Yin Zhengqi has been in Xiangyang Mansion for fifteen days. During the fifteen days, Shannan Province gathered more than 30,000 troops.
Among them, there are 9,000 people from the three towns of Weiwu, Zhangwu and Dingyuan of the Forbidden Army who were originally stationed in Xiangyang Prefecture, plus 1,000 people from the Weisheng Guards who have just been transferred from the Ya soldiers to the Guards Army, for a total of 10,000 people.
Ma Zhaoyuan (Ma Yaozi) who came from Xuzhou also brought with him 3,000 people from the pro-army You Shenwei Guards, 6,000 people from the Forbidden Army Xiongwu and Lingwu Towns, and 1,000 people from the Wuning Guards from the Xuzhou Prefecture Guards, also in total. Ten thousand people.
Yin Zhengqi himself brought 3,000 troops from Youlongxiang Guards.
After receiving the news that Ma Xi'e had sent troops to sack Tanzhou City, Zhang Zhao sent Luo Shande, a mountain pig, and led three thousand people from the Zuo Shenwei Guard to escort Ma Xiguang to Xiangyang Prefecture.
As a result, Zhang Zhouguang accumulated as many as 24,000 elite pro-army and forbidden troops in Xiangyang Mansion.
In addition to the 2,000 guardsmen and the 6,000 auxiliary soldiers selected by the pro-army and imperial guards according to comprehensive needs, Yin Yaozi already has a total of 32,000 soldiers who can fight at any time.
In terms of quantity and elite level, although it is not as good as the 40,000 troops dispatched by Zhang Zhao when he personally went out to attack Liu Zhiyuan and Yelu Ruan.
But for a small separatist regime like Nanping, which only has more than 10,000 navy and army troops, and Ma Chu, who only has 40,000 troops even if they are soldiers with spears, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are a country-destroying army.
And Yin Zhengqi had long wanted to attack Nanping. The army had been training together in Xiangyang Mansion for fifteen days, and the training was not a field battle.
Because there is nothing to practice, more than 30% of the backbone of Zhang Zhou's personal army and imperial army are the same people from Liangzhou, and they are already familiar with them.
Therefore, what Yin Yaozi practiced was actually an extreme situation in which the Gao family defended Jiangling, and then the Shu army moved down the river, and the Southern Tang army went upstream to rescue Jiangling.
The reason why he did not immediately send his troops south was because Zhang Zhao did not allow it.
Moreover, Zhang Zhao continuously asked Ma Zhaoyuan and Luo Shande to tell him that Jiangling City must not be destroyed by the war, and that the most important thing was to save the library of Prince Jing's Mansion, which made Yin Zhengqi dare not take risks.
But soon, just as Yin Zhengqi was counting the days, news came from Lu Yan from Jiangling City.
The messenger only said a very simple sentence: Zhongshu informed Lu Yan and asked the Southern General Yin Zhengqi to immediately lead his army to approach Jiangling City.
Zhang Zhao has now restored the titles of General and the Four Generals, but they are not regular military positions, but are only used on such occasions. Giving several generals titles is more convenient for unified command, and by the way replaces the ugly ones of the Five Dynasties. Ranking officer and other official titles.
It was Sun Guangxian's idea for Lu Yan to let Yin Zhengqi lead the army directly south.
After Lu Yan shocked Sun Guangxian with two consecutive poems that day, the two talked in detail for a long time. At this time, Lu Yan told Sun Guangxian why Zhang Zhao did not let the army directly attack Jiangling.
This just scratched the itch of Sun Guangxian, a maniac who loved books. After hearing Zhang Zhao praise him for his great contribution in collecting rare and unique books, Sun Guangxian immediately decided to join him.
As a confidant of the Gao family who was an important minister in Nanping during the Gao Jixing period, Sun Guangxian clearly knew where the weaknesses of the Gao family in Nanping were?
That's because Nanping is the least capable of self-preservation among all the countries in the world, so the Gao family of Nanping has actually been vacillating between resisting or accepting land and offering sacrifices.
They will definitely not be able to defeat them if they resist, and they may die and the country will be destroyed. I felt unwilling to accept the donation.
Therefore, the best way to deal with the Gao family is to exert maximum pressure. When the terrible fate has come and a decision needs to be made, Sun Guangxian can easily persuade the Gao family to surrender.
As an important minister in the two dynasties of Nanping, Sun Guangxian agreed with what Lu Yan said. The only way out for the Gao family in Nanping was to donate land in exchange for the rewards of Emperor Shaoming and become a nobleman of the new dynasty. Resistance would definitely lead to no way out.
. . . .
On September 20th, Yin Zhengqi, who received the message from Lu Yan, immediately mobilized an army of 30,000 and recruited 40,000 civilians. A total of 70,000 people began to move south from Xiangyang Mansion. At the same time, Yin Zhengqi ordered General Ma Zhaoyuan of the left to command 8,000 troops. pioneer.
From Xiangyang Prefecture to Jiangling, that is, Jingzhou, there has always been only one way, and that is to go down the Han River. After arriving at Jiayan Town, Yingzhou, northwest of Jingzhou, then take the overland road to Jiangling.
The reason why I chose this is because it is very convenient to walk down the Han River from Xiangyang.
Here in Jiayan Town, the Han River suddenly began to become wide and shallow, and it was completely possible to cross it during the non-flood season. When Wang Xianzhi attacked Jingnan in the past, he crossed from Jiayan Town.
At this time, there were three most important cities in Hubei, namely Xiangyang, Jiangling (Jingzhou), and Ezhou (Wuchang).
Well! In fact, it will be similar in later generations.
The essence of Hubei is located in the Jianghan Plain represented by Ezhou (Wuchang) and Jiangling. It is rich in products, has developed water transportation and is densely populated.
Even though Nanping only occupies a small piece of Jianghan Plain, there are 400,000 people in Jiangling alone. It can be said that it is so rich that Zhang Zhao is drooling.
The one who protects the Jianghan Plain, a land of plenty and plenty, is Xiangyang Prefecture in the north.
Xiangyang faces the Nanyang Basin, with the Jianghan Plain at its back. On the left is the mountainous area of western Hubei, mainly Wushan and Wudang Mountains, and on the right is the Dahong Mountain, which also blocks the key to the Han River.
When Xiangyang retreats, it can block the fertile Jianghan Plain, and when it advances, it can control the Nanyang Basin, so that the northern regime moving south from the Central Plains cannot easily obtain supplies in the Nanyang Basin, and must work hard to transport a large amount of grain and grass from the Central Plains.
To defend Jiangling, Xiangyang Prefecture has always been necessary. Otherwise, even if a large number of troops are amassed to barely hold on in Jiangling, the prosperous Jianghan Plain will be completely destroyed.
And from a historical point of view, without Xiangyang, Jiangling would never be able to defend it and would be captured sooner or later.
Jiangling without Xiangyang is like guarding against thieves for a thousand days. If one person is not careful, everything will be lost.
Therefore, historically, Xiangyang was the key point in the struggle between the north and the south. Mr. Guan did not have Xiangyang, but he even risked his life for it.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, he guarded Xiangyang and wore the Mongols out of their temper.
At this time, in Nanping, they did not have Xiangyang. Instead, to them, Xiangyang Mansion was like an elephant with its butt pointed at their heads, threatening and disgusting.
The Central Plains court, which has the entire Nanyang Basin, can send troops south to attack Jiangling at any time.
What's even more painful is that Yingzhou is not in Nanping's hands. After the Central Plains army flows down the Han River, they can calmly gather in Jiayan Town in Yingzhou, and then surround Jiangling City and fight.
When the Khitans entered the Central Plains, Gao Congjiao sent heavy gifts thousands of miles away to express his loyalty to Liu Zhiyuan, just to capture Yingzhou.
This will at least prevent the Central Plains Dynasty from easily attacking Jiangling with a monkey-stealing peach trick.
Unfortunately, Liu Zhiyuan agreed, but it was Zhang Zhao who took over the Central Plains.
So Gao Congjie was so anxious that he personally led 8,000 men to attack Yingzhou, but he made a big mistake.
Yin Shi, the governor of Ying Prefecture in Zhangzhou, led only more than 3,000 soldiers from Ying Prefecture and County, and defeated Gao Congjie's vanguard of the Jingnan Army, causing the entire army to collapse.
The ugly Gao Congjie had no choice but to continue to implement the strategy of his father, King Wu Xin Gao Jixing, and began to strengthen Yicheng, about a hundred miles south of Xiangyang.
Yicheng, like Xiangyang, is also stuck on the Han River, with the mountains of western Hubei to the left and Dahong Mountain to the east.
However, although Yicheng is strategically located, it cannot control the Nanyang Basin. At the same time, it cannot completely block the passage between the mountains in western Hubei and Dahong Mountain. There are small roads on both sides, so it is not a key place. .
But for Nanping, which does not have Xiangyang and Yingzhou, Yicheng is already the best choice.
The 30,000 troops and 40,000 civilians led by Yin Zhengqi soon set out from Xiangyang, with more than 200 boats, with sails like a forest and flags covering the sky.
Nanping stationed a Jingmen Army of about 4,000 men in Yicheng, and set up two generals, the Jingmen Army's water, land, and horse envoys and the Yicheng Cheng Envoy to guard it.
However, although they knew that the imperial court had accumulated a large army in Xiangyang, and seemed to be preparing to send Ma Xiguang, the leader of Ma Chu, back to Tanzhou, they still did not expect that Yin Zhengqi would directly lead the army south to attack Yicheng.
As soon as the Jingmen Army's land, sea and horse envoys in Yicheng received the news, Du Lun Chixin, the vanguard envoy of Zhang Zhou's navy, arrived.
Du Lunchi prepared dozens of fire boats, sailed directly down the Han River, and soon set fire to the first water city gate outside Yicheng.
The Yicheng section of the Han River, which was originally an important military area in Nanping, required wooden piles to be buried in the water, iron cables to be laid out, and at least three water fortresses to protect it.
But the actual situation is that since the beginning of the reign of Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, that is, in 926 AD, the Central Plains court sent troops to attack Nanping. In the past twenty years, the Central Plains court has not taken action against Nanping at all.
Nanping was a small but wealthy country, and the grain, cloth, and a large number of handicrafts it produced needed to be sold to the Central Plains.
At the same time, Nanping was in great need of salt, sugar, livestock from the Central Plains, as well as spices, gems and other goods from the Silk Road.
Therefore, in the past twenty years, Yicheng, as an important town in the north of Nanping, was actually a large border commercial city for trade between the Central Plains and Nanping.
Merchants from the south and north gathered here, bringing with them extremely valuable goods. The Jingmen army, from the land and water troops at the top to the soldiers at the bottom, all benefited greatly from the trade.
How can they bury wooden stakes in the water and implement iron locks across the river, which are defensive measures that affect trade?
So Zhang Zhou's fire ship rushed to the first water gate of Yicheng smoothly.
The Nanping navy was unprepared. After most of the first water gate was burned down, they hurriedly set off to defend the second water gate.
By this time, it was too late. Zhao Yanjin, the adopted son of Zhang Shengren, the naval capital of Shandu, Yuhou, and the general Yuhou He Jijun, each with several small boats, rushed over.
In particular, Zhao Yanjin brought three hard bows, long and short, and stood on the bow of the ship and fired the bows. More than ten enemy soldiers responded to the bows.
The navy soldiers of the Nanping Jingmen Army who came to close the water gate were frightened out of their wits by Zhao Yanjin's incredible shooting skills.
He Jiyun was naked to the waist and was flying across the river with a big bucket in his hand. He roared angrily and jumped onto a small boat of the Jingmen Army. He beat more than ten soldiers on the boat and fell into the water.
When the soldiers under his command saw this, their morale was like a rainbow, and they followed He Jiyun and charged bravely.
After they captured three Jingmen Army clippers, the Jingmen Army soldiers dispersed in fear, and the Zhou Army navy took the opportunity to control the second water gate.
At this time, the spies planted by the Jinyi Guards in Yicheng immediately encouraged merchants from the north and south of the city to start making noise.
Many soldiers who took advantage of the Jinyi Guards were suppressing them on the surface, but in fact they were conniving, and chaos soon broke out in the city.
The wealthy businessmen who knew what was going to happen led their guards to directly surround the official residence of Yicheng City.
Although these people have the name of businessmen, they are actually not fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. If they can work at the level of wealthy businessmen at the key point of such a big river, who doesn't have dozens or hundreds of bloody thugs under them?
Many of them were bandits and water bandits who changed careers, and many of them were even formed by the fallen soldiers who had lost their military governors over the years.
The sudden rebellion of these wealthy merchants caught the Jingmen Army by surprise. They quickly attacked Yicheng City's official residence and took him to the top of the city. Upon seeing this, the city guards were in an uproar and threw away their weapons. Everyone goes back to their homes.
The water and land soldiers here in Shuicheng are still thinking, should they resist?
As a result, everyone in Yicheng behind opened the gate and surrendered, so he simply asked the soldiers to open the gate of Shuicheng and let the Zhou army enter.
In just one morning, Yicheng, the gateway to Hanshui River that Nanping's father and son Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie had worked hard to manage, surrendered directly to Kaicheng.
The 4,000 Jingmen soldiers who were completely corrupted by money gave up resistance after less than 60 people died in the battle.
Yin Zhengqi did not enter the city at all. He ordered his own army, Zuo Shenwei to guard the capital Yuhou Wang Quanbin, to lead a thousand people to stay in Yicheng, and then the army continued to move south.
The second city under Yicheng is Jingmen, the home base of the Jingmen Army.
However, because Yicheng is so important, the Jingmen Army is basically stationed in Yicheng, and there are only a thousand soldiers in Jingmen City.
They were completely unable to resist the Zhou army moving south, and Yin Zhengqi captured Jingmen without any effort.
At this point, the gates of Jiangling City in Nanping were wide open.
But at this time, we can't continue to act recklessly, because Jiangling is not a small city. Since Guan Yu reinforced Jiangling City at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the city has been carefully maintained by all dynasties. Gao Jixing and his son paid even more attention to Jiangling's defense.
At this time, Jiangling had seven water fortresses along the river and more than ten beacon towers on land. The city was divided into northern and southern cities, and it had the natural danger of the Yangtze River to rely on.
Nanping's navy numbered as many as 10,000 people, and there were more than a dozen small and medium-sized ships that could carry more than 600 soldiers.
There is sufficient food in the city, and the people have been protected by the Gao family for decades, and their hearts are ready. If force is used rashly, all escape routes will be blocked.
Therefore, Yin Zhengqi ordered Ma Zhaoyuan to be the vanguard and commanded six thousand cavalry. With the imperial edict issued by Zhang Zhao, he went to Jiangling City to inform Gao Congjie. This was also one of Sun Guangxian's plans.
. . . .
In Jiangling City, the news that Yicheng and Jingmen had been captured had just arrived, and the north bank of Jiangling was full of smoke. Gao Congjie had just ordered the closure of the six gates of Jiangling, and Ma Zhaoyuan's cavalry arrived outside Jiangling City.
Gao Congjie received Zhang Zhao's edict and saw that the people coming were Pingzhang of the Jianghuai Province, the military governor of Wuning in Xuzhou Prefecture, Zhonglang General of the Right Shenwei Guard of the Pro-Army, and Ma Zhaoyuan of Jiuquan County. He immediately realized that the imperial court The army is really coming.
Gao Baoxu came galloping from a distance on a yellow horse. He threw himself to Gao Congjie and shouted loudly: "Sir, please don't panic. Please act according to the plan of my ministers."
Let us first guard Jiangling City, and at the same time send messengers to Meng Shu, Nan Tang and Ma Xi'e to explain the reason why the lips are dead and the teeth are cold.
As long as we can hold on to Jiangling for a month, reinforcements from the three parties will definitely arrive. Even if we cannot defeat the Zhou army, we can make them retreat. "
When Gao Baoxu said this, more than ten generals including Li Duan, the commander of the Nanping navy, Liang Yansi, the governor of Yu, the Yamen general, and Li Jingwei, the tooth general, all agreed and vowed to fight the Zhou army decisively.
Gao Congjie was already quite weak, but when he was stimulated by the arrival of the imperial army, he became energetic. Looking at the tall Jiangling City, he was a little moved by Gao Baoxu's proposal.
"If we want to hold on, what will happen to the people in the city?"
Gao Congjie hesitated a little, because although Jiangling City's defenses were strong, after all, after decades of peace, there were tens of thousands of residents in the city.
In addition, the city gates will be closed urgently, and many people will not have time to leave the city. I am afraid that there are nearly 100,000 people in the city now.
Having so many people is not always a benefit to the defenders. On the contrary, too many people may cause confusion and may cause chaos after a long siege.
Moreover, no matter how abundant the food in the city is, it will definitely not be able to supply the long-term consumption of 100,000 people. Maybe there will be a food shortage in two or three months.
Gao Baoxu raised his eyebrows after hearing his father's words, and a ruthlessness that was inconsistent with his health appeared on his thin face.
"Sir, how can you care so much about things now? Before the Zhou army besieged the city, they expelled the old and the weak out of the city in batches, leaving only young men and healthy women in the city, and organized them according to military law. This not only reduced food consumption, We can also get more than ten thousand strong men to help defend the city."
Gao Congjie was stunned for a moment. He suddenly realized that his favorite son was so vicious. But at the same time, Gao Congjie suddenly became more awake. He slowly shook his head.
"My father and son have lived in Nanping and have been supported by the people for decades. Now we are expelling the women and children out of the city to die, leaving their father, brothers and children to have their bones broken in the city. This is too much."
Gao Baoxu opened his mouth and wanted to speak again. Gao Congjie waved his hand and said, "I will see the imperial envoy first before I speak. You should think twice about this matter."
After finishing speaking, Gao Congjie left surrounded by his confidants without waiting for Gao Baoxu to speak.
. . . .
Sun Guangxian paused for a moment in the mansion, then walked out from a hidden door and ran directly to Gao Congyue's palace.
He would not suggest taking refuge in the situation just now, because Gao Baoxu obviously came well prepared, otherwise Li Duan, Liang Yansi and others would not immediately agree.
If he, Sun Guangxian, said that he wanted to surrender, what would Gao Baoxu do if he didn't dare to treat Gao Congjie, who was seriously ill, but he wouldn't dare to kill his secretary-general?
Gao Congjie was actually waiting for Sun Guangxian to come, because since the death of Liang Zhen, the "national advisor" of Nanping, Sun Guangxian, as Liang Zhen's appointed successor, had been handling the political affairs of Nanping.
Father and son Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie trusted him very much, and they must listen to Sun Guangxian's advice on such matters.
Sun Guangxian also entered the Jing Palace through the back door. Directly under the guidance of a confidant of Gao Congjie, he came to Gao Congjie's secret room in the palace.
When Gao Congjie saw Sun Guangxian coming in, he grabbed Sun Guangxian's hand and asked, "What does Meng Wen think? Can my Gao family still own Nanping?"
Sun Guangxian shook his head decisively, "I told the king in the past that the reason why Nanping's primary school can still exist is because of the chaos in the Central Plains.
But now that the Holy Emperor has emerged from the Central Plains, the general trend of unifying the world has become obvious. Nanping's attempt to buck the trend by using the land of the three states is tantamount to mantis trying to control the chariot. "
Gao Congjie still refused to give up, and continued to ask: "Given the natural dangers of Jiangling and the sharp naval force, and the fact that the soldiers and generals are of the same mind, plus reinforcements from Shu and Tang, can't we defend it?"
Sun Guangxian nodded this time, "We can defend! As Lord Shiro said, as long as we can defend for half a month, the king's army will retreat as soon as the Shu and Tang reinforcements arrive."
"In this case, why did Meng Wen still say that he couldn't defend?" Gao Congjie's eyes flashed, and his face seemed to be very confused.
Sun Guangxian didn't care about Gao Congjie's scrutinizing gaze, because he never thought about betraying Gao Congjie. What he wanted was to try his best to get a good ending for the Gao family.
"I said I can defend it because I can definitely defend it this time. I said I can't defend it because the King's Master will come again next year. What should I do?"
Sun Guangxian's words stunned Gao Congjie, and he continued.
"The Kingdom of Shu has not suffered any pain. If it can be saved once, or even twice, will it come again a third time?
The Southern Tang Dynasty had too much time to take care of itself. As long as he dared to send troops this time, the imperial army would definitely enter Huainan again next year to conquer him. Li Jing's soul was gone. How dare he save Jiangling again?
After the Ma Xi'e Incident in Chu State, the country's national power was not as good as mine, how could it be relied upon?
Besides, if you ask people to send troops and don’t give them money, food and goods, how can they be willing to retreat? Even if they were given money, food, and goods, when the time came, Jiangling would experience repeated wars, the city walls would be destroyed, the people's livelihood would be ruined, and the treasury would be empty. How could the Gao family survive? "
Gao Congjie was speechless. All the strength in his body seemed to have been drained away. He sat down on the bed with a clang, but he was still very unwilling to do so.
At this time, Sun Guangxian took a step forward, grabbed Gao Congjie's sleeve and said: "The king was so wise before. He sent Sanlang as deputy envoy to the capital to pay homage, which was appreciated by the emperor, and he also sought a marriage for Shirong with the saint's confidant.
I even heard that the sage Shaoming wanted to take a distant lady of the Gao family as his concubine for his eldest son, Zhang Liecheng.
Among all the countries in the world, is there anyone closer than the Gao family to the emperor?
To donate land, what you give away is only the land of three states and seventeen counties, but what you get is that all the princes and princes will live together with the country. Is there anything in the world that is more cost-effective than this?
If the king does not make a decision, will he really see the Gao family and the people of Nanping shed blood? "
Sun Guangxian roared three times, which made Gao Congjie's heart shake, and a long gap opened deep in his heart.
"What Meng Wen said is all about seeking the country! However, since I, Gao Congjie, took over the throne, I have only been in this situation for twenty years. I really can't give it up easily. Please allow me to think twice."
Sun Guangxian did not continue to press Gao Congjie, because he knew that with Gao Congjie's wisdom, he could figure out this problem, and if he continued to talk, it would be counterproductive.
What's more, Gao Baoxu's actions today should also alert Gao Congjie and allow him to make a quick decision.
(End of chapter)
