Jiuxi

Chapter 933 931 [Enemy]

Jingzhou, north of Pingyang City, Jingjun Camp.

"Are there any signs that Liu Shouguang and Zhang Xu are on the move?"

Qing Yugong looked calm and spoke in a gentle tone.

The general bowed his head and replied, "Your Highness, in recent days, the enemy's garrisons in Taikang and Yongqiu have sent a large number of scouts and cavalry to keep an eye on our camps in Xifengyuan and the southeast, and they seem to be heading south to rescue Pingyang. However, General Miegudi asked me to report to Your Highness that our army of more than 40,000 cavalry and infantry will definitely be able to keep an eye on the Qi army. Your Highness will not have to worry about anything, so please rest assured!"

Qing Yugong nodded slightly.

Miegudi was his right-hand man trained personally. He helped him manage the main force of the Xiashan Army when he was trapped in Dadu. Even when he attacked the State of Dai, he was not used by Wuyan Shu. He was the best choice in terms of loyalty and ability. Now that he dared to make such a promise, Qing Yugong naturally would not worry and could focus all his energy on Pingyang City in the south.

However, this fortified city is indeed extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

From the beginning of November to now, in less than half a month, the Jing army has launched six offensives. Not to mention threatening the defense of Pingyang City, they can't even climb to the top of the city.

The western army of Jingjun advanced all the way from the northwest corner of Jingzhou, and successively captured four important towns, Yanwu, Qiliu, Gaotang, and Xilingguan, swept through dozens of towns along the way, and occupied nearly a quarter of Jingzhou's territory. Although they achieved the greatest result since the war began, the losses were also quite heavy.

Before Qing Yugong set out to fight, he had a total of 180,000 soldiers under his command. Now, excluding the more than 40,000 soldiers who remained in the north and the more than 10,000 soldiers who stayed in the important towns along the way, there are only more than 70,000 people in the camp at the moment. In other words, nearly 50,000 soldiers have been lost.

Compared with the Xiling Pass which took more than a month to capture, the Pingyang City in front of them was even more of a tough nut to crack. If they wanted to capture this fortified city, they wondered how many of the more than 70,000 Jing troops would be able to survive.

All the generals looked solemn.

Qing Yugong looked around at everyone, sneered in his heart, but his face remained calm: "Pingyang City is indeed difficult to capture. Are you afraid?"

The generals were in awe. They had received instructions from the emperor before the expedition and were afraid that Qing Yugong would disobey his order and withdraw his troops, so they immediately clamored for battle and vowed to reach the top of Pingyang City at all costs.

Qing Yugong became more and more certain of their thoughts, so instead of confronting them in public, he tried to appease them.

In name, he is the commander-in-chief of the Western Army. If he ignores the emperor's will, these generals will definitely have a different attitude.

At this time, an officer from the Central Army walked into the commander's tent and said hurriedly, "Your Highness, the scouts along the river have sent an urgent report that a Southern Qi infantry is coming from the southwest, along the south bank of the Heng River to Pingyang. There are about 20,000 to 30,000 people, flying the flag of the Southern Qi Chengzhou Governor's Office!"

Qing Yugong narrowed his eyes slightly, and the other generals seemed a little surprised, but not shocked.

Although these people knew the strength of the various armies of Southern Qi very well, they had already figured it out. In their opinion, the strongest unit of the Qi army was the Dingzhou Army under Lu Chen, followed by the weakened Jingzhou Army, and then the three major camps of the Beijing Army. As for the Chengzhou Governor's Office, it was not even worth mentioning.

There are only 20,000 or 30,000 infantrymen. At most, they are vassal troops assisting the Pingyang defenders, and are only slightly stronger than auxiliary troops.

If it were a head-on confrontation, any general in the tent would have the confidence that he could defeat the Chengzhou army in one round.

However, before they could comment on the matter, another officer came in and reported: "Your Highness, the scouts on the eastern front have sent an urgent report that a Southern Qi infantry is coming from Jianghua City in Jingzhou, with about 20,000 to 30,000 men. Our scouts have approached and investigated and confirmed that the enemy is the Jinwu Camp of the Southern Qi Jingjun!"

At this time, the expressions of the generals in the tent were not as relaxed as before.

They are all veterans of the battlefield and are well aware of the hidden meaning behind these movements of the Qi army.

If the appearance of the Chengzhou Army of the Southern Qi Dynasty was to further strengthen the defense of Pingyang City, then the arrival of the Jinwu Army meant that the Qi Army was about to turn from defense to offense.

With the solid defense system of Pingyang City, there is no need for so many troops to garrison there. Moreover, the emperor sent an order a few days ago, and he personally led an army of more than 100,000 to Teng County. Shouldn't the Qi army transfer all its reserve troops there at this moment?

"My Lord, could this be a trick to confuse the enemy?"

Gulijia spoke first, and a hint of worry appeared in his dark eyes. It was not because he was afraid of the various Qi troops that were rushing to Pingyang City one after another, but because he was worried that Qing Yugong would use this opportunity to withdraw his troops.

"Inform the scouts of all units to continue to investigate the Qi army's movements. Do not be careless."

Qing Yugong first gave orders to the officers of the Central Army, then looked at the generals and said, "I have said before that I am not afraid of the Qi army seeking a decisive battle, but I am afraid that they will hide in Pingyang City. Now that Your Majesty is personally leading the army south, it won't take too long to break the deadlock and determine the overall situation. How can we be afraid of fighting and cowardly because of calculating gains and losses? I have decided to suspend the attack on Pingyang City, give the Qi army some courage, and wait for them to form a battle array and move forward to fight with our army. What do you think?"

Gulijia and others felt relieved. Since the coach was determined to fight to the death, why would they cause trouble?

Everyone spoke in praise, each showing their admiration.

Qing Yugong smiled without saying anything. Standing not far away, Qing Yuzhong looked at the fawning attitude of the generals and felt a chill in his heart.

These people had only one goal, which was to use both soft and hard tactics to force his father to die together with the Qi army.

He looked at the smile on Qing Yugong's face and couldn't help but look forward to the battle.

Three days later, on November 16th of the tenth year of Tiande in Dajing, on the second day after the Qi Jing army had a test battle on the Lei Ze Plain a thousand miles away in the northeast, two armies were also facing each other on the vast land north of Pingyang City.

Qing Yugong was in charge of the central army, and his infantry and cavalry were stationed in a spearhead formation. The Qi army in the south had a strict formation. Although there was no organized cavalry and it was a combination of various armies with complex compositions, the arrangement of the formation was quite methodical, which was not something that ordinary generals could do.

Soon, several scouts came galloping and went straight into the center of the army.

"Report to the prince!"

The leader said solemnly: "The Southern Qi army has raised a flag with the name of Lu Chen, the Prince of Huai'an County of Southern Qi, written on it!"

In the biting cold wind, there was dead silence under King Dajing's flag.

The generals were shocked to hear the news, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt it was natural.

Facing the two simultaneous fists of the Jing army, since the Qi army chose to send reinforcements to the extremely strong Pingyang City and took the initiative to seek a decisive battle, it was reasonable for Lu Chen to come here and command in person.

The problem is that he doesn't intend to take the border area of ​​the three states south of Teng County? Does he want to sit back and watch Emperor Jing lead his army to sweep through the three states?
Everyone turned to look at Qing Yugong who was sitting on the horse.

"I see."

Qing Yugong said calmly, "It seems that Lu Chen wants to defeat our army here in one fell swoop, then go north to recover the lost territory, and then join forces with the troops under Liu Shouguang and Zhang Xu. After resolving the crisis in Jingzhou, he will deal with our Majesty."

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After hearing him expose the other party's plot, everyone suddenly understood.

Qing Yugong raised his eyebrows and looked towards the Qi army formation in the south, and said calmly: "Generals, who dares to test the strength of the Qi army first?"

"The general will go where he wishes!"

Everyone rushed to be the first.

Qing Yugong smiled with relief, and immediately ordered his generals to lead the troops to attack.

This battle was extremely similar to the first battle on the Lei Ze Plain battlefield. The Qi army responded calmly and there was no chaos in the overall formation from beginning to end. This shows the commander's accurate judgment of the situation and strong control over his troops.

Looking at all the generals of Southern Qi, it seems that only Lu Chen can do this, and the generals of Jing Army no longer have any doubts.

In the afternoon, both armies withdrew their troops and returned to their camps.

Qing Yugong took one last look at the Qi army that was retreating in an orderly manner in the south, and said silently in his heart: "You and I have fought many times before. There are probably few people in this world who are more familiar with your style than me. You played a similar trick once before outside Yongqiu City. You can't expect me to be fooled again."

All the generals thought that the commander of the Qi army was Lu Chen, but Qing Yugong had already identified his old opponent hiding among the thousands of soldiers.

The name "Xiao Wangzhi" appeared in his mind, and then he laughed at himself.

Pingyang City.

With this fortified city as their backing, the Qi army set up camp outside the city. After settling their soldiers, the generals hurried back to the city to attend a military meeting.

After the generals left, Xiao Wangzhi raised his hand and pinched his eyebrows, then looked at the three people who were still left in the hall.

Chengzhou Governor Tong Shiyuan looked respectful, while the Minister of Military Affairs Chen Lanyu, who was sitting opposite him, had a smile on his face.

Xiao Wangzhi said calmly: "This trick may not be able to deceive Qing Yugong. He has been fooled once in Yongqiu City. He should not make the wrong judgment this time."

Chen Lanyu nodded and said, "My Lord, this is just an excuse for Qing Yugong to start a war. The Prince of Huai'an has a clear judgment of his current situation. Emperor Jing must want him to die on this battlefield. Qing Yugong is so scheming and cunning that he cannot fail to realize this. He is not a blindly loyal person. He will most likely go with the flow and use our army to eliminate Emperor Jing's direct forces."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled slightly, looking at this subordinate who he once thought had gone astray, and listening to his accurate analysis of the situation, he naturally felt very relieved.

After making more specific arrangements, he looked at the young woman sitting above Chen Lanyu and said gently, "Madam Luo, thank you for bringing the Shazhou warriors to support us."

Luo Jiujiu bowed cheerfully and said, "No need to be so polite, Duke. My father said that Shazhou and Daqi are helping each other now, and this is what we should do."

Xiao Wangzhi praised: "Your father is worthy of being the Lord of Shazhou. But I have a favor to ask of you. The warriors of Shazhou will stay in the city to recuperate for the time being."

Luo Jiujiu's bright eyes moved slightly, and she said bluntly: "You don't have to be too careful, Duke. Since we Shazhou people are here, we are willing to fight with the Jing army on the battlefield."

"Please don't misunderstand, Madam Luo."

Xiao Wangzhi's tone was calm, but it contained a bit of murderous intent: "This battle is an unspeakable tacit understanding between Qing Yugong and me, so the Shazhou warriors must hide until the end. When Qing Yugong has exhausted the direct troops of Emperor Jing and is about to retreat to the north, we will rely on the Shazhou warriors to attack and leave this military god of Jing!"

(End of this chapter)