He was so determined that Yixue himself was driven from Ganzhou to Nan'an, and from Nan'an to Meiguan before being humiliated. Looking forward to removing the skin and bones of the officers and soldiers in Nan'an City to resolve the hatred in their hearts. Isn’t it the custom of the Qin Dynasty in the far west to crucify felons? After he breaks Nan'an City, he will treat all the prisoners in the same way. They were nailed along the official road from Nan'an to Ganzhou.
Of course, as a lifelong hero, he was determined to regain Nan'an City, not just to avenge his own shame. More importantly, he still had to open up contact with the army in front, and he could not allow himself to be dumped by the army on the battlefield of Jiangnan West Road, where more than 100,000 elites were made dumplings. Although Nan'an Prefecture is the smallest prefecture on Jiangnan West Road, the problem is that its position in the entire war situation is very important.
It can even be said that he is in a pivotal position. As long as these five thousand people are here, they will cut off the connection between Guangnan East Road and Jiangnan West Road, which is equivalent to cutting off their own connection with the front. Therefore, no matter from which aspect, he must deal with the five thousand imperial officers and soldiers in Nan'an Mansion. As for whether Emperor Hongwu and his family can be saved, it doesn't matter.
Except for retreating to Nanxiong Mansion, when I was lonely at night, I occasionally thought of the pair of coquettish mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who served me extremely comfortably. He didn't want to see the master who could cause trouble again. Losing a puppet is no big deal to him. The clan in Jiangxi was lost, and the army on Huguang South Road captured a county prince and two generals.
At worst, let them escort him over and set up a puppet. If it doesn't work, it's not impossible to just break up and become the emperor. What really pained him about the Battle of Nan'an was the counselors and bodyguards he had painstakingly collected. However, due to the current shortage of counselors around him, he hesitated for a long time and transferred Lu Wentao back to Guangzhou.
The King of Guilin, who has now retreated to Nanxiong Mansion, is constantly dispatching troops and generals, and is about to eat Zhang Tiande's troops who are alone in Nan'an. At this time, in Jiujiang Prefecture, after receiving the order from the King of Guilin County, the entire army immediately went south, but Song Yan, who was trying to rescue Nan'an Prefecture, was helpless. Facing Zhao Wusha before had already given him a headache. Now that Cao Rui has arrived with his army, it is even more difficult for him to deal with it.
He has the advantage in terms of military strength, but the problem is that on the battlefield, it is not just the numbers that give him an advantage. Zhao Wushu's inability to defend before had already exhausted him. After Cao Rui's army arrived, they fought fiercely for several days. Not only did they not gain any advantage, they also suffered a lot of losses. Although one thousand is lost today and eight hundred is lost tomorrow, it is far from breaking the bones.
But now, Ganzhou, which had stored all the food and fodder for an army of more than 100,000 people on the Jiangnan West Road battlefield, and almost all the baggage, had lost it. I am in Jiujiang Prefecture, and it is difficult to get supplies of food, grass and luggage. Especially after learning that the master behind him was trapped in Nan'an Mansion. The morale of the entire army was already low due to the prolonged battle, and now it could be seen with the naked eye that the morale was falling rapidly.
Before receiving the order from Guilin County King, he had actually switched from offense to defense. All they can do every day is to concentrate dozens of cannons and bombard the opponent's fortress. In the past, these cannons could not keep up with the marching speed. Now that Nanchang Mansion was captured, they could finally keep up with the marching pace through water transportation. I originally wanted to go on a big fight, capture Jiujiang, and then go down the river to seize Jiangning.
But he didn't expect that Zhao Wuye, who was so young, would be so difficult to chew. With less than 10,000 defeated troops gathered together, the guards were still the weakest in combat effectiveness, and their defense was almost watertight. I have been attacking for nearly half a month, but I have not been able to capture Jiujiang City. He forced that guy to persist until Cao Rui arrived with the main force. The troops and horses led by Cao Rui were elite soldiers from the four major battalions.
After several battles, he suffered some losses, and the losses were not small. At this time, the whole army retreated and turned to fight south. Can the army and horses still be restrained? You know, the four major battalions have always been famous for their cavalry assaults. The terrain along the way from Jiujiang to Nanchang Prefecture is just enough for these cavalry to be effective. Can the cavalry chase sheep and chase them?
Song Yan, who was exhausted physically and mentally at this time, looked at the generals under his command, sighed softly and said: "Everyone, what should we do now? If we go south according to the prince's request, we want to evacuate to Linjiang Mansion safely. It’s very difficult, let alone go south to Nan’an Mansion to rescue the siege? If we don’t follow Prince Jun’s decree, and the Prince is in danger, we won’t be able to survive, and it will also affect your fortune and destiny.”
"Withdraw. Under the pursuit of the cavalry of the official army, these 100,000 troops may just let the sheep go. If we don't withdraw, if something happens to the prince, these dragons will be leaderless. I am afraid that the consequences waiting for us will only be worse. Today we will send everyone We were summoned just to discuss what our next step should be. This matter is related to everyone here and the fate of these 100,000 troops, and I hope everyone can work together."
After Song Xuan finished speaking, all his generals lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak. Obviously, everyone here knows that this is an extremely difficult choice. Not to mention the military attaches who later surrendered because they were bribed, coerced, or for other reasons. Even the military attachés who were close to the King of Guilin didn't know what to do in the face of the current situation.
Every fool knows that if he retreats, it is impossible not to be pursued by the surrounding officers and soldiers. But if we don't withdraw, the prince will have no way to explain. If there is something wrong with the prince, not only will he become a headless fly, but the army of 100,000 people may collapse on the spot. The distance from Jiujiang Prefecture to Nan'an Prefecture is not tens or hundreds of miles, but hundreds of miles.
There are rivers everywhere along the way, and everything can become a battlefield. What if the government army gathers a large number of cavalry for a surprise attack? An army of 100,000 seems to be a lot. But who is across the way? Those are the elite soldiers of the four battalions who are famous all over the world. When the time comes, they will be unable to fight or run away. Not only will this 100,000-strong army be unable to save the prince, but it will most likely involve him as well.
The most important thing is that when this 100,000-strong army retreats, there must be one left behind. If he had spoken up, Mr. Song would probably have made up his mind to withdraw, but he just didn't choose a candidate to be the successor. If it's just right, then you will be the successor. Doesn’t this mean that you are putting yourself in a frying pan? As the brigade withdrew, everyone had little confidence. If you stay and sever the queen, isn't that basically just waiting to die?
Precisely because most of them thought so, no matter how Song Xuan asked, none of these generals dared to speak. Because no one is stupid and knows that saving the prince is the most important thing at this time. If something happens to the prince, even if he takes over Jiangning Mansion, he will not be spared. When the time comes, not only will you lose your head, but you will also damage the heads of the whole family.
Now he is following the prince to send troops to Jiangnan West Road, but his whole family is still in the hands of the county prince's palace. Everyone can see these things very clearly. Therefore, rescuing the prince is inevitable. The question now is how to save him. Even if he cannot evacuate all of them safely, how can he evacuate at least most of the 100,000 troops from under the eyes of the most elite officers and soldiers in the imperial court.
As a result, no one was willing to stay. After this, the military attachés at all levels became silent. No matter how much Song Xuan pressed him, no one said anything. Seeing everyone, they still remained silent. After glancing at the generals present, Song Yan gritted his teeth and said: "The prince must be rescued. But on the Jiujiang Mansion side, there must be someone who can cut off the rear and cover the retreat of the entire army."
"Since you are all so silent. Then, I will issue a military order directly. Deng Mingdu is in command. I will leave all the cannons to you. You and your 10,000 troops and horses must defend De'an for at least five days. Cover the entire army's retreat to the south. The rest of the troops, each with enough dry food for seven days. At three o'clock tonight, with Commander Lin's five thousand Long Xiang right army as the vanguard, we will retreat south with all our strength."
After the arrangement of three, five, and two was completed, Song Xuan changed his pleasant expression and said coldly: "Since I have been ordered by the prince to lead the army to pacify Jiangnan West Road, I am the absolute commander-in-chief here. Everyone. You are all military attachés, and you should all know the reason why you will die as soon as you go out into the army. I gave you a chance to speak before, but you refused to say it."
"Now that I have made the arrangements, there is no room for bargaining. If anyone disobeys my general order, then I will have no choice but to march on behalf of the prince. When the time comes, don't say that I won't give you a chance. . If anyone wants to give me a pick now, you can hand over your troops and get out of the army now. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not recognizing people according to military law."
Speaking of this, Song Xuan sat there, picked up a cup of tea and sipped it gently, then glanced at almost all the military attachés present at the command and above level and said: "If you don't want to leave now, wait until the army sets off." , if anyone wants to leave again, you won’t be able to leave it at that time. Now, if you have no objections, go ahead and make preparations immediately. Remember, keep all the luggage that you cannot take away.”
Song Yan, who was originally a good man, now had murderous intent in his tone, which was known to all the military attachés present. If you really want to hand over your troops at this time, take off this armor and leave. I'm afraid not to mention leaving this camp, I'm afraid I can't even get out of this tent without losing my life. Therefore, when Song Xuan publicly announced that he could leave after handing over the song, no one dared to answer.
Now that they saw Song Yanfang, everyone stood up immediately. Thinking of Deng Ming who was ordered to stay behind, they cast pity on Deng Ming, and then turned around and left to make preparations. Deng Ming, who was left alone by him, had a grimace on his face, obviously very dissatisfied with his new assigned job. Yes, the opposite side is the Ruijian Camp among the four major camps. It would be the same regardless of anyone else.
Seeing the sorrow on the face of his old subordinate, Song Yan ignored him, but after pondering for a while he said: "If I remember correctly, you were transferring the left guard of the Guangnan East Road Jiedushi to the left guard. Before becoming an envoy, I had been serving in the Yanshan Mansion of the border army. In other words, Cao Rui and Mr. Cao, who are currently governor of military affairs in the south of the Yangtze River, should be your old bosses for many years."
After the words fell, Song Yan didn't wait for Deng Ming to say anything. He turned around and looked at the stars outside the tent, sighing softly: "Actually, you don't have to be so gloomy. You are different from me. You were held hostage in the first place. You came in. There is no blood on your hands. You still have some merits when you were in the border army. Although you have to suffer a little, I think they won't make it too difficult for you."
At this point, Song Yan suddenly turned around and said something to Deng Ming that stunned him: "You don't have to defend Guangzhou for five days as I said. Just help me hold off the other side for three days." Just surrender. You are your old superior over there now, and with him taking care of you, nothing will happen to you. As for here, failure is just a matter of days, and there is no future. "
