Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 755
Xiashi Gorge, located in the west of Bagong Mountain, is the most dangerous part of the [-]-li Huai Road. Dangerous rocks stand on both sides of the river, and the originally wide Huai River channel is suddenly narrowed. The narrowest point is less than [-] feet. People stand on both sides of the strait and look across the air, and even their voice, appearance and appearance can be clearly seen.

As the most important defensive location in Huaizhong, Xiashi City is located on this canyon.There are two Xiashi cities, which stand on the peaks on both sides of the Huai River.From this point of view, guarding the Huai Road, and setting up fences on the waterway as barriers and sunken trees as barriers, even though thousands of troops cannot sail, thousands of sails are blocked outside.

Yingkou was no longer defensible, and Kipshi City and Feikou, which was not far to the west, became the most important pass on the Huai River just north of Shouchun City.

Although the Runan land has been decided to give up, if the generals and civilians are to be completely withdrawn, it will be impossible if there are fewer troops to respond.If more troops are dispatched, Huainan will be empty again.However, after some careful consideration and many discussions among the generals, Shen Zhezi still chose the latter, and the navy came out to respond.

As a result, the strength of Shouchun Township was stretched.Because of the withdrawal of the Xuzhou army in Wokou and Luojian, there must be additional troops. In addition to Cao Na's headquarters, Shen Zhezi added another army, with a total of [-] guards. The important places such as Baotou, Matou, and Luojian are already the minimum requirements for the garrison. If there are fewer troops, the swirl will become precarious.

More than 3 people from the navy were sent to Huainan, and more than [-] people were divided into the vortex. As a result, the remaining people in Shouchun Township were less than [-] people, and it also included reinforcements from Liang County, whose combat effectiveness was yet to be tested. The army is nearly [-] people.Deducting the garrison forces that must be maintained in Shouchun City and the surrounding garrisons at Jindu, Shen Zhezi has less than [-] troops in his hands that can be used flexibly.

For this part of the force, Shen Zhezi devoted himself to the defense of Feikou and Xiashi City, and after the navy left the town, he personally sat on the south bank of the Huai River between the two places to prevent Shihu's Jiehu Middle Road army from making a comeback.If Shihu really couldn't hold back and rushed to cross the Huai River again, then this would be the most intense battle Huainan has faced since the start of the war.

The Huainan Army itself no longer has an advantage in strength, and the advantage of the navy's control of the Huaihe River that it relied on before will be difficult to rely on in a short time.The only way to defend the territory is to fight bloody battles to the end. The only chance of victory is that the navy in the direction of Runan can successfully complete the mission and return to Huaishui in time.

In Shouchun right now, almost all the veteran generals have been sent out, and almost all the remaining generals in the town are young generals.Among the group of dwarfs, Shen Mu was the tallest, the one with the longest time in the army, and the one with the richest combat experience.The Shen family was originally Wu Zong, but Shen Mu had been leading the family troops to fight since he was more than ten years old. Even when his father Shen Chong followed Wang Dun to rebel for the first time, Shen Mu had already joined the army.

So Shen Mu was entrusted with the important task of sitting in Shouchun City instead of Shen Zhezi.As for the other young generals, they were also entrusted with important tasks. Shen Yun led thousands of soldiers to defend Xiashi City on the north bank of the Huai River, Yu Manzhi was in charge of Xiashi City across the Huai River, and Xie Yi was his successor at Bagong Mountain. , the total strength of the two places is [-].As for the other generals, under the command of Shen Zhezi, they mainly defended the fat mouth on the south bank of the Huai River.

In addition to reinforcing the navy in Runan, the Huainan Army also has more than a dozen warships in this town, maintaining a navy size of more than 3000 people.However, this part of the force is mainly responsible for the task of patrolling and warning, and delivering messages. It is difficult to become a winner in sniping a strong enemy and defeating the enemy.

Shihu's desire to win was indeed urgent. At the same time as the Huainan navy was dispatched, the Yingshang slave army tended to gather.Yingkou's victory gave the Huainan army a great victory, and thus gained more favors from people in southern Henan, so they knew a lot about the dynamics of the slave army.

The military strength of the slave army in Yingshang should not be underestimated. More than 2 navy troops did not participate in the Battle of Yingkou, so their combat effectiveness is still intact.There are also tens of thousands of stone tiger volunteers led by slave general Ma Qiu and others. After a period of recuperation, their combat effectiveness also recovered quickly. The wanton looting seems to have swept away the haze of the previous defeat and flight.

As for the main force of the 10,000+ slave army between Qiao Pei, whether the morale of the army has stabilized and whether it can be put to great use, don't say that the Huainan army is not clear about this, even Shihu himself probably can't be sure.But even if this part of the slave army is ignored, the enemy of Yingshang alone is worthy of serious treatment.

Although the Huainan army has the advantage of the navy army, it does not mean that the slave army is completely powerless in this regard.In fact, from the surface alone, if the slave army is fully organized, the number of navy troops will exceed the Huainan army.Ships from the south and horses from the north are consensus.It is impossible for Jiehu to ignore this problem if he wants to use troops in the south, so his army alone has thousands of boats, which is nearly twice the number of boats owned by the Huainan army!
Of course, a considerable part of these ships are occupied by the transportation capacity, but even so, there are still hundreds of ships that can be put into battle.Of course, it doesn't mean that soldiers can be called naval forces when they board warships. It's like that although the Huainan Army captured a large number of war horses in Chengfu, the scale of truly qualified cavalry still cannot grow in a short period of time.But even if the combat power in the slave army's water battle is ignored, the carrying capacity of these boats alone cannot be ignored.Once the slave army crossed Huai on a large scale, the situation in Huainan would become extremely severe.

The purpose of the stone tiger's rapid attack on Yingkou before was to open up the waterway and make use of the transport capacity of these boats.It can be said that as long as these boats are still there, the slave army will always be able to maintain the ability to fight across the Huaihe River, and once they get the opportunity, they will definitely take action.

However, it is obvious that Yingkou's defeat also brought a lot of psychological pressure to Shihu. He waited until the Huainan army had more boats and the town's defenses were empty before he dared to take any action. The madness of wanting to wipe out southern Xinjiang.

The few days when Runan insisted not to fight was also to delay and give the town enough preparation time.Now that the initiative of the war is in the hands of the Huainan army, it can be said that as long as the Huainan army does not want to, it will be difficult for the slave army to get another chance to attack aggressively.Of course, the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Runan will become the price of passive defense, which Shen Zhezi cannot bear.

After the Huainan army boats entered Rukou, the Yingshang slave army began to move south. At sunset, the slave army boats arrived at Yingkou, but they had not officially entered the Huai River, and they still maintained a forward-looking attitude. .

The two battles started almost at the same time, but the offense and defense were different.When the Huainan navy launched an attack on the slave army in Rushui, the slave army wandering in Yingkou also drove into the Huaishui main road not long after.It can be seen that the slave army cherishes this opportunity very much, and is paying close attention to the battle in the direction of Rushui, unwilling to waste any time.

However, unlike the violence of the Huainan navy's advance into Rushui, the slave army still had a hint of probing, as if they were worried about the Huainan army's secret arrangements. In the first battle, only a few light boats were sent, carrying hundreds of slave soldiers. After cruising on the river for half an hour, they turned to the direction of Feikou and accelerated the speed of the boat.

Although it is night now, both sides of the Huaihe River are ablaze.In fact, in the past few days of probing, both sides have roughly figured out the other party's intentions, and no matter what they do, there is no longer the possibility of a surprise attack.

The Huainan Army's night attack on Rushui was due to the fact that time was short and they had to hurry up to rescue the soldiers and civilians in the hanging lake, and on the other hand, it was also to make it more difficult for the defenders to dispatch and respond.The slave army on the Yingshang side mainly took advantage of the time when the Huainan navy was unable to return in time during the fierce battle.

Therefore, this night was originally the battle time selected by the Huainan army, and naturally there was no problem of hasty response. The defenders had already spent a few days recharging their energy after the dispatch was completed, and they were just waiting for the attack of the slave army tonight.

Shen Zhezi began to sit in the water camp near Feikou in the afternoon. When the sentry on the upper reaches of the river reported that the slave soldiers were coming by light boats, Dang even pointed out three warships and hundreds of Huainan soldiers planned to eat these slave soldiers.Although the town's defenses were well prepared, and there was no plan to face the enemy on the river to directly injure the opponent, but there was no need to wait for the slave army to attack.

It was Ying Zhan's son Ying Dan who led the army to attack the enemy. After boarding the ship, he stepped on the waves and rushed in the direction of the slave army outpost. But when they saw each other, the slave army's light boats had already turned around. The north face is about to disappear into the night.Going forward, there were more lights hanging on the slave army boats, Ying Dan didn't dare to go further to pursue them, so he could only return to the camp with a little regret to report the enemy's situation.

"What is the slave army planning to do? If it is to visit the military situation, why did they return without even seeing our barracks? Could it be to harass the enemy?"

Knowing that the sentries of the slave army were spinning back and forth, the generals preparing for the battle in the water battalion couldn't help being a little puzzled, and really couldn't figure out the significance of this move.

Because of the importance attached to the invasion of the slave army, Shen Zhezi also thought for a while, and then called the soldiers who discovered the slave army scouting boats to come forward. After asking in detail, he realized something, and laughed: "Or It's because Zhao Fu's physical strength is exhausted, and it's hard to move forward."

When the generals heard this, they couldn't help but stare, some couldn't believe that the slave army would make such a low-level mistake.But on second thought, it seemed quite possible.

It is difficult for light boats to hang sails, and they all rely on manpower to advance, and the currents on the Huaihe River are turbulent, which consumes a lot of physical strength. If there are too many soldiers on board, too few sailors, and the boat fails halfway, this situation is very likely.You must know that when the Huainan Army probed into the Huai River to spy on the enemy's situation, although the specific implementation was small ships, there must be large ships as a successor base to supplement and replace troops.

Thinking of this, the generals couldn't help laughing.They could even imagine the embarrassing situation of those slave sentries who had no power to go on but the goal was still far away, and had to return to the embarrassing situation, and they became happier for a while.

Not long after, the river surface found traces of slave soldiers patrolling again. Sure enough, this time, besides the light boat, there was a large boat that came with it, which also confirmed Shen Zhezi's guess just now from the side.So the generals couldn't help laughing even more happily, and then they all enthusiastically asked for a fight.

"There is no need to exert any more effort, let's prepare to meet the enemy on the shore."

Shen Zhezi didn't smile much, but reminded everyone not to underestimate the enemy. Even if the slave soldiers are not good at water warfare, if they swarm in, the Huainan Army will still have to face great defensive pressure.

Not long after his words fell, the scouts on the river soon came to report again, this time the slave army came this time not just with a large ship paired with several small boats, but more than ten warships, but the successor ships were not hung with lights, far away I overlooked it for a while.

After the generals heard the news, they couldn't help scolding the slave army for being treacherous, and they still wanted to lure the enemy on the river.

Soon, more than a dozen warships of the slave army appeared outside the water camp, and two battleships of the Huainan army came forward to meet the enemy nearby, but before they got close, the slave army boats went around.

Such a move was meaningless at all, and the slave army boats did not dare to get too close to the south bank. From a distance, the south bank was brightly lit, and a large number of flags were flying, so it was impossible to see the reality of the defense.

The first battle started was Xiashi North City. The Huainan Army did not have too many outposts on the north bank. In addition, Xiashi City's important position is obvious, and there is also a land attack channel, so it was quickly selected as the target of the first battle.

Probably having learned the lesson of the previous battle in Yingkou, this time the slave army did not overwhelm most of them, but only invested more than a thousand elite soldiers. Under the leadership of the slave general Li Tu, each of them held a bow and knife and scattered He opened, climbed up the mountain ridge, and soon arrived at the foot of Xiashi City, which stood on a high place, and then formed a small team of more than a dozen people, charging towards the city wall of Xiashi City.

Although Shen Yun was alone in Xiashi City, the city was extremely dangerous. When he heard the sound of hurried footsteps in the night, he immediately ordered the soldiers to throw the fire outside, and see the slave army clearly through the flickering light of the fire. Even if he felt ashamed about the attacking formation, he stood behind the arrow stacks on the city wall and roared towards the outside of the city: "Child Jilong, could you underestimate your Patriarch, Grandpa? You have gathered tens of thousands of people before, how can you stop the attack today?" Three disciples! Could it be that the slaves were all dead in the previous battle!"

Accompanied by Shen Yun's yelling, there were several chiseling sounds of arrows from the arrow pile in front of him, and the slave soldiers followed the sound and shot with good accuracy.

"Your Majesty is a hero of China, how can you wait for the barbarians to look forward to! The southern thieves rely on nothing but the danger of the land. If they were to form a field battle in an ordinary way, they would have killed you and the barbarians long ago!"

In the night, curses echoed very quickly, and Shen Yun hurriedly motioned for the soldiers to draw their bows to shoot, but only heard the sound of the arrow falling to the ground, obviously it missed the target.However, he was not ashamed, and after hearing the words, he just laughed and said: "The slaves and thieves rely on nothing more than the limbs of animals. If it is enough to bind your hands, you will have swung your sword to kill you, and there is no need for a second sword."

While speaking, the slave soldiers organized a large-scale attack. Hundreds of slave soldiers rushed down the city under the cover of night.Shen Yun couldn't help laughing even louder after hearing this sound: "Slave is just a beast, and has no wings. If you can climb this city with bare hands, I will praise you for your bravery!"

While speaking, he had already grabbed a rock piled up at the top of the city, and suddenly threw it down the city, and then there was a scream from the shadows under the city, and then the screams of the slaves.

Although Xiashi City is small, the city walls are extremely high, and they are all made of neatly stacked rocks. Even ordinary ladders are difficult to reach the top of the city.This group of slaves went up lightly, so it was naturally impossible to pose any threat to the city defense. After being hit by a burst of rocks and losing dozens of lives, they could only retreat while shouting and cursing.However, it also tested the guarding situation of Xiashi City, and soon more slave soldiers gathered outside the city, preparing to launch the next round of attack.

At this time, the slave army crossing attack on the river finally officially started, a large number of boats poured into the Huai River from Yingkou, and the lights on the boats alone spread out on the river for more than ten miles!The sound of drums and the clamor of slave soldiers overwhelmed the waves for a while, rushing straight to the opposite side.In many cases, exquisite tactical skills are important, but when the number reaches a certain level, the so-called skill experience is useless.

The slave army consisted of hundreds of large and small boats, which almost covered the waterway of the Huai River.The Huainan army originally deployed some boats on the river to harass the enemy, but in the face of such a huge situation, they had no choice but to retreat. Although the current wind blows from the southeast to the northwest, the slave army has no wind to attack the south. But manpower alone is enough to show off its prestige.The warships poured in overwhelmingly, rushed out of the mouth with an aura that crushed everything, and then went down the river.Even if all the soldiers don't make a move, the impact of the boat alone can wipe out the opponent!
The Huai River is wide and deep, and the river surface is not suitable for fortification.However, the Huainan army knew how to use water power, so they also set up some floating barriers on the river surface. A large number of iron cones were inlaid on the giant wood like a giant mace, and stones were connected underwater to serve as anchors.These floating barriers are pulled by falling stones and have buoyancy themselves. They will not completely drift with the current. They are semi-submerged in the water. When a fast-moving warship hits them, even if they will not be smashed immediately, they will often be pierced by iron cones. Through the bilge, the river gurgles in.

The slave army had been contemplating this scramble for a long time. Although they were hindered by this, they did not panic. Although some soldiers fell into the water of some of the ships that directly crashed, there were mostly giant bamboos and animal skins between the ships. The net is opened, and every time a soldier falls into the water, these large nets are used to catch fish, and the soldiers who are salvaged are scattered and placed in the rest of the boats, so that the number of drowning and casualties can be greatly reduced.

Because there was no interception on the river, the slave army boat brigade quickly drove to the vicinity of Feikou. Nearly a hundred of the warships still maintained their original speed and rushed straight to Xiashikou ahead.As for the remaining warships, some of them anchored in the center of the river, while the other dozens of warships turned in an arc and rushed directly to the Feikou on the south bank, trying to take advantage of the trend and rush into Feishui.

Seeing that the slave army successfully completed the transformation and turning on the Huai River, it seems that they have indeed worked hard in this regard.Seeing that the slave ships in the front line were about to pour into Feikou, following Shen Zhezi's order, more than 2000 Huainan soldiers who had already been on standby in the water camp ignited the rockets wrapped in grease balls and flew away.

In water battles, fire attack is undoubtedly a great weapon to defeat the enemy.In this regard, the Huainan Army naturally did not fall behind, a large number of rockets flew out, and soon the front battleships were licked and shrouded in flames.However, the scene of the soldiers shouting and collapsing did not appear on the boat as expected, instead, it still maintained the original speed and rushed straight into the Fei water.

"These slaves, are they really not afraid of death?"

Seeing this scene, all the generals who were watching the battle were full of doubts.They could also see that the draft of these slave ships in the front line was not heavy, and they should also be prepared for the Huainan army's fire attack, so they sent fewer soldiers to charge the line.But the problem is, even if there are not too many soldiers on board, if those sailors realize that the warship is enveloped in flames, they should also panic and run for their lives, and will never maintain the original sailing speed.

But soon their doubts were answered. As a warship was completely disintegrated and the hull collapsed, the generals saw that the structure of the slave ship was slightly different. With a relatively tight blockade, Kaifu was imprisoned in the side cabin. Even if there was a fire above, he could not escape at all. He could only hope to speed up the oars and sail out of the range of the fire attack before the ship was completely burned.

It's not that they are not afraid of death, but that they disregard human life!Whenever a ship is burned and broken, many bodies that have been charred and blackened by smoke and fire will emerge from the cracked hull and float on the surface of the river.Some of these sailors still held the oars tightly with both hands until they died, as if they thought that as long as they worked hard, they would have a chance of survival, but they didn't know that no matter how hard they tried, they would end up dead!
As these dozens of ships poured into Feikou, while the Huainan army was busy responding, more sampans in the successor boats of the slave army in the middle of the river went into the water, carrying a large number of slave soldiers, and rushed directly to the water camps on both sides of Feikou. Come.

　Another big chapter. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)