Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 642 Can defend, but only a little bit
Yin Zhengqi has been in Xiangyang Mansion for [-] days. During the [-] days, the Shannan Province gathered more than [-] troops.

Among them, there are 9000 people from Weiwu, Zhangwu, and Dingyuan Townships of the Forbidden Army who were originally stationed in Xiangyang Prefecture, plus 1000 people from Weishengwei who had just transferred from the status of Yabing to the Guards Army, for a total of 1 people.

Ma Zhaoyuan (Ma Yaozi) who came from Xuzhou also brought 3000 soldiers from the Youshenwei Guards, 6000 from Xiongwu and Lingwu Towns from the Forbidden Army, and 1000 from Wuning Guards from the Xuzhou Prefecture Guards, which is a total of 1 people. .

Yin Zhengqi himself brought 3000 soldiers from Youlongxiang Guards.

After receiving the news that Ma Xie sent troops to sack Tanzhou City, Zhang Zhao sent Luo Shande, a wild boar, and 3000 people from Zuo Shenwei to escort Ma Xiguang to Xiangyang Mansion.

As a result, Zhang Zhouguang hoarded as many as 4000 elite pro-military and forbidden troops in Xiangyang Mansion.

In addition to the 2000 guards and the 6000 auxiliary soldiers selected by the pro-armies and the forbidden army for comprehensive needs, Yin Yaozi has a total of 2000 soldiers who can fight at any time.

In terms of number and elite level, although it is not as good as the [-] troops that Zhang Zhao personally dispatched to attack Liu Zhiyuan and Yeluruan.

But for a small separatist regime like Nanping, which only has more than 1 troops in the navy and army, and Ma Chu, which has only [-] troops even if it is a soldier with a spear, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a large army that destroys the country.

And Yin Zhengqi had long thought of attacking Nanping, the army practiced together in Xiangyang Mansion for fifteen days, and the practice was not field combat.

Because there is nothing to practice, more than [-]% of the backbone of Zhang Zhou's pro-army and forbidden army are from the group of Liangzhou people who have been familiar with for a long time.

Therefore, what Yin Yaozi practiced was actually the extreme situation where the Gao family defended Jiangling, and then the Shu army went down the river, and the Southern Tang army went up against the river to rescue Jiangling.

The reason why he didn't send his troops south immediately was that Zhang Zhao didn't allow it.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao asked Ma Zhaoyuan and Luo Shande to tell him in succession that Jiangling City must not be destroyed in the flames of war, and the most important thing was to keep the library of King Jing's Mansion, which made Yin Zhengqi dare not take risks.

But soon, when Yin Zhengqi was counting the days with his fingers, Lu Yan sent news from Jiangling City.

The messenger only said a very simple sentence, Zhongshu Zhi ordered Lu Yan to ask General Yin Zhengqi to lead his army to approach Jiangling City immediately.

Zhang Zhao has now restored the titles of the Great General and the Four Generals, but they are not regular military positions, but only used in such occasions. Giving titles to several generals is more convenient for unified command, and by the way replaces those ugly names of the Five Dynasties Official titles such as platoon envoys.

It was Sun Guangxian's idea for Lu Yan to let Yin Zhengqi lead the army to go directly south.

After Lu Yan's two consecutive poems shocked Sun Guangxian that day, the two talked in detail for a long time. At this time, Lu Yan told Sun Guangxian the reason why Zhang Zhao didn't let the army directly attack Jiangling.

This just happened to scratch the most itchy spot in Sun Guangxian, a maniac who loves books, and after hearing Zhang Zhao praise him for his great contribution to collecting rare books and unique books, Sun Guangxian immediately decided to take refuge in him.

As a confidant of the Gao family who was an important minister in Nanping during the Gao Jixing period, Sun Guangxian knew exactly where the weaknesses of the Nanping Gao family were?
That is because Nanping is the least capable of self-protection among the countries in the world, so the Gao family in Nanping has actually been vacillating between resistance and dedication.

They will definitely not be able to resist, or they will die and the country will perish.Natu Consecration is not reconciled.

Therefore, the best way to deal with the Gao family is to exert extreme pressure. When a terrible fate has come and a decision needs to be made, it is convenient for Sun Guangxian to persuade the Gao family to surrender.

As an important minister of the two dynasties of Nanping, Sun Guangxian agreed with what Lu Yan said that the only way out for the Gao family in Nanping was to accept land offerings in exchange for the reward of Emperor Shaoming, and become a nobleman in the new dynasty. Resistance would have no way out.

. . . .

On September 4, Yin Zhengqi, who received the message from Lu Yan, immediately mobilized an army of 7 and recruited [-] civilians. A total of [-] people began to go south from Xiangyang Prefecture. At the same time, Yin Zhengqi ordered the left general Ma Zhaoyuan to command [-] troops pioneer.

From Xiangyang Mansion to Jiangling, that is, Jingzhou, there has always been only one road, and that is to go down the Han River to Jiazhu Town, Yingzhou in the northwest of Jingzhou, and then go overland to Jiangling.

The reason for this choice is that it is so convenient to go down the Hanshui River from Xiangyang.

But here in Jiazhu Town, the Han River suddenly became wider and shallower, and it could be crossed in non-wet seasons. When Wang Xianzhi attacked Jingnan in the past, he crossed from Jiazhu Town.

On the land of Hubei at this time, there were three most important cities, namely Xiangyang, Jiangling (Jingzhou), and Ezhou (Wuchang).

Uh!In fact, later generations are similar.

The essence of Hubei lies in the Jianghan Plain represented by Ezhou (Wuchang) and Jiangling, where there are abundant products, well-developed water transportation and dense population.

Even Nanping, which only occupies a small piece of the Jianghan Plain, has 40 people in Jiangling alone, which is so rich that Zhang Zhaodu's mouth is watering.

And it is Xiangyang Prefecture in the north that guards the Jianghan Plain, a land of fish and rice.

Xiangyang faces the Nanyang Basin, backed by the Jianghan Plain, with Wushan and Wudang Mountains as the main mountains on the left, Dahong Mountain on the right, and the key to the Hanshui River.

Xiangyang's retreat can shield the fertile Jianghan Plain, and its advance can control the Nanyang Basin, preventing the northern regime from the Central Plains from obtaining supplies easily in the Nanyang Basin.

Historically, to defend Jiangling, one must have the Xiangyang Mansion. Otherwise, even if one hoards heavy troops to defend Jiangling, the prosperous Jianghan Plain will be completely destroyed.

And from a historical point of view, without Xiangyang, Jiangling would never be able to defend, and sooner or later it would be captured.

This Jiangling without Xiangyang is like guarding against thieves for a thousand days, as long as one person is not careful, the whole game will be lost.

Therefore, in history, Xiangyang was the key to the North-South struggle. Guan Erye did not have Xiangyang, and he finally took his life for it.

The guarding of Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty made the Mongols lose their temper.

But at this time in Nanping, they didn't have Xiangyang. On the contrary, for them, Xiangyang Mansion was like an elephant with its butt pointed at their heads, threatening and disgusting.

The Central Plains court with its entire Nanyang Basin can send troops south to attack Jiangling at any time.

What's more painful is that Yingzhou is not in the hands of Nanping. After the Central Plains army goes down the Han River, it can calmly gather at Jiazhu Town in Yingzhou, and then surround and fight Jiangling City.

When Khitan entered the Central Plains, Gao Conghui sent gifts thousands of miles away to show his loyalty to Liu Zhiyuan in order to win Yingzhou.

In this way, at least it can prevent the Central Plains Dynasty from easily attacking Jiangling with monkeys and stealing peaches.

It's a pity that Liu Zhiyuan agreed, but it was Zhang Zhao who took over the Central Plains.

So Gao Conghui was anxious, and he personally led 8000 people to fight Yingzhou, but a big scandal happened.

Zhang Zhou Yinshi, the governor of Yingzhou, led only more than [-] soldiers from Yingzhou and county, and defeated the vanguard of Gao Conghui's Jingnan army, which caused the collapse of the entire army.

Gao Conghui, who had made a big scandal, had no choice but to continue to implement the strategy of his father Wuxin Wang Gao Jixing, and began to strengthen Yicheng, which is about a hundred miles south of Xiangyang.

Like Xiangyang, Yicheng is also stuck on the Han River, with the mountains in western Hubei on the left and Dahong Mountain in the east.

It's just that although Yicheng's geographical location is critical, it can't control the Nanyang Basin, and it can't completely block the passage between the mountains in western Hubei and Dahong Mountain. There are small roads on both sides, so it's not a critical place. .

It's just that for Nanping without Xiangyang and Yingzhou, Yicheng is already the best choice.

The [-] army and [-] civilians led by Yin Zhengqi soon set off from Xiangyang, with more than [-] mighty boats, sails like forests, and banners covering the sky.

Nanping stationed about 4000 Jingmen troops in Yicheng, and set up two generals, the Jingmen army's water and land soldiers and horse envoys and the Yicheng envoy to guard them.

It's just that although they knew that the imperial court had hoarded an army in Xiangyang, as if they were going to send Ma Xiguang, the leader of Ma Chu, back to Tanzhou, they still didn't expect that Yin Zhengqi would directly lead the army south to attack Yicheng.

As soon as the envoys of the Jingmen army in Yicheng got the news, Du Lun Chixin, the forward envoy of Zhang Zhou's water army, arrived.

Du Lun Chixin prepared dozens of fire boats, and they went directly down the Han River, and soon ignited the first water gate on the outskirts of Yicheng.

The Yicheng section of the Hanshui River, which was originally an important military area in Nanping, was required to lay wooden piles in the water, arrange iron cables, and at least three water villages to cover it according to the rules.

But the actual situation is that since the beginning of Mingzong's accession to the throne in the later Tang Dynasty, that is, in 926 AD, since the Central Plains court sent troops to attack Nanping, the Central Plains court has never attacked Nanping at all in the past 20 years.

However, Nanping is small and rich, and the grain, cloth and a large number of handicrafts produced need to be sold to the Central Plains.

At the same time, Nanping was in great need of salt, sugar, livestock from the Central Plains, as well as spices, gems and other goods that came through the Silk Road.

Therefore, in the past 20 years, Yicheng, as an important town in the north of Nanping, was actually a large border commercial city for trade between the Central Plains and Nanping.

Merchants from south to north gathered here and brought sky-high prices of goods. The Jingmen army, from the water and land soldiers above to the soldiers below, all benefited greatly from the trade.

Why would they bury wooden piles in the water and engage in iron locks on the Hengjiang River, which are defensive measures that affect trade.

So Zhang Zhou's fire boat rushed to the first water gate in Yicheng very smoothly.

The Nanping navy was unprepared. After the first water gate was mostly burned down, they hurriedly set off to defend the second water gate.

But at this time, it was already too late, Zhang Shengren's adopted son regretted Zhao Yanjin, Marquis of Yushandu, and He Jiyun, Marquis of Yu, rushed forward with several small boats each.

In particular, Zhao Yanjin brought three long and short hard bows, and stood on the bow of the boat and drew them left and right. The enemy army responded to the strings and fell down more than ten people.

The Nanping Jingmen army and navy soldiers who came to close the water gate were scared out of their wits by Zhao Yanjin's superb archery skills.

He Jiyun, on the other hand, was naked from the upper body, flying across the river with a big club in his hand. With a roar, he jumped into a small boat of the Jingmen army, and he beat more than ten soldiers on the boat into the water all by himself.

When the soldiers under his command saw this, their morale was like a rainbow, and they followed He Jiyun to charge bravely.

After they seized three fast boats from the Jingmen Army, the soldiers of the Jingmen Army scattered in fear, and the Zhou Army's navy took the opportunity to control the second water gate.

At this time, the spies placed by Jinyi's personal guards in Yicheng immediately encouraged merchants in the north and south of the city to start clamoring.

Many soldiers who received the benefits of Jinyi's personal guards were suppressing on the surface, but in fact they were conniving, and chaos quickly broke out in the city.

And the wealthy merchants who knew what would happen earlier led their guards to directly surround the official residence of Yishi Township.

Although these people have the name of businessmen, they are not fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. If they can be at the level of a wealthy businessman at such a critical point, who doesn't have dozens or hundreds of bloody thugs?

Many of them are bandits and water bandits who have changed careers, and many of them are even composed of tooth soldiers who have lost their Jiedu envoys over the years.

The sudden uprising of these wealthy merchants caught the Jingmen army by surprise. They quickly attacked the official residence of the envoy in Yicheng Town, and took the envoy to the top of the city. Each went back to each house.

The water and land soldiers and horse envoys in Shuicheng are still thinking, should they resist?
As a result, Yicheng in the back opened the gate and surrendered, so he simply asked the soldiers to open the gate of Shuicheng and let the Zhou army enter.

But one morning, Yicheng, the gateway to the Hanshui River managed by Nanping Gao Jixing and Gao Congjiao's father and son, surrendered directly.

The 60 soldiers of the Jingmen army who were completely corrupted by money gave up their resistance after less than [-] died in battle.

Yin Zhengqi never entered the city at all. After he ordered his own army, Zuo Shenwei Weidu Yuhou Wang Quanbin to lead 1000 people to stay in Yicheng, the army continued to move south.

The second city under Yicheng is Jingmen, the home of the Jingmen Army.

However, because Yicheng is so important, the Jingmen army is basically stationed in Yicheng, and there are only more than a thousand soldiers in Jingmen city.

They were powerless to resist the Zhou army's southward march, and Yin Zhengqi captured Jingmen without any effort.

So far, Jiangling City in Nanping has opened its doors.

But at this time, we can't continue to act recklessly, because Jiangling is not a small city. Since Guan Yu reinforced Jiangling City at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the city has been meticulously maintained in successive dynasties. Gao Jixing and his son attached great importance to Jiangling's defense.

In Jiangling at this time, there were seven water villages along the river and more than ten beacon towers on land. The city was divided into two cities, the north and the south, and there was also the natural danger of the Yangtze River to rely on.

The Nanping Navy has more than 600 people, and there are more than a dozen small and medium-sized ships that can carry more than [-] soldiers.

There is enough food in the city, and the people have been sheltered by Gao's family for decades, so people's hearts are available, if force is used rashly, all the back roads will be blocked.

Therefore, Yin Zhengqi ordered Ma Zhaoyuan to be the vanguard, commanded six thousand cavalry, and took the imperial edict issued by Zhang Zhao, and went to Jiangling City to tell Gao Congjiao, which was also one of Sun Guangxian's plans.

. . . .

In Jiangling City, the news that Yicheng and Jingmen had been taken had just arrived, and the north bank of Jiangling was full of smoke. Gao Congjiao had just ordered the six gates of Jiangling to be closed, and Ma Zhaoyuan's cavalry arrived outside Jiangling City.

Gao Conghui received Zhang Zhao's decree and saw that the people who came were Pingzhang of Jianghuai Province, Jiedushi of Wuning Army of Xuzhou Prefecture, General Youshenwei Wei Zhonglang of the pro-army, and Ma Zhaoyuan of Jiuquan County. The army is really coming.

Gao Baoxu came galloping from a distance on a yellow horse, threw himself on Gao Conghui's side, and shouted loudly: "My lord, don't panic, please act according to my son's plan.

Let's guard Jiangling City first, and at the same time send messengers to Mengshu, Nantang and Ma Xi'e to explain the truth of the death of lips and teeth.

As long as we can stick to Jiangling for a month, reinforcements from the three parties will surely arrive, and even if we can't defeat the Zhou army, we can make them retreat. "

When Gao Baoxu said this, more than a dozen generals including Li Duan, the commander of the Nanping Navy, Liang Yansi, the Marquis of Yu in the Yamen, and Li Jingwei, the general of the Yamen, joined in and vowed to fight the Zhou army.

Gao Conghui's body was already quite weak, but when he was stimulated by the arrival of the imperial army, his spirits were lifted. He looked at the tall Jiangling City, and was a little moved by Gao Baoxu's proposal.

"If you want to stick to it, what about the people in the city?"

Gao Conghui was slightly hesitant, because although Jiangling City was well-defended, after decades of Taiping, the number of residents in the city was tens of thousands.

In addition, the gates of the city will be closed urgently, and many people have not had time to leave the city. I am afraid that there are nearly [-] people in the city.

So many people are not all good for the city defenders. On the contrary, there are too many people, and it is easy to cause chaos after a long period of siege.

Moreover, no matter how abundant the food in the city is, it will definitely not be able to supply the long-term consumption of 10 people. If it is not done well, there will be a food shortage in two or three months.

Hearing his father's words, Gao Baoxu raised his eyebrows immediately, and a ruthlessness that did not match his health appeared on his thin face.

"My lord, why do you care so much about the matter now? Before the Zhou army besieged the city, the old and the weak were expelled from the city in batches, leaving only young men and women in the city, and organized them according to military law. This not only reduces food consumption, You can also get more than ten thousand strong men to help defend the city."

Gao Conghui was taken aback for a moment, he suddenly realized that his favorite son was so vicious, but at the same time, Gao Conghui suddenly became sober, and he slowly shook his head.

"My father and son lived in Nanping and were supported by the people for decades. It is too much to expel women and children out of the city to die, leaving their father, brother and son in the city."

Gao Baoxu opened his mouth and said again, and Gao Conghui waved his hand, "I have met the imperial envoy first, and I have to think twice about this matter."

After finishing speaking, before Gao Baoxu could speak, Gao Conghui left surrounded by his confidants.

. . . .

Sun Guangxian paused in the mansion for a while, then came out from a small hidden door, and ran directly to Gao Congjiao's bedroom.

He wouldn't have suggested taking refuge in the situation just now, because it was obvious that Gao Baoxu had come prepared, otherwise Li Duan, Liang Yansi and the others wouldn't immediately agree.

If he, Sun Guangxian, said he wanted to surrender, what if Gao Baoxu didn't dare to teach Gao Congxu who was seriously ill, but he didn't dare to kill him as a secretary?
Gao Conghui was actually waiting for Sun Guangxian to come, because since the death of Nanping's "National Teacher" Liang Zhen, as Liang Zhen's hand-picked successor, Sun Guangxian has been handling the political affairs of Nanping.

Gao Jixing, Gao Conghui and his son trusted him very much, so they must follow Sun Guangxian's advice in this matter.

Sun Guangxian also entered King Jing Palace through the back door, and he came to Gao Conghui's secret room in the palace directly under the guidance of a servant of Gao Conghui's confidant.

When Gao Conggui saw Sun Guangxian coming in, he grabbed Sun Guangxian's hand and asked, "What does Meng Wen think? Can my Gao family still own Nanping?"

Sun Guangxian shook his head resolutely, "I told the king in the past that the reason why Nanping's small country survived was all because of the chaos in the Central Plains.

But now that the Holy Son of Heaven is born in the Central Plains, the general trend of unification of the world is already obvious. Nanping wants to use the land of three states to go against the trend, which is tantamount to a mantis holding a cart. "

Gao Conghui still didn't give up, he continued to ask: "Given the great danger of Jiangling, the sharpness of the navy, and the unity of the soldiers and generals, plus reinforcements from Shu and Tang, can't we still defend?"

Sun Guangxian nodded this time, "We can defend! As Shi Lang-jun said, as long as we can defend for half a month, as soon as the reinforcements from Shu and Tang arrive, the Wang Shi will retreat."

"In this case, why did Meng Wen still say that he can't defend?" Gao Conghui's eyes flickered, and he seemed very puzzled.

Sun Guangxian didn't care about Gao Conghui's scrutiny, because he never thought of betraying Gao Conghui, what he wanted was to try his best to get a good ending for the Gao family.

"I said I can defend it because I will definitely be able to defend it this time. I said I can't defend it because the king will come again next year. What should I do?"

Gao Conghui was stunned by Sun Guangxian's words, and he continued.

"The Kingdom of Shu hasn't suffered any serious pain, if it can be saved once, or even twice, it will come again the third time?
Nan Tang was overwhelmed, as long as he dared to send troops this time, next year the imperial army would surely enter Huainan again to conquer him. Li Jing's soul was scattered, and he dared to save Jiangling again?

After the incident of Ma Xie in the state of Chu, the national strength is not as good as mine, so how can I rely on it?

What's more, if they invite people to send troops and don't give money, food and goods, how can they retreat?Even if money, food, and goods are given, Jiangling will suffer repeated wars, the city walls will be destroyed, people's livelihood will be withered, and the treasury will be empty. How can the Gao family survive? "

Gao Conghui was speechless, as if all the strength in his body had been drained, he sat down heavily on the bed with a bang, but he was still very unwilling in his heart.

At this time, Sun Guangxian took a step forward, grabbed Gao Conghui's sleeve and said: "Your Majesty was so wise before, he went to Beijing as a deputy envoy Sanlang to pay homage, was appreciated by the emperor, and for Shishilang he obtained a marriage with a sage's confidant minister.

The minister also heard that the sage Shaoming intended to seek a concubine for his eldest son, Zhang Liecheng, who lived far away from the Gao family.

Among all the countries in this world, is there anyone who is closer than Gao Shi and the Son of Heaven?

Contributing land, what you donate is only the land of three prefectures and seventeen counties, but what you get is full of princes and princes who live together with the country. Is there anything more cost-effective than this in the world?
If the king doesn't make a decision, is he really going to watch the blood of the Gao family and the people of Nanping flow into rivers? "

Sun Guangxian yelled angrily three times, Gao Conghui's mind was shaken by the roar, and a long gap opened in the depths of his heart.

"What Meng Wen said is all words for the country! But since Gao Congjiao came to the throne, it has been 20 years since I came to this situation. I really can't give up easily. Let me think twice."

Sun Guangxian did not continue to persecute Gao Conghui, because he knew that with Gao Conghui's wisdom, he could figure out this issue, but if he continued to speak, it would be counterproductive.

What's more, Gao Baoxu's actions today should also alert Gao Congjiao and make him make a quick decision.

(End of this chapter)