"By order of the Privy Council, I am informing the magistrate of Shouzhou, Ding Zhiru, who is staying behind to supervise the troops and prepare officers, Chen Juxian, the deputy general of the left branch of the Huaixi camp, and other generals in Shouzhou: From now on, the commander of the Fengli Army will also take charge of the garrison of Shouzhou.
The magistrate of Xinyang, Meng Chen, came out to learn about the affairs of the Shouzhou Prefecture. Ding Zhiru and Chen Juxian handed over the fortresses of Shouzhou and Xia Shishan before the 27th, and the first town division of the Fengli Army took over the defense. Those who were ordered to be punished for treason.
Behead without mercy!"
Liu Xilin took the lead with 5,000 elite soldiers taking advantage of the unexpected situation on a grain transport ship, and entered from the entrance of Dongling Lake. They landed from the dock on the east bank of Dongling Lake. After taking control of the dock on the east bank of Dongling Lake, they directed their troops towards the Xia Shishan Army.
Between the fortress and Shouzhou City, to prevent the possibility of the Xiashishan defenders retreating to Shouzhou City, they sent a few cavalry to the downstairs of the North City of Shouzhou City at noon, and read aloud in front of the Shouzhou North City defenders.
Order in Council.
"Strong thieves!" Yuan Hancheng fainted for a while. When he woke up, he heard numerous riders riding under the city reading the order of the Privy Council. He yelled, "Strong thieves, shoot these thieves to death!"
Ding Zhiru hit the wall so hard that his palms were dripping with blood. Why didn't he want to order the people under the city to be shot on the spot and ask the Huaidong Army to see his face?
Otherwise, there is no way out!
There were only six battalions of garrison troops near Shouzhou, and they were divided into Shouzhou City and Xia Shishan, with no way to merge them together.
Although five thousand Huaidong elites had just landed from outside Shouzhou City at this time, Ding Zhiru had no doubt that the Meng family in Xinyang had surrendered to Huaidong. Otherwise, Ning Zechen would not have quietly sent troops from Xinyang to directly attack Shouzhou.
This means that the main force of the first town division of Fengli Army's western aid to Xinyang and the defenders of Xinyang City under the control of the Meng family will soon enter the Shouzhou City via water.
The Sixth Battalion, with less than 4,000 garrison troops, was divided into two areas, and faced with the attack of 25,000 to 6,000 troops and horses, how long could it be defended? Ding Zhiru was not very familiar with military affairs, but the guard general Chen Juxian knew it from his pale face.
There is no guarantee that we will be able to hold on until Dong Yuan leads the main force to return reinforcements from the northern foot of Huaishan Mountain...
It is true that Chen Juxian was Dong Yuan's trusted direct general, but other generals and the most ordinary soldiers were not puppets without any brains! After breaking up with Huaidong, with the odds of winning extremely slim, less than two people in Shouzhou City
Thousands of defenders, how many of them need to bear the charge of "rebellion" and go all the way with Huaixi, and would rather die than fight against Huaidong to the end?
"There is something different in Xinyang. The recruiting envoys in Guangshan County must be aware of it. The secret order should be sent back soon." Chen Juxian said to Ding Zhiru. Although he was loyal to Dong Yuan, he did not dare to start a war at this time and block the final retreat.
Even if he wants to fight, Dong Yuan should make the decision.
Huaidong's army was approaching the city, and no news came from Dong Yuan. It can be expected that Dong Yuan was not aware of the changes in Xinyang at least before yesterday - what other trump cards do they have against Huaidong?
Dong Yuan wanted to adjust the deployment of troops south of Guangshan and lead his direct troops back to Shouzhou to aid Shouzhou, which could be accomplished in three to five days.
The order from the Privy Council issued by Lin Fu was very clear: Shouzhou city defense must be vacated before tomorrow, otherwise it would be punished as rebellion, and Fengli's army would directly attack Shouzhou city - there is no doubt that Ding Zhiru was not qualified to test Huai.
The bottom line of the Eastern Army.
At this time, a number of horsemen came rushing from the southwest. They were Dong Yuan's trusted aides sent from Guangshan to report back to Shouzhou. However, when they saw the array of Huaidong soldiers on the east bank of Dongling Lake, they wanted to cry but had no tears.
He whipped the horse's buttocks and galloped towards the city of Shouzhou.
Dong Yuan did not have a straight road from Guangshan to Shouzhou to pass the message. The messenger came from Guangshan and traveled more than 500 miles day and night. Several horses were killed by the horse, but he still failed to reach the elite troops at the front of Fengli Camp.
He rushed to Shouzhou to report the news before cutting off Qishanshi from Shouzhou City.
After reading Dong Yuan's secret letter, Ding Zhiru burst into tears and showed it to Chen Juxian, Yuan Hancheng and others, saying: "The envoy has sent people to guard Xinyang, and Zhong Rong and other generals have led the Suizhou army.
Surrender, the situation is still promising, there must be a chance to make a comeback, this world will not be blocked by Huaidong Shuzi with just one hand. I went out of the city to negotiate with the Huaidong army, and I could not surrender the family, the king of Chu, and the generals.
If Xiaodu is brought out of Shouzhou City, he would rather die than surrender!"
"Shouzhou can't be given up," Chu Hancheng cried, his face covered with tears. Even with Dong Yuan's secret order, he was not willing to see Shouzhou, which had been in business for several years, and Haozhou so easily taken away by Huaidong.
He grabbed Ding Zhiru's arm and said, "Tao Chun is in Woyang, which is only more than a hundred miles away from the Beishan camp in Xia Shi. He has 30,000 soldiers and horses. You can immediately send a messenger to ask him to lead his troops to come back for reinforcements!"
Ding Zhiru smiled bitterly and shook his head. Tao Chun had been suppressed by them over the years. From the beginning, he was in charge of 50,000 elites. After being weakened, he may not even be able to control all 20,000 direct descendants. He must have taken the wrong medicine to help them.
Fighting with Huaidong?
Even if Tao Chun is willing to lead troops to help, how will he cross the mighty Huai River?
The few naval forces in Huaixi were all concentrated on the upper reaches of the Huai River. They were there to prevent the Suizhou army from escaping north. There was no possibility of a decisive battle with the elite naval forces in the east of Huai River on the Huai River!
Yuan Hancheng was speechless and burst into tears. He gave up Shouzhou, and Haozhou could not be saved. Tao Chun would definitely abandon Huaixi's control. Even if Dong Yuan still had hundreds of thousands of troops, there was no place to raise them.
Food for raising troops, talk about a comeback, talk about capital to fight against Huaidong?
****************
When the sun set in the west, Ning Zechen led the main force of the Chinese army, nearly 15,000 troops, into Shouzhou.
After Liu Xilin led his troops to completely separate and blockade Shouzhou City and the Xiashi Mountain military fortress, the main force of the Chinese army disembarked directly from the western foot of Xiashi Mountain. Ning Zechen took a boat into Dongling Lake and entered the temporary camp in East Lake and Liu Xilin.
Meet at Xilin.
Ding Zhiru came out of the city and proposed various conditions for handing over the defense of Shouzhou. Ning Zechen raised his head and asked him: "After the destruction of Xuzhou City, the King of Chu moved to Shouzhou. What reason does it make for the King of Chu to follow you to Xinyang without obeying the order?"
? King Min is the youngest son of the emperor. He was granted the vassalship of Shouzhou when he was young. The emperor misses him very much. He did not say that he would send King Min back to Jiangning. What are your intentions in taking King Min away? Tao Chun is guarding Guoyang. Even though his family is young,
If they want to follow the army, I will naturally send them to Guoyang, so why should I follow you to Xinyang? I was just ordered to take over the defense of Shouzhou in case the Huru sent troops from Shandong to attack Shouzhou. Sir Ding, do you want to
Too much?"
Ding Zhiru almost spit out a mouthful of blood and said sternly: "Huaidong bullies people too much, so he is not afraid of changes in his elbows and armpits."
"Huaidong has no intention of deceiving others, nor does he have any intention of holding people hostage," Ning Zechen said, pressing his hand on the long case and staring at Ding Zhiru with sharp eyes like an eagle, "But who should leave and who wants to leave?"
, who should not leave, and who does not want to leave, how can there be no rules? Lord Ding can take away those who should leave and those who want to leave, and we will not keep any of them; those who should not leave, and those who do not want to leave
, If Mr. Ding wants to compete with me for verbal advantage, no matter what tricks he uses, don’t think that Huaidong is easy to bully!"
"..." Ding Zhiru and Ning Zechen looked at each other angrily, with no intention of giving in.
Ning Zechen waved his hand and said, "Master Ding, please go back to the city. I will come to fetch Shouzhou City at noon tomorrow!" Without giving Ding Zhiru a chance to argue, he asked his subordinates to directly drive Ding Zhiru out of the camp.
After expelling Ding Yuan back to Shouzhou City, Ning Zechen did not neglect his actions at all: he divided five thousand troops into a village on the south bank of Dongling Lake and controlled the access to Shouzhou from the southwest to prevent Dong Yuan from being defeated.
Zhixin led troops from Xinyang to rescue Shouzhou; he divided 5,000 troops into the northern foot of Xiashi Mountain to cut down wood and built a camp, sealing the 2,000 Huaixi defenders at Xiashi Mountain in the camp; and pushed 8,000 soldiers and horses directly to Shouzhou overnight.
They set up camp outside the North City and set up heavy stone-throwing crossbows. In the name of military exercises that night, stone bullets weighing more than a hundred kilograms successively hit the moat outside the city and splashed water...
At this moment, Ding Zhiru, Yuan Hancheng, Chen Juxian and others all understood that Huaidong did not want to directly force them to rebel just yet, but they had no room for bargaining with Huaidong.
Huaidong still has 30,000 water infantry in Shanyang. Coming to Shouzhou to participate will not be as slow as Dong Yuan's return from Guangshan.
One hundred thousand soldiers and horses of Bei Yan on the west bank escaped. With this excuse, Lin Fu would not miss the opportunity to completely annihilate Huaixi soldiers and horses.
At this time, Lin Fu sent the Shuiying warships into the Han River, and Cao Ziang led 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses to guard Fancheng. The Zaoyang line could completely block the Yanhu soldiers and horses to the north and west of Fancheng, and Lin Fu could directly enter from Fancheng.
The Huangpi front line led the main force of the Huaidong Army northward, crossed the Huaishan Mountains and entered Xinyang to encircle and annihilate the Huaixi soldiers and horses - Huaixi lacked the supplies for a long-term confrontation with Huaidong and was riddled with internal factional conflicts. Zhong Rong and other 60,000 soldiers and horses were all undecided.
The surrender of the army requires a decisive battle, and Huaixi has no chance of winning by chance...
Ning Zechen's meaning is very clear: King Chu and King Min, the youngest son of Emperor Yongxing, are not allowed to leave Shouzhou without an order; those who are willing to move out of Shouzhou will not be stopped and will not be held hostage; those who are unwilling will not be stopped.
If they leave, Ding Zhiru is also prohibited from using any means to hijack them and leave.
During the day and night, King Yuan Hancheng of Chu suddenly grew old and became hunched over.
Yuan Hancheng understood that he did not have an excuse to leave Shouzhou, and at this time Dong Yuan was not qualified to show his cards with Huaidong. Since Dong Yuan chose to be patient, he would not show his cards with Huaidong for him, and he stayed
In Shouzhou, a good life means being under house arrest until death, while a bad life means being violently ill and dying. As for his beautiful concubines, concubines, princes, and grandsons, they will never be able to live comfortably again...
If Lin Fu wants to stand on his own feet, the first thing he will do is eradicate the imperial barriers like them.
In addition, as Ding Zhiru expected, he could not forcefully threaten Tao Chun. Even if Tao Chun's relatives in Shouzhou did not get in touch with Tao Chun, they refused to move to Xinyang with them. They would rather stay in Shouzhou and wait and see the situation - since Huaidong
At this time, Xu Dingzhiru moved Dong Yuan's family away. If Tao Chunzhen decided to follow Dong Yuan and not break away from Huaixi, Huaidong would probably not tear them apart and make trouble for them.
Ding Zhiru was heartbroken and bleeding. It was not difficult to guess what choice Tao Chun would make: Once Lin Fu pinned the charge of rebellion on the Huaixi army, and Huaixi saw no hope of winning, Tao Chun would be the first to do so.
Stand up and break away from Huaixi, and even attack them viciously in order to please Lin Fu!
At noon on the 27th, the tightly closed north and west gates of Shouzhou City opened silently. The defenders escorted a convoy of nearly a thousand mules, horses and carts out of the west gate. Under the supervision of the soldiers of the Huaidong Army, they meandered towards the city.
Go to Huo Qiu in the west...
Ning Zechen wore armor and sat on the horse, and Meng Jin also stood on a gentle slope northwest of Shouzhou City, watching the chariots and horses heading west. Liu Xilin had already led his troops into Shouzhou City at the north gate.
Meng Jin said: "Xiao Kui'an may be able to send someone to lobby..."
Ning Zechen shook his head and said: "My lord, since Dong Yuan is willing to give up Shouzhou City, we can continue to pursue and annihilate the enemies on the west bank of the Han River according to the strategy. We will temporarily occupy Shouzhou City and the Xiashishan Army."
Fortress, as for the specific adjustments to the Huaixi defense zone, we will make arrangements after the war, so we won’t create extraneous matters for now.”
Meng Jin nodded, Dong Yuan wanted to choose the lesser of two evils, while Huaidong had to give priority to ensuring that the main combat intention could be realized.