Entering the twelfth lunar month, the cold wind was howling on the river. The ten-mile-wide river at the mouth of Yuzhang was deserted and there were no fishing boats in sight.
The leaves of the miscellaneous trees on the shore have long been blown away, leaving only the bare branches swaying in the cold wind.
The imperial court sent troops to attack Jiangling. The fishing boats who got the news would not dare to go out to die. If they were kidnapped by the government and soldiers to become civilian husbands, they would not know whether they would be able to return home.
Yuzhangkou is the intersection of Xia River and the Yangtze River, only twenty miles away from Jiangling City. Liu Yi sent General Wu Yi Zhao Cai to garrison here.
Zhao Hui abandoned Xiakou and returned to Jingzhou. Liu Yi ordered him to station on the north bank and guard the main road with Zhao Cai from the south to the north. At Yuzhangkou, there were 12,000 soldiers and 500 battleships, all of whom were elite. Liu Yi felt a little at ease.
On December 6, Liu Yi sent Tan Daoji and Shen Linzi to lead 6,000 soldiers and horses to take Baling. The gentry in Baling City learned that Liu Taiwei was leading his army and opened the city gate at night to welcome the imperial soldiers and horses to enter the city.
Zhu Xianzhi learned the news and fled back to Jiangling with the remaining soldiers in embarrassment. Upon hearing the news of Baling's loss, Liu Yi became furious and scolded Zhu Xianzhi, Liu Yu, Yang Anxuan, and all the court officials. He didn't stop to drink tea until his mouth was dry from the scolding.
Guard commander Shi Xiechun hurriedly walked into Panlongzhai, cupped his hands and said: "Nanping Gong, the imperial court sent an envoy to issue an edict." Yi became the governor of Jingzhou and brought all the civil and military officials from Jiang and Yu to Jingzhou, and Xie Chun also came with him.
Liu Yi turned his anger into joy and said: "I will go to the lobby to receive the order." However, Liu Yi was disappointed after hearing the order.
Under the instruction of Liu Muzhi, the edict drafted by Xu Xianzhi was sent to Liu Yu for reading in advance. The edict required Liu Yi to disband his troops and return to his fields, and to be demoted to civilian status in order to avoid his death.
Looking at Liu Yi's defeated face, Monk Xi said: "My lord, you must never listen to what the edict says, or your life will depend on others." Liu Yi reached out and grabbed the edict, threw it into the brazier, and said in a hateful voice: "Liu Yi Slave, I will fight you until death." Returning to Panlongzhai, Liu Yi felt cold all over his body, so he asked his attendants to light two more braziers and put them in the room. Then he felt hot and untied his fur.
"Has the messenger heading to Xiangyang not seen Yang Anxuan yet?" Liu Yi asked, knowing that there was little hope.
Xi Sengshi shook his head and said: "Yesterday, Zheng He sent someone to send a message saying that Yang Anxuan led his army to Yaoguan to attack Qin with all his strength. There was no way to contact him." Liu Yi said angrily: "Yang Anxuan is capable of attacking. Qin, however, refused to send troops to rescue Yu. Don't you know that there are still eggs under the overturned nest? When Jingzhou is captured by Liu Yu, it will be his turn to Yongzhou next." Xi Sengshi said nothing, Zheng He The letter mentioned that Yang Anxuan sent an army of 80,000 troops to attack Qin in five directions. Such strength even made Liu Yu wary of three points. If he had known better, Yang Anxuan should not have let Yang Anxuan give up Dangyang City. Maybe Dangyang soldiers and horses could help.
Liu Yi sat back on the table angrily and said: "Baling is lost, and Yuzhangkou must not be lost again. I want to go to Yuzhangkou in person and fight to the death with Liu Yu." After glancing at Xi Sengshi, Liu Yi continued: "Huituo, you guard Jiangling City for Yu. If anyone dares to eat and drink like in Baling City, he will be killed." Xi Sengshi bowed and said: "Don't worry, my lord, Yu will close the city gate from tomorrow and no one is allowed to go in or out. "With no way to retreat, Liu Yi showed his bravery and went to the front line of Yuzhangkou to join the battle. His arrival boosted the sluggish morale of the Jingzhou Army.
After Tan Daoji took Baling, he continued to march towards Jiangling. Annan, Shishou, Jiang'an and other cities followed the wind and quickly approached Yuzhangkou.
The reconnaissance cavalry reported that Liu Yi personally came to Yuzhangkou. Jingzhou had more than 10,000 troops stationed in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Tan Daoji gathered generals to discuss.
Shi Wanghong, the captain of the accompanying army, believed that the Jingzhou Navy was familiar with water warfare, so it was better to abandon the ship and go ashore. Only a few people were left to guard the battleship. Many flags were set up on the ship, and war drums were set up. The soldiers on the ship beat the drums to create suspicion and attract the attention of the Jingzhou army. , took the opportunity to launch an attack on the Jingzhou Army stationed on land.
Four miles away from Yuzhangkou, Tan Daoji and Shen Linzi led five thousand soldiers and horses to the shore. It was already the end of Shen Dynasty, the sky was overcast with snow, the north wind was howling, and it was about to get dark.
Shen Linzi led dozens of brave men to clear out the Jingzhou hidden sentries along the road. By the time they reached the Jingzhou Army's garrison at three o'clock in the morning, the fire in the Jingzhou Army's camp was bright and nothing unusual was noticed.
There is a ditch outside the camp, with water in the ditch and bamboo sticks stuck in the bottom. Deer antlers are buried in front of the fence wall of the camp, and caltrops are scattered. It is not easy to attack the camp.
At this time, it was already dark. Tan Daoji asked five thousand soldiers to hold two torches and attack the camp from the south. Few people noticed that there were two hundred men missing.
After Zhao Cai heard the report, he led his soldiers and horses to the fence and defended it with his camp. Seeing the fire all over the south side of the camp and the shouts resounding throughout the world, Jingzhou soldiers and horses felt timid.
Zhao Cai roared: "My lord is on the north bank, and reinforcements will arrive in just half an hour. By then, these soldiers and horses will never come back." After that, Zhao Cai took the bow in his hand, aimed at a place with dense sparks, and shot. The stringed torch fell to the ground, and the soldiers beside him let out a whistle.
Zhao Cai encouraged: "Wait until the enemy is thirty steps away, aim at the fire and shoot, and you will definitely hit the enemy." In the darkness, Tan Daoji ordered the archers to shoot at each other with the Jingzhou camp, and divided the soldiers into ten groups to charge in turn, and soldiers continued to be hit. The arrow fell to the ground, and the moans in the dark night were quickly torn away by the strong wind, and were lost in the shouts of killing.
Tan Daoji stood two hundred steps away from the camp, coldly watching the soldiers rushing towards the camp, anxiously waiting for the result of the sneak attack on the water village led by Shen Linzi with 200 people.
At night, all Jingzhou warships were docked in the water village. In the dead of winter, the river was bone-chillingly cold. The soldiers on the warships were attracted by the shouts of killing in the distant Lu village. They all stood on the side of the ship and looked around. No one noticed that there were people in the upstream water. Gourd-shaped objects float on the water.
Even with prior training, my hands and feet still felt numb when I was naked in the water. The steel knife tied around my waist was like a heavy stone dragging my limbs down.
Shen Linzi did not dare to paddle hard, so he could only float forward with the help of the water's momentum. From time to time, someone sank silently and never surfaced again.
There was a dark battleship in front of him. Shen Linzi held on to the hull and took a few breaths. He didn't hear any movement on the ship. The people on the ship must have been attracted by the sound of the attack on the land.
A circle of people quickly gathered around them, and Shen Linzi climbed onto the warship with the help of a ladder. Sure enough, no one noticed, and they heard voices on the other side across the cabin.
Shen Linzi found the cable and threw it down, and soon more than ten people boarded the ship. There was a brazier on the side of the ship for illumination, and there were torches next to it. Shen Linzi lit the torch in the basin, kicked over the brazier, and lit the cabin with torches with his men.
The smell of fireworks alarmed the Jingzhou soldiers on the other side.
"We've escaped," someone shouted and ran over. They were stunned when they saw a dozen naked men with steel knives in their hands.
Shen Linzi and others didn't care, they just slashed with their swords and took advantage of the chaos to kill several people. At this time, a fire also broke out on the warship next to it, and with the help of the wind, it flew up to a height of several feet.
Shen Linzi and others took the upper hand and fought with the Jingzhou army. The wind swept the flames from one ship to another. Because the wind was strong at night, the ships in the water village were fixed with ropes and chains.
The Jingzhou army went to untie the cable in a panic. When someone woke up and used a knife to cut the rope and iron chain, more than a dozen warships in the water village were on fire, and the other ships hurriedly broke away.
The north wind howled, and the flames quickly ignited the vegetation on the south bank and moved quickly towards the camp. Seeing that his goal was achieved, Shen Linzi said hello, led his men back into the water, and swam towards the place where there was no fire.
"There's a fire in the water village." The exclamation came from behind in the wind. Zhao Caimeng turned around and saw the sky turned red by the fire. He thought to himself that the tents in the Lu village were flammable. Even if a fire prevention trench was dug, it would still be so big. The strong wind may not be able to stop the flames from spreading.
"Du Si, take people to dismantle the tent quickly, don't let the fire come over." A strong man beside him promised loudly, and hurriedly ran back with hundreds of people.
Tan Daoji clearly felt that the arrows in the Jingzhou camp had become sparse, and fighter planes had appeared. Raising the steel knife in his hand, Tan Daoji shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me to break the stronghold." The trenches had been filled in in several places, and the soldiers and horses of the imperial court continued to pick off the antlers, sweep away the thorns, and began to climb towards the fence wall. climb.
In the camp, the fire was not under control and continued to spread in all directions. You could feel the temperature of the flames standing on the fence.
There was a strong enemy outside and a fire inside. The Jingzhou soldiers were originally panic-stricken. Seeing the fire approaching, someone screamed and jumped off the fence and ran into the distance.
The rout spread quickly like fire. Zhao Cai could no longer stop the deserters. He saw that several imperial soldiers and horses had climbed into the fence. The soldiers beside him advised: "General, the situation is over. Let's evacuate first." Zhao Cai angrily said He threw the spear in his hand outwards, and was escorted by his own soldiers to escape into the distance. By the time Liu Yi led the fleet to arrive, the camp on the south bank of Yuzhangkou had turned into a sea of fire.
At dawn, the ships that had escaped the fire returned one after another. Liu Yi saw that the ships had not suffered much damage, so he breathed a sigh of relief and sent troops ashore to collect the scattered troops.
At the beginning of the Chen Dynasty, Zhao Cai was disgraced and brought hundreds of people to plead guilty. On the south bank there are 6,000 Jingzhou soldiers and horses and 200 warships. Last night, more than 1,800 soldiers and horses were damaged in the battle and fled. Twenty-seven warships were burned, and a lot of baggage and food were burned.
Liu Yi knew that it was not appropriate to hold people accountable at this time, so instead of blaming Zhao Cai, he even comforted him with a few gentle words and ordered him to set up camp again and transport supplies across the river from Beizhai.
Zhao Cai was deeply moved and asked for orders to pursue him along the river, vowing to avenge the imperial soldiers who set fire last night.
Liu Yi agreed to his request and selected two thousand strong men from the accompanying soldiers and horses for Zhao Cai to lead, and took a boat downstream to look for the imperial soldiers and horses last night.
Tan Daoji set fire to the southern camp of Jingzhou Army last night and withdrew southward. After meeting Wang Hong on the river, he withdrew to Jiang'an City.
Tan Daoji sent people to report the victory to Liu Yu. At this time, Liu Yu's army was stationed at Shishou forty miles away. After the night attack last night, the soldiers and horses were exhausted. Tan Daoji docked the ship at Jiang'an City Pier, and he and Shen Linzi went into the city to eat and rest.
At that time, when all the troops were having a meal, Zhao Cai led a hundred warships to attack. The soldiers were filled with grief and anger, and their courage was unstoppable. The navy led by Tan Daoji was killed and defeated, but the Jingzhou army snatched more than 80 warships. .
By the time Tan Daoji and Shen Linzi arrived with their troops from the city, Zhao Cai had already returned to Yuzhangkou with his ships. Tan Daoji counted the navy and found that he had lost more than 800 soldiers and horses, leaving only more than a hundred warships. He was unable to launch another attack. He could only report to Lieutenant Liu in Shishou and request the army to arrive as soon as possible.
