The Caishiji defenders had been easily wiped out by Li Chuyun. After inspecting the terrain, Guo Shao discussed with the officials and generals of the shogunate and believed that a floating bridge could be built under the situation of controlling the river surface, so Wang Pu was ordered to mobilize craftsmen and civilians to handle this matter.
The group once again conducted a field survey of the Yangtze River and cruised on the surface of the river on a warship.
Wang Pu, dressed in a long robe, stood at the bow, looking up, while Guo Shao walked over from the deck and also watched the scene on the river for a long time. The sails were dotted, the wheels of the waterwheel were turning, and waves of white foam were splashing on the river.
After a long while, Guo Shao said: There are two land states in the middle of the river. The Yangtze River has three waterways here, and the westernmost one is the narrowest. When Wang Shijun supervised the construction of the floating bridge, he should have considered the convenient demolition of the western one.
Wang Pu thought for a moment and said: General Guo, in order to make way for the navy ships,
Guo Shaodao: Exactly. Caishi Ferry was occupied, and our army had a large floating bridge. Nanjing could not sit idly by. The first threat to Caishi was the Southern Tang reinforcements from Nanjing. Li Chuyun placed the main force of the navy on the north side of the river and built a water fort there. He should have expected this.
But the Southern Tang army still had a large number of naval forces at Hukou, so they had to be careful not to break through the defense line of Chizhou in Wankou. By then, Li Chuyun's naval forces should cross the pontoon bridge and meet the enemy in the south; they could only dismantle one pontoon bridge.
Wang Pu agreed.
At this time, the warships arrived at Caishi Ferry on the east bank, and everyone observed the situation on the river. Guo Shao wanted to go ashore to meet Li Chuyun, so he said goodbye to Wang Pu and went ashore at Caishi Wharf. Li Chuyun's central military headquarters was at Caishi Wharf.
At first, Guo Shao and his companions' itinerary for leaving Hezhou was just to inspect the river surface. It was Guo Shao's impromptu decision to cross the river to meet Li Chuyun.
Guo Shao and Li Chuyun had not seen each other for several months, but when Li Chuyun saw Guo Shao, he did not bother to ask about his well-being, but asked directly: "I sent someone to report the urgent matter to the lord in an hour. Did the lord receive it?"
Guo Shaodao: No, I guess the report is still in Hezhou. What's the matter, General Li
We went to the lobby to talk.
The group then entered the room, and Li Chuyun said: "The spies have reported that the Jiangning Prefecture has been mobilizing troops frequently recently. It is rumored that they will reinforce Cai Shi.
Guo Shao's expression suddenly became serious. After a while, he said: Quarrying is of vital importance, and we must not fail in this battle.
Li Chuyun said: The Southern Tang army is heading south from Jiangning Prefecture. The most likely target is Caishi Ferry, followed by Dangtu City. If it is Caishi Ferry, I plan to have Gao Yanchou's troops and Longjie Army infantry guard Caishi Suoxi River and face the enemy head-on; Longjie Army cavalry ambushes at Shipo Mountain southeast of Caishi. When the battle line is formed at Suoxi River, the Shipo Mountain ambush troops rush out of the forest and quickly attack the enemy's flank to shake their camp.
The target might be Dangtu City, Guo Shao murmured.
Li Chuyun put his palm on the thick beard on his chin and said: "The Southern Tang army attacked Cai Shi with obvious intentions, wanting to retake the ferry and rebuild the river defense. If successful, this would be the most beneficial approach for the Southern Tang Kingdom."
But if the Southern Tang army commander believes that the field battle is no match for our elite troops, there is a more reliable method: reinforce Dangtu City. The purpose of this method is not to defend the Yangtze River, but to defend Jiangning.
Guo Shao suddenly realized and said: I understand.
Li Chuyun nodded and said: "As long as there are heavy troops in Dangtu City, if our army wants to march from Caishi to Jiangning Prefecture, the ferry and the front and back will always be under the threat of Dangtu City. We will be forced to attack the city instead of deciding the outcome in a field battle."
Guo Shaodao: Send warships to the west bank, and urgently dispatch three armies of the Huben Army to Caishi to deploy the battle of Caishi.
Guo Shao stayed in Jiangdong. The early tactical deployment was that the main force of the Longjie Army set up a large formation at the Suoxi River quarrying wharf to wait for the enemy to attack; the cavalry of the first army and the mounted infantry of the second and third armies of the Huben Army were deployed at Shipo Mountain in the southeast; Gao Yanchou's Jiannan Army set up camp at Dahuang Mountain, 20 miles to the southeast.
If the Southern Tang army bypassed Dangtu City from the east, Gao Yanchou's troops would move eastward to block them, and the main force of the Zhou army near Caishi would then reinforce Gao Yanchou.
Guo Shao was anxious to mobilize the Tiger Guards to cross the river, but he still overestimated the reaction speed of the Southern Tang Army. Ten days later, Huangfu Jixun set out from Jiangning Prefecture, with Lin Renzhao as the vanguard and Huangfu Jixun's main force of more than 40,000 people following.
Lin Renzhao sent a large number of scouts to the south to gather information about the military situation and discovered Gao Yanchou's troops camped 20 miles southeast of Caishi. Two days later, Lin Renzhao's vanguard of more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry stopped 20 miles north of Suoxi River.
He personally rode back to the main central army and advised the commander-in-chief Huangfu Jixun: It is not advisable to take Cai Shi in this battle, we should go to Dangtu first.
Unexpectedly, Huangfu Jixun looked incredulous and said rudely: You are mentally ill. Dangtu has become an isolated city. The Zhou army is crossing the river from Caishi. If we don’t take back the Caishi ferry nearby, why go to Dangtu with so much trouble
Lin Renzhao heard the unpleasant tone and suppressed his anger: "Our soldiers can still fight on the water and defend the city. The infantry and cavalry will be defeated in the field. If we go to Caishi now and cannot defeat the Zhou army head-on, our efforts will be in vain. It is better to retreat to the next best thing and send a large army to reinforce Dangtu. Although this city is an isolated city, fortunately the fortifications are strong and the food and grass are sufficient, so our army can garrison for a long time."
Huangfu Jixun sneered: "There is no point in garrisoning in Dangtu, that dead place. Now Dangtu City is also in our hands. Have we stopped the Zhou army? Go to the riverside and look with your eyes wide open. The Zhou army is still swaggering across the river from Caishi."
Lin Renzhao said: Dangtu City cannot threaten Zhou's army because it is short of troops and dares not leave the city. If our 60,000 troops move in, the situation will be completely different. As long as the main force of Zhou's army dares to go north to attack the capital, our army can attack from Dangtu, retake the ferry and cut off Zhou's retreat.
Huangfu Jixun shook his head and said: When we were in Jiangning, you were the one who was shouting and killing and eager to fight, and you were also the one who had to hide from place to place when the army was dispatched.
Lin Renzhao was furious: Who the hell would want to waste time if they can win? What's the point of dying if they can't win
Huangfu Jixun sneered: In that case, you might as well surrender.
Lin Renzhao said: If you are willing to die, then you can go to Dangtu and I will say whatever you want. Your Majesty has already said that I can disobey you and obey the court directly.
Lin Renzhao returned to the military camp full of anger and cursed the commander-in-chief Huangfu Jixun in front of all the soldiers.
At this time, he saw the scouts coming from Dangtu City and learned the details of the field battle on the banks of Guxi River. He was furious again. He ignored the bad influence and cursed in public: Yang Shou is a complete idiot. How could such a person become a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty? The court does not know how to use people.
Many of his superiors were at odds with Lin Renzhao, but the lower-level soldiers quickly became close friends with him because Lin Renzhao always shared the joys and sorrows with everyone, never deducted military pay or rewards, and was fair in his dealings, so the soldiers naturally liked him.
Lin Renzhao was furious, but he finally stopped acting impulsively. He stayed where he was and waited for Huangfu Jixun's army to arrive.
The scout reported that there was a Zhou army south of Dahuang Mountain, the Shu people. During the Huainan War, Lin Renzhao had seen the combat effectiveness of the Shu surrendered soldiers, but he didn't take it seriously at all. If Huangfu Jixun agreed to go to Dangtu together, as long as one force held back the Shu people, the main force of the Southern Tang army could smoothly go to Dangtu from the east.
But now Lin Renzhao is unable to take action, and this group of Shu people might instead delay Lin Renzhao and then attract the siege of the Zhou army in Cai Shi.
So Lin Renzhao waited for the main force of the Southern Tang army. When the main force went to Caishi to fight against the Zhou army, Lin Renzhao went south to defeat the Shu army, so as not to be besieged.
Lin Renzhao did not move his troops, and Huangfu Jixun did the same. Tens of thousands of troops spent three or four days in the wild without doing anything.
Lin Renzhao was confused about what Huangfu Jixun meant when a letter from the imperial court arrived, asking why Lin Renzhao, as a vanguard, did not move.
Now he finally understood that Huangfu Jixun had gone to the memorial to complain these days. Lin Renzhao certainly did not want to go to Caishi to attack the elite Zhou army. So he wrote a letter to defend the benefits of going to Dangtu City; after Lin Renzhao's troops increased their troops in Dangtu City, the number of troops in the city would reach more than 20,000, which would pose a great threat to Caishi Ferry and the front and back of the Zhou army in the future.
Soon, Li Yu sent an imperial edict, ordering Lin Renzhao to leave as soon as possible if he wanted to reinforce Dangtu without delay.
After some wrangling, Lin Renzhao had no choice but to take the lead in bypassing the eastern depth, and then went south to Dangtu City. He agreed with Huangfu Jixun to launch an attack on Caishi as soon as possible to prevent the main force of the Zhou army from being withdrawn.
A day later, Lin Renzhao received intelligence that the Shu army in Dahuangshan was moving eastward and blocking the front. Lin Renzhao sent people to Huangfu Jixun's camp overnight to confirm the situation and learned that Huangfu Jixun's troops had already arrived near Suoxi River; although they had not yet clashed with the Zhou army, they were very close and the two sides were on the verge of a showdown.
Lin Renzhao breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the elite Zhou army in Caishi was delayed, the Shu people here would collapse at the first blow.
Lin Renzhao then ordered the battle to begin the next morning, and formed a battle array to attack Gao Yanchou.
By the evening, the main force of the Southern Tang army was already several miles away from the Suoxi River. It was reported that the Southern Tang army camp covered a large area and had about 50,000 people.
Li Yu really invested a lot of money this time. The problem Guo Shao is facing now is that there are only more than 10,000 people in the right wing of the Longjie Army in the Caishi Wharf Camp, some of whom are still in the hands of Luo Yanhuan in Chizhou.
The difference in strength on the front is a bit big. The combat effectiveness of the Southern Tang Imperial Army may not be as good as the elite Zhou Army, but it has several times the number advantage. Guo Shao and Li Chuyun both feel that the risk is relatively large.
Then there is also a reserve force, the three armies of the Tiger Guards at Shipo Mountain near the Caishi battlefield, with nearly 10,000 people. This mobile force is used to support the front of the Caishi battlefield.
If the Huben Army goes north to support, then the troops of the Southern Tang Army in the east will go to Dangtu. The elite troops of the Southern Tang Army are coming this time, and Gao Yanchou may not be able to stop them, Li Chuyun said.
Guo Shao said nothing and lowered his head in thought.
Li Chuyun added: "The enemy troops going to Dangtu intend to defend, while the tens of thousands of troops here are indeed aggressive, so quarrying is more important. General Guo is cautious, so it is better to transfer the Tiger Guards to the north to stabilize the situation in quarrying first."