Chapter 1387: 1388 The disastrous defeat of Shu
Chapter 1387 The disastrous defeat of Shu in 1388
Just when everyone thought that this battle would be a one-man show by the 7th Army of the Tang Dynasty, the cooperation of the Tang Army began to show its power.
The 6th Army of the Tang Dynasty in Chu took advantage of Zhang Xuan's main force moving south and stormed the Xishan Fortress. In the end, it took two days to completely wipe out the defenders and seize this important strategic stronghold.
Then the Tang army entered Shu from the Xishan Fortress, like a high-rise building, rushing from the heights of the mountains to the plains of Shu.
At this time, the Qin Army's defense line completely collapsed, and the flanks of the Qin Army's main force, which was attacking the 7th Army, were exposed to the front of the 6th Army.
Although Zhang Xuan tried his best to restore his flank defense line, he ultimately failed: the Qin army collapsed across the board, and this time they were even more embarrassed than when they were in Chu.
The troops of the Tang Empire penetrated into Zhang Xuan's heartland in one fell swoop, disrupting all the Qin army's defense plans.
Zhang Xuan, who had no choice but to use his "rabbit attribute" once again, retreated with Qin's remaining defeated troops, handing over a large amount of rich land to the Tang army.
As the weather got warmer, the Tang army controlled a large amount of cultivated land and fertile areas in Shu, which gave the Tang army more advantages in time.
Without any delay in farming, the Shu land will soon resume production and provide a large amount of food supplies to the Tang army.
Having lost the plains of Shu, Zhang Xuan could only retreat to the Shushan defense line, huddled with Yingxu who had previously been unable to support him due to lack of troops.
Sun Guang, who had made great efforts to counterattack the Tang army before, was completely betrayed this time: all his mobile forces were wasted on supporting Zhang Xuan's counterattack, and now no one can support him.
The Qin army, which suffered heavy losses, retreated to the vicinity of Qingluan Port, and then embarrassingly found that they did not even have much ammunition left.
Sun Guang asked Zhang Xuan and Yingxu for help, but the reply he received was "I can't do anything." Think about it, Zhang Xuan was defeated all the way, and now there are only more than 100,000 of the hundreds of thousands of troops left. What ability can he have to support Sun Guang?
Five days later, the 7th Army of the Tang Army surrounded Qingluan Port. On the same day, the 6th Army of the Tang Army surrounded Kangrao, the old capital of Shu.
For Qin, this was simply a nightmare: Zhang Xuan's hundreds of thousands of troops escaped in Chu. They thought they had stabilized the situation, but they lost most of them in a local counterattack.
After twenty years of hard work, I returned to before liberation. Hundreds of thousands of Qin troops were divided and surrounded, and they were already meat on the chopping board.
At the same time, the Qin State lost almost all the valuable places in Shu in a few days, and it seemed that the remaining parts could not be saved.
This kind of state of overwhelming defeat is actually the norm in war: before it was evenly matched or barely holding on, when the last bit of strength is exhausted, the weaker side will suddenly collapse.
This was the case with the Qin State. Because they had no follow-up support and the main force was exhausted, they were defeated very quickly, as if the 6th Army had swept across the flanks and performed a miracle.
As the saying goes, outsiders are just watching the excitement. With repeated reports from the Tang Dynasty, a group of famous generals from Dahua within the Tang Dynasty have gradually surfaced: including Qian Jinhang, a famous general in the staff, Feng Kezhi, commander of the 9th Group Army, and the newly famous generals. Zhao Chen, commander of the 6th Army in the world. Within 15 days, the Tang army conquered Kangrao, entered Qingluan Port, launched street battles, and occupied the flanked protrusion of the Shushan defense line.
In the eastern part of Shu, Quanyuan, the last city controlled by the Qin army near Chu, also surrendered to the Tang army in despair. The 110,000 Qin troops nearby laid down their weapons and prevented themselves from destruction.
After losing two-thirds of the Chu territory, the Qin army had to retreat to the westernmost section of the Shushan defense line, including the area including Shushan City.
With the addition of Huaishan and Huxuan, which are still under the control of the Qin army, the Qin army is now almost driven back to the mainland.
Finally, Sun Guang escaped from Qingluan Port in a submarine, and with him was the Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Mike Rawell.
Because Qin has lost almost all of its coastline, Sun Guang and Ravel can only return to Dorne - their positions seem to have been reversed.
There is also an interesting little story here. The lucky destroyer Qin Guo Courage survived until this moment without sinking. It had been docked in Qingluan Port and later chose to sink itself.
Two hours after Sun Guang left Qingluan Port, the Qingluan garrison surrendered, and 100,000 Qin troops surrendered, bringing the Battle of Qingluan to an end.
By this time, the Tang army had captured nearly one million Qin soldiers in Shu. Among these troops were more than 100,000 strong men from Shu. After being screened, they were sent home, while the rest stayed in prisoner-of-war camps to serve as laborers.
Millions of troops have been "annihilated", and the Qin army has fallen into complete passivity strategically. Just like Desan's last moments, the only thing they can comfort themselves now is that the war is still in Qin's homeland. Except this is an excuse.
“Prime Minister, how is your majesty’s condition?” In the palace, the foreign minister lowered his head to greet the emperor.
Ying Ke, who was the temporary regent, looked gloomy and replied worriedly: "Your Majesty is just overworked. I don't have any idea... How is the situation in the Tang Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Tang State is extremely domineering. They sent away our special envoys without even showing up to Nangong Hong and Jiang Run." Qin's Foreign Minister replied through gritted teeth.
"We are already willing to surrender and cede Nanjiao and other places...they still haven't agreed?" Ying Ke asked in surprise. In his opinion, this was the first time that Qin had offered to cede territory and pay compensation, and the other party should send a respectable person to receive him no matter what.
But then he understood: the other party's communication was much better than his, and he must have already known the news that the war situation in Shu had changed.
It’s no wonder that others have looked down on Qin’s price tag. If he were the other party, he would not agree to seek peace at such a critical moment. That was the first time the Western Continent had the opportunity to realize the dream of unification!
"Forget it... keep sending people, and this time we will say that we are willing to pay an additional 200 million gold coins. As long as the Tang State offers conditions, don't refuse, just repay me." In the end, Ying Ke finally felt that he could not let go. He took every opportunity to continue the negotiations with Tang Guo.
After seeing off the foreign minister, Ying Ke waited for several generals from the military. They brought a series of bad news. The situation in Shu had collapsed. The Qin army has lost its largest granary and money warehouse, and the remaining days will be difficult...
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I had a cold and felt very uncomfortable, but after a whole day, I finally made up for what I owed.
(End of this chapter)