By the Canglang River, tens of thousands of Chu troops surrendered.
There were still more Chu troops who broke up, jumped into the river, waded to the other side, fled into the fields and went home.
Why go there?
Because the river has dried up to the point where it is chest deep.
In the battle just now, Chenyang guard Liu Heng was seriously injured and captured. Liu Heng's son, who was in charge of guarding the city, opened the door and surrendered.
Bai Qi asked the exhausted Lin Chong to lead the troops to defend the city, leaving some to guard the prisoners, while the rest of the main force was chasing the defeated troops towards Dingzhou.
Looking at the Canglang River where there was not much water left, Bai Qi sat on his horse and muttered: "The water is clean for tassels, and the turbid water is for washing feet. What should I wash in this shallow water?"
"Marshal, Zhong Quan has been captured!"
Gong Yi rode back from the south and shouted to Bai Qi across the river.
Several cavalrymen behind him quickly dragged Zhong Quan to the shore.
Zhong Quan also waded across the Canglang River, and was overtaken by cavalry during his escape. His legs and feet were covered in mud, his helmet was missing, and his hair was disheveled.
Bai Qi was shocked and ordered: "Send them to Dingzhou and let the Chu army there surrender in Kaicheng!"
"Yes!" Gong Yi immediately took the person away.
Bai Qi looked at the dense crowd of prisoners, called the general to give some instructions, and then took a boat from Yuanjiang River to Dingzhou.
These prisoners must be released as soon as possible!
You can't kill, the most you can do is kill the generals.
Because Hunan in the late Northern Song Dynasty had a small population. These captives were all Han people from Dingzhou and Chenzhou. If large-scale killings resulted in a sharp decrease in the Han household registration, it would be difficult for the court to control the Wuxi barbarians in the future.
And the faster the release speed, the better. Firstly, Bai Qi doesn’t have so much food to feed, and secondly, returning home early can irrigate the dry farmland.
If the food harvest fails, the court will have to transport food for relief.
That night, Bai Qi escorted Zhong Quan to the foot of Dingzhou City. The people here were already in panic. Thousands of defeated troops fled back to the city, bringing news of a massive defeat on the front line.
After waiting for more than an hour, the guard finally opened the city gate.
Bai Qi left two thousand soldiers to garrison, took away all the surrendered soldiers and captured soldiers, and ordered all the Chu troops to disband and go home to farm.
He also promised these Chu troops that after Sichuan's autumn harvest, if Dingzhou is short of food, Sichuan grain will be transferred to relieve the people. If there is a rebellion in any township, the entire township will not receive relief, and taxes will be increased on this township next year!
Immediately, Bai Qi led his troops back to Dongting Lake and arrived outside Yuanjiang City two days later.
Guard general Quan Cong has surrendered.
A few days later, Bai Qi's troops came to Yiyang.
At this time, Yiyang was only twenty miles away from Dongting Lake, and there was a large lake to the northeast.
Setting up camp in the south and north of the city, Bai Qi took Zhong Quan and a group of captured generals and walked to the city to personally persuade them to surrender.
There is a wide official road in the south of the city, with tall pines and firs on both sides of the road.
Outside the moat, next to the official road, there is a temple.
Bai Qi was a little surprised, because Zhong Xiang destroyed temples everywhere, and all the temples of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism were destroyed, but this small temple in front of him could be preserved.
There was no one in the temple, they all ran away.
But it was obvious that someone had been cleaning it, and from the unburned incense on the confession table, it could be seen that sacrifices had been made recently.
Bai Qi sent troops to "invite" nearby people and asked: "Whose temple is this? Why is it not destroyed, but still coming to offer sacrifices?"
The farmer replied: "This is Zhang Gong's temple. It is very effective in praying for rain. Four years ago, someone destroyed the temple and was stopped. The people from all over the country refused to demolish it. The pine trees next to the official road were also made by Zhang Gong himself.
What we planted was cut down last year when we were building warships, but the people came and stopped us."
"Which Mr. Zhang?" Bai Qi asked.
The farmer shook his head and said, "I don't know. I've been there since I was a child. Which way of deity should come down to earth?"
Bai Qi walked around the small temple and soon found a stone tablet. After pouring water on it, he could read the writing clearly.
This is actually the birthplace of Zhang Bor and his ancestor Zhang Yong. It was renamed Zhang Gong Temple after Zhang Yong's death.
The inscription clearly states that Zhang Yong first served as an official in Chongyang County. Since he saved countless lives, the people of Chongyang donated money to build a shrine for him.
Then he was transferred to Yiyang. At that time, Yiyang had just experienced the Meishan barbarian rebellion, the people's livelihood was in decline, and the people were in poverty. In order to manage Yiyang well, Zhang Yong gave up the opportunity to go to Beijing for promotion and did not leave until the people's livelihood was restored.
It is said that praying for rain in Zhanggong Temple is effective because Zhang Yong once treated floods and droughts here.
After Bai Qi read the inscription, he felt inexplicably emotional.
The people of Yiyang no longer remember Zhang Yong, but their ancestors have known that Mr. Zhang is a god, and he has always stayed here to bless them. Therefore, the people do not allow Manichaeism to destroy the temple, nor do they allow the pine trees planted by Zhang Yong to be cut down to start a war.
Boat.
"Marshal, the enemy general still refuses to surrender!" The soldiers came to report.
Bai Qi left Zhanggong Temple, looked at the city wall across the moat, and asked the farmer, "Is this Yiyang guard Li Shi a native of Yiyang?"
The farmer replied: "He is a local. He used to be a boatman in Qiaokou Town."
Bai Qi immediately found some soldiers with loud voices and asked them to escort Zhong Quan and other prisoners across the moat and take turns shouting.
"Don't shoot arrows, this is your Xisheng Wang Zhongquan!"
"The Yiyang soldiers know that the Zhang Gong Temple outside is the birthplace of Zhang Yong, a good official of the former dynasty."
"When I founded the Ming Dynasty, I granted five titles to the marquis. One of the marquises was Zhang Bor, a descendant of Zhang Gong. If Zhang Gong can govern Yiyang well, Zhang Gong's descendants will definitely be able to do the same..."
"As long as you open the city and surrender, and promise not to kill anyone, all the soldiers can go home and water the rice fields!"
"I, the Duke of Shu in the Ming Dynasty, am here. The Duke of Shu swears to God that if he breaks his promise, he will let Duke Zhang strike down with lightning and kill him..."
"If we don't surrender today, we will attack the city tomorrow. There is no water in the moat. It will be filled in a few days. I don't know how many people will die by then. If you die, what will happen to your wife and children at home, and what will happen to the rice at home?"
Live? Put down your weapons quickly..."
Huang Zuo, Liu Rui, Quan Cong and others who had surrendered before also took turns to step forward and shout: "Brother Li, don't defend any longer. We all know that you have no food. Even if you don't attack, how many days can you hold on?"
If we keep guard for another month or two, I’m afraid I’ll have to eat human flesh…”
After shouting for half an hour, the guard Li Shi finally wavered and said to a soldier: "Go out of the city and watch that Duke of Shu swear an oath in front of the Zhang Gong Temple to come back again!"
The soldiers immediately hung up the basket and left the city, found Bai Qi and explained their intention.
Bai Qi said seriously: "Come with me."
Returning to the small temple again, Bai Qi swore to the statue, promising not to kill those who surrendered and to release the soldiers home as soon as possible.
His actions, which seemed like child's play, actually gained the trust of the Chu army in the city.
After a while, Li Shi led his troops out of the city, surrendered his household registration and map.
Bai Qi dismissed most of the Chu troops in Yiyang, but also left 500 soldiers for Li Shi, and took this man with him to besiege Xiangyin.
It was impossible to persuade Xiangyin to surrender. Prime Minister Zhong Yi was stationed in person, and his troops were well-prepared, so he had to attack by force.
Wang Yuan has led troops to besiege the city for many days, and all kinds of siege equipment have been built.
The county seat of Xiangyin in the Northern Song Dynasty was called Baimao City, which was forty miles away from the Xiangjiang River.
The city wall beside the Xiangjiang River in front of you was built by Zhong Xiang in a large commercial town. It is more like a fortress like Lujiao Village, with water fortresses, castles, and three-dimensional defenses on land and water.
"There are two water forts and three castles in Xiangyin," Wang Yuan pointed to the opposite side and said, "Those two water forts have been destroyed by iron cannons and burned down by rockets. There are three rammed earth buildings left.
The castle and the moat are both natural tributaries of the Xiang River. When the water rises, it is extremely troublesome and it is difficult to fill up the moat. God has opened his eyes. There has been a drought for more than a month, and there is not much water left in the moat. Our army has filled in several places.
"
Bai Qi lamented: "Every time comes, heaven and earth all work together, and Zhong Xiang's defeat is not unjust."
Wang Yuan added: "Several earthen platforms have been built outside the northernmost castle, and wooden cannons can be deployed to bombard the city wall. If iron cannons are used to bombard the city wall, one or two places should be destroyed within ten days."
When Bai Qi fought in Chenyang, he only used thirty wooden cannons.
On Wang Yuan's side, there were more. He first used iron cannons to attack the water stronghold, and then deployed a large number of wooden cannons to protect his own people by filling in the moat and building earthen platforms.
The elite Chu troops in the city fought out several times, but were repulsed by wooden cannons firing shotguns across the moat. The Chu troops from the other two castles came to support, and they also used large numbers of wooden cannons, in conjunction with bows and arrows, and infantry formations to repel them.
"No need to wait, let's attack the city tomorrow." Bai Qi said.
Eight earthen platforms were built at the same height as the city wall. Not only wooden cannons were placed on the platforms, but also archers and spearmen were placed on the platforms to prevent the enemy from suddenly coming out of the city.
To be continued...