Many armchair scholars believe that the first way to defend a city is to add heavy troops to the city. It seems that the more troops in the city, the safer it will be. In fact, this is completely wrong.
A single isolated city is a desperate situation. No matter how big the city is or how abundant the troops in the city are, if you are trapped in the city and have to fight with others with your hands and feet tied up, it is a huge waste in tactics, and it is rare to be invincible. Therefore, as long as conditions permit, the defenders of the city will definitely control key passes outside the city, set up strong forts, and station powerful troops to respond to internal and external threats.
As the saying goes in the army, to defend the city, you must defend the mountain, and to defend the city, you must defend the stronghold. This is the truth.
Yesterday, after paying a considerable price, the various units of the Jin army that went south got rid of the Song army in Huainan and other places and rushed all the way back to the vicinity of Kaifeng. They were not in a hurry to enter the city. They joined the troops of Tongguan garrison Wanyan Congtan who had arrived one day in advance, and the troops of Henan Prefecture garrison He Shilieqier, and entered the former site of Lincaiguan controlled by Jiaguze, the captain of Zhechong.
The original strength of the various ministries was combined into one place, nearly 100,000, and the soldiers were brave and powerful, and they were majestic when they went south to plunder. At this time, they had been entangled with the Song people for more than a month. When they retreated, they were panicked and were often pursued, so some people kept deserting the team and fleeing.
That night, when the manpower was gathered, only about 30,000 to 40,000 people remained.
Fortunately, these 30,000 to 40,000 people can be regarded as the basic strength of the captains of each department, and their combat effectiveness is still there.
Wanyan Congtan brought a batch of grain from Tongguan, arranged for the soldiers to have two full meals, and mobilized thousands of people to dig earth for trenches and build earth for walls, and built a temporary building on the ruins of Guancheng. small town.
With this small city as a foothold, there was a mutual support between the Jin Army and Kaifeng City. The soldiers immediately felt more at ease. Kaifeng City transported a batch of military supplies overnight, which gave the army a little strength. After recovering, I felt that I could at least fight some real fierce battles on the plains outside the city with Kaifeng Fortress behind me.
In the early years when the Song Dynasty was at its peak, many canals were operated in Bianliang City, the capital, to protect water transport routes. Many river sects lead the rivers to divide the rivers, and the salt meets the Tianyi, and the boats and boats are connected to each other to provide support to the public and private parties, so there is no wealth or lack.
However, since Duchong of the Song Dynasty broke the river, the Yellow River has been flooded year after year. The river channel is silted up and cannot receive water. Therefore, it is sometimes broken or blocked, and its migration is uncertain. The canals around Bianliang were not repaired for a long time, and gradually became flat land. By August of the fifth year of Mingchang, the Yellow River broke through Yangwu, filling the hills to the east, and the water flow trended south, completely destroying the original water system, and formed a river around Kaifeng. There are large areas of sand moraine and sand beach.
The only remaining remains of water transport today are Chenliu, which once held the key to the Bianhe River, Lincaiguan, which once held the key to the Cai River, and Zhuxian Town, which once held the key to the Huimin River.
The Ding navy was stationed in Chenliu and deployed along the embankment of the Bianhe River. The military camp is only twelve or thirteen miles away from Lincaiguan, and the far one is only more than twenty miles away. The land between the two armies is empty and flat, and the residents have long since fled.
Therefore, as soon as the army moved, the Jin army near Caiguan was immediately on alert.
"The navy is dispatched!"
"All ministries have clear banners and are in good order!"
"All the troops are out of camp! The speed is extremely fast! The formation is extremely tight!"
There is a newly built watchtower on the top of Guancheng in Lincaiguan. The officer on duty stood on the top of the watchtower and looked out while telling what he saw.
In his sight, a large number of Dinghai soldiers crossed the sparse woodland and shrubs, and stepped across the fields and grasslands. While advancing several miles, they quickly formed into formations.
Some formations approached about five miles east of Lincaiguan in one breath before slowing down. The Jin Army officer saw a forest of spears and spears in the queue, and the shield wall formed by the swordsmen and shieldmen occasionally separated from the queue due to changes in the terrain, and soon closed up again, like the scales of a giant python expanding when it swims.
Beside the officer on duty, several colleagues climbed up to the watchtower. They did not speak, they only frowned and watched, knowing that such a small queue in front of them was difficult to deal with.
What makes people even more nervous is the main force of Ding Haijun behind the forward team.
The distance is far away and the distribution of the arms cannot be clearly seen, but there are definitely a lot of cavalry, and when the large arrays slowly press forward one after another, apart from the rising smoke and the muffled sound of footsteps, it actually gives people a sense of calm. .
This is very different from the army that the Jin Army officers knew. Generally speaking, when an army is approaching in front of the enemy, it will definitely try to show its power. When the number of infantry and cavalry reaches tens of thousands, the gestures of shouting and waving weapons gather in one place, and it will sound like a tsunami from a distance. .
But the Dinghai navy in front of them was not like this. Their posture was more calm and calm, like a giant beast walking in the mountains and forests, knowing that no natural enemy could resist them.
And this complacency is by no means born of arrogance.
Their brilliant record in the past few years gives them such confidence! The navy's continuous huge investment in training and equipment gives them such capital!
Compared with Ding Haijun, Jin Jun's condition is much worse.
The officers on duty lowered their eyes and glanced at their own military camp. There was some confusion in each captain's station, but they did not immediately mobilize to respond. That's because only Monk Wanyan Chen advocated the battle, and the other generals preferred to defend the camp and wait for the enemy's strength to falter.
Monk Wanyan Chen's brother was seriously injured. He temporarily took charge of his subordinates. His identity was different from other marshals and captains. He is not an eloquent strategist, and he cannot convince others for a while.
So at this moment, he had returned to his team, took off his shirt, and stood in the open field below the city tower, letting Ali like to pour buckets of well water on him.
The Song army in Huainan is not a weak force. It is not easy for this Jin army to retreat from Huainan to Kaifeng. Monk Wanyan Chen fought no less than fifty times and suffered more than a dozen injuries. If he hadn't been naturally strong and perseverant, he would have fainted by now.
Even so, the cold water washed away the bloody wound, and when it washed away the blood and sludge, some gray muscles in the wound twitched and stirred, causing sharp pain like needle pricks.
But Monk Wanyan Chen opened his arms and allowed Alixi to splash water continuously without moving or making a sound.
After it was cleaned, the other two Alixi began to put on his armor.
Behind him, there were hundreds of soldiers of the Zou army who followed him south and north, and those Qiang, Naiman or Uighur people were just like him. People were silent, taking off their blood-stained clothes and the nail and stomach, washing it with water, then slowly bandaging it themselves, and then putting the nail and stomach back on.
Even if the injury was involved during the movement, they would frown or grit their teeth at most, without moaning or crying out in pain.
As they moved, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and sweat, which was quickly blown away.
In these years, the Zou Army was originally regarded as the elite of the Jin Army and the most capable part of the Jin Army. These soldiers have been with Monk Wanyan Chen for more than a year and have been tempered to be extremely tough like the young generals.
When the armor and stomach were fastened, Monk Wanyan Chen jumped and said to his left and right: "We can't let Ding Haijun get close! No matter what the marshals and captains decide in the end, I will lead my men to charge for a while. Otherwise, the morale of the army will become worse and worse. The lower you fall, the more likely it is that this battle will be completely unwinnable!”
The generals on the left and right nodded in agreement, not hesitating because of the difficulty of the task.
