Datang New Order

In November of the third year of Tianyou, it was freezing cold and snowing heavily in Huainan.Zhongshao's troops stationed on the banks of Hongze Lake have all withdrawn from their field camps to Sizhou City.

It has been more than half a year since the return of Xiapi. During this period, Zhong Shao and Wang Maozhang have engaged in more than ten battles. The battle line has also moved south from Xiapi to Sizhou, and the entire Wu army has withdrawn. Huainan site.

In Sizhou City, there are the Cangzhou Army under the command of Zhong Shao and the Youyan Security Army under Zhao Zaili. Behind Sizhou City is the left wing of the Yanzhou Army led by Zhang Yanshou and Huo Cun. Ding Hui and Yang Chongben's Yanzhou Army's right wing.The army totaled 7 people, confronting Xuyi's Wang Maozhang's 3 people.

During the attack on Sizhou a month ago, Wang Maozhang had defended Sizhou City for three months, but it finally shattered like a paper shell in front of the large siege equipment that arrived from the north.The earth-shattering thunder before the city was broken scared all the generals and soldiers of the Wu army. Until now, there are rumors in the army that the northern soldiers have gods and men to help them.

In the Battle of Sizhou, Wang Maozhang lost 2 people, which can be said to have moved the fundamentals.The state of Wu, based in Huainan, did not have as many conscripts as the northern princes, and lost 2 people at a time, which made Yang Xingmi, who was in Jiangdu, vomit blood with anger.But Li Shenfu had already died in the Shangdang battle, and the whole of Huainan could only rely on Wang Maozhang, so Yang Xingmi didn't criticize in a single word, but recruited troops desperately, and sent 2 people to Wang Maozhang.

Wang Maozhang also understood that this was already the national power of the entire Huainan. If the Yue King Qian Li in the south was more daring, he would find that there was nothing that could stop him along the entire journey from Qiantang to Jiangdu.What Wang Maozhang needs to do now is to quickly repel the invasion of the northern soldiers, and then mobilize troops to return to the south, and re-enrich and complete the southern front before his old enemy Qian Ji reacts.

But, can this be done?

Thinking of the earth-shattering roar, Wang Maozhang felt his scalp go numb.The sharp weapon in the hands of Beibing made the city wall no longer a barrier to rely on.Not to mention repelling the northern soldiers, how he should defend Xuyi is unknown.

If you go out to fight in the city, can you resist the opponent with this little force on hand?Wang Maozhang knew that the opponent was the elite force in the hands of King Yan, Zhong Shao who had defeated the main force of the Liang army in Shangdang, and what Zhong Shao could control was not only the elite Yan army, but also the newly attached Taining army!Well, it seems that the northern soldiers on the opposite side are all called Tang Jun now, and there is no distinction between the Taining Army and the Yan Army.But the Yan Army is the Yan Army, and the Taining Army is still the Taining Army.Changing the name does not affect the opponent's combat power at all.

The only difference is.The opponent changed the flag, which seemed to have a great impact on the morale of the Huainan soldiers under him, not to mention the soldiers, even Wang Maozhang himself.Sometimes I also fall into confusion, whether I am from Tang Dynasty or from Wu Dynasty?

Fortunately, it was snowing heavily, and it was God's help to temporarily block the northern soldiers to the north of Hongze Lake, giving Wang Maozhang a good chance to breathe.But Wang Maozhang understands that the snow in the south is different from the snow in the north. The snow will melt in less than ten days and a half month. What should we do then?

It is different from Wang Maozhang who sighed and sighed in Xuyi City.Zhong Shao sat comfortably in Sizhou city.Although more than half a year has passed since going south, and the time is a little longer, but the first battle in Sizhou was crucial. It not only opened the door to go south to Huainan, but also wiped out [-] veterans of the Wu army.Wu Jun and Yan Jun have different recruiting systems.Without the veterans, the Yan army can still continuously train high-quality soldiers suitable for battle with a good training system, while the Wu army has lost [-] veterans, and it will definitely not be slowed down in three to five years!

I have a strong military advantage on my side, as long as the heavy snow melts, I can continue to go south.If Wang Maozhang sticks to Xuyi, the scene where Sizhou City was broken will repeat itself. If Wang Maozhang dares to fight with himself——

Zhong Shao's only concern is whether he can wipe out the last Huainan military force in the field.After this battle is over, there will be no opponents north of the Yangtze River, and the rest is the problem of crossing the river.

Now Zhong Shao and the staff are discussing the most is how to cross the river.However, Zhong Shao was not too worried about this. His Royal Highness King Yan started to build a shipyard in Jin County several years ago. After these years, the ships built in Jin County are taller and more elegant than those of Wu Jun’s navy. It is strong, but it is a hull built according to the standards of the sea, can it be compared with the boats on the river?

There is no other way to fight on water, only big boats are better than small boats, and more boats are better than few boats. These are the original words of His Royal Highness King Yan, and Zhong Shao regards this as the standard.

When they were deploying and preparing to attack Xuyi after the snow melted, there was an urgent military report to Zhong Shao's desk—the Weizhou army had arrived in Xucheng!

It was less than [-] miles from Xucheng to Sizhou, and Zhong Shao only waited for four days before the whole army of Weizhou rushed to Sizhou.Liu Jinhou, commander of the Weizhou Army, was a veteran brought out by Zhong Shao. Although he is now under the command of a single army, in the army with high qualifications, he must first give a military salute when he sees Zhong Shao.

Senior military officers from both sides met, beat and bragged each other, and happily entered Sizhou City.It was the order of the Privy Council that the Weizhou army came to reinforce. General Liu Jinhou handed over the order. After Zhong Shao saw it, he was a little puzzled.He didn't regard Liu Jinhou as an outsider, and frowned directly: "There is already [-] troops here, which is enough to destroy the country, why do you need to send you to reinforce?"

Liu Jinhou replied: "Before I left, Privy Councilor Zhang asked me to bring a sentence that Jiangdu must be captured before the end of the year! The Privy Council meant that someone led the Weizhou army to advance eastward, bypass Hongze, take Gaoyou directly, and attack Jiangdu from the east."

"Why are you in such a hurry? We have a lot of soldiers, so we can fight steadily. Why take risks? Wang Maozhang is a good soldier. If you don't defeat him, I really don't feel at ease. At that time, it will be worth the loss.”

A smile suddenly appeared on Liu Jinhou's face, and he said in a low voice: "The Privy Council wants to take down Jiangdu quickly, and send a generous gift to His Royal Highness King Yan before Zhengdan!"

"Great gift?" Zhong Shao pondered for a while, then suddenly came to his senses, and asked with a slightly trembling voice, "Your Highness is ready to be promoted to the Ninth Five-Year Lord?"

Liu Jinhou shook his head: "Your Highness didn't say anything, but the Privy Council has made a decision that this first memorial to persuade you to advance will be delivered in early December."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhong Shao asked, "Is this... in compliance with the rules?"

Liu Jinhou said with a smile: "His Royal Highness's ascension to the throne is the general trend. Li Tang Zhongxing is here today! To be honest, if the Privy Council does not act earlier, this first achievement will be taken away by others. I heard that Zhang Jun and Wang Shifan from the Political Affairs Hall A few of them are already planning this matter, only Feng Dao has not said anything, and there is no result yet. Except for the Zhengshitang, Li Maozhen is conspiring to agitate the censors. You said that the various investigations made the yamen not give up, so he was so anxious , Isn’t it for this first effort? By the way, there is also Wu Zhongzuo, who claims to be upright, do you know what he is doing? The draft constitution he drafted has been exposed, and there is such a clause in it-the crown prince is less than ten years old. Fifth, you must not occupy the position of the Son of Heaven! This is to understand that you must let the Son of Heaven be Zen!"

Zhong Shao thought silently for a moment, then stood up resolutely: "I will go to the memorial now, enthroning the king of Yan, um, let some Zhang Yanshou and Ding Hui of the Yanzhou Army also add their names. How about it, how about our joint names? "

Liu Jinhou chuckled: "When XX came out, the memorial had already been handed over to the Privy Council, and Privy Councilor Zhang said that it will be submitted together with the memorials of all the armies. You are far away from here, so you need to hurry up... But there is one thing, Jiangdu must be captured before His Highness takes the throne!"

On November 1th, when the heavy snow gradually disappeared, Liu Jinhou led [-] Weizhou troops out of Sizhou, bypassed Hongze Lake, and quickly marched eastward.On November [-], the Weizhou Army surprised Anyi, an important town by the Grand Canal, and seized more than a hundred well-preserved ships.Liu Jinhou immediately made a decisive decision, took the left side of the Weizhou army as the front, and sailed southward by boat, heading straight for Gaoyou.

On the same day, Zhong Shao mobilized a total of 6 troops from Cangzhou Army and Yanzhou Army to surround Xuyi. At the same time, the cavalry group of Youyan Security Army patrolled around Xuyi to prevent Wang Maozhang's troops from breaking out in the chaos.

Yang Chongben led 8000 people from the right wing of the Yanzhou Army to block the south gate of Xuyi. Looking at the heavily guarded Wu army on the top of the city, he lost his mind for a while.When everything was arranged properly, a general came forward to ask when to attack the city. Yang Chongben shook his head and said, "Now there is no need to forcibly ascend the city, we are responsible for intercepting and killing it. With that medicine, no matter how high the city wall is, it will be useless." .”

Yang Chongben's absent-mindedness was not thinking about how to attack the city, but the confusion in his heart was how to fight the city defense battle in the future?After thinking about it for a long time, I still couldn't figure it out. It seemed that the roar was almost incomprehensible to the defenders.

"The situation of the war has changed..." Yang Chongben murmured.

The sound of fighting at the north gate began to resound, and the huge stones fell on the city wall, and the smashing sound of the impact reached the ears of the soldiers in the right wing of the Yanzhou Army at the south gate.According to Yang Chongben's instructions, the right wing of the Yanzhou army did not prepare any equipment for climbing the city, but set up a defensive formation outside the city gate, making preparations to guard against death.

The sound of fighting continued until the afternoon. Suddenly, Yang Chongben felt dizzy, and the horse under his crotch staggered back and forth a few steps, as if he was a little unstable.Not only Yang Chongben, but many soldiers in the right wing felt the instantaneous vibration under their feet.Immediately afterwards, a huge roar sounded, and at that moment, Yang Chongben seemed to feel that the entire Xuyi city in front of him was shaking.

Following Yang Chongben's gesture, the flag officer immediately issued a flag order, and the sergeants of all departments immediately tensed up, waiting for the enemy to break through.

After a long time, the closed south gate suddenly creaked open, and a handsome army horse rushed out desperately.

There was a sound of clappers, and a rain of arrows splashed over, shooting Wu Jun who had rushed out, throwing them off their backs.Wu Jun rushed for a while, seeing that the formation on the right side of the Yanzhou Army could not move, he fled back with a howl. He ran in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to close the south gate.

Yang Chongben turned his head and made a gesture, and the thousand infantry who had already been prepared rushed into the south gate under the leadership of the commander of the regiment.Yang Chongben looked at the soldiers rushing in, and once again pondered the question that had troubled him for more than a month: How should we defend the city in the future?