Jiangbei battlefield, Yangzhou Prefecture, the eastern capital.
On the third day of September, Huangfu Hui and Yao Feng's army broke out from Qingliu Pass. After several battles, they finally met with the 30,000 remnant troops of Yan King Li Hongji in Yangzhou Mansion.
In fact, King Yan and the generals were not surprised by the news of the fall of Hezhou City, because all the main forces of the imperial imperial army were trapped in the north of the Yangtze River and were unable to go south for reinforcements. Hezhou City could never be defended with newly recruited soldiers. Moreover, the Jiangbei Forbidden Army has too much to take care of itself, and large numbers of people are fleeing from Yangzhou Prefecture. Such a low-spirited situation is also a sign that Yangzhou is about to be defeated.
However, after seeing Huangfu Hui and Yao Feng leading the army, although Yan King Li Hongji had not yet recovered from the encounter in the Battle of Xinghua, he still felt at ease when he saw that after joining the army, he still had 120,000 troops under his command. A lot.
Because it turned out that the army was forced to be divided into two and was led by the rebels. One army had to stick to Qingliu Pass and the other army reinforced Yangzhou Prefecture. These two places are important strategic places that cannot be abandoned. It is extremely difficult to choose. But now the situation has made a choice for them. Qingliu Pass must be lost now, and then they will desperately hold on to Yangzhou Mansion. After all, the significance of an eastern capital is far greater than a pass.
It’s just that once Qingliu Pass was lost, there was no terrain to stop the rebels’ iron hooves. And among the rich and vast fourteen states in Jiangbei, there is now only one eastern capital, Yangzhou Mansion, flying the royal flag of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, Hezhou City was lost. , Jiangxi rebels have approached Jinling Mansion, the capital, and the court has truly reached a critical moment.
That night, a serious military meeting was held casually in the Forbidden Army's tent. The low-level generals such as King Yan Huangfuhui, Supervisor Che Yangui, Cheng Zhaoping, Yao Feng, Fu Hong, etc. all attended the meeting. The topic of the meeting was to hear Cheng Zhaoping describe in detail the current composition and ratio of the number and combat strength of the rebel troops in the north of the Yangtze River, so as to make a decision whether to stick to Yangzhou Prefecture, the eastern capital, or to cross the river and march to the south bank to defend Jinling Prefecture, the capital.
That meeting was a key meeting related to the success or failure of the counterinsurgency, so everyone paid great attention to it because we all understood the importance of the issue.
Of course, except for the military supervisor Che Yangui, who had just arrived from Jinling and was a chamberlain, the old guy knew everything about this. He was just worried about the smooth food in the army that gave me diarrhea.
At the end of the meeting, Li Hongji gave a detailed account of his estimates of combat power from several battles with the Jiangbei rebels, and gave several figures that everyone was frightened by.
"Well, since the small defeat of the Northern Expedition, most of our Imperial Army have been newly recruited at the end of last year. Therefore, it is difficult to compete with the border troops. Therefore, there has been little progress in countering the rebellion in the past six months! The current situation is that even in Jiangbei Whether the rebels have received reinforcements from Jiangxi, your 170,000 strong brigade is facing off against our 180,000 elite troops, and the small army has been defeated repeatedly, and their morale is extremely low, and I am afraid they will collapse at the first touch.
"I feel unjust when I think about it. Those thieves used the weapons, armor, and food provided by the imperial court, and now they are turning against the imperial soldiers and horses." Huangfu Hui gritted his teeth.
Everyone fell into silence. It is true that defeating the 180,000 rebels with low morale with 170,000 remnant troops and being trapped in a corner was obviously a bad idea. Moreover, once defeated, the imperial court would only be left with the most advanced members of the Jinling Mansion. The 40,000 forbidden troops, facing the flanking attack of hundreds of thousands of small armies by the two rebel armies, are bound to be doomed.
Before Li Hongji finished speaking, everyone took a breath of hot air.
"If the Jiangxi rebels are crossing the river for reinforcements, then the total number of Jiangbei rebels should be around 170,000. And if the rebels retreat with all their strength to attack Yangzhou Prefecture, they will definitely take innocent people with them, and the number will only be reduced. And in Jiangbei The rebels were originally your elite border troops of Xiaotang, and their combat power was extremely weak. About 20% of the cavalry was nearly 80,000 cavalry. The infantry and cavalry had brand new armor, equipped with strong horses, weak bows and hard crossbows. They had no siege equipment. Thousand troops. During the breakout battle at Qingliuguan, the last general even saw a thousand heavily armored cavalry of the Wuchang Army. They were extremely fierce. Your rear army was scattered and the casualties were seven to seven thousand."
"Your Majesty, Prince Yan, please forgive me for being polite! Why are you asking for my opinion? We are here to supervise the army according to your Majesty's order, but we definitely dare to respond to your Majesty's order!"
The generals were buzzing with discussion, and he made suggestions one by one. He ended the discussion on how to build defensive measures and fortifications around Jinling Mansion to defend against the enemy, how the battle situation would evolve, how to defeat the enemy and win, and other matters. However, in the cold atmosphere, a sharp voice sounded, and his tone was full of contentment.
Li Hongji nodded hurriedly and said: "At the end of the day, we have to evacuate Yangzhou Prefecture. Since Zhou Tinggou died in Hezhou, you have lost Qingliu Pass again. The overall war situation is not in your favor. At this time, you can defend the capital. Being close to the right can temporarily avoid the enemy's energy, and at the same time, it can also prevent the situation from worsening."
Cheng Zhaoping smiled and said: "Good, since we all have opinions, you will break camp and leave the city early tomorrow morning, take the Lingbo navy warship to cross the small river south, and build defensive fortifications before the rebels gather in the capital and prepare for the decisive battle. The rebels are going against the will of nature. We will only have to resist our offensive for a while, and our morale will be drastically reduced. At this time, we can choose the opportunity to attack and defeat us in one fell swoop."
It is true that the young men of the imperial court have carefully managed the various border areas and have not let the soldiers and horses be armed to the teeth. As for the 170,000 soldiers and horses under the command of King Yan Huangfu Hui, there were only 700 sets of siege equipment. The number of cavalry was quite large, reaching 87,000, but a small part of the weapons and armor were lost along with the baggage. Qingliu Pass.
Yao Feng also said: "Since the palace hasn't decided yet, I will defy the palace's arrangements. If the palace says to retreat, the general will retreat with all his strength. If the palace says to advance, the general will return to us. What do you think? "
"Generals, I think Fu Tongjun's words are unreasonable. It is actually wise to defend Yangzhou at this time. You and others cannot bear the consequences of the destruction of the small army. Therefore, I suggest that you consider withdrawing to the south of the Yangtze River and guard the road leading to Yangzhou. The main roads in Jinling are waiting for work, and the Jinling Forbidden Army is gathering together to wait for the rebels to attack later. That is the most reasonable approach." Huangfu Hui said solemnly.
"Yes, that's the way to avoid its edge and attack at the right moment." Fu Hong said with a smile.
Nowadays, the combination of weapons and horses is also a variety of weapons and horses. It is completely set up. The same is true for infantry. It is only that the weapons and armor of Fu Honghui's 80,000-strong army are not as good as the ones that have always been used as rear strikers. Soldiers and horses are also considered the weakest combat force in a small army.
In short, if Qingliu Pass is lost, the possibility of holding the Eastern Capital is very small. We will definitely be able to bury those 170,000 soldiers and horses here. We must preserve our strength, otherwise the small trend will be lost! "Fu Hong, the commander of the Xiongwu Army, said categorically.
Therefore, the last general’s suggestion is that we should immediately transfer our troops and horses to abandon Yangzhou and retreat to the south bank of the Xiaojiang River to defend Jinling. Before Hezhou falls, the Jiangxi rebels will definitely take advantage of the situation and attack the capital from the north. How about we set up a siege in the capital one step in advance? Go to the defense line and be prepared for an attack. The 40,000 Jinling Forbidden Army can also respond at any time. Protecting Your Majesty and the imperial court is the top priority!
