The fire in the water village was ignited again, the smoke was billowing out, the red flames were in the air, and the small boats in the water village fled one after another, but they were surrounded and suppressed by the Sui warships on all sides, and the arrows on the big boat rained down, ruthlessly killing the Tang soldiers on the small boat, and the hard collision angle smashed the small boat, and the river was full of floating broken wood and broken boats.

The strategy of the Sui army was very obvious, that is, to completely destroy the water power of the Tang army, not leaving the Tang army a boat or a boat, dozens of large ships rampaged in the water village, an hour later, the Tang army's water village was completely destroyed, except for the smoke billowing more than 100 grain ships burning, there was no longer a single Tang army ship, and the fence of the wooden stakes of the water village also disappeared on the water.

In fact, this was only part of the Qingjiang operation, another Sui army of more than 3,000 sailors, driving more than 200 thousand-stone warships to search for civilian ships on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Nanjun, and all the civilian ships were either driven to the south bank or destroyed on the spot, completely cutting off the hope of the Tang army crossing the Yangtze River to the south.

At the head of the city, Chai Shao's eyes were heavy as he looked at the grain ship that was engulfed by the fire, and there was also a trace of despair in his heart, losing the power of the water, in Jingxiang, where the water network was dense, could they still win?

Back then, although Xiao Mill had a thousand warships and was still defeated by the Tang Army who had no warships, Yang Yuanqing was not Xiao Mill, he was originally a land tiger, and having the advantage of warships undoubtedly made him like a tiger.

At this moment, Chai Shao could no longer tolerate Lu Zushang, regardless of whether he fornicated with the Sui army or not, his ineffective command caused the Tang army to lose its last water power, and with this, he had to remove Lu Zushang from his position, regardless of whether it would annoy Li Xiaogong. Regardless of whether he Chai Shao overstepped his authority.

"Pass my order, all the generals above the general will be concentrated in the big tent of the Chinese army in the northern camp." ……

Beidaying is the garrison of the 50,000 troops brought by Chai Shao, today is the second day of Chai Shao's arrival in Nanjun, there have been several military defeats in a row, the Tang army's water power has been lost, and Gong/Anxian has been lost, this series of defeats has made Chai Shao painfully determined, if he does not take decisive action. The entire Jingxiang battle situation will be defeated miserably by his own indecision.

In the tent, more than 70 generals, generals and dozens of civilian officers gathered together, and Chai Shao sat on the top of the handsome seat. His eyes stared coldly at everyone, and he said slowly: "Since ancient times, whether an army can win a battle or not depends on whether there is a clear distinction between rewards and punishments. It lies in whether the military discipline is strict, meritorious service should be rewarded, and defeat should be punished, and if you don't set rules, you can't become a square circle, so today we must punish the generals who suffer defeat. ”

His eyes fell on Lu Zushang, and he said sharply: "The first person to be punished is Lu Zushang, the general of Nanjun, who commanded poorly and was not good at managing the water village, which led to the destruction of the Tang Army's water division. When he took the first responsibility, he was removed from all official positions and demoted to a soldier to make an example of the three armies! ”

Lu Zushang's position as the general of Nanjun was appointed by the governor of Jingxiang Xingtai, and only Li Xiaogong had the power to remove him from his official position. Although Chai Shao is in a high position, he has no right to dismiss Lu Zushang, and what he did today is obviously overstepping his authority, but Lu Zushang was already disheartened, and stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "I am willing to be punished!" ”

A few soldiers came up. took off his helmet and took him out of the big tent, the generals watched silently as Lu Zushang walked in front of them, many of whom he sympathized with.

Chai Shao said loudly again: "The second person to be punished, it's the second general, Zhao Lan, bring it to me!" ”

Several soldiers pushed out an officer, this person was Lu Zushang's confidant Zhao Lan, who served as the deputy general of the naval division, Chai Shao said coldly: "The warship was burned by the Sui army scouts, and the patrol post was ineffective, causing the Sui army scouts to mix into the water village, should be held directly responsible, push me out, beat a hundred military sticks, remove all official positions, and demote to a soldier!" ”

Of course, Zhao Lan understood that this was Chai Shao taking the opportunity to cleanse, he knew that it was useless to beg for mercy, Suo Xìng didn't say a word, and was pushed down by the soldiers, Chai Shao immediately dismissed four or five of Lu Zushang's henchmen and generals under various pretexts, and purged Lu Zushang's forces from among the officers, and then said to the generals: "From now on, I, Chai Shao, temporarily take over the post of general of Nanjun, and I am fully responsible for all the defense of Jiangling." ”

Everyone bowed and saluted, "Obey!" ”

Chai Shao glanced at Liu Fangzhi again and said: "At the same time, I appointed General Liu Fangzhi as the second general, responsible for the defense of Jiangling City!" ”

Liu Fangzhi was overjoyed, stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "I am willing to serve the general!" ”……

Chai Shao reorganized the army by means of thunder and order, and firmly controlled the 70,000 troops of Jiangling City in his own hands, at this time he had accepted the reality of the Sui army's rule over the river, and began to redeploy his forces, and he drove all the people outside Jiangling City into the city.

He also ordered the soldiers to build fortifications with mud bags by the river, and ordered his henchman Luo Zhaolin to be the commander of the defense of the riverbank, and led 10,000 archers to strictly guard the riverside wharf to build the first line of defense of Jiangling City.

At the same time, Chai Shao also forced 50,000 people to assist the Tang army to defend the city, and 60,000 defenders and 50,000 people on the city wall defended tightly, building the entire Jiangling like an iron wall.

According to Chai Shao's order, all men over the age of 16 and under the age of 40 who are not engaged in agriculture must go to the city to assist in the defense.

In the city of Jiangling, not far from the palace where Chai Shao lived, there is also a huge mansion that also covers an area of nearly 40 acres, which is the mansion of the Xiao family in Jiangling, the Xiao family of the Southern Dynasty has always been a famous nobleman, and the Liang Dynasty was established in its heyday, ruling the south of the Yangtze River.

But since Hou Jing led the army to break through the health city sixty years ago, the Xiao family suffered a catastrophe, the Xiao family in the health city was almost wiped out, and the general Chen Shubao took the opportunity to seize the Liang Dynasty and establish the Chen Dynasty, and some of the Xiao children fled west to Jingxiang, with Jiangling as the capital, and rebuilt the Western Liang Dynasty, until Yang Jian sent a large army to the south, Xiao Liang surrendered, and the Xiao family was able to survive and reuse, including Yang Guang's queen is also the daughter of the Xiao family.

At this time, almost all of the Xiao family had gone north to the Sui Dynasty, and there were very few Xiao families left in Jiangling City, including after Xiao Mo rebuilt Xiao Liang, there were not many people from the Xiao family who could be used.

After they were forced to leave Dunhuang, they moved back to Jiangling, relying on the commercial interests they earned in Dunhuang to rebuild the family, and received the full support of Xiao Miao, making the Xiao family the first family in Jiangling.

At this time, in a secret room of the Xiao Mansion, five or six major figures of the Xiao family gathered together to discuss major matters related to the fate of the Xiao family, and they had just received a letter from Xiao Yanqi, the Taishou of Changsha County, yesterday, conveying Yang Yuanqing's importance to the Xiao family.

The head of the Xiao family is still Xiao Yinyin, she has controlled the Xiao family for nearly twenty years, and has supreme authority within the Xiao family, but she has not been in good health in the past two years, and many things have been handed over to her brothers and nephews to do.

Xiao Yinyin is nearly fifty years old, but she is still very well maintained, her skin is delicate, and her appearance is charming, no different from ten years ago, just like being frozen in her thirties.

"Our Xiao family must take refuge in the Sui Dynasty, this is beyond doubt, Jin'er has become the Taishou of Liang County, he is the confidant of the King of Chu, it is not a problem to enter the prime minister in the future, and Cong'er, the current Zhao County Magistrate."

Xiao Yinyin's voice was very soft, but there was an irresistible majesty in her tone, "What's more important is that the Sui army has occupied the north and gone south to the south of the Yangtze River, and the entire east of Jiangxia County has been incorporated into the territory of the Sui Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty has left Guanzhong and Bashu, if the Sui army captures Jingxiang, the world will be decided, at this time, the Xiao family must not stand on the wrong side, not only that, but also use all the network resources to help the Sui army seize Jiangling." ”

There is a tall and thin old man sitting next to him, his name is Xiao Yanqin, Xiao Yinyin's eldest brother, and Xiao Jin's father, Xiao Yinyin is not external, and he is responsible for the external affairs of the entire family.

Xiao Yanqin smiled at everyone: "I completely agree with the opinion of the head of the family, there are so many famous families in the Great Sui world, if our Xiao family wants to occupy a place in it, we must not only rely on the status of Jin'er in the court, but also the influence of the Xiao family in Jingxiang, helping the King of Chu to capture Jiangling is only the first step, and then we will expand our influence in the entire Jingxiang and strive to become the first ...... in Jingxiang."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yinyin interrupted him, "Big brother, let's talk about the future later, now is the first step, how can we help the Sui army capture Jiangling?" ”

Xiao Yanqin pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe I can find someone to help." ”

As soon as the words fell, a family member reported outside the door, "The head of the family, the Tang army is here to see the head of the family." ”

Chai Shao actually came, so that everyone was stunned, and looked at Xiao Yinyin together, but Xiao Yinyin knew in her heart that if Chai Shao came to the door, the problem would not be very big, so she said to Xiao Yanqin: "I'm not in good health, I don't see outsiders, big brother go and deal with it!" ”

Xiao Yanqin nodded, got up and said, "Then I'll come when I go." ”

He opened the door and walked quickly out of the door, and heard him ask the butler from afar, "Is there an army coming with you?" ”

"No, there is only General Chai and two guards."

In the room, everyone in the Xiao family was silent, patiently waiting for Xiao Yanqin to return......

In the guest hall, Chai Shao was waiting for tea unhurriedly, with two guards standing beside him, Chai Shao, as a high-ranking official in the Tang Dynasty, had a high political consciousness, since he controlled Jiangling City, he naturally hoped to get the support of the local wealthy families in Jiangling.

The Jiangling Xiao family was the first one he visited, but Chai Shao didn't know that the Jiangling Xiao family moved from Dunhuang, and he didn't know that Yang Yuanqing's henchman Xiao Jin was a child of the Jiangling Xiao family.

The Xiao family of Jiangling moved from Dunhuang, this is the secret of the Xiao family, they all say to the outside world that they moved from Danyang County, and they will never say that they are returning from Dunhuang, mainly for fear of affecting their reputation.

At this time, Xiao Yanqin walked in from outside, smiled and bowed, "Xiaomin Xiao Yanqin see General Chai." ”

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