Tibet

It was getting daylight, and groups of captured soldiers were marched into the camp. They had no armor, no weapons, and no morale. The fighting spirit of these soldiers was completely shattered. Unless the Helong Army wanted to massacre them collectively, they would be no different from ordinary people. .

Last night, fierce street fighting broke out between the 18,000 Helong Army led by Lei Wanchun and the 30,000 Army from the Nan Army Camp on the streets and nearby streets. The two sides fought fiercely for nearly an hour, until the news of Liang Chongyi's death came. , the enemy soldiers collapsed and knelt down to surrender.

Lei Wanchun mercilessly executed all three governors and more than twenty generals. They organized an army attack, causing more than 3,000 casualties in the Helong Army and the deaths of thousands of Nancheng people.

Liang Chongyi's army also suffered more than 8,000 casualties.

Lei Wanchun also felt extremely regretful. There was a major mistake in the deployment. If his army had entered the city from the south gate, the enemy troops could have been blocked in the barracks in time, and the final street battle would not have happened. .

Of course, they couldn't cover everything, but it was this somewhat taken-for-granted oversight that caused them heavy casualties. They considered every aspect, but they forgot that it also takes time to assemble an army.

As a result, the assembly outside the North City took too much time. When they rushed into the North City Gate, the Southern Army Camp received news of the incident in the North City. In addition, Xiangyang City was eight miles long from north to south, so it was too late anyway.

At this time, Zhang Dian came over and saw that Lei Wanchun was in a low mood, so he comforted him and said: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and we cannot all consider it in advance. His Highness the King of Qi did not ask for Xiangyang to be captured without bloodshed. He can only hope We can capture Xiangyang at the lowest cost.

I think this is the minimum price. If we really use the siege method to fight Xiangyang, we will have to pay the price of at least 20,000 casualties, and the people of Xiangyang will die even more, so we have successfully completed the mission, General No need to blame yourself. "

Lei Wanchun sighed and said: "I know too, but hey! Forget it, you have made a great contribution this time!"

Zhang Dian smiled bitterly and said, "I feel like I didn't do anything, I just opened two city gates."

"Is the gate of Xiangyang City so easy to open? Without your good performance, how could Liang Chongyi promote you and make you the capital commander? Only then would Shen Chenzhou have the opportunity to arrange for you to be on duty in the north city."

Speaking of this, Lei Wanchun asked: "Has Liang Chongyi's body been found?"

Zhang Dian nodded, "I looked for his severed hand, and found a body broken into several pieces nearby. It was beyond recognition, but the severed hands fit together. It was very miserable. The head was blown to pieces and the legs were gone. What happened to Your Highness?" Would you think of using gunpowder?"

Lei Wanchun said calmly: "The gunpowder box was originally sent to blow up the city, but I changed my mind and wanted to use the gunpowder box to blow up the Jiedushi Mansion to the ground. However, the intelligence station did not have the opportunity to send the gunpowder box into the mansion, so they I thought of this method and detonated it when Liang Chongyi came out. The effect was pretty good, and both Liang Chongyi and his second son were killed."

"What are General Lei's plans next?"

Lei Wanchun thought for a while and said: "There are still 20,000 Helong troops heading north. They will arrive at Xiangyang in three days. The city of Xiangyang will be handed over to General Zhang first. I will immediately lead 20,000 elite troops to go north to capture Dengzhou and Yuzhou."

Zhang Dian agreed, "I have two thousand Helong troops under my command. The other three thousand troops are also under my command and can be converted into Helong troops immediately. Adding the seven thousand troops left by the general, there will be twelve thousand." The army is enough to guard Xiangyang."

At noon, Lei Wanchun handed over Xiangyang to Zhang Dian. He led 20,000 troops across the Han River and continued northward, heading straight for Nanyang County. There were 5,000 troops garrisoned in Nanyang County and 3,000 troops stationed in Yuzhou, especially 3,000 troops in Yuzhou. The garrison was led by Liang Chongyi's eldest son Liang Chun, who also served as the governor of Yuzhou.

At the same time that Lei Wanchun was finishing his journey north, Wei Jiansu led the imperial envoy to Jincheng County.

Wei Jiansu checked into another VIP hotel. Li Mi and Liu Yan immediately held a banquet at the Yellow River Restaurant to welcome Wei Jiansu. In the afternoon, Liu Yan came to visit Wei Jiansu again.

Wei Jiansu drank a few glasses of wine at noon and took a nap. As soon as he got up and had a cup of tea, Liu Yan came.

Wei Jiansu welcomed him out of the lobby with a smile, "It's a coincidence that Liu Shangshu came. I just got up."

Liu Yan smiled and said: "Let me make it clear first that we did not send anyone to monitor Wei Gong. It was really a coincidence."

"Liu Shangshu is joking, I didn't think that way, let's have a cup of tea together!"

The two walked to the lobby and sat down. Wei Jiansu asked his men to serve tea again.

Liu Yan smiled and asked: "When will the imperial court move the capital?"

Wei Jiansu thought for a while and said: "From a time perspective, the capital should be officially moved in five days. In fact, the early delivery of supplies has already started. The day after tomorrow is the day when the emperor sets off."

"Guanzhong is empty now. Didn't the emperor think that we would take advantage of Guanzhong?"

"How could the emperor not have thought that I am here?"

Liu Yan nodded, "Your Highness is right, Duke Wei is indeed here for Guanzhong."

Wei Jiansu pondered for a while and said: "The emperor wants to make a deal with the King of Qi, using the governance rights of Anxi, Beiting and Hezhong with His Highness the King of Qi in exchange for Jingxiang and the neutral status of Guanzhong."

Liu Yan chuckled and said, "The Emperor's thinking is really good. The Anxi and Beiting courts have long been out of reach!"

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "No matter what the imperial court's attitude is towards Anxi and Beiting, they still belong to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, including Broken Leaf in the River. This is an indisputable matter. The emperor handed over such a vast land to the King of Qi. I only ask that the King of Qi keep his hands off Guanzhong and at the same time return the power to govern Jingxiang. This request is actually not too much. I think this is an opportunity that His Highness the King of Qi should seize."

"Why?"

"Now Beiting and Anxi Jiedu are led by Feng Wang Li Gong. If there are no accidents, he will continue to lead. It will be difficult for His Highness King Qi to legally obtain Anxi and Beiting, even if the Helong Army has completely occupied it. We have defeated Anxi and Beiting, but the governor of Anxi and Beiting is still Li Gong, unless His Highness the King of Qi no longer recognizes the imperial court, but this is impossible, so it is rare that the emperor relents this time, so we must seize this opportunity."

Liu Yan was silent for a moment and said: "But His Highness also wants to get Guanzhong."

Wei Jiansu smiled slightly and said: "In the past, no matter how excessive the three towns in Hebei were, the emperor would not send troops to attack Jingxiang. Liang Chongyi established himself as the state of Chu, and the emperor pretended not to see it. Only Li Xilie supported the army to establish himself, but the emperor did not You don’t hesitate to send troops to attack, do you know why?”

"Water transport!" Liu Yan blurted out.

Wei Jiansu nodded, "It's absolutely true. Li Xilie's rebellion cut off the water transportation from the south of the Yangtze River to the Central Plains and threatened the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the emperor decisively sent troops to fight. After the emperor moved the capital, I concluded that the emperor would definitely send troops to annihilate Li Xilie. Once When the war begins, I am afraid that Ziqing and the three towns in Hebei will join forces. After all, the capital of the Tang Dynasty has been moved to Luoyang. It is strange that they are not nervous. The death of lips and teeth will lead to them forming an alliance. Then the emperor will definitely have demands. His Royal Highness King Qi, and it won’t be long, it will happen this year.”

Liu Yan nodded slowly, "I understand, I'll go back and talk to His Highness!"