Just as the imperial capital city was in turmoil, and various forces were on the stage one after another, overtly or covertly, and launched different methods to prepare for a fierce battle, thousands of miles away on the Dajiang defense line, there was a different scene.
The Battle of Jingkou ended with a complete victory for the Zhenjiang Army. The main fleet of the rebels suffered heavy losses and was wiped out. Thousands of warships were either completely destroyed or captured by Kunpeng Navy. Bao Yuchun and his nephew Bao Xinyan managed to escape from the siege with only a few dozen remaining ships. A broken boat fled downstream to the Jiangyin area, and then escaped from the river into the sea. From Mingzhou via Hangzhou Bay, along the Qiantang River back to the rebel capital Hangzhou.
After this battle, the naval warfare power of the southern rebels was completely suppressed. Although half of their warships were still scattered around the south bank, there was no chance of a comeback in a short time. The blockade of the river was basically ineffective. situation.
The time has come for the main army corps to fully cross the river.
The first to seize this opportunity was not Li Jiangyao's Zhenjiang Army, but the Suzaku Army located upstream.
As soon as he received the news of the victory at Jingkou, Ma Hongjie immediately contacted Yang Li and asked the imperial court's Yiling navy to switch to a feint attack as the main attack, cover the two banners of the Suzaku Army with a total of 80,000 troops, forcefully cross the river, and launch an offensive against the enemy in front.
Their target is directly at Liyang County.
Liyang County is an important place on the south bank of the river, close to Lishui and connected in all directions. Passing Huarong County to the east, you can advance towards Yueyang; not far to the south, there is Wuling, another strategic town of the rebels; to the west, it borders the Miao territory, and you can successfully join forces with Wu Rong, the leader of the Miao people.
It can be said that if Liyang can be successfully captured after crossing the river, the rebels' western border will be completely exposed to the attack range of the Suzaku Legion, with holes everywhere and no danger to defend.
Yang Li received Ma Hongjie's request for assistance and immediately agreed. Three hundred main warships, plus five hundred large and small civilian ships, gathered in the Jiangling area of Jingzhou and began to carry the army.
At this time, the number of rebel warships in the direction of Yueyang was not small. Although the downstream side suffered a huge defeat, it did not have a direct impact on them. Facing the menacing imperial army, the Yueyang fleet immediately gathered more than 400 ships and sailed upstream, preparing to block it.
Yang Li and Wang Wenlie reacted very quickly and arrived at the Shishou Waterway first. They separated a wide area between the rebel navy and the Suzaku Army's crossing troops, waiting for work and fully guarding it.
Immediately, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides on the river.
Relying on the power of Kunpeng's Tenth Army in defeating Bao Yuchun, the Yiling navy had high morale and momentum, and was not at all intimidated by the fact that the number of warships was less than that of its opponents.
On the contrary, the Yiling fleet's offensive was more fierce than that of the Yueyang fleet!
More than two thousand floating fire boats sailed down the river, and as soon as they came up, they blasted the rebels to pieces. Immediately afterwards, Yang Li and Wang Wenlie each led a hundred warships and launched a charge from the north and south, directly attacking the enemy fleet from left to right.
The two sides fought fiercely for two days and one night. The rebels who had the numerical advantage were beaten until they complained incessantly. In the end, they had to retreat hastily and returned to Yueyang Fortress.
At the same time, the troops of the First Banner of the Suzaku Corps successfully landed on the south bank and began to build a beachhead. The Second Banner immediately unfolded and organized its troops to board the boats in order to prepare to cross the river.
The rebels who received the news responded in time, and people from all walks of life quickly gathered towards Liyang County. In two days, they increased the defense scale there from the original 3,000 to 15,000 troops.
In addition, Xie Bao, who was ordered by Ye Rongcheng to reinforce the west, was also leading his 50,000 black-armored cavalry in a mad dash towards Liyang.
Soon, the vanguard of the First Banner of the Suzaku Army came into contact with the rebels.
The enemy and we fought several battles in the Niulang Lake and Silt Lake areas in the northeast of Liyang County, with as many as a dozen large and small battlefields.
Niulang Lake and Silt Lake are both small lakes with a small area. One is in the east and the other is in the west. The middle area between the two lakes happens to be the only way from the river to Liyang County.
The rebel garrison was very experienced. He took advantage of the complex terrain where tributaries of the Songzi River criss-crossed, and combined with the Jiulong Mountain in the southwest, he set up echelon positions based on the water network and hills, defending layer by layer and blocking everywhere. It is necessary to slow down the overall advancement of the Suzaku Army through repeated seesawing bit by bit and buy time for reinforcements.
Faced with the enemy's clever combat strategy, the vanguard troops of the First Banner of the Suzaku Legion had no better way to crack it. They could only change from quick raids to steady attacks, gradually seizing favorable terrain while waiting for the arrival of follow-up troops.
However, fortunately, Ma Hongjie's regiment itself is the Southern Army, and many of its troops are from the Liyang County area, so they are also fighting at home. Not only are they familiar with each other, but they also have high morale. After several battles, they successfully seized most of the key positions.
As time went by, the Second Banner also completed the crossing of the river. The first main attack group of the Suzaku Army gradually gathered on the south bank of the river.
The slogan "Go back to your hometown and capture Lao Jianhua alive" resounded throughout the army.
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"Master Bao, our current location is about five miles south of Silt Lake," the deputy general said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "We are still more than twenty miles away from Jiulong Mountain."
Xie Bao sat upright on his horse and asked in a deep voice: "How is the battle situation on the Jiulong Mountain side now?"
The deputy general responded: "It was very fierce! The defenders fought miserably. Once the Jiulong Mountain defense line was lost, the road to Liyang County would be completely flat and undefendable, so the friendly forces had begun to work hard. When I left, they were still There are less than four thousand people left!”
"Where is the Suzaku Army?" Xie Bao frowned: "How many troops did the enemy invest this time?"
"The number of those attacking Jiulong Mountain is about 8,000 to 10,000," the lieutenant general replied carefully: "There are at least 20,000 enemy troops on the outside of the battlefield, mainly soldiers and horses of the first banner of the Suzaku Legion. According to the scout, they will be ready at any time. Can go into offense.”
Xie Bao hesitated.
Whether to go to Jiulong Mountain or go straight to Liyang County is a very difficult choice. As the deputy general said, if Jiulong Mountain is lost, it will be very difficult for Liyang County to defend it. However, if it rushes to rescue Jiulong Mountain, it is very likely that it will be held back by the enemy and fall into a hard battle.
Once the Second Banner of the Suzaku Army encircles them, or the Third and Fourth Banners also attack Dajiang one after another, they may not be able to win the battle with the 50,000 soldiers and horses in their hands alone.
The lieutenant general saw his dilemma and suggested: "Master Bao, why not lead the main force to Liyang, and take the humble job of leading 10,000 cavalry to flank the Suzaku Army. At any rate, we can repel this wave of enemies first and let Jiulong Mountain Take a breather.”
Xie Bao thought about it carefully, waved his hand and said: "Either you don't go, or you all go, your 10,000 troops are at best taking advantage and cannot solve the big problem!"
The deputy general was stunned: "What do you mean..."
Xie Bao was worried and shouted: "Damn, it's useless to defend Liyang. Why don't we fight hard and drive the Suzaku Army back to the shore! I don't believe it anymore, everyone is fucking with Zhenjiang As tough as the military?"
Hearing this, the deputy general was also aroused and responded: "Okay, I will listen to you! We were not at a disadvantage when we fought against the Xinjiang Army, not to mention the softies of the Southern Army. I'm afraid of him. !”
Xie Bao waved his copper hammer and shouted behind him: "Brothers, gallop twenty miles and attack the Suzaku Army! Let Ma Hongjie understand what the strongest army in the world is!"
"Kill!" Thousands of black-armored cavalry raised their weapons high and roared loudly.
The next moment, Xie Bao rushed out at the lead, and the cavalry formation behind him in black clothes and black armor also immediately launched. Countless horse hooves trampled the ground, making a roaring sound, and the black torrent crossed the dense forest and meadow, sweeping and rushing like a raging wave.
For the cavalry, a distance of twenty miles is reached in a blink of an eye.
When Xie Bao and his troops arrived at Jiulong Mountain, the war was entering its most tragic stage. There were less than 2,000 rebels left at this moment, and they all retreated to the top of the mountain, making their last desperate struggle.
The Suzaku Legion had just dispatched a new force to replace the troops that had suffered heavy casualties due to the attack on the mountain, and were preparing to launch the final decisive blow.
But what they never expected was that the target of the ultimate kill could change in an instant.
Before the Suzaku Army could blow the attack horn, thunderous hoofbeats suddenly came from the eastern horizon. The huge formation composed of 50,000 iron cavalry seemed to fill the entire world and rolled over.
Even veterans of the Southern Army who had fought desperate battles with the Turks couldn't help but look panicked when they suddenly saw the scene in front of them.
The main formation behind the Suzaku Army immediately sounded a rapid gong sound, signaling the troops who were preparing to attack on the mountain to retreat quickly and return to a safe area.
However, the sound of the gong could not be said to be unhurried, and the troops could not be said to be unhurried, but in the end they were neither too impatient nor fast enough for the Black Armor Cavalry to sprint at full speed.
In the blink of an eye, Xie Bao had already reached the foot of Jiulong Mountain. The 50,000 cavalry were divided into three groups. One group flanked the attacking troops, one group attacked the main formation in the rear, and the other group made a large circle to cut off the Suzaku Army's retreat.
The cavalry's attack on the infantry itself has unparalleled natural advantages. Looking at the world, except for the abnormal existence of pure heavy infantry like the Zhenjiang Army, no infantry unit, especially light infantry, can effectively resist the crushing of iron cavalry without preparation.
From the moment the Black Armor Cavalry appeared on the battlefield, there was no doubt about the outcome.
The black cavalry rushed left and right among the infantry groups, as if they were in an uninhabited land. The vanguard of the more than 10,000 Suzaku Army did not even wait for the nearby reinforcements, and were directly killed by Xie Bao and the others. Collapse on the spot.
By the time the main force of the tens of thousands of Suzaku troops near Jiulong Mountain arrived one after another, corpses were already lying on the ground and blood flowed like rivers.
The Xuanjia rebels, who had succeeded in one attack, had re-arranged their formation and were looking at them eagerly.
