A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1030: Guizhou is lost, Southern Han invades, a million troops threaten Southern Tang

December 10th Year of Great Chapinin

Just as the rulers and ministers of Daxia were immersed in the joy of regaining dozens of states in Hunan, war reports from the south poured a bucket of cold water on their heads.

Ma Hongtao, the former governor of Jingjiang Army of Chu State, had just submitted a letter of surrender, but had not yet received the imperial decree from the court of Daxia.

Guizhou, which he occupied, was conquered by troops led by Wu Huai'en, the eunuch of Southern Han.

Ma Hongtao, who had time to serve as the governor of Guizhou in Daxia, was defeated and killed.

The states of Yi, Lian, Wu, Yan, Fu, Zhao, Liu, Gong, and Xiang south of Guizhou were also owned by the Southern Han.

Not only that, the Southern Han also took advantage of the confrontation between Xia and Tang to seize the Chenzhou area which originally belonged to the Southern Tang.

"The Southern Han brats are the most shameless. They took advantage of our country's confrontation with the Southern Tang and took advantage of our country's misfortune. Your Majesty, I request that you lead the troops south to take back Guizhou and teach the Southern Han a lesson."

At the court meeting, Deputy Governor Kang Xiajin came out to request a fight.

But his request for war was stopped by Privy Councilor Luo Minhan.

"Your Majesty, Southern Han is just a problem for Xianfu, while Southern Tang is the real threat."

"Now our army has taken Hunan. Although Southern Han is small, it is also a long way away. It cannot be recovered without a long battle."

"The most urgent task is to defeat Southern Tang in one battle, that's all."

Bai Xi agreed after hearing this: "Now the war between Xia and Tang has reached a point where it cannot be stopped. It won't be too late to plan for Southern Han after Southern Tang is destroyed."

In the end, Bai Xi made a plan to march south to conquer Southern Tang next year.

This was almost the battle with the largest number of troops deployed since the founding of Daxia.

Bai Xi decided that this great feat of destroying a country could only be led by the crown prince.

So he appointed Crown Prince Bai Mu as the 'Marshal of the Army of the World'.

The Left Marshal Bai Shijin and the Right Marshal Li Cunqian of the Marshal's Office were appointed as "Deputy Marshals".

Privy Councilor Luo Minhan was the 'chief supervisor'.

The southern expedition was divided into four routes.

He went south from Suzhou, crossed the Huai River, and attacked Yangzhou. He was the left-wing army with a total of 50,000 soldiers.

Wang Meng, the governor of Xu and Su, was appointed as the commander of the Huaidong Road military camp.

Yuan Kaishun, the deputy privy councilor, was appointed as the chief supervisor.

The Deputy Transport Envoy Bai Mingzhe was appointed as the 'Capital Transport Envoy'.

They marched south from Yingzhou, crossed the Huai River, attacked Shouzhou and Luzhou, and finally crossed the river to attack Nanjing, the capital of Southern Tang. They were the central army with a total of 200,000 soldiers.

It was led by Crown Prince Bai Mu himself, with Deputy Governors Zhou Jun and Zhao Bochao, and Yingcai Governor Pan Weize as 'vanguard officers'.

They went east from Jiangling Prefecture along the north bank of the Yangtze River to attack Huangzhou, and then joined forces with the Central Army to attack Luzhou, forming the Western Army with a total of 50,000 troops.

He Zeyu, the governor of Jiangling, was appointed as the commander of the Huaixi Road military camp.

Li Chuyun, the deputy privy councilor, was appointed as the chief supervisor.

Sima Jiahao, the deputy envoy of Duzhi, was appointed as the 'capital transport envoy'.

They went east from Changsha Prefecture, traveling across the river with the Western Army, along the south bank of the Yangtze River, attacking Ezhou and Jiangzhou, and then going downstream to join forces with other armies to attack Nanjing, becoming the Southern Army with a total of 100,000 soldiers.

The newly appointed Changsha governor Hu Yanfu was appointed as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangnan Road Military Camp".

Liang Zhongsheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the 'chief supervisor'.

Su Zhihong, the prefect of Jiangling and the minister of state, was appointed as the "capital transport envoy".

The four armies, totaling 400,000 troops, mobilized almost all the manpower of Daxia except for the border troops in the northwest, southwest, and north.

In the entire territory of Daxia, almost all the newly trained local garrison soldiers in recent years were pulled to the front line of the southern expedition.

Not only that, millions of civilians were mobilized and tens of thousands of large and small ships were requisitioned to transport military supplies.

It can be said that since Daxia subdued the Tubo in the northwest, wiped out the Uighurs in Qinghai, and opened up the Silk Road south of Qilian Mountain four years ago, all the money and grain of Daxia has been invested in this war. In addition, Emperor Bai Xi of Xia also appointed Qian Zong, the King of Wuyue who surrendered to Daxia, as the "Envoy of the Southeast Camp of Bianzhou" and ordered him to lead troops from Hangzhou to the north to support the Xia army in destroying the Tang Dynasty.

He also sent Deputy Governor Kang Xiajin as the "military supervisor".

May of the 11th year of Great Xiapingning

The Xia army, with everything ready, began to march south in large numbers. Bai Xi also used the firearms battalion for the first time in the Central Plains and requisitioned new warships from Kuizhou to participate in the war.

May 23
The Xia army bombarded Shouzhou city.

It was the first time that the soldiers of the Tang army saw this kind of weapon to attack an empty city. Hundreds of cannons were lined up and continuously bombarded the Shouzhou city wall, which terrified the Shouzhou defenders.

After three days of continuous bombardment, Xia's army destroyed the gate of Shouzhou and entered the city.

Originally, Tang Emperor Li Jing stationed tens of thousands of troops in Shouzhou, hoping to hold off the Xia army for at least half a year.

Who would have thought that within just three days, Shouzhou, known as an important town in Huainan, was declared lost.

Tens of thousands of Tang troops were captured by the Xia army.

Because Shouzhou City fell so quickly, the Tang Dynasty's rulers and ministers in the rear were caught off guard.

June 11

The Xia army successively captured Haozhou, Sizhou, Luzhou, Chuzhou, and prepared to attack Xuanhua Town and Jinling across the Xuanwei River.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. How could the Tang Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops in Jiangbei be wiped out in less than a month?"

Li Jing, who was once hailed as the heroic ruler of Southern Tang, stood trembling on the north gate of Nanjing, looking at the increasingly powerful Xia army in Jiangbei in disbelief.

"Holy Lord, let's go quickly. The Xia people are coming too fast. I request to move the capital to avoid the enemy for a while."

"No, Your Majesty, we must not move the capital. Although the Xia people have time, we still have the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and the taxes from the south of the Yangtze River. We are not without the strength to fight."

"On the contrary, forcing His Majesty to relocate and causing great unrest in the army would be a real disaster for the Tang Dynasty."

After returning to the palace, the ministers had a heated discussion about whether to leave or not, whether to surrender or not.

But no one suggested to continue to send troops to Jiangbei to fight against Xia's army. This shows how much damage this offensive by Xia's army caused them.

"Okay!" Li Jing was having a headache listening to the noisy remarks of his ministers in the hall, and finally revealed his power as an overlord.

He drew his sword with red eyes, stared at everyone and said firmly: "Life and death, overnight, the former Tang emperor moved many times, did he protect the country?"

"I am the emperor on horseback, not the emperor of the former Tang Dynasty. Don't say more. I have made up my mind. I will fight to the death with the Xia people here in Jinling.

"I don't believe that the Xia army is invincible. I still have the Yangtze River Navy. I haven't lost yet."

"Jiangbei, take it if you want. I was able to seize the entire Jiangnan from Jiangbei back then, and now I can also seize the entire Jiangbei from Jiangnan."

"Send an order, have Lu Yue of Yangzhou retreat to Runzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and Li Wei of Huangzhou retreat to Ezhou in the south of the Yangtze River. I don't want the north of the Yangtze River. I want to crush the Xia people's offensive in the south of the Yangtze River."

Under Li Jing's emergency adjustment, the Tang army immediately abandoned the entire Jiangbei area and quickly built a solid river defense line along the south of the Yangtze River relying on the Southern Tang navy.

In order to boost morale, Li Jing opened the inner treasury, rewarded the soldiers generously and boosted the morale of the army.

Given that Ezhou is the western gateway to the Southern Tang Dynasty, its importance is self-evident.

He appointed his crown prince Li Hongji, who was good at military strategy, to be stationed in Ezhou to build the first line of defense in the west.

He also ordered his most beloved sixth son Li Yu to stay in Hongzhou and build a second line of defense to block the attack of the Southern Xia Army.

July
As the Tang army withdrew from Jiangbei, the Xia army easily occupied all the towns south of the Yangtze River and their morale was greatly boosted.

July 16

The 300,000 troops from the east, central and west of the Xia army converged at Xuanhua Town. The shouts and cries of killing shook the Tang army south of the Yangtze River, and they were all terrified.

Because Xia Changjiang's navy, which had traveled with the Southern Army, had not arrived, Bai Mu had no choice but to station his troops in Luzhou and wait for the Southern Army to come to his aid.

Under the cover of the Yangtze River Navy, they crossed the river to attack Nanjing.

(End of this chapter)