Almost at the same moment when Yang Yuanqing invited the celebrities of the Jiangxia City to the wine banquet, in the Baiyun Restaurant in Xiangyang City, Li Xiaogong also held a grand banquet, inviting Xiangyang celebrities to accompany him and wash the dust for the arrival of Chai Shao and Yang Gongren.

70,000 reinforcements from Chang'an via Hanzhong arrived in Xiangyang and were stationed outside the city, increasing the strength of Xiangyang from 50,000 to 120,000 at once.

After the banquet, Li Xiaogong invited Chai Shao and Yang Gongren into the meeting hall and briefed them on the current situation in Jingxiang.

This time, Li Yuan learned the lesson of the two defeats in the Central Plains Campaign, no longer implemented the two-commander system, and the imperial court no longer interfered, with Li Xiaogong taking full responsibility, Chai Shao as the left deputy general, Yang Gongren as the right deputy general, and Gao Shilian as the marching Sima, and the entire Jingxiang campaign was commanded by the four of them.

"From the information we have now, Yong'an County is led by Du Fuwei's 50,000 horses, Jiangxia County has 60,000 troops led by Xie Yingdeng, and Yang Yuanqing may bring 10,000 or 20,000 troops, as well as Xu Shiji's 40,000 Sui troops in Nanyang County, if you consider the 10,000 Sui troops in Yiling County, then the total strength of the Sui army is about 170,000, and our total strength is 150,000, and the two sides can be described as evenly matched."

The arrival of reinforcements made Li Xiaogong's confidence increase dramatically, and his voice was much louder, he glanced at Chai Shao and said with a smile: "I want to hear the general's opinion." ”

Chai Shao is sleek, has always been very popular, the heart of fighting for power and profit is not so prosperous, more importantly, he also understands that the Tang Dynasty has reached the point of life and death, whether he can win the battle of Jingxiang, is related to the future and fate of the Tang Dynasty, before leaving, Emperor Li Yuan also specially talked with him, let him fully support Li Xiaogong to win this battle.

Chai Shao knew that Li Xiaogong actually had a plan, but he was just polite to himself, so he smiled and said: "As the saying goes, a strong dragon is no match for a ground snake, not to mention that I don't know anything about the situation in Jingxiang. Where can I talk about any opinions, although Your Highness arranges it, I will obey the order. ”

Li Xiaogong glanced at Yang Gongren again, he knew that Yang Gongren was both civil and military, and should not be underestimated, so he didn't dare to despise him, Li Xiaogong saw that Yang Gongren was staring at the sand table and pondering, and asked with a smile: "What does Yang Shangshu think?" ”

Yang Gongren picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Yichang County on the sand table. "Your Highness. I don't quite understand that the Sui army has already occupied Yiling Road and cut off the road to Bashu, and the consequences are quite serious, why not send troops to take Yichang County back? ”

Li Xiaogong shook his head helplessly and said, "It's not that I don't want to attack, it's too inconvenient." And there is a lot of suffering. ”

Li Xiaogong took the wooden pole and pointed to Dingshu City: "Originally, there was an iron chain bridge here, connecting the north and south of the Yangtze River. But now the chain bridge has been cut off by the Sui army, we can't cross the river, and the plank road on the north bank leading to Sister Gui has been destroyed. It takes a lot of manpower, at least half a year to repair, and it is too late. ”

Li Xiaogong pointed the wooden pole at Jiangling again and continued: "Although you can cross the river by boat from Jiangling, you must capture Yiling County and Yichang County. It can't be done without an army of 50,000 or 60,000, and now that the situation in Jingxiang is critical, how can I spend my troops in Yiling County, I can only wait for the end of the Jingxiang Campaign before thinking about retaking Yiling. ”

Yang Gongren nodded and said apologetically: "It's that I don't understand the situation, Your Highness, I'm sorry!" ”

"It's nothing, don't blame those who don't know!"

Li Xiaogong smiled, then turned his mind back to the topic, and said slowly to everyone: "I have been thinking about it for a long time, where are our advantages?" What are the disadvantages of the Sui army? I think the disadvantage of the Sui army is that their forces are scattered, although they are numerous, they are scattered in four places, and it is difficult to gather, so I think that we should concentrate the superior forces and break the Sui army individually. ”

Yang Gongren pondered and said: "In terms of the big plan, it is indeed good to break each one, but who is Your Highness going to start with first?" ”

Li Xiaogong's plan was supported by Yang Gongren, he shook his head, picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Jiangxia County: "From the perspective of the strength of the troops, it should be the original Xiao Liang army with the weakest combat effectiveness, but Xiao Liang's army is in Jiangxia, the distance is a little far, and the troops are in the south of the Yangtze River, it is inconvenient for us to cross the river, so it is not realistic to deal with Xiao Liang's army, and Du Fuwei's army is in Yong'an County, and we are separated by Anlu County and Jingling County, the distance is more than 500 miles, and I am worried that the logistics supply will not be available." ”

Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong's wooden pole waved to the north and pointed to Nanyang County, "On the contrary, Xu Shiji's army is only dozens of miles away from us, and his 40,000 troops are like a knife on Xiangyang's neck, so that the Sui army attacks Jingxiang from the east, and I can only watch them occupy Yong'an County and Jiangxia County and dare not support, so I think we should concentrate our forces and attack the Nanyang Sui army." ”

Yang Gongren smiled, "Your Highness, I think we should attack the weak first, attack Du Fuwei's army, and then go south to fight Xiao Liang's army, as long as we stick to Xiangyang City, Xu Shiji's army will not be able to enter Jingxiang, Your Highness, first break the two route armies in the east, and the overall situation in the south will be completed, at this time, Xu Shiji's army will retreat without a fight." ”

Li Xiaogong pondered for a moment, and he also admitted that Yang Gongren had a point, but Du Fuwei was not a wood, so it was impossible to stand there and wait for him to fight.

"I don't know if Yang Shangshu has thought about it, if our army marches to Yong'an County, Du Fuwei's army is very likely to go south, or Jiangxia Sui army goes north, it is not so easy, on the contrary, Xu Shiji's 40,000 army is isolated and helpless, just encircled and annihilated, as long as we take it by surprise and send troops with thunder, Xu Shiji will not have time to retreat."

As soon as Li Xiaogong's voice fell, a soldier rushed to the hall to report: "Your Highness, Xinye scouts have the latest information, and the 40,000 Sui troops in Xinye have begun to retreat north." ”

Li Xiaogong and the others looked at each other, did the Sui army have a thousand miles of ears? ……

Jiangling City in Nanjun was once the capital of the Liang Dynasty, and it was the second largest city in Jingxiang area except Xiangyang City, with a circumference of nearly 40 miles, 38,000 households, and a population of more than 200,000.

Jiangling City is also the second garrison of the important place, there are 20,000 Tang troops stationed, Jiangling City is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, when the Tang Dynasty attacked Jingxiang, more than 300 Xiaoliang warships were captured in Jiangling, which made Jiangling also become the naval base of the Tang army.

The name of the defender of Jiangling City is Lu Zushang, a young general who is only in his early twenties, and he makes a Fang Tian painting halberd, weighing one hundred and thirty catties, and his martial arts are outstanding.

He was originally a Sui general in Luoyang, and when Wang Shichong usurped power, he escaped from Luoyang and defected to the Tang Dynasty, following Li Xiaogong to garrison Jingxiang.

Li Xiaogong greatly admired this young and brave general, named him the general of Nanjun, led 20,000 troops to garrison Jiangling, and Lu Zu Shangshui was good, leading the naval army to fight, Li Xiaogong asked xìng to hand over 300 warships to him.

Lu Zushang was not in a good mood during this time, he had just taken refuge in the Tang Dynasty for less than a year, and found that the Tang Dynasty was in danger, the prospects were bleak, and his hometown Yiyang County became the territory of the Sui Dynasty, which made Lu Zushang inevitably feel a little regretful, he was young and impulsive, and he did not think clearly for a while, so he ruined his future.

Originally, he also thought about being an unknown general, leaving the Tang Dynasty silently, going to join famous generals such as Luo Shixin or Xu Shiji, and it would not be a problem to seek a future with his martial arts, but Li Xiaogong was extremely kind to him, which made him unbearable to betray the Tang Dynasty.

At night, Lu Zushang stood at the head of the city with a halberd, staring at the dark river in the distance, the river was sparkling, and the night was too thick to see any ships.

Lu Zushang's eyes turned back to the west, and he couldn't help but sigh, the Sui army had already occupied Yiling County and Yichang County, cutting off the connection between Jingxiang and Bashu.

He felt a little guilty in his heart, speaking of which he was responsible, the Sui army was crossing the border from his military jurisdiction, and it was found in Ziling County, he informed King Jing, but it was still a step too late.

In fact, it stands to reason that he should lead the army to pursue the Sui army, or he should lead the army to attack Yiling, and he was also ready to go on the expedition, but King Jing did not approve him to leave the country.

Although the reason was not said, Lu Shangzu also knew in his heart that with the 20,000 troops in his hands, even if he could capture Yiling County, he would not be able to capture Yichang County, so he could only lose his troops in vain.

Lu Zushang is in a very heavy mood, the Jingxiang battle is imminent, I don't know who will kill the deer this time, and whether the Tang Dynasty can get back this crucial game.

At this moment, a messenger cavalry rushed from a distance, rushed to the city gate and shouted: "General Lu is here?" ”

Lu Zushang held a torch in his hand and asked, "What happened?" ”

"General Qiyu, Captain Li of Gong'an County sent urgent information, and a suspicious fleet was found on the river, more than 100 ships."

This news surprised Lu Zushang, there were actually more than a hundred ships, what is this, the merchant fleet? Or the naval army of the Sui Dynasty.

He hurriedly asked again: "What fleet?" ”

"Captain Li said that the hull is quite large, not like a merchant fleet, nor like a troop carrier, Captain Li is afraid of startling the grass and snakes, so he does not dare to approach to inspect."

Lu Zushang's mind turned, and he suddenly understood that this must be the Sui army supply fleet going to Yiling County, they wanted to sneak across the border at night, but they were discovered by the surface patrol of Gong'an County.

He was so excited that he immediately ordered: "The whole army is dispatched to intercept the convoy on the river!" ”……

More than a dozen miles away from Jiangling County, a fleet of more than 100 large ships has been silently heading west along the south bank, and this fleet is the supply fleet sent by Xie Yingdeng to Yiling.

In fact, there are several large merchant fleets like this on the Yangtze River, but they generally travel east of Jiangxia, and there are not many in the Jingxiang area.

The captain of the fleet also knows where the danger is, the boss of the boat is surnamed Tao, has been sailing on the Yangtze River for 30 years, has extremely rich experience, and knows how to avoid danger, there is no threat along the way, only Jiangling County has a Tang Dynasty navy, and if he wants to avoid the navy, he can only use the cover of the night to cross the border at night.

The river around Gangneung City is wide, up to more than ten miles wide, and the fleet is driving along the south bank, under the cover of night, Gangneung City is not visible at all, and the boat boss evades taxes and evades inspection, which is already a familiar road.

The fleet slowly moved on the river, and there was no danger in sight on the dark and heavy river, and the Tang army patrol would not go out at this time.

At this moment, a crew member suddenly pointed ahead and shouted: "Tao Ye, a ship is coming!" ”

I saw that hundreds of warships suddenly appeared on the river in front of me, and black shadows were intercepted on the river like hills.

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