At Sanjiangkou, the fierce battle between Han and Chu became more intense. The water and land armies of both sides launched a ten-day fierce battle around the Junshan, Baling, and Chengling lines.
Junshan faces Baling City across Dongting, and can control the Yangtze River waterway to the north. After Han Tong led his army southward, he inspected its terrain. In order to prevent the Chu army from marching north from Junshan and cutting off the retreat of the army, he listened to the advice of the commander Zhang Xun and sent The army landed, stormed the Chu village in Junshan, captured it in one fell swoop, and then defended it.
Zhou Xingfeng was also a man who knew the military. He understood the purpose of the Han army, which was to send out troops to storm Junshan. At first, relying on the superiority of the navy, he could barely gain the upper hand. However, after the Jingnan navy came south, they recaptured Junshan. It also became a delusion.
However, Junshan is still the most intense place of the fierce battle. The main force of the Han army has stationed at the mouth of the river. Zhou Xingfeng wanted to break through the Han army's defense line in Junshan, and then cut off the Han army's retreat and cut off its food route. For this reason, the two sides were in a stalemate, with many casualties. The Chu army's direct battle casualties exceeded 2,000 soldiers, most of whom were veterans of Zhou Xingfeng's command.
The Han army was originally stationed on the wild beach to the right of the runoff, and was originally on the defensive. However, fighting across the river was too costly and the gains outweighed the losses. After attacking twice, they gave up and shifted their focus to the direction of Junshan.
In view of this, after discussing with the formation envoy Du Hanhui, Han Tong decisively turned from defense to offense, crossed Sanjiangkou, and counterattacked Chengling Pass. Although they had received military orders from Commander Murong before, the overall combat policy was being delayed and wasted, and the impatience of the Chu army was also visible to the naked eye, which illustrates the effectiveness of such tactics.
However, firstly, Liyang's victory was ahead, and secondly, Murong Yanzhao personally led the army south. Han Tong and other generals also knew about the timely changes, and furthermore, they could not restrain their desire to make achievements.
Of course, it was the Jingnan Navy that gave Han Tong the confidence to cross the river. After Wei Lin led his army southward, he fought with the Chu navy. The two sides fought fiercely for more than ten battles on the water, and finally drove the Chu navy out of the Yangtze River and forced it into Dongting Lake.
In this way, Sanjiangkou basically fell under the control of the Han army. Under Zhou Xingfeng's urging, the Chu navy launched several counterattacks, but none of them worked. There is a saying that Jingnan's navy has been in the army for many years, has been trained for many years, has good weapons, and its warships are quite sharp. Although they have not fought for a long time, their foundation is much better than that of the Chu army, and their military strength is still superior. In comparison, Zhou Xingfeng's naval army was only superior in terms of blood and wildness, but when Wei Lin and other surrendered generals became ruthless, they could not get any advantage.
The navy led by Wei Lin fought really hard this time, suffering more than 700 casualties before and after, but they still didn't complain. The general Wei Lin was hit by a stray arrow, so he also went to fight with courage.
Chengling Pass faces the estuary of the Yangtze River, and is only fifteen miles away from Baling, the capital of Yuezhou Prefecture. Once at this pass, the Han army can take advantage of the situation and advance south to Baling. Guancheng is not big and even a little dilapidated. Zhou Xingfeng built three camps for garrison and stationed nine thousand troops.
The two sides changed their offensive and defensive positions and still maintained a fragile balance. The Han army attacked Chengling in the north, the Chu army attacked Junshan in the south, and the navy was in a stalemate at the mouth of the river.
However, the balance of victory was tilted in favor of the Han army from the beginning. This was an asymmetric war. They tried to break through but failed, and in more than ten days, the Chu army's hope was dashed.
It is very obvious that the morale and combat effectiveness of the Chu army are continuing to decline, and the attack is becoming increasingly weak. He was really tired. Since three days ago, Zhou Xingfeng had begun to control the consumption of military rations.
In Baling, Zhou Xingfeng spared no expense and prepared tens of thousands of stones of grain. The original plan was to support the 30,000-strong army for one month. However, after the war started, the consumption during this period was far beyond imagination.
The golden crow hangs in the west, the setting sun is like blood, the sky is filled with colorful clouds, and the bright light spreads on the blue waves of Dongting. The shore is hilly, green trees are shady, and there are many islands and caves in the lake. The whole thing forms a wonderful picture.
However, the cruel war added a touch of blood to this picture. With the sound of gold ringing, the soldiers of the Han army who were attacking the stronghold marched out of the northern stronghold of Chengling in an orderly manner. There was no cheering or relief, and everyone had serious expressions, leaving corpses on the ground behind them.
The Chu army's stronghold was severely damaged in various places and appeared to be crumbling. It seemed that if it hadn't been for the darkening of the sky, it would have been directly broken through. The soldiers of the Chu army guarding the stronghold were numb.
The Han camp was located along the river, not far from Chengling Pass. Han Tong, who was the commander of the army on the east route, stood on the tower to watch the battle. Seeing that the soldiers who had attacked the stronghold were returning one after another, they immediately arranged for people to meet them.
"Zhou Xingfeng can't stand it anymore!" Han Tong said loudly with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Captain, let me protect the Holy Army to attack tomorrow!" Beside him, a middle-aged general with a strong body said firmly.
"General Du can't hold it anymore?" Han Tong tilted his head and looked at him.
The tall and straight general is named Du Hanhui. He is the military guard and the commander of the Holy Army. He is the envoy of the camp in the south. Du Hanhui was originally a general of the Jin Dynasty, and Liu Zhiyuan joined the army after taking control of the Central Plains. The most successful work of his career since the Han Dynasty was his conquest of Yedu in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the suppression of Du Chongwei's rebellion.
Under Yuancheng, he took the lead and fought when he was wounded. He performed extremely bravely. Since then, he has been deeply appreciated by two generations of Han lords. Even when Liu Chengyou later reorganized the Forbidden Army, he was always among the senior generals.
However, in the several internal and external wars after Liu Chengyou succeeded to the throne, he did not have the opportunity to perform again. Therefore, during this southern expedition, Liu Chengyou was approached directly and begged to join the expedition. Seeing his firm will and eagerness to achieve great results, he agreed.
For this reason, among the generals in the Southern Expedition, there are quite a few veterans. From Han Tong, Du Hanhui to Li Jun, all of them held their breath and performed very hard.
"The fighting strength of these Jing troops is worrisome!" Du Hanhui said, pointing to the attacking soldiers who were returning to camp.
"It can be seen that Liang Tingsi did not spare any effort, and the Jing army neglected training. It is already good to be able to fight like this!" Han Tong responded, holding on to the wooden railing.
After returning to the camp, Liang Tingsi, who led his men to attack the stronghold, went directly to Han Tong. He was sweating profusely and with a little emotion on his face. He asked Han Tong who had landed: "Du Jian, why are you withdrawing your troops? Give me another half an hour. I will Then we can break through Beizhai!"
Seeing this, Han Tong smiled slightly and responded: "General Liang, don't be impatient. The sky is already dark and it is not conducive to fighting. There are still bandits in the city to support you. The soldiers have been attacking for a long time and are tired. It is better to return to camp first." Rest. Thank you for your hard work, General. Let’s go back to our tent and have something to eat first!”
"Yes!" Seeing Han Tong's good attitude, Liang Tingsi could only get off the slope and put away his depression.
In the military tent, Han Tong and all the military commanders were sitting together, and the fish and meat that had been cooked were served, which was fragrant and appetizing. Before long, Wei Lin also walked in, with a cheerful face, and reported today's battle results to Han Tong: "Du Jian, the last general today, we captured and killed more than 200 enemies and captured five warships. The thief army and navy are no longer at all." Our army's opponents, they can't hold Dongtingkou any longer!"
"Okay! Accumulate a small victory into a big victory. Thank you for your hard work, General Wei. Please come and have a meal!" Han Tong extended his hand and said.
"Thank you, Governor!" Wei Lin clasped her fists, waved her robe and sat down.
Picking up a piece of fish meat and picking out the thorn, Han Tong said to the generals: "It has been more than half a month since our army entered the Sanjiangkou of Tunsan. We have been fighting fiercely since then, and we know all about the enemy's true and false situation.
The progress in the west is going smoothly, Du Shuai has already moved south, and we must seize the time here. On the Junshan side, although the rebel army's offensive was slow, Zhou Xingfeng still refused to give up. Since their naval forces could no longer withstand it, it was time to take the initiative to attack and launch a counterattack! "
"General Wei, tomorrow you will lead the navy to attack with all your strength, break through the entrance of Dongting, head towards Junshan, and threaten the rebels from behind!" Han Tong ordered Wei Lin.
Then he looked at Liang Tingsi: "General Liang, lead your troops and follow General Wei to support and defeat the bandits attacking Junshan!"
"Yes!" Wei Lin responded.
Liang Tingsi was worried and couldn't help but ask: "Du Jian, this side of Chengling Village?"
"We still have the two armies here to protect the saints and the Fengguo army!" Du Hanhui answered his doubts and said calmly.
Looking at Han Tong and Du Hanhui, Liang Tingsi was obviously unwilling to give in, but he pinched his nose and obeyed the order.
After leaving the military tent, Liang Tingsi could no longer hide his anger and said to Wei Lin who was traveling with him: "I have fought for so long in Chengling North Village and lost so many soldiers. When I saw that the stronghold was about to be broken, I changed the guardian saint. If the army attacks, isn’t this taking credit?”
Hearing this, Wei Lin hurriedly tried to persuade him: "Be careful! We are surrendered generals after all. We are lucky to have made some achievements this time when we went south to fight against rebellion. Even if we take the credit, we can only admit it. Could it be that we can still compete with Are the Imperial Guards fighting?"
Liang Tingsi sighed: "I understand the truth, but I just don't want to give in!"
During this period, Liang Tingsi did play a great role in the attack on Chengling. Half of the soldiers who participated in the attack were under his command.
Looking at Wei Lin, Liang Tingsi was full of envy: "It's your navy's good luck, I have to rely on you!"
