Chapter 1072: What to wait for if not surrender?

Chapter 1072: What to wait for if not surrender?

Chapter 1072: What to wait for if not surrender?

From the middle of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the year, the entire Jingzhou war situation can be simply summarized as: three battlefields coexisted.

The first battlefield was the Jingling battlefield.

A few days after Xu Lang recovered from his illness, he lay down again. Huang Biao was then in charge of the troops, including the Right Jinwu Guards, the Left Flying Dragon Guards, the Heiliang Left Camp, the Dai State Cavalry, and auxiliary soldiers, totaling more than 30,000 people.

The main forces confronting them were the 10,000 naval and land troops of Jiangzhou, plus 4,000 newly transferred barbarian soldiers, who defended Jingling and Yangkou.

Huang Biao fought several battles in succession since he moved south from Xiangyang. He later captured the Shicheng water and land fortress and also fought a field battle with Tao Kan's troops near Jingling. An epidemic broke out in the camp, so he was not willing to attack by force.

The further south he went, the harder it was to travel. So he only sent out a small group of light cavalry to harass the enemy, but after suffering losses once or twice, he no longer wanted to do so.

At present, a main force of more than 20,000 troops is stationed in the west of Jingling City, and a detachment of more than 10,000 troops is heading east to cooperate with the soldiers of the Jiangxia noble families to see if they can carry out a sweep and weaken the war potential of the Jin people.

Causing the enemy's economy to collapse is also a means of winning the war.

The second battlefield was in Jiangling.

After capturing Ji'nan City, troops from various units moved southward one after another.

The first thing they did was to fill in the swamps and even the inconspicuous rivers on the way to advance and build more bridges.

Jiangling is adjacent to Yunmengze in the northeast, where there is a large lake and swamp, which is not suitable for a large-scale military advance, so the main attack direction is in the north and west of the city - in fact, there is also a swamp in the northwest, but there is a passable road after all.

This is the main battlefield, with a total of more than 60,000 combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers.

The enemy also seemed to be deploying troops.

Two days before the Liang army marched south, the navy transported a large amount of supplies and two thousand Xiangzhou soldiers who had arrived earlier into the city. Together with the temporarily recruited men, the number of soldiers defending Jiangling reached seven thousand.

Zhou Fu led 5,000 naval troops to station at the water fort to provide support.

The two sides are bound to fight a big fight here.

The last battlefield is undoubtedly Xiangyang.

To be honest, both the offense and defense were a little exhausted, but the defense was under more pressure.

In the second half of the twelfth lunar month, some of the miscellaneous Hu people from Youzhou and Bingzhou attacked Xiangyang City twice and Fancheng City once, and they only stopped five days before New Year's Day.

It's almost the New Year, who the hell is still fighting? Don't the officials have any idea?
On the morning of New Year's Eve, Shao Xun went south from Yuyang and arrived at Fancheng, accompanied by nearly 20,000 soldiers, officials, concubines, and palace ladies.

That afternoon, he arrived at the south of Xiangyang City with 100,000 sheep drawn from Guangchengze Pasture and Yang’s Ranch.

For a moment, there was thunderous applause.

After hearing the news, Mao Bao immediately rushed to the top of the city wall and saw a man in a red robe and golden armor riding a horse. Wherever he passed, shouts of "Long live the emperor" were heard one after another.

Everyone's eyes automatically followed him.

When they reached the front of the infantry formation, the soldiers struck the ground with their spears, stamped their feet and shouted.

When they reached the front of the cavalry formation, officers and chieftains of various units followed them voluntarily. The cavalry became more and more spectacular, and the dull thunderous sound of horse hooves and the shouts of "Long live the emperor" echoed everywhere in the fields.

Shao——The emperor of Daliang is here! Deng Yue was filled with mixed emotions.

When he thought about his own emperor, who was probably still living in the deep palace and being looked down upon by others, he suddenly felt a little depressed.

It is true that he was a general of the Jin Dynasty and theoretically should be loyal to the emperor of the Jin Dynasty. But some things can be compared.

A man of heroic spirit and great achievements, wherever he pointed his whip, the warriors rushed over like a torrent and drowned him.

His word is his final word and his prestige is extremely high.

Wang Yan was more famous than Wang Dao, but he probably didn't dare to speak loudly in front of Emperor Liang, let alone scold him harshly.

Most of the court officials and generals under Wang Yan did not dare to act domineeringly. When they saw that Emperor Liang was respectful and courteous, even the most brutal and cruel people had to put away their claws and teeth and wag their tails to fawn on him. The civil officials did not dare to play secretive games. They knew better than anyone how the noble families such as the He family of Yangxia, the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Liu family of Zhongshan, and the Cui family of Boling had fallen.

"Oh!" Deng Yue sighed softly.

Then he looked at the officers and subordinates following him, all of them were staring outside in a trance.

Who wouldn't want to follow such an emperor?
Who would want to follow a lame emperor who is suppressed by powerful ministers and can only promote relatives to restrict the powerful ministers?
As a warrior, who doesn't have dreams? Isn't it impressive that Emperor Liang overwhelmed the grasslands and shocked the four directions? When the rulers and ministers of Jianye were living a life of drunkenness and dreams, Emperor Liang wiped out the Xiongnu, conquered the Xianbei several times, and conquered Helong again. Many people thought that this was completely unnecessary, but he did it anyway. Isn't he better than those who spend their days doing petty things?

"Bang!" Someone punched the parapet, and no one knew who he was angry with.
After Emperor Liang finished reviewing his troops, he went straight to Caizhou Island.

The area outside the Yang family's Shanghui and Xiahui manors, separated by a river, almost became an open-air slaughterhouse.

Sheep after sheep were driven over and slaughtered on the spot.

The sheep in front were killed, and the sheep behind saw that the situation was not good and ran away, but they were caught by the soldiers who were laughing.

It is obvious that from today until the first day of the first lunar month or even around the fifteenth day, the Liang army soldiers besieging the city will have meat to eat.

Deng Yue didn't even need to observe carefully. Just by looking at people's behavior, he could feel that the morale of the Liang army had been boosted. It was really different!
If you just send wine and meat to entertain the troops, it can also boost morale, but not to such a high level.

The effect would be completely different if Emperor Liang came in person.

All the governors and generals pale in comparison to him. Whoever the soldiers follow is the true king.

This not only boosted morale and shocked the defenders of Xiangyang, but also shocked the Liang generals who had been in charge of the army for several months.

Deng Yue didn't want to watch it anymore, feeling upset.

When he turned to leave, he saw the soldiers guarding the city wall staring outside in a trance, lamenting that the situation was hopeless.

While they had meat to eat, the defenders couldn't even provide hot meals or soup to everyone, let alone meat.

There was no way to go out to collect firewood, as the firewood stored in the city had long been used up, so we could only cut down trees along the roadside.

After the trees are cut down, the houses will be demolished.

Since the demolition, complaints have been heard everywhere.

Life is like this...it's no wonder that morale is low!
In addition, today’s events also illustrate one point: Emperor Liang has moved to Caizhou Island, will anyone come to rescue Xiangyang?

The answer is actually very obvious. It's just that only smart people can think of it now. After some time, more people will understand this truth, and by then, morale may collapse.

In a situation where there is no outside help, it is inevitable that one will die. It really takes a little faith to hold on. But this is not a national hatred or a family feud. What faith do you rely on to hold on? I am afraid that if Emperor Liang made a condition, someone would immediately stop wanting to fight.

******
On New Year's Eve, heavy snow fell on the ground, and Xiangyang was covered in white.

Yang Tan quietly came to Deng Yue's house again.

Deng Yue was drinking and didn't say anything when he saw him. He just pointed across and signaled him to do it himself.

"Only the Lord has wine left here." Yang Qin finished half a cup, sighed with satisfaction and said with a smile.

"It'll be gone after we finish this jar." Deng Yue sighed, looking at the wine in the bowl. Suddenly, he couldn't bear to drink it all in one gulp, so he had to savour it slowly.

"Even without this muddy wine, we can still have Bianliang Chun." Yang Qin said with a smile.

Deng Yue also smiled and said, "Why? Can we borrow a few pots from Shao Taibai?"

"Why not?" Yang Tan said, "Does the Lord still remember Deng Tao?"

Deng Yue was startled, and after a moment of silence, he said, "How could I not remember? The descendants of the Deng family in Xinye are scattered all over the place, and we don't interact much, but if we meet, we will always help each other. I lived in his house for a while in the past, and then I followed my father to the south."

"This man has a lot of influence in front of Emperor Liang." Yang Tan said, "If we ask him for help, he will definitely send us a cart of Bianliangchun, and maybe even--"

"Anything else?" Deng Yue asked subconsciously.

"Maybe there are also the Lord's family members." Yang Tan said.

Deng Yue stood there in a daze.

Most of his family members were in Wuchang, and it was not easy to cross the front line where the two armies were in a stalemate. Moreover, for a prefect or general like them guarding Xiangyang, could Lord Tao not send someone to monitor their home? Unless...

Seeing Deng Yue's expression changing constantly, Yang Tan smiled mysteriously and said, "Emperor Liang has Tao Zhen in his hands."

Deng Yue was delighted at first, but then hesitated, and said softly: "If Mr. Tao did this, I'm afraid he would be criticized."

"Tao Zhen escaped from Liangying and returned to Wuchang after going through countless hardships. He is a loyal minister to the Jin Dynasty. Why should we criticize him?" Yang Tan said disapprovingly, "Isn't it normal for the Lord's family to go out to visit relatives and friends during the first month of the year?"

Deng Yue didn't say anything and just stood there.

Yang Tan no longer tried to cover up his mistake and said directly, "My Lord, even if there was no exchange of hostages, Xiangyang cannot be defended. You have defended it for several months, and you have done your duty to Tao Shiheng. It is he who has failed you! No one in Jianye and Wuchang cares about the life and death of the Xiangyang defenders. If that is the case, why should you risk your life for them? If Tao Shiheng still has a conscience, he should return your family to you generously, or at least not harm them."

Deng Yue sighed heavily, with a look of panic and sadness on his face.

Yes, they have held on until now, and they really deserve the respect of Mr. Tao and the imperial court.

As the war situation developed to this point, any officer or sergeant with a little bit of rank could see that Xiangfan was isolated and a dead end, so why not surrender?
Unless you, Tao Shiheng, show your might and arrive at the city of Xiangyang tomorrow and force Emperor Shao Xun of Liang to pack up and leave Caizhou Island, they will still have the confidence to hold on.

But you can't!
"If you have no objection, I can bring Deng Tao into the city. Some matters should be discussed between him and you personally..." Yang Tan said cautiously.

Deng Yue just picked up the wine bowl, then quietly put it down. After a long while, he nodded imperceptibly.

That night, Deng Tao secretly entered the city and went straight to the prefect's mansion, where he talked with Deng Yue for the entire night.

The next day was New Year's Day. The morale of the defenders in the city was low, and there were even cases of looting civilians. The officers tried to stop them for a few times, but then they were not willing to take care of it.

Deng Tao stayed in the prefect's mansion during the day, and quietly left the city at night and headed straight for Caizhou Island.

His first words after meeting Shao Xun were: Deng Yue is willing to surrender.

(The second update is here, and the third update will be in the evening. The previous chapter has been revised, so just refresh it.)
(End of this chapter)