After climbing onto the earthen city wall and looking southward, Guo Rong finally breathed a sigh of relief, looking relieved.
"Your Majesty, there are not many civilians in this city. The city has been cleared and we are in control. However, there are too many prisoners, more than 15,000 people, and the pressure on the guards is too great. We have temporarily confiscated the weapons and armor and guarded them separately at the east and north gates!
"An Shouzhong found Guo Rong and reported.
The problem of too many prisoners was probably a happy worry for the victorious Han army. Regarding this, Guo Rong pondered briefly and directly ordered: "Take the captives of the Tang army, the soldiers and civilian husbands, the generals and the soldiers, and keep them in separate custody.
Give him less food and he will be hungry!"
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"Yes! I will deal with this immediately!" An Shouzhong responded.
"Wait!" Guo Rong suddenly called An Shouzhong.
An Shouzhong stopped and asked, "Do you have any other instructions?"
"I'll go with you!" Guo Rong thought for a while and said, "You have to find a way to take these prisoners for your own use! Since the Southern Expedition, we have transported supplies, served in front of the army, and garrisoned in the city. At least 150,000 slaves have been recruited.
.Now that spring has begun, it will be the farming season, and the soldiers want to return home. In the Central Plains and the Huaibei states, the people's strength is exhausted and the burden is too heavy. If the Tang army can be captured, the people of Huainan will be of great benefit to our army's strategy.
Your Majesty sent the king to gather all the things in order to know the affairs of Haozhou and Dianzhou, control the soldiers and the people, and win the hearts of the people. This is a long-term plan! The prisoners in this battle should select those who are strong and willing to serve and make them auxiliary soldiers to serve in front of the army!
"
"What you said makes sense!" An Shouzhong responded, but couldn't help but hesitated: "However, this move may be suspected of expanding the army without authorization..."
Hearing this, Guo Rong couldn't help but turn his head and glance at An Shouzhong. There was clear surprise in his eyes. He paused and then said: "Trust minister, you have a promising future!"
"It is difficult to quench the thirst of the near by the water far away. The most important thing is to deal with these prisoners. Otherwise, with so many prisoners gathered together, it is easy to cause trouble. Secondly, I am afraid of slowing down the actions of our army!" while walking!
While writing, Guo Rong said: "I will write a memorial and send it to Shouchun. With the emperor's wisdom, he will agree. I don't know what the war situation is like in Shouchun..."
Before Guo Rong went to deal with the prisoner problem, Zhao Yanjin found him first, looking like he had too much energy. Guo Rong asked: "How is the situation?"
"According to the prisoners, Huangfu Hui went north and only left 3,000 soldiers to garrison at Qingliu Pass! Moreover, Huangfu Hui issued an order yesterday to transfer 2,000 men from Qingliu Pass to the north. However, after hearing of his defeat, he withdrew.
!" Zhao Yanjin reported: "Your Majesty, do you want to take the opportunity to capture Qingliu Pass?"
Guo Rong thought about it, punched his fist, and said to Zhao Yanjin: "I will put on the Tang army armor with you five hundred soldiers, pretend to be defeated, cross the clear water, and go to the deceitful pass! Remember, act according to the situation and be prepared.
, don’t force it!”
"Obey the order!" Zhao Yanjin responded without any hesitation: "The general will go immediately!"
...
After Guo Rong won the great victory in Lai'an and relieved the Han army, he was looking for the entire Huaidong and drinking from the Yangtze River. Zhao Kuangyin, Huaidong's deputy economic envoy, led an army of 5,000 people all the way east to aid Shanyang.
Five thousand soldiers and horses may seem like a lot, but in fact, only less than three thousand of them are usable, and the rest are selected from Huaibei Dingzhuang. Although they are issued with weapons and have undergone rough training, in reality, they are not
They are still farmers who have picked up swords and guns. Of course, there is no shortage of warriors in the Central Plains. As long as these people survive a battle, they can become qualified soldiers.
There was no way, even Guo Rong only led 4,000 cavalry to deal with Huangfu Hui. Xuyi had to leave enough strength to contain him. After a long period of entanglement, Guo Tingwei was not an easy opponent to deal with.
If we relax, the tens of thousands of Tang troops in Xuyi, led by Guo Tingwei, will definitely cause big trouble to the Han army.
It almost followed the route of the raid on Shanyang last winter. Except that the winter scenery turned into spring scenery, there was not much change along the way. Zhao Kuangyin even felt familiar. Although facing the siege of the Tang army, the situation in Shanyang was already critical to a certain extent. Zhao Kuangyin
I was ordered to go to the rescue, but I was not impatient.
Since the conquest of Huaihe, the Han army's main method of combat was to besiege the city and call for reinforcements. It was uncertain whether the Tang army would do the same thing, and Zhao Kuangyin had to guard against it.
Therefore, while sending troops to investigate the battle situation in Shanyang, they marched slowly and repeatedly thought about how to fight. Until they entered Hongze and combined with the situation in Chuzhou, Zhao Kuangyin made up his mind on how to fight this battle.
He divided the army into two groups, one with 3,000 soldiers, mainly composed of Suzhou Tuanlian, led by Dang Jin, hiding behind. The remaining about 2,000 soldiers were the auxiliary soldiers. Although some officers were mobilized to lead them,
But its combat effectiveness and execution capabilities are both worrisome.
Zhao Kuangyin led the two thousand soldiers, displayed their flags, and swaggered towards Shanyang without concealing their tracks.
On the other side of Shanyang, 40,000 Tang troops have surrounded the city. Of course, 20,000 of them are naval troops who are assisting in the battle. However, as Xishanyang is built along the river, it is these naval forces that pose the greatest threat to it.
Some of the warships of the Tang army were as high as two feet. They built platforms and ladders so that Tang soldiers could scale the city walls along them.
It was learned that the reinforcements of the Han army coming from the west were not many, but it can also be seen from this that the Han army was lacking in strength in Huaidong. The Tang army general Yao Feng obviously did not want to be defeated by this army when the city was broken.
Influenced by Ma, he sent a general and five thousand troops to Fuliang to cross west to defeat the Han reinforcements.
The actions of the Tang army were naturally as Zhao Kuangyin intended, and could even be regarded as an unexpected joy. He originally planned to use the remaining troops to show the enemy's weakness and lure some of the Tang army to come west to share the pressure of Chen Sirang's defense of the city.
I never thought that Yao Feng would be so generous and directly divide five thousand troops to come. Zhao Kuangyin can be said to be overjoyed. Then, he still used the old routine of pretending to defeat the enemy, setting out ambushes in all directions, and defeating him. Only this time, due to the emergency of the war, Zhao Kuangyin
The pretended defeat was actually a real defeat, and the Tang army was almost driven into Hongze to feed the fish.
However, precisely because the defeat was real, the tactic of luring the enemy was more effective. After Dang Jin led the main force to attack, the five thousand Tang army was directly defeated. The leading general was decapitated by Dang Jin, adding another stroke to his military exploits.
.
After defeating the Tang army, Zhao Kuangyin did not chase them north and kill all the defeated soldiers as usual, but only drove them south. After that, Zhao Kuangyin only organized his troops briefly and divided the army again.
Two teams, one picked up all the wounded from the auxiliary soldiers, raised the flag, raised Zhao Kuangyin's general flag, and continued towards Shanyang in the northeast.
Zhao Kuangyin, on the other hand, joined the party and led the remaining 2,700 Suzhou regiments to practice, diverted to the southeast, crossed the canal at Baoying south of Shanyang, and completely annihilated the 500 defenders left by Yao Feng.
The goal is very clear.
On Yao Feng's side, he had received a battle report that severely defeated the Han army reinforcements, and the report of defeat followed closely, and the defeat was complete, which directly caused the Han army reinforcements to approach the canal. Although the Han army was small in number, it was in a desperate situation.
For the Shanyang defenders, it was like a shot in the arm.
The Tang army clearly felt that the originally crumbling city defense was stabilized by the Han army. When he noticed the "Zhao" flag on the west bank of the canal, Yao Feng realized that the Han general who came to help had obtained the previous victory.
Zhao Kuangyin who won the great victory at Wukou.
In response to this, Yao Feng immediately raised his vigilance. Although he was not afraid of the Han army because of his large number of troops, he decided to temporarily stop the offensive on Shanyang. After several days of fierce attacks, the Han army garrison in Shanyang City surrendered.
The losses were heavy, and the Tang army was also exhausted and in need of rest.
If it was just for rescue, judging from the response of the Tang army, it had achieved good results. Although it treated the symptoms but not the root cause, it at least gave the Han army guards in the city a chance to breathe. However, Zhao Kuangyin led the main force and sneaked southward to cross the river via Baoying.
, you can see that his plan is very big.
At midnight, outside Shanyang City, the four Tang Army strongholds on land and water were completely silent. Apart from the sound of wind and the constant snoring, the only sound was the officers and soldiers of the Chinese army patrolling the camps.
On the upper floor of Nanying Village, the sentry tried his best to stay vigilant, looking down from a high position, observing the surroundings. However, under the night, the surroundings were dark and only the outlines of some trees could be seen. The spring night was very cold, and the hands and feet were cold and numb. When sleepiness struck,
When they came up, the sentries could only hope that time would pass faster and wait for the person who was on duty.
About two miles away from the South Camp, Zhao Kuangyin personally led more than 2,000 soldiers and sneaked here. The black armor of the Han army contrasted with the dark night and completely blended into it. Above his head was the dim moonlight. Looking far into the distance, he observed
The situation in Tangying.
They all slept well all afternoon during the day, and then took advantage of the night to sneak nearly forty miles north. Dang Jin stood next to Zhao Kuangyin, looking around, nervous and excited: "Guantang camp layout
, it’s quite organized, not without vigilance!”
Zhao Kuangyin nodded, but his expression was extremely stiff, and his pupils were extremely bright, and he said to Dang Jin: "Tonight, we are going to risk our lives in a battle. If we succeed, we will achieve great success, if we fail, we will die. Are you ever afraid?
"
"Brother Zhao, what you said is that you are looking down on your brothers! Tangying is just a dragon's pond and a tiger's den, so why not go there?" Dang Jin suddenly became unhappy.
Seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin smiled slightly. He stared at the enemy camp closely with a solemn expression: "Send the order, a night attack is a dangerous strategy. The soldiers of each camp should follow their orders. They should follow me and charge the flag to kill. Don't get lost.
"Although the Tang army numbered 40,000, their infantry was only half that, and they were tired after suffering casualties during the siege. There is nothing to fear. As long as the land camp is disrupted and defeated, the navy army has nothing to worry about!"
After waiting for about another quarter of an hour, before the bodies of the Han soldiers had completely cooled down, Zhao Kuangyin gave the order and went out first, leading the people and quickly heading towards the Tang camp. There was no horseback riding this time, which would have been too big a target.
More than 2,000 soldiers kept silent with weapons in their mouths. It was not until they approached the Tang village and were observed by the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty that they suddenly burst out with loud shouts of killing. Under the leadership of Zhao Kuangyin, they had unified goals and coordinated steps to defeat the enemy.
Several camps, killing and chaos descended on the Tang army...
As Zhao Kuangyin's army launched a massive night attack, storming the stronghold and kicking down tents, the Tang camp under Shanyang City soon fell into chaos.