Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 483 War on the Eastern Front
Runzhou (near Zhenjiang City in later generations), located about 150 miles east of Jiangning, across the river from Yangzhou, has been an important town in the south of the Yangtze River since ancient times.The north goes down from the Huaihe River, takes the east road and enters the Yangtze River. After landing, the first to bear the brunt is the important town of Runzhou.

When Liu Cheng arrived, the officials and generals in the city did not greet him grandly. Liu Cheng also expressed his understanding for this. The situation on the western front was rotten.

And the east front is not much better, before he came here, bad news came from the east.
Changzhou is more than 100 miles away from Runzhou, located in the southeast, where the armies of the states and counties in the east gathered. The main force was stationed near Jiangyin, so the middle school also called this army that maintained the main line of defense against Wuyue the Jiangyin Army.

Their army was assembled in Jiangyin and Changzhou, and then gathered under the city of Changzhou, gathering tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, preparing to resist the Wu army going north from Suzhou.

At this time, the Qin army's navy had already moved south from Yangzhou and entered the river.

Then the main force of the Qin State's navy confronted their navy on the river, but sent thousands of elite soldiers eastward along the river, and then quickly captured Taohuadu in the north of Changzhou, defeated the two battalions of defenders there, and then landed.

The worst thing is that in order to defend against the Wuyue army, Changzhou built a solid wall and cleared the countryside at the beginning. Many people had already fled to the city. There were not many troops stationed in Taohuadu in the north, and there were many business travelers on weekdays. It was a lively town. After the war began, some people went east. They ran to Jiangning and other places to find relatives and friends to avoid disaster, and some ran to Changzhou city.

The young officials who came from the imperial examinations who were newly appointed in the local area for two or three years did not organize well to deal with them, and they themselves were confused, and finally ran away with the people. Jiangnan has not experienced war for 15 years, and the war in Jiangbei did not affect Jiangnan too much. , in addition to heavy taxes, there are many more widows.

Because of this, officials in Changzhou do not have much experience in dealing with wars, and neither do the people.

As a result, there are hardly many people left in Taohuadu, except for the old, the weak, the widowed, and a few people that no one cares about.

In the next few days, Changzhou Bingmadujian immediately sent two battalions there to garrison Taohuadu.

The Zhizhou and Bingma Dujian in Changzhou are a little aware of the importance of Taohuadu, because there is a Jiangxin Island nearly ten miles north of it, which divides the river into the mainstream and the Jiajiang River. The speed of the water near Taohuadu slows down, and the water flow on both sides of the river is moderate, which is suitable for ships to dock and people to go ashore. The pier was gradually repaired, and it became a ferry with many ships passing by.

Obviously, whether it is Zhizhou or Changzhou Military and Horse Supervisor in the south of the Yangtze River, they think with common sense and feel that Taohuadu is important, but they are far from the point where they are thinking about problems in the middle of a war.

The Jiangyin army assembled more than 800 people. They only sent two battalions of local troops, [-] troops, to garrison an important ferry.

Bringing this attitude to war turned out to be disastrous. Facing a large number of ships, with more than 5000 naval guns, twelve well-equipped battalions, and more than [-] landing troops of the Imperial Army of the Qin Army, the defenders of Taohuadu are not fools. They surrendered almost without hesitation, and more than ninety-nine percent of them were captured.

The result of their being captured too quickly was that the news that the Qin army had landed was not sent out, and the people nearby almost fled. No one in the south knew that the Qin army had landed an elite army at Taohuadu.

Taohuadu is only about [-] miles away from Changzhou, which is only a day's journey.

In the west of Changzhou City, more than 5000 Wuyue Army forwards have approached outside Changzhou City.

More than 2 Jiangyin troops assembled in Changzhou also built fortifications on the Hengtang River in the southeast, preparing to defend along the river and resist Wu Yue's attack.

The Wu Yue army did not dare to cross the river to attack the Tang army who was waiting for work. They were waiting for the arrival of the rear army, and they were also thinking of various ways. While building a raft bridge across the river, they waited for the Chinese army to join.

But two days later, the Qin army suddenly appeared under the city of Changzhou through the woods, roads and fields from the north, and then attacked behind the Tang army's defense line.

The Tang army on the Hengtang defense line looked bewildered, and then there was chaos. Their fortifications were built in front of the Wu army, with the purpose of preventing the Wu army from crossing the river. Facing the Qin army who suddenly appeared on the back, they were horrified, and it was too late to organize the troops, so they turned their guns head.

The Qin army rushed into the tent of the Tang army's central army that morning, and then heard the shouts of killing from the north, and the Wuyue army who saw the Qin army's flag from the sentry tower did not wait for the Chinese army, and immediately forcibly crossed the river to launch an attack.

Under attack from both sides, by the time the sun was setting west in the afternoon, more than 2 Tang troops had been defeated across the board, and most of Wu's troops had completely crossed the Hengtang River.

More than 5000 Tang troops surrendered and were captured, and the rest, except for those who fled for their lives, and more than 1000 remnants fled to Changzhou City, but no matter what the outcome was, they were doomed to fail.

The Jiangyin army assembled by the Tang State was almost completely wiped out, which meant that the east was also wide open, and the Wu army could easily enter their borders.

Because of this, the situation in Runzhou is very critical. Changzhou is only about 160 miles away from Runzhou. The middle road is not difficult to walk, and it takes only three to five days.

Liu Cheng felt restless along the way, and in the middle of the road, he even saw people on horseback sneaking through the fields and villages in the distance. The guards around him were vigilant, with their hands on the handle of the knife. They all speculated that it might be the vanguard scouts of Wu Jun or Qin Jun who had arrived in Runzhou.

So as soon as he arrived in Runzhou, he didn't think about those vain rituals at all, he just wanted to enter the city as soon as possible. Almost all the people outside the city he saw along the way had avoided disaster, and many people went west with their families. The people at the mouth, the ox carts and carriages are crowded together.

After settling down that night, the next day the scouts discovered that Wu Jun's forward had camped at the foot of Nanshan Mountain in the southeast of the city.

On the third day, thousands of Wu army vanguards had arrived at Paoma Mountain in the south of the city, and set up camp. They said it was a mountain, but it was only a few dozen feet high, a small slope one or two miles long, with dense trees and streams on the mountain.

Afterwards, Wu troops arrived one after another, with more than a thousand people added every day, and more and more camps.

The soldiers asked to take the initiative to attack, taking advantage of the unstable foothold of the Wuyue army, to launch an attack first, otherwise they would have no choice but to wait for their numbers to increase, but Liu Cheng rejected this proposal, and rashly went out to fight on the grounds that when Shu was defending Kuizhou, As a result, he was defeated by the Zhou army, and took the opportunity to seize the past of Jiancheng to teach the soldiers.

Everyone was aggrieved, but in the end they didn't mention taking the initiative to attack Wu Jun.

Half a month later, more than 1 troops of the Wu army gathered under the city, and the tents stretched for more than ten miles, and then began to besiege the city to the south, preparing to launch an attack.

The Tang army was forced to defend. Fortunately, the important town of Runzhou was high and strong. The Wu army launched several attacks and was repelled, losing hundreds of people. As the year approached, the Wu Yue army also slowed down their attacks and just besieged the city.

Until December, the weather was getting colder and colder. The Wu army had been besieging the city for more than a month. The situation in Runzhou was critical. The Wu army under the city continued to increase its troops.

They also hoped that the navy in the south would be able to save the situation. In the first few days of December, they heard loud noises like thunder from the river in the north all day long, but there was no rain or snow in the sky, just a little gloomy.

A few days later, they learned from the envoys from the south that it was not thunder, but the sound of the Qin army's artillery. The Qin army's water army defeated their water army on the north river, and more than [-] ships were sunk Now, the navy has retreated to the vicinity of Jiangning, and there is no way to support them. The Qin army may land in the north.

For a moment, everyone was ashamed. Liu Cheng and several generals grabbed the envoy's sleeves and repeatedly begged to tell the king that they needed reinforcements. They needed reinforcements. The Wu army already had tens of thousands of people. If the Qin army came again, They're all going to die.

The messenger nodded repeatedly, not daring to refuse.

The generals immediately thought that the city gates needed to be reinforced, what if the Qin army used the legendary cannon to hit their city gates!
So the craftsmen in the city spent several days inlaying iron bars on the city gate, and thickened several layers.

Sure enough, years ago, they saw the Qin army coming from the north from the top of the city, and went to the camp in the south. They had many horses, and they were pulling black iron pipes with wheels. They should be the cannons of the Qin army. Everyone's hearts were raised in their throats.

Fortunately, because of the Chinese New Year, they did not launch an attack. Qin Jun just entered Wu Jun's camp with those black pipes.

A few days later, Runzhou had been besieged for nearly two months, and supplies in the city began to be tense. They watched thousands of cavalry from the Qin army coming from the north. They should have come from the river, but they still rushed There are large flocks of sheep, each leading several sheep, floating across the avenue like white clouds, dazzling even if viewed from a distance.

They brought the thousands of flocks into the distant camp of the besieged city. The Tang army at the head of the city couldn't see his own saliva, and it was the New Year.
"It's such a good life for these bastards, and they eat so well in war." Some soldiers complained with envy and jealousy.

Everyone didn't speak, and glanced at the commander. Unexpectedly, the commander didn't take it seriously, and said: "That's for sure, don't look at how much the lord pays them every year. It's all right now. Those bastards are eating and drinking. Ours is coming to kill us."

Such words affect the morale of the army, but those who are trapped here during the Chinese New Year are tired, afraid and hungry, and everyone is already full of resentment.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Liu Cheng, the prison guard, came up to the tower. Everyone was terrified. The commander who spoke just now made his face a little nervous. Unexpectedly, Liu Cheng didn't mean to blame him, but said: "It's not just us, where are we in the south of the Yangtze River? Lots of sheep."

"Supervisor, don't blame me. I'm a rough man who can't speak. I'm very stupid. I don't know anything." The commander repeatedly bowed his hands and apologized.

Liu Cheng raised his hand, "Those sheep probably came from the Liao Kingdom, but it's not just us in the south of the Yangtze River. The Liao Kingdom also pays tens of thousands of cattle and sheep to the Qin Kingdom every year. When the emperor was in Hebei, he defeated the Liao army twice in Hedong. , Killed 10,000+ Liao soldiers, how dare they not pay tribute, who else in the world is the opponent of the Qin army."

The commander and the soldiers around him looked at each other, and looked at each other in blank dismay. This is fighting the Qin army. Could it be what the supervising envoy said?

Liu Cheng ignored them and quickly went down from the top of the city.

During the Chinese New Year, even at the top of the city, you can vaguely smell the smell of meat in the distance, but the Qin Army and Wu Army spent more than a month besieging but not attacking during the New Year, which also gave the defenders in the city a chance to breathe.

It's just that they all understand that once the new year is over, the assembled Wu army will launch the fiercest offensive. Will they be able to hold on then?
Everyone has no answer in their hearts. The fear and pressure of being trapped in an isolated city is hard to understand for outsiders. Except for the sparse starry sky that is occasionally seen at night, there is no comfort.

However, the starry fires in the enemy camp in the distance make people dare not look down. The bright lights indicate that the enemy has a large number of people, sufficient supplies, and the battle will be very difficult.
(End of this chapter)