The capture of Changzhou City was only the first stop of the Southern Route Army, and Wu Yuejun and the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" only rested in the city for one day. On the 26th day of the fourth lunar calendar of the second year of Jianlong, after leaving some soldiers and horses to defend the city with Jin Chengli, the soldiers continued to fight in two ways. All the way, 6,000 soldiers and horses of Wu Yue's army, led by Shen Chengli, a general under the command of King Wu Yue, marched east from Changzhou to attack the Jiangyin army and the villages along the river; A total of 30,000 soldiers and horses of the main force Wu Yue army and the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" were led by Qian Yu and Mutel, and they marched northwest from Changzhou and went straight to Jingkou (Runzhou), an important town in the south of the Yangtze River.

As the eastern gateway of Jinling, Jingkou has always been an important military town and a place where soldiers must fight. Since the time of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, the various separatist regimes in the south of the Yangtze River have sent capable ministers and good generals to garrison this place to protect the safety of the capital. This time the Zhou army marched south, Li Yu also attached great importance to the defense of Jingkou. traversed the generals in the court, and finally selected the old general of the domain when he was not on the throne, and Liu Cheng, the marquis of Yu, the guard, stayed behind for Runzhou, and commanded the troops to defend the city. In order to show his importance to Runzhou and his favor to Liu Cheng, Li Yu said earnestly when Liu Cheng came to bid farewell to him: "Although Aiqing is unwilling to leave the lonely king, the lonely king is reluctant to part with Aiqing. It's just that now that the national disaster is at hand, only Aiqing can understand the worries of the Manchu Dynasty. Now this important place in Beijing will be handed over to Aiqing, and I hope Aiqing will not let down the trust of Lone. ”

After Liu Cheng left the palace and returned to his home, he loaded all the gold and silver treasures at home and took them to Runzhou to take up his post, claiming that these things outside his body were given by the lord and the court, and now that the country is in trouble, he should reward all the gold beads and goods to his generals, so as to be worthy of the trust of the lord and the court, and inspire the soldiers to fight bravely. And Li Yu was naturally very relieved after hearing what Liu Cheng had done, thinking that he had not mistaken the person, and that with such loyal ministers and brave generals guarding Runzhou, the gateway to the east of Jinling City would be worry-free.

On April 29 of the lunar calendar of the second year of Jianlong, the main force of Wu Yue's army and the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" arrived at the city of Runzhou under the leadership of Muttel and Qian Yu. Seeing that the Zhou-Wu coalition army was busy camping outside the city, only a small number of soldiers and horses were arranged to monitor the defenders in the city, and there was a lack of effective protection on both sides, several generals under Liu Cheng's command immediately sent troops to him, taking advantage of the favorable opportunity when the Zhou-Wu coalition army had not yet completed its camp and had an unstable foothold, and made a surprise attack on it. In this way, even if it cannot repel the Zhou-Wu coalition army in one fell swoop, it can at least disrupt the process of its encampment, hit the morale of its troops, and improve the morale and confidence of its own generals.

In the face of the rationalization of his subordinates, Liu Cheng, who was afraid of the Zhou army like a tiger and intended to surrender to the Zhou army, could not listen to it at all, or he was not willing to have a direct conflict with the other party when the Zhou army was already victorious, thus affecting his subsequent surrender. Therefore, as soon as his subordinate Jian Yiyi proposed it, Liu Cheng immediately retorted: "Now the enemy is strong and I am weak, and the other party has the elite Zhou army like the 'Wolf Tooth Battalion', which uses all sharp firearms as the vanguard. Our army goes to war, and if it can win, it will be enough. If it can't be won, the key town of Kyoguchi will be lost to the enemy immediately. However, the only way to do this is to hold on and wait for reinforcements, and then fight to the death with the enemy after the arrival of the rescue troops in the capital, and it is not too late. ”

The commander refused to leave the city, and the generals of the Jiangnan Army were helpless even if they were in a hurry, so they could only stand on the head of the city and watch the Zhou-Wu coalition army set up the camp in a hurry, and the small number of cavalry in charge of the perimeter guard even ran to the city of Runzhou without any scruples, shooting an arrow or a shot at the city from time to time, and making various provocative moves. On his part, because the commander strictly ordered the soldiers and generals not to leave the city, he could not do anything except for some resentful generals who shot a few arrows back to vent the stuffiness in their chests.

After the main force of the Southern Route Army set up a large camp outside Runzhou City, it was not in a hurry to attack the city. First, it was nearly dusk and it was not suitable to attack. Second, according to the news from the peripheral detective horses, the day before the main force of the Southern Route Army arrived in Runzhou, the sailors of the 8,000 boat division of the Jiangnan Army led by Lingbo Du Yu Hou Lu Qi, as the second echelon of the Jingkou guard, had also advanced to 60 miles west of Runzhou City, and if nothing else, it would arrive at Runzhou City at about noon the day after tomorrow. Nowadays, the main force of the Southern Route Army is not very large, and the number of artillery, caliber, and ammunition base of the "Langya Battalion" equipped with it are all limited, so it is difficult to break through a fortified city in only half a day or even one or two hours like other armies of the Southern Expeditionary Army. If they were in a hurry to attack the city, once they failed to succeed in a short period of time, and the sailors of the Jiangnan Army Boat Division led by Lu Qian came up from behind, the main force of the Southern Route Army would fall into an unfavorable situation of being attacked on both sides, which was something that Mutel and Qian Yu never wanted to see. Therefore, according to Muter's construction, the main force of the Southern Route Army suspended the siege of the city, on the one hand, the Wu Yue army monitored the movement of the defenders in the city, and on the other hand, the "Langya Battalion" was used to maneuver westward to intercept the sailors of the Jiangnan Army Boat Division who had landed, defeat this reinforcement force, completely isolate the Runzhou defenders, and create better conditions for the siege battle in the future.

While the Southern Route Army was preparing for the annihilation of Lu Xuan's troops, the Runzhou garrison also received the news that their own reinforcements and horses had entered only sixty miles from Jingkou. While the soldiers felt that their hopes of defending the city had been greatly increased, they were also a little worried about the safety of the supporting army. After all, the name of the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" is too loud, although Jiangnan and Saibei are far apart, but the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" in the Battle of Youyun and the "Overlord Operation", as well as the "notoriety" left in the hearts of the Khitan people when they frequently harassed the Khitan and "fought the Grass Valley" in recent years, have been passed on to the ears of these Jiangnan generals one after another, and everyone is still very afraid of their fierceness and combat effectiveness. In addition, although Lu Xuanbu came by water, if he wanted to enter Runzhou City, he would eventually abandon the boat and go ashore for a land route. Being in the wilderness, there is no danger to defend, riding on foot, and facing the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" that may attack it at any time, it is really reassuring whether Lu Qi's subordinates, who are at a disadvantage, can enter Runzhou City smoothly. So, at the same time as getting the relevant news, a group of generals found Liu Cheng and asked their commander to go out of the city with a force and make a feint attack on the camp of the Zhou-Wu coalition army, so as to attract the attention of the enemy army and make it have no time to worry about anything else, so as to create conditions for Lu Xuan's troops to land on the shore and enter the city of Runzhou.

This rationalization of the generals naturally can't pass the hurdle of Liu Cheng, who has already had the intention of surrendering to the enemy. In Liu Cheng's view, on the one hand, with the reinforcements of Lu Xuan's troops, the morale and morale of the soldiers in the city will inevitably be high, and it will be more difficult to persuade them to surrender the city. On the other hand, Lu Qian is a loyal man, loyal to the court and the lord, and it is impossible for him to surrender with him. Rather than trying to find a way to break it up at that time, or add up its swords and axes, it is better to use the hands of the Zhou-Wu coalition army to get rid of it now, so as to save a lot of trouble in the future.

So, in the face of the request of the generals under his command, Liu Cheng said: "Now there are only about 30,000 soldiers and horses of the Zhou Wu Alliance outside the city, but there are 8,000 sailors in the department of Marquis Lu Yu. Even if the Zhou-Wu coalition army was strong, if it wanted to intercept, retreat, or even defeat Lu Yuhou's troops, it would need at least 20,000 soldiers and horses. If this happens, the Zhou-Wu coalition army outside Runzhou will be emptied, and the siege of Runzhou will be solved without a fight. Thinking that the Wu coalition army came for Runzhou that week, how could they be so sacrificing their roots, risking being attacked by our army on both sides, and using the main force to intercept Lu Yuhou's department. As long as Lu Yuhou commanded properly and acted cautiously, his troops would arrive at Runzhou City safe and sound, and enter the city along with our army.

As for what the monarchs just said about how strong the Zhou army's 'wolf's tooth battalion' was and how difficult it was to deal with, I thought that those were just ignorant people who didn't know about military affairs, hearsay, and people were just clouds, and they were not worth believing. If the 'Wolf Tooth Battalion' is as invincible as the monarchs say, why didn't they see it lining up to fight with the defenders when the Zhou and Wu coalition forces attacked the Li City Walled City before, but took advantage of the night to sneak attack and take advantage of the defenders' defensive negligence and carelessness to break the village. When it comes to taking Changzhou, it is necessary to rely on the counterattack of the guard Jin Chengli to win. As the saying goes, 'hearing is false, seeing is believing', and what the combat power of this 'wolf's tooth battalion' is, it still needs to be fought on the battlefield with real swords and guns before it can be asserted. If you blindly listen to rumors, 'grow the morale of others and destroy your own prestige', is it not for the sake of the generals. ”

After speaking, without listening to the explanations and distinctions of the generals under his command, Liu Cheng flicked his sleeves, turned around and left the hall, and went back to the back hall.

As a result, only two days after watching the Zhou-Wu coalition army easily camp under the city and do nothing, the defenders of Runzhou City had to watch once again as the sailors of Lu Qisuo's Zhou Division, which was probably the only supporting army, were about to face the resistance of the powerful and invincible Zhou army's "Wolf Tooth Battalion" and were helpless.