Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 676 My Two Emperors Are Invincible!

Also attacking at the same time as Er Zhujing was Ma Zhaoyuan, the head of the Pingshu camp in Jiangling Mansion.

Xiangyang Prefecture and Jiangling Prefecture are relatively close, so it is easier to coordinate the timing of the attack.

Therefore, on the seventh day of March, after Pingshu deputy general Er Zhujing mobilized [-] horsemen and rode up against the current, Ma Zhaoyuan also immediately ordered the Pingshu camp army to set off.

Ma Zhaoyuan personally sat in Zigui, took Du Lun Chixin, the waterway director, as Sima for the Pingshu march, mobilized more than [-] warships, and sailed upstream from Zigui.

The section of the Yangtze River from Zigui up to Baidi City in Fengjie, Mengshu Kuizhou is the famous Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

According to later generations, before the Three Gorges Dam was impounded, the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River were majestic and dangerous, and they were a beautiful tourist attraction.

After impounding the water, the water depth has increased by more than 170 meters, and even the formerly dangerous Baidi City has become an isolated island in the river, and the water flow has slowed down, which is more conducive to navigation.

But at this time, the majestic and dangerous show is more representative of the harsh environment than the beautiful scenery.Of course, it will not have the navigation capability after the Three Gorges is impounded in later generations.

From Zigui upwards, the current is turbulent, there are many reefs in the river and the vortex formed by the turning of the current, it is impossible to go upstream with only the oars of the boat itself.

Almost all of the nearly four hundred miles of the Yangtze River waterway are completed by trackers.

The job of a tracker is not so romantic that you ride on the bow of the boat while your brother walks on the shore.

Especially in the Three Gorges section, not to mention the turbulent currents, there are not many places on both sides of the strait where you can set off. Trackers in the Three Gorges often have to step on the water with their feet in order to tow boats.

The rough hemp rope can easily strangle the flesh off a person's shoulder, and cut out terrifying scars on the palm of his hand.

At the same time, it is impossible to see the feet clearly in the river, and it is common for the feet to be scarred by sharp stones in the river when boating.

Without cocoons, he is not qualified to be a tracker at all.

Therefore, after learning about the actions of the Zhou army, Gao Yanchou, the Jiedu envoy of the Ningjiang Army in Mengshu Kuizhou, Zhao Chongji, the deputy envoy of the Jiedu, and Wu Shouqian, the supervisor (supervisor) of the Ningjiang Army, were not panicked.

Not to mention that they have already set up a stone cannon formation at the mouth of Qutang Gorge, and Baidi City also has the advantage of being condescending, which can be called a natural danger.

It is very difficult for Zhou Jun to go up the Yangtze River waterway alone, and the reason is because of this tracker.

Man is a very complicated animal. The trackers are on the verge of life and death all year round. Although life is extremely difficult, they are by no means a group of honest people, at least the leader among them will not be an honest person.

Before Master Zhou arrived, the trackers on both sides of the Three Gorges dragged their families and ran into the deep mountains. Not to mention that Zhou Jun couldn't catch them, even if they caught them, even if they put a knife on their necks, they would not use all their strength. .

The reason is very simple, these trackers are already so poor that they can only have a full meal when they come to the boat. If they pull the fibers desperately and run out of energy, they will not be able to pull the next trip after Zhou Jun leaves, and they will basically die. .

Compared with being killed without pulling hard, it is just the difference between early death and late death.

Zhou Jun can be rewarded heavily, but this is a heavy reward that needs to be exchanged with his life, and most of them are citizens of the Shu Kingdom. It is unknown whether Zhou Jun's reputation is believed or not.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before the spies of the Shu army risked their lives to send back a message saying that Master Zhou couldn't move when he reached the original Guizhou Badong County.

They brought trackers from Jiangling, but they couldn't adapt to the harsh river surface here. After only a few tens of miles, the trackers fell ill on a large scale.

After receiving this reward, Gao Yanchou, who had been beating drums in his heart, was finally relieved a lot.

He had seen the ferocity of the Zhou army before, and it was not the soldiers of the Ningjiang army who could fight against it. He was captured in the Zhou state for more than a year, which also gave him a clear understanding of the gap between Zhou and Shu.

Compared with Gao Yanchou's cautiousness, Wu Shouqian, the supervisor of the Ningjiang Army, was very relieved. Under such circumstances, even if Zhou Shi went to Kuizhou, he would be physically and mentally exhausted, and it was impossible to resist the stones living on both sides of Baidi City. shelling.

It cannot be said that the understanding of Gao Yanchou and Wu Shouqian is wrong, it is true in most cases, but Ma Zhaoyuan and Ma Yaozi have thought of this problem long ago.

Zhang Shengren specially transferred him from Xuzhou, either because he had nothing to do, or because he liked Ma Zhaoyuan's meticulousness.

Long before the army set off, Ma Zhaoyuan asked Zhang Ting to take over the command of the Jinyi Guards in the two provinces of Hubei and Hunan, and the Jinyi Guards also sent a captain to assist Ma Zhaoyuan.

Most of these trackers belonging to the Shu Kingdom are extremely cliquey, and it is indeed difficult to trust outsiders, but they believe in one type of person, that is, the merchants who specialize in their business.

These merchants were specially trained by the Hexi Chamber of Commerce to help Jinyi's personal guards, and they began to walk in the wild Wushan a year ago.

They brought necessary local salt, tea, cloth, sugar and patented medicines to the trackers and mountain people, and some merchants also cured some people's headaches and brain fevers and treated large livestock.

More importantly, they acted fairly, and sometimes agreed to pay on credit, so they were extremely reputable among the trackers and mountain people in Wushan.

Through their efforts, Ma Zhaoyuan successfully invited the leaders of these mountain people and trackers to Zigui County.

The fleet that the Shu army spies saw couldn't move was actually a smoke bomb released by Ma Zhaoyuan. The actual situation was that Ma Zhaoyuan went to Badong County in person to meet with these leaders.

And after asking Zhang Ting for instructions, Ma Zhaoyuan was also extremely generous, releasing [-] qualifications for the Forbidden Army and Water Army and [-] qualifications for the Guards Army to equalize the land for these mountain people and the leader of the trackers.

He also promised that other mountain people and trackers who are willing to live in Kuizhou and other places can also be arranged.

It seems that there are not many, but in fact, these mountain people and trackers are only three or four thousand young. Now that four hundred positions are released, one tenth of them can change their lives from now on.

With the guarantee of the trusting merchants, 22 mountain people and the leader of the trackers immediately knelt down on one knee and swore to be loyal to Da Zhou.

While Ma Zhaoyuan asked these 22 people to send their family members as hostages, he pretended to be furious because the ship could not sail, and punished a group of generals and officials in order to paralyze the spies of the Shu army.

He was afraid that Wu Shouqian would send several teams to investigate, but in fact Ma Zhaoyuan was too worried, and Wu Shouqian sent a total of two groups.

These two groups of people thought they had received detailed information, and hurried back to receive the reward for the report.

And Wu Shouqian didn't send any more spies to Badong County, this is going to cross Wushan and Dabashan!The waterway also has to go through the extremely thrilling Three Gorges waterway of the Yangtze River. It is difficult for a boat to go down the river and go back.

As a result, not many people in the Shu army were willing to do this job, and even if they were sent out, they were mostly perfunctory.

So on March [-]th, after the army of the Pingshu camp set off again in the early morning, Gao Yanchou and Wu Shouqian in Kuizhou didn't even know about it.

On March [-]th, the Pingshu army marched up the river and was about to reach the mouth of the Wu Gorge, which was already the boundary of the Shu Kingdom. The Shu army set up Wushan and Sanhui two major military strongholds here.

Among them, Wushan Military Village is further to the east, near the present-day Wushan County of Chongqing City.Sanhui Army Village is located in Dachang Town, Wushan County today.The first military village that the Pingshu army encountered was Wushan Village.

This village stands at the mouth of Wuxia Gorge, one of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

Among them, there are three hundred soldiers in Nanzhai and twenty small boats, each of which can carry five crossbowmen, two sword and shield players, three jumping gang fighters, and four people including the boatman.

There are seven hundred soldiers in Beizhai, and more than thirty ships of all sizes, also equipped with crossbowmen.

It can be said that with such a configuration, although it is impossible to completely block the Pingshu navy, it is entirely possible to repel the forward of the Pingshu navy, persist for three to five days, and wait for the Ningjiang navy from Kuizhou to go south for reinforcements. .

But Ma Zhaoyuan didn't give them this chance. After recruiting Wushan mountain people and trackers, Ma Zhaoyuan ordered Lin Renzhao and Lin Renhan brothers to lead [-] elite soldiers, led by the local mountain people, to attack Beizhai in the early morning and night.

The Shu army in Beizhai did not expect that the Pingshu army would appear at this time. They had no armor and most of their weapons were not with them, so they were blocked in the army village.

Lin Renzhao, wearing only a chain mail armor and bare thighs, rushed into the Shu army first and slashed and killed. The soldiers under his command were encouraged by him to take the lead.

The battle lasted only a quarter of an hour, before the Shu army in Nanzhai could react, more than 700 of the [-] Shu army in Beizhai were killed, and the rest panicked and begged for mercy.

Then Lin Renzhao personally drove the boat across the river with the armor of the capital of the Shu army in the Wushan army village and the head.

The Shu army in Nanzhai was taken away, and hundreds of warships of the Zhou division were seen sailing up the river, and they surrendered smoothly.

This Wushan military stronghold was supposed to be the eyes and ears of the Kuizhou Ningjiang army. Even if it couldn't stop it for three to five days, it would at least serve as a warning, but in fact they lasted for a quarter of an hour before falling.

After capturing the Wushan military stronghold, Ma Zhaoyuan immediately followed the plan and ordered Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin to lead [-] elite soldiers each to storm the Sanhui stronghold under the guidance of the local mountain people.

Sanhui Village exists as a supplement to the Wushan Military Village, and its function is to help stabilize the defense line when the Wushan Military Village cannot hold on and the Kuizhou army does not arrive.

Compared with the Wushan army soldiers who could still collect taxes and fees from the past merchants, they were less trained. After the five hundred soldiers were raided in the early morning, they immediately blew up the battalion.

Not many people were killed. They jumped into the river in panic, and finally drowned due to hypothermia and exhaustion. There were at least a hundred people.

After Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin took down Sanhui Village, they didn't stay long, and they had to control the scattered soldiers in the village.

Following the guide of Jinyi's personal guards, the two gave up most of their belongings, leaving only their armor and weapons to head north.

Yunpanling in the north is the key link connecting Wushan Military Village and Baidi City.

What's more funny is that [-]% of the defenders in the Yunpanling military stronghold established by the Shu army were prisoners of the Zhou army in Guanzhong.

Many of them were entrusted to Yunpanling by Gao Yanchou, the military governor of Kuizhou Ningjiang Army, who had the same experience as them.

There are so many people in such a critical position, the result can be imagined.

After Guo Rong arrived at the foot of Yunpan Ridge, he was afraid of bewildering the snake, so he only brought [-] warriors there. Under the support of Nei Ying, the Shu army didn't realize that something was wrong until they reached the army stronghold.

But it was too late, Guo Rong started to fight on the stronghold, and the upper and lower Zhou Jun also rushed up under the leadership of Zhao Kuangyin, and the people in the stronghold also started to boo.

More than [-] Shu soldiers didn't understand what happened at all, and were driven out of the army camp in a panic with the flow of people. Then most of them died in the pursuit of the Zhou army, and a few were captured.

Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin rested for a quarter of an hour, and ordered the soldiers to unfurl the banners of the Shu army in the stronghold. The leader, dressed in the clothes of the Shu army, rushed from Yunpanling to Baidi City under the cover of night.

They have been fighting with high intensity for two days, but none of them feel tired. Along the way, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army has completely exceeded everyone's expectations.

Many soldiers who followed Zhang Ting to conquer the Southern Tang said that the combat effectiveness of the Shu army in Wushan, Sanhui, and Yunpanling was still far below that of the Southern Tang, but the natural danger was several times higher than that of the Southern Tang.

Therefore, they can advance as if they are tireless. Cowardly enemies are feats at their fingertips.

And when Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin left Yunpanling, the news that Wushan Army Stronghold had been breached finally came.

Gao Yanchou was shocked, and immediately ordered Zhao Tingyin's eldest son, Zhao Chongji, the deputy envoy of Kuizhou Ningjiang Army, to lead [-] troops to guard the natural danger and stone artillery formation in Baidi City.

He and the supervisor Wu Shouqian led an army of [-] to guard Kuizhou City west of Baidi City to support each other.

It has to be said that the layout of the Shu army around Baidi City was very good. After the arrival of the navy commander Ma Zhaoyuan, he immediately ordered Du Lun Chixin to send [-] forward and large warships to make a tentative attack.

As a result, before the warship reached Baidi City, it was blocked by the fence on the river set up by the Shu army. The stone cannons on Baidi City and Baiyan Mountain on the opposite bank also opened fire suddenly, and rocks as large as the mouth of the basin fell like rain. Order the forward fleet to retreat.

Wu Shouqian had often heard Gao Yanchou say how brave and invincible Zhou Jun was, and he was a little apprehensive in his heart. Seeing Zhou Jun's vanguard returning in embarrassment after a "heavy" loss, he immediately laughed, thinking that there was such a natural danger, Zhou Jun was not afraid.

But the moment of face-slapping came soon. It turned out that the terrain of Baidi City was like the head of a giant turtle poking its head to drink water. It was a peninsula extending from the bank to the middle of the river. '

The danger is dangerous, but the area is not large, at most only five or six hundred soldiers can be deployed.

But as such an important natural danger, bearing the heavy responsibility of blocking the Yangtze River, sometimes five hundred soldiers seem a little insufficient.

Therefore, it is necessary to build a military camp on the west side of the tail of Baidi City as a supplement.

This military camp is a water fortress standing on the bank of the river, which is convenient for supplementing the Baidi City's military strength from both land and water.

Just because of the natural danger of Baidi City, the Shu Army habitually believed that the danger would only come from the river. In addition, Zhou Bing was so large that Ningjiang Army's various ministries were dispatched frequently, and the information seemed a bit confusing.

Therefore, when Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin led 700 people to arrive under the banner of the Shu army, the Shu generals in the water village of Baidi City thought they were reinforcements sent by Gao Yanchou, and let them into the village without distinguishing.

Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin repeated their old tricks. After entering the stronghold, they slashed and killed them. They came prepared, and their numbers were equal to those of the Shu army in the stronghold.

Guo Rong beheaded the Shu general with his own hands, and led his troops to attack the west side of Baidi City, and the situation was reversed in an instant.

Baidi City's victory was in the defense of the river, and the land defense did not have much advantage. Zhao Chongji, the deputy envoy of the Ningjiang Army stationed in Baidi City, had no choice but to quickly set off firecrackers to ask for help.

In the city of Kuizhou, Gao Yanchou stood on the Yidou Gate of the south gate, lost his soul, and muttered to himself, 'Here we come!finally come! '

One of the three great envoys of Meng Shu, it seems that his life as a captive has dealt him a great blow, and he is actually a little afraid of Zhou Ruhu.

Supervisor Wu Shouqian was furious, "How can a general be so fearful of the enemy? Once Baidi City falls, Kuizhou will not defend it either. Please send troops to rescue."

Gao Yanchou came back to his senses immediately after Wu Shouqian's anger, he was ashamed and ashamed, but he did not agree to rescue Baidi City now.

"The soldiers from the north came from a long distance. There must be something wrong with Yunpanling, but Yunpanling is tens of miles away. This Zhou army is rushing here. It is beneficial to fight quickly. It is better to wait for the spirit to die down before sending reinforcements."

Wu Shouqian had just witnessed Zhou Jun's navy being repelled, and also witnessed Gao Yanchou's gaffe just now, and his confidence was bursting.

"What if Zhou Bing captures Baidi City as expected by the commander-in-chief?"

Gao Yanchou had already recovered to a certain level at this time, he shook his head, "There are only a few hundred Zhou soldiers, and there are also hundreds of elite Zhao Chongji in Baidi City, how could the Zhou army be able to attack casually."

Wu Shouqian believed that Gao Yanchou was afraid of the enemy, how could he trust Gao Yanchou's judgment, he roared angrily.

"Jie Shuai doesn't dare to go, so let's just wait for a certain family to make meritorious deeds!"

As the supervisor, Wu Shouqian also had 2000 people in his hands. Seeing that Zhou's army was only a few hundred, he expected that it would not be difficult to defeat, so he ignored Gao Yanchou's words and directly mobilized the troops directly under him to rescue Baidi City from Yidoumen.

Guo Rong was overjoyed when he saw that the Shu army in Kuizhou City had only come out with more than 2000 people.

It turned out that his attack on Baidi City just now was just a feint. His real purpose was to call out the defenders of Kuizhou City. Now only more than 2000 people have come, which is exactly what he wanted.

Then Guo Rong ordered Zhao Kuangyin to be on the left and Shi Yanchao to be on the right. He led a hundred relatives in the middle, armed with armor and sharpened, and stood ready for battle.

Wu Shouqian thought that he should quickly destroy this Zhou army, thinking that it would only take seven or eight miles, so he simply ordered his soldiers to walk in armor.

As a result, when they arrived panting, Guo Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, and Shi Yanchao all shot three arrows before they started to line up.

Zhou's army is all elite soldiers, and their combat power is not comparable to Wu Shouqian's two thousand soldiers. Although they are running, they can still draw bows proficiently.

Following Guo Rong's roar, the six hundred soldiers from the left Longxiangwei and the right Baotaowei first used their long bows for two rounds of throwing, and then switched to short bows for one round of direct shooting, then put down the bows in their hands, and rushed up.

At this time, the Shu army was still marching like a long snake, with no more than two to three hundred people in the front row. In a dozen or so breaths, they suddenly suffered three rounds of volleys from at least five hundred bows, and they were shot and collapsed.

Before the soldiers in the middle understood what was going on, they saw the forward crying and retreating, and their morale fluctuated for a while.

Wu Shouqian was riding on a horse, trying to stabilize his position, but the Zhou army came galloping with heavy swords and Guduo, smashing the Chinese army who was still able to hold on.

Shi Yanchao drew his bow and set up an arrow in the rebellious army, and shot at Wu Shouqian who was very conspicuous on the horse, and the arrow hit Wu Shouqian in the chest.

Although Wu Shouqian was wearing a pair of armor, Shi Yanchao used a strong bow that kills two with one stone. The powerful impact immediately blacked out Wu Shouqian's eyes and fell directly from the horse.

Immediately, the Shu army was in an uproar, and even the rear army collapsed. The 2000 people basically did not take up the battle, and were directly defeated.

The army was defeated for a while, and several of Wu Shouqian's confidantes desperately supported him, and retreated to Kuizhou City among the rout troops.

Guo Rong immediately ordered Shi Yanchao to lead 200 people to chase and kill him, while he himself led Zhao Kuangyin to turn around and fight again.

It turned out that when Zhao Chongji in Baidi City saw reinforcements coming, he also ordered [-] elite soldiers from Baidi City, intending to attack the Zhou army.

As a result, before they arrived, Wu Shouqian was directly defeated. Zhao Chongji was frightened and panicked, and quickly ordered the soldiers to return to Baidi City.

It's a pity that the military orders were changed continuously in such a short period of time, and the soldiers were even more panicked seeing Wu Shouqian's defeat so quickly and so badly.

Zhao Kuangyin had just snatched Wu Shouqian's mount, and as soon as he got on the horse, he felt the feeling of galloping in Hexi.

He galloped his horse to the front, holding the divine arm bow bestowed by Zhang Tieyu in his hand, roared furiously on the horse's back, and shot an arrow a hundred and fifty paces away.

Zhao Chongji felt a strong force coming from his right shoulder, and quickly turned his head to look, only to see a blood hole under the flesh and blood spurting out, and then there was severe pain, Zhao Chongji screamed, and the world was spinning from Immediately fell down.

The three hundred Shu troops were terrified, and they didn't know who cried out, "Defeated!" 'Hundreds of people threw away their weapons, took off their armor, and rushed towards the four fields.

Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin took advantage of the situation to attack and captured Baidi City in an instant.

Most of the stone cannons deployed by the Shu army along the river were located in Baidi City and its vicinity. Once Baidi City fell, the navy had no way to stop them, and they directly approached the city of Kuizhou.

Now it's Zhou Jun's turn to show off!
(End of this chapter)