Lizhou is located on the east bank of the Jialing River, surrounded by mountains, the shape is precipitous, and it is the throat of Shu. Although the Zhou army has strong strength and weapons and equipment far beyond this era, in the face of the transportation conditions in Shu that are still at the level of this era, and in the face of the plank road that has been burned down by the Shu army, with the ability of Tang Chao and Mutel, there is nothing to be done - in fact, not only can they do nothing, even if all the brothers of the Ministry of Science and Technology are called, in addition to rebuilding the plank road according to the methods of this era, there is also nothing to be done. For this reason, Tang Chao and Mutel had to temporarily stop the pace of attacking, on the one hand, Tang Chao led part of the soldiers and horses to stay in Jiachuan, organized the military service craftsmen to repair the damaged plank road, and captured Xiaomantianzhai; On the other hand, according to the old events of the Song army's invasion of Shu in the previous life, the main infantry of the Northern Route Army led by Muttel to cut down the Luochuan Trail in the southeast of Jiachuan was detoured, and the Tang Chao Division met with the division in Shendu to attack Lizhou together.

The Northern Route Army of Cutting Shu was like a bamboo, and the Eastern Route Army of Cutting Shu, which began to act on the same day as them, also made smooth progress. It stands to reason that it was the second month of the lunar calendar, and although the north wind was not as strong as the previous two months, it was not easy for sail-powered boats sailing against the current to travel up the river. Even if the battleships of the First River Defense Fleet with Chinese hard sails could zigzag forward by adjusting the direction of the sails, their speed was greatly affected. What's more, the wind is not always there, when the wind is too weak or there is no wind at all, small warships still need to move forward with oars, and large warships need manpower to pull before they can continue westward. However, thanks to the five real Yàn-type steam-powered warships in the fleet, the advance speed of the Eastern Route Army of Vashu has been greatly improved. Although the five steam-powered ships could not drag the nearly 1,000 warships and auxiliary ships of the Eastern Route Army to move forward together, it was still no problem to tow more than a dozen or twenty main warships to continue to go up the river when there was no wind or the north wind was too strong, attacking the fortresses along the way of the Shu army, and clearing the obstacles for the follow-up brigade to advance. Therefore, after Cheng Fei and Xin Feiyu led the army into Shu from Guizhou, it only took more than ten days to rely on strong ships and cannons to conquer the Shu army's Songmu, Sanhui, Wushan and other villages in land battles, and killed the Shu general Nanguanghai and more than 5,000 people below. In the water battle, he defeated the main force of the Houshu Water Army, annihilated more than 6,000 enemies, captured more than 1,200 people under Yuan Dehong, and captured more than 200 warships. In the end, 12 days after the campaign was launched, it marched 200 miles westward, and arrived at the river near Kuizhou on the 14th day of the second lunar month of the fifth year of Jianlong.

Kuizhou is the throat of Badong, and the Shu army set up a pontoon bridge on the lock river in the east of the city, and placed three wooden fences on it, and deployed heavy troops to defend it, so as to block the enemy's warships going up the river. In addition, camps were also set up within a range of five miles on both sides of the river, or on the top of the mountains, or in the middle of the mountain, and other suitable places for stationing, and a large number of stone throwers and bed crossbows were erected, and the river was arrayed and strictly guarded, so as to block the enemy from the river and prevent it from approaching Kuizhou.

Although the First Fleet of Jiangfang under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Route Army of Shu has been comprehensively upgraded and transformed in the more than two years since the conquest of the Southern Tang (Jiangnan) War, basically all combat ships are equipped with artillery, and in terms of firepower alone, it is far stronger than that of the Shu Army. However, first, the First Fleet of Jiangfang, including the five newly built steam-powered warships, was limited by technical conditions and space on the ships, and its guns were all arranged on both sides, and at the beginning of the design, it mainly focused on surface operations and the bombing of near-shore targets, so the pitch angle of the guns on its ships was very limited, and it was acceptable to bombard the enemy camps on the near-shore beachhead, and it was very difficult to hit the Shu army's stone-throwing machine and bed crossbow located halfway up the mountainside or even on the top of the mountain. Second, although the mortars of the infantry accompanying the ships can reach the enemy troops on the mountainside or the top of the mountain, their accuracy is bound to be greatly reduced. In addition, except for the five experimental steam-powered warships, the other warships of the First Fleet of Jiangfang were all sail-powered ships supplemented by oars and oars, and their maneuverability was greatly limited in the case of sailing against the current, and it was not a good choice to compete with the long-range weapons of the Shu army on the shore.

Therefore, in the face of this series of fortifications set up by the Shu army in the east of Kuizhou, the Shu East Route Army did not rashly carry out a strong attack, but took "history" as an example, drawing on the history of the previous life described when listening to Zhang Weixin's history, and following the method practiced by the Eastern Route Army when the Northern Song Dynasty invaded Shu in the previous life, and broke through the defense line of the Shu army in Kuizhou by land and water.

On the thirteenth day of February of the lunar calendar of the fifth year of Jianlong, after some preparation and adjustment, the East Route Army of Shu was divided into two routes when it was thirty miles away from Kuizhou. All the way (the first regiment and the second regiment of the "Flying Dragon Army", the first artillery regiment of the division and the two regiments of the "Security Army") were led by Cheng Fei and went up the river along both sides of the Yangtze River to sweep the forts and long-range weapons set up there by the Shu army. On the one hand, it provided fire support for the brother troops on the shore within the scope of its ability, and on the other hand, it dispatched infantry troops by boat to land when the time was right, and besieged the Shu army together with their own soldiers and horses on the shore.

The arrangement of the Eastern Route Army of Shu can be said to be to make use of its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, and it is based on the close coordination and cooperation of the infantry and warships of the Zhou army with the close coordination and cooperation of the infantry and warships of the Zhou army, and the forts set up by the Shu army along the river were broken one by one. The battle reached the fifteenth day of February in the lunar calendar, and the Zhou army entered the Shu army Suojiang pontoon bridge.

Unlike the Song army in the previous life, which used infantry to attack the pontoon bridges from both sides of the Great River and burn the biggest obstacle to the westward advance of the naval warships, the Eastern Route Army of Huashu decided to take the opportunity to show its firepower superiority in the face of the triple wooden fence in front of them. As a result, in the early morning of the 16th day of the second month of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, with Cheng Fei on land and Xin Feiyu on the water waving their arms at the same time, the land artillery positions on both sides of the river and the surface warships anchored in the river opened fire at the same time. In an instant, the entire barrage was enveloped in gunsmoke, and soon a fire broke out. At noon, the fire gradually extinguished, and there was no trace of the Suojiang pontoon bridge that the Shu army relied on, except for a small number of wooden wreckage still carrying embers and emitting black smoke that were scattered along the river.

On the afternoon of February 16 of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, all the soldiers and horses of the East Route Army of Huashu re-boarded the ship, continued to trace the river, and entered the river west of the White Emperor City of Kuizhou in the early morning of the next day.

Seeing that the Zhou army was like a rainbow all the way, not only broke the forts along the river, but also destroyed the Suojiang pontoon bridge that he regarded as the biggest reliance in an instant, and now he had entered the city of the White Emperor, and Gao Yanyan couldn't help but feel anxious in his heart, and hurriedly summoned Zhao Chongji, the deputy envoy of the festival, and Wu Shouqian, the superintendent of the army, to his house to discuss.

Due to the different perspectives of the two sides, on the issue of how to deal with the Zhou army, the views and attitudes of Gao Yanyu and Wu Shouqian, the supervising army, were different. In Gao Yanyan's view, the Zhou army came from afar, trekking through mountains and rivers all the way, and it was difficult to transfer grain and grass and military materials, so it was bound to pursue a quick victory. The own side should be a strong wall and clear the field, defend the city to the death, and wait until the veterans of the enemy division are tired and the food and grass are insufficient, or they can retreat without a fight.

Regarding Gao Yanyan's practice of defending the city and being a turtle with a shrunken head, Wu Shouqian, the prison guard, did not dare to agree. In Wu Shouqian's view, on the one hand, as a supervising army, supervising the war is one of his responsibilities. If Gao Yanyu can't hold on, it will be a dereliction of duty to fight with Zhou Jun for consumption and patience. On the other hand, as a newcomer in the military circles, he needs to take enough credit to improve his prestige in the DPRK and improve his status in the eyes of the Lord. If you stick to the White Emperor City according to Gao Yanyan's strategy and win, the credit will be given to the other party, the chief general of Kuizhou, and the envoy of Jiangning Jiedu. If he is defeated, the other party certainly needs to bear the main responsibility, but as an assistant in military affairs, the supervising army of the inspector and commander is also to blame, and he is unlucky. In addition, although Wu Shouqian is far less skilled in military affairs than a general like Gao Yanyan, his eyes are not blind. Even because of the slow transmission of information and the lack of accuracy in this era, little is known about the specific use of firearms during the previous Great Zhou Dynasty invasion of the Southern Tang Dynasty (Jiangnan). However, the news from Wushan, Sanhui and other forts in the past few days, as well as the news from the closer Suojiang pontoon bridge, gave him a deeper understanding of the strength of the Zhou army, or rather the "Flying Dragon Army".

Wu Shouqian knows very well that the current situation is that the enemy is strong and I am weak, judging from the strong combat power and the powerful power of firearms that the Zhou army broke through the Suojiang pontoon bridge in an instant, the White Emperor City will not be able to defend it no matter what. In this case, instead of pinning our hopes on the difficulties of the Zhou army's logistical supply, it is better to rush out of the city and fight with the other party in front of the gong and the drum on the other side. If you win, it will naturally be a great achievement. If you lose, you can also have a reputation of forging ahead bravely and not fearing life and death, which is better than being regarded as a shrunken turtle by later generations.

Gao Yanyan and Wu Shouqian had different opinions and were all stubborn, and Zhao Chongji, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, had no idea, but half a day passed, and the three of them had not yet discussed a strategy that everyone could accept. Seeing that it was approaching noon, Zhao Chongji suggested that everyone should go to lunch first and continue to discuss in the afternoon - this would not only ease the contradictions between Shang and Wu, but also give them more time to weigh the pros and cons clearly, so that they could find a solution to the current crisis and dilemma.

The military discussion broke up unhappily, and Wu Shouqian, who returned to his mansion, was extremely unhappy. Although Zhao Chongji continued to discuss after lunch, Wu Shouqian's understanding of Gao Yanyu was very clear, but he knew very well that this Ningjiang Jiedu would never change his mind about the things that Ningjiang Jiedu had decided, and the military discussion in the afternoon would definitely be a meaningless waste of time by going back and forth,-for-tat, and it would not play any role in repelling the Zhou army at all. Now that Zhou Jun is in front of him, he simply doesn't have that much time to consume this meaningless dispute.

Therefore, Wu Shouqian first absent himself from the military meeting that had been held in the afternoon on the grounds of physical discomfort, and then secretly gathered his own personal generals and cronies from the military academy, organized a team of more than 1,000 people, and opened the city gate the next day, that is, on the morning of February 181 of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, without informing Gao Yanyu, rushed out of the city, and killed the landing ground set up by the Zhou army-Jiaotoupu.

For the generals of the East Shu Route Army, who were setting up a landing ground in Shaotoupu, the Shu army in the White Emperor City took the initiative to go out of the city, and they took the initiative to go out of the city in broad daylight to fight, which was somewhat unexpected by them. However, both Cheng Fei and Xin Feiyu are veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, even if there is a huge difference in the strength of the enemy and us, they will be meticulous in the implementation of various orders and regulations, and they will never get carried away because the opponent is too weak, and treat the lives of the soldiers of the whole army as a child's play. Therefore, when Wu Shouqian led his more than 1,000 cronies to the front of the Zhou army's camp, the other party's troops in charge of guarding were already in strict formation, but Wu Shouqian's "army" was killed in half a pillar of time, and they fled in disarray.

Seeing that the Shu army was fleeing in the direction of White Emperor City, Cheng Fei and Xin Feiyu immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity for their side to take White Emperor City. Therefore, the two immediately divided into two routes, with Xin Feiyu staying at the landing site to continue to organize personnel and equipment to go ashore; Cheng Fei led the "Flying Dragon Army" with a total of nearly 6,500 people from the first division and one regiment of the "Flying Dragon Army", a cavalry regiment under the division, and a regiment of the "Security Army" that had already gone ashore.

Because the distance between the pursuers and the deserters was not far, when the Shu army that returned from the rout fled into the White Emperor City with Wu Shouqian like a fish that slipped through the net and a dog that lost its home, and the soldiers defending the city had not had time to close the city gate, Cheng Fei's department had already rushed to the front. Immediately, a machine gun fire was fired, killing the Shu army at the gate of the city, and then rushed into the city with Wu Shouqian and his defeated soldiers.

Hearing that Wu Shouqian privately led his troops out of the city to meet the battle, not only was he defeated, but also let the Zhou army capture the city gate and rush into the city, Gao Yanyu couldn't help but be angry. It's just that the military situation is urgent, and now is not the time for him to vent his anger. Therefore, he didn't care about holding Wu Shouqian responsible, but quickly gathered his generals, gathered troops and horses, and carried out a counter-assault on the Zhou army that had rushed into the city, trying to take advantage of the fact that the Zhou army had not many troops in the city and the main force had not yet arrived, driving the other party out of the city.

However, for the Zhou army, which had a bolt, the advantage in firepower was enough to make up for its disadvantage in numbers. Although the Houshu defenders in the city launched a brave counter-charge, although the Houshu generals in the city rushed to the front one by one, and although Gao Yanyu personally led the team to attack without fear of death, so that he was wounded by more than ten wounds, he could face a dense fire network woven by machine guns, rifles, and mortars, and such a counter-charge could not play any role in the situation in the city except for increasing the casualties of the Shu army.

The two sides fought until near noon, and as the follow-up troops of the Zhou army continued to march into the city, the advantage of the Shu army in terms of numbers gradually lost. Seeing that the Zhou army was strong, and his own generals were dying, fleeing, and surrendering, and there were fewer and fewer soldiers who followed his charge every time, Gao Yanyu knew that he was powerless to return to the sky, so he had no choice but to order the surviving soldiers under his command to find their own way, and he himself retreated into the mansion, ready to make the last resistance.

Seeing that his own commander returned to the mansion covered in blood, and there were no other generals around him, Luo Ji, the judge of Jiedu, knew that the White Emperor City was gone. So he hurriedly stepped forward to persuade Gao Yanyu and persuaded him to take advantage of the chaotic situation in the city at this time, and the opportunity for the Zhou army to block the whole city and leave the city as soon as possible and return to Chengdu. Gao Yanyu shook his head when he heard this, and sighed: "Gao once lost Qinchuan to the hands of the Zhou army, and now he is unable to hold Kuizhou, even if the lord is lenient and does not kill Gao, what face does Gao have to see the Shu people!" ”

"That being the case, the commander might as well surrender the Zhou army." Luo Ji saw that Gao Yanyan was reluctant to return to Chengdu, so he continued to persuade.

Gao Yanyu shook his head again when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "More than 100 members of my Gao family, old and young, are all in Chengdu, if I descend to Zhou, the Lord will not let them go." How to steal a life for me alone, and even affect the whole family, how to do it. Now, Gao can only live up to Jun's grace if he dies, and he will not be tired of his family. ”

Immediately, without waiting for Luo Ji to persuade again, he reached out and untied his tiger talisman seal, handed it to the other party, and said, "Jun and find a way out by yourself." ”

After saying that, he returned to the main building of the back house alone and locked the door. After tidying up his clothes and looking northwest to worship a few times, he slowly climbed to the second floor and died of arson.

On the evening of the eighteenth day of the second month of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, the Eastern Route Army of Vashu captured the White Emperor City and put Kuizhou, the throat of Badong, under their control.