The night banquet came, Yuan Hancheng stayed in Yue Lengqiu and stayed in the Chu Palace, talked with candles and nights, Liu Tingzhou, Ding Zhiru, Chen Jingrong and others said goodbye and left.

The maid set up the chessboard, Yuan Hancheng and Yue Lengqiu sat opposite each other, and the others retreated to the pavilion to wait, the room was lit with a secret insect repellent incense, the candle flame was not very bright, but the bright moon shone in through the window and sprinkled on the dark sandalwood chessboard.

"Back in Xuzhou City, Leng Qiu and the prince were also talking like this, and they have always been nostalgic in their hearts, but I didn't expect to come to Shouzhou this time and relive the old drama?" Yue Lengqiu laughed, took the chess box containing the white son to him, and courteously let Yuan Hancheng settle first.

At this time, there was the sound of chariots and horses, listening not far from the Chu Palace, as if going out of the West City, Yue Lengqiu thought that it should be for the additional soldiers and horses to Xinyang - Yue Lengqiu took the chess pieces in his hand and asked Yuan Hancheng: "Lord Chu, how much has the garrison in Xinyang increased?" ”

"Tao Chun is a veteran general who has been promoted by Lord Yue, and he is serious and good at fighting. In addition, Wuyang stands according to the vortex water, and the two towns of Xusi and Huaiyang stand side by side, each other is horns, this time Yanhu came to the south, will not attack Wuyang, so the Wuyang soldiers and horses, 30,000 people to defend the city is enough to hold the city......," Yuan Hancheng said.

Yue Lengqiu knew that Tao Chun was in Huaixi, and Dong Yuan did not have a close relationship, when the Changhuai army withdrew from the south bank of the Yellow River, the number of troops reached 50,000, and then Dong Yuan was given the excuse of the military tun to reduce the force to 30,000 to garrison Wuyang.

Although Yan Hu's main attack direction this time is Nanyang, the increase in troops and horses in Wuyang can threaten Yan Hu's flank of Nanyang from Ruyang, and even attack decisively to cut off the retreat of Yanhu's soldiers and horses on the west road.

Yue Lengqiu knew that there was disharmony in Huaixi, but he didn't care about Yuan Hancheng's noodles, and said: "Yan Hu relied on the horse soldiers to be strong, and he was unscrupulously interspersed and infiltrated on the north bank of the Huai River, and the troops of Vortex Yang were too small, and it seemed that they couldn't ......."

"It is true that the fortresses on the north bank need to be stationed with soldiers and horses, and they cannot be completely given up and not defended, and in fact, Huaixi's troops are also dispersed," Yuan Hancheng said, "According to the plan, in addition to the 30,000 soldiers and horses in Kipgongshan and Shouzhou as reserves, nearly 40,000 troops will be transferred to Xinyang, but whether to aid Nanyang, Huaixi is also in dispute......

Yue Lengqiu nodded habitually, Dong Yuan concentrated more than 40,000 troops in Xinyang, it seemed that he was ready to rescue Nanyang at any time, but it was a plan to advance and retreat.

If Dong Yuan really wants to make up his mind to fight the Battle of Nanyang, he should not mediocre scatter his troops and horses in Xinyang and Wuyang, but should concentrate his troops in Wuyang, and threaten Yanhu's back road with the trend of "encircling Wei to save Zhao", so that he will not dare to pour all his troops south to fight Nanyang.

It is the average deployment of Huaixi's troops in Xinyang, Wuyang, and Shouzhou, and Huaixi's hesitation can be seen from it.

The Hezhong army was defeated in Ruyang, and in the face of nearly 200,000 Yanhu troops about to surge like a flood, the morale of Nanyang's soldiers and horses was very low.

Although Huaixi has been urgently mobilized, the number of troops has increased to as much as 110,000, and Dong Yuan is also famous for his good management of the army, and Huaixi's appearance of more than 110,000 soldiers and horses has changed greatly compared with two years ago.

If Huaixi unites with Nanyang, the total number of troops will be 150,000.

Even if he could not win a decisive victory against Yanhu in the field, he could barely support a defensive battle by relying on the steep terrain such as Tongbai Mountain, Huai River, and Funiu Mountain, as well as the strong fortresses built on the north bank of the Huai River, the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain, and the southern vein of Funiu Mountain.

Although the Yanhu cavalry and Chen Zhihu of the subordinate army were extremely capable of field warfare, the fortresses and steep terrain could effectively make up for the lack of combat power of the defenders.

The key problem is that the remnants of the luxury family and Suizhou Luo Xiancheng are ready to move, from Xiangyang and Suizhou, there are channels for Nanyang and Xinyang to use troops. The remnants of the luxury family and Suizhou Luo Xiancheng combined, the strength of the army is as high as 1780,000, if they participate in the battle of Nanyang, it will lead to the comparison of military strength between the two sides, completely tilted towards Yanhu.

Under such circumstances, where can Nanyang and Huaixi still have the confidence to win?

Of course, Huaixi naturally does not show a hesitant attitude to the outside world, if Huaixi has no confidence, can it still be expected that Nanyang soldiers and horses have the determination to stick to it?

When Yuan Hancheng said this, he no longer regarded Yue Lengqiu as an outsider.

Yue Lengqiu's trust in Yuan Hancheng is limited, how can he trust others without reservation with such experience? But when Yuan Hancheng said so, he also asked in his heart: "Huaixi is still worried that the privy envoy is insincere?" ”

Yue Lengqiu hadn't listened to Lin Bin's warning before, and finally Zongyang was defeated - if from now on, Yue Lengqiu believed everything Lin Jian said, it would be too naïve.

After all, the people of Huaixi are still afraid of playing with Lin Bin.

In all the official correspondence, Lin Jian said that he would support the Liang family to defend Nanyang, and also said that if necessary, Luzhou soldiers and horses could come to Nanyang at any time. Yuan Hancheng didn't say whether he doubted Lin Lian's determination, but just said on a case-by-case basis: "The privy envoy has made a mistake in dealing with Yuanzhou, if Huaidong's elite soldiers and horses in Jiangxi can't be transferred out in time, relying only on the soldiers and horses gathered in Luzhou, it is still not a big ...... for Nanyang to win."

Huaidong only gathered two soldiers in Luzhou, Tang Fuguan and Liu Zhenzhi, with less than 30,000 troops. Even if Huaidong is unparalleled in the world, it is limited by troops, even if it is put into the Nanyang battlefield, it cannot change the military strength of the two sides.

At the same time, because of the problems left by Jiangxi, Huaidong will have 60,000 elite infantry stranded in Jiangxi, and at such a critical moment, he could not get out of the north to participate in the war, and it has to be said that Lin Jian had a serious mistake in dealing with the Yuanzhou problem.

Although after returning from Yuzhang, there was no sign of giving up Nanyang from Lin Lian, but Yue Lengqiu was not very confident in his heart.

With the fall of Nanyang, the forces of the Queen Mother's family will be completely suppressed, and Huaixi and Jinghu, including the Chizhou army, will be most directly threatened by Yanhu, so that Huaidong will be completely led by the nose above the temple - from this point of view, Lin Tie does have great benefits in giving up Nanyang, and it is no wonder that the people of Huaixi are worried about whether Lin Tie has the determination to fight the Battle of Nanyang.

However, giving up Nanyang is also very obvious to Huaidong.

Once Yanhu is called to capture Nanyang, the rebels of Luwenzhuang and Luo Xiancheng will surrender to Yanhu, and the total number of troops of Yanhu on the West Road will be as high as 400,000, and the terrain will control Hanshui, Tongbai Mountain, and the upper reaches of Huaishui, and after Luwenzhuang leads the troops to join the Yanhu army, it will greatly make up for Yanhu's shortcomings in the development of the navy......

Yue Lengqiu didn't dare to imagine that Lin Lian would give up Nanyang for the sake of it.

Yue Lengqiu and Yuan Hancheng could talk casually and tell him these analyses.

After hearing this, Yuan Hancheng nodded and said, "I don't think Chongguo Gong will be so eager, but he has doubts in his heart." ”

I didn't expect Dong Yuan to be so wary of Lin Bin, Yue Lengqiu secretly sighed, and felt that Nanyang was like a lonely boat tossed in the wind and waves, and the prospect was even more obscure.

Early in the morning, Chen Jingrong came to say that Dong Yuan had inspected Yingkou yesterday and had encountered an enemy outpost.

Dong Yuan rode on the east bank of Yingshui and fought with the enemy's sentinel horses, the enemy's sentinel horses were repulsed, during the chase, Dong Yuan was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, was wounded, and retreated into Wuyang in the middle of the night to treat his injuries, and he couldn't return to Shouzhou for a while, so he sent someone back to ask Yue Lengqiu to stay in Shouzhou for two more days.

Nanyang must be visited, but Yue Lengqiu is afraid that it will be too late, and he will ask Yanhu soldiers and horses to infiltrate Nanyang on a large scale, and it will be difficult for him to get out of Nanyang again. Yue Lengqiu wanted to go to Nanyang to comfort the soldiers and civilians and boost morale, but he did not have the determination to stay in Nanyang and advance and retreat with the soldiers and civilians of Nanyang, and live and die together.

Since Dong Yuan could not return to Shouzhou for a while, Yue Lengqiu decided to go to Nanyang first and meet Dong Yuan when he returned.

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Danfeng County belongs to Shangzhou Prefecture, is the southeast gateway of Guanzhong, and Wuguan, one of the four stops of Western Qin, is located on the bank of the Dongwuguan River in Danfeng County.

The Cao family abandoned the pass and retreated south, but before retreating south, they ceded Wuguan to Nanyang.

Wuguan is seventy miles away in the southeast of Danfeng County, when the bank of the Wuguan River, it is the old Qinnan Pass, and the key to Nanyang.

The topography of Wuguan is narrowly victorious, the north of Guancheng is Shaoxi Mountain, the Wuhe River that flows from the north of Shaoxi Mountain is close to the Baiyan Mountain and Bijia Mountain in the south of Guancheng and slowly descends, Wuguan is located on the convex bank of Wuguan River to the east.

Yuan Guizheng hiked to the top of the southern foot of Shaoxi Mountain and looked at the situation around Wuguan.

The terrain in the west of Guancheng is relatively flat, only out of the east of Guancheng, stretching the mountainside and winding through, the cliff is high and the valley is deep, narrow and difficult to walk.

The terrain around Wuguan determines that the west guards the pass against the east enemy, and the east guards the pass against the west enemy - Nanyang is exactly the latter.

Go from Wuguan West, walk through the relatively flat wide valley, to the vicinity of Danfeng County, the terrain is more open, Danjiang bypasses from the southwest corner of Danfeng County, goes to Baiyangguan and joins Wuguan River to the southeast, until Xichuan County in the southwest of Nanyang, turns south, and joins Hanshui.

The Cao family abandoned the pass, Chang'an fell into the hands of Yan Hu, and Nanyang wanted to keep the enemy soldiers out of the west gate, and it was not enough to just defend the Wuguan.

In addition to Wuguan, Danfeng County in the upper reaches of the Danjiang River and Baiyang Pass at the confluence of the Danjiang River and the Wuguan River are all places where soldiers and horses must defend in Nanyang; It is also necessary to guard against the rebels of Luo Xiancheng and Haowenzhuang from going out of Xiangfan and going north against the Danjiang River, and Nanyang must deploy defense troops in Xichuan, Xinye and other places in the south.

Yuan returned to politics before Yue Lengqiu, and came to Nanyang on the order of the Empress Dowager Yi to calm the hearts of the army.

Like the worries of the people in Huaixi, Yuan Guizheng and Liang Chengchong and others were also worried that Huaidong would give up Nanyang.

Nanyang died and Huaixi was cold, but no matter how cold the teeth were, no matter how difficult the situation was, it was extremely difficult for Yanhu to capture Huaixi immediately after Nanyang. As long as Huaixi holds the Huai River and Tongbai Mountain, at least there is no worry about immediate destruction. However, for Yuan Guizheng, Liang Chengchong, and Liang Chengyi, if Nanyang is lost, their last bit of reliance will also be completely lost, how can they not be afraid?