Jiankang City has been the place of imperial meteorology since ancient times, it is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north, and Zhongshan is like a dragon and a tiger in the east, and the ancient capital of the six dynasties is based on this.

Generally speaking, Nanjing has a natural danger barrier of the Yangtze River, and there are many mountains headed by Zhongshan as a barrier, which is not conducive to the development of the large army. The Jiankang City built by Li Heng and Li Yu here is impregnable, as long as the morale of the Tang army is still there, and the whole army is united in strong resistance, it is not so easy for Li Siye to land.

Fugu Huaien stuck to the line from Zhenjiang to Jiankang, and once built countless bunkers and trenches on the river beach, which were used to defend against the gunboats of the Yong army. Due to the inability of traditional heavy armor to defend against artillery shell fragments, Guo Ziyi and Fugu Huaien also deliberately formed a light armor battalion, so that it was much easier for them to go in and out of the trench with spears in their hands and crawl or stand up.

Li Siye bombarded the river with gunboats for a whole morning, blowing up the river beach into potholes, and countless cannons were also hit on the head of Jiankang City, but the existing artillery technology could not collapse the city wall. He still did not dare to let the troop transport ship land on the shore with confidence.

He led his army south to attack Jiankang, but he actually wanted to get a trick and end the war quickly. If Li Yu in Jiankang City can be frightened by artillery, the morale of the soldiers defending the city will inevitably be low, and he will not resist stubbornly, as long as he takes Jiankang and obtains the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It will completely crush the morale of the Tang army, and the remnants of the rest of the country will be able to quickly sweep away.

But was Li Yu intimidated by him? Tang King Li Yu was indeed afraid, but he was even more afraid that after evacuating Jiankang, the entire family and country would fall into the hands of Li Siye, and there would be no place for him in the world at that time, and it would be a dead end at that time. Therefore, at this time, his understanding was still sober, and he was not misled by Yuan Zai and Wang Jin.

But the army of Li Siye in front of him was extremely powerful, in order to organize the enemy army when he went south, he blocked many channels of the canal, but the Yong army still used strong cavalry and motorized infantry, quickly controlled the Jiangbei region, and knocked on Xiangyang to occupy Jingxiang, and mastered Hankou and Jiangxia, and the Yangtze River natural danger has been opened by him from the middle reaches of a gap.

Seeing that the enemy's sailors were rampant on the Yangtze River, he had the intention to stay and fight against the strong enemy, but for the time being, no one stood with him and gave him strong support. He is waiting for Guo Ziyi, if Guo Linggong says that Jiankang can't hold it, he will give up his illusion of retreating and moving the capital, if Guo Ziyi says that he can hold it, he will stay here and personally go to the city to supervise the battle, and live and die with the soldiers of the Tang Army.

He sat alone on the dragon couch in the middle of the temple, and heard the roaring cannons outside the city from time to time, as if they were pounding on his chest like a hammer.

Guo Ziyi, the emperor's savior, was on his way back to Jiankang as soon as he received the emperor's decree and learned that Li Siye had sailed the fleet to the city of Jiankang and was preparing to attack the national capital. I am very worried that Li Yu will flee Jiankang under the persuasion of Yuan Zai and others, so that the situation in Jiangnan will really deteriorate to the point of irreparability.

Guo Ziyi only brought thirteen entourages, and he hurried from Jiankang to Jiankang in the starry night, changing horses every time he arrived at the post station, and sailing when he encountered a waterway, and he didn't even have time to eat saliva and rice, and he didn't close his eyes for two days and two nights.

As soon as he entered the gate of the health city, he saw an envoy sent by the emperor waiting for him at the gate, and the envoy stepped forward and said, "Duke Ling, Your Majesty has been waiting in the palace for a long time, and ordered me to meet Duke Ling here." ”

Guo Ziyi breathed a sigh of relief at this time, the Son of Heaven was still in Jiankang, so he was relieved.

He entered the Qianyuan Hall under the guidance of the palace envoy, the emperor Li Yu wandered in the hall and waited, seeing Guo Ziyi staggering and walking quickly, he had the heart to step forward to help, but because of his identity as the emperor, he just restrained the joy on his face, and hurriedly said to Guo Ziyi: "The situation is urgent, Ling Gong doesn't have to salute, I only ask you, now Li Siye has more than 100,000 sailors, 100 gunboats, and countless other warships of all kinds are lying on the river with the intention of capturing Jiankang, can Jiankang City be defended?" ”

"Yes," Guo Ziyi replied categorically.

"I'm pretty sure." The Emperor asked again.

Guo Ziyi hesitated for a moment and replied: "There are 50,000 defenders of Jingkou led by Gu Huaien on the river beach, and there are 100,000 Shence troops in Jiankang City. ”

Only then did Li Yu put his mind at ease: "Since there are ninety percent, why should I be afraid of the roar of the enemy's artillery, I should climb the city wall with Ling Gong to defend it, so as to encourage the spirit of the soldiers of the three armies." ”

Guo Ziyi didn't expect that the emperor would be willing to go to the city to defend against the enemy in person, and he was moved and advised again and again: "Your Majesty is the foundation of the country, you must not be in danger, and let the old minister come to the city to defend against the enemy." ”

Emperor Li Yu waved his hand and said with a smile: "The crown prince is the foundation of the country, if I can go to the city in person, it will be a great incentive for the morale of the three armies, you don't want to postpone it any longer, I want to see how powerful this thief is." ”

Li Siye's army had already knocked out 10% of the shells on the gunboat, but they still did not have the certainty of landing on the shore. When he took out the newly developed monocular to observe the momentum of the enemy army, he saw that the shouts of the soldiers on the wall of Jiankang City opposite suddenly became fierce, and two people climbed to the front of the city tower with the support of the generals.

Although this telescope is not very mature, he can also see that the armor robes of these two people are extraordinary, and they can raise the morale of the Tang army to a high level as soon as they enter the city, except for Guo Ziyi and the emperor, there will be no third person in the world who can do it.

Now that Guo Ziyi has returned to Jiankang and the emperor is determined to live and die with the city, there is no need to fight this battle again, and even if he forcibly lands, it will only cost the lives of some soldiers in vain.

Li Siye's plan to quickly destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty had been aborted, but he had successfully gained a foothold in Jiangxia on the other side of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and now he could only encroach on the land in the south of the Yangtze River inch by inch.

Because the Yangtze River has been completely controlled by Li Siye, the Southern Tang Dynasty army can only put heavy troops near Jiankang and Zhenjiang, because the Yangtze River Naval Division is entrenched in the upper reaches, like a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the Tang Dynasty monarchs and ministers, in case they transfer heavy troops to defend a certain place, Li Siye's Yangtze River Naval Division suddenly waved south, the consequences are really unimaginable, so sticking to Jiankang must be the first priority of the Tang Army. ”

In this case, Guo Ziyi suggested to Emperor Li Yu that the government military system should be restored in the counties and cities south of the Yangtze River, and some brave and courageous people should be issued military status, they could be exempted from taxes, and even receive a small amount of food subsidies, and they only needed to participate in training or farming in peacetime, but if the Yong army came to attack the city, they must respond to the call of the Taishou to take out weapons and go to the city wall to defend it.

The temporary restoration of the government military system can solve the problem of insufficient troops of some southern troops, and the soldiers defending the city in place are also protecting their homeland, and they will inevitably fight the enemy to the death.

Therefore, although the Yong army has crossed the Yangtze River, every time it conquers a city and a county, it will cost a lot of ammunition and the lives of the soldiers. Moreover, the southerners' loyalty to the monarch is relatively consistent, and there will never be a thing like the north where a state will give up the city without the slightest resistance.

Li Siye divided his more than 100,000 men and horses into three armies, together with the artillery battalion was also divided into three armies, belonging to different generals and commanders, after fully capturing Jiangzhou, he began to attack Raozhou, and the route of attack was also closer to the Yangtze River, and he could supply from the nearest grain ship on the Yangtze River.

It's just that recently, due to his lack of adaptation to water and soil, his health has deteriorated, and after being recuperated by the accompanying military doctors, he still has a loss of appetite and is becoming more and more inconvenient to move.

This made him a little worried in his heart, the great cause of unifying the world has not yet been completed, and once there is any accident in him, the plan of the southern expedition will be shelved in the middle of the road, and all his efforts after crossing the Yangtze River will be in vain.