Two days later, Liu Guangshi led an army of 80,000 to Yiling County. The place was already deserted. There was still smoke rising from the county town, but the fire had burned out. Even the city gates were burned down. Through the hollow city gate holes,
Looking inside, the city has been burned to ashes.
Liu Guangshi's face was extremely ugly, and the 20,000 elite troops were gone just like that. Li Qiong said with a face full of shame: "I thought it was a seamless sneak attack, but I didn't expect that the other party saw through it and took advantage of it and laid a trap. I knew it."
crime!"
Liu Guangshi snorted heavily, "You want to seize the city without even a single soldier dying? How can there be such a good thing in the world?"
"I am willing to be punished for my humble position!"
"Let's talk about it later!"
Liu Guangshi immediately ordered his surroundings: "Instruct the army to rest where they are, and the spies will go around to investigate the situation."
The 80,000-strong army sat down to rest, drink water and eat solid food, while a thousand scouts rushed to all directions to inspect the enemy's situation.
The soldiers set up a large tent of the Chinese army. Liu Guangshi stood in front of the map, feeling a little shaken.
He knows his own affairs well. His 80,000 troops are all new recruits who have only been in the army for a few months and have not experienced any war. Once a bloody war breaks out, his army will probably collapse quickly.
But just withdrawing like this, he felt somewhat unwilling to do so.
Advisor Yang Chuian advised: "It is better to train soldiers on Jinghu South Road first, and it will not be too late to attack next year."
Liu Guangshi sighed, "The officials are so anxious that they force me to go to war without giving me time. They require me to recover Bashu before the end of the year. It is already mid-November, and there is only one and a half months left. It is impossible to do it.
.”
"Are you worried that the imperial court will negotiate with Chen Qing next year?"
Liu Guangshi nodded, "That's definitely the case. If we can't get it militarily, the imperial court can only hold its nose and negotiate with Chen Qing."
At this time, General Huang You walked in quickly and said: "To inform the capital, it is getting late, and camping in the open air may be dangerous. I suggest you go to the county town and spend the night!"
"no!"
Liu Guangshi rejected it outright, "It will be more dangerous inside the city. If the enemy uses trebuchets to throw kerosene, the city will be engulfed in fire again. I don't agree to enter the city!"
Counselor Yang Cui'an said in confusion: "We have slept in the open all the way here. We were fine before. Why do we say there is danger today?"
Huang You cupped his fists and said, "I feel that the terrain here is a bit open, and it is high in the north and low in the south. If the enemy cavalry rushes down from the north, the brothers will not be able to resist it."
"What's General Li's opinion?" Liu Guangshi asked Li Qiong again.
Li Qiong thought for a while and said: "The terrain is relatively open for dozens of miles eastward from here. It is safer to go all the way to Jingmen Mountain. The army will have to walk for at least two hours. It will be dark now. Within two hours
, the army is completely in danger, I suggest you stay put and strengthen your defenses, sending at least 10,000 troops for security."
"General Li also thinks that Chen Qing's cavalry will attack?" Yang Chuian asked...
Li Qiong nodded, "Only a few of the low-ranking troops were burned to death. Most of them encountered enemy cavalry, at least 10,000 people. I don't know if they are still here, but this is the first time.
Will do it a second time.”
"General Li is right!"
Liu Guangshi agreed with Li Qiong, "Chen Qing is best at sneak attacks. We must not let him go. General Li, I will leave it to you to guard and deploy the perimeter!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Liu Guangshi said to Huang You again: "Go and urge the fleet. They are moving too slowly. It is almost dark. Let them dock quickly!"
"I'll go to my humble position right now!"
In fact, Yang Zaixing's attack on Liu Guangshi's 80,000-strong army had already begun.
On the north bank of the Yangtze River, a fleet of more than 300 flat-bottomed boats is sailing slowly on the river. They are traveling against the current and are pulled by hundreds of trackers on the shore. The boats mainly carry grain, grass and copper coins. They are Liu Guangshi's logistics supply fleet.
The first ship was a five-hundred-stone cargo ship, which was hung with lanterns. Dozens of eye-catching lanterns reminded the shore and the river. The fleet was still twenty miles away from Yiling Pier, but it was already getting dark.
And just on the other side of the Yangtze River, there was a row of boats parked, some small boats and some big boats. Dozens of small boats were suddenly dispatched. There were five or six big men on each boat, all of whom were excellent at water. There were also two people responsible for rowing.
The small boats were speeding like arrows on the river. Under the cover of the night and waves, dozens of small boats quickly approached the grain ship.
There were two soldiers guarding each grain boat. Someone suddenly saw the boat more than ten feet away and shouted in horror.
Several small boats approached the lead boat, which was hung with lanterns. A dozen big men in black jumped on board. There were five boatmen and eight soldiers on board the big boat. Seeing that the situation was not good, the boatmen jumped into the water to escape.
The eight soldiers accompanying the ship were no match for the dozen or so men in black. After three of them were killed, the remaining five jumped off the ship and fled for their lives.
The big man in black didn't chase him. They pulled a long iron rope from the boat and tied it to the mast.
The big men in black on the other dozens of small boats did not board the grain ship. Their task was to cut off the ropes one by one.
At this time, the long rope was pulled by the soldiers on the other side, and the leading ship changed its course and sailed towards the south bank, and the grain ships behind it also followed suit.
Thousands of soldiers on the north bank were stunned, but helpless. They watched the huge fleet change course and sail to the south bank.
This time Yang Zaixing's military operation made full use of intelligence warfare. As soon as Liu Guangshi's army set off from Jiangling, it was targeted by the scouts sent by Yang Zaixing. Intelligence was constantly transmitted to the Three Gorges Road, allowing Yang Zaixing to deploy calmly.
Chen Qing had only one combat strategy for Yang Zaixing, a head-on attack, forcing Liu Guangshi to retreat in the face of difficulties.
But the specific method of fighting was planned by Yang Zaixing and deputy general Liu Qiong.
At this time, Yang Zaixing led 15,000 cavalrymen thirty miles north of Yiling County, and Zhao Xiaoyi led 5,000 soldiers to escort the prisoners of war back to Bashu.
Perhaps because he had followed Chen Qing for a long time, many of Yang Zaixing's combat ideas gradually came close to Chen Qing's.
The burning of Yiling City this time was a strategy planned by Yang Zaixing, but he was more generous and did not kill all the enemy troops, basically giving the enemy a way out.
Of course, Yang Zaixing was not blindly benevolent, but on the basis of ensuring the complete annihilation of the enemy troops, he tried his best to capture the enemy troops.
At this time, in a small marching tent, Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong were listening to the report from the scout commander Tang Qian.
"The enemy's camp is about ten miles long and two miles wide. The southernmost part is about three miles away from the Yangtze River. They mobilized 10,000 troops to guard the north and east. Although the defense was relatively tight, humble officials still discovered the loopholes in their defense. .”
"What loophole?" Yang Zaixing asked.
Tang Qian pointed to the map he had sketched and said: "Their defense wanted to be tighter and leave no loopholes, but there happened to be a twelve-mile-long defense line, and they only had 10,000 troops. This led to the overall comparison of the defense line.
It’s thin, with only two or three soldiers in many places.”
Liu Qiong pondered for a while and said: "Maybe their mission is just to be on guard, not to defend. As long as they can notify the main force in time to fight, they will have completed their mission?"
Tang Qian smiled and said: "Even if it is a warning, their warning line is one mile away from where the main force is sleeping. It is obvious that they want to use gunpowder arrows, but with such a weak sentry, will they have the chance to shoot gunpowder arrows?"
Yang Zaixing nodded and said, "If I hand over the task of clearing the road to your scout battalion, how big of a gap can you create for me?"
Tang Qian thought for a moment and said, "If the commander gives me another five hundred soldiers, I promise to open a gap one mile wide within an hour."
Yang Zaixing said calmly: "There is no joke in the army!"
Tang Qian said slowly: "I am willing to issue a military order!"
