Tibet

To Li Ye's expectation, at the same time that the Jianghan Tang army entered Guanzhong, An Qingxu personally led an army of 80,000 people and also entered Dengzhou with force.

This was not a precisely prepared battle, but an impromptu raid without adequate logistical support.

An Qingxu originally wanted to attack Songzhou and Bozhou, but he received an urgent order from his father, ordering him to immediately attack Xiangyang, surround Wei and rescue Zhao, and force Li Ye's army to retreat from Chang'an.

Only then did An Qingxu know that Li Ye had led an army to attack Chang'an. He made a decisive decision and immediately led an army of 80,000 people southward.

They still have some grain reserves in Ye County, Ruzhou, which can support the 80,000-strong army for about half a month, which is enough for the Yan army.

Luyang Pass was completely destroyed when the Yan army attacked Jingxiang for the second time. Li Ye did not repair it for the time being, and the 80,000-strong army marched directly into Dengzhou.

It was already winter, and the autumn wheat and millet had been harvested. Almost all the people in Dengzhou had withdrawn to Xiangzhou. The Yan army marched south without a soul in sight, and even the county town was deserted.

Four days later, the Yan Army once again arrived at the north bank of the Han River. In fact, the Yan Army did not have a good means of crossing the river, so they could only use a pontoon bridge.

Of course, pontoon bridges can also be built very solidly, like the three pontoon bridges built at Mengjin Ferry in the Tang Dynasty. It took several months to complete, and the cavalry and baggage could pass through. The premise is that there is no interference. If there are enemy warships harassment, it simply cannot be built.

Another way is to wait for the river to freeze in winter and directly cross the river on horseback, but the Han River does not freeze in winter, which makes it difficult for the Yan army.

Yan Jun's previous research on large-scale new pontoons was actually to build very stable 100-stone wide-bottomed boats, fastened together with iron chains, fixed with wooden piles driven into the river on both sides, and covered with wooden boards, which was the best pontoon, but Transporting ships requires special large ox carts to pull them. This time the Yan army set off in a hurry and did not carry any baggage. Naturally, they did not carry this new type of pontoon bridge.

The previous method was still adopted, using a large sheepskin raft to support the bottom, and then laying rafts on top, and then finding a way to drive piles in the river to fix it, using Jiangxin Island as a springboard, so that the Han River could be crossed.

Of course, they have made progress. They will pull an iron chain thirty steps away on both sides of the pontoon bridge to prevent warships from colliding. They also trained hundreds of water ghosts to deal with the Tang army's water ghost attack.

That night, hundreds of craftsmen began to lay the pontoon bridge, supervised by Yan Zhuang himself.

On the other side of the Han River, 40,000 Tang troops were ready, with Li Mi taking overall command of the defense of the Han River.

Li Mi deployed 80,000 troops on the Han River, divided into three defense zones: east, middle and west. Li Baozhen led 20,000 troops to take charge of the defense of the west zone. Lei Wanchun was responsible for the defense of the central zone, which is Xiangyang. The central zone deployed 40,000 troops, while Dengzhou The governor Lu Jiong led 20,000 troops to take charge of the defense of the eastern region.

Hundreds of scouts were deployed between the three defense areas and on the other side to monitor the enemy at any time. In addition, 500 medium and large warships were deployed on the Han River, and 20,000 naval troops were invested in them. It can be said that they were quite well prepared.

Li Mi and everyone agreed that the enemy would still cross the river from the Xiangyang area, where there is a river in the middle of the river. Crossing the river can save half of the force.

At this time, Lei Wanchun, the chief general of the central region, hurriedly found Li Mi.

"Reporting to the military advisor, the scouts have reported that the enemy has begun laying a pontoon bridge on the north bank!"

Li Mi nodded, "Everything will proceed according to the original plan. If there are any changes, I will notify General Lei!"

Li Mi is the overall defense commander. He does not care about specific operations. He is only responsible for major decisions and coordination of the three zones. The operations of the three defense zones are the responsibility of their respective commanders, and Li Mi does not interfere.

Of course, the entire combat plan was formulated by Li Mi and everyone unanimously discussed and approved it. Then the plan must be implemented strictly. If the plan needs to be changed, it will be up to him to decide.

Lei Wanchun crossed the Han River by boat and went up to Jiangxinzhou. He came to the northernmost point, where three thousand Tang troops were deployed and two hundred large yellow crossbows were placed. The shooting range of the large yellow crossbows could reach 600 steps, and the arrows were as long as Two feet, made of jujube wood, the arrows are very heavy and very powerful. They are specially used to deal with craftsmen laying pontoons and water ghosts underwater.

"How is the situation?" Lei Wanchun stepped forward and asked.

Wu Ling, the commander of Jiang Xinzhou, said quickly: "Reporting to General Lei, the enemy has laid a pontoon bridge for nearly a hundred steps, and it is already within our shooting range. They have to drive a pile every fifty steps, and they are driving the pile now."

"Are there any water ghosts underwater?"

Wu Ling shook his head, "It's too far away, I can't see it!"

Lei Wanchun stared for a moment and immediately ordered: "Launch!"

"Launch!" Wu Ling shouted.

Two hundred large yellow crossbows were fired at the same time, powerful arrows hitting hundreds of craftsmen and soldiers who were laying the pontoon bridge, 'Whoosh! Whoosh! ’ Arrows fell from the sky, and the craftsmen were caught off guard. Dozens of people were hit by heavy arrows, their bodies were pierced by heavy arrows, and they screamed and fell into the water.

Other craftsmen and soldiers were so frightened that they turned around and ran away. Many people fell into the water during the impact.

The Yan army had to stop building the bridge. An Qingxu got the news and led the generals to the river. An Qingxu gritted his teeth with hatred and said: "Send the navy to paddle rafts to the island and kill all the enemy troops on the island." !”

In order to seize Xiangyang, An Qingxu specially selected 7,000 soldiers with excellent water skills from the entire army of hundreds of thousands, and recruited 3,000 water ghosts along the Yellow River to form a navy army of 10,000 people, and handed it over to his subordinates. General Xue Fang is in command.

Xue Fang is a famous pirate in the Bohai Bay. After being recruited, he became a general under An Qingxu. Because of his excellent water skills, he finally came to the fore and was named Wave-Treading General, commanding 10,000 naval troops.

Xue Fang gave an order, "Follow me, the former army!"

Three thousand sailors rushed toward Jiangxinzhou on single-person rafts, followed closely by five thousand sailors, and finally two thousand rear troops. In addition, there were three hundred water ghosts protecting them at the bottom of the water.

Lei Wanchun could see it clearly, and he immediately ordered: "Fire the gunpowder arrows!"

Three gunpowder arrows shot into the sky, emitting a bright red light, and eight three-thousand-stone ships appeared, lining up in the darkness and heading this way. The ships were all filled with Tang Army soldiers. In a moment, they were close to the enemy. The soldiers on the boat raised their crossbows and fired. On the water, the Yan army soldiers were hit by arrows and fell into the water. The big boats rushed into the crowd one after another, knocking over a large number of rafts.

But this time the soldiers of the Yan army were all sailors. Even if they fell into the water, they could hold on to the raft and swim. The water ghosts clung to a big boat and tried to climb onto the boat from behind. The sides of the big boat were very smooth and there was no way to start. Climb onto the ship from the rear.

But the Tang army was prepared for it. Twenty dozen Tang soldiers stabbed the stern of the boat with spears, knocking the front few water ghosts off the boat. At this time, a large boat sailed past diagonally, and the soldiers on the boat burst out with arrows. Shooting, more than a dozen water ghosts were hit by arrows and fell into the water.

Five thousand Yan army soldiers arrived, and the soldiers on the rafts shot arrows at the big ships. The battle began to become fierce. "Woo--" the Tang army's horn sounded, and a dozen more big ships came from a distance, including one. A thousand-stone warship, An Qingxu took a breath of air.

"Send the order to retreat the troops! Retreat the troops!" An Qingxu shouted urgently.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The closing bell rang, and the soldiers of the Yan Army and Navy all turned around and rowed towards the north bank. The big boats chased and shot countless people behind, and several soldiers threw down several cans of kerosene and smashed them on the pontoon bridge. On top, another torch was thrown down, and the pontoon suddenly burst into flames.

The first attack failed, with the loss of more than 1,300 sailors and dozens of craftsmen. The pontoon bridge built halfway was also set on fire by the Tang army.

Helpless, An Qingxu could only order to return to camp to rest and wait until daybreak.

Yan Zhuang also returned to his tent with a lot of worries. As soon as he entered the tent, a follower came forward and said: "To inform the Prime Minister, Wang Shaoxuan's staff are here and are waiting in the side tent!"

Yan Zhuang was startled and hurriedly walked to the side tent. The reason why he was worried was that he was worried about his eldest son Yan Hanhai, who was serving as the governor of Shangzhou. Li Ye led the army to attack Chang'an from Shangluo Road. Is his eldest son safe?

Yan Zhuang had a bad feeling. Wang Shaoxuan was his eldest son's staff. He came, but the eldest son didn't come. Could it be that his eldest son had already...

Walking into the side tent, Wang Shaoxuan stood up and saluted, "I am humble enough to see the Prime Minister!"

"Mr. Wang, how is my son?" Yan Zhuang stepped forward and asked urgently.

Wang Shaoxuan sighed and said: "The eldest son is still alive, but he became a prisoner of the Tang army!"

"Ah!" It was like a lightning strike, and Yan Zhuang was stunned for a moment.