Chapter 273 The Essence of Guerrilla Warfare
Although Zuo Liangyu lost part of the convoy's baggage, it was nothing compared to the messed up soldiers under his command. Although more than 7,000 people were lost in this battle, there were still more than 20,000 people left to carry the full load of gold. The baggage convoy carrying silver and jewelry was rushing south, and unexpectedly encountered You Shiwei's cavalry troops who were following south.
After the two phases merged, Zuo Liangyu told the story of this great victory with great excitement, and then followed You Shiwei to meet with Chen Degong's troops.
Most of the casualties under his command were caused by Yuan Shizhong's pursuit. After passing Zhujing Town, the pursuit of Yuan Shizhong's troops was blocked by You Shiwei himself. Because of the long run and the attack, Yuan Shizhong could not If you don't give up and continue the pursuit, you can only stay in Zhujing to preserve your strength.
When Chen Cao led his army to rush back to Huating, what he saw was a fire in half of Huating. The difference from Wuxian in Suzhou was that the fire in Huating was still going on, while Wuxian at that time had been burned into ruins.
Hong Chengchou rarely knelt on one knee in front of Chen Cao, but after Chen Cao dismounted, he helped the older and confused Hong Chengchou: "Yanyan (Hong Chengchou's nickname) worked hard, Huating won the end, you are indispensable, How are the casualties of the Shence Army?"
"The Fifteenth Division suffered heavy casualties. Only Yuan Shizhong's troops still had more than 5,000 people. The rest were either killed or seriously injured. I stretched the defensive line too long and underestimated the opponent."
The Seventeenth Division of the Shence Army was stationed in Shanghai, and the Sixteenth Division was in Qingpu. The Sixteenth Division was all infantry. The Sixteenth Division arrived about an hour after Chen Cao arrived in the afternoon, but for the sake of Qingpu's safety, only two came. The strength of a brigade, and because the war with the Seventeenth Division ended after Hong Qing's counterattack, the Seventeenth Division did not continue to reinforce Huating, but stayed in Shanghai.
"The Shence Army is all new troops, and the lower-level officers are also new recruits. You have done your best to be able to fight like this. The post-war pension will be uniformly allocated by the Logistics Office of the Fifth Army. In addition, those who have meritorious service will be recorded. Regardless of life or death, rewards will be emphasized."
"I am ashamed..."
Hong Chengchou was indeed embarrassed, but he had already made a great contribution by using more than 10,000 Shence troops, who were not fully equipped, to resist an enemy force three times his own.
"Sir, according to the report from the pursuit sentry, You Shiwei and Zuo Liangyu did not go north to Shanghai after joining forces, but went south past Zhujing and withdrew towards Pinghu County, Zhejiang."
Chen Cao frowned, and then called Huang Chunyao, who was accompanying the army, to discuss the next plan with him.
"Sun Chuanting and other Tianxiong troops are stationed in Jiashan. There are more than 50,000 people in the army, 70% of which are composed of veterans of the border army from Liaodong. Their combat effectiveness is no worse than that of the Dingwu army. If Sun Chuanting sees You Shiwei's actions clearly, he will come here We will definitely divide our troops and march eastward to block You Shiwei's retreat."
Chen Cao listened to Huang Chunyao's analysis, and then nodded: "Yan Yan here said that You Shiwei and Zuo Liangyu's troops could only have no more than 40,000 people, but we know in Suzhou that You Shiwei's troops have nearly five Ten thousand people, if you add Zuo Liangyu's troops, it would be 80,000 anyway. Where did the remaining half of the troops go...
Quickly send scouts to explore again and report again. "
In addition to sending people to continue the pursuit, Chen Cao also had to order the Shence Army who came to support to rescue the fire in Huating City, and highly praised the two civil servants Huang Shijing and Liu Wenzheng who surrounded Huating this time.
"After the Huating fire, let Li Maocai's workshop settle in Huating and renovate Huating. All the buildings will be copied according to the new city of Shanghai County. In addition, all damaged merchants must stop their losses and tell them that after the new houses are repaired, they only need to take the If you submit the original deed to the house, you can get the house again for free. If you want a shop, those who have the deed will be asked to pay half the price to buy it again. If they don't have the deed, they can buy it again at a 30% discount.
In addition, notify the trading company and ask them to transport food and various materials. First, prepare all the things that are in short supply here in Huating. Don't let the people panic. Your prefect, county government and other officials have to go around the streets to visit. Appease those people, tell them the post-war policies formulated by me, and gradually restore Huating's market. "
After the arrangements were made, Chen Cao urgently held a brief military meeting outside Huating City, which mainly discussed how to deal with You Shiwei, the erratic imperial army.
"The Sixteenth Division of the Tiaoshence Army is stationed in Pingwang Town, Suzhou. As long as the canal waterway is contained, even if the troops from Zhejiang Dusi come, they can only look at the canal and sigh." Chen Cao tapped the map: "Taihu Lake is Suzhou's natural barrier, if we try to enter Wujiang by relying on the fishing boats on the lake and the boats of the inspection department, that is wishful thinking. The Changzhou Prefecture in the north is now in our hands. Even if the imperial army wants to go south, we have to ask Whether the firearm in my hands is sharp or not."
Huang Chunyao took over the conversation: "Control and containment are only one of them. To guard Jiashan Pass, Zhejiang Dusi's troops have no other choice but to float up the sea. Now that the imperial navy has been corrupted for a long time, how can it be our army's opponent?" ?
It’s just that, sir, we have to be on guard against You Shiwei and others from escaping back again..."
Chen Cao felt that the best use of guerrilla warfare was in his era. Nowadays, due to the influence of various factors, it is indeed difficult for troops to conduct guerrilla warfare. However, the thousands of cavalry under You Shiwei are a big trouble: "The only way to deal with them is to drive dogs into back streets."
"Report..."
A messenger opened the military tent angrily: "My lord, please report the emergency at Jiashan Pass..."
A man covered in blood hurriedly walked into the tent and saluted Chen Cao: "Qian Kai, the deputy chief of staff of the Tianxiong Army, has met the Duke..."
The person who came was the deputy chief of staff of the Tianxiong Army. He was a senior general-level official. He came in person, which made Chen Cao worried: "Without courtesy, what's going on with Lu Xiangsheng?"
Qian Kai clasped his fists again: "My lord, four days ago, Zhejiang Dusi's soldiers and horses gathered in Jiaxing suddenly entered Jiashan County, and launched a surprise attack on the forward positions of our fifth division that night. Due to the hasty battle, the fifth division The division's deputy commander Huang Anmin and all the generals at all levels below were killed, and the fifth division suffered more than 7,000 casualties;
Lu Junzuo led the Fourth Division to provide emergency support, but due to lack of time, all the Jiashan Pass forward positions fell into the hands of the enemy. "
Chen Cao stood up immediately. If Jiashan was lost, soldiers and horses from Zhejiang Dusi and Huguang would be able to enter Songjiang from Hangzhou.
The location of Jiashan Pass is unique. It is about 20 miles northeast of Jiashan County, Hangzhou Prefecture. Its tributaries merge into the Huangpu River. The imperial court originally had an inspection department at Jiashan Pass to set up tax checkpoints. After Chen Cao settled in Songjiang, in order to protect To ensure the safety of Songjiang, the original site of the small Jiashan Pass Inspection Department was expanded and a large military camp similar to a fortress was built.
Its location is unique. To the north is the entrance of Dianshan Lake. To the southeast is the Gaoshan Woodland Group, which is rare in South Zhili. The Jiashan Guanbao Village is right behind this bayonet. If the troops of Zhejiang Dusi are far away from Jinshanwei, they enter from the direction of Jinshanwei. In addition to the difficult roads in Songjiang, Jinshan Acropolis is also a big stone blocking the only way.
Anyone with military experience knows that if you want to enter Songjiang from Hangzhou, Jiashan Pass is the first choice.
"Is the fort still there?"
Qian Kai nodded: "In order to prevent the fortress from being lost, Deputy Commander Sun and Lu Junzuo reduced the surrounding troops except for the troops in the Kaosan forest and entered the fortress. It was not until the next day that they learned that Zhejiang Dusi had mobilized 150,000 people to enter Jiashan. "
All the generals present frowned, "150,000 people, what kind of number is that?"
Zhejiang Dusi has a total of 190,000 registered guardsmen, and 150,000 people were mobilized at once. What is the concept? It's not an exaggeration to say that they came out in full force.
"Is this information accurate?"
Qian Kai took a deep breath and said: "Our army has spies in Hangzhou. According to the reports from the spies in Hangzhou, there are wolf soldiers mobilized from the chieftains of Guangxi and the army of Mu Mansion in Yunnan. These two groups total 50,000 people;
In addition, all Zhejiang Dusi's town soldiers and garrison troops in Hangzhou were mobilized, and they gathered 100,000 people. Added together, there were indeed 150,000 people. "
Just as Chen Cao was about to speak, Qian Kai said again: "Originally everything was under the control of Lu Junzuo, but for some reason another army of officers and soldiers came from the north, numbering as many as 40,000. After arriving at Jiashan Pass, they came from inside An attack was launched, and the military commander felt that the situation was serious, so he sent a low-ranking leader to break out of the siege at night and go north to ask for help;
As soon as Beizhi and his men arrived at Pingwang, they encountered tens of thousands of officers and soldiers and were chased by their cavalry. If they hadn't been rescued by their colleagues from the Shence Army, Beizhi probably wouldn't have been able to come. "
Chen Cao took a deep breath and felt deeply that the people in Beijing did not seem to be weak people to be bullied. They actually arranged so many things early in the morning. Even the troops from Guangxi and Yunnan were mobilized. In addition, Chen Cao Cao also wondered whether there was a traitor inside him, but when he thought about it carefully, he had been quietly making a fortune for more than a year, so it was natural for him to not care about external affairs.
What's more, as the eyes and ears, Xin Zhao lost the line to obtain intelligence from Jin Yiwei after Jin Yiwei was abolished. He could only develop his own intelligence network again, so it was common for him to be behind in time lag in terms of intelligence.
"How long can Jiashan Pass be defended?"
Qian Kai thought for a while and said: "According to the existing armaments, it is no problem to hold on for a month, but tens of thousands of enemy troops moving from the north to the south have not yet arrived at Jiashan Pass. If they charge desperately, I am worried that Jiashan Pass will be able to survive." Can’t hold on.”
There were 150,000 people coming from the direction of Jiaxing, and among them there were 50,000 elite border troops. There were at least 50,000 or 60,000 people under You Shiwei and Zuo Liangyu's command, which meant that Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting were facing an army of 200,000 people. In a pincer attack, if the support from our side is not timely, it is very likely that Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting will be wiped out.
Thinking of this, Chen Cao asked Qian Kai to go down to rest. He looked at Huang Chunyao, then looked at Hong Chengchou, and said: "On the Qingpu line, only Songjiang Wei Wang's different troops are left behind, and the entire 14th Division is gathering in Huating." , In addition, the 15th Division from Shanghai County was also mobilized;
I will transfer Li Shaokuan of the Shenwu Army back to Huating, and Yuan Shizhong's troops will follow me. This time I will gather the army to fight the imperial soldiers and horses at Jiashan Pass for a decisive battle. "
