Luan Qingshan has no family. After living in Wentang for ten days, he went north with more than 20 people who had similar ideas to him. By the time they arrive in Hedong, the New Year should be over.
Cao Zhiyan personally led his troops to Dengfeng and took over the three counties of Yingyang, Dengfeng and Mi County, and directed his troops towards Zhengzhou.
At this point, Wang Xiaolie's deployment has been completed.
When Shao Ling arrived in Lushi County, the army continued to concentrate on Lushi County, and at the same time, a large amount of supplies were accumulated in Lushi County. If the Jin army from Shaanxi comes to help, they will send troops from Lu to cut off the reinforcements' retreat. Niu Gao arrived at Yingchang Prefecture, with the right army as the main force and a part of the front army, preparing to capture Zhengzhou. If Liu Yu of the puppet Qi comes to help, he will fight with him in Zhengzhou.
The main force of the Chinese army was led by Wang Xiaolie and stationed in Ruzhou. After Zhai Xing occupied Luoyang, if the Shaanxi Jin army came to help, the Chinese army would immediately march west from Luoyang and intercept the Jin army in the Mianchi area. Shao Ling occupied Shaanzhou, cut off the Jin army's retreat, and then gathered and wiped out the Jin army's reinforcements.
Zhai Xing sent troops to Luoyang to fight Meng Bangxiong at Longmen. Although they had the upper hand, they were unable to attack Longmen for a long time.
The days passed like this. The entire army was busy deploying troops and transporting supplies. But for Wang Xiaolie, Zhai Xing's attack made no progress and life was a bit boring.
On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Ruohai finished the chores of the sacrifice and returned to the official hall. Wang Xiaolie turned his chair over, put his lower arm on the back of the chair, and looked at the map on the table without moving. I don’t know where I was looking at the map, or I fell asleep. Li Yanxian stood in front of the window, looking at a blooming wintersweet outside. It was quiet inside the official hall, no sound at all.
Hearing Wang Ruohai come in, Li Yanxian turned around. Said: "It's New Year's Day starting from today. But there is no progress here. We just sit around every day. This kind of life is really frustrating."
Wang Ruohai said: "All the Chinese troops have arrived in Ruzhou and are stationed in various places. There is indeed nothing wrong."
Of course, the two officers had nothing to do, but Wang Ruohai was too busy to keep his feet off the ground.
The intelligence of the war at the front needs to be sorted out, and the logistics of the army at the rear needs to be kept up. There are so many things that we don’t know every day. Seeing that the Chinese New Year is approaching, although the army is not particular about going on an expedition, it is still necessary to try its best to let the soldiers have a good New Year.
Li Yanxian nodded, walked to the table, pulled up a stool and sat down.
Wang Ruohai sat down in his seat, picked up the official documents, and sorted them into categories.
Suddenly, Wang Xiaolian said: "This Zhai Xing has been unable to attack Longmen for a long time. It seems that the battle in Luoyang is not as easy as he said. Zhai Xing cannot attack Longmen, and Dong Xian stayed in Shou'an. What will happen? ?”
Wang Ruohai said: "Jie Shuai means——"
Wang Xiaolie said: "As soon as Zhai Xing announced the Northern Expedition, we marched northward, fearing that he would capture Luoyang and not be able to defend it. Now hundreds of thousands of troops are deployed around Luoyang, just waiting for reinforcements. But if Zhai Xing cannot attack, Luoyang, what are we doing here? This is not a joke!"
Li Yanxian said: "These days, we all have people on the front line of Zhai Xing's army who know the battle in Luoyang very well. According to the intelligence from the front line, the people in the staff office make plans to attack Longmen every day or two. Looking at their plans, it only takes one to three days. We can capture Longmen in just a few days."
Wang Xiaolie said: "I have seen it too. That is our army, not Zhai Xing's. There are two infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment in Linru Town. They arrived at Longmen in two days, fought in one day, and fought in three days. It's over. Zhai Xing has been fighting this battle for almost twenty days."
Wang Ruohai said: "Jie Shuai, how about we talk to Zhai Zhenfu and help him capture Longmen?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "If we capture Longmen, what do we need from Zhai Xing? When we capture Luoyang City, will it be ours or Zhai Xing's? Counselor, just think about this kind of thing, it's impossible. .”
Li Yanxian said: "But if Zhai Xing can't break through Longmen and occupy Luoyang, what are our hundreds of thousands of troops doing around Luoyang!"
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Yeah, why are you coming to the north? Now hundreds of thousands of troops have arrived, and supplies have also been transported, but Zhai Xing is not doing well in the war! Three or two days is nothing, if it is like this for one or two months, the military morale will also Unstable."
Wang Ruohai said: "If Zhai Xing really can't attack Luoyang, or even Longmen, things will be in trouble!"
Wang Xiaolie didn't speak, just looked at the map on the table quietly.
Li Yanxian said: "We can wait until March at most. If Zhai Xing still can't attack Luoyang City by then, we must find another way. If it doesn't work, we should capture Zhengzhou first and let Luoyang become an isolated city!"
Wang Ruohai listened and turned to look at Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie said: "What's the use of capturing Zhengzhou? Liu Yu has connections with Shaanxi and can travel to Weizhou, Huaizhou, and Mengzhou. Not to mention, Zhai Xing is the governor of Henan Prefecture, Mengzhou, and Zhengzhou. We attack When I went to Zhengzhou, Zhai Xing’s face didn’t look good either.”
After hearing this, Li Yanxian and Wang Ruohai frowned together and leaned over to look at the map on the table.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I didn't think much about this Northern Expedition. Zhai Xing said he wanted to go to the Northern Expedition, so our army came. It's not that I am reckless, but because the time has come. The army has been trained, and it is difficult to conquer the prefectures and counties occupied. With more soldiers, the territory must be expanded. The people around are all good officials who guard their territory and the people. Are they going to rob them? Only Luoyang is still in the hands of the Puppet Qi, and its strategic position is important. Based on the positioning of the Jin Army , it is not worth sending out an all-powerful army for such a city. Without an all-powerful army, who do we have to fear with an army of more than 100,000? How could we have imagined that even though our army is coming, Zhai Xing cannot attack Luoyang City. He is the governor of the town. Well, it’s not easy for us to send troops. Oh, how embarrassing!”
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie lay down on the chair and sighed.
After looking at the map for a while, Wang Ruohai said: "We have to go north from Nanyang, and Luoyang cannot be bypassed. If Zhai Zhen Fuzhen really can't break through Longmen, then we have to go up."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Yeah, I'm afraid that in the end, we still have to go up. If we don't go up, we have to withdraw the army. Hundreds of thousands of people, hundreds of miles, tossing back and forth, who can bear it? ? In the past few years, we have always had good relations with the surrounding forces and have never fallen out with anyone. In this Northern Expedition, if Zhai Xing cannot conquer Luoyang, we will be in trouble. When we attack the city, how can we fight against Zhai Xing? Where is Zhai Xing's account? Logically speaking, he was left behind in Xijing, and we must hand it over to him after we capture it. How can I explain it to the soldiers? If we don't hand it over to him, even if the court is considerate of us and changes the official position to Zhai Xing, there will be no way to arrange it. Zhai Jiajun."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie stretched out his hand to support his chin and looked helplessly at the map on the table.
Luoyang City is not something that can be bypassed casually. It's so easy to get around, so where does the thousand-year-old reputation come from. But the problem is that Zhai Xing can't attack Longmen, which makes Wang Xiaolie's position very embarrassing.
