When the sky is shining.

A Yan soldier stood on the sturdy and towering walls of Qingtian City, looking at the south in a daze.

"What's wrong?" A comrade asked curiously when he saw his almost sluggish appearance.

The soldier did not reply, but remained in his original position, and his comrades followed his line of sight, and soon became like him—looking incredulously at the "camp" of the Qi army in the distance.

It didn't take long for the generals of the defenders at all levels to appear on the city wall, looking at the seemingly quiet and empty sky outside the city, and subconsciously thinking that this must be the enemy's conspiracy.

The main general then sent people out of the city cautiously, with Qingtian City as the center to reconnoiter a large area, until more than thirty miles to the south, and finally he confirmed that it was not an illusion or a ploy of the Qi army.

Almost at the same time, the defenders of Yongquan Pass to the east made similar discoveries.

By the time the messengers from these two places came to Tongshan Castle one after another, it was already the time when the sun was setting in the west.

In the conference hall, Chen Jingtang said coldly in disbelief: "The Qi army has retreated? ”

The Messenger replied with trepidation, "Yes, my lord. General Liu, fearing fraud, sent rangers out of the city to investigate and confirm that the Qi army had withdrawn south. About thirty miles to the south, our sentinels discovered the figure of a small group of elite cavalry of the Qi army, they were covering the retreat of the large army, and at the same time preventing our sentinels from continuing to inquire about the news in the south. ”

On the other side, the messenger from Yongquan Pass made a similar statement.

Chen Jingtang waved them down, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Zhang Junsi, the general of Dongyang Road, Zhu Zhen, the head of the soldiers and horses of Moyang Road, and Ma Quanjie, the deputy head of the soldiers and horses of Jiangbei Road, who had just arrived, looked at each other, and their hearts were filled with deep unease.

After a while, Chen Jingtang looked at Wang Shidao, who had a solemn expression, and asked, "Wang Shizheng, what is Xiao Wangzhi going to do?" ”

For the Huaizhou Army of the Southern Qi Dynasty, taking advantage of the aftermath of the great victory in the Battle of Qingxia to continue to the north, it is the best strategy to capture Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass, even if it can only capture one place, it can occupy a strategic advantage in the future.

This has long been the consensus of everyone in the hall, so they are gearing up to prepare, intending to fight the Huaizhou army outside Qingtian City.

However, just when the Yan army had gathered more than 100,000 troops and was about to seek an opportunity to fight a decisive battle, Xiao Wangzhi retreated south with his subordinates.

Wang Shidao frowned, and said slowly: "After the battle of Qingxia, Xiao Wangzhi has two choices. One of them is that now, all the way north to attack Qingtian Castle of our dynasty. The second is to stabilize the Lai'an defense line, withdraw the main force to rest, and then send troops from Panlong Pass in the west of Huaizhou. However, we have made deductions before, and the troops in Xiao Wangzhi's hands are not enough to support him to choose the second option. ”

Zhang Junsi took over and said: "It's not just a matter of troops, the terrain west of Panlong Pass is open, and he can't protect his baggage line at all. If it is the second type, it means that Nanqi has decided to start a full-scale war with our dynasty, and those people in the southern court will definitely not support Xiao Wangzhi to do so. ”

This is a truth that everyone understands, but it cannot explain the reason for Xiao Wangzhi's withdrawal.

Under normal circumstances, as long as Xiao Wangzhi didn't go crazy, he wouldn't choose to send troops from Panlong Pass in the west, because after leaving the pass, it was the northeast of Beiyan Moyang Road, and one city after another was scattered on the Jiangbei Plain.

With only the strength of the Huaizhou Army, even if it is like a bamboo, it can only push forward for more than 100 miles, and then it will be dragged down by the baggage line.

His only choice was to continue north from the northern border of Huaizhou, and the soldiers would point directly at Qingtian City or Yongquan Pass on Dongyang Road, and obtain the greatest results at the lowest cost.

At the beginning of the war, as Zhang Junsi and others expected, Xiao Wangzhi took the lead with the Beijing army that came from reinforcements and attacked all the way to the north.

However, at the most critical moment, he retreated.

Ma Quanjie, the deputy head of the Jiangbei Road Soldiers and Horses, was not very familiar with the situation here, and when he saw that everyone fell silent again, he cautiously asked: "Could it be that Xiao Wangzhi realized that our army's reinforcements had arrived, and he didn't dare to fight a decisive battle in the Qingtian Valley, so he took the initiative to withdraw his troops to eliminate the risk?" ”

"This is not Xiao Wangzhi's style." Chen Jingtang shook his head and vetoed, and then said: "Unless he didn't think about capturing Qingtian City or Yongquan Pass from the beginning, all attacks are just a false move. ”

"Doesn't he care about the losses caused by the storming of Qingtian City, just to make our army exhausted?" Zhu Zhen frowned.

Zhang Junsi said in a deep voice: "If our army does not mobilize reinforcements to come to Tongshan City, his feint attack will become a real attack. In the final analysis, because of the defeat in the Battle of Qingxia, the initiative in the war was in the hands of Xiao Wang. When he enters Qingtian City, we can only send troops and reinforcements, because the inherent balance between Dongyang Road and Huaizhou has been broken. ”

This is the real manifestation of the subsequent chain reaction of the Battle of Qingxia.

Before this battle, Zhang Junhei's troops were slightly more than Xiao Wangzhi's, so the two sides could look at each other from afar, and they were safe.

But when more than half of Dongyang Road's military strength was lost, they could only follow Xiao Wangzhi's rhythm.

Zhu Zhen quickly figured out this question and asked, "Lord Privy Council, will our army continue to attack southward next, or will we return to the garrison after resting?" ”

Before Chen Jingtang could speak, Wang Shidao suddenly said: "The real reason for Xiao Wangzhi's withdrawal should be that he only has the Three-Way Jing Army, the Feiyun Army and the Pingshan Army in his hands. The other elites of the Huaizhou Army had already returned to the south, and went straight from the west of Panlong Pass to the territory of our Chaomoyang Road. ”

This plain sentence was like a thunderous explosion.

"This ...... What's the point? Ma Quanjie said in shock.

The elite of the Huaizhou army hidden in the rear is only 60,000 people when it is full, how much threat can it pose to Moyang Road with this little force?

The crux of the matter is that even if the Huaizhou army can take advantage of the moment, they lack follow-up support, or they will be driven back to Huaizhou in a short time, which is just a waste of elite troops.

Wang Shidao exhaled a breath of turbidity, and his tone was very bitter: "But now the troops on Moyang Road are very empty. ”

The first person to react was Zhu Zhen, the head of the soldiers and horses of Moyang Road.

At this moment, he only felt a cold sweat suddenly appear on his back, and his face was already slightly pale.

The Northern Yan were used to deal with the 300,000 troops of the Southern Qi Dynasty, which were arranged on Jiangbei Road and Moyang Road in the south, and Dongyang Road in the east.

Now more than half of the army is concentrated in this Tongshan City, and the combined strength of Jiangbei Road and Moyang Road is only a little more than 100,000.

Wang Shidao said again: "The 60,000 people of the Huaizhou army are not terrible, Chen Xiaokuan can most likely stick to the big city and deal with it, but Li Tianrun will definitely not miss this opportunity." ”

Li Tianrun......

Zhu Zhen and Ma Quanjie changed color at the same time, they knew too well the methods of this famous Southern Qi general.

In the battle of Mengshan that year, Li Tianrun achieved the results of killing more than 12,000 people, you must know that these people are the real elite of the Jing Dynasty in a hundred battles, and they are the core troops who captured Heluo City, and their combat power far exceeds the Jing army that Lu Shen saw outside Guangling City.

The fog lifts and the truth emerges.

In their opinion, this battle is obviously a joint plan of Li Tianrun and Xiao Wangzhi.

After the Battle of Qingxia, Xiao Wangzhi first made a move to move the army north, which made Chen Jingtang have a wrong judgment, and sent a large number of elites from Jiangbei Road and Moyang Road to Dongyang Road, and then led the army to retreat south at a critical moment.

Maybe at this time, the elite departments under Xiao Wangzhi have already left Panlong Pass in the west and entered the heart of Moyang Road.

Li Tianrun will definitely let the Jingzhou army cooperate, one from north to south, and the other from south to north, like two fierce fists striking Moyang Road.

In short, when Chen Jingtang decided to fight a decisive battle in the Qingtian Valley, the strategic goal of the Qi army was not Qingtian City or Yongquan Pass, but Moyang Road, where the army was empty!

Chen Jingtang's eyes were red, and he muttered, "What is the benefit of doing this to Xiao Wangzhi?" ”

It was a question he couldn't figure out.

If Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass can be taken, it will be the merit of the Huaizhou Governor's Office.

swept half of the territory of Moyang Road, but it was the credit of the Jingzhou Governor's Office.

Making wedding garments for others?

Chen Jingtang's chest was tight, and it was almost difficult to restrain the panic.

Wang Shidao's face was gloomy, and he said with difficulty: "Lord Privy Council, when our army attacked the northern part of Huaizhou before, Li Tianrun had insight into our army's strategy in advance, and without notifying Xiao Wangzhi, he let his Feiyu battalion gallop down the river to aid Guangling. The relationship between the two men was clearly closer than we had anticipated, and—"

He paused for a moment and said astringently: "If the Jingzhou Army and the Huaizhou Army cooperate to capture the eastern part of Moyang Road, it means that the territory controlled by Li Tianrun can extend all the way north along the Shuangfeng Mountain Range. In other words, the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion and the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion of the Southern Qi Dynasty will be connected. ”

The crowd was silent.

That's the scariest thing.

Neither Li Tianrun nor Xiao Wangzhi was easy to deal with, and if it weren't for the fact that the Southern Qi Imperial Court never had enough support, they wouldn't have been stuck and hesitated.

If the areas under their control are connected, I am afraid that the Northern Expedition of the Qi Dynasty will really be put on the agenda.

Zhang Junsi didn't care about complaining about Wang Shidao at the moment, and said to Chen Jingtang: "Lord Privy Council, you must make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Regardless of whether all of Wang Shidao's inferences are correct or not, it is impossible to let the army of more than 100,000 continue to nest in Tongshan City now.

Chen Jingtang's chest continued to rise and fall, and his mind was simply chaotic.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhen cautiously asked, "Or, our army will continue to go south to storm the northern border of Huaizhou?" ”

Zhang Junsi shook his head without thinking about it and said: "Xiao Wangzhi still has the Three-Way Jing Army, the Feiyun Army and the Pingshan Army in his hands, and the strength of the defense line is so strong that even if our army all goes south, it will be difficult to break through in a short time." ”

Zhu Zhendeng was very helpless.

Do you want to bring the troops back again?

From Dongyang Road back to Moyang Road, you have to walk a distance to the north, then turn west, and finally go south, which is not a distance that can be completed in a few days.

Even if he leads his troops back quickly at all costs, how much morale will the army under his command be left?

Not to mention the Jiangbei Army, which traveled farther.

Chen Jingtang gradually calmed down at this moment, gritted his teeth and said, "General Zhang is right, now is not the time to complain and delay. Chief Manager Zhu and Deputy Chief Manager Ma, you immediately return the same way with your soldiers. Deputy Manager Ma, don't go back to Jiangbei Road for the time being, go to Moyang Road with Manager Zhu. ”

Although Zhu Zhen and Ma Quanjie were extremely depressed, they could only get up and take their orders at the moment.

Chen Jingtang said again: "General Zhang, you will send another 5,000 people to reinforce Qingtian City, and maintain 8,000 defenders on the Yongquan Pass." Remind the two guards that if Xiao Wangzhi makes a comeback, our army has no reinforcements for the time being, and they must defend to the death. In addition, I left 10,000 soldiers and horses to defend the city in Tongshan City, and I led the remaining troops to rush to Moyang Road immediately with me. ”

Zhang Junsi said with a solemn expression: "The last general will take the order." ”

Chen Jingtang did not have a trace of illusion in his heart, that is, Wang Shidao's speculation would not come true, maybe Xiao Wangzhi only noticed that the army from the north was gathering, so he gave up his plan to continue the attack.

At this moment, a lieutenant walked quickly outside the hall and said in a panic: "Report! Privy Counsellor, six days ago, a large group of Qi troops suddenly appeared in the territory of Moyang Road, deceived and opened the gate of Xinchang City and seized the city in one fell swoop. Xinchang was lost and the defenders were killed, and his cronies desperately escaped to report the news. The Qi army, under the banner of Panlong, Taixing and other Huaizhou armies, should have come out of Panlong Pass. ”

There was a dead silence.

"Poof—"

Chen Jingtang spurted out a mouthful of blood and fell on his back.

"My lord! Privy Counsellor! ”

There was chaos in the hall.

(End of chapter)