Chapter 883: Hedong Retreat

Xiangyang fell, Jiangling Mansion was occupied, and in a short period of time, from Jiangxia to Xiangyang in the north, a large area of land was taken by Ding****. At this point, the Chai clan forces were completely driven out of the Jingchu area. With the fall of Jingchu, Guangnan and Huainan will be within the scope of the fixed **** attack, especially Jiujiang and other places on Jiangnan West Road, which may suffer pressure from Suzhou Prefecture, Jiangxia and Gyeonggi Road at any time. This is not counting, for the Chai family, the most fatal thing is that if the **** abandons Guangnan and Jiangnan West Road, and concentrates troops to garrison Xiangyang, the core area of Chai's survival, Henan Mansion will be strongly impacted, from Xiangyang to the north, the entire Dengzhou is all under the attack of Xiangyang City, and the only barrier south of Luoyang, Kyoto is Dengzhou, so the threat from Xiangyang is the most direct. Once Dengzhou is taken down, Henan Mansion will be in a state of being attacked for a long time, which is a situation that the Chai family does not want to see. No one would have imagined that the situation in the world would change so quickly.

A few days ago, the Chai family also seized a large area of land from Hezhong Mansion to Yunzhong in one fell swoop, at that time, many people already thought that the world would be Chai's sooner or later, because, at this time, the Chai family controlled Gyeonggi West Road, Jinghu Road, Jiangnan West Road, Guangnan East Road, Guangnan West Road, Huainan Road, nearly two-thirds of the rich land of the Great Song Dynasty, and the **** mastered the Guanzhong Yongxing Military Road and Qinfeng Road, Jinggi Road, Hedong Road and Hebei, and the remaining large areas of land were snatched from the Uighur Western Xia and the Liao, and those territories were very unstable. Hedong Hebei has a large population, but it is relatively poor, although Guanzhong has experienced ten years of great development, but compared with Jiangnan and Jingchu, the difference is still too far, so, with the passage of time, Chai's power will only get bigger and bigger, when the corridor from Hezhong Mansion to Yunzhong is thoroughly managed, Hedong and Hebei will inevitably be taken by Chai's family, and at that time, Ding****, which is active in Gyeonggi Road and Suzhou Prefecture, will be completely besieged. Chai's prospects are good, but everyone ignores the Dingguo Army Water Division, maybe everyone hasn't paid attention to this water division, they all think that these so-called water armies are all soy sauce roles, but the battle of Jiangxia has made the world see how important the water division is, as long as it is used properly, 20,000 water divisions can still exert earth-shattering power. In fact, since the day Jiangxia fell, the balance of the entire situation has begun to tilt towards Ding****.

On the second day of November in the second year of Taikang, in the middle of winter, the Ding**** occupying Jingchu did not extend to the south, but along with Yangyun Mengze to the north, all stationed in Xiangyang, on the third day of November, with Yang Zaixing's 5,000 cavalry as the forward, Zheng Biao's 7,000 foot soldiers were behind, and more than 10,000 troops threatened Xinye in the south of Dengzhou. Xinye small county, which looks inconspicuous, plays an important role in connecting the north and the south and connecting the east and the west. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, Liu Xiu raised troops in Xinye, opening the glow of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei also stationed troops in Xinye, and laid the foundation for the later Shu Han. If you take Xinye, you can coerce Nanyang, and then launch an attack on Luoyang. This series of actions was fast and ruthless, which overwhelmed Chai's. Xinye small county, mostly plains, no danger to defend, can not stop the cavalry of the ancient town at all, and then Nanyang will definitely be threatened. Chai Jin had already lost his temper by a series of blows, and Chai Jin at this time completely understood. After Xiao Zhiyun returned from Bianliang, she commanded a series of military operations, whether it was a strong attack on Xinzheng or a feint attack on Yingchangfu, and even the soldiers and horses of Yingzhou were concentrated in the Zhongmu area, her purpose in doing this was not to storm Zhengzhou at all, but to attract all the Chai soldiers and horses in the Central Plains to the east of Luoyang, and reduce the pressure on the Dingguo Army and Naval Division to open the Jiangxia Battle. It's a pity that when the news came from Jiangxia, it was too late to react, as soon as the soldiers and horses from Luoyang arrived in Dengzhou, Jiangxia fell, and then Xiangyang was taken away, and the reinforcements that rushed to Jingchu were also blocked in Dengzhou. Now, the morale of the **** is attacking Xinye with a winning attitude, can the soldiers and horses of Dengzhou hold it?

Chai Jin's burden is very heavy, and the current situation is by no means beyond his Chai Jin's control, in desperation, Chai Jin can only order, "Order all the eastern army to be recycled, garrisoned in the Zhengzhou area, and ignore the attack on the periphery." In addition, the southern army abandoned Tangzhou and other peripheral cities and held on to Yingchangfu. ”

After explaining the task, Chai Jin did not rest, wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and led several personal soldiers to ride horses and hurried towards Luoyang. When I returned to Luoyang, I obviously felt that something was wrong with the situation in Luoyang, the people in the city were in a hurry, there were fewer vendors, and there were more and more large households who took refuge in the city, and the prices were also fried, and now the eggs were scrambled to 100 wen a catty. The impact of the Jingchu war on the Chai clan was manifold, and before the war came, Luoyang had already felt the pressure of the war. The palace is not much better than the street, there is a lot of discussion in the Xuanzheng Palace, and some colleagues and courtiers have already rolled up their sleeves and scolded each other with red eyes, "It's all at this juncture, do you still have to carry it hard, if you don't quickly send troops to recapture Xiangyang City, if you can't get Xiangyang back, everyone will die sooner or later." ”

Xiangyang, Xiangyang again, as soon as Chai Jin heard the word Xiangyang in the past two days, he had the urge to kill. Xiangyang is such an important place, the influence is still above the Tiger Pass, the Tiger Pass may just be the gateway to Luoyang, but Xiangyang is the first military fortress in the Central Plains, and the strategic position is not comparable to the Tiger Pass, to put it bluntly, whoever occupies Xiangyang, who can control the Yangtze River, and put a large area of rich land in Jingchu under control, with Xiangyang, you can also attack from all sides at any time, especially for Henan Mansion, as long as the **** occupies Xiangyang, it is like a sharp knife stuck in the top of Chai's head, and he does not dare to do anything with all his might, because you have to guard against the Xiangyang army from the south at all times. When Lin Chong withdrew from the Tiger Prison Pass, Chai Jin also laughed at Zhao Yougong's stupidity, thinking that Zhao was stupid by the Fenglingdu battle situation, and would abandon the Tiger Prison Pass, just to encircle and annihilate the Song Jiang soldiers and horses who attacked Zhongtiao Mountain. But now it seems that all the ridicule is a sarcasm of himself, perhaps, Zhao Yougong has already thought about opening up the Jiangxia front early, a tiger prison can coerce Luoyang, and a Xiangyang can dominate the Central Plains. The most infuriating thing is that Xiangyang has lost too much money, too incredible, how arrogant must it be, so that the defenders of Xiangyang will be less than 10,000 people, and join the defenders of Xiangyang with 15,000 people, but if there are a few thousand people left in Xiangyang to defend the city, they will not be broken through by thousands of cavalry in one fell swoop.

Listening to the word Xiangyang, Chai Jin rolled his eyes, pointed at the old man in the red robe and scolded, "Chen Shangshu, you are also old, how can you say such nonsense, Xiangyang City has thick walls, and Jing Chu is all occupied by Ding****, what are you going to recapture Xiangyang." You do your best to attack Xiangyang, you still don't care about the Tiger Prison Pass and Zhengzhou, when Xiangyang can't be defeated, Luoyang will be lost first, and you will be happy when you are old? ”

In normal times, Chai Jin is too lazy to pay attention to those who don't understand military affairs, but today he really can't help it, these people who are dancing and writing are obviously not familiar with military affairs, and at this time they still say something that disturbs the people's hearts. As soon as he saw that Chai Jin had returned, the noisy Xuanzheng Hall immediately quieted down, everyone was still very afraid of Chai Jin, as a new nobleman of the Chai family, no one dared to offend easily. Soon after, Gong Zhan called Chai Jin out of the Xuanzheng Palace, and the two walked east along the road of Shangshu Mansion, seemingly forgetting the cold for a while, and letting the icy cold wind slap on his face, "General Chai, the current situation is very unfavorable to us, once Nanyang is lost, Ding **** can break into Henan Mansion and attack Luoyang directly." In addition, the Ding**** stationed on the Gyeonggi Road may soon have a big move, if they rush out of the White Horse Ferry before us, bypass the Tiger Pass, and cooperate with the Taiyuan troops and horses from Hedong Road to attack Shizhou, our army stationed near Linfu and Yunzhong will be cut off, and the army that enters Guanzhong will also be hit hard. Therefore, what we urgently need to do at present is to hold Nanyang, Xinye will definitely not be able to hold it, Gong hopes that General Chai will personally lead the troops to Nanyang, and then Gong will order the Tiger Pass army to send half of the troops and horses to help Nanyang, no matter what, we must block the pace of the **** attack in Nanyang. ”

Chai Jin's face was solemn, and there was an indescribable sense of frustration in his heart, he thought about it, and asked very seriously, "Master Gong, what should I do with the Tiger Prison Pass, transfer 20,000 Tiger Prison soldiers and horses to Nanyang, what if the **** is determined to break through the Tiger Prison Pass?" ”

"General Chai doesn't have to worry about this, Gong has already written a letter to the Queen Mother, it is estimated that the Queen Mother will quickly withdraw to the south bank of the Yellow River after receiving the letter, and the soldiers and horses of the original Huayin and Hezhong Mansion will also be stationed in Hangu Pass, Tongguan and Hujiao Pass in batches. As long as the speed is fast enough, we will definitely be able to re-establish the new soldiers and tigers before the **** is set" Gong Zhen has obviously made preparations for a long time, when Luoyang is so chaotic and people are panicking, the only one who can stay calm and make an accurate judgment on the situation is Gong Zhen.

On the same day, Chai Jin led the army to the front line in Dengzhou, everything was as Gong Zhan and Chai Jin thought, Xinye County could not resist the pace of Ding****, Yang Zaixing led the troops from the east dry road to the north of Xinye, Zheng Biao led the troops to attack from the south. Only an hour later, more than 4,000 Dengzhou soldiers and horses stationed in Xinye were scattered, and Xinye fell into the control of Ding****. At the same time, the Yelu Dashi Department stationed in Zhongmu took the cavalry as the vanguard, quickly passed through the Baima Ferry, crossed the Yellow River and marched westward along the southern part of Hebei. It is necessary to take advantage of the situation of Xiangyang's great victory to completely cripple the hundreds of thousands of Chai clan's troops who invaded the pass in one go. Before, the Chai clan fought all the way north from Hezhongfu to Yunzhong, forming a perfect line of defense from south to north, completely separating Hedong and Guanzhong, this line of defense is very wonderful and has many advantages, but there is also a big shortcoming, once the **** concentrates forces to break through a little, the entire front will become full of loopholes. In the past, the **** army was insufficient, so it was naturally impossible to launch an impact on this line of defense, but now Jiangxia has made a breakthrough and captured Xiangyang, and the army of the Chai family left in the Central Plains has been all contained in the direction of Zhengzhou and Xiangyang, and the army of Yelu Dashi can calmly enter the west into Hedong Road, with the tens of thousands of troops of Yelu Dashi, and with the 30,000 troops stationed in Taiyuan, the nearly 80,000 army of Ding**** is fully capable of opening a hole in the iron-locked Great Wall of Chai's.

Xiangyang's letter was sent to Chang'an City, in the imperial study, Zhu Lian and Zhenniang flipped through the recent letters, but they heard a loud laugh next to them, looked up, and saw their man standing up like a child, jumping and jumping. When Jiangxia won the war, I didn't see the officials so happy, what was it that made him so carried away, for fear of affecting the wounds on his body, Zhen Niang put down the letter in her hand and tugged at the corner of Zhao Yougong's clothes, "Official, why are you so happy, make you so happy, say it quickly, and let us hear it!" ”

"Ha, you would never have thought that Wu Jinqing was still alive, haha, haha......" It is not false to say that he cried with joy, when the letter in his hand was taken by Zhen Niang and the two, after reading it, Zhu Lian and Zhen Niang also smiled happily. In fact, they all know that the death of the two brothers of the Wu family has always been a big stone in Zhao Yougong's heart, and now it's okay, Wu Jue is still alive, no matter how Wu Jue survived, as long as he is alive, it is a good thing.

Zhao Yougong is also bitter, since the second year of Taikang, everything has been unfavorable for a long time, especially the battle situation in Guanzhong, which was repeatedly attacked by the Chai family, and almost lost Chang'an. It is not easy to stubbornly bring back such an unfavorable situation. Unlike Zhao Yougong, Chai Keyan's face was full of unwillingness and resentment, and he had worked hard to build the long corridor from Hezhong Mansion to Yunzhong, but now he had to give up. Sometimes, Chai Keyan wondered if Zhao Ling, a man sent down from heaven, could turn around the situation no matter how difficult it was. Chai Keyan didn't want to give up, because she knew that once she gave up, it would be difficult to make a comeback. In the past, the initiative has always been in the hands of Ding****, Chai Keyan knows the feeling of passivity, once he hands over the initiative this time, can he take it back? It is impossible, at that time, the Chai clan's sphere of influence will only cover the areas south of the Yellow River on the West Gyeonggi Road, Yuzhou and Yongxing Military Road, can such a small range support hundreds of thousands of troops?

"Queen Mother, the soldiers and horses on the Huayin side have entered the Tiger Prison Pass, Chai Jin led the troops into Nanyang, and after fighting hard for half a day, the situation in Nanyang has also been stabilized, but the Yelu Dashi army has not stayed near the Tiger Prison Pass for too long, and has now arrived near Taiyuan!" Chai Yonghao didn't say a word, his heart trembled, and there was no good news in these news. Chai Keyan had already thought of this, she brushed the messy hair on her sideburns, and said with a faint smile, "Order Wu Liang and the others to withdraw their troops, all of them will be withdrawn to Fenglingdu within two days, Zhao Ling, this man is too powerful, we will lose convincingly this time!" (To be continued.) )