Meng Zhuze is a famous Daze in the Central Plains. It is written in "Yu Gong" that he led Heze and was Meng Zhuze. "Erya" lists Meng Zhuze as one of the ten marshes in the world, along with Dayeze, Daluze, Yunmengze and other names.
However, such a large swamp has been continuously silted up in the following hundreds of years, and has been reclaimed by ancestors. It has shrunk into many small lakes and hills along the Guangji River between Juye and Dingtao counties. It is not as good as Yangsanbo in Jeju in the northeast.
When the Jin Kingdom took control of the Central Plains and the Song Dynasty crossed south, the Yellow River burst and flowed north of Nanjing Road for forty years, causing great changes in the landscape. Old lakes were gradually silted out, and new lakes were created. A few miles north of Guide Mansion, there is a lake area between the former site of Sanbaili Dike and Qigou. Although it is still called Meng Zhuze, it has no connection with the original vast swamp.
At this time, Meng Zhuze could vaguely hear the sound of winter coming from the direction of Guide Mansion in the south. It was the Jin army that suddenly took action, urging the troops to approach the city with the sound of drums.
Probably disturbed by the sound of drums, there were flocks of wild ducks flying in the lake. Shortly after the wild duck flew high, a large reed was suddenly knocked down with a door panel prepared in advance. Hundreds of door panels followed one another, spanning the muddy tidal flats at the edge of the lake, forming five parallel roads.
On the road, thousands of soldiers advanced silently.
When Yin Chang was lured out of Binzhou by Guo Ning, he thought that he would spend the rest of his life as a civil servant. Unexpectedly, Guo Ning was not like this. Instead, he gave Yin Changxing the position of military governor of the German Army, requiring him to firmly control Jinan, curb Damingfu Road to the west, and win over the remaining red-coated troops of Dongping Prefecture to the south.
Yin Chang completed this task very well, and Guo Ning never regarded Yin Chang as an outsider. The equipment, rewards and land grants of his soldiers and horses were all exactly the same as those of the Ding Navy Headquarters, and even the number of students enrolled in the military academy, There is also some preferential treatment for the quotas for promotion in the army competition.
Over the past two years, Yin Chang's Xingde Army has truly become a member of the Ding Navy system.
But Yin Chang and his close subordinates were often worried.
Because the Jinan Xingde Army was the only unit under Zhou Guogong with an independent military title, Yin Chang was worshiped as the Jiedushi, and in terms of official status alone, it was second only to Guo Ning himself.
However, with the rapid expansion of the size of the Ding Navy, the number of important generals who have obtained or are about to obtain the status of Jiedu Envoy has exceeded ten. Guo Ning himself has been promoted from Xuanfu Envoy to Capital Marshal, and from Du Marshal to Zhou Guogong. He is far away from the emperor. Not far away.
This is too fast.
If this continues, when Duke Zhou ascends the throne and establishes the country, where will I, Yin, rank among the military officials? Twenty, thirty, or forty, fifty? How does this work?
Yin Chang wished he could shout loudly, asking Duke Zhou to stop and wait for your loyal subordinates to give us a chance to make meritorious deeds!
Fortunately, his expectations came to fruition not long ago. Ding Haijun was about to attack the Kaifeng court, and Yin Chang's department was one of the most important ones.
According to the military plan assigned by Zhongdu, Yin Chang's troops will set out from Jinan and march a long distance of 500 miles. On the way, they will threaten the old Red Coat Army in Dongping Prefecture, and then win over the water bandits in Liangshanbo, passing through the Red Coat Army and Kaifeng. Jeju, where the imperial power was intertwined, arrived at Weishan in Peixian County at the junction of Tengzhou, Pizhou, and Xuzhou, and joined the main force led by Guo Ning.
This task is not easy to accomplish.
Not to mention the hot weather in the summer, the long-distance march of the army, the fatigue and disease problems along the way; nor the difficulty of continuously recruiting friendly and guest troops, integrating thousands of people with the headquarters, and reorganizing the organization while marching.
Along the way, the army will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the Jin Army's local garrison troops on the border. Therefore, sometimes we have to travel at night to keep the secret secret, sometimes we have to send more detective horses to capture the enemy's secrets, and sometimes we simply have to besiege a certain camp and kill everyone to prevent the news from leaking.
It takes a lot of effort to direct your subordinates to do any of these things; each one must be done, and each one must not be neglected, which is even more exhausting.
Fortunately, Yin Chang did it.
When he arrived at Weishan, he received an urgent order from Duke Zhou on the same day, asking him to lead his troops to continue the forced march across the forks of the Yellow River and take the Guide Mansion directly. The subordinates of Fang Guosan and Zhan Hui in the army howled and complained, and some of the Liang Shanshui thieves even boarded the ship and left directly.
But Yin Chang instead saw the hope of making great achievements and the opportunity for his family to truly become the arm of Duke Zhou. He tried his best to boost morale and inspire the enthusiasm of the soldiers, and even used his own money to reward the soldiers who had made contributions in opening roads and building bridges during the march.
When they were crossing a fork of the Yellow River, the river was swollen, and huge waves roared and surged, knocking over four or five boats carrying people across the river. The soldiers were inevitably frustrated.
Yin Chang also personally led the soldiers to patrol various places where they were boarding the ship. He immediately beheaded those who were hesitant or timid and made remarks that shook the morale of the army. In a moment, he killed more than 40 people in a row. He forcibly boosted the morale of the army and successfully crossed the river in only half a day. , and in another day, they stationed at Mengzhuze.
Over the past century, the Yellow River has choked four times in this area, turning the vast plains into silt tidal flats, and reducing the number of roads from Xuzhou to Guidefu and even Kaifeng to a few fixed ones. Everyone believed that as long as the key pass was occupied, it would be enough to stop the army's movement.
Only in Ding Haijun's eyes, he has more choices.
This march route was the result of repeated surveys by Xu Jin's spies over the past two years. To this end, the Recording Department invested huge resources, so much so that it almost neglected Zhongdu.
Yin Chang's troops arrived at Guide Mansion along this route, completely beyond the Jin army's expectations.
The price paid was that as many as a hundred ships were stranded along the way, and the baggage that was stuck in the mud and unable to continue moving was more than half of the entire army. The total number of soldiers who died of exhaustion or illness along the way reached more than 1,500, and more than 200 of them died directly from the heat.
Guo Ning told Peng Yibin about the arrival of Yin Chang's troops in Guide Mansion. He said it in a few simple words. In fact, how could he not know the difficulties involved?
It is nothing more than raising an army for a thousand days and using it for a while. It is nothing more than loving kindness and not commanding an army! After all, the army is a tool for killing people and replenishing the wild, and tools are indispensable for wear and tear.
Besides...
How does the difficulty of marching compare with the danger of taking a city with light cavalry?
How does the loss of soldiers compare with the gains from taking Guide Mansion?
Now that this battle is won, there will be almost no usable soldiers around Kaifeng Mansion. It can be said that the entire Kaifeng court became the possession of Ding Haijun. In order to realize this entire big plan without any flaws, Duke Guo Ning of Zhou personally came to Guide Mansion!
What else is there to say?
In this game, Guo Ning must win a big victory, and Yin Chang must also win a big victory.
Only a victory of sufficient weight can show Duke Zhou the bravery of the Jinan Xingde Army, and tell everyone in the Dinghai Navy that there are many heroes who can fight in the Jinan Xingde Army!
When I looked at it, I saw that Yin Chang's already thin face had become even thinner due to the long journey, and his two eye sockets were sunken deeply. His gray beard was also unkempt, and he didn't even bother to wipe it off when it was stained with muddy water. However, because of his extremely high spirits, his eyes were so bright that they seemed to shine through.
He has been in the army for twenty years and has been a private salt dealer for twenty years. To be able to survive so many years of ups and downs and continue to grow his own power, Yin Chang is by no means an ordinary person. He is good at weighing and calculating at his core, and he is rarely fooled. Nothing can impress you easily.
But now, he is extremely excited, and he has never known his own value as well as he does now. He was delighted to discover that in the chess game that determines the general trend of the world, Binzhou Yinchang and the army he built are powerful pieces! Once this chess piece is finished, it will leave its name in history!
Yin Chang exhaled deeply, held the long knife in his hand, and pointed forward.
Around him, the soldiers were silent and quickened their pace.
These soldiers are old and young. Because of the good treatment and strict training in the past two years, everyone is very strong, wearing armor and stomach, like a ferocious beast.
Thanks to the repeated encouragement from the generals, their morale was very high. As for physical strength, most of the soldiers were naturally extremely exhausted, but because they were traveling with the fleet, there was no problem in gathering together a group of elites who were physically strong and able to march by boat from beginning to end.
Five teams of elite soldiers attacked at the same time. Among the five brave generals leading the team, three of them were Yin Chang's old troops when he was a tycoon in the private salt industry. They were Li He, who was good at using flower spears, and Yang Yue, who fought with short swords and daggers. He used long swords to kill the generals. Under Jiang Jin's banner, there were two water village heroes recruited by Yin Chang after he left Jinan, namely Guo Zheng and Xu Wende.
These five people are all talented players who have been summoned by Guo Ning. The five generals led their troops to stand out, like five long dragons soaring, and like five iron currents surging, murderous intent rising into the sky, immediately alarming the inside and outside of Guide Mansion, causing the various Jin army units that were lining up to attack the city to fall into chaos!
"Is there an enemy ambush in the north of the city?"
"Why is there an ambush? Why are they coming from the north of the city?"
"It's just behind the Fengdi? Isn't it only two miles away from us? Why don't you look carefully? This is going to be painful!"
"Our cavalry is small. Since we have to go east to scout hundreds of miles, where can we find the manpower to go north? Quickly inform the three captains that the enemy troops are divided and are coming with an overwhelming force. I don't know how many there are!"
"Every unit, go north! Go north! It's time to engage in battle!"
"What? Half a moment? We will fight in half a moment? How to fight? Our army has just spread out. All six companies and battalions are facing the city. The soldiers have also been replaced by short soldiers suitable for climbing the city and fighting in the streets... Tell me how to fight? What should I use to fight?"
"Where are the crossbowmen? The crossbowmen quickly gathered to the north and formed a line to release arrows!"
Outside the Guide Mansion, the army that was gradually approaching the city was in a mess. In the main army of the Chinese Army, the officers, soldiers, and subordinates were also in a mess. Most people were at a loss and didn't know what to do, but those with better hearing had already heard the sound of fighting and the sound of arrows flying through the air.
"The crossbowmen can't make it in time!"
"Protect the Captain!"
"Formation! Formation!"
"Go south! Return to camp quickly and hold on!"
"There are already ambushes outflanking and heading south! All officers and men will follow me and retreat to the west!"
Noisy shouts and various conflicting orders echoed one after another in Wanyanbi's ears. Wanyanbi was swaying on his horse.
A moment ago, he was inspired by his chance to turn things around, but now he was as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
He understood everything. Not only strategic deception, but also tactical use of strengths and avoidance of weaknesses were all part of the navy's plan.
Dinghai spent so much effort to create an empty situation from Xuzhou to Guide Prefecture and then to Kaifeng Prefecture. However, in the north, the imperial court could summon generals from Hedong and Hebei to go south. In the south, there were also ten people who were entangled with the Song army. The soldiers of the third captain can return to support. Therefore, this empty situation will not be maintained for a long time, and it will not take long for Ding Haijun to be able to perform freely.
Therefore, Ding Haijun also used tactics in succession to induce the imperial troops to fight in the field and achieve a quick victory.
They were in Xuzhou, and they had already settled in the city but kept it secret. So he took advantage of Wanyanbi's anxiety to defend Xuzhou and completed a beautiful ambush and reinforcements, annihilating all of Wanyanbi's elite men.
In Guide Mansion, after they captured the city with a small number of elite troops, they stayed there in a leisurely manner, pretending to be waiting for the arrival of subsequent troops. So he once again took advantage of Wanyanbi's anxiety about retaking the Huide Mansion, and carried out an ambush and reinforcements for the second time.
What will be the outcome of this fight for aid?
Wanyanbi didn't even dare to think about it.
At this moment, he only thought about how humiliating it was for him, as a veteran general, to be manipulated twice in a row; he was given the important responsibility of commanding a province by the imperial court, but as a result, he was completely unable to defend himself against the enemy, and instead became a How stupid it is to allow one's own side to lose troops and generals, and to be an accomplice who opens the door!
Wanyan Bi was a brave general who dared to fight the Mongols, but at this time, he only felt that he was weak inside, could not muster the strength, and did not know what to do. The two remaining servants around him led his horse and fled backwards.
Before the horse's head could be turned, Wanyan Wuli was seen trying his best to gather troops. Wanyan Bi was about to urge his horse to come closer to him, but Wanyan Wuli was thrown from nowhere by a spear that passed through his body. He was pinned to the ground and could not struggle.
At this moment, a series of earth-shaking cannons were fired in the city, and a Biao Jingqi rushed out.
The fighting between the two sides lasted for about half an hour. The Jin army suddenly encountered a strong enemy ambush and was at a loss. The two captains and subsequent soldiers and horses came, but they were all defeated by Ding Haijun. Thousands of people fled on the spot, thousands of people surrendered, and thousands more were killed.
Ding Haijun suddenly raised troops, and by this time it was only the seventh day. Within seven days, Xuzhou, Caozhou, Shanzhou, and Guide Prefecture succeeded one after another; the three captains assigned by the Kaifeng court in this direction were wiped out with a total of 20,000 troops.
The Kaifeng court covered half of the Jin Kingdom, and it could obviously confront Zhongdu in the north, suppress the Song Kingdom in the south, and plunder money and grain.
But suddenly, the situation changed suddenly. The Kaifeng court has no defense in the north, and its offensive in the south is meaningless. Their capital, Kaifeng, is already in danger under the threat of Ding Haijun's military strength!
When the news came out, the world was shocked.
