Get a deer!

This is a county under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture. Although it has always been very prosperous and has a broad base, it is still just an ordinary county under Hebei West Road.

But now, when the senior officials of the Song and Jin Dynasties followed their own marching speed and were keenly aware that both sides were likely to rush forward and have a large-scale field battle, they all invariably noticed this area.

This kind of coincidence, coupled with this name, can't help but give people a sense of destiny.

Qin lost its deer, and the whole world chased it... Ever since Tai Shigong wrote this sentence in Zhong, the metaphor of the deer in the world has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even after careful study, the person who was persuaded by this sentence, Han Xin, was in Hebei Province at that time.

As the foundation, this is the basis for competition.

Therefore, when this name was shouted out by the top brass of the two armies, it seemed to have a magical power that attracted the decision-makers of both sides. Both sides realized that the success or failure in this area would determine the ownership of Hebei and determine the ownership of Hebei.

The final success or failure of the Song Army's Northern Expedition will determine the basic destiny of the two countries.

Of course, putting aside the name, some things, especially the role of geography in military, political, and people's livelihood, are really so clear and destined that there is no coincidence in nature... Just like if someone told Zhao Guanjia,

When the area they were looking for was essentially the core urban area of ​​Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province in later generations, he would surely have had a sudden realization.

The so-called Huolu County was originally a large plain closest to the exit of Jingxing. It was just because at this time the scope of human activities and urban development had not reached the point where it could break through the Hutuo River, so the capital of Zhending Prefecture ended at Hutuo.

Only in Hebei, Huolu in Hutuo and Henan has been reduced to a purely agricultural area.

But now, because the armies of both sides are too large and they need a nearby large plain, harvesting deer will naturally arise.

There are countless similar geographical locations in ancient and modern times at home and abroad.

For example, Zhuolu in the Zhangjiakou area in the north, or the Stone City built in Nanjing later by Sun Quan after his great development in the south, or after Rome unified the Mediterranean, Constantinople at the mouth of the strait gradually replaced the ancient Greek city.

Lysimacia became the capital of Thrace and even the entire eastern Mediterranean.

There are many coincidences in the world, but some are really not coincidences.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, Yelv Mawu, who had received permission from the rear, finally gave up his efforts at Jingxing and took the initiative to retreat... In fact, even if he did not retreat, he would be unable to withstand it. There were too many Song troops, and the Jingxing Passage was not

Since one man can pass through a natural danger that cannot be overcome by ten thousand men, the Song army was able to deploy enough troops to sustain attacks in turns.

But no matter what the reason was, as Yelv Mawu retreated, the Song Army's forward suddenly became enlightened. Shao Yun, the general of the imperial camp, took the lead and led his troops to follow Yelv Mawu. He took the lead in walking out of the Jingxing Passage and came to Jingxing County. Here,

This is the real boundary of Hebei East Road.

Following closely behind were Niu Gao, Dong Xian, Zhang Qi, Zhai Chong, and Zhai Jin.

On the second day, which was the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, Jieyuan, Huyantong, Dong Min, Chen Jue and other members of the imperial camp's left army followed suit and crossed the passage.

By the evening of that day, Dangxiang Qingqi led by Li Shifu could not wait to cross the line and rush out of Jingxing before the core force of the Song Army to conduct necessary reconnaissance and assist in defense.

On the same day, the Five Pioneers swept through Ganquan, Xiaozuokou, Wangjiagu, and Jiuxian villages, and controlled the Jingxing exit area west of Mianmanshui and south of Hutuo River.

After obtaining the necessary safety area, on the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, countless Song army troops, led by countless flags, crossed Jingxing and arrived in Hebei.

Let us say that the Jin army only lost its main stronghold on the west side of Mianmanshui, but there were still scattered sentries who risked their lives to stay here to conduct necessary reconnaissance. They were hiding in the remaining mountains of the Taihang Mountains, taking advantage of the many valleys and hills.

Peeping the terrain from a distance... At first, they tried to calculate the specific number of the Song army and identify the generals leading each unit, but soon they gave up this futile move.

There was no way, there were too many soldiers in the Song Dynasty, not only soldiers, but also countless civilians and baggage, it was impossible to count them. And with the outflow of these main forces of the Song Army, all the towns and valleys west of Mianmanshui,

The flat lands and hills were almost entirely controlled by the Song army, and most of these sentries lost their ability to hide and had no choice but to retreat.

However, even so, the Jin Army's Sentinel Cavalry spied the most important piece of information before they evacuated, that the dragon dragon indeed appeared at the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains and arrived in Hebei.

In fact, this dragon's banner reached Xiaozuokou Village on the west side of Mianmanshui before stopping, and it was only a dozen miles away from Mianmanshui.

Without further ado, in the evening of that day, the senior officials of the Song Army hurriedly held a military meeting in front of the imperial court to discuss the next step of marching.

The person presiding over the military meeting was none other than Wu Jie, who had just caught up with the large army yesterday, and the number of participants was not large. Zhao Guan's family and below... Except for Ma Kuo, who was supervising the transportation of grain and grass in the rear, there was no one here... The rest, Lu Yihao and a few

As a bachelor, Han Shizhong took a few commanders, plus Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan, and that was it. However, even so, those with the most junior qualifications, such as Yu Yunwen and Mei Yue, could only go to the narrow hall door and stand and listen.

"Still got a deer!"

As soon as the military meeting began, under the light of the lights, Wu Jie pointed at the simple map hanging on the screen with a riding crop, and without hesitation gave the exact same answer as Han Shizhong had given before on the west side of Jingxing. "It can only be to win.

deer!"

"Why?!" The person asking the question was Lu Yihao, who was obviously a little depressed but trying to keep his spirits up. After all, he was old, and military life was very damaging to his health.

"So that Mr. Xiang knows that we are now located at the Jingxing exit west of Mianmanshui and south of Hutuo River..." Wu Jie continued to point to the map, speaking clearly and logically. "The main force of the Jin Army is concentrated on the south side of Hutuo River.

The harvest deer is facing us from a distance across a stretch of water. The main forces of the two armies are huge and opposite in strength. At this time, we must not divide our troops easily."

"That's right." Lu Yihao thought for a moment and then agreed.

"Next, our army will attack, and the main force will either cross the Hutuo River to Zhending, or cross the Mianman River to capture deer... But it is not up to us to decide where to go, because according to the reports from the scouts, the main force of the Jin army has obviously already

Hedgehogs gathered in the wilderness around Shiyi Town, southeast of Huolucheng, and set up a stronghold. If we crossed the Hutuo River, we didn't need to cross the entire Hutuo River. As long as we could cross 40,000 to 50,000 people, they would immediately cross the Mianman River and take the opportunity to fight us, or

He said he would wait a moment and wait until most of us have crossed the river before trying to block our way back!"

"Can't we stop the Jin army along the Mianshui River?" Fan Zongyin couldn't help but interrupt.

"No." Wu Jie's reply was categorical. "The Hutuo River is a big river, but the Mianman River is just a tributary, a small river. It is much more difficult for troops to travel to and from the Hutuo River than to the Mianman River! What's more, from our place

Looking at it from the side, the section of Hutuo River controlled by Master Wang is too short, far less convenient than Mianmanshui, which stretches for dozens of miles."

After saying this, Wu Jie paused for a moment, but then looked at Zhao Guanjia, who had been silent all this time, because he knew that if Lu Yihao had no objection, then according to the current hasty attitude, it would basically be a matter of one sentence from the official family:

"Actually, to put it bluntly, with such a large army on both sides, no matter what kind of river it is, it is impossible to effectively block it. The only one that can stop an army of hundreds of thousands is an army of hundreds of thousands! Moreover, the Wang Division's eastward departure from Hebei this time was originally aimed at the Jin Army.

The main force is coming, there is absolutely no reason to put the cart before the horse!"

As soon as these words came out, Lu Yihao, Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Wang Yan, Wang De, Li Qiong, Wu Lin, Li Shifu and others all turned around to look at Zhao Guan's family sitting on one side under the candlelight.

Wu Jie understood, and of course they also understood that the war was so hasty that most of the time it was just a word from the Zhao Guan family.

"That's good." Zhao Jiu, who had already heard Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Wang Yan and others analyze it several times, nodded in agreement without hesitation. "We can only go to Huolu to fight! What's more, if we don't cross the Mianman River, we can't fight with him.

The two ends of the curve meet... But Jin Qing, if we are to fight at Huolu, do you have any arrangements?"

When Wu Jie heard this inquiry, he was silent for a moment, and then said seriously: "So that the officials know that such a battle will be almost three times the scale of the Battle of Yaoshan... If the officials ask about the marching arrangements, of course I can follow them.

Di Bao's style of writing lists one, two, three, and four, but they are all based on experience and armchair tactics... I am afraid that the real targeted arrangement will have to wait until we have crossed the Mianman River, arrived in front of the formation, and looked at the terrain.

, look at the military situation, look at the weather, and make temporary arrangements."

There was a slight commotion in the hall.

But Zhao Jiu's expression did not change at all, and he just nodded: "It doesn't matter! We are like this, and so are the Jurchens. Whether they are in a hurry or inexperienced, they are all the same... According to the military report, the Jurchens were no better than us when they arrived at Huolu."

We arrived in Jingxing County only a day and a half early... Just tell me what you want to do now."

Everyone felt relieved for a moment.

Wu Jie also simply made an exception: "Cross the Mianman River, take the seat of Jingxing County, and then send a large army to set up a stronghold in the hilly land in the east of Jingxing County and the west of Huolu County, arrange defenses, and then merge with Qudutong's cavalry, and then advance forward

, observe the enemy's situation along the way, test and fight with the Jin army, and decide the strategy."

"Okay, let's do it."

Zhao Jiu's words were concise and concise, directly concluding the day's imperial military meeting.

After experiencing the first military meeting, the Zhao Guan family personally issued an order, and the army immediately made adjustments and laid out along the Mianman River, determined to cross the river and seize Jingxing County and Pingshan County as a place to establish a stronghold.

.

On the morning of the next day, Zhao Guanjia led his generals and large troops to the east in person and arrived at Mianman River, where he personally supervised the battle and made preparations for crossing the river.

According to the military orders formulated by Wu Jie last night and passed down by Zhao Guan's family, this morning, a total of thirteen control departments, led by their respective generals, crossed the river together to carry out necessary sweeps.

Once the sweep is completed, the main force of the Song Army will push eastward and force them into Huolu.

Let us also say that each of the thirteen commanders is a world-famous general, and the total number of soldiers alone has reached 30,000. With so many armored soldiers and so many famous generals,

At the same time, they coordinated to cross the river on a wide front of dozens of miles and attacked the city separately... And not only crossed the Mianman River head-on to enter the two county towns of Jingxing and Pingshan, but even three commanders each led thousands of people to cross northward.

Crossing the Hutuo River to get to Bailing Village, there is a mountain village to the west and a mountain village to the east... It is said that there are degrees of righteousness and grand regulations.

Such military strength and such actions, placed in a small country, can almost be regarded as a battle that determines the fate of the country. However, whether it is the Song Army or even the Jin Army on the opposite side, everyone knows that this is just a battle for the Song Army to clear up the advance of the large army.

Necessary actions to clear obstacles, make space, and prepare for surprise attacks.

All I can say is that the scale of the war is so ridiculous that it makes people numb.

However, the Jin army did not hesitate to make more concessions.

On the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month, at noon, the grass and trees were all green and full of life.

In front of the gurgling vines of spring water, Zhao Guan's dragon robe swayed slightly in the spring breeze, while Jingxing County, which was visible on the other side, was already crumbling under the brave attack of Dong Xianbu, who had become increasingly prominent in the Northern Expedition.

But at this time, the rumbling sound like spring thunder came from far away and became closer and closer, becoming more and more obvious.

Of course the Song Army knows what this is... the Jin Army cavalry, and the Jin Army has no reason to sit back and watch the Song Army seize the city and establish a stronghold. They always want to take advantage of the Song Army's unsteady foothold across the river to fight a few battles to improve morale. It is expected

What happened... Therefore, no one took it seriously at first. They just issued military orders from the imperial front and prepared the troops of the left army of the imperial camp who were supposed to cross the river in order to cross the river at any time to respond to Dong Xian.

However, as the thunder became louder and louder, beyond everyone's experience and knowledge, Dong Xian's troops on the other side moved from east to west, and the troops were the first to enter a state of panic and out of control. In the end, they actually gave up the city within easy reach and turned their backs to the river next to the pontoon bridge.

The hedgehogs gathered together... and everyone in the Song Army finally noticed something was wrong.

Soon, there was no need for Dong Xian's messenger to cross the river and report back. The senior Song Army leaders under the dragon's banner already understood what was going on. They saw with their own eyes that countless Jin Army armored cavalry, one man and two horses, rolled over like a tide.

Across the hills and slopes on the opposite side, the advancing horizontal front stretched endlessly, reaching a width of seven or eight miles, and it continued to grow in depth.

Under the spring sunshine, the armor and weapons of the Jin army were gleaming, and the flags were densely packed. Looking around, there were many famous masters and generals of the Jin army, which caused the Song army on the west bank of the river to change their expressions and even waver.
To be continued...