After being silent for a while, Li Jing regained her composure and spoke again, her voice already hoarse, asking: "How are the defenses along the river and how are we preparing to support the army?"
Feng Yansi stood up quickly and reported: "Your Majesty, the Jiangbei reinforcement envoy Huangfu Hui has led an army of 20,000 to garrison Chuzhou to strengthen the defense of Qingliu Pass. Huangfu envoy Jun was a former general in the Central Plains. He is familiar with the Northern soldiers. He is mature and prudent and has rich combat experience. , can defend Han soldiers in Chubei."
"Xu Wenzhen, deputy envoy for aid, has led an army of 20,000 and has been stationed in Hefei. Yao Feng, the governor of the aid capital, has 20,000 water troops stationed in Gaoyou. He can go north to support Si and Chu at any time. With these three lines of troops, we can protect the north of the Yangtze River. Prefectures and counties, consolidate the defense lines along the river and threaten the Han army!"
"There are another 20,000 navy troops patrolling along the river to defend the river!"
Li Zhenggu, the deputy envoy to the Privy Council, also stood up and reported: "The imperial court has recruited 30,000 strong men from Jiangnan and Fujian, stationed in Dangtu, distributed armor, and practiced for three months. They are worthy of a battle! Chang Run's soldiers, We need to guard against Wu and Yue, the Jinling Forbidden Army, and the capital must be consolidated. We must not move lightly. If the Pingchu army returns, plus the state soldiers and rural soldiers from all over the country, we will have a hundred thousand troops to fight against it!"
After listening to the reports from Feng and Li, Li Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief. The 100,000 troops made him feel a little more at ease.
In fact, the Southern Tang Dynasty was already engaged in a massive military outburst. For the first time in more than ten years, it did not hesitate to use the power of the country and the people. But in order to preserve Huainan and resist foreign aggression, everything is worth it.
After the previous struggles of the Southern Tang Dynasty's monarchs and ministers, he still had such strength and burst out such energy during the national crisis, which shows the prosperity of the country. It can be seen that in the original history, Guo Rong conquered Huainan three times and it took three years to capture it, not without reason.
"Your Majesty, although our army has many soldiers and horses, its combat strength is really worrying compared to the Han army. Although it is said to be one hundred thousand, there are not many with combat experience. Especially in the battle of Xia Cai, that idiot Liu Yanzhen sent our 30,000 elite imperial guards. , lost in one dynasty!" Song Qiqiu came out to expose the bad situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty.
"What suggestions do you have, Grand Master?" Li Jing no longer had a king in the city, and with worry evident on his face, he looked at Song Qiqiu.
Song Qiqiu said directly: "The northern army has always been strong. The Northern Han Dynasty has been in the country for five years, and they have fought almost every year. And those who followed the Han emperor in the southern expedition were mainly the Northern Han imperial guards. It was the absolute power of the Han court to suppress the world. The combat power can be imagined.”
"That's why, next, we can no longer look to idiots like Liu Yanzhen to seek a decisive land battle with the Han army. That is the way to defeat. The army garrisoning in the north of the Yangtze River should be strictly ordered not to take the initiative to attack. They should defend the weak and then control the strong. !”
Song Qiqiu called him an "idiot" and despised Liu Yanzhen, which made Feng Yansi a little embarrassed. After all, it was he who had instructed Wei Cen to recommend one of his own.
At this time, Song Qiqiu certainly did not care about the psychology of his party members, and still emphasized his strategy to defend the enemy to Li Jing in an orderly manner: "For many years, the Central Plains has been plagued by war, and was also attacked by the Khitan. Not long after the country was pacified, The population is insufficient and it is difficult to build a mansion."
"The emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne as a young man. In a few years, he organized the country and managed it. The results were very good, and he became the king. The reason why he attacked me was because he coveted the people of our dynasty, Yin Guofu, and wanted to strengthen his national power."
"However, after three years of gathering, once it breaks out, although it is powerful, its foundation is weak and the foundation is not solid. Based on the accumulation of two generations of our dynasty, we only need to firmly guard the defenses, confront them, waste their energy, waste their money and food, and wait for His successors are weak, but that’s enough!”
"Moreover, the Northern Han Dynasty is located in the Central Plains, a place where the Four Wars were fought. It will be difficult for them to station heavy troops in Huainan for a long time. Otherwise, if something happens to the north, they will be in a situation where they are enemies on both sides. Although the Khitan suffered a national upheaval, its strength was not greatly reduced. A single army is needed to make the Han Emperor visit the north."
"Therefore, the Han army is not a long-lasting army. Our army only needs to deal with it calmly, fight steadily, and defeat it with the strength of the country and the people. Compared with the Northern Army, our army is shorter than the infantry and cavalry, but longer than the navy. After the beginning of spring, we should borrow The advantage of the navy is to go north along the canal to support Si and Chu to ensure that the Huaihe River is not lost, and attack the rear of the Han army from the side, destroy its Fuliang, and attack its grain roads!"
"As for the Shouzhou side, I know that He Jingzhu is a general who is good at defending. With his ability, he can hold a strong city and it is not easy for the Han army to attack. The divisions from Hefei and Chuzhou only need to slowly advance to support and garrison on the side of Shouchun. , just contain the Han army so that it cannot attack the city with all its strength!"
"In this way, we only need to wait for half a year for a good opportunity, and the Han army can retreat! And by then, midsummer is here, the climate is hot, how can the northern soldiers adapt to the soil and water of the south, and it will be more convenient for our army to find opportunities to defeat the enemy!"
Since Song Qiqiu returned to the court, he has synthesized news, analyzed the current situation, and made many suggestions to Li Jing, but this time, it was a response strategy that he summarized after repeated thinking.
Analyzing Song Qiqiu's strategy, in summary, the first is stability, the second is cowardice, and the third is procrastination, being humble to resist the strong, being punctual and waiting. Although some aspects are considered a bit idealistic, the analysis of the strength of both sides and the view of the current situation are still very clear. If the Southern Tang Dynasty and all the frontline armies could really implement this strategy, it would really cause Liu Chengyou a lot of trouble.
Regarding his strategy, the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty also agreed. Firstly, Song Qiqiu was famous, secondly, the Song party was powerful, and thirdly, his analysis was indeed reasonable. For Li Jing, there was someone who made the decision and told him what to do, just like a drowning man seeing Fuliang and holding on tightly.
"Taifu Song is worthy of being the number one counselor of our dynasty and the pillar of the country!" Looking at Song Qiqiu's calm old face, he said, "Just follow what Taifu said and deal with the Han army!"
Even though he was a political opponent, Han Xizai had to admit that Song Qiqiu was indeed experienced, and he took the initiative to praise: "The Taifu's strategy is very sophisticated!"
After saying that, Han Xizai also suggested to Li Jing: "Your Majesty, as the Taifu said, our court should send envoys again to strengthen the contact with Khitan and Hou Shu, and invite them to send troops to attack the Han. Now that the Han army is strong, I expected that, Those two countries should not completely sit idly by and ignore it!"
After Han Xizai finished speaking, Song Qiqiu glanced at him and said in a nonchalant manner: "You can contact us, but you can't put all your hope in him. With the ability of the Han Emperor, how can we not be prepared? Our army is waiting on time. After all, others cannot count on us. Whether we can resist the Han army or not, the most important thing depends on me, Datang!"
"Teacher Song's words make sense!" Seeing Song Qiqiu's cold reaction, Han Xizai responded calmly.
Under the planning of Song Qiqiu and others, Li Jing felt at ease, and the fear and panic in her heart were slightly reduced. However, before the palace discussion was over, the Privy Council hurriedly received a report from the Northern Army, from Sizhou regiment training envoy Feng Yanlu, that the Han army raided Shanyang and Chuzhou was lost.
Upon hearing this, the emperors and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were horrified, and even Song Qiqiu almost pulled out his beard. Chuzhou is where the Si and Huai Rivers converge, and it also blocks canal traffic. Once Chuzhou is lost, Sizhou in the west will also be unable to be protected. The most important thing is that the lower reaches of the Huaihe River will completely fall under the control of the Han army.
As for Song Qiqiu's idea of using the Tang navy to enter the Huaihe River, attack the flanks of the Han army, and threaten its food routes, it was directly declared to be unfeasible. For Song Qiqiu, this slap in the face was too fast.
Once Chuzhou was lost, Sizhou became an isolated city sandwiched between Hao and Chu. It had nothing to rely on and would be lost sooner or later. As a result, at least in the Huaiyin area, the Tang army no longer had the possibility to compete with the Han army. The loss of one city caused the Tang army's Huaihe River defense line to completely collapse and move directly south to the Lu, He, Chu, and Yang lines. This was also the current military deployment of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
This was foreshadowed when Haozhou was lost, but Southern Tang's response was ultimately slow. It focused on Shouzhou and mobilized heavy troops, but it never strengthened the defenses of Si and Chu. I hoped that Chuzhou could survive this winter with the help of state soldiers and the power of the weather, but I didn't expect that Chuzhou would be lost so quickly.
As a result, Shouzhou's position becomes even more prominent. It is an isolated city, and the situation changes even more unpredictable.
After being analyzed by Song Qiqiu and others, Li Jing was shocked and angry when he learned the consequences of Chuzhou's loss. He almost roared: "Wu Shaoting, how could he lose Shanyang so easily! Damn me. It's a big deal, disrupting our military defense, and he will be held accountable!"
Shou, Hao, Si, and Chu were the foundations of guarding the Huai River. Now, only two of them have been lost in just over a month. Li Jing is not a person with strong willpower, and his ability to withstand pressure is also poor. At this time, he almost lost his mind.
Facing Li Jing's question, no one in the palace could answer, and Feng Yanlu's report was just a report.
In fact, when Guo Rong went to Chuzhou, he still repeated the previous strategy of attacking in the east and attacking in the west, but the strategy was not afraid of old age, as long as it worked. Guo Rong, the leader of the army, marched eastward and threatened Xuyi, making a great noise. Zhao Kuangyin, on the other hand, secretly led two thousand Longqi sergeants to take a detour and head towards Shanyang.
Wu Shaoting, the military commander of Chuzhou, was not defenseless at all, but his attention was focused on Cheng Deqin, the deputy envoy of Xuzhou Jiedu in the north, and Guo Rong, who was attacking Sizhou in the west. Unexpectedly, the Han army made a surprise attack from behind. The leader was Zhao Kuangyin, who was very courageous and good at seizing opportunities. He succeeded with one blow and Wu Shaoting was also captured alive. It's almost a replica of Chen Sirang's attack on Zhongli in the previous episode.
The Huainan military town on the Huaiyin front line was so important to the Southern Tang Dynasty, but the generals sent by the Tang court were too big a problem.
It was Song Qiqiu who was used to the world and said calmly: "The matter has reached this point, there is no point in panic. Wu Shaoting certainly wants to investigate, but how to deal with the impact of the loss of Chuzhou on the overall situation of Yu Han is more important!"
"What can I do?" Li Jing asked.
Song Qiqiu said directly: "Instruct Sizhou to gather troops and defend Xuyi with no room for failure. Wait for the imperial court to rescue! The main force of the Han army is in Shouchun. There are not many troops in Sizhou and Chu, so Gaoyou's Yao Feng led his troops north to Baoying, looking for a battle carefully and looking for an opportunity to recapture Shanyang!"
Song Qiqiu said extremely seriously: "There must be no room for failure in the Huai River defense line, otherwise, the entire Huainan situation will be affected!"
It can be said that Shouchun was besieged and Haozhou was lost, which only shocked the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty. If the Huai River defense line collapses, it will be a shock. Without the Huai River, how can we defend the river?
