Li Jiajun only stayed in the Jinghai Courtyard for two days, then boarded the ship and continued to march westward, advancing by land and water, and slaughtering the Jiangyin Army, the throat of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Jiangyin City has a very long history, and its history is more than 2,500 years. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Jiangyin belongs to the Yanling of Wu State, was the fief of Ji Zha, the son of Wu, Ji Zha, avoided farming in Shengang Nanshun Mountain, and the Yanling Jizi of the ancient Central Plains was buried in Shengang, Jiangyin.

In the third year of Tang Wude (620), Jiangyin County was promoted to Jizhou, and Jiyang County was restored to Liangfeng's hometown. Jizhou has jurisdiction over three counties: Jiangyin County, Jiyang County and Licheng County.

After the establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty, it was set up as the Jiangyin Army, which governed a county in Jiangyin.

Although Jiangyin is very small, its geographical location is extremely important, and it happens to be at the throat of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In view of the importance of Jiangyin, after the establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu's grandfather stationed heavy troops in the Jiangyin army to defend it.

The current commander of the Jiangyin Army is Huang Deng, who is the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It was only because Huang Deng and Lin Renzhao were at odds that they were placed in the Jiangyin Army.

According to previous intelligence, there were about 30,000 soldiers and horses in Jiangyin, half of whom were sailors.

The entire Southern Tang Dynasty is only 150,000 soldiers and horses, of which 80,000 are controlled by Lin Renzhao, and the remaining 70,000 soldiers and horses are scattered in various states and counties, and Jiangyin accounts for nearly half of them, which shows that the Southern Tang Dynasty attaches great importance to Jiangyin!

According to the battle concept of the General Staff Division, it was best for Huang Deng not to run, but to have a decisive battle on the water with Li Jiajun's sailors.

Secondly, Huang Deng knew that the Li family's army was strong, so he did not dare to fight a decisive battle on the water, but retreated in Jiangyin City.

In the worst-case scenario, Huang Deng voluntarily abandoned Jiangyin and fled back to the west to join Lin Renzhao.

Compared with Jiangyin City, Li Zhongyi hopes more that he will swallow the 30,000 people under Huang Deng's command in one bite.

If you lose land and save people, then people and land will survive, this truth is understood in the Li family's army, even ordinary soldiers.

The war to unify Jiangnan was in full swing, and the soldiers of the Li family army were all holding back their strength, intending to let Huang Deng know how many eyes Ma Wang Ye had?

However, to Li Zhongyi's disappointment, but also admiration, Huang Deng really led his army to flee west, leaving Jiangyin City to Li Zhongyi.

Huang Deng belonged to the nature of leading the army to retreat on his own initiative, and there was an essential difference between the guards of the Jinghai Courtyard who abandoned the city and fled.

Before the war, what Li Zhongyi was most worried about was that the Southern Tang army had gathered under Lin Renzhao's banner, and it would be a vicious battle and a bitter battle!

However, cruel facts have proved that even though Huang Deng and Lin Renzhao have an old feud, in the face of the great enemy, Huang Deng still chooses to put the survival of the country first.

Li Zhongyi stood at the head of Jiangyin City with his hands in his hands, looking at the mighty river flowing eastward, and couldn't help but feel his heart fluctuate.

Zhao Laoqi worked hard and planned to eat Huang Deng's 30,000 people in one bite, who would have thought that Huang Deng was so cunning that he took the lead and fled upstream.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he should take advantage of the victory to pursue and not give Huang Deng a chance to breathe." Zhao Laoqi angrily asked for battle.

Li Zhongyi waved his hand and said, "Since Huang Deng wants to escape, even if we catch up, I'm afraid it will be difficult to eat it in one bite." Fang Jin's trend, instead of chasing after him, it is better to let it converge with Lin Renzhao. ”

Zhao Laoqi asked Li Zhongyi puzzled: "Your Majesty, what do you mean to lead the enemy army to Jiangzhou?" ”

Li Zhongyi smiled slightly and said: "Everyone in the world thinks that my target is Lin Renzhao, but in fact, before I went south, I was thinking about how to bypass Jiangzhou and go straight to Hongzhou, the lair of the Southern Tang Dynasty. ”

According to the personality of the later lord Li Yu, he naturally did not dare to go to Jiangzhou to supervise the war, but would only stay in Hongzhou (Nanchang), a new capital far away from the battlefield.

According to Li Zhongyi's thoughts, since Li Yu was in Hongzhou, and the internal forces in the hinterland of the Southern Tang Dynasty were unusually empty, he might as well lead a light cavalry to attack the city of Hongzhou and take Li Yu by surprise.

Yang Lie's men had 80,000 elites, Li Zhongyi brought 60,000 elites, and 20,000 sailors. In other words, the total strength of the unified Jiangnan reached a record-breaking 160,000 people.

Don't talk about anything else, the main force of the 80,000 forbidden army led by Yang Lie alone is enough for Lin Renzhao to drink several pots, not to mention, Li Zhongyi still has 60,000 people on hand?

Yang Lie is in Jiangbei, Li Zhongyi is in Jiangnan, and the sailors are going up the Yangtze River, no matter how the General Staff Department calculates, it is a must-win game!

Of course, a sure win is not the same as a quick win, and there is a big win and a bad win. The reason is actually very simple, mainly because of the barrier of the Yangtze River, and Lin Renzhao is a famous general in the world, so he must deal with it carefully.

Of course, if Li Zhongyi wants to go to Hongzhou, he must take into account the geographical environment of the dense water network near Hongzhou.

Without the help of the sailors, if Li Zhongyi brought too many soldiers, just crossing the river would make a lot of movement, thus losing the meaning of the sneak attack.

If the troops led by Li Zhongyi are too small, there are still 30,000 forbidden troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Hongzhou City, which is obviously too risky.

Therefore, after thinking about it, Li Zhongyi decided to personally lead 15,000 people to attack Hongzhou in the starry night.

It's just that Li Zhongyi knows very well in his heart that if he doesn't use ruthless moves, Ma Guangda and Zhao Laoqi will definitely insist on opposing his risky actions.

Li Zhongyi's plan has been brewing in secret, not to mention Ma Guangda and Zhao Laoyi, even if it is the General Staff Department of the army, no one knows about it.

Anyway, it's still early, and when Chizhou is taken, it's not too late for Li Zhongyi to make plans.

The top priority at the moment is to take advantage of the space for Huang Deng's retreat and take advantage of the situation to take Jiangning Mansion, the western capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The father and son of the Li family in the Southern Tang Dynasty have been operating in Jiangning Mansion for decades, whether it is gold and silver treasures, or grain and grass, it is enough to make Li Zhongyi salivate.

After Huang Deng gave up Jiangyin, the Southern Tang guards in Runzhou followed suit and took the initiative to withdraw to Jiangning Mansion.

In this way, counting the original 150 million soldiers and horses in Jiangning Mansion, Huang Deng's 30,000 soldiers and horses, and 10,000 soldiers and horses in Runzhou, the defenders of the Southern Tang Dynasty hoarded in Jiangning have reached as many as 55,000 people.

In terms of total strength, Li Zhongyi is only 80,000 people, including 20,000 sailors. One defense and one attack, the 55,000 soldiers and horses of the Southern Tang Dynasty, as long as they are united, can also delay for some time.

After Li Zhongyi took Runzhou without a single soldier, Jiangning City, the old capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was completely exposed in front of his eyes.

Different from the previous situation in which the northern lords unified the south, the main force of the infantry army of the Qiang Han Dynasty was in the south of the Yangtze River, not in the north of the Yangtze River, which was blocked by a natural moat.

This is the benefit of the huge sailor!

The Li family's army advanced by land and water, approaching Jiangning City step by step, and it seemed that the army was about to come to the city. However, the civil officials and important officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jiangning City were fighting against Huang Deng, who abandoned the city and left.

The civil officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty did not understand the military logic of defending the river and guarding the Huai River at all, let alone the beauty of huddling together for warmth. They held on to Huang Deng's "sin" of abandoning the city without authorization, and the impeachment of Huang Deng flew into Hongzhou like snowflakes and was placed on Li Yu's table.