Chapter 679: The Destruction of the Southern Tang (Part 2)

Jianmen Pass was built in a mountain plank road about two meters wide. It could accommodate not many soldiers, but could only accommodate more than a thousand people for defense. Similarly, the attacking side could only invest more than two thousand people at most. The two armies carried out small-scale attacks and defenses again and again in the narrow mountain road.

The battle to attack Jianmen Pass had just ended, and the Northern Tang army had retreated. The narrow plank road was filled with the bodies of the dead soldiers. The bodies were covered with arrows, the blood-stained plank road and the stone walls beside the road, several small stone casters had fallen apart, and the air was filled with pungent blood.

The city tower and walls of Jianmen Pass were also covered with scars. Most of them were hit by stones. A wooden pillar was broken. Half of the city tower collapsed. Hundreds of casualties were also killed and injured in the Southern Tang soldiers. The bodies and wounded soldiers were carried down. More than a thousand soldiers leaned on the city exhausted. This was the first battle that Jianmen Pass encountered since the Sui Dynasty. Many soldiers fought for the first time. Every soldier was heavy in his heart, and the fear of death enveloped the hearts of every soldier.

In a corner of the city tower, a soldier was counting the number of casualties in the Northern Tang army. He had been counting for a long time, and the soldiers next to him were impatient.

"Wang Sanlang, are you fucking clear?"

"Don't make a noise!"

The soldier waved his hand, and he focused on counting, and the result was almost coming.

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The soldier finally found out, and he shouted to everyone excitedly: "I have counted it clearly, there are a total of 155 corpses."

"That's so fucking bad!"

Several soldiers couldn't help but curse, "The defenders died more than those who attacked the city. What kind of natural danger is this?"

"Maybe the enemy troops that fell into the deep ravine should be included!"

"That's all, people have never been messed up at all. You haven't seen it. There are only two people who fell down in total, or they fell down after being shot. In addition, there are only one hundred and fifty-seven people. How many have we died? It seems like three hundred?"

The soldier couldn't remember it clearly and asked at the top of his voice: "Person Zhang, how many people have died?"

"Three hundred and twenty-five people, more than four hundred people were injured."

"I heard that, twice as much as others. If we hadn't had this natural danger, we would have died long ago. We would have been the only one man who was in a pass, and we would have been able to open it!"

"There is no way to do this. People are all experienced and have many battles. Who has fought here? One person died, and his family’s pension was 200 trump card, and there were fifty acres of land. What did we die in battle?"

The soldiers on the top of the city were silent, and someone shouted, "The Governor is here!"

The soldiers stood up one after another, and saw a large group of soldiers coming from the plank road. In front of them was a general, Chen Xuanli, the chief general of Jianzhou. Chen Xuanli has always been the imperial guards in the palace. He has followed Li Longji for decades and is over 60 years old this year. Last year, Gao Lishi passed away in Yuzhou. Chen Xuanli ran to attend the funeral, which angered Li Fuguo and was demoted to the governor of Jianzhou.

In this battle between the prince, he supported King Peng because he hated Li Fuguo deeply. He ranked fourth in the joint letter from all officials. As a result, King Peng was killed and the prince ascended the throne. Chen Xuanli felt heavy in his heart. He had just received news that during the Chengdu Purgatory, many of his old relatives and friends had been confiscated and imprisoned. He knew that if the Northern Tang army had not attacked the Southern Tang Dynasty, he would not have escaped the purge.

Chen Xuanli is usually stationed in Jianmen County, but since yesterday, he moved the commanding army to Jianmen Pass Town, which is only a dozen miles away from Jianmen Pass. He stationed 20,000 troops there and can support the battle for Jianmen Pass at any time.

As soon as the battle ended, Chen Xuanli rushed to the pass to inspect. He had already heard the report and more than 700 people were killed and injured, while only more than 100 people on the other side were killed. This really surprised him.

"See the Governor!"

The guard of Jianmen Pass was a general named Hong Yun, who was originally a general of the Yulin Army. He followed Chen Xuanli for many years and was his confidant general.

Chen Xuanli nodded, "What is the situation of the Northern Tang Army?"

"I have retreated, but I can hear the sound of drums vaguely. I guess there will be another attack today."

"Has Tang army used thunder?"

"No, it's useless, it's very strange. I don't think the Tang army really wants to solve the problem. What do they seem to be waiting for?"

Chen Xuanli didn't say anything. He walked up to the city and saw the plank road full of corpses of Northern Tang soldiers. He couldn't help but frown, "Put all the corpses and burn them immediately. It's easy to break down in such a hot day, causing a plague."

"yes!"

Hong Yun agreed and immediately ordered the soldiers to collect the body. Chen Xuanli called him again, "Give each of them a pottery jar to prepare bones. I heard that each of them had military cards, so they put them in the jar."

"But......"

Hong Yun felt that Chen Xuanli was a little too kind to the enemy. None of their own soldiers treated this way and were buried directly.

"Nothing, but this is my order, go quickly!"

Hong Yun did not dare to disobey the order, so he hurriedly ran to make arrangements. Chen Xuanli looked at the mountains in the distance, and his heart was full of worries. He had just received news before he went up the mountain that Li Sheng's 50,000 elite army had entered Guozhou, and was only one Zizhou away from Yizhou where Chengdu was located. At most, four or five days, Li Sheng's army arrived in Chengdu. The Southern Tang Dynasty was about to collapse. What's the point of him defending Jiange here?

But he didn't want to bear the reputation of surrendering in the battle. His only hope was that Chengdu would die first and then surrender to Northern Tang. In this way, he would not be humiliating his reputation.

"Governor, it seems not good!" Hong Yun ran back and whispered beside him.

Chen Xuanli was stunned, "What happened?"

"I just checked the grain and found that there was not much food left. I asked Sima Jin again. He said that there had been no food for Jianmen County for two days. Bei Zhi was a little worried. There would be no accident in Jianmen County!"

Chen Xuanli has been in Chengdu for the past two days and has not cared about food. He was a little stunned when he heard this. Jianmen Pass Town stationed 20,000 troops, and the food consumed a lot. Jianmen County had to transport grain every day, not one day late. Now it is obvious that he has not transported grain for two days. Why didn’t the marching Sima report to him? He was extremely displeased and said: “Let Jin Sima come to see me!”

After a moment, the marching Sima hurried over, "See the Governor!"

"I'll ask you, why don't you report to me if there is no food for two consecutive days?"

"Report to the Governor, I want to report, but the Governor came yesterday and no one saw me. I went to the military camp twice and was stopped. I asked the Governor to report this morning, but the Governor came out early in the morning, and I was very anxious."

Chen Xuanli was upset about Chengdu in the past two days and did not intend to interfere in military affairs. He could not blame the marching Sima completely. Helplessly, he asked again: "Okay, I won't blame you. I just ask you, why don't the military ration come? Besides, how much military ration do we have?"

"I'm also very surprised that the military rations are not coming. I have sent someone to check them out. We can support the military rations for two days now. I hope that military rations can be delivered today."

Chen Xuanli felt something was wrong in his heart. Something must have happened in Jianmen County. Could it be that Guo Yingyi took over his army?

At this moment, soldiers rushed in from afar, shouting in horror: "Governor, something happened!"

All the soldiers stood up at the closing of Jianmen, looking at the terrified soldier, wondering what happened?

"What a panic!"

Chen Xuanli was afraid of confusing the morale of the army and scolded him angrily.

The soldiers rolled up and climbed up the pass, and said in a crying voice: "Governor, 20,000 Northern Tang cavalry emerged from somewhere. They attacked the camp of Jianmen County at night. General Fu could not resist it. He had already led his army to surrender. The food route was cut off the day before yesterday."

The news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking Chen Xuanli. There was a lot of discussion on the pass. The news instantly spread throughout the army, and the feeling of despair spread among the soldiers.

"Governor, has Chengdu been captured?" Hong Yun asked nervously.

Chen Xuanli was confused and shook his head, "Chengdu was not captured. The Tang cavalry should have come from the Lizhi Road. I have said that there is a problem with the defense there, but the court did not listen."

"Then...what should I do now?"

"I don't know either! We guarded the Jiange to the death, but in the end we were trapped on the mountain."

Chen Xuanli sighed, "The enemy's troops are at the city, and the Eastern Palace will fight for power and throne. If the heavens do evil, it can be done, but it can't be lived!"

At this moment, the sound of a muffled drum sound of "dong!dong!dong!dong!' came from the north of the plank road. This was the Northern Tang army's attack again. The defenders of Jianmen Pass looked at each other. At this point, what is the need to resist?

A sound of horse hooves came, and a Beitangchi went up the mountain and stopped a hundred steps outside Jianmen Pass. He set his bow and arrow, and shot an arrow on the top of the city with an arrow inserted into it.

A soldier picked up the letter and handed it to Chen Xuanli. Chen Xuanli took it and he was stunned for a moment. The envelope read: 'General Tiance, the governor of Anxi, and King Zhao Li Qing'an to General Chen Xuanli.'

This is Li Qing'an's handwritten letter! He opened the letter in a hurry.

‘After leaving Chang'an, is Old General Chen safe? After a year, the carp in the Wei River began to flourish, the wine in Pingkangfang was fragrant, and the old willow on Zhuque Street had sprouts. I don’t know when will the public go back to Chang'an again?

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With just a few words, Chen Xuanli's eyes became a little wet. The deepest string in his heart was quietly plucked. He sighed, feeling that he had never been as weak as he has today.

"Governor, brothers..."

Chen Xuanli turned around and saw more than a thousand defenders looking at him blankly, their eyes full of expectations and begging.

"You guys... really don't want to fight anymore?" Chen Xuanli asked in a hoarse voice.

The soldiers nodded silently. Who took the lead and put down the bow and arrow. After putting the weapons one by one on the ground, the soldiers knelt down, which was a silent plea.

"All right!"

Chen Xuanli sighed, "Listen to my order, the whole army put down their weapons and follow me down the mountain to surrender!"

With Chen Xuanli's surrender, Jianmen Pass, the northern gate of Shuzhong finally opened. Li Guangbi led a 100,000 army across Jianmen Pass and headed towards Chengdu. At the same time, the 50,000 army of Li Sheng from the east also entered Zizhou and marched into Chengdu.

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The city of Chengdu was already in chaos. Before the purge of all officials had ended, news of 170,000 Tang troops entering Bashu were heard. Although the Li family ordered the blockade, the intelligence personnel of the Northern Tang Dynasty were extremely active and spread the news to thousands of households. The Southern Tang regime had lost all their hearts at this time. Every household closed its doors and prayed in front of the Buddha, begging the Northern Tang army to enter the city as soon as possible.

Officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty also set off a wave of resignation. It was very simple to resign. They wrote a letter of resignation and were in poor health. Then folded the official uniforms and placed them on the desk, and hung the official seal on the beam of the court room. This means that they are no longer the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Everyone can see that the situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty is hopeless, and no one is willing to stay on this big and broken ship that is about to sink.

Even the new emperor Li Shi was desperate. He locked himself in the deep palace, drinking and enjoying licentiously every day, and in his words, even if he did not have the power of the emperor, he needed the pleasure of the emperor. Li Fuguo was still devoted to it. He wrote letters to Xu Guan all day long, hoping that every prefect or county magistrate in Shu would organize the people to resist the Northern Tang army and march into Chengdu.
To be continued...