The bombardment took less than half a day to completely destroy the urn and city towers of Jinghai Gate. Although Liang Jun's warships had withdrawn to the north bank before dusk, and the smoke and dust sweeping the sky gradually settled, the devastated ruins brought shock and horror to the courtiers of Chu.
, but it has not dissipated yet.
Most of the courtiers went back to their own homes, but the ministers of various ministries and generals above Du Yuhou still stayed in Chongwen Hall in despair.
After the bombardment of Jinghaimen, Liang Jun retreated to the north bank as agreed in the letter of war. In addition to recovering the ruins, the imperial guards did not need to board the ship to pursue. However, after three days, Liang Jun will officially land at Caishiji and will also
It is planned to build a pontoon bridge across the river between Caishiji and the North Bank. When tens of thousands of Liang Jun soldiers and horses surge toward the south like a tide, what will they do?
Caishiji is located in Dangtu County, Jingzhao Prefecture, more than 70 miles away from Jinling City in the east, Fanchang County in the west, and Wushou County in Donghu Prefecture, Daliang, on the north bank.
The Yangtze River waterway where Caishiji is located is bounded by low mountains and hills on both sides. Even in the flood season, the river is only six or seven miles wide.
At this time, there was a sandbar about ten miles long and three to five miles wide to the north of Caishiji, right in the middle of the river.
Excluding the sandbars, the waters on the north and south banks of Caishiji are only four miles wide at their narrowest point.
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are located in alluvial plains, and there are no large-scale embankments built on both sides. During the flood season, the river water flows to both banks, and the most open areas of the river can reach hundreds of miles.
In any case, Caishiji is one of the most suitable places for large groups of troops to cross the river near Jinling. Further downstream, almost to the territory of Runzhou, there is a better place to cross the river.
In such a strategic location, as early as the period of Emperor Tianyou, many fortifications and military forts were built to control the Yangtze River waterway.
This time the main force of the Liang Army moved south, and a large number of soldiers and horses were stationed directly in Wushou County. They even sent people to Jiangxinzhou called "Xiaohuangzhou" to establish a forward camp.
In addition to the imperial guards of the three capitals, two days ago soldiers and horses from Zuowu Xiang Army and Yongjia Army were urgently transferred from the two capitals to strengthen the frontline defense of Caishiji.
Although Liang Jun only had more than 20,000 troops assembled on the north bank, even without considering that Liang Jun relied on powerful naval warships to quickly mobilize troops and horses from other areas on the north bank to the other side of Caishiji.
Everyone also felt that the possibility of holding Caishiji with the existing garrison was very slim.
In the letter of battle sent by Liang Jun on the 14th, it was also clear that before landing, they would first make operational arrangements for bombarding the Caishiji Fortress at the foot of Cuiluo Mountain.
The strength of the villages in Caishiji is definitely not comparable to that of Jinghaimen. Could it be that before Liang Jun's bombardment, they really had to withdraw the defenders from the military fortresses under Cuiluo Mountain?
"Liang Jun's artillery attack destroyed everything within 3,000 steps. However, except for a few narrow rural roads around Cuiluo Mountain, the ground was muddy. The cannons were clumsy and heavy. They could only follow the ships to show off their power, but it was difficult to land. According to
From what I have seen, Caishiji should retreat three thousand steps away from the river bank, and deal with Liang's army, or maybe they can fight.
!" Gu Zhilong lined up the crowd, stood in the main hall, and said in a deep voice to the lost young emperor.
When Gu Zhilong said this, several generals above the main hall glanced over, thinking that Gu Zhilong was really shameless. He clearly didn't want to ask his direct soldiers of the Left Shenwu Army to defend Caishiji, or maybe he didn't want his own at all.
The direct line soldier was the first to test Liang Jun's military strength, and the reason was so fresh and refined. He was indeed a treacherous treacherous man. Could it be that he had completely forgotten the revenge of the murder of his son?
The skinny young man didn't look as domineering as before, like a wilted eggplant standing next to Qingyang, and he couldn't tell how much truth there was in Gu Zhilong's words.
Although many people present could see into Gu Zhilong's mind, no one stood up to fight against it. Even Guo Liang, the deputy governor of the bodyguard, stood up and agreed: "What Gu Bingbu said is true. The way to use troops is to avoid actual attacks."
We should avoid our shortcomings and maximize our strengths. We know clearly that all the Caishiji fortresses are within the bombardment range of enemy ships, so letting the generals defend them will only increase casualties and will not benefit the overall situation."
Two of the Sandu imperial guards currently stationed in Caishiji are direct descendants of Guo Liang. No matter where Liang Chu ends up, he will never see the generals who have followed him for many years. At this time, the fight will be in vain.
Died on the battlefield.
Guo Liang and Gu Zhilong both advocated the withdrawal of the defenders from the Caishiji Fortress, and others remained silent and did not stand up to oppose it. Even after the defenders withdrew from the Caishiji Fortress, how would they conduct guerrilla operations on the periphery?
How to strengthen the defense of Jinling City, the Privy Council and the Governor's Office of the Guardsmen did not mention it to the generals...
"The Ai family is tired," Qingyang grabbed the silk book in his sleeve. After waiting for a long time and seeing that no one in the civil and military officials of the court offered advice, he stood up impatiently and said, "How to defend along the river? Prime Minister Shen, Marquis Yang and the Privy Council
, it’s up to the two departments of the Governor’s Mansion to figure it out!”
Everyone looked at Qingyang in surprise. They didn't understand why the Queen Mother was stacking her picks at this time. Or maybe they already knew in their hearts that no matter how hard they struggled, it would be difficult to defeat Liang Jun's troops crossing the river?
…………
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Yang En did not stay in the Chamberlain's Mansion. When he returned to the mansion, it was dark, but there were not many servants in the huge mansion. Fortunately, there were cicadas chirping and insects chirping, but he didn't feel calm either.
Yang En simply drank a bowl of medicinal porridge, sat under the lamp, unfolded the Jinling city defense map, and frowned at it for a long time. The old servant walked in and reported: "Marquis Cai is here!"
Yang En asked the old servant to invite Cai Chen in, but he was confused in his heart. What was Cai Chen, who had been recuperating in the house after the tragic defeat of Fan Chuanhe, coming to see him now?
Cai Chen and Yang En sat down across the table, looked at the city defense map spread out on the long table, and asked: "Even if the soldiers use their lives and the generals are not afraid of death, how likely is it to defend Jinling City?"
"Soldiers who use their lives and will not be afraid of death may be able to defend the city with 23 out of 10. However, Zhang Wei, Zheng Yu, Zhang Chao and others all opposed moving the capital before, which probably means that even if they can barely defend the city, there will be no
"How many soldiers and horses of King Qin are coming?" Without trying to speculate on Cai Chen's purpose of coming, Yang En expressed his judgment on the current situation in frustration and said, "Jinling City seems to be as prosperous as ever, but at this time it is...
It’s like a rotten, rotten building that too many people want to see collapse so they can find another place to live!”
"It is precisely because too many people have seen that Jinling City is beautiful and beautiful, and have seen that Jinling City is not vulnerable, they think of waiting for the collapse of Jinling City before they surrender to other families without any worries. However, Jinling City collapsed suddenly, and how many innocent people would be buried there.
, but very little care." Cai Chen said.
"..." Yang En sighed softly and did not say anything.
"Take you, the old marquis, for example. Based on your friendship with the Lord of Liang and the ministers of the Liang Kingdom, after the fall of Jinling, the monarch and ministers of the Liang Kingdom will treat you as a distinguished guest. After that, you can go boating in the rivers and lakes and walk on the rivers. It is not a happy life, but
It's better than the toil of writing documents - and a hundred years later, the world will remember you, Old Marquis, as a virtuous and loyal minister of Chu," Cai Chen continued, "If you, Old Marquis, advocate surrender at this time, even if you can save thousands of people.
Thousands of innocent people were saved from needless burials, but they would inevitably be spat on by countless people who claimed to be noble. Even future generations would think that Da Chu was buried alive in the hands of the old marquis. The old marquis may use his great power to
If the name of the guilty minister of Chu is recorded in the annals of history, it would be a huge loss rather than gain..."
Yang En was so angry that his veins were exposed. He stretched out his hand to drive Cai Chen out. He stood up with his sleeves rolled up and said angrily: "Don't use such provocations on me. Even if I don't want this Qing Dynasty, there are so many civil and military officials in the court."
, I said it would come down if I said so? No matter how rotten this building is, why does it still need a final blow before it collapses?"
Cai Chenfeng sat calmly behind the case, looked at Yang En and said: "What the old marquis said is that everything does need an opportunity, but one hundred and eighty thousand people must die before Liang Guo annexes our great Chu."
Can it be considered justifiable?"
"What are you hiding in your stomach when you come here? You might as well say it directly." Yang En said with an impatient look.
"When Lord Shou was planning his affairs, he secretly sent people to spread secrets about the Queen Mother and Lord Liang in the streets and alleys. Although these rumors were suppressed afterwards, have you ever thought about the relationship between the Queen Mother and Lord Liang?
It may not be that innocent?" Cai Chen asked.
Yang En stared at Cai Chen in confusion, wondering what he meant by suddenly mentioning this matter, or that he didn't want to believe what Cai Chen was going to say next.
"Whether it's because of early love or because she wants to be harmonious, if the Queen Mother marries the Liang Lord to satisfy the clan and courtiers, it will be easier for those who are waiting to accept it than the collapse of the ruined building. However, the reputation that the initiator has to bear is...
It’s even worse..." Cai Chen said.
Yang En sat back on the desk in despair.
He guessed that Cai Chen came over at this time in the hope that he would stand up and advocate for surrender, but he did not expect that Cai Chen would actually ask him to be the initiator of this matter.
"Old Marquis, you must not respond to this person named Cai..." The old servant of the Yang Mansion next to him was also startled. He didn't care about Cai Chen's presence and hurriedly knelt down to dissuade him.
The old servant has followed Yang En all his life. Of course he knows that Yang En has always attached great importance to his reputation. If he agreed to Cai Chen and lived with such an infamy for the rest of his life, how painful would it be for a person like Yang En?