Fenghou

Chapter 296

After conquering Wuling County, cleaning was inevitable, especially for the family members of the leader of the bandit army. It was absolutely impossible in the Song Dynasty not to be implicated. At the very least, it was a crime of exile, but these were all decided by the court.

Three days later, Chen Qing used ten warships to escort Yang Yao, his thirteen generals, and the family members of important bandit leaders to Lin'an.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Qing sent ten teams of cavalry, each with [-] soldiers, to wipe out the remnants of water thieves in the area around Dongting Lake and restore order.

At this time, it was mid-September, and it was mid-October when it was converted to the Gregorian calendar. The autumn harvest in the south had already begun, and the people who had fled to other places returned to their hometowns one after another to participate in the joyful autumn harvest.

That afternoon, several messenger soldiers from Jiangbei came to Baling County and brought Chen Qing a sad news: Wang Yan was unfortunately killed in battle.

In the big tent, several generals stood aside with a heavy heart. Chen Qing lowered his head and fell into great grief. After a while, Chen Qing asked in a hoarse voice: "How did the old Dutong die in battle? Tell me in detail." Say!"

"Reporting to Dutong, Wang Zhifu led five thousand Jiangling troops to station in Dangyang. He received an urgent call for help from Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang, saying that Xiangyang's troops were too small and could hardly hold them. So Wang Zhifu personally led five thousand troops. The army rushed to Xiangyang to support, but was surrounded by tens of thousands of puppet Qi troops in Shiliang Mountain. Wang Zhifu failed to break through several times and was seriously injured. Ying was also killed in battle, almost the entire army of [-] was wiped out, and only less than a hundred escaped."

"and then?"

"It was only later that the Xuan Fu envoy learned that Kong Yanzhou, the guard general of Xiangyang, had killed Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang, and secretly surrendered to the puppet Qi. They used Sang Zhong's seal to lure Wang Zhifu to go north, and fell into the ambush circle of the puppet Qi's deployment. .”

"Who is the commander of the Puppet Qi Army?"

"Reporting back to Dutong, it is Liu Yufeng's puppet Minister of the Ministry of War and Henan pacifier Dong Xian. He was originally the governor of Shangzhou in the Song Dynasty. He was both civil and military. He surrendered to Liu Yu last year and was reused by Liu Yu. Wang Liuming led an army of [-] to attack Jingxiang."

Chen Qing read Li Gang's autographed letter to him again, and asked, "Where is the Xuan Fu envoy now?"

"In the confrontation between Jingmen Army Commander Lin County and the [-] Puppet Qi Army, the strength is less than [-], and the situation is quite unfavorable. The Xuan Fu envoy begs the governor to send troops to rescue as soon as possible."

"I see, you go down and rest first, I will arrange to dispatch troops after a little arrangement."

At this time, Wang Duo, Wang Yan's nephew, rushed into the big tent and fell to the ground crying, "I beg Dutong to avenge my uncle!"

Chen Qing helped him up, and comforted him: "We are all from the Eight Character Army, and I regard Lao Dutong as my father. Unfortunately, he was killed by the bandit army. How can I stand by and watch, don't worry! I will definitely let the puppet Qi army Blood debt paid in blood."

Chen Qing immediately ordered the three armies to wrap their clothes in mourning, and called all the generals to discuss the matter of sending troops.

Counselor Zhang Xiao said to Chen Qing: "The humble official suggests that the army should be divided into two groups, the navy should go to Hanyang, and the cavalry should go to Changlin County."

"Why such an arrangement?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

Zhang Xiao said calmly, "Huguang Xuanfu envoy Siguan Ya is in Hanyang. There are warehouses over there, storing a lot of money, food and materials. How can the puppet Qi army not be jealous? Since they have captured Xiangyang, they can go along the Han River." Going south, Hanyang is located at the mouth of the Han River, and the troops are empty. Xuan Fu envoy confronted the puppet Qi army in Changlin County, which is the opportunity for the puppet Qi army to seize Hanyang!"

Chen Qing thought so. He pondered for a moment and said to Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Xiao: "We will divide our forces into three groups. General Yang and Zhang Sima will lead [-] people to guard Baling County. Our family members are all here. Baling County should not be careless. We must prevent the enemy from besieging Wei and saving Zhao. , attacked Baling County."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Please don't worry, I will never be careless in a lowly position!"

Chen Qing said to Zheng Ping again: "You and Niu Gao led [-] troops to Hanyang by boat, Commander Ling led [-] sailors to stay in Hanyang to help defend, and Lao Zheng led the fleet to return to Jiangling as my logistical support, Niu Gao Then lead [-] vehicles and ships with [-] troops to go north along the Han River, go around to the back of Changlin County, and follow my orders."

Several generals stood up and saluted, "Follow the order!"

Chen Qing said again: "I personally led [-] cavalry to go north to support Changlin County!"

Everyone split up and Chen Qing found Zhao Xiaoyi and Hu Yanlei.

He took out a military order and handed it to Zhao Xiaoyi, saying: "Xiaoyi led a hundred scouts to go ahead to inquire about the news in Changlin County, and by the way, tell the Xuanfu envoy that I will personally lead the army northward today, please rest assured!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Zhao Xiaoyi took the arrow and left first.

Chen Qing said to Hu Yanlei again: "It's still the old rule. You sneak into Xiangyang with [-] special spies and buy a restaurant as an intelligence point. I need to know the situation in Xiangyang."

The so-called special spies mean that not all spies are young men, there are middle-aged men and women among them, they are all recruited from family members, and they are specially responsible for sneaking into the enemy's rear to investigate intelligence.

Xiangyang will inevitably become the logistics center for this puppet Qi army's southward invasion. Mastering all kinds of information about Xiangyang is extremely important for judging the enemy's movements.

Hu Yanlei nodded. They are already familiar with it and have a lot of experience, so they basically won't expose themselves.

That afternoon, Chen Qing, Yang Zaixing, Liu Qiong and other generals led [-] cavalry across the Yangtze River. Instead of going to Jiangling Mansion, they went directly to Changlin County.

At the same time, Zheng Ping, Niu Gao and other Jianglings led [-] troops and hundreds of warships to attack Hanyang in a mighty manner to protect the safety of Hanyang's logistics center.

This morning, a Jurchen cavalry of more than a thousand soldiers escorted Wan Yanchang's vehicle and slowly entered Xiangyang.

The puppet Qi army's strategy of attacking Jingxiang was actually formulated by Wan Yanchang. It was to cooperate with the armistice on the eastern front and the preparations for the western front. It was one of the three fronts.

After the Jin soldiers wiped out Liu Guangshi's [-] troops, they had actually taken the initiative on the eastern front. A little trouble in the north of the Yangtze River scared the Song Dynasty emperor half to death, and tried their best to deploy defenses along the Yangtze River.

In this way, the central area will inevitably be empty of troops, and Yang Yao's rebellion in Dongting Lake has consumed nearly half of the Huguang Song Army's strength, and the time to attack the central line is ripe.

Kong Yanzhou's surrender undoubtedly accelerated the attack in the central region. In just one month, the counterfeit army captured the four prefectures of Deng, Sui, Fang, Xiang, and Ying one after another, and defeated Wang Yan's army, causing Wang Yan to be seriously injured died.

It can be said that the puppet Qi army is in the middle of the country, and the attack is very smooth. If Li Gang's Huguang army is wiped out, almost the entire Jingxiang area north of the Yangtze River will be taken by the puppet Qi army. Invading Bashu, the task that the Jin soldiers lost in the Qinling Mountains would not be able to complete, will be completed by the puppet Qi army.

It was also at this critical moment that Wan Yanchang personally came to Xiangyang to supervise the battle. He was worried that the puppet Qi army would fall short at the last moment.

In the commander's tent, Dong Xian pointed to the surrendered general Kong Yanzhou next to him and smiled at Wan Yanchang: "To report to the capital supervisor, this is General Kong Yanzhou. Thanks to his great help this time, we won the important town of Xiangyang without bloodshed. It was also his strategy to lure Wang Yanbei that enabled us to successfully annihilate Wang Yan's army and make Wang Yan, a fierce tiger, die on the battlefield."

Kong Yanzhou was about [-] years old, and he looked very fierce. He hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "See the Imperial Guard!"

Wan Yanchang admired this person more at first sight, not only looks fierce, but also looks very clever, this is very important.

Wan Yanchang sat down and said: "I came to Xiangyang this time because I was worried that your early stage would be too smooth and you would have the idea of ​​underestimating the enemy. Especially when Chen Qing is in Huguang, I guess he will join the battle soon."

Dong Xian hurriedly said: "The humble official is also worried about Chen Qing, but he should be held back by Yang Yao now, and he has no time to take care of Jingxiang's battle."

Wan Yanchang shook his head, "Yang Yao, a small water thief, can hold Chen Qing back?"

Kong Yanzhou also clasped his fists quickly and said: "Beizhi also suppressed Yang Yao's rebel army, and Zhong Xiang died at the hands of Beizhi. He, Yang Yao, was very flexible in combat. He used his familiarity with Dongting Lake to defeat Song Jun repeatedly. He was also good at sneak attacks. They have powerful water weapons like vehicles and boats, and it is definitely not that easy for Chen Qing to destroy him in a short time."

Wan Yanchang glanced at them and asked lightly, "When did you get the news?"

(End of this chapter)