The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 801
The sunlight outside the hall became increasingly dim, and it was difficult to see inside the originally bright Dongming Hall.

All the important ministers of the Han court were silent and silent.

Jingzhou Biejia Liu Xian sighed, looking a little helpless.

"Nanjun's defeat was too sudden. No one expected that the ownership of Yiling is not up to us to decide. We can only obey God's will. I hope that Yiling's defenders can block the Ming army's early offensive..."

Liu Xian's words were not wrong. After the defeat of Nanjun and the news came from Yiling, Huang Zu was immediately ordered to go west from Jiangling in Nanjun to aid Yiling.

Because of the Northern Expedition, the Han court had already anticipated the possible attack of the Ming army, so it was considered to have made some preparations. However, in order not to arouse the early vigilance of the Ming army and ensure that the Northern Expedition was carried out in secret, Jingzhou's defenses were all in secret. carried out.

Huang Zhong led the Jingzhou soldiers to withdraw to the south, using the excuse that the Ming army in Wuguan was active.

And Huang Zu led the fleet from Jiangxia County to Jiangling in South County under the pretext of killing water thieves.

The combat power of the Nanjun Navy was stronger than that of the Yizhou Ming Army Navy, and Huang Zu was in Jiangling. In the eyes of everyone, Nanjun was absolutely impenetrable and would not lose anything.

But all the mistakes were made in the battle of Nanjun. Chen was actually beheaded by Gan Ning. As a result, the Nanjun navy suffered heavy casualties and was unable to fight anymore. Now that the Ming army has control of the waters, a large number of troops are coming from Jiangguan was transported to Yiling.

The news from Chen Du in the early days has shown that the Ming army has occupied Zigui, and its army in Zigui has increased to nearly [-] people, and it will go straight to Yiling in the near future.

By the time the news reached Chen Du, the battle of Yiling might have already broken out.

"Among the colorful clouds of Chaoci Baidi, thousands of miles of rivers and tombs return in one day. The sound of apes on both sides of the bank can't stop, and the light boat has passed ten thousand mountains."

The poems written by Li Bai may be exaggerated, but the speed of traveling along the water is quite fast.

However, sailing against the current is quite difficult for ships.

The east wind is hard to come by, and ships can only rely on manpower to paddle, row and paddle, and go upward.

Where the current is very turbulent, it is necessary to hire a tracker to pull the fiber, and use ropes and manpower to drag the boat upstream.

In fact, Chen Jiu was still too confident. Gan Ning was able to kill Chen Jiu because of the advantage of Shunliu.

In inland water warfare, occupying the upper reaches is an advantage.

The reason why the Nanjun navy captured more than ten warships was precisely because the Ming army flowed downstream. The Ming army’s small boats could easily approach the warships of the Nanjun Han navy navy. Most of the sailors under Gan Ning’s command were former The pirates who followed him were seasoned and good at fighting, there were also some pirates who had been under his command, and some sailors from the new company who were born in Taipingdao.

After identifying the Badong Military Region, Xu An also allocated funds to build a special school in Yufu, which is Baidi City in a broad sense, named Yizhou Naval School.

In today's Ming Dynasty, the level of higher education is divided into two levels, the highest level is the academy, and the second level is the school.

The grade of Yizhou Naval School is one level lower than that of the college, because it only teaches the most basic knowledge.

The martial arts hall is an exception. It does not belong to the academy or the school, but belongs to the central military and political institutions, not under the jurisdiction of the education system, not subject to the restraint of the Ministry of Rites, and directly under the jurisdiction of the Taoist government.

There are only two departments in the Naval School.

The first department is open to all officers and soldiers, even ordinary people, to teach the most basic knowledge of water warfare, the essentials of water warfare, supplemented by actual combat teaching, in order to train grassroots naval soldiers who can meet the combat requirements.

The second department is specially used to train officers, select those soldiers who have certain experience and meritorious deeds, teach deeper knowledge, and become officers in the navy after graduation.

The training of a navy does take time, but systematic teaching can greatly reduce this time.

Moreover, when selecting naval officers and soldiers, Yizhou Naval Academy basically selected people who grew up by the water and were proficient in water, so they learned quickly.

Today, the combat power of the Yizhou Navy is no longer what it used to be, and it is more than a star and a half stronger than when Liu Yan ruled Yizhou.

The defeat of the Nanjun navy was not a coincidence. Even if Gan Ning hadn't killed Chen Jiu, the Nanjun navy would have been defeated. Now the strength of the Ming army's Yizhou navy has already far surpassed that of the Nanjun navy.

Jingzhou was originally in turmoil, and it was not long before Liu Biao unified it. Because there was no threat on the waterways, Liu Biao has been expanding his army and suppressing the sectarian forces since he took control of Jingzhou.

The sect thieves in Jingzhou were originally Sun Jian's henchmen, but Liu Biao used tricks to wipe out their leaders.

Liu Biao used thunder to control the entire Jingzhou and wiped out some sect thieves. However, many sect thieves escaped into the mountains and forests.

So Liu Biao has been expanding the army, but did not expand the navy much, especially after the chaos in Yangzhou was settled, he did not manage the navy.

It wasn't until Yizhou was occupied by the Yellow Turban Army that Liu Biao felt threatened, but the construction of warships was not done in a day and a month, and the time required to make a qualified warship was extremely long.

This is also the reason why the Nanjun Navy only has more than fifty warships.

And this evil result was finally swallowed by Jingzhou.

On the land of Nanyang County, the Jingzhou army that Liu Biao painstakingly trained was completely defeated by the Ming army and retreated steadily.

However, the navy, which was supposed to have the upper hand, was also defeated due to long-term slack in armaments, putting the most important Yiling in danger.

Nanjun Shui's defeat was too sudden, and Huang Zu had no time to react.

The hall is getting darker and darker, and it no longer has the majesty of the past. What remains is only gloom and horror, and...

There is also an atmosphere of dilapidation and decline, which seems to indicate that the Han Empire is about to decline.

Fifteen-year-old Liu Xie sat in the first seat, his eyes slowly swept across the officials in the hall, his heart was icy cold.

Sun Jian died in battle, Huangfusong was captured alive, and the [-] army just disappeared. Although he was young, he didn't understand what all this meant.

"Is it true that destiny no longer favors me, a big man?"

Liu Xie clutched the robe between his knees tightly, and couldn't help asking in his heart.

Ever since Lu Zhi brought him out of Luoyang, after Chen Du ascended the throne, he has never dared to relax or rest.

What he does the most every day is study, continuous learning, he wants to know more things and learn more knowledge.

He wants to rejuvenate the big man and save the country.

"The destiny is reversed, why punish Heyou?"

Liu Xie's heart sank gradually. He didn't understand that he had always been diligent in political affairs and should have never lost his morals, but why Tianming was getting farther and farther away from the Han Dynasty.

Looking around at the people in the main hall, Mingming Hall was full of people, and there were many soldiers around, but Liu Xie felt that he was alone and helpless, like a drowning person, there was not even a straw to grasp around, only endless The flood made it hard for him to breathe.

The person who has always supported him and carried the Han Empire forward has fallen to Fanyang.

First Lu Zhi, then Gai Xun, now Huang Fusong

The veterans left by his father have withered one after another, and Sun Jian is now also killed in battle in Fanyang.

Liu Xie is not young and inactive. He is very clear that Sun Jian holds the power to overthrow the entire country, but he still has no hesitation in handing over the highest power to Sun Jian.

He trusted Sun Jian, and he also trusted Liu Chong. The two of them still respected him when he had nothing, and did not treat him as a puppet.

After Wang Yun entered the court, Liu Xie also gradually discovered the power of the family.

Liu Chong also united with Wang Yun at some point.

Therefore, in many cases, the orders he issued were not completely from the heart, but had to be obeyed.

The trust in Yuan Shu was precisely because Liu Xie knew that Yuan Shu could have used the power of the Yuan family in Runan to treat him as a puppet.

Yuan Shu holds the military power not weaker than Sun Jian. The four generations and three princes of the Yuan family have many old officials above the imperial court. It has been expelled from the clan, so it has not been affected too much, and the power still exists.

During his days in Luoyang, Liu Xie learned to observe words and expressions, and learned to find the essence of affairs instead of looking at the surface of affairs.

People do change, and Liu Xie knows it well, but he has no choice, with a strong enemy at his side, even if he knows that there is a glass of poisonous wine in front of him, he must drink it.

But Liu Xie also has his own plan. Although he has almost unlimited trust in Sun Jian and others, he has been training the imperial army to consolidate his military power.

Liu Xie understands the importance of having military power in his own hands. Many places in the Forbidden Army are imitating the current Ming Army.

The Han Dynasty has been established for nearly four hundred years, and the destiny has already been deeply rooted in the Han Dynasty.

The Ming army preached the way of peace, and Liu Xie ordered the forbidden army to preach the mandate of heaven, and asked Fude to lead the forbidden army and reuse his relatives.

He never gave up, and he didn't lose his morals, but why is he almost besieged on all sides now.

Liu Xie felt powerless for a while.

There are only more than [-] soldiers left in Qingzhou and Yanzhou, and there are still more than [-] soldiers in the imperial army. Jingzhou Yiling is in a hurry, and everything is heading for the worst.

The building will fall, the world will collapse...

Inside the hall, several eunuchs walked slowly towards the palace lanterns in the hall and lit them one by one.

The hall, which was originally dark, became a little brighter again because of the lit palace lanterns.

As the candlelight gradually brightened, Liu Xie's vision gradually became clearer.

When everyone was silent, Liu Chong stood up slowly, walked to the central position, faced Liu Xie, saluted with both hands, and said solemnly.

"The Ming army has occupied Zigui, and the situation in Yiling is unknown, but I believe that Yiling's terrain is dangerous. The Pseudo-Ming Navy has more small boats than large ones. The Nanjun Navy still has more than [-] warships available. Can't resist the fake navy, "

"There are [-] troops stationed in Yiling guarding the city. Even if the puppet Ming army has a siege weapon like a thunderbolt chariot, it shouldn't be a problem to persist for ten days. Once the Jiangxia navy arrives, the siege of Yiling can be lifted."

Liu Chong looked sideways at Liu Xian, and his tone became a little more serious.

"Our army is not guaranteed to be defeated, don't drive and don't make discouraged words anymore."

At this time, Liu Chong stood up and said something, which attracted the attention of everyone in the hall.

The originally dull atmosphere in the hall was dispelled a little because Liu Chong got up to speak.

"Jingzhou does not need to be managed for the time being. The soldiers of Yanzhou and Xuzhou have not been injured. Qingzhou's defense is still tight, and Qingzhou does not need to be managed."

"The eastern section of Shenyuan Pass, Guangcheng Pass and Xuanmen Pass, are all in the hands of our army. Relying on the pass, our army is not incapable of defending it. We only need to be on guard against false Ming and go south from Jizhou to Yanzhou."

Sikong Zhang Xi still looked solemn.

"The Ming army has thunderbolt chariots that can throw big rocks, and it is easy to break the city and break the walls. The Yuanyuan Pass is narrow and long, and the passes are interlocking, so it can resist attacks. However, the two passes of Xuanmen and Guangcheng are ordinary passes. Guan, what should our army do?"

The officials in the palace were also a little pessimistic like Zhang Xi. Ever since the Yellow Turban Army had the kind of catapult that could hit big stones, the passes and cities were no longer an obstacle. It was also from that time that the offensive and defensive momentum officially began to reverse. So gradually develop and grow.

"It's not that there is no way to restrain the thunderbolt car."

Liu Chong turned to face the crowd and said in a deep voice.

"Is there a way to restrain Thunderbolt?"

Someone in the hall exclaimed, no wonder someone lost his dignity.

It is really because since the invention of the thunderbolt chariot of the Ming army, the city wall pass has become a joke. They have imitated it for a long time, but there is no way to overcome the difficulty. It also gave them a great advantage in the battle with the Wei army.

"This method is the strategy offered by Guo Fengxiao, a subordinate official of our government, and it is called the 'brick wrapping method'"

"The skin of the original rammed earth city wall is protected with bricks and stones, and the base is built with stone strips."

"With the protection of bricks and stones, if the Ming army still attacked with catapults, the city walls would still be intact, at least they would not collapse directly in sections as before."

"This method is indeed credible. I have built a site in the territory that has passed the test. Throwing a car will only cause limited damage to the masonry city wall."

Liu Chong's words were like a big rock smashed into the calm pool, stirring up thousands of waves.

There was a lot of noise in the hall for a while. The power of the throwing chariots of the Han army and the Thunderbolt chariots of the Ming army was not too great. What was lacking was the range and the use of manpower.

The officials in the hall were talking about it, Liu Chong knew that it was time to strike while the iron was hot, so he continued.

"Now False Ming is eager to annex the land of Hebei, and has no time to look south."

"In the old days when the prefecture was changed, localities were allowed to recruit village warriors to encircle the countryside. Although village warriors are weak in combat power, they can also be relied on. It only takes a few months of training to become a soldier."

Liu Chong knelt down and said in a deep voice.

"I ask the country to issue an edict to recruit brave men from the villages of Yan and Henan to prepare for the formation of new troops."

"At the same time, the Yanzhou army was ordered to return to Yanzhou to guard against Jizhou, and to recruit soldiers from Yangzhou and Jiaozhou to go north to help."

"In this way, our army can gain tens of thousands of troops, which is enough to temporarily resist the hypocrisy, temporarily draw the river to rule, and then make plans."

(End of this chapter)