Su Tingzhan rode his horse on the frozen ground on the northwest bank of Moling Lake, and the iron hooves stepped on the unmelted ice, clicking, in the white sunlight of the afternoon, the tower in the southeast corner of Jiangning City shone brightly.

The more than 10,000 soldiers and horses who followed him traveled hundreds of miles in a hurry, but they were not tired of stepping off immediately, on the contrary, their fighting spirit was very high.

seized Xuanzhou, Lishui and other cities, slaughtered the troops, and released the violent spirit of the soldiers, but there were only more than 1,000 households in Lishui, Xuanzhou and other cities, how could the slaughter of the whole city be exhausted? The big girl and the little daughter-in-law with good looks, there are only 100 people in a city, and they are not enough for the generals to play with, and the ordinary generals naturally have no hope.

Jiangning is like a large piece of fat and oily beauty/meat in front of you, more than a million mouths, endless property to plunder, countless beauties to play with at will, not to mention running a hundred miles a day, that is, running for ten days in a row, and the strength is also sufficient.

And the newly surrendered prisoners of the imperial camp army were even more full of violence in their hearts.

The early generals of the Jiangning garrison, even after the collapse of the military household system, were mostly recruited from local children.

During the Li Zhuo period, considering that the children of Jiangnan were born comfortably and had the courage to kill the enemy, when the troops were increased twice, they recruited brave soldiers from the Haosi refugees on the north bank of Chaotiandang, on the one hand, it was also to reduce the pressure of a large number of refugees on Jiangning.

However, after Li Zhuo left Jiangning, Cheng Yuqian did not screen the soldiers and their families from the displaced households well, and after the Haosi area settled down for a while, they were expelled back to their hometowns together.

King Ning went south to take up the domain, and the accompanying guard camp were all children of the north, and when the guard camp was expanded, the generals and soldiers also chose the northern exiles; Or this issue has not been solved.

The Imperial Camp Army was formed on the basis of the Ning Wangwei Battalion and the Jiangning Garrison Army, which made the source of the soldiers of the Imperial Camp Army complicated. Due to the serious land annexation of Jiangning Prefecture and the exceptionally strong local forces, neither Li Zhuo, Gu Wuchen, nor Chen Xiyan in the later period could achieve the military reform of using fields to restrain military households and military households to restrain soldiers.

During the Jiangning Rebellion, there were generals in the city who had a small family and might still have the heart to defend the land, maintaining more than 2,000 people; After the Huaidong Army entered the city, many of the soldiers who had fled before also brought their families to vote, and almost gathered more than 1,000 people, but the rootless soldiers accounted for the majority, and almost all of them became unscrupulous and riotous.

Xie Chaozhong led the soldiers and horses of the imperial camp to the south, most of which were the descendants he gathered during the period of King Ning's guard, especially the group of military attachés promoted by the old team of the guard, after the fall of the north, almost all of them were scattered. They surrendered to the Zhejiang-Fujian army and slaughtered the land south of the Yangtze River, which was even more crazy.

It is said that the troops will be surrendered with them, and the military attaches will be slaughtered with them, even if there are a few ordinary soldiers who can't bear it, how can they get out of the mud without being stained?

Extravagant Wenzhuang incorporated the imperial camp soldiers into the right wing, and then slaughtered the troops to block the retreat of these soldiers, at least so far it has been successful. Otherwise, the right wing would definitely have gathered enough 30,000 soldiers and horses, and after the small-scale slaughter of Lishui and other cities, the soldiers and horses on the right wing would have a high morale for entering Jiangning.

When Su Tingzhan and his troops arrived, there were still a small number of soldiers in the Huaidong Army operating outside the imperial city.

Su Tingzhan sent several small groups of soldiers and horses mainly to expel them, and under the temptation and stimulation of the massacre, the soldiers of the imperial camp army were not afraid of battle at all, and even forced the Huaidong army's scattered soldiers into the imperial city, and it was difficult to take advantage of the small-scale battles between the streets and alleys.

This situation also made Su Tingzhan have more confidence in his heart.

"Huaidong's secret soldiers deployed on Jinchuan Prison Island landed at sunrise, nearly 3,000 people, all wearing strong armor, bows, crossbows, knives and spears, the remnants of the imperial camp army and the government army, protecting the family and retreating to the imperial city before the general came, there were more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in total," the leader of the Jiangning dark pile stood in front of Su Tingzhan and detailed the details of Jiangning City, Han Bin and Chen Ruyi all followed Wang Xueshan to the west by boat, and the leader of the dark pile left behind was a middle-aged man who was not good-looking, and he was in Jiangning in the business of running a car foot shop, "There are only more than 800 ambush soldiers in the city, They are scattered everywhere in groups to disrupt the situation in Jiangning, and they can't stop it, so please surrender the general! ”

"You did a good job, you still go into the city, make good use of your men, and monitor the situation in the city......" Su Tingzhan said.

The previous dark piles and the ambushes that poured into Jiangning City with the displaced people were mainly used to disturb the situation in Jiangning City and ensure that Jiangning City could not organize an effective defense before most of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops arrived.

Since the 3,000 secret soldiers deployed by Huaidong on Prison Island have come out, it is not something that these ambushes can solve.

"The general doesn't lead his troops into the city?" The leader of the dark pile asked in surprise.

"Then you have to wait for the second prince to come over," Su Tingzhan responded, and then ordered, "Those rebels in the city, you send someone to contact, if you are willing to surrender, you must go out of the city before tonight to accept the reorganization, and there will be a chance for them to indulge in the future." After tomorrow, I will send troops in and out to suppress it, and there will be no mercy! And when he had commanded these, he let him go down.

The Huaidong secret army combined with the unscattered imperial camp army, and there were still six or seven thousand troops, and retreated to the imperial city to hold on.

Su Tingzhan can only mobilize 14,000 troops outside Jiangning City at the moment, and if he divides his troops to control the four cities and various key passes in the city, it will undoubtedly give the Huaidong army in the imperial city a chance to break through. Moreover, he can use too few men and horses at this time, and if he wants to use them all to surround the imperial city, how can he be sure that there will be no more ambushes in Huaidong on Prison Island?

If his 14,000 people suffered a big defeat in the first battle, they could only avoid Jiangning and leave.

Don't look at the successive victories of the Zhejiang-Fujian army, but fundamentally they have not got out of the danger, the main force of the Jiangzhou army and the Huaidong army is slowly coming, as long as they take one wrong step, they will fall into a situation from which they will never recover.

Su Tingzhan is a veteran of the Zhejiang and Fujian army, how could he rush into the city before the enemy situation is known?

Moreover, the Huaidong soldiers and horses occupy the imperial city, and if he wants to control the outer city and surround the imperial city, the turmoil in the city will inevitably be suppressed, so that he can organize the offensive in an orderly manner, which also requires a large number of soldiers and horses, which he can not do immediately.

In addition to those who fled out of the city, it is estimated that there are nearly 10,000 imperial battalion troops and Jiangning Mansion army rebels in the city. If they were encircling the Imperial City, and suddenly one or two hundred Huaidong soldiers came out from behind, the joke would be bigger.

Su Tingzhan ordered his generals to lead his troops to bypass the southern city, first occupy the Donghua Gate and the East Water Gate, and separate the imperial city from the prison island.

Su Ting led the main force of troops and horses, and then all of them were transferred to the camp outside the Donghua Gate, and the other seven gates were only assigned to garrison more than 1,000 people in total; The main reason is that Donghua Gate is the closest to the imperial city, and it is about to storm the imperial city, and the main force of soldiers and horses will be concentrated near Donghua Gate.

On the side of the imperial city, Su Tingzhan didn't pay attention to it for the time being, and had to wait for Luo Wenhu to lead his troops over, and also for Tian Chang, Hao Feihu, and Yu Wenfei to lead the main force of the middle road soldiers and horses to come over, so that he could have enough troops to control such a large city.

Outside the Donghua Gate, thousands of acres of fertile fields, looking at the flat domain, the dense buildings of Hekou Town stand in sight. The farmers on the left and right and the town of Hekou also fled, and only three or five people closed their doors and looked at the soldiers and horses outside in fear.

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Sun Wenbing and Lin Xulu stood behind the guard wall sentry hole, and when they saw the front army of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army coming to Dongcheng in black, they also sweated in their hearts.

Gao Zongting first had to protect the imperial city, and the elite armor guards and the military guards of the Jiyun Society were all transferred to the imperial city, and only more than 1,000 people were left on the prison island to defend. As long as the enemy army is determined to attack Prison Island, they can only abandon the island and flee.

It's not that Su Tingzhan doesn't want to take Prison Island first.

The soldiers and horses of the right flank forcibly requisitioned civilian boats near the Rouge River and captured the warships of the Jiangning naval army, and reluctantly formed a naval army of 4,000 people. Just as the Huaidong reinforcements came from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the navy on the right wing of the Zhejiang-Fujian army had to come from the upper reaches of the Rouge River, which was shallow in winter, which was much slower than the land route, and it would not be possible to reach Jiangning until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

Although Prison Island is only five or six hundred steps away from the river bank, Su Tingzhan has no naval army in his hands, and he can't temporarily recruit enough boats, so he boarded the riverbank wharf surrounded by more than 100 horsemen and looked at the prison island across the water, and he could only look at the island and sigh, helpless.

Since there was no condition to storm Prison Island, Su Tingzhan had to guard against the Huaidong Army from using Prison Island as a base, using warships to pass through various estuaries and quickly intersperse into the hinterland of Jiangning.

Because Su Tingzhan led his troops to gain a firm foothold in Donghua Gate, after Xu Feihu got the letter, he and Yu Wenshan accelerated their camp from Jinshan, and 10,000 soldiers and horses rushed to enter Jiangning at night. Luo Wenhu also led his troops to rush from Lishui, so that the soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang-Fujian army in Jiangning suddenly increased to more than 34,000 people, in addition to Tian Chang led more than 20,000 main forces of the Middle Route Army, on the way to Jiangning.

Compared with the swiftness of the Zhejiang-Fujian army, the Huaidong side was slightly slower.

In this season, the northwest wind is in full swing, and it is a headwind against the Huaidong Water Camp that comes against the current, but before nightfall, Lin Zonghai personally led more than 2,000 soldiers of the vanguard of the Dongyang Mansion Army to cross into Chaotiandang and enter Prison Island.

A little later, Haowenzhuang, who had been sitting in Guangde and commanding the armies of all walks of life in the center, was surrounded by cavalry and rushed nearly 300 miles in one day and one night to Jiangning to personally supervise the battle.

Under the cold moon, Hao Wenzhuang wore a plain cotton robe, his cheeks were thin and sunken, his eyes were puffy, and he was haggard.

Although the Zhejiang-Fujian army won one after another, the life of Luwenzhuang was not easy, and his heart was becoming more and more tormented.

The big tent is located on the tower of Donghua Gate, and through the whistle hole on the inside, you can clearly observe the imperial city under the cold moon.

The Huaidong armor soldier was already standing on the head of the imperial city, the sword and spear reflected the light of the cold moon, and the cold wind was howling in the sky above Jiangning City, coming through the whistle hole, like a ghost crying wolf.

"The four cities and nine gates are already under control, and you can send troops to expel the rebellious soldiers as soon as the morning dawns," Luxury Feihu said, "Feihu is willing to lead the elite to prepare for defense on the inside of Donghua Gate, as long as the Huaidong Army has just come out of the imperial city, it will be killed!" ”

"Tell me, give you 20,000 soldiers and horses, how long will it take to capture the imperial city at the earliest?" Hao Wenzhuang asked, looking at the generals beside him.

Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang, Yu Wenshan, Fang Zhenhe, Luo Wenhu, etc. were all silent and did not speak, Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang, and Yu Wenshan are all veterans of Zhejiang and Fujian, and if they want to fight slowly, they can always capture the imperial city, and those who can be called elite in the imperial city are only three thousand soldiers in Huaidong, but no one can say how fast it can be.

In addition, there is also a palace city in the imperial city, which means that as long as the soldiers inside do not surrender, even if the city wall is captured, further inside, there will still be a bloody battle step by step.

This of Luxury Wenzhuang, even Luxury Feihu can't easily answer.

"Is ten days enough?" Haowenzhuang, who has always been calm and calm, couldn't help but ask impatiently.

Huaidong's troops on the northern front are limited, Yue Lengqiu is a slippery head, and what Yuwenzhuang is most worried about at the moment is the main force of the Huaidong army that has entered Hangzhou and is led by Lin Tie.

The 60,000 soldiers and horses of the Huaidong Army led by Lin Tie were the last 500 miles away from Jiangning.

Zheng Mingjing led the left flank of 20,000 elites to retreat to Liyang, although it was to block the main force of the Huaidong Army to go north to Jiangning, but Liyang City was really not precipitous, otherwise the Hanghu Army would not have collapsed after ten days.

Lin Jian can even leave 30,000 soldiers and horses to monitor Zheng Mingjing's department, and lead the remaining 30,000 elites to bypass Liyang and continue to march north, as long as they rush to Jiangning and join the soldiers and horses on the northern front, the Huaidong Army's soldiers and horses on the periphery of Jiangning will also reach 60,000. In addition, the Jiangzhou army approached from the right flank, and the Zhejiang-Fujian army was still at an absolute disadvantage in Jiangning and in terms of strength.

If the imperial city can be taken down before the main force of the Huaidong Army arrives and Jiangning City is completely controlled, this battle will naturally continue.

If Lin Jian led the main force of the Huaidong Army to arrive, and the imperial city could not be captured, and the Zhejiang-Fujian army was forced to retreat into the outer city to defend, the situation would be sinister-

"Huaidong guards the imperial city but not Donghua Gate, is it bait?" Fang Zhenhe suddenly came to his senses at this time.

"yes!" Luo Wenhu reminded Fang Zhenhe, patted his thigh and said.

Yu Wenshan's eyes also lit up, and he wanted to say something more, but when he saw that the Metropolitan Governor, the second prince, Tian Chang, and Su Tingzhan all looked as usual, they realized that they had seen this a long time ago, but he and Fang Zhenhe and Luo Wenhu only saw it at this time.

The Huaidong Army held the Donghua Gate, which was less than ten miles away from the prison island in a straight line, and there was no precipitous terrain in the middle for the Zhejiang and Fujian troops to insert. As long as the Huaidong Army's reinforcements from the Yangtze River and the Dongyang Prefecture Army entered Prison Island, they would be forced to withdraw from Jiangning. However, as long as the main force of the Huaidong Army did not come, it would be easy for them to withdraw from Jiangning.

And the Huaidong army defended the imperial city, that is, they saw that even if they couldn't beat the imperial city, 60,000 soldiers and horses could barely defend the outer city, although the situation was sinister, but it was not without a chance to win, this was to tempt them to stay and fight a decisive battle!

Will this bait be swallowed or not, or will it just turn around and evacuate from Jiangning? If you turn around and leave, you will run to Jiangning City with all the hard work, how will you explain to the generals below? Do you say you're afraid of the Huaidong Army? Do you want to fight when you encounter the Huaidong Army in the future?

What a poisonous bait!

Fang Zhenhe also realized his sluggishness and smiled awkwardly.

Su Tingzhan asked Hao Wenzhuang directly: "What if the left wing withdraws now?" ”

Zheng Mingjing retreated now, and he would definitely be able to rush to Jiangning before the main force of the Huaidong Army, then they would have enough troops to attack the imperial city calmly while holding the periphery.

Tian Chang said: "If the left flank withdraws, even if we can attack the imperial city from the beginning, the Huaidong Army and the Jiangzhou Army can calmly block the roads on the periphery of Jiangning!" ”

"Jiangning City alone is enough to defend for half a year," Su Tingzhan said, "In half a year, the eldest prince will be able to go down to Jiangzhou and lead troops to help!" ”

Luxury Feihu still has 40,000 elite soldiers in Jiangxi, which is also the last elite of the luxury family, and he stayed in Yuzhang and did not move until Yue Lengqiu was transferred out, and then he brazenly went north to fight Jiangzhou. Yang Xiong still has a small 20,000 naval army to join, as long as there is enough time, the Zhejiang and Fujian army can gather troops on the periphery of Jiangning, no less than the Huaidong army and the Jiangzhou army, not to mention that they still occupy Jiangning City.

"In half a year, Beiyan will inevitably have action," Yu Wenshan said, "No matter how timid Luo Xiancheng is, he should be able to see the situation clearly!" ”

"What if Huaidong categorically gives up Xuzhou?" Tian Chang asked rhetorically.

Lin Jian has always implemented the strategy of defending Huai and defending Xusi, and operated a defensive line in Xusi, including the two elite units of the Huaiyang Army and the Fengli Army, half of the troops of the Jinghai Third Water Battalion, warships and a large number of baggage soldiers, all deployed on the Xusi defense line.

However, once Huaidong abandons Huaidong's outer defense line and temporarily retreats to the banks of the Huai River, a Huai River can replace 20,000 or 30,000 elite soldiers in a short period of time, which means that Huaidong can transfer one of the Huaiyang Army or Fengli Battalion to the south to participate in the war.

Going south from Shanyang to Jiangning was closer and faster than moving west from Chongzhou, so as to offset the forces that the Flying Tiger might bring.

Even if half a year is enough for Beiyan to make a move, what the specific situation will be cannot be accurately predicted at the moment, and everything is still a gamble.

Luo Xiancheng's Changle Army claimed to have 20 soldiers and horses, but the Changle Army was not as good as Liu An'er's Huangjue Army in its heyday, so it could not be expected too much, nor could it be expected that Yang Xiong's Dongting Lake Kou could compete with the Huaidong Water Camp on the Yangtze River.

"The left flank does not retreat to Liyang, but advances to the southwest foot of Xiling, how long can it intercept the main force of the Huaidong Army?" Fei Fei Hu asked through gritted teeth.

Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang and others were all shocked.

Zheng Mingjing led his troops to retreat to Liyang City, and the main force of the Huaidong Army could not delay for too long, but it had an advantage in troops, and most of them would choose to divide their troops to bypass Liyang. And once Zheng Mingjing takes the initiative to attack and use the low-ridge terrain in the south of Liyang to intercept the Huaidong Army, there can only be two results: one is to intercept for enough time, withdraw to Xiling or Fuyu Mountain in the south, or encircle and annihilate the main force of the Huaidong Army.

The 20,000 soldiers and horses on the left wing led by Zheng Mingjing were all soldiers of Fujian, and they gambled with the soldiers and horses on the left wing, just to buy a few more days for the imperial city here, which was a bit of a big gamble - it was better to turn around and leave immediately, retreat to Yangjiang and Xuanzhou, and slowly shrink the troops to Huizhou.

Su Tingzhan, Tian Chang and others all looked at Luwenzhuang together, and saw that the Metropolitan Governor had slightly swollen eyes, silent and silent, and their hearts were also raised to their throats, worried that the Metropolitan Governor would also gamble.