Cao Rui was unable to wait for the infantry, but in the afternoon, he received even more unfortunate news. According to the report of the reconnaissance cavalry, a large number of rebels appeared along the Maozhu Mountain line in the northwest. It seems that the direction is coming from the direction of Huguang. The total number of these rebel infantry and cavalry was less than 100,000. He also carried a large number of artillery and was heading in his direction with all his strength.
Upon receiving the news, Cao Rui couldn't help but be shocked. He knew that these were rebels from the direction of Huguang and had withdrawn from the direction of Tongcheng. The imperial army and horses in the direction of Huguang adhered to the existing front line leading to the city, and still took advantage of the numerous local lakes. Apart from the narrow passage leading to the city, the rebels had almost no other roads to pass through, so they managed to persist until now. But to be able to hold on until now is barely enough.
Let alone pursuit now, I don’t know how many defenders are left. Therefore, these rebels who withdrew from Huguang did so without any taboos and did not need to worry about any pursuit or outflanking. As for how the Huguang rebels retreated to his place, Cao Rui doesn't want to know, nor is he interested in knowing. What he knows now is that he prepared a table of dishes, but two tables of guests came.
Cao Rui knew that it would be difficult for the cavalry in his hands to join together with the more than 100,000 rebels. As for dividing the troops, he also does not have the strength to divide the troops now. Now that I can't even intercept the troops, the most important thing I should do is to evacuate and wait for the arrival of the infantry. But if he was asked to give up, he was really unwilling to accept the large piece of fat in front of him, which reached to the edge of his mouth.
Cao Rui now has a headache as to what to do next. When Cao Rui mentioned his deputy who led the infantry by water, Cao Rui was itching with hatred. What happened to this guy? But Cao Rui didn't know that when he was scolding his deputy, he didn't defect, and there wasn't any big accident. Instead, he was leading the entire infantry and was busy changing his career to become a tracker.
And speaking of it, Cao Rui has to be blamed for this. His deputy was a son of an aristocratic family and had worked in the Shandong Road Navy for two years. Although he was in the Shandong Road Navy, he was ostracized because he refused to join in the same trend. But because the Shandong Road Navy was also responsible for patrolling the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Although he didn't know much about the rivers in the south, he still had a certain understanding of the river's trend and water volume.
Especially now it is the spring time of the year when the river flow is the smallest. And when the small river swells, the big river can be full of truth, and he knows it even more. After receiving the order to lead the entire army to go south by water, he was still worried about whether the water volume of Poyang Lake that needed to be passed along the way could support such a large fleet with a large load capacity. He knew all too well the consequences of insufficient water.
If they were stranded on the sandbank in the lake, it would be a disaster every day, and it would even delay important events. Therefore, after receiving the order, he immediately found the boatman who was detained in Jiujiang by Zhao Wushu and inquired in detail about all the water transportation conditions along the way. The results did not make him optimistic. Spring is the dry season, and the greatly reduced area of Poyang Lake may be difficult to carry those large ships.
But if we raise a group of small boats, we can cross Poyang Lake without any problem. But the problem is that his subordinates are all a bunch of landlubbers from the North. The boat is not safe and can be easily broken up. The most critical thing is that the stability of the boat is too poor. If they take a small boat, their subordinates will almost get seasick. By the time they get to the shore, they'll probably have vomited into a bunch of soft-legged crabs, so what's the point of fighting?
Therefore, he hesitated again and again and proposed not to take the water route. But Cao Rui's persistence left him helpless. The next best thing was to take the Hualin River instead of the Zhangshui River, which has a larger water volume. But he couldn't do this on his own. Zhang Shui passed through Nanchang Prefecture to govern, and Nanchang Prefecture is still in the hands of the rebels. With this move, any surprise attack effect will be gone. I am afraid that all actions will be in the eyes of the rebels.
However, except for the flood season, the flow of Hualin Water in spring is really difficult to support large ships. It's Lianshui after it merges with Shuangxi. It's unclear whether you can take a big boat. But Cao Rui just glanced at the map and insisted that his original plan remained unchanged. Helpless, he could only tow a small boat behind each big boat. Go upstream at Wucheng and enter Xiushui, and then enter Lianshui south of Jianchang.
The road before entering Lianshui was relatively smooth. Although it was the dry season in spring, the water volume of Poyang Lake, which received a large number of surrounding rivers, was still enough to carry this fleet. Although many of these officers and soldiers from the north took a boat for the first time in their lives, they vomited because of seasickness. But after all, the big ship is relatively stable, and the journey is not far.
Boarding the boat from Duchang to cross Poyang Lake is a relatively narrow part of Poyang Lake, so even though most people got seasick, the crossing was completed quickly. Moreover, there are basically no problems when entering repair water with a large amount of water. Except for some officers and soldiers who were not seasick, because they were going upstream, they were forced to get off the boat and the uncooperative trackers became trackers.
On the water below Yongxiu, there were no major problems. The problem lies above Yongxiu, that is, after entering from Xiushui to Lianshui, the water volume of Xiushui is no longer available, and the water volume of Lianshui in spring suddenly drops sharply. This deputy named Zhang Quan could only ask some officers and soldiers who were less seasick to move into the towed boat to reduce the draft of the big ship and move it forward as much as possible.
Lianshui stumbled along the way, but finally persevered, but it also took a lot of time. After all, we were going upstream, and the water was relatively shallow. If it hadn't been for the deputy named Zhang Quan, who insisted on carrying a large number of boats and transferred most of the people to the boats. Only the officers and soldiers who were too seasick and the baggage were left on the big ship. I'm afraid that after walking halfway down the river, I'll have to get off the boat and walk.
At the intersection of Hualin River and Shuangxi River, we almost took the wrong road. When it entered the Hualin River, the big ship was completely unable to move, and almost all of it ran aground at the mouth of the river. Although the main river downstream of Hualin River is as deep as one person, it is still too heavy for these large ships carrying hundreds of stones. Seeing that Zhang Quan could not leave, he simply left a few large ships to transport baggage and cannons.
The remaining troops were divided into two teams. One part took a small boat to cover a slightly smaller medium-sized boat equipped with artillery. They continued to move forward until they could no longer go. The rest of the troops disembarked and walked. Anyway, this place is not far away from the battlefield chosen by Cao Rui in advance. There was no other way, so all the mules and horses he used to carry or pull the cannon were given to Cao Rui. But you still have to bring the cannon.
This back and forth wasted a lot of time. Cao Rui suppressed the main force of the rebel army on the south bank of Hualin River, but Zhang Quan still led the infantry just past the confluence of Shuangxi and Hualin River. When Cao Rui's scouts found him, he was sweating profusely and personally led a group of officers and soldiers to push a ship equipped with five cannons and a large amount of ammunition from a stranded sandbank.
Zhang Quanxin couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the scout's report. He also knew that he was delaying things. If the delay continues, I'm afraid it will be delayed for how long. And here is still more than seventy miles away from the main battlefield. Looking at the long river in front of him, Zhang Quan gritted his teeth. He simply ordered that those large ships that were really difficult to navigate be abandoned, and the officers and soldiers who were not seasick were replaced by smaller ships.
At the same time, five ships were lifted into the air and a larger one was installed. Each ship was equipped with two cannons and continued upstream. The rest of the people gave up taking the boat and began the rapid march under their own command. At the same time, a thousand people were left to guard the remaining ships that could still pass but were threatened with stranding. Mount all the other cannons that could be mounted, especially the five three-thousand-pound cannons that would follow later. If you really can't take it away, sink it into the river first.
After the distribution was completed, Zhang Quan immediately commanded the brigade to rush to the battlefield. He didn't think about anything now. As long as he could catch up with Cao Rui before the rebel reinforcements arrived, it would be victory. From Zhang Quan's point of view, if he had followed the original plan, he might have finished fighting over there and he would still be pushing the boat here. Therefore, if you really can't delay any longer, it's faster to walk. ,
In order to boost the morale of his soldiers, he did not ride a horse. Instead, he freed up his own war horses, as well as the few war horses in the army, to carry armor. In order to speed up the march and reduce the burden on the officers and soldiers. The first batch of 10,000 infantry troops he personally led, except for the ordnance, all the armor was placed on horseback, and a group of small boats followed for transport.
Zhang Quan himself set the example, not only contributing his own war horse, but also walking at the forefront of the team carrying a long spear. There is no rest or tip-off along the way, and all stragglers are left to be taken care of by those behind. He led the first ten thousand people and spent more than three hours on the road. Almost exhausted and vomiting blood, he finally arrived at the battlefield to join Cao Rui after dark.
Seeing Zhang Quan, who was so tired that he almost vomited blood, he learned that he had taken it for granted when deploying his plan. Cao Rui didn't blame him too much, after all, Zhang Quan had already arrived. And the follow-up troops and horses are also rushing here with all their strength. Along the Hualin River, the army and horses are less than fifteen miles away from here. The arrival of the infantry made Cao Rui feel more at ease and confident.
Originally, Cao Rui was led by Zhang Quan, but by the time they reached the battlefield, there were only 7,000 infantry. Together with those who fell behind, they arrived in the middle of the night. The army and horses were really exhausted and had to rest for a day before going out to fight. But early the next morning, the sound of cannons on the Hualin River directly changed the plan. The troops who had already rushed to the battlefield by boat discovered a large number of enemy troops on the north bank before they could get off the boat.
A force of troops is forcibly building a pontoon bridge, and there are a large number of cavalry behind them, who are following up one after another. The military attache who led the team upstream had no time to ask the general for instructions. Leaning the ship directly across the river, the cannons on the ship pointed at the enemy on the north bank and opened fire immediately. Cao Rui, who was awakened by the sound of artillery, found that the rebels on the north bank were almost all over the mountains and plains. Among them, there are fully 20,000 cavalry.
If the troops along the river hadn't discovered it in advance, this group of rebels might have suddenly appeared and opened up the connection between the north and south banks. Fortunately, the rebel brigade was arriving one after another, and so were Cao Rui's infantry. The situation was critical, so they simply stopped the fleet in the river and opened fire, concentrating artillery fire and archers to attack the rebel army and horses that were about to cross the river.
Knowing that this was the arrival of the main force of the Huguang rebels, Cao Rui immediately mobilized almost all the artillery and archers. Zhang Quan succeeded him and launched an all-out attack with infantry as the main force against Song Yan's troops facing him. At the same time, he gathered 13,000 cavalry and gradually left the battlefield. Heading upstream to the Hualin River, he had already surveyed the place where he could cross on horseback and outflank it.
It's just that before he was less than fifty miles away, he met the rebels who had the same goal. Even a section of the rebel cavalry has already crossed over, and a full 20,000 infantry troops are also crossing. Seeing that the rebels had already crossed the river, Cao Rui immediately deployed his formation to greet them without saying a word. The two armies fought fiercely fifty miles away from the battlefield downstream.
