Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 793: Fight without bloodshed

One hundred thousand Wu troops advanced towards Zhaozhou. Upon learning the news, Zhaozhou governor Tian Xingchou abandoned the city and fled without daring to resist, because there were only 20,000 troops in the city with incomplete weapons and armor. How could they resist one hundred thousand Wu troops?

In recent years, the Southern Han Dynasty was politically corrupt, the emperor was incompetent, and military pay was withheld. Most of the local garrisons had long been abandoned, and a lot of weapons were scrapped. Now, facing the elite Wu army moving south, they were simply unable to compete.

Zhaozhou City fell immediately, and the defenders in the city fled in all directions. Only a few Du Yuhou led a few thousand people out of the city to surrender.

As the commander of the vanguard army, Pan Mei sent people to recruit the prisoners and then waited for Su Chen's arrival.

"Zhaozhou City was broken without bloodshed!" Su Chen received the news in the central army and nodded slightly. He had guessed this result a long time ago because it was recorded in history.

It’s just that now the Wu army has replaced the Song army, and locally the trajectory of change remains unchanged.

After all, the court, generals and environment of Southern Han have not changed, so the influence and fission of Xiangying are still continuing.

Su Chen said to the generals around him: "Our army is unstoppable. The Lingnan Han army is so scared that they are fleeing. This time, the expedition to the Southern Han Kingdom will surely be completed smoothly and quickly!"

"It's all because of General Su's reputation that we can move so quickly!"

"That's right, General Su is a master at commanding troops!"

Some generals echoed this.

Su Chen smiled faintly and didn't take it seriously. After all, being in a high position, he would inevitably be sought after and praised by his subordinates. This was not entirely due to his ability and charm, but was the influence of his position and power, which was inevitable.

He must remain humble, firm in his heart, as still as a mountain, and never drift.

Among the sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes, only the hexagram of Qian does not have any disasters or hidden dangers. This shows that in life and work, we must be humble, powerful, low-key and cautious. Otherwise, it is easy to become blindly arrogant and make wrong judgments.

"Continue marching and enter Zhaozhou City!"

At Su Chen's command, the three armies advanced into Zhaozhou city.

When he arrived in the city, Su Chen was certainly not like the previous military generals who only cared about war elements such as cities and armor. Instead, he brought civil officials to start cleaning up household registration, fields, geomancy maps, etc., taking over granaries and supplies, and then issuing notices to reassure the people. He also started several grain distribution points in the city to provide relief to the poor and hungry people.

As a result, Zhaozhou City quickly stabilized. No longer afraid of enemy invasion, people felt the compassion and kindness of the Wu army instead.

"This Wu army is truly a righteous army!"

"That's right. We don't have to worry about being massacred, and we also got a lot of food."

"I heard that this is Jiangzuo Su Lang leading the troops. He is a man of high moral character and kind to the people. The Wu Kingdom is going to prosper!"

More and more people spread the news, expressing their approval of Wu Jun and their support for Su Chen.

Su Chen sent people to find some local people who were good at speaking, gave them some gold and silver, and promised them that if they fed back the true news here to the Guizhou city and the countryside ahead, so that the reputation of Wu Jun's benevolence and righteousness would continue to spread, there would be a generous reward.

After hearing this, the people were happy to do the work in exchange for the generous rewards. Hundreds of people received the rewards and began to spread the public opinion that the Wu army treated prisoners and civilians well.

A few days later, Li Chengjin, the governor of Guizhou in the Southern Han Dynasty, was terrified when he heard that Tian Xingchou, the governor of Zhaozhou, had abandoned the city and fled. When he heard that the Wu army had 100,000 soldiers, he dared not stay in Guizhou and fled. The people in Guizhou were incited to open the city gates to welcome the arrival of the Wu army.

When the news was passed back to Zhaozhou City, Su Chen smiled and nodded. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

The city of Guizhou is located at the southern end of the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor, in the southwestern part of the Nanling Mountains and the middle of the northern end of the Guilin-Yangshuo karst basin. It is located in the "Hunan-Guangxi Alley". It has another name, "Guilin". This name originated in the Qin Dynasty. Qin Shihuang established the three counties of Guilin, Xiang and Nanhai. Guilin County became famous for the abundant production of cinnamon in the area. This is the earliest origin of the name "Guilin".

Since the Southern Dynasties, Guilin has gradually become the political center of western Lingnan. Now that it has fallen, it is a heavy blow to Southern Han.

Soon, the Wu army entered Guizhou and captured two cities without bloodshed. The surrounding villages and towns were also occupied by the Wu army. They publicized Wu's new policies, won over the people, and gained their trust.

When Pan Mei saw all this, he admired Su Chen in his heart, because although he was a commander with strong leadership skills, it was difficult for him to do what Su Chen did, to revitalize people's livelihood, public opinion, and policies so casually and stabilize the occupied areas. This was something he could not have imagined.

"A man of both civil and military talents!"

Pan Mei admired in his heart that Su Chen's ability was really that of a founding monarch. If he took over the Wu Kingdom in the future, the Wu Kingdom would really have hope of unifying the world and building a prosperous dynasty.

Thinking of this, Pan Mei was suddenly moved. He suddenly felt that joining the Wu State from the Song State was a blessing in disguise.

One day, he will return to the land in the north.

Su Chen took some young generals such as Bian Zhanyu, Li Saidong, Chai Songyun, Ma Donglin, Ma Zhanchao and others to inspect the military camp and explained some ideas of deploying troops to them.

It contains theories from the ancient book Sun Tzu's Art of War, as well as some modern military ideas, which emphasize specific analysis of specific issues. We should not blindly believe in the art of war and use it rigidly and dogmatically, otherwise it will become empty talk.

"I understand. If we become dogmatic like that, we will become like Zhao Kuo." Bian Zhanyu answered proactively.

Su Chen smiled slightly and said, "That's right. The army has no fixed position, and the water has no fixed shape. Those who can win by adapting to the enemy's changes are called gods. You have all memorized this sentence, right?"

Li Saidong said, "I have memorized it. Marshal Su gave each of us a copy of the Art of War, and we recited it whenever we had nothing to do. This is a record in the "Empty and Real" chapter. The shape of the army is like water. The shape of water avoids heights and flows downwards. The shape of the army avoids the real and strikes the empty. Water controls its flow according to the terrain, and the army wins according to the enemy."

Su Chen continued, "Next, we will face Lianzhou and Shaozhou, and there will be tough battles. You will be accompanying the army this time, and it is time for you to show your abilities."

"Commander Su, we are all ready to capture Lianzhou!"

The generals expressed their opinions one after another.

Seeing that the generals were very sharp and their morale was high, Su Chen nodded slightly, hoping that these people would speed up their training so that they could be of use in the future when facing the Northern Song Dynasty.

This expedition against Southern Han was actually a process of training troops and actual combat experience.

He naturally knew that with the current military strength, it was more than enough to defeat Southern Han, and this training was particularly important to build an elite division that could be used for the Northern Expedition.

From the perspective of physical fitness, northerners are definitely stronger than southerners, and the north is cold, so when southern soldiers go to the north and fight on land or in chariot battles, they will also have shortcomings.

Therefore, this time Su Chen will select special forces, elite troops, and ace troops from these regular troops to fight against the elite troops of the Song army.