Liu Tingzhou went south from Shouzhou and wanted to see Cao Ziang through Luzhou, but Chen Huawen, the prefect of Luzhou, told Liu Tingzhou that Cao Ziang had asked Lin Lian to summon Qichun.

Liu Tingzhou did not delay in Luzhou, and rushed to Qichun through Lujiang, Yicheng, Zongyang, Huangmei and other cities.

When Liu Tingzhou arrived in Qichun, Lin Jian had already gone to Huangzhou with the army, and he only saw Yue Lengqiu in Qichun who stayed in Qichun to supervise the Chizhou army to fight. Yue Lengqiu and Lin Jian formed a resolution to divide their troops into two routes and attack the enemy's eastern Hubei defense line, and from Qichun to the northwest to attack the rebel general Chen Hansan's department, which became the responsibility of the Chizhou army.

Qichun has now become the camp of the Chizhou army to attack Fengshan, Yue Lengqiu personally sat in Qichun City, Deng Yu was also in Qichun City temporarily, Yue Zhi led 8,000 soldiers and horses, has crossed the Qishui River into Xima, Ceshan and other places, the soldiers have penetrated into the east bank of the Xishui River, surrounding the Xishui River, and Chen Hansan's soldiers and horses in the periphery are entangled and killed, fighting for control of the upper reaches of the Xishui River.

Even if Chen Hansan retreated to Fengshan and Bailian River, it would be impossible to easily give up control of the upper reaches of the peripheral Xishui, especially the area on the west bank, if he could effectively restrict the main force of the Chizhou Army from entering the west bank of Xishui on a large scale, he would be able to avoid direct attacks on Fengshan and Bailian River.

Even if it is to delay the opportunity, it is necessary to compete for the outer areas.

Obviously, from the upstream direction of the west bank of the Xishui River, the road was destroyed, and there was no bridge in front of the river, so the advance troops and horses could not enter quickly, and the enemy generals could not be expelled from this area, and the bridges and roads could not be quickly paved, and it was difficult for the main force of soldiers and horses to come up and directly encircle the enemy village.

"How strong is Chongguo Gong's determination to fight Yan Yu in Jingxiang?" Standing at the head of Qichun City, Liu Tingzhou saw that there were no other unrelated people except Deng Yu on the left and right, and asked Yue Lengqiu in a suppressed voice.

Although Yue Lengqiu's judgment was wrong in the Nanyang incident, this time the Chizhou army was involved, and Liu Tingzhou was still willing to listen to Yue Lengqiu's judgment.

"After the defeat of Zongyang, although the Chizhou army entered eastern Hubei to confront the rebel general Chen Hansan, it was only in Huangmei and Zongyang to rest to replenish their vitality, because Huangmei and Jiangzhou were dependent on each other across the river, and they were not afraid that Chen Hansan and the luxury family dared to come to attack," Yue Lengqiu said, "Although I have to recuperate, it is only three months, which is only enough for the general to recuperate." Tingzhou, look at the Zhaiqiao dock ships around Qichun, is what the Chizhou army can do at this time? ”

Qichun is still far away from the river bank, there are more than 20 miles away from the river beach, but it is built near the Qishui River, and the east of the city is the hill and long ridge of the southwest foot of Anhui Mountain (Huaishan South Vein). Although when Chen Hansan withdrew, he set fire to Qichun City, but to attack Fengshan from Qichun, there was no more suitable place as the rear camp of the soldiers and horses on the Eastern Front.

At present, after removing the obstacles such as shipwrecks and wooden piles in the Qishui River, the boats in the Yangtze River can directly enter the Qishui River waterway. On the inland river wharf outside the west city of Qichun, Liu Tingzhou and Yue Lengqiu could see with the naked eye standing at the head of the city, dozens of common warehouse boats on the Yangtze River were parked there, and thousands of laborers were busy unloading materials from the ships.

Liu Tingzhou did not know the specific situation of Deng Yu and Yue Zhi leading their troops into Xima, Ceshan and other places, but in front of him, in addition to hundreds of craftsmen repairing the ruined city at the head of Qichun City, on the west bank of the Qishui River, in the two key places of Huashan and Harrier Eagle Ridge, you can see that two camps have stood between the forests and mountains, and jointly control the lower reaches of the Qishui River with Qichun City.

On the other side of the Qishui River, there are several simple sheds with smoke pillars in the air, and then look at the river beach near the bank, there are piles of black coal and stones, and it seems that the other side of the river is firing kilns to make bricks.

"Is the river a brick city built on the cliff?" Liu Tingzhou asked.

"Build the fence camp first, and then repair the brick ......wall," Yue Lengqiu said.

Liu Tingzhou, like Yue Lengqiu, is also very familiar with military affairs.

Logging is a fence, according to the danger of mountains and rivers to build a fence camp, it only takes three or five days, burning bricks to build a wall, it is a big project, and it is not a prison can be completed, but the degree of solidity is far from being comparable to the fence camp.

After the defeat in Zongyang, although Lin Lian did not cut off the Chizhou army, the money and grain he gave to the Chizhou army was sharply reduced to 600,000 taels per year - Yue Lengqiu's words were very clear, with the money and grain directly allocated by the Chizhou army from the household department, after the defeat in Zongyang, it was not enough to rest and recuperate, and there was no ability to build a defense system on such a large scale in Qichun while Deng Yu and Yue Zhi led the front troops and horses to cross the Qishui River and enter the front line of Fengshan.

The way of offense and defense, attacking and hiding and defending, and defending and attacking.

No matter how well Deng Yu and Yue Zhi fought in the front, the defense of the large battalion must be solid and steady; In this way, even if Deng Yu, Yue Zhi and other vanguard soldiers and horses were frustrated, they could quickly retreat and recuperate, and then continue to attack in the direction of Fengshan after they were cleaned up, instead of pinning all their hopes on an attack.

The defeat of Zongyang, lured by the luxury of Wenzhuang, Yue Lengqiu sent his son Yue Duming to lead the army to attack Huanglongling was too hasty, which was naturally the main reason, but the camp of Xiaocang Mountain was too thin, and after Yue Duming was defeated in the field battle, Yue Lengqiu could not defend according to the camp of Xiaocang Mountain, which was the main reason why the casualties were difficult to control. If Yue Duming had been defeated in the attack on Huanglongling at that time, and Yue Lengqiu had been able to hold Xiaocang Mountain, he would at least have ensured that the rout of most of the troops would not be covered by Chen Hansan and the luxury family.

The same is true of the Eastern Hubei Defense Line, which is currently fighting the enemy.

Thinking about defeat before victory is the most basic requirement for a general to lead a soldier.

No matter how weak the enemy's troops and horses were on the defense line in eastern Hubei at this time, whether it was the Chizhou Army or the elite Huaidong Army, which was the first in the world, before the battle began, they were not completely sure that they could capture Hanjin, Huangpi, Tieshanmen and Fengshan and other places in one go, and open the gap in the enemy's flank in eastern Hubei.

At the same time as attacking, we must think about how to deal with the unfavorable situation of attack.

Again, at present, it is judged that the main direction of Yanhu's attack is Jingzhou, so the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army gathered nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses to cross the river to the north bank and attack the enemy's eastern Hubei defense line, making every effort to contain Yanhu's flank, and unable to do their best to attack Jingzhou. If the main force of Yanhu abandoned Jingzhou and did not attack, and came straight to eastern Hubei from the east bank of the Han River, would the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army on the north bank of the Yangtze River advance or retreat?

In fact, at this time, a large number of captive cavalry entered the vicinity of Shicheng at the western foot of Dahong Mountain along the east bank of the Han River - the captive cavalry entered Shicheng (located in the upper reaches of the Han River, northwest of Hankou, Wuhan, now Zhongxiang), and could cross the Jingmen north of Jingzhou from Shicheng, or directly insert into eastern Hubei and cooperate with Yang Xiong, Sun Jichang, Zhong Rong, Chen Hansan and other enemy troops in the eastern Hubei defense line to attack the soldiers and horses of Huaidong and Chizhou troops who crossed the river in advance.

At this time, the soldiers and horses of the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army who crossed the river in advance could no longer be anxious to consider expanding, but should consider shrinking, so as not to suffer a big loss from the Yanyu cavalry in the hilly areas south of the Insertion Army Mountain and Qishan Mountain.

At this time, along the north bank of the Yangtze River, with the two cities of Qichun and Huangzhou as the core, quickly build a defensive fortress with multiple fortresses - if the main force of Yanlu is really attracted to eastern Hubei, then the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army will shrink into the fortresses along the Yangtze River, with their backs to the Yangtze River, and consume Yanlu's soldiers and horses and combat spirit. If Yanlu's plan to attack Jingzhou remained unchanged, then the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army could rely on the fortresses along the river to attack the enemy's eastern Hubei defense line to save the possibility of penetrating its flank and relieve the siege of Jingzhou.

Even if Jingzhou is unfortunately lost, it will be relatively easy for the Huaidong Army and Chizhou to rely on the fortresses along the river and finally withdraw from the north bank.

Only in this way can the Huaidong Army and the Chizhou Army grasp the initiative in the Battle of Jingxiang a little and not fall into complete passivity.

Of course, in order to gain such initiative, it means a huge investment of human and material resources......

Without the Huaidong Army, relying only on the annual allocation of 600,000 taels to the Chizhou Army from the Ministry of Households, how could Yue Lengqiu build two strong fortresses together on the west bank of Qishui while repairing the remnants of Qichun?

At this time, a civil official in a green robe came to the city, and there was a big spot on the right side of his face, and his appearance was ugly, and he was very familiar with it, and Liu Tingzhou couldn't remember who it was for a while.

Yue Lengqiu introduced: "Tingzhou, this is Zhu Ai, the left lieutenant of the Privy Council, who was ordered by the privy envoy to know Qichun and lead 5,000 soldiers into Qichun, and this Zhaiqiao dock ship and other matters are ...... by Lord Zhu."

"Oh, I said how familiar it sounds?" Liu Tingzhou remembered who Zhu Ai was, but he didn't expect that the cowherd in the early years was now appointed as Qi Chunling by Lin Lian.

Although Liu Tingzhou failed to promote him as an official in the end, after all, he was the one who initially affirmed his talent, and Zhu Ai was also very kind to Liu Tingzhou.

"Zhu Ai meets Lord Yue, Lord Liu, and General Deng!" Zhu Ai came over to salute Yue Lengqiu, Liu Tingzhou, and Deng Yue.

"Lord Zhu is polite." Liu Tingzhou replied, thinking that Lin Jian had made Zhu Ai lead 5,000 troops into Qichun, and invested a lot of materials in Qichun to help the Chizhou army quickly build up the rear fortifications.

Lin Jian invested a lot of resources in Luzhou at the beginning, with the intention of preventing Dong Yuan, but also with Shouzhou's lips and teeth, resisting the intention of the main force of Yanyu's soldiers and horses to enter Huaixi.

Although in Qichun, most of Liu Tingzhou's worries disappeared, but since he came over, he couldn't even see Lin Lian, so he went back to Shouzhou - how to contain Yanyu's soldiers and horses on the northern line, and whether Huaidong's Ning Zechen's troops should go west along the Huai River, these key issues must be discussed with Lin Tie in person.

Yue Lengqiu also happened to take a trip to Huangzhou.

Huangzhou is located north on the west side of Qichun, opposite the city of Ezhou across the river, and geographically, Huangzhou also happens to protect Qichun's flanks - relatively speaking, the Chizhou army is responsible for sending troops from Qichun to attack Fengshan, and the military pressure is much less than that of the Huaidong army.

Yue Lengqiu left Qichun, and Deng Yu stayed to preside over the military and politics, and there would be no big problem.

Because the west bank of the Xishui River was not safe enough, after Yanlu captured Wuguan, its main cavalry did not come, but a large number of war horses were transferred to Chen Hansan's department, which nearly doubled the cavalry controlled by Chen Hansan, making its ability to move in hilly areas enhanced.

In the early days of the Huaidong Water Battalion, it had to transport people and necessary materials to the north bank first, and the cavalry and a large number of war horses were a little sluggish, so that in a short period of time, the ability to penetrate the buffer zone was not as good as the enemy's.

Yue Lengqiu accompanied Liu Tingzhou to Huangzhou, but it was not safe to take the land route, so he could only take a boat to Huangzhou.

From Qichun to the boat and the Qishui River into the Yangtze River, Liu Tingzhou found that the Yangtze River was almost covered by thousands of boats. On the river, in addition to the warships and troop carriers of the Huaidong Water Camp, as well as the merchant ships with huge hulls that were temporarily requisitioned, there were also a large number of small fishing boats such as galleys and canopy boats, and some of them still had uncollected fishing nets hanging on their bows.

Liu Tingzhou looked puzzled, what did the fishermen do when they went to Huangzhou?

Seeing Liu Tingzhou's doubts, Yue Lengqiu said: "Tingzhou came all the way from Shouzhou, some of the latest situation is not clear, the privy envoy invited me to sign the decree with Zuo Xiang before leaving Qichun: the people of Jianghuai, those who cross the river on their own and go to the country with the army, and those who accumulate merit will be awarded 30 acres of land without an owner, and they will be forever; Those who move with them but have no merit, two years later, one or two silver and one acre of land are allowed to buy Yongye field, with a limit of 30 acres of land! In addition, the privy envoy also signed an order to recruit Confucian students to join the battalion to participate in the war, and they can be supplemented by accumulating merit, or serving in the battalion for two years, or they can be supplemented by officials......"

Hearing this, Liu Tingzhou was stunned for a moment.

The Jingxiang Rebellion has been going on for many years, and it has been crippled everywhere. After the recovery, Jingxiang's ownerless fields will be countless, and the reclamation of barren tuntian will be a headache - at this time, the order to grant land can only be used to recruit soldiers and civilians to assist in the war.

However, when recruiting Confucian students into the camp, things are not so simple.

After Emperor Yongxing ascended the throne in Jiangning, the imperial examination was forced to suspend due to war, cutting off the way for Confucian scholars to enter the world.

Now Jiangxi, Eastern Fujian, Liangzhejiang, Xiangtan, Guangnan and other places have been calmed down one after another, no matter how the battle of Jingxiang was fought, as long as the Yangtze River can be held, the resumption of scientific research is also the general trend.

Lin Tie recruited Confucian students into the camp, some Confucian students will be disdainful, but some Confucian students, especially some young Confucian students, are angry about the slaughter of Nanyang.