With a "snap", Lin Lian dropped the charcoal pen in his hand on the letter sent from Nanyang Kuaima, stared at the map on the side silently, and said nothing.

It's cool season, and it's hot in Yuzhang City. The small pond in the northeast and south of the line is connected with the Xicui Lake outside the wall, there is living water flowing in, and the octagonal pavilion is built on the pond water, which is cooler than other places.

After the summer, Lin Jian was in this octagonal pavilion to take care of official business, and the secret insect repellent incense was lit, but the battle report from Nanyang was upset when it looked like people, and he couldn't wait to break the charcoal in his hand into two.

Lin Jian had already issued a Privy Council order to abolish the Chizhou camp, re-establish the Chizhou Army, and appoint Deng Yu and Yue Zhi as the chief and deputy commanders, and transfer them to the north bank of the Yangtze River, Zongyang, and Huangmei, and be responsible for fighting the enemy forces in the eastern Hubei region.

The Chizhou Army abolished the camp and rebuilt it into a military town, and the garrison town was relocated to Huangmei and Zongyang, and the counties of Qiupu and Yicheng under the jurisdiction of the original Chizhou camp were set up separately, and the two prefectures of Chizhou and Yicheng were set up separately, which were directly governed by the central government, and the defense affairs were merged into Luzhou -- agreeing to these conditions meant that the Chizhou Army would give up the right to govern and tax the localities and change the relatively pure military establishment under the direct jurisdiction of the Privy Council.

In addition to the area under the jurisdiction of the current Ezhou Prefecture, Jiangxia, Hanjin and the east of Hanshui, the west of Huaishan, and the area of Suizhou are all within the scope of ancient Ezhou. At this time, in addition to Ezhou and Jiangxia on the south bank, the original eastern and northern Hubei regions were occupied by the remnants of the luxury family and the three departments of Chen Han.

Yue Lengqiu still retained the position of deputy privy envoy and remained as the center, and was in charge of the Chizhou army and the war in eastern Hubei in the Privy Council.

It seems that there have been no major changes in the Chizhou army, and the Chizhou army is still in the hands of Yue Lengqiu, Deng Yu, Yue Zhi and other personnel, but its independence has been greatly weakened.

This was a compromise made by Lin Tie and Yue Lengqiu to retain the Chizhou Army after learning the news of Liang Chengyi's abandonment of the river and retreat south in early June - at the same time, Lin Tie ordered Zhou Tong to lead the Chongcheng Army Tang Fuguan and Liu Zhenzhi to open from Duchang, land from the Lujiang River by water, and enter Luzhou to rest.

After Liang Chengyi abandoned the river, the Cao family had no intention of struggling on the south bank of Weishui, and their soldiers, horses, and military dependents also retreated south in batches, and the entire western front was in jeopardy.

Under such circumstances, it has become unrealistic to want to wipe out the Xuanwenzhuang, Chen Hansan, Luo Xiancheng and other troops entrenched in eastern Hubei, Suizhou, and Xiangfan regions from south to north before the Yanhu army moves south. Troops and horses can be transferred into Luzhou, and when Nanyang or Xinyang is in an emergency, troops and horses can be urgently transferred to the northwest foot of Huaishan Mountain to enter Xinyang and Nanyang to fight, and they can still barely keep the western front from being completely pierced by Yanhu.

This is Yue Lengqiu's understanding of Lin Lian's dispatch of more than 30,000 soldiers from Huaidong at this time to urgently enter Luzhou.

Luzhou was originally the center of gravity of Huaixi.

From Luzhou to the north, it is Shouzhou, the seat of Huaixi's camp.

Along the north foot of Huai Mountain to the northwest, that is, Huaishang Xinyang.

From Zhengyang County, Xinyang Prefecture, through the Tongbai Valley Road to the west, that is, Qinyang County, Nanyang Prefecture.

After Yanhu captured Hezhong and Guanzhong, if he wanted to go south, he would inevitably lay down Nanyang, so as to be connected with Luo Xiancheng and Haowenzhuang in Xiangfan, Suizhou and Eastern Hubei Province.

After the remnants of the luxury family fled north across the river into eastern Hubei Province, they joined Chen Hansan, and there were still 80,000 or 90,000 soldiers and horses. Luo Xiancheng claims to have 200,000 soldiers, and the actual number of soldiers who can fight is lower than this, but the key is that Luo Xiancheng has been running Suizhou and Xiangfan for five or six years, and it can be regarded as laying a foundation between Huai and Han, and it is extremely difficult to uproot its forces in a short period of time.

Under such circumstances, if Nanyang could be held and the rebels of Yanhu and Jingbei could be separated, it would become extremely important for the development of the north-south war.

Yue Lengqiu remained in Yuzhang for the time being.

When Lin Jian heard the news that the soldiers and horses in the river had defeated Chen Zhihu on the north bank of the Ru River, he threw the charcoal pen on the map in a rage, and Yue Lengqiu was wearing a green shirt and stood aside.

Lin Lian's anger was ruined, and Yue Lengqiu felt the same way.

Liang Xi was incompetent, and originally thought that Liang Xi's second son, an outstanding figure among the Ten Tigers of Liangmen, should always be able to be above Shuihuai. But such a terrible retreat of the Hezhong Army really can't help but be disappointed by others.

Speaking of retreat, the Jinhai retreat organized by Huaidong is a very successful case.

Although Jinhai City was eventually lost, and more than half of the Tianjin Navy would be killed on the battlefield, in more than half a year, Huaidong successfully withdrew more than 300,000 soldiers and civilians who had fled to Jinhai from the sea route and went south to resettle, which greatly strengthened Huaidong's strength, and it can be said that it was not a beautiful retreat.

Speaking of the remnants of the luxury family crossing the river and fleeing north, Yue Lengqiu will be ashamed for life, but in that situation, the luxury family can still move hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to the north bank in such a short period of time, and they have to admit that the old fox of Luxuryzhuang is extremely powerful.

These two retreats are not particularly extraordinary, the key lies in careful planning and preparation.

Before the retreat of Jinhai, Huaidong operated Jinhai City and Jinwei Island for a long time. Before the war, the Tianjin Navy was fully mobilized, and before the war, the Tianjin Navy was rapidly expanded by more than double its combat strength without losing its combat strength. Lin Xuwen, Huang Jinnian, Gao Zongting, Wu Qi, Ao Canghai, Ma Yigong, Chen Dingbang, Geng Quanshan and other important figures of the Huaidong family all held on to the last moment before retreating. A large number of sea ships and evacuation routes and the preparation of a large number of supplies along the way, including the resettlement of the Tianjin Navy and civilians to the south, Huaidong drew up a careful and detailed plan before the war - without these careful plans and preparations, under the situation of Yanhu's tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, it was impossible for the Tianjin Navy and civilians to retreat so beautifully.

The remnants of the luxury family fled north, and it was also the luxury Wenzhuang who had long recognized that the situation in Jiangxi was difficult to maintain, so he invited the remnants of Chen Hansan to go south into the eastern Hubei region in advance, and laid out the Huanglongling on the north bank as early as possible.

In contrast, the southward retreat of the soldiers and horses in the river appeared chaotic and disorderly, completely unprepared, with no more than 60,000 soldiers and dependents, but the team caused chaos to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people who followed south. And on the small Beiru River, because the number of ferries prepared in advance was insufficient, the crucial three days were wasted in vain.

The soldiers and horses of the palace were too close to the main force of the southern retreat, less than twenty miles apart, but when the soldiers and horses were defeated, the main army and civilians of the southern retreat at the ferry were still mixed together, and the defeat was really not an unimaginable result.

It is said that the defeat of the soldiers and horses in the river will seriously weaken the power of the Queen Mother's family, but the key lies in Nanyang.

If Liang Chengyi can successfully withdraw the soldiers and civilians from Hezhong to Nanyang, it will greatly increase Nanyang's defensive strength.

If Nanyang itself has 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers and horses, it is far away from the fortress and dangerous village to defend, and there are 100,000 soldiers and horses in Huaixi on the east side, in addition, Huaidong's elite in Luzhou can also receive Nanyang at any time through Xinyang and Tongbai Valley Road - even if the Yanhu army gathers 200,000 soldiers and horses in the north of Nanyang, it will not dare to attack Nanyang easily.

The rout of the soldiers and horses in the river made the troops who retreated to Nanyang with Liang Chengyi less than 10,000, plus a large amount of grain and baggage were lost in the north of the Beiru River, so that Chen Zhihu had to go.

On the one hand, the potential defensive strength of Nanyang has been weakened by nearly half, and on the other hand, Chen Zhihu has captured a large amount of supplies left by the Hezhong army on the north bank of the Beiru River, which will greatly accelerate the southward advance of the Yanhu army.

Otherwise, even if Yan Hu successfully captured Guanshan and opened the channel to attack Nanyang in the south, if he wanted 200,000 soldiers and horses to quickly push to the north of Nanyang, even if the materials of Yan Ji, Liaodong and Jindi were sufficient, how could it take two or three months to transport such a huge amount of materials to the Nanyang front.

In the battle situation of the confrontation between the north and the south, Liang Chengyi may be a little insignificant, but at the current delicate moment, the defeat of the soldiers and horses in the river has made the balance tilt greatly in favor of Yanhu, which is definitely not what Lin Tie wants to see.

"Nanyang still has to be guarded!" Gao Zongting said in a hoarse voice.

From the eighth day of the sixth month, I learned that Liang Chengyi abandoned Hezhong Mansion and retreated south, and many people on Yuzhang's side had not received good news for more than ten consecutive days.

"The Cao family has abandoned Chang'an, and the soldiers and horses have withdrawn to the west of Meixian," Fu Qinghe said, "Ye Ji Luorong has crossed Weishui into Chang'an City, and his main force of infantry and cavalry has traveled southeast from Chang'an, and has taken Wuguan to attack the west flank of Nanyang, which is only six or seven hundred miles away. Ye Ji Luorong has not yet sent troops out of Wuguan for the time being, because the Cao family has not completely withdrawn from the upper reaches of Weishui, and there are still 40,000 soldiers and horses in the upper reaches of Weishui to threaten its western flank. Once the Cao family completely withdrew from Guanzhong, Ye Ji Luorong would be able to transfer 100,000 steps from Chang'an to ride out of Wuguanxi to attack Nanyang. At this time, it is still necessary to guard Nanyang, will it be too late? ”

Lin Jian looked up at Yue Lengqiu and asked, "Lord Yue, what do you think?" ”

Now the military and political affairs of Jiangning are decided by Lin Lian, but after all, it is still the power structure of the Privy Council, and Yue Lengqiu stays in Yuzhang as a privy deputy envoy, so he can naturally participate in the military aircraft.

Yue Lengqiu suspected that Lin Lian deliberately left him in Yuzhang, which was intended to make outsiders guess that he Yue Lengqiu had joined Huaidong, increasing the suspicion of the Queen Mother, the Emperor, Yuan Guizheng and others. It's just that although the Chizhou Army has been preserved, Yue Lengqiu himself is alone in Yuzhang, and he can't help himself.

The decision to leave or stay is in Lin Lian's hands, and for the time being, Yue Lengqiu is still struggling.

Yue Lengqiu just wanted Lin Lian to relax his vigilance against him, and treated Lin Lian very respectfully at this time. As long as he can return to the Chizhou army and join Deng Yu and Yue Zhi, Yue Lengqiu knows that he will be able to be considered free by then.

"The Cao family's withdrawal from Guanzhong has a more careful plan than that of the Marquis of Qinyang," Yue Lengqiu said, "Once the Cao family stays in the upper reaches of Weishui, it will also threaten the flank of Chang'an, so that Ye Ji Luorong will occupy Chang'an, and he will not dare to draw troops and horses to go out of Wuguan Nanyang for the time being." Again, in order to ensure that Ye Ji Luorong occupied Chang'an and could not pursue at the tail of the tail, the Cao family's destruction of the Weinan area was relatively complete, and Chang'an also became a ruined city, making it difficult for Ye Ji Luorong to obtain enough grain and grass from both sides of the Weishui River to continue fighting. Third, after the summer in the Qinling Mountains, the weather was very hot, and it was difficult for the Yanhu cavalry, who had lived in the north for a long time, to adapt to the battle. Fourth, Liang Chengchong also had three years to run Nanyang, with the help of Huaidong and Huaixi, the city was strong, and it was suddenly difficult to attack, and Liang Chengyi abandoned the river and the Cao family retreated south, all of which should have been considered by Liang Chengchong in advance, and there should also be a key defense against the enemy soldiers in the direction of Wuguan...... With the above points, I thought that Ye Ji Luorong was unlikely to send a large-scale army from Wuguan to attack Nanyang in a short period of time. ”

Yue Lengqiu was in Yuzhang, and the military information from the north did not hide it from him.

Gao Zongting said: "What Lord Yue said is reasonable, Yanhu has lifted the threat of the western flank, and has to complete the Hezhong Mansion, and send troops from Wuguan, it should be a partial division, and will not gather heavy troops; The main force of its soldiers and horses should be transferred back to the east of Tongguan, from Hezhong, Xingyang, and Daliang to the south, along the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain, and the troops should be in Nanyang and Xinyang, which is more reasonable. To defend Nanyang, we should have two or three months of buffer time. It is also necessary to complain that the soldiers and horses in the river have lost so many supplies to Yanhu, otherwise there will be at least two or three more months. ”