The onlookers were still immersed in the bad news. They still couldn't believe that the river defenses had been breached so easily.
Luo Zhao's thoughts were wandering. The melancholy in his heart was hard to dispel. A huge variable! He knew that he was facing a huge variable.
The Song Kingdom still had the upper hand so far. Even if the river defenses were breached, the Yan army wouldn't be able to get out of the predicament. Logically speaking, defeating the Yan army shouldn't be a problem. However, Meng Shanming's feat had left an unerasable shadow in his heart.
The key was still Meng Shanming. He could make the impossible possible. Who could guarantee that Meng Shanming wouldn't be able to counterattack?
"Yan Shanming, Qi Wuhen …" Luo Zhao sighed as he paced back and forth.
He thought of his rude behavior of gifting Meng Shanming the white horse. He also remembered Meng Shanming's reply, saying that he would return the favor with a generous gift!
He was a little regretful. He wasn't regretting his rudeness. He was just trying to provoke Meng Shanming to chase after him. However, Meng Shanming didn't fall for it. What he regretted was that he shouldn't have sent his army deep into the river. He should have fought with Meng Shanming himself. However, who would have thought that the river defenses would be breached so quickly?
From his point of view, this was a war against the Yan nation. He had to fight for the Yan nation's benefits. It wasn't wise to waste his troops on fighting with Meng Shanming. It would only benefit the State of Han. He had to save enough troops to fight the State of Han for the territory of the Yan nation.
The situation had changed. He couldn't go to the frontline to command the troops in time. Was he really worried that Wu Qunlie would be a match for Meng Shanming?
Even though Wu Qunlie had the upper hand, he had no confidence at all!
What was even more troublesome was the imperial court. If you won the war, whatever you said would be reasonable. Just saying 'you guys don't understand war' would make some people speechless. But if you lost the war, those people in the imperial court would pick out countless mistakes for you. They could even say that you were wrong in front of them …
Just as he issued his new plan, another battle had begun at the Hukou defense line. The troops were fighting fiercely!
At Qingqu, Liao Nanqing's 300,000 troops and Xu Laiping's remaining 130,000 troops joined forces to attack. They attacked fiercely at all costs, forcing Zhang Hu's troops, who had just occupied the Hukou defensive line, to retreat in defeat.
The Hukou defense line, which Yan's men had just conquered, was taken back by the Song army.
During the retreat, Zhang Hu's subordinates were slightly dissatisfied and complained to him, "Great General, we did not do our best. The loss of the Hukou defensive line is undeserved."
"What are you blabbering about? I'm telling you to retreat, so retreat. What's with all this nonsense?" Zhang Hu scolded. Then, he ordered, "The army, stop advancing. Let's take a break."
He had just dismounted when Gong Lince also dismounted and walked over, asking, "This place is not far from the enemy. If we stop now, aren't we afraid of being pursued?"
"Pursuit?" Zhang Hu snorted disdainfully. "It wasn't easy for us to take back the Hukou defensive line. Does Sect Leader Gong think that they would dare to lose it again? They didn't dare to split up their forces to chase after him! The Hukou defensive line is a pit dug by Meng Shuai. Do you think you can climb out of Meng Shuai's pit? "
Gong Lince was deep in thought. "Is this what Meng Shuai meant by only losing and not winning?"
Zhang Hu nodded. "The Song army has been nailed to the Hukou defensive line. They are like turtles in a jar!"
Gong Lince nodded. "When do we take it?"
Zhang Hu replied, "There's no hurry. Let them be happy for now. It's not that easy to take advantage of Meng Shuai."
As for the details, Zhang Hu was unwilling to say. He only said that it was done.
However, since Gong Lince knew what was going on, he didn't ask further …
The Hukou defensive line was in a mess. There were broken fences and broken walls all around. There were still fires burning.
Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping patrolled the ruins and realized that the Yan army left nothing for them. Whatever they couldn't bring with them was burned or destroyed. They didn't even leave a house for them to stay in.
The Yan army was in a hurry. They traveled light and didn't bring any supplies. It was the rainy season now. Hundreds of thousands of men and horses probably had to sleep in the open.
What was more troublesome was that the Yan army didn't retreat far. They came to harass them from time to time.
The enemy's motive was simple. They wanted to bully the Yan army because they didn't dare to give up the defensive line. They harassed them repeatedly so that they couldn't rest.
When the Yan army gave chase, the harassing troops ran away. The pursuing troops didn't dare to run too far for fear of being surrounded by the Yan army.
…
"Victory report! Victory report! "
In the River Defense Governor's Mansion, a general rushed into the River Defense Hall with a report of victory.
Wu Qunlie, whose eyes were red from staying up all day, suddenly stood up from behind the table, revealing an extremely expectant look.
The young general presented the victory report with both hands in front of everyone. "General Liao and General Xu have joined forces and recaptured the Hukou defensive line!"
"Ah!" The generals in the hall were overjoyed.
Wu Qunlie snatched the report and read it. He was overjoyed. "Good! Very good! " He waved the report in his hand and said, "According to the second general, the Yan army only had about 200,000 men. They couldn't stop our attack and were defeated. It seems like Zhang Hu's men suffered heavy losses during the battle. It's beyond our estimation. I'm afraid they lost more than 300,000 men! "
As he spoke, he tossed the report to everyone to see.
One general read it and said, "Crossing the river under such conditions with only wooden rafts is unavoidable."
Another general read it and said, "Xu Laiping did his best."
Someone frowned. "The Yan army destroyed all the defensive facilities. Once Xu Jingyue and Zhang Hu's men cross the river, it'll be hard to stop them from both inside and outside."
The hall fell silent. This was a troublesome matter. Zhang Hu's men would never give Liao and Xu the chance to gather the materials to rebuild the defensive facilities. They would keep harassing them and cooperate with Xu Jingyue's men to cross the river.
Wu Qunlie thought for a while. "We can only let Liao and Xu hold them off at all costs. I will send another 400,000 men to support them."
Someone reminded, "The army left in a hurry and didn't bring enough supplies. The soldiers only brought two days' worth of rations. The Hukou defensive line needs to be resupplied as soon as possible."
One general said, "The supplies will be here soon. Once Qingqu's men set off, the rations will be sent out."
Wu Qunlie reminded, "Tell Liao and Xu to keep an eye on Zhang Hu's men to prevent them from robbing the rations. Once the rations arrive, tell them to send some men to support them! Tell them to hold on for a few days. My 400,000 reinforcements will arrive. "
…
On the other side of the Hukou defensive line, Xu Jingyue's men hurried over and immediately prepared the wooden rafts.
As Xu Jingyue was inspecting the river, she received a message from Zhang Hu. It said to stop crossing the river and to make preparations first. They were to wait for further instructions when to cross the river.
The deputy general read the message and frowned. "We lost the Hukou defensive line after so much effort. We should cross the river and attack the Song army before they have stabilized their footing. Are we going to wait for the Song army to finish building the defensive facilities before attacking? What is Commander Meng doing? "
Xu Jingyue looked at the other side of the river. Slowly, he said, "Commander Meng will not speak without thinking. He must have made some arrangements. We will listen to his orders."
…
In the wilderness of Jiangxia County, the convoy of rations was like a long dragon, escorted by 20,000 men.
As they neared the forest, a few cultivators who were scouting ahead rushed over and reported, "Retreat! There is an ambush in the forest!"
As they spoke, the sound of a bugle horn could be heard from the forest ahead.
Countless men charged out from the forest and headed straight for the convoy.
"Retreat!" the officer guarding the rations exclaimed.
The convoy turned back hurriedly. However, with so much rations, how could they escape? The army escorting the rations immediately defended the rear.
The two armies faced each other. Guo Xianfu rode out from the crowd with a spear in his hand. He said proudly, "Commander Meng predicted that reinforcements would arrive soon. The rations must be behind. I have been waiting here for a long time! Those who put down their weapons and surrender will be spared! "
Zhang Hu only had about two hundred thousand men and horses under his command. Guo Xianfu led the one hundred thousand men and horses to seize the granary but failed. Immediately, he stealthily traveled through the night and rushed to Jiangxia County. He hid on the road that the convoy of provisions must pass through. On Zhang Hu's side, he had already made his move ahead of them. Liao and Xu, two people were keeping a close watch on Zhang Hu's troops.
The other party did not listen and refused to surrender. Instead, the officer guarding the rations ordered the destruction of the rations. The other side began to slash the rations and wanted to scatter the rations on the muddy ground.
Guo Xianfu's eyes widened. The rations were the lifeline of the Yan army. Otherwise, he would not need to spend so much effort. He shouted angrily, "Kill!"
On the plains below the river, the sounds of battle shook the heavens. Both sides clashed.
100,000 elite Yan soldiers against 20,000 rations. The outcome was predictable. The latter was defeated. After leaving behind a pile of corpses, thousands of rations soldiers fled.
The rations prepared by the 300,000 reinforcements from Qingqu County were almost all in Guo Xianfu's hands. After reorganizing, Guo Xianfu escorted the rations back.
At the same time, a golden wing flew into the sky and reported to Zhang Hu that the rations were in their hands!
…
In the Governor's Office of the River Defense Governor, there was a lot of discussion. Governor Luo Zhao's new strategic deployment had arrived. He wanted them to give up the river defense and implement a new strategy.
"It's a pity to give up the river defense just like that."
"Sir, the Governor doesn't know about the situation here. He doesn't know that we have taken back the Hukou defense line. If he knew, he would not ask us to give up the defense line. Why don't we wait for the Governor to receive the battle report before making a decision?"
"That's right. It is our duty to stop the war from happening outside the country. Once the main battlefield is inside the country, the people of the Song Dynasty will suffer."
Faced with the voices of persuasion, Wu Qunlie, who was sitting behind the table, looked at the new order on the table and hesitated.
At this moment, a shout came from outside. "Report!" A young general rushed in and reported, "Sir, the rations sent to the Hukou defense line have been robbed in Jiangxia District!"
Wu Qunlie stood up suddenly and said angrily, "Who robbed it?"
The young general said, "Zhang Hu's Left Commander, Guo Xianfu, personally led 100,000 men to set up an ambush in Jiangxia District to rob the rations!"
"Zhang Hu has 100,000 men lying in ambush in Jiangxia District?" Wu Qunlie was shocked. At this moment, he finally realized that he had fallen into a trap. The Hukou defense line was not broken because of a lack of troops. It was the enemy who feigned defeat and gave up the Hukou defense line to them on purpose, luring them to continue sending rations to the front line.
The group of generals in the hall also stood up in shock. They realized the seriousness of the problem. They did not expect the enemy to go around in such a big circle and use the Hukou defense line as bait just to steal this bit of rations.
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