Su Tingzhan rode his horse for a spin on the frozen ground on the northwest side of Moling Lake. His iron hooves clicked on the unmelted ice. In the whitening sunlight of the afternoon, the Qiao Tower in the southeast corner of Jiangning City shone brightly.
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The more than 10,000 soldiers and horses who followed him marched hundreds of miles in a hurry. They were not tired and were about to cross over. On the contrary, their fighting spirit was very high.
They captured Xuanzhou, Lishui and other cities, massacred and looted them, and unleashed the violence of the soldiers. However, there were only a thousand households in Lishui, Xuanzhou and other cities, so how could they slaughter and plunder to their fullest extent?
There are only a hundred or ten girls in a city, and they are not enough for the generals to play with. Naturally, ordinary generals have no hope.
Jiangning is like a big piece of fat and beautiful meat lying in front of you, with more than a million people, endless wealth to plunder, and countless beauties to play with, let alone running a hundred miles a day.
Even if I run for ten days in a row, my strength is sufficient.
The newly surrendered prisoners of the Imperial Army were filled with even more violence.
In the early days, the generals of the Jiangning garrison were mostly recruited from local children, even after the military household system collapsed.
During Li Zhuo's period, considering that the people from the south of the Yangtze River were born in comfort and would hardly have the courage to kill the enemy, when they increased their troops twice, they recruited brave soldiers from the Haosi refugees on the north bank of Chaotiandang. On the one hand, it was also to reduce the pressure of the large number of refugees on Jiangning.
However, after Li Zhuo left Jiangning, Cheng Yuqian did not do a good job in sorting out the soldiers' families from the displaced households and resettling them. After the Haosi area became more peaceful, they all were expelled back to their place of origin.
When King Ning went south to join the feudal vassal, the accompanying guards were all from the north. When the guards were expanded, the generals and soldiers also chose to migrate from the north. Still, this problem has not been solved.
The Royal Camp Army was organized on the basis of King Ning's Guard Camp and the Jiangning Garrison Army. These factors made the source of soldiers for the Royal Camp Army complex. Due to the serious land annexation of Jiangning Mansion, local forces were extremely powerful, whether it was Li Zhuo, Gu Wuchen, or
In the later period, Chen Xiyan was unable to achieve the military reform of using fields to restrain military households and military households to restrain soldiers.
During the chaos in Jiangning, the generals who had young families in the city might still have the heart to defend the territory and kept more than 2,000 people alive. After the Huaidong Army entered the city, many of the soldiers who had fled before came to surrender with their families.
Nearly a thousand more people gathered together, but baseless soldiers accounted for the majority, and almost all of them became unscrupulous and violent soldiers.
Most of the soldiers and horses of the imperial camp led by Xie Chaozhong to the south were his direct descendants gathered during the period of King Ning's guard camp, especially the group of military attachés promoted by the old guard camp. After the fall of the north, almost all of them died.
It is even more crazy to surrender and the Zhejiang and Fujian troops massacre and plunder the land south of the Yangtze River.
It is said that the generals will surrender their troops and the military attaches will accompany them to slaughter and loot. Even if there are a few ordinary soldiers who cannot bear it, how can they survive the mud and remain untainted?
Shewenzhuang organized the surrendered soldiers of the imperial camp into the right wing, and then massacred and looted them to block the retreat of these surrendered soldiers. At least it was successful so far. Otherwise, the right wing would definitely have gathered 30,000 soldiers and horses, and in Lishui and other small cities,
After the large-scale massacre and looting, the right-wing soldiers and horses entered Jiangning with high morale.
When Su Tingzhan and his troops arrived, there were still a few soldiers of the Huaidong Army operating outside the imperial city.
Su Tingzhan dispatched several small groups of soldiers and horses, mainly surrendered soldiers, to expel them. Tempted and stimulated by the massacre, the Imperial Army's surrendered soldiers were not afraid of fighting at all, and even forced in all the soldiers of the Huaidong Army who were scattered outside.
In the imperial city, it is difficult to take advantage of small-scale battles in the streets.
This situation also made Su Tingzhan feel more confident.
"Huaidong's secret troops deployed on Jinchuan Prison Island landed at sunrise. Nearly three thousand people, all wearing strong armor, equipped with bows, crossbows, swords and spears, joined the imperial camp army and the remnants of the government army, and arrived before the general.
Before arriving, the family members retreated to the imperial city, with a total of more than 6,000 soldiers and horses." The leader of Jiangning's hidden stake stood in front of Su Tingzhan and detailed the details of Jiangning City. Han Bin and Chen Ruyi followed Wang Xueshan on a boat to the west. Those who stayed behind
The leader of the hidden stake is an unattractive middle-aged man who runs a bicycle shop in Jiangning. "He holds a humble position and leads an ambush in the city with only more than 800 people. They are divided into groups and dispersed in various places to disrupt the situation in Jiangning. If you can't stop it, please call the general."
Condemned!"
"You have done a good job. You should go into the city, make good use of your people, and monitor the situation in the city..." Su Tingzhan said.
The previous hidden stakes and the ambush that followed the refugees into Jiangning City were mainly used to disrupt the situation in Jiangning City and ensure that Jiangning City could not organize an effective defense before most of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops arrived.
Now that the three thousand secret troops deployed by Huaidong on Prison Island have come out, it cannot be solved by these ambush troops.
"The general won't lead his troops into the city?" the leader of the hidden pile asked in surprise.
"Then we have to wait for the second young master to come over," Su Tingzhan responded, and then ordered, "Send someone to contact the rebels in the city. If they are willing to surrender, they must leave the city to be reorganized before tonight. They will be there in the future."
Opportunity to indulge. After tomorrow, I will send troops in and out to suppress, and kill without mercy!" After these instructions, he was allowed to go down.
Huaidong's secret soldiers combined with the undisorganized imperial camp army, which still had six to seven thousand troops, retreated to the imperial city and stood firm.
Su Tingzhan currently only has 14,000 troops at his disposal outside Jiangning City. If he divides his forces to control the four cities and key passes in the city, it will undoubtedly give the Huaidong Army in the imperial city a chance to defeat them. And at this time, he
There are too few men and horses available. If they are all used to surround the imperial city, how can we be sure that Huaidong will no longer have ambushes on Prison Island?
If his 14,000 men were defeated in the first battle, they would have no choice but to avoid Jiang Ning.
Regardless of the successive victories of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, they are not out of danger fundamentally. The Jiangzhou Army and the Huaidong Army are slowly approaching. If they make one wrong move, they will fall into an irreversible situation.
Su Tingzhan was a veteran of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies. How could he rush into the city in a hurry before the enemy's situation was clear?
Furthermore, Huaidong soldiers and horses occupy the imperial city. To control the outer city and then surround the imperial city, the unrest in the city must be suppressed so that the offensive can be organized in an orderly manner. This also requires a large number of soldiers and horses.
It's not something he can do right away.
Excluding those who fled out of the city, there are estimated to be nearly 10,000 imperial troops and Jiangning Prefecture troops in the city. Although these troops are scattered, they still have soldiers and armor. Do you know if there are soldiers from Huaidong among them? What if they surrounded them?
The imperial city was busy, and suddenly one or two hundred Huaidong soldiers came out from behind, and the joke was really big.
Su Tingzhan ordered his troops to bypass the south city and first occupy Donghua Gate and Dongshui Gate to separate the imperial city from Prison Island.
Su Ting led the main force of troops and horses, and then all of them were stationed outside Donghua Gate. The other seven gates were only assigned a total of more than a thousand men to garrison; mainly because Donghua Gate was closest to the imperial city, and when they were about to attack the imperial city, they also had to
Concentrate the main force of troops near Donghua Gate.
Over at the Imperial City, Su Tingzhan ignored it for the time being. He had to wait for Luo Wenhu to lead his troops, and also to wait for Tian Chang, She Feihu, and Yu Wenfei to lead the main force in the middle to have enough troops to control such a large city.
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Outside Donghua Gate, there are thousands of hectares of fertile land. Looking across the horizon, the dense buildings of Hekou Town are standing in sight. The farmers on the left and right and Hekou Town have also fled, and only three or five people have closed their doors and looked outside in fear.
of soldiers and horses.
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Sun Wenbing and Lin Xulu stood behind the sentry hole in the protective wall. When they saw the front troops of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army coming towards the East City in darkness, they felt sweaty in their hearts.
Gao Zongting first had to defend the imperial city. The elite armored soldiers and Jiyunshe military guards were all transferred into the imperial city. Only a thousand people were left to defend the prison island. As long as the enemy was determined to attack the prison island, they could only abandon it.
Escape from the island.
It's not that Su Tingzhan didn't want to take Prison Island first.
The right-wing troops commandeered civilian ships near the Rouge River and captured Jiangning navy warships, barely forming a naval force of 4,000 men. Just like the Huaidong reinforcements came from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Zhejiang-Fujian army's right-wing navy had to come from the winter waters.
The journey upstream from the shallow Rouge River is much slower than the land route, and we will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest to reach Jiangning.
Although Prison Island was only five or six hundred steps away from the river bank, Su Tingzhan did not have a naval force and could not recruit enough ships at the moment. Surrounded by more than a hundred horsemen, he boarded the river bank pier and looked out over the water.
Looking at the prison island across the street, one can only look at the island and sigh, feeling helpless.
He even had to scuttle the two fishing boats he had finally collected at the mouth of the Jinchuan River. Since there was no condition to attack Prison Island by force, Su Tingzhan had to prepare for the Huaidong Army to use Prison Island as a base and use warships to pass through various estuaries and quickly reach the hinterland of Jiangning.
interspersed.
As Su Tingzhan led his troops to gain a foothold at Donghua Gate, after She Feihu gained the trust, he and Yu Wenshan broke camp from Jinshan and accelerated their pace. Ten thousand troops arrived and entered Jiangning at night. Luo Wenhu also led his troops from Lishui.
The arrival of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops in Jiangning suddenly increased to more than 34,000 troops. In addition, Tian Chang led the main force of the Middle Route Army of more than 20,000 people on the way to Jiangning.
Compared with the swiftness of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, the Huaidong army was slightly slower.
At this season, the northwest wind was strong, and it was a headwind against the Huaidong Water Camp coming upstream. However, before nightfall, Lin Zonghai personally led the Dongyang Prefecture Army's vanguard of more than 2,000 soldiers to cross into Chaotiandang and stationed on Prison Island.
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A little later, Shewenzhuang, who had been sitting in Guangde and commanding various armies from the center, drove nearly three hundred miles a day and night to Jiangning, surrounded by his cavalry, to personally supervise the battle.
Under the cold moon, She Wenzhuang wore a plain cotton robe, his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were swollen, and he looked haggard.
Although the Zhejiang and Fujian armies were victorious one after another, life in Shewenzhuang was difficult, and his heart became increasingly tormented.
The big tent is located on the tower of Donghua Gate. Through the whistle hole on the inside, you can clearly observe the imperial city under the cold moon.
The soldiers of Huaidong were already standing on the top of the imperial city. Their swords and spears reflected the light of the cold moon. The cold wind howled over Jiangning City and passed through the whistle holes, like ghosts crying and wolves howling.
"The four cities and nine gates are under control. We can send troops to drive away the rebels at dawn," She Feihu said. "Feihu is willing to lead his elite troops to guard inside the Donghua Gate. As soon as the Huaidong Army comes out of the imperial city, they will attack
Kill him!"
"Tell me, if I give you 20,000 troops, how soon can we capture the imperial city?" She Wenzhuang asked, looking at the generals around him.
Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang, Yu Wenshan, Fang Zhenhe, Luo Wenhu, etc. were silent and did not speak. Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang, and Yu Wenshan were all veterans of Zhejiang and Fujian. If they were to attack slowly, they could always capture the imperial city.
The only elite soldiers in the city are the three thousand soldiers in Huaidong, but no one can say how fast they can go.
In addition, there is a palace wall in the imperial city, which means that as long as the soldiers inside do not surrender, even if the city wall is captured, there will still be a bloody battle further inside.
Even She Feihu couldn't easily answer this question from Shewenzhuang.
"Is ten days enough?" She Wenzhuang, who had always been calm and composed, couldn't help but ask impatiently.
Huaidong's troops on the northern front are limited, and Yue Lengqiu is cunning. She Wenzhuang is most worried about the fact that the main force of the Huaidong Army, led by Lin Fu, has entered Hangzhou.
The 60,000 Huaidong Army led by Lin Fu himself was only 500 miles away from Jiangning.
Zheng Mingjing led 20,000 elite troops on the left wing to withdraw to Liyang. Although it blocked the main force of the Huaidong Army from heading north to Jiangning, the city of Liyang was not considered dangerous, otherwise the Hanghu Army would not have collapsed after holding on for ten days.
Lin Fu could even leave 30,000 troops and horses behind to monitor Zheng Mingjing's troops, and lead the remaining 30,000 elite troops to bypass Liyang and continue northward. As long as they reached Jiangning's strength and joined forces with the northern front, the Huaidong Army would be able to retreat outside Jiangning.
The number of soldiers and horses will also reach 60,000. In addition, the Jiangzhou Army is approaching from the right wing, and the Zhejiang and Fujian Army is still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength in Jiangning.
If we can capture the imperial city and completely control Jiangning City before the main force of the Huaidong Army arrives, this battle will naturally continue.
If Lin Fu and the main force of the Huaidong Army arrived, but the imperial city failed to be captured, and the Zhejiang and Fujian troops were forced to retreat to the outer city to defend themselves, the situation would be dangerous -
"Huaidong defends the Imperial City instead of Donghua Gate. Is this a bait?" Fang Zhenhe suddenly came to his senses at this time.
"Yes!" Luo Wenhu reminded Fang Zhenhe and patted his thigh.
Yu Wenshan's eyes lit up, and he wanted to say something else, but when he saw that the Governor, the Second Young Master, Tian Chang, and Su Tingzhan all had normal expressions, he realized that they had seen this a long time ago, but he, Fang Zhenhe, and Luo Wenhu were at this moment.
Only then did I see it.
The Huaidong Army guarded Donghua Gate. The straight-line distance between Donghua Gate and Prison Island was less than ten miles. There was no dangerous terrain in between for the Zhejiang and Fujian troops to insert. As long as the Huaidong Army's reinforcements from the Yangtze River and the Dongyang Prefecture Army entered Prison Island, they
They will be forced to withdraw from Jiangning. However, as long as the main force of the Huaidong Army does not come, it will be easy for them to withdraw from Jiangning.
As for the Huaidong Army's defense of the Imperial City, they wanted to see that even if they could not capture the Imperial City, 60,000 soldiers and horses could barely defend the outer city. Although the situation was dangerous, it was not without a chance of victory. This was to tempt them to stay and fight decisively.
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Should you swallow this bait, or should you just turn around and evacuate from Jiangning? If you turn around and run all the way to the foot of Jiangning City, how will you explain to the generals below? Are you afraid of the Huaidong Army? Then when you encounter the Huaidong Army in the future
Do you still want to fight?
What a poisonous bait!
Fang Zhenhe also realized his slowness and smiled awkwardly.
Su Tingzhan asked Shewenzhuang directly: "What if the left wing withdraws now?"
If Zheng Mingjing withdraws now, he will definitely be able to reach Jiangning before the main force of the Huaidong Army. Then they will have enough troops to attack the imperial city calmly while guarding the periphery.
Tian Chang said: "If the left wing is withdrawn, even if we can attack the imperial city, the Huaidong Army and Jiangzhou Army can easily block all the roads outside Jiangning!"
"Jiangning City alone can be defended for half a year," Su Tingzhan said. "In half a year, the eldest son will be able to go to Jiangzhou and lead troops to help!"
She Feihu still had 40,000 elite troops in Jiangxi, which were also the last elites of the She family. They stayed in Yuzhang until Yue Lengqiu was transferred out, and then they went north to attack Jiangzhou. Yang Xiong still had 20,000 troops.
If the army surrenders, as long as there is enough time, the Zhejiang and Fujian Army can gather more troops outside Jiangning than the Huaidong Army and Jiangzhou Army, not to mention they still occupy the city of Jiangning.
"In half a year, Beiyan will definitely make some moves," Yu Wenshan said. "No matter how timid Luo Xiancheng is, he should be able to see the situation clearly!"
"What if Huaidong categorically gives up Xuzhou?" Tian Chang asked rhetorically.
Lin Fu has always implemented the strategy of defending Huaihe and Xu Si. He operates a defense line in Xu Si, including the elites of Huaiyang Army and Fengli Army, half of the Jinghai Third Water Battalion, warships and a large number of supply troops, all deployed
On the Xu Si defense line.
However, once Huaidong abandons Huaidong's outer defense line and temporarily retreats to the banks of the Huaihe River, one Huaihe River can replace 20,000 to 30,000 elite soldiers in a short period of time, which means that Huaidong can defeat either the Huaiyang Army or the Fengli Camp.
The Ministry was transferred south to join the war.
Going south from Shanyang to Jiangning is closer and faster than going west from Chongzhou, which will offset the troops that She Feihu may bring.
Even if half a year is enough for Beiyan to take action, the specific situation cannot be accurately predicted at the moment. Everything is still a gamble.
Luo Xiancheng's Changle Army is said to have twenty soldiers and horses, but the Changle Army is not as good as Liu An'er's Huangjue Army at its peak. We cannot expect too much, nor can we expect Yang Xiong's Dongting Lake Bandits to compete with the Huaidong Water Camp on the Yangtze River.
"The left wing does not retreat to Liyang, but advances to the southwest foot of Xiling. How long can it intercept the main force of the Huaidong Army?" She Feihu asked through gritted teeth.
Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang and others were all shocked.
Zheng Mingjing led his troops to retreat to Liyang City. The main force of the Huaidong Army could not delay for too long, but it had an advantage in strength and would most likely choose to divide its forces and bypass Liyang. But if Zheng Mingjing was asked to take the initiative, he would use the low ridge terrain in the south of Liyang to intercept Huaidong.
army, there can only be two results: one is to intercept it for enough time, then retreat to Xiling or Fuyu Mountain in the south, or be surrounded and annihilated by the main force of the Huaidong Army.
The 20,000 soldiers and horses on the left wing led by Zheng Mingjing are all soldiers of the Fujian Province. The bet on the left wing soldiers and horses is just to buy a few more days to attack the imperial city here. This bet is a bit big - it is better to turn around immediately
It would be better to leave, retreat to Yangjiang and Xuanzhou, and slowly shrink our troops towards Huizhou.
Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang and others all looked at Shewenzhuang and saw that the Governor had his eyes slightly swollen and was silent. Their hearts were in their throats, fearing that the Governor would risk his life and take a gamble.