readx; A few months ago, Li Qing'an had already attacked Li Lan once when he pressured Li Heng to release Gao Xianzhi, when he occupied Yangzhou, and it is still said that Yangzhou City is still occupied by Li Qing'an's Northern Tang Army, and Li Lan's 100,000 troops have retreated to the south of the Yangtze River, and now the Jianghuai region is almost under the control of the Northern Tang Army, if the lack of food and material supply in Chang'an is due to Li Lan's occupation of Jiangnan, this explanation is actually a bit far-fetched, after all, including Yangzhou, the first commercial city of the Tang Dynasty, the vast Jianghuai rich area, It was already under the control of the Northern Tang Army, so the so-called march into Jiangnan and stabilizing prices was just an excuse, and Li Qing'an's real purpose was to take advantage of the winter break of the Battle of Hebei to seize the rich land in Jiangnan. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Li Qing'an also knows this point, the fundamental reason for the supply of materials is not smooth in the Cao Yun, which is a problem that gradually appeared in the late Tianbao period, at that time it was considered to change Chang'an to the Han River, and finally enter Guanzhong by land, but due to the separation of the North and the South Tang Dynasty, it is difficult to implement this plan, but even if it is implemented, the original Cao Yun will not give up, and will continue to play its role, so Li Qing'an proposed to appoint Cui Ning as the Jianghuai transshipment envoy to dredge the Cao Canal Road, which is the key to increasing the supply of materials and stabilizing the price of Chang'an.

At this time, the city of Yangzhou remained calm, and there was no chaos because of the occupation of Yangzhou by the Northern Tang Army and the retreat of Li Lan, which was also attributed to the local officials of Yangzhou, Changshi Han Jinping, Sima Li Milling, and Jiangdu County Ling Pei Jin, it was the unremitting efforts of these three people that made Yangzhou a commercial city without a military rebellion, of course, this is also related to the rapid advance of the Tang Army's iron cavalry for three hundred miles, and Li Lan's army almost had no time to smash it, so it retreated in a panic.

At present, there are 5,000 people in the Northern Tang Army stationed in Yangzhou Jiangdu, all of whom are cavalry, and considering that there are many rivers in Yangzhou, and his garrison is basically the Western Regions Army, which is not suitable for river and water warfare, therefore, the Northern Tang Army recruited a thousand water warriors with good water surnames in the local area, and stationed them along the Cao River.

The Northern Tang Army stationed in Yangzhou was commanded by the Xiao general Li Baozhen, Li Baozhen is the original An Baozhen, due to An Lushan's rebellion, the An family was ashamed to have the same surname as it, and unanimously asked for a name change, which was approved by the political hall, and the Empress Dowager Shen Pearl officially gave An Jia Li, An Baoyu changed his name to Li Baoyu, and An Baozhen was renamed Li Baozhen.

Li Baozhen had just taken over the defense of Yangzhou City, and just when he was secretly complaining that he had no chance to participate in the Hebei War, an urgent piece of information flew in the form of a pigeon letter, and in the military camp outside Jiangdu City, a team of cavalry galloped out and galloped towards Jiangdu City.

"Get out of the way!"

The cavalry roared loudly, the people along the road were so frightened that they stumbled and fled on both sides of the road, the cavalry team galloped past, bringing up a piece of dust, and the passers-by on both sides whispered in surprise, the officers and soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty have always been strict in military discipline, never disturb the people, and will not run rampant, today is so fierce, what happened?

The general in the cavalry team is Li Baozhen, he bit his lip, his sharp eyes stared at the front, there was an excitement in his eyes that was difficult to hide, he had just received two pieces of information, to be precise, Li Qing'an directly gave him an order, the first order was to clear the north bank of the Yangtze River and fully control Jiangyang Port, this is a red order, representing the highest level of important surnames, and the second order made Li Baozhen ecstatic, and ordered him to prepare for the army to go south, that is, the army will attack Jiangnan, Moreover, Li Qingan personally led the army south, Li Baozhen was very excited, and the ban on not allowing horses to gallop was also thrown in his mind.

After the cavalry team entered Jiangdu City, the speed slowed down significantly, there were too many pedestrians on the street, even if they couldn't let it go, helpless, Li Baozhen had to endure the surname and walk slowly, a camel caravan from the Western Regions passed in front of him, and not far in front of him was Yangzhou Prefecture.

Li Baozhen and his entourage came to the state office, and just happened to see Sima Li Mill and Changshi Han Jinping coming out of the state office.

"Li Sima!"

Li Baozhen shouted, turned over and dismounted and galloped up, "Li Sima, please stay, I have something urgent to discuss with Sima." ”

"It turned out to be General Li, is there a happy event in such a hurry?"

Li Milling is about forty years old, medium build, dark and rough skin, very ordinary appearance, even a little rustic, it is said that he once went to the vegetable market in Yangzhou with a private visit, along the way there were many people to ask him about the price of vegetables, he said that he was the official of Yangzhou parents, but it attracted a ridicule, Li Milling is in charge of Yangzhou public security criminal law, quite brave, there are 800 regiments of soldiers under his command, responsible for the defense of Yangzhou city gates.

Han Jinping, the long history next to him, was Li Qing'an's troubled brother in the fort, the official who was assigned to Anxi, after years of career promotion, he also did the long history step by step from the county order, and it was the governor of Yangzhou, and the official reputation was very good.

It was these two people who resisted Li Lannan's order to burn down the Yangzhou market before retreating, so as to keep Yangzhou's prosperity, and they saw Li Baozhen's expression was anxious and happy, and they couldn't help laughing: "General Li has something good, I want to tell us, don't enjoy it alone!" ”

"Is there an emergency to discuss with the two of you, Ji Taishou can you?"

"Taishou is in the ya, General Li please!"

"Please!"

The three of them walked together towards the yanai.....

Zhou Yahoutang, Ji Guangchen, Han Jinping, and Li Mo read Li Qing'an's urgent order, and the three of them looked at each other, the war in Hebei has not ended, do you want to fight Jiangnan?

Ji Guangchen was transferred from Huaizhou to Yangzhou half a month ago as the assassin of the history, although he was valued by Li Heng, but he has seen the situation clearly, Li Heng has gone, there will be nothing to do, sooner or later will be destroyed by the Northern Tang Dynasty, Ji Guangchen has become Li Qing'an's most loyal supporter, he wrote to Li Qing'an, suggesting that Jiangnan should be taken as soon as possible, dredge the Cao Yun, and ensure the supply of materials in Chang'an, so that there will be strong financial resources and An Lushan decisive battle.

Li Qing'an was very appreciative of his suggestion, so he transferred him to Yangzhou to assassinate the history and actively prepare grain and grass for the army to use in the south.

Ji Guangchen didn't expect that Li Qing'an would be killed so quickly, he pondered for a moment, and then asked: "General Li, His Royal Highness King Zhao's order is not very clear, can you explain that His Royal Highness King Zhao is going to attack Li Xuan?" ”

"Yes!"

Li Baozhen replied to the three of them very clearly, "What I showed you was a compiled military order, which can be a little vague, but the order in his original is very clear, ordering me to prepare for the army to go south, but he personally led the army south." ”

"Does King Zhao want to come in person?"

Han Jinping asked with some joy, since Tianbao left for six years, he hadn't seen Li Qing'an for almost ten years, except that he knew that he was about to become the lord of the world, his voice and smile didn't know how much he had changed from before.

"I really want to meet him!" Han Jinping let out a low sigh.

Li Baozhen didn't know the relationship between Han Jinping and Li Qing'an, and couldn't help but be stunned: "Han Envoy Jun has seen my general? ”

Next to him, Li Milling said with a smile: "Han Changenvoy and His Royal Highness King Zhao are old friends. ”

"It's not an old friend."

Han Jinping stroked his long beard and smiled: "I was thirty-one years old that year, and I was assigned to serve in the army in the Fengshu Fort of Sulou in Anxi for violating the criminal law, and in the third year, he also entered the fort and became the captain, I was his small soldier, and I stayed with him for more than a year. ”

Li Baozhen was in awe, it turned out that this Changshi was also an old-timer in Anxi, he hugged his fists and saluted: "It turns out that General Han is also from Sulou Fengshu Fort, and he also participated in the Battle of Xiaobolu, which is disrespectful!" ”

"Huh! It's nothing. ”

Han Jinping smiled and waved his hand, and asked again, "I don't know what King Zhao wants us to prepare?" ”

A sentence reminded Li Baozhen, and he almost forgot to get down to business, so he hurriedly said: "The general ordered us to control Jiangyang Port, sweep away all the remnants of Li Lan's army in Jiangbei, and at the same time recruit Shui Yong and collect ships. ”

Ji Guangchen nodded and said: "There are tens of thousands of dock workers here in Jiangdu, and there are many better people with the surname Shui, you can recruit Shui Yong in it, and the ships can borrow boats, there is no problem with five or six thousand, these can be solved by our local yamen, just to sweep away the remnants of Li Lan's army and control Jiangyang Port, we have to ask General Li to do it." ”

"No problem, that's what I mean, without further ado, we will start the division of labor this afternoon, and I urgently need thirty big ships, please Ji Taishou prepare immediately and wait in Jiangyang Port."

"Okay! I'll prepare it for the general right away. ”

．．．．．．．

In the afternoon, just after lunch, Li Baozhen and Sima Li Mill led 4,000 troops to the south, and the troops were divided into two roads after running for more than ten miles, Li Mill led 800 regiments to train troops to kill Jiangyang County under the banner of the Northern Tang Army, while Li Baozhen led 3,000 cavalry to kill Hailing County.

Jiangyang County is also subordinate to Yangzhou, thirty miles south of Jiangdu, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and the county seat is twenty miles away from the port of the Yangtze River, due to the lack of strength of the Northern Tang Army, so there are only about 100 garrisons in Jiangyang County, but Jiangyang Port has Li Lan's 400 naval army, more than a dozen warships, and built a castle along the canal.

The reason why Li Lan occupied Jiangyang Port and refused to withdraw his troops was that he hoped that Li Qing'an's army would temporarily occupy Yangzhou for a few months, as he had done last time, so that when Li Qing'an's army withdrew, his army would have Jiangyang Port as a springboard and could quickly come back.

However, the Southern Tang Navy in Jiangyang Port did not have a good time, and Li Qingan's army ignored them for the time being, and they suffered day by day.

In the afternoon of this day, the defenders of Jiangyang Port suddenly received information that the cavalry of the Northern Tang Army had already killed more than 1,000 people in the port.

Li Mian led 800 regiments of soldiers to occupy Jiangyang Port without bloodshed, but Li Baozhen occupied Jiangyang Port only to seize the passage of ships, and a fleet of 30 large ships quickly passed through Jiangyang Port, sailed into the Yangtze River, and sailed eastward.

What Li Baozhen really wants to clear is Hailing County, to be precise, Jiangxin Island in Hailing County: Hu Tu Prefecture.

Hailing County is today's Taizhou, Jiangsu, the Tang Dynasty was subordinate to Yangzhou, the jurisdiction area is very large, to the east to the sea, to the south to the Yangtze River coast, are the jurisdiction of Hailing County, but basically are salt pans and tidal flats, there are no towns and villages, an official road is also used to transport salt, directly to the riverside.

There is also a wharf on the riverside of Hailing County, which is the famous salt wharf, from where tens of thousands of stone salt are shipped every year and transported to inland places along the Yangtze River, and at the same time to the east into the sea, where the salt is transported to the north by sea.

The Yangtze River estuary in the Tang Dynasty is very different from now, from the Jiangyin area has formed a huge bell mouth, like the current Qidong County, Haimen County are the sea, has not yet formed the land, today's Nantong is just a Jiangxin Island at that time, and the current Chongming Island is the general size, called Hu Tuo Island, belongs to the jurisdiction of Hailing County, the east of Hu Tuo Island is the vast sea.

The salt wharf and Hudu Island are currently under the control of Li Lan, most of them are stationed in the salt wharf, stationed with 5,000 troops, Li Lan's army does not give up the salt wharf mainly to control salt, salt is one of Li Lan's main sources of military spending, in the case that Li Lan is difficult to control the commercial tax, salt profit is fast and convenient, can bring Li Lan nearly one million yuan of income every year

Therefore, the salt wharf has a decisive strategic position for Li Lan, Li Lan's army has been withdrawn to the south of the Yangtze River, and only in the salt wharf he still has 5,000 heavy troops, led by the general Yuan Jingyao.

Yuan Jingyao is Chinese New Year's Eve five years old today, was originally a lieutenant under the Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, the family practiced martial arts, made a big iron gun with a foot five, and the marksmanship was wonderful, he was invincible in the Jiangnan area, except for Li Yi's eighteen-year-old son Li Yi, he had never encountered an opponent.

It is also for this reason that Yuan Jingyao has always been very conceited, he despised Li Lan when he heard that the Anxi army was coming and escaped the Yangtze River, Yuan Jingyao often said to his soldiers: "Although the Anxi army is brave, it is in the Western Regions, or the Central Plains, Hebei can still exert some power, but in the south of the Yangtze River, they may not be our opponents, Cao Ying's 800,000 troops saw it or not, they were killed by the Jiangnan Navy and fled, you must not grow the ambition of others and fall into their own prestige." ”

Although Yuan Jingyao is proud, his other side is very cautious in tactics, his army, except for 1,000 people stationed on the shore, the remaining 4,000 people have set up a water village, with boats as camps, stationed in the river, so that if the Northern Tang army attacks, he can attack, retreat and defend, and even retreat into the river at any time.

In the afternoon of that day, Yuan Jingyao received a report from the scouts that a cavalry of 1,000 men was found in the northwest direction, galloping towards the dock.

He immediately realized that this must be Li Baozhen sending troops to encircle and suppress him.

"Did they really only come with a thousand cavalry?" Yuan Jingyao asked the scout.

"General Huiyu, that's right, it's true that only a thousand cavalry came."

Yuan Jingyao was a little tempted, if the other party came with three or four thousand cavalry, maybe he wouldn't dare to face it, but the other party only came with a thousand cavalry, he was indeed a little tempted.

One of his officers persuaded: "General, the cavalry of the Anxi army is extremely strong, it is said that one horse can defeat five infantry, although the opponent's army is not much, but it is strong in the elite, our strength lies in water warfare, sacrificing the long and taking the short, and the way to defeat the army is also!" General, it is better to defend the water village. ”

Yuan Jingyao paced in the cabin with his hands behind his back, he was thinking about the result if he annihilated the thousand cavalry, the soldiers of King Wu were afraid of Li Qing'an for a long time, last year Anxi only 1,000 iron cavalry killed Gaoyou, King Wu actually fled in the wind, and his 50,000 troops collapsed like a mountain, which made Yuan Jingyao deeply ashamed.

There is no doubt that if he can defeat the 1,000 cavalry in front of him, it will greatly boost the morale of King Wu's army, and he himself will become the guest of honor of King Wu, on a par with Li Chengshi and other generals.

Yuan Jingyao saw his brilliant prospects, and at this time, his subordinates advised him to be cautious, Yuan Jingyao suddenly felt impatient and reprimanded angrily: "Soldiers, brave also!" Cowardly without a fight, how can you be a soldier, you are afraid of being killed by Anxi, do you think that my soldiers are as cowardly as you? ”

Another officer also persuaded: "General Yuan, my subordinates also think that it is better to be cautious, the cavalry is extremely fast, a thousand cavalry is likely to be only their vanguard, and the brigade may be behind, please think twice!" ”

"The other party is only a thousand cavalry, I will fight it with a strong crossbow, if I can't fight, it's not too late to retreat back to the water village!"

Yuan Jingyao was eager for meritorious service, he did not listen to the hard advice of his subordinates, and ordered: "Order the first to eighth battalions to go ashore to reorganize the army, and the ninth and tenth battalions will stay in the water village and respond at any time." ”

Yuan Jingyao gave an order, and 4,000 troops went ashore one after another, leaving only 1,000 troops to guard the water village, ready to receive them on board at any time.

When Li Baozhen was still a hundred miles away from the salt wharf, he divided his 3,000 cavalry into two, and ordered his subordinate Lang to lead Zheng Xu to lead 2,000 cavalry around the east and wait for the opportunity to respond, while he himself only led 1,000 cavalry and went straight to the salt wharf.

They were not fast, burning the salt depot along the way, the eighty salt depots built by Li Luan were burned by them more than 20, when the west wind was blowing, the smoke and dust in the west of the salt wharf covered the sky, the air was filled with a pungent smell, and the large amount of toxic gas released by the burning of sea salt shrouded the entire salt wharf, just like a chemical weapon, which made Yuan Jingyao's army breathe poorly.

Yuan Jingyao had no choice but to move the army to the north slightly, and set up a large array of thousands of crossbows, Yuan Jingyao held a big iron spear, took the lead, with a kind of excitement in his eyes, ready to meet the Anxi cavalry.

The cavalry of the Anxi army had gradually approached Yuan Jingyao's army, but Li Baozhen was not in a hurry to attack, he ordered the cavalry to stop at five hundred paces, maintain a state of shock, and confront the enemy.

This is a wolf pack tactic often used by cavalry, exchanging time for space, the cavalry knows that the opponent's bow and crossbow are powerful, so they are not in a hurry to attack, but wait for the opponent's morale to fade, and wait until the opponent can not stand up and retreat before launching a fierce attack, which is like a wolf pack, or wait for a few days and nights, and wait for the prey to run away before launching a pursuit, and even use an invisible pressure to let the prey collapse on its own.

This is actually a battle of willpower, depending on who can persevere to the end.

Yuan Jingyao obviously had no experience in dealing with cavalry, he set down the bow and crossbow formation too early, thinking that the Anxi cavalry would rush forward before the formation, but he did not expect that the Anxi army did not attack, but confronted him for a long time, and he fell into the tactical trap of the Anxi army.

It was already December, and it was dark early, and after an hour, night gradually fell, and the cold wind was blowing, and the cold was pressing, and the four thousand crossbowmen were so frozen that their fingers were numb, and their whole bodies were shivering, and many of the soldiers' legs could no longer stand.

But they did not dare to retreat, and behind them, another two thousand cavalry had been silently outflanked, cutting off their retreat, three thousand cavalry against four thousand infantry, and the outcome of the battle was already self-evident.

At this moment, thirty large ships led by Li Mo also rushed to the outside of the salt wharf, blocking the retreat of Shuizhai.

Yuan Jingyao looked at the Anxi cavalry in the dark, which had always maintained a fierce and murderous aura, but his army began to slowly collapse in morale, many soldiers could no longer lift heavy crossbow arrows, and knelt on the ground one after another, despair spread rapidly in the army, and also infected Yuan Jingyao's heart, and his heart was also full of despair......

Yuan Jingyao was faced with the cruelest choice in his life, whether to surrender and survive, or to die to thank King Wu for his kindness, and he was in great pain and difficult to choose.

(To be continued)