Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 875 Only one can save himself

Su Chen sat in the commander's seat, his eyes were like torches, scanning the generals including Lin Renzhao, Pan Mei, Pan Chongche, Lu Jiang, etc. This was the first time that the commanders from all the armies had gathered together since the Northern Expedition.

More than two months have passed, and the Northern Expedition has achieved a huge victory. The Wu army has been unstoppable, suppressing the Song army all the way, successfully crossing the Yangtze River, and occupying many places in Huainan. Now the army is heading straight for Pengcheng, the core area of ​​Huaibei, and the situation on the battlefield is very good.

"Next, after removing Cao Bin, we can continue to advance northward." Su Chen's voice was steady and powerful, echoing in the conference room: "I have arranged the tasks, so let's do it. Everyone return to the camp and reorganize the troops. Soon, our reinforcements from the rear will arrive, the first batch of 100,000, and the second batch of another 100,000. Together with the troops and reinforcements we mobilized before, our strength has reached 500,000. It is enough to deal with the Song State. The key now is to avoid stretching the front line too long and getting caught in a tug-of-war or attack and capture battle in the prefectures and counties."

He paused, his eyes becoming more profound: "For the cities that have been captured, we will focus on appeasement, implement the new policy of Wu, open warehouses to help the people, exempt taxes, deal with a few local bullies and diehards, and win the hearts of the people. As long as the people welcome us, do not help the Song army, and do not join the Song army, then we will be victorious soon."

After listening to this, all the generals nodded and expressed their appreciation for Su Chen's approach. In the past, when attacking an enemy country, most of them would indulge the soldiers to rob, which would cause the local people to be disgusted. But Su Chen's strategy was different. He knew that the will of the people was the key to victory.

If his approach is followed, it will indeed be possible to win over the hearts of the people and reduce local resistance, allowing the main army to concentrate on attacking important state capitals and defense checkpoints.

Lin Renzhao spoke first, with a hint of admiration in his tone: "Your Highness, this is a brilliant strategy. It can both appease the people and concentrate military forces, killing two birds with one stone."

Pan Mei also nodded and said: "In this way, the support of the Song army in the local area will inevitably be greatly reduced, and our road to the northern expedition will be smoother."

Pan Chongche was even more eager: "Then let's act as soon as possible, strive to capture Cao Bin as soon as possible, and continue to advance northward!"

Lu Jiang also echoed: "Marshal Su is wise, we will definitely go all out!"

The atmosphere in the conference hall was heated and tense. All the generals were convinced of Su Chen's strategy. After all, this kind of order was in line with the will of the people. It also made these Confucian generals feel that their side was the army of justice and they were full of confidence in the future battle.

Su Chen watched the generals return to the camp, thinking to himself. At present, the 80,000 Song troops were trapped in the encirclement from the east, south, west and north, like a turtle in a jar.

This time, Su Chen paid special attention to Cao Bin. Cao Bin was a famous general of the Song army. If he could be captured, it would be like removing an arm of the Song Dynasty. Even if Cao Bin could not serve Wu immediately, as long as Song lost such a great general, the resistance of Wu's northward advance would be greatly reduced.

Therefore, Su Chen attached great importance to it and made careful arrangements, putting the Song army in a dilemma of being surrounded by enemies on all sides, and then setting up ambushes from all sides, which was exactly the classic tactic that Liu Bang used to fight Xiang Yu. He wanted to make sure Cao Bin had nowhere to escape.

The next day, the battle flags were flying in the Wu army camp, and the soldiers were training in preparation for attacking the Song army camp. However, the Wu army did not actually launch a strong attack.

Now that the Wu army knew that the Song army had little food and grass, they were no longer in a hurry. When the Song army ran out of food, they would definitely fight to break out in ten days. At this moment, the Wu army had the initiative, and they only needed to prepare for battle and wait for the Song army to lose its composure.

Three days later, the first batch of 100,000 Wu troops arrived. Su Chen thought for a moment and selected 40,000 troops, and divided the remaining 60,000 into three groups, giving 20,000 to each of the other three armies.

In this way, the army under Su Chen's control became more and more powerful. If the garrisons in Pengcheng, Suqian, Muyang and other places are counted, there are as many as 200,000 people. Su Chen's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he had a plan in mind. He took advantage of this gap to mobilize the main forces in Muyang, Suqian and other places to gather in Pengcheng one after another. He planned to meet there and then march directly to Yingtian Prefecture.

The entire Huainan area is currently under the control of the Wu army. In addition to continuously sending people to commend them, the Wu court in Hangzhou also sent a group of civil servants below the sixth rank to serve as provincial governors, prefects, and county magistrates in various states. After the war, they will be in charge of people's livelihood management, and civil servants are more suitable to take over local civil affairs.

After six days, Cao Bin was already getting anxious and couldn't wait any longer. Even if he saved on food and fodder and only had two meals of thin porridge a day, he could only survive for twenty days at most. But after that, he ran out of energy and couldn't fight at all.

Therefore, Cao Bin decided to break out in advance and could not continue to wait, because he knew very well that no reinforcements would come, and even if there were local reinforcements, they would be eliminated and surrounded by the Wu army. Now he could only save himself.

If the battle dragged on until the last few days, the soldiers' morale would be low and their physical strength would be insufficient, which would affect their combat effectiveness. Therefore, it would be better to break out as soon as possible. However, Cao Bin did not want to escape too quickly, because holding out for one more day and delaying the Wu army for one more day would give the Song army one more day to prepare and dispatch.

Therefore, Cao Bin planned to launch a breakout on the tenth day.

.........

Zhao Kuangyin sat upright in the warship, sailing slowly northward against the Bian River. Ten thousand imperial guards accompanied him, and the warships drew ripples on the water, while another 40,000 elite troops marched separately on land, in a mighty force.

At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin was very depressed. This time, he personally led the army to the south, but he was defeated and lost face.

Last time, he personally led an expedition to Northern Han. Although he failed to destroy the country, he taught Northern Han a lesson, annihilated tens of thousands of its troops, and brought back many civilians. Although he did not destroy the country, he took advantage of it. But this southern expedition was completely different. He suffered heavy casualties. Only tens of thousands of the 200,000 imperial troops were left. The local soldiers also suffered heavy losses and were defeated by the Wu army. The situation was extremely unfavorable.

"Will our Great Song Dynasty really face such a disaster?" Zhao Kuangyin's heart was full of worries. He was worried that this defeat would endanger the destiny of the Great Song Dynasty, or even lead to its destruction by the Wu Kingdom.

With a heavy heart, he stood up and walked to the deck outside the cabin. The breeze blew his long hair. He looked at the flow of the Bian River and felt unpredictable about his future fate.

At this moment, many black shells suddenly flew out from the mountains on the left bank and hit his dragon boat like a rainstorm.

It turned out that a thousand special forces had set out in advance, looking for ambush points along the way, and finally chose a gorge at a steep mountain here to set up an ambush. Their special forces had conducted many tests and knew the speed, position, speed and direction of the ship very well, and their calculations were accurate. Therefore, this time many shells hit the dragon boat and the large ships in front and behind at the first time.

Boom boom boom!

Explosions were heard, several ships were attacked, and many officers and soldiers were blown into the water.

Zhao Kuangyin was almost hit by a cannonball, but he avoided it. However, the hull was severely damaged. His body was shaking and his face turned ashen in an instant. He clenched his fists and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes. He did not expect that he would fall into such a dangerous situation in the territory of the Song Dynasty.