In the wilderness, Xiao Yuandong and more than a dozen knights galloped on horseback.

Although the governor himself led his men and horses to settle in Suozao, the situation on the south bank of the Yellow River did not improve, but was worse because he had to divide troops to occupy various strongholds to build a defensive line. Therefore, before the follow-up reinforcements arrived to enrich the defense line, Xiao Yuandong's task was a little heavier.

Although the reward has not been officially given due to the current military tension, Xiao Yuandong and his subordinates have been full of spirit and raised their eyebrows recently. Previously, the governor made a little sacrifice, and if there was no accident, when this battle was decided, Xiao Yuandong's army might all be included in the scope of Jiagong in the future.

Although Jia Gong Zhutian is still discussing within the Governor's Mansion at the moment, and has not directly issued an order, some relevant content has already been circulated. For ordinary soldiers, they may not have the ambition of a leopard tail marquis, and the stimulation of simple money and food rewards will be reduced to a certain extent, but the acres of land are definitely something to cheer about.

In addition to the beautiful vision of ordinary soldiers, the commanders from Xiao Yuandong down have also been promoted. Although large-scale reinforcements had not yet arrived, some small groups of cavalry with higher mobility had already arrived, forming a cavalry brigade of 2,000 people, which was under the command of Xiao Yuandong. A few days later, Chen Liu would have a thousand cavalry, all of which would be incorporated into Xiao Yuandong's army.

This is definitely a big surprise for Xiao Yuandong.

The generals and commanders of the Huainan Army are now extremely full, and there is no shortage of old, middle-aged and young clubs, military marquis, and captains below, belonging to the grass-roots commanders.

Further up are middle-level generals such as the lord of the building and the lord of the army, and many of the children of the northern and southern families who followed the governor to the north in the early years, such as the original Zhaowu old department, mostly held this position. Of course, although the positions are the same, if the army is not the same, the status is still different.

At present, since each army is under the direct command of the Governor's Office, the victorious army and the cavalry generals are usually faintly superior, and there is no obvious difference between the other departments. Nowadays, many young generals in Huainan are mostly at this level, such as Shen Yun, Xie Yi, including Xiao Yuandong.

As for going up, it is to add the title of governor in addition to the original military position. After the addition of the title of supervision, not only the command of the headquarters of the people, once in the event of a war, all the military, civilian, material, etc., in the area, can be called. Therefore, after the addition of the title of supervision, it can be regarded as truly entering the sequence of senior generals of the Huainan Army.

The Huainan Army previously had a total of five generals who were added to the rank of supervision, and later with the recovery of several counties in southern Henan and the expansion of the army, some were added one after another, and now there are only 13 people with the title of supervision, and several of them are only in charge of military tun and local township training, and there are only seven or eight people who really command the front-line combat troops.

Among these overseers, most of them are veterans, and only Shen Mu and Yu Manzhi are among the younger generation. Shen Mu has nothing to say, he is a little older than those young generals, and he was one of the main cavalry generals of the Huainan Army earlier, and later guarded the county, both in terms of qualifications and ability.

As for Yu Manzhi's ability to add a superintendent to the title, it is a little apprehensive, and it is quite a bit nepotistic. But this is also a matter of no way, Lao Tzu is the history of Jingzhou Thorn, and the Zhangren is the history of Xuzhou Thorn, in the entire Huainan military system, it can be said that in addition to the governor, this kid has the strongest background.

And the generals of Huainan also know that the reason why Yu Manzhi was able to increase the title of governor is also related to the Xuzhou plan of the governor later. Therefore, after being promoted, he was kicked out of Huainan and went to Xuzhou. As for Shen Mu, he also has similar considerations.

In this way, among the young generals in the Huainan army, the only two supervisors have been sent to Xuzhou. Xiao Yuandong was given the title of Governor this time, and he was already the only one among the young generals in Huainan who was still in the headquarters.

Therefore, after learning that he had added this honor, Xiao Yuandong was really overjoyed. In terms of fame and position, he didn't have a very clear concept, the key was that this time he had the title of governor, he threw Xie Yi, Shen Yun and others away with a big step, those people had ridiculed him earlier for being a fluke, and this time he finally justified his name!

Therefore, although the cavalry tasks have doubled during this time, in addition to sweeping the countryside and cruising the surrounding areas, they are also responsible for planning the division of troops on a front of hundreds of miles, but Xiao Yuandong has no complaints, he feels as light as a swallow, and every time he feels that if he doesn't grasp the reins of the horse, the next moment his body will float to the sky.

The only regret is that Shen Yun, Xie Yi and others are now in Nanyang, which makes him a little less happy to show off. Although there are still Ying Dan and others in the army at the moment, these people are already shallower than him, even if they are not promoted, they are behind him before, and now they have become his direct generals, he is really embarrassed to show off too much, and he always has to maintain a little dignity as a superior.

At present, the Huainan Army has occupied several important ferries around Yanjin, such as Shimenjin, Dushijin, Jianjin, Lingchangjin, and Baimajin, but it only maintains a few hundred garrisons. The main task of these garrisons is to monitor the enemy's situation, collect information on the surrounding terrain and other information, and build a stronghold so that reinforcements can arrive later to directly settle in, take over the defense and attack.

With such a weak force, once the land of Hebei comes from the south, it will inevitably be unable to resist, and even retreat will not be able to calmly. At present, the only thing that the Huainan army can move quickly to attack here is the 2,000 cavalry commanded by Xiao Yuandong, so he has almost no free time every day, which is to travel between Jindu everywhere, summarize the collected information and submit it to the governor, and at the same time always be ready to rescue everywhere.

Du Shijin is located in the upper reaches of Lingchangjin, now it has not much reputation in the military, and due to the lack of repair, the Yellow River here has accumulated a lot of mud and silt, and is no longer suitable for large and medium-sized warships to quickly rush to the shore to fight. But in the late Han Dynasty, it was the front line of the battle between Cao Cao of Wei and Yuan Shao of Hebei.

At present, there are only more than 100 Huainan troops stationed in Du Shijin, but there are more than 500 servants, in addition to monitoring the river, they are also responsible for mowing the dense reeds on the bank of the Yellow River.

When Xiao Yuandong arrived at the Du Shijin camp, it was early afternoon, under the scorching sun, the Huainan soldiers were organizing the army to dig a ditch and repair the camp, and later there will be a team of more than 2,000 people here and as a front-line military reserve camp, at present, less than half of the project has been completed, and there are tall reeds and other things piled up on the open ground, waiting to be dried and processed.

Xiao Yuandong and others arrived, and the defenders in the camp quickly came out, looking at these knights with envy, after all, they are all front-line combat troops, and people can travel around on horseback, but they have to dig ditches and stack soil here, which is really miserable.

"Where are your lieutenants?"

Xiao Yuandong stopped and looked curiously at the camp, where the commander was also his acquaintance, named Yu Du, and the same was the old Zhaowu department. Previously, Xiao Yuandong was complacent after his promotion, and it was inevitable that he would show off a few times while patrolling the camp, which naturally aroused the envy and jealousy of the other party, and he even avoided him altogether every time he patrolled the camp.

"The captain patrolled the riverbank and has not returned."

A military marquis stepped forward and replied, looking at Xiao Yuandong's gaze with admiration and envy that could not be concealed. Xiao Yuandong's title is unknown to the Huainan Army elsewhere, but on the south bank of the Yellow River at present, he has already become the most dazzling star.

The key is that it is not enough for a person to be prominent, but also to bring the soldiers under his command to make great contributions, even if the soldiers do not have the idea of fighting bravely, they all want to follow such a general with both luck and talent.

"Haha, this Yu Ba must be avoiding me again, it's okay, I'll wait here for him to return."

When Xiao Yuandong heard this, he laughed, dismounted, and handed the horses to the garrison soldiers to wash and feed. However, before he could enter the camp, he saw that Yu Du, who was covered with mud on the other side, had already come from the camp with a few soldiers, so he stood there, with his hands behind his back, and waited for Yu Du to come over with a proud face.

Yu Du is also a young man in his twenties, wearing light armor, seeing Xiao Yuandong standing there, his face has become not very good-looking, he waved his hand to prevent others from following, and walked up by himself, and said angrily: "Xiao Kuai's leg, is your leg broken?" ”

"In the camp, welcome the general, don't be presumptuous!"

When Xiao Yuandong heard this, his face suddenly darkened, his nickname has been around for a long time, he was young and frivolous in Jiangdong in his early years, and he kicked over the high monk Zhu Fashen, and he was so ridiculed by acquaintances. Later, after crossing the river, this nickname had another meaning, saying that he only made several achievements with his fast legs, which was easier than this time to recover the empty city of sour jujube.

In the past, Xiao Yuandong was ashamed of this, if anyone dared to shout this nickname in person, he would definitely have to fight with the other party. But now that the governor has justified his name, he also feels that he should be a little more generous, but he still can't help but bully his friends and not make the other party comfortable.

"Alas, if I hadn't been good at riding, I wouldn't have been overtaken by fools!"

When Yu Du heard this, he saw that the other party's armor was bright and shiny, but he was covered in mud, looking down, and his momentum couldn't help but weaken a little. In fact, as an old veteran of the Zhaowu old department, he is not so miserable, he can serve as a captain of the Shengwu Army, which is almost the same as the rest of the department owners, and he has accumulated two camps before, and he will definitely take a step forward after this battle.

The reason why he looks depressed at the moment is that he had too few troops before, and some of his men and horses were originally transferred to stay in Huting. But when he thought that he was also an old Zhaowu man, he was only a captain at the moment, but his old friend had become a senior general in the army, and his mood was inevitably gloomy.

Seeing that the other party was like this, Xiao Yuandong also put away his pretentious posture, pulled Yu Du to sit directly on the ground, patted him on the shoulder and sighed: "Yu Ba, you don't have to be so depressed, Du Du is not a person who is not sympathetic to the old love, and there will be a war later, I am afraid that there will be no chance to get ahead?" You don't have to force yourself to compete with me, isn't that self-inflicted? You kid, you are weaker than me, inferior in wisdom, and your appearance is unsightly, and your bearing is not worth mentioning......"

"Shut up, thief!"

Yu Du was still a little moved, but when he heard it, he suddenly lowered his face, raised his foot and kicked out. Xiao Yuandong rolled on the ground and laughed.

"You are only rampant in front of me right now, and when you come to the north to attack the thief army, you can only stand by and watch me fight and fight!"

Yu Du said angrily, this is not bad, whether it is crossing the river to attack Hebei or fighting on the river later, he will have the opportunity to fight, but Xiao Yuandong may not. In the future, this battle is the first battle of the Huainan Army's Northern Expedition to Hebei, and its significance is not inferior to the previous Huainan War.

"I'm too lazy to compete with you right now, you came just in time today, and caught a few thieves on the river in the morning, if you don't come, I'm planning to send someone to escort the sour dates."

Yu Du stood up, patted the dust and grass clippings on his body and said.

"It's just a few thieves, you can stay in the camp, I don't care about this kind of trivial matter now."

After hearing this, Xiao Yuandong also stood up and waved his hand and said, hundreds of miles of the Yellow River front, it is not easy to completely wipe it out, each battalion occasionally catches some Hebei scouts or local refugees, if the number is not too large, they will also be retained, after all, there is a shortage of manpower everywhere at the moment.

"A trifle? Ha, if I tell you that these thieves have a lot of origins, you don't bother to ask? ”

"How big is the origin? Can you still pick up the thief overseer on the riverbank? ”

Xiao Yuandong had just picked up the sour jujube land, and naturally scoffed at the luck of others.

"Although he is not a governor, he is the messenger of the governor."

Yu Du originally had a little bit of a showmanship, but when he thought of the other party's unrivaled luck, he suddenly felt bored, so he said: "It is the messenger sent by the thief to Chenliu who sent Tian Ni to prepare to go south to connect with Chen Guang's thieves." It doesn't have to be the only way, I'm weak here after all, and it's hard to defend against it. ”

When Xiao Yuandong heard this, his face suddenly changed, and he asked a few words seriously, and then went to meet the Hebei envoys, he didn't dare to slack off, and immediately asked people to take back the horses, and said to Du before leaving: "The defense line is fragile at the moment, Yu Ba, you don't want to be strong, I will send a quick letter to the governor, even if there is no increase in troops, I will arrange troops to patrol here later, so that it will not be too dangerous." ”

Yu Du nodded after hearing this, hundreds of miles of the Yellow River defense line, he found the enemy's traces here, if it is an isolated case, it means that the enemy army is quite arranged on the north bank of his defense area, and it is very likely to become the location of the enemy's crossing. If he is careless, his little force may be killed here.

Shaoqing Xiao Yuandong took the excessive letterhead into his arms, and told himself to be careful, and then carried the captives and led the crowd to sour jujube.

In just two or three days, the jujube has changed greatly. Many of the haphazard and redundant fortifications have been demolished, and the resulting wood and stone materials have been heavily fortified around several earthen cities. At present, the remaining strength of the Huainan army here is less than 2,000, and it is very weak in this group of cities.

After Xiao Yuandong returned to the sour date, he took the prisoners and went straight to the main camp, and when he arrived at the main camp, he found that more than a dozen bloody heads had been hung outside the camp gate.

In the tent, Shen Zhezi and several generals were standing in front of the bookcase, whispering around a slightly rudimentary map. This map is a map of the river line depicted by various recent surveys, although it is still rudimentary, but the basic topography of the south bank of the Yellow River has been outlined, which is extremely valuable for the later distribution of troops.

Although the Huainan Army also prepared such books, they were all old books from more than ten years ago. At present, although the Yellow River is not as arbitrarily diverted as in later generations, many divergent landforms have undergone great changes in the past ten years. The occasional negligence in a small section can have serious consequences.

"Governor, Du's camp captured the envoy of Hebei Tianni on the bank of the river."

After Xiao Yuandong entered the camp, he hurriedly reported.

"Another capture? After interrogation, he was beheaded. ”

After hearing this, Shen Zhezi raised his head and said with a smile, the other generals in the tent explained a few words, Xiao Yuandong realized that this was not the first batch of discoveries, just today on this day, the Huainan army found a number of envoys sent by Hebei Tianni in different river sections, all of them were sent to Chen Liu to contact Chen Guang to prepare to flank the Huainan army.

After the interrogation of the prisoners brought back by Xiao Yuandong, the answer was indeed the same.

"This Tian Ni is also a little cunning, but it's too much."

At this time, the atmosphere in the tent was a little solemn, but Shen Zhezi's expression was still relaxed, and he clicked a few times on the map before returning to the bookcase.

"Yes, the messengers were dispatched from the upper and lower sections of the river, probably in order to confuse our troops to cover up the direction of attack. On the other hand, to contact Chen Guang as a letter is to mislead our army and others about the attack period. It takes ten days to go to Yongqiu here, and the fast journey is to lure our army to slacken. ”

The answer was Shen Zhezi's other protégé, Bian Zhang, who was currently serving as a military commander in the Shengwu Army.

The Huainan Army's defense line in Henan was weak, and it did not hide itself, and Yanjin and Jijun were across the river, so it was impossible for Tianni in Hebei not to know about it. If he really intended to connect with Chen Guang, it would be impossible for him to send envoys on such a large scale, and he would leak the news after being captured all the way.

Moreover, in the current comparison of the strength of the two sides, the Huainan Army is still at a disadvantage, if Tian Ni really comes to attack, there is no need to contact Chen Guang in one more move, which is obviously to reveal the news to the Huainan Army, so that the Huainan Army will make a wrong judgment in terms of time and place.

This strategy is not brilliant, but it does not cost much, and it does not cost more than the lives of a few messengers. And if the news is really conveyed to Chen Liu, it is also possible that Chen Guang will really be agitated, causing chaos on the back road of the Huainan Army and delaying the reinforcements of the back road of Huainan.

Even if none of this is mentioned, the Huainan Army really doesn't know when the other side is going to attack and where it is going to attack. Although the waterway of the Yellow River is open, since there are many Jindu in the vicinity of Yanjin, it is enough time to cross the river in one night, and by then the concentration of troops will soon be able to tear apart the defense line that is virtually useless.

Shen Zhezi stood silently in front of the book case for a long time, raising his pen to circle several locations, including Huting all the way to Baimajin.

Huting is the location where the previous thief general Tian Ni operated, and the attack from here can be slightly advantageous, and once it breaks through, it will make Xingyang, which has not been recovered for a long time, become chaotic again, directly threatening the logistics and waterways of the Huainan army, and may even liberate the peach leopard army blocked by Guo Yu in Tiger Prison City.

On the other side of Baimajin is the important town of Liyang, Hebei, one step away from Yecheng, whether the southerners go north or the northerners go south, it is a place to fight, and it is also the most convenient place for the Shikan army to mobilize to the south, and it is even very likely to be the main battlefield of the next big war. Therefore, Shen Zhezi risked the division of troops to take the slip near Baimajin first, just to accumulate advantages as much as possible on the eve of the decisive battle.

There is also a thorn in the middle, which is the closest ferry port from the sour jujube, the straight-line distance between the two places is even less than twenty miles, it can be said that as long as you can successfully land on the shore, you will soon be able to come to the city of sour jujube.

Although the enemy army in Jijun exceeded the strength of the Huainan army along the Yellow River, Shen Zhezi felt that the other party would not divide his troops to attack, but would concentrate his forces to break the surface.

From the use of this strategy to lure the enemy before the start of the war, it can be seen that the enemy general should be a cautious person, and the Huainan Army also has its own reputation for bloody battles.

"The water range of Huting is too far, it is difficult to hide, the enemy army is not calm, and the people of Hebei are not coordinated with each other, and it is even more difficult for the lonely army to echo the peach leopard."

Xiao Yuandong stepped forward to erase Hu Ting, he personally recovered the sour dates, and he had a deeper understanding of the rift between the various parts of the enemy army, so he didn't think that the enemy army would risk swimming upstream to cooperate with the peach leopard.

Shen Zhezi nodded after hearing this, recognized Xiao Yuandong's judgment, and felt the growth of his old subordinates more clearly, if this battle can be won, the jurisdiction of the Huainan Governor's Mansion will be greatly expanded in the future, and these young generals will also have the time to be independent.

"Liyang should be impossible, if the people of Jijun attack from Liyang, they will be willing to seek the near and far, and lose the opportunity. What's more, Liyang is close to Yecheng, and the news is passed back and forth, and the tenth day has passed, and it is difficult to reap the effect of the surprise attack. ”

Another general, Xing Yue, also spoke, and then all the generals in the tent began to discuss, and all possible ferries were wiped out. Although these crossings seem to be dense on the long course of the Yellow River, they are at least a few tens of miles away from each other, and in such a war, the distance of more than ten miles can have a great impact on the war.

In the end, there were only three left of the enemy troops who were left behind to attack the ferry, Dushijin, Jianjin and Lingchangjin, all three of which are very probable, although they are all within the range of Yanjin, but there is still a distance of more than fifty miles between Dushijin and Lingchangjin, and there is Jianjin in between.

Shen Zhezi has been holding his arms to listen to the discussion of the generals, and only when everyone has no more arguments can he pick up his pen and focus on the position of Lingchangjin: "Each battalion maintains basic vigilance, concentrates on defending Lingchang, and if there is an enemy trace in the rest, raise fire as a signal and retire the sour date." ”

After everyone heard this, they all looked at the governor, wanting to hear the reason why the governor chose Lingchang. In their opinion, these three ferry crossings are the most likely locations, and it is really difficult to choose. The Governors must have chosen to be so determined, presumably for reasons they were not aware of.

"Lingchang, ......"

Shen Zhezi threw down the brush and said with emotion. When the rest of them heard this, they were all a little dazed, they naturally knew what the name of this place was, but what did it have to do with choosing this place?

However, after pondering for a while, someone still reacted and said with a smile: "If you really choose this to attack, this thief will have a lot of ambitions. ”