royal robes

Chapter 940
In fact, Shouzhou is as important as Cangzhou to the entire Tang Dynasty.If the Khitans break through Cangzhou, then the Khitans will be able to drive straight in without hindrance.Although the Khitan could also bypass Cangzhou and attack from other places, as long as Cangzhou is not seized, the Khitan people will have trouble sleeping and eating.As soon as the reinforcements arrive, the Khitan will face the enemy from both sides, so the Khitan is not stupid enough to attack other places first, and finally attack Cangzhou.

The status of Shouzhou is the same as that of Cangzhou, and the first city of the Southern Tang Dynasty against the Great Zhou, its defense power is even stronger than that of Cangzhou.Because the Datang navy is far stronger than the Great Zhou, when the Khitans attack Cangzhou, they don't have to worry about the Zhou's navy attacking back and forth, but when the Zhou army attacks Shouzhou, they must guard against Datang's attack.This is why Shouzhou is more difficult to attack than Cangzhou.

Although Liu Renshan, the Shouzhou guard, is not a legendary figure, Liu Renshan has a characteristic. He is a person who does not like oil and salt, never listens to other people's opinions, and is very afraid of death.Li Jing took a fancy to this point, so Liu Renshan was appointed as the envoy of the Qing Huai Army, responsible for guarding Shouzhou.

Liu Renshan was afraid of death, so he would never go out of the city to fight against the slightest provocation. Even when disasters came, he would still stick to the city.

This situation is like when Guo Wei besieged Tongguan, he could use a trick to lure Li Shouzhen out of the city. Although Guo Wei would definitely win that battle, if he could lure Li Shouzhen out of the city, the casualties of the soldiers could be greatly reduced. But this trick will never work against Liu Renfan. He is a person who absolutely cannot be attracted.

However, the walls of Shouzhou City are strong and there are many soldiers defending the city. The worst thing is that there is still enough food and grass.

Now that Liu Yanzhen came with reinforcements again, Li Gu couldn't help discussing countermeasures. The result of the discussion was similar to Li Gu's original thought, and he still wanted to retreat.But Zhao Kuangyi gave a brand-new idea, the method of retreating troops, maybe it is possible to catch the opponent's mistakes.

Li Gu immediately ordered the soldiers to withdraw outside Xuzhou in batches, at least to withdraw from the Huaihe River area first, and not to have a head-on conflict with the Tang navy.And it must be outside the pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge in the river cannot be regarded as the only way to survive.As long as they could cross the Huaihe River, they would dare to fight even if the Tang Dynasty navy came. If they lost, they would probably escape along the way. If they didn't need to cross the river, the navy wouldn't dare to chase them down the bank. If they won, they could still hold the pontoon bridge.

This is only the first battle of the Great Zhou invasion, but it is also the most important battle. I don't know how long they need to fight in Shouzhou.But as long as Shouzhou is broken, the Zhou army will be able to drive straight in, so no one knows what the outcome of this battle will be. Although Shouzhou is difficult to take, Dazhou has no worries now. The only two threats are the Northern Han Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty. Western Shu, but they are no longer able to fight, so Dazhou can attack Southern Tang with all its strength.

Shouzhou's defense was indeed too strong. Compared with Xuzhou, the front line against the Southern Tang Dynasty, they were not at the same level.Although Xuzhou's military strength is very strong, the defensive power of the city wall appears to be very weak.Fortunately, this time it was an active attack. If it was a defense, Xuzhou wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

A city like Xuzhou can be conquered by force, but Shouzhou is very difficult.This was also the most difficult part for Li Gu, because Chai Rong knew that he did not have the strength to capture Shouzhou, but he sent him to attack first.Although Zhao Kuangyin and his party were assisting him, Li Gu still felt that Chai Rong was deliberately playing tricks on him.

..............................

Li Gu's retreat is great news for Shouzhou, because it is only natural for him to retreat because he has been unable to attack for a long time.The stone in Liu Renshan's heart can be regarded as letting go. If he had known that Xuzhou was preparing for the war to invade the Southern Tang Dynasty, Liu Renshan was not most worried about it.There is no doubt that they attacked Shouzhou first. If Shouzhou was captured, the entire Southern Tang Dynasty would be exposed to Da Zhou's attack range.

Liu Renshan defended Shouzhou, but he knew very well that this was only the first wave of attack. The reason why these people left was not because they could not attack for a long time, but because reinforcements arrived.If there were no reinforcements, or if the Great Zhou army was large enough to not be afraid of a little reinforcements at all, they would continue to besiege the city.

Soon, Liu Yanzhen and his deputy Xian Shilang also rushed to Shouzhou.The large troops have basically arrived, but it will take some time for the backup supply. A group of people stood on the crenel of the city wall, looking at some dust in the distance. At this time, Zhou Jun could no longer be seen, but the distance was not too far away. Far.

Li Gu had timed it very accurately, and he had just completed the evacuation mission before Liu Yanzhen arrived.

"General Liu, I heard that Zhou Dynasty has withdrawn its troops. Why are you still holding on to the city gate and not pursuing the victory?" Liu Yanzhen came to Liu Rengan's side. She was very happy to see Zhou Dynasty withdrawing its troops, but she could not let him monopolize everything. Take the credit, you have to look stronger, otherwise this expedition will be meaningless.

Liu Renshan said: "Da Zhou's retreat is a good sign. It's all thanks to Liu Taiwei who sent troops to help and scare Zhou Jun away. Presumably Zhou Jun also heard of Liu Taiwei's reputation and learned that Taiwei has come here so he retreated early, otherwise he would live forever." The state will also suffer from the siege."

Hearing this, Liu Yanzhen felt much more comfortable. Liu Renshan was still very good at talking, but he spoke in a balanced tone and at an extremely slow pace, as if he had to think about a sentence for a long time.However, Liu Yanzhen also knew that he had such a slow temper. Even if Zhou Jun broke through the gate of Shouzhou City, he would still be slow and not in a hurry.

There are only these slow people in this world, and ordinary people will be anxious when talking to him, but when they meet a quick person, they will have to fight.

Liu Yanzhen is this kind of impatient person. Although she knew that Liu Renshan was originally this kind of impatient person and did not target anyone, hearing his tone and speed made her feel angry.After traveling for so long, I was anxious in my heart, but when I met such a slow person... I really wanted to beat him up.

"Our surname is Liu, how come there is such a big difference in our personalities? You, a slow-tempered person...should have changed a long time ago. When I was stationed in Shouzhou, who of them would dare to invade? They just bullied a slow-tempered person like you. They could come and leave whenever they wanted. Let’s go, I’m sure you don’t have the guts to chase me.”

Liu Renshan said: "My lord's lesson is that lower officials must change, must change."

For these few words, the people around waited for a long time before Liu Renshan finished speaking.Although he said that he would definitely change, it was obvious that his personality was hard to change.

Liu Yanzhen also served as the defender of Shouzhou back then, but at that time, the internal strife in the Central Plains was too busy to take care of himself, so how could he have the spare power to attack the mighty Southern Tang?However, at that time, the Southern Tang Dynasty was also fighting for years, so there was no intention of attacking the border of the Central Plains.Shouzhou is naturally safe all year round.

Later, Li Jing sensed the crisis first and believed that Liu Yanzhen's strength and character were not enough to garrison Shouzhou, so he asked him to return to the court.Although Liu Yanzhen's reputation has always been good, Li Jing knew very well that Liu Yanzhen was just an embroidered pillow and could not be entrusted with important responsibilities at all.

With Liu Rengan guarding Shouzhou and the city wall being indestructible, Li Jing felt relieved.It would not be a problem to send Liu Yanzhen to reinforce and send some supplies and food.After all, Liu Yanzhen also served as the guard of Shouzhou, and he also had some understanding of the situation there.What's more, the stakes in this battle are very important, and Liu Yanzhen is very clear about it, so he is not afraid of him messing around.

On the surface, Li Jing's arrangement was to promote Liu Yanzhen, but in fact, his importance was far less important than that of Shouzhou Guard General.Not to mention dispensable officials like Liu Yanzhen, even Huangfu Jixun, the military marshal of the Southern Tang Dynasty, had to obey Li Rengan's orders in Shouzhou.

This kind of relationship is like when Guo Wei arrived in Cangzhou back then, it was impossible for him to mobilize every single soldier in Cangzhou. He could at most help Fu Yanqing defend the city, or make suggestions.But whether to adopt this suggestion depends entirely on Fu Yanqing's attitude, and Guo Wei has no right to intervene.

At the beginning, Liu Yanzhen hadn't figured it out, and she was quite happy in her heart. It was much better to be promoted to Taiwei than a small Jiedushi.But it was later discovered that although the Taiwei had a high official position, he did not have much real power in his hands, and although the Jiedushi had a low official position, he had the power of life and death.

Of course Liu Yanzhen knew that this battle was of great importance, so he didn't want all the credit to be taken away by Liu Renshan.He had just started out as a teacher, and the battle was over before it was fought.Even if he reported the letter back to the court, his colleagues knew that it was Liu Renshan who forced Zhou Jun to retreat, not his own credit.

"When the enemy advances, we retreat, and when the enemy retreats, we pursue. Don't you even understand this principle?" Liu Yanzhen said, "Now that the enemy is retreating, isn't this a good time to pursue? There must be no formation to speak of when retreating, so attack at this time It will be able to annihilate the Zhou army in one fell swoop, so that they will never dare to invade our border."

Liu Renfan didn't know how to describe his current mood. There was really no reason to explain it to a mentally retarded person.Obviously, the Zhou army saw the reinforcements coming, and was afraid of being cut off, so it withdrew from Shouzhou. However, it was just to hold the pontoon bridge and would never retreat too far.Once their reinforcements arrive, they will still rush over and continue to attack the city.

But how can I tell him this situation so that he can understand?If you go too far, he becomes impatient; if you say too little, he doesn't believe it.Of course, with his own speaking speed, he might not be able to finish listening even if he wanted to explain clearly.

"Liu Taiwei, if you go out of the city to pursue it at this time, I'm afraid you will be caught by the enemy's plan to lure snakes out of the cave. The lower officials think that sticking to the city is the best choice, and it is meaningless to go out of the city to pursue it. Liu Taiwei must not be eager for quick success, so as not to cause trouble for the upper body. "Liu Renshan speaks very slowly. If you tell all the theories and ideas at once... Liu Yanzhen will definitely not be able to listen to it, so Liu Renshan chooses to focus on not talking too much nonsense with Liu Yanzhen, so that he can understand the results of his pursuit. as a result of.

The enemy army has now retreated. Even if they catch up, they will only kill a few more, but they will not be able to cut off their large army. Moreover, this is only the vanguard force. Even if they are all killed, their main force has not come at all, so it is almost meaningless.

(End of this chapter)