Chapter 1783: Meng Gong defends Jiangling
Chapter 1783 Meng Gong defends Jiangling
Chapter 1781: Meng Gong defends Jiangling
Liu Xiu is undoubtedly a person who takes the overall situation into consideration. He knows that with the strength of his own family, he is far from Qin Hao's opponent, so he formed the Southern Han Alliance with Liu Ji and willingly succumbed to Liu Ji.
The Southern Han Alliance is already the largest anti-Qin force in the world today, and as the leader, Liu Ji is naturally the biggest leader. However, this leader is obviously not easy to do. After all, he must always be on the front line of the fight against Qin.
It was precisely because Liu Jiding was in front to attract Qin Hao's firepower that Liu Xiu could hide behind and take advantage of the opportunity, and Jiangxia was one of the benefits that Liu Xiu took.
Liu Xiu, who had tasted the sweetness, wanted to continue to take advantage of the situation, but Liu Ji gave up.
As members of the Southern Han Alliance, those who contributed did not reap the benefits, but those who rowed did. Why are you, Liu Xiu, so good?
Therefore, not long after Sun Jiancai withdrew his troops, Liu Ji sent an envoy to urge Liu Xiu to march to Jingbei.
Liu Xiu didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but after occupying Jiangxia, he realized after Deng Yu's reminder that the Southern Han Alliance had faced its greatest crisis due to uneven divisions.
After the establishment of the Southern Han Alliance, hundreds of thousands of troops attacked Qin in five directions. Their momentum shocked the world, but so far, they have not achieved major results along the way.
The Shu Kingdom was blocked by Yiling and could not advance even an inch. The Tang Kingdom only occupied half of Wuxiang County and was blocked by Yue Fei. The three families of Yang, Ma and Han suffered heavy casualties in Hetao.
At present, among the entire Southern Han Alliance, only the Chu State, which occupied Jiangxia, can be considered to have truly benefited from this dispatch of troops, and it can be said to be the leader.
The original intention of establishing the Southern Han Alliance was to resist Qin. However, Chu State did not contribute much to resisting Qin, but it took advantage of the opportunity to gain so much benefit. Naturally, other members would feel unbalanced.
With this thought, Liu Xiu realized that if he did not contribute, the attack on Qin might end in vain, and the alliance might even fall apart.
Therefore, even if it was to maintain the anti-Qin alliance, Liu Xiu had to abandon Wu and attack Qin. Otherwise, once the anti-Qin alliance split and Shu retreated, there would be no one to help him block Qin Hao.
It has to be said that Liu Xiu's calculation was indeed brilliant. At least he got real benefits. As the leader of the Southern Han Alliance, Liu Ji also gained huge reputation for forming the alliance, but these were all invisible benefits. On the other hand, the benefits of **** were not much gained, and Liu Xiu took advantage of them.
Under Liu Xiu's personal command, 50,000 Chu troops marched toward Nanjun in parallel by waterway. They were soon informed by Han Shizhong, the naval general on the border.
“Send the news of the Chu army’s invasion quickly, and let the county magistrates prepare to defend to the death.”
After saying this, Han Shizhong raised his head, his eyes full of determination, and said solemnly: "Although I have only five thousand naval troops under my command, it may not be possible to completely block the Chu army, but I can still do it by delaying it for ten days and a half.
The whole army was ordered to defend the water stronghold. We were about to have another fight with Liu Xiu. "
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At the junction of Jiangxia and Nanjun, Qin general Han Shizhong defended the water village with 5,000 naval troops and launched a fierce battle with Liu Xiu's 50,000 Chu troops.
After half a month of fierce fighting with the Chu army, the Qin army's water stronghold was finally breached by the Chu army. General Su Can was killed by Chu general Chong Heihu. The navy commander Han Shizhong led two thousand remaining troops to flee to Jiangling.
After the Chu army successfully ascended the road in Jingbei, they divided their troops into three groups to capture each county. They defeated four counties in less than ten days. According to this posture, it will probably take less than half a month for the three armies to meet at the foot of Jiangling City.
Yiling, inside the Qin army camp.
When they learned that Nanjun was attacked by Liu Xiu, the generals of the Qin army were immediately shocked. After the Sun and Huang families joined forces, they had the upper hand against the Chu State, so Qin Qiong transferred the troops from the eastern front to the western front to fight against the Shu Han.
But neither Qin Qiong nor Lin Xiangru expected that the Japanese pirate rebellion and Shanyue's rebellion would benefit Liu Xiu, and eventually he would win without a fight and easily occupy Jiangxia.
Liu Xiu's victory this time was inexplicable and too sudden. Qin Qiong had no time to prepare. By the time he reacted, Jiangxia had already been occupied by Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu's occupation of Jiangxia was not over yet, and he immediately set his sights on Qin's Nanjun. However, Nanjun's troops were very empty at this time, and it was undoubtedly very difficult to withstand the offensive of 50,000 Chu troops.
“Great Governor, 50,000 Chu troops are attacking, and Nanjun is in danger.”
Lin Xiangru's eyes were full of solemnity and he said in a deep voice: "Once Jiangling falls, our army's food route will be cut off, and it will be attacked by Chu and Shu from both sides. I'm afraid there will be a danger of the entire army being annihilated.
Grand Governor, Yiling can no longer be defended, so we should withdraw our troops quickly to protect Jingbei. "
Of course Qin Qiong knew the importance of Jiangling, but the importance of Yiling was also self-evident.
Yiling is the only dangerous place between Jingyi and Yiling, and it is also the last defensible place. The vast plain behind Yiling is completely undefendable. Once the Shu army breaks through Yiling, the entire northern Jingzhou will be under threat from the Shu army.
But once Jiangling fell, the Qin army would face a flanking attack from two sides, and the entire army might even be annihilated. Qin Qiong had already made a decision in his heart.
"Withdraw the troops, but we cannot withdraw immediately. If the Shu army notices our army's intentions, they will definitely join us in large numbers. It will be difficult to withdraw our troops by then."
Qin Qiong stood up and said in a deep voice: "Immediately send an order to the general and guard Meng Gong, asking him to defend Jiangling for a month to buy time for the governor."
“One month?”
The generals exclaimed one after another, and Yue Yun stood up and said: "Captain, the Jiangling garrison is only three thousand. Even if five thousand new soldiers are added, it is only eight thousand. How can it be possible under the attack of fifty thousand Chu troops?" Last for a month?”
The total number of Jingzhou defenders was only 80,000, but they had to face three Southern Han armies. The strength was too tight, so before the war, Qin Hao urgently expanded the army by 100,000, of which 70,000 were given to Jingzhou.
With the addition of 70,000 new soldiers, the pressure on Jingzhou has been reduced a lot. However, the new soldiers are still new soldiers after all. They can only be used to defend the city and cannot be used in field battles, so the crisis in Jingzhou has not been resolved.
After hearing Yue Yun's words, Qin Qiong thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, I will fly a pigeon to pass a letter to the Xiangyang Governor's Office, asking the Qin Zheng Governor to send reinforcements to the generals."
In Jiangling, guards Meng Gong and Han Shizhong stood side by side on the city tower, looking at the huge crowd of Chu troops below the city, their faces full of solemnity.
“report…”
At this moment, Huo Jun ran over with a serious face and reported: "General Qi, the reinforcements sent by the governor were intercepted by the Chu army and suffered heavy casualties."
"What?"
Han Shizhong exclaimed, while Meng Gong looked bitter and smiled bitterly: "I know Liu Xiu will not let our reinforcements reach Jiangling easily."
To make up for yesterday’s guarantee.
(End of this chapter)