This battle with Ning Guo for the supremacy of Yangzhou had been brewing for several years, but after it started, the war progressed really quickly.
The four-nation coalition forces of Ning, Su, Song, and Nanhai, which were originally massive and powerful and favored by all countries, quickly exposed their true nature as a strong external force but a weak internal force after the war began.
It is obviously stronger than the Chu State in terms of territory and population, and even in terms of military strength, it is stronger in the eyes of outsiders.
But in the battle in September last year, the main force led by Emperor Ning first defeated Jiangxia City, and the land and water armies were defeated one after another.
Then Ningguo's Xiangyang County lost a government, causing the war situation in Jiangbei to deteriorate rapidly.
The three-way coalition forces in Lingnan and the Nanhai Kingdom were afraid of the enemy and did not dare to fight the Chu army. They just stood firm and watched the domestic territory being occupied by the Chu army.
The Ning army finally came to support them, but the Nanhai navy was still guarding the city and did not even have the courage to go out of the city to help the reinforcements.
In the end, they finally managed to get some manpower, but they were vulnerable and were defeated on the battlefield, leading to the defeat of Ning's army.
After this battle, the people of Nanhai were known as cowardless and useless idiots, which was widely circulated and laughed at by everyone in the world.
Of course, Nanhai Country is not the only one embarrassed.
The Su State was originally regarded as the dominant power in Lingnan and was known as a small powerful country. The Song Dynasty, which worked hard to govern, prospered in national power, and had a strong military force, also had a silver-like wax spear head, which looked good but was useless.
The 100,000-strong coalition forces from the two countries were originally full of confidence and launched a massive Northern Expedition.
But it only took more than a month to go north, and they were quickly defeated by the Chu army without even entering the Chu territory.
The 100,000 Soviet-Song allied troops returned in disastrous defeat. The Song king escaped alone. The Soviet army had a chance to escape back to the capital by betraying its teammates.
Then the Chu army swept across and easily captured the entire Su state except for the capital Yulin.
Su State had to rely on the cold wave, wind and snow to survive.
In the spring of this year, the snow and ice melted, and without the protection of natural disasters, the Su Kingdom was quickly defeated by the Chu army, becoming the first force of the Allied Forces to be destroyed.
From the north of the Yangtze River to the south of the Lingnan, in all the battlefields, the Chu State could be said to have gained an advantage or victory, reversing its original unfavorable situation in one fell swoop.
Now, based on the overall battlefield, the Chu State has gained a considerable advantage and has gradually gained the upper hand over the Ning State.
And as more small wins accumulate, this advantage will become even greater.
Now is the time to strive for progress.
Deciding the outcome this year, completely defeating the coalition forces, and winning this battle for hegemony is not an illusion for the Chu State.
At this time, it is time to work hard towards this step.
…
After a winter of rest and preparation, the wounds caused by the war in Chu and Ning last autumn and winter have gradually healed, and both sides have accumulated the strength to fight again.
Jiangxia side.
The Chu army benefited from the brutal siege battles before. The 100,000 recruits who were still very young at first, after seeing the blood, experienced a winter of precipitation.
Therefore, although the total strength has decreased by 10,000, the remaining 90,000 are 30% stronger than the previous 100,000 troops, which is quite impressive.
After that, you only need to go through a few more battles and spend two or three years settling down, and you will be a proper elite in all battles.
And with the intensity of Chu Ning's war at this time, it is not difficult to complete the transformation at this moment.
However, even if the transformation has not been completed at this time, with these 90,000 elites who are half veterans here, and with Lu Yuan, the world's best master, sitting in charge, it is enough to keep this city safe.
The Ning Army is still the same as before. After the navy retreated to Xiakou Stronghold in Xiangyang, there are only about 110,000 soldiers and horses left in the Ning Army outside Jiangxia City.
With this strength, it is naturally impossible to threaten Jiangxia City. Even in a direct confrontation, there is a high probability that the Chu army will be defeated.
Therefore, Ning Jun, who was aware of his decline, had been huddled in the camp for this period of time, guarding himself behind closed doors, ignoring Chu Jun's provocations.
With this posture, if you don’t know, you would think that the Chu army was actively attacking in this battle, while the Ning army was actively defending!
It just has to be said that Ning Jun's huddled posture is really effective.
Lu Yuan was limited to the inferior strength of the Chu army and did not want to cause too much damage due to the siege. As for the Ning army outside the city, which had gradually been built into a small fortress with three innates and 100,000 people stationed in the turtle shell, he was really surprised for a while. There is no good way.
Therefore, after the beginning of spring, the battles in other battlefields were already fierce, but Jiangxia was still calm and eerily quiet.
The Chu army couldn't do anything to the Ning army, and the Ning army couldn't do anything to the Chu army. The two sides continued to face off like this.
However, both Chu Ning and Chu Ning knew that this situation could not be the norm.
Once the victory is determined in the other remote battlefields, various small victories accumulate, and slowly evolve into a large advantage, sweeping across, it will be the time to determine the victory here.
As expected, the time for this victory should be this year.
"Over the Nanhai Kingdom, I have 300,000 soldiers and horses, including five Xiantian Grandmasters. On the enemy side, the coalition forces of Ning and Nanhai only have 150,000 soldiers and horses, and two Xiantian Grandmasters.
Whether it is in terms of military strength or masters, the Chu State has an advantage, and it is not difficult to capture this city.
Therefore, on this battlefield, our great Chu should be victorious.
As for Xiangyang in the north, after Xiaoqing captured the Anlu Mansion, he continued to station 80,000 troops in an attempt to attack Xiangyang County in Ningguo. Relying on the help of the navy, Yang Jing reluctantly led more than 30,000 remnants of the Ning army to confront Xiao Qing.
There is not much difference in strength between the two sides, and neither side can do anything about it. It should be considered a tie here. "
Lu Yuan analyzed the two remote battlefields and gradually gained some confidence.
Originally, in Xiangyang County, the Chu army had a military advantage.
However, Ning Jun took advantage of this winter to urgently recruit 50,000 men from Jingmen and Jingling Prefectures in Xiangyang County under his control, and gathered in the prefectural city to hold on.
Relying on these conscripted cannon fodder, the Ning army barely strengthened its own strength, enough to compete with the Chu army.
At the same time, after a winter of buffering, the Ningguo Navy, which had suffered a disastrous defeat on the Jiangxia River, finally recovered. Its low morale gradually recovered, and a lot of lost warships were replenished, and its combat effectiveness was restored.
Now after integrating with the Xiakou Division, the size of the Ning Army's navy has reached more than 70,000, which is almost twice the advantage of the Chu Army's remaining 40,000 navy.
In addition, Chu Wei had been transferred by Lu Yuan, and the Chu army's navy had no soul. Even though the morale was high, they could not gain any advantage after several confrontations with the Ning army.
After several small-scale water battles broke out between them, they realized that there was nothing they could do about each other, or that if they wanted to eliminate each other, they might have to pay a heavy price, so they stopped entangled.
The Chu navy, which had lost its absolute advantage, was naturally unable to completely block the entire Yangtze River waterway.
At this time, with Jiangxia City as the boundary, the two sides began to equally divide the entire Yangtze River waterway, and both sides had advantages.
Fortunately, fearing the strength of the Chu navy, Ning's Jingling navy had to station most of its main force near Jiangxia to contain the Chu navy.
As a result, the Ningguo Navy could not spare too many ships to go around Xiangyang of the Chu Kingdom and attack the Chu Kingdom's cities along the Han River.
In addition, Zhou Qing also left 30,000 county soldiers and horses behind Xiangyang County of Chu State. With the support of the city, he could barely protect the rear from worries.
However, under this situation of mutual checks and balances, the Ning army has the advantage of city defense, and the Ning Guo navy is supporting outside. With Zhou Qing's current strength, it is basically impossible to clear out the remnants of Ning Guo in Xiangyang County.
Like Jiangxia here, the Chu army's attack losses were too great, and it is estimated that they will not be able to defeat it.
Ning's army is not strong enough and can only defend.
A stalemate is the only option here.
If you want to break the situation on the Xiangyang battlefield, you still have to wait for other small victories to accumulate momentum, and then sweep through to establish the situation.
"So, the key to breaking the situation right now is the main battlefield in Dongting where I am."
Whispering in his mouth, Lu Yuan looked towards the south.
When Jiangbei and Lingnan were in a disadvantageous situation, Ningguo's only chance of victory was to work hard on the main battlefield.
The most critical point in the main battlefield is that with Lu Yuan in charge and strong troops stationed in Jiangxia, the Ning army has no hope of winning.
With Jiangxia having no hope of breaking through, if they wanted to win, they could only work in several prefectures and counties south of Jiangxia and on the border of Chu State's Dongting.
Send troops and horses to break through the three prefectures of Changsha, Hengyang, and Luyang, and then advance into the hinterland of Chu State, cutting off the retreat of several Chu armies in Lingnan or Dongting, and even directly threatening the capital of Chu State.
No matter which of the above three points is achieved, it can inflict heavy losses on the Chu army, which is currently gaining points in the war, and reverse the decline of the Ning army.
At that time, the advantage Chu has finally gained will be lost due to this defeat, and the battle for hegemony with Ning will have to be postponed.
Lu Yuan's original plan for a quick victory within one or two years would also succeed.
"However, my plan to train five disciples has been kept secret for the past two years and has been blocked.
Not even many people in our country of Chu knew about the news of Chu Wei's innate breakthrough, and it would be absolutely difficult for Ning Ren to detect it.
If they want to take advantage of my innate disadvantages in Dongting County and come here to take advantage, Chu Wei and Concubine Ling will definitely give Ning Thief a surprise. "
Lu Yuan thought of the news from the Imperial City Division from Yuzhang.
In the land north of Lingnan and south of the Yangtze River, the ice and snow receded slower than in the south of Lingnan. Therefore, when the war broke out in Lingnan, the wind and snow in Dongting, Yuzhang had just melted and people could just move around.
Therefore, if the Chu army and the Ning army want to mobilize their troops and generals, they can only do it slower than Lingnan.
Therefore, it was not until this time, in mid-March, that Lan Cai'er had just led his troops to the gates of Nanhai City, and the Ning army on the Yuzhang side began to move and came out of Pengli Camp.
And perhaps it was because he knew that it was difficult to cover up the movements of the army.
The 100,000 Ning army from Pengli's camp had no intention of concealing their whereabouts this time. They showed it out openly and pointed out the Luyang and Hengyang prefectures of Chu State that they wanted to attack.
The purpose of this was naturally to mobilize Chu's military forces to alleviate the disadvantage on the battlefield in Lingnan.
Yes, after half a month of fermentation, even though it was thousands of miles away, the news about the demise of the Lingnan Su Kingdom had reached the Ning Kingdom after many twists and turns.
After Shen Qiu learned about it, he scolded Su Xuange for being useless. Naturally, he was also keenly aware of the bad situation in which the battle situation in Lingnan was rapidly collapsing.
Without the restraint of the Su State, the two armies of the Chu army in Lingnan could join forces without any scruples and join forces to attack the remaining two states of Song and Nanhai.
And with the remaining strength of Song and Nanhai, it is naturally impossible for them to be opponents of the Chu army, which has greatly increased in strength after the merger.
Therefore, if Ning Guo does not want to watch Chu State slowly defeat each other and gradually take over the entire Lingnan, the situation will arise.
At this time, before the Chu army swept across Lingnan, it became the only way out to contain and weaken the Chu army's strength in Lingnan.
Ning Guo certainly did not want to see Chu occupying the entire Lingnan.
The Three Kingdoms and Five Counties in Lingnan cover an area of 20,000 miles and have a population of six to seven million.
If the Chu State acquires such a fertile territory, not only will its territory skyrocket to twice that of the Ning State in an instant, but its population will also catch up and become equal to that of the Ning State.
At that time, the state of Chu will far surpass the state of Ning based on its national strength alone. After 20 or 30 years of accumulation and development, all the potential of the territory occupied by the state of Chu will be fully developed. With its strong national power, the state of Ning will be defeated.
Shen Qiu would naturally not be able to sit idly by as long as things involved the danger of national subjugation.
Therefore, he could only reluctantly give up his hope of sneak attack on Dongting, defeat the Chu State, and turn defeat into victory.
By telling the Chu State with great fanfare that he was going to attack Dongting, he forced the Chu State to withdraw troops and horses from Lingnan to help defend the empty Dongting County, which was used to reduce the pressure on the Song State and the Nanhai State on the Lingnan battlefield.
As long as one or two talents, tens of thousands, or even one hundred thousand soldiers and horses of the Chu army can be transferred back from Lingnan, the pressure on the coalition forces in Lingnan will be greatly reduced, and the current situation of contending with the Chu army can be maintained.
In this way, the Chu State was tied up with a lot of energy in the south of Lingnan and could not spare more power to support the Dongting battlefield in the north of the Ling Dynasty.
Ning Guo can also use this to continue to confront Chu State.
It is so important that the two allies of Lingnan, who are important chess pieces for Ningguo's hegemony, cannot give up easily after losing Su.
Because with this release, what was given up was the Su country's hegemony, which of course cannot be discarded.
Of course, such a move was not without Shen Qiu seeing that the Chu army was in unstoppable strength in the South China Sea, and knew that his plan to attack Dongting County would probably fail.
The Chu army had probably already removed its soldiers, horses and Xiantian and returned to defend Dongting. It was basically impossible for him to sneak attack Chu State.
Even if they continue to implement the original strategy and go deep alone, they may fall into the ambush trap set by the Chu army, resulting in the loss of troops and generals, further aggravating the unfavorable situation of the Ning army.
If you show your frame at this time, you may lose the opportunity for a sneak attack, but you can also avoid the risk of being ambushed and attacked by the Chu State.
In order to prevent this possibility, Ning Guo has sent out countless spies to lurk on the main roads from Lingnan to Dongting County, watching every move of the Chu army. The trouble is that the Chu army plans to ambush itself. .
"Hey, maybe those Ning people thought that because of the crisis in Dongting, Guhui would send reinforcements from Lingnan to the north and give up the good situation in Lingnan.
But I have secretly trained Chu Wei, sent him to Luyang, and made Dongting impregnable.
If Ningren wants to invade, facing a strong general in a fortified city, it will be impossible to make any progress other than a bloody blow.
Our country of Chu is invincible in this battle.
But they guessed one thing well.
In this Dongting battlefield, I did send reinforcements and mobilized strong generals. It's just that this powerful reinforcement came from Hanzhong instead of Lingnan. "
Lu Yuan couldn't help but sneered when he thought of Shen Qiu's clumsy plan and looked towards the west.
At this moment, the reinforcements from Hanzhong should have sailed into the Yangtze River waterway in Dongting County and headed towards Dongting Lake.
This is a good situation that makes people want to use the safety of Dongting to force Chu to abandon Lingnan.
And he himself also wanted to use this as bait to take the opportunity to eat the Ning army that invaded Dongting, so as to quickly break the deadlock between the two countries in Dongting and completely defeat those Ning people.
Regarding Ning Guo's actions during this period, the Imperial City Division reported that not only the soldiers and horses of the Pengli Camp of the Ning Army had been divided into two groups, they planned to attack the second mansion of Luyang and Hengyang in Dongting.
The news spread back to the Ning Kingdom, and a new round of mobilization and military expansion began, with plans to recruit an additional 500,000 troops to cope with the current dilemma of insufficient military strength.
Even some friends from Linhai County secretly sent back more detailed information from Ningguo's senior officials.
That is Bai Yi'an's defensive plan and the backhand fortress plan that is being launched after Shen Qiu's improvements.
Ning Guo had not yet been defeated at this time, and had already begun to plan a retreat. He planned to prepare 700,000 troops at home, build fortresses along the border with Chu State, strengthen city defense checkpoints, and be prepared for a protracted war in the future.
It can be said that Lu Yuan was shocked when he learned this information.
Because if Ning Guo is really allowed to do this, he will face the millions of Jiangdong troops and the blind defense of more than a dozen innate masters.
Even if the Chu State now has twice as many soldiers and horses, and ten more innate masters, facing this turtle shell, the Chu State will have nothing to say and will be unable to do anything.
At that time, I am afraid that as Bai Yi'an said, the two countries will continue to spend decades here, and finally survive together until the catastrophe comes, and then work together to move north.
When he thought of this terrible future, Lu Yuan had already made up his mind that he would never let Ning Guo accomplish this.
So in order to destroy this plan, in order to defeat Ning Guo before he was ready.
Then rush into Ningguo and kill this preparation.
In the early winter of last year, he had secretly ordered Huang Xuan to first mobilize some of the soldiers from Hanzhong and gather them at Yuzhong Mansion in Xichuan, ready to be ready at any time.
Some time ago, I learned about the plight of the Xueyuan people and knew that they would never gain anything from this spring raid, and they might even suffer a huge defeat.
Lu Yuan had simply rejected the other party's request to invite Chu to send troops.
In this spring and summer, the Chu State will not send Hanzhong soldiers and horses to the Helong battlefield to mix in this mess.
At the same time, on the Zhou side, because the Wei people had killed the capital and were restrained by the Tibetan people, it was no longer possible to threaten Chu's Hanzhong.
With these conditions in place, Lu Yuan summoned Huang Xuan and ordered him to rush to Yuzhong Mansion, quietly lead the 50,000 forbidden troops stationed there, and secretly rush to the local naval warship under Lu Yuan's order, all the way south along the Yangtze River. , rushed to the Changsha battlefield.
