Northern Dynasties

Chapter 536
Fancheng and Xiangyang are across the river, and the city itself is built tall and strong.

However, compared with Xiangyang City, which is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has an excellent location, Fancheng itself does not have much geographical advantage. The protection that water can provide is also very limited, and occasionally the city will be flooded due to the surge of the river.

The loss of the five counties in Mianbei left Xiangyang completely unobstructed in the north, and Fancheng, which is located on the north bank of the Han River, bears the brunt of it all.In order to make up for this, a series of fortifications were set up on the periphery of Fancheng, and the Xiaruo Garrison near the water was the largest and most important defense base among them.

The garrison general of Xiaruo was named Du You'an, and he was born in the Jingzhao Du family. His ancestors moved southward during the reign of Hu Diran and settled in Xiangyang. They are now one of the local powerful families in Xiangyang.

Many brothers Du You'an were brave and strong. He was ordered to guard the garrison, and he did not panic when facing the enemy's attack. , had no choice but to retreat back, so he couldn't help but sneered and said: "The captives look fierce, but they are just beasts rushing in the mountains. Once they encounter the hunter's snare and arrow, they don't know how to fight and break through."

He also ordered the lieutenant soldiers of the garrison to eat and rest quickly, in order to wait for the night to launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp.When it comes to fighting in the plains, the southerners are no better than the northerners. After all, there are not many cavalry available for combat.

But the reason why the north-south border is basically stable on the Huai-Han line is also because the northerners did not adapt to the combat environment and combat methods of the southerners.

Taking advantage of the night to attack the camp is one of the important tactics for the southerners to fight against the northerners. Because the camps usually need to be located near the water, the southerners use the river nets, boats and swimming to launch night attacks on the enemy camps, which can often achieve twice the result with half the effort. Effect.

Hearing Du Youan's order, one of the generals still couldn't stop saying: "Liu Sima sent an order to defend firmly, but he didn't order to attack when the time comes. If you act rashly, I'm afraid..."

Not waiting for the part to finish speaking, Du Youan waved his hand impatiently to interrupt, and at the same time snorted coldly: "Liu Fanggui is also a mediocre person, how deep can he know the depth of the army? The number of soldiers is small, and the rest are bluffs, weak-willed, frightened and frightened, and all the northern natives are soldiers.

I am now trapped in the city and garrison, and I dare not go out to fight, just in the arms of the enemy.If the subsequent troops come one after another, so that I can no longer plan to attack and push the power to the bandits, it will be too late to regret!Today, taking advantage of the few soldiers and newcomers, attacking and breaking them is the real best strategy to defeat the enemy. "

Seeing Du You'an's eloquent words and firm tone, the generals did not dare to say anything more, so they could only step back and prepare for the camp at night.

As night fell, time passed by every minute.Probably due to the impact of the fierce battle during the day, Zhu Meng didn't feel much sleepy after nightfall, and always had an inexplicable palpitation and panic lingering in his bosom, so he simply went around the camp to inspect after dinner.

Since fighting during the day consumes a lot of physical strength, all the work of camping and setting up fences is left to the accompanying Jingzhou tribes.Now that I am at the forefront of the enemy's territory, these camp fences are also protecting my own safety, so those Jingzhou tribes built them with great care, and the camp fences, ravines, etc. are in order.

But when Zhu Meng walked to the east side of the camp, he looked at the tidal flats outside the simple fence wall and frowned, "Why don't you use a ravine to block this place? If there are enemies approaching in the river, how can we stop them?"

"The sons and daughters are really exhausted from running and fighting for a day. After the battle, they have to retreat to make camp, and the time is a bit late..."

A Jingzhou governor who was in charge of the battalions here explained with a smile. Seeing that Zhu Meng was still serious, he flattered him again: "The general fought bravely today, and he even broke down several bandit camps. I was so frightened that I didn't dare to go out of the city to offend people."

"What's the enemy's plan, I'm afraid they won't follow your and my expectations!"

After Zhu Meng heard the words, he said in a deep voice, but it is already late at night, and it is not appropriate to do earthworks, so as not to affect the rest of the soldiers in the camp, so he ordered: "Arrange the soldiers here to watch, and when you notice something strange , Immediately call the police!"

The superintendent nodded repeatedly after hearing the words, and after sending Zhu Meng away respectfully, he casually instructed his subordinates, and returned to his tent to rest.

When Zhu Meng, who was sleeping, was awakened again, there was already flames outside the tent, people's voices were chaotic, and countless people were running and fleeing in panic in the camp. Walking and chopping to kill these panicked people.

"Withdraw, quickly withdraw from the camp, don't love to fight!"

Seeing that the situation in the camp had become chaotic, Zhu Meng knew that the situation was irreversible, so he called up a group of troops who had also heard the news and were about to organize a counterattack, and left this chaotic camp first.

Fortunately, the southerners in the camp were not very mobile, and Zhu Meng also placed his horses behind the camp away from the river bank. When he led his troops out of the chaotic camp, there were not many enemies After catching up, many rout soldiers rushed out of the camp along their retreat route.

Zhu Meng led his troops to line up outside the camp to collect the defeated soldiers. The soldiers brought from Kansai naturally obeyed the order and hurried back to the organization.But the other Jingzhou tribes were not so obedient, they rushed out of the barracks and fled in all directions, completely ignoring the shouts of Zhu Meng and others.

After staying outside the camp for a quarter of an hour, Zhu Meng realized that five or six hundred soldiers had been recruited. Seeing that the enemy soldiers had already begun to rush towards this place in an organized way, it was obviously difficult for them to lose their helmets and armor. This battle, so they can only lead the troops to retreat northward.

Along the way, Zhu Meng gathered some defeated soldiers, and in the early morning, he met the central army that was about to break out of camp.Seeing the seven or eight hundred defeated soldiers in a state of distress, all the soldiers of the battalion couldn't help but change their countenance in an uproar.

In the big tent, Li Tai hadn't had time to listen to Zhu Meng's story about the defeat, when several officials from Jingzhou who came with the army asked to see him outside the tent, and after being blocked, some people shouted loudly to persuade the army to withdraw, saying that the former army had already lost and was defeated And returning, it can be seen that the enemy has already made preparations to resist the enemy, and the army will not have any good results if it moves forward, it will only pay a greater price and so on.

Li Tai was speechless for a while when he heard the frustrated voices of these guys who had no fighting spirit.

Although he also understands that losing the first battle will inevitably have a negative impact on the morale of the army, but for those who have experienced the turn-based fighting method between the two Weis, this is not a disaster.How come it got into the mouths of these people, and it seems that if you withdraw a little later, you will lose your life?

In order to prevent these people from yelling and yelling to shake the morale of the army, Li Tai immediately put a few people in, and before they could speak, he drew out his saber and said in a deep voice: "The loss of the forward is really hindering the morale of the army. , but the outcome is not yet decided, it is too early to say defeat!
There is nothing to be afraid of being fierce and stubborn. Now I will try to show you how to control this stubborn thief.Each of you invites your troops to station here for one day. If there is no news of defeating the enemy on the front line at this time tomorrow, you will go on your own.If you dare to leave early, the military law will not allow it! "

He also knows the dangers of pig teammates on the battlefield. If these people are really forced to continue to go with them, they will dare to disperse before the battle begins.

It's not because Jingzhou's people are really so unbearable, it's just that he doesn't have a stable integration of interests for these people, and secondly, he doesn't have enough kindness to control them, and Jingzhou has been a border town for a long time, which makes these people develop a habit of meeting people. In the face of such a headwind situation, the survival instinct of protecting one's strength in danger is of course unwilling to follow Li Tai forward.

When these people heard that there was no need for them to move on, they were overjoyed at first, but when they heard that Li Tai still did not intend to withdraw, but still insisted on advancing, they couldn't help admonishing them again, with bitter expressions on their faces.

They didn't believe that Li Tai could make a substantial breakthrough on the front line within a day, and if something happened to the new envoy, they, the local officials, would inevitably be implicated as well.In particular, such a generous executive is really rare in the world. If you miss it, you may not encounter it easily again.

Li Tai ignored the persuasion of these people, and still urged people to continue marching.Those subordinate officials hesitated again and again, and in the end most of them chose to stay, but there were still two who chose to follow and continue marching.

The two men who chose to continue to follow the army are not too old, they look like they are in their 30s, one is called Du Zhaohui, and the official title is the county magistrate of Wan County, and the other is called Chen Yuchen, and the official title is Chiyang Shuzhu.

Jingzhou's military and political affairs are chaotic, and all those who hold official positions in the local area are basically in charge of their own divisions. Therefore, political officials like the county magistrate must also follow the front line.

Look at the way these two people hesitated, but they still resolutely ordered the trilogy to set off. It was obvious that there was an element of gambling, and they wanted to bet on Li Tai.Li Tai secretly sighed that these two guys had taken a long way, but on the way, he still ordered them to lead and restrain their respective troops, and not to act without military orders.

Although this is also a normal request, the two of them felt that the situation was a bit weird after looking at each other. It should be noted that they had considered for a long time before deciding to send charcoal in a timely manner. Why did they feel as if they were rejected?

Li Tai couldn't be bothered to pay attention to how the two of them felt. He was thinking about how to get back his position.

After abandoning those Jingzhou powerful troops who accompanied the army, the forward speed of his troops has been greatly improved. Along the way, he met the broken crowd who gathered northward, and he didn't waste time to appease them, and let them go northward.As for the follow-up actions of the Nanliang army, it did not appear.

It can be seen that the night attack on the camp this time should be just an action by the frontline generals on their own initiative, and there was no effective communication with the Xiangyang base camp in the rear, so as to seize the opportunity to expand the results of the battle.As a big town in Hanmian, Xiangyang will not be unable to produce a large-scale field force.

It is estimated that the situation of the commander-in-chief of Nanliang in Xiangyang may not be much better than that of the newly appointed governor of Jingzhou. Compared with the local power in Jingzhou, the local power in Xiangyang is undoubtedly stronger, but it may not be fully used by Xiao Laosan.

All the way forward, Fancheng was already in sight. There were still some Nanliang defenders wandering between the Zhucheng garrisons, but they withdrew to the city after seeing the enemy go and return.

There was no obstacle along the way, Li Tai became more determined in his heart, led his troops across the remnant camp that had been breached by the enemy, looked at the embankment made of stones, and then pointed to Xia Ruo Garrison not far ahead and shouted to his troops : "Set up the Heyang Cannon and blast me!"

(End of this chapter)