In the twelfth year of the establishment of the Southern Qi Dynasty, the second day of the seventh month.

Xiao Wangzhi, the governor of Huaizhou, issued a military order, with the Zhenwei Army and the Dingwei Army from the Nanya sequence of the capital as the front wing, and the Huwei Army and the Huaizhou Feiyun Army as the rear army.

On the fourth and fifth days of the seventh month, the two armies of the Southern Ya staggered forward, and in the area of 70 to 120 li south of Qingtian City, there were four battles with the defenders of the Northern Yan.

Relying on high morale and excellent armaments, the Qi army won victories one after another, and successively broke through the outer defensive fortresses of Qingtian City in Northern Yan, and gradually approached within 60 miles south of Qingtian City.

Perhaps because of the follow-up effects caused by the fiasco in the Battle of Qingxia, the Yan army's defense was not resolute, and after suffering consecutive defeats, it began to take the initiative to retreat and shrink the defensive line, and seemed to be ready to defend Qingtian City.

The Qi army stopped when it was still about forty miles away from Qingtian City, the Feiyun army turned to the northeast and forced towards Yongquan Pass in Beiyan, while the two armies of Nanya began to sweep the east and west sides of Qingtian City, steadily pushing the battle line forward.

On the seventh day of the seventh month of July, the surroundings of Qingtian City have been occupied by the Qi army, which is the first counterattack of the Southern Qi in 12 years, and the grievances and resentment of being suppressed by the Yanjing coalition army in the Lai'an defense line for a long time have been swept away.

The Huwei Army, which had been delayed, used the strongholds on the way from Qingtian City to the An'an Defense Line to establish a baggage line, and the grain and grass raised by the Huaizhou Thorn History Mansion were continuously transported, while the border army assembled various large-scale siege equipment at the front of the position.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, the Nanya Zhenwei army launched the first siege under the leadership of Hou Dayong, the commander of the capital.

Qingtian City's solid defense is worthy of its name, and this military city in the true sense of the word firmly guards the necessary way to pass through the north and south.

Although the Zhenwei army did not take advantage, because the Huwei army and the Dingwei army were sweeping the east and west, the defenders in the city did not dare to take the initiative to attack, so their own losses were not large.

Qi Jun behaved very calmly, while Yan Jun was in a solemn mood.

The haze of the battle of Qingxia has not yet dissipated, and the Qi army has shown extraordinary courage along the way, and it took only six days to reach the city of Qingtian, and from the situation outside the city, the Qi army is obviously ready to attack the city for a long time, and it is possible to increase the number of troops at any time in the future.

Although on the fourth day of the seventh month, when the Qi army had just shown its fangs, the Yan army had already sent people to quickly deliver military information to the Dongyang Road General's Mansion, but for a period of time, Qingtian City could only rely on itself.

The reason is very simple, the general Zhang Junsi does not have too many troops in his hands.

The standing army strength of Dongyang Road in Beiyan is about 100,000, which is roughly equivalent to the Governor's Mansion of Huaizhou in Southern Qi.

After the outbreak of the Great War at the end of April, the Northern Yan Imperial Court successively increased its troops by 60,000, bringing the total number of troops here to 160,000.

However, the battle of Guangling lost more than 10,000 losses, the battle of Qingxia lost nearly 40,000, and there were more than 20,000 wounded, so that less than half of the soldiers who could fight were left.

The total garrison of Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass exceeded 20,000, and 20,000 troops were needed to defend the north side of Panlong Pass, and after deducting more than 10,000 people who had to stay in Dongyang Road to suppress bandits, Zhang Junsi could really use only 20,000 reinforcements.

In the face of the menacing Qi army, which had already occupied the periphery of Qingtian City, it was impossible for Zhang Junsi to let more than 20,000 people die in vain.

It takes a lot of time to transfer troops from within the country, and the mobilization of troops in this era is by no means as simple as a paper order.

For example, it took more than 20 days for the three armies of the Southern Ya of the Qi Dynasty to travel from Yongjia City to the bank of the Hengjiang River, not including the time spent on discussions and arguments in the court in the early stage.

The only thing that can make the defenders of Qingtian City feel fortunate is that the city wall here is strong enough, and the grain and grass reserves in the city are also very sufficient, if nothing else, there is no problem in defending it for two or three months.

However, no one dared to guarantee that the Qi army would not come up with a ruthless way to break the city, so before the Zhenwei army attacked the city for the first time, the main general of the defending army sent five messengers to the capital of Dongyang Road, asking the general Zhang Junsi to send reinforcements as soon as possible to relieve the siege of Qingtian.

On July 10, Xiao Wangzhi, the governor of Huaizhou, left Lai'an under the protection of the guard battalion and led the Pingshan army all the way north to supervise the battle outside Qingtian City.

At the same time, on the school field west of the Governor's Mansion, nearly a thousand people were still practicing unremittingly, and everyone was sweating, and so was Lu Shen.

This has almost become a fixed scenery outside the Governor's Palace.

Of course, some people are puzzled why the Metropolitan Governor personally went to the battlefield on the northern front, but this pro-guard team still stayed in Lai'an.

Soon, some people who thought they were smart explained that because these thousand people had just been recruited and did not have the confidence to go to the battlefield, most of the governors let them continue to practice hard.

A few days later, when Lu Shen returned to the other garden after finishing the exercises, Lin Xi finally couldn't help but ask curiously: "Senior brother, is it true that Governor Xiao deliberately left you in the city because he felt that you and your comrades still needed to practice?" ”

Lu Shen smiled and said, "Yes, doesn't Senior Sister think this is inappropriate?" ”

Lin Xi muttered, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that I thought he would let you take people to the battlefield for some training." ”

Lu Shen knew that she had hidden questions in her heart, and the reason why she didn't ask directly was probably because she didn't want to embarrass herself by leaking military information.

He took Lin Xi to the study and said gently: "Senior sister, in fact, the goal of our army in this battle is very simple, it is just a few detours. ”

Lin Xi blinked wide, indicating that he didn't understand.

Lu Shen brought the map, sat next to her and explained: "Senior sister, there are only two ways for our army to go north, to take Qingtian City or Yongquan Pass. Yongquan Pass is a suspicious formation, in fact, we will not waste manpower to climb the cliff at all. The enemy is not a fool, as long as we launch an offensive, martial law will inevitably be imposed on the pass for a long time. ”

Lin Xi nodded.

Lu Shen said again: "As for Qingtian City, from the fourth day of the seventh month, our army began to fight, and until the eighth day of the first month of July, our army cleared the outside of the city and began to besiege the city, these five days are not short. As early as more than ten days ago, Xu Wen, the commander of the Dingwei army, sent our army's battle plan to the north, deducting the time delayed on the road, and Zhang Junsi, the commander of the puppet Yan, had at least half a month to send five or six thousand additional reinforcements to Qingtian City. But according to the report of the sentinels on the front line of our army, Zhang Junsi did not do this. ”

Lin Xi pondered: "The north side knows that Governor Xiao intends to encircle the point and send reinforcements, but he did not reinforce Qingtian in advance, does it mean that they also want to fight with us outside the city?" ”

"That's right." Lu Shen's expression was calm, and the wind and sun during this time added a little perseverance, and continued: "Zhang Junsi and Wang Shidao learned about our army's battle plan in advance through Xu Wen, a traitor, and then they had two choices. One was to increase the troops in Qingtian City in advance and discourage our army's determination to go on the Northern Expedition with a strong city defense, but they did not do so. ”

"In this way, they have only the second choice, pretend to retreat and shrink the defensive line, and at the same time slowly gather heavy troops, and when our army is tired from the siege, they will move south to the Qingtian Valley in one fell swoop, and defeat our army in a head-to-head duel."

"The mystery of encirclement and reinforcement lies in taking people by surprise and attacking less with more, and using time and space to form an absolute advantage in local battles. It's just a pity that the enemy has already learned about the plans of our army in advance and cannot do it by surprise. The enemy let Qingtian City carry it for a while, and then hurried to gather a large-scale army, and our army could not fight more or less. ”

Lu Shen said unhurriedly.

Lin Xi finally understood, but a bigger question immediately surfaced in his heart: "In that case, why didn't you stop Xu Wen's people, but let him send the information out smoothly?" Also, you already know that the enemy is fully prepared, and the strategy of seizing Yongquan Pass and sending reinforcements at the siege of Qingtian City has failed, why does Governor Xiao still wave his army north? ”

She knew that things were not so simple, because Lu Shen was not disappointed by being seen through the plan at the moment, but there was a faint cunning of succeeding in his scheme.

Although she was very curious, she still said softly: "If it is related to confidential military information, junior brother don't tell me." ”

Lu Shen turned his head to look at the dim sky outside the window, and said softly, "Senior sister, listen to me slowly." ”

……

Beiyan Dongyang Road, Tongshan City.

This place is located more than 70 miles north of Qingtian City, and the two are located at the north and south ends of Yongfeng Road respectively.

Yongfeng Road is one of the only two passages from the north of Huaizhou to Beiyan Dongyang Road, and the other road is the mountain trail blocked by Yongquan Pass.

Tongshan Castle is not as important as Qingtian Castle, but it can provide support for Qingtian Castle in the rear.

Since the start of the war, this place and Yongfeng Road have been completely under martial law, and the spies of the Prosecutor's Office and the elite military rangers have blocked the passage to the south to prevent their own troops and subordinates from being detected by the Southern Qi spies.

In the temporary marshal's mansion in the city, Zhang Junsi was dressed up, Chen Jingtang and Wang Shidao looked solemn, and there was a military general in the hall who was nearly forty years old.

This person's name is Zhu Zhen, and he is now the head of the soldiers and horses on Moyang Road, and he is the first person under the general Chen Xiaokuan.

Wang Shidao looked at Zhu Zhen and asked, "General Zhu, how is the situation on Moyang Road?" ”

Zhu Zhen had a short beard on his white face and an elegant demeanor, and said slowly: "Southern Qi is about to move, and the Jingzhou army has invaded the territory one after another, but General Chen has dealt with it properly, and he has already reorganized his troops to fight in dangerous places everywhere. After receiving the military order from the Privy Council, General Chen judged that Li Tianrun was echoing Xiao Wangzhi's counteroffensive, intending to attract our army to stay in place. ”

Chen Jingtang bowed slightly, Chen Xiaokuan was cautious and calm, even if he withdrew his troops and retreated east to Tongshan City, he could calmly deal with Li Tianrun's temptation.

Wang Shidao took over the conversation and said: "On this side of Dongyang Road, the 8,000 defenders of Yongquan Pass are waiting for the day, and they have not yet found the figure of the Qi army around. The enemy's powerful Feiyun Army was stationed more than ten miles outside the pass, obviously waiting for the opportunity to attack. ”

Zhu Zhen said: "Dare to ask Wang Shizheng, how is the battle situation in Qingtian City?" ”

Wang Shidao's eyes were calm: "Now it has been found out that the two divisions of Nanya Zhenwei and Dingwei of the Southern Qi Jing Army are responsible for taking turns to attack the city, and the Huwei Army is sweeping the formation. A few days ago, Xiao Wangzhi had already led the Pingshan Army to arrive outside Qingtian City. According to our estimates, several elites under Xiao Wangzhi's command, Zhenbei, Lai'an, and Taixing armies are hiding in the shadows, and they can rush out just when our army reinforcements rush south. ”

Zhang Junsi interjected: "These days, grain and grass have been transported one after another, which can be used by 100,000 soldiers and horses for three months. General Zhu, when will the follow-up troops of Moyang Road arrive here? ”

Zhu Zhen groaned: "I have led 10,000 elites to come in advance. In accordance with the order of the Privy Council, General Chen sent another 30,000 soldiers and horses, which could arrive in six days. 30,000 soldiers and horses on Jiangbei Road arrived about nine days later. ”

Zhang Junsi hurriedly calculated that if the defenders in Qingtian City were added, the total strength of his side would be about 110,000.

The Qi army was full of about 120,000.

The situation remains unpleasant.

Seeing this, Chen Jingtang said: "General Zhang don't worry, don't forget that we still have 20,000 defenders in the vicinity of Xinchang City, and the main cavalry of 15,000 people is also coming. ”

Everyone in the hall couldn't help but cheer up at this moment.

150,000 against 120,000, at least their own forces are superior, and several armies of the Qi army are exhausted from continuous sieges, and the balance of victory and defeat is gradually tilting.

Zhang Junsi took a long test, and said with a relaxed expression: "This battle can be done." ”

Chen Jingtang smiled, turned his head to Wang Shidao and said: "Please Wang Shizheng find a way to send a message to the defenders in Qingtian City, our army is scheduled to arrive in Qingtian Valley twelve days later, that is, at two o'clock on the third day of the eighth month, and will launch a general attack on the Qi army at that time!" ”

"Command!"

Wang Shidao responded loudly.

……

On July 26, Qingtian City was still safe and sound, firmly in the hands of the Yan army.

During this time, the intensity of the Qi army's attacks gradually decreased, and although the pressure on the city walls could still be maintained, there were no too tragic offensive and defensive battles.

In the eyes of the defenders in the city, the Qi army was obviously planning to besiege for a long time.

At sunset, in the camp of the Dingwei Army, Xu Wen, the commander of the capital, received the message, and hurriedly walked out of the tent, and saw Xiao Wangzhi, the governor of Huaizhou, Yuan Xingqin, the chief general of the Huwei Army, and Hou Dayong, the chief general of the Zhenwei Army, with a group of personal soldiers appearing in sight.

Seeing this, he subconsciously slowed down, and was about to change into a smile to salute, when he suddenly swept behind Xiao Wangzhi and seemed to be a somewhat familiar man.

While he was thinking, he saw his lieutenant standing beside Hou Dayong, looking at him with extremely cold eyes.

That person is Su Yunqing! Warp weaving division Huaizhou inspection school!

Xu Wen had a thunderbolt in his mind, his face turned pale in an instant, and he turned around and was about to flee with a few henchmen, but he felt that there was a flower in front of him, and more than ten masters of the warp weaving division appeared to block the back road.

Xiao Wangzhi said coldly: "If you are caught, this governor will give you a happy death." ”

After hearing this, Xu Wen didn't know that what he had done had been revealed, and he only lasted for a few breaths, then turned around and knelt down and kowtowed to Xiao Wangzhi again, and begged: "Governor, the last will be persecuted-"

The voice stopped abruptly, and the warp weaver's spies quickly unloaded his jaw.

Xiao Wangzhi immediately ordered: "Su inspects the school." ”

"The lower official is here."

"Arrest Xu Wen and his cronies, and then immediately escort them to the capital, without any mistakes."

"The subordinate officer receives the order!"

"General Yuan, General Hou, Deputy General Left."

"The last general!"

Yuan Xingqin, Hou Dayong and the lieutenant generals of the Dingwei army surrendered at the same time.

Xiao Wangzhi looked at the three of them and said solemnly: "Pacify the soldiers of the Dingwei Army, don't mention Xu Wen's treason with the enemy for the time being, and only tell him on other charges, so as not to affect the morale of the army." ”

"Obey!"

The three of them responded in unison.

Yuan Xingqin glanced at Xu Wen, who was paralyzed on the ground, a touch of disdain flashed in his eyes, and then said to Xiao Wangzhi: "Governor, you might as well let the Dingwei Army temporarily withdraw and reorganize the army, and let the Huwei Army rise to the top." ”

Xiao Wangzhi bowed his head, glanced at Su Yunqing again, and said calmly: "A feint is enough." ”

Although until this time, Yuan Xingqin still didn't know Xiao Wangzhi's true plan, but compared to Xu Wen, he was obviously a real soldier, and he didn't ask much at the moment, and arched his hand: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Xiao Wangzhi glanced up at the afterglow on the horizon, and the sharp light in the depths of his eyes flashed.

Starting today, the update time will be adjusted to 12 noon ~ I'll go to catch up on sleep first, two more eight thousand words today, and continue to work hard tomorrow ~

(End of chapter)