Chapter 1059 Bitter Fruit

Chapter 1059 Bitter Fruit

Chapter 1059 Bitter Fruit
It was still noon, but the sky suddenly became gloomy.

A camp had been set up outside the Liao's fort, with many miscellaneous Hu soldiers stationed inside, guarding the fort closely.

Looking closely, this group of miscellaneous Hu people are mainly infantry.

One reason was that not all the mixed Hu people had horses, and they couldn't borrow one when they went to war, so they could only serve as infantry; the other reason was that some people only had one horse, which was a bit sick and could not run, so they had to abandon the horse and come here to monitor the Liao family.

Just yesterday (October 6th), Liao sent out more than 2,000 soldiers, and the Hezhou Zaohu sent out troops to fight. The two sides formed their battle array in the wild, and the Zaohu were defeated and fled back to the camp.

If you can’t defeat them head-on and your fighting power is weak, then there’s nothing you can do.

Liao took advantage of the situation and attacked the camp, but failed and instead lost a lot of men, so he withdrew.

As more and more troops passed through here and headed south, battalions of soldiers passed by one after another, and they became afraid.

With such a strong force, almost every inch of land is filled. Even if the Jin army can attack from the river, what is the point? The front army of a thousand people passed by, and you just went around, and two thousand infantry and cavalry came a few miles away. If you let them go, another two or three thousand people will come immediately, layer upon layer, advancing in waves, completely compressing the space for a sneak attack.

Shao Shen has arrived west of Fancheng.

He divided his troops into three parts.

Jiang Ke, the commander-in-chief of the Silver Spear Left Camp, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army. He commanded the entire Silver Spear Left Camp, part of the Yicong Army, the Left Jinwu Guard, and 10,000 miscellaneous Hu soldiers from Helong, totaling more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry, including about 50,000 auxiliary troops. He crossed the river west of Xiangyang and went south to take over the counties west of Xiangyang.

Jiang Ke even sent envoys to travel through mountains and rivers to persuade Xincheng County deep in the mountains to surrender.

Following the order of General Jin Zhengzhi, Weixing County sent a part of its troops eastward along the Mian River to put pressure on Xincheng.

However, he did not send troops south to the three counties of Liangdong, because they had to cross many mountains, the road was dangerous, and the supply consumption was high. At the same time, he had just suppressed a rebellion caused by land measurement, and the large army only returned to Chang'an a few days ago to rest.

In addition, seeing that the situation in Guanzhong was complicated, Yang Nandi began to recruit his old subordinates again, and his momentum was slightly boosted. He no longer mentioned surrendering to the court.

After resting, Jin Zheng had to turn back to fight this guy and had no energy left to move south.

Of course, Jiang Ke, the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army, did not want to see Jin Zheng come and take credit.

From October 6th to 8th, after gathering his main forces in Zhonglu County, he began to advance westward to Wei Township and southward to Shanghuang.

They built roads through mountains and bridges over rivers, and their power can be heard far and wide.

In addition to the Western Army, there is also the Eastern Army.

This route was commanded by General Huang Biao of the Right Jinwu Guard, who led the Right Jinwu Guard, part of the Luoyan Army, the Left Camp of the Heiliang Army, and 10,000 cavalrymen of the Dai State, as well as 50,000 auxiliary troops, who marched southward, divided their forces to seize the eastern border of Xiangyang, and waited for an opportunity to attack Yangkou directly.

The road was not easy to travel on, so the advance was slow.

There are many small-scale enemy garrisons and Mianshui ferry crossings along the way, which are now being attacked one by one.

Shao Shen appointed himself commander-in-chief of the central army and commander-in-chief of the southern expedition, commanding the Right Flying Dragon Guard, the second battalion of the Yellow Head Army, and the capture army of more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry, as well as more than 20,000 miscellaneous Hu soldiers from various routes, more than 20,000 soldiers from various counties of Nanyang, and more than 100,000 auxiliary troops, and besieged Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Shao Shen’s camp was set up at Yu Jin’s former fortress west of Fancheng, and the largest floating bridge was also built there.

In fact, there were originally several thousand soldiers from the Zuo Feilong Guard, but they were suddenly withdrawn during the march south.

Shao Shen was furious. After finding out more about the matter, he learned that his uncle had temporarily transferred him away. He was furious and said nothing more.

As for the imperial guards, the Youzhou cavalry commander, part of the Yicong army, part of the Luoyan army, and the first battalion of the Huangtou army, totaling more than 17,000 people, they stayed in Yuyang to guard the emperor and the accompanying officials, concubines, princes, and princesses.

Shao Shen did not fully implement the tactic of surrounding but not attacking.

In fact, he dispatched thousands of miscellaneous Hu soldiers to attack Xian Mountain south of Xiangyang City, but failed.

He then dispatched the government troops and the Yellow-headed Army, but still failed.

There is no other choice but to surround them first, weaken their morale, and then make plans.

******
On October 12, General Xu Lang of the Left Flying Dragon Guard appeared in Jiangxia.

Of the more than 7,000 soldiers and retainers who set out fully equipped, one third had fallen behind.

The road was difficult to travel on, there were many rivers and lakes, and the horses were in poor condition. As they marched, this highly mobile army slowed down.

In fact, they were relatively good. The 3,000 Youzhou light cavalry assigned to Xu Lang were in a more difficult situation. Most people were walking with their horses. Sick horses could be seen everywhere along the way. Some herdsmen were taking good care of them, trying to make them recover.

Fortunately, we had passed Shiyan Mountain and were not far from Anlu (now Yunmeng County)...

Anlu is the capital of Jiangxia County, and it is in a state of chaos at this time.

Li Chong brought along almost all of his capable soldiers and farmhands, a total of more than 2,300 people, and rushed southward, under the banner of seeking reinforcements. With the help of an insider, they opened the city gate and occupied the city.

That afternoon, all officials in the city were placed under house arrest. However, there were still some Jin soldiers guarding the south gate and the city tower, putting up a desperate resistance, which made him very worried.

At this time, in the south of Anlu City, a Youzhou Xianbei cavalry of more than a thousand people were stuck in the soft mud, with people and horses falling.

They were the vanguard of Xu Lang's army. They had collected a group of horses in good condition, and each man rode two horses, heading south at a rapid speed.

When they arrived in Anlu, they saw many Wu soldiers coming from the west and south of the city, and there were so many boats on the river that they could not see the end.

In a hurry, they rushed straight to the ferry.

Instead of retreating, the Wu soldiers fought fiercely, leading them into the muddy and soft land. Arrows were fired from the boats, and the soldiers on land and water formed a battle array with their backs to the water, defeating the Xianbei soldiers from Youzhou. Li Chong was very anxious.

Especially when he saw the big flag with the word "Tao" flying high on the fleet, he became even more worried.

He understood immediately.

Some people said before that Tao Kan went to Yiyang, but in fact everyone only saw Tao Kan’s big flag go to Yiyang, and no one actually saw Tao Kan himself.

Now it seems that Tao Kan never went there at all, and he might have been collecting supplies and gathering troops in Xiakou - Xiakou is an important town in Jingzhou, the most critical hub, and also the place with the largest number of troops stationed.

"Kill the Hu dog!"

"Kill the Nanman!"

A group of barbarian soldiers with ghost faces and broken hair, speaking non-standard Wu dialect, were in high spirits and extremely brave. They collided with the fallen Xianbei cavalry.

The shaved-headed Xianbei people were covered in mud. They drew the short weapons beside their saddles and started fighting with the barbarians.

However, their morale was low after all, and many of them had already started to flee.

What's the point of risking your life for a few pieces of silk? They didn't flee on the spot, and fought with the Wu people for a few rounds. They have done Shao thief well.

We can't fight in this terrain. If we have the ability, let's find a dry and open area and fight again.

A few clever chiefs gathered two or three hundred men, rushed out first, rushed to the outside of the south gate, and attacked the Wu soldiers from behind.

They knew very well that if they fled on foot like this, they would definitely die and eventually be killed by these ghost-like Wu soldiers in the reed lake. Now the only way to survive was to retreat into the city and defend it.

So they mustered up their last bit of courage, rushed into the wide-open South Gate, and joined forces with Li's troops in the city to attack from the front and back, quickly dispersing the stubborn Wu troops.

Wu Bing on the river noticed the movement.

Thousands of people rushed out from the reed marshes and ferry crossings like shrimp soldiers and crab generals, and headed towards Anlu City.

But they were a little slow after all.

The fastest group of people were only dozens of steps away from the city gate, but suddenly the South Gate was closed, and they even ignored the hundreds of Xianbei soldiers crying and shouting outside the city. It was truly cruel and ruthless.

The battle on the south city wall was still going on, with shouts and screams resounding through the sky, while outside the south city gate there was an eerie silence.

A moment later, hundreds of Youzhou Xianbei threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and cried for surrender.

On a boat on the river, Tao Kan watched all this with an expressionless face.

It looks like just a little difference, but in fact it is a lot.

The Jiangxia Li family is a large family in Jingzhou. Due to Li Tong's unparalleled loyalty to Cao Cao in the late Han Dynasty and his strong ability, many Li family members have served as provincial governors and prefects since the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

In this generation, Li Shi (deceased, Li Chong's cousin) once served as the attendant of Prince Jin, and Li Chong's mother, Lady Wei, taught calligraphy to Wang Xizhi of the Wang family of Langya, and so on.

A family like this can also rebel, is this just a matter of a little while?
Tao Kan was not very happy with the families divided into the north and the south, but that was the way the scholars who moved south were, and he had no choice. He just didn't expect to taste the bitter fruit so soon.

"It must be Li Chong's uncle Wei Daoshu who persuaded him to surrender." He sighed helplessly, and then thought about which other families in Jingzhou were divided into the north and the south.

As for the current battle situation, there is actually nothing to see.

Heading south from Anlu, you have entered the Yunmengze.

The land, lakes, swamps, forests, cities, and forts were intertwined, and many rivers ran through them, so he was not afraid of the Liang army moving south.

Of course, the Liang people would not be stupid enough to go south from Anlu.

The situation in Jiangxia was actually stable. He only needed to leave a small number of troops to monitor. If the enemy army really marched south in large numbers, he would not be polite and would directly lead his army back to win a brilliant victory. He just didn't know whether the Liang people would give him this opportunity.

Now the main force still has to move south and west to Yangkou.

In the evening of that day, Tao Kan ordered the heads of nearly a thousand Xianbei people from Youzhou to be hung on the outside of the ship.

The good horses were taken away, and the injured and dead horses were slaughtered on the spot.

All kinds of equipment were also taken away, and a total of less than 300 Xianbei captives were taken onto the ship.

Li Chong stood firmly on the top of the city wall, watching Tao Kan's soldiers clean up the battlefield, but did not go into battle.

As the sun set, Tao Kan's troops were seen withdrawing one after another. He bowed towards the south, as if to see them off.

The general situation is like this, no one can be blamed, everyone has to consider themselves and their family.

On October 16, Xu Lang's troops, who had once again "slimmed down", arrived in Anlu exhausted.

As soon as they met, his first words were: "Did I come here through Yunmeng Lake?"

Li Chong smiled and said, "During the Han Dynasty, it was part of the Yunmeng Lake, but it is not anymore. More and more areas have become land due to siltation, and many lakes and swamps have disappeared. Otherwise, before the general arrives, this city will have been destroyed."

Xu Lang also laughed, and ordered his personal soldiers to fetch his official uniform and seal, saying, "You are now the governor of Jiangxia, so you should take over the counties as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)