Chapter 309 Famous Envoy
In March, the main forces of the Jin army's western army moved south along the Fen River and gathered in the Hezhong Prefecture area. At the same time, large groups of troops began to try to move eastward and westward around Daming Prefecture, an important town occupied by the eastern army.
The latter don't need to worry at all, because they can neither break through the middle section of the Yellow River where Zhang Rong and his Imperial Camp navy are directly defending, nor dare to cross the Yellow River in the downstream where there are dense waterways, and then enter the narrow death zone between the Yellow River and the Jishui River... As long as they rush over, they will definitely find that the Right Army of the Imperial Camp is deployed on the south side of the Jishui River, and then Zhang Rong will advance eastward at all costs to block their retreat. Not only that, Emperor Zhao will definitely abandon Guanzhong and rush directly to Jingdong!
Damn Xixia, swallow up this Jin army first and then talk about other things.
In fact, everyone knew that among all the responses of the Jin army, what could really put pressure on the Song army was the large field army gathered in the Hezhong Prefecture area.
First of all, as the saying goes, "Chang'an of Eight Rivers", the key point on the east side of the Guanzhong Plain is destined to be around Weikou where the Weishui River flows into the Yellow River. And there are indeed the traditional three crossings and one pass here... namely Longmen Ferry, Pujin Ferry, Fengling Ferry, and Tongguan.
But Tongguan was too dangerous, and the Xiao-Mian Ancient Road was too easily blocked, so few people were willing to fight for their lives by the road south of the Yellow River. In other words, compared to going through the 120 Qin Passes, anyone from the east who coveted the Guanzhong Plain had no reason not to take the more appropriate water route.
The waterways around Weikou are naturally the three traditional ferry crossings. Among them, Longmen Ferry is still narrow and the water flow is fast; Fengling Ferry is very good, but unfortunately you have to face Tongguan after crossing it. Eight out of ten people who pass through here are to cover Puzhou and Longmen Ferry, and the other two want to scare Tongguan to see if they can catch a dead mouse by a blind cat; only Puzhou has very good geographical conditions. Not only is the water flow gentle enough to lay a permanent floating bridge, but there are plains on both sides, which is convenient for logistical supplies. Once you cross the other side, it is also convenient to advance in large strides.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qin State gathered its troops at Puzhou almost every time it sent troops to attack the Three Jins.
So no one dares to ignore this place.
This can be seen from the deployment of the Song army's garrison in Tongzhou on the Puzhen side. Ever since the Song army gained some combat power and began to try to defend Guanzhong, the troops stationed in Tongzhou have always been those of Han Shizhong, the first famous general of the Song Dynasty. Whenever there was a war or danger, Han Shizhong would personally arrive in Tongzhou to take charge and hold the opposite side together with Li Yanxian of Shanzhou.
Of course, Longmen also needs to be guarded against, but even Longmen Ferry belongs to Hezhong Prefecture and Tongzhou. Not to mention that the last time Wuzhu marched through Longmen Ferry with a large number of Jin troops on the opposite bank as cover, he was still discovered by Han Shizhong.
Back to the present, as the Jin army gathered in Hezhong Prefecture again, the flags of King Wei Wanyan Wushu, Commander-in-Chief Wanyan Balisu and others appeared on the other side of Puzhou. Of course, the Song army did not dare to be negligent.
But this time, Han Shizhong's own flag unexpectedly did not come from Danzhou in the north, because the flag that arrived at Puzhindu in Tongzhou was a level higher than Han Shizhong's unparalleled flag - the Jinwu flag that impressed all the Jin generals, especially Wanyan Wushu and the generals of the Western Army. Although their specific appearance could not be seen from a distance, because of its special shape, they still recognized it again across the river.
Along with the dragon banner, there was also a majestic, gorgeous, orderly, and large and continuous team. From morning to night, countless people followed the dragon banner to the other side of the river, and did not stop until midnight.
The next morning, Wanyan Wushu led his generals to climb the Stork Tower to look at the situation from afar. They saw that the military camp on the opposite bank where Han Shizhong's favorite general Heilong Wangsheng was stationed had turned into a large construction site overnight. There was smoke and flags everywhere, but it was also filled with densely packed soldiers and civilians.
They kept coming and going, and under the command of civil officials who were not sure whether they were local officials or military scholars, they built camps and trenches on a large scale. And soldiers and armored soldiers who were not sure whether they were archers from the United Society also kept coming and going, following the officers and marching to the surrounding areas.
To be honest, this situation made the Jin generals feel a little jealous.
"I just don't understand." Wanhu Wanyan Tuhesu suddenly spoke up. "How did the Song people in Guanzhong survive for nearly a hundred years with the small population of Xixia? Even if they had the Hanhai, Hengshan, and cavalry, they could have worn out the Xixia people with just manpower, right?"
"Tuhesu, have you forgotten the past just because you suffered a loss at the hands of Wu Jie?" Wanyan Zhehe, another commander of the Western Army, sneered. "Are the Song people before Jingkang the same as the Song people now? Wasn't it you who dismounted and fought on foot and wiped out the Song army in the mountains?"
Tu Hesu was slightly startled, then immediately realized, but shook his head again: "That's right, the people we are facing now are not the Song people before Jingkang. The Song people now dare to stand in the battlefield and lead the Jurchen soldiers to shoot down the divine arm bows one after another without asking for rewards on the spot. As for the dragon flag, although I have not seen the situation you are talking about with my own eyes, I know how powerful King Loushi is..."
"Okay." Wanyan Wushu, who had been staring at the flag for a long time, suddenly came to his senses and turned his head to interrupt the conversation. "Don't boost others' morale... Maybe it's just bluffing. God knows if all those who came from day to night yesterday were just civilians?"
"I think there must be some bluffing, but it's not entirely true." Wanyan Balisu, the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, who had been watching for half a day, finally spoke after hearing this.
"How do you say it?"
"The Zhao Song emperor is quite courageous in employing troops, often appointing generals to take charge of a region without interfering." Balisu looked at the movement on the other side of the river and said seriously. "According to the information our scouts 'got' after crossing the river, and referring to the previous statement given by the Xixia people, the Song soldiers in Guanzhong can be roughly divided into five groups. Han, Li, Wu, and Yue each have 30,000, and the Zhao Song emperor himself should have 10,000 or 20,000 troops. Among them, Yue Fei and Qu Duan have a combined force of 30,000, which is about a few hundred miles away in Pingxia City. Wu Jie's troops are in the north, and most of Han Shizhong's troops are on the opposite bank, spreading all the way along the Yellow River, from Tongguan in the south to Danzhou in the north. There are about 20,000 in Tongzhou... In other words, since the Zhao Song emperor has come, he should bring the 10,000 or 20,000 people from Fangzhou with him."
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