Chapter 1242 Preparing to Cross the River

As Fazheng expected, Qin's current attention is entirely on Ma Teng and Han Sui in the west. Although it is also paying attention to Tang in the east, it does not pay as much attention to the three players in Shangjun. Of course, this does not mean that Qin is completely unconcerned.

As early as when the Tang army in Hedong started mobilizing troops and horses, Qin's spies had already received the news, but Li Ru believed that with the wisdom of Tang's monarchs and ministers, they would not do such a thing that would harm others and not benefit themselves. The war to the west of Qin has not yet begun. If Tang suddenly sends troops to Qin, it will indeed be able to defeat Qin, but in the end it will only benefit Ma Teng and Han Sui.

However, Li Ru did not place his hopes on the enemy, so when he sent troops to block the Maharaja-Korean coalition a few years ago, he deployed heavy troops in the cities along the river to the east of Feng Yi. Ten thousand infantry were stationed from Xia Yang and Heyang in the north to Linjin, and even 5,000 infantry were stationed at Pubanjin Ferry. At the same time, 5,000 Xiliang cavalry were stationed in Linjin City.

Although the Tang army could still cross from Longmen in the north to Xia Yang on a narrow road, the Qin army only needed to defend Xia Yang City to block the Qin army's southward path. However, just in case, Li Ru still ordered Xia Yang City to The Qin army went north to patrol between Longmendu and Xiayang City every day.

However, neither Li Ru nor the generals of the Qin State expected that the Tang Army's navy could cross the crossing overnight, and then set up the pontoon bridge overnight. By the time the Qin State patrol found out, the Tang Army's 5,000 soldiers had already crossed over. The river formed a formation south of Longmen Crossing.

In fact, Tian Yu also thought about crossing the river at Caisangjin at the beginning, but after several observations, he found that the soldiers of The Last One were patrolling the west bank of Caisangjin almost day and night, trying to cross the river smoothly without disturbing them. , it was almost impossible, but the scouts discovered the defensive loopholes of Longmendu from the Qin army's patrol posts.

On February 19, 15,000 troops from Hanoi's Hua Xiong tribe, 10,000 troops from Hongnong's Shegan tribe, and Pang Tong and his 5,000 guard troops all arrived at Pishi. Tian Yu was outside Pishi city. The generals were gathered in the military camp to discuss matters and determine the strategy for dispatching troops.

"Everyone, I have been wrongly loved by the king and appointed the commander-in-chief of this western expedition to Shangjun. I hope that in the next war, I can work together with you to expand the territory for the king!" On the throne, Tian Yu said to The generals said;

After hearing this, everyone stood up and said, "We will definitely live up to the king's trust!"

"Okay, this time we send troops. After discussing with the military advisor, I decided to divide the troops into two groups. One group of troops crossed the river from Hejin, carrying half a month of grain and grass, and then went north along the river; the other group of troops continued northward from the east of Hejin until they arrived at Caisangjin. After the Hexi soldiers and horses took control of the ferry on the west bank of Caisangjin, the two sides cooperated to set up the pontoon bridge, and then transported all the soldiers and horses' food, grass and equipment across the river. "

"There should not be too many soldiers and horses crossing the river. After discussing with the military advisor, I decided that I would lead two schools of infantry, one school of crossbowmen and one school of cavalry of the Yingyang Army, plus five thousand civilians to transport the army's food and grass across the river. The rest of the soldiers Ma Liangcao, led by General Hua Xiong, went north along the official road and arrived at the east bank of Caisangjin, ready to cross the river. "

Hua Xiong quickly stepped out to receive the order, and then asked: "I wonder how the general will cross the river?"

"General Hua, please rest assured. In the past few days, nearly ten people from the Navy and Shadow Guards have quietly crossed the river through various channels. Now they are all hiding in the mountains and forests to the west of Longmendu. When the time comes, all we need to do is We can take a small boat and pull on the ropes that have been prepared to cross the river. Setting up a pontoon bridge is already familiar to our Tang army. It only takes an hour to set up the pontoon bridge, and then 20,000 soldiers and horses can be set up in two hours. You can cross the river within."

After hearing Tian Yu's arrangements, everyone felt relieved. Since Tian Yu had already made arrangements, no one said anything more.

"After I led the army across the river, the rest of the troops were led by General Hua Xiong to go north to Caisangjin. The reason for this arrangement is that it is easier to cross the river from Longmen than from Caisangjin, and secondly, the food and grass needed by the army is from It is safer to cross the river at Caisangjin.

Judging from the river's flood season over the years, the Peach Blossom Flood will arrive in mid-March at the earliest and last until mid-April. Therefore, we must transport the army's food and grass for the past two months across the river as soon as possible, just in case. , it would be best if we could accumulate the three months of food and grass needed by the army in Shangjun. "

"Please rest assured, General Tian. I will definitely transport the grain and grass needed by the army to Caisangjin as soon as possible, and then cooperate with the general to transport all the grain and grass across the river as soon as possible." Hua Xiong stood up again and responded;

Originally, in terms of seniority, among the three generals, Hua Xiong should be the more senior, because after all, he was captured and surrendered by Huangfu Chaobo when he accompanied the army of the princes to attack Dong Zhuo, and the three generals were all the commanders of the first battalion, with official ranks The positions were basically the same, but Huangfu Chaobo insisted on letting the younger Tian Yu be the commander of the troops. The main reason was because Hua Xiong and She Gan were more brave than calm. Although Huangfu Chaobo also sent Pang Tong as the commander. However, after careful consideration, he appointed Tian Yu as the general.

After the discussion was over, the various armies began to prepare separately.

At the beginning of the fourth watch on the 20th, Tian Yu came to the east bank of Longmen Ferry in Hejin under the escort of his own soldiers. At this time, the sky was completely dark, and there was no light on the other side of the river. As for the dock, Tian Yu ordered: "Send a signal to the other side!"

Soon a soldier stood out from the crowd, came to the pier, raised a torch, and drew three circles clockwise, and then made three circles in the opposite direction.

Not long after, a torch also appeared on the opposite bank. Just like the east bank of the river, three circles were drawn on the front and back, and then a fire was quickly lit on the other bank.

"General, the other side is ready!" A general said happily to Tian Yu;

"Order the navy to start crossing the river and prepare to erect a pontoon bridge."

"promise!"

Soon dozens of Tang Army navy soldiers pushed out a wooden raft and carefully placed it on the unbroken ice. Then ten soldiers quickly climbed onto the huge wooden raft and tied a bundle of ropes to it. Sitting on both sides, with a soft cry, the ten people put their hands on the ice with fur-gloved hands, and the raft slid towards the other side of the river.

Under this operation, the raft tied with ropes slid towards the bank. Even if everyone rowed the raft with all their strength, it took half an hour to smoothly slide the raft to the west bank of the river. The bank had already been prepared. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty immediately responded to the soldiers on the raft and successfully dragged the raft ashore.

Then he pulled hard on the rope on the raft. The other end of the rope on the raft was tied with a huge iron cable. After the soldiers on the west bank pulled the iron cable over, they fixed one end of the iron cable on the shore. After going back and forth like this, all five iron ropes were finally fixed. After all five iron ropes were fixed, some workers began to install the wooden rafts that had been prepared on the iron ropes.