Jiankang City has been a place of imperial aura since ancient times. It faces the natural dangers of the Yangtze River to the north and Zhongshan Mountain sits like a dragon and a tiger on the east. The ancient capitals of the six dynasties were all based on this.
Generally speaking, Nanjing has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and many mountains headed by Zhongshan as barriers, which is not conducive to the deployment of large armies. The Jiankang City built by Li Heng and Li Yu here is also impregnable. As long as the morale of the Tang army is still there, the whole team will be strong.
Resistance, it would not be easy for Li Siye to land.
Pugu Huai'en stood firm on the line from Zhenjiang to Jiankang, and once built countless bunkers and trenches on the river beach. These were used to defend against the Yong Army's gunboats. Due to the inconvenience of traditional heavy armor and its inability to defend against shell fragments, Guo Ziyi and
Pugu Huaien also specially formed a light armored battalion, so that it would be much easier for them to go in and out of the ditch to crawl or stand up with spears in hand.
Li Siye used gunboats to bombard the river for a whole morning, making craters on the river beach. Jiankang City was also hit by countless cannons, but the existing artillery technology was not enough to collapse the city wall. He still did not dare to rest assured.
The ground allowed the troop transport to dock and land.
He led his army south to attack Jiankang because he wanted to take advantage of the situation and end the war quickly. If he could use artillery to scare Li Yu in Jiankang City into fleeing and moving the capital, the morale of the soldiers defending the city would be low and they would not resist tenaciously.
, as long as he captures Jiankang and obtains the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, it will completely destroy the morale of the Tang army, and the remaining forces in other places can be quickly wiped out.
But was Li Yu intimidated by him? Tang Wang Li Yu was indeed afraid, but he was even more afraid that after evacuating Jiankang, the entire country would fall into the hands of Li Siye. By then there would be no place for him in the world, and he would be dead.
One. So at this time, his understanding was still clear and he was not misled by Yuan Zai and Wang Jin.
But Li Siye's army in front of him was extremely powerful. In order to organize the enemy troops, he blocked many channels of the canal when he went south. However, Yong's army still used powerful cavalry and motorized infantry to quickly control the Jiangbei area, and opened up Xiangyang's occupied territory.
After conquering Jingxiang, he also controlled Hankou and Jiangxia. He had already opened a gap in the natural barrier of the Yangtze River in the middle reaches.
Seeing the enemy navy rampaging on the Yangtze River, he wanted to stay and fight against the powerful enemy, but for the time being, no one stood with him to give him strong support. He was waiting for Guo Ziyi. If Guo Linggong said that Jiankang could not be defended,
, he gave up his illusions and retreated to move the capital. If Guo Ziyi said he could hold it, he would stay here and go to the city in person to supervise the battle and live and die with the Tang army soldiers.
He was sitting alone on the dragon couch in the palace, and he could always hear the roaring cannon fire outside the city, as if the sound of these cannons were hitting his chest like a heavy hammer.
Guo Ziyi, the savior whom the emperor longed for, was on his way back to Jiankang at full speed. As soon as he received the emperor's imperial edict and learned that Li Siye had sailed the fleet to Jiankang City and was preparing to attack the capital, he was immediately anxious. He was very worried about Li Yu and others in Yuan Zai.
He fled Jiankang under the persuasion of others, and then the situation in Jiangnan really deteriorated to the point of being irreversible.
Guo Ziyi only brought thirteen followers with him, and they traveled all day and night from Jiankang to Jiankang. They changed horses every time they arrived at the inn, and sailed when they encountered waterways. They didn't even have time to eat water or rice, and they didn't sleep for two days and two nights.
As soon as he entered the gate of Jianjing City, he saw the envoy sent by the emperor waiting for him at the door. The envoy stepped forward and crossed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty has been waiting in the palace for a long time, and ordered me to welcome your Majesty here."
Guo Ziyi breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor was still in Jiankang, so he felt relieved.
He entered the Qianyuan Hall under the guidance of the palace envoy. Emperor Li Yu was wandering in the hall waiting. When he saw Guo Ziyi stumbling towards him quickly, he had the intention to go forward to help him, but due to his status as emperor, he just restrained his facial expressions.
With joy, he quickly said to Guo Ziyi: "The situation is urgent. Your Majesty, there is no need to salute. I only ask you, now Li Siye has more than 100,000 naval troops, hundreds of gunboats, and countless other warships of various types lying across the river."
We intend to capture Jiankang, can Jiankang City be defended?"
"Yes," Guo Ziyi replied decisively.
"How sure are you?" the emperor asked again.
Guo Ziyi hesitated for a moment and then replied: "On the river beach, there are 50,000 soldiers guarding Jingkou led by Pugu Huai'en, and there are 100,000 Shence troops in Jiankang City. As long as your majesty ascends to the top and makes a call to stay with the soldiers of the three armies, we will surely be able to unite and unite."
, so that the Yong army’s naval forces could not get even half a step closer, so I estimate that the certainty is 90%.”
Only then did Li Yu feel relieved: "Since it is 90%, why should I be afraid of the roar of enemy artillery fire? I should climb the city wall with your Duke to strengthen the spirit of the soldiers of the three armies."
Guo Ziyi did not expect that the emperor would personally go to the city to defend against the enemy. After being moved, he repeatedly advised: "Your Majesty is the foundation of the country. You must not put yourself in danger. Let the old ministers do it for you to go to the city to defend against the enemy."
Emperor Li Yu waved his hand and said with a smile: "The prince is the foundation of the country. If I can go to the city in person, it will be a great boost to the morale of the three armies. You should not delay it any longer. I want to see how powerful these traitors are."
Li Siye's army had already shot down 10% of the shells on the gunboats, but they were still not sure of landing. When he took out his newly developed monocular telescope to observe the enemy's momentum, he saw the shouts of soldiers on the wall of Jiankang City opposite.
The sound suddenly became fierce, and two people climbed to the front of the tower with the support of the generals.
Although the telescope is not yet mature, he can still see that the armor robes of these two people are extraordinary. They can raise the morale of the Tang army to a high level as soon as they enter the city. Apart from Guo Ziyi and the emperor, there will be no third party in the world.
People can do it.
Now that Guo Ziyi has returned to Jiankang and the emperor is determined to live and die with the city, there is no need to continue this battle. Even a forced landing will only cost the lives of some soldiers.
Li Siye's plan to quickly destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty has been aborted, but he has successfully established a foothold in Jiangxia on the other side of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Now he can only encroach on the land in Jiangnan step by step.
Since the Yangtze River was completely controlled by Li Siye, the Southern Tang Dynasty army could only place heavy troops near Jiankang and Zhenjiang, because the Yangtze River Navy was entrenched in the upper reaches, like a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the Tang Dynasty monarchs and ministers, in case they would
Heavy troops were deployed to defend a certain place, but Li Siye's Yangtze River Navy suddenly sent its troops southward. The consequences were unimaginable, so holding on to Jiankang must be the first priority of the Tang army."
Under this situation, Guo Ziyi proposed to Emperor Li Yu that the military system should be restored in the counties and cities in the south of the Yangtze River, and some brave and courageous people should be granted military status. They would be exempted from taxes and even receive a small amount of food subsidies. In normal times, they only need
Participate in training or farming, but if the Yong army comes to attack the city, you must respond to the prefect's call and take out weapons to stand on the city wall.
Temporarily restoring the government army system can solve part of the problem of insufficient troop strength of the Confederate army. The soldiers are defending the city in place to protect their homeland, and they will inevitably fight to the death against the enemy.
Therefore, although Yong's army has crossed the Yangtze River, every time it conquers a city or county, it consumes a lot of ammunition and the lives of soldiers. At the same time, although the Jiangdong soldiers are weak in the field, their ability to defend the city is not weak. And
People in the south are more consistent in their loyalty to the emperor, and will never surrender a city to a state without any resistance like in the north.
Li Siye divided his hundreds of thousands of troops into three armies, as well as the artillery battalion, which were assigned to different generals and commanders. After fully capturing Jiangzhou, he began to attack Raozhou. The route he chose to attack was also closer to the Yangtze River, so he could start from nearby.
Grain ships on the Yangtze River carry out supplies.
But recently, due to acclimatization, his health has been deteriorating. After being nursed back to health by the accompanying military doctor, he still has a loss of appetite and has become more and more inconvenient to move.
This made him somewhat worried. The great cause of unifying the world had not yet been completed. If something unexpected happened to him, his plan for the southern expedition would be shelved, and all his efforts after crossing the Yangtze River would be in vain.