The good news first reached Xu Baisheng's camp, where the generals were holding a combat meeting.
In the past few days, Jiangdu's army has successively occupied the counties around Nankang Road.
Wang Pu gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and concentrated them in Nankang City, in a defensive posture.
Nankang City was called Hongdu in ancient times and was the administrative seat of Jiangxi Province. The city was fortified and Jiangdu's army attacked several times but was repulsed.
Although the siege teams of Wang Da and Geng Si stormed the city wall, the enemy was very tenacious and would not retreat even one step.
Wang Pu personally held his sword and commanded in a bloody battle on the city wall. The morale of the defenders was high and they continued to fight until dark. Wang Da's first camp had no choice but to retreat.
Wang Da was also injured in this battle, and one of his hands was tied into a rice dumpling and hung on his shoulder.
When he heard that Li Er had won, he immediately said: "Commander, since Deputy Commander Li has won, you can quickly bring in the artillery. As long as you have the help of artillery, it will be much easier to attack the city!"
Xu Baisheng said: "I have ordered thirty warships to be brought over. However, this defender has a strong will to fight. Even if the city gate is breached, it will not be easy to win!"
All the generals nodded, with solemn expressions on their faces.
The monkey suddenly said: "The general has a plan, maybe we can take down Nankang City without any effort!"
Everyone looked at him and asked, "What's the plan?"
The monkey laughed and said: "I heard that as a filial person, Wang Pu only needs to persuade his mother to write a letter to surrender. I guess he will not dare to disobey his mother's orders!"
Geng San frowned and said: "Mrs. Wang is in Wuchang, how can we get her to write a letter of persuasion to surrender?"
Fang Yuan touched his chin and said, "How about waiting for General Zhu to capture Wuchang before doing this plan?"
Chang Yuchun shook his head and said: "We can win with a strong attack, so why bother?"
Fang Yuan glanced at him and said: "Wang Pu's troops are the strongest under Chen Youliang. If we attack by force, we will suffer huge losses. If we can surrender these hundreds of thousands of elite troops, wait a few days, and then
What's the harm?"
Chang Yuchun thought it was reasonable, so he no longer objected.
The monkey said again: "There is no need to wait for General Zhu to capture Wuchang."
Wang Da hurriedly said: "What else can you do?"
The monkey smiled and said: "This is still the method, but it can be slightly changed."
After a pause, he said slowly: "Now that Nankang is under siege and there is no news from the outside, we can send Jiangzhou surrender soldiers to spread false news, saying that Wuchang has been captured, and then send Mrs. Wang's letter of surrender!
”
Geng San was stunned and said: "It's easy to spread rumors. Where did Mrs. Wang's letter of surrender come from?"
The monkey said: "This is easy, as long as you get the Queen Mother's handwriting and find a master who is good at imitating handwriting, believe it or not!"
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Only Wang Da didn't understand yet, he frowned and said: "If we don't capture Wuchang, how can we get the handwriting?"
Geng San smiled and said: "We have so many military intelligence agencies in Wuchang. It is not difficult to ask them to get a handwriting!"
Seeing that everyone had no objections, Xu Baisheng said: "Just follow General Hou's plan. General Hou, you will be responsible for this matter personally!"
The monkey loudly accepts orders.
There was a person in charge of the Military Intelligence Agency in the camp. After the accounts were settled, Houhou ordered someone to call the Qianhu over and asked him to contact the Wuchang Military Intelligence Agency Qianhu directly.
A few days later, the news reached Wuchang.
At this time, news of Jiangzhou's defeat also reached Wuchang City.
The city was already in chaos. After hearing the news, many wealthy households prepared their belongings and wanted to move out of Wuchang.
As a result, before leaving the city, the army captured him, his property was confiscated, and his whole family was imprisoned.
In this way, the chaos in the city was temporarily suppressed.
Although the city has barely regained stability, Chen Youliang's temper has become increasingly irritable these days.
Many officials who were unlucky enough to say the wrong thing were executed on his orders.
In fact, if it was the Nankang Road army that was defeated, he would not be so angry.
However, Jiangzhou's army of hundreds of thousands was defeated by 30,000 Jiangdu naval forces, which had a particularly huge mental impact on him.
On this day, he was dealing with official documents in the Imperial Study Room. He had just finished processing a few items, when he felt an uncontrollable anger welling up in his heart, and he said sternly: "Liang Rong, where is Liang Rong?"
Lou Yuzhen gently touched his shoulder and said softly: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
Chen Youliang took a deep breath and said: "Queen, do you think we still have a chance to turn defeat into victory?
Lou Yuzhen said softly: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to think about these things. The defeat of Jiangzhou shows that the enemy's navy is indeed stronger than ours. The top priority is to recall His Highness the Five Kings' 100,000 navy as soon as possible!"
Chen Youliang was silent for a while and said: "Queen, if I am even afraid of Zhang Yangquan's 20,000 navy troops, what else can I do to fight with him? Just surrender with my seal!"
Lou Yuzhen was silent.
When the battle reached this point, she racked her brains and couldn't think of a way for King Li Kuanglan to do it.
What Chen Youliang said makes sense. If the 100,000 navy troops retreat, the entire Han army will lose their fighting spirit and there will be no need to fight this battle again.
At this moment, the chamberlain suddenly came to report, and Liang Rong asked to see him.
Chen Youliang sneered: "He still dares to come, let him in!"
Chen Youliang, the general who had led the previous battles, was suspicious of him. Liang Rong still had the status of a demoted general, so he had long wanted to vent his anger on him.
Fortunately, Lou Yuzhen has spoken out many times to protect her. She feels that killing Liang Rong now is of no use. Keeping him alive may have unexpected effects.
After a while, Liang Rong entered the study, cupped his hands and said: "My lord, Liang Rong, pays homage to Your Majesty, and pays homage to the Queen!"
Chen Youliang said coldly: "Brother Liang, do you know about the defeat of Jiangzhou!"
Liang Rongdao: "I heard about it."
Chen Youliang said sharply: "You said that Jiangdu's navy was not that powerful, and you praised my ships. What are your intentions?"
Liang Rong knelt on the ground and said with a grimace: "Mo, this is what I really thought at that time. Although the Jiangdu navy is strong, it should not be so strong. I don't know why the battle of Jiangzhou ended like this."
!"
Lou Yuzhen changed the subject and said: "Why do you come to see His Majesty now?"
Liang Rong lowered his head and remained silent.
Chen Youliang said sternly: "You have one last chance to speak. If you don't speak well, I will kill you immediately!"
Liang Rong suddenly raised his head and said loudly: "The last general is here to report a message. If your majesty wants to kill him, just kill him!"
Chen Youliang was stunned for a moment and said: "What kind of letter are you reporting to?"
Liang Rongdao: "Not long ago, General Ma Wei approached the general and wanted to persuade him to rebel with him and dedicate Wuchang to Jiangdu's army!"
Chen Youliang changed his expression and said: "Ma Wei? He was promoted by me, I don't believe he would betray me!"
Liang Rong held his head high and said: "If your Majesty doesn't believe it, just kill the last general."
Lou Yuzhen suddenly said: "General Liang, why didn't you join the rebellion with General Ma Wei and instead came to report the news?"
Liang Rong gritted his teeth and said: "Zhang Yangquan killed two of my children, and he and I are irreconcilable!"
After a pause, he added: "And even if I give in to him, he will never let me go."
Chen Youliang only believed in profit and not loyalty in his life. If Liang Rong said anything nonsense about repaying his loyalty, he would definitely kill him with one knife.
After hearing what he said, I actually believed it. After a while of silence, he ordered someone to summon the commander of the personal guards and said, "Go and check Ma Wei!"
Even Chen Youliang and Lou Yuzhen were in chaos, and the civil and military ministers below were even more panicked and uneasy.
Chen Youliang ruled the Han army with iron-blooded tactics and violence. Now Chen Youliang's powerful image has been shattered, the city is empty, and many people have different ideas.
The Military Intelligence Agency would not let go of this opportunity, and immediately contacted various places. Within three days, they had contacted a large number of generals, and Ma Wei was one of them.
The most important task of Huang Qianhu of the Military Intelligence Agency is to protect Liang Rong's safety. He knows that after Jiangzhou's defeat, Chen Youliang will definitely accuse Liang Rong.
After some consideration, he threw out the most unstable Ma Wei and asked Liang Rong to report him, thereby gaining Chen Youliang's trust again.
That night, Chen Youliang found out that Ma Wei had been sneaking around recently and seemed to be colluding with Jiangdu's army. In a rage, he executed Ma Wei's whole family.
After Liang Rong escaped, he returned to his mansion. As soon as he entered the study, he found Huang Qianhu waiting for him in the study.
Liang Rong was shocked and said: "Huang Qianhu, why are you here?"
Huang Qianhu said with a smile: "Don't worry, the city is in chaos now, Chen Youliang's control has been greatly reduced, and he no longer has the ability to keep an eye on you."
Liang Rong nodded and asked: "What's the matter with you coming to me?"
Huang Qianhu took out a letter and said: "This is the news from the front line. General Hou hopes that we can obtain the handwriting of Mrs. Wang Pu's mother. Chen Youliang is still keeping a close eye on Mrs. Wang's residence, and my people cannot get in for a while.
."
Liang Rong took the letter, read it, and said, "Okay, I'll figure this out!"