Chapter 1582: Sweeping Liangshan (Part 2)
Song Jiang still has great trust in the ability of Wu Yong, the military advisor. After all, if Wu Yong, the military advisor, had not been planning for him, Liangshan would have been occupied by Yuan Shao long ago even if it had not been annexed by Huang Chao.
Therefore, seeing that Wu Yong didn't tell him the reason, Song Jiang didn't pay too much attention to it and just thought that Wu Yong was being habitually cautious.
"Military advisor, you are too worried. Regardless of whether Li Jing has done anything yet, what if he does come? With the beacon tower and the three strongholds here, can Li Jing still be able to fly over?"
Song Jiang said with a smile, looking unconcerned.
Since the establishment of the Northern Han Dynasty, although Song Jiang was named King of Liang, the position of King of Liang was not easy to occupy. He needed to block Li Jing in Beihai to prevent the Qin army in Beihai from intervening in the decisive battle of Hebei.
Song Jiang had fought side by side with Li Jing, so he naturally knew how powerful Li Jing was. He also knew that if the Qin army really came to attack, Liang Shanjun's words alone would not be able to stop the Qin army.
Therefore, Song Jiang was very wary of Li Jing, and with the advice of military advisor Wu Yong, he took many preventive measures in advance.
Song Jiang set up dozens of beacon towers at the junction of Beihai and the main road. Once the Qin army sent troops to attack, the front-line beacon towers would immediately warn the Liangshan army to protect the Liangshan army from a sneak attack by the Qin army.
In addition, Song Jiang also set up three large camps in places he must pass through. Although it is impossible to block the Qin army, it will at least act as a hindrance so that Song Jiang will not even have a chance to react.
In addition, there are 800 miles around Liangshan, with thousands of harbor branches, waterways and natural chasms that are easy to defend and difficult to attack.
It was precisely with this triple insurance that Song Jiang had the confidence to compete with Li Jing. If he was really pushed into a hurry, he would have to abandon all the surrounding counties and bring all the troops back to Liangshan to defend by danger.
Can Li Jing still conquer Liangshan?
Wu Yong also nodded after listening to Song Jiang's words. In his opinion, there was no problem with Liang Guo's defense arrangement. Even if Li Jing had great magical powers, it would be absolutely impossible for him to defeat Liangshan's triple insurance in half a month, right?
What Song Jiang and Wu Yong didn't know was that the third level of insurance in their eyes was somewhat useful. The one, two or two that had been exposed long ago had no effect at all on Li Jing.
"Report... Sir, urgent news came from the border. The Qin army launched a surprise attack on our army and destroyed two strongholds in just one night. The frontline defenders were struggling to defend the third stronghold, but the Qin army's offensive was too great. It’s so fierce, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold on for long.”
"What?"
After hearing the news, Song Jiang and Wu Yong felt as if they were struck by lightning. The intelligence they just read said that the Qin army had no movement. How come it was almost at their doorstep in the blink of an eye?
Song Jiang's face suddenly became extremely ugly, and then he grabbed the messenger soldier by the collar and asked sternly: "Where is the beacon tower? Why didn't the beacon light up to warn the border troops to prepare for the enemy?"
"The Qin army came too suddenly. The front line was in chaos. No brothers from Beonghuotao escaped. I'm afraid they all died."
Song Jiang's biggest mistake was to set up a beacon tower openly. Although its main purpose was to intimidate, since Li Jing already knew about the existence of the beacon tower, it was naturally impossible for him to let the smoke really light up.
Li Jing sent Tai Shi Ci to lead three hundred elite archers, as well as the two masters Xuan Jian and Zhan Ri of Heibingtai, to attack and kill all the Liangshan Army's beacon towers all night long.
Without the early warning from the beacon tower, the Liangshan Army stationed at the border became blind. By the time the Qin Army reached their doorstep, it was already too late.
Even though the camp is located in a dangerous location and is easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are only a few hundred defenders defending the camp.
Li Jing didn't even need to send out Ran Min, the most powerful warrior. Only Tai Shici, plus thousands of elites, were able to defeat two strongholds in Liangshan in one night.
The reason why the third stronghold was not breached was because Li Jing did it deliberately. In this way, he was putting pressure on Song Jiang and giving him time to gather his troops and retreat.
"how so?"
Song Jiang looked unbelievable. Just now he was saying that it was impossible for Li Jing to fly over, but in the blink of an eye, he saw that two of the three insurance policies were about to be broken.
This slap in the face is too fast.
Since the Qin army has already killed them, it also proves that the previous defensive posture was just to confuse the Liangshan army, so Li Jing's official purpose must be to destroy the Liangshan army.
At this thought, Song Jiang was extremely frightened in his heart. He knew that Li Jing had always made a decision and then acted. Once he made a move, he would be absolutely sure.
"What should we do? Military advisor, what should we do?" Song Jiang asked anxiously.
Li Jing came too fast and too fiercely. Liang Shanjun was not prepared at all, and his double insurance was almost destroyed.
If this trend continues, Li Jing will break through the front line and drive straight in tomorrow, and will appear in front of Song Jiang within three days, leaving Song Jiang with almost no time to make any arrangements.
"Lord, don't panic. Don't let us get into trouble before Li Jing comes to fight."
Under Wu Yong's comfort, Song Jiang quickly calmed down. After the two of them deliberated for a long time, they still didn't think of anything to pay attention to. After all, time was too tight. Even if Song Jiang's order could be conveyed, there would be no time to implement it.
"It seems that we can only abandon the major counties and concentrate our troops to defend Liangshanbo." Song Jiang said with a dejected look. He originally planned to use this trick when he was forced, but he never expected that Li Jing had just arrived and had already forced him. He had to return to Liangshan.
Song Jiang really didn't have the courage to fight Li Jing decisively. The Qin army's combat effectiveness was really not that strong. Even if the Liangshan army had more troops, the possibility of defeat was not small.
As for holding on to the city, Song Jiang never thought about it at all.
Apart from Liangshan City, the Liang Kingdom did not have a single large city. Those small counties were not suitable for defense at all. Even if they were defended, they would not be able to stop the Qin army and would only be gradually eaten away by Li Jing.
Therefore, for now, giving up all the territory and retreating to Liangshanbo is undoubtedly the best choice for the Liangshan Army.
Giving up all the territory outside Liangshan City is undoubtedly a difficult decision for Song Jiang. After all, these are the assets he has accumulated with great difficulty. Even Song Jiang would be heartbroken if he gave up all of them.
Seeing Song Jiang's distressed look, Wu Yong advised: "My lord, there is no need to be like this. When Wang Mang's reinforcements arrive, Li Jing will definitely retreat on his own initiative, and all the cities he abandoned will come back."
Upon hearing this, Song Jiang suddenly trembled and said excitedly: "Yes, how could I forget this?"
The Qin army in Beihai only numbered a little over 40,000, and Li Jing dispatched a maximum of 30,000 troops this time. After Wang Mang's reinforcements arrived, the Northern Han Dynasty had a total of 80,000 troops, which was enough to crush Li Jing.
At that time, if Li Jing did not want his entire army to be annihilated, he would have no choice but to retreat, and the abandoned cities would return to the hands of the Liangshan Army again.
After thinking this, Song Jiang no longer felt heartache, and immediately ordered: "Send the order, the entire army will assemble and return to Liangshanbo immediately."
"promise."
As Li Jing expected, Song Jiang did not resist, so he gathered his army directly and prepared to return to Liangshan to defend.
The defenders who were still holding on to the front line were naturally given up by Song Jiang.
