Chapter 685: White Horse Crossing the River

When the Jiangdong battle report came, Gong Lince and others in the Chinese army's tent were overjoyed when they heard the news. The impregnable Song army's defense line was breached in such a short period of time, which was unimaginable to them before.

Inevitably, Gong Lince and other monks praised Meng Shan repeatedly, praising Meng Shuai as worthy of Meng Shuai and the like.

In this battle, seeing Meng Shanming's ability gave Gong Lince and others confidence in the follow-up battle.

However, Meng Shanming, who saw the battle report, couldn't be happy. Gong Lince and others didn't understand. Maybe the dead people were just a number in the eyes of these monks, but he understood it, knowing that he had paid for it. What a price to pay for it.

As soon as he looked at the battle report, he could tell which place and which team were fighting fiercely. He didn't favor Zhang Hu's side, but only the court's men and horses. Nearly 200,000 horses were missing in this storm alone. If the losses on Zhang Hu's side are added, the cumulative losses are actually greater than those of the Song Army on the Hukou defense line.

And all of this was caused by his order. How many soldiers and soldiers of Dayan were ruined by his order?

How happy this made him, facing the sound of praise, he felt ashamed, slowly closed his eyes, and said slowly in the excited atmosphere in the tent: "Send the good news to An Xianzhao, Su Qitong, Shi Xinmao, order the third department to be ready to cross the river at any time! At the same time, order Xu Jingyue's department to march towards me. Also order Zhang Hu to send people to return the crossing raft as soon as possible."

"Yes!" The herald took the order and left.

The news of the victory spread to Xu, An, Su, and Shi, and the four generals were shocked.

It's not that the four departments have no confidence in Meng Shanming, but that they didn't expect Meng Shanming to break through Song Guojiang's defense line so quickly, which is called a super speed.

Based on the experience of the four generals, of course they know how difficult it is to break through Luo Zhao's well-arranged Jiang defense, and it can even be said that it is impossible. They also know what the breach of Song's defense line means. Jiang Fang's looseness.

"It's only been three hours since we received the news of the feint attack?" Zijin Cave Elder Yue Yuan asked.

"Yes, in just three hours, they broke through the Hukou defense zone defended by 300,000 Song troops. Meng Shuai is Meng Shuai, and the sword is not old!" Xu Jingyue shook his head and sighed with great emotion. He knew the battle situation so far. Not many, it is really hard to imagine how it was broken.

Yue Yuan asked again: "Now that we are being asked to cross this side, do you want us to cross the river from that side?"

Xu Jingyue nodded slightly, "It should be. We are the closest to that side, and the Hukou defense area is under the control of Meng Shuai. There should be no other reason except for us to cross the river from the Hukou defense area. It is meaningless to say this now, see you Meng Shuai naturally knows."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and yelled, "Send the order, the army is assembled, and go down the south of the river!"

With an order, Gongzhou took a part of the imperial court and immediately pulled out the camp, and the army went along the river...

"What?"

In the Governor's Mansion of Jiangfang, Wu Qunlie, who had been sleepless all night, was shocked when he received the report of the fall of Hukou.

"My lord!" The generals in the hall exclaimed, and quickly stepped forward to support him.

Shaking his head, Wu Qunlie waved his arms left and right to stabilize his mind, angrily pushed away the support, his face was extremely ugly, and he said in pain with a look of hatred: "I lost the Hukou defense line in less than three hours. , I didn’t even hold it for half a day, I only need to hold on for a long time, and my reinforcements from Qingqu will arrive! Xu Laiping, Xu Laiping, you have betrayed the trust of the governor, you deserve death! How do you want me to explain to the governor! How do you ask the governor to explain to the court!"

Swish! He suddenly drew his sword out of its sheath, and slashed down, directly chopping off a corner of the table beside him, his whole body trembling with anger.

A general said: "My lord, the matter has come to this, and it is useless to be angry. Fortunately, Xu Laiping is not stupid, and has preserved the strength of almost 130,000 horses. Zhang Hu's troops also suffered heavy losses. Xu Laiping estimated that Zhang Hu's troops lost no less than two One hundred thousand, and Xu Laiping set fire to the grain store, so that it would not fall into the hands of the Yan thief, who is short of food and grass in the hands of the Yan thief, and it is almost unbearable, and the situation can still be salvaged!"

Wu Qunlie stood firm with his sword, let out a long breath, and said in a deep voice: "That is to say, Zhang Hu only has about 300,000 troops left... Immediately let Xu Laiping's remnants and Liao Nanqing's Qingqu troops join forces, and gather the troops of both sides. , Take back the Hukou defense zone for me at any cost!"

Not long after the order was issued here, another urgent report came from outside, "Report, there is movement from Xu Jingyue's department on the other side. Xu Jingyue's troops are moving towards the Hukou defense zone at a high speed."

A group of generals immediately went to the map to check, and one general said: "This is obviously to allow Xu Jingyue's troops to cross the river from the Hukou defense area, increase troops to expand the control of the Hukou defense area, and prepare for Yan's follow-up army to cross the river."

Wu Qunlie turned his head and asked, "An Xianzhao, Su Qitong and Shi Xinmao's men on the other side have made any movements?"

Next reply: "There is no movement at the moment."

Boom! Wu Qunlie punched the wall, Meng Shanming's strategy was obvious, if he didn't mobilize all the people along the river to cross the river through the Hukou line of defense, he just wanted to clamp down on this side, and he wanted to drag most of the people here, so that this Bian didn't dare to go all out to help, forcing the side to only dare to add fuel to help.

His river defense army dared to leave in a big way. As long as the people left, once the defense was empty, An Xianzhao, Su Qitong, and Shi Xinmao on the opposite side would immediately cross the river to attack, and what was lost would not be a Hukou defense line.

This is the helpless situation that has to be faced after a point of defense is broken.

"Leave another order to Liao Nanqing to order Qingqu's reinforcements to advance at full speed. They must join up with Xu Laiping's remnant troops as soon as possible, and must rush back to the Hukou defense line before Xu Jingyue's troops cross the river." Wu Qunlie slammed another fist on the wall.

...

It was dawn and the rain had stopped, but the moist breath in the air was obvious, as if grabbing the air could squeeze water out.

The wooden rafts on the river come and go, and the wooden rafts scattered along the bank of the river are being collected. Although many of them have gone with the current, we still collect as much as possible from the bank and transport them from the Hukou defense area to the other side of Yanguo.

A large raft crossed the river under the control of a group of monks.

On a wheelchair on the raft, Meng Shanming sat upright with bloodshot eyes, coughing occasionally, because he had been too exhausted recently and hadn't had a good rest at all.

Luo Da'an stood behind the wheelchair and supported the wheelchair, while Gong Lince and others stood on both sides.

There is also a white horse on the wooden raft, Shen Jun, which is the white horse that Luo Zhao gave to Meng Shanming, and it also crosses the river, but it seems a little uneasy. The creatures on land are more used to being down-to-earth, and they seem to be a little unaccustomed to being on the ground. Floating on this muddy and rolling river.

When the wooden raft came to the shore, Zhang Hu led a group of generals to greet him, and Meng Shanming was carried ashore together with the wheelchair by two monks.

The entire Hukou defense line suitable for landing is like a large construction site. A large number of people are dismantling all the facilities on the defense line, destroying all defensive facilities, and not even a single house is left. As for the long-range attack equipment used for projectiles and the like Being dismantled for shipment.

Meng Shanming, who was pushing on the wheelchair, checked all the way and asked: "How is the count?"

Zhang Hu said: "Fortunately, our army broke through with the force of thunder, and killed the opponent by surprise. The opponent's retreat was too sudden, and many supplies were not destroyed in time, which made us cheaper. The food hoarded here is enough for hundreds of thousands of people to feed me for six or seven days. At the granary... When Guo Xianfu led his men to arrive, they found that Xu Laiping had burned it to charcoal and failed to get it."

Meng Shanming frowned slightly, so much food, which was urgently needed here, was actually destroyed, and he couldn't help but feel a little distressed.

But he also knows that there is no way to do it. War is so ruthless. Don't expect the enemy to leave you with the food that cannot be taken away. It is normal for others to destroy what they can't get.

"Where is Sun Gaotian, take me to have a look." Meng Shanming mentioned.

Zhang Hu immediately led the group to a tent. There was no house to live in, and the house was demolished here.

When a group of people entered the tent, the exhausted Sun Gaotian did not rest, lying on the bed, staring blankly at the top of the tent without blinking.

"Meng Shuai saw you coming." Zhang Hu went to the bed and pushed Sun Gaotian.

Sun Gaotian came back to his senses, saw Meng Shanming, burst into tears, and struggled to get up, "The final general is incompetent..."

Meng Shanming stretched out his hand and pressed him back down, "You have done a good job, you have completed all the tasks brilliantly, you should remember your first merit in this battle! The head of Zijin Cave is here, and he told you how you crossed the river. I'm very curious, so let you tell him in detail yourself, and tell us all about your battle experience."

When it came to sad things, Sun Gaotian's tears were out of control, he choked up and talked about the incident, and he cried himself into a tearful person after speaking.

To make such a murderous man cry bitterly, I am afraid that he can only see it on the battlefield.

Knowing that 50,000 men forcefully crossed the Longjiang River and lost 20,000 people in an instant, and another 4,000 men forcibly blocked a 100,000 army for half an hour, which one is not going to die? Gong Lince and others were also very moved. How miserable these people fought in this battle is to know how crucial these people have played in this battle.

"The head of the palace, Guo Xianfu and Sun Gaotian made contributions to this battle, the old man asked the imperial court for the merits of the two of them, is it not an exaggeration to ask for the title of two marquises?" Meng Shanming stared at Gong Lince and asked Voice.

Gong Lince nodded, "You should be rewarded for meritorious service, it should be."

Meng Shanming: "It's just that the old lady speaks lightly and speaks lightly to the court. The court may have doubts."

Gong Lince understood what he meant, and when the other party asked, it was no surprise that Shang Jianxiong agreed, and he immediately agreed: "I will handle this matter, and I will do it right away, and there will be an answer within three days."

Meng Shanming: "50,000 strong men live! I have one more request. I hope that after the war, the imperial court can set up a huge stone monument in Gunlong Gorge, and engrave the names of 50,000 strong men on it. I want them to be immortal for the rest of my life. A role model for thousands of years, for the pride of the descendants of my Great Yan, forged the soul of my Great Yan army!"

Gong Lince: "If Dayan is lucky enough to be safe, this matter will be on my shoulders, and I will never break my promise!"

To him, this kind of thing didn't lose anything at all, so he made a promise in public, and naturally there was no room for repentance.

PS: There is you in Jianghu, it is an honor to meet you! Thank you to the new leader, "Honest Man's Big Second" for joining us!