For a few days, Zhao Junsheng continued to receive news from the Western Front, first Zhu Gui led the army to attack Nanjun, and then received that Zhu Gui defeated the Song army of Nanjun, and then Zhu Gui's army took Jiangling City and all of Nanjun without blood, and then received the Song army commander Xiao Sihua led the army to retreat south overnight, abandoning Yiling Road and Yaoting, and retreated to Baling.

"Your Majesty, I just received the latest news, after Xiao Sihua, the commander of the Western Front of the Song Army, led his army to withdraw to Baling, he quickly organized the army and civilians to build shore fortifications on Dongting Lake, Baling and the Yangtze River, and arranged underwater obstacles on some waterways, in an attempt to prevent our army from crossing the river with the natural dangers of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River!"

Lin Jinghui's report made Zhao Junsheng get up and walk to the map.

Judging from the current situation, the idea that Lu Shuang's army on the Western Front wants to fight across Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River to kill Baling City is basically unrealistic, so the momentum of the attack on the Western Front is basically over.

In order to prevent the Song army from fighting from Dongting Lake and the south bank of the Yangtze River to the north bank, the cadres must build shore fortifications at key points on the north bank and pass passes in some dangerous areas.

Zhao Junsheng thought about it for a while and soon made a decision.

"Send a decree to Gao Xu, appoint him as the governor of Jingzhou and the Taishou of Nanjun, let him put down the affairs at hand and rush to Jiangling, take over the military affairs of the Western Front, select 20,000 elites from the army of Lu Shuang to stay and garrison, strengthen the defense line of Dongting Lake and the north bank of the Yangtze River, prevent the Song army from counterattacking, and return to the rest of the troops wherever they are transferred.

"Send the edict to Dongfang Chen, Lu Shuang and others, the ministers can return to Chang'an first, Lu Shuang will stay behind to set up defenses, organize the military and civilians to build shore defenses and pass fortifications, and then settle with him when Gao Xu arrives, and Lu Shuang will return to Hanzhong on his own!"

Gao Xu was directly transferred from the post of the right servant of Chang'an Shangshu to the governor of Jingzhou and the governor of Nanjun, which obviously shows that the Qianguo is determined to win the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the vast area north of Dongting Lake, otherwise he would not have sent Gao Xu, the founding general, to Jiangling to take charge.

After the analysis of the courtiers, Liu Jun, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, could only reluctantly abandon the area north of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River for the time being, and completely retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, so he ordered Xiao Siyan to leave enough troops to deploy after organizing the military and civilians to build fortifications, and then repatriate the other troops to their hometowns.

Now the economy of the Song State is in a recession, the rebellion of the displaced people in various places has not been completely quelled, the people's livelihood is difficult, the taxes can not be collected, the treasury has been empty enough to starve the rats, and in such a situation, it is unnecessary to deploy heavy troops in the Baling area, on the one hand, it is unnecessary, on the other hand, it is really unaffordable.

Xiao Siyan was then transferred back to Jiankang to recover his life, and the Jiangnan defense line in Baling was taken over by Zang Zhi, who quickly rushed from Jiankang to Baling to take office.

During the confrontation between the Song army and the cadre army on the Western Front, Xiao Chengzhi, the general of the Song army, died of illness, Xiao Chengzhi was Xiao Sihua's brother, Xiao Sihua wrote to the emperor that Xiao Chengzhi had done his best for the emperor and the court over the years, was loyal, and worked hard, and the court should posthumously seal him and reward his heirs.

So Xiao Chengzhi's three sons were promoted and reused after Xiao Chengzhi's death.

Subsequently, half of the Song army's sailors located in Dongting Lake were secretly sent to Xiakou, and Xiao Bin controlled them.

Although the Southern Dynasties blocked the news about the transfer of half of the Dongting Lake Naval Division to Xiakou, the black-clothed guards of the Qianguo State were really not vegetarians, and quickly reported after discovering that the Song Army's naval division warships in Dongting Lake were less than half, speculating that they may have been transferred to Xiakou.

The Black Guards quickly launched an investigation, and the news spread to the Black Guards secret guard posts in the towns along the north bank of the Yangtze River, and the Black Guards found the other half of the Dongting Lake Naval Division warships that had disappeared in the Chibi area.

This news was sent to Jiangxia City by the black-clothed guard as quickly as possible.

In the lobby of the Taishou Mansion in Jiangxia City, Zhao Junsheng held a note recording the news of the Song Army's sailors and shook it.

"It seems that the war on the Western Front should have stopped, and the Southern Dynasties do not plan to and cannot afford to provoke another war on the Western Front, otherwise they would not have sent half of the Dongting Lake Water Division to Xiakou, and the purpose of this half of the Dongting Lake Water Division to Xiakou must be to assist the Song Army of Xiakou to cross the river and attack our Jiangxia City, I don't know what you think of this? Is there a good way to deal with it? ”

Li Bao stood up the most and expressed his opinion: "The minister thinks that our army is not inferior to the Song army in Xiakou in terms of strength, even if the Song army crosses the river to attack? If you want to fight, we have nothing to fear! ”

Zhao Junsheng listened to Li Bao's words, and couldn't help but shake his head in his heart, Li Bao is okay as a fierce general, and he is afraid that he will not be able to do it if he is the coach.

At present, on the fronts of Jiangxia and Xiakou, the situation between the Qianguo and the Song State is reversed, and the Qianjun and Song armies are disabled and are unable to cross the river to attack, while the Song army has a sailor and can cross the river at any time to kill them, so the cadres are currently in a position of being passively beaten.

General Liu Gon stood up and clenched his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that as long as our army holds the direction of the river bank, even if the Song army concentrates more warships, it will be in vain, and their sailors will not be able to go ashore!" Our army can also increase the height and reinforcement of the riverbank fortifications, and we will kill as many as the Song army comes! ”

In Zhao Junsheng's view, Liu Gon's determination to hold the defense line on the river bank was there, and this person's eagerness to show his ability and loyalty in front of him was worthy of praise and encouragement, but what this person said was nonsense and not a little constructive.

"Well, General Liu's loyalty and courage are commendable, the fortifications of the Jiangbank defense line do need to be heightened and reinforced, the morale of the soldiers still needs to be improved, and the drills must also be diligent!"

"No!" Liu Gon clenched his fists and retreated into the distance.

Zhao Junsheng's gaze swept over the generals again, and fell on the veteran Sima Chuzhi.

"King Langya, what do you think?"

The king of Langya was in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Zhao Junsheng still named him the king of Langya after the founding of the country, allowing him to listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement, but Sima Chuzhi is not so stupid, he later wrote to push away this right, and he is also the only king with a different surname in the Qianguo country, even if he is walking on thin ice all the year round, lest he provoke Zhao Junsheng's suspicion.

"Back to Your Majesty, the old minister has an idea, instead of the two sides fighting to the death on the riverbank defense line and wasting troops in vain, it is better to shrink the troops and advance by retreating!"

After listening to this, Zhao Junsheng understood what Sima Chuzhi meant, he looked at the generals and said: "I will consider this matter, and I will discuss it here today, all the secretaries will return to their posts to do their duties, and they must not slack off!" ”

"Yes! Wait for the resignation! ”

Zhao Junsheng got up and shouted: "King Langya stays!" ”

Everyone else left, but Sima Chuzhi stayed where he was.

Zhao Junsheng raised his hand: "King Langya, tell me your specific thoughts!" ”

"No!" Sima Chuzhi agreed, and immediately explained his thoughts in detail.

Zhao Junsheng listened quietly, and after Sima Chuzhi finished speaking, he put forward his incomprehension one by one, Sima Chu answered one by one, and some details were arranged, Sima Chu didn't think about it for a while, the two discussed on the spot, and gradually improved, and the scribe next to them recorded the plan they discussed in detail for backup.

After the two perfected the plan, Zhao Junsheng took the recorded plan from the scribe and read it carefully, and handed it to Sima Chuzhi after reading it: "Look at what else needs to be added!" ”

Sima Chuzhi looked at it and said, "The old minister has nothing to add!" ”

"In this case, let's implement this plan, the specific deployment is only known to me and you, try to leak the news, even if the person in charge of leading the execution can only let him know what he should know, and he can't tell him what he shouldn't know!"

"No!"

A day later, the Song army and sailors on the way had not yet arrived in Xiakou, and Zhao Junsheng issued an order announcing that the class division would return to the dynasty, leaving Sima Chuzhi as the governor of Yingzhou and the governor of Jiangxia.

At the same time, the corresponding garrison on the river bank was also reduced a lot, and the number of troops stationed in Jiangxia City was only 5,000.

Song Guo's meticulous work on the side of the Qianjun army quickly spread the news to Xiakou, and Xiao Bin immediately began to secretly prepare for the attack across the river after receiving the news.

In order to prevent Zhao Junsheng from leading his army back after receiving the news of the eastward transfer of the Dongting Lake Naval Division, he organized troops to cross the river to attack with the assistance and support of the naval division's warships that night.

This time, the Song army chose to carry out a feint attack at the east and west landing sites, and put the real landing site at the riverside wharf and ferry outside Jiangxia City, although a large number of riverbank defense facilities were also built here, but the Song army had never fought here before, and the defenders relied on the strong fortifications here and sufficient troops, all of which were a little careless.

That night, when the battle on the east and west river beach defense lines began, an hour later, Liu Gon's attention was attracted by these two battles, because these two lines of defense were urgent, he had to draw a part of his troops to support them, and the number of troops on the riverside outside Jiangxia City was reduced accordingly.

The Song army then devoted more than 2,000 troops in one go, and landed on Shangjiangtan with the cooperation and cover of a large number of naval divisions and warships, and launched a fierce attack.

After more than an hour of fighting, the defenders were forced to retreat due to insufficient strength and heavy casualties, and as soon as this defense line was broken, the defense line on the east and west sides could not be supported by the threat of the flanks, and the defense line on the river bank completely collapsed.

After daybreak, the Song army captured all the fortifications on the riverbank defense line and quickly surrounded the city of Jiangxia.

In less than an hour, Xiao Bin, the commander of the Song army, crossed the river with a spring breeze on his face and came to the outside of Jiangxia City.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses surrounded Jiangxia City tightly, and not a single fly could fly out.

Xiao Siyan rode on a war horse and observed the city fortifications of Jiangxia City.

"Marshal, according to the detailed report, there are five thousand defenders in Jiangxia City, and two thousand of them are co-conservators!"

After listening to the report, Xiao Bin immediately ordered: "No matter how much it costs, take Jiangxia City within two days!" ”

Then, Xiao Bin ordered one after another to send troops to capture nearby cities and passes.