Chapter 23 Surprise Attack on Jiangling

Jingnan Jiedu Yang Zhiwen's family sat around the big round table for breakfast. Yang Zhiwen was a very talkative person. While eating, he said to his family, "What happened to Zeng Yuanyu and Li Fu? Two days later, he brought me a document, saying that Wang Xianzhi was a powerful thief and was likely to attack Jiangling soon. Ask me to defend strictly. Once Wang Xianzhi appears under Jiangling, I will inform them immediately, and they will quickly send troops to reinforce Jiangling. It has made me sleepless for many days. It's really annoying! It's so cold now. It's snowing outside for a few days. Will Wang Xianzhi come? I think Zeng Yuanyu and Li Fu are nervous!" After saying that, Yang Zhiwen hummed out his chopsticks, picked up a piece of mutton in a large casserole, and ate it by his mouth.

Lin Shi, Yang Zhiwen's wife, whispered, "Sir, is it for your own good that your boss asked you to guard the city? Don't be angry. Besides, Wang Xianzhi, these thieves, come and go without a trace. Maybe one day they will come and make trouble, which is not sure." As soon as Lin's voice fell, a personal soldier came in, knelt down on one leg and said hurriedly, "Lord Yang, the leader of the thief, Xianzhi, led a large number of people to the outer city of Jiangling and was attacking! The outer city is in danger! Now General Shen and General Pang are waiting outside to meet you.

After listening to the report of his own soldiers, Yang Zhiwen's heart sank. When he was distracted, half of the mutton that he had not eaten fell to the ground. He was seen by a big yellow dog, came over and took it away, and then squatted in a corner and ate it with relish. Yang Zhiwen sighed and walked to the living room. He saw Shen Jian and Pang Hu two standing at the door with an anxious look. Yang Zhiwen waved his hand, motioned them to sit down, and ordered the maid to have tea.

Shen Jian said, "Lord Yang, Wang Xianzhi suddenly brought a lot of horses in the middle of last night and appeared at the north and east gates of Jiangling, and quickly launched an attack. Many of our soldiers are in their dreams and have no time to organize effective defense, so many parts of the outer city were broken through by the thief army, and the main general of the outer city also fought to death. I guess the outer city is not in our hands now!"

Yang Zhiwen listened and asked coldly, "In this way, now we can only defend in the inner city?"

Shen Jian and Pang Hu nodded and said, "Yes, our main force is in the inner city. Although the outer city was broken by thieves, our inner city fortifications in Jiangling are as solid as gold, which can be called the first-class urban defense fortifications in the Central Plains. Lord Yang, please rest assured that we will do our best to organize the inner city defense to ensure the safety of Lord Yang! Lord Yang, please hand over the military charm to us so that we can mobilize the soldiers and horses of the whole city. Yang Zhiwen is a literati and can't command war at all, so Shen Jian and Pang Hu said so.

Yang Zhiwen gently brushed his short mustache and said slowly, "Okay, according to the words of the two generals, Yang will hand over the heavy responsibility of defending Jiangling to the two!" After saying that, Yang Zhiwen ran to the inner room step by step, took out the seal of the soldiers, and handed them to Shen Jian and Pang Hu in person. He patted Shen Jian on the shoulder and said, "I'm waiting for the good news of your victory. I will work for you two!"

Since Wang Xianzhi captured Anzhou, he has recruited troops and horses, accumulated grass and grain, and harassed the Tang army everywhere. Of course, the Tang army in various places tried their best to resist. Zeng Yuanyu, Yang Fuguang and Li Fu's three armies have been looking for the main force of the Rebel Army in a time, in an attempt to eliminate Wang Xianzhi's uprising army in one fell swoop and solve the solution. The original war, and then went north to Qilu to gather and annihilate the Yellow Nest Uprising Army.

In order to get rid of the encirclement and interception of Zeng Yuanyu and other troops, Wang Xianzhi summoned Chai Cun, Shang Rang, Yue Lingfei, Sun Mei, Zhao Zhang, Ji Zhong and other generals to hold a military conference in Anzhou. After full discussion, the final decision was made: Wang Xianzhi, Yue Lingfei, Sun Mei and Ji Zhong led 80,000 troops, mainly south of the Yangtze River, fighting against the Tang army of Zeng Yuanyu and Li Fu; Chai Cun, Shang Rang and Zhao Zhang led 50,000 troops, mainly north of the Yangtze River, firmly guarding the front line of the ballast mountain, and the Tang army of Yang Fuguang and Cui Anqian War. The army of the North and the Second Route often kept in touch and echoed each other. The rest of the rebels divided into small units and fought guerrillas in various places and continued to harass the Tang army.

After the meeting, Wang Xianzhi's army began to act as planned. At the end of the year, it was cold and freezing. In the suburbs of Anzhou, Wang Xianzhi, Sun Mei, Chai Cun, Shang Rang, Yue Lingfei, Zhao Zhang, Ji Zhong and others said goodbye. Wang Xianzhi held Chai Cun and Shang Rang's hands tightly and refused to let go for a long time. Tears kept spinning in the eyes of these tough men, and the fighting friendship between them was too deep. Since the Changyuan Uprising, the south and the north have been fought, and the east and west have been killed. Now the army is strong and can be divided and developed.

When it was time to say goodbye, Wang Xianzhi suddenly said, "Brothers, if I die in battle one day, don't stand on another hill. Just follow Brother Huang Chao. He is better than me. Since I divided my troops with Brother Huang Chao, with the expansion of the team, I often feel that my ability is insufficient. I can only guard one mu and three points of land. It's okay to command 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses, but if I let me command hundreds of thousands of troops, I don't have this ability. After saying that, Wang Xianzhi waved her right hand vibly and said decisively, "I order that from now on, the second army will start to act according to the original deployment!" For the sake of the world and future generations, we are not afraid of wind and frost, rain and snow, and head loss, let's go!"

This majestic and tragic voice echoed on the land of Jingchu for a long time...

Two iron flows into the distance and gradually moves away. Finally, it becomes two small black spots and slowly disappears into the lofty mountains... It is like two volcanoes that are constantly accumulating energy, and one day, it will burst out earth-shaking energy!

Wang Xianzhi allocated 10,000 horses to Yue Lingfei and mastated to attack Huangzhou and Ezhou. Zeng Yuanyu received urgent documents in the direction of Huangzhou and quickly brought up 100,000 troops. He rushed to Huangzhou at night. Unexpectedly, Yue Lingfei shot and went north to Shenzhou. Zeng Yuanyu's people and horses really couldn't run, just in Huangzhou and Ezhou. Rest. Wang Xianzhi took advantage of this favorable fighter and decisively marched into Jiangling to have the previous scene.

Before attacking Jiangling, Wang Xianzhi had already figured out the details of Yang Zhiwen, the governor of Jingnan Festival. She knew that Yang Zhiwen was a literati and could not fight. She was happy to write poems and paintings. Xianzhi was overjoyed. This is God's help to me! Jiangling has been without war for many years, rich in products, and its strategic position is extremely important. It is an important big city connecting the north and the south. If Jiangling is captured, it is equivalent to cutting off the economic transportation lines of the north and south of the Tang Dynasty, which is a fatal blow to the Li and Tang Dynasty.

Wang Xianzhi's surprise soldiers, just like Li Jian's night attack on Caizhou, caught the defenders off guard. When Yang Zhiwen, Shen Jian and Pang Hu spoke, the rebels had captured the outer city of Jiangling. Unfortunately, after occupying the outer city, they received very little military supplies. Although Yang Zhiwen can't fight, he still knows how to accumulate grain, and a large number of strategic materials have been transported to the inner city for a long time. Wang Xianzhi is equivalent to occupying an empty city and must capture the inner city of Jiangling to be replenished with materials.

At this time, just before dawn, Wang Xianzhi personally sat on the front line to command the siege. The rebels set up a number of floating bridges on the moat, rushed to the edge of the wall, set up a ladder, and bravely climbed to the top of the city in the heavy snow. Shen Jian and Pang Hu ordered the Tang army to fight back, with wooden rolling stones, arrows like flying locusts, and many ladders were cut off. A few Rebel soldiers who climbed to the top of the city were surrounded by the vicious Tang Legion and soon fell into a pool of blood. This tough battle lasted for three days and three nights! The Rebels launched many charges, all of which were repelled by the Tang army. Jiangling, a military town on the north bank of the Yangtze River, has always taken the initiative on the side of the Tang army.

Seeing the Rebel soldiers fall into a pool of blood one after another, Wang Xianzhi, Sun Mei and Ji Zhong's eyes turned red and they couldn't help crying. Jiangling City was strong and impeccable. Tang Jun refused desperately. This bone is really hard to gnaw!

Wang Xianzhi looked up to the sky and sighed: "I can't take the inner city of Jiangling for three days. God doesn't bless me, God's will, God's will!"

At dusk on the third day, the snow began to weaken. Shen Jian and Pang Hu saw that the rebels stopped attacking the city and went to rest and eat in the barracks. They immediately ordered the Tang army to eat and check the equipment for defending the city after eating. Shen Jian asked a personal soldier to invite Yang Zhiwen to inspect the city. The personal soldiers flew away and soon arrived at Yang Zhiwen's mansion. After listening to this, Yang Zhiwen rubbed his sleepy eyes, made a long yawn, and said to Lin, "Prepare clothes for me. The soldiers have been guarding the city for a day. I'll go to see them." Lin hurried to prepare.

After a while, Yang Zhiwen slowly came out of the house, wearing a black gauze hat, wearing a black leather robe, walking in all directions, walking to the side of the sedan chair and bowed in. The captain of the guard shouted loudly, "Get up the sedan chair!" The sedan chairman carried Yang Zhiwen to the north city.

When he arrived in the north city, Yang Zhiwen swaggered to the tower, looked at the spinning snowflakes in the sky, and said to Shen Jian, Pang Hu and others, "This year's snow is so heavy that it hasn't stopped yet." Pang Hu walked to Yang Zhiwen and said, "Lord Yang, why didn't you wear armor when you came out to patrol the city? What should we do if we are hit by the arrows of the thief? Yang Zhiwen stared, looked unhappy, dusted the snowflakes on his body, and said as if no one was around, "How many thieves dare to touch the ground on Uncle Ben? I am the reincarnation of King Kong, specializing in retrieveling little ghosts!" Hearing this, the Tang soldiers at the head of the city couldn't help laughing.

Shen Jian muttered in Yang Zhiwen's ear for a while. Yang Zhiwen couldn't help nodding. He shouted, "Jiangling soldiers, thank you for your hard work! You fought a bloody battle with Wang Xianzhi's gang of thieves today. I am very gratified. This time, I rewarded each soldier with 500 yuan and 10 catties of pork, doubling the officer.

When the Tang soldiers guarded the city, they were all happy. Although Lord Yang was a literati and could not command in battle, he was very generous in reward.

"Thank you, Lord Yang!"

"Lord Yang is wise!"

The soldiers of the Tang army shouted loudly.

Yang Zhiwen was in a very good mood at this time. He looked at the fluttering snowflakes and stroked the city. He couldn't help but sing a lot. He had to meditate a little and chanted: Jiangling snowflakes are floating everywhere, and the indoor fragrance has not subsided. The power of the Tang Dynasty passed down from generation to generation, and the generals of the city were free.