On March 30, the second year of Jianwen, on the last day of spring, the sky above Peiping suddenly became anxious.
Looking down from the ground, two armies lined up facing the Baigou River in the early morning.
In Baigou Hebei, battle flags were hunting, horns were blaring, and the black clouds stretched for miles, and the edge could not be seen at a glance. Against the backdrop of the bright armor on their bodies, this team seemed to stand like an iron wall standing in Baigou Hebei.
In Baigou Henan, the same army appeared. They were wearing the same armor, holding the same weapons, and were arranged in a neat square formation. However, they looked at the army in Hebei coldly, like a towering Great Wall across Henan.
Heyang City, a city built on the Baigou River, played a huge role in the confrontation between Song and Liao.
After more than four hundred years, it once again played a role and became a city that the southern army could rely on, while the Yan army in the north stood in the empty Hebei land.
The Baigou River is only one mile wide, but it isolates the two armies and becomes a 'city wall' spanning the two armies.
Whoever wants to launch an attack must first break through this 'city wall', and all the bridges connecting this 'city wall' have been destroyed under the orders of Wu Gao and Xu Kai.
"The number is probably no less than one hundred thousand. Yan Ni has brought out all he can."
On the south bank of the river, Hu Guan, the commander of the capital, looked at the Yan army formation on the north bank with a solemn expression.
Although they were far away, he could still see a lot of crowded horses.
"I heard that the Tatar prince Zhao Tuoliigan led tens of thousands of troops south to join Yan Ni. Yan Ni may have no less than 20,000 cavalry at his disposal. To fight with him, he must rely on the water network to limit his four hoofs."
Wu Gao held his hand on the hilt of the sword, his expression equally solemn.
However, compared to Zhu Di, Wu Gao still feels that Zhu Gaoxu puts more pressure on him.
When he fought against Zhu Di, he could at least fight hand to hand, and the outcome was 50-50.
But if you are fighting Zhu Gaoxu, if you are far away, he will hit you with cannons, and if you are close, he will arrange baggage vehicles and firecrackers. You have to fight with him in close combat, and at the same time, you have to guard against his firearms. It is really a headache.
"Calculating the time, Duke Cao Guo should be arriving in Cangzhou now."
Wu Gao looked at the gradually brightening sky and calculated when Li Jinglong would reach the front line.
Like him, Zhu Di on the other side of the river was also calculating when Li Jinglong would reach the front line.
"Calculating the time, it will take another five days for Li Jiujiang's 70,000 troops heading north to arrive here. We have to defeat Wu Gao within five days."
Zhu Di scratched his beard, and there were many new faces around him.
After annihilating Chen Hui and Teng Ju's troops, he learned that Li Jinglong had returned to the defense. He immediately led the army back to Peiping. At the same time, he accepted the surrender of the Tartar Duke Zhao Tuolegan and organized seven thousand cavalry.
These 7,000 cavalry, plus the previous 3,000 Xiaodazi camp, amounted to 10,000 cavalry.
Including his original cavalry and the cavalry who captured Chen Hui and Teng Ju, he now has more than 26,000 cavalry alone.
Behind him, there were 50,000 horse infantry and 60,000 infantry, for a total of 136,000 troops.
"Your Highness, if we can defeat Wu Gao here, then the number of the southern army will drop to 200,000, making it difficult to compete with our army."
When Zhu Neng spoke, Zhang Yu also said:
"If we can really defeat Wu Gao, as long as our army crosses the Baigou River and goes south, we can cooperate with His Highness the Second Prince of Qingzhou to surround Li Jinglong's 200,000 troops on the vast plains of Beiping."
At the same time as Zhang Yu spoke, Qiu Fu also followed: "I heard that Li Jinglong went north this time without fighting His Highness the Second Highness, leaving only Li Jian and Sheng Yong's 100,000 troops in the south to defend His Highness. By then our army will go south, and the Second Highness will Your Highness may also be able to capture many cities, and our army can use the three prefectures of Ludong as a granary to capture Xuzhou and approach Huai'an."
Marching and fighting is not about whose army is stronger and can conquer, but about whose logistics is better.
In history, the Yan army failed to move south many times. The reason they did not dare to go deep was that there was no stable granary.
But now Zhu Gaoxu has taken over most of the three prefectures of Ludong, and he will be able to harvest millions of stones of grain in September, which can fully support the Yan army's plan to attack Xuzhou and approach Huai'an.
Zhu Di was also very happy about this: "The second brother should be faster than us. Maybe by the time we finish this battle, the second brother will have already captured Qingzhou Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture."
"When the time comes, if we take Xuzhou again, the Huaihe River in the south will not be a concern."
They talked freely, thinking about joining Zhu Gaoxu and conquering Xuzhou and Huai'an along the way.
But under their gaze, the Confederate army suddenly became commotion.
"What's going on? Are reinforcements coming?"
Zhu Di looked at the south bank with the monocular he "borrowed" from Wang Yi. Although he couldn't see clearly, he could see a team of light cavalry appearing on the south bank.
"Li Jiujiang has arrived?" Zhu Di was stunned, because only Li Jinglong, Yu Tongyuan, and Pingan could lead the Qingqi to Heyang, and several of them followed Li Jinglong.
"Isn't this impossible?" Zhu Neng couldn't believe it when he heard this: "It's four hundred miles from Dezhou to here. Even the elite from Shangzhi will take five days to get there."
"I don't believe it either, but that posture looks like Li Jiujiang."
Zhu Di held a monocular binoculars, like a voyeur, constantly spying on the situation of the Confederate Army.
The generals on the side were very anxious, and Zhu Neng even said directly: "When I meet His Highness the Second Highness in the future, I will have to ask for a few more telescopes for my brothers."
"Li Jiujiang looks very anxious..."
Zhu Di suddenly became happy when he saw the team of light cavalry arriving and began to inspect Jiang Fang.
He thought that Li Jinglong was frightened by his army and was thinking about how to defend himself, but he didn't expect that Li Jinglong at this moment was only thinking about attacking.
"My lord, why are you so anxious?"
Wu Gao and Hu Guan followed Li Jinglong closely, wondering why he was anxious to check the river defense and see the damaged bridge.
Facing the two people's inquiries, Li Jinglong, who had been running for two days, ignored the embarrassment on his face and glanced around before speaking solemnly: "The common people of Bohai raided Huai'an lightly and have now crossed the Huaihe River. Judging from the speed of the past few days, I am afraid that now We are almost entering Yangzhou Prefecture."
"This...this..." Hu Guan was stunned, and so was Wu Gao.
Even though he had fought against Zhu Gaoxu before, he had never seen such a crazy side of Zhu Gaoxu.
What if we raid Huainan with light weapons and hit Huainan?
Without baggage and artillery, could he capture Yangzhou City?
Yangzhou City is two feet high and three feet wide. Even if it is bombarded with naval guns, it will be difficult to break the city in a short time. Not to mention that even if Yangzhou is captured, shipbuilding will take several months.
A few months are enough for the kings of Yunnan and Ganliang, Muchun and Song Shengqin.
"I think he has something to rely on. On the way here, I received an urgent call from Muyang Tangqi. Among them, the reason why the common people of Bohai were able to quickly capture Yunti Pass was the artillery of hundreds of warships."
"If he wanted to, he could dismantle some of his artillery and attack Yangzhou by land, attract the Yangtze River Navy to rush to Yangzhou's aid, and then send the Bohai Sea Navy to raid the Yangtze River estuary."
"Therefore, I have sent people to send news to Sheng Yong and Chen Xuan. No matter what Zhu Gaoxu does, they are not allowed to leave the Yangtze River Estuary."
Li Jinglong had already figured it out on the way when he came. Zhu Gaoxu just wanted to attract the attention of the Yangtze River Navy to rush to Yangzhou's aid and then raid the river mouth.
Although this is difficult to do, as long as there is a slight possibility, Li Jinglong has to reach out his hand and kill it.
"The number of thieves is probably no less than 100,000."
Li Jinglong looked at Hebei with a solemn expression.
The worst thing happened. Zhu Gaoxu launched a light attack on Huainan, and Zhu Di descended to the Baigou River. The southern army was caught in a two-sided battle, and the north-south span was more than a thousand miles.
With such a distance, even if it was eight hundred miles expedited, it would take a day and a half to send the message to him, and another day and a half to send it back.
Three days of coming and going is enough to change a lot of things.
“How long will it take to repair the stone bridge at the ferry and the Narrows?”
Li Jinglong asked Wu Gao, but Wu Gao hesitated for a moment, and then calculated: "About five days."
"Five days..." Li Jinglong frowned when he heard this, but in the end he waved his hand: "Repair the ferry, and also send butangs to be arranged along the Baigou River. There are many horses in Yan Ni, so we can search for breakthroughs along the river. Our army will be the first step. I have difficulty moving."
"Order to gather all the draft horses and riding horses and give them to 20,000 soldiers to ride on."
Li Jinglong gathered all the horses in the army and organized them into horse infantry.
In doing so, it can be said that he abandoned the mobility of 100,000 people, but he must do it now.
With the Baigou River as an obstacle, even if Zhu Di wanted to cross the river, he could only cross the river in batches, and it was impossible for all the more than 100,000 troops to cross the river.
In this way, 20,000 people will be very useful.
Soon, Wu Gao started to take care of things according to Li Jinglong's instructions. Soon a group of less than 20,000 cavalry officers and soldiers was formed, and they began to search along the river. This scene was also detected by the cavalry of the Yan army and reported back to Got Zhu Di.
"This kid Li Jiujiang is really difficult to deal with..."
After receiving the news, Zhu Di scratched his beard, obviously feeling troubled by Li Jinglong's sudden arrival at the front line.
However, even if Li Jinglong arrived, he could not stop his determination to cross the river and fight decisively.
As long as this battle is completed, and the second brother cooperates with him and takes the main attack, he can reach Yangzhou in a year at most, and use the Yangzhou Shipyard to build ships to cross the river.
Zhu Di was so proud that he no longer cared about Li Jinglong's actions, but asked his cavalry to search for a place where they could cross the river.
"one two three!"
"Push harder!"
While Zhu Di and Li Jinglong were wrestling, Zhu Gaoxu, who had already reached the south of the Huaihe River, was leading his army to Yangzhou.
On the not-wide dirt road, the draft horses struggled to pull the artillery carts.
Huainan has a dense network of rivers. Although the official road is five feet wide, it is not flat, and the artillery carriage is not moving very fast.
Occasionally, when the artillery cart got stuck, the horse and infantrymen would dismount and come to push the cart.
Three hundred artillery pieces and ten basic ammunitions successfully reduced the Bohai Navy's march speed from more than 130 miles per day to 60 or 70 miles.
At this speed, Zhu Gaoxu and the others have not yet entered Yangzhou Prefecture, but they are only less than twenty miles away.
"Twenty-five miles further we will enter Baoying County. We are only about 240 miles away from Yangzhou."
Chen Chang held a map and communicated with Zhu Gaoxu on horseback. Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly when he heard the words.
He thought that the Huainan water network would hinder the march, but he did not expect that the Huainan water network was so dense. Just like now...
"Your Highness!"
The voice of Ta Shi came from the front of the team. He got up and ran from the south. He came to Zhu Gaoxu and bowed with a grimace: "The bridge in front has been demolished."
"Sure enough..." Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly. He had long thought that the Jiangnan squires would hinder him from going south, but he didn't expect that these people would use their methods so quickly.
"How long will it take to repair?"
"About an hour." Ta Yi bowed, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded: "The fix is, we don't need to be in a hurry this time, our army still has enough food for half a month."
"Yes!" Ta responded, then turned his horse's head and left.
After he left, Chen Chang frowned and said: "According to the blueprint given by Yang Shanren, if you go from here to Yangzhou, you will have to pass at least 76 large and small bridges. If these squires demolish every bridge, then we will It will be delayed for at least seven days.”
"Separate ten groups of infantry with thousands of horses to go first to ensure that the bridge is not demolished." Zhu Gaoxu said without thinking. Chen Chang also nodded and called Dole and Qi to lead the infantry with more than 10,000 horses to go south first.
Destroying bridges is not that easy. Although the squires can mobilize corvees to demolish bridges, they do not have enough gunpowder, so it is unrealistic to destroy all bridges.
It was enough for Zhu Gaoxu to keep the ten bridges on the way of the army safe. Even if the tenth bridge was destroyed, the horsemen and infantrymen could repair the bridge urgently.
"According to time, Sheng Yong should arrive in Yangzhou tomorrow."
"As long as it doesn't rain, we can arrive in three days."
Chen Chang calculated the time, while Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the dazzling sun: "There is little rain in Huainan in April, which is why I chose to raid lightly at this time."
"We don't have to move fast. Don't forget that our mission is to attract the attention of the Jianghuai Southern Army. The real main force is not us."
"Yes!" Chen Chang nodded and continued to chat with Zhu Gaoxu about other matters.
As time passed, they also walked across the repaired bridge and continued to march forward.
Until dusk, they arrived at Huailou Town in the south of Baoying County, and the people here seemed to have heard that the Bohai Navy was coming, so they all fled without a trace.
Huailou Town is close to the canal, but at this moment the canal boats disappeared out of thin air. It was obvious that Sheng Yong was ahead of them and diverted all the canal boats.
"Your Highness, there is no trace of the march. The Confederate army should be heading west of the canal."
In Huailou Town, Zhu Gaoxu rarely sat down to rest, so he saw Chen Chang coming to report the news.
He was not surprised by this. Sheng Yong set out from Muyang and took the official road next to the canal. With a straight line distance and an unimpeded road, he was naturally faster than them. Even if Zhu Gaoxu dropped his artillery and the Qingqi raided, he would pursue him. Without him, Huainan's water network is naturally capable of restraining the northern cavalry.
Besides, since he knew that he had crossed the Huaihe River, Sheng Yong would not foolishly take the official road on the east side of the canal. He probably should have taken the official road on the west side, then go south to the canal, go around to the west of Yangzhou City and enter the city, so as not to give himself a chance to surprise him. .
"He should arrive in Yangzhou soon. As long as he arrives in Yangzhou, Zhu Chenggong can take action."
Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were calm, and he did not regard Sheng Yong's arrival in Yangzhou as a failure. Instead, he felt that Sheng Yong's arrival would focus the entire Jiangnan's attention on Yangzhou...
"Have you heard that the rebels are about to reach Yangzhou!"
"Fighting to Yangzhou? Isn't that about to cross the Yangtze River?"
"Is the capital still safe?"
"The capital must be safe! You haven't seen Jiangdong Gate being crowded with people these days. Those are all those who fled from Jiangbei."
As Zhu Gaoxu expected, when he led his army to Huainan and the news spread that Sheng Yong led his troops to Yangzhou, people in the whole Jiangnan were panicked, especially the people in Yangzhou, Tongzhou and other areas in the north of the Yangtze River were the most frightened.
The ferry, which used to be a normal business, suddenly became very popular, with more than a dozen trips a day, making a lot of money.
From March 29th to April 1st, in just three days, no less than 30,000 people fled to the capital, causing a mixed bag of people and many cases in the capital.
This situation, from the reaction of the people to the temples, has caused many officials to feel uneasy.
Many of them don't know anything about soldiers. When asked about the Yangtze River, they can only say "The Yangtze River is naturally dangerous" and can't say anything else.
Therefore, in their opinion, since the rebel army has reached Yangzhou, it is probably not far from crossing the Yangtze River.
However, for the generals such as the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army who knew the troops well, they were not worried at all that Zhu Gaoxu could cross the Yangtze River.
Not to mention that he has not captured Yangzhou yet. Even if he captures Yangzhou, he will not be able to assemble a boat division to cross the river in a short time. No matter how sharp his navy is, it will not be able to face the dozens of Shazhou forts at the mouth of the Yangtze River. , and how does the rolling river rush in from the seaport?
As long as there is no problem with the navy at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Zhu Gaoxu will not be able to cross the river. This has become the consensus of everyone.
Under this consensus, Zhu Yunwen also became worried about the Yangtze River Navy.
Just like in Wuying Palace now, he summoned officials from six ministries and five palaces in Beijing, and even Guo Ying, whom he hated, was summoned.
In front of the ministers, he asked: "Right now, all my dear friends should know that only the Yangtze River Navy can protect the Yangtze River. Although I trust Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu, I am still worried that there are some ulterior motives among the Yangtze Navy. people."
"Therefore, I would like to ask if we should conduct a thorough investigation on the Yangtze River Navy?"
As soon as Zhu Yunzhen spoke, the ministers looked at each other in confusion. Huang Zicheng bowed after hearing the words: "Your Majesty, the Yangtze River Navy should conduct a thorough investigation, but it should be left to Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu. The imperial court had better not send anyone to investigate."
Huang Zicheng thought simply. Between Yang Qiu and Chen Xuan, the former's son died fighting for the imperial court, and the latter had nothing to do with Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu. It should be impossible for the two of them to seek refuge with Zhu Gaoxu.
Let them investigate thoroughly so that the imperial court will not be involved and the sailors of the Navy will not complain about the imperial court.
In response, Zhu Yunwen nodded, but still felt uneasy: "Are the forts in Shazhou and the south bank of the Yangtze River going to be handed over to the garrison?"
"Your Majesty..." Qi Tai stood up and bowed: "At present, the artillerymen in the Jiangdong area are all from the Yangtze River Navy. The reason is that the troops and horses have been transferred to the north. If they are handed over to the garrison troops of the garrison, I am afraid they will not be skilled."
"Your Majesty!" Guo Ying suddenly spoke, which attracted everyone's attention to him, and their eyes were complicated.
Zhu Gaoxu is Guo Ying's grandson-in-law. If Zhu Gaoxu really breaks into Nanjing, Guo Ying will definitely benefit.
Under such circumstances, Guo Ying did not shy away from suspicion and actually took the initiative to stand up, which was beyond everyone's expectations.
"Your Majesty, I think you can transfer Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu to the capital. Your Majesty will test their loyalty and reward them, and then transfer them back to Jiangkou to garrison."
Guo Ying's suggestion was good, but the bad thing was that the words came from his mouth.
Zhu Yunwen would never accept any proposal that came out of his mouth, even if it was a good proposal. Who knew whether he was helping Zhu Gaoxu or the court.
"Wu Dinghou's suggestion is good, but I want to hear more."
Zhu Yunwen smiled warmly, and those who didn't know it thought he had a close relationship with Guo Ying.
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen ignored his words, Guo Ying could only sigh.
Although he felt sorry for his granddaughter, he was also Zhu Yuanzhang's Guo Si.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted Zhu Yunwen to inherit the throne, and he supported it from the bottom of his heart, but Zhu Gaoxu...
For a moment, Guo Ying thought of Zhu Gaoxu.
Looking back now, the kid seemed to have been restless, but he didn't expect that the kid would make such a big fuss and actually bypassed the Jianghuai defense line and penetrated into Yangzhou.
"Your Majesty can send someone to reward you two and see how your attitude is before deciding whether to call you to the capital."
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen did not agree to Guo Ying's suggestion, Qi Tai could only speak in another way.
Sure enough, after he spoke like this, Zhu Yunwen did not refuse anymore, but nodded and said: "In that case, let's do it according to Mr. Qi's method."
"In addition, I also want to ask, can Yangzhou City be defended?"
Zhu Yunwen looked directly at Qi Tai, who bowed and saluted in return: "Yangzhou City was built by Emperor Taizu Gao. The city walls are tall and thick, and there is a water storage warehouse. Hundreds of thousands of grains are stored, which is enough for the people in the city to eat. months."
"Besides, it relies on the canal and the Yangtze River, so it is easy to transport food and gunpowder."
"Even if the bandit army besieges Yangzhou, it will be difficult to capture it in a short time."
"His Majesty's order to transfer to the north has been sent to Dezhou. Song Xuan and Liu Zhen from Dezhou have led 60,000 troops south. As long as Wu Gao goes south quickly, he should be able to catch up with the 60,000 troops in Xuzhou and restrain the 60,000 troops from going south. .”
"In addition, Li Jian's troops in Qingcheng have also begun to launch an offensive against Denglai. Now that the Bohai Navy is all in the south, there are only a few thousand defenders in Dengzhou and they are unable to resist Li Jian."
"At that time, the three prefectures will be recovered, and the common people of Bohai will have no way out, and they will have no choice but to die..."
Qi Tai talked eloquently. After all, in his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu was seeking death by traveling south lightly.
That's 40,000 people, not 40 people. The food needed for 40,000 people is an astronomical figure, and the land in Jiangbei has long lost the prosperity it had during the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties due to its devastation at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
Even if Zhu Gaoxu raids Huaidong, he can only hold on for two or three months at most. By then, Li Jian and Li Jinglong should be able to deal with Denglai and repel Zhu Di.
As long as they adjust their troops and go south, Zhu Gaoxu's 40,000 men will have to overwhelm Huaidong.
"That way, I feel relieved."
Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's attack on Yangzhou, Zhu Yunwen was persuaded a lot. Except for mobilizing troops and horses to protect Jiangnan, he no longer interfered with other actions.
In this way, it gave Li Jinglong a chance to express himself freely...
"Bohai Chronicles": "As far as Huainan, Yong defended himself in Yangzhou. Jianwen Jun mobilized 40,000 soldiers to attack Qingzhou. Gao Chi went south to reinforce, and joined Xuan and Zhen with 60,000 troops to go to Yangzhou."
"Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty": "When we marched to Huainan, all the prefectures and counties surrendered, so we had no choice but to go southwest of Henan and go down to Yangzhou. King Jianwen was afraid that Yangzhou would be lost, so he raised an army of 160,000 to help, and sent another 100,000 strong soldiers to attack Qingzhou. "
"The superior heard and said: "Jianwen Lord is afraid of me, even if there are hundreds of thousands of people, what can I do? "Lead the troops to Yangzhou."
(End of chapter)
