Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

On July [-], messengers came from the east, sent by Si Chao, to inform them that their navy had followed the Yangtze River to the east of Yuezhou, and thirty miles ahead they would reach Sanjiangkou and enter the boundary of Nanping. .

Shi Congyun ordered them not to move for the time being.

In the evening, he discussed the matter with Li Hanchao and Li Chuyun, and made his own judgment.

"After taking Nanping, there will be Wuping, and Wuping will govern Langzhou, which is just south of Jiangling, about [-] miles across the Yangtze River.

If the army crossed the river directly by land, the road was rough and difficult, and there were many mountains and swamps, which were not suitable for the army to advance. Huarong County was on the opposite side, and Cao Mengde didn't suffer much there.

Therefore, I advocate crossing the river near the mouth of the three rivers, taking Yuezhou, entering the waters of Dongting Lake directly through the mouth of the three rivers, and taking Langzhou directly along the Yuan River (now the Yuan River). "Shi Congyun pointed to the map in the tent.

Li Hanchao nodded, cupped his hands and said, "Good advice, Commander."

"Commander, I think that if Wuping decides to resist, he must also understand the importance of the Sanjiangkou, and he will deploy heavy troops near the Sanjiangkou. I'm afraid there will be a war here." Li Chuyun pointed to the Dongting Lake water system and the Yangtze River in the north of Yuezhou (now Yueyang) The place of confluence said solemnly.

Shi Congyun nodded, "I agree with your judgment. If the opponent has someone who understands soldiers, they should understand the importance of this place. When we fight on land, Si Chao will be responsible for cutting off the waterway reinforcements. This is my idea, but the specifics It also depends on the situation on the battlefield.”

"Master, I have no objection."

"Then tell Si Chao not to go west for now..."

......

After finalizing the marching route of the navy, Shi Congyun, Li Chuyun, and Li Hanchao began serious preparations on how to sneak attack on the old comrade Nanping Wang.

By the evening of July [-]rd, many soldiers and civilian husbands had been attracted to the Jingmen area, and a large number of horses, horses, cattle and sheep gathered in the area between the two mountains to the north of Jingmen. His eldest son Gao Jichong, younger brother Gao Baoyin and many Nanping officials had a good time drinking and chatting.

In fact, outside the big tent, the number of guards is constantly increasing. In the big tent, there are many cups of wine.

At the same time, one thousand elite cavalry led by Li Chuyun finished their preparations, each with two horses, separated the entire camp, left the camp from the camp gate in the north, took a detour to the trail ten miles north of Jingmen, and began to head towards Guanmiao Village by the river in the east. The villages in the village rushed quickly, then turned south at Guanmiao Village, and rushed towards Jiangling.

It all started at dusk, and no one knew about it. The upper echelons of Nanping were immersed in Shi Congyun's sugar-coated shells, while Jiangling, two hundred miles away, had no news at all.

It was about the same time, after the sun had set, a soldier came in outside, and asked Shi Congyun for the password in the army.

The password in the army is a secret, so Shi Congyun cupped his hands and said to more than a dozen Nanping officials: "I will come as soon as I go, everyone, please don't worry about it, you should eat and drink."

Everyone didn't have any doubts, after all, the password is a major matter in the army, so Shi Congyun followed the soldiers out of the tent.

As soon as the night wind blew from the big tent, Li Hanchao came up within a few steps, "Commander, everyone is in place."

"Encircle them, and no one is allowed to leave. When they enter the camp, they are equipped with weapons, so they can't make a difference. If the resistance is too fierce, they can be killed as an example, but Gao Baoyin and Gao Jichong can't move." Shi Congyun ordered.

Li Hanchao took the lead and ordered hundreds of soldiers to approach gradually, enclosing the large tent of the Chinese army tightly.

Shi Congyun left immediately on horseback. He wanted to mobilize a large army overnight to attack the Wuping Army's garrison in the south.

Daying Li, after almost half an hour, someone finally found out that something was wrong. Shi Congyun went out to deal with official business, so he wouldn't have been there for such a long time, right?

Could it be that something big happened?Under Gao Jichong's signal, some officials went outside the big tent to investigate the situation, but as soon as they went out, they found themselves surrounded by fierce and iron armored Zhou troops.

Then he asked why the soldiers of the Zhou army came?

Li Hanchao was very clever, and he agreed: "The camp was shocked in the army, and the commander-in-chief ordered someone to protect the safety of all the distinguished guests. It is chaotic outside, please don't leave without authorization, this is also for your own good."

The Nanping officials inside were skeptical and went back.

But in the middle of the night, Li Hanchao refused several requests to go out, and Shi Congyun never came back. After everyone finally realized that something was wrong, Gao Jichong angrily asked Li Hanchao to let them go out.

Li Hanchao finally showed his true colors, ordered hundreds of soldiers to draw their swords, narrowed the encirclement, and surrounded them in three circles inside and outside the big tent. Several timid civil servants were so scared that they cried out on the spot.

Li Hanchao said viciously: "You guys wait here, if you don't resist, you won't be killed. If you dare to resist, grandpa will kill hundreds of people from south to north. Killing you is no different from killing a few chickens!"

Immediately stopped the crowd.

On the other side, the other side of the valley was full of flames, and the shouts of killing were so hot that they could be heard clearly several miles away. The red light reflected half of the sky, and Li Hanchao knew that the army had begun to move.

......

The reason why Shi Congyun did not attack immediately after imprisoning Gao Jichong and others was because he was waiting for the support of Wang Quanbin's Chinese army.

During the days when the forward was resting in Jingmen, Wang Quanbin's Chinese army had already moved from Xiangyang to more than ten miles north of Jingmen. After nightfall, Shi Congyun secretly sent people to the north to transfer troops.

He doesn't like to gamble, and hopes to win steadily. The Nanping Army stationed in the south of Jingmen has about 4000 people. He has 8000 people in his hand, but he still feels that it is not safe, so he tries to transfer the Chinese army and let the recruits practice.

So in the middle of the night, there were actually more than 2 Zhou troops near Jingmen. He finally ordered the whole army to attack and surrounded the Nanping army at night.

[-] to [-], the advantage is indeed mine...

197 Chapter [-], the soldiers are expensive and the power is tricky

On summer nights, unknown insects, birds and beasts are singing all around. The east and west valleys are densely covered with lush trees. There are two mountains to the south of Jingmen, and the width between the two mountains is about two miles wide. .

A large number of Nanping young and strong are usually stationed in the open land further south. More than 4000 troops in Nanping cleared the way for the Zhou army, and at the same time supervised the civilians, stationed in the valley.

In fact, looking at the place where they were stationed, Shi Congyun knew that Wang Nanping had the idea of ​​curbing the army going south from the very beginning.

It's a pity that the specific executors on the front line have been limped by him, and the coach is not mentally prepared, not to mention the many soldiers. When the Zhou army began to surround their barracks, many people didn't understand what was going on, and they were still watching.

On the other side, Shi Congyun quickly sent a large group of cavalry to continue south, telling the local people along the way that General Zhou Jun said that they don't have to work and they can go home individually.

These days, when people come to work for the country, they have to bring their own clothes, food, money, and various utensils. To put it mildly, it is called expropriation, but to put it bluntly, it is coercion.

This is not just in Nanping, but everywhere. It was the case when Da Zhou attacked Huainan and when it attacked Shu, 10,000+ civilians were recruited.

So if it weren't for soldiers guarding and supervising, no one would want to do such a job.

At the beginning, after hearing the words of the cavalrymen of the Zhou army, the common people were skeptical. It was not until some bold ones took the lead to leave and found that no one surrounded or killed them, that they suddenly felt relieved. .

However, the Wunanping Army in the south valley of Jingmen had no idea at all, because their generals and high-level officials were detained by Shi Congyun with the Hongmen Banquet, and the army was leaderless, and was soon besieged by the Zhou army in the valley.

But because there was no order from above, they didn't know what to do and waited until dawn.

Shi Congyun stood on the eastern hillside south of Jingmen, overlooking the valley below. The surrounding Zhou army had expanded to [-], and the army led by Wang Quanbin had also entered Jingmen overnight.

Shi Congyun looked down, and said to the generals beside him: "The Nanping Army has no chief general, so transfer the recruits to the front, gradually narrow the encirclement, force them to surrender, and let the recruits see the world."

The subordinates all commanded the envoys to take orders, and hurriedly went down to dispatch. In the morning, the encirclement of the Zhou army began to change. The recruits were pushed inside, and the veterans were outside. Then the encirclement was gradually narrowed, and the Nanping army was forced to surrender by shouting loudly.

This was a battle without any suspense, so Shi Congyun let the recruits go forward to train their battlefield qualities.

The new recruits did show fear and tension at the beginning, and even the formation that had been trained countless times before was a little scattered. Fortunately, under the loud guidance of the veterans behind, they slowly stabilized their positions and surrounded the enemy from all sides.

Shi Congyun saw that this enemy should be Nanping's elite troops, with a high armor rate, and even though there was no leader, they were surrounded by layers but did not retreat immediately. Instead, they began to use the fence around the camp to prevent horses and others from using bows. The crossbow returned fire.

According to the training, the recruits of the Zhou army erected a platoon of shields about the height of a person in front, and continued to fight back with bows and crossbows in the rear, slowly approaching the opponent's camp in an orderly manner.

Arrows from both sides were coming and going in the valley, but because they were surrounded on all sides, the Nanping army was in a very disadvantageous situation. They could only attack the front of the Zhou army, but the Zhou army could attack them from all directions.

At the beginning, there was a stalemate. After two hours, the sun rose high, and the Nanping army camp was full of dense arrows. Many people fell to the ground screaming. Finally, someone near the south gate couldn't stand it and opened the camp gate to surrender.

The trend of surrender soon spread, and in the entire camp, there were only people near the northern sentry tower who resisted stubbornly.

Zhou Jun asked the soldiers who surrendered to put down their weapons and walked out of the camp. Then Zhou Jun from the south entered the camp in large numbers.

The battle lasted until noon, and at last more than a hundred Nanping soldiers who resisted stubbornly were compressed in the open space between the Shaoshao Tower and the fence in the north of the camp, and the outer net was surrounded by layers of Zhou troops.

These more than 100 people should be the loyal and brave men of Nanping, but they have nothing to do. Losing the sentry tower is tantamount to losing the commanding heights.

Zhou Jun has been fighting north and south for these years, especially the veterans of the Crane Control Army under Shi Congyun. They are all elite soldiers with rich experience in war and know how to deal with various situations.

Although the more than 100 Nanping troops were loyal and brave, there was still a big gap between them and the Zhou army.

The commander of the army commanded by the Zhou army at the forefront ordered to only use shields to cover the periphery, to surround them without rushing to attack.

Then he ordered the sharpshooters in the army to board several sentry towers in the camp, and shot at them with bows and crossbows from a high position.

Because they were condescending, they couldn't guard against them at all. In just a quarter of an hour, more than 20 people were shot down one after another. Retreat, and soon couldn't hold on any longer, and chose to surrender.

Shi Congyun could see clearly from the hillside, and he also understood why in this era, the southern army was not the opponent of the north most of the time.

From a military point of view, it is not that they are not good at fighting, nor that they have no loyal and brave men, but that there is a gap in war experience. Wars are commonplace in the north, but most places in the south have been peaceful for more than ten years.

The more than 100 Nanping loyal and brave men below wanted to fight to the death and risk their lives to serve the country. Their courage is commendable.

But they are courageous and bloody, but they are not as experienced in war as Zhou Jun. They are old and cunning. Once they make mistakes on the battlefield, they often cannot make up for it with courage.

If they are veterans of the Zhou army, if they want to resist, they will choose to defend around the highest point of the camp instead of the seemingly safe fence.

The Nanping army guarded the fence of the northern camp, and voluntarily gave up the high point of the sentry tower to the enemy, and they were powerless to resist.

By the afternoon, all the battles were over, and the overall casualties in this battle of 3 people and 4000 people were small.

The Nanping army killed 52 people and injured more than 500 people. The Zhou army killed two people and injured 150 people.

Most of the Nanping Army surrendered, and they are not to blame for this situation.

It wasn't until the dust settled that Shi Congyun asked Gao Jichong, Gao Baoyin and others to bring them and told them that the Nanping Army had been wiped out.

The young Gao Jichong and Gao Baoyin, who had no opinion, turned pale with fright, and many officials trembled and dared not speak.

Only two upright civil servants scolded him for treachery, dishonesty, and a wolf-hearted thing.

The words were so harsh that the people around them trembled in fright, colleagues even pulled their sleeves, and some people knelt down and begged for mercy.

After they got tired of cursing, Shi Congyun patted Gao Jichong on the shoulder and said to him: "A certain striker has almost entered Jiangling at this time, and Nanping will definitely cease to exist in two days. Can't change.

If you know the current affairs, you should give up resisting, obediently follow me back to Beijing to meet the emperor, when the time comes, your family will definitely be rich and prosperous.

As for you courtiers, you will be the courtiers of the Great Zhou in the future, and you can still be appointed by the emperor, but if you don't know the current affairs, I will kill more people than you can count. "

Everyone nodded repeatedly, and Gao Jichong quickly stated: "Everything will be arranged by the commander in chief."

Gao Baoyin said with emotion: "I once heard that the great commander-in-chief is invincible and invincible in all battles. When I saw it today, it turned my hands into clouds and turned my hands into rain."

Everyone stopped talking after hearing this, and even the two civil servants who scolded him before sighed and stopped scolding.

Indeed, Shi Congyun's actions may be disgraceful, but in just two or three days, three prefectures and seventeen counties were easily captured, and hundreds of thousands of people in Nanping were saved from the disaster of war. The clean and neat methods made them feel unwilling and admired .

On the same day, Shi Congyun ordered Li Hanchao's scouts to deploy to the south of the river, and Wang Quanbin led the army to the south. The real strategic intention was exposed, not to conquer Shu, but to take the land of Jingchu.

Early the next morning, when Shi Congyun was on his way to Jiangling, Li Chuyun's messenger also arrived. He led a thousand elite troops into Jiangling to control the defense of Jiangling city without fighting.

The letter also detailed his situation when he arrived in Jiangling.

Jiangling's elite soldiers and young adults are all in the Jingmen area, and the city is empty.

People in the city thought that Zhou Jun was still in Jingmen, and somehow he suddenly arrived in Jiangling. Nanping Wang Gao Baorong was not sure what was going on, and fearing to offend Da Zhou, he hurriedly led a team out of the city fifteen miles to meet him.

Li Chuyun made a decisive decision and detained Nanping Wang Gao Baorong, and then led his army to gallop into the city to control the city defenses, and Jiangling was captured just like that.

Shi Congyun laughed after reading the letter, excitedly passed it to Luqiu Zhongqing, and then ordered the army to speed up to the south, spreading the news of King Nanping's surrender along the way.

So far, in just three or four days from the start of the operation, Nanping was taken down like this, taking over the land of three states and seventeen counties almost without bloodshed.

This is great news, but the bad news is that his strategic intentions have been exposed. Wuping, who has nine states to the south, will definitely not sit still.

Sure enough, on July [-], when Shi Congyun entered Jiangling City to appease Gao Baorong's family and at the same time ordered his army commanders to lead troops to take over Xiazhou and Guizhou, Li Hanchao, who was investigating along the south river, reported back.

It was found that a large number of ships and people were gathering in the Sanjiangkou area to the east, at least tens of thousands.

Shi Congyun knew that the battle of this trip would come soon.

Chapter 198, The Battle of Sanjiangkou ([-])

On July [-]th, Shi Congyun held a banquet in the camp outside Jiangling City to entertain Nanping Wang Gao Baorong.

As a result, Gao Baorong did not dare to come. Shi Congyun understood his thoughts, so he beckoned to Liu Qingchuan who was outside the big tent, and immediately said, "Go and invite the King of Nanping on horseback, and tell him that it is not a Hongmen Banquet. There will be a lot of aftermath." things to discuss."

Liu Qingchuan nodded, and then rode to Jiangling City to find someone.

Shi Congyun did not allow the army to enter Jiangling. It is not a good thing for the people to have so many soldiers entering the city.

He also set an example, stayed outside the city, did not enter the city, and did not harm the girls in Jiangling, many people would watch their camp from a distance, but no one dared to approach.

Because Shi Congyun sent people to repatriate the laborers in Nanping, the local people still have a good impression of him, but many ordinary people may not know that Jiangling, Xiazhou and Guizhou have changed.

The only feeling may be that after a period of time, I heard some news brought by the young people who came back from Jingmen, which became the topic of conversation after dinner. Scattered news, in the future, the tax should still be paid, and the life that should be lived will still be lived.

Because of the demise of Nanping, there was almost no fighting.

As far as the moment is concerned, this kind of ignorance is a kind of happiness. If they face the Dazhou army directly like the Huainan people and are at the forefront of the war, what greets them is likely to be burning, killing and looting, and their families will be destroyed.

But the Gao family was the most influential. Shi Congyun stood in front of the tent, thinking about how to deal with the Gao family, with Luqiu Zhongqing and Li Chuyun by his side.

"Father Gao and his son can't let them stay in Nanping, it's too dangerous, we have to go to Daliang no matter what." Luqiu Zhongqing was the first to put forward his own suggestion.

"It's a great thing for the commander-in-chief not to kill them, so what dare he think about?" Li Chuyun was very dissatisfied, "Master, why don't you just come here and be a bad guy, and lead troops to rob his mansion tonight, so as to show him some color?" Look, when the time comes, it will be enough for the commander-in-chief to reprimand a certain sentence casually, so that he can understand the situation he is in."

"This, isn't it appropriate..." Luqiu Zhongqing said with some melancholy.

"What's inappropriate? It's just the land of the Gao family's three states. Look at this Jiangling City, and then look at the food that is casually taken out to support tens of thousands of troops. They must have searched a lot. We can't let them continue to bring Go to the capital.

The common people suffered a lot, and it was hard for them to spit it out. "Li Chuyun said bluntly.