The conquering southern army changed its commander, and many things were no longer decided by Zhou Shizhong.
Hearing what Tu Yuan said, Zhou Shizhong was silent for a while, neither nodding in agreement, nor expressing objection. He just looked up at Tu Yuan, exhaled a breath, and asked: "General Tu, I heard recently that the emperor is not in good health.
Tai Kangjian, you are from Yandu, how is your Majesty's health?"
Tu Yuan glanced at Zhou Shizhong and said calmly: "If you ask this kind of question, I can only tell General Zhou that the emperor is in good health."
Having said this, he paused and then said: "However, the emperor has issued an edict to let His Highness King Qi supervise the country and observe the government. General Zhou does not need to worry."
Tu Yuan and Zhou Shizhong were old acquaintances. Although the two men had conflicts on some military issues, Tu Yuan did not hide anything and told everything he knew.
What he meant was that although Emperor Yongping was not in good health, the crown prince of Yandu had been established, and even if the emperor suddenly disappeared, the situation would still be stable.
Zhou Shizhong sighed and said: "The Holy Lord has been in the government for more than thirty years. The whole Zhou family is what it is today because of His Majesty's promotion. Now it is inevitable that we feel sad."
"I don't quite understand what General Zhou said in such a formal way."
General Tu walked to the main seat in the tent, sat down, closed his eyes and said, "But from our perspective, Master Zhu Li, after leaving the Yang world, we are returning to the embrace of our ancestors."
"Everyone will have such a day."
Tu Yuan said slowly: "The most important thing for our army in the southern expedition now is to solve the immediate problem so that the emperor will not have to worry about going south."
"This is the greatest filial piety to the emperor."
Zhou Shizhong nodded silently and did not answer.
Tu Yuan sat on a chair, squinted his eyes and smiled: "General Zhou, I have seen the current situation of the Huai'an army. There are about 80,000 troops and horses surrounding Xuzhou on all sides."
"As far as I know, there are more than 40,000 Southern Dynasty troops in Xuzhou City."
"Faced with a garrison of this size and 80,000 people besieging the city, they can break out from whichever side they want."
"On the contrary, our army conquering the South is dispersed and cannot please all sides."
Zhou Shizhong looked calm and asked: "In General Yitu's opinion, how should we fight?"
"I mean, focus on the offensive side."
Tu Yuan looked calm and said: "Concentrate all your strength and attack the four gates. In fact, you mainly attack one of them."
"The direction of the main attack may not be fixed. We can attack from the south today and from the north the day after tomorrow."
"In this way, the southerners couldn't tell where we were going to attack from, but they had to defend all four gates. We immediately took the initiative."
"On the main offensive side, we have an absolute advantage in terms of strength and can always suppress the Southerners."
Hearing Tu Yuan's words, Zhou Shizhong was startled, and then he suddenly became enlightened.
yes!
There is no need for him to fight around the city of Xuzhou, or even around Xuzhou.
Because their goal is not to annihilate all the Chen State troops in Xuzhou City, but to drive these Chen State troops back to the south!
In other words, they only need to break through one city gate and drive the Huai'an army out of Xuzhou City.
Zhou Shizhong raised his head and looked at Tu Yuan, and first sighed with emotion: "General Tu has made brilliant military exploits in northern Xinjiang these years. Zhou was still a little dissatisfied at first. But today it seems that General Tu's thoughts are indeed much more lively than Zhou's."
"but…"
Zhou Shizhong sighed and said: "General Tu may not know that the man who led the troops in the Southern Dynasty is named Shen Yi. Although he is young, he is very meticulous in his work and there are no loopholes to be found."
"Even if one of the gates of Xuzhou City is stormed, it will be difficult to defeat it."
"This general knows."
Tu Yuan said calmly: "When I was in Yandu, the Purity Department already told me about Shen Yi's situation."
"Since he took over Xuzhou City by trickery, we must suffer some losses if we want to drive him out."
Tu Yuan looked at Zhou Shizhong and said quietly: "General Zhou, the Southern Conquest Army has lost Xuzhou and must take it back. Even if some people die, it is the price that the Southern Conquest Army must pay."
"At this time, there is no art of war left."
Tu Yuan looked serious and said in a deep voice: "It's just four words that can defeat skill with force!"
"If the conquering army cannot be defeated, my imperial army will continue to fight."
"Even if people die, we can still continue to recruit troops."
Tu Yuan said coldly: "But if the south cannot be stabilized, you and I will not be able to explain it to the imperial court, and our Daqi society may be affected by this."
"General Zhou, we are warriors who lead troops, not those scholars who are mother-in-law and mother-in-law!"
"Now is not the time to cherish feathers."
"Not fighting hard."
Tu Yuan had no expression on his face and said in a low voice: "Don't talk about the emperor's difficulty. In the future, the new king will take the throne. It seems that the south has not stabilized yet, and none of us can make peace with it!"
Zhou Shizhong was finally convinced.
He was silent for a while, lowered his head and sighed, clasping his fists and saying, "Then, just follow General Tu's orders."
"good."
Tu Yuan grinned and said: "Don't worry, General Zhou, I am Zhu Li Zhenren. My future is not in conquering the Southern Army, but in the border army in the north, and in the future I will be in the three camps of the Forbidden Army."
"After this battle is over, the Southern Conquest Army will still be the Zhou family's Southern Conquest Army."
Zhou Shizhong laughed at himself.
"General Tu made fun of him. Now, Zhou no longer thinks about this..."
………………
The next day, on the wall of the North Gate of Xuzhou, Shen Yi looked at the Qi people who had finished lining up not far away and were approaching slowly, with a serious look on their face.
Lin Sheng hurriedly came from a distance, lowered his head and held his hands behind Shen Yi, breathing heavily.
"Sizheng, there are people on all sides!"
"Attack almost at the same time!"
Master Shen felt a mixture of joy and sorrow.
Naturally, he was happy that after he had "coupled" with the Conquering Southern Army for so long, the Conquering Southern Army finally couldn't hold back anymore and attacked Xuzhou City with a full-scale attack.
This plays right into Mr. Shen's plan.
In this way, he only needed to hold on to the city and consume a large amount of the Northern Qi's troops in the Southern Expedition, thus reducing the difficulty of the upcoming all-out Northern Expedition.
Worryingly, early this morning, the newspaper department came to report that the banner with the word Zhou had been replaced in the camp of the Conquering South Army.
Replaced with a pictorial flag.
Now, on the flag held high by the Qi army not far away, there is also a large picture with characters.
This means that the Conquering South Army has changed its generals.
The general has been changed, but Shen Yi doesn't know much about the new general's approach.
Therefore, I feel somewhat worried.
Thinking of this, he looked back at Lin Sheng and said: "Give me the order to close the four doors. For now..."
"Keep watch for a few days and check the situation."
At this time, he cannot be rash, Shen Yi needs to wait and see the situation.
Lin Sheng bowed his head respectfully, turned around and went down to deliver the order.
After Lin Sheng left, Shen Yi looked at Ling Su on the side and said: "General Ling, the Northern Qi Conquest of the Southern Army has changed its generals. Don't be rude. You need to be more careful in this battle."
Ling Su lowered his head slightly and said, "Yes, Mr. Shen, don't worry, I will personally command the defense of the city."
As he said that, he picked up the telescope and looked at the Qi army who was about to enter a stone's throw away. Then he put down the telescope, looked back at Shen Yi, and frowned slightly: "Mr. Shen, there is no catapult and no battering ram.
There are only a few ladders."
"It really doesn't look like siege."
Shen Yi stood on the tower and looked at everyone. He nodded slightly and said, "It's a little strange."
"Defense as usual, I'm here to see if these Qi people are any different from before."
Ling Su nodded silently. He carefully watched Qi Ren's movements. After Qi Ren entered the arrow spot, Ling Su no longer hesitated and waved: "Fire the arrow!"
If the archers of the Huai'an Army encounter enemies in the wild, they will be divided into three rows, front, rear, and middle, and shoot in sequence. This can fill the shooting gaps and prevent the enemy from getting close.
But this doesn't have to be the case when defending the city. Under Ling Su's command, all the archers fired one round at a time.
The Qi army in the north had poor military quality. After being shot by arrows, some of them barely raised their shields, and some were shot to the ground before they even had time to lift their shields.
Under the rain of arrows, these Qi troops approached Xuzhou with difficulty.
When Shen Yi only saw this, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly and frowned: "It seems there is no difference from before."
He looked at Ling Su and said, "General Ling, please guard the north gate while I go to the other gates to take a look."
Ling Su clasped his fists and lowered his head: "The last general takes orders."
Shen Yi was turning around and preparing to walk down the tower when suddenly a messenger hurried over and half-knelt in front of Shen Yi, bowing his head deeply.
"Mr. Shen, east gate!"
Shen Yi was startled by these two words and shouted: "What's wrong with the east gate!"
The man finally took a breath and continued.
"A large number of Qi people appeared at the east gate, and the offensive was extremely fierce!"
Shen Yi breathed a sigh of relief and went straight down to the tower without saying a word.
Ling Su, who was on the side, was also startled and glared at the messenger.
"Next time you report like this, Mr. Shen will spare you, and I won't spare you either!"
The messenger lowered his head, a little aggrieved: "General Ling, the little one just can't breathe..."
Ling Su looked at him and asked: "Is only the east gate hostile? What about the other two gates?"
The messenger shook his head.
"I haven't heard anything yet."
Ling Su nodded silently, suppressed the thought of going down to the east gate to take a look, looked back at Qi Ren below the city, and waved his hand.