In Jiangxia, Yang Yuanqing, the naval commander of the Yangtze River Middle Road, received an urgent order from Chen Qing. The content was very simple. He ordered him to immediately lead his army to blockade the Han River and intercept Zhang Jun's army to the east of the Han River.
Yang Yuanqing immediately led 200 warships and a total of 8,000 soldiers to attack. The fleet passed through the mouth of the Sanjiang River and headed for the Han River. At the same time, Yang Yuanqing sent more than 300 scouts, divided into 100 groups, to the east of the Han River. Monitor each other's crossing points within hundreds of miles of the shore.
In the morning, one hundred thousand troops arrived in Fuzhou. The army stopped in the south of Jingling County. Jingling County is close to the Han River and Jiangling Prefecture is on the other side.
Zhang Jun stared at the Han River. It was very quiet and no ships could be seen. In fact, this was a signal that there must be military ships upstream or downstream, causing merchant ships or fishing boats to dare not sail.
General Wang Zheng stepped forward and said: "The situation is a bit abnormal. It will be difficult to cross the river the next day. I suggest you choose another crossing point!"
Zhang Jun glared at him, "If there are really enemy ships, it will be unsafe to cross the river anywhere!"
He ordered: "Build a pontoon bridge!"
They collected more than two hundred small boats from various rivers. The fortification soldiers quickly began to use the small boats to build pontoons. They first pulled two long ropes and fixed the boats in the middle of the ropes. The front and rear boats were connected with iron chains and covered with wide wooden boards. It is the best floating bridge across the river.
Halfway through the process, someone suddenly pointed at the river and shouted: "Enemy ship!"
Zhang Jun looked around and saw dozens of large ships appearing a few miles away to the south. They were all thousands of stone vehicles and ships, and they were speeding towards this direction.
Sure enough, it came. In fact, this is what Zhang Jun expected. He wanted a reason to confront Chen Qing's army. Being unable to cross the Han River and the Yangtze River was the best reason. The court had nothing to say. Who made the court delay? Don’t want to build a ship?
"All retreat! Ming Jin retreats!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"
The bell rang rapidly, and hundreds of fortification soldiers on the pontoon turned around and evacuated to the shore. Not long after, dozens of warships docked on the pontoon. The Western sailors poured kerosene on the pontoon and lit it with torches. Boom! The fire was blazing on the pontoon, and the black smoke was billowing, and it soon engulfed the pontoon.
Within two days, Zhang Jun's army built pontoons to cross the river three times, but all three times were destroyed by Western warships. At this time, the logistics of Zhang Jun's army arrived in Jingling County, and Zhang Jun immediately ordered the construction of a plank military camp, which was obviously an attempt to restore the river. The state was going to fight a protracted war. At the same time, Zhang Jun wrote a military report and ordered it to be sent to Lin'an.
At night, Zhang Ziqi was led to his father's tent by his own soldiers. He was returning from Yingzhou, but he passed by the army. When he realized something was wrong, he turned around and came back, spending an extra five or six days on the road.
This is not Zhang Ziqi's fault. Zhang Jun's army originally planned to go to Yingzhou and cross the river from Renshou County, but later found that it was impossible to bring small boats through Yingzhou, so the army changed its route to the south where the river network is densely populated.
Zhang Ziqi did not dare to complain. He reported to his father how he met with King Yong, and finally said: "His Royal Highness King Yong said that he wanted to make a deal with his father. He did not tell the child the specific content of the deal. He said it in the letter."
Zhang Jun took the letter and asked a few more questions before letting his son go down to rest. He opened the letter and read it carefully. The content of the transaction was to use Xiangyang in exchange for not being stripped of his vassal status. Zhang Jun thought for a moment and sent someone again. Invite the staff Wang Jingxiu.
Not long after, Wang Jingxiu walked into the tent and asked with a smile: "Is the eldest son back?"
Zhang Jun nodded and handed him the letter, "Sir, look at this letter. It's an autographed letter from King Yong."
Wang Jingxiu opened the letter and read it carefully, and said with a smile: "King Yong wants Xiangyang, please ask Xuanfu to force Wang Gui to rebel. What a good idea!"
"Sir, do you think this transaction is inappropriate?"
Wang Jingxiu shook his head, "There is no problem with the transaction itself, but the effect will not be very good. After all, Chen Qing cannot control the court. The only ones who can really retain the military power of the Xuanfu envoy are Qin Hui and the Queen Mother."
After a pause, Wang Jingxiu smiled again and said: "But even if Qin Hui and the Queen Mother fight hard, they still need an excuse, and Chen Qing is the best excuse, so this deal can be done."
"Then what should I do, I mean Wang Gui, how can I force him to surrender to Chen Qing?" Zhang Jun asked.
"It's easy to say it is actually very easy, but you have to do it step by step. Ambassador Xuanfu might as well ask Wang Gui to send a batch of grain, and then do this!"
Wang Jingxiu whispered a few words, and Zhang Jun nodded repeatedly. This move was indeed vicious!
Wang Gui was the second-ranking figure in the Yue family army. When the Yue family army was disbanded, he did not choose to surrender to Chen Qing, but directly surrendered to the court. It was also his good luck. In order to appease Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, Zhao Gou
It was necessary to set an example for reducing the vassal status, so this pie fell on Wang Gui. Wang Gui was appointed as the envoy of Xiangzhou and commanded 20,000 troops to guard Xiangzhou, mainly to defend against the Western Army going south from Dengzhou.
Wang Gui has been cautious in the past two years, for fear of offending Zhang Jun. He knows that Zhang Jun has always wanted to annex his army, but was stopped by the court, but as long as there is a chance, Zhang Jun will definitely open his bloody mouth and devour his army.
, without the army, my fate may be worse than that of a soldier.
This time Zhang Jun led an army of 100,000 to the west, and Wang Gui was very nervous. On the one hand, he was worried that the Western army would directly annex Xiangyang as an excuse to start a war, and on the other hand, he was worried that Zhang Jun would ask for a joint attack on Jiangling and take the opportunity to annex his own army.
He is like a small fish caught between two giant crocodiles, trying only to survive by hiding in the cracks.
That afternoon, Wang Gui received news that Zhang Jun's 100,000-strong army could not cross the Han River. The Western Army's warships had blocked the river and had set up camp in Jingling County, Fuzhou.
This made Wang Gui relax a little. Jinling County is about four hundred miles away from them, which is quite far. I wonder if Zhang Jun's hands are that long?
Just as he was relieved, Wang Gui received a message from Zhang Jun, asking him to immediately provide 10,000 shi of grain and 5,000 pigs and sheep.
Wang Gui couldn't help but be extremely annoyed. How could he provide Zhang Jun's food and grass by himself? He had the entire Huaixi Province to provide them with military food. No matter how bad it was, Fuzhou, Yingzhou, Mianzhou and Hanyang Prefecture provided food and grass, but it was not his turn.
However, the other party's request was not much, and he could still get 10,000 shi of grain and 5,000 pigs and sheep. Wang Gui suppressed his displeasure and sent his trusted general Cheng Zhi to lead a thousand soldiers to escort the cart and go overland to Jinling County.
Three days later, the grain transport convoy entered Fuzhou, still more than fifty miles away from Jinling County. It was already dark, and the convoy and the escorting soldiers rested in the woods by the river.
Cheng Zhi was a little worried. After passing through Renshou County, he found someone following his team. I'm afraid tonight is the last night. Something will happen tonight. An uneasy feeling came to his heart. This kind of
The feeling is very strong.
He simply walked out of the woods with the knife. The woods where they camped were close to the Han River. This was also a campsite specially chosen by Cheng Zhi. If there was an emergency, they could escape from the water.
But as soon as he walked out of the woods, he was shocked. They were surrounded by dense black shadows, which had already surrounded them.
"Come in and kill without mercy!" came a fierce voice.
