Chapter 1234 Heart Qi

Chapter 1234 Heart Qi

Chapter 1234 Heart Qi
In late May, Lu Wanju descended from Liyang.

And before them, Wujiang had already surrendered.

In early June, the army captured Xunyang City and pushed the battle line to the north of the Yangtze River, facing Chaisang across the river.

The two counties of Yiyang and Anfeng were also gradually pacified.

At this point, all of Jiangbei except for parts of Xuzhou had been captured.

As the epidemic in the army gradually increased, Zhang Shuo ordered the army to disperse and garrison in various places, wipe out the remaining enemies, and then rest and recuperate.

On the seventh day of June, Zhuge Hui led the navy of Jingzhou eastward and headed straight for the mouth of the Peng River.

The Liang Dynasty's second-rate navy, which had not yet completed its training, also started to move out one after another and gathered in the Wuchang and Xiakou areas.

Zhuge Hui did not bring many land forces with him because the weather was not suitable for fighting. His main purpose was to defeat and force the Jiangzhou navy to land, and seize its water fort - Penkou was the largest naval base in Jiangzhou.

News from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River naturally spread back to the lower reaches one after another, and it goes without saying that there were all kinds of things happening in the world at that time.

On the day Zhuge Hui sent out his troops, Liu Chao and Zhao Yin had already captured Yangxian City and were killing people vigorously.

At this time, they couldn't fight anymore, and they didn't have much energy left...

It rained in the afternoon, dispelling some of the bloody smell in Yangxian City.

Zhou Zha’s old head was hung high up, with a group of Zhou family members lying below it.

If it were a month or two ago, defeating the Zhou family would have been a reasonable achievement, but now no one is in the mood to celebrate.

Because Director Wang came forward to persuade them, they now have enough food, fodder and equipment. The two forces together have a total of 40,000 troops, which seems to be a lot, but these soldiers can only fight against the barbarian chiefs and local tyrants. They have no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation with the main force of the Liang army.

This is the biggest dilemma facing the Wu people. If they cannot win the field battle, everything will be zero.

If it had not been for the continuous rain in mid-to-late May and the scorching heat in June, which led to an increase in the number of sick soldiers in the Liang army, they might have been defeated by now, instead of being able to survive.

However, anyone with eyes can see that the Jin Dynasty is running out of time and may be reaching its final moments.

When the rain stopped in the evening, Bian Dan found a little donkey and quietly left Yangxian and headed north.

He used to be a Shangshulang in the court, and was appointed as the prefect of Yixing some time ago. After barely making it through, he became more and more frightened, so he decided to give up his position and run away.

Going north from Yangxian, there are both main roads and small roads. Bian Dan didn't even take the small road and almost got lost in the farmland, which made the more than 30 followers feel like they were screwed.

This is really a bit dangerous!
Fortunately, this group of people were well-equipped, with bows, swords, guns and shields. A dozen of them even wore armor in the hottest weather, looking ready to fight at any time. This made small-scale bandits dare not act rashly - this was not a merchant caravan, and killing them would not help them rob any valuables, but would probably result in a lot of deaths. It was not that they could not defeat them, but that it was not worth it.

As for the local tyrants in the countryside, they have more concerns than the bandits.

A few solitary people would be fine, and capturing them as slaves would also be an income, but there is no need for a fully armed team.

Furthermore, they are now in a state of panic.

"The army is killing each other, and the farmlands are being trampled over and over again. How are we going to live in the future?" Bian Dan sighed while taking a break.

"My lord, the Zhou family is gone, who will care about this?" You Buqu said with a smile.

"The Zhou family is gone, but the people are still there..." Bian Dan sighed and stopped talking halfway through his words.

There were many new graves in the wild, obviously all of them were people from Yixing who had died in the past few months. But those who had a place to bury their dead were considered lucky, because most people didn't know where they died. Yixing had been ravaged like this for several months, and the losses were huge.

"Forget it." Bian Dan shook his head and said, "In this world, it's not easy for anyone to live. Why should I care about so many things? I don't know what will happen to my family. I'm worried!"

******
On June 15th, Bian Dan sneaked back home.

Shangshu Ling Bian Xu had just come off duty when he saw his son running back. He picked up a wooden stick and was about to hit him.

Bian Dan covered his head and ran away, slipping directly out of Wuyi Lane, but unexpectedly ran into Wang Tian at the entrance of the lane.

"Jingyu? Are you still wandering around?" Bian Dan asked in surprise.

"Yan Ke? You abandoned your official position and ran away?" Wang Tian was even more surprised.

"What do you mean by abandoning office and running away? He just resigned and left." Bian Dan said.

Wang Tian looked him up and down and asked, "Why are you in such a mess? Are you being chased by someone?"

Bian Dan was choked and argued: "It is a noble thing to resign and leave. Why should we chase him or not?"

"That was in the past." Wang Tian shook his head and said, "I just came back from Yangxian and sent a batch of arrows to Liu Chao and Zhao Yin. They are crazy now and have a strong desire to kill. There were only a hundred men from the Xie family who left the camp and ran away. They ran more than ten miles away, but we chased them all the way and killed them all, hanging their heads on the gate. There was also a son of the Liu family in Pengcheng who was originally an aide in the army. He said goodbye to Liu Chao, but was caught in public and beaten to death."

Bian Dan lowered his head and said nothing.

Of course he knew all this and that was the main reason why he kept running into the wilds along the way. He was afraid of being caught and killed.

Just as Wang Tian said, Liu Chao and Zhao Yin had gone crazy. The former committed many murders in Yixing and Wuxing, offending many people. When the Silver Spear Army attacked Guangde a while ago, Liu Chao immediately sent troops to help, but they fought until heavy rains fell, and the Liang Army had no choice but to retreat.

Zhao Yin killed all the wounded soldiers of the Liang army who were stranded in Jincheng and unable to break out.

These two people have no way out at all. They are now very crazy and will bite anyone they catch.

"You're still rushing to send arrows?" Bian Dan also looked at Wang Tian and said, "Zhuge Hui has surrendered, there's no hope for him. If you send arrows now, aren't you afraid of adding another expense to your account?"

"What else can I do? There is no one left to use, and my father is forcing me to go." Wang Tian said helplessly.

"No one is available?" Bian Dan asked in surprise, "Jianye has become like this? It's only been a few days?"

"After Jingzhou surrendered to the enemy, the number of people who resigned increased greatly, and all government offices were short of staff, and the shortage was severe." Wang Tian said: "I don't know how many people in the court were jealous and resentful of Zhuge Hui. By the way, how is Zhuge Yi?"

"Dead." Bian Dan said expressionlessly, "He followed Zhao Yin to the south. After hearing that Zhuge Daoming had surrendered, he was beheaded by Zhao Yin for collaborating with the enemy."

"He didn't have a good ending at such an old age. Sigh." Wang Tian sighed, "He actually did his best, but he was killed unjustly."

"You said Liu and Zhao were crazy. How can you reason with a madman?" Bian Dan said, "I advise you to prepare more troops. If Liu Chao and Zhao Yin want to satisfy their desire before they die and return to Jianye to humiliate the scholars, I think it will be a catastrophe."

Wang Tian's heart skipped a beat and he said, "Not really. My father has been very kind to them."

"People are about to die, what's the point of talking about gratitude or not?" Bian Dan sneered.

After saying that, he seemed to remember something and asked, "What has the emperor been doing recently?"

"What else can we do?" Wang Tian said, "Promote the officials and titles of the scholars in Wu. The high officials who were reluctant to give them in the past were given titles, and the noble titles that were reluctant to give them were also given titles. Perhaps they felt that the scholars who fled south were unreliable, and only the Jiangdong clans were willing to fight. At least the ships anchored on the river are real, and they are probably the only ones willing to fight now."

"It's hard to say." Bian Dan sighed and didn't want to say more, because he really saw that some local soldiers from Jiangdong under the command of Liu and Zhao left without saying goodbye and successfully escaped.

Given the current situation, I don't know how many people will run away throughout the summer. It would be good if half of the 40,000 troops are left by autumn.

After the two finished their conversation, they quickly fell into silence. After greeting each other, they left without any energy or spirit.

******
Bian Dan was at a loss and ran to Changganli unknowingly.

The once bustling street was now deserted with few merchants.

In the distance, a convoy was leaving. Bian Dan had just encountered them. They seemed to be members of the Wujun Lu family in Beijing, rolling up their luggage and returning to their hometown.

In the knee-high weeds, a group of soldiers who came from nowhere were resting in the barracks.

This is the south gate of Jianye. Once the enemy attacks from the south, they must go through here.

Bian Dan looked around and found the banner of King Kuaiji hanging in the distance. He wondered to himself that he was also the governor of Chengdu?
The Sima Jin royal family probably had no way out, especially the King of Kuaiji, who was a descendant of the previous emperor and had no way of survival.

But it’s hard to say.

Emperor Shao Xun of Liang did not even kill Cao Qi, and when he heard that Tuoba Shiyijian was still alive, he was not a narrow-minded person - you could also think he was too confident.

A young man like the King of Kuaiji doesn't know anything. It doesn't matter whether he is killed or not. Do you still expect the people of Jiangnan to restore their country under the banner of the Sima family? Back then, Chen Min was so powerful, and he claimed to be the descendant of the Sun family, but few Wu nobles came forward. Instead, they helped the Sima family to suppress him.

Faintly in the wind came the sounds of killing and various golden drums.

Bian Dan knew with just a little thought that it was the troops of the King of Kuaiji who were training.

It's in vain to resist!
Isn't his elder brother, Langya King Sima Chong, even more powerful? He suffered a great defeat in Ningguo a few days ago, and the one who defeated him was actually the Xuancheng nobles who had once been defeated by him.

More than 4,000 soldiers and horses fled, and most of them were young men from Wuhu. Perhaps they wanted to pass through the battle zone between the two armies and run back to join Shan Xia who was defending Wuhu.

The King of Langya is the epitome of the royal family of the Jin Dynasty.

This is also a pitiful person. Princess Zhuge was taken to the north. According to Shao Taibai's reputation, the next time the King of Langya sees his wife, she will probably be pregnant. The couple can only shed tears and sob.

Bian Dan suddenly felt that it was quite boring, and also had a sense of grief for the loss of a loved one.

His father was the Shangshu Ling of the Jin Dynasty, one of the most senior officials under Wang Dao. On weekdays, he could even unite with relatives and other important officials to compete with Wang Dao and suppress the momentum of Wang family of Langya.

Can you really escape from such a reputation?
Theoretically, if my father was willing to surrender, he might not have to die, but would he be willing to do that?

Bian Dan didn't know, and didn't dare to think about it. He had a vague feeling that his father was probably unwilling to surrender.

Suddenly I felt like crying.

In this fucked up world, everyone, whether common people or rich and powerful, is suffering endlessly.

Let's end it sooner, even if the final outcome is death, it's better than continuing to live in fear.

(End of this chapter)