The surrender of Jiangnan seemed like a gong that kicked off the war in the north. Before the Battle of Jiangnan could be finalized, the Battle of Yunzhong in the north and the Battle of Longquan in the south began almost simultaneously.
Longquan Mansion stands in the northern part of Heshuo Plain like a majestic tiger. It is not only the northern barrier of Heshuo in Jinzhong, but also the eastern wing of Heishan. It is like a thick shield that firmly protects the Heshuo Mansion. Protected from the wind and rain. However, this time Longquan Mansion may be about to usher in the most grand battle since the Taiping Sect defeated the imperial army here a few years ago. The 200,000 imperial army completely eradicated the three kings who were originally in the northwest of Zhongzhou almost overnight. The Imperial Fourteenth Army Corps stationed at the Zhuang Fortress Group, and even the commander of the Imperial Fourteenth Army Corps, Lan Bailin, also disappeared in this battle. Only less than 20,000 people in the entire Fourteenth Army Army fled to Qinghe, and the Empire quickly followed up. The City Guards Corps and the Third Corps marched west along the line, bypassed the eastern mountains in the northeast of Longquan and penetrated into the hinterland of the Heshuo Plain, assuming a posture of swallowing up Longquan and occupying Jinzhong, and Yusuf even more openly He made arrogant demands that the Western Xinjiang Army withdraw from the entire Heshuo County and Beiyuan County, otherwise it would face serious consequences.
Perhaps many people think that Yusuf's words are just some lofty and false talk. With the current strength of Western Xinjiang, a small city guard regiment dares to speak out nonsense. It is simply ignorant of the heights of the world, but truly understand the current situation in the north. People know that Yusuf's words are by no means aimless, let alone groundless. The battle of Yunzhong Mansion has already begun. Although the formal war has not yet begun, the coalition forces from Doton and Poole, in conjunction with the First Army of the Empire, have surrounded Yunzhong. It can be said that the arrow is already on the string. That is It has to be done, and it would be very difficult for the Fifth Army to defend Yunzhong by itself. Although their legions are quite good at defense. In the middle line, Qinghe Mansion is very strong under the management of Cui Wenxiu, and the first division of the 12th Army also suffered a big loss because of its rashness. Among the three fronts in the north, only the middle line of Qinghe has the strongest defense momentum. On the southern front, the Imperial City Guard Corps, with the cooperation of the Third Army Corps, has approached Longquan Mansion and directly threatened the security of Jinzhong. The originally weakest defense on the southern front was because the Tiger Wing Army withdrew from the west of the imperial capital and stayed in Jinzhong, while the Western Xinjiang The First Division of the Third Army rushed to Longquan's aid, which slightly eased the situation in Longquan. Coupled with the addition of Huangfu Tiancheng's troops from the Second Division of the Imperial Guard Corps to Jinzhong's defense, the southern front finally saw a turn for the better.
Cui Wenxiu was very distressed. In fact, the situation had eased after the Qinghe Prefecture wiped out the first division of the 12th Army. In particular, His Highness the King of Qin categorically ordered the Tiger Wing Army to abandon the imperial capital and defend Jinzhong. This suddenly fundamentally reversed the situation in Heshuo. Longquan Mansion originally had only one Jiang Han Division for defense, but now a fourth division has been added, doubling its defense capabilities, and Jinzhong has Tiger Wing Army and Huangfu Tiancheng. Huangfu Tiancheng's three regiments of soldiers have been expanded into an integrated division in the shortest possible time. Although the combat effectiveness may not be as good as that of the original Second Division of the Imperial Guards, Huangfu Tiancheng is also a well-known veteran of military training in the Imperial Army. His large reserve of officers makes it easy for his division to be replenished with sufficient soldiers. After completing the reorganization of the division, Cui Wenxiu believes that it only takes one or two battles for this division to fully rank among the great armies of Western Xinjiang.
What Cui Wenxiu feels most depressing is that under the current situation in this battle, the Third Army may have to maintain this defensive and counterattack posture, even though the four Ranger regiments have been rushing all night. But after such a long journey of thousands of miles, even if you reach Beiyuan, you will still need a day or two to repair before entering the battle. The situation in Yunzhong Mansion is already precarious. Regardless of emotions and reasons, you should first ensure the location of Yunzhong Mansion. Stable, this is something that both His Royal Highness King Qin and himself have made clear. These four divisions of rangers will all go into the Yunzhong battlefield to launch attacks on the Puer and Dodon people to reduce the pressure on Yunzhong Mansion. Of course, there is no need to say more about the middle line. The southern line is under the pressure of the City Guards and the Third Army. As long as the defense lines of Longquan and Jinzhong can be stabilized, according to Cui Wenxiu's vision, I am afraid that the five or six armies in Wuhu and Peninsula are Isn't it time to take action? He was struggling to support himself in the northern war zone, while they were fighting happily in the south. This was the first time Cui Wenxiu had tasted this taste.
Cui Wenxiu has strong confidence in Jiang Han. With him and Zhao Shangwu in Longquan Mansion carrying the defensive banner, he is confident that letting Yousuf try the defensive operations of the Third Army will not be worse than the offensive operations they are good at. Bo Jinchen had already arrived at Jinzhong to set up defenses. The wind in the imperial capital city suddenly changed. Ma Yuanwen took over the power of the imperial guards again and completely turned to the Situ family. This situation changed Jinzhong, which had been hiding under the protection of Longquan. As the front line, not only the Eighth and Ninth Legions, which have always had an ambiguous attitude, may join the battle, but the most dangerous thing is the Guards Corps under Ma Yuanxiang's re-control. Once the Guards Corps breaks the taboo since the founding of the empire and leaves the imperial capital, City, I'm afraid that Jinzhong Mansion will become the first stop completely, and the empire is already in this situation, I'm afraid that this taboo will be broken, which is nothing new.
Bo Jinchen looked at the handsome and white-faced scholar-like young officer in front of him with great interest. No one could tell that he was Huangfu Tiancheng, the leading Confucian general in the Imperial Guards Corps. He had a thin face and a thin body, and a Confucian dress. Shirt, no matter how you look at it, he is a literati who reads poetry and books. If we should say that he is a soldier, most people will think that he is probably a civilian staff such as the copywriter of the division commander.
What made Bo Jinchen sigh was that under such circumstances, he, a remnant of the Taiping Religion, would actually sit together with the senior generals of the Imperial Guards. The discussion was about how to defeat the Situ family, the so-called orthodox royal family in the empire. This kind of thing almost only happened in What happened in the opera actually happened to him. Why didn't this make Bo Jinchen have mixed feelings
"Master Bo, brother Tiancheng, it seems that Ma Yuanwang is really going to use troops against us in Jinzhong. We don't know the strength of this imperial guard. It seems that the empire has never fought outside the imperial capital since its establishment. It is Luo Luo. When the threat from the Bei people or the northern Liberians was greatest, it seemed that only the city guards were dispatched, but the imperial guards did not move much. This time they are afraid that they will really confront us. Brother Tiancheng, You are from the Imperial Guard, and you know the strength of the Imperial Guard very well, can you introduce it to us?"
While walking on the city wall of Jinzhong Fucheng, Song Tianxiong looked to the east. The vast plains closely connected the east side of Jinzhong with Zhongzhou. The Shanjiang River meandered eastward along the north of Jinzhong City and flowed into the imperial capital. City, this link is also the most important transportation channel between Jinzhong and the Imperial Capital. Most of the various productions and promoted coal in the Imperial Capital travel through this channel.
Now this waterway does not seem to be affected by the tension between the Imperial Capital and Jinzhong. Looking from a distance, there is still an endless stream of boats on the river. Most of the people on the way from Jinzhong to Zhongzhou are retail merchants and hawkers. Passengers, after all, the land route is much faster, and the road from Jinzhong to the imperial capital is also smooth and spacious. If you hurry, the carriage can arrive in a day and night.
"Lord Bo, Brother Tianxiong, although the Imperial Guards have never left the capital, and they have not been involved in any wars for so many years, they only have some symbolic competitions and exercises every year. If we want to talk about flaws, this is probably the Imperial Guards. The biggest regret is that there has never been an organized war with real weapons." Huangfu Tiancheng looked thoughtful. He was carefully considering his words. They were not consistent with the facts and would also mislead his colleagues. What's more, Huangfu Tiancheng is not the kind of person who relies on these words to win the respect of his colleagues.
"If it was before Ma Yuan went to take over the Guards Corps, I'm afraid the Guards could indeed be called a paper tiger that was strong on the outside but hard on the inside. However, in the more than ten years since Ma Yuan went to take over the Guards Corps, , Brothers can’t but say that the strength of this army has undergone a substantial change.”
Huangfu Tiancheng's words immediately aroused great interest in Bo Jinchen and Song Tianxiong, "I would like to hear the details."
"Ma Yuanwang should be said to be quite good in terms of military ability and power play. Mr. Bo may know that the struggle for the Imperial Guard has always been the focus of the Situ family, but Ma Yuanwang is the first Even before the emperor passed away, he remained unmoved. Among the Imperial Guards, at least three divisions should be absolutely controlled by him. In my judgment, there is another division that, although superficially close to others, But I can assert that as long as Ma Yuanxiang comes forward, he will still be loyal to him. Only brothers, haha, maybe I have always had a rebellious mentality. I always think that the Imperial Guard can only be a second-rate army in this posture. , unable to become a truly worthy Imperial Guard, so they have always maintained a certain distance in many aspects. If the brothers had not had some foundation in the Second Division, it would be difficult for them to sit firmly in the Imperial Guard, but Ma Yuan This person has a very broad mind, and he did not deliberately suppress the Second Division for this reason."
"Brother Tiancheng, it's hard to prove that Ma Yuanwang can turn around the situation that you said is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, right?" Song Tianxiong frowned. This does not seem to mean that the Imperial Guards are in Ma Yuanwang's hands. Soldiers should know how much changes can be made. The strength of the army cannot be improved by playing tricks.