Jiuxi

Chapter 98 097 [Life is like grass]

The moonlight is melting and the night breeze is slightly cool.

Yongqiu City is like a sleeping giant, quietly bathing in the deep night.

The lights in the general's mansion were brightly lit, and there was an endless stream of scribes and subordinates coming and going. However, they tiptoed carefully, lest they make too much noise and anger the extremely depressed General Chen.

Chen Xiaokuan stood next to the sand table, his eyes bloodshot.

Deputy Privy Councilor Chen Jingtang wanted to mobilize troops from Jiangbei Road and Moyang Road. Chen Xiaokuan was originally reluctant to do so, but a secret letter from Wang Shidao made him change his mind and asked Zhu Zhen to go around in a big circle with [-] elite troops. Go to Dongyang Road to support.

He knew that Li Tianrun in the south would not miss the opportunity to counterattack, so he set up two lines of defense on the border. However, more than half a month after Zhu Zhen left, Li Tianrun broke through the first line of defense he set up in just four days.

For several days, news of the fall of Yangzhai, Yingze and Shanggao cities reached the General's Mansion, and Chen Xiaokuan almost fainted.

How could he not understand at this time that the Jingzhou Army of the Southern Qi Dynasty had been deliberately hiding its strength over the years. Except for the disgusting Feiyu Battalion, the other elites only defended but did not attack, and their extremely powerful strength was not exposed at all. Combat strength.

Facing the raging offensive of the Jingzhou Army, Chen Xiaokuan immediately calmed down after being angry and issued more than ten military orders one after another, completely giving up the first line of defense on the border and gathering limited elite troops on the second line of defense.

At the same time, he sent someone to send a report to Heluo City asking for help, because at this time, it was impossible to expect the army from Dongyang Road to come back, and he could only pin his hopes on the big shots in the court.

Chen Xiaokuan stared at the sand table and quickly calculated the comparison of military strength between the two sides in his mind.

It is impossible for the Jingzhou Army to dispatch all the troops. After all, they still have to guard against the Yan State Jiangbei Road in the west. Although Chen Jingtang also transferred tens of thousands of elites to the Jiangbei Road, they are still capable of fighting.

After long consideration, Chen Xiaokuan finally felt a little relieved. At least the second line of defense could last for a long time.

Over in the capital... When the messenger arrives at Heluo, and there are all kinds of entanglements, discussions and quarrels in the court, even if we can really send troops south, it will probably take two months to get to the front line.

Just when Chen Xiaokuan was about to rest for a while, Superintendent Li Yi came directly to the side hall without any communication and said hurriedly: "General, urgent military situation!"

Chen Xiaokuan frowned and said in a deep voice: "Come in and talk."

Although Li Yi tried his best to maintain calm, the urgent report he had just received still made his eyes panic, and he said hurriedly: "Both Xinchang and Shiquan have been captured!"

Chen Xiaokuan was stunned.

At this moment, his mind went blank.

"Xinchang? Shiquan?"

Chen Xiaokuan repeated subconsciously.

Li Yi looked at him anxiously and asked, "General?"

Chen Xiaokuan swallowed. At this moment, he had come to his senses. These two places were the cities northeast of Moyang Road.

etc--

Chen Xiaokuan said coldly: "What did you say? These two cities have been lost?"

If it were a small town on the southern border, he would not have such an exaggerated reaction. At most, he would curse a few times and continue to think of ways to deal with the sharp offensive of the Southern Qi Jingzhou Army.

However, these two places are located behind Moyang Road. Can the Jingzhou army still fly over to seize the city?
Looking at Li Yi's pale face, Chen Xiaokuan's heart felt like it was falling into an ice cave, because he immediately thought of a more terrifying question, and then said in a trembling voice: "You mean... the Xinchang Army was defeated?"

The northeast of Moyang Road borders Huaizhou Panlong Pass. Of course, Chen Xiaokuan would not completely ignore the Qi army in Panlong Pass. Therefore, there is a Xinchang City northwest of Panlong Pass. Eight thousand elites are stationed in the city to guard the enemy's westward march. the road.

Li Yi said sadly: "General, the general who fell in Xinchang died in the battle. According to reports from the soldiers who escaped, the Qi army came out from the west of Panlong Pass. They first used the internal intelligence hidden in the city to open the city gate, and then used their elite to control the city gate. , the army immediately covered them up. After identification by our soldiers, the Qi army was all the elite of Huaizhou, and the armies of Zhenbei, Lai'an, Taixing and Panlong all arrived. After the fall of Xinchang, the Qi army seized Shiquan City non-stop, and then Heading south along the western foothills of the Shuangfeng Mountains, it looks like we are going to go head-to-head with the Jingzhou Army in the south and finally merge with it."

Chen Xiaokuan listened blankly, and suddenly his body shook suddenly.

"General!" Li Yi stepped forward worriedly to help him.

Chen Xiaokuan stood firm, waved his hand, looked at the sand table next to him with bloodshot eyes, gritted his teeth and said: "What a trick to hide the truth!"

Li Yi may not know the overall situation, but Chen Xiaokuan has woken up at this time. This is clearly a game played by Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun.

Xiao Wangzhi pretended to attack Dongyang Road and diverted Beiyan's troops away from the mountains, leaving Moyang Road empty of troops for a period of time.

Li Tianrun, on the other hand, had held back for seven years and never exposed the true strength of the Jingzhou Army. Now he suddenly showed his sharp claws.

Chen Xiaokuan looked at a sign on the sand table and said slowly: "The Huaizhou Army's next target should be Xunyang City."

Li Yi followed the sound and saw Xunyang City located to the west of the Shuangfeng Mountains at a glance. It was the only way for the Huaizhou Army to continue southward along Xinchang and Shiquan.

At the same time, the Jingzhou Army continued to move north along Yangzhai, Yingze and Shanggao, advancing simultaneously with the Huaizhou Army from the south to the north.

A terrifying thought suddenly appeared in Li Yi's mind, and he said with difficulty: "They want to occupy the eastern part of Moyang Road and connect Jingzhou and Huaizhou!"

At this point, the other party no longer needs to conceal its strategic intentions, because Chen Xiaokuan simply does not have enough troops to stop it.

Chen Xiaokuan remained silent, his chest heaving violently.

Li Yi considered and said: "If Xunyang City can be defended——"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Chen Xiaokuan: "Do you think that Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, who had been patient for 12 years, decided on a sudden whim to decide on this strategy? Xinchang City in the north and Yingze City in the south both fell in a short period of time. . Although the elites of the Qi army are indeed very strong, how could they have been so successful without the help of internal agents? The Procuratorate is stirring up trouble in Huaizhou, so how can the Weaving Department of Southern Qi do nothing?" In these words? Full of bitterness.

For a long time, because of the support of the elite soldiers of the Jing Dynasty, Beiyan had been in a condescending position when facing the Southern Qi, including Chen Xiaokuan, Zhang Junsi and others.

They thought that although people like Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun could be called famous generals, they were all brave in the past, and now they have the air of twilight.

But after being trapped for many years, the two men turned everything upside down as soon as they took action.

Li Yi's lips moved, not knowing how to comfort him.

After a while, Chen Xiaokuan finally made a decision: "Immediately ask someone to draft an emergency report for help, and send it to the capital and Dongyang Road by horseback for [-] miles. Then I will ask him to go to Jiangbei Road to find General Gao Da, and ask him to send as many troops as possible to the northwest of Jingzhou." Direction, Li Tianrun cannot be allowed to calmly dispatch troops and generals to Moyang Road."

Li Yi said seriously: "Follow the order!"

"And -" Chen Xiaokuan hesitated for a moment, and then said with great reluctance: "Give up the eastern defense line and order the defenders to retreat to the line from Hanyin to Pingli."

Li Yi was shocked. Of course he knew the purpose of this decision, which was to abandon a large area east of Moyang Road and shrink the defense line to hold on to the other half of the northwest territory.

If the important officials in the court knew about this...

Chen Xiaokuan knew why he hesitated, waved his hand and said: "Otherwise, we may not be able to protect the entire Moyang Road. If Your Majesty is blamed, I will shoulder the responsibility. Go ahead and don't delay."

Li Yi looked extremely heavy and nodded heavily: "Follow the order!"

……

Just as Chen Xiaokuan expected, Xunyang City could not hold on, just like Xinchang and Shiquan to the north, and it only lasted less than three hours.

The battle started in the middle of the night and ended when a flash of white fish belly appeared on the horizon.

The lack of manpower of the defenders was a very important reason. Another point was that at the most intense stage of the war, someone in the city killed the defenders at the city gate, opened the north gate in a grand manner, and led the Qi cavalry into the city.

By the time the sun rose, the Qi army had taken control of the city defenses, and all the remaining defenders abandoned their weapons and surrendered.

Taixing Army and Lai'an Army each control half of the city.

The people in the city were terrified because Xunyang City was located in the heart of Moyang Road and had not experienced the baptism of war for many years.

Many people dared not sleep a wink all night.

They didn't know why enemies came to attack the city, and they didn't expect that the city gate would be opened so easily until a large number of tiger and wolf troops wearing Qi army armor entered the city and controlled all the important roads in a short period of time. Only then did everyone realize that this was not a dream.

Heaven has changed.

Although the people are very scared, the city is generally peaceful, but some high-end mansions will inevitably be affected.

Massacres of cities were not uncommon in wars of this era.

The so-called massacre of the city does not refer to the crazy killing after the city is broken, but refers to the fact that most generals will tacitly allow their soldiers to do some extraordinary actions.

This is true for most armies, regardless of Jing Dynasty, Northern Yan or Southern Qi.

Because this can drive soldiers to fight bravely and risk their lives, and it is also an important means for the army to maintain morale.

Xiao Wangzhi has strict requirements on military discipline, but after all, he cannot completely prevent this situation from happening.

In front of a mansion in Xicheng, two gatekeepers fell on the steps. There were several footprints on their chests, and they were holding their chests and moaning in great pain.

The door has been opened, and you can faintly hear the crying and pleading of women and the laughter of young men inside.

In the main hall, six or seven men in unusual clothes were forced to stand in the corner. A dozen young Qi soldiers looked at them leisurely, with shining steel knives shaking in their hands.

"Sorry..."

The sound of horse hooves sounded in the long street outside the house, and the people inside obviously couldn't hear it.

The two disciples raised their heads in horror and looked at the more than twenty Qi army cavalry walking slowly not far away.

The leaders were a young man and woman.

Menzi quickly lowered his head, fearing to offend these fierce soldiers.

However, the tall horse stopped in front of them.

Lu Chen looked up at the plaque on the mansion.

Written on it are two large, upright and powerful characters.

king house.

(End of this chapter)