Chapter 1219 Deal with each other

Chapter 1219 Deal with each other

Chapter 1219 Deal with each other
"Three hundred bandit soldiers were captured at Wumadu, most of them were old and weak. I personally interrogated the captives and learned that they were soldiers from Tangyi County, and were instigated by the prefect Chen Yan to rebel." Sima Fan, the King of Xiangyang, who had just returned from the river, talked freely, with a hint of excitement in his calm tone, as if he was very majestic for leading two thousand men to leisurely shoot and kill hundreds of old and weak soldiers behind a stone wall.

At this point, he added: "In the past, Chen Yan drank and enjoyed himself during his mourning period. He was accused and should have been dismissed from office, but Shi Guipin stopped him. After he rebelled, he said that he was ordered by Shi Guipin and the King of Langya to attack the Prime Minister, Shangshu Ling and other important officials. I don't know whether it is true or not, Your Majesty will judge for yourself."

Sima Fei frowned slightly.

"That's enough." Queen Shan Yi Nan scolded: "Such a clumsy speech, why bother to say more? According to what you said, the Liang bandits actually wanted to reinforce Jincheng, and the five horses could not cross the river and just pretended to attack."

"That's right." Sima Fan said firmly.

"Can't we take down Jincheng?" Shan Yinan asked, "Zhao Yin is considered a veteran, why can't we recover it?"

"Empress, Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Jincheng and will not return until the city is conquered." Sima Fan said generously.

Shan Yinan glanced at him and thought that this was not a problem that could be solved by simply replacing people. He might need to increase the number of troops, and they had to be capable fighters, otherwise he would just have to grind them down slowly.

Furthermore, Sima Fan boasted that he knew military skills, but Sima Yue didn't use him back then, right? Even Sima Yue looked down on him, so you can imagine how capable he was.

Shan Yinan doesn't know much about military affairs, but she knows people.

"We'll discuss this matter later." Shan Yinan said.

Sima Fan also knew that it was unlikely for him to replace Zhao Yin, so he stopped mentioning the matter.

"You have two thousand men, you should guard Wuma Ferry and prevent the bandits from sneaking across." Shan Yinan said, "After we clear out the bandits, the court will reward you."

"I obey your command." Sima Fan replied.

Seeing that the emperor and empress had no more questions, he bowed and left.

After Sima Fan left, Attendant Censor Xu Zhao entered and bowed.

He just made a trip to Wuxing County, going there and coming back quickly, and it was very tiring.

"Xu Qing." This time it was Sima Fei's turn to speak: "How is the battle in Yangxian going?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Xu Zhao said, "Lord Yu has summoned the elders of the Qian and Shen families to the county city to inquire about the situation in the clan. The Qian family seems to have made unusual moves, and the Shen family has moved away 5,000 farmhands since the death of Shen Chong. Their power has greatly declined, and they can't rebel even if they want to."

Sima Fei heaved a sigh of relief and said, "With Yu Qing here, I feel relieved."

After saying that, he glanced at the queen.

Shan Yinan pondered for a moment and asked, "If the Qian family makes any unusual moves, does Yu Siao have any strategy?"

"Lord Yu has secretly gathered the county's troops and contacted those who are loyal to the court. If there is any unusual movement, they will strike with lightning speed." Xu Zhao replied.

Shan Yinan shook his head and said, "Go to Wuxing again and order Lord Yu to send out troops immediately. While the Qian family has not yet recruited men, attack the Qian family's old house. You must do it quickly and don't give them time to react."

Xu Zhao was stunned.

"Qian Feng is causing trouble, can't the Qian family be executed? After executing the Qian family, you can dispose of his land and farmhands to appease the people." Shan Yinan said, "Don't hesitate, leave now. Remember, you must be quick."

"Yes." Xu Zhao sighed.

"The Danyang nobles such as Tao, Xu, Ji, Ge, and Dai are diligent in the king's affairs. After the Zhou and Qian families are defeated, they will surely get a share of the pie," Shan Yinan added.

"I obey your command." Xu Zhao was convinced.

After Xu Zhao left, more people came in to ask questions, and the conversation ended at noon.

"After the Queen's arrangement, the situation seems to be promising?" Sima Fei stepped forward, took the Queen's hand, and smiled, which was a rare moment for him.

Shan Yinan smiled at him and said, "With your Majesty's support, I can do my best."

After saying this, he seemed to remember something and said, "Your Majesty, you can draft an edict to Guangling this afternoon to appoint Su Jun as Sikong, add Shizhong, and choose a good place for him to be given as a fief, and he can be a county duke. Su Jun's fifth son is in the capital and has not yet married. He can marry a daughter of the royal family. After that, order him to lead the troops westward to capture Tangyi."

"So much reward?" Sima Fei asked in surprise.

Shan Yinan smiled, stepped forward, straightened Sima Pei's robe, and said, "Your Majesty is rich, why are you stingy with official titles? A king should be generous, so that his subjects will work hard for him."

Sima Fei nodded slightly and asked again: "Will Su Jun be obedient?"

"Yes." Shan Yinan said, "Su Jun's army has 7,000 people, and at least 30% of his family members are in Tangyi and Erqiao counties. Chen Yan's troops killed many people in Ting County. Su Jun would attack Chen Yan for military reasons. Your Majesty has given him such a generous reward, so he has no reason not to obey orders. But-"

"But what?" Sima Fei asked.

"If anyone tells Your Majesty that you should summon Su Jun's troops to the south to quell the rebellion, do not agree to it," Shan Yinan said.

Sima Fei suddenly realized and said, "I still can't trust Su Jun?"

"Your Majesty, just trust your wife." Shan Yinan said with a smile as he took Sima Pei's hand.

Sima Fei shook his head and laughed.

Although this woman is boring and annoying, she is very methodical and methodical in her work, which saves me a lot of worry.

Under her and Director Wang's control, the situation in Jiangnan seemed to be gradually stabilizing, which was very good.

******
The battle of Huaiyang Hill has begun, and the first to arrive at the battlefield are Yang Tao's troops stationed in Xiquyang.

A group of mixed Hu cavalry shuttled between Liyang and Huaiyang Hill, continuing to block traffic.

After receiving the order, Zhang Shuo did not dare to delay and personally arrived in Quanjiao to deploy the battle.

Huan Xuan, the governor of Qiao County, led his county troops to besiege Yicheng. After a few days, he conquered it and then led his troops straight to the city of Zhongli.

At the end of the month, thousands of men from Qiao County arrived and joined the siege. But Huan Xuan still felt that the pace was too slow and kept urging them on.

Ding Zhuang of Ruyin County received an order from Zhang Shuo and was assigned to command Huan Xuan, vowing to capture this important town on the Huai River of the Jin people.

There are 3,000 soldiers stationed in Zhongli all year round. After the war started, more than 1,000 men were temporarily conscripted. With sufficient food and weapons, it seems that the city can hold out in the short term.

But the defending general was rather pessimistic, as he could only get news from the outside world sporadically, and his morale was somewhat low.

The reason why they haven't surrendered yet is that they want to hold out until the river thaws and external communications become smoother.

To put it bluntly, he is just waiting and watching. If he doesn't get reinforcements for a long time, he won't have much confidence to hold on.

Ten thousand Di and Qiang people from Runan headed straight for Lujiang, with the goal of reaching the county seat of Shu County. However, they were still on their way and would probably arrive at the battlefield in mid-to-late February.

Zhou Mo had just been defeated by the troops of the He family of Lujiang in the area north of Shu County, losing hundreds of people.

The cavalry rushed to the rescue and the bandits retreated again.

From this we can see that after years of tug-of-war, the combat effectiveness and vigilance of the local nobles in Lujiang are quite good, and it is impossible to occupy the city easily without using a large army.

Fan Jun, the prefect of Yiyang, surrendered and led his troops to attack Anfeng County in the east to eliminate the flank threat of the Huainan army.

The Xunyang Zhou clan began to recruit soldiers on a large scale, repair ships, and prepare for a decisive battle with the Liang army.

The battle situation in the entire Jiangbei region began to accelerate.

The first day of February, outside Xia Pi City.

The cold wind blew Beigong Chun's hair and beard. He was nearly sixty years old and led the front-line garrison troops who had assembled in advance, and divided the troops into two groups.

Going south from Huaipu, Tong Jian, an old subordinate of Zu Ti and the guard general, led two thousand Northern Army soldiers and two thousand local soldiers to surrender and support the Daliang King's army.

Another route went south from Xia Pi and headed straight for the important town of Huaiyin. Han Qian, a Zhonglang official of the Northern Palace, raised his troops in the city and surrendered to Liang, but was assassinated by his subordinates. The rest of the troops closed the city gates and held on, waiting for help.

Beigong Chun’s target is these people.

"The commander-in-chief, just go south to fight the enemy. I will gather soldiers, food and weapons from Xia Pi and send them to you." The prefect Miao Kai bowed and saluted.

"In the past, Lord Li recommended you to be the prefect of Xia Pi. I am not as good as him, and there is no way for me to help you move up one step. But it is not impossible to move from Xia Pi to Guangling." Beigong Chun said as he walked towards the floating bridge.

Miao Kai was born into a literary family, but he had been stationed in Xiapi for many years and had fought many battles with the Wu people. He was used to the way warriors spoke. He smiled and said, "If we could replace him with the governor of Danyang, wouldn't it be better?"

Beigong Chun laughed. Maybe it was just a joke, and they couldn't cross the Yangtze River in the short term, but it didn't stop them from imagining it.

"Liu Zun is stationed in Xuyi, and he has thousands of elite soldiers under his command. The imperial court has tried to persuade him to surrender several times but to no avail. When the commander-in-chief attacks Huaiyin, be careful of these people who may come to attack you on the boat," Miao Kai reminded again.

Beigong Chun had a good temper. He nodded and then stepped onto the creaking floating bridge.

On the bridge, teams of soldiers were marching south.

They looked sad and looked like they didn't want to fight at all.

They were either soldiers or peasants, and it was impossible for them to be happy when hearing about war. According to their minds, it was best not to fight and live a quiet life. They were forced to go south, and their pain was imaginable. What would they do with the spring farming at home?

But no one cared about their thoughts. Teams and battalions were driven towards Huaiyin like dogs and chickens.

Beigong Chun keenly sensed that the morale of the army was somewhat low.

How to boost morale? He had led troops in the wild land of Liangzhou for half his life and was very experienced. He immediately sent people to spread the word along the way: After going south to Guangling, you can plunder women, gold, silver, and other valuables, and he will take responsibility for any problems.

The morale of the entire army was greatly boosted!

On the second day of February, Shao Xun received the "updated" second military report in Guangchengze, and learned a little about the chaos in Jiangnan.

At this moment, he felt even more helpless.

It would be great if we could teleport the main force of the navy from Badong, Bajun and Nanjun to Guangling...

"Order all the camps to speed up their advance and keep a close eye on the Jiangbei bandit army, and don't let them return to Jiangnan for assistance."

There is no doubt that this was an attempt to seize all the land north of the Yangtze River and create a situation similar to that of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty against the Southern Tang Dynasty in history.

As for whether the next step would be to cross the river and take Jianye directly, Shao Xun actually had little confidence, because the Northern Song Dynasty had pushed to the north of the Yangtze River, and after operating for many years, it still did not dare to take Jianye directly from the Guabu area, but instead sneaked across the river from the upper reaches of Hubei.

"How many ships are there in the Heyang Zhuzhu and Bianliang Shahai? After the rivers thaw, transfer them all to Shouchun. I know they have been defeated in many battles and are no match for the Wu people. The Ministry of War will work with the Military Affairs Academy to distribute rewards to boost morale."

Even if these people trained in the Yellow River and the lakes of Bianliang for another fifty years, they would not be a match for the Jiangdong Navy. Their poor performance in the Shouchun Battle had already proved the problem. Moreover, the elite had long been withdrawn to Jiangling to serve as officers and grassroots backbones of the Navy. The remaining combat power was not good, and it could only be said that it was better than nothing. They hoped to motivate their morale with a large amount of money, force them to fight to the death, and create possible opportunities for war.

"Do your best to rescue Jincheng, evacuate the wounded and prisoners, and send more reinforcements. Defend the city for me, and you will be rewarded handsomely after the battle."

Jincheng is on Puzhoujin. There are only a few places to cross the river, and the Jin people mainly defend the ferry. Although Jincheng is not a good ferry, with high winds and rough waves, it is easy to get into trouble, but it is the only ferry controlled by Daliang, and there is no other choice.

"Order all the imperial guard camps, all the imperial guards, and all the states, in February——"

When he said this, he thought for a long time, and finally said: "There are frequent wars, so let's prepare for spring plowing first. Once the spring plowing is completed, we will go out in batches to help capture Liyang, Hefei, Guangling, and Xunyang."

"In addition, I have written a letter by hand and ordered the Honglu Temple to select capable officials to bring it to Wuchang. The Zhuge clan of Langya and I are neighbors in the same hometown, and we are only a stone's throw away. Since we are neighbors, we have a deep friendship. I have always known Daoming's talents. If you surrender the whole state, you will not lose the reward of a duke, and the important position of the cabinet will be vacant waiting for you. I will never break my promise."

"These few decrees will be issued immediately."

(End of this chapter)