"I have also received some information from Jinling!" The waiter served orange peel soup, carefully brewed, bitter and sweet. While the three of them were enjoying it, Li Gu said to them: "The situation between the chief minister of Jinling and the Southern Army It’s really gratifying!”
Hearing this, Zhao Yanjin couldn't help but said curiously: "Could it be that they made another stupid move or committed some random fate?"
"Li Yu, the leader of the Jiangnan Kingdom, was still hiding in the palace during this period, embracing beauties, enjoying poetry, and basically leaving military and state affairs to Chen Qiao and Feng Yanlu. He has recruited more than 30,000 troops, and Jinling's military strength , there are nearly 60,000..." Li Gu said.
"So it seems that there are about 200,000 soldiers in Jiangnan. Can such a large army be supported by the land of Jiangnan and Jiangxi alone?" Zhao Yanjin asked.
Li Gu said: "After all, Jiangnan's heritage is quite deep. Facing the crisis of destroying the country and destroying the family, it is enough to exhaust the treasury and sustain it for a period of time!"
"Although there are many people, they are still a mob, and their combat power is worrisome, so there is nothing to fear!" Shi Shouxin said lightly.
"What you said is true!" Li Guze sighed slightly: "Originally, I wanted to try my best to preserve the vitality of Jiangnan, but the Jinling court was so militaristic, coupled with the heavy conquests and heavy taxes, the destruction and losses suffered by Jiangnan are still It’s so important!”
After hearing what Li Gu said, Shi Shouxin immediately said: "If we want to reduce losses, we can only attack Jinling as soon as possible and end the war!"
Nodding slightly, Li Gu continued: "According to the news from the Jinling court, if the Yangtze River cannot be defended, their final plan is to concentrate their forces and stick to Jinling to wait for changes. For this reason, Lin Renzhao wrote several times to request We sent more troops to Changzhou and Xuanzhou to strengthen defense, but they were all rejected!"
Hearing this, Shi Shouxin couldn't help but said: "This Lin Renzhao does have some vision, but the pearl is secretly cast! Although Jinling is a place of physical beauty, with tigers perched on the dragon's plate, it is not an easy-to-defend or difficult-to-attack place. Once the upper and lower reaches Isn’t it ridiculous to try to preserve the pass and the fortress after they have been destroyed and the traffic has been opened?”
"Yes!" Li Gu also chuckled and said: "Throughout the past dynasties, whenever foreign troops arrived in Jinling, they were never able to defend it. If we blindly fight conservatively, we will only end up with the city destroyed and people killed!"
After listening to the two people talking, Zhao Yanjin spoke: "I think it is not difficult to understand their thoughts. The Yangtze River defense line, which is thousands of miles away, is surrounded by enemies from both sides and is fortified everywhere. Let alone 200,000 miscellaneous soldiers, even if it is doubled, how can it be defended? . No matter what, Jinling is indeed a big city and a fortified city. If you want to wait for changes, it is still an option!"
"What Director Zhao said is good!" Shi Shouxin also expressed his approval and said confidently and calmly: "In short, the current situation is like this, Jiangnan will only be defeated in the end!"
"That's right!"
"Lin Renzhao is indeed a man of outstanding courage. He had a plan to sneak to Changzhou with his elite troops and attack our allied forces with Wu and Yue. Unfortunately, the generals were timid and opposed it and failed to do so!" Li Gu said again, with a rare tone in his tone. Showing some appreciation is the attitude of a winner.
Shi Shouxin was immediately concerned, and there was a clear change on his face, saying: "Chang Run is so close, and elite soldiers can sneak up and arrive in a day. If they succeed and are not noticed in time, it will be a big trouble!"
"It's time for Guo Tingwei to receive the news. I'll also write to him and be on guard!" Li Gu said, "It's just a pity that such a general has so much thought in Jiangnan. He is still a surrendered general from Fujian." !”
"There are always loyal and righteous people in this world! His Majesty once said that Jiangnan General Lin is the only one. I hope he will not die on the battlefield in the future. If he can be captured alive, I would like to see him... .”
...
From the information received by Li Gu, it can be seen that the information transmission between the two warring parties is so unbalanced. Jiangnan military and political affairs have no secrets in front of General Pingnan. How do they want them to fight this battle?
While Li Gu, Shi Shouxin, and Zhao Yanjin were in the hothouse, warming wine and discussing military affairs, military orders came one after another from the Jianghuai camp and were sent to various armies. The most important one was directed to Zhang Yongde's army.
After the previous camp meeting, Zhang Yongde led 20,000 Jianghuai Han troops to sneak westward to Hezhou and stationed in Liyang, aiming directly at Dangtu opposite. Among the many generals of the Han army, Zhang Yongde was not very old, but he was particularly senior. He was a member of the Forbidden Army Military Academy under the age of twenty. He was the son-in-law of Guo Wei, Duke of Xing, and a senior general who came from the emperor's side. He had a profound background.
Although he has never had any outstanding military exploits, if you look at his resume, you will find that he was very active. He was active in the suppression of bandits in the early days of the country, the suppression of Li Shouzhen's rebellion, the conquest of Huainan, and the suppression of Sichuan and Shu. He was active in these wars.
He was not able to participate in the Northern Expedition, but he was a senior general on the Pingnan battlefield. Compared with the original eldest brother Li Chongjin, although Zhang Yongde is not as famous as before, his luck can be said to be better and his foundation is extremely deep. Generally speaking, people like Zhang Yongde often climb higher in the end.
At dawn, large groups of Han troops had already assembled on the banks of the Yangtze River. At the same time, the naval forces had already set up formations on the river. Under the escort of their own soldiers, they boarded warships. He wanted to personally supervise the crossing operation.
"Du Yuhou, the entire army is ready and can attack at any time!" Zhang Yanqing, the commander of the Yangzhou Navy, stood with Zhang Yongde and said to him.
This time, Zhang Yongde was camped in Jianghuai, holding the position of Du Yuhou, and was also the top four generals in the Pingnan army. Standing on the deck, looking across the river, in the morning mist, one can vaguely see the quarry cliffs on the other side. Listening to the roar of the river wind and the waves hitting the rocks, Zhang Yong pulled on his military robe, his eyes glowing with intensity. His expression was particularly firm, and his voice was particularly firm: "Send the order to attack Caishiji!"
"yes!"
Following Zhang Yongde's order, one hundred and fifty Han warships left the stronghold and sailed to the other side, riding the wind and waves, moving forward indomitably. If accompanied by background music, the scene would be even more exciting and exciting.
The situation of the Southern Army on the other side has long been understood. The Han army participating in the cross-river battle only had more than 7,000 people, half of them were naval troops, and the other half were selected Jianghuai soldiers, all of whom knew the nature of water. For the Han army, the difficult part was landing operations, but once they landed on the other side, the remaining battles were not difficult for them.
The terrain of Caishiji is indeed superior, easy to defend but difficult to attack, otherwise it would not have become a battleground for military strategists. Under the leadership of veteran Zhu Gong, defensive arrangements have also been made. However, no matter how dangerous the fortress is, it will eventually be difficult to attack. It relies on people to protect it.
In order to capture Caishiji, the Han army made full preparations and prepared in advance ten tall ships specially used for landing. Their height was almost the same as that of Caishiji. With them, they could directly board the cliff when they docked. Of course, before the official landing, a "fire preparation" was carried out. The Han army's strong bows, crossbows, rockets, and thunder cannons carried out indiscriminate attacks on the strongholds and enemy troops in Ishang.
It lasted for half an hour, and when the sky was completely bright and white, amidst the chaos and panic of the guarding Confederate army, Zhang Yongde decisively ordered the tall ship to dock. From there, hundreds of armored soldiers, as dead soldiers, Climb the river bank first.
The enemy army on Caishiji has not yet completely collapsed. There are still soldiers under the leadership of the general who launched a counterattack, mainly using sharp weapons such as bows and arrows, wood, rolling stones, and kerosene. The threat posed is not small. It caused some casualties to the Han army.
However, casualties could not stop the pace of landing after all. The first soldiers selected by Zhang Yongde were all dead soldiers. Warriors with no worries. They were not afraid of death, but also made a living by dying. They went on and on, and after paying the casualties of more than two hundred people, , there were Han soldiers ascending to Jitou, then the second, the third...
Afterwards, Zhang Yongde continued to dispatch soldiers to provide support. When the number of landing soldiers reached one battalion, it was stable enough. When a thousand people were broken through, a counterattack could be launched. After two thousand people were broken through, Caishiji went up. The Southern Army was directly defeated...
During the entire process of crossing the river, except for the fierce resistance when landing, I didn't feel any threat. It was as easy as drinking water. From the beginning to the end, the garrison commander Zhu Gong, who was responsible for garrisoning Dangtu, was not in the military camp in Caishiji. He stayed in Dangtu County.
However, after learning that the Han army was crossing the river to attack, he still led Dangtu's army to support him. However, Caishi fell too quickly. By the time he led his army to arrive from the county town more than 20 miles away, , the defenders have collapsed.
In an emergency, Zhu Gong did not choose to give it a go. He led his army to recapture Caishiji and drove the Han army into the water. He led his men and withdrew north without hesitation, preparing to return to Jinling to call the police.
In this way, when Tu's 20,000 defenders collapsed at the first touch, Zhang Yongde did not order a pursuit. Instead, after consolidating, he gathered ships and took over all the Han troops on the north bank. That night, they stationed themselves quarrying on the spot, and the next day they marched north, with their frontline pointing directly at Jinling, while the quarrying was only a hundred miles away from Jinling.
