After Wuling County was captured, a purge was inevitable, especially for the family members of the bandit leader. It was absolutely impossible in the Song Dynasty to avoid being implicated. At the very least, it was a crime of exile, but these were all decided by the court.
Three days later, Chen Qing used ten warships to escort Yang Yao, his thirteen generals, and the family members of important bandit leaders to Lin'an.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Qing sent ten teams of cavalry, each with a thousand men, to eliminate the remnants of water thieves and restore order in the area around Dongting Lake.
It is now mid-September, and it is also mid-October when converted to the Gregorian calendar. The autumn harvest in the south has begun, and people who have fled to other places are returning home one after another to participate in the joyful autumn harvest.
That afternoon, several messenger soldiers from Jiangbei arrived in Baling County and brought Chen Qing sad news: Wang Yan was unfortunately killed in battle.
In the big tent, several generals stood aside with heavy hearts. Chen Qing lowered his head and fell into great sorrow. After a while, Chen Qing asked in a hoarse voice: "How did the old commander die in battle? Tell me in detail."
explain!"
"Reporting to the capital, the prefect Wang led five thousand Jiangling troops stationed in Dangyang. He received an urgent request for help from Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang Town, saying that Xiangyang had too few troops and could no longer defend it. The prefect Wang personally led the five thousand troops.
The army rushed to Xiangyang to support, but was surrounded by tens of thousands of puppet Qi troops in Shiliang Mountain. The prefect Wang failed to break through several times and was seriously injured. Unfortunately, he died at the foot of Shiliang Mountain due to his injuries. Lieutenant General Li Ying led the remaining army to break through with all his strength.
Unfortunately, Ying was also killed in battle, and almost all the five thousand men were wiped out, with only less than a hundred people escaping."
"Then what?"
"Later, the Xuanfu envoy learned that Kong Yanzhou, the governor of Xiangyang, had killed Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang, and secretly surrendered to the Puppet Qi. They used Sang Zhong's seal to trick the prefect of Wang into going north, and fell into the ambush trap for the Puppet Qi's deployment.
.”
"Who is the leader of the puppet Qi army?"
"Reporting to the capital, it was Liu Yu who appointed him as the Minister of the Ministry of War. Dong Xian, the pacifying envoy of Henan, was originally the governor of Shangzhou in the Song Dynasty. He was both civil and military. He surrendered to Liu Yu last year and was re-appointed by Liu Yu. He was granted the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. This time he and Ying
Wang Liuming led an army of 100,000 to attack Jingxiang."
Chen Qing read Li Gang's handwritten letter to him again and asked: "Where is the Xuanfu ambassador now?"
"In the Jingmen Army Changlin County, there was a confrontation with 30,000 puppet Qi troops. The number of troops was less than 20,000, and the situation was quite unfavorable. Envoy Xuanfu implored the governor to send troops to rescue as soon as possible."
"I understand. You go down and rest first. I will make some arrangements before sending out troops."
At this time, Wang Yan's nephew Wang Duo rushed into the tent and fell to the ground crying, "I beg you to avenge my uncle!"
Chen Qing helped him up and comforted him: "We are all from the Eight-Character Army, and I regard Lao Dutong as my father. Unfortunately, he was killed by the bandit army. How can I stand by and watch? Don't worry! I will definitely let the puppet Qi army
Blood debts must be repaid with blood.”
Chen Qing immediately ordered the three armies to mourn and summoned the generals to discuss sending troops.
Counselor Zhang Xiao said to Chen Qing: "I suggest that we all divide our troops into two groups. The navy goes to Hanyang and the cavalry goes to Changlin County."
"Why is it arranged like this?" Chen Qing asked in confusion.
Zhang Xiao said calmly: "The official office of the Huguang Xuanfu envoy is in Hanyang. There are warehouses there that store a large amount of money, grain and materials. How can the puppet Qi army not be jealous? Since they have captured Xiangyang, they can follow the Han River
Going south, Hanyang is located at the mouth of the Han River, and the troops are empty. The Xuanfu envoys confront the puppet Qi army in Changlin County, which is the opportunity for the puppet Qi army to seize Hanyang!"
Chen Qing was convinced. He thought for a moment and said to Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Xiao: "We divided our troops into three groups. General Yang and Zhang Sima led 2,000 people to guard Baling County. Our family members are all here. Baling County must not be careless to prevent the enemy from encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao."
, sneak attack on Baling County."
Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, you will never be careless in your humble position!"
Chen Qing said to Zheng Ping again: "You and Niu Gao led eight thousand troops to Hanyang by boat. Commander Ling led three thousand naval troops to stay in Hanyang to assist in defense. Old Zheng led the fleet back to Jiangling as my logistical support. Niu Gao
Then lead a hundred chariots and ships carrying 3,000 troops north along the Han River, go around behind Changlin County, and obey my orders."
Several generals stood up and saluted, "Obey the order!"
Chen Qing added: "I will personally lead 10,000 cavalry to the north to support Changlin County!"
Everyone split up and Chen Qing found Zhao Xiaoyi and Hu Yanlei.
He took out a military order and handed it to Zhao Xiaoyi and said: "Xiaoyi will lead a hundred scouts first to inquire about information in Changlin County. By the way, he will tell the Xuanfu envoy that I will personally lead the army north today. Please rest assured!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Zhao Xiaoyi took the order arrow and left first.
Chen Qing said to Hu Yanlei again: "It's still the old rules. You sneak into Xiangyang with twenty special spies and buy a restaurant as an intelligence point. I need to know the situation in Xiangyang."
The so-called special spies mean that the spies are not necessarily all young men. There are middle-aged and women among them. They are all recruited from family members and are specially responsible for sneaking behind enemy lines to detect intelligence.
Xiangyang will inevitably become a logistical center for the puppet Qi army's southern invasion. It is extremely important to have all kinds of intelligence about Xiangyang to judge the enemy's movements.
Hu Yanlei nodded. They were already familiar with it and had rich experience. Basically, they would not expose themselves.
.........
In the afternoon of that day, Chen Qing, Yang Zaixing, Liu Qiong and other generals led 10,000 cavalry across the Yangtze River. They did not go to Jiangling Mansion, but went directly to Changlin County.
At the same time, Zheng Ping, Niu Gao and other Jiangling led eight thousand troops and hundreds of warships to attack Hanyang in a mighty manner to protect the security of Hanyang's important logistics area.
.........
That morning, a Jurchen cavalry force of more than a thousand people slowly entered Xiangyang escorting Wan Yanchang's vehicle.
The puppet Qi army's strategy of attacking Jingxiang was actually formulated by Wan Yanchang to coordinate with the armistice on the Eastern Front and preparations for war on the Western Front. It was one of the three fronts.
After the Jin soldiers completely annihilated Liu Guangshi's 50,000-strong army, they actually took the initiative on the eastern front. The slightest disturbance in the north of the Yangtze River scared the Song emperor half to death, and they tried their best to defend the Yangtze River coast.
As a result, the central part will inevitably be empty of troops. In addition, Yang Yao rebelled at Dongting Lake and consumed nearly half of the Huguang Song Army. The time was ripe to attack the central line.
Kong Yanzhou's surrender undoubtedly accelerated the attack in the central part. In just one month, the counterfeit army successively captured the four prefectures of Deng, Sui, Fang, Xiang, and Ying, and defeated Wang Yan's army, causing Wang Yan to be seriously injured.
Death.
It can be said that the puppet Qi army is invincible in the central part and the attack is very smooth. If Li Gang's Huguang army is completely wiped out, almost the entire Jingxiang land north of the Yangtze River will be captured by the puppet Qi army. If the Qi army continues to follow Xiazhou
If they invade Bashu, then the mission that the Jin soldiers could not complete with the loss of troops in the Qinling Mountains will be completed by the puppet Qi army.
It was at this critical moment that Wan Yanchang came to Xiangyang in person to supervise the battle. He was worried that the puppet Qi army would fall short at the last minute.
In the commander's tent, Dong Xian pointed to the surrendered general Kong Yanzhou next to him and smiled at Wan Yanchang: "Reporting to the capital supervisor, this is General Kong Yanzhou. Thanks to his great help this time, we were able to capture the important town of Xiangyang without any blood.
It was also his plan to lure Wang Yanbei that allowed us to successfully annihilate Wang Yan's army and make Wang Yan, a fierce tiger, die on the battlefield."
Kong Yanzhou was about thirty years old and looked very fierce. He quickly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "See the Imperial Guard Army!"
Wan Yanchang admired this person at first sight. Not only did he look fierce, but he was also very clever. This was very important.
Wan Yanchang sat down and said: "I came to Xiangyang this time because I was worried that you might underestimate the enemy because of your early success. Especially since Chen Qing is in Huguang, I estimate that he will join the war soon."
Dong Xian said quickly: "I am worried about Chen Qing even in my humble position, but he should be held back by Yang Yao now and has no time to worry about the battle between Jing and Xiang."
Wan Yanchang shook his head, "Can Yang Yao, a little water thief, hold back Chen Qing?"
Kong Yanzhou also hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "Beizhi also suppressed Yang Yao's rebels, and Prime Minister Zhong died in the hands of Beizhi. He, Yang Yao, was very flexible in combat. He used his familiarity with Dongting Lake to defeat the Song army repeatedly. He was also good at sneak attacks. In addition,
They have powerful water weapons such as cars and boats. It will not be easy for Chen Qing to destroy them in a short time."
Wan Yanchang glanced at them and asked calmly: "When did you get the news?"
