Zhao Yucheng believed that under the attack from the north and the south, even if the Xiangyang army wanted to retreat, it could only retreat eastward.
But heading east was not the right escape route.
Because Zhao Yucheng knew that in Zhang Yuejing's plan, the peasant army was responsible for blocking the southward route of Xiangyang's army, and the Henan Corps was responsible for solving the routes to the north and east.
Their first wave of going south not only wanted to attack Xiangyang, but also captured the Suizhou and Xinyang armies along the way, completely surrounding the Xiangyang army and eating them in one bite.
However, although the Song army in Xiangyang knew that the peasant army had launched an attack on its own initiative, it did not think that the Jiujiang army and the Ezhou army would be defeated.
They would not even think that these two armies of 60,000 people were completely defeated in about a month.
The Xiangyang Song Army stared nervously at the Ming Army's Henan Corps, completely unaware of the danger from the side and rear.
It wasn't until Xu Tong led the Second Division of the Peasant Army to attack Changshou County in Yingzhou along the Han River, and divided his troops to capture Jingmen, completely blocking the southward path of the Xiangyang Song Army, that the Xiangyang Song Army heard some rumors and felt that the limelight was wrong. There seems to be something wrong behind the scenes.
But at this moment, Xu Tong was already watching behind them, ready to go north at any time.
Zhao Yucheng then sent Zhang Xiaohu to divide his troops and march south to Jiangling County. He even planned to attack Yiling further and take the lead in blocking the way for the Sichuan and Shu armies to leave Sichuan.
The fierce offensive of the peasant army was completely unexpected by the local officials of the Southern Song Dynasty. They were completely powerless in the face of the peasant army after the destruction of the Jiujiang Army and the Ezhou Army, and it was impossible to successfully defend against their threat.
It's okay for the military power in the hands of the local government to bully the people, but if they really have to face the peasant army, it will be Brother Pingtou who challenges the prairie lions. I can only say that his courage is commendable. Go down there and practice hard, and try not to be stupid again in the next life.
Therefore, when facing the peasant army, which had a neat military appearance and a higher armor rate than the regular Song army, they were all moisturized without exception. .
They did not dare to surrender, for fear of being listed and liquidated. The only thing they could do was to run, dragging their families with them. The peasant army attacked from east to west, so they nervously entered the Sichuan-Sichuan Passage, thinking of heading to Sichuan-Sichuan. place to take refuge.
Officials and wealthy households dragged their families and families out of the city to escape. The peasant army captured the cities one after another. In the entire middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the peasant army launched a wave of attacks.
On the edge of this frenzy, when the Xiangyang army realized the problem belatedly, their capital commander and real Xiangyang magistrate Wang Yan finally arrived.
It must be a coincidence that Wang Yan succeeded in leaving Sichuan at the last moment while driving the peasant army to cut off the communication between the Sichuan-Sichuan War Zone and the Jinghu War Zone, and made a smooth journey to the Xiangyang area that had not yet fallen into war.
Until he arrived at Xiangyang Prefecture and took office, he thought that what he took over was just a relatively serious situation, which required him to adjust his troops, study defense deployment, and take over Yao Zhong's unfinished work to improve Xiangyang's three-dimensional defense.
Then that's all. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty was building the Yellow River. It was definitely impossible to mobilize the whole country to go south at this time. They couldn't handle it.
But when he took office and learned the latest military intelligence, he was stunned.
what's the situation?
I just came from Jingmen, and now Jingmen has been captured by the bandit army?
Aren't the rebels on Jiangnan West Road? Isn't the battlefield on Jiangnan West Road? How did the fight come here? How come they hit my rear area?
Wang Yan had just arrived and was confused by the latest news before he could figure out the specific situation.
After finally regaining his composure, he hurriedly asked about the specific situation. After some understanding, he realized that there was a big problem.
The Peasant Army started fighting with the Jiujiang Army in early March. Then the Ezhou Army asked for help from the Xiangyang Army in advance because they were worried that the Jiujiang Army would not be able to carry it and it would be their turn to carry it.
But because Zhou Benyuan was angry about the Ezhou government's previous removal of Yao Zhong and the lack of weapons and equipment, he ignored them at all. There was no news from Ezhou for a while.
But the new news is scary enough.
The peasant army has all reached Jingmen. Doesn't this mean that the Ezhou army and the Jiujiang army are almost finished?
Two armies, with a strength of 60,000, were just finished?
Wang Yan looked at the military map with a confused look on his face.
Not to mention Wang Yan was confused, the other generals of the Xiangyang army were also almost confused. They never thought that in less than a month, something like this would happen directly behind them.
Are the Jiujiang Army and the Ezhou Army both pigs?
Are they the kind of pigs who never fight but only run away?
Sixty thousand people! Two armies! Lost to a bunch of losers?
After a brief period of confusion, Wang Yan, who had experienced hundreds of battles, regained his composure. He carefully analyzed the peasant army's marching intentions and the currently known intelligence, and came to a conclusion.
A somewhat terrifying conclusion.
"These traitors are cutting off our retreat!"
Wang Yan took a deep breath and said slowly: "To the west of Xiangyang is the Qinling Mountains. The roads in the mountains are difficult to navigate and cannot be used as a retreat for the army. To the north is the Ming Kingdom. To the south is the best retreat, but it was cut off by the rebels. ”
A minister will speak immediately.
"What about going east? Isn't the east still under our control?"
Wang Yan raised his head and looked at him coldly.
"As long as the Ming army moves south, do you think the Xinyang army and Suizhou can stop the Ming army's attack?"
"The Ming army goes south?!"
The officers present all gasped.
"Now I am increasingly suspecting that there is collusion between the Ming army and the bandit army."
Zhou Benyuan walked to Wang Yan and said: "While the bandit army was in action, the Ming army performed vigorously and even entered the border to provoke. Such a thing has never happened before, but it has happened now. In case, this is the Ming army." What about the actions taken by the army to cooperate with the rebel army?"
Wang Yan was silent for a while before slowly speaking.
"This is not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is that the Ming army moves from north to south and the bandit army moves from south to north, encircling us heavily and trapping us to death."
According to Wang Yan's analysis, every one of the officers present had pale faces.
It is precisely because this speculation is reasonable and very likely to happen that they look livid.
And Wang Yan's speculation has not stopped yet.
"If the above speculation is true, and the bandit army and the Ming army intend to besiege Xiangyang and destroy our army, then their intention is definitely not just a Xiangyang, Xiangyang is the barrier of Jinghu, and Jinghu is the backbone of the Song Dynasty. .
If Xiangyang is not protected, Jinghu cannot be protected. If Jinghu is not protected, the backbone of the Song Dynasty will no longer exist. The territory of the Song Dynasty will be cut off by the Ming Dynasty, and the head and tail will not be able to care about each other. The natural moat of the Yangtze River will be meaningless. What will happen then? Is it necessary to say it again? "
