Dangyang is located between Xiangyang and Jiangling, connecting the north and the south. Its position is crucial and cannot be missed. However, there are only more than 10,000 troops left in Xiangyang City. Even if the 5,000 troops of Wang Wei's troops who rushed to assist Huang Zu are transferred back, there will be less than 20,000.
Although he knew that there was little hope of retaking Dangyang, Liu Biao still gathered ten thousand people after Wang Wei's troops returned. With Wang Wei as leader and Zhang Yun as deputy, Liu Biao went south to attack Dangyang.
Cai Sheng led 3,000 men to defend the city. The Jingzhou army attacked for twenty days. By mid-May, Dangyang was still impregnable. However, the Jingzhou army suffered numerous casualties and had low morale. It had no intention of fighting again. Wang Wei and Zhang Yun withdrew their troops at night.
On May 18th, Liu Jing went to Jinxiang Ferry in person to welcome the return of Zhuge Liang and others.
At this time, more than a month had passed since Zhuge Liang and others captured Yiling and defeated Zhang Yun.
After destroying Zhang Yun's army, Zhuge Liang soon led his army into the Three Gorges, using the force of the autumn wind to sweep away the fallen leaves, defeating Zigui and two counties in Wu County.
At this point, the six counties of Zhijiang, Yidao, Weishan, Yiling, Zigui and Wu County to the west of Jiangling were all owned by Liu Jing.
Counting Dangyang and Liu Jing's newly occupied Huarong, Liu Jing has captured eight of the ten counties in the southern part of Nanjun. Only Jiangling and Zhouling, which is located in a remote area and is close to Jiangxia, have not yet been captured.
As soon as Zhuge Liang and Gan Ning landed, Liu Jing immediately stepped forward impatiently, held their hands, and said with a smile: "Kong Ming, Xingba, thank you for your hard work. I have ordered people to prepare wine and food at the Jinxiang camp for you to enjoy."
Soldiers..." After saying that, Liu Jing looked at the person behind Zhuge Liang.
This man is tall and tall, with a rectangular face, cheeks without flesh, straight downwards like a knife, sharp eyes, and a powerful nose, giving people a strong feeling. Not surprisingly, he must be Li Yan.
Sure enough, Zhuge Liang introduced Liu Jing: "General, this is the Yi Taoist priest Li Yan and Li Zhengfang. Li Zhengfang is good at strategy and has extraordinary talents. He is really a hero of Jingchu." Fastest update on mobile phone::
Li Yan bowed and said, "Li Yan pays homage to the general."
"You don't have to be polite." Liu Jing smiled and helped Li Yan up.
Historically, Li Yan served Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, and Liu Bei successively, and changed his masters several times, but he became better and better as he became more and more mixed up. From a humble official, he finally became a Tuogu minister on par with Zhuge Liang. He is definitely a rare talent in the Three Kingdoms.
It's just that this man has talent but no virtue. He first encouraged Zhuge Liang to accept Jiuxi, become a noble and king, and then refused to go to the Northern Expedition. Instead, he asked for the cession of the five eastern counties of Yizhou to become Bazhou, and appointed himself as the governor of Bazhou. Finally, Zhuge Liang went on the Northern Expedition.
At that time, he tried his best to hold back his legs, resulting in a failure in the great situation of the Four Expeditions. In his conduct as a person, he failed so much that even the villagers were unwilling to approach him.
However, Liu Jing would not refuse to use him in important positions because of this. He already had Wei Yan and Liao Li who were both inherited from Li Yan, as well as Kou (Liu) Feng who had not yet grown up, and Li Yan was no less important.
Liu Jing had full confidence to suppress them, so that they could be content with their duties and display their talents, instead of daring to act recklessly like in history.
"I have also heard about Zhengfang's reputation as an official." Liu Jing asked Li Yan, "I wonder if Zhengfang is willing to join my general's residence and join the army?"
Li Zhengrong replied: "Thanks to the general's respect, I am willing to join the army."
Joining the army means joining the military. The term "staff officer" is just a subordinate of the general's office. Li Yan is a Bailihou who is in charge of one side. He was changed from the magistrate of Yidao County to join the army. It seems to be a demotion, but in fact it is not. The status of joining the army is low.
, but he is Liu Jing's confidant, beyond the comparison of a small county magistrate.
Liu Jing briefly introduced Li Yan to everyone in the general's palace, such as Deng Zhi who joined the army, Chief Secretary Jiang Wan, Right Sima Xu Shu, etc.
After that, Liu Jing praised Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Huo Du and other generals respectively. As for Huo Jun, Zhuge Liang stayed in Yiling.
When returning to the camp, Liu Jing asked Zhuge Liang to ride in a car with him to show his dignity.
On the way, Liu Jing said to Zhuge Liang: "Cai Hongchao sent a letter yesterday. The Jingzhou army has been unable to attack for a long time. It has withdrawn at night and returned north."
Zhuge Liang was not surprised by this. Cai Sheng was Liu Jing's general. The year before last, with only two to three thousand lone troops, he had blocked more than ten thousand Jiaozhou troops at the foot of Quanling City for two months. Now the soldiers in Dangyang City are well-prepared.
, and there were strong reinforcements from the rear. Even if Liu Biao came to attack with thousands of people, they would only be defeated in the end.
Zhuge Liang asked: "I wonder how the situation is over in Jiangxia?" Now that the west and north were free of worries, the only concern was the east. When he was in Yiling, he kept writing letters to Liu Jing, and he already knew that Huang Zu had defeated
Jiang Dongjun.
Seeing Zhuge Liang mentioning Jiangxia, Liu Jing had a strange look on his face and said: "I just got the exact news recently. Huang Zu originally defeated Jiangdong's army in Xiakou, but he was blinded by the victory and pursued blindly.
He was on guard, but was defeated by Jiangdong's army." Speaking of this, Liu Jing smiled and shook his head: "Although Huang Zu severely damaged Jiangdong's army in this battle, he also suffered heavy casualties, so there is nothing to worry about."
"Both sides will suffer losses?" Zhuge Liang was slightly surprised. This result was indeed beyond his expectation.
Liu Jing nodded and said: "That's right, Jiangling has now been completely reduced to an isolated city. Our army has crossed the river. Although it has conquered eight counties, if Jiangling does not fall for a day, we will be like duckweeds without roots. The sun is shining right now.
The siege has been eliminated, and you have returned with your army. It is time to attack Jiangling."
Since he raised his troops in March, Liu Jing has been stationed at Jiangling City for nearly seventy days. Now the siege equipment has been completed, the trenches have been leveled, and the mountains have been raised... Everything is ready, and he can launch an attack on Jiangling as long as he gives the order.
All-out attack.
Zhuge Liang nodded. His previous attacks were all in preparation for seizing Jiangling. Now that the time has come, he should attack Jiangling and complete his victory in one battle.
In the afternoon, Liu Jing held a banquet for the soldiers of the three armies, and officially launched the attack on Jiangling the next day.
Liu Jing personally placed the main force in the east, appointed Gan Ning as the city governor, and presided over the siege. He also ordered Chu Fang to attack Jiangling from the north, Han Guang to attack Jiangling from the west, and Liu Zong led the navy to the south, cruising across the river.
Inspections back and forth.
Liu Jing and Zhuge Liang stood side by side on a towering cloud car, overlooking the city of Jiangling.
On the east wall of Jiangling, there are dozens of towers and oars, which are like ancient fortresses. When Liu Jing was building the defense of Ling County, he built a large number of towers and oars, which caused huge damage to Liu Biao's army.
This time it was Liu Jingjun's turn, but Liu Jing was not too worried about this. In his army, there was a trebuchet, the nemesis of Lou Lu.
In front of Liu Jing's eyes, hundreds of trebuchets of different sizes were lined up in a vast starry sky, and a large number of civilians pushed deer carts in an endless stream, delivering baskets of stone bullets to the battlefield.
From Liu Qi and Cai Mao down, all the Jiangling defenders showed fear. There were also trebuchets in Jiangling City, but the number was very limited and they could not compete with Liu Jingjun.
"put……"
Following Liu Jing's order, hundreds of trebuchets from three directions simultaneously let out thunderous roars.