In the wilderness, Xiao Yuandong and more than a dozen knights galloped on horseback.

Although the governor personally led his troops to settle in the Sourjuana, the situation on the south bank of the Yellow River did not improve. Instead, it was even worse because it was necessary to divide troops to occupy various strongholds to build a defense line. Therefore, before subsequent reinforcements arrived to enrich the defense line, Xiao Yuandong and his team had a heavier task.

Although due to the current military tension, Xiao Yuandong and his troops have been motivated recently and have been exhaling. The governor had just rewarded the army and revealed that if nothing unexpected happened, when the war was settled, Xiao Yuandong's troops might be included in the scope of the A-level field in the future.

Although the Jia Gong Tian is still being discussed within the Governor's Office and has not directly implemented the order, some related content has long been circulated. For ordinary soldiers, they may not have the ambition to be a marquis of the leopard tail, and the simple reward of money and grain will be reduced to a certain extent, but the fields are definitely something that makes people cheerful.

In addition to the beautiful vision of ordinary soldiers, all the soldiers from Xiao Yuandong were also promoted. Although large-scale reinforcements had not arrived yet, some small cavalry with higher mobility had arrived, forming a cavalry brigade of 2,000 people, and handed over to Xiao Yuandong to command. In a few days, Chenliu would have another thousand cavalry, all of which were incorporated into the army under Xiao Yuandong's supervision.

This was definitely a big surprise for Xiao Yuandong.

The Huainan Army's generals and commanders are now extremely abundant, with both old, middle-aged and young people. They are military marquis and soldiers below the lieutenant, and are grassroots commanders. This group of commanders may either select heroes from the ranks of the army, or select some children from the villages to serve as the ministers.

Further up are middle-level generals such as the Master of the Banner and the Military Leader. Many of the children of northern and southern families who followed the governor north in their early years, such as those of Zhaowu's former former subordinates, held this position. Of course, although the positions are comparable, if the troops assigned to them are different, their status will still vary.

At present, since each army is directly under the command of the Governor's Office, the Shengwu Army and the cavalry generals are usually slightly higher than one end, and there is no obvious difference between the other units. Nowadays, many young generals in Huainan are mostly at this level, such as Shen Yun, Xie Yi, Xiao Yuandong and others.

As for further up, it is to add the title of supervision and protection in addition to the original military post. After adding the title of supervision, not only command the people in the headquarters, but also to call all military, civilian, material use, etc. in the area after encountering war. Therefore, only after adding the title of supervision is to truly enter the sequence of senior generals of the Huainan Army.

The Huainan Army had five generals with the title of supervision. Later, with the recapture of several counties in southern Henan and the expansion of the army, the number of them increased one after another. At present, there were only thirteen people with the title of supervision, and several of them were only in military camps and local village training, and only seven or eight people were actually leading the front-line combat troops.

Among these supervisors, most of them were veterans, and among the younger generation, only Shen Mu and Yu Manzhi. Shen Mu had nothing to say. He was older than those young generals. He was also one of the main cavalry generals of the Huainan Army earlier. Later, he guarded Qiao County, and his qualifications and abilities were enough.

As for Yu Manzhi's ability to add the title of supervision, it makes people feel a bit chewy and has a bit of nepotism. But this is also impossible. I am the governor of Jingzhou and my father-in-law is the governor of Xuzhou. In the entire Huainan military system, it can be said that this kid has the strongest background except for the governor.

Moreover, all the generals in Huainan knew that the reason why Yu Manzhi was able to add the title of supervision was also related to the Xuzhou plan of the governor later. Therefore, after the title was added, he was kicked out of Huainan to Xuzhou. As for Chen Mu, he also had similar considerations.

By this calculation, among the young generals in the Huainan army, the only two supervisors have been sent to Xuzhou. Xiao Yuandong has to be given the title of supervisor this time, and he is already the only young generals in Huainan who are still in the headquarters.

Therefore, after learning that he had given this honor, Xiao Yuandong was really overjoyed. He did not have a clear concept of fame or position. The key is that he had to add the title of supervision this time, so he took Xie Yi, Chen Yun and others a big step. Those people had previously ridiculed him for being lucky enough to achieve success, and this time he finally corrected his reputation!

Therefore, although the cavalry missions were doubled during this period, in addition to sweeping the countryside and surfing the surrounding areas, Xiao Yuandong also had to support the divisions of troops from hundreds of miles long fronts, but Xiao Yuandong had no complaints and felt as if he was as light as a swallow. Every time he rode a horse in the countryside, he felt that if he didn't hold on to the reins of the horse, his body would float to the sky in the next moment.

The only regret is that Chen Yun, Xie Yi and others are now in Nanyang, which makes him less excited to show off. Although there are Ying Dan and others in the army at present, these people have relatively little qualifications than him. Even if they have not added a title, they have lagged behind him before. Now they have become his direct general. He is really embarrassed to show off too much and always maintain a little respect for Shangguan.

At present, the Huainan Army has occupied several more important ferries around Yanjin, including Shimenjin, Dushijin, Jijin, Lingchangjin, Baimajin, etc., but only maintained hundreds of garrisons. The main task of these garrisons is to monitor the enemy's situation, collect information such as surrounding terrain, and build camps and strongholds so that reinforcements can arrive later, take over defense and attack.

Such a weak force, once the Hebei land comes south, it will inevitably be unable to resist, and even retreat is not calm. At present, the only thing that the Huainan Army can move quickly here is the two thousand cavalry commanded by Xiao Yuandong, so he has almost no free time every day, just wanders between the ferries and presents the collected information to the governor, and at the same time, prepares for rescue of all places at all times.

Du Shijin is located in the upper reaches of Lingchangjin and is no longer very famous in military terms. Moreover, due to lack of repair, the Yellow River has accumulated a lot of silt and is no longer suitable for large and medium-sized warships to quickly ferry and dock. However, in the late Later Han Dynasty, this was the front line for the battle between Wei Wu Cao Cao and Hebei Yuan Shao.

At present, there are only more than a hundred Huainan troops stationed in Du Shijin, but there are more than 500 servants. In addition to monitoring the river surface, they are also responsible for cutting the dense pampas reeds and weeds on the banks of the Yellow River. In addition to avoiding the invasion of small enemy troops, these pampas reeds are also extremely important military supplies. They can be used to tie grass rafts to cross the river, and weave reed felts to build camps, camps, camps, and water battles can even be used to protect ships, block fire attacks, bows and crossbows and other attacks.

When Xiao Yuandong arrived at Du Shijin camp, it was afternoon. In the scorching sun, the soldiers of Huainan soldiers were organizing ditches and repairing camps. Later, a team of more than 2,000 people would be stationed here and as a front-line military storage camp. The project volume has been completed less than half, and there are tall pampas and other objects piled up on the open space, waiting for drying and processing.

When Xiao Yuandong and others arrived, the defenders in the camp quickly came out. Looking at the knights, they were all envious. After all, they were all front-line combat troops, and they could travel around, but they had to dig trenches and stack soil here, which was really miserable.

"Where are your soldiers?"

Xiao Yuandong stopped and looked at the camp curiously. The commander here was also his acquaintance, named Yu Du, and was also an old member of Zhaowu. Previously, Xiao Yuandong was very proud after being promoted. He took advantage of the time of patrol patrol and had to show off several times, which naturally made the other party envious and jealous. Every time the patrol patrol patrol patrol, he even avoided him.

"The soldiers inspected the river bank and have not returned yet."

A military marquis stepped forward and replied, looking at Xiao Yuandong with an unconcealed admiration and envy. The Huainan Army did not know about Xiao Yuandong's title, but on the south bank of the Yellow River, he had already become the most dazzling star.

The key is that it is fine if a person is outstanding, but he can also lead the soldiers under his command to achieve great achievements. Even if the soldiers do not have the idea of ​​fighting for courage, they all want to follow such a lucky and talented general.

"Haha, Yu Ba must be avoiding me again, so I'll wait for him to return here."

After hearing this, Xiao Yuandong laughed, got off the horse, handed the horse to the garrison soldiers to wash and feed them. However, before the man had entered the camp, he saw Yu Du, who was covered in mud on the other side, and had already come from the camp with a few soldiers. He stood there, carrying his hands on his back, and waited for Yu Duxing to come with a proud look on his face.

Yu Du is also a young man in his twenties, wearing light armor. Seeing Xiao Yuandong standing there, his face became less beautiful. He waved his hand to prevent others from following him. He walked up and said angrily: "Xiao Kuai Leg, is your leg broken?"

"In the camp, we welcome the general and do not be presumptuous!"

When Xiao Yuandong heard this, his face suddenly turned dark. His nickname had a long history. When he was in Jiangdong in his early years, he kicked the monk Zhu Fashen and was called so jokingly by those who knew him. Later, after crossing the river, the nickname had another meaning, saying that he had made contributions only a few times based on his fast legs, such as this time, he recovered the Solanzao Kong City without any effort.

In the past, Xiao Yuandong was ashamed of this. If anyone dared to call this nickname in person, he would definitely fight with the other party. However, now the governor has made his name clear, and he also feels that he should be generous, but he still can't help but bully his bad friends and prevent the other party from feeling comfortable.

"Oh, if I weren't good at riding, I wouldn't have been overtaken by stupid people!"

When Yu Du heard this, he saw that the opponent's armor was bright and shiny, but he was covered in mud and looked down and his aura was a little weak. In fact, as an old Zhaowu subordinate with an old seniority, he was not so miserable. He was able to serve as the military lieutenant of the Shengwu Army, which was almost the same as the other leaders of the pavilion. Moreover, he had accumulated two achievements in the camp, so he would definitely take another step after this battle.

The reason why he looks down and out is that his troops were too few before, and some of his troops were originally transferred away from Huting. But when he thought of being an old member of Zhaowu, he was just a soldier lieutenant, but his old friend had become a senior general in the army, and his mood was inevitably gloomy.

Seeing the other party like this, Xiao Yuandong also put away his show-off posture, pulled Yu Du and sat on the ground, patted his shoulder and sighed: "Yu Ba, you don't have to be so discouraged. The governor is not a person who doesn't care about his old love. He is afraid that there will be no chance to make a comeback in a fight later? You don't have to force yourself to compete with me. Isn't this a boredom? You kid, you are weaker than me, less intelligent than me, and your appearance is inconspicuous, and your demeanor is even more worth mentioning..."

"Stop talking!"

Yu Du was still a little moved, but when he heard it, he immediately pulled his face down, raised his foot and kicked it out. Xiao Yuandong rolled to the ground and burst into laughter.

"You are just now rampant in front of me. When you attack the thief army in North Japan, you can only stand by and watch me fight hard and kill me!"

Yu Du said angrily, this is not bad. He will have the chance to go into battle whether it is crossing the river to attack Hebei or fighting on the river surface, but Xiao Yuandong may not be. This future battle will be the first battle of the Huainan army's northern expedition to Hebei, and its significance is no less than the previous battle in Huainan. If he can get the merits, it will definitely be a super reward, and he may not have no chance to catch up.

"I'm too lazy to compete with you now. You came today. I caught a few thieves on the river in the morning. If you don't come yet, I'm planning to send someone to escort the jujube."

Yu Du stood up, patted the dust and grass on his body and said.

"Just a few thieves, just keep them in the camp. I will no longer ask about such a small matter."

After hearing this, Xiao Yuandong stood up and waved his hand and said, "It's not easy to completely clear the Yellow River front for hundreds of miles. Each battalion occasionally caught some scouts from Hebei or local refugees. If the number is not too large, they will be reserved for them. After all, there is a shortage of manpower everywhere.

"A small matter? Haha, if I tell you that these little thieves have a good origin, you don't want to ask?"

"How much origin is it? Can you still find the thief general on the river bank?"

Xiao Yuandong had just picked up the heavy land of sour jujubes, so he naturally scoffed at the luck of others.

"Although it is not the general, it is the messenger of the general."

Yu Du had a little bit of showing off, but when he thought of the other party's unmatched luck, he felt bored and said, "It was the envoy sent by the thief Tian Ni to Chenliu, who was preparing to go south to connect with Chen Guang's thieves. It may not be the only way. I am weak here and it is difficult to defend all the time."

When Xiao Yuandong heard this, his face changed suddenly. He asked a few more questions. Then he went to see the Hebei envoys, but did not dare to neglect them. He immediately took the horse back and said to Du: "The defense line is fragile at the moment. Yu Ba, don't force it. I will send it to the governor. Even if there is no increase in troops, I will arrange troops to patrol here again later, so that it will not be too dangerous."

After hearing this, Yu Du nodded and found the enemy's tracks for hundreds of miles of Yellow River defense line. If it was an isolated case, it means that the enemy was quite arranged on the north bank of his defense zone and it was very likely to become the enemy's rushing place. If he was a little careless, his troops might be killed here.

After a while, Xiao Yuandong took the letter too much and put it in his arms, and then told him to be careful, and then he led the prisoners to run away to the sour jujube.

In just two or three days, the jujube has undergone great changes. Many messy and unnecessary camps have been demolished, and the resulting wood and stone materials are focused on several earthen cities. The Huainan Army currently has less than 2,000 troops left here, and it seems very weak in this city group.

After returning to the sour jujube, Xiao Yuandong took the prisoners straight to the main business. After arriving at the main business, he found that more than a dozen bloody heads had hung outside the camp gate.

In the camp, Shen Zhezi and several generals were standing in front of the desk and talking quietly around a slightly simple map. This map is the river line map drawn by the recent surveys of various people. Although it is still simple, the basic terrain and terrain on the south bank of the Yellow River have been outlined, which is of great value for the later allocation of troops.

Although the Huainan Army was also prepared for this type of map book, it was all old books from more than ten years ago. Although the Yellow River is not as willful as later generations, many diversion landforms have undergone great changes over the past ten years. Occasionally, negligence in a minor section may cause serious consequences.

"Governor, Du's camp captured the envoy of Tian Ni, Hebei from the riverside."

After Xiao Yuandong entered the camp, he hurriedly reported.

"Is it captured again? I will be killed after interrogation."

After hearing this, Shen Zhezi raised his head and smiled and said, "The other generals in the tent explained a few words. Xiao Yuandong realized that this was not the first group of discoveries. Just today, the Huainan Army found many envoys sent by Tian Ni from Hebei in different river sections. Without exception, they were sent to Chenliu to contact Chen Guang to prepare to attack the Huainan Army."

After the interrogation was completed, the prisoners brought back by Xiao Yuandong, the answer was indeed the same.

"This Tian Ni is a bit conspiring, but it's too much."

At this time, the atmosphere in the tent was a bit solemn, but Shen Zhezi's expression was still relaxed. He clicked on the map a few times before returning to the desk.

"Yes, the person who sent envoys from the upper and lower river sections should be to confuse our army to conceal the direction of the attack. In addition, contacting Chen Guang as a letter was to mislead our army's attack schedule. It would take ten days to go to Yongqiu here, so we should use this to lure our army to slack off."

The answer was Bian Zhang, another disciple of Shen Zhezi, who was currently serving as a military sima in the Shengwu Army.

The Huainan Army's defense line in Henan was weak and it was not concealed. Moreover, Yanjin and Jijun were across the river, and Tian Ni, Hebei, could not have known it. If he really wanted to connect with Chen Guang, it would be impossible for him to send envoys on such a large scale, and the news would be leaked if he was captured along the way.

Moreover, the Huainan Army is still at a disadvantage in comparison of the forces between the two sides. If Tian Ni really attacks, he doesn't need to contact Chen Guang in such a way. This is clearly to reveal the news to the Huainan Army, so that the Huainan Army can make wrong judgments in both time and place.

This strategy is not very smart, but it is not worth it, and it only costs a few envoys to pay. Moreover, if the news is really transmitted to Chenliu, it may really motivate Chen Guang, causing chaos in the Huainan army's retreat, and delaying the reinforcements in the Huainan rear.

Even without mentioning these, the Huainan Army really doesn't know when the other side will launch an attack or where to launch an attack. Although the Yellow River waterway is wide, since there are many crossings around Yanjin, one night is enough to cross the river. By then, concentrating troops will soon tear open the useless defense line.

Shen Zhezi stood silently in front of the desk for a long time, lifted his pen and circled several places, including Huting to Baimajin.

Huting was the location where the thief general Tian Ni had previously managed. The attack here would be slightly better. Once it was broken through, Xingyang, which had not been recovered for a long time, would become chaotic again, directly threatening the logistics route of the Huainan Army, and even liberating the Taobao army, which was blocked by Guo Song in Huzhuo City.

On the other side of Baimajin is Liyang, an important town in Hebei. It is one step away from Yecheng. Whether the southerners advance north or the northerners go south, it is a must-fight place. It is also the most convenient place for the Shikan army to mobilize the south. It is even very likely that it will be the main battlefield for the next battle. Therefore, Shen Zhezi risked the division of troops and had to take down the sash platform near Baimajin first, in order to accumulate as much advantage as possible on the eve of the decisive battle.

There is also a Jijin in the middle, which is the closest ferry to Sorazao. The straight-line distance between the two places is even less than twenty miles. It can be said that as long as you can successfully land, you will soon be able to reach Sorazao City.

Although the enemy army in Jijun is more than the current Huainan Army's troops along the Yellow River, Shen Zhezi felt that the other party would not divide the troops to attack, but would concentrate their forces to break through the surface.

From using this trick to lure the enemy before the war, we can see that the enemy general should be a cautious person, and the Huainan Army has its own reputation for bloody battles. On the one hand, it reduces the opponent's military strength advantage, but on the other hand, it is too much of a stir, which will make the previous trick to lure the enemy more unnecessary.

"Huting's water is too far away, so it is difficult to hide. The enemy's advance and retreat are not at ease, and the people in Hebei are not in harmony with each other, so it is even more difficult to respond to the lonely army hanging outside the Taobao."

Xiao Yuandong stepped forward to wipe Huting. He regained the sour jujube with his own hands and had a deeper understanding of the cracks between the enemy troops, so he did not think that the enemy would risk swimming up and cooperate with Taobao.

After hearing this, Shen Zhezi nodded, acknowledging Xiao Yuandong's judgment, and more clearly felt the growth of his old subordinates. If he could win this battle, the jurisdiction of the Huainan Governor's Office would be greatly expanded in the future, and these young generals have reached the moment of being the only one.

"It should be impossible for Liyang to attack. If the people of Ji County cross the river from Liyang, they will be desperate for the distance and lose all their opportunities. What's more, Liyang is close to Yecheng, and the news is transmitted, and ten days have passed, and it is difficult to achieve the effect of a surprise attack."

Another general, Xing Yue, also spoke, and then the generals in the tent discussed it all, and possible ferries were erased one by one. Although these ferries seemed dense on the long Yellow River channel, they were at least ten miles away from each other. In such wars, distances of more than ten miles can often have a great impact on the war.

In the end, the enemy troops left behind may have only three left in the ferry, including Du Shijin, Jijin and Lingchangjin. These three locations are very likely. Although they are all within Yanjin, there is still more than fifty miles between Du Shijin and Lingchangjin, with Jijin in the middle.

Shen Zhezi kept holding his arms and listened to the discussion. When everyone had no words, he picked up his pen and focused on the Lingchangjin position: "Each battalion maintains basic vigilance and concentrates on defending Lingchang. If there is an enemy in the remaining area, raise the fire as a sign and withdraw the jujube."

After hearing this, everyone looked at the governor and wanted to hear the reason why the governor chose Lingchang. In their opinion, these three ferries were the most likely places and it was really hard to make a choice. The governor chose so confidently, probably because he considered the reasons they did not realize.

"Lingchang..."

Shen Zhezi threw down his brush and said with emotion. When I heard this, I was a little confused. They naturally knew what the name was, but what does this have to do with choosing this place?

However, after pondering for a while, someone still reacted and said with a smile: "If you really choose this to attack, this thief general Tian Ni will be very determined."
Chapter completed!