Chapter 270 Military Order

The army was mobilized gradually and gathered in Huaibei around March. It also established northward strongholds in Shen County along the Yingshui River and Yuanlu in Huaibei.

On the Eastern Yan side, when General Lou Jushi, who was in charge of the military affairs of Yan, Xu, Yu, and Yang provinces, saw this mobilization, he naturally knew that Western Yan was preparing to use troops against Yuzhou, which was equivalent to making it clear.

However, due to insufficient military strength and lack of food and fodder, there was not much he could do. Apart from strengthening the city defense of Pingyu, he ordered Murong Deyu to prepare for the defense of Xiangxian, Xianyang and Ruyin along the northward route of the Yingshui River.

At present, the offensive and defensive trends of both sides are very obvious. Yuzhou's war potential has been completely exhausted and is almost a waste.

Except for Li Yuanhui's military farming in some counties near the north bank of the Huai River, there were no farming people in the entire Yuzhou except for some powerful people guarding the fortresses.

This resulted in the Eastern Yan side being unable to even conscript civilians or collect food and fodder from places like Runan and Chenjun. Only the Yingchuan area, which had not experienced much war, was slightly better off, with some people's livelihood still to be maintained.

The Yuzhou Army actually also carried out military farming, but on a small scale.

After all, Yuzhou was a battlefield and was infested with bandits and robbers. Even if one cultivated land in such a place, it would take a long time to harvest.

As for the grain obtained from the military farms in the north of the Huai River in the Jianghuai area last year, it was concentrated in Xiacai and Shenxian to be used as military supplies for the Northern Expedition.

In early April, spring ploughing begins.

Li Yuanhui rushed to Shouchun to take charge, and at the same time ordered Zhu Deyu to supervise four generals, Xu Qiande, Guo Xing, Dou Fengjie, and Yin Gong, and more than 12,000 people to garrison in Shen County.

Zhang Gonglie led more than 10,000 Guangwu troops, occupied Yuanlu, and pointed his sword towards the direction of Ru River.

Xiao Shizhi, Zhang Jian, Zhang Zhen'e, Dou Xianjun, Yu Zhongheng, and Li Xuandao each led their troops to gather in Xiacai.

Chang Yanheng led 6,000 light cavalry north to attack Liang and Chen.

Liu Yuanqing's headquarters of more than 10,000 people entered Qiao County, forming a pincer attack with Zhu Deyu's troops, and attacking Murong Deyu's troops in the direction of Xiang County.

This time, most of Jianghuai's mobile forces were dispatched, with a total of about 70,000.

The war officially started at the end of April, almost after the spring ploughing was over.

Zhu Deyu, who led the vanguard, led four generals to attack Xiyang, and the city fell in three days. Then Li Yuanhui crossed the Huai River to Xiacai and led the troops northward along the Yingshui River.

At the same time, Li Xuanqing in the direction of Wancheng led more than 10,000 troops from Yizhou, more than 10,000 troops from the surrendered general Xu Tianzuo, more than 5,000 Di cavalry, more than 10,000 troops from Mu Changling who came to support from Guanzhong, as well as 5,000 Bandun Barbarians and 3,000 Flying Army, a total of more than 43,000 people, and marched from the southern foot of Funiu Mountain, intending to capture Ye County and Wuyang and open up the passage to Luoyang.

Faced with the offensive from Western Yan, Luoyang responded quickly.

First, the newly recruited 30,000 troops were handed over to General Zheng Guo to lead them south to support Yuzhou and relieve the siege of Ye County. At the same time, he ordered Duan Yihong, the King of Lingzhi stationed in Hongnong, to lead the elite troops of the central army to support Luoyang.

General Lou Jushi and Murong Deyu were ordered to block Li Yuanhui's offensive and wait for the 100,000 elite troops led by Prince Lingzhi to come south for support.

At this time, Mr. Lou had less than 20,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and was stationed in Pingyu, a strategic point on the northward direction of the Ru River.

Murong Deyu, who had lost almost all of his elite troops last year, only had more than 20,000 soldiers and horses left after regrouping, and he was stationed in Xiang County.

This is even less than the number of troops Li Yuanhui had estimated.

As a result, Zhu's advance was extremely rapid, and he had already reached Xiang County in early May.

Murong Deyu ordered Xue Qi to guard the city, and he led more than 10,000 people to station outside Xiangxian City, on the east bank of Yingshui River, controlling the Langtang Canal, which is the mouth of the Cai River where it flows into Yingshui River.

He ordered General Pu Gusu to lead 4,000 cavalrymen to station in Nandun. In mid-May, Li Yuanhui led his army to Xiang County, and Liu Yuanqing and Chang Yanheng also led their troops to join him.

However, Mr. Lou from Pingyu was held back by Zhang Gonglie from Yuanlu and did not dare to come to support Murong Deyu recklessly.

After observing the battle, Li Yuanhui also made his own deployment. Liu Yuanqing's troops set up camp on the east bank of Yingshui River to monitor and confront Murong Deyu's troops.

Li Yuanhui led the army to encircle Xiang County on three sides. Chang Yanheng led light cavalry to monitor the Pu Gusu cavalry that had abandoned the city and fled, and to protect the safety of the grain route.

"Now Murong Deyu and Xue Qi are sandwiched between the Yingshui River and guarding the horn. With Liu Yuanqing here, Murong Deyu cannot support Xiang County, and Xiang County is the key to this war."

"As our army marches north, Luoyang will certainly send reinforcements to support us, so we must capture Xiang County before the elite troops from Luoyang arrive!"

Inside the central army tent, Li Yuanhui looked at the generals and said in a decisive tone.

"General, rest assured, we will do our best."

"Please give the order, General. I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

"But if you give me an order, I will obey it!"

A group of generals requested to fight, and their morale was high. Li Yuanhui looked at them and nodded. However, he was still a little hesitant about who would be the main attacker and lead the siege.

Then, Old Zhu shouted loudly: "General, let's sign a military order today. Within the 15th day, within the 15th day, we must capture Xiang County!"

Li Yuanhui was stunned when he heard Zhu's bold words. Is it necessary to play such a big game? There is no need to do this if you are in a hurry to make a contribution, right?
Even a group of generals were left, all of them had expressions of disbelief.

Xue Qi, who was guarding the city, was no fool. He was from the Xue family of Hedong and was a general who had fought in many battles with Emperor Zhaowu.

But having said that, morale should be boosted rather than dampened, and support must be given at times like this.

"Okay, General Manager Zhu made a bold statement. Within 15 days, all of my Wuwei Army will be at your disposal. If any generals disobey, they will be subject to military law. I will wait for good news from General Manager Zhu. Come, pour the wine."

Afterwards, an attendant who had already taken the wine poured it into two large bowls and brought it up. Li Yuanhui and Zhu Deyu both held the wine bowls with both hands, gestured to each other, drank it all in one gulp, and then threw the bowls to the ground.

"Brother, isn't your military order a bit hasty?"

"Yes, brother-in-law, you are too impatient. The military order is no joke. This county is not so easy to attack. It will take three to five days just to build the siege equipment. The trench outside is connected to the Yingshui River, and there is no way to fill it."

"Brother, you are really a bit anxious."

After coming out of the central army tent and returning to his own tent, his brothers Xu Qiande, Tang He, Tang Yun and his brother-in-law Guo Xing all surrounded him and raised some questions about the plan to attack the city on the 15th that he had said in the tent.

Old Zhu looked at everyone and said, "Why are you so anxious? What's wrong with issuing a military order? I said that if I fail to capture Xiang County within 15 days, you will chop off my head? Will the general chop me off directly when the time comes?"

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

The military order was mentioned, but it didn't seem to mention what would happen if the mission was not completed. Thinking about the friendship between the general and the eldest brother, it didn't seem to be a big problem.
Generally speaking, it would be "I am willing to sign a military order. If I fail, please chop off my head." But Zhu Yuanzhang was a little petty here and didn't say anything. He just talked about the military order, and didn't mention anything about the punishment for not completing the task.

Old Zhu also thought about it in his mind. According to his friendship with Li Yuanhui, he would not be killed if the mission was not completed.

At most, he would be demoted. What's the big deal?
But if we can capture Xiang County, it will be a great achievement.

(End of this chapter)