Everyone was secretly speculating. When they heard Xu Huai say with certainty that the main force of the Chihu East Route Army would bypass Bianliang and head straight to Zhengzhou, they looked over and asked, "Why is Zhengzhou?"

No matter how true others are, they always have a layer of difficulty in seeing through the development of the situation that has not yet occurred. There are too many unpredictable variables that interfere with them, which influence their judgment.

Xu Huai's deduction process from the tragic ending is of course much simpler; this also helps him understand Chihu people's strategic thinking from a deeper level.

However, the more this happens, Xu Huai feels more powerless about the battle between Hehuai.

Xu Huai asked someone to take out the map of Hehuai Prefecture County from the yamen hall, spread it directly on a large table made of giant wood in the yard, and used a charcoal pen to outline the Red Hu East and West soldiers on the map, saying:

"The Chihu people divided into two groups, from Hedong and Hebei to south: their eastern routes directly bypassed the Xiongba Moding and other prefectures in northern Hebei. As long as the cities along the road are slightly stronger, they will be surrounded by the cities along the road. At this time, the Chihu Western routes still surrounded Taiyuan City, and there is no sign of going south. From Taiyuan to Nanshan River, sandwiched between Luliang Mountain and Taihang Mountain, unlike the Hebei Plain, which is well connected, you can go around directly. The Chihu Western routes seem to be blocked by the Hedong terrain, but don't forget that the Chihu Western routes will be surrounded by more than 100,000 soldiers and horses will soon be two months. Their siege rhythm is much slower than the attack on Yingzhou at the beginning. This is definitely not that they are not good at siegeing the city..."

"Then why did they delay and directly attack Taiyuan with the city?" Wang Ju asked with a frown.

"..." Xu Huai said, "The Chihu East Army ignored the penetration of Zhucheng in Hebei and the western army attached to the city to attack Taiyuan, which was quite successful, but it is undeniable that there were certain risks. And both routes used dangers, which was a taboo for military strategists - the Chihu General was obviously very sober. Therefore, if there was a movement, there was a need to be a quiet place to be a strange and righteous person. The Chihu people built camps and besieged under the Taiyuan city to avoid being unable to attack. In addition to being uncontrollable casualties, it would also cause the morale of both sides to decline and the other to rise. However, the Chihu people's east and west soldiers were isolated from the mountain of Taihang Mountain. How can they say that movement and stillness are relied on each other? Look here..."

Xu Huai took a charcoal pen and crossed the southern foot of Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain, facing Jiguan Xing, Taihang Xing, and Baixing in Zhengzhou, and traced it out of the map, saying:

"Zhengzhou is not only facing these three passes, but it can make the two Chihu cavalry have a strange and positive momentum, and they can also attack Hangu Pass west at the same time, and block the passage of the Western army to enter the capital and aid the capital. At present, the southwest and southeast reinforcements are not taken seriously by Chihu people. The fact is the same. Only the fifth Shaanxi route can mobilize up to more than 300,000 troops to advance eastward, but the Chihu people dare not underestimate it. Whether the Western army can block the west of Hangu Pass determines how long the Chihu East Route Army can rage in the Hehuai area! Otherwise, when the Western army enters the capital city, add the Hehuai area to the Hehuai area.

The rivers and rivers thaw, and if the Chihu East Route Army did not retreat, they would only become more passive as they fought!"

"So, Zhengzhou is indeed the most important strategic location besides Bianliang, and its status is even above Weizhou!" Xu Wuli breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's a pity that Wang Xiang did not follow your advice and left Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and others in Zhengzhou - tens of thousands of Red Hu cavalry were really going to attack Zhengzhou, but the Western Army was still on the way. Zhengzhou had no elite soldiers and generals to defend, and it was in danger!"

Zhou Jing, Wang Ju, Su Laochang and others were silent and their eyes were turned to the vast sky in the north.

As one of the four towns, the imperial court also urgently dispatched defense envoys to take charge. However, Qin Feng and other Western Army soldiers had long distances and blocked the road due to ice and snow. At this time, they were still on the way eastward and were still far from Tongguan, let alone entering Zhengzhou in time and facing the battlefield on the west wing of the capital.

In addition to transferring a private army from the capital of Zhengzhou, Sun Huacheng, the defense envoy of Zhengzhou, urgently gathered township soldiers from prefectures and counties after arriving in Zhengzhou. At present, there seem to be more than 20,000 troops in Zhengzhou, but what kind of combat qualities are the village soldiers on the northwest road of Jingzhou? How much hope is worth placing? Does everyone still need to say it?

Thinking of this, everyone felt more and more that Wang Bing did not take Xu Huai's suggestion and kept Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and other troops who had gone south from the prefecture to participate in defense, which was very likely to be a pity for people to regret.

With the help of Xu Huai and Gu's family in Fuzhou, Liu Yan and Chen Yuan finally gathered the eight thousand defeated soldiers who escaped from Yunshuo battlefield in Fuzhou, Liu Yan and Chen Yuan, who did not rush to escape back to Jingyuan Road, but stayed in Fuzhou to train in the remnants, waiting for the court's recruitment. Finally, with Gu Jiqian's eldest son Gu Cong, he led a total of 10,000 troops south to serve the king.

Because these ten thousand soldiers were ready to set off when they received the imperial edict of the king, and the prefectures prepared a large number of mules and horses, they were also the first soldiers to enter the Hehuai battlefield.

Although Xu Huai did not mention this sensitive topic in Bianliang, after returning to Tongbai Mountain, he thought about it again and again, in a letter to Wang Bing, suggesting that Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and Gu Cong be kept in Zhengzhou.

However, before Wang Bing's reply was met, Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and Gu Cong had been ordered to lead their troops to the city walls east of the Jialu River and the territory of Jingji Road, and accept the control of the Jingji Defense Envoy.

When the main force of the Chihu East Route Army advanced westward on a large scale, Liu Yan, Chen Yuan, Gu Cong and other generals lost their last chance to mobilize. And whether there are these three troops in Zhengzhou will be too different when dealing with the Chihu East Route Army siege.

Although Liu Yan and Chen Yuan were recruiting the remnants of the attacking Yan army and fighting with the Chihu cavalry in the field, it would definitely not work, but it was not a problem for the Jiang Yong to train and have rich combat experience. It was impossible to block the Chihu East Army, which lacked siege equipment, outside the city.

Wang Ju, Xu Wuji, and Su Laochang felt a little resentful. Wang Bing was increasingly no longer accepting the suggestions here. Xu Huai looked at the vast sky in the north, but his mood was difficult to describe.

But if you want to complain, he didn't think so. After all, Xu Huai knew very well that Wang Bing was nominally the defensive envoy of the capital, but he was unable to help himself more - could Wang Bing really decide to refuse Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and Gu Cong's troops entering the capital to strengthen Zhengzhou?

Xu Huai sighed: "Even at this time, most people still regard Chihu as a barbarian, but they do not know that Chihu's many generals have fought in all directions for thirty or forty years. Their strategic vision and thinking have actually left Dayue generals behind far behind. However, this is not a problem that Wang Xiang can solve alone - countless people still need the baptism of blood and tears to wake up..."

"Dada!"

Several cavalry rushed towards the camp in the distance. When crossing the Wuzhai River, they were intercepted by patrol soldiers, but after negotiations, they crossed the river.

The terrain of the camp was higher than the east bank of Wuzhai River. Xu Huai and the others could see the knights crossing the river. Soon several cavalry rode to the gate of the camp, but the leader was Lu Xiong who turned over and got off the horse.
Chapter completed!