Han Qian is still responsible for staying at Hanshou.
In total, the Wuling Army consisted of three infantry battalions, namely Gao Shao, Tian Cheng, and Lin Haizheng, and Yang Qin's first naval battalion. Even though new recruits continued to be added, they experienced several bloody battles and suffered serious casualties.
At present, including the supply camp, the Wuling Army only has 7,000 troops. It is divided into troops from Qianyang, Longya, Chenyang, Yuanling, and Wuling. At present, if it is necessary to divide the troops to guard Hanshou again, if an accident occurs, there will be no
Sufficient troops to respond.
Han Qian sent people to see Gao Chengyuan and asked Gao Chengyuan to lead his main force to meet at Hanshou. Shishou's strategic position at this time was somewhat insignificant, and only a few troops and horses were left for defense.
In this way, even if something unexpected happens, as long as they can defend the two most important cities in the lower reaches of the Yuan River and cut off the rebel territory, making it difficult for them to see each other, there will be no big upheaval in the entire battle.
Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang had no excuse to follow the army and rushed to the mouth of the Xiangjiang River. They stayed in Hanshou with Han Qian anxiously. However, none of the accidents they were worried about happened. Two days later, good news came one after another.
On the night of May 28th, Gao Long asked his subordinates to open the east gate of Baimao City. Li Chong led 200 elite guards into the city immediately and took control of the east gate. However, Gao Long's control over the defenders was extremely limited.
The whole city was filled with fear and excitement.
Several lieutenants in Baimao City and the guards who fled into Baimao with their troops from Hanshou were loyal to the Ma family. Even though two of them were unprepared and were trapped and killed by Gao Long, the others succeeded under the desperate protection of the bodyguards.
After breaking out of the encirclement where Gao Long had ushered them in with a night banquet, they immediately organized troops to counterattack the east gate, hoping to take back the east gate.
Although Gao Long was the commander-in-chief of Baimao City, there were only more than 300 direct bodyguards who were truly loyal to him. After joining up with Li Chong and Wen Ruilin, they firmly defended the key points in the streets and alleys near the east city gate. At dawn, Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang,
A few weeks later, Xiying led the main force into Baimao City and fought fiercely until noon before taking Baimao City.
Although there were many casualties in this battle, the worries that Gao Long might fake a surrender and Wen Ruilin might plot against each other were all wiped out.
Confirming that Gao Long and Wen Ruilin were trustworthy, Zheng Hui did not rush to Baimao City to join Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang. Instead, he personally led an elite infantry of 6,000 horses and marched directly to Yuelu Mountain in the north of Tanzhou City without stopping.
When Baimao City was attacked, the Tanzhou City defenders sent an infantry of 3,000 horses to the north along the Xiangjiang River for reinforcements. However, when they reached the halfway point, Baimao City fell. Hundreds of defeated troops fled south. The 3,000-horse infantry retreated and collapsed.
After the war, they also hurriedly fled back to Tanzhou City along the galloping road on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River.
They did not expect that Yuelu Mountain had changed hands at this time, and the defenders in Tanzhou City were also in panic. No one reported the news. More than 3,000 rebels were unprepared to step into the ambush laid by Zheng Hui, and none of them survived.
After two rounds of attacks, they fled in all directions...
Li Zhigao originally led his troops and Zhang Feng, Zhang's son, led 6,000 elites to the outside of Jiang'an City. They planned to join the Jingzhou soldiers and horses on the north bank and first force Ma Yuanheng, who was stationed in Jiang'an City, to leave the city and surrender.
No one expected that the war in Dongting and Hunan would go so smoothly. Knowing that Xinchang Hou Li Pu and Zheng Hui captured the two key points of Baimao and Yuelu Mountain, Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng immediately gave up the siege of Jiang'an City and decisively led their troops.
Go south.
In addition to detaching some troops to strengthen the defense of Wuling, Yunpanling and other places to prevent Ma Yuanheng from jumping over the wall and leading his troops to escape along the Yuanjiang River into the two states of Chenxu where the defense was empty, other troops and horses, led by Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng, worked non-stop.
Go east along the north bank of Yuanjiang River.
Whether Ma Yuanheng surrenders or not has nothing to do with the overall situation.
The several garrison military mansions directly controlled by Tanzhou are mainly located in Baimao City, west of the Xiangjiang River and on the southwest plain of Dongting Lake north of Shaoshan.
Located in the three counties of Taojiang, Yiyang, and Ningxiang on the plain southwest of Dongting Lake, the garrison military mansions established have a total of more than 24,000 military households. This is the foundation for the Ma family to establish a foothold on both sides of Dongting Lake and the Xiangjiang River.
At present, the strong and brave men in these military households have all been recruited by Ma Yin and Ma Xun to fight, and they are also the most loyal soldiers to the Ma family and his sons. However, their families and families still remain in Taojiang, Yiyang, Ningxiang and other places.
If Taojiang, Yiyang, and Ningxiang fall into the hands of the imperial soldiers and horses, how much fighting spirit do these soldiers still have, and how much loyalty do they have left to the Ma family and his son?
Speaking of which, it is also Wuling. The two cities of Han and Shou were lost too quickly and caught people off guard. Ma Yuanheng's troops were cut off in Jiang'an City in the north. The generals who were left behind in Tanzhou City did not have time and did not have any extra troops.
Deployed to the southeast of the mouth of Yuanjiang River, the Chu army suppressed Han Shou and prevented them from advancing south.
The rebel generals who stayed behind in Tanzhou City could only send orders in a hurry to gather the troops and their families scattered in the villages to Ningxiang, Yiyang, and Taojiang. But who could have imagined that Baimao City would be lost so quickly?
, even Yuelu Mountain, a key pass to the north of Tanzhou City, was occupied by the Chu army?
As a result, not only were the soldiers and horses led by Ma Yin and his son in Yueyang from escaping south, but also the soldiers and their families from Ningxiang, Yiyang, and Taojiang were cut off from escaping eastward.
Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng led their troops across the river from Hanshou and headed straight for Yiyang, Ningxiang and Taojiang.
Everyone knows that by taking the three cities of Yiyang, Ningxiang, and Taojiang and resisting the rebel counterattack, the elite direct lineage generals and soldiers who the Ma family and his son relied on in the rebel army will be demoralized and will lose their fighting spirit.
This will probably be the heaviest and most powerful blow to destroy the rebels' fighting spirit.
The three cities of Yiyang, Ningxiang, and Taojiang only had three to five hundred defenders. How could they withstand the onslaught of the tiger and wolf divisions led by Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng? They all resisted symbolically, then abandoned the city and fled or offered it up.
Surrendered and everything was lost before June 10th.
Before June 10, Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng's troops were still wasting most of their time on the road, and the most serious reduction in combat effectiveness was those generals who could not keep up with the marching speed and fell behind.
Ji Zhongqi, the envoy of Yueyang Festival, saw that the situation was over and imprisoned Ma Yin on June 14. Ma Xun and his son opened the city gate and left the city, surrendering to the third prince who was stationed in the Yuedong camp.
Ma Yuanheng still had a little more backbone, so he delayed opening the gate of Jiang'an City for two days after he was sure that Ji Zhongqi had surrendered.
On the 18th, Wen Ruilin sneaked into Tanzhou and persuaded the rebel general Miao Yong to assassinate the last core figure of the Ma family who stayed in Tanzhou City. He was named the Minister of the Ministry of War by Ma Yin, and Ma Zihua, the Tanzhou guard general of the Metropolitan Governor, Tanzhou.
The six thousand garrison in the city then fell into chaos.
Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, then effortlessly captured Tanzhou City, which had been standing on the bank of the Xiangjiang River for hundreds of years, and saved this majestic city, which was more than ten miles around, from the destruction of the war.
So far, except for Shaozhou and Hengzhou south of Tanzhou, which were still under the control of the rebel generals Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia, the eight hundred miles of Dongting Lake had all returned to the embrace of the Chu court.
On this day, Yang En, Marquis of Liyang, who was on an envoy to Shu to reach a peace agreement, and his entourage, along with the second son of Prince Shu, Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong, had just arrived at Hanshou, and were preparing to go south on the Lou Chuanjun navy warship, as well as the third prince Yang Yuanpu and
Shen Yang and others meet up.
When Hanshou learned that Tanzhou had been captured, and when he saw the message sent by the Marquis of Xinchang, Li Pu, in the rockery pavilion at the back of the state government, Yang En felt a little unbelievable and asked Han Qian dumbfounded: "Tanzhou City"
Have you already won it?"
"The news sent by Marquis Xinchang should be true." Han Qian smiled slightly and said.
Yang En glanced at Wang Yong, the second son of the King of Shu, who was standing outside the pavilion and looking at the water of the Yuan River. He lowered his voice and asked Han Qian bitterly: "Then I will go to Shu as an envoy and risk my life to convince the Lord of Shu and Han Qian."
Why do we live in harmony?"
In fact, it was only after it was confirmed that Li Zhigao, Zhou Shu, Zhou Pang, Fan Xiang and others led more than 10,000 elite water troops to march westward did Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, change his attitude.
At that time, there were only two possible outcomes for Jinling to reduce the vassalage of Tanzhou, either to completely defeat the rebels and regain Tanzhou, or to annihilate this elite part of the Chu army, thus severely weakening their vitality and no longer being able to jointly contain the Shu army.
A more powerful Liang Jun.
Wang Jian, the leader of Shu, naturally did not want to see the second outcome, so he could only agree to withdraw his troops from Yiling, negotiate peace with Chu, and watch the Chu army regain Tanzhou. To show his sincerity, he even sent his second son Wang Yong to follow Yang Endong.
But no one expected that after Li Zhigao and other generals led their troops to the west, the war would progress so rapidly. As soon as Yang En and Wang Yong left Sichuan, Tanzhou was almost pacified?
During the period of envoy to Shu, Yang En suffered four assassinations, and these four times were because the soldiers and horses guarding him by the Shu army deliberately exposed flaws, allowing the assassins to successfully sneak into his residence. If it weren't for Zhao Wuji, Xi Faer and several soldiers sent by Zhang Wei,
The master tried his best to protect him, but it was doubtful whether he could return to Chudi alive.
Han Qian smiled slightly and lowered his voice: "Of course it is meaningful for Marquis Yang to send Shu, otherwise this battle would not be so easy."
It was precisely because of Yang En's envoy to Shu that he successfully misled the rebels from the beginning to shift the focus of early defense to Jiang'an City south of Jingzhou, and transferred a considerable number of troops from the hinterland of Langzhou; it also made the rebels mistakenly believe that the Chu army would
The real offensive will not be launched until after Yang En's mission to Shu has achieved results. It will not be until Xinchang Hou Li Pu takes advantage of the chaos to capture Tanzhou City. Not to mention that the rebels in Yueyang and Jiang'an did not return to defend the hinterland. Hengzhou and Shaozhou have
The more abundant troops and horses did not advance north in time.
There is an ancient post road between Xuefeng Mountain connecting Shaozhou and Xuzhou, but this ancient post road is extremely dangerous and remote, and it has to pass through more than a dozen fan villages along the way. It is difficult for both Shaozhou and Xuzhou to use troops against each other.
However, the cities in Shaozhou were always guarded by nearly 12,000 soldiers and horses.
In Hengzhou, east of Shaozhou, the rebel general Zhao Sheng gathered nearly 20,000 troops.
At this time, Yang Zhitang's troops who could threaten Hengzhou only had 13,000 to 4,000 state battalions, and their combat effectiveness was weak. They fought a few tentative battles with Hengzhou soldiers and horses, and lost more than they won. At this time, they only had the remaining strength to defend Yuanzhou.
, Hongzhou.
If the rebels mobilized 20,000 soldiers and horses from Shao and Hengzhou to fill the hinterland threatened by the Wuling Army, the entire war might really be a stalemate until the Shu army withdrew before a breakthrough could be achieved.
How can we say that Yang En's mission to Shu is meaningless?
At this time, Yang Qin ran over and said, "The ship is ready. When will your Excellency and Marquis Yang leave?"
"King Linjiang should be arriving at Baimao soon, right? If we rush here now, we might be able to enter Tanzhou with King Linjiang!" Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang, turned around and said in a loud voice.
Han Qian bowed to the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong and said: "The Marquis of Changxiang does not mind the tiring journey, so we will take a boat to meet His Highness."
Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang, was the second son of Wang Jian, the Lord of Shu. He was only twenty-six years old at the time. He had a face like a crown jade and eyes like bright stars. He was wearing a white silk shirt and looked very graceful and gentle.
The temperament of jade.
The Shu army was slightly weaker, and Wang Jian separatized the Shu territory and was forced to surrender to Emperor Liang and accept the canonization of Liang. Therefore, his sons were granted the title of marquis instead of king.
Since the founding of Chu and Shu, there has not been a major conflict on the border between Chu and Shu. Therefore, after Han Qian established Zuosi, he did not allocate limited manpower to sneak into Shu in a short period of time. Yang En sent Shu, Zhao Wuji, and Xi Fa'er to protect him.
It was also the first time someone from Zuo Si had set foot in Shu.
Han Qian didn’t know much about the people and customs of Shu, but he also knew that the Marquis of Changxiang, Wang Yong, was a man of many talents and good at poetry. He was considered a great poet. His literary name was spread even in Jinling, and he could be said to be the best in Shu.
A charming person.
However, Wang Yong's brother, Wang Hongyi, the prince of Shu, was jealous, indulged in poetry and Buddhism, and rarely participated in the military affairs of Shu. This time he was ordered to go to Chu as an envoy, which more or less meant to act as a proton.