Along the coast, a mighty fleet was seen approaching in the distance, with white sails covering the sky and the sun, and the Yunlong flag flying and making a sound, revealing the identity of the person.
It is the navy of Yun Kingdom!
The warships escorted an astonishing number of troop transport ships and sailed towards the Zhuxian pier. On the pier, some Xia soldiers who were left behind saw them and shouted in alarm.
Zhu County is under the rule of Leizhou. To the west is Qinzhou, one of the four states ceded to Yun State by the Li Dynasty, to the north is Hechi County, and to the east is the garrison that connects Leizhou and Shaoyang County, where supplies and grain are transferred.
Sichuan Mansion.
After Qinzhou and Hechi County were acquired by Yun State, Zhu County became the only barrier in front of Chuchuan Prefecture!
In such a critical place, when the situation between the two countries was at its most tense, tens of thousands of Xia soldiers were stationed. The Leizhou Navy also had dozens of warships deployed here to prepare for the Yun army's attack.
However, after Di Qing's troops captured Hechi County, they obviously did not regard Leizhou as the main target of the expedition. After leaving a partial garrison behind, they led their troops to move to Guizhou, aiming directly at Yongzhou, an important town on the southwest defense line.
In order to cope with the Yongzhou offensive, Xia State was unable to remove most of the troops stationed in Zhu County.
The Leizhou Navy, which was originally stationed here, not long ago summoned the main force to gather in Leizhou in order to fight the decisive battle with the Yun Kingdom Navy, leaving only a dozen hundred-material warships for defense here.
Thousands of soldiers and more than ten warships. With such strength, they can be used to defend against the Yun Kingdom's partial divisions and local county soldiers stationed in Qinzhou. But when facing the Yun Kingdom's navy that is attacking with all their strength, it becomes clear that
Extremely fragile.
Sergeant Xia's soldiers ran around and shouted wildly, hastily responding to the challenge. The warship in the dock had just raised its sails and was about to attack, when arrows were fired from the sky.
Even on the warships of the Yun Kingdom, there were trebuchets that dropped earthen jars filled with kerosene and smashed them on the ships. The kerosene stained the decks. Rockets were then fired, and the ships at the docks were "boomed".
"The ground burst into flames.
Xia Jun on the boat was wailing and screaming, and most people had no choice but to jump into the sea to save their lives.
Yang Dayan stood on the boat, looking at the land not far away. His somewhat depressed eyes finally regained some of their energy. With excitement in his heart, he suddenly drew out his sword, pointed diagonally forward, and yelled:
"Kill with my commander!"
Then the exciting sound of military drums sounded, and the navy ships rushed into the Zhuxian pier.
Yang Dayan took the lead and led a group of soldiers around him. He jumped directly from the deck and killed the panicked Xia army on the pier.
A group of Yun's soldiers were infected by the fact that the commander Yang Dayan personally led the team to attack. They were fed up with the pain of wandering at sea. At this time, they rushed to the enemy's formation, showing even more bravery and ferocity.
The Xia army that stayed behind had no time to form enough resistance before the Yun army broke through the formation, divided into scattered teams and surrounded them. In just half a day, they were completely wiped out.
Zhu County under Leizhou's rule was completely captured by Yun's army at this time!
Yang Dayan flicked his cloak, pointed in the direction of Chuchuan Prefecture in the east of Zhu County, and shouted:
"The army marches quickly to capture Chuchuan Prefecture and cut off the land connection between Leizhou and Xia Kingdom!"
When the generals heard this, they immediately cheered up and shouted:
"As you command!"——
A huge treasure ship, forty to fifty feet long and nearly twenty feet wide, with nine masts and twelve sails, lay across the sea. Yunlong flags were placed all over it, fluttering in the wind, making a hunting sound, and its power was terrifying.
A group of tall warships that could be called behemoths were surrounding and guarding the treasure ship, but they were made extremely small and inconspicuous.
This treasure ship is now the flagship of the Yun Kingdom Navy.
Wang Zhi, wearing full armor and a dark complexion, walked quickly onto the deck, knelt down on one knee in front of Zheng He, cupped his fists and said:
"The last general Henghai Colonel Wang Zhi, please see your father-in-law!"
Although Zheng He was just a eunuch in the palace, he was now in charge of the navy under the orders of Xiao Cheng. Wang Zhi was now the captain of Henghai and was under the command of the navy. It was not against the rules to treat Zheng He as a subordinate.
Looking at Wang Zhi in front of him, Zheng He couldn't help but take a second look.
It's not anything else, it's just that the captain in front of me has the same name as Wang Zhi, the eunuch who has gained His Majesty's trust in Beijing and is now in charge of the East Factory.
Putting aside the strange thoughts in his heart, Zheng He coughed lightly and said in a deep voice:
"His Majesty has decreed that in order to destroy the Leizhou Navy, Captain Henghai is specially ordered to serve under our command temporarily!"
After saying that, Zheng He motioned to the soldiers around him, took out the secret decree from the capital and handed it into Wang Zhi's hand.
Wang Zhi in history was a great pirate who dominated the world and called himself King Hui.
In line with the idea of making the best use of people, Xiao Cheng followed the old practice of Da Ling's privateering permission and gave him a team of people to allow him to develop on his own. He also specifically issued an order not to control the rest of the people.
This Wang Zhi is quite impressive. With the Buri camp at his back and no shortage of soldiers and warships, he occupied several islands in just half a year and recruited fishermen along the coast of Xia Kingdom.
Yan Ding, forcibly developed his Henghai camp to have three to four thousand troops.
They even cooperated with Zheng He before, taking advantage of the emptiness of Leizhou to attack the Leizhou camp and burned countless supplies.
Now, the decisive battle between the Yun Kingdom Navy and the Leizhou Navy was imminent. In order to ensure that everything was safe, Xiao Cheng specially ordered Wang Zhi to temporarily serve under Zheng He.
Seeing His Majesty's secret decree, Wang Zhi leaned over to salute without hesitation and said:
"General, please listen to your father-in-law's orders!"
Zheng He nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
"General Anton has led 30,000 troops, marched from the sea, and unexpectedly captured Zhu County, the important place of Leizhou, and approached Chuchuan Prefecture in Shaoyang County. Once this place is captured by our army, Leizhou will be cut off from Xia Kingdom by land.
All the ordnance and supplies required by the Leizhou Navy need to be transported by sea."
"Captain Henghai is stationed on the islands at sea. The soldiers of Henghai camp know the sea routes well and can come and go easily. We want you to plunder the Xia Kingdom's baggage fleet to help the main force of our navy attack Leizhou and destroy the Leizhou navy!
"
When Wang Zhi heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Now his Henghai camp has a lot of people under his command, but most of them are people gathered for profit. It is naturally not a big problem to let them rob merchant ships. But if he leads them to fight the main force of Xia Kingdom's navy, I am afraid there will not be many people.
I am willing to do my best!
Wang Zhi, who was still vaguely worried about this, finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Zheng He asked him to plunder Xia's baggage ships, quickly clasped his fists in salute, and responded loudly:
"Please rest assured, father-in-law, I will do my best to repay Your Majesty for your kindness!"
Zheng He nodded slightly, raised his head and looked around. Looking at the tall warships surrounding him and the generals gathered on the deck, he suddenly felt heroic in his heart and said loudly:
"I also hope that you will work hard to destroy the Xia army and take control of Leizhou. You will make great achievements and be famous all over the world."
All the generals clasped their fists together and responded proudly, and the sound of excitement echoed above the blue sea and sky——
Dejiang County, Tianmen Mansion.
The military tents stretched for more than ten miles, flags were flying, and the huge camp stretched across the Tianmen Mansion. The sound of drills and shouts of killing spread throughout the surroundings, making the Xia Army spies who were watching and looking around feel terrified.
After Wu Zixu personally inspected the military camp as usual, he led a group of soldiers back to his commander's tent.
At this time, several generals were waiting in the commander's tent.
Seeing Wu Zixu walking into the tent, he quickly bowed his hands and said:
"I've met the Marquis!"
Wu Zixu nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
"How's the battle going?"
When several generals heard this, they immediately reported back one after another:
"The last general led the troops to attack Cili County of the Xia State. Along the way, he defeated the Xia Army's Hongzhushan Camp and uprooted the two military camps at Huanglongguan and Sanwangpo. It was not until the outskirts of Cili County that he led his troops back."
"The last general, under the command of the Marquis, sent troops from the Jingzhu Mountain military camp, leading three thousand cavalry, and marched up to the Xia army camp in Yunwu Mountain, advancing towards Jinfeng Mountain, looking at Wulingfu City in the distance, and attracted the Xia army defending the city to prepare.
After mobilizing all the troops, we immediately retreated to the camp."
"Our troops marched towards Taoyuan County, Wuling Prefecture, and surrounded the city with a large army. After the reinforcements of the Xia Army arrived, we waited for work and defeated three reinforcements from the Xia State, totaling more than 10,000 people. We killed more than a thousand enemies and returned with a great victory!"
"..."
Since the domestic reinforcements arrived, Wu Zixu had 90,000 soldiers and horses under his command. There were so many soldiers at his disposal that he could even divide his troops into several groups and attack Wuling Mansion together!
These generals in the tent all followed Wu Zixu's orders to lead troops to Wuling Mansion.
But the strange thing is that these groups of soldiers and horses either had no intention of fighting and immediately retreated after the Xia army was ready. Or they did not attack the Xia army's important towns, but instead attacked the Xia army's reinforcements that came from all over to support.
At this time, some generals could not bear the confusion in their hearts. After hesitating for a while, they handed over their hands and said:
"I dare to ask the Marquis, today when the Taoyuan County garrison is about to collapse and we are leaving the city to fight to the death, why does the Marquis urgently order us to retreat instead of attacking by force?"
Hearing the doubts of his generals, Wu Zixu said in a deep voice:
"Although Taoyuan County is the southern barrier of Wuling Prefecture, if we attack Wuling Prefecture from now on, there are still several large rivers separating us. The Xia army can use this to protect the southern border of Wuling Prefecture. However, if our army captures it, it will not have much impact on the overall situation.
So many benefits! It’s worthless. It’s useless to eat but it’s a pity to throw it away. Why waste the lives of soldiers in vain?”
Wu Zixu is now a famous general with a powerful reputation all over the world. Most of the generals are convinced by him, but many of them are still puzzled by the military orders issued.
Seeing that Wu Zixu was willing to explain his intentions to his generals at this time, the generals immediately wanted to ask for advice and cautiously continued to ask:
"Then I dare to ask Lord Marquis, now that our army encounters the Xia Army's small village and small town, we will lead the troops to attack it. But if we encounter the Xia Army's heavily guarded military stronghold, we will immediately retreat and make a big fanfare.
The forceful attack on the city of Wuling Prefecture caused the Xia army to be surprised and panicked all day long. Why?"
"This is a plan to tire out the enemy! When the time is right, it will be time to send out troops." Wu Zixu said concisely and concisely.
When the generals heard this, they suddenly understood and showed respect for Wu Zixu, who was in command.
Wu Zixu noticed the admiration in the generals' eyes and felt slightly weak. He couldn't help but cough lightly——
Taoyuan County under the rule of Wuling Prefecture of Xia Kingdom.
There are many large and small rivers in the territory of Wuling Prefecture. In Taoyuan County, this is the most obvious! The city is built on the Yuan River, and both sides of the city are close to the river, which greatly reduces the number of soldiers required for defense.
The most critical thing is that in Taoyuan County, there are many small rivers and lakes formed by the tributaries of the Yuan River, which is extremely unfavorable for the deployment of the army.
Even if Taoyuan County is lost, there is still a river center island in the Yuan River to the east of the county where the remaining troops can retreat. Relying on the power of the Yuan River to hold back the enemy troops is a unique advantage.
Because of this, this place became the most important place in the southern border of Xia Army's Wuling Prefecture.
At this time, in the county seat of Taoyuan County, a group of soldiers were cheering and celebrating, ecstatic that they and others had defeated the Yun army.
Well, that’s right!
Although the incoming Yun army soldiers and horses were recalled by Wu Zixu's urgent order, in the eyes of the Taoyuan County defenders, it was their defenders who were brave and fearless of death. They dared to leave the city to fight to the death at the most critical moment, and thus forced Yun to retreat.
military.
A group of military generals gathered around Liao Gu in the middle. They all clasped their fists and bowed, saying gratefully:
"If Captain Liao hadn't led the troops out of the city to fight to the death at the critical moment today, I'd be afraid that we would either be killed by the Yun army, or captured and humiliated by the Yun army!"
"We admire the captain's bravery! On behalf of all the officers and men in the army, thank you very much, captain!"
"We had heard rumors before that we had been negligent towards the captain. I never thought that today the captain would ignore the past grudges. It really makes us extremely ashamed!"
"Today I saw the fierceness, loyalty and bravery of the captain, and I realized that the words of the fools in the world cannot be trusted at all."
Liao Gu quickly waved his hand and said humbly:
"I am a guilty person. Fortunately, Your Majesty took pity on my hard work and did not hold me accountable. He ordered me to serve in front of the battle. Naturally, I will serve to the death and live up to Your Majesty's grace!"
"Hey, captain, why are you doing this! Isn't the battle of Rongzhou in the past already concluded? The Yun army relied on the strange luck of the army to demoralize our army and lose its morale. It can be said that it is impossible to win without force!
"
"That's right, that's right! The captain was able to hold on to Rongzhou City for more than ten days under the Yun army's offensive and ensure that his soldiers did not disperse. He is already a famous general in the world!"
Liao Gu was surrounded by the generals, and all kinds of compliments, either sincere or false, penetrated his ears, and he suddenly felt his heart tingling and feeling extremely comfortable.
Previously, Liao Gu had the reputation of being an elite member of the Southwest Frontier Army who was wiped out in the First World War, which made his reputation in the army almost infamous.
There are even some generals who have the dark idea of stepping on this former military commander, and even say contemptuous and joking words in front of him without hesitation.
It had been a long time since he had experienced being surrounded by people and complimenting him like this.
Thinking of this, Liao Gu opened his eyes slightly and subconsciously looked to the side.
Then I saw several guards at Niangan dressed as soldiers, standing aside and looking at Liao Gu quietly.
Today, Liao Gu was able to lead his troops out of the city at a critical moment, obviously because of the guidance of Sticking Post. Coupled with Wu Zixu's cooperation, the credit for repelling the Yun army and defending the city fell to Liao Gu.
Solid head.
At this moment, the sound of rapid horse hooves suddenly sounded outside.
Everyone followed the sound and saw several elite soldiers, holding command flags and riding fast horses into the camp. In front of all the soldiers, they shouted loudly:
"Colonel Lieutenant Liao Gu fought bravely to kill the enemy, repelled the Yun army, and defended the city. He has served the country well. Following the order of General Jingwu, he was promoted to General Liyi to control the troops and horses of Taoyuan County and resist the Yun army!"
After all the soldiers in the camp were quiet for a moment, they all raised their hands in response, then turned to smile at Liao Gu and congratulated him repeatedly.
"Congratulations, general, for taking the title of general again today!"
Liao Gu suppressed the joy in his heart and quickly leaned over to receive the order.
No matter how unwilling he was to enter the sticky rod before, but at this time, he just said silently in his heart: It smells so good!