"...Since ancient times, it has never been known that a general cherishes his life and can make his soldiers bravely kill the enemy..."
"...As a prince, I am entrusted by my father to lead the army, Deng Xiang, and I have the responsibility to defend the mountains and rivers. How can I retreat to the high ground out of pity for my own body, sit back and watch the soldiers sacrifice their lives, and use my flesh and blood to block the Liang army?
Blade? If so, what’s the difference between this prince and the rebel generals on the east bank of the Han River who heard the news and surrendered..."
"... I am staying in Xichuan, with the intention of coexisting with Xichuan City and the eight thousand Chu generals. If I cannot defeat the Liang army, I will never retreat south. Du Qing should try his best to defend Xiangzhou City and deploy in Xiangzhou City.
, we must put the defense of the city first and wait for the emperor to send troops from Jinling to help, and together we can defeat the Liang army..."
"...Don't think that I am in Xichuan. Even if Liang Jun attacks Xichuan, Xiangzhou soldiers and horses must not rush to Xichuan's aid and disrupt our army's position..."
"...If Xichuan is not defended, I am ordered to return to the mountains where Deng Xiang's soul should be, and I can be buried by the Canglang Han River. I will be satisfied and have nothing to do with Du Qing and Deng Xiang generals..."
"...Du Qing and the generals guarded Xiangzhou, which will be a great achievement for our country, the Chu State..."
In the meeting hall of the Defense Envoy's Mansion in Xiangzhou City, Du Chongtao sat down at the table and read word by word the reply letter sent by the military envoy Yang Yuanpu sent back to Xiangzhou to the generals gathered in the hall.
Du Chongtao's loud voice echoed in the hall, and the generals and officers were all ashamed, and they did not dare to look directly into Du Chongtao's piercing eyes.
When Liang Jun went south, the Zaoyang defenders and stalwart civilians, numbering more than 14,000 to 5,000, ignored military orders and fled eastward to Suizhou without permission. They were immediately ambushed and killed by elite Liang troops. Corpses were everywhere and rivers of blood flowed.
, Ma Xun, Ma Rong and other generals’ lives and deaths are unknown.
At this time, the fortress outside Zaoyang was captured, with more than 15,000 soldiers and horses on the right front. In the end, only Zhong Yanhu's troops did not go with the Tanzhou soldiers and horses, and retreated eastward out of Zaoyang City, holding on to the Han River beach until the Xiangzhou Army
came for reinforcements and finally withdrew 800 remaining soldiers.
After that, Suizhou City was deceived by Liang Jun's disguised fleeing troops. The two thousand defenders could not hold out for an hour before they were killed by the elite cavalry of Liang Jun who rushed in frantically.
More than ten thousand Liang troops, horses and infantry gathered in Zaoyang hastily, and then rushed southward along the western foot of Dahong Mountain like a rolling torrent to attack the city of Yingzhou.
When the enemy cavalry first arrived, Xia Shuang, the governor of Yingzhou who was timid and fearful of fighting, immediately offered his city to the enemy.
The defenders of Shicheng and Chaihu counties under Yingzhou were very courageous and closed the city without surrender. However, the county soldiers were too weak in combat. After only one day of defense, the two cities were captured by the Liang army. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the two cities were brutally killed by the Liang army.
Military massacre.
After that, Ying followed other cities in the two states that were watching, but none of them had the guts to defend the city and surrendered. In less than four days, Liang Jun fell into more than ten cities on the east bank of the Han River. Hundreds of thousands of Chu people fell into Liang Jun's trap.
Under control.
At that time, dozens of warships and more than 2,000 water camp soldiers staying near Yingzhou City were unable to withdraw in time because of Xia Shuang's surrender. They were either killed or captured, or surrendered directly to Liang Jun.
Liang Jun was able to quickly dispatch 5,000 horse infantry troops from Shichengdu on the west side of Yingzhou City, across the Han River and into Shimen Mountain on the west bank of the Han River.
Shimen Mountain is located in the south of Xiangzhou and the north of Pingzhou. It is the remnant of the eastern foothills of Jingshan Mountain and the only way for Xiangzhou to go south to Jingzhou via the west bank of the Han River.
As long as Shimen Mountain is preserved, Xiangzhou City will have a continuous retreat.
Even though the Han River in the west of Yingzhou City is narrow and easily cut off by the Liang army occupying Yingzhou City, the reinforcements from Jinling can land in Jingzhou, then pass through Pingzhou, and enter Xiangzhou via Shimen Mountain, eventually making
It was difficult for Liang Jun to gain a foothold in Jingxiang.
Du Chongtao, Xu Zhaoling, Guo Rong and others all knew that the key pass of Shimen Mountain could not be lost. After knowing for sure that the main force of the Liang Army was heading south via the east bank of the Han River, they quickly sent 6,000 elite troops to control the key pass of Shimen Mountain and join forces from Yingzhou.
Liang Jun's vanguard who crossed the river had two consecutive fierce battles at Bijia Ridge at the east foot of Shimen Mountain and Jigong Mountain at the south foot.
Although these two battles were not as disastrous as the ambush of the Zaoyang defenders at the northern foot of Dahong Mountain, after all, the 6,000 soldiers and horses sent by Du Chongtao were the elite of the Zuowu Guards of the Nanya forbidden camp system, and they were stationed in Bijialing and
The stronghold of Jigong Mountain was defended, but the elite Liang army that crossed the Han River was personally led by Zhu Yu, the second son of Emperor Liang, and had greater combat effectiveness.
Faced with the continuous flow of more than 10,000 Liang troops crossing the Han River, the 6,000 elite Zuowu Guards held firm in the two places for three days, but they could no longer resist and lost troops and generals. In the end, less than 3,000 elite soldiers were left, and they retreated to the south of Xiangzhou.
It is in the mountains on the northern boundary of the west of Yicheng County to which Xiangzhou belongs.
At this time, it was also officially confirmed that the Liang army that was moving south along the east bank of the Han River for the first time was the most elite Xuanjiadu of the Liang army commanded by Zhu Yu.
Although Pingzhou City and Jingzhou City in the south did not fall, as more and more Liang Jun elites crossed the Han River from the east of Yingzhou City and entered Shigong Mountain and even the southern foot of the North Boundary Mountain, Xiangzhou was actually in the position of Liang Jun.
surrounded by.
At this time, the Liang Army north of the Nanyang Basin also quickly adjusted its deployment. First, the Liang Army, which originally spread out eastward along the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain to attack the Shouzhou Army, quickly contracted to Suiping, Tongbai and other cities.
The 70,000 to 80,000 Liang troops who had previously stayed in the west of Caizhou as rear troops, now broke out of camp and marched south, marching more than 300 miles in four days. It was like a rolling torrent entering the interior of the Nanyang Basin, and might rush towards Fancheng, north of Xiangzhou City, at any time.
.
The Liang army was overwhelmingly powerful, and its movements were swifter and fiercer than anyone imagined. The fortresses on the east bank of the Han River fell into the hands of the enemy with almost no resistance. The Chu army generals who were trapped in Xiangzhou City were so panicked that they could only
One can imagine.
The choices before them were actually very limited.
In the eyes of the vast majority of the generals who were trapped in Xiangzhou, they either had to shrink all their troops to Xiangzhou City to defend it, or take advantage of the fact that the Liang army had not been able to completely block Shigong Mountain and the Xiangzhou troops retreated south into Jingzhou.
Shigong Mountain is the remnant of the eastern foothills of Jingshan Mountain. There is an open area of 20 to 30 miles between Shigong Mountain and Jingshan Mountain. At this time, there were only 15,600 Liang troops entering Shigong Mountain. After more Liang troops passed through the east bank of the Han River, the main force
Going south, crossing the Han River through Yingzhou City and filling up Shigong Mountain, more than 30,000 Xiangzhou soldiers and horses forced their way south from the open area between Shigong Mountain and Jingshan Mountain to break through, which was not a difficult task.
Of course, before breaking out, the third prince Yang Yuanpu must first be asked to lead the Longque Army to withdraw from Xichuan and Jingzikou, otherwise no one would dare to take the responsibility of abandoning the prince and fleeing Jingzhou alone.
Du Chongtao may not want to escape.
For him, by giving up Xiangzhou City, which he had been operating at full strength for four years, and fleeing to Jingzhou, he would bear the main responsibility for the collapse of Deng and Xiang's defense line.
If Emperor Tianyou personally led troops and horses to reinforce him, his head would probably be sacrificed to the flag immediately to scare the generals.
However, even if he finally chose to defend Xiangzhou City, Du Chongtao also hoped that the third prince Yang Yuanpu could retreat to the safer Xiangzhou City first.
Otherwise, even if Xiangzhou City was finally defended, the third prince Yang Yuanpu was captured or killed in Xichuan, and it would be difficult for him to explain to Emperor Tianyou.
Du Chongtao sent military envoys to Xichuan twice, but they were sent back by the third prince Yang Yuanpu.
The second time the military envoy also brought back a message written by the third prince Yang Yuanpu, which was the letter Du Chongtao was reading in the tent at this time.
In the letter, Yang Yuanpu denounced the generals in the east of the Han Dynasty for being mediocre and fearful of the enemy. In just ten days, five or six hundred miles of Chu's territory fell to the enemy. At the same time, he vowed to live and die with Xichuan City, and to share the burden of Liang Jun with Xiangzhou City. Huge pressure to attack southward.
This reply from the third prince was so heart-wrenching that many people were filled with shame.
Once upon a time, the generals and officials in Xiangzhou regarded the third prince as a brat who had just turned fifteen.
In their eyes, the third prince was just lucky enough to be born into an emperor's family, and it was only because Emperor Tianyou had the intention to train him that he had the opportunity to serve as the deputy commander of Deng Xiang's camp.
Therefore, for many matters, Xiangzhou generals would rather communicate with Shen Yang, Zhang Ping, Guo Rong and others around the third prince than bother talking to the third prince. They even doubted how much military affairs the third prince knew.
Who would have thought that when people were in panic and most people were thinking of escaping south to Jingzhou, what they regarded as a brat would brazenly march westward, vowing to lead what they regarded as an underdog Longque Army to coexist with Xichuan City?
This letter from the third prince was delivered directly to Du Chongtao through a military envoy, and Guo Rong did not see it in advance.
Although there is a sonorous writing style between the lines, there is no doubt that this is the true expression of the heart of the third prince Yang Yuanpu.
Although Guo Rong guessed that the third prince's departure from Xichuan was more of a conspiracy by Han Qian, Li Zhigao and others, he still couldn't suppress the turmoil in his mind. He secretly felt that the third prince was really determined to live and die with Xichuan, and Deng Xiang's situation was not necessarily the same. There is no room for redemption.
Although Guo Rong also knew that if Liang Jun could be defeated in this battle, the third prince would definitely win unprecedented popularity. At least it would leave an unforgettable impression in the mind of General Deng Xiang and further strengthen his Majesty's determination to dethrone. The Gong family is definitely not a good thing, but in the situation before him, can he still expect that Xichuan City will not be defended and the third prince will be buried on the bank of Danshui?
Guo Rong looked at Jin Rui, the housekeeper of Deng Xiang, who was sitting diagonally across from him, and saw that his expression was solemn, but he didn't know what he thought of the third prince's letter.
Du Chongtao put the letter on the long desk at this time, stared at the many generals with glaring eyes for a long time, and then said slowly:
"If Xichuan City is lost at Jingzikou, Liang's enemy troops, horses and grain will flow down the Danjiang River. Before Jinling's reinforcements defeat the Liang army's blockade on the outside, Xiangzhou City will be completely isolated and helpless. Your Highness understands It is even more difficult to realize the great righteousness when we have the great power. With the body of a dragon, we are determined to live and die with Xichuan City. It is really a blessing for the great Chu, and it is really a good fortune for us, the great Chu ministers. We, the generals, are all the great Chu ministers. I eat the emperor's food and enjoy the emperor's favor, but I am full of panic and think about fleeing south to Jingzhou. Do you feel guilty?"
Du Chongtao took out an arrow from the arrow kettle, stuck out two pieces, threw it in front of the court, and said loudly:
"I swear today that I will live and die with the city of Xiangzhou. If you are in the city, you will be destroyed. If you break this oath, if there is such an arrow, heaven and earth will destroy you. My decision has been made. If anyone again thinks of abandoning the city and fleeing south, chaos will occur. Our army is determined to punish the enemy for his crime!"
