The Grandmaster Strategist - Chapter 181

[Chapter 12]

Huainan Jiedu envoy Pei Yun took Chuzhou and Sizhou lightly, and personally killed Luo Louzhen, the main general of Huaidong in southern Chu. The Yong army could not attack, so Pei Yun ordered He Ying to take a detour to capture Gaoyou, cross the water to attack it, Guangling was defeated, and the reinforcements did not arrive for a long time. Cai Lin knew that the situation was unstoppable. Before the battle, the generals of Guangling surrendered.

On the 29th of October, the Yong army reached Yangzhou, and the defenders of Yangzhou were defeated without a fight.

– “Zizhi Tongjian Yongji III”

Chuzhou scenic spots are most famous for Zhenhuai Tower, Hanhou Temple in the city, Piaomu Temple and Hanhou Diaoyutai in the outskirts of the city. Mingshi, last night, he commanded the Chuzhou defenders to resist the attack of the Yong army, but within one night, he came to Zhenhuai Building again, but he was already a prisoner under the order. But the bitterness and fear in his heart couldn’t get rid of it.

Yesterday at dusk, the defeated army of the Chuzhou camp came from outside the city, losing their helmets and disarming their armor. He learned that the Yong army had captured the Chuzhou camp, and Luo Louzhen had died in battle. He quickly opened the city gate to let these defeated troops enter the city. , The person headed was Huang Canjun, who often helped himself to relax his cheeks in front of Luo Louzhen, so he did not have any doubts.

Unexpectedly, it was the evil star who entered the city. Huang Shenjun was forced by Yong Jun to earn the city. Chuzhou, which could barely fight, fell inexplicably.

Finally, Gu Yuanyong was still a little wary. Although he was entered by the Yong army, he retreated to the Zhenhuai Tower under the protection of his personal soldiers, and started a street battle with the Yong army. The Yong army was powerful, but the Chuzhou defenders were after all. Familiar with geography, the two armies have been fighting for a long time, and the outcome is not yet decided.

But that night, 20,000 reinforcements from the Yong Army poured into Chuzhou City, and Gu Yuanyong’s last hope was dashed. Seeing that the city of Chuzhou was full of flags of the Yong Army, the remaining thousand defenders were surrounded by Zhenhuai. Downstairs, in desperation, he could only ask the city to come down.

After that, he was forced to lead the Yong army to settle the people in the four cities. By dawn, the city of Chuzhou had already been occupied by Dayong.

Gu Yuanyong, who had not slept all night, was summoned by the commander of the Yong Army, Pei Yun, to Zhenhuai Tower. He walked up to the top floor that he was most familiar with. He saw Pei Yun standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, overlooking the scenery downstairs. On the two sides behind him, there were two people standing on the left and right, both of them were masters of the white battalion with blue-black armor and a white cloak.

Although Gu Yuanyong did not know the particularity of the status of these personal guards, he could see that all of them had a fierce bearing and were not like ordinary sergeants.

With a bitter expression, he bowed to the tunnel and said, “Gu Yuanyong, the subordinate minister of Southern Chu, pays respect to Lord Jiedu.”

Pei Yun turned around and stretched out his hand to help each other. After he got up, Pei Yun smiled slightly and said, “Pei Mou is under the order of my Majesty Emperor Dayong to attack Huaidong, and the people of Chuzhou are often offended. Last night’s bloody battle was inevitable. Injuring many innocent people, since the adults have abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, please comfort them a lot.”

Gu Yuanyong agreed, but his heart was full of hope. Could it be that Yong Jun was not going to put him to death? He resisted Yong Jun for nearly half of the night. There were about a thousand people. He originally thought that as long as Chuzhou was pacified, he would be settled by the autumn queen. If he was not worried that Chuzhou would be slaughtered for revenge, he would not surrender. Unexpectedly, this Huainan Jiedu envoy, Yong The general did not seem to blame himself.

Gu Yuanyong had no experience in fighting against the Yong army before, so naturally he did not know that in the eyes of the Yong army, it was normal for the enemy to resist.

Pei Yun comforted Gu Yuanyong a few words, and his words were gentle, which made Gu Yuanyong gradually calm down. At this time, Du Lingfeng walked upstairs angrily, gave Pei Yun a salute, and said, “General, that Chu Governor Shi is so rude, his subordinates were ordered to confiscate the paper stamps, but he refused to hand them over, and even scolded you, saying that you are a sinister villain for using tricks to make money.”

Gu Yuanyong’s heart skipped a beat, that the Governor of Chu, Shi Jing Changqing, was the second-ranked 9th jinshi in the autumn of the second year of Tongtai, and he took office in Chuzhou four years ago.

This person is a child of a family in Jiaxing. According to his background and talent, he should have a higher official position. At least he can enter the Hanlin Academy. However, he has a bumpy career. He was promoted, and all the people in the same department as him were already golden, and only when he was not confused was he appointed as the Chief History of Chu Prefecture.

After he took office, Gu Yuanyong paid careful attention. He acted in a reasonable and disciplined manner, advanced and retreated appropriately, performed his duties with due diligence, and was honest and honest. He was indeed a good talent. There are naturally hidden feelings in this, but Gu Yuanyong didn’t like to explore other people’s privacy in his life, so he just kept it in his heart.

Unexpectedly, this person is so stubborn today. If he offends Yong Jun, he will lose his life. His wife, concubines and children are all in Chuzhou City.

Pei Yun’s expression remained still, and he said lightly, “Ling Feng, how did you deal with it?”

Du Lingfeng said: “In a fit of rage, I have already had someone tied him downstairs, please allow the general to allow his subordinates to behead this man and show it to the public, as a warning to anyone who thinks he dares to be my enemy, Dayong.”

Thinking of Jing Changqing’s daily benefits, Gu Yuanyong hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: “The general forgives the sin, the general forgives the sin, Jing Changshi is upright by nature, or if he has offended, the general is very tolerant, please forgive his life.”

Pei Yun said with a smile: “Bring him, I want to meet the long history of this strength.”

Du Lingfeng was overjoyed, the order went on, and after a while, the guards escorted a person up. This person was about forty years old, with a gentle appearance and a calm demeanor, but at the moment he was covered in dirt, and the official hat had fallen off somewhere. There are also bloodstains, which shows that a lot of hardships have been eaten along the way.

When he came upstairs, the man stood without kneeling, but glared angrily. Seeing him like this, Du Lingfeng said angrily, “I don’t even kneel down and apologize when I see my general.”

The man said coldly, “Jing is a minister of Southern Chu, why do you want to worship Dayong’s general?”

Hearing this, Pei Yun smiled and said, “Gu Junshou has already led Chuzhou officials to surrender to my Dayong. You are a surrendered minister now, why don’t you kneel?”

The man said angrily: “The county governor asks you to surrender, but my long history did not. You have invaded our country and hurt my Li Shu, and all the people of Southern Chu hated it to the core. Now, although forced to temporarily surrender due to the situation, waiting for the king’s army to go north, plow the ground. Ting sweeps the cave, and will never let you escape from Huaidong.”

Du Lingfeng was furious, he stepped forward with a slap in the face, knocked the man to the ground, pointed at the man and scolded: “I don’t know who the people of Southern Chu hate to the bone? Who doesn’t know that Luo Louzhen is wreaking havoc in Huaidong? , robbing people’s women, forcibly demanding food and wages, today our army posted a notice, mentioning Luo Louzhen’s abdication of the law, the people of Chuzhou are all rejoicing. You scumbag, since you refuse to surrender, then you are a prisoner of our army, and I will not kill you, I will shackle you in front of the county governor for three days to see if you still have the strength to scold you.” He said this. The punch was so heavy that half of the man’s face was swollen, and the corners of his mouth bleed. The man seemed to go out and scolded endlessly. Although his speech was indistinct, Du Lingfeng was even more angry. He pulled out his saber and pointed at The man said: “Okay, since you seek death yourself, I will fulfill you.”

Originally, Pei Yun just looked at Du Lingfeng lightly, and when he saw that he really wanted to kill with a knife, he stopped him: “Forget it, he is also a loyal and righteous person, the killing is ominous, let him be put in jail, don’t be too hard on him. family.”

Du Lingfeng said happily, “My subordinates obey.” After that, he dragged the man downstairs.

Gu Yuanyong was so frightened that he was sweating coldly. Although Du Lingfeng was beating and scolding the disrespectful Long Shi, the eyes of the others were clearly circling around him, clearly intending to kill the chicken and warn the monkeys.

Seeing the capable subordinate officials being humiliated by the arrogant and domineering sergeant Yong Jun, Gu Yuanyong felt a sense of humiliation in his heart. .

His face was blue and red, and he was naturally seen by Pei Yun, but now the most important thing is to deter Chuzhou officials and make them dare not resist, so he pretended not to see Gu Yuanyong’s face, The senior officials of Southern Chu in Huaidong were all descendants of the Southern Chu family. Even if they asked to surrender, they would be absolutely unreliable. Pei Yun would only clean up Huaidong after capturing Guangling, and use it as the front line for Dayong to attack Nanchu. Now it’s just forbearance for now.

A day later, Pei Yun left Wei Ping to guard Chuzhou with 5,000 people, and he led the army to join He Ying’s army and headed for Guangling. At the same time, Zhang Wenxiu’s army, who had successfully captured Sizhou, also joined Guangling.

Guangling is the last gateway to Yangzhou. This place was originally under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou, and Yangzhou was called Guangling in ancient times. In the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the county Tianchang was set up here. Later, Guangling was changed to Yangzhou, and Tianchang was changed to Guangling. This is called.

Taking Guangling as a barrier to the north of Yangzhou, and capturing Guangling, Yangzhou can fall in one fell swoop, so Southern Chu set up the Guangling camp here.

Although Cai Lin, the lieutenant of the Guangling Camp, was also of Shang Weijun’s lineage, he was upright by nature. He was Shang Weijun’s nephew. If it weren’t for the disagreement with the monk Weijun, I’m afraid this Huaidong general wouldn’t fall for the position. Luo Louzhen was on him, so Luo Louzhen kept him at a distance, and when he handed over the Guangling camp to him, he did not pay attention to it. Cai Lin has a unique way of training soldiers, restraining his soldiers, never disturbing the people, and helping the poor and the needy. Therefore, the Guangling area has an excellent reputation. After the defeat of the Chuzhou and Sizhou camps, many remnants of the army fled to Guangling and were taken into the camp by him. After the rectification, there were more than 30,000 people.

After he reported the general information to Jianye, he led the army into Guangling City. He knew that if he wanted to confront the Yong army head-on, it would be a disastrous situation, so he was ready to rely on Guangling City to resist the Yong army’s offensive.

He has self-knowledge and knows that he can’t defeat Pei Yun, and only looks forward to being able to defend the arrival of reinforcements from Nanchu.

On October 9th, Pei Yun’s army arrived at Guangling. The 100,000 Yong army Chen Bing was under the city of Guangling. At first glance, it was densely packed. The Yong army’s camps were connected by horns, and their bearing was strict.

Cai Lin pointed at the camp of the Yong army and said, “If Guangling falls, the Yong army can drive straight into Yangzhou and threaten Jingkou and Jianye. , ask Shang Xiang and General Lu for help, we only need to stay for ten days and a half, and then we can wait for the reinforcements, and all the gentlemen are willing to die.” The generals of the Guangling camp were deeply favored by Cai Lin, and they all said loudly when they heard the words. : “I would like to die for the general.”

The howling sounded far, and the army under the city could hear it clearly. Pei Yun frowned and said to He Ying and Zhang Wenxiu who were behind him: “It seems that Guangling City is not easy to capture!” He Wenxiu is a handsome young general. He smiled and said, “Why should the general worry about it, even if Guangling is difficult to attack, will it still be able to block my Dayong iron cavalry?” All the soldiers also said loudly, “Please command the siege of the city by the general. If you can’t attack Guangling, you will not be a human being.”

Pei Yun heard the words and pointed at Guangling City with the whip: “In that case, He Ying, you haven’t made any achievements this time, so how about letting you go first?”

He Ying was overjoyed, Pei Yun rushed to be the vanguard along the way, but he could only follow behind with the people on the road. He was eager to fight. Hearing that he respected the order, he rode his horse to the front of the army. After a while, the horn sounded. , Yong Jun’s first wave of siege began.

No one thought that this attack would be a full half a month.

Cai Lin can be said to be very popular in Guangling, but he is not as incompetent as Luo Louzhen. He has been well prepared for the war over the years, and the food and grass in Guangling City are very sufficient. Under his leadership, Guangling City unswervingly supported half of the city. Yue, the city above and below the city, are in a mess. The catapults and arrow towers of the Yong army do not know how much they have been damaged. Later, the houses near the city wall were demolished, and the stone and wood were used to defend the city.

Yong Jun sent death squads to attack the city several times, but they were unsuccessful.

The closest to success was on October 19. Pei Yun dispatched all the guards in the white battalion. A total of 16 people brought 300 daring warriors to the city. Cai Lin brought his personal guards to meet the enemy and fought hard for half a day. It was from Gaoyou Lake in the east of Guangling City that reinforcements suddenly arrived. I was afraid that Guangling City had already fallen. In this fierce battle, two people were killed in the white battalion, and none of the three hundred warriors survived. Cai Lin’s personal guards were also killed and injured.

But under the setting sun, the bloody Guangling City still stands.

Pei Yun’s expression was a little cold. Although he was not ready to capture Guangling in a few days, the current situation was too unfavorable, and he had to end the battle at any time.

Du Lingfeng came over with a tired look. Although he was young, he was one of the best in martial arts in the white-clothed camp. The two were uncle and nephew, so Pei Yun was very concerned about him. Seeing that he was covered in blood, Pei Yun frowned. Asked: “How is it, is the injury serious?”

Du Lingfeng said: “I only took two stabs, but I didn’t hurt my bones. It’s a pity that these brothers, the guards around Cai Lin are very skilled in martial arts. They will all be buried in the Chuzhou camp.”

Pei Yun sighed and said, “Jianye Cai’s family is a famous family in Southern Chu. Naturally, they are guarded by some experts. Cai Lin is also the direct son of Cai’s family, so it’s no wonder that this is the case.”

Du Lingfeng said: “General, the Gaoyou defenders have the courage to come to rescue Guangling, are the reinforcements from Nanchu ready to cross the river?”

Pei Yun shook his head and said, “Si heard the news from Cao, now that Lu Can is in Jianye’s request to take over Huaidong’s military power, Shang Weijun still refuses.”

Du Lingfeng said stunned: “Don’t Shang Weijun know that Huaidong is now in danger?”

Pei Yun said with a smile: “This matter is a bit strange. It seems that someone has cut off the news exchange between Huaidong and Jianye, and Guangling’s request for help did not reach Jianye at all.”

Du Lingfeng was at a loss, but he quickly put the matter behind him and said, “Uncle, what should we do now, the Gaoyou defenders dare to go out of town to fight?”

When Pei Yun was about to answer him, a scout came over and reported: “General, it has been found out that those people are not the Gaoyou defenders, but the Gaoyou Lake bandits. The leader is Guan Feng. He was forced to enter the lake as a bandit because he was really forced to collect food and wages. He usually robbed the rich and helped the poor, and won the hearts of Gaoyou people. However, he and Cai Lin in the Guangling camp are life and death friends. The navy has come to clear Gaoyou Lake, and it was he who led his troops to rescue Guangling today.”

Pei Yun smiled and said: “This person is also loyal, but it’s a pity that he is just a man’s arm as a chariot. He Ying, you go to Gaoyou tomorrow, Ling Feng, go to Chuzhou to pass our military orders, and transfer a battalion of naval forces to Gaoyou to stand by. Under the wing of the navy, He Ying crossed the water and attacked the east side of Guangling.

The generals took orders with a bang. On the 20th of October, He Ying attacked Gaoyou. On the 21st of October, a navy battalion arrived at Gaoyou Lake. Originally, they were not going to use the navy before attacking Yangzhou, so the navy was there. Chuzhou Hongze Lake was on standby, but now the situation has changed, so a battalion of naval forces had to be dispatched to Gaoyou Lake to deal with the water bandits.

On October 22, the decisive battle of Guangling began. This time, the Yong army came prepared. When Guan Feng went out of the city to attack the Yong army on the shore, the Dayong water army suddenly appeared. Dayong confronted Nanchu in Jianghuai for many years. The elites of the army are not much worse than those of Southern Chu. Compared with these rabble water bandits, it is a world of difference. After a hard fight, the entire army of the water bandits was destroyed. Except for Guan Feng, who escaped back to Guangling, none of them survived.

The Yong army had already cut off the passage between Guangling and Yangzhou, and now the Gaoyou Lake in the east has also fallen under the Yong army’s control.

On the 23rd of October, under the continuous onslaught of Yong army, Guangling City finally lost its ability to resist. Although Yong army officers and soldiers strongly demanded that Pei Yun capture Guangling in one fell swoop, it was better to massacre the city to vent his anger, but he was stopped by Pei Yun. , making people shoot arrows into the city to surrender.

In ten months, Cai Lin, who was more than ten years old, looked at the arrow book in his hand. His expression was strangely indifferent. Looking at the generals in front of him, they were already exhausted, and almost everyone was injured. Now Guangling There were only more than 10,000 remnants of the army in the city, and a full 20,000 soldiers died on the top of the city.

On the contrary, the Yong army outside the city, relying on sufficient siege equipment and strong combat power, although it was the siege side, only lost more than 15,000 people, and the main force was still intact.

Why haven’t reinforcements come yet?

Cai Lin could see such doubts in the eyes of his soldiers. The city defense was broken, there were no reinforcements outside, and the soldiers were exhausted. Even with the appearance of a famous general, it was difficult for him to continue defending the city. Moreover, Cai Lin believed that he was only a mediocre talent. He smiled wryly. Said sadly: “Tomorrow, please come out of the city.”

Seeing the relieved expressions of the generals, Cai Lin knew that they were not happy because they could save their lives, and no one knew whether Yong Jun would retaliate because of the heavy losses, but as long as he could be freed from the endless siege battle , which is enough.

If there are no soldiers who must be saved, there will be no city that must be defended. The will of the army and the people in Guangling has collapsed, and there is really no possibility of defending it.

After the generals left, a bronze-skinned youth standing in the corner came over and said, “Brother Cai, do you really want to surrender?”

Cai Lin glanced at him and said, “Brother Guanxian, you have already done your best to Cai Mou. Take advantage of this evening to escape from Gaoyou Lake.”

The young man said angrily: “Brother Cai, if it wasn’t for your help in the past, my parents would have been killed by the government long ago. When the two elders were dying, they ordered me to give up my life to repay my kindness. How could I get away alone? If you died, I still have What face to go to see the face of the father and mother.”

Cai Lin said sadly: “I was just a little effort that day, why should you take it seriously? Besides, I asked you to ask General Lu to meet the enemy at Jingkou as soon as possible. I will only ask you to surrender tomorrow, in Pei Yun’s voice. Being a person will not embarrass me, this matter is very important, it is more than my life, take my token and go.”

Guan Feng hesitated again and again, and said: “Since Big Brother Cai said so, I will go to see General Lu, brother, don’t worry, when I see General Lu, I will go back to Huaidong and try to save you.”

Cai Lin smiled and said: “Okay, I’ll wait for you to rescue me, you can leave at night, I’m very tired, I’m ready to take a good rest, it’s rare these days that I don’t have to worry about Yong Jun’s attack on the city at night, so I should have a good rest too. overnight.”

Seeing his haggard expression, Guan Feng said goodbye: “Brother is dear, then I will not come to say goodbye at night, don’t worry, I will be back in five or six days at most, and I will definitely come to look for you at that time. In Jianghuai, I can do it alone. You can come and go freely, and you will never be discovered by Yong Jun.”

Cai Lin nodded and turned back to the inner room.

When Guanfeng took advantage of the darkness to leave Guangling at night, there was only one battalion of the Dayong water army, and the defense was not strict, so Guan Feng successfully sneaked into Gaoyou Lake, swam all night, and landed southward.

On October 24th, Cai Lin slept soundly all night, shaved his face, and put on a Tsing Yi. Taking off his literary popularity, wearing a green shirt, he does not look like a bloody military general defending the city, but like a literati on a study tour. Smile.

After breakfast, the generals and officials of Guangling were already waiting outside. He glanced at everyone and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, everyone, it is Cai who is leading the stubborn resistance, and if Yong Jun wants to incriminate, Cai will be in charge. “Everyone looked at each other in dismay. Seeing Cai Lin’s expression so magnanimous, everyone felt relieved.

At the beginning of the time, Cai Lin ordered the North City Gate to be opened, and he led his generals and Guangling officials to walk to the Yongying camp to ask for their surrender. At this time, Pei Yun had already received the report, and he was quite concerned about this Nanchu general who had resisted the army for half a month. Admiration, in order to show respect, he also brought all the generals to greet him, and the two sides stopped only after a distance of twenty feet.

The generals of the Yong army looked at Cai Lin and were secretly amazed. This man looked like a white-faced scholar.

Cai Lin looked at the stern Yongjun army in front of him, and smiled lightly. He was originally a son of an aristocratic family, and he was from a scholarly family. Ping, so that the army has been defeated so far, what face is there, please surrender.

He raised his hand, stopped the generals of Southern Chu, and stepped forward alone, several meters away from the Yong army’s formation, the other side stood still, looked at Pei Yun, the commander of the Yong army, and said loudly: “General Pei, Cai Lin is delusional and leads the crowd to resist your army. In half a month, blood splashed on the lonely city, if the general wanted to blame, Cai Lin would take it all, please forgive the soldiers and civilians in Guangling.”

Pei Yun also said loudly: “The war between the two countries should be like this. Pei is not talented, and he will not retaliate against the Guangling military and civilians for this.”

Cai Lin laughed loudly and drew his sword out of the scabbard. Deputy General Huang Cheng only said that he wanted to present the sword seal to express his intention to surrender, so he brought the general seal over, but Cai Lin drew the sword and said by the neck: “Cai is Nan Chu. My lord, there is no reason to ask for surrender, today I am apology with death, and Vice-General Huang will take charge of what happens after him.” After saying that, Pei Yun drew his sword and killed himself in the voice of “No!”

Blood dripped, and Cai Lin fell to the ground.

The people in Southern Chu were all stunned, and Vice-General Huang shouted, and threw himself in front of Cai Lin’s body and wept bitterly.

Even though the generals of Yong Jun had hatred in their hearts, their hatred was dissipated at this moment, and they looked at Cai Lin’s corpse and groaned.

After a long time, the lieutenant burst into tears, and UU Kanshu www.sonicmtl.com took Cai Lin’s blood sword and sword seal and bowed down, saying: “The last general, Huang Cheng, the deputy general of the Guangling battalion of the Southern Chu Huaidong Army, on behalf of the military and civilians of Guangling, I ask General Pei, the Jiedu envoy of Huainan, to surrender, and I only ask the general to forgive the soldiers and the common people, and the last generals and others are all at the disposal of the general.”

Pei Yun got off his horse and took the sword seal and said, “Pei Yun, envoy of Dayong Huainan and general of Pingwei, would like to accept the surrender of the soldiers and civilians in Guangling on behalf of my emperor. General, please be relieved. Pei will not kill the soldiers and civilians in Guangling to vent his anger.”

The deputy general bowed his head and said, “I will thank the general and forgive me at the end.” Behind him, the generals and officials of Guangling bowed down and apologized.

At this point, the bloodiest scene of the Huaidong Battle finally passed.

After Pei Yun comforted the officials of Guangling’s surrender, he returned to the main camp and was about to arrange to march into Yangzhou. At this time, there was a letter from Wei Ping sent by the Chuzhou messenger. Pei Yun opened it, frowned, and handed the letter to the generals for circulation. .

Du Lingfeng accompanied him and read the letter. He was the most anxious, and exclaimed: “How is it possible, Jing Changqing is already in prison, and his family is still involved, but the whole family has disappeared without a trace. How is this possible?”

Zhang Wenxiu, He Ying and other generals also looked at each other, Pei Yun said lightly: “A Jing Changqing is nothing, but this matter shows that our army is too rushed. I passed my general order, He Ying followed me to take Yangzhou first, and Wenxiu was in charge of taking Huaidong various troops. The town is cleaned once, and all those who are closely related to Southern Chu must be checked carefully, and there is no need to leave any troubles. It is better to leave some gaps for those officials and people who are loyal to Southern Chu to flee south, so that Huaidong will be quieter, the emperor’s The meaning is to keep the Huaisikou firmly, and even if the river cannot be successfully crossed, Huaidong cannot be lost again.” The generals responded with a bang.

Three days after Yong’s army repaired Guangling, Pei Yun led his army to Yangzhou. On October 29, Yong’s army reached the outskirts of Yangzhou. .

[End of this Chapter]