Tibet

The 10,000 Yan army soldiers who attacked Jiangxinzhou did not encounter any resistance and went straight to the island. Cui Qianyou frowned and said to An Qingxu: "Your Highness, if there is a problem, let them retreat immediately!"

An Qingxu asked in confusion: "What will be the problem?"

Yan Zhuang sighed on the side: "General Cui means that the Tang army will cut off their retreat!"

An Qingxu suddenly woke up and shouted: "Send the gold first and withdraw the troops!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The bell rang to withdraw troops, but it was too late. A Tang Army warship suddenly appeared, about a thousand stones in size. There was an iron bump on the bow of the ship. It was going very fast. With a "Boom!", it hit the first pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge was immediately broken, and a raging fire broke out. The fire spread quickly.

In just a moment, the second one was also broken, and a fire broke out.

At this time, the soldiers on the island encountered a massacre by heavy armored infantry. A thousand heavy armored infantry appeared in front of three Yan army soldiers who came to the island.

The heavy armored infantry were not afraid of the opponent's spears and arrows at all. They lined up to kill and moved forward step by step. The ghosts and gods were frightened by the news. The sharp swords flew up and down, unstoppable. Wherever they passed, there was a bloody storm, and the ground was full of stumps. Broken arms, internal organs, and a fishy stench made the island stink.

The soldiers of the Yan army resisted a little at first, but were soon frightened by the brutal killings of the heavy armored infantry of the Tang army. They fled in all directions, but they were surrounded by water and there was no way to escape. Some soldiers jumped into the water and swam to the other side, but they were greeted by dense crossbows. Soldiers of the Tang Army who were ambushing on the other side of the water appeared and fired crossbows at the soldiers who fled in haste. Countless soldiers were shot and killed in the water. middle.

At this moment, the bell rang to withdraw troops. The panicked Yan army seemed to have seen the direction of escape, and the soldiers rushed to the pontoon bridge.

Unfortunately, all three pontoon bridges were broken, and there were still raging fires burning on them. A long section of the pontoon bridge was on fire.

Countless soldiers were blocked on the pontoon bridge, unable to advance or retreat, and the heavy armored infantry behind them also came up to fight. The soldiers cried and shouted desperately, waving to the north bank, begging for help.

An Qingxu asked anxiously: "General Cui, what should we do now?"

Cui Qianyou said coldly: "Your Highness, why didn't you ask General Tian? This was his idea. Once the idea is made, will he not care about the rest?"

Tian Chengsi glared at Cui Qianyou fiercely, and had to bow and said: "Your Highness, the only way now is to send a raft to pick them up."

This is a good idea. An Qingxu said anxiously: "Send three hundred rafts to bring them back!"

Three hundred rafts were launched into the water one after another and rowed towards Jiangxin Island one mile away. Soon they arrived at the pontoon. Soldiers crowded onto the rafts, and the rafts full of soldiers began to turn around and sail back.

All the generals breathed a sigh of relief, but at this moment, an accident happened. A raft suddenly lost its balance and overturned. Dozens of soldiers on it all fell into the water. Then a raft overturned, and the soldiers on the raft overturned. There was a lot of exclamation and everyone fell into the water.

Seeing that one after another the rafts were overturning, Yan Zhuang's expression changed greatly, "No, there is someone under the water!"

Everyone could see that there must be Tang Jun water ghosts under the water, so the accidents happened one after another. What is even more creepy is that the soldiers did not move after falling into the water. Logically, they should be desperately calling for help, but now there is deathly silence on the water. Just like falling into the water and sinking directly to the bottom of the river, no one knows what is happening underwater? But everyone knows that something extremely terrifying must have happened underwater.

Three hundred rafts and more than forty returned with less than a thousand soldiers. They were the lucky ones who escaped three death attacks and finally landed ashore.

Everyone was so frightened that their faces turned pale, their whole bodies were trembling and they were speechless.

A general was led to An Qingxu, and An Qingxu asked sharply: "Tell me, what happened?"

The general said tremblingly: "Your Highness, we encountered an ambush when we got to the island. Hundreds of heavy armored infantrymen from the Tang Army were waiting for us. They were so fierce that they killed the brothers. Their corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed into rivers. We couldn't resist it and fled in all directions. , but there are ambushes all around, shooting us with crossbows, and there is water all around, so there is no way to escape."

In the past, Fan Yang's army also had heavy armored infantry. Each army under the command of the Jiedushi had heavy armored infantry. This was built with the strong national power of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, Fanyang Jiedu had the largest number of heavy armored infantry, with 3,000 people. Beside An Lushan.

Therefore, An Qingxu and all the generals knew how sharp the heavy armored infantry was, but the most powerful heavy armored infantry was in Anxi. This was recognized by the entire Tang Dynasty. The main reason was that the soldiers of the Anxi army were too physically strong. The heavy armored infantry of other Jiedu Prefectures were almost It is difficult to walk, but the heavy armored infantry of the Anxi Army can charge and attack the city. The heavy armored infantry of the Jianghan Army comes from the Hezhong Army, and is actually the heavy armored infantry of the Anxi Army.

Hearing that there was an ambush of heavy armored infantry on Jiangxin Island, everyone was speechless. An Qingxu asked anxiously: "Why did the raft overturn?"

The general said quickly: "We saw a dark shadow swimming quickly under the water, and then the sheepskin bag below burst, and the raft overturned. After the soldiers fell into the water, they were stabbed to death by the water ghosts waiting below."

"What about the master who turned the fire to Gui Ren?" An Qingxu asked anxiously.

The general sighed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, I saw that he was chopped into pieces by heavy armored infantry, his head was split open, and he died miserably."

At this time, the soldiers shouted, and the corpses of countless soldiers were washed ashore. An Qingxu quickly took everyone to check, and they saw that the corpses had their vests pierced or their throats cut.

An Qingxu looked at the vast Han River and sighed. The start was not good. Jiang Han's army was very powerful on the water. They were no match at all. How should we fight this battle?

Cui Qianyou finally spoke, "Your Highness, I don't agree with attacking Jiangxinzhou because we stopped at Jiangxinzhou and lost 10,000 people in vain. However, we still know nothing about the true strength of the Tang army. I think that whether it is Jiangxinzhou or Xiangyang Even the surface of the water is a death trap for us, and we should avoid the death trap and cross the river."

Yan Zhuang nodded and smiled: "Your Highness, General Cui's plan is very good. Let's leave Xiangyang and cross the river elsewhere."

An Qingxu said worriedly: "If we cross the river elsewhere, how will our logistics keep up?"

Cui Qianyou explained: "Your Highness, as long as our main force crosses the river, the Tang army will not fight us in the wild. They will definitely withdraw to Xiangyang and defend Xiangyang to fight against us. At that time, we will build a pontoon bridge from Jiangxinzhou to safely transport the logistics and food supplies. Transported across the Han River."

An Qingxu was convinced that this plan was really the only feasible one at present.

"Then where is the best way for us to cross the river?"

Everyone looked at Wang Shu, the governor of Ruzhou. He had been a county magistrate in Xiangyang for many years. He should know where to cross the river.

Wang Shu thought for a while and said: "Going south will always be very wide, and there will be mountains blocking it. The army cannot pass. I suggest you go west. The water surface in Gucheng County is only about two miles. You can cross the Han River in half an hour. And the water flow there is relatively gentle, which is very conducive to crossing the river."

Cui Ganyou added: "Your Highness, you can send spies to have a look first and choose a better place to cross the river. I estimate that the Tang army will also intercept, but the number of troops will not be too large. Even if we lose part of it, we can still cross the main force. River."

An Qingxu made a decision immediately. He first ordered the entire army to stay in camp and rest, to calm down the troops and not to rush for success. After settling the soldiers, An Qingxu sent dozens of spies to the river section of Gucheng County to check the situation. Look for opportunities to cross the river.