Chapter 41: Withdrawal of troops
The dam at Taowu Pass began to close in late March, and at first it barely cut off the river to store water. After that, the dam was continuously heightened, and now the dam is more than five zhang high from the base. The whole dam is nearly six miles long, connecting with the slopes of Taowu Pass on both sides, and intercepting the water from the rivers at the northeast foot of Wuyi Mountain and the southwest foot of Guanxi Ridge in the south of the dam.
This year's rainy season in southeastern Jiangxi seems to be later than in previous years, and there were only two rains in the early part of Guanxiling in nearly 20 days from late March to early April. However, as the main tributary of the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River, Shanxi has many mountain streams, forests and springs from the northeast foot of Guanxi Ridge and Wuyi Mountain, and by early April, a lake with a circumference of about ten miles has formed south of Taohua Pass.
Lin Jian stood on the ridge on the west side of the Peach Blossom Pass, looked at the newly built hanging lake in just over 20 days, and asked Ge Siyu on his side: "If the Zhejiang-Fujian army retreats without a fight, can this dam be strengthened for civilian use?" Pointing to the terrain around the hanging lake, he explained to the people on his side, "Shanxi flows out of Wuyi, and the flow is short and urgent, but out of the mountains and forests, the terrain along the river is low, and it is difficult for the water to lead to the slopes on both sides, so the number of paddy fields in this river valley is not much. If the dam can be preserved, the lake can be raised, and the water will be diverted from the left and right sides, and the paddy fields can be irrigated several times as much......"
Ge Siyu shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said: "I'm afraid it won't work, because it is easy to break the embankment, there are two piles on the lower side of the main dam that are extremely stressed. Even if it is not destroyed by manpower, it will be eroded and broken over the years - even if the Zhejiang-Fujian army retreats without a fight, the dam will be pushed down before the July rainstorm season arrives. ”
"What a pity!" Gao Zongting also felt a pity when he saw that the dam could not stay.
Fu Qinghe said with a smile: "There is no pity, if the dam is not dug up, the hanging lake is not connected with the downstream river, how can the newly built warships enter the Xinjiang River to fight?" ”
At sunset, the newly created hanging lake rippled in the microwave, and there was a large area of submerged woods showing the tips of the near shore, and there was a large open space on the east bank, which was strictly cut off from the Minfu camp to the south, and only by standing on the ridge on this side could you see the whole picture of that side.
Through the treetops, you can see that there are more than a dozen small and medium-sized shipbuilders with their keels erected under the tall gantry, and hundreds of craftsmen are nervously nailing the ship's planks. A little lower, dozens of newly built warships were parked in a clearing quite far from the lakeshore. The soldiers guarding the shipyard were actually transferred from Qujiang and incorporated into the Su Pin Filial Piety Department of the Jinghai Third Water Battalion after the Jiangning War.
From the boat yard to the shore of the lake, a ditch-like trough has been dug, and it may be possible to tow the ship to the shore of the lake without waiting for the lake to rise to the position of the boat yard.
The mouth of Poyang Lake in Jiangzhou is the general outlet of the Jiangxi water system, which is in the strict blockade of the Zhejiang-Fujian navy, Lin Jian can't expect Yue Lengqiu to fight with the Zhejiang-Fujian navy, the Huaidong navy wants to enter the rivers in Jiangxi, and it is easy for the navy generals and craftsmen to be dispatched, but the warships are newly built in Jiangxi.
Fortunately, it was not difficult to transport all the shipbuilding materials from the Chongzhou shipyard to Quzhou by water, and after arriving at Fenglinbu, they went ashore and transported by mule and horse-drawn carts through Guanxiling and assembled in the newly opened shipyard in the upper reaches of Shanxi - this was also the only means for the Huaidong elite water battalion to bypass the blockade of Poyang Lake and enter Jiangxi to fight.
According to the current situation, it is impossible for the bear to delay until the moment when the lake is fully stocked before making a decision. The time advanced to the beginning of April, the Zhejiang-Fujian army's garrisons in the eastern section of the jaw and Litang had already begun to withdraw to the west, and it was possible that the luxury flying bear would abandon the Hengshan defense line in the near future and completely retreat to the west of Shangrao.
The day before yesterday, Lin Jian ordered Zhou Tong to take charge of Liu Zhenzhi, Chen Yan and other departments on the western front, and launched an offensive against the Zhejiang-Fujian army at the jaws and Litang's passes, and it was necessary to tell the Zhejiang-Fujian army to peel off a layer of skin before withdrawing, but it was not easy to intercept the main force of the Zhejiang-Fujian army in the Shangrao defense line and deal heavy damage!
From Shangrao to the west, the Xinjiang River flows along the road, and then joins the Poyang Lake after confluence from the lower reaches of the Ganjiang River. The Zhejiang-Fujian army has a naval army in the hinterland of Jiangxi, which can easily enter and exit both sides of the Xinjiang River; After the Huaidong Army entered Jiangxi, if there were only foot soldiers, the battle would be greatly limited - this is also the main reason why Lin Jian did not hesitate to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to transport shipbuilding materials separately to the newly built warships in the upper reaches of Shanxi.
At this time, there were several horsemen galloping from the direction of the front base in the north, which was the post horse sent by Ao Canghai from the front to report the news.
"My lord, it has to be reported by the inner line of the Jiahe anti-fortress, and the anti-fortress guards have signs of evacuation!"
"I know," Lin Jian waved his hand to let the post rider retreat, and asked Gao Zongting, "Is it possible for the extravagant flying bear to take a bite before withdrawing his troops?" ”
"Hard to say!" Gao Zongting said,
Extravagant Fei Xiong is also a person who makes good use of soldiers, even if he withdraws his troops, he will do everything possible to set up a suspicious formation. He sent troops and horses out of the Jiajiang River to defend the fortress and counterattack several times, and he was also very resolute, so that the Huaidong army also suffered a lot of casualties, so when he could not know for sure that the Zhejiang and Fujian troops had withdrawn, Lin Lian ordered Ao Canghai not to rush to press all the troops.
The way of using troops is "to match and win by surprise", and the Zhejiang-Fujian army has completely fallen into the upper hand in the head-on confrontation, but it does not mean that the Zhejiang-Fujian army cannot make surprise strategies. The Zhejiang-Fujian army also occupied the advantage of transferring troops from the inner line, and it was not impossible for the troops and horses withdrawn from Jiankou and Litang to fill in the Hengshan-Jiahe defense blockade and launch a fierce counterattack against Huaidong's front base camp under the Guanxi Ridge.
It was quite difficult and easy for the Huaidong scouts to cross the mountains and mountains and go to the north bank of the Xinjiang River to reconnoiter the movement of the Zhejiang-Fujian army on the inner line. Therefore, the news from the inside line lurking in the defense of the river is only used by Lin Jian and Gao Zongting as a reference.
Fu Qinghe said: "There are still as many as 20,000 troops stationed in the Zhejiang and Fujian army in Jiahe to defend the fortress, and at least half of the troops must be confirmed to be withdrawn before Ao Canghai can be asked to press the troops up, not to mention." After the Jiahe defense, we can't figure out the deployment of the Zhejiang-Fujian army from Hengshan to Shangrao, and we must be careful that the extravagant bears have the means to counterattack. ”
Indeed, in the confrontation that lasted for nearly half a year, the Zhejiang-Fujian army did not suffer a heavy setback in Shangrao. Including the defenders in the direction of Wuyuan, there are as many as 60,000 troops that can be mobilized by Luxury Feixiong on the Eastern Front, of which about 70% are soldiers from Fujian.
Even if the Luxury Fei Xiong led his troops to retreat to the west, the Huaidong Army would always be careful to give the strength to counterattack if they wanted to pursue.
Lin Jian touched his chin, his eyes wandered, and after a long time, he made up his mind and said: "Chen Yan led his troops to withdraw from the front of Litang, immediately marched westward, and went to the west foot of Guanxi Ridge to stand by, and the original defense line was taken over by Sun Wenyao; Ge Sihu immediately led his troops to the dam and was ready to dig the embankment at any time! ”
****************
From knowing that the Huaidong Army was damming and intercepting the lake in the upper reaches of Shanxi, Xuan Feixiong knew that it was difficult to hold on to the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River east of Shangrao, but it was not easy for the Huaidong Army to advance into the city and withdraw the soldiers and horses from the defense line unharmed.
The troops were withdrawn from Jakou and Litang, and they were all deployed south of Hengshan and on the south bank of the Xinjiang River, making a situation of filling in the Jiahe defense at any time and counterattacking the Huaidong Army at the western foot of Guanxi Ridge. Only by making such an arrangement, and even deceiving the middle and lower-level generals with lies first, can the broken soldiers and horses who stay behind the jaws and Litang not give the frustration of abandonment, so as to avoid the early collapse of morale!
At the same time, the soldiers and horses withdrawn from Jaw and Litang were deployed in Hengshan, which also made the Huaidong Army dare not press all its troops up and storm the Jiahe defense.
But on the side of Jiahe defense, the withdrawal of troops must be fast, and the plan that Deng Yu said is not feasible.
Zheng Mingjing was originally on the east bank of Gucheng Lake, in order to cover the withdrawal of the main force of soldiers and horses, after the death was selected from the generals, the brothers joined the army, the brothers went to the brothers, the fathers and sons joined the army, and the fathers left the sons to go - this method is not suitable for this side.
Once the large-scale selection of dead soldiers is broken, the intention of withdrawing troops will inevitably be accurately identified by the Huaidong Army, and at that time, the Huaidong Army will unscrupulously press the main force of soldiers and horses to the head of the city, making it extremely difficult for the soldiers and horses to withdraw after the break.
The Eight Fujian soldiers were lost again and again, and the total number was less than 60,000 at this time, how could the extravagant Fei Xiong be willing to abandon more than 10,000 Fujian soldiers here?
If you don't choose the dead, once you start to withdraw your troops, the middle and lower level generals will understand that this is a move to completely abandon the defensive line, and understand that they want to stay at the end of the retreat, and how will they face the surging offensive of the Huaidong Army?
The final secret withdrawal plan between the Fei Xiong and the generals was to withdraw the soldiers and horses of the Jiahe River Fortress in two batches, with a distance of no more than 12 hours, and the first part was led by Deng Yu and Wang Hui, and the soldiers and horses stationed in Hengshan at this time went west along the south bank of the Xinjiang River at the same time.
The second batch of soldiers and horses who stayed behind to defend the Jiahe fortress could only hold on for another day, and once the elite of the Huaidong Army was wedged into the city, it would be difficult to withdraw. After holding out for a day, they retreated north at night. Leave a sufficient number of ferries on the bank of the Xinjiang River in the north of Hengshan for the second group of soldiers and horses to retreat north to cross the Xinjiang River and use the Xinjiang waterway to escape the pursuit of the Huaidong Army.
At the same time, the garrisons of Jaw and Litang also withdrew westward along the north bank of the Xinjiang River to Shangrao City to join the extravagant flying bear. Luxury Feixiong led his troops to hold Shangrao City, so that Deng Yu, Wang Hui, Shi Hejin and others would continue to lead their troops to retreat to the lower reaches of the Xinjiang River, and strengthen the defense in Hengfeng, Guixi, Yujiang and other places.
After several days of defense adjustments, Deng Yu and Wang Hui's subordinates, who had been guarding the two wings and the southern city in the early stage and suffered heavy casualties, were all transferred to the northern city of the defense fortress in the name of resting and recuperating. Hao Feixiong led more than 10,000 elite people from his headquarters to fill the two flanks of the Jiahe defense blockade, undertook the offensive mainly from the two flanks of the Huaidong Army, and personally stayed behind to cover the retreat of the main force.
On April 15 and 16, it rained continuously for two consecutive days.
The rain was not heavy enough to stop the Huaidong army's offensive, but the rainy weather severely limited the use of bows and crossbows and the use of twisted weapons.
At the same time, although the rainy weather made it difficult to withdraw troops, it also made it difficult for the Huaidong Army to pursue.
After the Shanxi River was cut off, the boats could not enter, and retreated from the Jiahe River to the south bank of the Xinjiang River, so they could only walk on foot, but this section of the road was only more than 20 miles. For the withdrawal of an elite army of soldiers and horses, the rain and cement road of more than 20 miles did not constitute an obstacle to the retreat.
Moreover, on the way to the retreat of the Zhejiang-Fujian army, there are still many fortresses that can be stationed to take refuge and rest, as long as the morale does not collapse, the situation will not be worse than that of the Huaidong pursuit of soldiers and horses.
At night on April 16, about 12,000 people from Deng Yu and Wang Hui's headquarters, who had retreated to the north of the fortress to rest, gathered on the school ground, and the extravagant flying bear wore dark armor, stood on the stage, and said in a loud voice: "The imperial court is perverse, and the Huaidong army is abusive, ignoring the fathers and elders on both sides of the Shanxi River Valley, brazenly building a dam and building a hanging lake in the upper reaches to flood Hengshan - to be a soldier to fight, you have to rely on your brains, the Huaidong army is so ruthless, we can't solve the danger of the upstream hanging river, what should we do?" It's a hard shot, right? No, this is by no means a hero. A real hero, who can bend and stretch, suffer a loss today, and get it back tomorrow. I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I suffered a loss today, and I will lose my courage from now on, that's the turtle son bastard, thrown into the stinky pit and no one cares about it. You must know that today's withdrawal of troops is not to give in, but to withdraw to the banks of the Xinjiang River, and turn the Xinjiang River Valley, which is hundreds of miles deep, into a cemetery where the Huaidong Army was buried! So, please go first and go to Hengfeng, Guixi, and Yujiang to get ready. Just like a hunter, no matter how brave he is, he should not fight hand-to-hand with wild beasts, and he must set a trap to hunt and kill, you go first, go and set a trap, I will stay to lure the Huai Dongjun to drill your trap! Good no good? ”