Chapter 405: Plundering Jiankang Prefecture
He Hubili was preparing to lead his troops south to plunder Jiankang Prefecture.
Why did Zhao Yulin come here so quickly?
In recent years, Yang Xingyun's group of the Shenwei Army in Xiangyang has not moved. A large number of new recruits have been trained and transferred to other armies to strengthen the defense.
Now that Zhao Yulin has come to Xiangyang, will he start a war in the Central Plains?
Zhao Yulin ignored the fact that his brother had launched a major attack on the Shenwei Army in the Hexi Corridor and instead headed east to Xiangyang. He must have some plan.
Hubili was hesitant, but his subordinates and brothers were anxious. They thought that they could see that the armies of Yujie and Menggong were in decline, especially Yujie's troops were weak and their weapons were worn out.
If you don't rush to grab the food during the autumn harvest season, you will be left with nothing to do when all the food is harvested.
Although Hubili was a little hesitant, he still issued an order to march south to rob Jiankang Prefecture. The Mongolian army immediately did what they said, and the vanguards set out to march south.
Hubili’s eldest brother is Mengge, who had just arrived at the Mobei royal court.
After Mengge paid homage to the Great Khan of the Grassland, he indeed felt that, as the rumors had said, the Great Khan’s life span was coming to an end and his death was not far away.
The Khan of the grassland knew that he had returned to compete for the throne but did not expose him. Instead, he sent him to Hebei to take charge of the overall situation and gather the Han army in the Central Plains to fight against the Shenwei army of the New Song Dynasty. He did not seek to expand the territory, but made sure to hold the defense line.
Mengge readily agreed.
How could he know the seriousness of the situation? He confidently led his troops to continue their nomadic migration to the Central Plains.
Hubli was unhappy when he learned that his brother was coming to lead the army.
Here, he had just accumulated some connections and laid down a small capital to compete for the Khan's throne, and then his brother arrived. How could he, with his thin arms and legs, earn more than his brother who had been eating pure natural beef and mutton on the banks of the Volga River for a long time?
Not only Hubili, but all the princes and generals under him were determined to defeat the Song army quickly and take credit for themselves in advance.
Therefore, the war between Song and Mongolia in the east was destined to be a decisive battle from the beginning. The Mongolian army swarmed southward, and the defense lines of Yujie and Meng Gong were instantly broken through. The Song army was unable to defend itself, and kept losing cities and territories, retreating again and again to reorganize its defense.
In Jinzhou, Zhao Yulin met Yu Dayi who came to greet him.
Dayi was very grateful to Zhao Yulin for taking care of him. It was Zhao Yulin who sent him away and helped him build up step by step to become the youngest appeasement envoy of the New Song Dynasty.
He told Dayi clearly that the New Song was about to launch an autumn campaign to recover territory to the east. This campaign would be large-scale and last a long time, and Xingyuanfu Road must make every effort to support the logistical needs of the Shenwei Army's Eastern Group.
The first is to transport all the garrison troops here to the front line to support the battle.
Yu Dayi nodded repeatedly, promised, and told him that the documents from the Ministry of War had arrived, and that the troops in Hanzhong were gathering. He would strictly supervise the subordinates and ensure that the army's mission would not be delayed...
In Nanyang, the generals of the two major military groups of the Shenwei Army are holding a high-level military meeting.
Lai Chuanfang had just arrived yesterday when he learned that the Mongolian army in Xuzhou had marched southward in large numbers to plunder Jiankang Prefecture. The Mongolian navy had also followed suit in large numbers, and they were poised to cross the Yangtze River.
After Yang Xingyun handed Zhao Yulin's order to Lai Chuanfang, he immediately asked how this could be possible. The East Group was strong in men and horses, and its military strength exceeded that of his Qiaohandao Group by 30%. Why did they ask him to be the commander-in-chief of the merged East Group?
"No, no, absolutely not."
Yang Xingyun said sincerely that this was the Third Young Master's military order, and that they were all from the Shenwei Army, the army of the New Song Dynasty, not anyone's private army. He asked Brother Lai to take charge of the overall situation of the East Group, and he was willing to obey the commander-in-chief's orders.
Lai Chuanfang was excited, and held Yang Xingyun's hands tightly, saying that in the future, we brothers will discuss matters together and destroy the northern barbarians together. Therefore, when all the generals gathered in Nanyang, the two of them had already opened their hearts and unified their thoughts.
Yang Xingyun read out Zhao Yulin's order. The Shenwei Army was merged to form the Eastward Corps, with Lai Chuanfang as the commander-in-chief, Zhou Ping, him and Gu Shan as deputy commanders. The two major military groups unified their military actions and immediately launched the autumn campaign to recover the country. The initial goal was to capture Zhengzhou and Xuzhou, and respond flexibly according to the development of the war situation.
Lai Chuanfang asked his brothers to speak freely.
Liu Qiangguang said that since we have locked down the Zhengzhou and Xuzhou line, we can directly attack Xuzhou, cut off the enemy coming to support Zhengzhou, and adopt an outflanking strategy to eliminate the Mongolian troops stationed in the south.
Gu Shan believed that both armies had previously selected their respective attack targets according to their defense zones. This time, after the two armies were combined, they would form an iron fist. We could directly smash Zhengzhou and take over Kaifeng. The enemies in the south would surely flee, and we would then annihilate them.
Moreover, Hubili is now rushing to attack Jiankang Prefecture, and their attention must still be on the south. If we take Zhengzhou in one go, the Mongolian troops heading south will surely worry about their retreat being cut off, and we can force them to retreat.
The generals began to discuss among themselves.
Lai Chuanfang told them that the Qiaohandao Group had earlier been planning to recapture Zhengzhou and was very familiar with the military situation around the area. Until now, there had been no major changes in the Mongolian army, with only a small number naval forces coming and going.
He planned to concentrate the northern column to launch a fierce attack on Zhengzhou and settle the matter once and for all, and the brothers in Jinghu only needed to complete the battlefield alert.
Yang Xingyun disagreed. He said that the third young master had explained that our Shenwei Army is united as one, and the brothers of the East Group share life and death, honor and disgrace together.
The generals immediately shouted three times: "We live and die together, honor and disgrace together."
The central military tent immediately made arrangements according to the new battle plan.
Half a month later, Zhao Yulin returned to Xiangyang along the West Han River after releasing a smoke screen for the Mongolian army. He met Zhou Ping who had just returned and his eldest son Ma Yuan. The Eastern Group's autumn territorial recovery war had begun.
Zhou Ping said happily that hundreds of thousands of troops had joined the war, and he was especially grateful to Zhao Yulin for letting him come back and giving him the opportunity to join the war.
He said that the navy would send out its main force to fight the Mongolian army with General Meng to show our power, and that there was no place to set up a battlefield here. He asked Zhou Ping to leave the water ghost to him and take the others away.
Zhou Ping said he knew it and had already made the arrangements, and would go with the food and supplies.
Zhao Yulin went up to Ma Yuan and stroked her head lovingly, telling her to be smarter and not to be a burden to Uncle Zhou. The young man saluted him cheerfully and followed Zhou Ping onto the ship.
Back at the government office, Chen Chen said she wanted to go to Nanyang too, but he disagreed and told her to coordinate logistics in Xiangyang. This was a major war, and all parties had their needs, so we couldn't be careless.
The next day, he rushed to Nanyang.
Lai Chuanfang launched the Zhengzhou Campaign as soon as he returned to Luoyang. Yang Xingyun was stationed in Nanyang and dispatched the southern troops to intervene in the battlefield.
After Zhao Yulin understood their combat intentions, he thought it was a bit risky, but as long as Zhengzhou was captured quickly, the enemies in the south would be panicked. It was indeed a brilliant move to close the door and beat the dog.
He said that if the Eastern Group's main force went straight to Zhengzhou, it would inevitably cause the defenders in the south to waver. Yang Xingyun should pay close attention to the enemy coming to the north for rescue, surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, attack boldly, and try to eliminate them on the spot, so as to prevent the Mongolian army from gathering in Zhengzhou.
Yang Xingyun said that this was exactly what Brother Lai meant, and he had already made arrangements.
Zhao Yulin said that the battle line was long and the combat area was wide, so we had to be careful and act quickly. After he finished his instructions, he immediately set off for Luoyang and met Lai Chuanfang in Gong County.
This guy was so happy that he personally made tea for Zhao Yulin and thanked him repeatedly. He made him the chief of the Eastern Group and commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to march eastward.
Zhao Yulin told him not to show off yet, and to go eastwards and gradually get out of the mountains, where the roads became easier and easier to travel. How to resist the Mongolian cavalry was a big problem, and the team had to figure out a way to defeat the cavalry.
He pointed to the ground below and said: We will enter the great plains from here.
Lai Chuanfang said disdainfully that the 100,000 brothers in the front were advancing in a rolling manner, bypassing Rongyang City and heading straight for Zhengzhou. The Shenwei Army was advancing in a large group, fearless of any enemy.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that he was strong and daring. He didn't care how he was beaten, he just wanted to plunder for his brothers.
The next day, he followed the central army tent to the outside of Xingyang City, where only the main force of Li Dagui's column and the garrison of one column were guarding.
A large group of people headed straight for Zhengzhou.
Lai Chuanfang proudly told him that thirty red-coated cannons and six squadrons of heavenly troops had arrived, and Rongyang was indefensible, so he planned to attack the city tomorrow.
Zhao Yulin said that speed is of the essence in war, so why wait for such a small city? Should we wait until all the belongings are neatly arranged and the Expo is held before we start construction?
Attack the city immediately.
Lai Chuanfang quickly deployed his troops.
Zhao Yulin came to the artillery position under Wuzhiling in the northwest, and the artillery commander Bai Heng reported to him: the artillery had set up observation balloons on the mountain, and the red cannons could easily hit the center of the city. Commander Lai had concentrated 400 catapults under his command, and he wanted to use artillery fire to clear the way for his brothers who were attacking the city.
Zhao Yulin nodded and also wanted to see the effect of the new artillery.
The command flag was waved at the foot of the mountain and the general attack began.
The red cannon fired a salvo and caused the north gate tower to burst into flames. The explosion was so loud that the birds on the mountain fled in panic.
Immediately, the red cannons changed the direction of their firing and concentrated their attacks on the government offices, barracks and places where the Mongolian troops were gathering in the city.
The catapults were also put to work, and the western and northern walls were bombarded with artillery fire. The dense thunder bombs blasted the walls with explosions and smoke.
Afterwards, the Shenwei Army's air force was dispatched. Dozens of hot air balloons slowly approached the city, blocking a section of the northern wall about 100 feet long and directly using thunder bombs to bomb the ground. The brothers below had already carried ladders to the foot of the city and began to climb the wall.
The Mongolian army was blown away and fled in all directions, unable to climb the city wall.
The Shenwei Army climbed up without any suspense and opened the city easily.
An hour later, Zhao Yulin arrived at Rongyang's government office. Most of the enemies in the city had surrendered, and his brothers were hunting down the remaining enemies.
Lai Chuanfang said happily that at this rate, it would only take a few minutes to take over Zhengzhou.
He felt that Lai Chuanfang was a little out of his mind .
Zhao Yulin reminded Lai Chuanfang that the city of Rongyang was low, while the city of Zhengzhou was much taller. The battle line would be longer towards Zhengzhou, which was suitable for a cavalry group charge, so he must be prepared.
Lai Chuanfang nodded in agreement and led his army to Zhengzhou with full confidence.
