Finally, under Li Shun's fierce coercion, Li Yaoming and his son were forced to hand over all three restaurants to Li Shun. Li Shun immediately fired all the bartenders and shopkeepers, and used all of his thirty subordinates to do business.
It didn't matter to him if he didn't do it, but the restaurant became his cover. In just three days, Li collected a lot of information by the way and sent someone to send the information to Changde Mansion.
That afternoon, Zheng Ping brought Wang Hao, commander of the Internal Affairs Battalion, to Chen Qing's tent. After listening to Wang Hao's report, Chen Qing walked two steps with his hands behind his back: "Are you sure their target is the fleet in the Baling River?"
"Reporting to the capital, they went to the Baling River three times. Li Shun went there last night, and then this morning, he sent people to ride out of the city and go south. In fact, they did not do it well and were full of loopholes, making it easy for others to
Discover."
Chen Qing said calmly: "They are not regular soldiers. It is normal for spies to be rough. I don't care about this. What I care about is what Yang Yao wants to do? How should we deal with it to make the most profit."
Speaking of this, Chen Qing looked at Zhang Xiao, the counselor next to him. Zhang Xiao thought for a moment and said: "Du Tong, I have an idea, which may be the most profitable!"
.........
That night, Chen Qing ordered Yang Zaixing to be the chief general, Liu Qiong to be the deputy general, and his counselor Zhang Xiao to follow. They led 5,000 cavalry to leave from the north gate, go south around the city, and run towards Changde Mansion in the southwest...
..
At the same time, Chen Qing ordered hundreds of craftsmen to build a batch of large ship models in the military camp, but the Song army still did not alert Li Shun and his men in the three restaurants.
Yang Yao finally received the express letter sent by Li Shun. The content of the letter made him ecstatic, and he hurriedly sent for military adviser Huang Cheng.
"Sure enough, the military advisor guessed it right!"
Yang Yao couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart and said: "I just got the news from Li Shun. It is indeed the Jin soldiers operating in Jiangbei. The Song Dynasty court urgently transferred all the naval forces back to Runzhou. Chen Qing still has some warships.
Those ships just transferred from Poyang Lake!"
Yang Yao and the others all knew that the warships in Poyang were older, had more problems, and had poor combat capabilities. They had always looked down upon these ships.
"Can your Majesty be sure?"
"Li Shun said that he paid a large sum of money to a county government officer who was a family friend of theirs. It was this officer who revealed that Chen Qing's current army numbered less than 20,000, and he brought 15,000 from the west.
There are also nearly 4,000 Yuezhou troops brought by the army, which means that all the navy troops have been transferred back to Runzhou."
Huang Cheng pondered for a moment and said: "Previously, the king said that he would lead a large army to Baling to show off his power. But if the king wants to attack the ships on the water of Baling, it cannot be flamboyant. It must pass quietly and then launch a sudden attack at night. This is
Unexpected.”
"I know! Since we want to severely attack Chen Qing's arrogance, we must take him by surprise."
"When does your Majesty plan to send troops?"
"Let's set out tonight. I will personally lead the army to attack Balingshui!"
Yang Yao was determined. He ordered his brother Yang Qin and military advisor Huang Cheng to jointly guard the water stronghold. He personally led 200 warships and 10,000 troops to set out at night. Under the cover of night, he marched toward the mouth of the Yangtze River.
Drive away.
.........
Early the next morning, General Liu Heng left Shuizhai and headed for Wuling County. He was from Wuling himself, and his wife, children, and parents were all in Wuling County.
Yang Yao moved his base to Changde Prefecture. Logically, Liu Heng was the leader of Changde Prefecture and should be reused. However, in fact, he was very unpopular among Yang Yao's army. Other bandit capitals were given the title of general to control them.
And he was just a small commander. Thousands of his subordinates were taken away several times, and now there are only more than a thousand left.
The reason is that Liu Heng did not take the initiative to join Yang Yao, but was defeated by Yang Yao and annexed his power. The water pirates believe that the strong is king. Liu Heng is a prisoner of war, and his low status is normal. If he hadn't been more obedient and hard-working.
, had long been killed by Yang Yao.
But even so, Liu Heng still suffered a lot of shame and humiliation. His concubine was born in a famous prostitute and was very beautiful. She was taken away by Zhong Ziyi. After Zhong Ziyi died, the concubine was occupied by Yang Qin. Liu Heng kept silent about all this.
Endured it.
Seeing that he was honest and obedient, Yang Yao didn't take him seriously, but Yang Yao didn't know that the most terrifying thing is often the kind of person who has suffered great humiliation and yet seems to be honest.
Yang Yao forgot that Liu Heng was also the leader of the water thieves in Changde Mansion and a gangster. How could he be honest?
Liu Heng secretly surrendered to Chen Qing shortly after the Battle of Junshan.
Wuling County is very close to Shuizhai, only thirty miles away. Liu Heng did not enter the county town, but went to a restaurant outside the county town for dinner. Several soldiers ate on the first floor, and Liu Heng went directly to the second floor.
This restaurant is called Dongting West Tower. It has been open for several years, but it has just changed to a new owner. The new owner is Hu Yanlei. It is the consistent strategy of Chen Qing's army to obtain intelligence about the enemy city. Hu Yanlei bought a restaurant at a high price.
, if it is no longer needed in the future, sell it again, or turn it into military property and hire someone to operate it regularly.
In a private room on the second floor, Liu Heng met Yang Zaixing and counselor Zhang Xiao.
Hu Yanlei introduced them, and everyone sat down in greeting. Liu Heng said: "Yang Yao led an army of 10,000 people and 200 warships to leave the water stronghold last night, but I don't know what he went to do?"
Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "We know exactly what he is going to do. Now I am more concerned about whether the departure of two hundred warships will change the contents of General Liu's map."
Zhang Xiao took out a copy of the map and spread it out on the table. Liu Heng looked at it for a moment, pointed to the exit and said: "There are no warships here anymore. The other contents have not changed. By the way, the army has lost 10,000 people.
"
Zhang Xiao used an ink pen to erase the disappearing fleet, and he smiled again: "Chen Dutong asked me to ask General Liu, what do you want?"
Liu Heng was silent for a moment and said: "I only have three small requests. First, do not pursue my past crimes. After the war, I want to take my father, wife and children to leave Wuling County and settle elsewhere; second, I want to take my father, wife and children to live elsewhere.
Return my concubine to me. Although she has been occupied by another man, it is not her fault; thirdly, leave Yang Qin to my disposal."
Zhang Xiao took out a gold medal and said calmly: "This is Chen Dutong's gold medal. I can agree to your three requests on behalf of Chen Dutong."
Liu Heng stared at the gold medal for a moment, picked up the wine in the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He slammed the wine bowl on the table, "Tell me! How can I help you?"
Yang Zaixing, who had been silent all the time, looked at Liu Heng and said slowly: "We want to know when General Liu will be in charge of surface patrol?"
...........
At night, more than two hundred warships sailed into the Yangtze River to the west of the lake mouth, and then turned around and sailed eastward along the Yangtze River.
The mouth of the Baling River is very close to the mouth of the lake, only thirty miles away. It is much smaller than the mouth of the Dongting Lake, with a width of only about three miles. At about one watch, two hundred large ships and soldiers divided into two groups. Yang Yao led a dozen
Cars and ships were waiting for news on the Yangtze River.
Yang Yao was the leader, and of course he would not take the risk himself. Instead, his cousin Yang Jing led 180 warships and 10,000 troops into the Baling River.
The fleet moved very slowly south. The Song army's fleet was about 20 miles away from the mouth of the river. According to intelligence, it was guarded by two thousand soldiers. Yang Jing's mission was not only to burn the warships, but also to annihilate the two thousand Song army.
This battle was crucial to boosting the morale of the entire army.
About ten miles into the Baling River, Yang Yao's fleet anchored at the shore, and ten thousand troops came ashore.
Yang Jing left two thousand soldiers to guard the warships, and he led eight thousand soldiers to attack the Song fleet ten miles away...
