On the night of the seventh day of the sixth month of the fifth year of Yongxing, dozens of cavalry officers waved their horse whips on the eastern foothills of Funiu Mountain and Ruyang on the avenue to drive the displaced people blocking the road to the side of the road.

Liang Chengyi took advantage of the fact that the main force of Yanhu's soldiers and horses were on the north bank of the Yellow River, and abandoned the river on the fourth day of the sixth month, and led his troops to flee south.

Last year, he led his troops to cross the river to aid the Cao family, and in the reeds on the north bank of the Yellow River, Chen Zhihu was defeated, and Liang Chengyi had less than 30,000 soldiers and horses left in Hezhong Mansion, together with the dependents of officials and generals and the wealthy households in Luoyang City, about 60,000 or 70,000 people, dragged his family and fled south.

In order to increase military pressure on Guanzhong, Yanhu transferred Chen Zhihu to fight in western Shanxi last year, and Yanhu's troops and horses in Henan were mainly concentrated in Daliang and other places, and Ruzhou, Ruyang, Xuchang, and Yuzhou between Hezhong and Nanyang were all disabled, and there were no large-scale garrisons. However, the army and civilians in the team fleeing south were mixed, and the carriages and horses were chaotic, which greatly delayed the speed of the southward retreat. In particular, the people in the southern counties of Hezhong, after learning the news of Liang Chengyi's withdrawal from the river, also frantically dragged their families and fled south, crowded in front of the southward retreat team, and crowded the avenues that had not been repaired for many years.

Although there are no large forces of enemy soldiers on the left and right that can pose a deadly threat for the time being, Liang Chengyi really can't feel at ease.

Riding a horse to a nameless hill at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain, looking at the slowly squirming flow of people under the moonlit night, Liang Chengyi no longer had the vigor he had when he first met Lin Jian in the East China Sea.

In front of it is the Beiru River that flows out of the Huangbai Valley of Dayu Mountain, which is the main tributary of the Yinghe River. Since the beginning of summer, the water potential has risen violently, and the distance between the north and south banks is one or two miles wide, although it is far from being comparable with the Huai River and the Yangtze River, it is also the biggest natural obstacle on the north-south road at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain.

In the early years, there were pontoon bridges and ferries on the Beiru River. Over the years, there have been endless wars, the pontoon bridge has long been burned down, and the ferry crossing is also dilapidated. Since the retreat to the south was a secret plan, although Nanyang was notified, it was prepared less than ten days in advance.

In Ruzhou, the people's livelihood is withering, there is no one in Dingkou, and the sound of roosters is not heard for thousands of miles, even if it can be prepared for ten days and half a month in advance, how many ferries can be prepared at the upstream ferry of the Beiru River?

Although it is possible to cross the river in the summer, a large number of baggage, mules and horses, as well as the women and children of their dependents, still have to be crossed by boat. The speed slowed down suddenly. A large number of soldiers and civilians were crowded on the north bank, and it was impossible to cross the river for a while.

Liang Chengyi, who was only thirty-five years old at the time, had thin cheeks, deep sunken eye sockets, and a messy beard on his chin, and he had not bothered to clean it up for several days.

It took three days to walk to Ruyang, to the north bank of the Beiru River, less than 100 miles, which made Liang Chengyi anxious.

Although it is only more than 200 miles away from the periphery of Nanyang at this time, at this speed, even if it crosses the Beiru River smoothly, it will take eight or nine days to withdraw into Nanyang.

However, in the current situation, how can they cross the North Ru River as quickly as possible?

Within three days, Chen Zhihu gathered his troops and horses on the north bank of Mengjin. Once Chen Zhihu was asked to cross the Yellow River smoothly, his parts were interspersed with extremely fast speed, and I was afraid that it would not take four or five days to chase after him.

Although Chen Zhihu led his troops to cross the south bank, it was more likely that he would go west along the Hangu Pass Road to attack Tongguan, which was empty, but it was not certain that the Cao family would retreat south from Guanzhong immediately, so it was possible that Chen Zhihu's troops would follow the tail of their southward retreat.

"Tell Gao Fangyi to ride a hundred horses and drive the displaced people who are blocking the road in front of them to the direction of Huangbai Valley upstream; Fang Keshan was told to lead his troops to walk three miles in the direction of the inner port and camp on the north bank in preparation for a small enemy attack. Liang Chengyi's face was gloomy.

Huangbai Valley is in the upper reaches of the Beiru River, where the water is shallow and easy to cross. Since Liang Chengyi was reluctant to leave these displaced people behind, and there was no way to take them across the river together, he could only drive them upstream.

When the enemy soldiers chase after them, they will not bite the homeless people, leaving relatively sufficient time for the homeless people to spare the road from the upper reaches.

Sixty or seventy thousand horses crossed the river, and it was a mess, and it might have to be delayed for four or five days. The current situation was very predictable in four or five days, and Liang Chengyi had to send troops and horses to build a few more temporary camps behind the side of the ferry to prevent the enemy from chasing after him.

At this time, there was a road of people galloping north from the direction of the ferry, and the flow of people fleeing south was particularly distinct under the moonlit night.

Soon someone led the group of men and horses to gallop in this direction to join them. When he got closer, he shouted and announced his name, and the person who came was not a bystander, but Yuan Jinsheng, the second son of Yuan Guizheng.

Yuan Jinsheng, Liang Chengchong and Liang Chengyi are cousins, and they have been staying in Nanyang to help Liang Chengchong.

Looking at the moonlit night, Yuan Jinsheng led the horse uphill, Liang Chengyi greeted him, held his hand and asked, "How is the situation in Nanyang?" ”

"Luo Xiancheng has no change for the time being, even if the luxury family wants to go north, they must ensure that Hu Wenmu does not send troops from Jingzhou to cross the Han River to attack him, and he will not be able to go north to attack Nanyang for a while," Yuan Jinsheng said, "Yue Lengqiu has gone to Yuzhang to see Chongguo Gong, but the abandonment of the river has not communicated with Yue Lengqiu in advance, so it is hard to predict how Yuzhang will react......"

"Yu Zhang can't care about any reaction," Liang Chengyi said, "Once the Cao family is told to withdraw from Guanzhong first, and Hezhong wants to retreat, it will be difficult to get rid of the pursuers." ”

Now the soldiers and horses of Yanhu invading Guanzhong mainly prevent the Cao family from crossing the river on the north bank of Weishui. Even if the Cao family did not abandon Guanzhong, once Yanhu soldiers and horses were asked to cross the Weishui River and go east out of Tongguan to attack Hangu Pass, Liang Chengyi would become delusional if he wanted to completely withdraw from the river.

The only way to do this is to take advantage of the fact that the main force of Yanhu is gathering on the north bank of Weishui and decisively abandon the river, so as to win the crucial seven or eight days for the southward retreat.

However, after Liang Chengyi abandoned the river, whether the Cao family could successfully withdraw from Guanzhong was not something that Liang Chengyi could consider.

The river and Guanzhong are horns of each other, because the river can protect the flanks, the Cao family has very few garrisons in Tongguan, only one or two thousand people.

Now Liang Chengyi did not notify the Cao family, that is, he gave up Hezhong Mansion, and if Yanhu was given the passage to directly attack Tongguan, if it was because of this, Tongguan would be lost, and the eastern flank of Cao's southern withdrawal of troops and horses would be threatened, and the Cao family would hate Liang Chengyi to the core.

However, Liang Chengyi didn't care so much, neither the Cao family nor Jiang Ning would agree to him giving up Hezhong Mansion so easily. Notify the Cao family in advance, it is likely that the Cao family will be ordered to retreat south first, but the tail stock of the Hezhong army may be bitten by the pursuers

In these days, it is not worth doing things that harm others and oneself, but things that harm others and benefit oneself must be done.

"Where is Chen Zhihu's traitor leading the troops?" Yuan Jinsheng asked.

Yanhu used Chen Zhihu as the governor of Henan, but after the autumn of last year, the main forces of Chen Zhihu's troops were transferred to the north bank of the Yellow River, and they attacked Guanzhong from Jinzhong along the west of Fenshui, and never returned to Henan.

Although there are tens of thousands of new annexed troops under Yuan Lishan between Henan and Shandong, Yuan Lishan has to face the vortex Yang Taochun and Xuzhou Liu Miaozhen in the south, and the troops do not dare to move west to attack Liang Chengyi, and the threat is not great.

Therefore, Liang Chengyi wants to withdraw from the river unharmed, and the biggest threat is Chen Zhihu.

"Chen Zhihu has led his troops to the north bank of Mengjin and Huai Bei to cross the river," Liang Chengyi said, "It is not easy for Chen Zhihu to cross the river when the river is rising, but we must not be sloppy; In addition, a small number of enemy cavalry approached from Changge, and I have called Ju Tao and Fang Dai to lead the army to meet the battle to cover our flank. ”

The water potential of the Yellow River is much larger than that of the Beiru River, but the north bank of the Yellow River has always been under the control of Yanhu, and the boats used to cross the river are well prepared.

Yuan Jinsheng nodded and said: "The eldest brother is also most worried about Chen Zhihu in Nanyang, as long as he is still on the north bank of the Yellow River, it will be difficult for him to chase after him; Yuan Lishan is just the old department of your Liang family, since he doesn't miss the old feelings, he doesn't have the courage to send troops to attack the west. ”

Liang Chengyi nodded, Yuan Liang has been a general, and the Liang family has to help the queen mother in the inner court, and she is overwhelmed by other generals. Even if Yuan Lishan did not defect to Yanhu, the relationship between the Liang family and them was not good.

However, Yuan Lishan was cautious in his use of troops, and he would not easily use a risky strategy to divide his troops, and Liang Chengyi was not too worried.

It's just that Chen Zhihu used his troops to go sideways, and when he fought in the Central Plains, he said with Lin Jian that his troops were marching fast and out of nowhere. Once Chen Zhihu was asked to cross the Yellow River, Liang Chengyi could not avoid Nanyang for a day, and he could not be at ease for a day.

Yuan Jinsheng looked at the flow of people under the moonlit night, and looked at the sparkling Beiru River in front of him under the moon, and his heart was also anxious.

The cavalry drove out the crowded homeless people on the avenue at the front, and the southward retreat was mixed with military and civilian chariots and horses, dragging and dragging for more than ten miles at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain and on the north bank of the Beiru River.

On both sides of the avenue, on both sides of the ferry, there were displaced people who had withdrawn south with the army, and it seemed that there were more than 100,000 people.

If Nanyang Province wants to restore its livelihood and develop and grow, it is inseparable from Dingkou. In the past two years, Liang Chengchong has been running Nanyang, and he has worked hard, and there are less than 200,000 people in Dingkou, Nanyang. It would be best if these outcasts could go south with the army, but who knows when the enemy will catch up from behind?

Rather than being greedy and losing, Yuan Jinsheng hoped that Liang Chengyi would lead the elite of his headquarters to avoid Nanyang first.

"The eldest brother has sent an envoy to Huaixi to persuade Huaixi to send troops into Luohe and Dancheng," Yuan Jinsheng said again, "Nanyang and Huaixi depend on each other, but it is humiliating and cold, Dong Yuan should not refuse to send troops!" But it's hard to move slowly. ”

Liang Chengyi said: "The general's family members are marching with the army, and there are constantly displaced people joining the team along the road, and there is a big river in front of them, how can the marching speed be fast?" ”

Dancheng is in the northwest of Wuyang, protecting the east wing of Ruzhou Road, as long as Tao Chun sends troops into Dancheng in Wuyang, Yuan Lishan's headquarters can be isolated in eastern Henan, so that Liang Chengyi does not have to worry about the threat of the east flank at all.

Nanyang Fangcheng is only more than 300 miles away from the river, if Liang Chengyi leads his troops and horses to hurry, he can withdraw to Nanyang in two or three days. However, it is not enough to pull the soldiers out of the horses, and the families of the soldiers cannot be sent out in the river. Otherwise, it will be difficult to restrain the generals, and there is a worry that the whole army will be scattered.

Nanyang is also dilapidated, Liang Chengchong has worked hard for two years, and he still relies on Huaidong and Huaixi to supply grain and grass to barely gain a foothold. If you can't transfer as much of the baggage and materials of Hezhong Mansion to Nanyang as possible, and 60,000 or 70,000 horses plus a large number of displaced people pour into Nanyang, how can Nanyang bear it?

"Why don't the second brother lead his troops to Wuyang first?" Yuan Jinsheng said, "Once the Cao family abandons Guanzhong and retreats south, the Yanhu army will pour in, so it is planned that Wuyang will be attacked soon, and the second brother will go to Wuyang first to rectify the defense and prepare for the battle." ”

Wuyang is located in the north of Nanyang Fangcheng, located at the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain, and used to belong to Yingchuan. Henan is ruined, Wuyang City has long been destroyed in the war, in order to strengthen the defense of the north of Nanyang, Liang Chengchong built a fortress at the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain, thinking that it was the periphery of Nanyang.

After the Cao family retreated to the south and Yan Hu occupied Guanzhong, there were two ways to send troops to directly attack Nanyang. One is to go south from the north to attack Fangcheng and Wuyang in the north of Nanyang Mansion, and the other is to attack the west wing of Nanyang from Guanzhong through Wuguan.

In addition to Yan Hu, Luo Xiancheng or Hao Wenzhuang may also send troops from Xiangyang to the north to attack the south of Nanyang at any time.

Now, the small Nanyang Mansion is about to face the enemy on three sides, and Liang Chengchong only has 30,000 soldiers and horses in Nanyang, so he expects that after Liang Chengyi retreats to Nanyang, he can work together to defend Wuyang and Fangcheng in the north of Nanyang, so as to relieve the pressure on Nanyang.

"If I do it first, others will only abandon them and leave, and the army's morale will inevitably be in chaos," Liang Chengyi shook his head, rejecting Yuan Jinsheng's suggestion that he abandon the large army first, "Jinsheng, you go back to Wuyang first, and ask Yan Shun to lead a group of soldiers and horses to go with you, and strengthen Wuyang's defense first......"

"The child does not leave, but must follow his father." A young general beside Liang Chengyi said.

"Don't talk nonsense, Yan Shun, you also have seventeen this year. When you and your uncle were seventeen years old, we both led the troops into battle, and now you want to stay by my side, what will become of you? Liang Cheng said with a face.

Liang Yanshun is Liang Chengyi's eldest son, Shu Jia has been in the army for three years, but he has not yet had the opportunity to lead the army independently.

Liang Yanshun stayed behind to advance and retreat with the large army, because he was worried that the large army would cross the river too slowly, and pull behind it to give the enemy the possibility of catching up, but Liang Chengyi was so agitated, his face was red, and he didn't talk nonsense anymore, and immediately expressed his willingness to go to Wuyang with Yuan Jinsheng first.

Liang Chengyi also did not have the intention of coexisting with the army and the people, he stayed behind to calm the hearts of the people, hoping that one more person would cross the river to avoid Nanyang, and Nanyang's strength would be enhanced.

As the sky dawned, Liang Chengyi ordered 3,000 soldiers and horses, and asked two cronies to follow his eldest son and Yuan Jinsheng to cross the Beiru River south to take over the defense of Wuyang. The Beiru River is traversed by a long rope, and more than 40 fishing boats carry it back and forth, and only a thousand people can cross it at a time, and the pioneer who went south with Yuan Jinsheng and Liang Yanshun was almost finished at noon.

On the contrary, many homeless people who knew how to swim threw away their heavy objects and crossed the river directly, and two or three thousand people passed there in half a day.

Yuan Jinsheng and they didn't walk for long, and when the sun was about to set, a tanma rushed over from behind to tell Liang Chengyi: "There is a road of enemy soldiers who are reluctantly chasing after them day and night, and they have reached the north of Lushan. ”

Lushan and Dayu Mountain stand opposite to each other, leaving a mouth seven or eight miles wide in it, but unfortunately Ruzhou has been crippled, can not be defended, otherwise build a fortress and build a fortress in the Lushan Pass, has been able to block the Yanhu soldiers and horses. In order to prevent it from being too late to cross the river, Liang Chengyi had already ordered his troops to temporarily camp there to block the pursuing soldiers.

Liang Chengyi was urging the soldiers and horses to cross the river at the ferry, and when he heard that the enemy soldiers were chasing him, and he was already very close to the mountain pass, he asked, "How many people and horses are chasing the enemy?" How many cavalry were there? ”