Yao Ping glanced at Cao Yong and said, "Dashuai, the last general has fought with you against the Khitans!" At that time, the bravery and fierceness of the Khitan people left a deep impression on the last general! However, the commander led us to fight back desperately, but he was able to fight them out! After a pause, he frowned, "But in the face of Yan Yunjun, the handsome, it is not the last general who will destroy his prestige, it is really the last general of Yan Yunjun who feels a terrible feeling that he can't fight!" Dengzhou's loss, of course, was because the last general fell for Gao Hu's tricks, but also because Yan Yunjun's combat power was too strong! At that time, our army fell into the valley, and the other side only blocked the exit with only two thousand Mo sword troops, but our army could not rush out no matter how much they charged, and finally the whole army was annihilated! If it was the Khitan army that blocked the exit at that time, the last general would have the confidence to rush out in one fell swoop and return to Dengzhou! ”

Yao Ping was the most courageous general under Cao Yong, and even when he said this, the generals couldn't help but panic. Cao Yong frowned and said, "You mean, Yan Yunjun is indeed as strong as the legend?" ”

Yao Ping nodded and said, "Yan Yun is sharp and invincible!" This is not a boast! ”

Cao Yong pondered: "When Cao Yong led the army into Sichuan, he encountered the Yanyun Ninth Army, and he also said that the combat power of the Yanyun Army was extremely terrifying, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, I just thought that Cao Yong was suddenly ambushed by the other party, so he would fall down!" Now that you say the same, it seems that I was wrong in my previous judgment of Yan Yunjun! Then he said angrily: "What about being strong!" I, Cao Yong, swear to fight with Yan Yunjun to the end! The generals listened to the heroic words of the marshal, and they couldn't help but be arrogant, Yao Zhong said loudly: "The manly husband is afraid of what they will do!" Big deal, die! To be able to fight an opponent like Yan Yunjun, even if you die, you won't have any regrets! The generals chimed in.

Cao Yong saw that all the generals were not afraid of the Yan Yun Army, and he couldn't help but feel relieved in his heart, and then smiled confidently: "Although the Yan Yun Army is strong, our army is not weak, and our army has more troops than them!" With Hanshui as a barrier and Xiangyang Jiancheng as a support, in fact, our army is already invincible! There is no invincible army in the world, and the Yanyun Army will never be an exception! After hearing Cao Yong's words, the generals couldn't help but regain some confidence.

Cao Yong walked to the sand table, and the generals surrounded him.

Cao Yong pointed to the Han River in the north of Xiangyang: "If you want to hold Xiangyang, you must first hold the Han River!" Hanshui, not all places are suitable for the army to cross the river, in addition to Xiangyang, there are only Junzhou in the northwest (that is, Wudang, Wudang Mountain is not far from the south of Junzhou), Gucheng, and Yicheng in the southeast, so whether Xiangyang can be held depends on whether Junzhou, Gucheng and Yicheng can be held. Raising his head, he glanced at the generals, "As the saying goes, if you defend for a long time, you will lose, just defense, I'm afraid that sooner or later you won't be able to hold it!" Therefore, we must also be prepared to counterattack, and for this reason, we must send scouts to Hebei to reconnoiter in order to accurately grasp the dynamics of Yan Yunjun! The generals agreed in unison.

Yao Ping hugged his fists and said: "Dashuai, please give me a soldier and horse to recapture Dengzhou!" If he can't succeed, he will die on the battlefield and never steal his life! ”

Cao Yong looked at the sand table and frowned for a while, then slowly shook his head and said, "No! Since Yan Yunjun's combat power is so strong! How many troops do we need to break through Dengzhou, which is defended by 40,000 or 50,000 Yanyun troops? I'm afraid that there are more than 200,000 without even thinking about it, and I don't know how much time it will take and how much it will cost! Now that Yanyun's main force is about to arrive soon, it will not do any good to fight back against Dengzhou, and they will take advantage of the situation to fight back! Deng Zhou gave up! ”

The news of the loss of Dengzhou soon reached Jinling, and Zhao Heng and the Manchu civil and military were terrified, and they all advised the emperor that the emperor should move the holy car and the imperial court to the safer Guangdong region. However, due to the insistence of the Taishi, the proposal was finally abandoned. However, among the people, the rumors that King Yan is the Bodhisattva of Light have reached a new level, and the officials who were originally fierce and vicious to search for rumors have lost their previous momentum and have converged a lot.

Cao Yong presented a letter to the emperor, suggesting that the imperial family and the gentry should be called upon to contribute generously to the state and sponsor military expenses to expand the army against foreign humiliation. The emperor discussed this proposal with the ministers in the court, but he did not expect that the ministers were unanimously opposed, and they all indignantly accused Cao Yong's proposal of being too ridiculous. Those who were even more indignant actually demanded that the emperor remove Cao Yong from his post as marshal and hand it over to the relevant departments for investigation! The emperor did not want to take out money from his private treasury, but seeing that the ministers of civil and military affairs were unanimously opposed, he took the opportunity to veto Cao Yong's proposal.

Cao Yong received a reply from the imperial court, and when he saw that he had rejected his proposal, he couldn't help but be disappointed, and looked up to the sky and sighed: "The country has reached this point, and these people still only care about their own selfish interests!" ”

Yao Ping said indignantly: "It's just someone else, I didn't expect the emperor and the royal family to be a dime!" Whose country is this for! ”

Cao Yong sighed.

Yao Ping said: "The emperor and the royal family took more than half of the spoils obtained by our army to fight back against the puppet emperor as internal money, and it is said that the value of gold and silver alone exceeds 10 million taels of silver!" Now that the army of Yan Yun is pressing, they actually refuse to take out a tael of silver! And in Jinling, he did not hesitate to build a luxurious palace, which is really a faint king! ”

Cao Yong shouted: "The son does not say anything about the father, and the minister does not say that the king is lost!" You must not be so rude! Yao Ping said: "Dashuai, I will say bluntly, this 'son does not say anything about his father's fault, and the minister does not say that the king is lost' is very problematic." If the father is wrong, the son is not allowed to say it, and the king is wrong, the minister is not allowed to say it. According to this meaning, isn't it a big mistake that Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, had the courage to accept advice? And if you die with a direct advice, isn't it looking for death by yourself, and you have nothing to do with others? Cao Yong was speechless for a while. It's not that Cao Yong's eloquence is inferior to Yao Zhong, it's really that the Confucian system is contradictory in many places, making it impossible to justify it at all.

Cao Yong said: "I heard that the situation on Yanyun's side is just the opposite! Let's just talk about this internal payment, then King Yan has no internal money at all, but like all officials, he receives a salary every month, of course, King Yan's income is the highest. All the rest of the money and goods are stored in the public treasury to meet the expenses of the state! All the taxes of the state are not said to be king's, as they have always been, in Yanyun, those are state, they are all public! Although King Yan is the lord of Yanyun, all he can get is Yulu, and anything else, according to Yanyun's law, is a crime! Da Shuai, although his subordinates are dull, they can also feel that Yan Yun's set is much better than Da Song's approach! ”

Cao Yong frowned, looked at Yao Ping, and asked in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want to say?" Yao Ping sighed and said, "My subordinates just want to say that the difference between the kings and the courts on both sides is 108,000 miles!" Can we turn the tide by relying on the so-called way of the saints alone? Cao Yong couldn't help but be confused for a while, and then said decisively: "Who is right and who is wrong, how can you tell it clearly for a while!" But since you and I are ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, we must be loyal to our duties and do our best to die! ”

Yao Ping's face showed a look of contempt, and said, "The last general will never fight hard for that court and that emperor!" He glanced at Cao Yong and said resolutely: "But the marshal has the grace of saving his life and rebuilding for the last general, and the last general is willing to die on the battlefield for the marshal!" Cao Yong couldn't help but feel relieved, and couldn't help but feel confused, patted Yao Ping's shoulder, and sighed.

The general Zhao Xiong hurriedly rushed in from outside, hugged his fists and said, "Dashuai, Yanyun's main force has arrived!" ”

Cao Yong was startled, and hurriedly ran out of the Shuai's mansion and went straight to the north city gate. Raising his eyes and looking out, he saw the north bank of the Han River, the banners were surging, the army was like a tide, and the Yanyun army was overwhelming. Cao Yong frowned and muttered, "The real war is about to begin!" He turned his head and shouted to Yao Ping: "Order Li Zheng, Fang Hong, and Liu Dali, strictly guard against death, and don't go out to fight without authorization!" Yao Ping responded and ran down. Li Zheng, Fang Hong, and Liu Dali, all of whom were Cao Yong's generals, were ordered to defend Junzhou, Gucheng, and Yicheng. At present, the 400,000 army in Cao Yong's hands has been divided into four parts, the main force of 200,000 is led by Cao Yong himself to garrison Xiangyang, and the other 200,000 troops are divided into three groups, which are stationed in Junzhou, Gucheng and Yicheng.

Yan Yun's army was stationed outside the city of Dengzhou, and Gao Hu rushed to the big tent outside the city to meet Yang Peng. Yang Peng smiled and said: "General Gao's results exceeded my expectations!" I originally thought that General Gao would be blocked under the city of Dengzhou, but I didn't expect General Gao to break the city in one fell swoop and make the first contribution to the battle of the Southern Expedition! All the generals looked at Gao Hu with envy. Gao Hu smiled and clenched his fists and said, "The last general is just a little lucky!" ”

Yang Peng stood up and walked to the sand table, and the generals gathered around. Yang Peng asked Gao Hu: "What is the situation of the enemy army?" Gao Hu pointed to Xiangyang and said, "According to the detailed report, the 400,000 Song troops on the opposite side are currently divided into four parts, one of which is 200,000 led by Cao Yong to garrison Xiangyang, and the other three parts are led by his three generals Li Zheng, Fang Hong, and Liu Dali to defend Junzhou, Gucheng and Yicheng. ”

Yang Peng propped his hands on the sand table, looked at the sand table in front of him, and looked thoughtful. Duan Zhixian said with a grin: "Big brother, I think we should concentrate our forces to attack Xiangyang, as long as Xiangyang is broken, the rest will be fine!" Xiang Danian and several other generals nodded in agreement, and looked at Yang Peng one after another.

Yang Peng still looked thoughtful and did not express his position. Ya Yu Guanyin said: "Uncle's idea is certainly very good, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve the goal!" Then he pointed to Xiangyang, "This Xiangyang, we have all seen it just now, the city wall is extremely majestic and tall, compared to Yanjing Bianliang, there is still more than it, and there is Hanshui as a barrier, if you attack it, even if you can capture it, you will suffer heavy losses!" ”

Ye Yu Guanyin said again: "And Xiangyang is heavily guarded, and the troops of the surrounding cities can go to help at any time, then Cao Yong, I have dealt with him, and he is definitely a powerful person with strong will, wisdom and bravery!" Our army's strong attack on Xiangyang can be said to be the strongest point of attacking the opponent, and the right time, place and people are not on our side, I am afraid that it will be difficult to succeed! ”

The generals felt that what the sister-in-law (Niangniang) said was very reasonable, and couldn't help frowning. Yang Peng looked at the sand table and thought, he was thinking about the strategy of attacking. After a while, I saw him smile slightly, pointed to Xiangyang and said, "We will attack Xiangyang!" Everyone was shocked, Ye Yu Guanyin wanted to dissuade him, but suddenly his heart moved, smiled, glanced at Yang Peng, and said: "Big brother's strategy is very clever!" ”

The other generals didn't understand what Yang Peng meant, and looked at each other, only feeling inexplicable. Later that day, Yang Peng, accompanied by Ya Yu Guanyin, climbed a hill by the river and looked out across the river. I saw the giant city of Xiangyang standing by the river, like a huge lock locking the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in the south; The Han River meanders and flows, sparkling, very broad, and the shore is densely packed with horse-repellent pickets, and after the horse-repellent pickets, there are walled cities made of wood and stone at intervals, and in each walled city there are a number of soldiers and horses stationed in different numbers, and you can see the huge catapults and swarthy iron cannons in the walled city from a distance.

Ye Yu Guanyin said: "Cao Yong is very well prepared, this battle will never be easy!" Yang Peng frowned and nodded. Ya Yin Guanyin said: "Now that the general trend is coming, maybe we can surrender without a fight." ”

Yang Peng showed surprise and teased: "Guanyin, when did you believe this kind of thing?" Ya Yin Guanyin smiled: "This also makes sense, doesn't it?" Turning his head to look at Xiangyang on the other side, "Now that our Yanyun is in the sky, and the Song Kingdom is already in decline, anyone can see this." In this case, presumably not everyone will be willing to tie their net worth and life to a hopeless court like Wu Jue! Not everyone can live and die with the country! For most people, their own net worth and prosperity are more important! ”

Yang Peng nodded, looked at Ya Yu Guanyin, and said, "Do you want to send someone to infiltrate the other party's camp to lobby?" Ye Yu Guanyin nodded and said, "As long as there is an important person on the other side who is willing to surrender, it will be a great help to us!" ”

Yang Peng pondered: "This method can be tried. He raised his head and said resolutely, "That's it!" Immediately, Yang Peng and his party returned to the big tent. Yang Peng summoned Wang Kai and asked him to select more than two dozen clever and eloquent secret guards, and asked them to sneak through the Han River in disguise.

Yan Yun's army rested for two days on the north bank of the Han River, while preparing bamboo and wood rafts. On the third day, the sky was bright, and the thunderous sound of war drums woke up the soldiers and civilians of the Song State on the south bank.

Cao Yong hurriedly ran up to the south city gate tower and looked to the north, only to see that in the early morning mist, Yanyun's army lined up on the north bank, like mountains and tides, and countless bamboo and wood rafts were densely docked in the water on the shore. Cao Yong was slightly taken aback and muttered, "Yang Peng, what does he want to do?" Do you want to attack Xiangyang directly? Cao Yong felt a little incredulous, "Did he think that he could forcibly break through the Hanshui defense line with the troops in his hands?" If so, then he's too arrogant! Although he thought so, he did not dare to slack off at all, and urgently ordered all the armies in the city and the villages outside the city to prepare for battle, and ordered Yao Ping to lead an army of 50,000 to attack at any time to counterattack the opponent's landing troops, and at the same time ordered the prefect of Xiangyang to gather young and middle-aged people in the city to assist in defending the city. All of a sudden, the soldiers and civilians of the Song State were busy, and everyone was panicked.

Woowoo...... Suddenly, there was a loud horn sound on the other side. I saw that the Yanyun Front on the opposite side pulled away from both sides, revealing hundreds of cannons. Cao Yong and the others were taken aback, because the appearance of those cannons was something they had never seen before, much taller and more slender than the traditional cannons, and the long barrels were like the body of a giant python. Military advisor Liu Feng's eyes widened and he couldn't help but say, "Then, what is that?" ”

At this moment, I saw a red flag being erected in the middle of the artillery team on the opposite bank. Cao Yong and others had already learned through detailed work that the red flag would be erected when the Yanyun artillery team launched a bombardment, and at this time, when they saw the red flag on the other side of the river, they were surprised, but they were more surprised: now that there is a Han River between the two sides, and the two sides are two miles apart, how can the cannon be bombarded?

Before this thought was finished, he saw the fire of the Yanyun Army artillery team on the opposite side, and white smoke billowed out. Immediately, a huge roar accompanied by a sharp sound of breaking the sky rushed towards them, and before everyone could react, countless cannonballs slammed into the inside and outside of the city wall, and the violent impact sound sounded, the dust was flying, and the wreckage was dancing wildly, although it did not cause much damage to the Song army and Xiangyang City, but it greatly shocked the Song army soldiers! They never dreamed that Yan Yun's cannon would be so powerful that it could be fired across the river! A general of the Song army widened his eyes and said in horror: "Okay, what a powerful cannon!" We, we're finished! ”

Immediately, Yan Yunjun's artillery fire turned and began to bombard those walled cities outside Xiangyang City. The walled city is close to the water's edge, much shorter than the majestic and tall Xiangyang City, and the new long-barreled cannon of the Yan Yun Army can hit the Xiangyang city wall, and it is naturally even more difficult to bombard those walled cities outside the city. I saw the rumbling of cannons, the cannonballs smashed into the walled city like a meteor shower, the dust in the walled city was flying, the broken bricks and trees went straight to the sky, and from time to time you could see the wreckage of those cannons and catapults being lifted into the air by the huge power of the cannonballs; The soldiers of the Song army suffered heavy casualties, and many people could not take care of the garrison of the walled city, and rushed to escape from the walled city towards Xiangyang City. The Song army on the wall of Xiangyang watched it, but there was nothing they could do.

Yanyun artillery fire destroyed a walled city in an instant, and then bombarded the next walled city, and in this way, the walled city outside Xiangyang City used to guard the riverbank was bombarded by Yanyun artillery fire, and before Yanyun's army began to cross the river, these walled cities used to defend the riverbank were almost completely destroyed.

Seeing this scene, Cao Yong scolded angrily: "Damn! Seeing that everyone around him was showing fear, he immediately raised his voice and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone! Although the opponent's cannon is powerful, it is too far away to shake the city wall of Xiangyang! When they can cross the river, our army will go out of the city to counterattack, and then their artillery will be useless no matter how powerful it is! Everyone felt that what the big man said was reasonable, and the panic couldn't help but subside a lot and restore some confidence.

Liu Feng looked at the other side and frowned and said, "The other party is going to cross the river!" Cao Yong hurriedly looked at the opposite bank, and saw that the other party's artillery team had stopped bombardment, and nodded. Then I heard a long horn sound from the other side, and then I saw that a Yan Yun warrior with a mace in his hand led nearly 10,000 soldiers to run onto the bamboo and wood raft, and then rowed towards this side with hundreds of boats.

Cao Yong's eyes froze, and he raised his voice: "All armies are ready for battle!" The rapid beat of the drums began to be heard. When the armies heard the signal and realized that the enemy had launched a charge, they couldn't help but get nervous. However, Yao Zhong, who led an army of 50,000 to wait at the city gate, was very excited, and when the opponent landed on the shore, he led the army to kill him to avenge the previous revenge! Look up at the city gate, and if the enemy lands, a signal flag will be raised there to make them attack!

After waiting anxiously for more than two quarters, a red flag suddenly sounded on the tower of the city gate. When Yao Ping saw the flag, he immediately became excited, raised his big sword and shouted: "Brothers, go out with me and kill the enemy army!" The officers and soldiers of the army were originally nervous and frightened, but when they heard the general shouting at this moment, they couldn't help but have a bloodthirsty impulse in their hearts, and they couldn't help shouting in unison!

The city gate was wide open, and Yao Zhong immediately led an army of 50,000 to rush out and rush towards Yan Yunjun, who was landing on the shore. The city gate is still a few hundred meters away from the river bank, and the Song army is all infantry, and they can't rush for a while.

Seeing the enemy army leaving the city, Xiang Danian immediately ordered more than 1,000 soldiers and horses who had landed on the shore to line up on the spot to prepare for battle, and at the same time ordered other soldiers and horses to step up their landing. Cao Yong and the others stood on the top of the city and watched nervously outside the city, only to see their own 50,000 soldiers and horses rushing towards the shore like a tide, and the Yan Yun army that had already landed on the shore was not afraid, and quickly formed a battle formation to prepare for battle. Liu Feng couldn't help but admire: "Sure enough, it is worthy of being a powerful army in the world, in this case, not only is there no fear, but it can also form a battle formation in the blink of an eye!" A subordinate general turned his head and said: "No matter how strong they are, they can't really use one as ten, and our army is dozens of times the enemy, and they will definitely be able to sweep away the enemy army in one go!" Cao Yong and Liu Feng nodded, neither doubting this.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound appeared again, and it turned out to be Yan Yunjun's cannon again! Cao Yong and the others were taken aback, and before they could react, they saw the dust dancing in the middle of their own army that was rushing towards the enemy, and the flesh and blood were flying, and the artillery fire of the Yan Yun army was actually bombarded at their own attacking troops! Liu Feng couldn't help but exclaim: "Oh no! ”

The Song army was suddenly attacked by Yanyun's artillery fire, and was caught off guard with heavy casualties, and at the same time frightened and panicked, and the army was in chaos in an instant. Yan Yun's army attacked three rounds of artillery fire in a row, and the Song army suffered heavy casualties and was in chaos, some were at a loss, and some turned around and fled.

And at this moment, Yanyun's artillery fire stopped bombarding, and the soldiers of Yanyun's army, who had already crossed the river, rushed up, all like tigers out of the box. Yan Yunjun fiercely crashed into the middle of the Song army, wielding a knife and killing fiercely, the Song army was terrified, there was able to resist, and in an instant, it was killed all over the corpses, and the field soldiers were defeated like a mountain! Yan Yun's rank and tail chased and killed, and at the same time, the follow-up troops also began to cross the river!

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.