In fact, the day before Liu Chengyou launched his troops, the Tang army stationed on the banks of the Feishui River had become nervous. Han Tong, the commander of the cavalry capital, led the army to clear out the Tang army's errant cavalry.
The Southern Tang Dynasty was short of war horses, and even fewer cavalry troops were established. Liu Yanzhen came to the rescue and had two thousand fine cavalry from the Tang army fighting with the army. They were completely defeated. During the rout, they were pursued and annihilated by Han general Shi Yanchao. Almost the entire army was wiped out.
This time Chen Jue marched, and there were still more than a thousand cavalry in the army. Except for 500 cavalry left as reserve for the Chinese army, the rest were all sent out to detect the enemy's situation and patrol the surrounding areas.
Han Tong, on Liu Chengyou's order, personally led two thousand front-armed cavalry, suddenly went south, caught these wandering Tang cavalry and strangled them. The horses of the Tang army were not as good as the Han horses, and the people were not as good as the Han soldiers. Moreover, they were faced with Han Tong's tiger and wolf cavalry who had superb cavalry and sharp fighting skills. They were suddenly targeted and attacked. How could they be their opponents?
Upon learning of the sudden movement of the Han army, Chen Jue was in a daze. He just felt that something was wrong. Without thinking, he quickly sent an order to let the remaining Tang cavalry return to camp and put them outside, with the only chance of being strangled by the Han cavalry. In this way, Liu Chengyou's purpose of closing his eyes and blocking his ears was achieved. Without the help of Houqi, it was not so easy to detect the news in the Feishui Plain, especially when the Han cavalry was cruising outside and watching eagerly. in the case of.
The distance of forty miles is really not that far. Even if you want to maintain your physical strength and march calmly, it will take two hours. Han Tong led the troops in front and had already completed the set combat mission, and took the initiative to survey the surrounding terrain and the situation of the Tang camp.
The emperor personally led an army of infantry and cavalry to arrive, specially led people to greet them, and personally reported the battle report: "Your Majesty, I led the cavalry, after a whole day of pursuit and fierce fighting, they killed a total of 416 Tang cavalry people, and now they have all been killed." Scan the waiting cavalry, and there are no Tang army ears or eyes for twenty miles around!"
"Well done!" Liu Chengyou praised.
Facing the emperor's praise, Han Tong couldn't help but smile and let out a sigh of relief. In this southern expedition, all the generals and generals in the army had some merits, but only General Han Du of the Iron Cavalry Army had no merit, which really hindered his reputation. This achievement can be regarded as the first quenching of thirst for a man who has been in drought for a long time.
"What was Tang Jun's reaction?" Liu Chengyou asked Han Tong.
"Chen Juejun has huddled in the camp and is on the defensive!" Han Tong reported: "In addition, there is another Tang army in the south, which is believed to be Xu Wenzhen, and is marching north. I went to investigate in person, and there were a lot of pack horses and carts in the process. There are so many soldiers, they must be the rear army carrying heavy baggage for the Tang soldiers. The burden is too heavy, and the advance is even slower!"
"This Chen Jue, how much military supplies have been prepared this time!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou immediately said to Murong Yanzhao: "Order the three armies to stay in place and rest, regain their strength, and wait for orders. Wang Qing and Han Tong, follow me to explore the Tang camp!"
After hearing what he said, Han Tong immediately advised: "Your Majesty is responsible for the three armies and the country is so important that you can't fall into danger lightly. I'd better leave the matter of exploring the camp to my ministers!"
Liu Chengyou waved his hand and said stubbornly: "No need to say more, I want to go and see for myself!"
Soon, under the protection of Fengchen Camp, the group of people galloped towards Tang Camp. This group of people did not cover their tracks. They were in the wilderness in front of the Tang camp. They showed their flags, looked back and forth, and drove at will, with almost no concern for the Tang camp. They were very arrogant.
There is a low and flat mountain range in the northeast of the Tang camp, relying on the Shungeng Mountains. After inspecting the layout of the Tang camp, Liu Chengyou pointed to the mountain range and said: "Though that mountain range is not difficult and dangerous, it can still be relied upon. Why did the Tang army set up a stronghold near the river? "
"Maybe it's convenient to get water!" Han Tong said.
"Not necessarily!" Liu Chengyou said, looking at Wang Jun who was accompanying him: "What do Wang Qing think?"
Wang Jun had also been carefully observing the enemy camp before. After hearing the question, he thought for a while, pointed to the Tang camp and said: "That tidal flat has soft soil and is not a place where our cavalry can roam. If the Tang army established a stronghold here, I'm afraid it's still... To prevent me from charging on foot and on horseback!"
Nodding his head, he agreed with Wang Jun's view: "It seems that Chen Jue is not without merit. At least he knows how to adapt to local conditions!"
"However, if the Tang camp is set up by the water, its foundation must not be strong!" Wang Jun added coldly.
Liu Chengyou nodded, staring at the huge military camp built by Chen Jue, his eyes gradually became firmer, he turned his horse and said: "It's almost done, go back!"
After returning to the army, Liu Chengyou immediately ordered the entire army to move forward and set up camp five miles away from the Tang camp. He took out the white silk and wrote a letter and handed it to Zhang Yongde, explaining: "Send someone to the Tang camp to meet in person." When I see Chen Jue, I tell him that I personally led an army of 20,000 people to the south and invite him to the banks of the Fei River. The two sides can square up and fight for a fair fight!"
Zhang Yongde put away the letter and couldn't help but hesitated to Liu Chengyou: "Your Majesty, will the Tang army accept the battle?"
"Maybe?" Liu Chengyou said casually: "Go!"
"yes!"
As for the Tang camp, when Liu Chengyou visited the camp in person, he went to the village tower to observe. He had no desire to fight. When he saw the soldiers of the Fengchen camp who were almost armed to the teeth, he lost interest even more.
In the Chinese army tent, the Han general who sent the message was sent away. Chen Jue took Liu Chengyou's war letter and read it, his brows were furrowed. There was only one word on it: "War!" Add an incomprehensible symbol "?".
"Mr. Chen, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty personally led the army and came south to invite a fight. Do I accept the fight?" asked a military academy below.
Observing his appearance, Chen Jue asked: "Looking at the general's appearance, does he want to fight the Han army?"
The military academy said: "The Shouchun Han army only has 30,000 to 40,000 troops in total. They dare to divide their troops to resist our army when they are besieging the city. They are simply arrogant and underestimate our army! If so, prepare your troops and horses." , use strong crossbows, resist horses, and chariot formations to fight against them. With the strength and strength of our army, it is not certain who will lose and who will win! Not to mention defeat, as long as its power is slightly weakened, we can take advantage of the situation to march towards Shouchun , then we can attack the Han army with He Gong from both inside and outside!"
"No!" After the military academy said this, Chen Jue had not yet responded. Xian Shilang immediately made a clear objection: "Mr. Chen, this book of the Han Emperor is afraid of being deceitful, so we should not fight it lightly!"
"Did Duke Xian see the deceit in it?" Chen Jue asked.
Xian Shilang shook his head simply: "I'm sorry for my poor eyesight, but I have fought too many battles, and I have an intuition that there is a problem here. In my opinion, it is prudent to stay in the camp, sit back and watch the movements of the Han army, and then try to deal with it. rashly If there are any mistakes or omissions in the battle, the consequences will be beyond our control!"
"Mr. Xianshi must have been defeated in Hunan and fought too many battles. He is so timid. Isn't it just to fight when we send troops to the north?" There are always people who are confused.
"How dare you!" Chen Jue rebuked angrily and stood up for Xian Shilang: "How dare you be rude to the general and not apologize to Duke Xian!"
No matter what, the one who calls the shots must be Chen Jue. After pondering for a while, he picked up the letter of war and read it again. He intuitively felt that there was evil hidden in the sharp strokes of the pen. Finally, he made up his mind and said: "Ignore it for now, and order all the camps to strictly guard the walls and not leave the camp." !”
A little later, the sentry tower of Tangying reported that there were horsemen riding around the camp and heading south. This news immediately attracted Chen Jue's attention, and he summoned Xian Shilang to discuss with him: "What does the Han army mean by this? I always have a feeling of panic!"
"Xu Wenzhenjun!" The two of them didn't think for long, Xian Shilang suddenly said.
Chen Jue suddenly stroked his forehead and said in surprise: "It must be so! After Xu Wenzhen, it was two days' journey before the Han Dynasty rode south. I'm afraid he doesn't know the situation in the north. If he is unprepared and is suddenly attacked, how can he withstand it?"
Xian Shilang said: "Mr. Chen, Xu Wenzhen's army is escorting nearly half of our army's supplies. There is no room for loss. We must remind him!"
"I don't have much to worry about anymore. Let's take a risk and scatter all the carrier pigeons among the generals!" Chen Jue was a little excited and ordered his subordinates: "The Han cavalry has already gone south. With its speed, I'm afraid it won't take half a day to reach Xu Wenzhen's army." !”
"Even so, it's hard to feel at ease! There are many auxiliary soldiers and civilians in Xu Wenzhen's army. Those people have little combat power and may become a burden!" Xian Shilang said.
Taking a deep breath, Chen Jue said: "I thought I would march in two groups and support each other, so there would be no danger. I never thought that it would give the Han cavalry an opportunity to take advantage of. It was because I was not thinking carefully!"
"Mr. Chen!" Suddenly, Xian Shilang looked at Chen Jue and asked: "The Han army's stronghold is only five or six miles north of our camp. Now that the Han cavalry is moving south, the troops around the Han Emperor must be even weaker. I don't know if Mr. Chen dares. If you dare to take a risk, send out troops to concentrate your strength, attack the Han stronghold directly and break it, then no matter what happens to Xu Wenzhen's army, if you eat the Han army's troops, you will definitely break the situation!"
After listening to Xian Shilang's suggestion, a flash of emotion flashed across Chen Jue's face, and he subconsciously picked up his beard, twisting it while thinking. Soon the emotion disappeared, and Chen Jue shook his head: "No, we can't take such a risk. The imperial court has put the army in my hands and cannot tolerate any mistakes. What if this is a trick of the Han army!"
Paying attention to the strange look on Chen Jue's face, it seemed to Xian Shilang that he was clearly afraid of fighting. Although he was slightly despicable, Xian Shilang couldn't help but feel relieved. His suggestion to attack was just a thought in his mind. It's not bad to be able to hold on to the stronghold without going out to fight...
"What about Xu Wenzhenjun?" Xian Shilang asked.
A look of helplessness appeared on Chen Jue's face. He spread his hands and sat down: "I can only hope that those beasts can pass on the general's love. Besides, aren't they all saying that Xu Wenzhen is a good general and handles things safely? I already said that before. We ordered him to advance steadily, we can only hope that he will be careful!"
