In order to block the navy in Zuozhen, Li Laiheng first sent Ma Bao to capture the ferry crossings in Suizhou. The Suizhou defenders who originally did not dare to leave lightly just as a precaution, after Li Laiheng led the main force of the invading army to Suizhou City,
They also left the city one after another to join the war.
In this way, Li Laiheng gathered almost three infantry battalions, two cavalry battalions, and one artillery battalion, plus Zuo, Zhi, and Lin battalions, a total of about 20,000 troops. This kind of force is compared to the 10,000-strong siege camp.
The remnant troops already had a great advantage, not to mention that the 10,000 people in the siege camp also included a large number of sailors and boatmen with little combat effectiveness. Moreover, their morale was low, food supplies were tight, and they did not have much combat effectiveness at all.
Ma Jinzhong fought and retreated, burning several camps in succession. In the end, he could only retreat to the river bank and rely on the navy to assist in defense, and he could barely hold on to the last fortress in the camp.
The invading army marched forward in large numbers, destroying 20 or 30 camps in the besieged city, and captured and killed thousands of remaining soldiers of the left army. After Ma Bao completed the task of capturing the surrounding ferries, blocking the upstream and downstream, and blocking Jin Shenghuan's escape to the west, Ma Bao
He also led his troops back to Suizhou City and further strengthened the siege force of the Chu army.
Under such a fierce attack, the remaining left army, whose morale was already at rock bottom, finally couldn't hold on any longer, and two defenders surrendered at the same time. The door of the left defense line was wide open, and Hao Yaoqi took the opportunity to rush in and march straight in.
They rushed straight into the center of the camp, rushing left and right, and captured hundreds of officers and soldiers.
After a while, Li Laiheng personally came to the left army camp that had been occupied by the intruders to supervise the battle. The forward position, which used to be tightly guarded and surrounded by sentries, had now become a place where three walls and iron cavalry were roaming.
He Jin, Bai Wang, and Chen Kexin who came with Li Laiheng here suffered greatly from Zuozhen Navy's siege. Especially He Jin and Bai Wang almost fell out because of it. Seeing the scene in front of them, many Zuo soldiers
The forcibly occupied farmhouses, as well as temporary warehouses used to store hemp rope, canvas, and nails, have become piles of rubble.
There are also many houses and huts that were burned to a pulp by Ma Jinzhong before he retreated. Some of them were like hedgehogs, which were concentrated in a small area and were hit by countless arrows. The arrow feathers were covered with gray sand.
It has turned gray; the arrowhead is deeply embedded in the earthen wall and wooden window, and no one is willing to spend any effort to pull it out and put it to use again.
Broken weapons and irreparable armor were abandoned in the open space, and some were stained with blood. The bodies of the war horses that had not yet been buried were cut into pieces and emitted a putrid smell. The sparse grass around it was
They were flattened, leaving only traces of their master's dying struggle.
Chen Kexin couldn't help but sigh: "The scenery is still the same, but the personnel are completely different."
After the Battle of Yingzi Mountain, Fang Yiren's fatigue accumulated from the long and hard battle was offset by the excited expectations. He greeted Chen Kexin. Although they were not familiar with each other, they were both rare in the army.
Scholars naturally have many common languages.
Gu Junen also walked over. Although he was a military commander and a counselor, he was also wearing a clanking armor, which caught Chen Kexin's attention.
Gu Junen looked at the ruined camp battlefield, and then looked at the river in the distance, thinking that although there were many twists and turns in the Suizhou War, in the end it was consistent with his plan before the war, and he successfully destroyed the arrogant Zuo Liangyu Corps.
A surge of pride arose in his heart, and he improvised a poem:
"Break through the thousands of cross currents, the Central Plains can help whoever throws the whip. Heaven teaches the north to come from the south, the water is full of Suizhou and the cuckoos are heard."
The focus of his poem is on the power of the conquering army. The style is not high, and the wording is relatively ordinary. However, Chen Kexin, as the most famous scholar among everyone present, naturally cannot be inferior to others, and his handwriting is indeed
It is much higher than Gu Junen's poems.
"Brother Zhizhi took the impromptu occupation with a high tone. It really shows the heroic spirit of the Chuangjun." Chen Kexin praised first, and then said, "If the Chuangjun can strive to establish a country, then as long as the people live and work in peace and contentment, I will retire to my hometown.
, retire after success."
He then murmured: "A man has no career, but he is also a hero in his indifference. He does not dare to make a fool of himself, and he is ashamed to say that he knows Kong Rong. He talks and laughs under others, and you are in a dream. When the country is founded, you look back to your hometown, and the snow in the river returns to the fields."
On the surface, Chen Kexin's poems talk about how he retired after his achievements and how he doesn't care about fame and wealth. But in fact, the sentence "Founding the country looks back to the hometown", which also reveals his intention to become a pioneer in the army and follow the dragon.
After both of them finished writing their poems, only Fang Yiren, the scholar who had not yet spoken. Fang Yiren felt it was very funny. He looked at Li Laiheng's expression and had an idea in his mind, saying:
"The majesty of the invading army's victory and the master's use of troops are indeed impressive. But the people have suffered so much from the war. Yesterday the whole hall was full of laughter, and today the bed is full of bones. It's really sad!"
Fang Yiren immediately said: "The neighbor to the east has an old man who is sick and thin as a broomstick. The neighbor to the west has lost his son, and both his wife are rotten. The county magistrate was given a military ultimatum, blocked the road, captured people and roared. Like wolves and tigers, soldiers have a rope running through eight or nine.
.I only wish I didn’t die yesterday, I look up to the sky but fight with my elbows!”
He put the folding fan in his hand and sighed: "The army has led to disasters, and the people of Chu have suffered greatly. The Lord of the Palace has eliminated one thief from the world, but there are still countless people's robbers entrenched on it. The army has not yet been halfway through, all the nobles
It takes effort.”
His words instantly trampled on the styles of Gu Junen and Chen Kexin, highlighting his great benevolence and compassion, which was in line with the purpose that Li Laiheng wanted to promote.
Sure enough, Li Laiheng immediately smiled and said: "That's it. The Three Chus are broken. Next, we have to focus more on governing the country. We need to know that we can conquer the world immediately, but we cannot calm it down. You lords should understand this for me."
Gu Junen and Chen Kexin glanced at each other. From the words of Li Laiheng and Fang Yiren, they seemed to hear some grand plan of the Huguang Army.
At this time, Hao Yaoqi rushed back from the front line and brought great news to Li Laiheng: "Commander Jie... Ma Jinzhong is willing to surrender!"
"oh?"
Li Laiheng raised his eyebrows. Ma Jinzhong was a traitor to the peasant army. Unexpectedly, before Jin Shenghuan said anything, Ma Jinzhong expressed his intention to surrender.
However, Ma Jinzhong himself has no subordinate relationship with the Chuang Army, and he was not on the same battlefield with the Chuang Army when he surrendered. There is indeed no sharp historical conflict between the two sides. On the contrary, because of the existence of this relationship, Ma Jinzhong can surrender more easily
Come to the camp of the peasant army.
Hao Yaoqi then added: "Ma Jinzhong was willing to surrender, but he asked Ma Bao to come to the camp to meet him in person so that he could feel relieved."
"Oh, when the army is approaching, he still wants to negotiate terms with me?" Li Laiheng sneered, "I think Ma Jinzhong's surrender was very insincere, and he didn't show any sincerity at all, so he asked Ma Bao to enter the camp to see him? Just because Ma Bao
Is your surname also Ma?"
Hao Yaoqi shrugged his shoulders and explained: "Commander... Commander, wasn't Ma Bao a military general before? He and Ma Jinzhong were old acquaintances when they were in Henan. I guess Ma Jinzhong was so close because of this relationship.
You must see Ma Bao before you surrender."
He then persuaded: "Hey, I don't think Ma Jinzhong dares to attack the Ma Bao brothers. If Jieshuai is not at ease, the worst he can do is go in with the Ma Bao brothers to persuade them to surrender... mainly the naval warships of the Left Army.
, although they won’t be able to defend it for long now, if Jin Shenghuan breaks the boat completely, we will suffer a big loss!”