At this time, Deng Ai and Jiang Xu divided their forces and entered Bingzhou. It was really not cooperating with Zhuge Liang to attack Hanoi County. This was really just a coincidence.
Hanoi County and Hedong County are separated by the two mountains of Taihang and Wangwu, making communication inconvenient. Therefore, Deng Ai and Jiang Xu did not actually know what changes had taken place in the civil war situation in Hanoi at this time. They just followed the instructions. The battle plan discussed before is just being implemented.
Even strictly speaking, Deng Ai and Jiang Xu moved a little slower than originally expected.
There are actually two reasons for this.
One reason is that because of the complicated family relationships in Hedong County, Jiang Xu was unable to straighten out the place in a short time and could not safely divide his troops and march eastward.
The home bases of the aristocratic families in Hedong are basically concentrated near the Fen River. Not only is the land fertile, but it also has abundant water resources. The aristocratic families have been passing on their inheritance for hundreds of years, so they must have chosen to settle in places with better water conservancy conditions.
But now, the south bank of Fenshui River is occupied by the Northern Expeditionary Army of Jiang Xu and others, while the north bank of Fenshui River is still under the control of Cao Wei. The attitude of the Hedong family towards Han and Wei is still unclear.
Among them, there are those who choose to join the Han Dynasty like the Wei family, and naturally there are also those who support the Wei for their own interests. Of course, there are also those who choose to wait for the price like the Pei family.
Even strictly speaking, aristocratic families like the Pei family who do not express their attitude and wait for a price are the mainstream of the Hedong aristocratic families. At least 60% of the aristocratic families are now waiting and watching.
This was a trouble for Sima Shi. He did not receive much support from aristocratic families, and it became more difficult to defend the north bank of the Fen River.
But it is also a trouble for Jiang Xu. He cannot obtain too much food and grass supplies on the spot.
When the Northern Expeditionary Army in Hedong just crossed Pubanjin, they could still rely on Zuo Fengyi to provide food and grass supplies. However, as they captured the entire south of Fen River and penetrated deep into Hedong County, the logistical supply line became too difficult. Long.
It’s not that grain and grass cannot be transported, but that the time between transporting grain and grass will become longer, consumption will increase, and supply will become more and more difficult.
Therefore, the most appropriate response should be to obtain support from local families and obtain food supplies locally.
But, because most of the Hedong families are taking a wait-and-see attitude, except for the Wei family, other families will also supply some grain and grass for military needs, but the quantity is far from enough to support the daily expenses of an 80,000-strong army.
Not to mention continuing the expedition.
Therefore, during this period, Jiang Xu was constantly dealing with the Hedong family, but the results were not very good.
Although Jiang Xu was also from a noble family, he was a descendant of the Liangzhou family and was considered a piece of cake in the eyes of the Hedong family. Even a great talent like Jia Xu was ridiculed, let alone Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu is not a famous person in the world. His reputation as a descendant of an aristocratic family does not work well in Hedong, and the big families in Hedong are all world-famous "houses of poetry and calligraphy." You can't use force. In the end, Jiang Xu and Deng Ai didn't The only way is to postpone the advance, stay temporarily for rest, and wait until the food and grass supplies are in place before dividing the troops to attack.
This delayed a little time.
On the other hand, according to Jiang Xu and Deng Ai's predictions, Wang Ping should be counterattacked by Cao Wei after capturing Jiang County.
How could Cao Wei not recapture such an important key node? !
Sima Division may be powerless, but the Cao Wei army in Hanoi or Bingzhou should counterattack Jiangxian within half a month to a month to eliminate the flank threat.
Therefore, during this period, Deng Ai personally led 20,000 soldiers and rushed to the rescue of the 8,000 Wudang flying troops defending Jiangxian County, preparing to fight a defensive counterattack first. After repelling Cao Wei's counterattack, , and then took advantage of the situation to advance and merge with the state.
But after waiting for almost a month, the faces of even half of Cao Wei's soldiers were not seen.
This can't be blamed on Deng Ai's misjudgment or poor communication.
Neither Deng Ai nor Jiang Xu expected that the fall of southern Hebei would trigger a series of chain reactions. Qin Lang had already retreated to Yewang and assisted in the defense of Gaodu. How could he have any free time to counterattack Jiangxian.
As for the subsequent changes in form, let alone the first batch of Bingzhou cavalry that entered Hanoi to assist in defense, they were wasted by Bi Gui, and the second batch of Bingzhou reinforcements were transferred by Qin Lang to Hanoi to reinforce Deng Ai, who died in Jiangxian County. , naturally can't wait for Wei Jun to come.
This delay caused Deng Ai to lose his composure. It happened that Jiang Xu also said that all the grain and fodder needed for the eastward march had been prepared, and sent a grain escort to Deng Ai to escort Deng Ai over. Think about it, just send troops.
Attack Gaodu County, Shangdang County, and merge with the state.
Only by capturing Gaodu County and mastering the key points of going north and south can we decide whether to sneak attack Huguan or go south to support Zhuge Liang in Hanoi.
It was under such circumstances that Deng Ai and Jiang Xu divided their forces and led a total of 25,000 soldiers to march into Bingzhou.
Jiang Xu, on the other hand, led the remaining 50,000 men and deployed troops in counties along the south bank of the Fen River to prepare for the Sima Division to gather forces on the north bank of the Fen River to counterattack the south bank of the Fen River.
Jiang Xu did not mention how he divided his troops in Hedong County, but only talked about Deng Ai. After leading the troops to leave Jiang County, they marched non-stop. It took half a month to finally reach the camp thirty miles outside Gaodu County.
The time is a bit long, but there is no way. Hedong County is a plain, while Shangdang County is basically mountainous. Although the two counties are connected by official roads, after entering Shangdang County, there are too many mountains, which will inevitably affect Marching speed.
After arriving in Gaodu County and setting up camp, Deng Ai approached Wang Ping to discuss how to attack Gaodu County.
Hedong and Hanoi were almost reduced to a pot of porridge. Deng Ai did not believe that Gaodu County would be unaware and undefended.
The key question now is how to capture this important city located at the official road node in the shortest possible time.
According to reconnaissance and detailed intelligence, the guard general in Gaodu County today is named Su Shang, who is a confidant of Bi Gui, the governor of Bingzhou in Cao Wei. It is not yet known what his favorite general's abilities are, but the guard strength is not too small, and it is sufficient. There are five thousand people guarding here.
If this person chooses to stand firm and wait for reinforcements, with the troops in the hands of Deng Ai and Wang Ping, it is not impossible to attack, but the price paid is estimated to not be too small.
So, the two of them have to discuss and figure out how to fight.
The two of them were summarizing and discussing, but before they could come up with a specific battle strategy, someone suddenly asked to see them outside the camp.
He is not considered an outsider. He is the grain escort sent by Jiang Xu to transport grain and fodder for the two of them. His name is Wang Jun. He said that he specially recommended himself to propose a plan to break the city.
Deng Ai and Wang Ping looked at each other in confusion. Who is this person? Do you know him? !
Neither of them had much impression of Wang Jun. Only Deng Ai vaguely remembered that this man seemed to be from Hongnong and had served as a general under Wang Chang. The rest was unclear.
But, it’s always one of our own, and it’s Jiang Xu who sent him. It doesn’t hurt to give him some face and listen.
Of course, the most important thing is that the two of them actually have ways to defeat the enemy and win. Even if the man named Wang Jun is just a mediocre person with a rhetorical attitude and offers useless strategies, the two of them will have nothing to lose.
After hearing this, both of them realized that this Wang Jun was a great talent.
Wang Jun told Deng Ai that the people in Bingzhou were martial in nature, but Han and Hu people lived together, and they were not on good terms with each other.
Bi Gui, the governor of Bingzhou in Cao Wei, was a civil servant and had a fair academic record, but he did not pay much attention to military strategy and had no thought of reconciling the conflicts between Han and Hu. Therefore, neither Han nor Hu people were convinced by Bi Gui.
After all, Bingzhou, a border state, has always been a war zone, and Bi Gui, a civil servant, could not suppress it at all.
Fortunately, in the past few years, Cao Wei was still relatively strong, and the status of the Hu people was also low, so there was nothing to worry about.
However, in recent years, with the weakening of Cao Wei and Bi Gui's continuous deployment of soldiers from Bingzhou and counties to fight in Hanoi, the guards of Bingzhou were empty, and the Hu people began to prepare for action.
Among them, the two leaders of the Xianbei tribe, Ke Bineng and Bu Dugen, were the most active.
That is to say, these two people don't like each other and are constantly fighting for power. Otherwise, if these two people join forces, the state of Bingzhou may have started to be chaotic.
Therefore, Wang Jun suggested that people could be sent to spread rumors that Kebineng and Budugen had jointly rebelled, leading to a rebellion in the northern part of Bingzhou. In this case, the defenders of Gaodu County would definitely be panicked.
As for Su Shang, who is stationed in Gaodu County, although he is a general, his ability is really hard to say.
According to Wang Jun, this Su Shang has been in the army for more than ten years, and his reputation is still mediocre in martial arts. He has not heard of any meritorious service in recent years. It is entirely because he was brought by Bi Gui to become a general. It's just that it's hard for you to identify that such a person actually has a hidden talent.
Therefore, Wang Jun predicted that such a general guarding Gaodu would inevitably be in chaos after learning about the rebellion in the northern part of Bingzhou, and thus tried to seek a quick victory so that he could return to the army to quell the rebellion.
When they attack the city the next day, they only need to send people to fake defeat for a while and lure Su Shang to pursue him. Su Shang will definitely be fooled. Then Deng Ai will set up an ambush in the rear, and he will be able to capture him in a single battle.
In this way, everything that is high must come down.
(End of chapter)
