Yang En is on an envoy to Shu, and no news will come back for a while, but as long as the Lord of Shu does not shut Yang En out, this matter will cause great psychological pressure on Tanzhou.
At this time, Zhang Bei in Jingzhou made plans to cross the river and enter the northern part of Langzhou to fight at any time. Even Li Jian, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, sent his generals to Jingzhou with two Wuyalou ships to strengthen the combat power of Jingzhou Water Camp, which was enough to call him
There was a tremor in Tanzhou, and they even suspected that Chu and Shu had reached a secret agreement, so they had to go to the northern cities of Langzhou to strengthen their defenses.
When a large number of warships from Tanzhou Shuiying were moving westward, Xuzhou Shuiying, under the command of Yang Qin and others, passed through the lower reaches of Yuanjiang River with lightning speed in mid-April. In just over a day,
Taking advantage of the strong wind, they crossed the Dongting Lake area and entered the Yangtze River.
More than forty sailing warships were assembled at Yuedong Camp. When Yang Qin led the Xuzhou Shuiying warship to join them, there was no delay at all. Li Zhigao, Zhou Pan and Zhou Shu led their troops to board the ship overnight, and on April 10th
In the early morning of the 8th, it broke into Dongting Lake again from the Yangtze River Estuary.
At this time, there were continuous heavy rains, and the water level of Dongting Lake surged several feet higher than in March. After submerging the surrounding tidal flats, the entire lake area nearly doubled in size.
Han Qian stood on the bow of the boat and looked around. He saw a vast expanse of water. The vegetation on the lake beach that he could see in the past were all submerged in the lake water. Several white-feathered waterbirds were soaring in the sky.
"We suddenly entered Dongting Lake. What does Han Sima think Ma Yin and his son will think in Yueyang? Will they use all the main forces of the Tanzhou Water Camp to intercept us?" Fan Xiang, the commander of the Louzhou Ship Army, asked standing behind Han Qian.
Fan Xiang is a Duyuhou-level general under Zhenyuan Marquis Yang Jian. This time he is responsible for leading the water camp warships to escort Li Zhigao, Zhou Pan, and Zhou Shu into the Yuanjiang River. When the time comes, he will also lead his troops and warships to stay behind.
Yuanjiang River, together they opened up the battlefield west of Dongting Lake.
But at this moment, when they broke into the Dongting Lake area where they were at a disadvantage, Fan Xiang was also very worried. He was afraid that the Tanzhou water camp would come out in full force. They seemed to have a lot of soldiers, but the warships were not conducive to fighting on the side.
If entangled, the casualties will be unimaginable.
"As long as the news is not leaked, the Ma family and his son should be more worried about the withdrawal of the Shu army at this time, and it is difficult to determine our final intention, right?" Han Qian said with a somewhat speculative tone, "Of course, there is no need to speculate more at this time.
Meaning, just act according to circumstances!"
There is no static situation on the battlefield.
The main force of the Tanzhou Water Camp was stationed deep in the lake south of Yueyang City. At this time, they suddenly entered Dongting Lake and had a first-mover advantage. With the strong southeast wind, they could pull away from the main warships of the Tanzhou Water Camp.
some distance.
However, if Tanzhou is at the mouth of the Yuanjiang River, Hanshou's water battalion generals desperately intercept them and try every possible means to slow them down. They don't want to have a hasty decisive battle with the main force of the Tanzhou water camp in the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Yuanjiang River.
Abandoning ship and landing in Yuankou was not a choice.
The Tanzhou Shuiying was dispatched quickly, but its elite infantry was not that fast to assemble in the south of Langzhou. Is it still afraid that Ma Rong dared to lead seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses out of the city to fight with them in the south of Langzhou?
In short, we must try every means to disrupt Tanzhou's defense deployment and gain a more advantageous fighter opportunity. It does not necessarily have to go to Yunpanling and then dock the ship.
…………
…………
As Han Qian expected, the Chu army marched westward in large numbers. Thinking that they were warships to reinforce Jingzhou, they suddenly broke into Dongting Lake and alerted the Tanzhou generals who were in Yueyang City at this moment to the Chu army's navy's unusual movements and its combat intentions.
, serious differences arose.
Ji Zhongqi, the former governor of Yuezhou, who was granted the title of envoy of Yuezhou after Ma Yin proclaimed himself Queen of Xiang, advocated waiting and watching the changes.
Ji Zhongqi was originally Ma's family general who served Ma Yin. During the Ma family's civil strife, he led his troops to protect Ma Yin.
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
Yin escaped from Tanzhou and later led troops to assist the Chu army in fighting and put down the rebellion.
Ji Zhongqi once led troops on behalf of Tanzhou, fought in coordination with the Chu army, and participated in the war to annex the power of Dong Chang, the king of Yue. After his first wife Zhou died of illness, he married Ma Yin's widowed sister. Ma has always guarded Yuezhou.
's general.
After the Chu army gathered 100,000 troops at the northern foot of Mufu Mountain, the Yuezhou defenders were somewhat stretched. Ma Yin and his son Ma Xunqin led water infantry reinforcements into Yueyang City. Ji Zhongqi naturally handed over the commander-in-chief of the war to Ma Yin.
However, it does not mean that Ji Zhongqi's right to speak in Yueyang City is weaker.
Yang En was sent as an envoy to Shu, and Zhang Tie was ready to cross the river in Jingzhou. Twelve warships from the Xuzhou water camp crossed Dongting Lake with lightning speed and met up with the main force of the Chu army stationed at the northern foot of Mufu Mountain.
Even though Wen Ruilin reminded the Chu army that they might divide their troops and enter Yuanling, most generals in Yueyang City, led by Ji Zhongqi, believed that the Chu army was most likely to strengthen the upcoming offensive in the direction of Jingzhou, and emphasized the need to further increase troops to the north of Langzhou.
Send reinforcements.
The day after the twelve warships from Xuzhou Shuiying arrived at Yuedong Camp, Han Qian, Li Zhigao and others led a larger fleet out of the camp again and headed west. Ji Zhongqi and others also believed that they were going to reinforce Jingzhou
, and then assembled a larger force of troops in Jingzhou to cross the river and attack the northern part of Langzhou.
After all, they really have no confidence in the Lord of Shu, Wang Jian.
This is not to say that the old relationship between Yang En and Shu lord Wang Jian made them worry, but the reality that Liang was strong and Chu was weak, and that Shu was sandwiched between Liang and Chu, determined the vacillating attitude of Shu lord Wang Jian.
In his early years, Wang Jian, the Lord of Shu, was a general of the imperial army of the former dynasty. He was ordered to lead his troops into Yuzhou. After more than ten years of fighting in the east and west, he annexed the large and small forces in Dongchuan and served as the governor of Dongchuan. In the previous dynasty, Emperor Zhaozong and his son were executed by Emperor Liang.
After killing them, they sent out troops to separate the entire Sichuan and Shu regions.
Wang Jian proclaimed himself a vassal to the Liang State and was conferred the title of King of Shu by the Liang State. This is also true. The world is more inclined to believe that the Liang State poses a much greater threat to Shu than the Chu State. In recent years, what Wang Jian, the leader of Shu, has done
The policy was to unite with Chu and reject Liang.
In the 14th year of God's Blessing, when Liang Jun attacked Jingxiang in the south, although the Shu army was invited to come out of Hanzhong and Yiling, the Shu army did not move. They knew very well that the land of Jingxiang would really fall into the hands of Liang Jun, and Shu would be the next step for Liang Jun.
The object to be annexed.
It's just that the Shu army didn't have the guts to provoke Liang Jun.
If there was no threat from Liang Jun, Wang Jian, the Lord of Shu, would naturally hope that Tanzhou could become independent from Chu.
In this way, the relationship between Shu and Chu will become more harmonious and peaceful.
This is also the key reason why Shu soldiers and horses gathered in Yiling some time ago. Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that Tanzhou sent people to secretly bribe He Yi, an important minister of Shu.
However, with the vacillating mentality of the Lord of Shu, Wang Jian, he initially hoped that Emperor Tianyou would acquiesce in Tanzhou's independence and send troops to Yiling. He also hoped to exert certain pressure on the Chu army. However, Emperor Tianyou brazenly ordered the third prince Yang Yuanpu to lead the army to attack Tanzhou.
After the state was established, it is questionable whether Wang Jian, the leader of Shu, remained unchanged in his thoughts.
This is what everyone in Tanzhou is most worried about.
After all, the biggest threat to the Shu army was the Liang Kingdom.
Even if Da Chu annihilates Ma Yin and completely integrates Tanzhou into Chu State, it will be extremely difficult to suppress and attack Shu from the Yangtze River or the Han River. However, under the threat of Liang Jun from the north, Da Chu will even
It is impossible to mobilize more than 100,000 elite troops to attack Shu.
Once the Chu army was frustrated in its attempt to reduce the vassalage of Tanzhou and its strength was damaged, and it was unable to contain Liang Jun from the south, Liang Jun might gather troops from Guanzhong and enter Shu at any time.
Ma Yin, Ji Zhongqi and others were worried that once the Shu army withdrew from Yiling, they would have to hold on to the Liang army to complete its assembly in Caizhou before they could breathe a sigh of relief. Similarly, they believed that once the Chu army persuaded the Shu army to withdraw, they would have to
Before Liang Jun could complete his assembly, he won a crucial battle against Tanzhou.
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
Things are progressing.
Previously, Zhang Wei mobilized Jingzhou soldiers and horses to the ferry and transferred large warships from the northern foot of Mufu Mountain to Jingzhou, which made Ma Yin and others worry that the Chu army would regard the northern part of Langzhou as a key place for a breakthrough in the war.
In the northern part of Langzhou, they only had 10,000 troops and horses commanded by Ma Yuanheng to defend several cities. They had to mobilize troops from other places to strengthen the defense of northern Langzhou.
Even after Han Qian, Li Zhigao and others entered Dongting Lake in a large number of sailing warships, there were still quite a few people in Yueyang City who believed that this was the Chu army's strategy to seize the opportunity to attack the east and attack the west.
Wen Ruilin judged that the Chu army would divide its forces to attack Wuling City, which was located in the southwest of Langzhou and on the north bank of the Yuan River. Many people still scorned it, and Ma Xun also felt that this was absolutely impossible.
"At this time, the water camp in Tanzhou cannot be exhausted, and the water camp in Yuankou, Hanshou and other places cannot be ordered to intercept and annihilate the Chu army in Dongting Lake. Tanzhou will not be able to support the Liang army to attack Deng Xiang in the south again!
"Wen Ruilin wished he could cut out his heart and lungs so that his son Ma Xun could see that he was completely loyal to Tanzhou and that everything he said spoke from the bottom of his heart.
Above the main hall, Wen Ruilin was, after all, the counselor around the Crown Prince Ma Xun. At this time, he was more vocal about his opinions towards the Crown Prince Ma Xun, hoping to speak to the Crown Prince first, and then argue with the country's leaders Ma Yin, Ji Zhongqi and others.
.
"Mr. Wen, you seem to pay too much attention to Han Qian,"
Seeing the dismissive attitude of others, Ma Xun felt a little tired of Wen Ruilin's paranoia, and at this time he just patiently said to him,
"As the saying goes, it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. We have to admit that the Han family and his son are somewhat capable, but they are extremely reluctant to support the supplies of seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses in the upper reaches of the Yuanjiang River. Even if they are not afraid of forcing their way into Dongting Lake at this time
Risk, but the Chu army will divide more than 10,000 troops and horses. By then, the number of troops and horses gathered by the Chu army in the upper reaches of the Yuan River will exceed 20,000. What will so many troops and horses eat? Is it possible that the Han family and his son can still produce food for nothing?
Come?"
The two prefectures of Xu and Chen, in the impression of the world, have always been sparsely populated and barren. The grain collected by the local prefectures and counties is about the same as enough to maintain the operation of the yamen, and the additional grain and grass that can be used to support the army is extremely limited.
They also don't think the new land tax policy, which has turned the Wuxi area upside down, will have any effect.
Although Ma Rong failed to defend Yuanling, before withdrawing from Yuanling, he burned all the grain stocks in Yuanling and the cities to the north of Yuanling and upstream of Baihe River to ensure that the Han family and his son could not obtain food and grass from these areas.
Food and grass will be the key bottleneck that restricts the further concentration of troops in Chenxu and Xuzhou. And the warships dispatched from the Yuedong camp this time can clearly judge from the depth of draft and the speed of the ship sailing with strong winds. In addition to the generals, it can be clearly judged that
The ship didn't carry much supplies.
"No matter how scarce food and grass are in Chenxu and Xuzhou, it can still last for two or three months." Wen Ruilin said stubbornly.
"The money and food raised by the Han family in Xuzhou can probably support more than 20,000 troops and horses for three months," said Ji Zhongqi, who was sitting under Ma Yin, the leader of the country. "But if the Chu army really dares to take such a risk, then we
It is more appropriate to let the Chu army pass. In that case, we will then increase the number of troops in Wuling. As long as we hold it for three months, the Chu army gathered in the upper reaches of the Yuan River will collapse without food."
Wen Ruilin's heart was full of pain and depression, and he wanted to yell at the people in the palace: "Bullshit, if you had listened to me earlier and killed Han Qian when he was crossing Dongting Lake at the end of last year, how would you be in today's predicament?"
It was only the last trace of reason that made Wen Ruilin know that if he really said such words, he would probably make the prince angry and drive him out on the spot. He could only comfort himself: The Chu army divided its troops in Yuanjiang to join the Wuling army. Tanzhou is
While using Ji Zhongqi's strategy to increase troops to the west of Huxi, a decisive battle with the Chu army in the Huxi plain may not be the worst outcome. After all, the Chu army should be in a hurry to gather troops and horses again in Caizhou to threaten Nanyang Fangcheng before His Highness King Yong.
Before the defense line, key progress was made in Huxi!
