"What? Where did you get the news?" Murong Cheng roared again in Yandu, Guangling Prefecture, at the Qi army camp. He received news from Qi. In addition to Jingzhou being attacked by the Tang army, Yuzhou being occupied by the Yanzhou army, and Yangzhou being attacked by the Xuzhou army, Jiaozhou and Jiangzhou in the south and west were also attacked by his archenemy Situ Lei.
Zhang Tu¡¯s face was solemn and he said urgently: ¡°Reporting to the Lord, this news was obtained from the Yanzhou Army in Huaiyin Mansion.¡±
Murong Cheng said with an ugly face: "The Yanzhou Army? Will they kindly pass the news to us? Is it false news? When we left Huaiyin City, we slaughtered all the people in Huaiyin City and turned it into a white land. In addition, we will also The news of his peace with us has also spread, how could they be willing to pass the news to us? "
Zhong Yan smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, our massacre of the people in Huaiyin City and the six surrounding counties has not caused any immediate loss of interest to the Yanzhou Army. In other words, the Yanzhou Army hates us on the surface. But in fact, it is still there. Thanks to us for slaughtering all the people there. In this way, after they take over the Huaiyin Mansion, they will turn the people's hostility towards them into hostility towards us. As for spreading the news about our peace deal with him, what can we do? Nowadays, all the princes are fighting on their own, and no one can punish him. "
"This news should be true, because the Yanzhou Army hopes that we can go south and return to Yangzhou as soon as possible, so that it is better for the Xuzhou Army to fight fiercely. The Yanzhou Army's occupation of Huaiyin Mansion has touched the interests of the Xuzhou Army. Now, the Yanzhou Army is busy cleaning up the internal affairs of Yuzhou . Therefore, he hopes that there will be no enemy harassment from the outside world, and we are the important people to contain the Yanzhou Army's eastern enemy, Xuzhou Army, so he sent us the news of the invasion of Situ Lei in the rear. "
"Therefore, this news is 100% true. And we are in enemy territory, so I have no way of knowing this news. If Situ Lei and Zhao Xun fought, I'm afraid the Xuzhou Army and Yanzhou Army would have already started to spread wildly, and It¡¯s not like there is no news. After all, Zhao Jun is directly north of these princes.¡±
"Now that Situ Lei and Zhao Xun are not at war, what will Situ Lei do? Recharge his batteries? At this time, our Qi army has encountered counterattacks from various princes and is at a disadvantage. Then what will Situ Lei do at this time? Or are you still indifferent? My lord, if you think about it, this Situ Lei will definitely take this opportunity to launch a massive attack on our rear."
"And most of our armies are concentrated in the north, especially now that the Tang army is attacking Jingzhou and the Xuzhou army is attacking Yangzhou, the limited military power is contained here. Therefore, the west of Jiaozhou and the west of Jiangzhou have become empty places. It is impossible for someone as cunning as Situ Lei not to seize this opportunity."
"I" After hearing the two people's opinions, Murong Cheng felt weak and immediately sat on the main seat, unable to speak.
After a long while, Murong Chengcai murmured: "I have been plotting and plotting, but in the end I failed to plot against the Xuzhou Army. Instead, I was plotted by various princes and allowed Situ Lei to take advantage of it. Is this what fate should be? Should this be the case? King failed?"
When I heard what Murong Cheng said, I drew a picture. The faces of Zhong Yan and others suddenly changed. Murong Cheng is the leader of the Qi army and is still in the enemy's territory. If the commander loses his fighting spirit and gives up his heroic spirit, then the Qi army will be doomed.
Zhang Tu said anxiously: "Lord Wuyou, this is also our inference. Besides, if Situ Lei wants to attack the rear of Qi, it will not be an easy task. As for the Tang Army and the Xuzhou Army, they are not big Question. The top priority now is that we return to Yangzhou immediately to find out the situation and make plans. "
Zhong Yan also said: "Yes, my lord, you must not lose your fighting spirit because of the unknown situation in front of you. What about Situ Lei? He is already old. Even if he has the advantage now, how can he be the opponent of my lord? How can he be the opponent of my lord?" The two sons have already started fighting among themselves for the position of heir. After Situ Lei dies, the land of Yongjun will not be left to us. As long as we can defend Yangzhou, Jiangzhou and other basic places, the rest of the land will be considered. So what if these villains occupy it.¡±
When he thought of Situ Lei's current situation, Murong Cheng suddenly felt a surge of pride in his heart. Yes, according to intelligence, Situ Lei's current physical condition is very bad. As long as he dies, Yong's army will no longer be a threat. As for his sons, they are not powerful figures. For me, it is easy to deal with them
In an instant, thoughts flashed in Murong Cheng's mind. He quickly composed himself and asked in a deep voice: "Previously, we had difficulty deciding between retreating to the west of Yangzhou and heading east to attack Jiangdu Prefecture in Xuzhou. Now, what do you think? Should we march directly south to drive the Xuzhou Army from Yangzhou or attack Jiangdu Prefecture and force the Xuzhou Army to withdraw? "
Three days ago, the Qi army had defeated several counterattacks by the Xuzhou army. The Qi army first massacred people in Guangling Mansion, and then plundered all the people in the territory. Although this behavior made the defenders of Guangling Mansion feelHowever, it also made the Xuzhou army unite and fight to the death with the Qi army. Therefore, after the Qi army occupied most of the area in Guangling Prefecture, the defenders of Guangling Prefecture, the reinforcements and the local youths all united together to launch a strong counterattack against the Qi army, causing the Qi army to suffer considerable losses.
It was also because of the constant war in Guangling Mansion that the people of Guangling Mansion suddenly fled here. Thanks to this situation and the policies of the Yanzhou Army, many people were admitted to Guangling Mansion, and they continued to flow in from far and wide. Neither the Qi army nor the Xuzhou army had time to take care of him, and most of the counties in Guangling Prefecture had been conquered by the Qi army, so there was no Xuzhou military officer's office to stop them, which was extremely convenient.
After defeating the reinforcements sent by Li Chi, the local soldiers in Guangling Mansion were no longer a match for the Qi army and could not stop the Qi army. Therefore, there are two paths before the Qi army. One is to go directly south to Yangzhou, return to the western half of Yangzhou where it meets Jingzhou, and then reorganize the troops to fight with the Xuzhou army in Yangzhou. The other is to directly attack Jiangdu Prefecture southeast of Guangling Prefecture, cut off the connection between the Xuzhou Army in Yangzhou and the rear of Xuzhou, and cut off the food and grass for the frontline army. Force the Xuzhou Army on the front line to withdraw to ensure the safety of Yangzhou.
Both strategies have their own advantages and disadvantages, and each has its own support. For a while, neither side could convince the other, so they continued to move south while looting the food of the people in Guangling Mansion to prepare reserves for the army's next march. In addition, the Qi army also suffered heavy losses in the battle at Guangling Mansion. Murong Cheng also recruited tens of thousands of soldiers here to supplement his own shortcomings, and they could be used as cannon fodder.
Now, they have Situ Lei to attack Qidi's rear, so naturally they can't continue to delay here. Therefore, it is urgent to resolve the crisis in Yangzhou.
Zhang Tu said: "My subordinates believe that we should quickly go south at this moment, retreat to Yangzhou as soon as possible, and inquire about the detailed situation in our army's territory, and we are making plans."
General He Tian said solemnly: "Why don't we divide our troops into two groups, go all the way back to Yangzhou, and attack Jiangdu Prefecture all the way? In this way, the Xuzhou Army on the Yangzhou side will inevitably need to retreat, and our army going south to Yangzhou can completely defeat the Xuzhou Army. The way back was cut off, and when they retreated in panic, they besieged them and gave the Xuzhou Army a severe blow, completely eliminating most of the Xuzhou Army's strength."
Zhong Yan shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it won't work. If we fight the Xuzhou Army alone, that would be good. However, we are now surrounded by enemies on all sides, and we don't know the situation inside the country. The division of troops into two armies will inevitably lead to the strength of the two armies. They were all weakened by half. And it is not easy to attack Jiangdu Palace directly. Li Chi, the leader of the Xuzhou Army, is personally in charge. If we cannot take it quickly, then our troops going south will not be able to reverse the disadvantage. They will even be suppressed by the Xuzhou Army in Yangzhou and the Tang Army in the north of Jingzhou. By then, the situation will be very bad, not to mention that there is an unknown Yanzhou Army to the north, and they also have intentions towards us. "Great hostility."
"Therefore, I mean, now we can only stay with the army and attack the weak with the strong, in order to change the current disadvantage. After all, the attack on Jiangdu Mansion requires the support of the rear, but our rear is already unstable, so we We cannot stay in Xuzhou. Secondly, we have been separated from the prefectures under our army for a long time. The longer we stay here, the more likely things will happen in the rear. We should gather our troops, move south immediately, and retreat to Yangzhou to consolidate the military and political affairs in Yangzhou before making decisions."
"Well, send the order, the army will assemble and go south immediately. We must withdraw to Yangzhou as quickly as possible." Murong Cheng said sternly, "In addition, send the order to Yangzhou, asking them to gather to the west and wait to meet up with our army before doing anything else. Counterattack strategy." After thinking about it, Murong Cheng added, "In addition, plunder the people in Guangling Mansion and drive them north to Huaiyin Mansion, so I will give them some benefits. You want to see if Li Chi is still indifferent to the Yanzhou army occupying their land in Huaiyin and plundering their population? "
"Situ Lei! You old bastard, sooner or later I will swallow up your Yong army!" Finally, Murong Cheng whispered through gritted teeth. Now, various princes are besieging him, but none of them is as big a threat as Situ Lei posed to him.
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Jingzhou, the important city of Bei'an Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, and Fancheng, an important place north of the Han River, were also fiercely attacked by the Tang army at this moment. Tang Xian combined the foundation of his former general in the north of Jingzhou and the remaining power of his family. In just over two months, he occupied the three prefectures of Nanyang, Huai'an and Danyang in the north of Jingzhou. Now, Bei'an Prefecture has also gradually fallen. , into Tang Xian's pocket. Tang Xian is very satisfied with the current situation. He has now negotiated with Zhao Xun and is preparing to transfer the territory occupied by the Tang Army in the north to the Yanzhou Army in exchange for the transit of his army and some grain and grass supplies.
Fancheng is located to the north of the Han River. Beyond the Han River is Xiangyang Prefecture, which is the center of Jingzhou. Regarding this place, both the Jingzhou pacification envoy and the Jingzhou governor did not come down quite a lot.However, it was already difficult to resist the aggressive Tang army. Now the Tang army, after gathering the surrendered soldiers of Jingzhou and recruiting new soldiers, has surpassed the garrison of Jingzhou. However, the Qi army in Jingzhou still had to guard against the Yong army in the west.
In a vast open space under Fancheng City, the 60,000 troops who had already been waiting in formation raised their arms and shouted! The 60,000-strong army was so dark that it seemed endless, making people feel fearful just looking at it.
Tang Xian is the general of the Twelve Guards of Dayan, and he is considered a veteran. He has always been very experienced in arranging military formations. The attack formation of Yun's 60,000-strong army was a relatively traditional attack formation. The entire army formation was divided into an infantry formation and two wings of cavalry.
The infantry formation consists of several square formations of comparable size, divided into two parts, the front and rear. The phalanx at the front is the siege phalanx. At the front of each phalanx are the sword and shield soldiers, followed by the assault soldiers carrying ladders or pushing siege vehicles.
The phalanx at the back generally does not participate in the siege. Their task is to hold down the formation. This holding force is also generally called the central army, and the general responsible for command is usually among the central army. In addition to these infantry formations, there are nearly 20,000 cavalry on both wings of the infantry formation. Their task is to deal with possible enemy surprise attacks. Protect the safety of both wings of the entire army.
"Command the army to attack the city immediately! We must capture this place before the sun sets!" Outside Fancheng, where the Tang Army's center was, the high-spirited Tang Xian shouted sternly.
"Kill! Kill! Kill"
A loud roar followed, and at the same time, hundreds of war drums in the central army suddenly beat together. Suddenly, there was a "rumbling" sound rolling in the air and roaring like thunder before a storm. As the war drums sounded, the tens of thousands of troops seemed to have been given a dose of stimulant. He shouted loudly. It was like thunder exploding.
"Defend! Defend with all your strength!" Seeing the situation of the Tang army, the face of Fancheng guard Gao Wu changed drastically. The morale of the Tang army was so high. It seems that in the next battle, Fancheng will most likely be unable to defend
Despite this, Gao Wu did not give up his resistance and shouted loudly. The 20,000 defenders on the city quickly moved into action, and various defensive equipment was pushed up to the top of the city.
The Tang army began a large-scale attack amidst the thunderous sound of war drums. Only two attacking phalanxes were seen breaking away from the main formation. They lined up in a neat formation and slowly pressed towards Fancheng.
The strength of a phalanx is five thousand, and the two phalanxes attack together. This shows that the Tang army invested tens of thousands of troops in the first wave of attacks. This is an army of ten thousand, already half of the army defending the city. And within Fancheng, the 20,000-strong army also includes thousands of young men who were temporarily recruited.
The attacking army of more than 10,000 people slowly approached Fancheng. At a distance of 150 meters, the sword and shield soldiers in the front of the two square formations raised their shields at the same time, and behind them were carrying ladders and pushing carts. The soldiers were also protected by other sword and shield soldiers with shields on their heads. Obviously, these Tang troops were trained by Tang Xian and were not a group of reckless men who only knew how to charge. They were all well-trained soldiers.
"Fire arrows! Catapult, throw!" Although the opponent began to advance defensively, Gao Wu had no choice. After hesitating for a moment, he finally couldn't help but start using weapons to defend the city, ordering crossbows and catapults to launch a counterattack. In an instant, the crossbow arrows on the city wall and the trebuchets behind were fired one after another. Crossbow arrows as thick as a baby's arm flew out with a whistling sound and penetrated directly into the Tang army's formation; each one was a huge stone the size of a millstone. Flying into the air together, the flying rocks were overwhelming and black, covering the sky and the sun. The scene was really shocking! The huge boulder flew into the air, and the next moment it hit the two Tang army formations that were slowly advancing with their shields.
Crossbow bolts fired, blood spattered, shields cracked; boulders fell, stumps were scattered, and swords and guns were broken. Many soldiers who were attacking the city were shot by crossbows and knocked to the ground by boulders. Their shields were shattered and blood was splashed everywhere, and then wailing began
"However, the living people are still moving forward. Aren't they afraid? No, they are afraid, but that is how it is on the battlefield. There is no retreat. If you advance, you may survive. Once you retreat, you will definitely die.
The tragic battlefield continued amidst the sound of drums, and the offensive and defensive battle began amidst the thundering sound of war drums. Crossbow bolts and boulders were flying back and forth from the sky above both sides, and the screams never stopped
The battle was very cruel, with blood flying all over the sky, and crazy shouts resounding through the sky. The injured were still fighting hard, and the dead soldiers fell unwillingly. The two sides were like bulls with red eyes, butting against each other.
Time moved slowly in blood, from morning to noon, then from noon to afternoon, and finally in the evening. The fighting was still going on. The sun was setting in the west. Apart from the endless shouts of killing, it seemed that no one else could be heard. The sound flew up and down the city wall, leaving only blood and mountains of corpses.
Obviously, the Tang army was determined to capture Fancheng this time. This city to the north of the Han River was also the last city blocking the north of Xiangyang City. By taking this place, Xiangyang City will lose its north gate.
Countless sergeants came one after another, regardless of the cost. In order to block the terrifying offensives of the Tang army, the defenders of Fancheng paid an extremely heavy price.
Although Gao Wu struggled to resist, the strength of his strength did affect the key to victory or defeat. Although Fancheng occupies a favorable geographical position, the strength in its hands is far weaker than that of the Tang army. With the hard fighting, there were fewer and fewer Fancheng guardsmen, and even Gao Wu was seriously injured.
Finally, just as the sunset was about to cast its last ray of light, a section of the city wall that had suffered countless blows suddenly collapsed. Then, the Tang army surged in through the gap, howling like a flood opening
"Gao Wu is incompetent, I am ashamed of my lord!" Seeing the Tang army swarming in, Gao Wu drew his sword and killed himself to express his loyalty to King Qi.
Tang Xian of the Chinese army was overjoyed when he saw that his side had conquered Fancheng. But when he saw the guard committing suicide, he said with a little pity: "What a pity! Fancheng guard Gao Wu, although not serving in the same army as me, the governor also knew about him and wanted to take him for his own use. Unexpectedly, He is so Oh that's all. Taking this city is already a great joy, so why ask for too much? "
"Congratulations, lord, congratulations, lord, for taking Fancheng and pacifying Jingbei!" All the generals of the Tang army expressed their congratulations.
Tang Xian laughed and said: "Okay, once Jingbei is pacified, Jingnan will not be able to escape the hands of this governor. Let's go into the city!"