Chapter 1232: Hurry down to Xuzhou

After Luo Datong arranged the position, he finally persuaded the two to centralize the management of materials and deploy them in a unified manner. Because they didn't know when Du Shuai would be able to complete the encirclement and annihilation of Tiemai Chibu and rush to the battlefield, and it would take a few days to complete the task of annihilating Tutuha. They are fighting behind enemy lines, and they cannot be replenished with materials during this period, so they must be prepared for a long time of fighting.

After the heavy regiments of each brigade concentrated the materials in the town, Luo Datong inspected again. This time they attacked the rear of the enemy army and annihilated most of the enemy, but most of the supplies were destroyed by artillery bombardment, and only a small part was obtained. And some weapons, armor and other things are useless, even if some gunpowder is captured, it is too bad to use. Only a few dozen truckloads of grain are slightly better than nothing, and this is because it was blocked in the town at the time so it was not destroyed.

Originally, Luo Datong thought that although Liuzi Town had declined, the emaciated camel was bigger than the horse, and he could get some supplies from it. But after entering, I found that due to the cut off of the canal and the severance of business travel, frequent floods, and the impact of war, the population has been greatly reduced, the fields are barren, and the giant town on the rich side of the former is only an empty shelf, and there is not much surplus food in the residents' homes.

After the statistical inspection, Luo Datong breathed a sigh of relief, these grains can last for seven days if they save a little, and how can they arrive if they are handsome. As for the ammunition, all departments knew that they were fighting deep behind enemy lines, and they all wisely chose the maximum carrying capacity, which was estimated to be able to sustain this battle. The only consolation is that there are many wells in the town, and it is claimed that there are 100 wells, even if they are not carefully counted, they are not few, at least the water pipes are full.

In addition, there are many temples in the town, and it is said that there are as many as 99 of them, which can be seen as much as the eye can see. However, Luo Datong also found it funny, the dark immortals, the Buddha also disliked the poor and loved the rich, with the decline of Liuzi Town, many temples also lost the support of believers, and the monks went to the temple and were abandoned. However, when these temples are built, they often occupy the best position, and choose to be on high ground with a wide field of vision, so that people will have a sense of coercion on the gods and Buddhas at first sight. Luo Datong's command post was set up in an abandoned temple, and when he returned, it had been cleaned up, and he smiled after turning around.

In the past, when I followed His Majesty to fight, everyone often secretly laughed that His Majesty liked to open a command post in the temple in the hope of getting the protection of the gods and Buddhas, but now I feel ridiculous when I think about it. In fact, the biggest reason for setting up a command post in the temple is that the geographical location is good, which is convenient for various departments to transmit information and have an overview of the battlefield situation; In addition, the temple generally has a large space, which can accommodate many retinues, staff and directly subordinate organs; Moreover, although the gods and Buddhas are disturbed, they will not interfere with the lives of the people because of the requisition of people's houses.

Luo Datong did not sit in the command post, he led Sima and the army to lead a team of personal guards to shuttle in and out of the town non-stop, discussing the combat plan with the other two brigade commanders, assigning defense areas, selecting positions, and drawing maps...... It can be said that he walked non-stop all over Liuzi Town and its surroundings. And on this day, Tutuha also seemed to be very cooperative, and did not launch a counterattack, giving him time to set up defenses.

Before dawn, a regiment stationed outside the town used the irrigation canals in the fields and the dry ditches, slopes, and earthen platforms formed by the water flow to build a fortress-like defense system, and arranged artillery positions in echelons, which could suppress and strike at far, medium, and near targets. Trenches were dug in front of the forward positions, horses and foothills were arranged, and mines were laid to prevent the onslaught of enemy cavalry.

The 2nd Regiment and the 2nd Artillery Regiment of the Artillery Brigade defending the town used the town's walled walls, canal embankments and the wharf in front of the town to build fortifications, and used relatively strong warehouses to configure artillery to build firing points, improve the configuration of the firepower system, and form crossfire, which can kill and injure enemy troops attacking from multiple directions; The 3rd Regiment, as a reserve, was also not idle, not only to guard the other directions of the town to prevent enemy infiltration, but also to control and maintain law and order. In addition, barricades were erected on the main roads in the town, and houses and buildings were used to set up fire points, and street battles were prepared when the walls of the wall were breached.

In the early morning, looking at the defense system that had been formed, Luo Datong's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and he felt a little confident in his heart. He joked with several staff members that the Fifth Brigade was the life of defending the city, from Shaoxing to guard Gyeonggi, to Jiangdong to defend Changshu City, and after marching into Huaibei, he still stayed in the camp at Lingbi to protect grain and grass. finally got the opportunity to fight, but the result was to defend Liuzi Town to cut off the enemy's way back.

......Just as Luo Datong was "lamenting", suddenly the alarm bell sounded, looking up at the high tower in the town, three red flags were raised one after another, and the Guantong post also played a flag to report that the enemy was attacking in two directions, less than five miles away from the town. When the big war came, his anxious mood calmed down and ordered all arms to fight......

…………

Although the surrounding area was already in full swing, Zhao Yu, who was still in the zero wall, was not here, and his eyes stayed on Xuzhou for a long time. He knew that Fuli was just a fulcrum on Huaibei's defense system, but a strategic pawn. Yingtianfu is more of a feeling for the Great Song Dynasty, with the Song Dynasty moving south, Kaifeng fell, its strategic position has also been greatly reduced, and the political significance of capturing this place is greater than the strategic significance.

Xuzhou is different.

Macroscopically, Xuzhou is located in the historical and traditional political center of Guanluo, the northern frontier political center Youyan, the financial pillar of the Jiangnan three important areas of the junction, Xuzhou to Chang'an, Yanjing, Yangzhou is almost equidistant, this position is really a key point, who occupies who has the advantage. Fighting from south to north, as long as Xuzhou is occupied, the entire Central Plains will spread out like a big chessboard. At this time, as long as the large corps is spread out, you can fight wherever you want, and it is easy to attack the city and pull out the ground, Luoyang, Yanjing or anything is not a problem.

At the micro level, Xuzhou is of greater significance to the southern regime. Its place is blocked on three sides, one side faces the river, leads Pisu in the south, controls Yanji in the north, and chokes Biansi in the west. There is a potential of pouring thousands of miles to protect the dangerous place of Jianghuai, and Jiankang is the throat of the north and south because of Xuzhou. Before the Song dynasty moved south, Xuzhou was an important strategic fulcrum between Huang and Huai, and only by controlling Xuzhou could it attack and defend.

After moving south, Xuzhou's strategic value became more prominent. With this place, you can retreat to barrier the two Huai, and you can go north to Youyan and west to the Central Plains. On the other hand, if Xuzhou is lost, the two Huai will face severe national defense pressure, and the Northern Dynasties can form a strong southward base based in Xuzhou. Therefore, only by capturing Xuzhou can the threat of Meng Yuan to Lianghuai and Jiangdong be avoided.

Secondly, after the Meng Yuan rerouted the Grand Canal, the canal passing through Xuzhou was routed through the Bianshui and Surabaya rivers, which increased Xuzhou's status as a shipping hub. Briefly, along Surabaya, you can go north to Qilu, you can go directly to Youyanjing, along Bianshui, you can go south to Huaiyang Wuyue, and west to Bianluoguan Shaanxi. For the ancient society without railways, airplanes and automobiles, water transportation is the main transportation artery that maintains the economy of the north and south, and the value of Xuzhou can be obvious.

Moreover, Xuzhou is also an important coal and iron production area, and since the Han Dynasty, the country to which it belongs has been an important place for iron ore mining and smelting in China, and iron is the most important strategic material in ancient and modern times. In the fourth year of the Taiping rejuvenation, the Song Dynasty set up the Li Guojian, and the mining and metallurgical industry has developed greatly, developing into a large-scale iron-making site, and is one of the four metal mine supervisors in the country.

At the time of Shenzong, there were 36 rulers, and the smelting workers reached 6,000 people, which was very large. In the first year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi, the governor of Xuzhou, sent people to investigate and found coal (coal) in the southwest of Xuzhou. The annual iron output of Li Guojian reached 1.54 million catties, and 310,000 catties of iron were handed over to the national treasury, ranking third in the country's output.

The geographical location of Xuzhou is so important that it will inevitably become a battleground, but it is not easy to capture Xuzhou. In addition to the strong city defense, the situation of the mountains and rivers also determined that this was an easy place to defend and difficult to attack. Geographically speaking, although Xuzhou belongs to the Huanghuai Plain, but the Lunan Mountains extend to this, so the territory of the hills is undulating, surrounded by mountains, and the momentum is like an upturned kettle. The city is surrounded by water on three sides, and only the south side is connected to the land.

The naturally formed small basin has become a good site for the construction of the city in Xuzhou, the hills around the city are steep, and the whole city is located on the riverside in the peaks, the situation is very dangerous, far from the flat terrain can be compared. The natural formation of the barrier, the defense is very convenient, and there is a dangerous horse stage to guard the main road, the world said: "its height is ten thousand, vast 100 steps, if the world of force, Tun thousands of people on it, build the tools of war and defense, and the city is the same as the surface, and accumulate 3,000 grain in the city, although it uses 100,000 people, can not take also." "It's easy to defend and difficult to attack, it can be said that one man is the key, and ten thousand people can't open it.

The rivers outside Xuzhou also have a natural defensive effect. Outside the city, there are two rivers confluence of Bianshui and Surabaya, which flow south. Historically, even if these two rivers have been encroached upon by the Yellow River for a long time, due to the restrictions of the surrounding mountains of Xuzhou, their rivers have been very stable, Bianshui from the west, Surabaya from the north, and flow south at the northeast corner of Xuzhou City, which has never changed since the written record. These two rivers are not only moats, but also waterways of overall significance, and the defenders of the city can rely on the supply of the Biansi River for a long time, but due to the limitation of mountains and rivers, it is difficult for large armies to assemble outside the city, posing a threat to the city.

"Zhao's honor, now a general, quickly go down to Xuzhou, and then recapture Yingtian, I and the general celebrate together in the Zongmiao!" Zhao Hao thought for a long time, picked up a pen and wrote a handwritten message, ordering someone to send Zhao Mengjin to the front of the army quickly. Although he mobilized a large army to attack Xuzhou in advance, he was unable to hold on for a while because the enemy army was reinforced. Now he skillfully used the strategy of transferring the tiger away from the mountain, so that Xuzhou's troops were empty, so he strictly ordered him to rush into capture the city, and then turn to Yingtianfu. Although he failed to personally lead the troops into the land of Zhao's Longxing, Zhao Mengjin, who is also a descendant of Taizu, can be regarded as saving Zhao's face......

Book Keju Reading Website: