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Fangtou is located in Chaoge County, Jijun County, which communicates several water flows north of the Yellow River, such as Qishui, Baigou, Qingshui and Weishui, which can be said to be a core connection point of Hebei Caoyun, and its importance is almost equal to the chasm south of the Yellow River.

In the early years, Shi Zhao's ancestor Shi Le wandered between the Jianghuai and the south to invade unsuccessfully, and when he crossed the Yellow River in the north, he first took the fangtou, and then started the great cause of crossing Hebei and unifying China. Therefore, after Shi Zhao established the country, he also attached great importance to the operation of Fangtou, and built a strong city on both sides of this weir crossing, which is the so-called east and west fangcheng.

As a hub that communicates several main streams in Hebei, the terrain of Fangtou is extremely dangerous. Among them, Xifang City is located in the valley of the Jiahe River between Qishui and Weishui, the city foundation is completely stacked with earth and stone, it is more than a few zhang higher than the river surface, even if the torrential rain rises, the flooding of all rivers is difficult to be submerged, and the terrain can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As long as Xifang City is not lost, it can overlook the waterway within dozens of miles to the left, stubbornly resist the enemy, and protect the counties and countryside from the invasion of military disasters.

The Huainan army was able to capture Xifang City, most of which was also due to luck, in the first battle of Weishui, the enemy general Tian Ni died in the chaos, and then the enemy army completely collapsed, more than half of them surrendered, and the rest were mostly annihilated, and few people were able to escape.

Later, it was also because of the advice of those surrendered generals that the Huainan army realized the importance of Xifang City, and led 2,000 Huainan troops and hundreds of surrendered soldiers with Hurun, taking advantage of the fact that the war had not yet spread, attacked from behind, and captured Xifang City, which was only guarded by nearly 1,000 soldiers.

If it weren't for such a special opportunity, if the Huainan army wanted to capture such a fortress, it would at least have to invest several times the number of troops and completely fill it with human lives, and the price would have been heavy.

Because although Fangtou is an important center connecting several waterways, it is an artificially created river channel after all, and the widest part is only about 100 zhang. The east and west fangcheng are sandwiched between the river, and if the strong attack is completely impossible to spread out a large-scale ship formation on this waterway, the two fortified fortresses, coupled with the sniping of boats and boats on the front of the waterway, will become a corner, absolutely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But now that Xifang City has fallen into the hands of the Huainan Army, the triangle has broken one, destroying the original defensive position, and Xifang City has become a sharp blade inserted in the enemy's henchmen.

This made the Yedi army extremely passive, at least the main water road centered on Fangtou did not dare to be used at all, and could only be deployed to the south through the waterway of Zhangshui, and many tactical flexible changes could not be chosen.

Today, 3,000 of the Huainan army of Ji County defended Xifang City, 2,000 people built forts along the river to control the rural counties, and another 3,000 people patrolled along the Yellow River in this section of Ji County by boat, half as a warning, and half as reinforcements at any time.

Xie Ai, as the superintendent of the Huainan Army on this road, naturally needs to sit in the important place of Xifang City. Although he is now the highest-ranking superintendent in the Huainan Army, he has not changed much because of this, and he is still dressed in a Confucian shirt and scarf.

The reason why this is the case is not to show any unique interest, there is no need for that, he is not the choice of the generals who charge into battle, and since crossing the river to the north, he has stayed in the absolutely safe rear, and there is no need to waste a high-ranking general's armor for this.

The second is that there is no strength, the armor of the senior generals of the Huainan Army is the most sophisticated craftsmanship in this era, although it is not known for being bulky, but the upper and lower drapes add up to a full weight of dozens of catties. Xie Ai is just a Confucian scholar, even if he has learned some skills in combat and archery, he will also consume energy and affect his actions, but he is not as obedient as he is.

From this point of view, these generals of the Huainan Army who led the army to fight on the front line, due to the appearance of Xie Ai, Shen Dudu was finally not the most mediocre person in martial arts. At least Shen Dudu still rides ** Zhan, but Xie Ai is not even proficient in riding.

However, this flaw is not enough to affect Xie Ai's prestige in the army now, especially for Hurun and other generals, Xie Ai's weak image is more acceptable.

Such an image is slightly similar to that of the Governor himself, with the same wisdom in his hands and the same anticipation of the enemy. Since the northward advance, Xie Ai can almost be said to have exhausted his last resort, and in the case of no superiority in troops, he has always fought on the weakest side of the enemy's army, with only a few thousand soldiers, not only defeating and defeating a larger number of enemy troops, but also completing the feat of recovering Ji County.

Although Hurun was not the old Zhaowu department in the early years of the governor, and he was not fortunate enough to follow the governor to return to the king of Duqin, but there are also such commanders in the army now, and many praise Xie Aizhi can catch up with the governor in the early years. This is naturally more intimate in the Huainan Army.

On the other hand, Xie Ai himself does not have the fierceness to kill the enemy, which also gives the generals under his command a chance to perform. Although the specific tactical plan is up to Xie Ai to come up with, turning the plan into reality requires the soldiers to use their lives to achieve it.

A wise and strategic manager, if he is still the champion of the three armies, it will make his followers feel too frustrated and unable to find the value of his existence.

"How's it going on the other side today?"

Xie Ai climbed the head of the West Fangcheng City, looked at the opposite side with his hand on his forehead, the straight-line distance between the east and west Fangcheng is not more than a few miles, if even the water village fort along the river is counted, the distance is shortened to nearly 100 zhang.

They can hear each other's trumpets clearly, but because of the river's blockage, it is difficult to be the same. Originally, there were still several pontoon bridges built by boats between the two Fangcheng, but after the Huainan army captured Xifangcheng, the pontoon bridge was dismantled and burned.

"We fought three times in the morning, and then there was no movement in the afternoon. However, the scouts visited earlier, and their troops secretly formed a boat in Shuidai on the back road, and seemed to be preparing for a night attack. ”

Hu Run pulled the blindfold and replied, with no lack of respect for Xie Ai in his eyes. Xie Ai was able to establish his prestige in the army so quickly, in addition to his amazing achievements, Hurun's cooperation was also indispensable.

Hurun is also a veteran of the Huainan Army, and has been in charge of the Shengwu Army, but he has not been able to increase the title of supervision, and he was a little surprised by Xie Ai's later superiority. But then he was relieved, he was a protégé of the governor, in fact, his position in the army was not the focus of his pursuit, and if he was too obsessed with these, he would alienate the relationship with the governor.

After understanding this, Hurun also put himself in an auxiliary position with peace of mind to help Xie Ai quickly establish his prestige in the army. He is an old qualified person who willingly regards himself as a deputy, and even if the other generals are a little dissatisfied, they dare not reveal it.

Xie Ai looked at the city for a while, and made some adjustments to the defense, Hurun and the others all respectfully obeyed, and soon made adjustments according to Xie Ai's instructions.

Seeing that his orders were fully implemented, Xie Ai's heart was also full of joy, he knew that he had no family background to rely on, even if he was full of talent, it would be difficult to get ahead in the future. previously decided to stay in Huainan, one was to offend Liangzhou Haozong, and the other was also a gamble. Now it seems that he has won the bet, and the Huainan Governor's Mansion is much more inclusive than he imagined.

This time the northward march is a great achievement, but Xie Ai does not dare to relax because of this. Now that we are only halfway through the war, the most severe test is yet to come. At the moment, he may not have to worry about the situation in other aspects, but it is not easy to consolidate the results of the battle just here in Jijun.

On the opposite side, Dongfang City, there were more than 10,000 troops gathered, and the Huainan Army did not have an advantage at all in terms of troops. Although the enemy army can be forcibly blocked by Xifang City, Jijun is located in Hebei after all, and it is a place where the enemy has been operating for a long time.

On the frontal battlefield alone, there is not only one place for assault. For example, Xiuwu, Gongxian, and Xiye, where Zhuhu live further north, do not have important forts that can be used, and if the enemy army is willing to waste some time to attack in a roundabout way, the situation in Jijun is also precarious.

At present, the reason why the enemy army is storming Fangtou is that the distance here is the shortest, and it can also resolve the bad impact of the loss of Jijun on it most quickly, and quickly reverse the unfavorable situation.

After leaving the city, Xie Ai was about to turn to the front of the water camp to patrol, when suddenly his own soldiers came to tell him that Wang Guang and others had come to see him. After thinking about it, he turned back to the camp and ordered the men to be brought in.

Wang Guang and a few others, who were originally the head snakes of Jijun, surrendered in the previous battles. Because of the cooperation of these people, the Huainan Army did not treat them harshly, did not restrict their freedom, but only disarmed and released them back to the township, and even entrusted them with the responsibility of controlling the countryside, which can be described as extremely preferential treatment.

This time, they entered the meeting in the name of the army, and the team carried hundreds of grains and other materials that had just been looted, and when they faced the commanders of the Huainan Army along the way, they also nodded and bowed, and their posture was very low.

Along the way, I saw the Huainan Army's stacked weapons, huge bed crossbows, and hideous chariots, all of which showed full shock on their faces, with a faint hint of envy. The bravery of the Huainan army, they have already personally understood it in the previous battles.

However, for the Huainan Army's excellent equipment, the understanding is a little insufficient, after all, the Huainan Army at that time was only a part of the division, light and simple, only seeking a quick victory, so it did not show much advantage in the use of equipment.

However, as the Huainan Army gained a firm foothold in Jijun, the follow-up army of transportation baggage also arrived one after another, and many sophisticated and large-scale ordnance continued to replenish the marching array, which finally allowed these Hebei people to see what kind of profound heritage the Huainan Army had!

"This is the posture that a truly strong army should have! Shen Dudu's Wang Shi himself has elite soldiers, and with these gold and iron firmness, it is no wonder that Zhongshan was ...... Shi Jilong, this slave, has to hate Huaishang! ”

Hearing the voices of a few people on the side, Wang Guang, as the first of them to surrender, showed a proud look of honor on his face, and said with a smile: "Against such a strong army, how can a layman be an enemy!" I know that the villagers laughed at me before and surrendered early, but those mediocre and contemptuous people, how do they know how powerful the Huainan Wangshi is! I just don't want the villagers to suffer any more innocent casualties......"

After a few words of defense for himself, Wang Guang was still unsatisfied, and said: "I know that there are many thoughts in the countryside at the moment, and I still have the heart of waiting to see success or failure. But I advise you to still make up your minds, even if the northern expedition of the king division is unsuccessful this time, and the countryside is returned to Hu Zhi, will we have room to live in peace? What kind of tyrannical beast the Shi Jilong dog thief is, you all know it. ”

"Anyway, no matter what the success or failure of Master Wang this time is, I am determined to follow. Instead of clinging to the remnants of the country, it is better to forge ahead and gain popularity! Huainan Wanghua Renxiang is a paradise in the sky, and Shen Dudu is also a wise lord, such as Xie Duhu, do you know the origin of his people? He was just a single person who had joined the Governor's Mansion earlier, but after this battle of Jijun, he was already about to become famous all over the world! ”