The shouts of killing resounded outside the city of Changzhou.

More than 10,000 light infantry of the Fifth Army of the Great Stone were divided into four echelons and launched a fierce attack on the first military fort on the outskirts of Changzhou.

The two hundred giant crossbows of the Shenji Battalion were pushed to the front position, the humming bowstrings were loud and loud, and the spear-like crossbow arrows rained down on the stone wall, causing the debris of the military fort to fly.

The rebels dodged the ferocious blows of the giant crossbows and fired arrows to prevent the Fifth Army from approaching the fortress.

At the same time, the two nearby military forts also fired at the soldiers of the Zhenjiang Army on the offensive route, constantly killing and injuring the besieging troops.

The Fifth Army was extremely strong, braving a dense rain of arrows, they charged valiantly, and soon reached the fort. The makeshift wooden and stone fortress is not as tall and strong as the castle, and the only thing that can be relied on is the trench in front of the stone fort.

The trench, which is more than three zhang wide, is covered with dense sharp stakes, and once you stumble and fall, your life will be difficult to save immediately. When many Zhenjiang soldiers used bamboo ladders to cross the trench, they were unfortunately shot by the rebel archers on the fortress and turned over and fell into the deadly trench.

However, even if it was so dangerous, it did not frighten the Zhenjiang army. The soldiers followed one after another, and more and more people broke through the trenches and gathered under the stone fort. Blink an eye,

Dozens of long ladders were set up on the stone walls, and the soldiers quickly climbed upwards with knives in their hands and shields.

The drums of the charge became louder and louder, and the passionate shouts came from the rear array, and everyone was cheering for the comrades who had ascended the city, and the sound was higher and higher.

In the next moment, hundreds of Zhenjiang warriors successfully landed on the military fort and fought fiercely with the rebels.

At this moment, the gate of a nearby military fort suddenly opened, the drawbridge was quickly lowered, and hundreds of enemies swept in, flanking the attacking troops in the flank.

Although they were few in number, they also caused some interference to the Zhenjiang army, resulting in the follow-up reinforcements not being able to follow up in time, so that the soldiers who had already attacked the fortress fell into a bitter battle of being outnumbered.

Soon, there were more and more rebels in Shibao, and the few remaining Zhenjiang troops were finally killed and died heroically on the city.

Xiong Yunjie saw it from a distance, his eyes were so angry that his eyes were full of fire, and he hurriedly passed down the order, asking the leading lieutenant of the front line to immediately send the second echelon to attack and replace the first echelon with heavy casualties.

In fact, there is no need for him to say that the lieutenant has already begun to launch a second wave of charge.

The soldiers of the second echelon received the order, and some of them killed the rebel soldiers and horses who were rushing to reinforce them, while the other part crossed the trench along the bamboo ladder, aimed at the walls and gates of the military fort, and attacked at the same time.

Because the first echelon bravely charged and killed and wounded many defenders, and the second echelon responded very quickly, almost not giving the rebels any respite, so the enemy at this time was already showing fatigue, and the defensive strength was much worse than before.

The Zhenjiang Army, which had rich combat experience, immediately seized the opportunity when it saw this, constantly exerted greater pressure on the enemy, and attacked one after another.

At the same time, the giant crossbow of the Shenji Battalion also began to turn around, shooting intensively at the military fort next to it, suppressing the troublesome shooters there.

Soon, the stormed fort was on fire, and crackling wood crackled one after another. The rebels defending the fortress were slain and abandoned their armor, and fled their positions in a swarm to retreat to the rearward annex city.

For more than an hour, more than 1,000 casualties, and Sun Chuanshu's first peripheral military fort was taken.

The Fifth Army did not stop, and then sent the third echelon to attack the next target.

-

Taihu Lake, located at the southern edge of the Great River Delta, is also known as Zhenze and Five Lakes.

This huge lake is blessed with a wide area and abundant resources. Since ancient times, the land of fish and rice has nourished more than a dozen prefectures, counties and counties within a radius of thousands of miles and countless Li people.

Li Jiangyao stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the boundless and sparkling lake, and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.

In the past few days, he has been visiting the nearby people's livelihood and has heard a lot of things.

Since the Xuanjia Army left the eastern capital of Luoyi and seized the fertile soil in the south of the Yangtze River, the people here have not lived a good life.

Lao Jianhua and Li Jiong are not the kind of people who are good at government and good governance, they are very good at engaging in intrigues and tricks and fighting for power, but they have no idea how to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood. On the contrary, under the increasingly urgent military pressure of the imperial court, Lao Jianhua and others expropriated and forcibly extorted strong men in the area south of the Yangtze River, and the situation became more and more serious day by day, causing the people's lives to be miserable.

The southeast half of the wall, which was originally known for its wealth and comfort, has now almost reached the point where the people are struggling to make a living.

Even so, the Jin Dynasty Mansion in Hangzhou continued to issue orders requiring local governments to increase their efforts to collect taxes, and at the same time, there were often evil incidents of forcibly conscripting villagers into the army and robbing people of grain reserves.

The people near Taihu Lake have long been looking forward to the imperial army coming to quell the rebellion.

This is a good phenomenon, Li Jiangyao thought in his heart. Before leaving, the question he was most worried about was whether the Jiangnan region would gradually develop dissent after being out of the control of the imperial court for a long time, and under the bewitchment of the rebels, he would be hostile to the Zhenjiang army from the bottom of his heart.

In particular, the sons, husbands, and brothers of the common people joined the rebel army and died on the battlefield, will they have a blood feud with the Zhenjiang army?

This issue will have a direct impact on what kind of strategy and attitude should be adopted in the counterinsurgency war.

After searching and understanding, Li Jiangyao deeply felt that the majority of the people still understand the righteousness. They knew that it was not the Holy Tang Dynasty court, let alone the Zhenjiang Army, that harmed them, but those hateful rebellious ministers and thieves, and Li Jiong, an anti-thief who treated the people as grass mustard.

Li Jiangyao knows very well how important the will of the people is to a war, and only the support of the people is the key factor that really determines the outcome of a war.

It was like this when it was in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, and now it is still like this in the south of the Yanyu River.

Comparatively speaking, the feelings of the people of Jiangnan for Shengtang are far stronger than the people's sense of identity with Shengtang in Western Xinjiang.

With this foundation, Li Jiangyao was full of confidence in the counterinsurgency war. He asked Han Wenhao to hire a boat, set off from the north shore of Taihu Lake, turn east, go to Suzhou first, and then continue to Hangzhou.

Sailing on the lake, the smoke and waves are vast, and there is a poetic and picturesque feeling. Li Jiangyao stood alone on the bow of the boat, feeling the gentle breeze on the lake, looking into the distance by the railing, but his mind had already flown over the magnificent 36,000 hectares of Taihu Lake, heading straight to the battlefield in Changzhou.

-

In three days, the heroic and tenacious Fifth Army conquered four fortresses in a row, and the troops approached the two newly built fortifications outside the city of Changzhou.

And this kind of attack speed also greatly exceeded Sun Chuanshu's expectations, making him have to re-examine the terrifying combat power of the Zhenjiang Army.

Well-trained and fearless of death.

This is the deepest impression left by the Zhenjiang Army.

"The army that can sweep away the Turkic Iron Cavalry on its own is indeed worthy of its reputation." Sun Chuanshu stood at the head of Changzhou City, looked at the fortresses in the distance that were either burning and collapsing, or planted with the banner of Zhenjiang, and said coldly: "I originally thought that the four military forts could last at least ten days and half a month, but I didn't expect that all the forts would fall after only three days. The strength of the other party is really terrifying. ”

The subordinate beside him replied in a deep voice: "But the price they paid is not small. As a rough estimate just now, the casualties of the Zhenjiang army should be more than 6,000. ”

Sun Chuanshu shook his head: "So what? At the moment, it was only their Fifth Army that was on the offensive, followed by the Second Army and the Ninth Army. It can be said that the casualties of 6,000 people are not even a wound to Du Jian. ”

Hearing him say this, his subordinates sighed helplessly: "That's true, they have a lot of soldiers, and they have plenty of food, grass and arrows, and if they continue to consume like this, we will not be able to hold it first." ”

Sun Chuanshu looked at the slanting sun in the distance and muttered: "Over there in Huzhou, Lord Ye Rongcheng was also bitten by the First Army and the Sixth Army of Zhenjiang, and the original plan to send troops to attack the grain route of Du Jian's army to solve the danger of Changzhou is probably difficult to implement. Once the two annex cities are also breached by the enemy, Changzhou will become a lonely city. ”

The subordinate hesitated for a moment and said: "I heard that His Royal Highness the King of Jin and Lao Xiang are recruiting new troops in Hangzhou, and the government soldiers from all over the south are also gathering one after another, as long as we hold out for a month or two, the assistance will arrive." ”

Sun Chuanshu showed a bitter smile: "It's true to say so, but we are not laymen, and we know very well what the new army and the government soldiers mean." You look at the other side, it's the real tiger and wolf army, they will be afraid of the new army? Do you care about the soldiers? ”

"So what's the general's plan?" The subordinate tried to ask.

Sun Chuanshu sighed lightly, and did not directly answer the other party's question: "Back then, I was framed by my colleagues and investigated by the Reverse Scale Division, I thought that this would be the case in this life. It was Mr. Lo who gave me a chance to be reborn and treated my family well. Therefore, I had no choice but to repay myself with death. ”

He turned around and said aloud to several generals: "The Zhenjiang army will get Changzhou, but they must pay a hundredfold and a thousand times the price for it!" I have made up my mind to burn them with all the jade. If you are willing, you will stay with me, and if you are unwilling, I will not force it, I will issue you a token and find an excuse to withdraw to Suzhou and Hangzhou. ”

The subordinates looked at each other, waited for a moment, and everyone gave up at the same time:

"General Enyi, I am willing to follow to the death!"

"Anyway, if it falls into the hands of the imperial court, there will be no good results, fight!"

"Let the Zhenjiang Army know that we know how powerful our Jin Army is!"

"Yes, even if the city is lost, they must be buried with them!"

Seeing that no one was afraid to survive, Sun Chuanshu nodded: "Okay, since you all have the heart to die, then let's do a big job next!" From now on, Changzhou City is the bait for fishing, and everything is about killing and injuring as many enemy troops as possible! ”

"General Sun, do you have to carry out the Zhurong plan?" The subordinate asked.

Sun Chuanshu showed a resolute and crazy look on his face: "That's right, the reinforcements can't wait, and Changzhou can't hold it, I want to use the power of Zhu Rong to pull the Zhenjiang army to hell together!" ”