Chapter 1070 What is the most important thing?

Chapter 1070 What is the most important thing?
Ji Nancheng fought vigorously but lost silently.

Because of the strict blockade, Jiangling had no idea what was happening here. After all, the two places were more than 20 miles apart, and a normal march without interference would take a day - considering the reality of the dense river network, a large army could not march more than 20 miles a day. After all, the more people there are, the slower the marching speed, and the fewer people there are, the faster the marching speed.

From a purely military perspective, Ji'nan City should not have been defended at all, but from the perspective of people's hearts and politics, it had to be defended. After all, this was an era of aristocratic politics, and you had to fight a battle to "attract the attention of the aristocracy."

Of course, Tao Zhen's battle was just a show, but it was useless.

When he was taken to the Liang army camp, he looked extremely depressed. There were almost no high-ranking officials to receive him. Instead, he was interrogated extensively - fortunately, no violence was used, which saved some face.

On the 14th, Jiang Ke, the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, moved to Ji'nan City and ordered the rear to speed up the transfer of food and supplies to prepare for the next stage of the attack on Jiangling.

Almost at the same time as they entered the city, the enemy troops that emerged from the southeast attacked and killed dozens of Liang soldiers who were out collecting firewood. It was through these people that they learned the news that Ji Nan had fallen and Tao Zhen's life or death was unknown.

Tao Bin, who was guarding Jiangling, was speechless for a long time after hearing this.

After realizing what was happening, the first thing they did was to stockpile as much food, equipment, and defensive gear as possible, while at the same time urging for reinforcements.

The news also quickly reached Tao Kan who was stationed in Huarong.

There was no strange expression on his face. Wasn't this something he should have thought of?
Recently, his attention has been drawn to the Eastern Front.

After Shicheng was captured, Jingling and Yangkou were exposed to the enemy's attack.

He had to lead his naval and land forces eastward to support the Jiangzhou troops.

Moreover, he was lucky as well, for he actually caught a more reckless Liang army unit. He first used his navy to cross the river and fired bows and crossbows, shooting down the Liang army unit on the north bank of the river so that it could not rush over. Then he mobilized the main force, attacked from both land and sea, and wiped out this unit, achieving a small victory by beheading more than 700 people.

Then, taking advantage of the high morale of the army, he marched north and fought a fierce battle with the Liang army on the north bank, but was driven back to the south bank.

This series of battles once again proved that the Jin army could not defeat the Liang army in field battles, even the more capable Jingzhou army.

Therefore, he could only make use of his familiarity with the geography and the powerful combat capability of his navy as much as possible, launching sneak attacks from the flanks from time to time to create trouble for Huang Biao's troops and prevent them from attacking the city with all their strength.

As for the western front, to be honest, he only sent a small number of troops to raid the Liang army that was out collecting firewood, trying to deprive them of hot meals and hot soup and lower their morale.

That was the plan. But just as Shao Xun once lamented that the plan made before the war had never been implemented as it was, Tao Kan's plan also went awry.

The fall of Ji'nan City was a heavy blow.

With this city gone, the battle to defend Jiangling could begin. In addition to Jingling and Yangkou, Tao Kan also had to take care of the direction of Jiangling, so he simply couldn't split his attention.

The pressure from Liang Jun is very great!

At this point in the battle, we were in an extremely passive position, and almost felt unable to resist.

The morale of the soldiers was somewhat low. Some people even suggested that we should consider the fortresses south of the Mian River and north of the Yangtze River. That area had been developed since the Eastern Wu era. It was "fertile and low in soil, with vast ponds and swamps" and "rich in fish and rice". The Wu people relied on these places to provide food when they fought against the Wei and Jin dynasties.

Tao Kan said nothing. He knew what the generals said made sense, but now was not the right time. They needed to delay until the enemy's offensive was at its sharpest.

Besides, does anyone still remember Xiangyang? Does anyone still want to rescue the Xiangyang defenders? It seems that Xiangfan and Xiangyang have been deliberately forgotten by everyone.

******
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, it snowed in Jianye.

At the grand court meeting on Wangri, the ministers argued endlessly, but in the end no conclusion was reached.

The only thing that was accomplished was probably the determination of the reign title for the next year: Taichang asked the emperor to choose one from "Xianhe", "Yonghe" and "Taihe".

Sima Pei chose Taihe.

He was very filial and did not change the era name in the remaining three months of this year. Instead, he changed the era name to Taihe from the first day of the first lunar month next year.

After half a day of meaningless quarreling, Sima Fei returned to the Qian Palace, which was like a sleeping hall.

This hall was the emperor's bedroom. Construction began almost at the same time as the Taiji Hall, but progress was slow because of lack of money. It was not until Sima Rui's death that it was almost finished and barely habitable.

Sima Fei now moved here to live, and Queen Shan Yinan also slept here, because her own palace had not yet been built - within the palace city, the emperor and the queen were both "kings" and had their own exclusive bedrooms.

"Today--" Sima Fei hesitated again and again, stammering.

"There are only you and me here," Shan Yinan said.

Sima Fei thought of Wang Dao's words and felt a little conflicted. In the end, he decided to ask the empress for advice: "Today, during the military meeting in the palace, someone impeached Tao Shiheng, saying that he lost troops and territory and was extremely incompetent. Please deprive him of his original and concurrent positions."

Shan Yinan did not express his attitude, but only looked at Sima Fei and asked softly, "What does the Prime Minister mean?"

Sima Fei immediately said, "The Prime Minister has not said a word, so there is a debate." Shan Yinan understood and said, "The Prime Minister must still want to use Tao Shiheng."

"But I heard that Tao Shiheng and the Prime Minister are not on good terms."

"This is a different time. The Prime Minister is looking at the overall situation and will definitely consider the overall situation. He will not take a little discord to heart." Shan Yinan said firmly: "Your Majesty should not be too harsh on Tao Shiheng."

"Why?" Sima Fei asked in confusion, "People are talking about it, saying that the rebels surrounded Jiangling and Xiangyang, and forced Xincheng and Shangyong to surrender, and they should be severely punished."

"Who are they?" Shan Yinan stood up suddenly and asked with a stronger tone.

Sima Fei was shocked when he saw the queen's face change color. He quickly said, "Let Liu Dalian take the lead."

Shan Yinan took a deep breath, his full chest rising and falling, and said, "Your Majesty, just remember one thing. Even if Tao Shiheng has a thousand faults, he has no ambition. With him around, the situation in Jingzhou can be maintained. He will neither surrender to the enemy nor rebel. With Tao Shiheng around, Jingzhou and Xiangzhou will be safe."

Sima Fei nodded repeatedly and said, "What the queen said is very true."

Loyalty is more important than anything else, especially now.

Shan Yinan no longer looked at him. He clasped his hands in front of his stomach and paced in the hall.

After a moment, she said, "I guess Shao is trying to recruit the nobles of Jingzhou. The court can only rely on Xiangyang, Jinan, Jiangling, Shicheng and other places to hold on and wait for a turnaround. Tao Shiheng fought an ugly battle, but he may not have used the wrong troops."

Sima Fei listened intently.

"I don't know much about military affairs." Shan Yinan stopped and said, "But looking at the old maps of the Eastern Wu, I found that it was in a stalemate with Cao Wei and the Guochao in the Anlu, Shicheng, and Huarong areas. Anlu and Shicheng changed hands repeatedly, but it was impossible to stop there and go deep south to the Yangtze River. Sun Wu built many fortresses and opened up polder fields south of the Mian River and north of the Yangtze River, so the soldiers were well fed and the people were rich. After accumulating wealth for several years, they were even able to go north to recover lost territory. I think there must be a reason why the North and the South are in a stalemate here, but it's not easy to speculate."

Sima Fei has been listening to ministers discussing military affairs every day recently, and his literacy has improved rapidly. He has already formed a preliminary impression of military conflicts and sometimes can even interrupt and make a comment, although he doesn't know whether what he says is right or wrong.

After listening to Shan Yinan's words, he felt that they made sense, and continued, "Tao Shiheng sent letters repeatedly asking for more troops. Cai Mo bluntly said that Jingzhou was dangerous and the Xiangyang defenders were like hostages, and he asked for more troops. However, the rebel general Zhang Shuo of Shouchun besieged Hefei Xincheng and threatened to take the East Pass, conquer Liyang, and drink water for the horses at Guabu. This route is also very important, Queen..."

Shan Yinan clenched his hands subconsciously and rubbed them unconsciously. After a while, he said, "Your Majesty, Liyang and Guangling are particularly important. Once the Shao thief captures these places, it may seem that there is still a river blocking them, but in fact, the situation is already over. Someone near Jianye will surely surrender and join the rebellion, so we must not let the thief succeed here."

After that, he sighed softly and said, "Zhuge Daoming is stationed in Huaiyin, and the soldiers on land and sea fought hard, and they managed to block Li Chong in the north of Huaibei. Governor Shan personally led his troops to Hefei to support Xincheng. After several battles, they finally blocked Shao's troops on the north bank of Shishui. If we need more troops, Huaiyin and Hefei are the best. Jingzhou can only rely on Tao Shiheng to hold on."

After that, he looked into Sima Fei's eyes and said, "Try to push the enemy troops away from Jianye, the farther the better. Tao Shiheng has few soldiers, but where can we find sufficient troops? If it really doesn't work, you can mobilize troops from all the counties in Xiangzhou to go north to reinforce Tao Shiheng. Jianye is the key point, and people's hearts are the foundation. Your Majesty should not doubt it."

In fact, Jianye still had some military strength, mainly the imperial guards controlled by Wang Shu. But this force could not be used easily, not to mention that seeing the critical situation in Jingzhou, the Jiangnan noble Shen family actually "ignored the overall situation" and rebelled, and the court had already dispatched 10,000 people to suppress it.

Fortunately, Shen's rebellion did not receive a response from other Jiangdong nobles, and they sent people to persuade him to quickly surrender to the court and let bygones be bygones.

Currently, the imperial guards and the rebels have already started fighting. The royal army suffered a disadvantage in the first battle, but Qian suddenly stabbed Shen in the back. The situation of the war gradually became clear and it will be settled soon.

"It's the only way." Sima Fei also sighed.

Nothing must happen in Jianye. Once something happens, the situation will take a sharp turn for the worse.

To protect Jianye, Hefei and Huaiyin must not have any problems. Even if troops, equipment, money and food are raised, they must be used in these two places.

"The Li family of Chengdu is short-sighted and has brazenly invaded Jin territory. Your Majesty should not be too worried." Shan Yinan added, "Nanzhong is an uncivilized place. Just let the governors and county magistrates do their best to maintain it."

Li Cheng is indeed a bit short-sighted.

They actually took advantage of the war between Liang and Jin to send troops to attack the Ningzhou counties still in the hands of Jin, which made people extremely angry.

Some people even pointed out that it would not take many troops to attack Nanzhong, and Li Xiong focused on winning over the local chieftains. What was really worrying was that they would attack Badong from the gorge.

Can the imperial court still spare troops to support Badong? It is difficult.

Thinking of this, Shan Yinan just felt a little tired, as if there was a heavy burden on her shoulders, making it hard for her to breathe.

Every day I am trembling with fear, every day I am trying to comfort people, every day I am worried...

Shan Yinan even missed the time when she was still a princess. She was relaxed, comfortable and at ease. Every day she thought about taking care of the garden, planting flowers and plants, or sending people to work in the fields, managing the business, and even exchanging letters with the women of the aristocratic families and discussing poetry, music and theory.

She was not naturally fond of military affairs.

Like Tao Shiheng, she was just trying her best to maintain it.

"If you are really worried." Shan Yinan finally said, "After pacifying the Shen family, you can dispatch several thousand imperial troops to the west to reinforce Jingzhou."

(End of this chapter)