Jiuxi

Chapter 102 Chapter 101 [One person, one city]

Jianghua City is located in the heart of the southeastern part of Beiyan Moyang Road, surrounded by the vast Jiangbei Plain. The water system is extremely developed, thus creating a fertile and prosperous land.

As the core of the second line of defense set up by General Chen Xiaokuan, there are 6000 troops stationed in Jianghua City. Although the number is far less than that of the Qi army outside the city, these [-] people are all experienced soldiers in the battle formation, so they face the vast army outside the city. In the mighty formation, almost no one in the defenders showed any uneasiness.

On the east wall, Meng Zhixiang, the commander of the army and horses, was wearing his military uniform and looking deeply at the Qi army camp in the distance.

The Jingzhou Army of the Southern Qi Dynasty came with ferocity and successfully captured several small towns around it, which meant that Jianghua City had become an isolated place in an absolute sense.

If Jianghua falls, then the opponent can connect the southeastern part of Moyang Road.

"Capital Supervisor, my subordinates have taken stock again and again and confirmed that the food and grass in the city is only enough to last three months."

The confidant came to Meng Zhixiang and said respectfully.

"understood."

Meng Zhixiang responded calmly, his eyes staying on the Qi army camp under the city.

The confidant added: "The general said that Jianghua City must be defended for at least two months, and there will be no reinforcements during this period. Moreover... our army has reduced its defense line to the northwest line."

Meng Zhixiang remained unmoved, but a sneer appeared deep in his eyes, and then he slowly exhaled a breath of filthy air.

……

Inside the large tent of the Qi Army, a fierce military meeting was taking place.

Fan Wending, Huo Zhen, Xu Gui, Zhang Zhan, Li Shouzhen and other generals had their own opinions and spit.

Marching Sima Li Liangyu sat quietly in the corner, looking at his sister Li Bingxue sitting at the bottom, and found that she occasionally appeared in a trance, and couldn't help but feel curious.

Grand Governor Li Tianrun sat in the command position, listening to the arguments of his generals and reading numerous military intelligence reports.

The soldiers guarding outside the tent have long been accustomed to this unique atmosphere. Although the Governor can stick to his word and the generals below will implement it to the letter, he will still give instructions before every key battle. Everyone had plenty of time to discuss, or quarrel.

Especially the general's loud voice, the soldiers will miss it if they haven't heard it for a long time.

"...In this general's view, now that the surrounding area has been cleared, the only target now is Ganghwa City! Needless to say, the benefits of regaining this place are. The most important thing is that our army can rest and recuperate immediately and rebuild from south to north. Defense Zone, completely complete the occupation of these territories. I really don’t understand why you are so hesitant, are you still thinking of entering Yongqiu City and killing Chen Xiaokuan?"

The owner of the loud voice is Xu Gui, the commander of the Anping Army.

"Can you keep your voice down?"

Huo Zhen, who was sitting opposite him, frowned and said in a leisurely manner: "Our army advanced smoothly in the early stage. On the one hand, it benefited from the cooperation of the Weaving Department, and on the other hand, the enemy underestimated the strength of our army. There will be continuous defeats. But Jianghua City is different. The city defense here is extremely strong, and the defenders in the city are one of the few veterans of Chen Xiaokuan's command. The guard Meng Zhixiang can be called the number one general under Chen Xiaokuan. The art of commanding troops is extremely sophisticated, and he has even been praised by the Grand Governor in the past."

Xu Gui raised his eyes and said: "The Governor is motivating us, can't you, a smart man, hear it? No matter if the walls of Jianghua are towering, or if Meng Zhixiang is well versed in the art of war, you are afraid of me but not afraid of me. It just so happens that this is the main attack Leave the task to the Anping Army, and I will personally lead the people up the city wall!"

"What are you yelling about?"

Fan Wending on the other side said angrily, and then said carefully: "Our army can first besiege Jianghua, and then continue to expand the results to the northwest. Li Sima just said that the Huaizhou Army is already on the way south, and no later than today We can arrive at night. Now Chen Xiaokuan has become a frightened bird. As long as our army continues to press forward, he will inevitably further shrink the defense line."

Xu Gui sneered: "Old Fan, do you really think of me as a reckless man who doesn't understand anything? The empty troops of the Puppet Yan are only a temporary predicament. The Dongyang Road side must have received news now that a large army is on its way south. The imperial court will not send reinforcements for a while, and with the strength of the Jingzhou Governor's Office alone, how can we hold on to more territory even if we capture more territory?"

Fan Wending said calmly: "The purpose of this is not to regain more territory, but to force Chen Xiaokuan to make wrong judgments, so as to annihilate more enemy troops in mobile warfare. As for Jianghua City, it is already a turtle in the urn. The longer the city is defended, The morale of the army will be lowered, and wouldn't it be more convenient to attack the city at that time?"

"Cough cough..."

Li Tianrun, who was sitting in command, suddenly coughed a few times.

The generals immediately stopped arguing and looked at each other in unison.

Li Tianrun raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows, and said calmly: "You continue."

Li Liangyu and Li Bingxue looked at each other with some worry in each other's eyes.

My father's physical condition has not been very good, which may be related to what happened back then.

The generals in the hall were obviously aware of this, and Xu Gui took the initiative to lower his voice: "Everyone, I don't agree with General Fan's view. Jianghua City cannot be surrounded without attacking. Not only will this not deplete the enemy's morale, but it will also encourage Their arrogance. The war has indeed gone smoothly during this period, but doesn’t our army have the confidence to fight a tough battle? Right now, there is only this nail left in the southeast of Moyang Road. The only thing our army has to do is to pull it out cleanly. !”

Fan Wending did not argue with him anymore and turned to look at the calm-looking Grand Governor Li Tianrun.

At this moment, there was a school captain outside the tent asking to see him.

Li Tianrun nodded slightly, and Li Liangyu stood up and brought him in. After saluting, he said: "To the Governor, there are more than ten cavalry coming from outside the camp. The leader is Lu Chen, the inspector of the Huaizhou Governor's Office. The sentry post has been verified. Their identities are now waiting in the camp. Lieutenant Lu said that he came in advance to ask to see the Grand Governor."

Li Tianrun's eyes narrowed slightly, then he nodded and said, "Bring him here."

Li Liangyu, who was standing nearby, keenly noticed that his sister's eyes seemed to be a little brighter.

But when the captain brought Lu Shen in, he noticed that Li Bingxue's face was calm, as if nothing had happened.

With this curiosity, he turned to look at the tall and handsome young military general.

Although he had never seen it before, Li Liangyu was deeply impressed by the name Lu Chen because he was one of the few young people Li Tianrun had praised in recent years, and Li Bingxue told him about Lu Chen's outstanding performance in the Battle of Guangling. .

Now that I see him, he is truly graceful and calm.

The young woman next to him was not inferior to his sister in appearance, and her eyes were bright and profound. It was obvious at a glance that she was a very powerful martial arts master.All the generals in the hall turned to look around, and they were not surprised by Lin Xi's presence. After all, there was a real female general sitting in this tent, and she also commanded the most elite Fei Yu camp.

Most of their eyes were focused on Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was already accustomed to being in the center of attention. He calmly stepped forward and saluted the middle-aged man in command: "The last general of Huaizhou, Lu Chen, is here to meet Governor Li!"

"No need to be polite." A gentle voice came from the front.

Lu Chen raised his eyes and saw that the legendary Governor Li had a majestic appearance and a tall figure. Even when he was sitting, he could give people a feeling of oppression as heavy as a mountain.

However, the look he looked at himself was particularly warm.

Li Tianrun smiled slightly and said to the generals in the hall: "This time the Huai and Jing mansions join forces to regain their homeland, the strategy comes from the hands of Captain Lu."

There was a solemn silence in the hall.

Fan Wending and others all looked at Lu Chen in surprise. Xu Gui even touched his forehead and said, "Colonel Lu, you are only 20 years old this year, right?"

Lu Chen didn't know the identity of the person, so he could only respond vaguely: "Yes, General."

"Amazing, truly amazing!" Xu Gui exclaimed.

Li Tianrun promptly interrupted what he was saying and said to Lu Chen, "Where are Lai'an Army and Taixing Army now?"

Lu Chen replied: "It's about sixty miles away. We can probably reach Jianghua City after sunset today."

Li Tianrun nodded slightly and asked again: "You left the army behind and came here early. Could it be that you have a strategy to regain Jianghua?"

Lu Chen secretly sighed in his heart that the Jingzhou Governor had a majestic appearance, but his mind was so delicate and sharp, so he held up his hands and said: "To the Commander-in-Chief, I do have a strategy to seize the city, which may save the soldiers the pain of fighting. "

The generals in the Dudu Mansion looked at each other in shock.

They had been fighting for a long time, but this young man said he could make the Jianghua City defenders raise their hands and surrender?

Although Li Tianrun's previous words had greatly elevated Lu Chen's status, everyone was still in disbelief at this moment.

Lin Xi originally didn't want to come to the Chinese Army Commander's tent, but Lu Chen was so insistent that she finally agreed.

At this moment, she felt that Lu Chen immediately became the focus of the room, and she couldn't help but feel a little happy, and then she found a gaze next to her face.

Lin Xi turned around and met Li Bingxue's cold eyes. There was something inexplicable in their eyes.

Li Tianrun, who was in charge, didn't notice the undercurrent between the young women. He looked at Lu Chen and said, "Since you have a good idea, it's okay to say it."

Lu Chen said calmly: "In the end, I met a scholar named Wang Shao in Xunyang City. The Wang family is a distant branch of the Zhai Lin Wang family, but they have long drawn a clear line with the Zhai Lin Wang family. Because of this branch of the Wang family, Unwilling to work for the Jing Dynasty, he moved from Zhai Lin to Xunyang. Wang Shao told the last general that he and Jianghua guard Meng Zhixiang were close friends, and he knew that Meng Zhixiang was actually extremely disappointed with the puppet Yan court, so he was willing to serve Our army went to persuade Meng Zhixiang to surrender and avoid heavy casualties in the battle between the two armies."

Li Tianrun looked at him steadily, then smiled and said: "Very good, please bring this person here."

"Follow the order!"

Lu Chen responded simply and neatly.

……

About half an hour later, the various units of the Jingzhou Army formed a formation in the city, and the defenders on the city wall immediately stood ready.

However, what surprised them was that the Qi army did not launch an offensive. Instead, two riders left their position and walked slowly towards the city wall.

On the position, Li Tianrun, Lu Chen, Lin Xi, Li Liangyu, Li Bingxue and the Huaizhou Army generals looked into the distance with solemn expressions.

Because of the distance, they couldn't hear the conversations below the city. They could only see that after a moment, two hanging baskets were lowered from the city wall and pulled the Wang family and his son up.

Lu Chen felt slightly relieved.

On the way here, he had repeatedly confirmed with Wang Shao that if he was not sure, he would cancel the plan, because there were too many similar things recorded in history books. At this time, the risk of persuading surrender was extremely high. If the other party refused to agree, they would often use messengers. The head is sacrificed to the flag.

Wang Shao's attitude was extremely firm, so Lu Chen agreed to give it a try.

Time passed by bit by bit, and everyone was waiting anxiously.

When the sun turned to the west, the east gate of Jianghua City slowly opened, and soon Wang Shao, dressed in a scribe's robe, walked out with steady steps, mounted his mount and walked towards the position, but the city gate was still not closed - —

"To the Commander-in-Chief, I am glad that I have lived up to my command! General Meng is willing to surrender the whole city!"

Wang Shao came closer, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Li Tianrun smiled and said, "Thank you, sir."

He turned to look at Lu Chen behind him, his eyes filled with approval.

After the news spread, tens of thousands of Qi army soldiers burst into cheers that resounded throughout the world.

At this time, the setting sun is like blood, and the country is like a painting.

(End of this chapter)