After the separation of land and water during the Huainan Festival, Wang Zhongsheng led 20,000 troops to Xuzhou. On the Yangzhou side, only Huangfu Qian, the Huainan defense envoy and naval commander, led 15,000 troops.
Of course Li Xilie wanted to annex the weak Yangzhou, and he had been eyeing it, waiting for the opportunity.
After the "Three Kings' Rebellion Incident" appeared, everyone in the world focused their attention on Luoyang. Li Xilie realized that his opportunity had come. He took the lead in capturing Chuzhou and the three thousand troops stationed in Chuzhou were destroyed.
Huangfu Qian was frightened and immediately sent someone to plead for negotiation. It was said to be a negotiation, but in fact it was a conditional surrender. Of course, Li Xilie also wanted to swallow up more than 10,000 Yangzhou garrison and hundreds of warships without breaking his teeth.
Because although he defeated 3,000 enemies in the attack on Chuzhou, he also lost more than 1,000 people. Of course, Li Xilie was unhappy. Swallowing the enemy's troops without fighting is the right way to go!
The two sides negotiated back and forth for several days. Seeing that the two sides were about to reach a consensus, a 30,000-strong army led by Duan Xiushi and Nan Jiyun arrived by boat. The Yangzhou soldiers who were unwilling to surrender to Li Xilie immediately opened the city to welcome the arrival of King Qi's army.
At this time, Li Xilie had marshaled his troops and prepared to go south to capture Yangzhou. Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin came out on the way. Seeing his mouth flying, Li Xilie was furious and immediately sent 30,000 troops to attack Yangzhou. However, on the canal, the Guanlong army burned the warship. More than 3,000 people died in the flames.
At this time, Li Xilie got the news that Guan Long's army had occupied Luoyang. He knew very well that once Li Ye established a foothold in Luoyang, he would be the next to deal with him.
Yangzhou could not be taken for the time being, and he was no longer interested. He began to consider his retreat.
Li Xilie set his sights on the more vast and fertile Jiangnan.
That morning, Duan Xiushi received an express letter from Xiangyang. Li Ye told two things in the letter. First, Luoyang had been captured, and he could return to Chang'an as soon as possible after Chen Huan came to replace him.
In another incident, Huangfu Qian surrendered to Li Xilie and sold the Jiangbei navy in Liyang County to Li Xilie. Li Xilie's army was likely to cross the Yangtze River in Liyang County and move to the south of the Yangtze River, so he ordered him to immediately send a navy to block the Yangtze River.
This news shocked Duan Xiushi, and he immediately ordered people to find Yangzhou defenders Li Chengqing and Pei Rong to learn about the situation, and also sent people to ask Li Chengshi, the deputy commander of the navy stationed on the shore of Chang'an.
Not long after, Li Chengshi came in a hurry.
Li Chengqing was originally a subordinate of Wei Zhi, the envoy to the south of the Yangtze River, and had been stationed in Jingkou with 3,000 navy troops. At that time, after Li Chengshi, deputy commander of the Yangzhou navy, surrendered to the Guanlong army, Yu Chaoen transferred Li Chengqing from Jingkou to Jiangdu to replace Li Chengqing. Cheng Shi became the commander of the navy.
Pei Rong was a subordinate of Li Xiyan, the military governor of Huainan. After the Huainan army was divided, the 5,000 infantry left to guard Yangzhou City were led by Pei Rong.
Li Chengshi frowned and asked in confusion: "When did the navy stationed in Liyang County?"
Li Chengqing understood the situation better. He cupped his fists and said, "Reporting to Governor Li, the navy in Liyang County is actually the Jiangning navy. Due to the dock repairs in Jiangning County, the navy temporarily moved to Liyang County on the north bank of the Yangtze River. There are military camps there. and Navy Pier.”
Li Chengshi suddenly realized, "Then the general is Yuan Jingyao, right?"
Li Chengqing nodded, "That's him!"
Li Chengshi then said to Duan Xiushi: "As the secret envoy, Yuan Jingyao was once a humble subordinate who surrendered to Li Lin. After Li Lin went to Bashu, he did not take him with him, but let him stay behind.
He then dedicated 3,000 troops and Xuanzhou to Huangfu Chao, and Huangfu Chao put in a good word for him. Yuan Jingyao was not held accountable, and had been stationed in Jiangning with his army. He was Huangfu Chao's confidant general, so as long as Huangfu Chao surrendered to Li Xilie,
Then Yuan Jingyao will most likely surrender."
"I see!"
Duan Xiushi asked again: "How many warships and naval forces are there in Liyang County?"
Li Chengshi was not sure. Duan Xiushi turned his eyes to Li Chengqing. Li Chengqing bowed and said: "There are three thousand naval troops and one hundred warships, all of which are thousand-stone warships!"
Duan Xiushi made a decisive decision and said to Li Chengshi: "I would like to ask Governor Li to lead his 15,000 naval troops and 300 warships to Dangtu County, and use Dangtu County as a garrison to intercept the warships in Liyang County."
Since Li Chengshi surrendered to Li Ye, he has had no chance to make meritorious deeds. This is the first time he has led an army independently in combat, and Li Chengshi is particularly looking forward to it.
Two days later, 300 large ships arrived on the river outside Liyang County. He did not directly order a challenge. Instead, he returned to Dangtu County on the other side and sent two sentinel boats to explore the situation on the Liyang County pier.
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Li Chengshi sent out a scout team. The brigade commander was named Wang Zhaoen, who was from Xiangyang. He had ten brothers under his command. They were all experienced scouts, and all of them had excellent water skills and were born as water ghosts.
Wang Zhaoen let the two small boats get closer, summoned ten of his men, and said: "The governor gave us two tasks. One is to check whether there is a large army gathering on the shore, and the other is to check the situation of enemy warships on the dock, their number, etc., we
We will split up and I will lead four brothers to investigate the situation on the shore, Liu Xuan!"
"It's my humble duty!" a fire chief said, cupping his fists.
Wang Zhaoen asked him, "Take five brothers to explore the situation inside the pier. Don't row a boat in, as you will be discovered. We must dive in, and then we will each return to the camp to report."
"I understand the humble position!"
The two scout ships separated and rowed towards their respective targets.
Wang Zhaoen's boat docked twenty miles west of the pier. There would be no enemy troops here. He ordered the two men to watch the boat, while he led two of his men ashore and ran towards Liyang County.
But before reaching Liyang County, ten miles away from the county seat, Wang Zhaoen saw a huge military camp, surrounded by a camp fence, covering an area of nearly a thousand acres.
He was immediately frightened and ran to higher ground with two of his men. They climbed up a big tree and looked at the camp hundreds of steps away.
I saw that the camp was full of tents. They were so densely packed that one could not see the end. There were at least several thousand tents. Although it was midnight, there were still groups of soldiers patrolling. Wang Zhaoen quickly judged in his heart that there were at least 50,000 people.
scale.
He no longer stayed for a long time and immediately led his men back.
At the fifth watch, Wang Zhaoen received reports from two teams of scouts. There were indeed hundreds of thousand-stone warships and a large number of civilian ships in the dock, but there were no water barracks.
Then the main enemy force was discovered on the shore, numbering at least 50,000 people. Li Chengshi understood in his heart that Li Xilie's army had arrived, but it had not yet had time to cross the river.
He immediately had a way to fight. His army was definitely no match for Li Xilie's main army, but he could destroy all the enemy warships. Li Xilie could only look at the river and sigh.
At dawn, 15,000 naval troops and 300 2,000-stone warships quietly marched toward Liyang County on the north coast under the cover of morning fog.
Coincidentally, only 50,000 Huaixi troops also gathered on the north bank and began to cross the river south.
One hundred warships served as escorts, and there were hundreds of civilian ships, large and small.
At this time, more than 200 civilian ships loaded with the first batch of 5,000 soldiers also began to set off. They also wanted to use the cover of the morning fog to seize the Dangtu County pier on the other side.
Behind them and on both sides were hundreds of warships. They were not landing ships, but escort ships, protecting the fleet as they crossed the river.
Right in the middle of the Yangtze River, two fleets met unexpectedly.