In the ninth year of Chongguan, Donghu broke the pass Kou Yan Ji, and the king of Zhejiang soldiers surrendered the enemy in Shandong, and then besieged Yangxin City, which was firmly defended by Lin. In the battle of Yangxin, the Zhejiang soldiers who surrendered to the enemy were beaten and lost their armor, and about 6,000 Zhejiang soldiers were captured.

More than 6,000 soldiers were resettled in Jinhai after the war, and Hu Jinxiong was among them. When guarding the Jinhai, Hu Jinxiong joined the battalion and made many military exploits, and when he went south with the army, he had already accumulated merit and was promoted to deputy sentinel general.

Over the years, the Huaidong Army has done all kinds of actions to establish a life for the people, and Hu Jinxiong, who was born in a low-level background, has a particularly profound experience. After the Battle of Yongjia, Hu Jinxiong had the opportunity to take up a military position in the local area, and he could be regarded as glorifying his ancestors from now on.

However, like many Zhejiang generals, he believed that the world had not yet reached Jingping, and the armor was not resistant, and Hu Jinxiong resolutely asked to return to the Chongcheng army, where the war was most frequent, and fought in the field with the army, and now he has been promoted to brigade commander.

Chen Yan and Su Pinxiao led the main force to continue to advance along the west of the river, and it was necessary to occupy Huating, the most important pass in the west of Hengfeng County, before the main force of the Zhejiang-Fujian army withdrew. Only in this way can the main force of the Zhejiang-Fujian army be sealed in a narrow area south of Huaiyu Mountain and north of the Xinjiang River.

Although there were 3,500 remnants of the army who abandoned Shangrao City and fled westward, Hu Jinxiong did not divide his troops to chase after him, and the top priority was to take over the city defense of Shangrao, and the main force of the Zhejiang-Fujian army retreating west was likely to counterattack violently afterwards.

Hu Jinxiong led his troops into the city, and first met with Yang Biao, a spy who was sent by the Military Intelligence Department and infiltrated the Shangrao private camp with Minzhuang.

Hu Jinxiong appointed the security committee in the city to Yang Biao and others, and he sent 3,000 soldiers to the head of the city to defend, and Chen Yan also left more than a dozen bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows for him, and also moved them to the head of the city to strengthen the defense.

In the afternoon, about three hours after Chen Yan's main raid left Shangrao City, two more Jiyun-class warships sailed from upstream, raising flags above the high masts, asking to anchor and land in Shangrao.

Hu Jinxiong was strange in his heart, as a brigade commander-level general, he clearly knew that in addition to the raid fleet led by Chen Yan and Su Pinxiao, there were only three Jiyun-class warships left in Guanxiling.

If it weren't for escorting important figures, the Guanxiling battalion would not have used two Jiyun-class warships to escort them, and then a herald came ashore first, but Gao Zongting rushed over from the Guanxiling battalion.

Hu Jinxiong and Yang Biao went out of the city to greet them, but when they saw Gao Zongting leading more than 300 soldiers to land, they immediately ordered the two warships to return - almost all the newly built warships in Guanxiling were taken away by Chen Yan, and now the camp is also short of warships in the upper reaches of Shanxi.

"Lord Gao came here in person, does the battalion want to adjust the battle plan that was previously drafted?" Hu Jinxiong asked suspiciously.

"It's not that there is any adjustment," Gao Zongting said, "The battalion originally drew up a battle plan, and it was not able to accurately judge the scale of the Zhejiang-Fujian army near Shangrao, so it did not force the raid on the soldiers and horses to take Shangrao City." However, after General Chen Yan led you to set off, the scouts who infiltrated the opposite bank of Shangrao to reconnoiter returned to Guanxiling after the sunset, and the battalion accurately knew the distribution of the main force of the rebel army on the eastern front along the Xinjiang River, and speculated that Shangrao should have empty troops! ”

"Indeed, it was almost when we left Shanxi that we received a secret letter from Shangrao," Hu Jinxiong said, "Fortunately, Captain Yang and they were in the city to persuade the people to riot and scare the defenders away, but they told us to take advantage of Shangrao City without a single soldier." ”

"......" Gao Zongting nodded, on the way to Shangrao, he met the letter ship sent back by Chen Biao, knew the details here, and nodded to Yang Biao, he was extremely satisfied with Yang Biao's work in Shangrao, and said to Hu Jinxiong, "The big camp speculates that Shangrao will play an important role in the next war, and can defend the palace, I am afraid that General Chen Biao is good at fighting fierce battles, and has no intention of defending the war, so my lord specially asked me to chase after him." Then he took out a letter of order from his sleeve and said, "This is a warrant from your lordship, and your department will be dispatched by me for the time being." ”

Hu Jinxiong read the warrant and said, "Please instruct Lord Gao!" ”

Gao Zongting is the secretary of the Privy Council, and he is also in charge of the right division of the Military Intelligence Department, so it can be said that the privy envoy in the Privy Council has a status far above Hu Jinxiong and other generals. However, Lin Jian implemented the division of civil and military rule in the Privy Council, and Gao Zongting did not have a general, and Lin Jian was temporarily appointed to lead the army.

Gao Zongting didn't have time to take a sip of tea, and went directly into the city with Hu Jinxiong, Yang Biao and other generals, and said as he walked: "How long has General Chen Yan been moving west, can there be any news back?" What are the movements of the Wang Hui Department of the Zhejiang Fujian Army in Qingxi? ”

"It has been three hours since Chen Zhijun led his troops westward, and they have crossed Qingxi to continue westward, and there is no letter ship to send back for the time being," Hu Jinxiong said, "The enemy of Qingxi was believed a moment earlier, and soon after he pulled out the camp, he will shrink to Qingxi Village forever, and there is no sign of large-scale troops by this time......

Qingxi is a Linjiang town port 30 miles west of Shangrao City, where Wang Hui led about 6,000 soldiers and horses last night.

Wang Hui was originally a general who would be inspected, and when the soldiers of the two Zhejiang counties were defeated, Wang Hui led his troops to sacrifice the city and reduce luxury.

In other words, if he learned that the Huaidong soldiers and horses were attacking from the waterway, he might have been able to rush back by land to seize Shangrao, but Wang Hui did not have the courage to lead his troops back to Qingxi, which was a normal move......

Gao Zongting listened to Hu Jinxiong's report on the situation in Shangrao, and said: "General Chen Yan led his troops to let go of Wang Hui's department in Qingxi, and he didn't delay a little time along the west of the river, and no matter how late he was, he could arrive at Hengfeng Huating at the same time as Deng Yu, a veteran general in eastern Fujian. This also means that the main forces of the rebels on the eastern front will be intercepted in the narrow area east of Huating and west of Shangrao......"

"Is it really wrapping up this time?" Hu Jinxiong, Yang Biao and other generals were overjoyed, how could they not be excited if they could annihilate the 30,000 soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang and Fujian army at once?

"It's not that simple," Gao Zongting said with a smile, "First of all, we must defend Shangrao, and we must immediately organize the people in the city, so that they can be transferred to the city head at any time to assist in defense." In addition, it is to select trustworthy people who are familiar with the place, and immediately transmit back to the place the news that the Zhejiang-Fujian army has been defeated, the Huaidong army has taken control of Xinjiang, and the main force is about to advance westward. They were asked to inform the villages and villages on both sides of the Xinjiang River at the northern foot of Wuyi Mountain and the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain that they should be closed from now on. If you can't form a village to protect yourself, you need to abandon the village and destroy grain to avoid the mountains. We don't want the villages and villages to be able to kill the enemy, but we must not support the enemy with grain, otherwise we will be punished by the enemy after the war! If there is surplus ordnance and food in the city, they can be taken away to increase the defense of the villages and villages. ”

Shangrao is the center of gravity of the entire upper Xinjiang River valley, and it is also the center of gravity of the Zhejiang-Fujian army to operate the eastern front defense base.

The materials transferred by the luxury family from the hinterland of Jiangxi were all transferred from Shangrao to Hengshan, Changshan and other peripheral fortifications. In addition to the fortification of the city, Shangrao City also accumulated a large amount of grain and ordnance materials, which were originally planned to be consumed by the retreat of the troops led by the Flying Bear.

Once Chen Yan led the main force of the First Town Division of the Chongcheng Army to successfully land at Huating and blocked the westward escape of the main force of the eastern front of the Zhejiang-Fujian Army, in addition to breaking through the encirclement with all its might, the Zhejiang-Fujian Army also had a great possibility of recapturing Shangrao City and waiting for reinforcements.

Not counting the soldiers and horses of the extravagant bear on the south bank, now in the valley on the north bank of the Xinjiang River west of Shangrao and east of Hengfeng, there are almost more than 30,000 generals of the Zhejiang-Fujian army, and 30,000 or 40,000 people with the army and civilians - if the main force of the Zhejiang-Fujian army is annihilated, even if the extravagant bear on the south bank is called to flee south, the overall situation of Jiangxi can be determined.

If the main force of the eastern front of the Zhejiang-Fujian army can neither rush through Huating to the west to break through, nor recapture Shangrao City to hold on to help, there is another possibility, that is, disperse from the mountains at the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain to the north to break through to Fuliang.

The entire upper valley of the Xinjiang River is sandwiched between the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain and the northern foot of Wuyi Mountain. The mountains on the two wings are about three or four hundred zhang high to seven or eight hundred zhang.

The ridge is high and the forest is deep, and it is difficult to allow a large group of soldiers and horses to pass through, but there are also many forest roads and wild paths, which are easy for small groups of soldiers and horses to escape. The most precipitous section of the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain between Shangrao and Fuliang is close to the north of Shangrao, and the mountain range runs east-west, about thirty or fifty miles deep. Although it is steep, as long as you can climb over the deep mountains and old forests of thirty or fifty miles, and enter the territory of Fuliang, it will be much easier.

Now the villages scattered in the depths of the mountains at the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain are precisely the key points for the Zhejiang and Fujian armies to disperse and retreat northward. Gao Zongting rushed over, in addition to personally taking charge of the defense of Shangrao City, there was also a point to make the net more dense, so that it would be difficult for small fish and shrimp to leak through.

Most of the people requisitioned by the Zhejiang-Fujian army were local farmers.

Almost every village between the north and south mountains has almost half of Ding Zhuang forcibly requisitioned. In addition to the heavy labor they endured every day, their food was less than 30% of that of ordinary soldiers, and countless people died of hunger and disease, which made them hate luxury families to the core. Even if they were strongly suppressed by the Zhejiang and Fujian army, there were not a few people who were secretly instigated by Yang Biao to participate in the riot and respond to the Huaidong army's attack on Shangrao.

Yang Biao was ordered to gather all these people, give them money, food, and ordnance, and tell them to take their ordnance and return to the depths of Huaiyu Mountain in groups, and ask them to go back to the village to organize more people to close the gate of the village and strictly guard it, so as to completely blockade the North and South Lingshan Mountains and prevent the scattered and fleeing of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies.

Yang Biao infiltrated Shangrao for half a year, he was a local in Shangrao, and he was most familiar with the local situation.

Through Yang Biao's organization, before dusk, more than 5,000 people and more than 80 teams returned to the mountains at the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain with a small amount of ordnance.

Under the sunset, looking at the forced march of the Extravagant Flying Bear on the south bank on the rugged road along the river, Gao Zongting stood at the head of the city thoughtfully, and immediately took a pen and handed a letter to Hu Jinxiong, saying: "Quickly send a fast boat to send this letter to the camp of Guanxiling!" ”

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Deng Yu also knew about the Huaidong Army's attack by water just after noon, when he was leading his troops to stop at Hengfeng County, about 30 miles away from the flower pavilion west of Hengfeng.

The Huaidong Army dug a lake in the upper reaches of Shanxi to release water, and also formed two large flood peaks in the Xinjiang River. From Hengfeng to the west, Huaiyu Mountain in the north and Wuyi Mountain in the south are pressed in the middle, making this section of the Xinjiang River waterway particularly narrow.

The flood peak crossed, and it was particularly turbulent in the territory of Hengfeng. There is a river embankment in the west of Hengfeng County that failed to withstand the impact and was washed away by the flood, and the official road along the river on the north bank was almost three or four miles broken by the flood.

Deng Yu led his troops to go faster, but at this time he had to pause and force the people who retreated west with the army to repair the post road overnight. It was also almost before noon that the post road in the west of Hengfeng City that was washed away by the flood for three or four miles was repaired.

Deng Yu was also shocked when he learned that the Huaidong Army was coming by water.

The main force of the Huaidong Army's rushing soldiers and horses let go of the broken soldiers and horses of the extravagant flying bear, the Wang Hui department of Qingxi did not fight, and the troops and horses of Changshan and Litang between Qingxi and Hengxi did not fight, and continued to advance along the west of the river, and its intention was self-evident - Deng Yu knew that the Huaidong Army had great ambitions, that is, it wanted to occupy Huating one step ahead and encircle and annihilate the main force of the eastern front of the Zhejiang-Fujian Army in the Xinjiang River valley east of Huating.

The terrain north of the Xinjiang River and south of the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain is relatively open and easy, and the valley on the north bank is about ten to twenty or thirty miles wide. In these open terrains, Deng Yu gathered the main force of the Eastern Front to get more than 30,000 troops, so that he was not afraid of the sudden attack of the Huaidong Army, and more than 10,000 people crossed the road.

However, after passing Hengfeng City, Yumailing Mountain at the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain seems to be crossing, approaching the river bank to the south, and Hengfeng County is also named after it.

This kind of topographic change makes the terrain along the north and south rivers rugged and steep after the Xinjiang River crosses the Hengfeng, forming an obvious bottleneck terrain.

The flower pavilion is located at the west end of the bottleneck of Hengfeng, which is the most precipitous place on the north bank of the Xinjiang River and the west of Hengfeng, but after crossing the flower pavilion, the terrain is abruptly and easily. To the west of Huating, there is also Huating Creek flowing out from the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain and flowing into the Xinjiang River. Crossing the Huating Creek, that is, the territory of Guixi County, along the Huating Valley Road to the north, you can enter the territory of Fuliang Leping County......

Huating is not only a land pass, because the mountains on both sides of Huating are persecuted to the Xinjiang River, making both sides of the Huating River Road steep at the same time, the river road is also extremely narrow.

The north and south cliff mountains of the Huating section of the Xinjiang River are only 300 steps away from each other, and the Huating Gorge is actually the pass of the Xinjiang waterway.

Once the Huaidong Army was called to land and gain a foothold in Huating, the stone-throwing crossbow erected on the cliff could block the entire Huating Gorge. In this way, the Huaidong Army was able to close the entire Xinjiang waterway with a small number of elite naval forces.

Although the Zhejiang-Fujian naval army in Shangrao was unexpectedly destroyed, and the Huaidong army unexpectedly built nearly 100 warships in the upper reaches of Shanxi, the Zhejiang-Fujian army still had a total of more than 25,000 naval forces in Jiangzhou and Yuzhang.

Although it took about ten days and half a month for the Jiangzhou Navy to come to the aid through Poyang Lake, the main force of the eastern front of the Zhejiang-Fujian Army was besieged in the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River, and it was not a problem to stay in the vicinity of the fortress, and there was a shortage of grain and grass, so it was not a problem to hold on for ten days and half a month to wait for reinforcements.

The most frightening thing is that the Jiangzhou naval army will come to help, but it will not be able to attack Huating Gorge from the downstream and enter the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River to respond, and the breakthrough will become far away.

Not only did the Huaidong Army know the importance of the Flower Pavilion, including Deng Yu, but also many generals of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army also understood the importance of the Flower Pavilion - the gains and losses of the Flower Pavilion are related to whether the soldiers and horses of the entire Eastern Front can escape the fate of the disaster.

Deng Yu learned that the Huaidong army was attacking from the waterway, regardless of 3721, that is, he combined more than 12,000 troops with the soldiers and horses withdrawn from Changshan, and pulled out the camp and rushed to the direction of Huating......

Deng Yu went first for two days, but the Huaidong warship came down from Shanxi and went down the river at a very fast speed.

Although there was a delay of two hours in the attack on Shangrao, Chen Yan and Su Pinxiao still led their troops to arrive at the Huating River section before dusk. At this time, about 10,000 soldiers and horses of Deng Yu's department of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army were rushing to the north bank of the long snake, and the soldiers and horses at the forefront had run to the foot of the western foot of Huating Mountain.

"How?" Su Pin filial piety asked Chen Zhen.

Su Pinxiao and Chen Yan are both in the army, but Su Pinxiao is a general of the navy, and this attack must be based on the Chongcheng army's landing and fighting, so Lin Tie personally ordered Chen Yan to be the main general.

"General Su, you lead the water battalion warship to continue walking, enter the Huating Creek, and tell the enemy soldiers not to cross the ridge to the west bank of the Huating Creek to form a formation. I landed behind their tail strands, and crossed to the west bank of Huating Creek to join General Su. If the battle goes well, maybe we can draw troops to the south bank to intercept the extravagant bear! Chen Yan said.