As Zhao Xun expected, after Murong Cheng learned that Tang Xian entered Jingzhou and occupied Nanyang Mansion, an important place in the north of Jingzhou, he no longer had any intention of returning to Yuzhou to compete with the Yanzhou army. At the same time, he asked the army to move south and enter Huaiyin City, preparing to attack Huaiyin City. On the one hand, Zhang Tu was asked to send people to negotiate with Zhao Xun to cede the land of Yuzhou to reach an armistice agreement. In addition, he was also prepared to purchase grain and grass from Zhao Xun.
Although Murong Cheng was very unwilling, indeed, anyone in his position should be unwilling. It is indeed uncomfortable enough to pay for your own things. However, the current situation has made him understand that now, all the princes have set their sights on him, and they have already made preparations. Therefore, although I hate the Yanzhou Army very much in my heart, I have to put him aside first.
And in Xuzhou, as Zhao Xun said, Li Chi also rushed to Jiangdu Mansion to direct the Xuzhou Army's current combat strategy. Although Murong Cheng's frontline army now suffered losses of thirty to forty thousand men, Murong Cheng's army in Huaiyin Mansion still numbered more than 150,000, which was still a huge force for Li Chi. Especially now he hopes to enter Yangzhou, capture Yangzhou and occupy it. If there is too much loss in fighting Qi's army, then his idea will only be an idea and will not become a reality.
"Our army has captured the two prefectures in the north of Yangzhou and has completely opened a gap in Yangzhou's defense line. Your Majesty, thanks to this trick, the Qi army on the Yangzhou side was completely annihilated and the Qi army was caught off guard. Otherwise, we would not have been able to capture this important place in northern Yangzhou so quickly, and the Yangzhou defenders and civil and military officials would have been captured by us without their knowledge." Li Wu, the general of the Xuzhou Military Guard in the Jiangdu Governor's Office, looked happy. said.
Li Chi did not care about this victory. He knew that if he could not win despite being prepared and unprepared, then there would be no need for the Xuzhou Army to exist. After all, at the beginning of the war, the main force of the Qi army that came out from the north was completely wiped out, and only a small number of troops were left behind. In addition, Li Chi had deployed a lot of internal responses in Jiujiang and Lu'an in the north of Yangzhou a few months ago. Winning now, in his opinion, is natural.
"Li Yan, where is Murong Cheng now? Logically speaking, he should have known by now that the Yanzhou Army had entered Yuzhou, cut off his retreat, and seized his army's food and grass. If he wanted his If the losses are reduced to a minimum, then we should turn back and return to Yuzhou, and attack the Jingzhou army from both sides, forcing the Yanzhou army to spit out the fat meat it has swallowed. In this way, we can sit back and watch Murong Cheng and the Yanzhou army fight. One wants Yuzhou, and the other wants revenge for being betrayed, but it happens to be advantageous to us." Li Chi asked Li Yan, who is responsible for intelligence.
Li Yan¡¯s face changed, and he didn¡¯t answer directly for a while.
"Huh? What? No news?" Li Chi snorted coldly, "You are in charge of the news, why didn't you sort out the news in time?"
Seeing that Li Chi was angry, Li Yan said anxiously: "Report to the Governor, according to reports from spies, the army of Commander-in-Chief Murong Cheng has rushed to the foot of Huaiyin City and joined Xu Yandong. With an army of 150,000, he has the right to attack Huaiyin City. Huaiyin City The defenders have sent for help."
"What? How is it possible?" Li Chi was immediately shocked and shouted, "When was the news? Is it reliable?" Li Chi had a look of disbelief on his face.
Li Yan smiled bitterly and said: "The news I just received was originally planned to be reported to the Governor."
"Impossible? Murong Cheng was betrayed by the Yanzhou Army. How could he endure being betrayed by a prince who was far weaker than him?"
"Even if the Yanzhou Army occupies Yuzhou, the strength in Murong Cheng's hands can still suppress the Yanzhou Army. Besides, as long as the stalemate lasts for several days, Jingzhou will definitely be able to send troops to attack. The Yanzhou Army alone will not be able to suppress it at all. It's not enough. But why doesn't Murong Cheng go back to the army and insist on fighting with the governor? "
The news reported by Li Yan made Li Chi a little unbelievable, and he also felt that the situation was a little out of control. According to his plan, the current Murong Cheng should be furious, immediately send his troops back, have a battle with the Yanzhou Army in Yuzhou, then defeat the Yanzhou Army, return to Jingzhou, and finally fall into a battle with Situ Lei.
But now, instead of going back, Murong Cheng stormed Huaiyin City. In Huaiyin City, Li Chi left only 30,000 defenders. This was because there were tens of thousands of Qi troops attacking fiercely, so many troops were deliberately left behind just in case. But now, the Qi army under Huaiyin City suddenly doubled in number. Huaiyin City, which had been fighting hard for more than half a month and had only less than 20,000 defenders, could no longer hold on and began to ask for help from him.
"No, there must be something wrong here. Could it be that Situ Lei dispatched from Yongzhou? Did Murong Cheng dare not turn back easily? So he abandoned Yuzhou and turned to attack the road south?"
"It shouldn¡¯t be, what Situ Lei said at the beginning was that his goal would be Jiaozhou, and he would have to open a road to the sea"
Li Chi frowned suddenly, wondering what happened to the west. Although this matter was mainly due to a change in Murong Cheng's direction, now it has completely affected his overall plan.
Just when Li Chi was confused, the new news finally made him understand the reason for this matter.
"It turns out to be Tang Xian! I didn't expect Tang Xian to be so capable and well hidden. I thought that the Tang Army would just be a bystander this time, but I didn't expect that Tang Xian actually used the Yanzhou Army to occupy Nanyang Mansion. Look. Come on, Tang Xian¡¯s intention is Jingzhou. Ohmiscalculation, miscalculation!" Li Chi shook his head and sighed.
"My Lord, if Tang Xian wants to attack Jingzhou, why would the Yanzhou Army My Lord, could it be said that this Tang Army has colluded with the Yanzhou Army?" Li Yan said in surprise.
Li Chi nodded and said: "Yes, they colluded, and we were fooled by Tang Xian. We originally thought that we and the Tang army would jointly suppress the Yanzhou army. In this operation, the governor did not pay attention to the Tang army in the north. , after all, he is not even close to the southern part of the country.¡±
"Heywho would have thought that he would go the way of the Yanzhou Army and plot to capture Jingzhou. Now, Jingzhou is under attack by the Tang Army, and Yuzhou is occupied by the Yanzhou Army. In addition, the Yanzhou Army has also captured the food and grass of the Qi Army. In this way Later, Murong Cheng wanted to turn back and fight with the Yanzhou army. After all, without Jingzhou reinforcements and without enough food, the 150,000 troops would not be able to hold on for long. Moreover, Yangzhou was far more important than Yuzhou and Jingzhou. Much more important."
"Then what should we do now? Huaiyin City asked us for help, and my subordinates guessed that they can't hold on for much longer. Now Murong Cheng is surrounded by enemies on all sides. Apart from taking Huaiyin City as soon as possible, opening up the south passage and returning to Yangzhou, there is no other way There is no better way, so this time, Murong Cheng will do whatever it takes."
Li Chi gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "In this way, let the army going south mobilize 20,000 people, join the soldiers from Jiangdu Prefecture, and rush to the rescue of Huaiyin City immediately. As long as Huaiyin City is still in our hands, then Yangzhou will be ours. Chinese food is available upon request.¡±
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When Li Chi mobilized men from the south to assist Huaiyin City, Zhao Xun had already met the negotiator sent by Murong Cheng. Neither Zhao Xun nor Feng Ziming expected this situation.
In their opinion, Murong Cheng at this moment must either fight back desperately or go south immediately. Moreover, in the eyes of the two of them, Murong Cheng should directly attack the Xuzhou Army at this time, and then return to Yangzhou to plan a counterattack.
With regard to Murong Cheng¡¯s request for peace, after Zhao Xun and Feng Ziming discussed it, they both thought it was acceptable. First of all, Zhao Xun's goal this time was Yuzhou, and he had no intention of all-out war with Murong Cheng. Now that Yuzhou is in hand, Murong Cheng has nothing to do with him anymore.
Of course, Zhao Xun understood that he had betrayed Murong Cheng this time, and Murong Cheng would definitely hate him to the core. But Zhao Xun also knew that this time Murong Cheng was jointly attacked by the Xuzhou Army, Yanzhou Army, Tang Army and Yong Army. Whether he can turn over or not is another matter. By that time, he was no longer able to continue to struggle with himself. Of course, if Murong Cheng could rise again, it would be the Xuzhou Army that Murong Cheng needed to counterattack the most, not himself. Although Murong Cheng hated himself the most, the most deadly thing to Murong Cheng now was the Xuzhou Army. Because the Xuzhou Army attacked his base camp.
Secondly, Zhao Xun was really worried that Murong Cheng would not be able to go south and eventually return to Yuzhou, but would have to fight to the death with him. After all, this time it was him who betrayed the other party. If we can negotiate with the other party and capture the remaining prefectures and counties in Yuzhou without any bloodshed, then this would naturally be the best. And Murong Cheng, who also hoped to be supplemented, could lead the army to compete with the Xuzhou Army, so that the Xuzhou Army could also have a good fight with the Qi Army. Since Li Chi wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, why can't he?
The last reason is that Situ Lei also started to take action. Situ Lei sent troops from Ningzhou and Yizhou. The entire Jiaozhou and half of Jiangzhou were under Situ Lei's attack. Zhao Xun didn't want Murong Cheng to stay here for too long, and he didn't want to be defeated here, but in the end, Situ Lei took the biggest advantage. Therefore, Zhao Xun also hoped that Murong Cheng would go back and form a confrontation with Situ Lei again.
Immediately, Zhao Xun reached an agreement with Murong Cheng, and Zhao Xun took over the eastern counties of Yuzhou. As for the civil and military officials in these prefectures and counties, those who are willing to stay and serve as officials will continue to serve as officials after the assessment. If you don't want to, just let them go. As for the local soldiers, most of them were from Yuzhou, so they naturally stayed with Yuzhou and became members of the Yanzhou Army.
As for the grain trade, Zhao Xun naturally would not agree directly. After all, Murong Cheng is now in enemy territory and has no supplies to trade. But Murong Cheng¡¯s envoy said??If the Yanzhou Army is willing to sell grain to the Qi Army, then the Huaiyin Mansion in Xuzhou can be handed over to the Yanzhou Army. Of course, it was the Yanzhou Army that captured it from the Qi Army. As for whether the Yanzhou Army will occupy it or use money to redeem it in the future, this has nothing to do with the Qi Army.
Zhao Xun understood that the Qi army used the Huaiyin Mansion to trade grain with him. In addition to really needing food, was it not to directly create conflicts between himself and the Xuzhou army? Huaiyin Mansion is located in the south and west of Xuzhou, adjacent to Yuzhou. The three important cities of Huaiyin Prefecture are the key points for the Xuzhou Army to resist the southwest areas. Now, Quyang City falls into the hands of the Qi Army. If Huaiyin City is captured by Murong Cheng, then the entire southwest flank of Xuzhou will be under the blade of the Yanzhou Army. In particular, these three important cities that used to resist foreign enemies will become the fortresses of the Yanzhou Army's defense against the Xuzhou Army and the sharp knives inserted into the side of the Xuzhou Army.
If Zhao Xun agreed, then Xuzhou Li Chi would definitely be extremely dissatisfied. But now that all the princes are seeking development for themselves, Zhao Xun will naturally not let go of this opportunity. It can not only defend the field, but also suppress the enemy. In addition, it can also cut off the land of the government from Xuzhou.
After discussing with Feng Ziming and others, Zhao Xun finally decided to reach a deal with Murong Cheng. However, Zhao Xun needed to take over Quyang City and the three surrounding counties, and then hand over half of the grain transaction amount to the Qi army. As for Li Chi and the Xuzhou Army, Zhao Xun now has no time to think about these. As for Li Chi, he didn't have time to think about the Huaiyin Mansion.
Now that an agreement has been reached and Murong Cheng¡¯s cooperation, it will be much easier for the Yanzhou Army to take over Yuzhou. Those who are loyal to Murong Cheng can naturally put down their weapons and government affairs and leave. Those who are willing to stay will go home and wait. The Yanzhou Army began to take over various prefectures and counties. I have to say that the people of Yuzhou are quite welcoming to the Yanzhou Army. At the very least, when the Yanzhou Army took over the place, it did not cause life problems and even gained the support of the people.
"I didn't expect that Murong Cheng retreated so easily!" Feng Ziming couldn't help but sigh as he watched the Qi Army flag master flying down and the Yanzhou Army flag rising slowly in the Xiangzhou Mansion in eastern Yuzhou.
Feng Ziming and Zhao Xun directly joined the troops of Wei Dong and Xu Qing who had previously entered, and divided their troops into multiple groups. At the same time, they began to take over Jufu County in the eastern part of Yuzhou. In addition to stabilizing the place as soon as possible, Zhao Xun also did not want any supplies from the counties in eastern Yuzhou to leave Yuzhou and enter the Qi army. However, the attitude of surrender in the eastern counties of Yuzhou was relatively straightforward, making Feng Ziming feel as if he was in a dream. Feng Ziming understood Murong Cheng and Qi Jun quite well. Only then did he surrender in defeat, which simply made him unimaginable.
Zhao Xun shook his head and smiled softly: "It's getting more and more lively now. Murong Cheng doesn't dare to wait any longer. If he doesn't show off, he just has to do it. If it's just us and the Xuzhou Army, Murong Cheng will just directly He sent his army back to Yuzhou and fought to the death with us. Of course, with the reinforcements from Jingzhou, we were certainly no match. But now Tang Xian began to plot to capture Jingzhou, and achieved considerable results, causing Murongcheng to lose his support and logistics. supply."
"The most important thing is that the news that Situ Lei is now meddling with Jiaozhou and Jiangzhou should have reached Murongcheng. He can't be impatient. If we are considered minions, we are not taken seriously by Murongcheng, or even Yes, even if we take away some prefectures and counties in Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Jingzhou, he, Murong Chengdu, can't worry about it. But if Situ Lei moves, he, Murong Cheng, will have to worry about it."
"My Lord, since we have returned to Quyang City, why not take Huaipu City as well. The remaining Huaiyin City will soon be destroyed by Murong Cheng's army. In this way, we can completely occupy Huaiyin Mansion. In this case, we are equivalent to building a bridgehead in Xuzhou, which is not only conducive to defense, but also conducive to future counterattacks. More importantly, this is one of the few places in the southwest of Xuzhou that can form a critical link with the surrounding terrain. City." Feng Ziming said suddenly.
Zhao Xun was startled and asked in confusion: "Since the beginning of the war, we and the Xuzhou Army have been both allies and competitors. At the same time, we and them are also enemies. Since we want Quyang City, even if we fight with Li Chi The confrontation started."
"Besides, when we discussed it at the beginning, we said that we would let the Qi army pass through Huaiyin Prefecture, and then cut off the three cities of Huaiyin Prefecture, making it impossible for them to retreat, while the Jiangdu Prefecture and Guangling Prefecture armies would turn back and disperse after defeating the Yangzhou army. Or defeat Murong Cheng's army. But now, he is blocking Huaiyin City just to make Murong Cheng fight with us. In this case, why should we be polite? Zi Ming, tell me what you think. , We need to take action, which is not an easy task. There are still 15,000 Xuzhou troops stationed in Huaipu City. The city is thick and easy to defend, and it is difficult to attack. With the well-prepared defense equipment, it would be difficult to capture the city without tens of thousands of casualties and ten days and a half.¡±
Feng Ziming smiled and said: "What the Lord said is that this Huaipu City is the same as Huaiyin City. The city is strong.The pool is thick and difficult to attack. At Huaipu City, Xu Yandong suffered thirty to forty thousand casualties and fought for half a month, but he failed to capture Huaiyin City. If Huaipu City were to be attacked by force, the situation would be no better than the siege of Huaipu City. "
"However, Xu Qing took the road back from Huaipu City and knows Huaipu City better. Similarly, the defender of Huaipu City should also know that Xu Qing and them are allies. In this case, why not transfer some of them and let them go later? Did Xu Qing get it successfully?"
Zhao Xun wondered: "Although within the territory of Huaiyin Mansion, apart from the large army in Huaiyin City in the southeast, there is also an army of 15,000 people in Huaipu City. However, if we want to lure them out, where is the bait? Where is it?¡±
Feng Ziming said with a smile: "My Lord, this Quyang City is the best bait. If the Huaipu City Guards learn that Murong Cheng is planning to attack Huaiyin City and has given up on Quyang City, do you think the Huaipu City Guards will not Will you send someone to take over Quyang City immediately?¡±
"Of course he will. Li Chi will definitely tell the three city guards of Huaiyin Mansion to take control of the three important cities and keep our Yanzhou Army or Qi Army out of the country. This is a good idea, and we will give in this time. Xu Qing takes a detour and passes through Huaipu City. When the time comes, we will take advantage of the situation" Zhao Xun laughed. He naturally understood what Feng Ziming meant. Zhao Xun would not let go of this opportunity.