At the top of Wuchang City, an unburned Song Army flag was thrown off the city wall by the Qi Army who boarded the city wall.
Soon, a large flag with the word "Qi" was erected at the top of the city.
The soldiers of the Qi army occupying the top of the city immediately raised their weapons and cheered loudly, "Great Qi! Won victory!"
…
Looking down, the Wuchang city gate opened wide, and a large group of Qi troops with bright armor lined up and marched into the city.
On both sides of the city gate, antlers were burning, and many corpses were lying on the ground with arrows and broken spears stuck in their bodies.
In front of the city gate, Liu Zheng stood on his horse and stood beside the city gate, with excitement on his face.
Many surrendered generals surrounded him, each with their chests puffed up, and their faces could not hide the look of pride.
Wuchang City was an important military town in the Southern Song Dynasty, but it only took three days for a group of soldiers who surrendered to the King of Qi to conquer such a city.
This surprised everyone. They didn't expect that they were so fierce.
Liu Zheng stood proudly on his horse, stood still for a while, and shouted loudly, "Inform the king that our troops have captured Wuchang. One day later, we will rush to Huangzhou!"
Liu Zheng's identity changed very quickly. Half a month ago, he was the guard general of Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty, and now he has become the vanguard of the Qi State's Middle Route Army.
Meng Gong was captured, Xiangyang surrendered, the world was shocked, people in Jingchu were shaken, and the morale of the Song army was extremely low.
At first, the Song army in Chu still wanted to resist Zhao Tai, but as the Qi army gained the advantage, the situation gradually became clear, and the minds of soldiers and civilians everywhere changed.
Now it is difficult for Zhao Tai to resist, and Zhao Tai's attack on the Song Dynasty is not an invasion of foreigners, but a vassal king seizing the throne. It can be said to be a family matter of the old Zhao family, and the officials and people of the Southern Song Dynasty do not need to be so desperate.
After all, if Zhao Yun wins, the world will be named Zhao; if Zhao Tai wins, the world will also be named Zhao.
Since it is a family matter, it is not easy for outsiders to get involved.
At first, everyone thought that Lin'an could continue to separate the southeast, and since they were officials in the Southern Song Dynasty, they naturally wanted to support Zhao Yun.
Now that Zhao Tai is difficult to resist, and there is a high probability that he will defeat Zhao Yun and become the emperor of the Song Dynasty, they must consider the next thing.
As the balance tilted, today's officials in the Southern Song Dynasty were inevitably divided politically.
Some Song Dynasty officials continued to regard Zhao Tai as a traitor and were loyal to Zhao Yun of Lin'an.
Some Song Dynasty officials remained silent, waiting for Qi and Song Dynasty to decide the winner.
They neither immediately surrendered to Zhao Tai nor followed Lin'an's orders to send troops to fight. Instead, they delayed for various reasons and only loyal to the final winner.
The last group of officials, seeing that Lin'an was bound to be defeated, chose to defect directly to Zhao Tai to ensure their status in the new regime.
After Xiangyang surrendered, Zhao Tai immediately turned around and headed south. Forward Liu Zheng had just arrived at the gates of Wuchang City. Song generals in the city rebelled and took the initiative to open the city gates. The Qi army immediately entered Wuchang and captured the coach Li Tingzhi alive.
Once Wuchang was defeated, the gate to the west of Jiangnan was wide open, and the Qi army had opened a channel down the river.
…
Wuchang City, temporary palace.
After the Qi army occupied Wuchang, Zhao Tai ordered his army to rest for three days, collect Chu ships, and prepare to go eastward along the river to completely defeat Zhao Yun.
At this time, in the palace, Zhao Tai stood in front of the map with his hands behind his hands, looking at the Jiangfang map of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Behind him stood a group of Qi generals.
"Your Majesty, the main force of the Song Army is gathered in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Now we are heading east from Wuchang. If the Song Army increases its troops upstream to defend Anqing and other cities, the downstream troops will be empty. At that time, I will force the troops from Yangzhou to cross directly, and then Pounce on Lin'an!" Wang Bin pointed at the map and said.
Zhao Tai nodded slightly and encouraged him to continue.
"If the Southern Song Dynasty still defends the lower reaches, the king can march all the way from Wuchang to Jinling with great force. At that time, the Eastern Route Army will take the opportunity to cross the river, the two armies will join forces, and Lin'an will surrender without a fight!" Wang Bin smiled with a smile on his face.
In the lobby, many generals burst into laughter, and it was clear that everyone saw a bright future.
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Lin'an City.
The war between Qi and Song has been going on for four months. The Song army was completely defeated in Shu and Chu. However, the fighting on the front line did not seem to disturb the lives of the people in Jiangnan.
The New Year has just passed and the Lantern Festival is approaching. Lanterns are hung on various streets in Lin'an City. The streets are full of people and bustling with people.
The festive atmosphere on the streets in the same city was different, but it was a different scene inside the palace.
In the past month, the entire palace seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gloom, and Emperor Zhao Yun continued to hear bad news.
Before Zhao Yun had time to digest the shock of Meng Gong's capture, Xiangyang's surrender dealt him another fatal blow.
What Zhao Yun didn't expect was that this was just the beginning. What followed was the destruction of Wuchang, the surrender of Huangzhou, Jiangzhou, and Pengze. Zhao Tai led the Qi army in the middle down the river and was about to approach Anqing.
Panic and uneasiness spread throughout the palace, but the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty seemed to be helpless about the current situation.
Zhao Tai slipped down from Wuchang. The Qi army was very fast. The Southern Song Dynasty must come up with a plan as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Zhao Tai reaches Jinling and the middle and east armies join forces, Jiangnan will be completely destroyed.
"We can't negotiate any more!" Ding Daquan stepped out and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, let's negotiate peace!"
Many ministers have been arguing for several days about how to deal with Zhao Tai, but no one has a good strategy.
Of the three battlefields of Bashu, Jingxiang, and Jiangnan, the Southern Song Dynasty had already lost two.
Now that Qi is seizing Jiangnan with its absolute advantage, how can the Southern Song Dynasty resist?
Just like the analysis of Qi State, Zhao Tai went east from Wuchang, and the Southern Song Dynasty Forbidden Army blocked Zhao Tai from going down the river, but it could not stop the Qi Army on the east route on the north bank.
Now the Southern Song Dynasty was destined to be unable to break the military situation.
Jia Sidao had a stern look on his face, "Negotiating a peace? Doesn't Prime Minister Ding not know what Zhao Tai's purpose is? Will he agree to negotiate a peace?"
Ding Daquan said angrily: "If we don't negotiate for peace, then Jia Xiang will come up with a strategy!"
Jia Sidao was speechless for a moment, and the hall fell silent again.
On the throne, Zhao Yun's face was as dark as dripping water. He saw that the ministers had come up with no countermeasures, and since they couldn't defeat him, they could only negotiate for peace.
The emperor of the Song Dynasty was quite considerate about seeking peace.
If you can't defeat them, you can become a vassal. If you can't defeat them, you can cede territory and give them annual coins. In short, as long as you can continue to separate one side.
"Let's negotiate peace!" Zhao Yun suddenly said.
In the main hall, many ministers could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Your Majesty, why does Zhao Tai not agree to peace?" Jia Sidao asked insistently.
Zhao Yun had already had an idea in his mind after watching the ministers argue for several days.
Now that the minister had no strategy, he expressed his thoughts, "Assemble the elites that can be mobilized and go to reinforce Anqing. The envoy will set off first. As long as Zhao Tai agrees that I will keep Jiangnan, then other conditions can be agreed to him. If Zhao Tai does not agree, If we negotiate for peace, then we can only fight in Anqing!"
In the main hall, everyone was shocked after hearing Zhao Yun's words.
According to Zhao Yun's wishes, as long as Zhao Yun wanted to cede Jiangnan, Sichuan, and Jingxiang to Qi, the Southern Song Dynasty would only be left with Soochow.
However, although everyone was shocked, no one raised any objection.
In the current situation, we can only seek peace first, not negotiate, and then engage in a decisive battle.
