Besides, Ma Cheng received the order, and he didn't dare to slack off in his work, and he tried his best to continue to lead the army south.

Look at the southern route again. In fact, the southern route started three months earlier than the northern one.

In March 35 A.D., both sides of the Yangtze River are in the spring season, the grass grows and the trees are green, and the warblers sing and dance.

This was also a good time for the common people to hoe and spread their nets, couples to hold hands, and literati and ink writers to chant sentences, but the world was chaotic and the people were unlucky, and the players who chased power were killing and slashing each other.

The Great Sima Wu Han was a cavalryman, and when he led a mixed army of water, land, and cavalry, he felt that his team was too dragged.

In his early years, he fought in the north and the Central Plains, often thousands of elite cavalry galloped in front, opening the road and breaking the city, and the brigade ended in the back.

He felt that it was very unaccustomed. So, at the military conference, he proposed that the number of sailors was too large, they were not very useful, and they were a waste of food, so they should be reduced.

However, Cen Peng, the general of Zhengnan, disagreed.

Since Liu Xiu became emperor, Cen Peng has used troops along the Yangtze River several times, and basically won all battles.

In recent years, Liu Xiu has placed him relatively fixed in the Yangtze River fortress and has been preparing to attack Bashu.

Before Wu Han came here to lead the western expedition, according to Liu Xiu's deployment, he had arranged for the Weilu general Feng Jun to be stationed in Jiangzhou (now Jialing Jiangbei, Chongqing), the commander Tian Hong to garrison Yiling (now Yichang, Hubei), the leader Li Xuan to garrison Yidao (now Yidu, Hubei), and himself to garrison Jinxiang (now Jiangling, Hebei).

Cen Peng's layout was originally very powerful.

Jinxiang was originally a fortress on the Yangtze River, a hub and gateway to control Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Yizhou, a bit like the Tianyuan of Go.

Cen Peng was personally stationed, and his own subordinates were surrounded as reinforcements, which was not only a barrier to protect the hub of Jinxiang, but also a horn to jointly resist the invading enemy.

Still in the year before last, Gongsun Shu sent Ren Man and others to lead the navy eastward, defeated Feng Jun, Tian Hong, and Li Xuan, and occupied Jingmen Mountain and Huya Mountain.

Jingmen Mountain and Huya Mountain are in the southeast of today's Yichang and northwest of Yidu, the former is in the south of the Yangtze River and the latter is in the north of the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River water passes through the middle. In other words, occupying these two mountains is equivalent to placing a huge jam in the middle of the Yangtze River, which can not only prevent Liu Xiu's Han army from going up the Yangtze River, but also attack somewhere along the east of the Yangtze River at any time.

Of course, Cen Peng was not reconciled, and launched attacks many times, trying to repel the Shu army, but without success.

The Shu army knew that Liu Xiu's generals were difficult to fight, and the defense was extremely tight. They crossed the river to build pontoon bridges and enemy towers, laid light and dark blocking piles in the water, and crossed the mountains to link the barracks together, so that the waterways and land routes were stuck to death.

For so many days, Cen Peng recruited and trained sailors, built all kinds of ships, accumulated military supplies, and was about to prepare for a big war.

Cen Peng held back his strength: We must defeat the Shu army! We must let Gongsun Shu's victory stop a few days ago!

Therefore, when Wu Han came to lead the westward march and wanted to disband his naval army, Cen Peng couldn't agree.

Cen Peng believes that the Shu army is currently strong in strength and occupies key points on the Yangtze River, so we must not dismantle our own naval army.

At the same time, Wu Han was very stubborn and resolutely demanded disarmament and marched westward lightly.

Cen Peng had fought in this area for many years, and was well aware of the importance of the naval army and the importance of attacking Bashu from the Yangtze River waterway, and he also resolutely demanded that the naval army be retained.

In such an argument, seeing that his arms could not be twisted into his thighs, Cen Peng's bullish strength came up, and he decided to offend the leader, but also to implement his strategic and tactical thinking.

The best and safest thing to do for anyone who wants to offend a leader is to report it to the bigger leader and get support.

Of course, if anyone has a bigger leader as a backer, it is okay not to report.

Cen Peng immediately reported to Liu Xiu on the disposition of the forces of both the enemy and us, and the reasons why the sailors could not be dismissed.

(Peng Yishu soldiers are prosperous, and they cannot be sent, and they are written in a book.) ）

Wu Han and Cen Peng are both super fans of Liu Xiu, capable disciples, and reliable cadres, one is the Minister of National Defense, the other is a general, and their personal abilities are outstanding.

But in the face of the tactical differences between the two, Liu Xiu did not make peace with the mud, but talked about the matter, started from the work, clearly and firmly supported Cen Peng, and gave him full trust.

He formalized the text and issued an order authorizing Cen Peng:

"Da Sima (Wu Han) is accustomed to fighting with infantry cavalry on land, and is not familiar with sailors, and the Jingmen War is in charge of the general of Zhengnan (Cen Peng)."

Although Wu Han has a tough and stubborn personality, Liu Xiu arranged it like this, so he had no choice but to obey and hand over power.

With Liu Xiu's authorization, Cen Peng immediately began to prepare for a new round of attacks on Gongsun Shu's water defense of the Yangtze River.

Obviously, the pontoon bridges and water villages set up by the Shu army on the river between Jingmen Mountain and Huya Mountain were the key to hindering the Han army from tracing west of the river.

Therefore, Cen Peng recruited and selected the daredevils who attacked the Shu army's water village in the army, and announced incentives: whoever first boarded the enemy's water village would get the highest reward in the army!

Under the heavy reward, there will be brave men.

General Lu Qi responded to the call and asked to lead the crowd.

On this day, the east wind blew wildly, and the waves on the river were turbulent.

Lu Qi led the death squad to speed west by boat, and rushed straight to the pontoon bridge and water village of the Shu army.

There is often a handsome, there must be a general, Cen Peng is a fierce man, and Lu Qi is also very strong.

General Lu led the crowd to rush over, and the Shu army couldn't stop it.

It didn't take much effort for Lu Qi and the others to rush to the water village of the Shu army.

However, the piles in the river blocked the boats, and the Han army could not immediately drive straight in.

But it doesn't matter, Lu Qi had already carefully studied the method of destroying the enemy with Cen Peng before he set off. While fighting to the death with his subordinates against the enemy, he burned the stakes with torches that had been prepared long ago.

The wind is very urgent, the fire is also urgent, these wooden piles and water villages of the Shu army are good fuel, the wooden piles are on fire, and the pontoon bridge is burned, and the pontoon bridge is on fire, and the water village is burned, and then the enemy building is burned, and soon, the fortifications on the river and the river side of the Shu army are burned down, and there is a sea of fire everywhere.

As soon as he saw that the initial battle was going well, Cen Peng immediately launched a large army to advance down the river quickly, and he was invincible.

The Shu army could not withstand the onslaught of Cen Peng and Lu Qi, and the soldiers panicked and fled one after another, drowning in the water like dumplings.

In the midst of the chaos, the commander of the Shu army was cut down by someone after his term of office, the general Cheng Fan was captured alive, and another general, Tian Rong, ran fast, escaped by luck, and fled to Jiangzhou (now Chongqing) with the remnants.

(At the end of his term, he was given the title of Cheng Fan, and Tian Rong died in Jiangzhou.) ）

This battle completely finished the Yangtze River card carefully built by the Shu army of Gongsun Shu, and the Han army led by Cen Peng won a complete victory.

However, Cempeng did not stop there. As Liu Xiu's old subordinate and Liu Xiu's high-ranking disciple, he, like Feng Yi, also grew up in the battle of following Liu Xiu, not only becoming the commander of the army who can conquer and fight, but also a politician who is good at governing and knows how to love the people.

In accordance with Liu Xiu's idea of subjugating the army without a fight, and the strategic deployment of fighting a combination of fists in a war, he immediately wrote to Liu Long to serve as the Taishou of Nanjun, so as to better consolidate the place, which was quickly approved by Liu Xiu.

At the same time, he led Zang Gong, Liu Xin and other generals and large troops to drive in, until Jiangguan (now Fengjie, Chongqing), and officially entered Shu.

On the march to fight, Cen Peng was determined to strictly govern the army, strictly enforce military discipline, and build a benevolent and righteous army led by himself. On the one hand, he strictly restrained the troops, prohibited plunder, and did not commit any crimes against the common people; On the one hand, he personally met with local people of high moral standing and social elites, treated them with courtesy, and widely publicized the political ideas of Liu Xiu's Han regime; At the same time, the troops were asked to resolutely refuse all local condolences and rewards.

Folks, we are the team led by Emperor Liu Xiu, and we are here to save the people of Bashu and eliminate the Gongsun Shu group that enslaves the people.

Wherever Cen Peng's army went, the common people sincerely supported and warmly welcomed them, and they happily worked their troops one after another.

It's a refreshing team!

For many years and generations, the common people have been accustomed to the prestige of the government and the burning and looting of the troops, and such a team will neither rob anything nor bully people when they win the battle, and they don't even want to be rewarded in front of their faces, which is rare!

As a result, wherever the Han army led by Cen Peng went, the soldiers of the Shu army opened the city and surrendered, and the gratitude and welcome of the common people were endless.

For Cen Peng's wonderful performance, Liu Xiu is of course twelve points satisfied!

He issued a special personnel order:

Cen Peng was appointed as the pastor of Yizhou, and all the newly conquered counties were appointed by Cen Peng as the acting taishou.

Cen Peng's army soon arrived in Jiangzhou without incident.

The city here is strong, the grain and grass are sufficient, and the Shu general Tian Rong is well defended and deployed, and it is indeed difficult to conquer in a short time.

Therefore, Cen Peng arranged for the general Feng Jun to lead some men and horses to watch here, while he led the main force to continue to advance, almost without bloodshed, he reached Dianjiang (now Hechuan, Sichuan), and quickly took Pingqu (now Hechuandong).

This is a military warehouse of Gongsun Shu, and Cen Peng collected hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and rice by the way.

At this time, it was the height of summer in July, and the Han army on the northern front was also victorious, but Laishi was plotted by the assassins.

In order to speed up the pace of the war, Liu Xiu personally marched, moved to Chang'an, commanded from the front, and directly arranged various actions to capture Gongsun Shu.

On the southern front, Cen Peng had already started hand-to-hand combat against Gongsun Shu.

In the battlefield duel, Cen Peng's technique is very comprehensive.

Whether it's a long-distance run or hand-to-hand combat; Whether it is defending the city, or breaking the city and capturing the enemy; Whether it is offensive and defensive on land, or fierce battle on water; Whether it is a heavy fist or a thousand pounds, he can afford to take it and put it down, and history calls him "a general with both wisdom and bravery". Right now, his goal is clear and simple: rush forward and take down Gongsun Shu.

Seeing that Cen Peng's army was coming over, Gongsun Shu was not willing to be captured, and hurriedly deployed close defense.

He ordered Yan Cen, Wang Yuan, and his younger brother Gongsun Hui to lead the main forces to be stationed in Guanghan (now Shehongnan, Sichuan) and Zizhong (now Ziyang, Sichuan), and Hou Dan to be stationed in Huangshi (now northeast of Fuling).

These troops are almost the foundation of his grandson's dynasty company. Since the surname Cen has hit the door, and there is nowhere to hide, then move out of the house and take the call!

Cen Peng's martial arts skills are very comprehensive, and what is even more powerful and frightening to his opponents is that his moves are often slow and varied, making people confused.

Now, in the face of Gongsun Shu's close defense, Cen Peng planned to fool him for a while.

Cen Peng's flickering had a certain technical content, whether it was a colleague or an opponent competing in the same field, they didn't immediately see through it at that time.

According to the situation on the battlefield, he arranged for a number of suspicious soldiers to run around, in fact, he deliberately made the enemy unable to understand.

At the same time, he also ordered the protector Yang Xi and the general Gai Yan to lead his troops to constantly beat Yan Cen, Wang Yuan, Gongsun Hui and other Shu generals, and came up with a posture that was ready to fight at any time.

And he himself quietly led the elite soldiers to march lightly, silently down the river back to the vicinity of Jiangzhou, and then immediately traced the capital up the river, attacked Huangshi by surprise, and defeated Hou Dan.

As soon as Huangshi broke, the southern gateway of Chengdu suddenly opened.

Cen Peng still did not stop, and then the troops pointed westward, led the troops to march quickly, day and night, and rushed to attack Wuyang (now Pengshan).

The defenders of Wuyang had long been full of fear of Cen Peng's army, and now they were caught off guard and immediately abandoned the city and fled.

Therefore, Cen Peng scared the defenders of Wuyang away.

After taking Wuyang lightly, Cen Peng still didn't stop, and immediately sent elite light cavalry to attack Guangdu.

Guangdu is south of today's Chengdu, and it is only a few dozen miles away from Chengdu!

The entire Bashu region is in a huge panic!

Everyone is optimistic, Comrade Cen Peng's series of actions above are short, fast, large, and fierce, and they are simply the classic actions of the large corps to seize the city and cut people!

According to the statistics of historians, in just a few dozen days, Cen Peng led his troops day and night, fighting and walking, from Dianjiang to Wuyang, with a journey of more than 2,000 miles.

(Because of the morning and night double road and travel more than 2,000 miles, pull out Wuyang.) ）

He fought all the way like this, and his movements were like a storm, and the soldiers of the Shu army were either scared away, or they were cut down and defeated.

(The momentum is like a storm, and everything is scattered.) ）

It is particularly noteworthy that for these actions of his, the layman looks lively, and the insider can't see the way.

At first, Chairman Gongsun Shu saw Cen Peng coming from Dianjiang, and also organized a defense and blockade.

Now, when he saw Cen Peng bypassing Yan Cen and the others, he came suddenly and unknowingly, invincible, as if he had entered a no-man's land, and he was extremely surprised, and struck the ground with his staff, and shouted loudly:

"What kind of divine weapon is this!"

(What a god!) ）

Gongsun Shu felt inconceivable about Cen Peng's rapid use of troops, and was extremely panicked:

In the blink of an eye, Chengdu is already a lonely city!

It seems that there is no play in confronting Cen Peng head-on, so there is only one thing to think about.

However, his grandson played yin, and Liu Xiu's generals still insisted on coming to Ming.