Chapter 998 Across the River

Chapter 998 Across the River

The Western Wei Dynasty might send troops to intervene in the war between the two countries. This situation was not unexpected by the Northern Qi Dynasty. However, the rapid dispatch of troops, the investment of so many troops, and the rapid and violent offensive greatly exceeded Northern Qi's expectations.

After all, the Western Wei and Nanliang had old grudges over the Battle of Jiangling, and the Western Wei had just experienced a series of turmoils such as the change of power. In addition, the East and West had just vowed to stop fighting in the Luoshui League. Even if they turned against each other, it would be unlikely. There should be some scruples.

The Western Wei Dynasty's fall out of favor was certainly beyond Northern Qi's imagination, and the Nanliang's tenacious fighting spirit and fierce resistance were something Northern Qi could not have expected at the beginning of the war. After all, Chen Baxian had just stabbed his allies in the back and had not been in power for a long time. The one after another rebellions in the country proved that he did not yet have the ability to control the overall situation.

Various wrong judgments and overly optimistic imaginations led to the inevitable defeat of Northern Qi's war.

The loss of Liyang was not immediately reflected on the battlefield, which had a bad impact on the Qi army, which still maintained its offensive posture. The Qi army was even trying to cross the Qinhuai River and complete the north-south rendezvous east of Jiankang City.

However, the sudden heavy rain restricted the movement of the northern and southern troops. In view of the fact that the Qi sergeants in the north of Jiankang were particularly affected by this harsh combat environment, Chen Baxian chose to lead his elite troops to attack the enemy camp at the foot of Shogunate Mountain. , captured the camp in one fell swoop, causing a chain-like collapse of the surrounding enemy forces.

Many soldiers rushed back to the river, trying to board the ship and escape. However, the surge in the river made it difficult for them to reach the warship anchored in the harbor. Some used reeds to bundle rafts, and others directly threw logs into the river. But these unreliable methods were unable to save them, and soon the riverside along Zhidu was filled with drowned corpses.

As the landing camp at the foot of Shogunate Mountain was breached, the rest of the Qi army fighting in other places suddenly became an isolated and helpless army. Naturally, they were in a state of confusion. They no longer had the majestic momentum before. They were attacked and killed by Liang troops from all directions. They all fled in all directions.

The heavy rain and muddy environment also restricted Liang Jun's performance, making this pursuit battle very difficult and the efficiency of killing the enemy became very slow. When the rain was at its worst, Qi soldiers were lying everywhere on the battlefield, and Liang Jun's victory became more and more obvious.

Chen Baxian suppressed the joy in his heart, and immediately ordered to summon 3,000 elite soldiers, and ordered his general Shen Tai to lead his troops across the river and attack the Qi army's stronghold Guabu on the north bank of the river, so as to prevent the Qi army from the north from crossing the south of the river again. The situation repeats itself again and again.

After making these explanations, Chen Baxian then led a group of soldiers back to Taicheng to report to the emperor the news of a complete victory in this battle and to appease the officials. However, not long after the crowd cheered for victory, the generals who had been sent across the river to fight north returned dejectedly.

"Could it be that we lost the battle?"

When Chen Baxian saw this, he frowned and asked, Guabu on the north bank is the closest ferry to Jiankang. As long as this place is not captured, the Qi army from Qinjun, Guangling and other places can still control the boat to come south.

After hearing this, Shen Tai shook his head and said: "No, no, the general was blocked in the middle of the river before he reached Guabu. It was the Wei army and the Wei army that had already captured Guabu first."

"Wei Jun?"

Chen Baxian frowned immediately after hearing this, and then asked Shen Tai in detail about the scale of the Wei army's battle. After hearing Shen Tai's story, his brows couldn't help but frown even deeper.

Here Chen Baxian led the army to fight hard and finally won the victory in the Jiankang defense battle. The Western Wei Dynasty, which entered the battle at the right time, also gained a lot.

In addition to Liyang, an important town in Jiangbei, the navy that followed did not directly join the fighting around Jiankang. Instead, they bypassed the fierce battlefields and went straight to Jiangbei in Northern Qi. Base melon step.

At this time, most of the Qi troops in the north of the Yangtze River had gone south, and there were still more than 30,000 troops scattered in Qinjun, Guangling and other cities in the north of the Yangtze River. The only ones stationed in Guabu were Xingtai Zhao Yanshen and several thousand soldiers and soldiers.

The navy of the Western Wei Dynasty rushed out of the rain as if a divine force descended from the sky, immediately causing chaos in the Guabu camp. Zhao Yanshen was not known for his military skills, so the main task of uniting the army to the south this time was to coordinate The generals and supervisors were responsible for the logistics tasks, so when fighting on the front line, he just sat in the rear. At this time, he was caught off guard and was attacked. It was difficult to resist. He quickly led the remaining defeated soldiers to retreat to Qin County.

As the advance base of the Northern Qi army, the Guabu camp accumulated a large amount of supplies, including hundreds of large and small boats. There were also a large number of money, silk, rice and armored weapons. Naturally, they were packaged and accepted by the Wei army, and led the boats Li Zhen, Xu Shipu and other generals who had marched here were naturally very happy to see such a huge harvest.

However, it is still not a good time to celebrate the victory and take stock of the results. For fear that the Qi army from Jiangbei will counterattack again, Xu Shipu and other navy generals will take the lead and order the soldiers to carry the supplies to the ship and then transport them to Liyang.

As for Li Zhen, he once again assumed the role of envoy and led more than a hundred soldiers in a small boat to Jiankang City to ask for a meeting with Chen Baxian and explain to him the actions and performance of the Western Wei Dynasty in this war.

At this time, the news of Wei Jun's intervention in the war had also been known to the soldiers of Nanliang. However, when Li Zhen came to Jiankang City, he did not receive a warm welcome. People such as Hou Andu and others directly glared at him. See.

The reason is also very simple. Although the Western Wei Dynasty also joined the battle, the Nanliang soldiers actually did not feel much relief as the pressure was shared. On the frontal battlefield, they still won the victory through their bloody fighting.

As a result, when the results of the battle were finally taken into account, the biggest gain was obtained by the Western Wei army traveling outside the frontal battlefield. However, they seemed to have attracted the main force of the Qi army to the Western Wei Dynasty. This was not easy for anyone to accept for a while. .

Fortunately, Chen Baxian was more open-minded than the generals. When Li Zhen was introduced to Taicheng, he stood up from the banquet to greet him and said with a smile: "Tang Gong is a true believer. He sent troops before, but Governor Li and others did not." Missed date."

After Li Zhen heard this, he also leaned forward and said: "Chen Situ is the real great husband of Jiangdong. Previously, our country's Yingzhou governor and General Wuyang Gongdou Lu decided to use troops to block the river first to cut off the thieves' retreat, and then fight against Chen Situ's control. The army will attack the enemy who landed on the east side of the Yangtze River. Halfway through the plan, Chen Situ has defeated the enemy, and a group of disciples are also deeply impressed!"

What he said is true. After all, Tang Gong really wanted to establish a long-term friendly and interactive relationship with the Jiangdong regime. Therefore, the frontline generals formulated the battle plan based on this, rather than taking advantage of the two sides to fight. In the heat of battle, they maliciously seize the victory.

The reason why the Southern Liang people will feel like they have been robbed of the victory this time is not to blame the Western Wei Dynasty. It is simply because they fought too fiercely. If they continue to be in a stalemate with the Qi army for a period of time, they will wait until the Wei army has cleared the surrounding areas and join them. On the frontal battlefield, they could feel the strong goodwill of the Wei army.

Chen Baxian did not care about Li Zhen's advantage and good behavior, but directly said: "Now the Wei navy has successively attacked Liyang and Guabu, and must have gained a lot. Our army has been fighting hard for many days in Jiankang, and the surrounding grain roads are mostly due to rain. It is difficult to move, and there is a shortage of food in the city. Can the Wei army give some supplies? The soldiers are seriously injured, and the result is very little. The people are uneasy. If they cannot be properly appeased, it will be a hindrance to the subsequent plans of both parties. "

Chen Baxian said it so frankly and directly, which made it difficult for Li Zhen to avoid this question. And he did feel the dissatisfaction of the soldiers, and understood that what Chen Baxian said was true. After thinking for a while, he said: "Since Chen Situ has spoken, I will nod in agreement no matter what. Only this time the use of troops is in charge." There are other generals, so I can only report this to Duke Wu Yang. It’s not up to me to decide what decision Duke Wu Yang makes. Once there is good news, I will report it to Chen Situ as soon as possible!”

Hearing Li Zhen's statement, Chen Baxian nodded and said nothing more. While the generals were dissatisfied with the results of the war and were invaded, what he really paid attention to and worried about was another issue, which was the fierce attack and quick action displayed by the Western Wei Dynasty.

Although the fighting downstream was fierce and Jiankang attracted the main force of the Qi army, this battle also showed that the Western Wei Dynasty already had the naval combat capability to directly attack the downstream and advance and retreat without hindrance.

Especially now that Liyang has been acquired by the Western Wei Dynasty, the entire Huaixi area has been completely occupied by the Western Wei Dynasty, and the Western Wei Dynasty has control of the upper reaches of the Changjiang River, which makes the Western Wei Dynasty become the biggest threat to the Jiangdong regime. !

Chen Baxian also knew that driving the tiger to devour the wolf was a dangerous strategy, but the situation after the war turned into such a dangerous one, which he did not expect. However, this situation had already emerged when Hou Jing's Rebellion was still going on. Afterwards, Emperor Liang Xiao Yi failed to effectively restore it. Now it has become difficult to recover. Chen Baxian did not have a good way to solve it for a while. .

At the moment, all he can do is try to gain as much benefit as possible from this cooperation, so after pondering for a while, he said to Li Zhen: "Qi people are arrogant and arrogant. After this battle, they may not be able to win." I completely give up. The Duke of Tang said that trade and exchange is indeed beneficial to both countries, and I also want to promote this. However, the defense of the Yangtze River is in ruins and trade is difficult to prosper. Therefore, I would like to ask the Wei army to help return the Qin County. gratitude!"