After Zhang Xun abandoned Suiyang City, Li Siye's army faced two southbound roads. One was along the canal along the city, passing through Xuzhou, Suqian, Gaoyou, and finally reaching Yangzhou, facing the natural dangers of the Yangtze River. The other road also started from Suiyang.
Set off, descend to Chenzhou, Runan, Huai'an, enter the Nanyang Basin, attack Xiangyang, first capture the land of Jingxiang, and then move down the river to dominate the world.
According to Li Siye's plan, he was more inclined to base himself in Yangzhou and cross the river to attack Zhenjiang. Once he crossed Zhenjiang, he could capture Jinling and Yuhang, and the Jiangnan court would have no power to fight back. His intention was to take refuge easily, Xiangyang city was strong, and Guo Ziyi was in
It has been operating there for a long time, and it is very difficult to conquer Xiangyang. Although the Baili Yangtze River opposite Yangzhou is a natural hazard for him, in the end the geographical factors are still easy to overcome.
Zhongshu Ling Xu Bin raised objections and advised him: "My lord, the Yangtze River is not comparable to the Canal Canal. The warships we built are like small boats on the river. Although our army has the advantage of artillery,
, but the soldiers are not water-savvy, and it is not convenient for water warfare. Opposite Yangzhou is Zhenjiang City, which is difficult to conquer if it is defended along the river. In the past, the Chibi River where Cao Cao stationed his troops south was not as wide as Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, and it was difficult to defeat the enemy. We
If the army fights with the imperial navy, it will be difficult to win even if there are artillery."
After Li Siye thought about it carefully, he asked Xu Bin: "Soldiers are not used to water warfare, so what if I build a water fortress and a hundred-foot ship in Yangzhou? The hull is like a tall building, and the deck is as wide as walking on the ground. You can climb the city after crossing the river.
Would soldiers on such a ship still get seasick?"
Xu Bin added: "My lord, it is not a good thing to have a ship that is too big. If it is too big, it will be difficult to maneuver. Regardless of whether it is a big ship or a small ship, soldiers need to paddle with both hands. Once it reaches the river, it will be difficult for the big ship to turn around. Moreover, the area from Zhenjiang to Jinling is surrounded by mountains and water networks.
The river is densely covered with paddy fields. After crossing the river, it is not conducive for the cavalry to trek, and the advantage of the cavalry can only be given up to fight the enemy on foot, which is extremely detrimental to our army."
"No matter whether we want to attack Jingkou from Yangzhou south, Xiangyang must be taken. The pacification of Jiangnan will not be achieved overnight. Li Yu is not a mediocre leader, on the contrary, he has made great achievements. There are also Guo Ziyi, Pugu Huaien, Li Sheng, etc. in the Tang army.
Zhang Xun and other famous generals. If we cannot capture Jingxiang and only break through Yangzhou and Gaoyou, we will become a lonely army once we cross the river, and the logistics supplies will be difficult to sustain. Now that we have captured Shuzhong and Hanzhong, we only need to conquer Xiangyang and go south to Jiangcheng
, we can use the water conservancy of the Yangtze and Han Rivers to connect Shu, Hanzhong and Jingxiang, and then hope to unify the world."
After Li Siye thought about it over and over, he said quietly: "Xu Gong is right. Gu Zi destroyed Shi Chaoyi and went south to defeat Guo Ziyi and occupied Luoyang. Since Suiyang, he has been a little overconfident, but he didn't know that Tang's strength was still in Jiangdong.
If we want to completely pacify the situation, we need to make long-term plans.”
Duan Xiushi stepped forward and crossed his arms and said: "In my humble opinion, our army is strong and can attack in three directions. The east road goes south to attack Yangzhou, the middle road goes south to attack Hefei Anqing, the west road goes south to attack Nanyang Basin, and station troops in front of Xiangyang City.
Let’s take possession of everything north of the Yangtze River first, and then consider how to cross the Yangtze River to the south.”
Li Siye turned his attention to Xu Bin and asked, "Mr. Xu, what do you think?"
Xu Xianggong smiled and said: "As long as you can't reach the Yangtze River, no matter how you attack the lord, you are sure to win. There are no taboos on three, five, and nine routes. Besides that, there is Xiangyang. If the lord is not fully prepared,
, don’t touch Xiangyang.”
"In this case, let the three armies go south and completely wipe out the remaining enemies in Jiangbei."
Li Siye appointed Duan Xiushi as the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army, with the main attack direction being Yangzhou, Zhang Guangtao as the commander-in-chief of the Middle Route Army, with the main attack direction being Anqing, and Tian Chengsi as the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army, with the main attack direction being Nanyang and Xiangyang. The three armies were entrenched north of the Yangtze River
The stubborn pro-Tang forces carried out an attack. The Eastern Route Army Duan Xiushi's attack went very smoothly. The prefectures and counties along the way surrendered. Even if there were some prefectures that were unwilling to surrender, the gunboats heading south along the canal bombarded the city tops, and most of them wanted to
Abandoned the city and fled.
When the army arrived in Yangzhou, the river was covered with small boats of gentry and common people who had crossed the Yangtze River and fled south. Duan Xiushi's staff joined the army and suggested to him: "General, the people are moving their families. The loss of population will destroy Huaibei's farming.
Why didn't the general place his gunboats across the river and fire cannons to intimidate them? This would surely prevent most of the people from escaping south.
Duan Xiushi stroked his beard and shook his head and said: "No, the people's hearts can only be separated but not blocked. If they want to escape, just let them escape. Only by treating the people who stay in Jiangbei well can we restore the people's hearts. When we go south to unify in the future, they will still be
The people of Sheji are truly the king's land in the whole world, and the king's ministers on the shores of the land."
After Duan Xiushi led his troops to Yangzhou, Li Siye ordered him to build a water fort on the river outside Yangzhou City and build warships to make the battle as grand as possible.
Jingkou City opposite Yangzhou was already heavily guarded. General Li Sheng of the Tang Army trained a navy force of 10,000 people in the water village of Zhenjiang City, including more than 60 Huanglong ships and countless small boats. Moreover, the Tang Army was in
The training of the navy army is far from comparable to that of Yong's army. Everyone in the army is an expert at swimming against water for thirty miles.
Zhang Guangtao, the commander-in-chief of the Central Route Army, led the Hedong Army under his command. They had smooth sailing at first, but prefectures and counties along the way surrendered one after another. Only when they finally reached Anqing City did they encounter real resistance.
Liu Changqing, the prefect of Anqing, was just a scholar, but he was able to put on a strong sword and stand on the city wall at a critical moment for the survival of his country, holding a horizontal sword and resolutely organizing military and civilian resistance.
At this moment, the actual strength of the Tang army in Anqing City was only 2,000. Liu Changqing organized more than 8,000 soldiers and civilians in just a few days, reinforced the city walls and deployed fortifications, vowing never to let Anqing fall into the hands of the Yong army.
Zhang Guangtao sent people to shout repeatedly under the city wall to persuade him to surrender. Liu Changqing was angry and shot at the enemy. No matter how much the enemy tried to induce him, his loyalty would not change. Zhang Guangtao's patience finally ran out, and in anger he ordered an attack on the city, but he did not stop all the way.
They were the light cavalry and Tiaodang from Hedong. They had no artillery support and no siege equipment such as ballistae. They had to temporarily order people to cut down trees and build siege ladders to attack the city wall.
Liu Changqing was quite talented in defending the city. He deployed his men to rotate back and forth at the gates of the city, matched the experienced soldiers with the militia, and figured out many sharp weapons that could repeatedly kill the enemy from a high position. The Tang army who stormed the city wall was defeated
These sharp weapons killed all kinds of people, and they were already frightened when they climbed up again.
The siege of Anqing lasted for more than a month. Zhang Guangtao was still unable to capture Anqing. He became more and more anxious and vowed that after capturing the city, he would cut Liu Changqing into pieces.
Tian Chengsi of the West Route Army had the shortest marching route. He led the Youyan cavalry, as well as the Khitan and Xibu cavalry forcibly recruited by Li Siye. They marched the fastest among all the armies going south, taking only six days.
They arrived at the foot of Nanyang City. After more than 20 days of fierce fighting, the Nanyang Governor suddenly withdrew his troops and civilians in the middle of the night, and burned down the residential buildings in the city, leaving the Yong army with a burning empty city.
Tian Chengsi finally completed his mission and arrived at Xiangyang City. However, during the more than 20 days of attacking Nanyang, his troops suffered too much loss and their morale gradually declined. He no longer posed a threat to Xiangyang that stood in front of him.
He could only submit a letter to Li Siye, asking him to send a large army to attack Xiangyang.