Wang Han led his troops back to rescue Xiangyang, but how could he walk faster than the ship on his two legs? Gangneung has been lost before it arrived. Wang Han panicked and behaved at a loss, wanting to save Xiangyang in the north for a while, recovering Jiangling in the south for a while, and planning to flee to Jiangxia first...... In this regard, the army was sluggish, and Xuan was surrounded by Zhou Fu and Yao Yizhong in the north and south, and besieged in the Zhangshan area on the west bank of the Han River. After two days of fighting, Wang Han abandoned his armor and surrendered.

Prior to this, Zhen followed the attack on Gan Zhuo Yu Zigui. Gan Jisi saw that his soldiers were few, so he went out of the city to fight, but was defeated by Zhen Sui, and the soldiers scattered, and finally Gan Zhuo knew that he was inevitable, so he faced the east and killed himself.

In less than a month, the main force of the Jin army on the Jingxiang side had been destroyed, and the Xiangzhou assassin Shi Ying Zhan led his troops to help, and he had just arrived at Xiaoling, which was still a hundred miles away from Jiangling - and was still separated by the Yangtze River.

Ying Siyuan was forced to retreat to Baling, that is, Yueyang County in later generations. Baling is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north and Dongting in the west, and its strategic location is very important. Although according to the original plan, the next main target of the Chinese army was Wuchang, and it was completely possible to use the boats and boats from Bashu to go down the river, and there was no need to deliberately cross south to attack Yueyang, but they also had to worry about the tens of thousands of people in Xiangzhou.

Therefore, the generals gathered to deliberate and prepare to divide a force to cross south to eliminate this threat. Zhen Sui took the opportunity to propose: "A certain leader of the Tiger Ben army will attack Xiangzhou, you will take my boat and continue to the east." ”

The key is that since Zhen Sui broke Ganzhuo in Zigui, there are boats and boats to respond, transport his troops straight down to Jiangling, return to Shishou, six or seven hundred miles of waterway, the boat is like flying, three days is coming, Master Zhen is sitting on the boat, as if he has wings and flies against the wind, he really can't eat much...... As the saying goes, southerners are better at boats, and northerners are good at riding horses, but not every northerner can ride a horse, and naturally not every southerner can ride a boat.

Zhen Sui had not been on such a "long" boat before, and his face was somewhat pale, and his stomach was bloated and nauseated. But looking left and right, there are indeed a lot of seasick soldiers, but the deputy general Zhou Fu, and even the subordinate general Chen Jian, have no discomfort at all and are in good spirits. Zhou Daohe was originally from the south, but Chen Xingguo, you are from Xuzhou, why don't you want to accompany the old man to faint? Truly abominable!

He really didn't plan to continue to take the boat - this time to Wuchang, the current is gradually slowing, but the distance is only farther, no matter what, he has to sail for five or six days, if the master stays with the boat again, he must make a fool of himself. So he said to the generals: "It is said that the Nanban of Duotianmen and Wuling under Ying Zhan's department, and fighting against such Nanban, you and others are not as familiar with the enemy as the master, so they will return to me." ”

Lu Yan said: "When leaving, Your Majesty Yiyun, Ying Siyuan is not incompetent, the barbarian soldiers are also quite brave, General Zhen should be cautious." So Zhou Fu continued to lead the naval division, Lu Yan, Xue Ning and other half of the army, by boat, the rest of the army led by Yao Yizhong to take the land route, pointing to Wuchang, Zhen Sui led the headquarters of 4,000 infantry troops, from the south near Shishou, to attack Xiangzhou.

The ship traveled for several days, but before it arrived in Wuchang, only to the state tomb, Lu Yan, Xue Ning and other northern generals had already vomited a lot, and were forced to temporarily put on the shore and land to rest, waiting for Yao Yizhong to come together - this is a later story, not to mention for the time being.

Let's say that after Zhen followed the southern crossing, even if he walked along the west bank of the Yangtze River, he went to Dongting Lake. Chen Jian advised him: "There are many swamps and lakes here, and it is not easy for the army to march. Why don't you go south directly, attack Linyuan, and kill Linxiang from Linyuan? Linxiang is governed by Xiangzhou Prefecture, and Zhan must be rescued, and the crisis on the river will be solved. ”

Zhen Sui squinted at Chen Jian and replied slowly: "You are from Xuzhou, and you are not familiar with the geography here-and relax, the master has his own measure." ”

Chen Jian pondered at this time, by the way, I heard that you are from Tianmen or Wuling, not far away, you are naturally familiar with the geographical environment...... But with such terrain, it is inconvenient to maneuver, and once you encounter the enemy, there is no room for maneuver, does it really matter?

In fact, Chen Jian's strategy, Zhen Sui has not not considered, but his main purpose is to destroy Ying Zhan's main force, as long as Ying Zhan is captured, Xiangzhou will be at his fingertips. If you go to Linyuan and Linxiang, not to mention that you are not good at attacking cities, and you don't like to attack cities, you will be tired of the soldiers by killing them all the way, and Ying Zhan will return to Linxiang from Baling, but the distance is relatively closer.

Why should Ying Siyuan guard Baling, it is so that the north can threaten Jingxiang, and the south can protect Linxiang. At that time, the tired army from afar will encounter the opponent's long-term rest...... Of course, it is impossible for the master to lose the battle, but it must be more difficult and even depressed.

Therefore, he deliberately traveled along the river, putting himself in danger, and wanted to lure Ying Zhanxi to come to the battle. But who thinks that Ying Siyuan is not a vegetarian, he only does not move in Baling, and collects boats to make a northward crossing. Zhen Sui walked all the way to Dongting Lake and looked at it from afar, but he couldn't mobilize the enemy army, and in anger, he couldn't help but have another plan.

So he turned around and ran westward, bypassing Linyuan and going deep into the mountains.

Linyuan is the seat of Wuling County, but its location is in the northwesternmost part of the county, with Yuanshui and control the plains, it is an important grain producing area in southern Jingzhou (Xiangzhou). Linyuan west is Yuannan, Yuannan and then to the west, then the terrain is gradually raised, the hills are dense, the grass and trees cover the sky - most of Wuling County, and most of the Tianmen County in the north, all are such mountainous areas, there are many barbarians in ancient times, commonly known as "Wuling Man".

Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, all dynasties have sent troops into the mountains to level the barbarians, among which can achieve a complete victory, so as to ensure peace for more than ten years, there are only two generals, namely the horse aid of the Later Han Dynasty and the Huang Gai of the Eastern Wu. Chen Jian felt that even if you were born in it, just our soldiers and horses, plus Jingzhou has not yet been decided, Xiangzhou is still an opponent, and it is difficult to be a third person. But after repeated admonitions, Zhen Sui just didn't listen.

Chen Jianxin said, this Jiangnan has not yet been decided, are you going to return to your hometown? I'm in a bit of a hurry......

In fact, what Zhen Sui used was Xiahou Yuan's strategy to break Han Sui in the past - although he may not know about that ancient matter, but since he was born in a barbarian tribe, he can always spy on the psychology of the same clan. Sure enough, when the barbarians under Ying Zhan's command heard that the Chinese army had entered the mountains and had the intention of pacifying the barbarians, they all panicked and ran to implore Ying Si to return to the west to fight. Ying Zhan comforted: "This deliberately lured me to go, trying to wait for work, if I return to the west, I will be broken by the enemy - don't worry, the Chinese army is just a lone army, can you stay in the mountains for a long time?" Not to mention attacking the village of Qing and others. ”

However, the barbarians didn't listen, and some people said: "Wen Zhen came out of my clan with his book (because he changed his name, so no one knows which family came out), then he must be familiar with the location of Zhuzhai, so he can't be in the Huan Mountains for a long time, and it shouldn't be difficult to break one or two villages...... "What if he happens to go to fight my family's village?" Why don't you hurry back and save it?

Some people also said: "Zhen follows a brave husband, how can he have a far-sighted plan?" But because we want to serve the king, we want to slaughter our people to vent our anger, and warn us not to obey. If you can lead your troops westward in a hurry, with us as your guides, and then you will be able to wipe them all down in the mountains - if you can capture Zhen Sui, the Chinese will definitely be bold, isn't it better than sitting in Baling? ”

And without waiting for Zhan's order, some of the barbarians took the initiative to withdraw and hurriedly returned to their own cottage to defend it. Ying Siyuan had no choice but to lead his troops westward, originally planned to rest in Linyuan City for a day or two to see the enemy's situation, but when the barbarians were bitter and pleading, they were forced to stop for half a day, and continued westward when the situation was not clear.

As a result, the army entered the mountain and ran into the Chinese army head-on. Zhen Suiqin led 700 brave soldiers with experience in mountain combat to fight head-on, and Chen Jian led the rest of his subordinates to level down, and after the Jin army, they attacked in two directions. On the one hand, he appeased the barbarians, and said: "The master is your equal, and now Shihua is a general, and the Son of Heaven obeys his words, even if the two counties of Wuling and Tianmen are divided into the land of my barbarians in the future, it is also easy to discuss." ”

- Of course, this is all a lie, with Zhen Sui's understanding of Pei Gai, even if he begs Pei Gai to give these two counties to himself, or let himself be the guardian of one of the counties, Pei Gai will not agree.

On the other hand, Zhen accompanied the elders of the two villages to the front of the battle, shouting loudly and greeting his compatriots. The barbarians were flustered and confused, and many people deserted directly - I have to go back quickly to see if my village has been damaged by the soldiers - and Xiangzhou is remote and barren, and Ying Zhan's headquarters is actually not much, so it was attacked by the Chinese army before and after, and it was broken with a drum.

Ying Siyuan was forced to retreat into Yuannan. Zhen followed Chen Jian to force the city to monitor the enemy army, and he himself led more than ten people into the mountain, or coercion, or lure, or pull relationships, set friendships, and soon pulled out more than 2,000 barbarian soldiers, driving them to storm Yuannan County. After Ying Zhan held on for five days, the city was finally broken, and he was forced to kill himself.

When the news reached Luoyang, Pei Gai secretly called it a pity - Gan Zhuo's old man, his name is too real, and he is just in his early fifties, Ying Siyuan is just in his early fifties, he is honest, he has a good political voice, and he is enough to be the pastor of any state, but he can't descend to China...... Then why did Wang Han refuse to commit suicide?

- Actually, Ying Zhan died in history, but he only lived two more years than on this timeline.

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At the time of the fierce battle of Jingxiang, the Chinese army on the East Road had also mobilized ships by the river and made a trend of crossing the river to attack Jiankang, and Tao Kan led the boat division out of the mouth of the river almost at the same time and sailed downstream. Wang Dao sent people to Chaisang and Wuchang for help, Wang Dun was taken aback, Naiyun: "Tao Shixing hates me so much, but he is not afraid of death?!" ”

What does this mean? Because Tao Kan trained sailors in Chaohu, Wuchang naturally could not help but pay attention to it, and sent people to spy day and night, saying that the number of Chinese ships was still small, and it was difficult to compete with our army on the river, so the shogunate generals estimated that they would have to wait another year or two, and after the ships of Chaohu Lake exceeded half of our army, the Chinese would seek to cross the Yangtze River.

But I didn't expect them to move so quickly. Wang Dun pondered because of this, is Tao Kan really hating me, and he is dying of old age, I am afraid that it will be difficult to have a final confrontation with me in his lifetime, so he can't wait so much? Among the Chinese, who can fight water battles and are familiar with the geography and people of the south of the Yangtze River, only Tao Shixing will definitely listen to his opinions when the Chinese lord gives the order of the southern expedition, and if Tao Kan says that the time has not come, the Chinese lord will not dare to act rashly.

He planned to order Wang Ying and Zheng Tang of Chaisang to send troops to attack the Chinese army's naval division, hoping to attack Shen Chong in Wucheng before and after. However, Qian Feng persuaded him: "The boat of Chaisang, in terms of its quantity, is not stronger than the Chinese, even if you add the Wuhu Shen Shiju Department, it is only a little too much." And Tao Shixing is a general, and when he heard the order of the lord of China, he set up a pole or even a cannon on the boat, or if it has a miraculous effect, then our army may not be able to win......"

Wuchang also sent a lot of detailed work to investigate near Chaohu Lake, but because Taokan Pass was tightly defended, too detailed intelligence could not be detected. Therefore, Wang Dun mistook the cannon for a trebuchet, and thought to himself, "Can that thing be put on the ship?" Shall we try it?

The result of the attempt was a complete failure.

In fact, it is not impossible to install a small trebuchet on a building ship, but it must go through trial and error, and the structure of the ship must be modified, and it is impossible to succeed with just a flash of inspiration and just a brain - Pei Gai is planning to build a gunboat, in fact, he is also patting his brain - and the Wuchang shogunate does not have qualified technical personnel, as well as a more reliable experimental process.

Pulled back and said, Qian Fengyan "Tao Shixing is a general", the implication is that Wang Ying is young after all, and he can't be Tao Kan's opponent. Once Tao Kan defeated the naval army of Chaisang and Wuhu, our army will be lost in half, and I am afraid that when the time comes, it will be difficult for Ming Gong to attack the army of Wuchang, and it will be difficult to occupy an overwhelming advantage.

"Or, this is the wish of the Taoshi, hoping to break our army apart. Therefore, in the humble opinion of the ministers, with Deng Bo Mountain guarding the stones, the Chinese will have thousands of horses and thousands of troops, and they will not be able to cross, and they will not dare to attack Jiankang with all their strength even if they are still there. Ming Gong might as well personally lead the main force to the east, meet with the son's department, and attack Tao Shixing together, hoping to break it with a drum. ”

Wang Dun was still hesitating: "I'm in Wuchang, controlling the middle reach, and I still have to guard against the Chinese attacking Jingxiang, how can I leave without permission?" ”

Qian Feng replied: "If the Chinese attack Jingxiang and the Ming Duke goes to the rescue, after all, it will be against the current, and the army will be slow and dull. And even if the Chinese are repelled, and Jiankang has been down, what should be done? It is better to break Tao Kan first, so that Gongzi can lead the army to Jiankang to stop Huakou from crossing to the south, and Ming Gong will then send the main force to the west to aid - Jingxiang's gains and losses are not the key to this battle. ”

Although Qian Feng didn't expect that Wang Han would be so wasteful, and Jing Xiang would be flat in January, but considering the overall battle situation, the Chinese divided their troops into several ways and invaded on a large scale, and it was unrealistic for you to block them all in all directions. As long as the main force of the water division is still there, even if Jing Xiang is lost, he is expected to get it back; But if Jiankang fails, then the general trend will be gone.

After Wang Dun thought about it, he finally agreed with what Qian Feng said, and immediately left a foot army to garrison Wuchang, and then all the boats and boats went eastward, and he joined Wang Ying's department at Chaisang, and sailed straight to Wuhu, in order to fight with Shen Chong and the east, and defeat the river sailors of the Hua Dynasty with a drum.