Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 486 The Dust Settles
On the east bank of the Qinhuai River, the flames continued to shine. From a distance, there were layers of tents in the army camps, row upon row, which stood out against the high blue and black walls in the distance.

Those high city walls have been besieged on all sides, and the water is impenetrable.

At the beginning of March, the weather had begun to warm up. Runzhou in the south surrendered, and the East Route Army also successfully arrived at the city. The main force of the Wu army besieged the remaining defenders in Changzhou.

So far, more than 7 troops from all walks of life have gathered under Jinling City, set up camps on all sides, and surrounded Jinling City.

On the third day of March, Cao Bin hosted a banquet for the generals of various armies on the Qinhuai River and in the previous boat.

Liu Renshan, the leader of the East Route Army, Li Chuyun, the leader of the Middle Route Army, and Wang Shenqi, the leader of the Wuyue Army, gathered on the Qinhuai River.

Wu Yue has always served China as Zhengshuo, and had a feud with Jiangnan. When the Later Zhou Dynasty attacked Huainan, they also sent troops according to the order, and as long as they sent troops, the suzerain country usually sent generals to command them.

Wang Shenqi was in charge of commanding the Wu army, while Li Fang stayed in Wu as an envoy.

Everyone was very happy after joining forces. This meeting means that the land in the south of the Yangtze River, the land still under the control of the Tang State is only the southern capital Hongzhou and an isolated city of Jinling.

After boarding the boat one after another, everyone smiled and greeted, bowed and saluted, and then sat down, while a large number of soldiers stood guard on the shore.

After taking his seat, Cao Bin first asked his clerk to hang up a map, and introduced the overall situation to all the generals present, and then read the letter from the official in front of everyone.

"The officials said that we can make decisions on the front line according to the situation, but the officials reminded that we must pay attention to the counterattack of Hongzhou's reinforcements and focus on protecting the pontoon bridge in Caishiji."

As he spoke, he pointed to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on the map, "I left troops to garrison near Wankou, but it must not be enough. The officials reminded me that there must be a reason, so I plan to transfer another [-] battalions from the navy to add more troops." Sent to protect the pontoon bridge at Caishiji."

Everyone agrees that they dare not disobey the official's request.

"All the remaining troops temporarily besiege Jinling. The officials also said in the letter that Jinling City does not need to attack urgently. It would be best if it can be made to surrender on its own, so as not to destroy the houses and poison the people, so I am going to leave three compartments to besiege Jinling. , and the remaining ministries will be dispatched to various states and counties to take over the city defense."

"promise!"

Everyone had no opinion on Cao Bin's arrangement.

"Do you have anything to add?" Cao Bin asked, looking around at the crowd.

Several generals shook their heads. It can be said that the overall situation has been settled and there are many choices for the next step. Everyone has no objection.

Afterwards, everyone began to discuss the specific details of the deployment. It was not until the next day that the generals of the various armies came to open the Qinhuai River and returned to the army to start the deployment.

The armies began to dispatch. Near the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the [-] troops of the Qin Army deployed, each performing their duties, and the entire Jinling was completely besieged under the walled city.

Outside the capital, the Qin army sent officials and troops to take over various places, and focused on restoring the production and life of the people.

At the beginning, such a move needs to be proceeded carefully, because there are still remnants of soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River.

But on March [-]th, news came from the south that Zhu Lingyun, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, led tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of ships, and went up the Shuo River.

However, when his army reached Wankou, it stopped and did not dare to advance, because Luo Yanhuan had set up a water village somewhere, stationed the army, and blocked the Yangtze River under Cao Bin's order.

Zhu Lingyun has a large number of people, but he dare not easily attack the Qin army.

So he procrastinated again and again, hesitating and daring not to go east.

He hesitated, but the Qin army did not hesitate at all. The Qin army's navy near Caishiji has more than [-] people, equipped with [-] gunboats, and more than [-] ships of different sizes. Give Tang Jun a head-on blow.

However, before the reinforcements from the east arrived, at noon on March [-], Zhu Lingyun took more than a hundred small boats as the vanguard, piled up fish oil and firewood, and prepared to attack the Qin army's water village with fire.

The plan went smoothly at the beginning, but in the afternoon, the phoenix direction on the river suddenly changed. Not only did many burning ships not rush into the Qin army's water stronghold, they were released and crashed into the Tang army's fleet. The situation was chaotic for a while.

Tang Jun was busy putting out fires and people, but Qin Jun didn't dare to attack rashly. The two sides remained in a stalemate until the afternoon.

In the afternoon, the Qin army's support fleet arrived, and the vanguard gunboat immediately opened fire, striking the dense Tang army fleet across the river at a distance of more than two miles.

The naval guns of the navy have a large caliber and a heavy body, and their power is far superior to that of the army's field guns.

The battle lasted until night, and in the second half of the night, the Qin army launched another fire attack and cooperated with the shelling. By the time of day, the Tang army had been defeated across the board, and a large number of ships sank into the river.

Even their chief general Zhu Lingyun fell into the water because of the sinking of his flagship, so he was afraid that he would be captured by Luo Yanhuan's troops when he got ashore.

At dawn the next day, almost all the remaining Tang troops surrendered, and the Qin army began to organize boats to go to the river to find people.

Finally, after two days of counting and cleaning the battlefield after the war, Fu Zhaoyuan, Liu Qingchuan, and Luo Yanhuan immediately reported the victory of Wankou to the east.

A total of more than 52 enemy ships were sunk, and many were injured. 310 ships were captured and more than [-] people were captured.

However, the chief general Zhu Lingyun and other [-] generals were captured and were about to be escorted to Jiangning.

The news of the great victory in Wankou quickly spread to Jiangning, and then Cao Bin ordered people to edit the book and send it to the capital.

In the Battle of Wankou, the capture of Zhu Lingyun was of great significance, which meant that the last major armed force in the Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed. Since then, only one isolated city of Jinling in the entire south of the Yangtze River is still under the control of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the rest of the land has lost resistance. , was fully occupied by the Qin army.

After receiving this news, Qin officials and the army immediately accelerated to take over various states and counties and implement Qin laws.

It was already March 22 when Shi Congyun got the news of the great victory in Wankou, and he was about to go to Xiao Hunian to exchange feelings that day. The little girl had been here for almost three months, and he couldn't neglect her.

But the good news that came later disrupted his progress.

When he heard the news, he breathed a long sigh of relief, and then ordered the news of the good news to be released.

Now, there is only an isolated city of Jinling left in the entire south of the Yangtze River.

At this point in the war, Emperor Shi was in no hurry to let go, because there was no possibility of a comeback in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and it was much easier to supply the army in Jinling than in the north.

With the dispatch of officials and the deepening of the rule, they will be able to collect taxes in the south of the Yangtze River to support the army starting this year, even if they have been surrounded for ten years, it will not be a problem.

Emperor Shi became happy, and immediately went to find Zhou Nuying.

Shi Congyun actually doesn’t remember the war that destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty because it was too fast and neat. He only knows that Li Yu and later Song Huizong can be called thieves, and their attainments in literature and art No matter how high you are, you are as capable in governing the country and managing the people as you are in military struggles, and many of your actions are carved out of the same mold.

What he remembers most is "the master has been under the city for many months, but the master still doesn't know", which means that the army of the Northern Song Dynasty has besieged Jinling City for several months, but the master Li Yu still doesn't know.

When his country was ruined and his family was destroyed, and the army besieged the city, he even took Xiao Zhouhou to spend time and drink, and invited a Taoist priest to explain the Book of Changes to him. Later, he was shocked when he learned about the situation. Hatchling.

But Emperor Shi thought about it, now he is fine, Xiao Zhou is here with him, and he has taken care of him for him, maybe he cares more about state affairs, he is really a good person.

Thinking of this, he excitedly went to find Zhou Nuying.

At the end of March, when the spring breeze crossed the river, only Jinling was still trapped in the whole south of the Yangtze River. Emperor Shi ordered Lu Duoxun to take charge of the government affairs in the south, so as to restore order in all counties and counties except Jinling as soon as possible, so that the people could resume production and life.

It has been half a year since the troops were dispatched, and more than [-] troops have attacked the city in the south of the Yangtze River. The overall situation is completely under control. Once Jinling City is broken, the entire Southern Tang Dynasty will perish.

However, at the last moment, Emperor Shi was still not in a hurry. He wrote to Cao Bin again, explaining to him that Jinling cannot be reduced to ruins. If they resist fiercely, they just need to surround it. After all, it will be one of the core territories of the country in the future. , an important tax source, there is no need to fight blood and blood.

The matter in the south has basically settled down, and he is in a good mood. The Emperor Shi, who is literary and martial arts, immediately looked at Xiao Hunian, a woman in the north. He is very refreshed now. done.

(End of this chapter)