Hanshui. Xiangyang on the south bank, even if it dragged on for ten days and eight days, it would be nothing.

Zhou Fan said: "Although the Huaidong army assembled in Huangzhou very quickly, it was worried that my main force would suddenly press on the east bank of the Han River and enter the east of Hubei. Therefore, it was centered on Huangzhou City in the early stage, and it was located along the north bank of the river. Build fortifications to gain a foothold. The Huaidong Army's large-scale use of troops in Huangpi, Hanjin and other cities will give us a month or two after the fortifications along the river are slender."

She Wenzhuang of course knew that the Huaidong Army would not come to Huangpi and Hanjin City soon. In that case, Ye Jiluorong would wake up laughing when he dreamed. As long as he led his cavalry into Huangpi quickly, he might quickly attack Huai who was attacking Huangpi. The Eastern Army counterattacked.

From Huangpi to the south and east, hills, plains, lakes and swamps are intertwined, leaving a very shallow depth for the Huaidong Army to advance and retreat, less than a hundred miles. In such a shallow depth, it is not difficult for a large group of cavalry to cooperate with the infantry to attack, and it is not difficult to defeat or even surround and destroy the Huaidong Army.

If the Huaidong Army wanted to attack their defense line in eastern Hubei, especially when they were not superior in strength, they had to choose a stronghold along the river and build a fortress for temporary footholds. There was no chance to rest and gather the remnants.

It's just this time, Zhou Fan said that it would be at least a month or two, but Shewenzhuang did not agree.

Having dealt with the Huaidong Army for many years, and suffered so many losses, the efficiency of the Huaidong Army's advance and logistical supply is unrecorded in the history books. For example, after the war in eastern Fujian, Lin Su led the main force of the Huaidong army from Jin'an to return to eastern Zhejiang, and then from eastern Zhejiang to Jiangning. Once it started, it didn't take half a month before and after.

Although Lin Fu took the lead in entering Qichun from the middle to late August, it was not until September 6th that the main force of his Huaidong army water infantry in Jiangxi completely crossed the river. It seems that there are two possibilities: one is that Lin Fu deliberately delays, to give them the illusion that the Huaidong Army is slow, and the other is that Lin Fu mainly used the transportation capacity for the transportation of materials in the early stage, and the gathering of troops and horses Delayed a little.

No matter which possibility, it would mean that the timing of the Huaidong Army's attack on Huangpi would be earlier than Zhou Fan expected.

Shewenzhuang was not afraid of offending Zhou Fan, so in front of Zhou Fan, he told Ye Jiluorong his analysis.

Yan Ting obviously did not want to join the Han generals in a peaceful group.

Although Beiyan and Huaidong Army did not have a large-scale confrontation over the years, even during the war in Xuzhou, they were separated at the touch of a button, but the local wars, large and small, have been fought countless times, but they have suffered more and less benefited. Huaidong's understanding is naturally profound. Especially after the war in Xuzhou, Huaidong completely blocked their offensive direction on the east front from a corner of the land, and they could not help but pay attention to Huaidong.

Ye Jiluorong was so eager to attack Jingzhou this time, and he was also deeply concerned that their newly built Dengzhou navy would have difficulty competing with the Huaidong battalion in the East China Sea, so he wanted to do everything possible to contain the main Huaidong troops and horses on the western front.

Ye Jiluorong tends to agree with Shewenzhuang's point of view. They can't delay the pace of attacking Jingzhou, but at the same time he wonders: "Does the King of Fujian believe that the Huaidong Army will attack Huangpi?"

The two cities of Huangpi and Hanjin are only forty miles apart, so it can be said that they are horns of each other. However, in terms of terrain, Huangpi is located in a hilly area, a little far from the river bank, while Hanjin is at the intersection of lakes and plains, bordering the river with water.

The Huaidong Army encircled Hanjin and could advance by land and water, and the terrain around Hanjin restricted the Beiyan cavalry from fighting, which was more conducive to the main force of the Huaidong Infantry Battalion.

Huangpi is located inland. Although the Yudai River also passes through it, the branch rivers such as the Yudai River naturally cannot call the huge ships of the Huaidong Water Camp directly to help the battle. The Huangpi is surrounded by hills and plains intersecting terrain, lakes and swamps. It is very beneficial for the Northern Yan cavalry to join in the battle.

In addition, when the Huaidong Army attacked Hanjin, only the right flank would be exposed, and it could get strong support from Hu Wenmu's troops in Jiangxia; while it attacked Huangpi, both left and right flanks would be exposed, easily defending Hanjin and Tiemen Mountain. .

Between Hanjin and Huangpi, Ye Jiluorong always believed that the Huaidong Army would attack Hanjin, but She Wenzhuang decided that the Huaidong Army would focus on Huangpi.

It is not an easy matter to judge the main attack direction of the Huaidong Army, which determines the distribution of troops and horses between the two cities of Hanjin and Huangpi.

Shewenzhuang said: "Lin Fu put his main business in Huangzhou, and the passage from Huangzhou to Wuyun Mountain, to Huangpi, and to Tiemen Mountain is very smooth. From Huangzhou to Phoenix Mountain, apart from Xingshui River, the passage is very smooth. In addition, there are many lakes and silts in the middle. Although the Huaidong Army invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build roads and bridges between Huangzhou and Phoenix Mountain, the passage is still relatively narrow. If Lin Fu really chose Hanjin as the main direction of attack , it is better to abandon Huangzhou City and build a main business in Phoenix Mountain, so that the troops will be invested in Hanjin, the route will be shorter, more direct, and the impact will be stronger..."

She Wenzhuang had previously refuted, so Zhou Fan was dissatisfied, but Ye Jiluorong agreed with his point of view. At this time, he couldn't help but want to pull back a city and said: "Even if Lin Fu is asked to capture Huangpi, in Hanjin, When the two cities of Tiemen Mountain have not yet fallen, Lin Fu dares to lead the main force of the Huaidong Army Infantry Battalion on foot from the Huangpi Gap into the Weiliwo flank at the southern foot of Dahong Mountain?"

Shewenzhuang shook his head, even if Huangpi fell, he did not believe that Lin Bie would dare to lead 60,000 to 70,000 infantry to go deep alone without the cooperation of the water camp. In particular, the defenders of Hanjin and Tiemenshan could outflank the Huaidong Army, which was alone in depth, and cut off its way back.

At that time, as long as Beiyan's troops on the front line of Shicheng will delay the main force of the Huaidong Army's infantry battalion on the front line of Dahongshan, even if Ye Jiluorong gives up Jingzhou and does not fight, he will lead the main force to cross the Han River to the east bank to surround and destroy the Huaidong Army. The main force is in time.

Lin Fu can mobilize up to 120,000 troops in Huangzhou, one third of which are navy. The most called Beiyan Shenji, should be Lin Fu's strong attack on Hanjin, after opening the channel into the Hanshui, the water and land go all the way north. At that time, even if the main force of Yanhu came over, there would be no way to cut off its waterway. If it is impossible to form an encirclement and annihilation, the plan to attack Jingzhou will be completely defeated!

"Although the Huaidong Army is trapped in Huangpi, it is unlikely that the army will go deep alone, but it is based on Huangpi and has a glimpse of Shicheng. What should Prince Mu do?" She Wenzhuang said: "Lin Fu this son, the truth is unpredictable, especially knowing that our army will stick to it. Hanjin, it is more likely to do the opposite. And its military deployment is aimed at Huangpi. Of course, it is also possible to attack Tiemen Mountain~www.wuxiaspot.com~Lin Fu will use the strength of breastfeeding He can also mobilize 120,000 troops and horses in Huangzhou, Hanjin, Huangpi, and Tiemenshan, he can only attack one place," Zhou Fan said, "The land road between Huangzhou and Phoenix Mountain is narrow, but there are The waterways are connected, and Phoenix Mountain and the Huaidong Army’s Miaoling Mountain camp on the south bank are also dependent on the other side, so the operation of Huangzhou City at this time may be a trick to confuse me…”

"I don't think there is anything to confuse you," She Wenzhuang said. "Hanjin is a fixed place. From what I see, Huangpi needs to be strengthened to prevent accidents..."

"Sun Jichang has 20,000 cavalry to guard Huangpi, and if he can move his troops and horses," Ye Jiluorong frowned. Beiyan's troops and horses in Jingxiang City looked quite numerous, but in addition to cooperating with the cavalry to attack Jingzhou, he also planned to Deployed on the second line of Jingmen and Shicheng, the number of elite troops of the newly attached Han army itself is limited. If you want to focus on defending Hanjin, there is no way to divide the troops to Huangpi. After thinking for a while, he said, "Maybe Luo Xiancheng will send 10,000 troops to Huangpi. !"

Shewenzhuang felt that it was better to ask Luo Xiancheng than nothing.

Luo Xiancheng’s elite soldiers were limited: First, Luo Xiancheng personally held it in his hands, from between Tongbai Mountain and Huaishan Mountain, to peep into Xinyang, to prevent any changes in Huaixi’s troops and horses, and also afraid that Lin Fu would transfer the guards in Shanyang to Shanyang. Xinyang, fighting together with Huaixi, opened the gap to attack Suizhou from the northern foot of Huaishan, so Ye Ji Luorong also instructed Luo Xiancheng to stay in the north of Suizhou to strengthen the defense line; in addition, Suizhou military can be called The elite soldiers and horses were all under the control of the general Zhong Rong, who guarded the gate of Tiemen Mountain.

Can't draw troops from the north of Suizhou, can't ask Zhong Rong to divide the troops, and then ask Luo Xiancheng to transfer 10,000 soldiers and horses from other places to return to Sun Jichang to guard Huangpi, it is only possible that they are weak and weak, and they can only be said to be better than nothing. My QT room is open! More vulgar official QT room number [9167] Click to enter