Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 738 Hero (please subscribe!)
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What happened to Chuzhou and Zhao Li?

Here's the thing.

Do you really think that Dazhong doesn't want to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop, and Li Yan doesn't want to connect all his territories together?

In fact, it's not that Dazhong and Li Yan don't want to, but that Dazhong and Li Yan don't have this ability now.

At this stage, most of the elites from Dazhong have been transferred to the north to compete with Dajin for Yanyun. Although there are elites like Jiefan Army on the southern front, their overall strength is not as good.

If the troops of the Southern Song Dynasty were really fleeing like they did at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, then that would be fine. The troops on the central and southern fronts alone would be enough to pacify the world in the south.

But the real combat power of the Southern Song army was not exactly what it was at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.

First of all, the veteran Zong Ze has been resisting steadily in the Jingchu area. It can be said that he has fought very tenaciously, and has no intention of crossing the river at all.

Secondly, the Southern Song Dynasty still had some capable troops, such as Zhang Jun's troops and Liu Guangshi's troops, which still had some combat power.

And the most important thing is Chuzhou and Zhao Li.

In fact, after the Sino-Song war broke out, Yang Yizhong's initial plan was to capture the thief and the king, that is, to go directly to Jinling to capture Zhao Gou.

In Yang Yizhong's mind, if he could capture Jiangling and capture Zhao Gou in one fell swoop, then the problems of the Southern Song Dynasty would be solved easily.

For this reason, Lieutenant General Yang Yi sent Fan Qiong, who was very eye-catching at the beginning of the war, to attack Jinling.

At that time, Fan Qiong happily took over the task, and issued a military order to Yang Yizhong-to capture Jinling and capture Zhao Gou within one month.

Fan Qiong didn't just talk about it, but really did it - after receiving the order, Fan Qiong personally led the army to go south quickly, and it was very likely to go straight to Jinling.

At first, Fan Qiong fought very smoothly. As soon as the army he led arrived, the defenders along the Luzhou counties either fled or surrendered altogether. Even if there were some resistance, they could not withstand their attack.

Regarding this, Fan Qiong at that time was very proud, and even thought that Bai Qi was reborn and Huo Qubing was reborn.

But when Fan Qiong led the army to Chuzhou, something happened——Zhao Li's men guarded the city, blocking Fan Qiong's footsteps going south.

This Zhao Li can be said to be a hero who rose up in the war.

At the beginning of last year, the Jin soldiers invaded on a large scale, and bandits rose up. Zhao Li was appointed as Marquis of Wuwei because of his repeated military exploits in suppressing bandits.

Last autumn, the Jin soldiers went south again, and the city of Bianliang fell.

Later, when Jin soldiers attacked Xuzhou, Wang Fu defended against danger and ordered Zhao Li to supervise the battle.

In a great battle, Zhao Li was shot by six flying arrows, but he became more and more courageous as he fought.

Because of Zhao Li's bravery, Wang Fu drank wine with tears in his eyes to comfort Zhao Li, and Zhao Li became Wang Fu's number one general.

Unfortunately, even though Wang Fu and Zhao Li sacrificed their lives to protect Xuzhou, Xuzhou City was finally captured by Jin soldiers, and then Wang Fu and Wang Fu's family members were all killed. Only Wang Fu's only son, Wang Yi, was not killed because he left first. , Zheng Bao, the prefect of Xuzhou, was also executed for insulting the enemy.

When Xuzhou had just broken the city, Zhao Li and Jin Bing fought in the street, and later snatched the city gate and wanted to escape, but was stunned by Jin Bing.

When it rained lightly in the last night, Zhao Li crawled out from the pile of dead people, killed the guards of the Jin army, found Wang Fu's body in the city, and buried Wang Fu with his hands, crying bitterly.

After that, Zhao Li secretly contacted the villagers to regain Xuzhou.

But at that time, Li Yan sent troops to the Central Plains, and the Jin soldiers hurried back north.

Knowing that the Jin soldiers were fleeing to the north, Zhao Li immediately led the disabled soldiers to chase after them, cut off the Jin soldiers' retreat, and captured thousands of boats, boats, brocades and silks, which boosted the morale of Zhao Li's soldiers.

After that, Zhao Li recruited villagers and regained Xuzhou.

Therefore, Zhao Li was awarded Zhong Yilang and the right to know state affairs by the Southern Song Dynasty.

After Zhao Li made his fortune, he did not forget the old officer Wang Fu, and set up a temple for Wang Fu.

Whenever Zhao Li faced an expedition, he would lead all his generals to pray in front of the temple, saying: "You died for the country, and after you die, you will surely bless those of us who survived in the underworld."

After the people in Qidi heard about these things, they all surrendered to Zhao Li.

Just at that time, bandits in the Central Plains appeared everywhere.

Zhao Li secretly helped these bandits Cao Mang, and suddenly became famous in the Jianghu, and many people came to seek refuge with Zhao Li with their families.

Slowly, Zhao Li grew stronger.

After Zhao Li was promoted due to his meritorious service, he was promoted to Doctor Youwu and Governor of Zhongzhou.

Soon, Fan Qiong led his troops south to attack Chuzhou. Chuzhou was in a hurry, but Tong Shou Jia Dunshi wanted to use the city to surrender Dazhong.

After Du Chong learned of this, he ordered Zhao Li to lead his troops to rescue the siege.

Zhao Li fought and walked, winning seven consecutive battles, and finally arrived in Chuzhou.

At that time, both cheeks of Zhao Li were shot by flying arrows, and he couldn't speak, so he could only direct with his hands. He didn't pull out the arrows until he entered Chuzhou City and arranged for the soldiers to rest.

Then, Fan Qiong's nightmare began.

In order to break through Chuzhou City, Fan Qiong can be said to have used all means, and even personally led a death squad to attack the city.

But without exception, all Fan Qiong's siege methods were resolved by Zhao Li, and Fan Qiong himself almost died on Chuzhou City.

Is that Fan Qiong's incompetence?
It's really not.

What Fan Qiong leads is the elite of the Chinese army. There are as many as dozens of staff officers and hundreds of political workers. It is impossible for his combat power to become weaker because of a coach. Besides, Fan Qiong's name as a titan is not fake. At critical moments, Fan Qiong can take the lead and take the lead in attacking, otherwise he would not have almost lost His life was lost on the city of Chuzhou.

If so, it does not prove that the problem did not lie with Fan Qiong.

The other thing must prove that Fan Qiong was not to blame for not being able to defeat Chuzhou.

This incident is that, later, Fan Qiong repeatedly attacked Chuzhou, and Yang Yizhong personally led the Jiefan army to attack Chuzhou in the south.

However, both eggs——

Even if Yang Yizhong personally confronted Zhao Li, he still could not capture Chuzhou.

After Yang Yizhong and Zhao Li fought back and forth for nearly half a month, Yang Yizhong finally admitted that Chuzhou would not be defeated in such a fight, so he changed his tactics - between Chengzhou and Chuzhou there were Fan Liang and Xin Yang Yizhong couldn't attack Chuzhou for a long time in the three big lakes of Kai and Baima, so he could only scatter his troops in them and cut off the connection between the two places.

As a result, Chuzhou ran out of food.

But this did not dispel Chuzhou's resistance.

Zhao Li led the Chuzhou people to resist by eating weeds and aquatic plants.

Later, even the weeds and aquatic plants were eaten up by Zhao Li and the others, and Zhao Li led the Chuzhou people to eat elm bark to resist.

By the way, Fan Qiong and Yang Yizhong sent several waves of people to recruit Zhao Li, but Zhao Li beheaded all of them, and Zhao Li and Chuzhou were determined not to surrender.

Chuzhou was firmly nailed in front of Jinling like a nail, making it impossible for the Chinese army to go south to attack Jinling or go south to capture Zhao Gou.

Let's put it this way, without Zhao Li and without Chuzhou, the Southern Song Dynasty might have disappeared, let alone the Sino-Song peace talks.

For Dazhong, Zhao Li and Chuzhou represent a huge obstacle, so they must be unplugged.

And this time Zhao Song begs for surrender, which is a good opportunity to pull out this nail and pull out this huge obstacle.

Dazhong Shaozai Zhao Ding seized this opportunity very keenly!

……

(End of this chapter)