Chapter 1363: Heavenly Punishment

Chapter 1363: Heavenly Punishment

After dealing with Chen Qian and others in Fujian, the Tang army did not choose to directly launch an expedition to Lingnan, but stopped to rest for a while, and reorganized and adjusted the subsequent expedition plan.

After all, Lingnan is the last and farthest geopolitical block in the process of conquering Jiangdong. Only by completely conquering it can the war of conquering Jiangdong be considered to have a successful conclusion.

The expedition to Lingnan is more complicated than other places, especially in the Middle Ages when various technologies are still relatively backward. The pressure of logistics and supply alone can add a lot of variables to the war, and make the situation of the war more complicated, requiring more considerations.

Of course, these possible variables and comprehensive considerations still require the front-line generals to make decisions based on the actual situation. What the Tang Dynasty court in the rear can do is to give the front-line divisions and brigades all kinds of support within their capacity, especially in terms of money, food and materials.

The pacification of the Three Wus has provided a more accessible large base for subsequent military operations. The attack on the tyrants in the Three Wus, especially in Wuxing, also allowed the Tang army to obtain a considerable amount of supplies.

In recent years, the development of people's livelihood in Jiangdong has been hindered. Even in the Three Wus, bandits are rampant, and ordinary people can't make a living, but this does not include those aristocratic tyrants with strong rural assets.

In the Wuxing Shen Zhong family alone, more than 100,000 stones of grain were seized. Compared with those poor people with nothing, the wealth gap is simply astonishing. What's even more ridiculous is that Shen Zhong hoarded so much food, but he was so stingy with his family's food supply that his family members often starved.

So when so many goods were seized from his family, many Shen clan members were surprised, and they had no idea that their family had accumulated such a huge amount of money and food!

Other Wuzhong tyrants may not be as rich as Shen Zhong's family, but they also have considerable wealth. The materials seized from the homes of these nobles and powerful people alone were enough to compensate for the various expenses incurred by the troops after crossing the river, and they could also provide strong material support for the subsequent wars, saving the court from the labor of transporting them from the Central Plains and Shannan.

However, this series of actions would inevitably cause great shocks to the social structure of the Three Wus. After all, those nobles and powerful people were not completely without value. They still played a significant role in maintaining local stability. Although this role was ultimately used to exploit and exploit ordinary people, as a long-running social order that was suddenly broken, it was inevitable that there would be turmoil in the process of breaking and then building.

The more optimistic situation at the moment is that although there will be some turmoil in the Three Wus, due to the thorough sweep of various rural armed forces, these turmoils are mainly due to the chaos in the supervision of personnel and the distribution of materials, and the need to re-establish order, but no war will be caused.

Previously, Chen Chang, the Lord of Chen, and the people of the Southern Chen court had been moved to Qin County in Jiangbei. Quan Jingxuan and other troops were stationed in Jiankang, ready to fully take over Jiangdong and directly manage it.

So after Minzhong was pacified, the Yangzhou General Administration Office moved to Jingkou and officially began to deal with the military and political affairs of the Three Wus. The most important content of this was to establish the government soldiers in the Three Wus. The various military offices initially planned to have 10,000 soldiers, who would follow the main force of the Tang army to conquer Lingnan.

In terms of the upper-level personnel of the expeditionary division, Li Xun moved to Jiangzhou and temporarily sat in Nanchuan, Quan Jingxuan sat in Jiankang, Tian Hong was stationed in Kuaiji, and Shi Ning, as the main general, took the lead in carrying Chen Qian's head and some prisoners of war to Luoyang to report his military exploits after completing the conquest of the Three Wus, and no longer participated in the subsequent conquests.

It was not because Shi Ning had any problems during the conquest, but because he had some physical problems. Shi Ning had been stationed in Longyou Liangzhou for a long time before, and his body had become ill due to overwork. He had only gritted his teeth and persisted for several years when he was transferred to Jiangxia. This time, the expedition to the Three Wus was in the late winter and early spring, so he could not stand the drastic change in the climate and became ill.

Because of his poor physical condition, he was afraid that his condition would worsen when he went south to conquer Lingnan, so the Supreme Emperor specially summoned him back to the court to recuperate. It was a pity that he could not participate in the subsequent wars, but the merit of pacifying the Three Wus alone was enough to make him famous in history.

Although the series of wars seemed to be somewhat calm and very smooth, it was because the previous years of operation had given the Tang Dynasty an absolute advantage in the confrontation between the two sides, and being able to fully utilize these advantages and naturally complete this historic achievement, Shi Ning and other meritorious men were also qualified to be proud of it.

After Shi Ning returned to the court, the court sent Li Xiannan to preside over the expedition against Lingnan. In addition to necessary military actions, the expedition to Lingnan also requires sufficient wisdom and means to deal with the more complex ethnic and rural issues in Lingnan. Li Xian is a talent with both these abilities and wisdom and courage. I believe he can solve the war in Lingnan smoothly and properly.

This time, the Tang army still adopts a combat method of dividing troops into three routes and advancing in parallel. In addition to the main division of the central route, which will be led by Li Xian to the south, there is also the eastern route of the naval division that will continue to move south from Fujian and attack Guangzhou. The Guizhou division led by Li Qianzhe in the west will move south along the Li River to attack Anzhou, Jiaozhou and other southwestern states that threaten the Lingnan region.

After receiving the order, Li Xian immediately went to Kuaiji to repair his armored staff. By the time the divisions and brigades were ready for war again, it was already midsummer in May. Not only was the weather getting warmer, but the water in the canals and ponds in various parts of the Yangtze River was overflowing again, and waterway traffic was restored. This made it easier for the army to advance and retreat, so all the troops continued to prepare to set off to attack Lingnan.

Just before Li Xian led his troops to leave, Kuaiji received another group of uninvited guests. They were envoys sent by Ouyang Kai, the governor of Guangzhou, to ask for surrender.

"Previously, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty also sent envoys to the state to ask questions. Lord Ouyang was deeply proud and deeply moved. At that time, he already had the heart to return to his righteousness, but he was helpless because he was in a remote place. Although he had deep thoughts, he could not fly across the mountain. Worship. Now that I heard that Master Wang had conquered Sanwu and was about to enter Fu Lingnan, the state leader could not help but cry with joy. He sent his subordinates to express his feelings to Xiang Yi and welcome Master Wang to the country. The stubborn thieves who rule the roost!"

The envoy sent by Ouyang Kai was named Mr. Jiang, who was also a well-known talent in Jiangdong. He had been living in Lingnan due to Hou Jing's rebellion. Now, as the envoy of the Ouyang family and his son, he came to ask for the surrender of the Tang army. His words were also sincere and sincere. People can't help but feel good after hearing it.

"It is really gratifying that Lord Ouyang assesses the situation and understands the righteousness so well. It would be a great kindness if all the matters in Lingnan can be solved smoothly without any casualties. In the future, I will be a minister in the same palace as Lord Ouyang." A great pleasure!”

After Li Xian saw Mr. Jiang presented Ouyang Kai with a reduced form, he couldn't help but smile, looked at Mr. Jiang and said with a smile.

The Tang Dynasty court had been trying to contact Lingnan forces from very early on, but the results were not very satisfactory. After all, the previous Tang Dynasty had little impact on the Lingnan region. Therefore, although the Ouyang family maintained contact with the envoys sent from the north, they never discussed any substantive issues.

There is a certain amount of business exchanges between them, but due to the obstruction of a series of mountains such as Dayuling, the development of business has been greatly restricted, and it has not formed a large scale.

Obviously, Ouyang Wei's statement that he had long wanted to return to his righteousness was just a polite statement. If the Tang army had not made a huge breakthrough in the Jiangdong area this year, and the situation in Lingnan had also undergone tremendous changes due to Hou Andu's defeat and return, it would have been The Ouyang family's power and even survival were under great threat, and they probably would not choose to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

But these are not important. What is important is what attitude the person holds at the moment and how he will act. Guangzhou is the most critical and core area in the Lingnan region. If the Tang army can take over Guangzhou without losing a fight, it will undoubtedly play a decisive role in the subsequent Lingnan war!

At present, the Tang Army has various channels to understand the changes in the situation in the Lingnan region. It also knows that the conflict between the Ouyang family and Hou Andu has reached the point of irreconcilability. Now that Hou Andu is powerful in Lingnan, he also poses a huge threat to the Ouyang family. , under such circumstances, choosing to seek refuge with Datang is also a wiser move to save oneself.

At the same time, Xu Du and other former southern generals also expressed their willingness to go to Guangzhou to surrender, so Li Xiandang even sent the navy to take the lead, land in Guangzhou, and cooperate with the Guangzhou division and brigade to attack Hengzhou, while he himself led the division and brigade. Go south by land to attack Hengzhou. When the Minzhong fleet arrived in Guangzhou, Ouyang Kai had already passed away, and hemp flags were hung high throughout the city, creating a sad scene. Ouyang He Sujin, the son of Ouyang Yu, came out to welcome him, allowing the Tang army to enter Guangzhou City.

On the second day after the Tang army arrived, Hou Andu, who learned of Ouyang Yu's death, led the Hengzhou army to attack Guangzhou in large numbers. Although the old saying goes that mourning is ominous, it is a matter of life and death. However, if you have one or two opportunities, you must make the most of them. How can there be so much etiquette and ethics?

Moreover, the Ouyang family has dominated Lingnan for many years, which was also based on the oppression of the powerful chiefs in the territory. Now that these chiefs have a new leader, they are naturally happy to see the Ouyang family suffer misfortune. They not only vent their grievances that were suppressed before, At the same time, I also hope that after defeating the old overlord Ouyang, I can participate in sharing its legacy.

However, they did not expect that the Ouyang family would move so quickly. Seeing that the situation was not good, they would defect to the Tang Dynasty early and have already attracted the Tang army to station in the city. Thousands of Tang army divisions and brigades in the city, plus nearly 10,000 Ouyang soldiers, gave them a head-on attack when the enemy invaded, forcing the divisions and brigades to retreat for more than ten miles before they could barely stabilize their formation.

Hou Andu was only making a tentative attack this time and did not advance all the main forces. After learning that the Tang army had settled in Guangzhou, he was naturally shocked.

He knew that he could not give the Tang army too much room to perform, otherwise the momentum and atmosphere he had finally created would be destroyed, so he immediately ordered the main army to rush to Guangzhou City. With the advantage, Guangzhou City was surrounded, and with the strong means of surrounding Guangzhou City, more powerful chiefs in the territory were called on to join in.

The heroes in Lingnan didn't have a deep understanding of the personnel outside Lingnan. In addition, after the Tang army arrived, they were blocked in Guangzhou city, and they didn't show much power in front of others. They only saw Hou Andu becoming more and more heroic, and even directly attacked Ouyang. The family's old nest was under siege, and it suddenly became more and more felt that Lingnan was really going to change. Even some of the powerful chiefs who originally planned to continue to wait and see how the situation changed felt that the situation was very clear, and they all chose to join Hou Andu. Under his command, Hou Andu's momentum suddenly became even greater.

The Ouyang family has controlled Lingnan for many years, so it is impossible that they have no supporters. However, the various changes in the past have greatly damaged the prestige of the Ouyang family. In addition, the death of Ouyang Wei at this time has caused a lot of obstacles to the communication between the upper and lower levels.

Now that Hou Andu and the chieftains have surrounded Guangzhou City, even if they want to rescue it, their own strength alone is no different from moths flying into a flame. They can only hope that other people in the Ouyang family, such as Jiaozhou Governor Ouyang Sheng, will lead the army to help them, and they will choose to join them. Otherwise, they can only let the Ouyang family fend for themselves.

However, Jiaozhou is still far from Guangzhou, and the power of Li Ben's troops who have been rioting in Jiaozhou in recent years has gradually recovered, making the situation in Jiaozhou somewhat unstable.

Moreover, if you want to reinforce Guangzhou from Jiaozhou, you have to go through Anzhou, Yuezhou and other places. But now Anzhou Governor Ning Kui has chosen to raise troops to respond to Hou Andu. If Ouyang Sheng wants to lead his troops through this, he will inevitably have to go through a fierce battle. If they only count on the Lingnan division, the Ouyang family will have little chance of survival.

However, as time went on, the situation soon reversed after the Tang army's land divisions arrived in Lingnan one after another.

The first to arrive in the combat area were Li Qianzhe's troops from Guizhou. After pacifying Lingbiao Chunyuliang last year, this group of troops had been stationed in Guizhou for rest and recuperation. Now they were ordered to go south again, and they were still full of fighting spirit. After entering the country, they successively broke through Jingzhou, Dingzhou and other prefectures controlled by the Lingnan Li Liao chieftains, and the troops were directed to Anzhou and Yuezhou.

After a period of unsuccessful persuasion, Li Qianzhe joined his brother Li Xian from Ningzhou to attack Anzhou. In addition, Ouyang Sheng's troops, who had joined forces from Jiaozhou, fought from the side. After a series of battles, they directly broke the Ning family's nest. Ning Kui had no choice but to lead a part of his troops to flee to the east and prepare to go to Hou Andu.

However, Hou Andu's situation was not much better. He knew that only by conquering Guangzhou could he greatly expand his strategic depth. If he just retreated to Hengzhou, he would soon be besieged by the Tang army from both sides. He would be in a difficult situation under the attack from both sides.

Moreover, the Li Liao tribes gathered around him were all barbarians who feared power but not virtue. Once they saw that he was no longer strong, they would probably scatter like birds and beasts. So if he wanted to get a more stable situation, he needed to capture Guangzhou before the Tang army came south.

During the days of the siege, he organized the army to launch a fierce attack on Guangzhou City every day. In order to motivate the soldiers, he directly piled up gold and silk on the high platform outside the city to motivate the soldiers. As long as someone got the credit for conquering the city first, he could take money and goods.

With these tangible encouragements and temptations, these Lingnan villagers also fought bravely, launching dozens of siege battles of varying sizes every day. However, the defenders in the city were extremely stubborn and repeatedly repelled the offensive, so that Guangzhou City was not conquered for a long time.

Just when Hou Andu was full of anxiety, the news he least wanted to hear inevitably came: Tang Jun's scouts had appeared outside Hengzhou City, and its main force was rapidly moving southward along the Dongjiang River to Shixing.

At present, Guangzhou City has not been conquered, but the Tang troops from all directions have already come fiercely. This is undoubtedly the worst situation. Even if Hou Andu has any more strategies and wisdom, he is completely helpless at this time. He can only order his confidants to stay here and continue to attack Guangzhou City, while he leads the elite troops back to Hengzhou to delay the Tang army in the north as much as possible in the north of Hengzhou, so as to buy more time.

But this was obviously just a good wish. After understanding the terrain of Lingnan, Li Xian, the commander of the Tang army, was worried that the war would be delayed until the hot summer and the spread of miasma would increase various non-combat casualties and thus hit morale. Li Xian did not choose to advance step by step.

He asked the main infantry to advance southward along traditional waterways such as Yuzhang River and Dongjiang River, and he led 5,000 elite cavalry to cross the Nanling Mountains directly and bypass the south of Hengzhou. The original intention was to connect with the divisions and brigades in Guangzhou to launch an offensive against Hengzhou in advance and cut off Hou Andu's retreat, but he did not want to directly intercept Hou Andu who was preparing to return to Hengzhou on the way.

Hou Andu was shocked when he suddenly saw the Tang army in the territory. He thought Hengzhou had been captured by the Tang army, and he was about to lead his people to withdraw to the outside of Guangzhou to join the army. However, since he was targeted by the elite cavalry of the Tang army, how could he let him escape easily? They chased and killed Hou Andu all the way, and finally evacuated to the southwest based on their understanding of the terrain.

Through the interrogation of the captives, Li Xian also learned about the current siege situation in Guangzhou. After weighing the pros and cons, he did not return to Hengzhou to join the main force, but chose to rescue Guangzhou directly.

When Li Xian led his troops to appear outside Guangzhou, tens of thousands of Li Liao troops outside the city were a little surprised, wondering where such a majestic force came from. Some of them were optimistic and thought that Hou Andu might have won over help from somewhere else, and even applauded.

However, when the drums and horns sounded and these mighty men and horses charged towards their formation, these Li Liao troops could no longer laugh. They had never experienced the power of the Tang army's cavalry and archery before, and had no idea how to line up to deal with it. Now they were enlightened for the first time, but they had to pay the price with their lives!

"How could soldiers be so fierce? Could it be that the heavens sent down soldiers to punish them?"

Under the trampling of the Tang army and the shooting of arrows, the Li Liao tribe members who did not even have basic armor had no power to resist and could only flee for their lives. At this time, the Tang army soldiers who were galloping and hunting on the battlefield were like heavenly soldiers to them.

Soon, there were large-scale casualties on the battlefield. Countless corpses of Li Liao tribe members were lying on the road, spreading for dozens of miles around, and the entire Guangzhou city was littered with corpses!