After learning that the Wei State had mobilized a large number of elites to attack South Korea, the Chu army in Song County finally took action.
On the seventh day of the seventh month of the second year of Wei Zhaowu, Chu Shuijun led his army to attack Changyi for the second time.
In the early morning of that day, when they learned that the Chu army was coming to attack the city, the dignitaries of the Zhao family of Wei who had always been pampered and privileged, such as Zhao Shen, King of Chengling, Zhao Zhuo, King of Jiyang, Liu Mao, Marquis of Weichuan, all got up from their beds one after another, without even bothering to have breakfast.
, and hurried to the tower of the east city gate, looking at the Chu army outside the city.
At this time, outside Changyi City, about ten miles away from the city, the Chu army had gathered in large numbers and was arranging troops.
Looking at the Chu army that seemed to be connected to the sky, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, Zhao Zhuo, the king of Jiyang, Liu Hao, the Marquis of Weichuan, and others couldn't help but look a little ugly.
After a long time, Marquis of Weichuan Liu Mao said quietly: "I contracted a mine over there..."
Contracting is a new word that has only appeared in the Wei State in the past two years. Take the mine mentioned by Weichuan Hou Liu Mao as an example. The imperial court leased a certain mine to Weichuan Hou Liu Mao in the name of a local county, and the latter
They contributed money and effort to mine the ores. Most of these ores would eventually be purchased by the state, and a proportion of the money would be given to Marquis Weichuan and Liu Mao, usually around 30% to 50%.
The projects that the Wei State has started domestically in recent years, including building dams and building roads, are basically a form of borrowing money to lay eggs. Not only can the court profit from it, but the nobles who contract the projects can also make considerable profits.
, it can be said to be a win-win situation.
However, due to the invasion of the Chu army, the mine contracted by Liu Mao, the Marquis of Weichuan, could only be put on hold temporarily, which made Liu Mao, the Marquis of Weichuan, heartache. After all, it was all money.
"..."
After hearing the mutterings of Weichuan Hou Liu Mao, Chengling King Zhao Shen and Jiyang King Zhao Zhuo glanced at the former in unison, secretly muttering in their hearts: Who the hell is not it?
It has to be said that these Wei kings and nobles were really depressed, because in view of the invasion of the Chu army, when they retreated to Changyi, in order to avoid the enemy, they were forced to destroy the mines and burn the manors. Although these losses to the imperial court
We will compensate them in other forms in the future, but it still makes them feel extremely painful.
At this moment, Cui Yong, the "special envoy to Fu Song", led Jian Tiao, the magistrate of Changyi County, and several other heads of clans in the city, and a large group of people climbed onto the city tower to check on the enemy's situation.
"Master Cui."
"Cui Yong has met a few of them."
The two sides greeted each other in the city.
Cui Yong was the brother-in-law of King Yong Zhao Yu. Although he seemed frivolous at first glance, he was actually upright and eloquent. Therefore, Zhao Run named him the "Special Envoy to Fu Song". As the name suggests, he was the representative of the Wei court who appeased the people of Song County.
.
It is no exaggeration to say that, apart from King Zhao Run of Wei, the people of Song County trusted the most in this special envoy Cui Yongcui.
It is for this reason that even after the Puppet Song Dynasty was overthrown and the leader of the Northern Bo Army committed suicide to apologize, and Song County was incorporated into the territory of Wei State, the imperial court took into account the people's trust in Cui Yong in Song County and did not recall him to the court.
He continued to ask Cui Yong to take charge of all affairs of Song County.
To put it simply, apart from having no military power, Cui Yong is actually not much different from the "Song County Sheriff".
As for the magistrate Jian Tiao of Changyi County, he was actually the head of the famous local "Jian clan" in Changyi County. In that year, the Changyi clan was massacred by the black crows sent by Zhang Qigong, and the blame was blamed on Beibo.
After joining the army, Jian Tiao gradually came together with Cui Yong, and Cui Yong also used the momentum of these people to drive Zhang Qigong, whom he hated so much, back to the court. He could not accept Zhang Qigong's bad behavior of unscrupulous means to achieve his goals.
"Compared with the siege in the past few days, the Chu army dispatched today seems to be larger in number."
After looking at the Chu army outside the city for a while, Cui Yong frowned and said.
He felt that the Chu army on the opposite side seemed a little impatient, as if they wanted to capture Changyi immediately.
Why?
Even though Cui Yong is a smart person, he is still confused about this.
"Could it be that the Chu army has learned that our country is attacking South Korea? But... the time is not right? How could the Chu army know the news from South Korea so quickly?"
Cui Yong was a little confused.
You must know that he only roughly knew about Tiance Mansion's "Strategy against Korea". The reason was that Tiance Mansion ordered him to give Song County and requested to delay the Chu army as much as possible. As for when the elite troops of Wei State would send troops
Even he didn't know much about the attack on South Korea, let alone the Chu army on the opposite side?
Calculating the time, it will take at least one or two months to send the message from South Korea to the Chu army.
I have to say that Cui Yong's guess was quite good, but unfortunately, something unexpected happened. Qi's general Tian Dan predicted Wei's actions and quickly informed Chu Shuijun. Otherwise, the Chu army might have to wait another day or two.
Months later, it was possible to learn that South Korea was being attacked by Wei elites.
"King Chengling."
After observing the Chu army's formation for a while, Cui Yong invited Chengling King Zhao Shen aside and asked in a low voice: "According to your opinion, if the Chu army attacks Changyi with all its strength, how many days can our army hold on?"
Chengling King Zhao Shen frowned and thought for a moment, then whispered: "Ten days is the most."
"Ten days?" Cui Yong frowned, obviously it was too little.
Seeing this, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, smiled bitterly and said: "Master Cui, please don't compare the soldiers in the city with the Shangshui Army, Yanling Army, Wei Wu Army and other armies. They are all the elite regular troops of our great Wei Dynasty.
What's in Changyi City is just a patchwork of county soldiers and private troops. If we can hold on for ten days, that's already pretty good."
Cui Yong was silent when he heard this.
In fact, to be honest, Tiance Mansion did not force them to stay in Changyi for a few days, and the aristocratic families in Changyi City have actually moved their family properties to the Daliang area one after another. Only in Changyi County
The people of Wei did not know it yet and thought that the Wei people would hold on to Changyi. In fact, Changyi was at best trying to block the abandonment of the Chu army.
It's not that the Wei court is cruel, it's that the court can't send more troops to rescue them. The first strategy must be to attack South Korea. Only by destroying South Korea can Wei free up 300,000 elite troops to fight against Chu.
military contest.
This is a matter of strategic emphasis. Although it is cruel, Song County must strategically abandon it for the ultimate victory.
Because of this reason, Cui Yong actually no longer needs to stay on the front line in Changyi. In fact, he could have retreated long ago, even to Dingtao or Daliang. However, he chose to stay in Changyi, just hoping to help those in the city.
The uninformed people of Song County held out for a few more days under the Chu army's offensive, or in other words, they hoped that Changyi would be able to hold on until the troops from the Northern Expedition to Korea returned in triumph.
"The Chu army has divided its forces."
I don't know who shouted, Cui Yong quickly raised his head to take a look, and soon found that the Chu army outside the city was divided into three, one stayed in place, one went north, and one went south, obviously preparing to attack Chang from three sides.
Yi County.
The army heading north, whose flag is Changyi County, is already very familiar. It is Xiang Pei, Xinyang Lord of Chu State. Among the Chu-Vietnam coalition, he is the enemy general who has had the most dealings with Changyi.
As for the army heading south, Changyi County had also come into contact with it in the previous war. It was the Dongou Army under the command of Wu Qi, the general of Yue State.
As for the troops remaining in the east...
"That...could it be the newly arrived Chu army reinforcements?" King Chengling squinted his eyes and watched.
He found that the army responsible for attacking the east gate of Changyi today seemed to have unfamiliar faces.
Because this Chu army is really unfamiliar, there are only a few words on the flag: Chu, Zhaoguan, Xiang.
He didn't know that it was the army of Xiang Kuan, who was also a general of Chu State with his brother Xiang Mo. He was originally stationed at Zhaoguan.
As for the strength of this Chu army, we can understand it just by looking at the war between Xiang Kuan and Yue: This army suppressed Yue's Dongou Army several times, so that Yue did not dare to confront it head-on and could only retreat to
The elite of the Chu State fought guerrilla harassment warfare with Xiang Kuan in the deep mountains and forests.
Although it is difficult to say that the "Zhaoguan Garrison" is the most elite army in the Chu State, even more so than the army stationed by Xiang Kuan and his brother Xiang Mo at "Fuli Sai", it can definitely be regarded as one of the top three elite troops in Eastern Chu.
Yes, after the Yue State surrendered to the Chu State, General Xiang Kuan and the Zhaoguan Army under his command were also released, and they no longer needed to guard the Chu-Yue border.
Also released at the same time was the Dongou Army of the Yue State, a Yue Army whose strength was not inferior to that of the regular army of the Chu State.
"Woo"
"Woo"
Far outside the city, the Chu army's main formation sounded a long blast of trumpets.
At this time, under the banner of the commander of the formation, Chu Shuijun was clasping his hands and fists towards a general: "Everything depends on the general's bravery."
I saw this Chu general, nine feet tall, burly, with a square face and wide lips, a pair of tiger eyes that are particularly striking, and his resolute face, which looks like an ax and a knife, is somewhat similar to the Chu general Xiang Mo. He is the Chu general.
Xiang Juan, the fierce general who guarded Zhaoguan.
It could be seen that Xiang Juan was not very submissive to Lord Chu Shui. After saying "oh" casually, he shook the reins and steered the horse forward slowly.
Seeing this, a witch beside Chu Shuijun flashed a look of dissatisfaction in her eyes and whispered: "Chu Shuijun..."
As if he had guessed what the witch was thinking, Chu Shuijun watched Xiang Kuan's back as he rode away, and said with a low smile: "Don't be too troublesome... Xiang Kuan's bravery is still the same as that of Xiang Mo."
It is said that he can tear apart tigers and leopards with his bare hands. He is indeed a fierce general in the world. Don't provoke him unless necessary."
The witch seemed a little unconvinced when she heard this. She stared at Xiang Juan's back for a long time, but in the end, she lowered her head and said, "Yes."
At the same time, Xiang Kuan had already rode back to his army, raised his hand and pointed to the city ahead: "March!"
With an order, tens of thousands of Zhaoguan troops moved forward slowly.
I saw these soldiers with serious expressions, neat steps, and really extraordinary momentum.
Seeing this, Cui Yong, Zhao Shen and others in Changyi City were slightly shocked: The main army of Chu State?
It's no wonder they were so surprised, because the Chu generals' tactics were to first send out grain and recruit soldiers to consume a wave of enemy troops, and then when the time was right, they would send out elite regular troops for a decisive battle.
But today, the first to appear were the regular troops of the Chu State. This made Cui Yong and Chengling King Zhao Shen inevitably murmur that the Chu army's offensive today was different from the previous ones.
In fact, this is because they don't understand Xiang Juan. Xiang Juan and his Zhaoguan Army have been stationed at the border of Chu and Yue all year round. It can be said to be the place with the worst combat environment. On that battlefield, it is impossible to recruit soldiers without food.
Even if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people like this were sent out, it would be of no use. They might even be devoured by the wolves, tigers and leopards in the mountains before they even encounter the Yue people.
Therefore, Xiang Kuan attached great importance to the training of his soldiers. Even the recruited soldiers would undergo rigorous training in his hands before being sent to the land of Wuyue to conquer the Yue Kingdom.
Xiang Juan, he may be the only general in Chu who does not use the newly recruited grain and soldiers to fight.
"Conquer Changyi in three days?"
Looking up at Changyi City in the distance, Xiang Kuan snorted with a bit of contempt.