Chapter 352 One hundred thousand Han troops surrounded Jinling
When Pan Mei's army conquered Shaozhou and made a major breakthrough in the War of Peace and Guangdong, the situation on the Jianghuai battlefield also entered a new stage, with various Han armies soaring and progressing smoothly.
On Cao Bin's side, after winning the battle at Hukou, he took a short rest and left a force to garrison on the spot. After controlling the waterway, he led the amphibious army southward, first breaking the enemy's water stronghold, controlling the entrance and exit of Poyang Lake, and then continued
Marching south along the Ganjiang River, the troops arrived at Hongzhou.
After the Battle of Hukou, the strength of the Southern Army in Hongzhou was greatly damaged. Faced with the attack of Cao Liu's 60,000-strong army, it was even more desperate. If the veteran Lu Jiang still had a certain prestige and led the people to arrange defense, perhaps Wang
As soon as the division arrived, they were instantly defeated.
Even so, when Cao and Liu's troops arrived, the city of Nanchang was in panic and its situation was precarious. In fact, under the pressure of the enemy's overwhelming force, it was expected that a veteran general who was over seventy years old would be responsible for defending the city and protecting the people.
The heavy burden was too difficult for him. Lu Jiang was already a legend for being able to lead the army to defend the city at such an advanced age. How could he be expected to do more.
Still as they did in Ezhou, Cao Bin and Liu Guangyi led the navy and army separately to wipe out the fortresses, strongholds, and camps outside Nanchang City, and then surrounded Nanchang with troops, cutting off all water and land transportation and internal and external connections.
Cao Bin had been notified of the situation in Nanchang City long ago. While preparing for the attack, Cao Bin personally wrote a letter to persuade Lu Jiang to surrender. Since the time of Li Jing, there have been many thoughts of moving the capital to Hongzhou, although in the end it was not
It can be done, but a lot of manpower has been invested in the repair of the city and the reinforcement of various facilities, and the military garrison has always been sufficient. Therefore, the city is solid and the defense power is amazing. If the army and the people can work together and make good use of it, it will be difficult to force it without paying some costs.
Broken.
However, the difficulty lies in the unity of the army and the people. Everyone has a sense of crisis. The army and the people also have their simplest understanding of the situation. Even if the information is insufficient, they know that the situation is not good. Resistance requires sacrifices and lives.
It even involves his family and endangers the people of the city.
Surrender, but it is not easy to say it, especially for a veteran like Lu Jiang. One thing is that no matter how the country declines, the three generations of the Li family are still very kind to them, the meritorious veterans.
Therefore, in the face of Cao Bin's persuasion to surrender, Lu Jiang turned a deaf ear and neither agreed nor refused.
Before the offensive and defensive battle in Nanchang began, the battle situation in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River also entered a new situation. Zhang Yongde led the army to cross the river, which represented the collapse of the Yangtze River defense line in the south of the Yangtze River, and that was just the beginning.
At the same time that the Han army launched a cross-river campaign in Dangtu, a bloody battle was also fought in Changzhou. After several hesitations, Lin Renzhao, who did not want to sit still and wait for death, decided to take the risk and chose to fight with his life. He personally led five thousand
The elite troops sneaked eastward to Changzhou and cooperated with Zheng Yanhua who was defending the city to launch an assault on Guo Tingwei's army.
Regarding the news of Lin Renzhao's intention to attack eastward, Guo Tingwei had received intelligence before, and Li Gu also issued a warning. Therefore, the Han-Vietnamese coalition was prepared. However, things are often like this. When they know the details, they are easy to be careless.
negligence.
Because Lin Renzhao launched his troops suddenly and quickly, and used the most well-trained soldiers under his command, when he led his troops to lurk to Jinling and launched the attack, it really had a surprise effect.
In addition, the Han army was advancing to Pingnan, and its momentum was overwhelming. All battlefields were going smoothly. The Han soldiers would inevitably become arrogant and relaxed. This mental state was difficult to completely avoid.
Therefore, under Lin Renzhao's surprise attack, the Han army in Changzhou was really caught off guard. That is to say, Guo Tingwei was strict in military management, and the basic qualities of the Han army soldiers were there. When they were attacked, they spontaneously organized resistance, and Guo Tingwei personally stabilized the army.
Military spirit and organized resistance.
However, the Wuyue army was not so lucky. As a servant army, they fought with the Han army. Their morale and fighting will were not high. There were some generals who were close to the court and wanted to please the court, but most of the soldiers at the grassroots level were just dealing with them.
It's over.
The main target Lin Renzhao chose for the raid was the Wu Yue army. As a result, the Wu Yue army was the first to be defeated. Not only was the coalition army, but it also affected the Han army. Changzhou's guard Zheng Yanhua received the news in advance and after the battle started on the bank of the canal
, also decisively led the attack, cooperated with Lin Renzhao, and attacked the Han-Vietnamese coalition forces.
Lin Renzhao's attack showed his courage and military strategy, and he also successfully defeated the Wu and Yue troops. However, the Han army, under the command of Guo Tingwei, resisted. The two sides fought fiercely on the bank of the canal for more than two hours, and finally fought hard.
The superior Han army won the victory.
In particular, Guo Tingwei ordered a naval force to abandon the boat and land, attack the Southern Army from behind, and defeat it in one fell swoop. The Battle of Changzhou was a truly bloody battle since the imperial court pacified the South, and it was also launched by the Southern Army against the Han Army.
the most powerful resistance.
However, in terms of results, it did not achieve the expected results. Lin Renzhao won first and then lost. In the end, he and Zheng Yanhua only led less than 10,000 remaining soldiers to break away from the battle. Not only that, Jinling City was lost, and Changzhou fell.
Lin and Zheng had to retreat to Runzhou. This was not because of Lin and Zheng's incompetence, but because the situation was such that the gap between strength and weakness was difficult to bridge, which led to their failure. Even so, Lin Renzhao's surprise attack still caused inconvenience to the Han-Vietnamese coalition forces.
With small losses, the Wuyue army suffered more than 3,000 casualties. Of course, this also provided Guo Tingwei with a more favorable opportunity to digest and control the Wuyue army.
With the fall of Changzhou, it also meant that the Yangtze River defense line was heading for complete collapse. Even without the Battle of Dangtu, its situation would have been difficult to recover. The news of Dangtu's defeat and the fall of Changzhou spread to Jinling, causing Li Yu and his ministers to be completely in chaos.
Fang Cun, the situation in the former was relatively stable, but this sudden decline completely surprised them.
However, this time, the Jinling court reacted the fastest. It immediately decided to abandon Runzhou and transfer all the tens of thousands of troops remaining there back to Jinling. It was not that they were concerned about the dangerous situation in Runzhou, and the strong men cut off their wrists and retracted decisively, but
It was Zhang Yongde's move eastward along the Yangtze River that made them think that the safety of Jinling must be ensured first, and it was also their final plan at first. But they didn't expect that this last step would come so quickly.
On the Han army's side, after the Battle of Changzhou, Guo Tingwei was a little angry. After a little rectification, he led the navy and army to march westward, aiming directly at Runzhou, hoping to save some face. At the same time, the main force of the Jianghuai River on the north bank also took advantage of the situation to mobilize troops.
, took large-scale actions to prepare to cooperate with the actions of Guo Tingwei's army.
In this life-and-death situation, Jinling's order to withdraw troops came. Since ancient times, withdrawing troops has been a difficult task, especially when dangers are everywhere and the morale of the troops is turbulent. If you are not careful, the retreat will turn into a rout.
Even if Lin Renzhao acted quickly and was well prepared, he would not be spared. After all, the Southern Army was not an elite division with unified command and good training. They all went their own way and were eager to retreat. Under the pursuit led by Guo Tingwei, they still ended in a rout.
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The Han army pursued for fifty miles along the road, and finally stopped after Zheng Yanhua took the initiative to lead the army. Zheng Yanhua was injured and captured, and successfully escaped back to Jinling. The Runzhou garrison only numbered more than 20,000, and they basically became stragglers.
At the same time, the Jianghuai army, which had been stationed in Guazhou-Yangzi City for nearly a month, also successfully crossed south and landed at Jingkou. As the head coach of Pingnan, Li Gu finally set foot on the land of Jiangnan after four full years in Yangzhou.
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Before the defenders retreated, a general suggested burning all grain, grass, cloth and other materials, but Lin Renzhao rejected it. As a result, all the Runzhou settlements were left to the Han army. Although he did not say why, such a move could also
A glimpse into some of Lin Renzhao’s thoughts.
With Zhang Yongde in the west, Guo Tingwei and the main Jianghuai army in the east, the situation in Jinling was completely in danger. Coupled with the troops withdrawn from Runzhou, the Jinling court organized a garrison of 60,000 people.
mob.
Under this situation, Li Yu did another stupid thing, which was a quarrel between relatives and friends. On the advice of several famous officials, he arrested Lin Renzhao and imprisoned him. The reason was that he sent troops without permission and was defeated, causing the fall of Changzhou and endangering Jinling. This incident
Behind the scenes, it was Zhong Mo who was exerting his strength.
It was already a dangerous situation, and the Great Wall was abandoned. Although Lin Renzhao, the Great Wall, was unable to withstand the Han army and save the situation. After Lin Renzhao was imprisoned, he still needed to choose someone who could lead the army. However, no one could be found. Chen Qiao took charge of the battle.
, but he has no ability to lead troops at all.
Therefore, when the Jinling court was selecting a commander to lead the army to defend against the enemy, the Han army came to the city. Zhang Yongde led the army to the west and forced the Qinhuai River. Li Gu's army was stationed in Zhongshan to the east. Several Han armies combined with a land and water army of 120,000 people were besieged.
Jinling.
The Jiangnan War entered its final stage directly, and it lasted less than a month since the Han army was ordered to send troops.