Chapter 1,243: Split Into Two Groups

About an hour later, a pontoon bridge was erected. At this time, it was already five o'clock in the morning. Tian Yu looked at the army behind him and waved his hand: "Give the order, light the torches, and the army will cross the river!"

Following his order, groups of soldiers came out of the military formation. Each group was led by a captain holding a torch, and they lined up in several groups and walked towards the other side.

Soon five thousand infantry had crossed the river, and under the leadership of the Shadow Guard, headed south of the ferry. They had to establish a defensive formation south of the ferry before the Qin army's sentry arrived.

Following the infantry of the first school were five thousand cavalry, followed by crossbowmen and infantry of another school. After all the main army crossed the river, the last ones to cross were the five thousand civilians and the grain and grass they transported.

As Tian Yu expected, the cavalry had only crossed over a thousand people when a patrol sentry by the Qin army discovered the large army crossing the river. Soon, loud arrows rang out on the west bank of the river, followed by three pillars of smoke at Longmen Crossing South. Rising several miles away, the sky was completely bright at this time. A red sun rose from the east, and the three pillars of smoke were immediately seen by the defenders in Xia Yang City to the south.

The Qin army in Xia Yang City suddenly became busy. The alarm bell rang at the top of the city. Groups of soldiers wearing armor and holding guns ran out of the military camps in various parts of the city and ran towards the top of the city where they were defending.

A moment later, Li Li, the general of Xia Yang City, appeared at the top of the city. At the same time, after the south gate of Xia Yang City opened, a dozen messengers riding red damask rushed out of the city, then divided into several teams and ran wildly in several directions.

However, what surprised the Qin army's sentry cavalry was that after the Tang army crossed the river, they just stood in formation south of the ferry, but had no intention of attacking. Even the thousands of cavalry who had already crossed the river had no intention of chasing them, and just stayed silent. They stood quietly behind the infantry phalanx.

In less than two hours, Duan Yan, the governor of Qin State's left Feng Yi, received the news that the Tang army had crossed the river. Duan Yan was shocked when he heard the news. He quickly ordered a warning to the capital and ordered five thousand Xiliang cavalry to assemble urgently. Niu Jin, the captain and cavalry general, headed towards Xia Yang.

What Duan Xuan didn't expect was that the cavalry returned less than an hour after leaving. The news they brought was that the Tang army had led its troops north along the west bank of the river. There were a total of 30,000 troops. When they left, they had already set up their troops. The pontoon bridge was destroyed, and the five cross-river iron cables were taken back by the Tang army in Hedong.

Hearing this news, Duan Xuan breathed a long sigh of relief, and at the same time, he felt a sense of vigilance in his heart. The defense of Longmendu must be strengthened. No, it should be said that it has been established. The Tang army can cross the river once from here. Crossed the river two or three times. If Tang Jun meant Feng Yi this time, he would probably be caught off guard.

Thinking of this, Duan Yan quickly ordered Li Li, the general of Xia Yang, to follow the Tang army to confirm that their army had left Feng Yi, and to immediately send people to establish a military formation on the west bank of Longmendu and send a thousand soldiers. Soldiers guarded the ferry day and night to prevent the Tang army from crossing the river again.

If Huangfu Chaobo knew what Duan Yan was thinking, he would definitely sneer at him. If he wanted to attack Feng Yi, there were many places where he could cross the river. What's more, after capturing Shangjun, it would be almost easy to attack Qin. matter.

When Tian Yu led 30,000 troops to cross the river, Hua Xiong had already led the rest of the troops to march towards Caisangjin in the north. Setting off with Hua Xiong's army were 10,000 civilian craftsmen and 100,000 stones of grain and grass.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to attack Shangdang last year, almost all roads in Shangdang were repaired, especially some roads that are usually very difficult to travel, such as the roads between the three county towns of Duanshi, Beiqu and Puzi and the cities in the hinterland of Hedong. The roads were all renovated last year, which allowed Huaxiong's army to move very fast.

…

In Dingyang City, the day after Tian Yu's army crossed the river, everyone in Shangjun had already received the news. When they learned that the Tang army had only 30,000 troops crossing the river, they were very happy. Fazheng is not as optimistic as the three players. Now they have completely lost the information in the direction of Hedong.

Therefore, nothing is known about the movement in the east direction of the river on the other side.

But Fazheng knew that the Tang army could not only have these troops. According to the news from the scouts, Tianyu's army only has 20,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 5,000 civilians. In other words, the food and grass they carry is only enough for the 30,000 people for a month, and now Longmen Crossing should have returned to the control of the Qin army, so the Tang army must have wanted to transport soldiers, horses, grain and grass across the river from Caisangjin to support the next war.

As expected by Fazheng, news came back from Hukou Town three days later, saying that tens of thousands of Tang troops appeared on the dock on the east bank of Caisangjin opposite, and the number should be between 40,000 and 50,000. The number of baggage trucks alone is in the thousands.

"Generals, the war is about to begin!" Fazheng looked to the east and said to the three of them;

"Military advisor, do we really not need to send troops to intercept Tian Yu's army halfway?" The leftover man said unwillingly;

"The road on the west bank of the river is not wide, and Tian Yu's army is spearheaded by three thousand cavalry, with infantry closely guarding the baggage convoy. We have almost no chance to pose a threat to Tian Yu's army, so we still It is better to focus your time and energy on the defense of Hukou Town." Fazheng shook his head and said;

"General Hengye, have General Xu Huang's troops arrived at Hukou Town?"

"I just got the news this morning that Xu Huang has led the army to Hukou Town, and now he has taken over the defense of Hukou." The Survivor is the King replied quickly;

A few days ago, after several people discussed, they each selected a thousand infantrymen, and together with the four thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen led by Liu Bao, they went to Hupin Town under the leadership of Xu Huang to strengthen the defense. In this way, Hukou Town has five thousand infantrymen and four thousand cavalrymen, and their goal is to use Hukou to kill as many Tang soldiers as possible.

It's a pity that there is no place to build a territory from Hukou Town to Dingyang, and in the past few years, the Survivor is the King has not built any defensive buildings such as pass military formations in this valley that is several miles long, so there is only a ravine about a hundred feet wide between Dingyang and Huguan Town.

In fact, several people had thought about building one or two passes among them, but even a small pass could not be built in ten days or half a month. The most important thing was that the Survivor Becomes the King did not have so many building materials. For example, the reason why Chen Gong was able to build the South Pass within ten days of the Tang army's attack last year was that the South Pass was an existing pass, and the Zhao army only needed to repair it. Another point was that in addition to 10,000 civilians, they also carried a large amount of building materials, which enabled them to have such speed and efficiency. However, the Survivor Becomes the King now does not have either of the two conditions.