Chapter 491 No way back
At the Heyang Pass, Hu Lujin couldn't help but frown when he saw the enemy's reinforcements arriving in time, so that both groups of troops returned defeated.
Xue Guyan, who returned from defeat, also looked depressed. After seeing Hu Lujin, he said in a deep voice: "Now that the reinforcements of the bandit army have arrived, it is difficult to defeat them in a hurry. Please allow me to recruit 500 dead soldiers, Grand Sima." , attack south of the bridge and fight to the death, allowing the army to form formations south and attack the enemy together! "
"The bandit army can occupy Nancheng and attack me halfway across the border. If they can't swarm up and bury all their troops, it will only waste the willpower of my men and horses in vain."
After hearing Xue Guyan's invitation to fight, Hu Lujin said in a deep voice.
Since the defense lines of Heyang's three cities were built in the first year of Yuan Xiang, nothing like this has ever happened. The three cities are located along the river and are self-contained. The loss of the south city prevented the soldiers on the north bank from reaching the south bank quickly and smoothly, and formed a strong combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
The combat environment of Heqiao is too special. The stronger the troops and horses, the greater the restriction on the combat effectiveness of the party. Hu Lujin also imagined a land and water attack regardless of the cost, and recaptured Nancheng in one go, but he was worried that the enemy was not just what he saw.
Once the loss of troops here is too great, it will be difficult for the country to replenish troops in time before the war in Henan is decided. If the enemy's large groups continue to attack, it may be difficult to continue the battle, and Heyang's defense may collapse even more.
Hearing that Hu Lujin did not support him in launching a strong attack from the front, Xue Guyan became a little anxious and quickly said: "At the end of the battle, the communist army was fighting. The soldiers we saw were only more than 3,000 disciples. Now they are all stationed." Qiaonan. If we can't destroy these disciples as soon as possible, it will be even harder to defeat them when more of their followers gather!"
Hu Lujin was different from Xue Guyan in that he was worried about the enemies here. He needed to consider the overall defense of Heyang and even the threat to the border defense caused by the entire Western Wei regime. Therefore, his focus was not limited to the sudden advance in front of him. Centaur.
Of course, it was also because he did not know for sure that the leader of this group was Li Tai. Otherwise, his previous bad deeds alone would be worthy of Hu Lujin commanding an army to swarm forward and capture and kill Li Tai at the riverside. This pair of middle-class men The morale of the people is also greatly boosted.
Regarding Heyang Nancheng, Hu Lujin could not think of any effective means of capturing it for the time being. Even if he attacked again, it would be nothing more than continuing to advance together by boat and bridge as before, but the scale needed to be expanded. A victory would be gratifying, but a failure would result in defeat. Morale was even lower.
"The three cities of Heyang are close to each other. Although the thieves have taken control of the southern city, it is difficult for them to advance even an inch. This rash of intruders is just a thorn that accidentally pierces the skin. Although it is subtle, it is difficult to remove. Only if it follows Only if thieves keep coming to help will the bones be endangered."
Hu Lujin pondered for a while and then said: "Heyang and the Western Bandits are determined to capture the enemy. If their followers know that they have captured a city, they will rush in. There is more than one crossing of the river. The bandits can only set up obstacles on the left and right sides of the river bridge. If a division is sent to cross from the upper reaches and advance along the Han River, and defeat the bandit armies vertically and horizontally, they will definitely gain a lot of gains. I must go and attack again, and the bandit army will be defeated!"
Hu Lujin learned more about the Huns' military methods, and was particularly good at and respected the cavalry and archery in the field. Seeing that Nancheng was easy to defend and difficult to attack, he was no longer enthusiastic about the low cost-effective combat method of continuing the frontal attack, and then developed the idea of encircling the division to fight for reinforcements. idea.
This group of troops in Heyang Nancheng is unable to enter or leave at this time. Using it as bait to attract those Western bandits who have entered rashly, we can carry out a relatively concentrated purge of the local forces active in the entire Heluo area. Of course, The premise is that the troops sent to Henan are elite and brave and can win repeated battles.
He knew that Xue Guyan was eager to win and wanted to be able to make meritorious deeds. He was brave and good at fighting. Coupled with the new defeat, he would definitely be cautious without losing sight of it. He was a very suitable candidate, so he said: "No teacher can always win. If a defeat is not a serious crime, is Duke Ping Qin willing to go south with his hatred and kill the thieves happily? "
After Xue Guyan heard this, he immediately showed hesitation. The reason why he was eager to conquer Heyang Nancheng was that in addition to wanting to be punished and meritorious service, the other important point was that he wanted to return to Heluo as soon as possible and reunite his defeated tribesmen again.
Especially on this latter point, if all his cronies were killed in this battle, even if the court did not blame him deeply for this matter, his situation and status among the Jinyang generals would plummet.
Therefore, he was quite excited about Hu Lujin's proposal. However, the previous defeat was embarrassing and painful, and the soldiers behind him on the river bridge took the initiative to retreat, which also made him hesitant and afraid to directly agree.
When Hu Lujin saw that Xue Guyan did not agree immediately, he no longer forced him, but said: "Ping Qin Gong has been running around to fight in the past few days, and he is tired even thinking about it. If I take you south immediately, it will be possible." If you are not considerate, I will let others accept the matter for the time being, and you will close the door and take a short rest."
Hearing what Hu Lujin said, Xue Guyan thanked him again and again with a face of shame, and said that he would immediately go south to carry out Hu Lujin's order after he recovered physically and mentally.
Hu Lujin comforted him with a few words of gentle words, then waved his hand and asked him to retreat to rest. Then he turned to his son Hu Luxian, who was with him in Zhenheyang and was also in the hall, and said, "I'll let you cross the river and attack Henan." All thieves, do you dare to go?"
"Since it is Aye's decision, why shouldn't I dare to do it? I can send my troops south at any time, but if I encounter a traitor, I will definitely kill him without mercy!"
After hearing this, Hu Luxian quickly lowered his head and said, but soon his expression turned into an angry one and said: "I just feel that Aye treated these generals too leniently, making them disrespectful and disobedient to orders. This Xue Gu Aye tolerated and refused to punish the general who delayed his defeat, and was still willing to give him the opportunity to make up for his mistakes, but he refused to move forward. It is really unbearable to pity him! "
"Alas, after King Gao passed away, all the generals lost their master. The prince seemed shrewd, but he was not considerate of the people in Jinyang. The generals may not have learned the scriptures, but they all survived the disasters. People, who can be short of observing the situation and judging the situation? Now that Hou Jing is making trouble outside, the people in the country are uneasy and everyone is on guard.
Hu Lujin sighed again, looked at his son and said: "I have a very small righteousness with King Gao, and we have no doubts about each other. The king bestowed honors on me, and I repaid him with great achievements. The prince's magnanimity has not yet been fully revealed. It is better to be mediocre and have no faults than to strive for excellence. You and other humble people may be able to fight for their confidants, but the old slave and the young master must have someone to give up before they can stay in peace. I'm afraid it will conflict with the prince's plans."
Hu Luxian looked quite sad when he heard his father's teachings. He lowered his head and said, "I will definitely keep Aye's teachings in mind. But if you want to become a confidant, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. The prince likes people with crowns, so good Planning and governance are all things we martial artists are not good at..."
Hu Lujin raised his hand to knock on the case, signaling his son not to continue talking, and then said: "Although my disciples are riding fiercely, Xue Guyan is still defeated in Henan. You must also remember not to underestimate the enemy. Don't fight foolishly when encountering the enemy. , Don’t chase the enemy more than ten miles away..."
As a father, Hu Lujin’s expectations and worries for his sons are no different from those of ordinary people. He not only hopes that they can create a career, but also worries that they will be unable to handle complex situations. He feels conflicted and entangled. He gave a series of careful instructions beforehand. Rather than admonishing his son, it was more to comfort himself.
At the end, Hu Lujin couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity that Mingyue is not here with the army. It doesn't mean that your skills are not as good as your brother, but when it comes to planning before taking action, and action must be successful, you are indeed not as accurate as your brother. "
Hu Luxian has been accustomed to his father's different evaluations of their brothers since he was a child. After hearing these words, he was not sad or angry, but lowered his head and said, "I will try my best to do a good job when I go south, so as not to disappoint Aye!"
There are many crossings on the Yellow River. As Hu Lujin said, the only section that Li Tai could control was the section near the river bridge, and the distance further was beyond his reach. In addition, Hu Lujin deliberately concealed the movement of his troops to cross south, so Li Tai did not know that such a group of troops had gone south.
In the past few days since he arrived at Heqiao, he has been busy converting the city's ordnance reserves into combat effectiveness. Dozens of crossbows have been set up on the river embankment defense line. It can be said that he is full of confidence. He is even looking forward to the troops from the north attacking and letting him try it out. Test the firepower.
But although the other side organized several offensives, they were not as fierce as before. Rather than attacking, it was more of a harassment to prevent them from being too relaxed, so that both sides could relax.
In the past few days, several heavy rains have caused the water level of the Yellow River to rise a lot. The ships carrying boats under the river bridge have also been soaked with river water and rainwater, so that the previous preparations for burning the river bridge were destroyed, but fortunately The enemy did not use this to launch a strong offensive.
However, this strange calm was obviously abnormal, and Li Tai was a little confused about what the enemy army on the opposite side was brewing. What also worried him a little was that there was still no clear news coming from the back.
Judging from the progress of the army based on time, the Chinese army led by Li Bi and Zhao Gui must have arrived in the Luonan area, and may even have gone further. Even if they do not send reinforcements and just convey some instructions, they should be able to reach Heqiao. , but there was no news at all.
It is estimated that they were a little blind when faced with this situation, worried that once they gave any instructions to Li Tai, they would be the party to take the blame if things did not develop for the better.
The attitude of the Chinese army was subtle, and the volunteers in western Henan that Li Tai had hoped for did not bring any good news. The first to arrive was Li Yisun, the founder of the government.
Li Yisun was from Yichuan, Luonan. He inherited his father's tribe and had the help of his brother-in-law Wei Fabao. He also had considerable appeal among the barbarians in Shannan. Therefore, the tribe's power was not weak. However, when he arrived at Heqiao, he had only those around him. Dozens of people were in panic, looking like a defeated army in shock, and told Li Tai the shocking news that they were attacked by the organized Eastern Wei cavalry at the former site of Jinyong City in Luobei!
Although Li Tai had already guessed that the opponent was not holding anything back, he was a little dumbfounded after learning about this situation. It seemed that my retreat was blocked! If there is no strong support, it may be really difficult to withdraw this one. Is it really necessary to swim to the Bohai Bay?
But fortunately, Li Tai did not place all his hopes on unreliable backup. He has been preparing other ways to break the game. He was hesitant before, but now that the way forward has been blocked, there is nothing wrong with it. There is no room for hesitation anymore, roll up your sleeves and continue heading north!