As the situation in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River changed, the war in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River also started, and the commotion was much greater than the fighting in the lower reaches. Starting from September 16th, the amphibious and land forces commanded by Cao Bin began to move according to the
Originally, a plan was made to launch an attack on Ezhou.
The core of Ezhou's defense lies in the two cities of Hanyang and Jiangxia. Since the Huainan War, in order to relieve the pressure from the Han army in the middle reaches, the Jinling court invested a lot of manpower in Ezhou to strengthen its defense and consolidate the downstream counties and Jinling.
of safety.
In addition, the main general who guards Ezhou all year round is Liu Renfan. This man is a good defender. He has built a complete set of defense facilities around Hanyang and Jiangxia, and the city is also very solidly repaired. There are more than 20 people along the river.
Each of the fortresses is solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack, forming an angle with each other and jointly guarding the main city.
After Liu Renfan passed away, the veteran general Lu Jiang who succeeded him also continued to strengthen the city, repair ordnance, train the army, and practice the methods of defending the city based on Liu Rengan's defense.
By the fourteenth year of Qianyou's reign, Ezhou's garrison strength had reached 50,000. Although most of them were state and county soldiers and rural soldiers, there were still more than 10,000 strong troops, who were elite soldiers who had been trained all year round.
Wow, this is a powerful force.
Therefore, the garrison strength of Ezhou is actually quite sufficient. If it can be used well, even if it is not defended, it can always cause a lot of trouble to the Han army. This is also the case. To attack Ezhou, the court will prepare 40,000 troops.
reason.
However, the problem is precisely that the defenders of Ezhou cannot fully play their role. The reason is that their new commander, the newly appointed Ezhou Jiedushi, Xiongwu Commander Huangfu Jixun.
Under pressure from the court, Li Yu replaced Lu Jiang, a veteran general who thought he was too old, and wanted to rely on Huangfu Jixun, the son of a loyal and famous general, to take over the position. However, it was this Huangfu Jixun who made the two veteran generals Liu and Lu carefully
Building a defense turned out to be a decoration.
The arrival of Huangfu Jixun was actually a disaster for the defense of Ezhou. The biggest blow was the weakening of military morale. As mentioned earlier, Huangfu Jixun became a general under the shadow of his father, but he himself had no
What a general.
That's all. If we can unite the soldiers, humbly accept advice, and make everyone unite and persist in resisting, they can also cause trouble for the Han army. However, Huangfu Jixun's approach was exactly the opposite.
After he took office in Ezhou, he did not focus on military garrison at all. He liked to show off, put on airs, indulge in sex, and ignored matters such as inquiring about the enemy's situation, city defense, and military morale.
He also had a very clear attitude towards resisting the Han army. He felt that the Northern army was too strong to stop it. Since it couldn't be stopped, why bother with useless efforts. Even Huangfu Jixun even advised everyone at the military meeting.
If the general resists stubbornly and offends the court, he will only be afraid of harming himself in the future.
Why did Huangfu Jixun dare to take over the garrison task of Ezhou? Because from the beginning, he had no determination to be loyal to the country and repay the emperor with death. All he thought about was to preserve his status and wealth.
As the commander-in-chief, Huangfu Jixun had such a negative attitude. Affected by this, how could the situation of the Ezhou defenders get better? In less than two months, the Ezhou defenders were divided and morale was declining.
.
Cao Bin, who was sharpening his sword in Yuezhou, also had a clear understanding of the situation of the Ezhou garrison and knew himself and the enemy. Originally, he was still a little worried about its defense, but after the performance of Huangfu Jixun after he took office was heard, Cao Bin himself They were all shocked and couldn't understand it at all.
In fact, the torrent of history is rolling forward. In addition to the powerful Han monarchs and ministers who control the general trend, it is also driven by the cooperation of hostile forces. Judging from the development of things, this is the case.
No matter what, Cao Bin likes to see the situation of the Ezhou defenders. The worse the enemy's condition is and the more problems there are, the better it is for him. As a mature and prudent general, how can he gain the maximum at the minimum cost? The result of the battle has always been what Cao Bin considered. It would be best if his opponent took the initiative to give him a chance.
When the edict was issued, Cao Bin and Liu Guangyi immediately led their troops to attack Ezhou. Liu Guangyi was also a relatively young general and was known for his rigorous military management. During the war against Shu, he followed Zhao Kuangyin into Sichuan on the east road and established an army. He also participated in the Northern Expedition due to his military exploits. This time he was sent to the south because of his experience in fighting in the south.
Cao and Liu divided their troops into two groups, with 25,000 troops led by Cao Bin. They set out from Baling, marched by land and water, and advanced along the river. After crossing Chibi, Jiayu surrendered without a fight, and then attacked with water troops. In the north, he defeated thousands of naval troops in Ezhou head-on, thereby cutting off the connection between Hanyang and Jiangxia. Later, Cao Bin gradually removed the fortresses around Jiangxia.
Liu Guangyi led an army of 15,000 people and marched south from Xiaogan to attack Hanyang. According to the battle plan formulated by Cao Bin, he also first eliminated the fortress towns around Hanyang. It only took three days for the two Han armies to attack the surrounding areas. All the forts and towns were gradually removed, and then troops came to the city, cutting off water and land transportation, turning Hanyang and Jiangxia into isolated cities.
During this process, the response of the Ezhou army was slow and chaotic. A group of garrison soldiers trained by Liu Renfan still had certain fighting ability and will. Especially in the first battle, they still put up some tenacious resistance.
However, this lacks organization and coordination after all. It only relies on some low-level officers, who are brave and courageous, and have no cooperation at all. When the entire defense system is fragmented, the resistance of several fortresses has nothing but sacrifices for the Jiangnan court. , apart from adding a bit of desolation and tragedy, it is useless.
During the process of the Han army expelling the forts, the performance of the commander-in-chief Huangfu Jixun was not too unexpected. He just did nothing and sat guarding the city without giving orders or rescuing. Some generals were even willing to fight against the Han army. He was also stopped.
The Han army, under the command of Cao Liu, calmly attacked the fortress and completely removed the obstacles to the city. Except for the initial losses suffered by the Hubei army's stubborn resistance, the fortresses behind them all Out of despair, they surrendered one after another. In short, the Han army fought easily.
After the troops arrived at the city, Cao Bin ordered to set up camp, rest on the spot, and make preparations for the siege. With the same battle arrangement, Cao Bin attacked Jiangxia in the south of the Yangtze River, and Liu Guangyi attacked Hanyang in the north of the Yangtze River. In fact, this was a bit too much, and the remaining two cities were The total strength of the garrison below was still no less than 40,000. However, the poor situation of the garrison gave Cao and Liu the confidence to make bold arrangements.
"General Cao, this progress is a bit too smooth!" Liu Guangyi came across the river by boat to discuss military affairs with Cao Bin. There was still some disbelief on his Yingwu face, and he said: "I thought that in order to wipe out the forts, there would be no need to do anything.
It will take seven days, and it may be after winter when the city is breached. Who would have thought that the defenders' will to resist is so weak, it is almost overwhelming!"
"General Liu, we have to thank Huangfu Jixun!" The two people were walking by the river, observing the surrounding terrain. Cao Bin also said with a smile on his face: "Judging from the current situation, there is no need to enter winter in Ezhou.
You can take it!"
"The letter of persuasion to surrender has been sent into the city, and we can continue to crush its morale. However, although the enemy army is weak, the strength of this city cannot be faked!" Liu Guangyi said: "A strong attack may be able to break it quickly, but it will inevitably increase the number of enemies.
casualties!"
"What General Liu said is true!" Cao Bin nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "It is better to prepare for the attack first, continue to disturb the morale of his troops, weaken their will to resist, and then act according to the situation. If we can persuade them to surrender, we will surrender without fighting.
The best is to subjugate the enemy's troops!"
"Alas..." Liu Guangyi couldn't help but sigh and said: "I have experienced some hard and fierce battles in the past. Now the march is going smoothly, but I am a little uncomfortable. This battle is a bit boring!"
After listening to Liu Guangyi's words, Cao Bin couldn't help but smile: "We have been ordered by the emperor to lead the king's army to carry out righteous deeds. Naturally, we will be invincible. Those who act as chariots with mantis arms will naturally be wiped out! However, we still cannot relax. After all, there are still enemy troops.
Tens of thousands of people!”
Cao Bin is still like this, calm and steady, not daring to slack off, let alone be arrogant.
Liu Guangyi nodded, immediately clasped his fists and said: "I will go back to Jiangbei to take charge first!"
...
While Cao and Liu were surprised by the smooth progress of the war, people in Jiangxia City were already panicking, and morale continued to decline, almost reaching its lowest point.
Under a water gate in the north city, a group of people gathered together. They were all military officers. The highest-ranking officer was a Marquis of Du Yu. The atmosphere was very depressing. These people gathered together and were obviously planning something big.
It was the Marquis of Yu who spoke, without any concealment, and said directly: "The king is stupid and does not use veteran generals, but uses villains. Huangfu Jixun has no talent and virtue. He only ranks above us because of his family background. He treats us with contempt."
Military affairs are child's play, and the officers and men are like oxen and horses. The Han army came to attack in large numbers, and they did not make defensive preparations or send troops to rescue. They just sat and watched the fortresses fall. With such a commander, if we don't make plans early, we will be buried with him sooner or later!"
"Marquis Zhu Yu is right. Huangfu Jixun, an incompetent person, will be harmed if he follows him. We should find another way to make a living!" A general immediately answered, gritting his teeth.
"The Han army has arrived at the city. Traffic has been cut off, and reinforcements are hard to come. It is an isolated city. Even though the city is high, the people are not united and the commander is incompetent, so it will definitely not be able to hold it. We must rise up, kill Huangfu Jixun, and surrender to the Han army. We will not lose.
A credit!" Another officer followed and pointed directly to the topic.
In fact, when these people gathered together, they all knew in their hearts what was going on and what to do. Therefore, as soon as these words came out, they were all eager to try. Soon, they all turned their attention to the Du Yuhou named Zhu. After all,
He has the highest military rank.
At this time, there was a burst of footsteps outside, and an officer broke in. Everyone quickly drew their swords, but Zhu Yuhou said "one of our own" before he calmed down.
The visitor said: "Huangfu Jixun has already ordered people to pack their bags. He may be planning to abandon the army and flee!"
"This waste!" someone suddenly cursed.
Zhu Yuhou looked around, lowered his voice, and said with murderous intent: "Everyone, we are raising an army to kill the emperor and return him to the court. Do you have any objections?"
"Kill Huangfu!"
"Kill Huangfu!"
"..."
All the officers echoed fiercely. It is quite rare for the coach Huangfu Jixun to do this.
"Okay, we swear by the blood oath and raise our troops tonight. Each of us will lead our subordinates, rush into the commander's mansion, take Huangfu's successor's head, and surrender to the imperial court!" Zhu Yuhou said.
"yes!"
That night, thousands of strong military troops in Jiangxia City, led by Zhu Jun, the Marquis of Duyu, suddenly broke into chaos, broke into the Jiedu Mansion Office, and killed the general Huangfu Jixun. Because the chaos broke out suddenly and it was a cold night, Cao Bin did not act rashly.
, until the early morning of the next day, the gates of Jiangxia City were opened wide, and more than 20,000 defenders chose to surrender.
As soon as Jiangxia surrendered, the news spread, and Hanyang followed suit. In this way, Cao and Liu came to the city, and captured Ezhou without a single blow. At the cost of 431 casualties, they captured Jiangxia and Hanyang, and surrendered the army.