It was only July, and the long-awaited war of the world did not break out after all......

The seventh day of the seventh month of July is the begging festival, Lin Jian stood at the head of Huiji City, scouted and rode out, bringing back the news that the extravagant flying bear led the troops to withdraw from Xiaoshan in a big way......

"The enemy army is withdrawing from Zhitang, and our front army has entered Zhitang and taken over the defense village, and there is nothing abnormal. Deputy Commander Tang has sent a large number of reconnaissance cavalry to Xiaoshan, when will the main force enter the country, still waiting for the approval of the adults? "Tang Fuguan led the elite of the strikers to pressure Xiaoshan, and after taking over Zhitang, he sent someone back to ask Lin Jian for instructions on the next move.

Zhitang is one of the water sources of Jinghu Lake, located at the northern foot of Daxiang Mountain, is the northwest of Huiji County into Xiaoshan's Guanjin land, Zhejiang-Fujian army gave up Zhitang, which means that the luxury flying bear gave up Xiaoshan is true, not a suspicious strategy.

"Tang Fuguan sent a small group of elites to infiltrate and reconnoitre, and the main force was stationed in Zhitang, waiting to see what happened, and to prevent the enemy from returning the carbines......" Lin Jian ordered loudly, listening to the herald repeat his password, waved him to leave, and rushed to Zhitang to give the order to Tang Fuguan.

"This battle was not successful in the end," Gao Zongting sighed lightly and said, "The luxury family is going to delay the opportunity to win or lose until after Yanhu breaks through the Hehuai defense line!" ”

Lin Jian let out a long sigh of regret, of course, he hoped that the situation on the southern front could be completely decided in a battle, so that he could draw troops and horses from the southern front to make up for Huaisi, so as to meet the impact of Yanhu Bu cavalry like a stormy wave, but it was impossible for everything to be just right - the luxury family would rather give up Xiaoshan and Shanyin after losing Huiji, and avoid attrition with the Huaidong army at close range, Lin Jian would have done everything he could, and there was nothing he could do.

"Zong Ting, with your familiarity with the people of Zhejiang and Fujian, if the Zhejiang and Fujian army can give up Xiaoshan and Shanyin with their wrists, could it be that Luwenzhuang has directly interfered in the war here?" Fu Qinghe asked Gao Zongting.

Although the defenders of Shanyin have not moved, it is obvious that after the luxury flying bear abandoned Xiaoshan in the north, the Zhejiang-Fujian army could not defend Shanyin County, which is only separated from Huiji County by Jinghu.

Either keep it all, or keep it. With the momentum of the Hao brothers gathering troops to Shanyin and Xiaoshan before, it is hard to imagine that they can give up Shanyin and Xiaoshan so decisively.

"Maybe Haowenzhuang is already hiding in Shanyin or Xiaoshan, presiding over all this behind the scenes!" Gao Zongting's guess was more direct than Fu Qinghe's, and said, "Taking retreat as advance is his usual trick!" ”

Lin Jian frowned and said, "This is an old fox!" He could expect that the Zhejiang-Fujian army would not dare to storm and recapture Huiji, but he did not expect that the Zhejiang-Fujian army would give up Shanyin and Xiaoshan so decisively......

Shanyin, Xiaoshan and Huiji terrain are connected, which is a relatively complete plain terrain surrounded by mountains and rivers such as Huiji Mountain, Puyang River, Qianjiang River, Cao'e River and so on-Zhejiang-Fujian army If the Zhejiang-Fujian army wants to defend Shanyin and Xiaoshan, its defensive camp will inevitably be wrong with Huaidong's dogs.

Such a state of defense is extremely difficult for both the enemy and us.

Lin Jian also wanted Huaidong to grit his teeth and use such a stagnation that was not conducive to defense on both sides to quickly squeeze out the military potential of the luxury family in Zhejiang County, so that after winter, Huaidong could draw some troops from the southern front to support Huaisi.

The Zhejiang-Fujian army gave up Shanyin and Xiaoshan so decisively, so that Lin Bin's wishful thinking fell into nothing.

Since the Zhejiang-Fujian army abandoned Shanyin and Xiaoshan and left, the Huaidong Army could not help but take over, otherwise it would chill the hearts of the local forces, but the Huaidong Army was recovering Shanyin and Xiaoshan counties, and the defense line would be stretched longer and the strength would be diluted.

"No matter how refined the abacus is, to retreat as advance, want to drag the main force of our army in eastern Zhejiang can not be withdrawn, and finally when the Yanhu cavalry pierced the Hehuai defense line and directly threatened the hinterland of Huaidong, the main force of our army had to go north to reinforce, and the Zhejiang-Fujian army could get the opportunity to fight a counterattack," Gao Zongting said with a smile, "But no matter how good he is, he didn't expect that Huaidong has invested so many resources in Huaiyang Military Town in the past year or so......"

Huaiyang Town has been greatly strengthened, with 30,000 soldiers and 40,000 soldiers deployed on the Huaisi defense line - at least it can ensure that after the collapse of the Hehuai defense line, Yanhu infantry cavalry will not have the possibility of continuously stabbing through the Huaisi defense line, and it will be able to buy Huaidong an extra year. This makes the retreat of the luxury family not successful, at least on the Eastern Front.

"Alas, let's keep the eastern front first, and it would be best if we could move the troubled waters westward." Lin Jian smiled bitterly.

Although the luxury family still has a total of 1780,000 soldiers and horses in various parts of Zhejiang and Fujian, although they are trapped in a lack of resources, the longer the time drags on, the weaker they will be, but there will be a dying struggle, and it will be tragic - Lin Jian does not want the Huaidong army to suffer the dying blow of the luxury family.

As long as it can ensure that there are no leaks on the eastern front, it can force the luxury family to look for opportunities from the western front - Lin Jian fought this idea.

"To the south, the luxury family should retreat to Zhuji on all fronts," Gao Zongting resisted the wind and asked the guards to spread the map on the battlement wall, "No matter how much it costs, we must at least control Lizhu, otherwise the defensive situation in Sanyin will be too ugly......"

Zhuji is backed by Dongyang County, the east side is Huiji Mountain, the west side is Longmen Mountain, is the relatively narrow terrain of the Puyang River valley basin, the Puyang River passes through the border, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Dongyang County, the center of defense of Zhuji and the Zhejiang-Fujian army on the eastern front, is only 100 miles apart, and the topography of the river valley basin makes the roads between Zhuji, Pujiang and Dongyang counties open, and most areas are connected by waterways, so that it is difficult for the Huaidong Army to attack a place alone if it does not occupy an absolute superiority in strength in Shengzhou and Shanyin.

The Zhejiang-Fujian army retreated to Zhuji, and the three counties of Shanyin, Huiji, and Xiaoshan all had a condescending use of troops.

The Zhejiang-Fujian army shrinks the defense line, which can save a lot of expenses, and the Huaidong army seems to have two more places, but the defense line is elongated, and the terrain is at a disadvantage, and there will be a large number of troops trapped in Huiji, and they cannot be pumped out.

The Lizhu pointed out by Gao Zongting on the map is the lake of Mirror Lake, located in the hills of the southwest of Shanyin County, and is also a key pass from Zhuji to Sanyin. If the Huaidong Army can capture Lizhu, the situation in defending the counties of Shanyin will be slightly better.

Lin Jian had thoroughly studied the map around Huiji, and he didn't need to look at the map to know where Gao Zongting was pointing, he looked down at the city brick wall laid under his feet, and said, "If I can, I would rather return Xiaoshan to Hangzhou......"

Extravagant Fei Xiong led his troops to withdraw from Xiaoshan, and returned to Fuyang in the west, and there was a Longmen Mountain Ridge between Fuyang and Xiaoshan, which still caused the Huaidong Army to send troops from Xiaoshan to fight Fuyang, and the Zhejiang-Fujian Army sent troops from Fuyang to fight Xiaoshan-Xiaoshan used to belong to Hangzhou Prefecture, and Xiaoshan was returned to Hangzhou Mansion, which was expected to be resisted by the Hanghu Army alone to resist the Zhejiang-Fujian army assembled in Fuyang and other places.

"I'm afraid that Meng Yishan and Meng Xinshi don't have the courage to accept it!" Fu Qinghe said, "If the extravagant flying bear retreats to Fuyang, there will be as many as 60,000 soldiers and horses in Fuyang and Linshui. Even if they want to take Xiao Shan over, can you really rest assured? ”

Lin Jian sighed, shook his head, and said: "On the eastern front, I was afraid that Hanghu would be in trouble, and I had to take the initiative to take some responsibility - Hanghu was going to let the luxury family break through, and it would also make Huaidong ugly!" ”

Although the total number of soldiers and horses pressed by the Huaidong Army on the southern front exceeded 80,000, because the defense line to be defended now was too long and the troops were scattered, it was difficult to have any sharp offensive against the luxury family.

In the afternoon, sure enough, the news of the evacuation of the defenders of Shanyin came, and Lin Jian ordered Ao Canghai to send scouts to infiltrate and prevent the people from leaving when the defenders of Shanyin withdrew, and the others waited and saw what happened.

At night, Jiaxing prefect Chen Mingzhe made a detour to Huiji to see Lin Bin.

The direction of Hangzhou clearly detected that the Xiaoshan defenders had withdrawn from the west to Fuyang from the day before yesterday -- Meng Yishan and Meng Xinshi were waiting in Hangzhou and did not dare to leave for a while, so they rushed Chen Mingzhe to Hangzhou and asked him to come to the meeting to contact the Huaidong Army.

After arriving at the meeting, he learned that the Zhejiang-Fujian army had also begun to withdraw from Shanyin and returned to the south, Chen Mingzhe was quite excited, and when he saw Lin Bin, he opened his mouth and praised: "Lord Lin is really called a soldier like a god, and he called the Zhejiang-Fujian rebels to lose troops and lose troops several times, and today he told them to leave with hatred......"

"Lord Chen is polite," Lin Jian smiled and invited Chen Mingzhen to take a seat, and asked Chen Mingzhe about his intentions straight to the point, "Lord Chen took a detour to come to Huiji, what do you have to advise?" ”

"I don't dare to advise," Chen Mingzhen said, "The luxury family has lost troops one after another, and the fatigue has been revealed, and it is difficult to last, and the imperial court is just around the corner to recover western Zhejiang." However, the poisonous snake will die, and it can still fight back, even if the rebels of Zhejiang and Fujian withdraw their troops from Xiaoshan, but they are gathered in Fuyang, and there are still a large number of soldiers and horses, and they can't help but guard against them - Meng Yishan and Meng Xinshi, the two adults, asked me to discuss with Lord Lin, how should the two armies join forces to fight the rebels gathered in Fuyang? ”

"If Lord Chen doesn't come to the meeting, I will also ask someone to go to Hangzhou to contact the two Master Meng," Lin Jian said, "Although the rebels in Zhejiang and Fujian have suffered setbacks one after another, their soldiers and horses have not been injured at all, so they can't be carelessly guarded." It's good that Lord Chen can come over, but ......" and said, "I will go back to Chongzhou in a few days, the defense of eastern Zhejiang is presided over by Qinghe, and the matter of the joint army, I will ask him to explain it in detail with Lord Chen......"

"There's General Laofu!" Chen Mingzhen made a gesture towards Fu Qinghe.

Fu Qinghe returned the salute and asked Chen Mingzhe to move to the wall chart hanging on the north wall, and said: "If you gather strength, you will be strong, and if you divide your strength, you will be weak, and the two armies should work together to completely wipe out the rebels in Zhejiang and Fujian - after Luxury Feixiong led his troops to retreat to Fuyang, the pressure on the Hanghu army was greater." We hope that the Hanghu Army will gain a firm foothold in Wuchao Mountain in the northwest of Fuyang County, and that Huaidong will drive the Shuiying warships into the Qianjiang waterway to get a glimpse of Zhuantang......"

Zhuantang is a river valley plain formed by silting up river sand in the eastern suburbs of Fuyang County, the area is not large, about ten miles deep, located at the foot of the southern foot of Wuchao Mountain, facing the mouth of the Puyang River.

The Huaidong Water Battalion can directly enter the Qianjiang Waterway from the Puyang River, and the troops are forced to turn the pond. As long as the Hanghu Army can enter Wuchao Mountain from the northeast and gain a firm foothold, it will actually be able to join forces to control the area from Wuchao Mountain to the north bank of the Qianjiang River.

Fu Qinghe continued to explain: "...... In this way, the soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang-Fujian army in Fuyang can be blocked to the west of Wuchao Mountain and cannot advance eastward, so that the fertile soil along the West Lake will no longer be involved in the war and can resume farming as soon as possible, which should be of great significance to Hangzhou. ”

Hangzhou has been the land of fish and rice since ancient times, but due to the war, the fertile soil of the county, seven or eight out of ten of the fields abandoned and cultivated, made the former tax mansion two years of no harvest, the people's livelihood withered and dilapidated.

Chen Mingzhe just came to the meeting on behalf of Meng Yishan and Meng Xinshi, and listened to Fu Qinghe's introduction, but he just nodded yes, and Meng Yishan and Meng Xinshi nodded before they agreed.

Fu Qinghe also said: "At the southern foot of Nanping Mountain on the south bank of West Lake, if Hangzhou is interested, it can jointly build a pontoon bridge to communicate the north and south banks......

Nanping Mountain is closer to the east, located on the south bank of Xihu Lake, not far from Hangzhou City, and across the river from Xiaoshan County. At the foot of the southern foot of Nanping Mountain, build a pontoon bridge across the Qianjiang River, which can connect Hangzhou and Xiaoshan. If the situation in the Hanghu area is critical, it will also be very convenient for the Huaidong Army to send troops from Xiaoshan to help - the pontoon bridge also has a role to control the waterway.

"How many soldiers and horses will Huaidong station in Xiaoshan?" Chen Mingzhen asked.

"The defense line north of Huiji Mountain, the strength is mainly concentrated in Xiaoshan," Lin Jian continued, "There is no exact number at the moment, but the total number of water infantry troops will not be less than forty battalions......

The luxury family resolutely gave up Xiaoshan and Shanyin, and in view of the current situation, there was no chance of a decisive battle on the eastern front in a short period of time, and the main problem of the Huaidong Army on the eastern front was how to operate and ensure that the eastern defense line was foolproof.

Not only can there be no problems in the area defended by the Huaidong Army, but it is also necessary to ensure that the Hangzhou and Huzhou defense lines defended by the Hanghu Army are stable and do not have major problems, so that the luxury family can be forced to shift their dying vision from the eastern front to the western front to look for fighters - even if the defense line in the west of Jiangxi is pierced by the luxury family in the future, it will be far more than the Hanghu defense line, which can make Huaidong take a few more breaths and be less uncomfortable.

Although the Hanghu Army was relatively weak after Dong Yuan left northern Zhejiang, the original Haiyu Army led by the Chen family and the Hanghu Army based on the Bai Nao Army were quite close to the Huaidong Army. Even if Meng Yishan and the Huaidong Army had no precedent for fighting each other, Lin Jian was more willing to cooperate with the Hanghu Army.