Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

"Liu Renshan is a Confucian general. He even killed his own son in order to defend Shouzhou. Now that he is asked to surrender, how can he face his son who is in the underworld? His reputation will be ruined for half his life.

He devoted his whole life to the Tang Dynasty king, and stayed in Shouzhou, but he was let down. If he surrendered, he would not be able to get out of his own moral dilemma.

But in my opinion, he is just not thick-skinned enough. If I am in Shouzhou City, there is something I can't think about. Nantang treats him like this, and he should have surrendered long ago. "Shi Congyun shook his head. Last year when the Zhou army besieged Shouzhou, the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty sent people with beef and wine to reward the Zhou army outside the city in order to seek peace. Still defending.

Luqiu Zhongqing laughed dryly, thought for a while and said, "Marshal, I think there may be another way."

"How?" Shi Congyun looked at him curiously.

"Since he wants to keep the chastity, the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty does not dare to offend us. After Zhu Yuan surrenders and the situation in Huaibei becomes clear, it will be all right if the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty orders him to surrender." Luqiu Zhongqing said.

Shi Congyun's eyes brightened when he heard this. If the Southern Tang Dynasty surrendered and the cities in Huainan were to be handed over to the Zhou army, then the Southern Tang Kingdom would indeed order the defenders to surrender.

However, he immediately rejected this idea. As long as Shouzhou is still in his hands, the ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty has no possibility of surrendering.

But Luqiu Zhongqing's idea did give him a different way of thinking, so he thought about it and said: "Send an envoy to the city, and say that this envoy wants to talk to Liu Renshan."

He had never asked for this before, because the war was still going on, and he was afraid of being cheated. What if he leaned over and the Tang army hid a bunch of sharp archers at the top of the city?That's not a joke. Killing him, the commander in chief, is beneficial to the entire battle situation in Huainan. For matters involving the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, no means can be overstated.

But now that the overall situation has been decided, the news that Zhu Yuan and others were forced to surrender must have spread to the city.

On the other side, Qi Wang Li Jingda of Haozhou sent reinforcements from both land and water, but the army was intercepted and defeated by Xiang Xun, and retreated in a panic after losing hundreds of people.

The navy was intercepted and defeated by Si Chao in the lower reaches of Tushan, burned more than [-] ships, and retreated to Haozhou Water Village in despair.

The Southern Tang army has suffered heavy losses in this battle. The Tushan army has wiped out about 2 enemies. In addition to the battle of Zijin Mountain, the siege and counterattack on the east side of Zijin Mountain, according to the statistics of all parties, Southern Tang died in battle. There are nearly [-] soldiers, and as many as [-] surrendered, of which Zhu Yuan's army is the bulk.

As a result, the Southern Tang Dynasty lost almost [-] fresh troops in this war until now.

The total strength of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Huainan was about [-], and now more than half of them have been lost. The rest are in Shouzhou and Haozhou, and the rest are scattered in various places. The basic organization has a strong counterattack.

To put it bluntly in this situation, just release a general and let him lead 1 people to fight, he is the God of War!

Because after Shi Congyun won this big battle, in the overall situation in Huainan, the Southern Tang no longer had the troops to resist such a large-scale attack, and just sending any general could sweep all over the place.

In this situation, he was not so worried about seeing Liu Renshan. Smart people must know that Nan Tang was hopeless in Huainan.

The envoy came down to the city with a special flag and conveyed his intention to the defenders at the top of the city. The soldiers at the top of the city quickly ran down to report, and after a while they came up to reply, and the envoy ran towards him.

Shi Congyun watched from a distance. After a while, the envoy came back and reported that Liu Renshan was willing to see him.

Even so, Shi Congyun led a row of soldiers with large shields to escort him to the city.

Under the city, there are rocks everywhere, and the city wall of Shouzhou is full of scars, and there are cracks from trebuchets everywhere. The guards at the top of the city are curious and scared to see what he looks like.

After a while, an old man in his fifties came out from the top of the city, his eyes were sunken, and his expression was not so good. Seeing him, he laughed and said: "It takes such timidity for the dignified Zhou Jun to meet an old man. I heard that you are a hero." The character, when I saw it today, it turned out to be a rat."

Shi Congyun looked up at Liu Renshan at the top of the city, and wanted to scold back on the spot, but he sneered as soon as he turned his head: "Liu Renshan, I am young, and I have a long life in the great Zhou Dynasty. How to make achievements, leave your name in history, how to enjoy the glory, wealth, wine and women!

On the contrary, Zhu Yuan will lead his army to surrender to the commander the day after tomorrow. Tu Shanshui's army will be wiped out, and all the land and water reinforcements sent by Haozhou will be defeated. Of course you are not afraid of death.

A certain person didn't want to be as self-willed and depraved as you, and despise life, so naturally he will cherish his life, hahahahaha. "

After he finished speaking, the surrounding Zhou Jun also burst into laughter. Liu Renshan on the top of the wall had a bad face, and said coldly: "Master Shi is probably not here to argue, so just speak up!"

Only then did Shi Congyun stop laughing, "Liu Renshan, I have never lost a war against you in the Southern Tang Dynasty. In my opinion, all the troops in the Southern Tang Dynasty are like chickens and dogs, vulnerable to a single blow!"

Shi Congyun's words were very arrogant, and he said it with arrogance, but he was so angry that he couldn't refute it. The facts are there.

"However, among the many generals, there are only three who make me treat you differently. One is you, and the other is Lin Renzhao." He didn't say anything about the third one.

"You have shown the utmost benevolence to the court of the Southern Tang Dynasty. A certain person knows why you did not surrender. I forgive you. After all, those who persevere are worthy of admiration."

Liu Renshan was surprised by Shi Congyun's words. He thought that this time he was here to persuade him to surrender, and it was not the first time that Zhou Jun had persuaded him to surrender.

"Because of your current predicament, please show me a way, you write a letter to your king, requesting surrender, if he agrees, you surrender, if you continue to defend, all the people in the city will starve to death.

If the lord of the country agrees to your surrender, your reputation will not be damaged, and you will be worthy of your dedication and persistence over the past year. "The main reason is to have the face to see the son who was killed by you, Shi Congyun didn't say this.

"It's up to you to make up your own mind. Zhu Yuan will come to surrender to the commander tomorrow. By then, the overall situation in Huainan will be settled, and Shouzhou guard is useless. Make a decision early."

After finishing speaking, Shi Congyun didn't stop, and hurriedly led everyone back, what if someone in the city wanted not to open the sniper arrow, as he said, he still has glory and wealth, and the girls with good wine are waiting, so I don't want to make any mistakes here.

Only Liu Renshan was left in a mess in the wind at the head of the city, speechless for a long time.

Chapter 158: Take Shouzhou and Sizhou

At the end of March, Shi Congyun changed into a mountain armor used as a guard of honor, and took two hundred soldiers to the south of Shouzhou City.

In the south, a landing platform has been temporarily built with wooden boards and stones. The construction is relatively simple, just a platform with a height of more than three meters, which can be seen clearly by all soldiers standing on it.

In charge of escorting the prisoners of war were Shi Congyun's most trusted commanding crane left chamber, Zhu Yuan, envoy envoy to the north of the Southern Tang Dynasty, envoy Bian Hao to supervise the army, envoy Xu Wenzhen and other senior generals. More than 2 soldiers surrendered. Among the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty, about 5000 people were captured.

Shi Congyun thought that all these prisoners of war could not be sent home. There are still many cities downstream that have not been taken, and they may become a new force if they are sent back. Even if they do not want to join the army, they will be forcibly taken away by the government.

So he wrote a letter to the officials in the north, requesting that after the armor and weapons of these soldiers were collected, the prisoners of war in the Southern Tang Dynasty would be used as auxiliary soldiers to take charge of the logistics of the army, help build siege equipment, repair armor and swords, transport food and grass, etc.

In this way, instead of labor, nearly [-] peasants from Huaibei states outside Shouzhou City were allowed to go home and farm.

These civilian husbands have not returned home for more than a year since they were conscripted after the start of the war last year. They were trapped on the battlefield in Huainan, which caused great damage to the production and life of ordinary people in Huaibei.

The officials were probably delighted by the strategic victory at the front line. Shi Congyun agreed to everything he said, and the next day came a verbal order to approve his actions.

This move made Shi Congyun gain a great reputation among the many civilians. It was he who defeated the Southern Tang army that had so many prisoners, and it was he who let the Southern Tang prisoners replace the auxiliary soldiers and civilians, so that these ordinary people could go home young and strong.

At the end of March, the spring breeze was just right, and the morale of the well-armored Crane Control Army was high. They escorted many prisoners of war across the Feishui River.

Early the next morning, in the south of Shouzhou City, many Southern Tang soldiers who had disarmed and put down their weapons gathered in one place, surrounded by soldiers from the Crane Control Army.

Zhu Yuan, Bian Hao, Xu Wenzhen and more than [-] high-ranking generals of the Southern Tang Army boarded the surrender platform, and under the eyes of everyone, handed over the scriptures, military symbols, and acceptance letters to Shi Congyun one by one.

Shi Congyun was dressed in a beautiful armor, with a sword hanging on his waist, and his height looked majestic. He accepted the documents and utensils presented by Zhu Yuan and others, and then took the imperial edict sent by the official, and stood in front of everyone. face to read.

The general idea is to forgive the generals of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and give them the title of official and make a wish. All the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty will be temporarily organized as auxiliary soldiers, waiting for the arrangement of Shi Congyun, the recruiter of Huainan.

At the same time, Zhu Yuan and others also brought him more than a dozen heads. Among the generals of the Southern Tang Army, there were also men who would rather die than submit. They firmly opposed surrendering to the Zhou Dynasty.

But the general situation is set, and they have become a different kind. The hearts of the soldiers are to surrender, and if they are determined not to surrender, they can only die.

Shi Congyun understood the truth that these generals still had prestige in the Southern Tang army, and it was always dangerous to let them stay with the army, so he said to them, "The official family is in Huaibei, and there are orders and rewards for you. Go to the official's house early to listen to the seal, someone will send you there."

Everyone nodded and said again and again: "Thank you, Commander."

Shi Congyun then ordered Shen Zhiyi to lead the crowd across the Feishui Huaihe River to meet the officials.

Shi Congyun was relieved to take over these prisoners of war after transferring these middle and high-level generals away. Shi Congyun asked Luqiu Zhongqing to arrange and dispatch these prisoners of war, and at the same time transferred Shao Ji and Wang Zhong to assist.

Two days later, all the prisoners of war were taken over, and it was time for the next major event to begin.

......

At this time, the entire Huainan and the Southern Tang Dynasty were in a vacuum period with empty troops, and it was time for a full-scale attack and to expand the results of the war.

However, the direction of the attack also needs to be changed. Instead of attacking where it is easy to attack like last year, the priority is to win the islands along the Huaihe River, such as Haozhou, Sizhou, Chuzhou, etc., and then go south along the canal , to get Taizhou, Yangzhou.

The advantage of this is that the Tu Shanshui army in the Southern Tang Dynasty was wiped out, and now the navy has the advantage in Zhou, and marching along the river can amplify this advantage.

Shi Congyun then ordered to move the pontoon bridge directly from Xiacai to Wokou, move the supply line forward, and ordered Li Chuyun's and Sichao's navy to attack downstream Haozhou, Sizhou and their surrounding areas along the Huaihe River.

Shi Yanchao's Longjie cavalry, Wang Shenqi's crane-controlling infantry, Zhao Kuangyin's troops, Xiang Xun's troops, marched along the Huaihe River, and launched a full-scale attack on Haozhou, Sizhou, Chuzhou and other places.

Gao Huaide led the cavalry army across the Huaihe River to the north bank of the Huaihe River, and marched eastward along the river bank, because it was heard that some Southern Tang troops crossed the Huaihe River and reached the north bank of the Huaihe River, and they also needed to be cleared at this time.

Zhang Yongde led his army to Dingyuan to protect the rear of the army.

Shi Congyun himself was in charge of Shao Ji and Wang Zhong, who were in charge of the Shouzhou siege camp.

Originally, he planned to let Li Chongjin join the attacking army. Li Chongjin led the elite Hujie, and they were still very capable of fighting.

However, it suddenly occurred to him that in history, Guo Rong conquered Huainan three times. The first two times were because Shouzhou could not win for a long time, so he was forced to conquer Huainan himself. Why was the third time?

He didn't remember very clearly, but it must be that Zhou Jun suffered a big loss again, which caused the battle to go wrong, and Guo Rongcai was forced to go to the front again.

Shi Congyun's biggest advantage is that he has a comprehensive view of history, has read many famous works on war, and has a much higher understanding of overall strategy than ordinary people.

He thought about it carefully, until now, most of the Southern Tang's vital forces in Huainan had been wiped out by him, and he was completely unable to compete with the Zhou army in terms of military strength.

Under such a situation, even a few local defeats will not change the overall situation, and it will not be to the point where Guo Rong must personally conquest. After thinking about it, there is only one possibility, that is, the Southern Tang army launched a counterattack, the pontoon bridge was destroyed, and the army's rear The road is broken.

If that was the case, it would indeed be enough to influence the overall strategy with a small number of troops, and all the Zhou troops in Huainan would be hit.

Out of this concern, Shi Congyun asked Li Chongjin to lead the elite tiger army to guard the vortex pontoon bridge, just in case.

After Li Chongjin got the order, he was very displeased at that time, and he came to quarrel with him personally, thinking that this was public revenge and didn't want him to make meritorious deeds, so he arranged for him to guard the pontoon bridge.

In the eyes of outsiders, it is really overkill to let more than ten thousand tigers and elites guard the pontoon bridge, but Shi Congyun has his own intentions, and when it comes to quarrels, he has never been afraid of anyone!Of course Li Chongjin was no match for him.

In the end, he could only accept the order with a black face angrily.

For a time, the Zhou army launched a full-scale attack along the banks of the Huaihe River, and the Southern Tang Dynasty experienced a disastrous defeat at Tushan and the Battle of Zijinshan. At this time, the entire Huainan was empty and unable to resist.

On the sixth day of March, Si Chao led the water army to break through the Haozhou water village, captured more than [-] warships, and beheaded hundreds of them.

On March [-]th, Xiang Xunbing surrounded Haozhou and broke through the Nanguan City of Haozhou.Long before this, the marshals of the soldiers and horses in Haozhou, Qi Wang Li Jingda and the supervisor Chen Jue had been frightened by Shi Congyun's military power, and they could not escape back to Jinling early, leaving Haozhou alone, and the soldiers and horses in the city were controlled by Haozhou. Guo Ting, the supervisor of the army, is called the commander in chief.

Haozhou was the main garrison of the Southern Tang army, and the outer garrison camp was quickly breached. There were almost no defensive troops inside. More than 1000 soldiers surrendered directly, seized a lot of food, grass, and supplies, and then surrounded Haozhou to train soldiers.

However, Wang Shenqi's, Zhao Kuangyin's, and Shi Yanchao's troops continued to march eastward, capturing many counties one after another, and their troops pointed directly at Sizhou.

In late March, the Sizhou Water Village was breached by Li Chuyun, and more than [-] ships were captured. At the same time, the eastern detection report was sent to Shi Congyun's desk.

The Southern Tang sent reinforcements again, from the Yangtze River up the canal north to Chuzhou, and then marched west along the Huaihe River, with a total of more than [-] ships of various sizes and an unknown number of people.

Shi Congyun knew in his heart that this should be Nan Tang's final counterattack.

So he ordered the generals in the east to start slowing down the attack across the board. Si Chao and Li Chuyun's water army defended near Sizhou, echoing the land army, advancing both water and land, and not rushing towards Chuzhou, lest they rush into the Southern Tang Dynasty. reinforcements.

Sizhou is where the Bianshui River and the Huaihe River meet. If Sizhou is captured, the food and grass of the army can go directly from Daliang to Bianshui River to reach Sizhou in the future, which greatly shortens the supply line and supply difficulty, which is of great significance.

As a result, tens of thousands of land and water troops from the Zhou army gathered in Sizhou and attacked the city day and night. Sizhou had few soldiers and was unable to resist.

In mid-April, the city of Sizhou was broken, and Wang Shenqi took the lead in leading the army to enter the city from the south of the city and burn down the city gate. The follow-up army drove straight in and took Sizhou.

Then Wang Shenqi accepted Shi Congyun's order and temporarily led troops to garrison Sizhou.

At the beginning of May, the remaining ministries made some adjustments in Sizhou. After taking over the surrounding counties, they continued to cooperate with Li Chuyun and Si Chao on the waterway.

Chuzhou's status in the Huaihe River was comparable to that of Shouzhou, and it was also a very tough city.

However, at this time, the entire Huainan army was wiped out by Shi Congyun, and there should not be many defenders in Chuzhou. Even if a batch of reinforcements were added later, it would not be enough to change the overall situation.

On the Shouzhou side, at the end of March, Liu Renshan surrendered.

It’s not that the Southern Tang ruler really agreed to Liu Renshan’s surrender, but that the messenger was intercepted by the cavalry sent by Shi Congyun as soon as he left the city, and then asked Luqiu Zhongqing and other officials to forge a letter for Liu Renshan, allowing Liu Renshan to surrender. The imperial edict, the soldier who delivered the letter was bought with great benefits and sent back to him.

Shi Congyun didn't know whether Liu Renshan was really deceived or pretended to be deceived. In short, Kaesong surrendered two days later.

Liu Renshan surrendered, and Shouzhou City was taken, but it was a big deal. Even the officials from the North Shore came to Shouzhou City in person to accept Liu Renshan's surrender, and paid homage to the officials on the spot. Balance Jiedushi!

It made Shi Congyun feel a little sour. Damn, when will I be able to worship a Taiwei, Zhongshuling or something...

Later, Liu Renshan thanked the emperor and asked him to go back to Daliang to recuperate. He spent more than a year in Shouzhou City, drinking clear porridge and chewing bark, and his body in his 50s couldn't hold on anymore.

The officials agreed to his request and arranged for him and his family members in the city to return to Daliang for recuperation.

In addition, the government treasury was opened to help the soldiers and civilians in Shouzhou City, so that the soldiers and civilians of Shouzhou who had been hungry for a long time finally had enough to eat.

At the same time, Shi Congyun ordered Wang Zhong to lead troops into Shouzhou and take over Shouzhou City.

In May, the time entered the summer, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. The official camp was set up on the south bank of the Feishui River, and an imperial edict was issued to let him go to see him.

.......

On the banks of the Feishui River, there are many camp guards guarding the east and west. The officials look very good, the scenery is beautiful, the sun is high, the Feishui is sparkling, and there is a beautiful scenery of rivers and mountains. However, they cough with their handkerchiefs over their mouths from time to time. .

Wang Pu has returned to Beijing to preside over government affairs, the emperor is not in court, and the prince is too young to be in charge, so it depends on the prime ministers. Before the prime ministers, only Fan Zhi was in Beijing, and now Wang Pu has also returned.

Previously, Xiang Xun worked in the Kaifeng mansion of the Prime Minister in Beijing. Later, Xiang Xun was also transferred to the front to lead the army. There was not enough manpower in the court, especially when the emperor was away, so Wang Pu was also transferred back by the officials.

Only Li Gu is still on the front line, because the frontline army cannot do without him in the preparation and dispatch of supplies, and since the Battle of Zhengyang, he has become more and more important to the officials.

Next to him was the Deputy Envoy of Xishanggemen, and Pan Mei, the envoy of the Huainan Supervising Army, reported to the officials the results of the battles in the past few days.

"The water villages outside Sizhou were breached by Yuhou Li Chuyun, the capital of Yulang Zhidu. Afterwards, Wang Shenqi, the commander of the land control crane left chamber, took the lead in entering the city from the south of the city and burned the city gate. The follow-up army drove straight in and captured Sizhou. State.

At present, all the armies are heading towards Chuzhou and Haizhou after rectifying according to Shi Zhaozhuo's order. Shi Zhaoshuo said that Haizhou is easy to get, and the key is Chuzhou. In the last battle, we will fight steadily, and wait until all the armies have gathered before entering the army, in case the orders of the various armies are different, and someone will take the lead and suffer a disadvantage.

I hope the officials will forgive him for his delay. " Pan Mei relayed one by one.

Guo Rong nodded, with no displeasure on his face, "Since Shi Congyun took over the army, he has never lost a single defeat. Now he has taken Shouzhou, Tushan, Sizhou and other places, and wiped out the main force of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Of course I can trust you." Him, tell him to do as he pleases."

Li Gu also said with emotion, "If he hadn't asked Pan Jianjun to say that Huainan's priority lies in Shouzhou, and the Tang Army's priority lies in the navy, the old man would not be able to see the situation clearly for a while.

Shi Congyun is indeed talented, he has insight into the overall situation, the troops are dispatched properly, and no one is dissatisfied with the arrangement of his subordinates. Even Li Shuai obeys his command without complaint.

At first, when the officials appointed him as a recruitment envoy, the old man was worried, for fear that he would miss a big deal because he was young and frivolous, but now it seems that the officials are as insightful as a torch, and they have a clear understanding of people. "