Compared with the twists and turns of Li Qianzhe's journey, Liang Shiyan's journey was much smoother. He led his army east to Baling to join the boat division led by Xu Wensheng, and then headed south together.
The terrain and situation east of Dongting Lake are simpler than those in western Hunan. After crossing the river, there are plains and rivers all the way, and there are no difficulties or obstacles that can stop the army's advance.
Liang Shiyan's army was equipped with a considerable number of cavalry, so he did not choose to march step by step. Instead, he arranged a large group of troops to march in conjunction with Xu Wensheng's boat division to attract the enemy's attention, while he himself took the opportunity to lead two thousand elite cavalry to attack directly.
Yueyang City is located on the north bank of Mi River.
The Yueyang garrison was Wang Lin's general Ren Zhong. He knew that the Western Wei army was marching south, and Ren Zhong was still personally leading his sergeants to repair the Shuimen River defenses when he was suddenly informed that a large group of enemy troops had appeared in the north of the city.
When Ren Zhong learned about this, he was panicked and hurriedly summoned his troops to return to the city to defend it. However, by this time Liang Shiyan had already led his army to the foot of Yueyang City, so naturally he would not give the enemy a chance to consolidate the city defense, so he marched around the city.
Soon he discovered a defensive loophole in the southwest corner of the city, and led his troops into the city. The defenders were caught off guard and completely penetrated the city.
Because Liang Shiyan's troops charged so fast, many of the defenders had not had time to retreat to the city. Guard general Ren Zhong led his troops to defend the city lord's palace and took the lead in repelling several enemy attacks. He was waiting for the troops outside the city to enter the city.
After that, they surrounded and killed the enemy troops inside and outside. However, Liang Shiyan personally led fifty cavalry and charged all the way to the south of the city, killing the defenders who swarmed into the city and fled.
With no external reinforcements to rely on, and seeing that although the Wei army no longer launched an attack, they were throwing firewood into the city lord's palace and seemed ready to burn the place to the ground, guard Ren Zhong had no choice but to lead more than a hundred remaining soldiers in the palace to surrender.
"Who is the thief general? He was able to retreat to one place despite such a sudden attack and injured several of my people. He is not as frightened as Wu'er."
When he came to Liang Shiyan, who was bound by Ren Zhong, and saw this strong man covered in blood, Liang Shiyan couldn't help but speak.
After hearing this, Ren Zhong quickly answered with his head on the ground: "The general is coming straight to the heavens for the divine troops to descend. How can a sinner and a defeated general dare to speak bravely? It's just that he has never seen such a majestic army of heaven in his life. He is afraid to survive and only offends the majesty.
I beg General to spare my life!"
Liang Shiyan burst out laughing after hearing this: "Since I am greedy for life, I need to think carefully about how to help me, but if it can help things, why should I begrudge you?"
After hearing this, Ren Zhong hurriedly said: "The sinner Ren Zhong is originally from Hefei in Huainan. He used to be a slave to Wang Qin of Poyang but was later forced to do so by Wang Lin. I was deeply sorry to hear that General Li, the king of Taiyuan, occupied the sinner's hometown.
We were not able to get along with each other in our hometown, but now that I can work under the general and work for the king, it is also to make up for the regret. I dare not to serve the general!"
This Ren Zhong simply told Liang Shiyan that in order to survive, there was a warehouse of Wang Lin's army near Xiangyin, more than 20 miles south across the Mi River.
Fang raised the plundered supplies in order to use them as military supplies for a large army to counterattack Jiangling after the beginning of spring.
Liang Shiyan was overjoyed when he learned about this. In order to prevent Wang Lin from being alert, he immediately ordered the team to rest here for a while before continuing southward and destroying Wang Lin's granary in one go.
Although the terrain of the Dongting Lake Plain is flat, one annoying thing is that it is made up by rivers and crisscrossed water networks, which greatly restricts the mobility of the cavalry. However, because of Ren Zhong's cooperation, Liang Shiyan and his party were able to move smoothly.
Arrive at the location of this Cangcheng.
At this time, Wang Lin's defenders in the territory were also alert. At the same time as Liang Shiyan and his party arrived, an enemy fleet speedboat came quickly from the southwest.
When Liang Shiyan saw this, he immediately sent out hundreds of fine cavalry to intercept the supporting army along the river. He then dismounted, held a spear, and personally led his troops to launch a fierce attack on the Cangcheng.
After a fierce fight, the few defenders in Cangcheng were already dead and wounded. No matter how hard it was to launch an effective counterattack, Liang Shiyan had no time to stay long after he led his army into Cangcheng. Even if he ordered the troops to stay in Cangcheng,
Throwing kindling everywhere, the fire soon started blazing among the barns.
"A dog thief! A dog thief dares to burn down my granary. He deserves to die!"
This place is not too far from Changsha, and Wang Lin has been patrolling nearby recently because of the Wei army's southern invasion. When he learned that Cangcheng was attacked, he personally led his troops to rush to the rescue, but when he was still ten
A few miles away, I saw fire and smoke rising into the sky from where Cangcheng was located. I suddenly turned livid with anger and started to curse.
While shouting and cursing loudly, he ordered his men to speed up. The hundreds of soldiers around him also rode their horses at a fast pace. However, these Shu horses captured in previous battles with the Shu army were really not good at running fast.
, when the group rushed to Cangcheng, the fire had already spread in Cangcheng, and the enemy soldiers who came to set the fire had already left.
"Quickly put out the fire and rescue supplies!"
The lack of mobility made Wang Lin helpless even though she was full of resentment. She could only order the fire to be put out to recover the losses. At the same time, she said bitterly: "Order all the cities to garrison and prepare beacons to warn. These thieves who have entered the nightclub need accommodation.
Once you find out where their camp is, kill them immediately!"
South boats and north horses, once the northern army breaks through the river defenses and crosses to the south, with the powerful mobility of the cavalry, there is almost no other effective response plan except to clear the country and garrison the fortified city.
Wang Lin was full of resentment and wanted to seize the camp for revenge, but Liang Shiyan and his party did not continue to fight after their successive victories. Instead, they retreated all the way to the north to join the main army. When Xu Wensheng learned that Liang Shiyan was already a member of the Lian Ke army.
When he defeated two enemy cities and burned a large amount of the enemy's food and supplies, he couldn't help but express his admiration.
Because Liang Shiyan succeeded in his surprise attack and won the first battle, the morale of the army was greatly boosted. The soldiers' morale became even stronger and they continued to march south. On the other hand, the situation at Wang Lin's side became a little unfavorable.
Wang Lin's power is not weak, it can even be said to be very strong. After Hou Jing's rebellion was put down, Wang Lin already had tens of thousands of troops. When his troops occupied Xiangzhou and started chaos, even Jiangling
It was difficult for the military government to calm down for a while.
After the fall of Jiangling, Wang Lin was the only Nanliang general who led a large army to return reinforcements and arrived near Jiangling. Although Jiangling fell too quickly, he was unable to arrive in time to support him, but after he occupied Xiangzhou, he still
Attracting many forces from the south of the river to defect and rely on him, Wang Lin's army surged, and he commanded an army of more than 50,000 people.
The core of these troops are naturally the elite of Wang Lin's headquarters, followed by the King Qin Brigade that he recruited on his way back to Lingnan, and then the Han barbarian troops gathered in Xiangzhou.
In addition to these troops that have actually gathered in Xiangzhou, there are also other powerful chiefs from all over the country who have responded to Wang Lin's support and provided food and grass support. If they are all integrated, they will definitely be a powerful force. It is also
It was precisely because of this that Wang Lin dared to plan a counterattack to regain Jiangling.
But as soon as the army of the Western Wei Dynasty came south, they gave the troops gathered in Xiangzhou a hard lesson, allowing them to see the power of the Western Wei Dynasty's elite cavalry that came and went like the wind. The originally confident people now also
They all lack confidence.
One of the signs of lack of confidence is that Wang Lin frequently asks for military supplies. No matter whether it is a real shortage of food or a fake shortage, it is better to get the supplies first so that you can feel at ease. At least it will be convenient when you divide your luggage and disperse.
Although Xiangzhou is located in a land of plenty, Xiao Yu, the king of Hedong, and Wang Lin's tribe later occupied the city and caused chaos. They never obeyed Jiangling's control, so Liang Emperor Xiao Yi also implemented high-pressure management.
, they exploited the people a lot, and were not allowed to accumulate large amounts of goods in the treasury. All valuable materials were plundered and sent to Jiangling. Anyway, the shipping and transportation between them were developed and convenient.
Wang Lin hurriedly returned from Lingnan to serve as King Qin. She did not carry much food and baggage, and there was no relief after the fall of Jiangling City. With so many people gathered in Xiangzhou, the consumption was already huge, and an even more important one had just been burned.
Warehouse, now faced with the army begging for military supplies, the situation will inevitably become more difficult.
However, when faced with people from all over the world who came to collect supplies, Wang Lin greeted them all kindly and agreed on a time in a few days for everyone to come to Changsha City to transport supplies.
When the appointed day arrived, the generals led their troops into Changsha City, but what greeted them was not rich supplies, but Wang Lin, standing naked in the cold wind.
Wang Lin looked at the puzzled people, walked down the steps slowly with a sharp knife in her hand, and shouted loudly: "The army can't survive without food and fodder, Qinglin also knows this very well. However, the treasury of Xiangzhou is already poor, and the army's food consumption has become even more difficult to continue."
.Now I have two strategies to tell you. If I am here, you can cut off my flesh and bones and eat them, or maybe use them as a meal.
If this plan cannot satisfy the hunger, and there are Qiang troops coming from the south, and they come to seize our Jiangling treasury, the military resources will be abundant. If you can gather your strength to defeat it, you will not only achieve great success for the country, but also achieve great gains for the enemy.
!Kill me or kill the thief, what should you do?"
No one expected that Wang Lin would play such a trick, and they all looked at each other in confusion for a while, not knowing how to respond.
A moment later, someone suddenly yelled: "Isn't it because you gathered here to bravely fight the national calamity? Wang Xiangzhou is unparalleled in his loyalty and righteousness. The masses elected him as the leader of the alliance for important events. How could he bear to abandon him because he was hungry and thirsty after half a meal? In the general trend of the world, the Liang family and the country are all in your place.
In a single thought, I have the ambition to face hardships and the desire to die! But if you can defeat the bandits, why not? Why bother to make things difficult for the prince here and compare the length of time!"
When everyone showed hesitation, Wang Lincai ordered a batch of money and materials to be pushed in, and shouted loudly to everyone: "Since you are doing something important, you should be selfless! I will grant everything I have, but if it is just to make things difficult
I don’t care enough about my body to cause trouble, let alone your life!”