Jiuxi

Chapter 742 [Chess Eye]

More than 200 miles southeast of Heluo City, a Jing army of tens of thousands of people slowly moved northward.

Although this is the territory actually controlled by Dajing, the Jing army seems to be marching cautiously, with cavalry scouts sent out twenty or thirty miles away, so any slight movement can be detected.

The main general Hesan was from the Alihe clan. Like Pucha and Chelimu, he was a military general promoted by Emperor Jing in recent years. His greatest advantage was his calmness and prudence. He was an outlier in the Jing army that advocated bravery and fierceness. That was why he was entrusted with an important task by Wuyan Shu and led his troops back to the northern front for support.

Because they were all infantry, and He San paid great attention to safety, it was already mid-June when the Jing army arrived near Qining City.

"Report! General, Qi cavalry has appeared in the north!"

"Probe further and find out the enemy's flag and military strength."

"Follow the order!"

The scout took the order and left. He San did not rush his subordinates into Qining City. Instead, he set up camp not far outside the city, preparing to wait for an opportunity.

He San was very clear about the task assigned to him by Wu Yanshu. He wanted to contain and deter the main force of the Southern Qi Dingzhou army that was plotting against Nanjing City. As a support soldier, he had to show a tough attitude from the very beginning. If an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people retreated into the city at will, not to mention a famous general like Lu Chen, even an ordinary soldier could see that the Jing army was bluffing.

The next morning, Hesan not only received more detailed intelligence from the scouts, but could even see the enemy from afar.

Standing on the observation tower inside the camp, He San had a solemn expression, while several deputy generals standing next to him looked indignant.

The Qi army was really too arrogant. They actually dared to send out only a few hundred cavalrymen to run rampant in the territory of the Jing army and to investigate the strength of the Jing army camp at such a close distance.

But He San didn't respond at all.

He did feel a little uncomfortable in his heart. If Pucha had not been defeated so badly at Yaoshan Pass and almost all of his cavalry had not been lost, how could the Qi army dare to be so arrogant?

Now he could only remain calm and look indifferently at the team of Qi cavalry hundreds of feet away.

The distance was too far to see the faces of the Qi army clearly, but He San noticed the general who was leading them and riding a white horse.

The opponent should be the only female general on the battlefield at that time, Li Bingxue, the commander of the Feiyu Army of Southern Qi.

Combined with the intelligence obtained by the scouts, it turned out that the Feiyu Army, which had made great achievements in battle, was standing in front of the Jing Army.

A deputy general said in a deep voice: "General, I didn't expect Lu Chen to send his most elite cavalry to stop us."

He San narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "Lu Chen wants to attack Nanjing City. Cavalry can't play a big role. The right way is to intercept our reinforcements. There is nothing wrong with his arrangement."

Another deputy general said meaningfully: "In fact, isn't this what the Qi army is doing exactly what we want?"

Everyone couldn't help but smile with understanding, and the same went for He San.

The support troops they brought actually consisted of only 10,000 combat soldiers, and the rest were auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers. It looked powerful, but in fact their strength was limited.

If they really fought head-on on the battlefield, they might not even be able to stop the Feiyu Army with less than 10,000 soldiers.

He San did not dare to be careless and said calmly: "Tell the soldiers to be alert and not let the Qi army see through their true strength. Although Li Bingxue is a woman, she is as brave as a man. She can lead the army to charge the camp. The whole army should be on guard carefully, and the cavalry scouts should keep an eye on the enemy camp."

Everyone said in unison: "Yes, sir!"

He San watched for a while and saw a small group of Qi cavalry turning back in the distance. He then returned to the commander's tent, wrote an urgent letter in his own handwriting and sent it to Wu Yanshu in the south.

Outside the camp, hundreds of riders turned back leisurely.

Huangfu Yu smacked his lips and said, "Miss, I wonder who the commander of this Jing Army reinforcement is. He is very different from those arrogant guys in the past. He seems very cautious."

Li Bingxue smiled and said, "It's just a contradiction."

Huangfu Yu asked with a hint of curiosity: "Why?"

Li Bingxue looked back at Qining City and the Jing Army's camp outside the city and said, "If he is really cautious, he should lead his troops into the city instead of camping outside the city. What he is doing now is nothing more than showing off their strength and intimidating our army. But you and I are leading hundreds of cavalrymen to wander under their noses, but they are indifferent. What does this mean?"

Huangfu Yu suddenly realized, "It shows that they are very insecure."

Li Bingxue nodded and said, "That's it. They are neither advancing nor retreating, and they are trapped in a dilemma. This is enough to show that the other party is powerful on the outside but weak on the inside. This so-called army of tens of thousands is probably just an empty shell."

Huangfu Yu's blood boiled when he heard these words. He turned his head and looked to the south. He couldn't help but rubbed his hands and said, "Miss, how about giving them a warning?"

Li Bingxue shook her head and said, "Our mission is to stop the Jing army reinforcements on the Qining line and prevent them from continuing to move north. Don't forget that Heluo is our army's target."

Huangfu Yu was startled and said seriously, "Yes."

The two led hundreds of elite cavalry back to the camp more than 30 miles away. At this time, He San's secret letter had been written and sent to the south by a fast horse of 800 miles. Of course, Wu Yanshu received more than just this urgent message.

"The reinforcements led by He San were blocked by the Feiyu Army of Southern Qi on the Qining line. I didn't expect this cavalry could still maintain such a high combat effectiveness. It seems that I still underestimated the foundation accumulated by Southern Qi over the years."

Although Wu Yanshu said this, his tone was very calm.

Guiyou, who was sitting opposite him, said, "Stay here. It seems that Lu Chen has made up his mind to compete with our army to see who is faster."

"That seems to be the case at the moment."

Wu Yanshu put down the urgent report written by He San and said calmly: "The Nanjing City garrison reported that the main force of the Southern Qi Dingzhou Army, after breaking through Yaoshan Pass, successively captured Anxian and Shenze, and is now less than 50 miles away from Nanjing. In addition to letting the Feiyu Army patrol the southern line, Lu Chen also sent thousands of soldiers to garrison the northern line. His general flag has appeared outside Nanjing City."

Guiyou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that Nanjing City is under threat, he actually has this expression. It would inevitably seem strange to outsiders, but Guiyou is clear about Wu Yanshu's overall strategy and naturally will not be worried about the current situation.

On the contrary, he was delighted that his side could finally focus on attacking Jingzhou of Southern Qi.

Wu Yanshu stood up and walked to the sand table, calmly analyzing every battle line without missing any troop deployment of either side. The overall framework of this battle gradually took shape in his mind.

Now the battlefield is divided into two parts. One is that Lu Chen of Southern Qi personally led the main force of the Dingzhou army to approach Nanjing. The other is that he led more than 100,000 Jing troops to gradually narrow the encirclement of Taikang area, striving to annihilate the main force of the Jingzhou army here.

In the northern part of Dingzhou, the two sides were in a stalemate, and neither Wu Yanshu nor Lu Chen had the idea of ​​opening up a third battlefield.

As Guyuk said, now the competition is about who can achieve a breakthrough faster.

After thinking for a long time, Wu Yanshu said calmly: "It seems that the pressure we put on Liu Shouguang is not enough."

Hearing this, a hideous smile appeared on Guiyou's face.

At the commander-in-chief's command, all three armies moved together.

During this period, the Jing army maintained an offensive that was not particularly fierce, and the Jingzhou army's defense was relatively solid and did not reveal any obvious flaws.

Although Wu Yanshu had previously ordered Pang Linggu to lead troops to capture Bai County and cut off the connection between Taikang and Yongqiu, the Taikang defense line was not an isolated city. It also included two auxiliary cities in the southeast and southwest, as well as three mutually supporting military camps, forming a compact and three-dimensional defense system.

As Wuyan Shu ordered to intensify the offensive, Jing's army surged towards the various positions of Qi's army like a tide.

On June 17, Jing's army broke through the military camp between Taikang City and the southeast auxiliary city.

On the 19th, the southeastern auxiliary city was in a state of emergency.

On the 22nd, Jing's army captured another military camp.

Since the defeat in the Battle of Kaocheng, the morale of the Jingzhou Army has been severely hit. Subsequently, the Jing Army has been rampant in the northern part of Jingzhou, capturing eight towns in just over half a month. Now, the main force of the Jingzhou Army has been trapped in a relatively cramped area, and the atmosphere in the army seems very depressed.

The Jing army won battle after battle and their morale was high.

At sunset, a scout leader came to the central army's tent and said respectfully: "Report to the commander, there have been messengers from the Qi army heading south in the past few days. We have spotted at least seven of them. Following the commander's instructions, we did not intercept these messengers and let them leave."

Wu Yanshu nodded slightly, but Guiyou looked puzzled.

In fact, he had always had a question in his mind, but he did not dare to question Wu Yanshu's decision. Although this commander had an absolute advantage in military strength and had cut off the connection between Taikang Qi army and the south in advance, he did not build an extremely solid fence. Instead, he surrounded three sides and left one side open, leaving a gap in the south for the Qi army.

Under normal circumstances, encircling three sides and leaving one side open is a very correct strategy, which can prevent the enemy from making a desperate attempt and causing heavy casualties to your side.

But now the morale of the Qi army has hit rock bottom, and the goal of the Jing army is to annihilate the Qi army. Why should they leave a gap for the other side?
Wu Yanshu seemed to know what he was thinking, and said calmly: "I said before that Liu Shouguang is dull and clumsy by nature, and he will not change the established strategy unless it is absolutely necessary. Our army has intensified its offensive these days in order to force Liu Shouguang to make a decision early. If he does not want to be annihilated here, he must find a way to transfer the Jingzhou garrison in the south to support him."

Guiyou's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "So that's it! Liu Shouguang doesn't have enough troops to begin with. Right now he can only mobilize troops stationed in important towns in the southern part of Jingzhou, such as Pingyang Prefecture."

Speaking of the last three words, Guiyou couldn't help but feel hatred. Back then, Li Tianrun relied on Pingyang Prefecture on the north bank of Hengjiang River to block the only way for Jing's army to move south.

Wu Yanshu nodded and said, "Besieging Taikang doesn't seem to be a wise decision. After all, a strong attack would cause huge losses. But this is the only way to allow Liu Shouguang to spare some time for the reserve troops, and then-"

He turned his head and looked at the hanging map, his eyes fell on the southwest corner, and said calmly: "When Liu Shouguang finds out that his retreat has been intercepted, the main force of the Jingzhou Army here will be demoralized, and it will be effortless to annihilate them."

That very small area on the map seems peaceful and tranquil.

In fact, there was already a lot of killing going on, with swords and guns wielding simultaneously.

(End of this chapter)