"... Yuan Pu can understand that as a prince, he has the responsibility to protect the mountains and rivers, which is a great comfort to his father..."
Emperor Tianyou's handwriting contains only a few hundred words. In addition to encouraging the soldiers to serve their lives, naming the third prince Yang Yuanpu as the governor of Junzhou, and communicating with Yang Yuanpu about the relationship between father and son, there is not much content to be written. The current situation in Jinling and Dachu still needs to be revealed. Listen to Shen He and Yang En's statements in person.
Before Han Qian sent someone to inform Guo Rong, he had already sent a boat down the river two days in advance to Jinling to meet Xinchang Hou Li Pu.
Han Qian, Chai Jian and others also hope that after receiving the news, Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, can meet the Holy Spirit in time so that Jinling can prepare to send reinforcements as soon as possible.
However, Jinling still delayed until late January to confirm the news that Liang Yong Wang Zhu Yu personally led the elite of Xuanjiadu into Nanyang; at this time, the news of the fall of Yingzhou, Suizhou and other places had also reached Jinling.
In fact, Jinling had huge disputes over how to reinforce Xiangzhou.
The root of this dispute is mainly that the people in Jinling do not have much confidence in whether the third prince Yang Yuanpu can defend Xichuan City and whether Du Chongtao can defend Xiangzhou City.
If Jinling organizes hundreds of thousands of troops to enter the Han River Basin, and Xiangzhou City and Xichuan City fall one after another, the reinforcements will face a head-on attack from the elite main force of the Liang Army. At that time, the offensive and defensive momentum will completely change, and Chu troops will enter the Han River Basin. It will become very disadvantageous.
Jinling also had to consider the attitudes of Tanzhou to the south and Shu to the west.
But no matter what, even if the third prince is not in Xiangzhou, Jinling will never give up the land of Jingxiang easily. Emperor Tianyou immediately sent the privy deputy Niu Gengru, the young eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Shen He, the right school administrator Yang En and the staff Zhao Mingting, the head of the Fang Division, and others rushed to Jingzhou to take charge and ensure that this ancient and important town would not fall into the hands of Liang Jun.
Jingzhou looks to Tanzhou to the south, Xiangzhou to the north, and rejects the Shu army to the west. Its strategic position in Chu's territory is not weaker than that of Xiangzhou. Zhang Wei, the governor of Jingzhou, is a famous general of Du Chongtao's rank.
In addition to local military equipment, Jingzhou also has 10,000 elite Nanya Forbidden Camp Youwu Guards stationed there.
This is also the key reason why Liang Yong Wang Zhu Yu led the elite troops of Xuanjiadu and did not rush south to attack Jingzhou after capturing Pingzhou.
Of course, facing the menacing Liang Army, General Zhang Wei just guarded the northern gate of Jingzhou and did not dare to send troops northward rashly, just for fear of losing Jingzhou.
If Jingzhou is lost, Chu will lose its foothold on the west bank of the Han River. And after Liang Jun and Tanzhou face each other across the river, once they secretly make peace, the situation will become even worse.
After the deputy privy envoy Niu Gengru arrived in Jingzhou, he stabilized the panicked people in Jingzhou and served as an outpost for the Jinling reinforcements to march westward. After arriving in Jingzhou, Shen He changed into civilian clothes and carried an order to Xichuan City, which was a direct order from Emperor Tianyou.
Du Chongtao, as a general at the same level as Zhang Wei, made great contributions to the founding of the Chu Kingdom. He was also quite experienced. He also had a family of young family members who were all in Jinling. The elite Zuowu Guards were available, whether it was Du Chongtao or his Zuowu Guards. The loyalty of the generals of the Wuwei Army to Emperor Tianyou has also been tested.
Before the supply of food and grass was cut off, Jinling still had some confidence in Du Chongtao's ability to defend Xiangzhou City. However, even if Du Chongtao could defend Xiangzhou City, whether Xichuan City could be defended or not would have great implications for how Jinling's reinforcements would fight when they entered the Han River Basin. the difference.
To be able to defend Xichuan City, not only would Liang Jun's troops, horses, and grain and grass in Guanzhong be unable to be transported into Jingxiang through the Danjiang River, but also a considerable number of Liang Jun's elite troops would be able to be restrained from the flanks. Otherwise, Liang Jun's line from Fangcheng to Fancheng would be Their flanks will all be exposed to the prying eyes of the Xichuan defenders.
Perhaps the city guarded by Liang Jun on this line is not afraid of being attacked by Xichuan soldiers and horses, but its grain and grass must be continuously transported from Xuzhou in the rear to Fancheng. How many soldiers and horses must be sent to protect it so that it is not afraid of sneak attacks?
It's just that the third prince Yang Yuanpu resolutely took control of Xichuan and vowed to lead the Dragon Bird Army to strangle the Danjiang Passage. However, no matter what Xinchang Hou Lipu and his concubine said, few people in Jinling City felt that the third prince and the recruited people were suffering from hunger. The obtained Longque Army has the possibility to resist the Tiger Wolf Liang Army and defend Xichuan.
After Emperor Tianyou ordered Shen He to arrive in Jingzhou, he came directly to Xichuan in order to confirm the status of Xichuan's defenders and confirm how likely they were to defend Xichuan.
These will directly determine how the specific reinforcement operations will be deployed after Jinling troops and horses arrive in Jingxiang.
Although Yang En did not have the opportunity to directly command the army in his early years, during the years of Emperor Tianyou's campaigns in the north and south, Yang En was responsible for the construction of major cities and the supervision of war equipment.
From the bottom of his heart, Emperor Tianyou also longed for Xichuan City to be defended. In addition to saving the life of the third prince Yang Yuanpu, defending Xichuan City would also make the war between Jingxiang and Jingxiang much easier.
Emperor Tianyou ordered Yang En to go with Shen He and enter Xichuan at great risk, hoping that Yang En would be able to assist the third prince in defending Xichuan City.
Shen He was worried all the way that they would have lost the city when they arrived at Xichuan, and their trip north would be a trap for themselves. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at Xichuan, not only had the city not been lost, but not only the city, but also the defenders and generals, and even the heroic spirit of the third prince Yang Yuanpu himself. The condition of the eruption was much better than what they had guessed when they set out.
Even though Yang Yuanpu had sent people back to Jinling many times before to state the progress and situation of the war from Xichuan to Jingzikou, Shen He also personally saw the secrets of Yang Yuanpu, Shen Yang and others presented to the imperial court, but he still felt uncomfortable in his heart. How can you believe that the third prince can control such a complicated and bad situation?
He even believed that after the third prince, Shen Yang and others were trapped in Xichuan, they did not hesitate to exaggerate in the memorial. The purpose was just to allow the Jinling reinforcements to enter Jingxiang and fight the main force of the Liang army earlier, so that they could escape the encirclement themselves.
However, if this is the case, if the Jinling reinforcements misjudge the defensive situation of Xichuan and rush into Jingxiang in a hurry, it may be an adventure that directly threatens the survival of Chu.
Now that he saw the memorials from the third prince, Shen Yang and others, which reflected the situation in Xichuan based on the facts, Shen He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but was also secretly shocked. He didn't know how they did this.
After all, the memorandum sent to Jinling would not have spelled out all the scheming behind it.
In front of Shen He, Yang En, Yang Yuanpu, and Han Qian, they would never admit that they knew for sure that King Yong of Liang was in Wancheng before marching westward.
However, after hearing that the third prince was marching westward, he first killed Xia Zhen, and with Zheng Hui's tribes, he divided the Yingzhou state soldiers to stabilize the morale of the Xichuan army. Then he recruited the copycat soldiers, decisively abandoned Canglang City and Tiecrocodile Ridge, and sent his troops to When the supplies were concentrated in Jingzikou and Xichuan, Shen He and Yang En both took a long breath and couldn't help but praise:
"Thanks to His Highness's wise decision, we saved the last chance of victory in the Jingxiang war."
Although Shen He and Yang En both knew that the third prince could not have achieved this step without the assistance and advice of Shen Yang and others, they could not deny that Xichuan was not lost and the situation in Jingxiang did not deteriorate to a desperate level. The prince's determination and courage also played a vital role.
Shen He calmed down for a moment, and when he looked at the third prince again, he had to admit that he was still young, but compared to when he saw each other in Jinling, his demeanor was calmer and he looked more heroic. He thought to himself, could it be that this is the case? Is it really what His Majesty expected, the dragon's magnanimity that the Anning Palace could not suppress despite all their efforts?
"All the towns in the eastern Han Dynasty were lost, but Xichuan and Jingzikou were as solid as a rock, which served as the vassal screen of Xiangzhou, making it difficult for the Liang army to march straight in. In addition to Your Highness, all the generals and officials also performed meritorious service. Because the road was dangerous, money and food were scarce. The reward of beautiful jade is hard to come by, but this time His Majesty ordered the two of us to bring more than 100 blanks with us, and Your Highness will decide who will be rewarded." Shen He untied another package he carried with him and handed it to the third prince. in front of.
When he and Yang En came this time, in addition to Emperor Tianyou's official decision to establish a new Junzhou and make the three princes also serve as governors of Junzhou, they also brought a large stack of blank acknowledgments of honorary officers and ministerial officers. In order for the third prince to encourage the morale of the generals, they would defend the two strategic locations of Xichuan and Jingzikou.
Although the memorials of the third prince and Shen Yang requested credit for Li Zhigao, Han Qian, Zhou Fang and even Yang Qin, Tian Cheng and others, the most elite scouts would still need a month to travel between Xichuan and Jinling at this time. Jinling was also unable to grasp the development of the situation in Xichuan in a timely manner, and did not know who was still alive after he went to Xichuan to make books.
To boost morale, it is natural to motivate the living generals first. The rewards for the dead generals can only wait until after the war, so Shen He and Yang En simply brought the blanks to make a book, and the third prince filled it in directly. The Privy Council, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Personnel can ratify it posthumously.
Yang Yuanpu also needed these self-reported books.
Li Zhigao, Zheng Hui, Guo Liang, etc. are all generals of Chu. If they can defend Xichuan, they are not worried about losing their rewards. And even if they die in battle, their children will still enjoy the favor, but Yang Yuanpu needs some substance at this time. The reward was used to appease the hearts of Zhou Pang and other village leaders.
The situation in Xichuan and Jingzikou did not deteriorate further. Except for Zhou Pan and others who led nearly 2,000 village soldiers and more than 3,000 civilians to directly participate in the defense of the city, the Danjiang River and the high mountains from the west of the Xichuan River to Jingzikou were all The sphere of influence of each copycat made the generals who defended the city think from a psychological level that Xichuan and Jingzikou still had a fairly open and deep hinterland at this time, and they were not completely trapped by the Liang army and were isolated and helpless.
Although Shanzhai cannot directly provide much assistance for the time being, from a psychological level, its role in stabilizing military morale is difficult to estimate.
On the other hand, Liang Jun's scouts cannot penetrate into the mountains west of the Xichuan River and Danjiang River. Han Qian, Yang Yuanpu and others can keep abreast of the development of the peripheral situation at Xichuan City, which also makes Shen He, Yang En and others safe. Come here.
At the same time, Yang Qin led his warships to and from Jingzikou and Xichuan without having to worry about being blocked or attacked by Liang Jun. He even dared to break through Liang Jun's blockade at Tieguling and sail the ship to the front line of Canglang City. , peek into Liang Jun’s deployment on the front line of Heilong Mountain.
