Almost at the same time when Yang Yuanqing held a banquet to invite famous celebrities from Jiangxia City, Li Xiaogong also held a grand banquet in Baiyun Restaurant in Xiangyang City, inviting celebrities from Xiangyang to accompany him to welcome the arrival of Chai Shao and Yang Gongren.
Seventy thousand reinforcements from Chang'an through Hanzhong arrived in Xiangyang and stationed outside Xiangyang City, increasing the strength of Xiangyang from 50,000 to 120,000.
After the banquet, Li Xiaogong invited Chai Shao and Yang Gongren to the meeting hall and introduced them to the current situation in Jingxiang.
This time, Li Yuan learned from the failure of the Central Plains battle, no longer implemented the dual commander system, and the court no longer interfered. Li Xiaogong was fully responsible, Chai Shao was the left deputy general, Yang Gongren was the right deputy general, and Gao Shilian was the march Sima.
The battle of Jingxiang was commanded by the four of them.
"From the information we have now, there are 50,000 troops led by Du Fuwei in Yong'an County, 60,000 troops led by Xie Yingdeng, and Yang Yuanqing may bring 10,000 or 20,000 troops, and 40,000 from Xu Shiji in Nanyang County, Xu Shiji in Nanyang County
If the Sui army considers the 10,000 Sui army in Yiling County, then the total force of the Sui army is about 170,000, while our total force is 150,000, which is evenly matched."
The arrival of reinforcements made Li Xiaogong's confidence increase sharply and his voice became louder. He glanced at Chai Shao and smiled, "I want to hear the general's opinions."
Chai Shao is a sleek person, always has a very good relationship with others, and his desire to fight for power and profit is not so strong. More importantly, he also understood that the Tang Dynasty had reached a time of life and death, and whether he could win the battle of Jingxiang was related to the future of the Tang Dynasty.
Before leaving, Emperor Li Yuan also had a special talk with him, asking him to fully support Li Xiaogong to win this battle.
Chai Shao knew that Li Xiaogong had actually had a plan, but was just a little polite to him. He smiled and said, "As the saying goes, a strong dragon is inferior to a local snake, not to mention that I don't know anything about the situation in Jingxiang. Where can I talk about anything? Your Highness
Even if I arrange it, I will just follow the order.”
Li Xiaogong looked at Yang Gongren again. He knew that Yang Gongren was both civil and military, and should not be underestimated and dared not look down on him. Seeing that Yang Gongren was staring at the sand table and pondered, Li Xiaogong asked with a smile: "What do you think of Shangshu Yang?"
Yang Gongren picked up the wooden pole and pointed it at Yichang County on the sand table. "Your Highness. I don't quite understand that the Sui army has occupied Yiling Road and cut off the road to Bashu. The consequences are quite serious. Why don't we send troops to take back Yichang County
?”
Li Xiaogong shook his head helplessly and said, "It's not that I don't want to attack, it's really inconvenient. And I have great difficulties."
Li Xiaogong took the wooden pole and pointed to Dingshu City: "Originally there was an iron cable bridge connecting the north and south of the Yangtze River. But now the iron cable bridge has been cut off by the Sui army, so we can't cross the river, and the plank road leading to Jiegui on the north bank was destroyed.
It takes a lot of manpower and can be repaired for at least half a year, and it is too late to go up."
Li Xiaogong pointed the wooden pole at Jiangling and continued: "Although you can cross the river from Jiangling, you have to conquer Yiling County and Yichang County. It is impossible to do without an army of 50,000 or 60,000. The situation in Jingxiang is now critical. I
How could it be possible to spend the troops in Yiling County? I can only wait until the Jingxiang Battle is over before considering recapturing Yiling.”
Yang Gongren nodded and apologized: "I don't understand the situation. Your Highness, I'm sorry!"
"This is nothing, don't you blame anyone who doesn't know it!"
Li Xiaogong smiled, then turned his thoughts back to the topic, and slowly said to everyone: "I have thought about it for a long time. Where are our advantages? What are the disadvantages of the Sui army? I think the disadvantages of the Sui army lies in them.
The troops were scattered. Although their troops were large, they were scattered in four places and it was difficult to gather. So I considered that we should concentrate our superior forces and defeat the Sui army one by one."
Yang Gongren pondered for a moment and said, "From the big plan, it is really good to defeat each one, but who will you start with?"
Li Xiaogong's plan was supported by Yang Gongren. He was excited and picked up the wooden pole and pointed at Jiangxia County: "From the strength of the troops, the original Xiaoliang army should be the weakest combat power, but Xiaoliang army is
Jiangxia is a little far away, and the troops are in the south of the Yangtze River, so it is inconvenient for us to cross the river, so it is not realistic to deal with the Xiaoliang army. Du Fuwei's army is in Yong'an County, and it is also separated from us by Anlu County and Jingling County. It is a very good distance.
It took more than 500 miles and a long journey, and I was worried that the logistics supply would not be available."
Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong waved his wooden pole northward and pointed to Nanyang County. "On the contrary, Xu Shiji's army is only dozens of miles away from us. His 40,000 troops are like a knife on the neck of Xiangyang, so that the Sui army
From the east to attack Jingxiang, I could only watch them occupy Yong'an County and Jiangxia County without daring to support them. Therefore, I think we should concentrate our troops and attack the Sui Army in Nanyang."
Yang Gongren smiled, "Your Highness, I think we should first attack the weak and attack Du Fuwei's army, and then go south to attack Xiaoliang's army. As long as we defend Xiangyang City, Xu Shiji's army will not be able to enter Jingxiang. Your Highness, break the east first.
Facing two armies, the overall situation in the south will be achieved, and at this time, Xu Shiji's army will retreat without fighting."
Li Xiaogong pondered for a moment, and he also admitted that Yang Gongren’s words made sense, but Du Fuwei was not a wood, so it was impossible for him to stand there and wait for him to fight.
"I don't know if Yang Shangshu had thought about it. If our army advances to Yong'an County, Du Fuwei's army will most likely go south, or the Jiangxia and Sui army will go north. It will not be so easy. On the contrary, Xu Shiji's 40,000 troops were isolated and had no help, and they just surrounded and annihilated them.
, As long as we are surprised and Thunder sends troops, Xu Shiji will not have time to retreat."
As soon as Li Xiaogong finished speaking, soldiers rushed to the hall to report: "Report to your Highness, Xinye scout's latest information, Xinye's 40,000 Sui troops have begun to retreat north."
Li Xiaogong and others looked at each other. Could it be that the Sui army has a thousand miles of ears?
.........
Jiangling City, Nanjun, was once the capital of the Liang Dynasty and the second largest city in Jingxiang area except Xiangyang City. The city has a circumference of nearly forty miles, with 38,000 households and a population of more than 200,000.
Jiangling City is also the second important place for troops stationed, with 20,000 Tang troops stationed. Jiangling City is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River. When the Tang Dynasty attacked Jingxiang, more than 300 Xiaoliang warships were captured in Jiangling, making Jiangling a Tang army.
Navy base.
The garrison of Jiangling City was named Lu Zushang. He was a young general in his early twenties. He used a square painting halberd weighing 130 kilograms and had outstanding martial arts skills.
He was originally a Sui general in Luoyang. When Wang Shichong usurped power, he fled from Luoyang, defected to the Tang Dynasty, and followed Li Xiaogong to guard Jingxiang.
Li Xiaogong admired this young and brave general very much, and appointed him as the general of Nanjun, leading 20,000 troops to garrison Jiangling. In addition, Lu Zu Shangshuixing was good and led the navy to fight. Li Xiaogong gave him another 300 warships.
Lu Zushang was in a bad mood during this period. He had just defected to the Tang Dynasty less than a year before he found that the general trend of the Tang Dynasty was in danger and the prospects were bleak. Moreover, his hometown Yiyang County became the territory of the Sui Dynasty, which made Lu Zushang feel a little regretful.
He was young and impulsive, and without thinking clearly for a moment, he ruined his future.
He had originally thought that he would be an unknown general, leave the Tang Dynasty silently and surrender to famous generals such as Luo Shixin or Xu Shiji. It would be no problem to use his martial arts to make a future. However, Li Xiaogong was extremely kind to him, which made him unable to bear to betray him.
It was the Tang Dynasty.
At night, Lu Zushang stood at the top of the city with his halberd, staring at the dark river in the distance from afar. The river surface was sparkling, and the night se was too thick to see any ships.
Lu Zushang's eyes turned around and couldn't help but sigh. The Sui army had actually occupied Yiling County and Yichang County, and cut off the ties between Jingxiang and Bashu.
He felt a little guilty. He said that he was responsible. The Sui army passed through his military territory and was found in Ziling County. He informed King Jing, but he was still one step late.
In fact, it should be that he led his army to pursue the Sui army, or he led his army to attack Yiling, and he was also ready to go to war, but King Jing did not approve him to leave the country.
Although the reason was not said, Lu Shangzu also knew in his heart that with the 20,000 troops in his hands, even if he could conquer Yiling County, he could not conquer Yichang County, and he could only lose his troops and generals in vain.
Lu Zushang was in a heavy mood. The battle between Jingxiang was about to be imminent. I wonder who would kill the deer this time and whether the Tang Dynasty could win back this critical game.
At this moment, a cavalryman rushed from a distance and rushed to the city gate and shouted, "Can General Lu be there?"
Lu Zushang held a torch in his hand and asked, "What happened?"
"Report to General Li, the General, sent emergency information from Gong'an County, and a suspicious fleet was found on the river, with more than a hundred ships."
This news surprised Lu Zushang. There were more than 100 ships. What is this? Is the merchant fleet? Or the navy of the Sui Dynasty.
He asked again quickly: "What fleet is it?"
"Person Li said that the hull is quite large, not like a merchant fleet or a troop transport ship. Person Li was afraid of being alerted to the enemy and dared not get close to check."
Lu Zushang thought about it, and he suddenly realized that this must be the Sui army supply fleet to Yiling County. They wanted to secretly pass through the border at night, but were discovered by the water patrol of Gong'an County.
He was extremely excited and immediately ordered: "The whole army will dispatch to the river to intercept the fleet!"
...........
More than ten miles away from Jiangling County, a fleet of more than a hundred large ships sailed silently west along the south bank. This fleet was the supply fleet sent by Xie Yingdeng to Yiling and set out from Jiangxia
He drove safely for seven or eight days and arrived at the most dangerous Jiangling City area.
In fact, there are several large merchant fleets like this on the Yangtze River, but they usually travel east of Jiangxia, and there are not many in Jingxiang area.
The ship leader who led the fleet also knew where the danger was. The ship leader was surnamed Tao. He had been sailing on the Yangtze River for 30 years and had a lot of experience. He also knew how to avoid danger. There was no threat along the way. Only Jiangling County had the Tang Dynasty navy, so he wanted to hide.
The boiling water army can only use night cover to transit at night.
The river surface in Jiangling City is wide, more than ten miles wide. The fleet sailed along the south bank. Under the cover of night, Jiangling City was invisible at all. The boss of the ship evaded taxes and avoided inspections, and he was already familiar with the road.
The fleet slowly sailed on the river surface, and there was no danger seen on the dark river surface. Generally, the Tang army patrols would not leave the ship at this time.
At this moment, a crew member suddenly pointed at the front and shouted: "Mr. Tao, a boat is here!"
I saw hundreds of warships suddenly appeared on the river in front of me, with dark shadows intercepting them like hills.