A moment later, bloody heads were hung on the west gate of Baling City.

And with the bloody heads that were hung up one after another, Baling City, the seat of Yuezhou's governance, finally fell into the control of the black-clothed army.

……

At night, in the backyard of the Baling City Mansion, a black-clothed general with a tall body wearing armor and a lot of blood stains on his body couldn't help but walk in with heavy steps.

"My lord, inside and outside Baling City, all the resistance forces have been completely wiped out." The tall general stepped into the house, and when he saw Zhang Shihua for the first time, he couldn't help but report in such a deep voice.

"Very good, Ah Jiu has worked hard for you this time. Don't stand, sit down. Looking at the privy councillor appointed by himself, Zhang Shihua smiled and waved his hand to signal him to sit down.

Seeing this, after bending down and bowing to Zhang Shihua again, he also stepped to Zhang Shihua and sat down.

"From the battle between our army and the Yuezhou Naval Division on September 16 to the breaking of the city on September 25. Oh, the front and back add up, in less than ten days, our army has already occupied this Baling City, and its momentum is also overwhelming. ”

After Zhao Jiu sat down, Zhang Shihua, who was in a good mood, looked at Zhao Ziyu, Zhao Jiu, Guo Yu and his cousin Zhang Shihui and others in the hall, and couldn't help but say like this. Seems a little complacent.

However, in less than ten days, he conquered such a major city as Baling in one fell swoop. With such a record in front of you, anyone will feel complacent.

Therefore, for Zhang Shihua's self-satisfied words, everyone in the hall looked at each other, and they couldn't help but laugh heartily one after another, looking very proud.

In this regard, Zhang Shihua smiled silently, and after everyone laughed, he coughed lightly, and then couldn't help but continue: "To have such a brilliant record, it is inseparable from the concerted efforts of all the monarchs. But there is also a saying: 'Victory is not arrogant, defeat is not discouraged.' ’

This time, our army won a great victory in Baling City. But it's just a good start to achieving our overall strategic goals. You must know that in this battle, our target is Jiangxia City, but the entire Huguang Province.

Conquering Baling and eliminating the Yuezhou Road Water Division is equivalent to removing a roadblock. Jiangxia City is an important city in the world and the center of Huguang, and its city is across the river from Hanyang City. Therefore, both in terms of strength and location, it is a city.

Jiangxia's strength is far beyond that of Yuezhou Baling. According to the report of the spies planted by our army in Jiangxia and Hanyang City. This time, in order to resist the advance of our army, a full 50,000 troops have been recruited. Among them, there were 35,000 sailors, 12,000 foot soldiers, and nearly 3,000 cavalry soldiers.

On the whole, this kind of strength is not weaker than our army. And the government affairs of Huguang Pingzhang, who commanded them, also preceded Timur (this is not the brother of Tokhtar first. Because of the transliteration, in the Yuan Dynasty, there were not too many people with the same name. It's not a general person who is unscrupulous. Now that they have the advantage of geography and city, this battle is not easy to fight! ”

Zhang Shihua said, and at this time, his face already looked very serious.

Therefore, hearing Zhang Shihua's words, Zhang Shihui, Guo Yu and others couldn't help but put away their hearts of contempt for the enemy. One by one, they sat upright, looking very serious.

In this regard, after Zhang Shihua nodded silently, he couldn't help but speak again: "Huguang Province covers an area of thousands of miles, and the military and civilians under its rule are millions. Even if the Tartars draw one out of ten, they can still select hundreds of thousands of troops in Huguang.

Therefore, with the strength of our army alone, if you want to swallow Huguang in one bite, it is obviously impossible to do it. Therefore, this time to attack Jiangxia, I will also prepare to contact the Tianwan army on Huangzhou Road. In order to be able to attack the lake and the vast land, the east and west will be attacked.

Our army attacked Jiangxia, and Tianwan attacked Wuchang. In this way, the odds of winning should be increased by 30%. ”

"The lord's words are reasonable. Our army conquered Baling this time, and it happened to be necessary to rest in Baling for three days. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the lord can also choose a messenger and let him go to Huangzhou. Huangzhou is over, and Huangzhou has been trapped in Huangzhou for a long time, and with this opportunity, the Tianwan army will definitely not let it go. As soon as Zhang Shihua spoke, Zhao Ziyu couldn't help but immediately echo his words.

Therefore, in this way, after sending a news of the flying pigeon to the De'an Mansion next to Huangzhou Road.

As the prefect of De'an, Lin Ziqian couldn't help but make a cameo as a messenger, left from Anlucheng, and took a group of people to Huangzhou Road non-stop.

The place of governance of the Tianwan army on Huangzhou Road is Huanggang. In terms of geographical location, Huanggang also happens to be across the river from Wuchang City.

Back then, at the peak of the Tianwan Imperial Court, the Tianwan Imperial Court occupied Wuchang City for a period of time.

However, later, because of the big wind, after attracting the all-out encirclement and suppression of the Yuan and Mongolian courts, Wuchang City was successfully recovered by Aluhui, the governor of Huguang Province.

And it was precisely because of the loss of Wuchang, a city with an extremely important geographical location, that the Tianwan army couldn't help but be completely crushed to death on the narrow and barren Huangzhou Road.

In the original history, Huangzhou Road was headed by Ni Wenjun. waited until the right prime minister of the Yuanmeng court died under Gaoyou City, causing violent turmoil in the Yuanmeng court. Only then was he able to take advantage of this opportunity to raise troops again to capture Wuchang City.

But at this time, because of the existence of Zhang Shihua, history is obviously going to change.

In the 14th year of Zheng, September 27. Lin Ziqian, the prefect of De'an, who received the news from the flying pigeon, set off from Anlu. And Anlu is far from Huanggang City, even if it is a straight line distance, it is nearly four hundred miles away.

Therefore, even if Lin Ziqian rushed to Huanggang non-stop, it would take seven or eight days of hard work.

But in fact, it was on September 29, the fourth day after Zhang Shihua and his team captured Baling City, Lin Ziqian set out from Anlu and arrived in Huangzhou on the second day. Tianwan already knew the news that Baling City was occupied by the black-clothed army.

After all, an emaciated camel is bigger than a horse. Although the current strength of the Tianwan Army cannot be compared with the behemoth that spanned the three provinces south of the Yangtze River in its heyday.

But the eyeliner of their subordinates in the territory during the period of total victory has been retained a lot. Therefore, Zhang Shihua, an ally, only took nine days to capture the news of Baling City, and they also knew it at the first time.

And when such a news was heard, Ni Wenjun and other leaders of the Tianwan Army, on the one hand, sighed at the strength of the black-clothed army, and on the other hand, they couldn't help but have the idea of fishing in troubled waters to benefit from it.

The Tianwan court fought with the Yuan and Mongolian officers and soldiers of Huguang Province. So they know how huge the power of Huguang Province is. Therefore, they knew very well that they were still far more powerful than them.

If you want to occupy the entire Huguang in such a period with your own strength, it is simply impossible to do it.

Therefore, when they received the news that Baling City had been conquered by the black-clothed army, on the one hand, they were actively preparing for battle, and on the other hand, they couldn't help but wait for the arrival of the black-clothed army's envoy.

Anyway, if the black-clothed army wants to conquer Jiangxia City, then their assistance is indispensable. And they are not as strong as the Black Army, and they also need to communicate with the Black Army before the war to get what they want.

The current Tianwan Army is far inferior in strength to the Black-clothed Army. Therefore, Ni Wenjun and other leaders understood that even if they successfully conquered Wuchang City, it would be impossible for them to develop westward to grab territory with the black-clothed army.

However, at this time, the Tianwan Army really had no idea of developing to the west. After all, compared with a city like Jiangxia that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Xingguo Road in the eastern part of Huguang Province is undoubtedly easier to attack.

Now the remnants of the Tianwan army who can only shrink into Huangzhou Road do not have such great ambitions. If in this battle, they can take Xingguo Road, a territory with a population of nearly one million, with the assistance of the black-clothed army, Ni Wenjun and the others will be very satisfied.

So in this way, when Lin Ziqian and the others came to Huanggang City non-stop, they also successfully signed an agreement with Tianwan Army.

In this battle, the Tianwan Army will launch an attack with the Black Army on the ninth day of October. Attack Wuchang, share the eastern pressure of the Black-Coated Army, and be able to enjoy the territory east of Wuchang. Of course, the territory east of Wuchang needs to be attacked by themselves. The Black-Coated Army would not assist them except to share the pressure on their west and prevent them from sending reinforcements from the western part of Huxi.

But such an agreement is undoubtedly the most satisfactory result for both sides.

…………

On September 28, after a three-day rest, the black-clothed army that captured Baling City in one fell swoop could not help but take advantage of the battlefield and march towards the northeast along the waterway of the Yangtze River.

This time, because Zhang Shihua sent Deng Hu, an official of ten thousand households under his command, to lead his troops to stay in Baling City.

Therefore, the total strength of the black-clothed army going north this time was less than 53,000 people. Compared with the 60,000 troops when attacking Yuezhou, the number of troops has indeed been reduced a lot.

However, although the strength of the black-clothed army has been reduced somewhat, the combat effectiveness of its army has not been reduced by half a cent.

After defeating the officers and soldiers of the naval division on the Yuezhou Road in one fell swoop, the black-clothed army naturally captured their warships in large numbers. In addition, the victory has boosted the morale of the black-clothed army. The current black-clothed army has improved its combat effectiveness a lot.

Therefore, when such a huge army went north along the Yangtze River waterway, small cities such as Linxiang and Jiayu along the way were simply unable to resist the edge of the army.

In the face of the almost overwhelming superiority of the black-clothed army, such a small city was like a sand castle built by a child, and it was conquered in an instant.

Therefore, on the seventh day of the first month of October, the black-clothed army also advanced its troops to a water station only thirty miles away from Jiangxia City-Hukou Station.

With only thirty miles of waterway, such a distance is definitely a soldier coming to the city for Jiangxia.

Therefore, when the black-clothed army entered here, Jiangxia immediately entered a state of combat readiness. More than 30,000 sailors drove warships to block the river and prevent the dreaded Blackcoats from launching a surprise attack on them.

Of course, because the time for the joint attack was agreed with the remnants of the Tianwan army. Therefore, on the seventh and eighth days of October, the black-clothed army naturally did not attack them.

In this way, it naturally made Jiangxia a little confused.

However, the black-clothed army came with the power of a great victory, and the Pingzhang political affairs of Huguang Province also preceded Timur's inferiority like Pei Changqing, the governor of Yuezhou, and the courage to confront the black-clothed army. So in the past two days, Jiangxia's soldiers and horses have not been able to shrink, and they have put on an appearance that they want to fight the black-clothed army.

Anyway, before Timur wanted to come, the right prime minister Tokh led hundreds of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress Gaoyou.

Even if Zhang Shicheng of Gaoyou Mansion has three heads and six arms, in front of such an invincible king, he will definitely be unable to escape death. As soon as Zhang Shicheng died, the north-south road was unimpeded. The imperial court is carrying the power of great victory, coming west along the waterway of the Yangtze River, and no matter how much the black-clothed army and the Tianwan army are, it is impossible to resist.

At that time, the whole country will encircle and suppress Xiangjing. So destroying the black-clothed army is not a matter of being captured.

In terms of taking 10,000 steps back, even if the right prime minister can't recover Gaoyou as soon as possible, in terms of the war potential of their Huguang Province. As long as it drags on for two or three months, as soon as the soldiers and horses from all over Huguang arrive, the black-clothed army will definitely be defeated.

With such a plan in mind, he will naturally choose such a safe way to defend first.

As for this, Zhang Shihua didn't bother to think of any tricks. After conquering Baling City in one fell swoop, almost sweeping away the blockers along the way in a posture like an autumn wind sweeping away leaves, the black-clothed army had absolute confidence in this battle.

Therefore, in Zhang Shihua's mind, they have absolutely powerful power, and they don't need any conspiracy at all to deal with the rotten sailors and soldiers of the Yuanmeng Imperial Court.

To deal with a shrunken turtle like them, just like Guo Yu said, crushing the past in a dignified way is the most painful way.

Therefore, on the ninth day of the first month of October, the black-clothed army, which had built a camp more than ten miles outside Jiangxia City, couldn't help but gather a full 50,000 soldiers and horses under the personal leadership of Zhang Shihua, and rushed over in the direction of Jiangxia and Hanyang.

…………

"Lord Pingzhang, the black-clothed thief is coming, and the black-clothed thief is coming." On the Jiangxia side, the movements of the black-clothed army were naturally known to the officers and soldiers of the Navy Division for the first time. Therefore, a spy couldn't help but trot to Huguang Pingzhang and Timur and reported the news to him.

Although the same is also called also first Timur. But as the political affairs of Pingzhang in Huguang Province, he also first got rid of the brother of the right prime minister, and the one who was defeated and could still serve as the middle of the imperial history in the center of the imperial court was completely different with the help of the relationship between the detachment.

As the political affairs of Pingzhang in Huguang Province, Timur was also the first, and his family was in the Yuan and Mongolian courts, but he was the general of the Eight Classics. Therefore, as a disciple of the general, he joined the military camp at the age of 20 and became an officer. After more than 20 years of service, although there is no dazzling record.

But he is not the kind of person who can only talk on paper.