Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 610 The line of defense is shortening

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, the western front.

Cao Bin dispatched two generals, Li Jixun and Wang Shenqi, to cross the Yangtze River, land forcibly from Xiakouzhai, and march eastward along the south bank of the Yangtze River, breaking through the two cities of Chizhou and Tongling.

This is even very strange to Cao Bin himself. At every critical moment, he will get information from unknown sources. It records in detail the layout of the Tang army along the river, the width of the river, the characteristics of the guards, etc., which are summarized and sent to his barracks in time. inside.

Cao Bin couldn't believe it at first, but gradually after verification and investigation, he found that the information was accurate and reliable!

Relying on this information, Cao Bin successfully attacked Xiakou Village, and passed the Yangtze River smoothly on the gentle river, transported 3 horses there, captured the city, took advantage of the Song army's horse infantry, and attacked the city quickly.

Coupled with the two cities of Chizhou and Tongling, there were internal rebellions, and it was not difficult to conquer the two cities in a muddle-headed way.

The capture of these two important cities and the key Xiakou village puts the defense of the middle section of the Yangtze River, which the Tang army's navy strictly guards against, in immediate jeopardy.

Lin Renzhao's navy was forced to advance eastward, and continued to retreat to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to defend the defense line. One hundred thousand troops were stationed in Wuhu and Dangtu.

Although Lin Renzhao did not suffer from naval battles, Cao Bin tended to avoid major naval battles, and only [-] to [-] sailors disturbed themselves, holding back the main navy under Lin Renzhao's command.

Cao Bin's main military purpose was to send many elite infantry to the other side of the Yangtze River to attack the city on land. It was difficult for the Tang army to confront the Song army head-on.

Even defending the city, the Tang army had a bit of difficulty. Coupled with the inexplicable rebellion and mutiny in the city, the first two cities were thrown away in a daze.

Even Cao Bin couldn't help sighing: In the Tang army, there are noble people who secretly help Song Jun, and the information they send is even clearer than Song Jun's scouts and Wu Desi's secret spies. God help me.

Cao Bin originally had many famous generals under his command, and he himself is a famous general among the generals. He has experienced many battles, has a high prestige, and is proficient in the art of war.

His subordinates, Pan Mei, Shi Shouxin and others, were also the main generals of the Song Army. Together, there were like a cloud of fierce generals and a wealth of talents. Therefore, Cao Bin was very confident that the troops would be divided into three groups.

A part of the navy led by Pan Mei, about 2 people, advanced along the lower reaches of the river. They were eager to compete with Lin Renzhao's navy, but did not really engage in a decisive battle.

In the second part, 3 troops led by Li Jixun and Wang Shenqi continued to attack eastward on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

The third part is the commander-in-chief Cao Bin, who sits on the north bank and leads an army of [-], along the Yangtze River, from Wankou to Hezhou, facing Wuhu and Dangtu across the river, and continuing to exert pressure.

Lin Renzhao, the commander-in-chief of the Tang army, also felt very helpless because his generals were available.

After all, his energy is limited, and he lacks the ability to separate himself. The navy is the key, and he trained it all by himself. He values ​​it very much, and dare not let it go easily. Then the entire navy is destroyed and destroyed, then the situation is really gone, and it can no longer deal with threats on the river, and it has no deterrent effect, let alone stop the Song army from crossing the river.

At least for now, the navy of the Song army was hesitant to step up to a large-scale decisive battle with the Tang army on the river. This was because they were afraid of the strength of Lin Renzhao's navy. This was the root cause, and Lin Renzhao refused to let go.

In this way, Lin Renzhao's influence on the south bank city was limited.

Because Lin Renzhao has been training sailors in the Jiangzhou area, and he has not served in the local area. He was transferred to become the commander of the western region. In addition to the very obedient sailors he trained, the garrison of the cities along the coast are all governors of various cities, with a complicated composition. Each had factions and backgrounds, which caused them to have their own opinions on Lin Renzhao's military orders, and they did not implement them properly. They also lacked a correct understanding of the powerful Song army. Therefore, they lost cities one after another and were unable to defend against them. They were already a little afraid.

Therefore, Li Jixun and Wang Shenqi led [-] soldiers and horses to continue to press down like Wuhu City, making the generals, governors, prefects, etc. who guarded the city feel intensely dangerous, and the situation is not optimistic.

.........

The defeat of the western defense line also brought great pressure to the capital, because everyone knew that whether the Tang army could stop the main force of the Song army depended entirely on the performance of General Lin Renzhao.

But one and a half months have passed, and in the past two months, except for two small victories on the Yangtze River, they have been defeated all the way. The Yangtze River defense line has been shortened by half. This move dissatisfied many officials in the court.

In particular, the ministers of the Song Party, Wei Cen, Chen Qiao, Feng Yanlu and others, constantly appealed to the court, asking for the replacement of the commander in chief of the west and adjustment of combat thinking, emphasizing that Lin Renzhao was not suitable for the position of commander in addition to training the navy. This is Wei Cen and others, constantly impeaching Lin Renzhao as an excuse.

The members of the Sun party kept trying to protect Lin Renzhao, defended him, and interceded for him. Therefore, the party united against differences, and once again staged a debate at the court meeting.

But the continuous defeat on the front line also brought a great sense of crisis to Li Yu. He said to Han Xizai and others: "The east line of defense is trapped in Runzhou, and it is already very dangerous to be able to hit Jinling City at any time. But now even The war in the west is also losing continuously, and the defense line along the Yangtze River has been shortened by half. This is an indisputable fact!

"Can General Lin Renzhao defeat the Song army? Now there are tens of thousands of Song troops who have crossed the Yangtze River and are attacking cities along the river. Can no one think of a way to stop them? I don't want to hear your arguments and impeachments. Seeing the real victory, repel the Song army!"

Han Xizai said: "Officials, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. The Song army came prepared. This time they mobilized more soldiers and horses than before; and most of them are good at fighting, divisions of tigers and wolves, and fierce generals like clouds. We only have Lin Renzhao Zhao is alone, and the pressure is great.

"As long as our imperial court gives General Lin enough trust and support, I believe that General Lin will soon have a strategy to retreat from the enemy. Hold Caishiji and Wuhu and other places."

Li Yu nodded and said: "I hope so, if Dangtu, Caishiji and other places are all lost, I will never forgive him lightly."

Wei Cen sneered next to him and said, "Wuhu, Dangtu, and Caishi are to the west of Jinling City. The only remaining three cities along the river have been closed, and they are also the key points of the defense line. Hit directly to the city of Jinling, when the time comes, our country of Tang will be in danger!"

Wei Cen shouted loudly in public, and some officials of the Song Party also stood up and echoed.

"I think that except for General Lin Renzhao, who can lead the navy to defend Caishiji, other candidates are not suitable. I am sure that the officials will continue to trust General Lin!" Han Xizai made repeated assurances.

Li Yu was in a dilemma, and sighed: "Zhen, it depends on his next performance, and he must not retreat again. At present, the court has fewer and fewer chips available, and there are not many territories that can be controlled."

This is mainly because Jinling City is too close to the Yangtze River. As long as the Song army crosses the river, Jinling will be in danger instantly. Although the territory of the Tang Dynasty is not small, if the capital is not moved, the risk factor of the capital will always be high. Attacking the Tang Dynasty will only attack Jinling City That's all.

No matter how large the territory is in the south, such as Jizhou, Hongzhou, Yuanzhou, Fuzhou and other places, it is useless at this time, because the water far away cannot quench the thirst of the near.There are not many garrisons in those places, and most of them are box soldiers with insufficient training and equipment. Even if tens of thousands of people are mobilized, the mob is of little use.

So this, this is the short board of the Tang State. It cannot use the depth of the territory and the power of the whole country to weaken the strength of the Song Army and divide the advance of the Song Army a little bit. It did not achieve the effect of strategic stretching and became As long as the main force of the Song army crosses the river smoothly, reaches the city of Jinling, and takes Jinling, it can destroy Tang's goal.

(End of this chapter)