When Li Cunmiao heard the news, he led his own army into Lanzhou, and ordered his henchman Zhu Shouyin to defend the Desheng Ferry, and warned him: "Wang Tiegun is extremely brave and decisive, and now he is taking advantage of his anger and is bound to attack, you should prepare for battle." ”

He also sent an envoy to send a letter to the king of Wu, telling him that the Tang state had captured Yunzhou and asked them to send troops to attack the Liang dynasty. Xu Wen was about to send troops to wait and see, planning which one would win and which one would help, but Yan Ke stopped him and said, "If Liang Guo lets us land to help them, what reason will we use to refuse him?" Xu Wen gave up.

Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Yanzhang about the timetable for breaking the enemy, and Wang Yanzhang only said two words: "Three days." The ministers laughed loudly, thinking that he was bragging.

Wang Yanzhang didn't say much, the real strong never needed to explain. He rushed to the camp in Huazhou in two days, and immediately convened a meeting to worship the commander and reward the three armies.

At the same time, he secretly sent people to prepare warships in Yang Village, and ordered 600 elite soldiers, armed with huge axes, with blacksmiths and charcoal fires for burning iron, to go down the river.

At that time, Wang Yanzhang was still drinking in the camp, everyone was drinking happily, Wang Yanzhang pretended to go to the toilet, and then led thousands of elite soldiers along the south bank of the Yellow River to take the southern city of Desheng of the Tang army.

At this time, it was raining lightly in the sky, and Zhu Shouyin never dreamed that Liang Jun would carry out a surprise attack, and he was indeed still dreaming at that time.

Desheng City has two cities in the north and south, separated by the Yellow River, there is a pontoon bridge built on the river surface, and the pontoon bridge is connected by a huge iron chain, which is very firm. In this way, the north and south cities are interdependent, and in the event of war, they can support each other.

At this time, the sailors of the Liang army had approached the pontoon bridge at Desheng Ferry, the blacksmith in the boat burned the chain on the pontoon bridge with fire, and the soldiers used big axes to cut off the wooden planks on the pontoon, and Wang Yanzhang also personally led the army to the bottom of the southern city. Urgent siege.

Soon, the pontoon bridge broke, and the southern city was also captured, killing thousands of Tang troops defending the city. At this time, it was just three days before Wang Yanzhang was ordered to attack.

By the time Zhu Shouyin discovered that the Liang army had attacked Nancheng, the pontoon bridge no longer existed, so he had to send soldiers to cross the river in small boats to support. But at this time, there is no way back.

Wang Yanzhang made persistent efforts and captured Panzhang, Majiakou, Jingdian and other villages in Henan in one fell swoop, and the power of the Liang army was greatly boosted. Li Cunmiao sent the eunuch Jiao Yanbin to Yang Liu immediately, and the town envoy Li Zhou held it together, and ordered Zhu Shouyin to abandon Desheng Beicheng.

The wood on the house was removed to make a large raft, and the soldiers and weapons were carried down the river to the east, and Yang Liu assisted in the defense, and moved the grain, grass and firewood from the northern city of Desheng to Lanzhou. As a result, more than half of the supplies were lost.

Wang Yanzhang also demolished the roof of Desheng Nancheng at the speed of Chinese-style demolition, made a raft and went down the river, and the two armies advanced on the side of the river.

On this day, it was not raining heavily in the sky. It's not a meteor shower, it's a rain of arrows. The two sides went back and forth, playing with the ship's earthquake, sometimes tossing and turning the entire ship overturned, and fought more than 100 times in one day, winning and losing each other. After arriving at Yang Liu, almost half of the soldiers and horses were lost.

Soon. Wang Yanzhang and Duan Ning led an army of 100,000 to attack Yang Liu, marching side by side in a hundred ways, day and night, connecting nine giant ships and crossing the river. In order to cut off the reinforcements of the Tang army, Yang Liucheng was almost lost, and it was all up to Li Zhou to defend with all his strength, and the soldiers shared weal and woe, so they blocked Wang Yanzhang's attacks again and again.

Seeing that he could not take it, Wang Yanzhang retreated to the south of the city and built a connected camp to garrison and defend.

The commander of the Tang army in Yang Liucheng asked Li Cunqiao to travel 100 miles a day to come to the rescue, but Li Cunqiao was confident, and he hurried while hunting, and only marched at a speed of 60 miles a day, and said, "I have the general Li Zhou, don't worry!" ”

It was not until the second day of the sixth month that Li Cunmiao's army arrived at Yang Liu, but it was blocked by the tight blockade of the Liang army outside the city and could not enter the city. Li Cunmiao was worried that the city would not be secured, so he asked Guo Chongtao to discuss countermeasures.

Guo Chongtao said: "Now Wang Yanzhang has seized the opportunity to defend the important place of the river ferry, thinking that in this way he can capture Dongping effortlessly, and the actual situation is that if our reinforcements do not go south to rescue, Dongping will indeed not be able to hold it." The minister requested that a fortification be built on the east bank of Bozhou to consolidate the crossing on the river, so that it could meet the defenders of Dongping and disperse the enemy's forces.

However, I am afraid that Wang Yanzhang will find out this news and immediately attack us, so that the city will not be built, and I hope that Your Majesty will recruit the brave and order them to challenge the Liang army every day to contain them, if Wang Yanzhang does not march to the east for ten days, then the city will definitely be built. ”

At that time, Li Siyuan was alone in Yunzhou, and there was no communication with Hebei Daying, and people were panicked and precarious. At this moment, Duan Ning's subordinate man named Kang Yanxiao came to surrender to Li Siyuan, and his arrival reassured Li Siyuan's subordinates.

Kang Yanxiao, a native of Dai County, Shanxi, was the first person of Li Cunqiao, and later defected to Houliang because of his crime. During the Kaiping and Qianhua years, Kang Yanxiao gradually rose from captain to ministry.

Zhu Youzhen saw his courage and appointed him as the commander of the left and right vanguards.

So Li Siyuan hurriedly sent an envoy to ask Li Cunqiao to build a camp in Majiakou so as to open up the Yunzhou passage.

Li Cunmiao agreed to his plan, so he sent Guo Chongtao to lead 10,000 horses to set off overnight, rushed to Bozhou, and after arriving at Majiakou, crossed the Yellow River, and hurried to build a new city day and night. Here, Li Cunmiao himself fought hard day and night with the Liang people in Yang Liu.

Guo Chongtao's construction of the new city was completed in six days, and at this time, Wang Yanzhang also got the information and personally led tens of thousands of horses to rush to attack the new city.

At that time, the new city was not solid, the height was not enough, there was no city tower, and there was no other equipment to defend the city.

Li Cunmiao personally led the army from Yang Liu to the rescue, and the inside and outside should be combined, and the morale was greatly increased, Wang Yanzhang had no choice but to break the siege and retreat to Zoujiakou. It was only at this time that Yunzhou communicated with Li Cunqiao to report on the war.

On the fifth day of the seventh month, Li Cunqiao led the army to advance south along the Yellow River, Wang Yanzhang gave up Zoujiakou, and rushed to Yang Liu, on the twelfth, Li Shaoxing defeated the Liang Guoyou's scattered troops at Qingqiuyi, Duan Ning thought that the Tang army had crossed the river in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and was shocked, blaming Wang Yanzhang in person, blaming him for not going deep into the enemy's territory, so that he neglected the defense of the rear.

Li Cunmiao also asked Li Shaorong to attack the Liang army camp all the time, and captured all the Liang army's reconnaissance troops. The Liang army was even more frightened, and the Tang army then burned the ships connected to the Liang army with a burning raft, and Wang Yanzhang heard that Li Cunqiao had reached Zoujiakou, so he lifted the siege of Yang and Liu on the 17th and retreated to Yang Village to defend.

Yang Liu's lifting of the siege was a fatal mistake. They didn't know that at this time, the Tang army in the city had been out of food for three days, and if they held on any longer, the Tang army in Yang Liu City would be completely annihilated, and in that case, Li Cunqiao's army would definitely retreat to Hebei without a fight.

The Tang army pursued from behind, and the Liang army retreated to Desheng, and the Liang army stormed the cities before and after, with nearly 10,000 casualties.

Wang Yanzhang usually hated traitors such as Zhao Yan and Zhang Hanjie, when he was serving as a solicitor. He once said to his cronies: "When I return from victory, I must kill all these traitors, so that I can thank the people of the world." ”

After Zhao and Zhang found out, they discussed with each other: "We would rather die in the hands of the Shatuo people than let Wang Yanzhang kill us." ”

So the two cooperated to bring down Wang Yanzhang, Duan Ning had always been jealous of Wang Yanzhang's talent, and flattered Zhao and Zhang, so he opposed Wang Yanzhang at every turn in the army. Do everything possible to obstruct him, I am afraid that he will have military exploits. He also secretly investigated Wang Yanzhang's negligence and reported to Zhu Youzhen.

Every time the army's good news arrived in the capital, Zhao and Zhang gave the credit to Duan Ning, so Wang Yanzhang had no credit at all, and when he later retreated to Yang Village, Zhu Youzhen listened to slander. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore, so he recalled Wang Yanzhang back to Daliang, and sent him to lead the army to attack Zezhou with Dong Zhang, but at that time, Zezhou was not the main battlefield of the two sides.

Pei Yue complained to Li Cunmiao. Li Cunqiao said: "My brother Li Sizhao unfortunately gave birth to this brute, and only Pei Yue can still know whether it is a traitor. ”

He said to Li Shaobin again: "Zezhou is just a land of projectiles, and it is of no use to me, you just need to save Pei Yue for me." ”

Before Li Shaobin arrived, Zezhou had been captured by the Liang army, and Pei Yue was killed in battle. Zhu Youzhen also ordered the Liang army in Huazhou to break the Yellow River embankment and let the river flow eastward to Cao, Pu and Yunzhou, so as to block the Jin army's attack.

At first, Zhu Youzhen sent Duan Ning to the Yellow River to supervise the army, Jing Xiang and Li Zhen repeatedly asked Zhu Youzhen to remove Duan Ning from his post, Zhu Youzhen said: "What is Duan Ning's fault? Li Zhen said: "If he is at fault, then the country will be in danger." ”

At this time, Duan Ning bribed Zhao Yan and Zhang Hanjie again, asking them to try to make themselves the envoys, Jing Xiang and Li Zhen knew about it, and they strongly opposed it, but with the support of Zhao and Zhang, Duan Ning finally replaced Wang Yanzhang as the envoy to the north, so the old generals of the Liang army were resentful, and the soldiers were also very unconvinced,

Zhang Quanyi, the deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, said to Zhu Youzhen: "The minister is the deputy marshal of the world, although he is old, he is confident that he can still defend His Majesty against the enemies in the north, Duan Ning's background is very late, and the merits and reputation he has made in the past are not enough to convince people, and now everyone is talking about his new position, and I am afraid that it will bring trouble to the country if it continues." ”

Jing Xiang also persuaded the emperor: "The selection of generals is related to the safety of the entire country, and now that the situation in the country is already very critical, how can Your Majesty not be particularly cautious?" However, Zhu Youzhen ignored these opinions.

At this time, Duan Ning's front-line battalion totaled more than 50,000 people, Duan Ning didn't want to fight, he wanted to rob, so he led a main force of the country to various counties in Lanzhou, often fire and rob, and then collected troops back to the city.

Zhu Youzhen sent Wang Yanzhang to lead more than 10,000 people to the east to prepare to recover Yunzhou. The prison army is Zhang Hanjie, who has always regarded Wang Yanzhang as a thorn in his side.

On the 17th, Kang Yanxiao led more than 100 cavalry of his cronies to Li Cunqiao's front-line camp. Li Cunmiao was overjoyed, gave him his brocade robe and jade belt, and made him the commander of the southern recruitment, and also served as the assassin of Bozhou. Li Cunmiao asked him why he abandoned Liang and returned to Tang.

Kang Yanxiao said: "Although the Liang State has a vast territory and a large number of generals, what they do will inevitably perish. Why?

The emperor was mediocre and timid, and the two families of Zhao and Zhang were autocratic, on the one hand, they made friends with the close ministers in the palace internally, and on the other hand, they recruited power and accepted bribes externally.

Duan Ning has no wisdom and courage, once the villain has his ambition, he is actually above Wang Yanzhang, since he was in charge of the army, he knew that he would deduct military salaries and go to the powerful in the court.

Every time the Liang lord sent an army, he was not worried about the generals who led the troops, and often used his close ministers as the supervisors, so that the generals were often controlled by the supervisors. Now send troops from multiple routes, order Dong Zhang to lead the army from Shihui Pass to force Taiyuan, Huo Yanwei to attack calm, Wang Yanzhang to attack Yunzhou, Duan Ning to lead the army to confront His Majesty, I think Liang soldiers gather a lot, and there are not many separations.

If His Majesty recuperates, waits for his troops, and then leads 5,000 elite cavalry from Yunzhou to Daliang and captures Zhu Youzhen, the world will be stable in less than ten days and a month. "It sounds like an easy idea, but is it really going to work so well?

However, at that time, Li Cunmiao's life was not very good, and Duan Ning's army did not do anything else, robbing every day. Since the last defeat of Desheng City, the Tang army has lost as much as one million grains and grass, and the supply of food and salary is insufficient, so it is necessary to raise taxes. As a result, the income from taxation is even less, and the savings in the warehouse are not enough for half a year's expenses.

Zezhou and Luzhou could not be attacked for a long time, Lu Wenjin and Wang Yu repeatedly led the Khitan soldiers and horses to attack the Youyou and Zhuo areas, and heard that they were going to wait until the autumn and winter when the grass and trees withered, and the river would go deep into the border after it froze, and I heard that the Liang army was also preparing to divide the troops into several ways to invade, so Li Cunqiao was deeply worried and convened a meeting of the generals.

The people led by Li Shaohong, the envoy of Xuanhui, all believed that Yunzhou was an isolated city, and it was better to give up, and at the same time to reconcile with the Later Liang, return Weizhou and Liyang to the Liang Dynasty, take the Yellow River as the boundary, suspend the army and raise the people, and wait until the financial resources are sufficient, and then develop the grand plan.

Li Cunmiao was very unhappy when he heard this, and said: "In this way, I don't even have a place to bury." So the generals were dismissed, but Guo Chongtao was left to ask him for advice, Guo Chongtao said: "Your Majesty has not washed and combed, and has not dismantled his armor, and it has been fifteen years, in order to take revenge."

Now that he has officially ascended the throne and set up the honorific title, the people of Hebei are looking forward to the reunification of the country every day, and they have just occupied the size of Yunzhou, and they can't hold it and give up, so how can they have the entire Central Plains? The minister is worried that the soldiers will be separated and the national strength will decline in the future, although the river is drawn as the boundary, but who is willing to defend for His Majesty?

The minister once inquired in detail about the situation in Henan, weighed the development trend of both the enemy and us, thought day and night, and thought that the success or failure was this year.

All the elite soldiers of the Liang Dynasty are now in the hands of Duan Ning, Duan Ning is guarding our south, and now he is defending himself by breaking the river, thinking that our army cannot pass for a while, so he will no longer be on guard.

They also sent Wang Yanzhang to invade Yunzhou, they meant that they hoped that there would be traitors to cause chaos within us. Duan Ning is not a general, and he can't make random decisions, so he shouldn't worry.

Moreover, the people who surrendered said that there was no army in Daliang City, and if His Majesty left troops to hold Weizhou and stick to Yang Liu, he personally led the elite soldiers to join the Yunzhou army, and then drove straight into Bianzhou, they would be empty in the city, and they would definitely collapse without a fight.

At that time, if the Liang master is captured, the Later Liang generals will surrender without a fight. This autumn, our country's grain harvest is in short supply, and our army is short of food, so if Your Majesty does not make up his mind, how can he succeed in his great feat? The proverb says: 'When the road is built, it will not be done in three years.' 'The emperor came into being, and there must be God's help, please Your Majesty do not miss this great opportunity. Li Cunqiao said: "This is exactly what I want.

If the husband succeeds, he will be the king, and if he fails, he will be the king, and my determination has been decided! Just when Li Cunqiao was full of ambition and preparing to make a big splash, the official in charge of astronomy and geography reported: "This year, the way of heaven is unfavorable, and the in-depth attack will definitely be fruitless." ”

However, Li Cunmiao, who was beaten by the gorgeous longing, could not listen to it, and still adhered to the set goal and moved forward. (To be continued......)