In Yanxi Town, west of Xin'an City, Wu Shu looked at the city wall in front of him with anger on his face. After turning around in a circle, he said angrily: "There is just a small town ahead, and the Song army is less than a thousand. My army has been attacking for three days, but to no avail. How can this be true?"
Zhou Qidao: "Your Majesty, Yanxi Town is also called Iron Gate Pass. It is located between two mountains and blocks the road to the west. It is the most dangerous place. There was no gate city here originally. After the Song Army arrived, they rushed to build the city. It was difficult to succeed for a while. .”
Wu Shu looked at the city head and frowned tightly. After a long time, he said: "Wang Xiaolie's army has broken through Tongguan, and the troops are pointing directly at the middle of the pass. If we delay here and Wang Xiaolie breaks through Jingzhao Mansion, it will be shocked at home and abroad. The third prince's army is in Fengxiang, if we attract his army Come back for reinforcements, we will never atone for our sins! Starting tomorrow, we will divide the entire army into ten armies, and we will take turns to attack the city day and night!"
Seeing Wu Shu's fierce expression, Zhou Qi didn't dare to say anything, so he had no choice but to agree.
Yanxi Town is not far from Xin'an County, right between two mountains, blocking the intersection of the west. This is a post station, there is no city gate. After the Song army arrived a few days ago, they urgently built an earthen city. The Jin army was not good at attacking cities, but when faced with a city like this, they were actually blocked. In fact, Yanxi Town is not big. Although the terrain is dangerous, it is far away from Mianchi in the rear, so it is not suitable for holding on for a long time.
Xue Cheng dismounted and reached the bank of the Yellow River, looking at the Fucheng across the river. It was quiet on the Yellow River, not a single person was seen.
After watching for a while, Xue Cheng asked the soldiers beside him: "Have you found out clearly? Are there no defenders in the Fucheng in the middle of the river opposite?"
The soldier crossed his hands and said: "Back to the commander, we have found out clearly that there is indeed no Jin army on the other side. The one guarding the city is a general of this dynasty who paid gold, named Jixiong. Hearing that our army has arrived, Jixiong has already opened the city gate. Be willing to surrender.”
Xue Cheng nodded and said: "This is the best. The Hezhong Prefecture opposite is Puban, which has been a strategic location since ancient times. The Jin army is insufficient in strength. After occupying Guanzhong, it is really a fool's errand to not even deploy a large army to defend such a place!"
This is the characteristic of the Jin Army. No matter how important a place is, once it is conquered and looted, it will be abandoned like worn out shoes. Not to mention Hezhong Prefecture, even Kaifeng Prefecture and Henan Prefecture, the Jin Army did not send troops to guard them. The Song army did not attack, not because they could not attack, but because they could not defend it.
If the Song army is large enough and elite enough, the Jin army's defense line will be full of loopholes. If the troops are insufficient, it will be like mutton entering the tiger's mouth. It is fun to capture the city, but it will soon face the siege of the Jin army. Most of the time, the Song army had no luck coming back alive.
The Jin army's arrangement naturally has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that there is insufficient control over the local area, and it cannot be effectively occupied after it is breached. If the enemy is strong enough, it is easy for the opponent to regain the lost ground. The advantage is that it always maintains a strong mobile force on the front line, and good steel is used on the blade. As long as the opponent's regular army is defeated, the resistance forces in the rear can always be extinguished. After a long time, you can use demoted officials to govern the local area.
After Xue Cheng captured Tongzhou, he arranged to transport a large amount of captured materials to Guozhou. He led his troops to turn east and attack Hezhong Mansion. At this time, the area was empty of troops and almost no resistance was encountered.
Slowly walking down the embankment, Xue Cheng reached the ice of the Yellow River. He stamped his foot vigorously and said: "It's been a cold winter this year, and the ice on the Yellow River is thick enough. The water flow in this area is gentle, and you can cross the river through the ice. I'm telling you to go ahead and let the army cross the Yellow River early tomorrow morning!"
Wang Xiaolie stood outside the house, looking up at the sky. After a while, he returned to the house and said to Li Yanxian: "The sky is getting cloudy again, maybe it will snow again in the next few days. There is a lot of snow this year."
Li Yanxian said: "It's not that it's particularly cold this year, it's just that there's a lot of snow."
Wang Xiaolie nodded, entered the house, and sat by the fire to warm himself. After a while, my whole body felt warm.
Wang Ruohai looked at the official document on the side. Suddenly said: "Xue Cheng arrived at the Yellow River and said that there was no Jin army on the other side, and the defenders all surrendered from the city. Not to mention Hezhong Prefecture, if you want, you can always occupy Jiangzhou."
Wang Xiaolie said: "We don't have enough troops. It's useless to occupy so many places. Tell Xue Cheng that his most important task is to cooperate with the defenders of Shaanzhou after occupying Hezhong Prefecture and delay the westward advance of Wushu's army."
Wang Ruohai nodded. Then he said: "Xue Cheng suggested that after occupying Jiezhou, he should coordinate with Shaanzhou. However, he has no intention of going south, and it is useless to have more defenders in Shaanzhou. It is better to go behind Wushu's army and let Wushu have scruples."
Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing. After a while, he said: "Jiezhou is surrounded by mountainous areas to the south. It is not easy to circumvent Wu."
Wang Ruohai said: "There are many rebels in the mountainous area in that area, each occupying a stronghold, and there are many people. With their cooperation, it is not difficult to continuously attack the Jin army coming from the west. And when they heard that the imperial army was coming, many people took the initiative to contact them."
After hearing this, Wang Xiaolie suddenly stood up and went to the table to look at the map. After a while, he pointed to the map and said: "If we take Jiangzhou and cross the river via Yuanqu, will we reach Mianchi?"
Wang Ruohai nodded: "Yuanqu is an ancient ferry crossing of the river, and not far from crossing the river is Mianchi."
Wang Xiaolie said to Li Yanxian: "Come here and take a look. If so, Xue Cheng's march route can be changed."
Li Yanxian came to the table, looked at the map and said: "Zhenfu means——"
Wang Xiaoxing said: "After Xue Cheng occupied Hezhong Prefecture, he advanced all the way to capture Jiangzhou. From there, he went south and passed through Yuanqu Ferry. After Wushu's army occupied Mianchi, he crossed the river and surrounded Wushu's army. If Wushu's army When Wu Shu returned to his army and could no longer resist, he went south to Yongning and joined forces with Dong Xian. Wu Shu was so brave that he did not dare to return to Luoyang and had nothing to do with Xue Cheng's army. From now on, whether Xue Cheng returns to Lu's family or to Ruzhou, There is no army to stop them. With his support, it will be much easier for Shao Yun to defend Shaanzhou."
Li Yanxian looked at the map and hesitated: "I'm afraid it won't be easy if Xue Cheng has no army to support him and is alone in the enemy's territory."
Wang Xiaolie said: "The Yuanqu area is different from other places. There are many rebels there and there are many mountain villages, many of which are related to Zhai Zhenfu. When our army is stationed, it will be much easier with them to support us. The only problem is that the three thousand troops There is a lot of food and grass required, so preparations must be made in advance.”
After lowering his head and thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "This matter will be decided by Xue Cheng at the front. Tell him that if possible, it is best to cross Yuanqu to the south and join the rebels in the mountains to threaten Wu Shu's retreat. To do this in Jiang The state prepared food and grass, and also brought some money and silk to give to the rebels in the mountains. Tell him that food and grass must be prepared in advance, and he cannot rely entirely on the supply of the rebels. If it is very inconvenient, Xue Cheng will decide the army's actions himself."
Wang Ruohai said yes. Draft an official document immediately.
At this time, with Guozhou as the center, Wang Xiaolie had established an official document system to Wei Yang and Xue Chengjun, which was convenient and fast. Even to the farthest army in Wei Yang, it took no more than five days for the official document to arrive.
At this time the entire battle has fully unfolded. Shao Yun, Jia He and others led Li Yanxian's old troops to occupy Shaanzhou and blocked Wushu's army. After Xue Cheng occupied Tongzhou, he crossed the Yellow River eastward and occupied Hezhongfu. Wei Yang occupied Weinan and approached Jingzhao Mansion. As for the Jin army, Wu Shu was in Xin'an and could not break through Yanxi Town for a while. Wanyan Yinshuke, who stayed in Hedong, had his main force in Taiyuan, and the southernmost point of his army's deployment was in Jinzhou, hundreds of miles away. Wanyanhuo's army is in Yuanzhou, and Yinliduo's army is in Fengxiang Mansion, hundreds of miles away from Jingzhao Mansion. The area around Jingzhao Mansion was already empty.
Marking the power of the Jin Army on the map, Wang Xiaolie said: "This is a rare opportunity. Our three thousand troops will spread across the pass, unstoppable. If we can't take this opportunity to visit Jingzhao Mansion, What a pity! By blocking the Wushu army, Wei Yang can enter Jingzhao Mansion. This is great news, enough to boost the morale of the army. It can also take away the wealth that the Jin army collected in Guanzhong, and it is a sure profit!"
Li Yanxian said: "It would not be a good idea for Wei Yang if he deceives Li Duo from returning to the army from Fengxiang Mansion."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Order Wei Yang to pay attention to Yinliduo's movements at all times. If Yinliduo returns to the army, he will retreat to Zhouzhi at most. There is no need to return to Guozhou, and we will go to Shangzhou via Lantian. This battle, Not many enemies were killed, but there was a lot of movement.”
