Chapter 1020 Crossing the River

Chapter 1020 Crossing the River

Chapter 1020 Crossing the River
It took three full days to build the floating bridge on both sides of the Huai River.

While the floating bridge was being built, ships were shuttling back and forth between the two banks of the Huai River.

At noon on the 24th, General Zhang Shuo of the Zhonglei Army boarded a naval ship.

This ship can carry more than twenty naval soldiers and an additional hundred land forces, and is considered the most powerful warship in Daliang.

The Huai River in this section is not very wide, but the water is turbulent and not easy to navigate.

While sailing, Zhang Shuo stood at the bow, quietly looking at the Xishi Mountain on the opposite bank.

The Huai River splits the mountain into two halves, East and West Xishi Mountains.

When the Huai River flows through this place, it turns a corner and changes from flowing east-west to flowing southwest and northeast, so it is the East Bank and the West Bank - of course, it can also be said to be the South Bank and the North Bank.

Originally, there were 2,000 Jiangzhou soldiers stationed in Dongxishi Mountain, both on land and on water. Fortunately, they were transferred away by Zu Yue half a month ago, but a major obstacle was removed.

Otherwise, before crossing the river, a naval battle would first need to break out, and then the dangerous mountain city would need to be attacked.

As long as the defenders have a strong will, the land and sea forces cooperate, and there is sufficient food and grass, it is actually not easy to fight.

The navy warships soon arrived at the other side.

Yang Bao, who was the General of Revenue and concurrently the Water Envoy and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, stood on the Dongxishi Mountain and pointed at the Huai River.

Like worker ants, the naval officers and soldiers carried axes and saws, pulled ox carts and rushed to various woods, cut down trees in large quantities, made them into stakes, and then transported them to the shore.

Countless strong men jumped into the waist-deep water, shouted horns, and erected wooden stakes downstream of the East and West Xishi Mountains to block the enemy's boats from going upstream.

It was obvious that they could not defeat the Jin navy and could not "block them openly", so they could only "block them secretly" with wooden stakes or iron chains.

No matter what, the Jin navy must not be allowed to cut off the army's retreat, otherwise there would be a risk of annihilation.

The soldiers of the Silver Spear Camp who had crossed the river earlier were lining up on the east bank of the Huai River.

When they stepped on solid ground, they all became full of energy. They checked their equipment and then formed a team to march eastward.

Thirty miles east of Erxishi Mountain, another troop was carried across the river by the navy.

Yao Lan had a sickly look on her face as she stood in the soft mud on the river bank, walking with difficulty.

The condition of the Proton Army soldiers is not very good.

When they fought in Runan and Xiangyang before, many of them were not able to adapt to the environment. Now when they arrived in Ruyin, it had been raining heavily for months and epidemics broke out in the army. Many people died, and even Yao Lan was infected.

When it comes to adapting to the environment of Huainan and Huaibei, those who came from Yongqin are far inferior to the Henan people in the Yinqiang Camp.

But under Rushan’s military order, there was no possibility of retreat.

They evacuated the sick to Ruyin County City, and the remaining 3,000 infantry and cavalry crossed the river in batches and headed towards Bagua Mountain.

Huan Fu stationed his 4,000 men on the mountain city. When he saw someone crossing the river, he immediately climbed up to look into the distance.

In his vision——

The first group of cavalrymen who had crossed the river had already mounted their horses and were slowly galloping away.

Large-scale cavalry were rare in the Huainan area. When they galloped away, the soldiers and civilians of Shouchun were all daunted.

However, the cavalry only ran for a short while before stopping. It was a rainy season, and the land was muddy and slippery, so many people fell off their horses and were cursing like mud monkeys.

Behind the cavalry, boats were constantly shuttling back and forth on the river bank.

They seemed to be racing against time, trying to transport as much military supplies and food as possible before the Jiangdong navy arrived.

Some infantry also began to form up.

The clothes were of all kinds, and some people were even wearing brocade robes, which was really outrageous.

The equipment is also different, and it seems that everyone uses what they are most comfortable with.

The formation was not very neat, it could only be said that it was better than ordinary peasant soldiers, but much worse than elite soldiers, and not even as neat as the Jiangdong hereditary soldiers.

From these characteristics, we can basically analyze that this army was established not long ago, and most of the soldiers are children of wealthy families. If there is anything they can show off, it may be their personal bravery and their skills should also be quite skilled.

There is an endless crowd of people on the other side of the river waiting to cross the river.

Young and strong laborers pulled the timber and spread it out along the river bank, either to build a floating bridge or to sink piles to block the river.

Thinking of this, Huan Fu suddenly became a little worried.

Don't transport troops, transport more food, arrows, and medicine across the river.

Once the food supply was cut off by the Jiangdong navy, they would have to rely on stored supplies to survive.

There was a shout from the foot of the mountain.

Huan Fu looked and saw that the first group of hostage troops who had crossed the river had arrived at the foot of the mountain and were negotiating with their own soldiers stationed on the periphery.

Huan Fu calmed himself down and went down the mountain.

******
"Everyone, now that things have come to this, what else do you have to say?" In the Shouchun prefect's mansion, Zu Yue's face was full of displeasure, and he was furious at the assistant officers who were "invited" over.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one panicked.

Is it true that there is no sign of a large-scale rebellion? That is impossible.

It has been several months now, and smart people should have seen something and are mentally prepared.

Those who were not so smart gradually realized it and made their own choices.

Only fools suddenly realize what is happening now and then turn pale.

There was no other reason for his ugly look. There were several bloody corpses lying in the yard.

In times of national crisis, there are always a few people who either "hold on to their integrity" or "do not understand the current situation" and are killed for their unyielding character, but the majority of people cannot withstand the test of life and death and have no choice but to surrender.

Those who are a little bit loyal will try to escape once the situation stabilizes.

Those who were not so loyal followed the crowd and served the new dynasty.

When Zu Yue questioned them, the Shouchun magistrate and the county magistrate quickly took the lead and said in unison: "We are willing to follow the legitimate rule of Daliang."

Zu Yue smiled with satisfaction, then became a little suspicious, but didn't say anything.

The officials looked helpless when they saw the expression on his face.

We didn't surrender, and you got angry and killed people.

We surrendered, and you suspected it was a fake surrender.

What do you want?

Fortunately, Zu Yue knew that he was worried about gains and losses. After controlling his turbulent emotions, he ordered: "In this case, you will remain in your original positions and return to your offices to raise and distribute supplies and conscript prisoners to respond to the king's army. Go to some counties and towns to persuade the magistrates to recognize the current situation and return to the right path as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." everyone said in unison.

Zu Yue took one last look at everyone, and then, surrounded by his followers, he left the prefectural government. The streets were full of groups of soldiers, led by their respective officers, gathering outside the city.

As I walked, I heard voices.

"General Zu will lead us back to Xuzhou. There is no need to panic. Just follow your orders."

"The people under Liu Kun have all fled with us and experienced life and death together. They would never attack your family members."

"Over the past ten years, many of you have intermarried. Will in-laws attack in-laws? Not really."

"As long as we fight back, there will be a hundred responses, don't doubt it."

These are words of comfort, as well as words of intimidation, such as -

"The Jin court doesn't treat us as human beings at all. They drive us around like chickens and dogs."

"Many of your children are about to get married, but they are still lonely ghosts. It is so difficult to get citizenship. What do you think the nobles of Jianye are like?"

"Now that we have started the rebellion, we should stop thinking about other things. If we lose the war, given the character of the nobles in Jianye, I'm afraid they will all kill us."

There are also some words that are not unreasonable, but they are also very deceptive.

"Why should a man worry about not having a wife? Shouchun is very strict, so it's not convenient. When we go to Chengde, Hefei and other counties, we'll grab one happily."

"Isn't it better to take a new bride home than the old one at home?"

"Perhaps the war is over, the bride is pregnant, and they have also seized money to build a family business."

"There is only one thing, you must fight bravely. If you lose, you will lose everything. Even if you can retreat to Huaibei, the Liang people will not look at you in the eye."

The examples are numerous.

Generally speaking, every officer has a different personality, different insights, and different methods of winning people's hearts and minds.

Under their instigation, the soldiers, feeling somewhat angry, worried, and hesitant, reluctantly gathered together, lined up outside the city, and then collected supplies. Their target: Hefei.

******
It is almost three hundred miles from Shouchun to Hefei, which is certainly not something that can be reached in a short time.

At this time, a vanguard fleet had appeared on the surface of Chaohu Lake.

They set out from Ruxuwu with more than 20 ships of various sizes and more than 3,000 soldiers.

After receiving the news, Gao Kui bid farewell to He Chong and headed north on a small boat with only a few followers.

The boatman was very old, with white hair and beard. He didn't know what happened, but was satisfied with the generous fare he received for this trip.

Therefore, after walking north for two days, when he stopped halfway, he even carefully prepared the few fish he caught and stewed a clay pot of soup to offer as a tribute.

After Gao Kui expressed his thanks briefly, he sat in the cabin, seizing the last moment to perfect various details.

He is part of the battle plan, or an idle piece or a discarded piece that is better than nothing.

The army is behind and he is in front.

Intimidated by the military force, he went to Shouchun to announce the imperial edict, ordering the release of his ancestors' soldiers and giving them rewards.

He wasn't sure what effect it would have, but something was better than nothing, and besides—

Thinking of this, Gao Qi smiled bitterly.

He has no family background and is of low origin, making him most suitable to be abandoned.

And if you want to climb up in this family, you must pay a greater price than the children of aristocratic families. Even if the emperor favors you, you must have merits that make others speechless in order to be promoted. Otherwise, what do you think of the ministers in the court? Are they slaves of the emperor?
The emperor does not have as much prestige as Shao Xun, so it is too difficult for him to get anything done.

But on the other hand, huge risks also contain huge opportunities.

Once the morale of Zu's army can be broken with a few words, the crisis can be resolved. The court can then send another important official here to clean up the situation and repel any possible plotting by the State of Liang.

That's how it is.

After carefully reviewing it, Gao Kui declined the fish soup offered by his entourage, left the cabin, and walked down to the shore.

The river flows quietly, and the once dilapidated Huainan has regained some of its vitality after decades of recuperation.

Good place!
There are many inconveniences for northerners moving south, but Huainan is a place where it is relatively easier to adapt to.

If we allow them to gain a foothold in Huainan and operate vigorously, we will be like Cao Wei, and we will never be able to drive them away.

The sound of horse hooves came.

Gao Kui was startled and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see more than a dozen muddy knights coming out from behind a small forest.

Before he could react, he was shot in the thigh by an arrow. He immediately fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Two followers suddenly rushed out of the cabin, jumped ashore, and ran towards Gao Kui.

"Swoosh! Whoosh!" More arrows came flying, and before the followers could react, they all fell to the ground, breathing out more than breathing in.

"If you move again, I'll shoot you to death!" A sturdy man got off his horse and looked at the white-haired boatman, snorting coldly, "The Lord of the Prefecture has repeatedly warned us not to hide boats privately, but you turned a deaf ear to it?"

"General, you are wronged!" The boatman cried out, "I used to live on Chao Lake and came from Hefei. I didn't know the governor's order."

"Stop talking nonsense!" The man waved his hand, pointed at two people, and said, "You guys take this boat back."

"As you command." Two soldiers stepped forward, holding the boatman on the left and right, and said, "Don't worry, we won't kill you. The Lord needs a boat to transport food and grass, that's all."

The man walked up to Gao Kui and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

Gao Kui's face was filled with pain, and he said nothing.

"Don't tell?" The man sneered and reached out to feel Gao Kui's sleeves and chest, but found nothing valuable.

At this time, a sergeant walked out of the cabin and said, "Captain, we found a bundle."

The man took it, opened it and searched for a few times, then his face changed drastically and he said, "Take the person back."

The soldier responded, then picked up Gao Kui like a chicken and walked into the cabin.

I don’t know if it was because the wound was agitated, but Gao Qi finally couldn’t bear it anymore and screamed.

"Don't kill him. Find a way to stop his bleeding." The man cursed, then ignored him and subconsciously looked towards the north.

On the distant horizon, the figures of the vanguard army have appeared.

That was General Xu Liuxu's troop, a total of two thousand infantry and cavalry.

On the last day of the intercalary fifth month, Zu Yue's general Xu Liu led two thousand troops to arrive near Hefei.

At this time, the surface of the Nanfei River was crowded with boats, flags were flying, and the sound of war drums continued for dozens of miles, with an extremely terrifying momentum.

The main force of the Jin army, more than 20,000 naval and land troops, have arrived here.

(End of this chapter)