While the situation in the lower reaches was changing, the war in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River also started, and the noise was much greater than the fighting in the lower reaches. Starting from September 16th, the land and sea army commanded by Cao Bin began to attack Ezhou according to the original plan.
The core of Ezhou's defense lies in the two cities of Hanyang and Jiangxia. Since the Huainan War, in order to relieve the pressure from the Han army in the middle reaches, the Jinling court invested a lot of manpower in Ezhou to strengthen its defense and consolidate the downstream counties and Jinling. safety.
In addition, the main general who guards Ezhou all year round is Liu Renfan. This man is a good defender. He built a complete set of defense facilities around Hanyang and Jiangxia, and the city was also very solidly repaired. There are more than twenty fortresses along the river. Each is solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack. They form horns with each other and jointly protect the main city.
After Liu Renfan's death, the veteran general Lu Jiang who succeeded him also continued to strengthen the city, repair ordnance, train the army, and practice the method of defending the city based on Liu Rengan's defense.
By the fourteenth year of Qianyou's reign, the garrison strength of Ezhou had reached 50,000. Although most of them were state and county soldiers and rural soldiers, there were still more than 10,000 strong troops, who were elite soldiers who had been trained all year round. Wow, this is a powerful force.
Therefore, the garrison strength of Ezhou is actually quite sufficient. If it can be used well, even if it is not defended, it will always cause a lot of trouble to the Han army. This is also the case. To attack Ezhou, the court will prepare 40,000 troops. reason.
However, the problem lies precisely in the fact that the defenders of Ezhou cannot fully play their role. The reason is because of their new commander, the newly appointed Ezhou Jiedu Envoy and Xiongwu Commander Huangfu Jixun.
Under pressure from the imperial court, Li Yu replaced Lu Jiang, a veteran general who thought he was too old, and wanted to rely on Huangfu Jixun, a son of a loyal and famous general, to take charge. However, it was precisely this Huangfu Jixun who made the two veteran generals Liu and Lu carefully construct defenses, which turned out to be mere decorations.
The arrival of Huangfu Jixun was actually a disaster for Ezhou's defense. The biggest blow was the weakening of military morale. As mentioned before, Huangfu's successor was a general under the influence of his father, but he himself had no general talents.
That's all. If we can unite the soldiers, humbly accept advice, and make them unite and persist in resistance, they can also cause trouble for the Han army. However, Huangfu Jixun's approach was exactly the opposite.
After he took office in Ezhou, he did not focus on military defense at all. He liked to show off, put on airs, and indulge in sensuality. He did not care about the enemy's situation, city defense, military morale and other matters.
He also had a clear attitude towards resisting the Han army. He felt that the Northern army was so strong that it could not be stopped. Since it could not be stopped, why bother with useless efforts. Huangfu Jixun even advised the generals at a military meeting that if they resisted and offended the court severely, they would only be in trouble for themselves in the future.
Why did Huangfu Jixun dare to take over the garrison task of Ezhou? Because from the beginning, he had no determination to be loyal to the country and repay the emperor with death. All he thought about was to preserve his status and wealth.
As the coach, Huangfu Jixun had such a negative attitude. Affected by this, how could the situation of the Ezhou defenders get better? In less than two months, the Ezhou garrison became disloyal and morale declined day by day.
Cao Bin, who was sharpening his sword in Yuezhou, also had a clear understanding of the situation of the Ezhou defenders and knew himself and the enemy thoroughly. Originally, there were some concerns about its defense, but when the news came about Huangfu Jixun's performance after taking office, Cao Bin himself was shocked and couldn't understand it at all.
In fact, the torrent of history is rolling forward. In addition to the powerful Han monarchs and ministers who control the general trend, it is also driven by the cooperation of hostile forces. Judging from the development of things, this is the case.
No matter what, Cao Bin likes to hear about the situation of the Ezhou defenders. The worse the enemy's situation is and the more problems there are, the more beneficial it is to him. As a mature and prudent general, Cao Bin has always considered how to achieve maximum results at the minimum cost. It would be great if his opponent takes the initiative to give him a chance.
When the edict was issued, Cao Bin and Liu Guangyi immediately led their troops to attack Ezhou. Liu Guangyi was also a relatively young general, known for his rigorous military management. During the war against Shu, he followed Zhao Kuangyin to Sichuan on the east road. He had made military exploits and also participated in the Northern Expedition. This time he was sent to Pingnan because he had experience in fighting in the south.
Cao and Liu divided their troops into two groups, with 25,000 troops led by Cao Bin. They set out from Baling, marched by land and water, along the river, and crossed Chibi. In the north, he defeated thousands of naval troops in Ezhou head-on, thereby cutting off the connection between Hanyang and Jiangxia. Afterwards, Cao Bin gradually removed the fortresses around Jiangxia.
Liu Guangyi led an army of 15,000 troops and moved south from Xiaogan to attack Hanyang. According to the battle plan formulated by Cao Bin, he also first eliminated the fortress towns around Hanyang. It only took three days for the two Han armies to gradually remove all the surrounding forts and towns. Then they came to the city and cut off water and land transportation, leaving Hanyang and Jiangxia as isolated cities.
In this process, the Ezhou army's response was slow and chaotic. A group of garrison soldiers trained by Liu Rengan still had certain fighting ability and will. Especially in the first battle, they still put up some tenacious resistance.
However, this lacks organization and coordination after all. It only relies on some low-level officers who are brave and have no cooperation at all. With the entire defense system being fragmented, the resistance of several forts has nothing but sacrifices for the Jiangnan court. , apart from adding a bit of desolation and tragedy, it is useless.
During the process of the Han army expelling the forts, the performance of the commander-in-chief Huangfu Jixun was not too unexpected. He just did nothing and sat guarding the city without giving orders or rescuing. Some generals were even willing to fight against the Han army. He was also stopped.
The Han army, under the command of Cao Liu, calmly attacked the fortress and completely removed the obstacles to the city. In addition to suffering some losses due to the stubborn resistance of the Hubei army at the beginning, the fortresses behind were all desperate and surrendered one after another. In short, the Han army fought easily.
After the troops arrived at the city, Cao Bin ordered to set up camp, rest on the spot, and prepare for the attack. The same battle arrangement was used, with Cao Bin attacking Jiangxia in the south of the Yangtze River, and Liu Guangyi attacking Hanyang in the north of the Yangtze River. In fact, this was a bit exaggerated. The remaining garrison forces in the two cities combined still numbered no less than 40,000. However, the poor situation of the garrison gave Cao and Liu the confidence to make bold arrangements.
"General Cao, this progress is a bit too smooth!" Liu Guangyi came across the river by boat to discuss military affairs with Cao Bin. There was still some disbelief on his heroic face, and he said: "I thought that in order to wipe out the fortresses, there would be no need to do anything. It will take seven days, and it may be after winter when the city is breached. Who would have thought that the defenders' will to resist is so weak, it is almost overwhelming!"
"General Liu, we have to thank Huangfu Jixun!" The two people were walking by the river, observing the surrounding terrain. Cao Bin also said with a smile on his face: "Judging from the current situation, there is no need to enter winter, Ezhou You can take it!"
"The letter of persuasion to surrender has been sent into the city, and we can continue to crush its morale. However, although the enemy army is weak, the strength of this city cannot be faked!" Liu Guangyi said: "A strong attack may be able to break it quickly, but it will inevitably increase the number of enemies. casualties!"
"What General Liu said is true!" Cao Bin nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "It is better to prepare for the attack first, continue to disrupt the morale of his troops, weaken their will to resist, and then act according to the situation. If we can persuade them to surrender, we will surrender without fighting. The best is to subjugate one's troops!"
"Alas..." Liu Guangyi couldn't help but sigh and said: "I have experienced some hard and fierce battles before, but now the march is going smoothly, but I am a little uncomfortable. This battle is a bit boring!"
After listening to Liu Guangyi's words, Cao Bin couldn't help but smile: "We have been ordered by the emperor to lead the king's troops to carry out righteous deeds. Naturally, we will be invincible. Those who use mantis arms as chariots will naturally be wiped out! However, we still cannot relax. After all, the enemy still has Tens of thousands of people!”
Cao Bin is still like this, calm and steady, not daring to slack off, let alone be arrogant.
Liu Guangyi nodded, immediately clasped his fists and said, "I'll go back to Jiangbei to take charge first!"
...
While Cao and Liu were surprised by the smooth progress of the war, people in Jiangxia City were already panicking, and morale continued to decline, almost reaching its lowest point.
Under a water gate in the north city, a group of people gathered together. They were all officers. The highest-ranking officer was a Marquis of Du Yu. The atmosphere was very depressing. These people gathered together and were obviously planning something big.
The one who spoke was Du Yuhou, who did not hide anything and said directly: "The king is stupid and does not use veteran generals, but uses villains. Huangfu Jixun has no talent and virtue. He only ranks above us because of his family background. He regards him as a villain." Military affairs are child's play, and the officers and men are like oxen and horses. The Han army came to attack in large numbers, and they neither made any preparations nor sent troops to rescue. They just sat back and watched the fortresses fall. With such a commander, if we don't make plans early, we will be buried with him sooner or later!"
"Marquis Zhu Yu is right, Huangfu Jixun, an incompetent person, will be harmed if he follows him. We should find another way to make a living!" A general immediately answered, gritting his teeth.
"The Han army has arrived at the city. Traffic has been cut off and reinforcements are hard to come. It is an isolated city. Even though the city is high, the people are not united and the commander is incompetent. It is bound to be unable to hold it. We must rise up, kill Huangfu Jixun, and surrender to the Han army. We will not lose. A credit!" Another officer followed and pointed directly to the topic.
In fact, when these people got together, they all knew what was going on and what to do. Therefore, as soon as this statement came out, they were all eager to try it. Soon, everyone turned their attention to the Marquis of Du Yu whose surname was Zhu. After all, he had the highest military position.
At this time, there was a burst of footsteps outside, and an officer broke in. The group of people quickly drew their swords, but it was Zhu Yuhou who said "one of our own" before he calmed down.
The visitor said: "Huangfu Jixun has already ordered people to pack their bags. He may be planning to abandon the army and flee!"
"This waste!" Someone suddenly cursed.
Zhu Yuhou looked around, lowered his voice, and said with murderous intent: "Everyone, let's raise an army, kill the emperor, and return to the court. Do you have any objections?"
"Kill Huangfu!"
"Kill Huangfu!"
"..."
All the officers echoed fiercely. It is quite rare for the coach Huangfu Jixun to do this.
"Okay, in accordance with the blood oath, we will raise our troops tonight, lead our subordinates, rush into the commander's mansion, take Huangfu's successor's head, and surrender to the imperial court!" Zhu Yuhou said.
"yes!"
That night, thousands of strong military troops in Jiangxia City, led by Zhu Jun, the Marquis of Duyu, suddenly broke into chaos, entered the Jieduguyamen, and killed the general Huangfu Jixun. Because the chaos broke out suddenly and it was a cold night, Cao Bin did not act rashly until the early morning of the next day. The gates of Jiangxia City were opened wide, and more than 20,000 defenders chose to surrender.
As soon as Jiangxia surrendered, the news spread, and Hanyang followed suit. In this way, Cao and Liu came to the city and captured Ezhou without losing any blood. At the cost of 431 casualties, Jiangxia and Hanyang were captured, and more than 47,000 troops were surrendered...
