Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 510 Unstoppable
"Sorry..."

"Check your camps carefully and make sure they're secure, lest they be blown away by the wind at night and then regret it!"

"Take good care of the horses and make sure they don't get wet in the rain!"

Before nightfall, the riverbank north of Dantu City had been cleared, and the 30,000 Han soldiers and 20,000 laborers who had crossed the Yangtze River first had already set up camp on the west side of Dantu City.

Li Yangchun, dressed in his battle armor, surveyed the camp with a calm expression, while Liu Song and Deng Yan behind him kept calling out to the soldiers and laborers inside the tents.

Finally, as Li Yangchun entered a specially fenced-off camp, it was much noisier than the outside, filled with all sorts of shouts.

"Um..."

"what!!"

Li Yangchun walked to the outside of a tent, raised his hand and opened it slightly. Inside, he saw several military doctors stitching up wounds of wounded soldiers, with severed arms placed beside them.

A hint of reluctance flashed in his eyes, then he withdrew his arm and gaze, took a deep breath, and looked at Liu Song beside him.

"How many of our troops were killed or wounded? How many of the enemy troops were killed or wounded? How many rebel troops are still inside Dantu City?"

"The enemy suffered 657 casualties and 76 wounded. The enemy suffered 2,322 casualties and 457 captured. There are still nearly 17,000 rebels in the city, but the entire Jiangdong and Liangzhe region is very vulnerable."

Liu Song respectfully reported, and Li Yangchun breathed a sigh of relief, but then a look of worry appeared on his face.

Li Yangchun was naturally happy that the army had successfully crossed the river, but he was also heartbroken because the soldiers who had been killed or wounded were his brothers who had been brought from Henan to Huainan.

However, such casualties also indicate that the Han army's current expansion speed is too fast, and its training is gradually lagging behind, resulting in a serious decline in quality and organizational ability compared to the past.

If the Han army were to be ranked, the strongest among the more than 500,000 Han troops would undoubtedly be the 100,000 elite troops from Longyou that Liu Jilong trained after recovering the six prefectures of Jiannan.

Secondly, there were 140,000 elite soldiers newly recruited after occupying the five routes of Guanzhong, followed by 160,000 troops recruited in Jiannan and Guandong, and finally 120,000 troops recruited in Jianghuai.

Of the four tiers of troops, the first two tiers were mostly deployed in Longyou, Guannei, Jingji, Dongji, Hedong, Hebei, Jiannan and other places to defend against the Tuhun, Tatar, Xi, Khitan and the southern barbarians in the direction of Dali.

The remaining troops participated in this southern expedition, but even so, they were able to gain the upper hand against the Southern Tang.

In three months, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi each lost most of their territory, and Li Yangchun's goal was to sweep across Jiangdong and Zhejiang.

Thinking of this, Li Yangchun said without hesitation, "Order Tan Kai to surround Dantu City with five thousand elite cavalry, and you lead the navy to continue guarding the Yangtze River to defend against Zhang Ji's troops in Chizhou."

"Deng Yan led 10,000 troops to recover Liangzhe, while I personally led 15,000 infantrymen south to recover Xuan and She prefectures, in order to guard against Gao Pian's return defense."

"Yes!" Liu Song answered without hesitation, then hesitated and said, "Tan Kai said he wanted to give Ge Congzhou and the others credit, but they..."

Seeing his hesitation, Li Yangchun frowned and interrupted, "How did they perform today?"

"It can be described as excellent," Liu Songping commented fairly.

Seeing him say that, Li Yangchun waved his hand and said, "Rewards for merits and punishments for demerits. Since they have performed well, there is no need for so many roundabout ways. Just give them their dues normally."

"Your Highness has pacified so many vassal states during your eastern expedition, releasing no fewer than 400,000 soldiers. But how many civilians are there in Guandong?"

"When we recruit soldiers in the future, won't we still encounter them?"

"As long as their thinking is sound, there is no need to target them."

"The military is about obedience, not a place for infighting!"

"If I find out that anyone is forming cliques in the army, don't blame my men for showing no mercy."

Li Yangchun spoke in a stern tone, simply because he had grown up in Longyou and had seen too many examples of Han people fighting to please the barbarians.

Despite the fact that there are quite a few Han Chinese, they have been constantly fighting amongst themselves.

Even though there was already a group of arrogant barbarians above them, they did not overthrow those barbarians, but instead blamed and fought against their fellow Han people.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this inherent flaw that hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese in Longyou were enslaved by the Tibetans for over a century.

Li Yangchun never wanted to experience those days and scenes again; everything had to be nipped in the bud.

However, Liu Song hesitated to speak in response to his remarks.

"What's wrong?" Li Yangchun continued to frown, and his frowning, combined with his thick eyebrows and long face, made Liu Song feel somewhat intimidated.

Therefore, when Li Yangchun asked, he truthfully replied, "Recently, many people in the army have been saying that Your Highness will take a further step after pacifying Jiangnan, so they are discussing titles."

"Qie Biao, what do you mean by 'after His Highness establishes the nation, we...'"

Seeing that Liu Song was stammering about such a matter, Li Yangchun raised his hand to interrupt: "His Highness will not mistreat his officials, whether it is a noble title or an official position, but the premise is that they have made enough contributions."

"Instead of wasting time on such things, we should put our energy into pacifying Jiangnan as soon as possible and restore peace to the people of Jiangnan."

“Yes…” Liu Song nodded, and then Li Yangchun said:

"Today, Wang Chongren clashed with our army and experienced our strength. He will certainly not dare to hold Dantu City and may withdraw his troops in the middle of the night."

"Should we give chase?" Liu Song couldn't help but ask, and Li Yangchun nodded without hesitation: "Of course."

"Later, you shall order Deng Yan to lead his elite cavalry to bypass Changzhou and head straight for Huzhou. After Wang Zhongren withdraws his troops into Huzhou, you shall launch a surprise attack on his army on flat ground."

"The water network in Jiangnan greatly restricts our elite cavalry, making them extremely vulnerable to ambushes and counterattacks. They must be careful and avoid falling into an ambush."

"Yes!" Liu Song bowed in response, and then saw Li Yangchun walk out of the wounded soldiers' camp, and followed in his footsteps.

As he caught up with Li Yangchun, Wang Zhongren on the Dantu city wall stared grimly at the camp outside the city that was ablaze with fire.

"General, most of the Jiangdong troops are in Dantu. Today we were unable to stop their advance. If the rebels take any action tomorrow, I fear..."

"General, why don't we retreat to eastern Zhejiang?"

The two military commanders standing behind Wang Chongren couldn't help but offer their advice. Wang Chongren naturally knew that it would be difficult to defeat Li Yangchun with only his own troops.

Judging from the performance of the two armies on the riverbank today, although Li Yangchun's Han army is not as elite as the Han army they encountered in Xichuan back then, it is not something that his 30,000 new soldiers can stop.

The only option now is to retreat to eastern Zhejiang and rely on the complex terrain of Zhejiang and the nearly 10,000 veteran soldiers in eastern Zhejiang to hold out.

"Have all the fast horses been dispatched?"

Wang Chongren turned around and questioned the two men, who quickly nodded: "They were sent out before the Han army set up camp."

"Good!" He nodded, then took a deep breath: "Order the troops from Suzhou to guard the bridges along the canal and prevent the Han army from pursuing our army."

Dantu City is located west of the canal, while the Han army is currently encamped east of the canal.

The Jiangdong Canal is twenty or thirty zhang wide. Without crossing the bridge, the entire canal is not easy to cross, and it would take considerable effort and skill.

In addition, Wang Zhongren had already ordered the ships on the canal to be transferred to eastern Zhejiang, so as long as the five thousand veterans in Suzhou guarded the various ferry bridges, they would still be able to break through successfully.

"This subordinate will take care of it immediately!"

The Left Military Commander bowed in agreement, and Wang Chongren then looked at the Right Military Commander: "Order the three armies to break camp at midnight and leave the city for Suzhou at 1-3 am."

"Yes!" the Right Military Commander replied, and then went to relay the orders to the three armies as instructed.

After they left, Wang Zhongren couldn't help but look out of the city and take a deep breath.

He knew Li Yangchun could guess his retreat, but he was also well prepared. As long as the army crossed the bridge first, he would blow it up with fireworks. If Li Yangchun wanted to pursue them, he would have to use some tricks.

While making these conjectures, he couldn't help but worry about his own King Gao.

"If Li Yangchun is so troublesome, I wonder if Gao Wang's dealings with Chen Ying and Geng Ming in Jiangxi are going smoothly..."

He walked down the city wall with a worried expression, and under the cover of night, began to direct the retreat of the three armies.

Faced with their retreat, Li Yangchun only symbolically sent cavalry and infantry to pursue them. He stopped the pursuit after seeing that they had blown up the bridge and began to repair the damaged bridge.

The following morning, Li Yangchun led his army into Dantu City and at the same time formulated a detailed plan to divide his forces to recover the entire Jiangdong and Liangzhe regions.

The army began to divide its forces to attack Jiangdong and Liangzhe, while Wang Zhongren retreated while forcibly conscripting laborers to transport grain and fodder from various prefectures and counties to eastern Zhejiang.

As he advanced toward Hangzhou, the Han army continued to recapture the prefectures and counties he had lost behind his back.

Runzhou, Changzhou, Suzhou, Xuanzhou...

In less than five days, four of the sixteen prefectures in Jiangdong and Liangzhe were lost, and Wang Zhongren was ambushed by Deng Yan's cavalry on his way from Huzhou to Hangzhou.

Although the army successfully broke through the encirclement by relying on the water network of Huzhou, most of the requisitioned supplies were seized by the Han army.

Wang Chongren dared not delay and could only hastily cross Zhejiang and retreat to Hangzhou, while the Han army took advantage of the situation to recapture Huzhou.

After retreating to Hangzhou, Wang Chongren deployed heavy troops in Muzhou, Quzhou, Hangzhou and other places, preparing to rely on Zhejiang to resist Li Yangchun's troops.

Li Yangchun was not in a hurry. He ordered Deng Yan, Liu Song, and Tan Kai to attack eastern Zhejiang, while he himself led 15,000 troops to make a probing attack on Chizhou.

It was several days later when news of the loss of Jiangdong reached Jiangxi.

Gao Pian, who had just returned to Fuzhou from Jizhou, felt a wave of dizziness when he learned that his plan to blockade the mouth of Poyang Lake had failed and that Wang Zhongren had fled to eastern Zhejiang. However, he managed to steady himself.

"continue……"

Seeing Gao Qin's worried look, Gao Pian, inside the Fuzhou government office, urged him with sharp eyes.

Seeing his father's insistence, Gao Qin had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue.

"The cities of Ezhou, Shizhou, Langzhou, Lizhou, Yuezhou, Tanzhou, Shaozhou, Hengzhou in Hunan have all been lost."

"Gao Jie abandoned the warships and went to Yongzhou to garrison. Kuang Shiqian led his troops to garrison Chenzhou, but the two armies numbered only a mere 26,000 men. Even with the troops urgently transferred from Lingdong, they numbered no more than 40,000. I'm afraid it would be difficult for them to withstand Chen Jingchong's 70,000-strong army's strong attack."

"Five prefectures have been lost in Jiangdong, and three prefectures in Jiangxi. Now, only ninety-two prefectures remain in our hands..."

The Jiangnan region at this moment is just like the Sanchuan region at that time.

At that time, Gao Pian was also facing the loss of prefectures and counties north of the Yangtze River, and the situation is the same now.

Moreover, Liu Jilong has already landed more than 100,000 troops on the south bank of the Yangtze River and has occupied many prefectures and counties where supplies can be replenished.

Even though he had just won a victory in Kedah, it was only a local one.

He wiped out more than 2,000 of Liu Jilong's troops here, but Liu Jilong's remaining troops wiped out tens of thousands of his troops elsewhere.

Faced with this situation, dividing the North and South has become a pipe dream.

Throughout history, whenever the Southern Dynasties lost Jiangdong and Hunan, the outcome was basically sealed.

"Should I... surrender?"

The thought flashed through his mind, but Gao Pian quickly rejected it.

He would not surrender to Liu Jilong; he would rather die as a subject of the Tang Dynasty than grovel before Liu Jilong.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and said, "Open the treasury, reward the three armies, and order them to engage Chen Ying in a decisive battle outside Zhongling City in three days!"

"Liu Jilong has won Hunan and Jiangdong, but he must eventually suffer a defeat in one place!"

"Yes!" Seeing his father like this, Gao Qin had no choice but to accept the order and carry it out as instructed.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Zhong Chuan managed to hold on thanks to Zhongling City, which Gao Pian had built.

At the same time, Gao Pian's nearly 40,000 troops also began to approach Zhongling, and the Southern Tang and Han cavalry began to clash and fight on the Yuzhang Plain.

Upon learning that Gao Pian was coming with his troops, Chen Ying, who had just suffered a loss, drew troops from Yuanzhou, Jizhou, and Jiangzhou, stationing 40,000 elite soldiers south of Zhongling City.

But before he could take another step, someone he never expected arrived at this place.

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

At the gate of the Han army camp, Chen Ying bowed to Wang Shi, who had rushed over. Wang Shi looked somewhat pale from the long journey, but he was still in good health.

"After I sent out the military order, I guessed that it might be too late, and I received your military report on the way."

“Gao Pian is mature and experienced. Apart from Your Highness, no one else has been able to suppress him with equal military strength. This is not your fault.”

"I have come here in person to see if I can hold off Gao Pian's tens of thousands of troops and buy time for the four commanders Chen, Li, Cao and Wang."

Even Wang Shi himself wasn't entirely confident in defeating Gao Pian, who commanded nearly 40,000 troops, with only 40,000 Han soldiers.

However, Wang Shi was still quite confident if he could just hold off Gao Pian.

No matter how powerful Gao Pian was, he was only one person. Apart from the Jiangxi battlefield, there were four other battlefields, with a total of 150,000 troops fighting.

By holding Gao Pian back, the overall situation was already decided.

"Follow the order!"

Chen Ying had clearly understood Wang Shi's idea, so she presented the fish tally without hesitation.

Wang Shi took the fish tally and immediately ordered, "The army will continue to be stationed here and confront Gao Pian. Regardless of the outcome, the entire army will be credited with the victory!"

"As you command, Commander!" Upon hearing Wang Shi's words, the generals, who had been somewhat apprehensive, immediately began to support him.

Wang Shi nodded and walked into the military camp. He had only been inside the tent for a short while when he saw a fast horse gallop into the camp. The horse quickly dismounted and bowed in front of the tent.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Gao Pian's troops are encamped eight miles east of our camp, and there are no fewer than forty thousand troops on the battlefield."

"understood."

Chen Ying responded, then looked at Wang Shi, who was sitting in the main seat.

Wang Shi stroked his beard and then laughed, "No need to rush. Before I set off, I had already sent fast horses to each army. I imagine they have already taken action."

"As long as our army can hold off Gao Pian and wait for the 120,000 new soldiers from Jianghuai to cross the river, the overall situation will be settled."

"Yes!" Chen Ying nodded in response, and then he saw Wang Shi begin to inquire about the situation of each camp, and his thoughts were also drawn into it.

Compared to the Han army's composure, Gao Pian seemed rather impatient at this moment.

Upon learning that the Han army had merely moved its camp and had not taken any action against him, Gao Pian couldn't help but feel puzzled.

However, he quickly deduced the Han army's intentions from their reaction.

"Do you intend to keep me here while you use your remaining troops to recapture the various prefectures and counties?"

Gao Pian frowned as he looked at the map before him. Although he had guessed the Han army's intentions, he didn't have many ways to deal with them.

He only had so many troops at his disposal, and now, after being severely damaged and tens of thousands captured by the Han army, he had less than 150,000 troops available.

In this situation, if he wanted to concentrate his forces, he would have to abandon some places.

Even if he were to gather his forces, could he possibly be a match for Liu Jilong...?

Gao Pian knew in his heart that the situation was hopeless, but he still did not want to admit defeat to Liu Jilong.

The only way forward is to defeat the tens of thousands of Han troops in Jiangxi, then deal with Li Yangchun in the rear, and finally confront Chen Jingchong in Hunan.

"By imperial decree, we shall break camp at dawn tomorrow and engage the rebels in a decisive battle!"

"Yes, sir!" Gao Qin nodded in response, and then relayed the order to the three armies, causing the soldiers in the camp to immediately become restless.

Their situation was roughly observed by the Han army's cavalry from afar, and they quickly returned to camp to report to Wang Shi.

After hearing this, Wang Shi couldn't help but say to Chen Ying, "Gao Pian already knows our army's thoughts. Fortunately, Your Highness dealt with the north with swift and decisive measures, and then quickly marched south."

"If Gao Pian is given some time to pacify Jiangdong and Liangzhe, he may recruit more than 100,000 troops. At that time, it will be much more difficult for our army to launch a southern expedition."

In terms of population alone, Gao Pian had almost conquered the entire Jiangnan region before the Han army crossed the Yangtze River, and the population was probably close to 15 million.

If Gao Pian had been given more time, he certainly wouldn't have been so short-handed in terms of troop strength when facing the Han army.

However, as the war drags on, the longer it goes on, the faster Gao Pian will perish, and he naturally cannot wait.

"My lord, if Gao Pian leads his army out of the camp to engage our forces tomorrow, what should our army do?"

"We might as well confront them here. After all, our army has gunboats behind us, so we can be invincible."

Chen Ying asked a question first, then gave advice, which made Wang Shi nod in agreement.

In his view, Chen Ying may lack quick wit, but with a steady and methodical approach, it's unlikely she'll make any major mistakes.

The defeat at Jizhou was a low-probability event. There are only a handful of people like Gao Pian, and Chen Ying couldn't possibly face them all.

As long as he faces an opponent of similar strength, he can still defeat them by utilizing the elite troops of the Han army.

"Do as you wish. After roll call tomorrow, all soldiers should prepare to don their armor and meet the enemy."

"Yes!"

The two quickly discussed their strategy and then waited quietly.

"Uuuuuu——"

As expected, the next morning Gao Pian led his army out of the camp. Apart from leaving 3,000 soldiers to garrison the camp, the rest of the troops advanced towards the Han army's camp.

Upon learning this, Wang Shi calmly mustered his troops and marched out of the camp. Half an hour later, the two sides arrayed themselves on the plain southeast of Nanling City, with thousands of banners fluttering in the wind under a gloomy sky. "What I see on the battlefield is roughly the same size as my army."

Wang Shi looked at the Southern Tang army in the distance, all clad in lamellar armor, then at his own side, and made a comment.

Gao Pian's comments were similar to his, but what Gao Pian did not expect was that the central banner had been changed from the character "Chen" to the character "Wang".

“Wang Xiaonian…”

Upon seeing the character "王" (Wang, meaning king) on ​​the banner, Gao Pian guessed that the commander of this army had been changed to Wang Shi.

If Gao Pian felt somewhat fortunate when facing Chen Ying, he would have to be on his guard when facing Wang Shi.

"Wang Xiaonian is old and frail. As a subject of the Tang Dynasty, he has actually aided and abetted the wicked. Our righteous army will surely quell the rebellion!"

Gao Pian made his stance clear, then dismounted and boarded Lü Gong's chariot next to him. He then began to command his troops to form three ranks, and the vanguard was divided into three parts to form a winding formation and approach the Han army.

The battle cries of "Woo-hoo" echoed across the plains, but facing the threat of the Southern Tang army, Wang Shi, who had put on his armor again, calmly waved his command flag, formed three lines of 40,000 Han soldiers, and pushed twenty cannons to the front line.

Seeing that the two sides were about the same distance, Wang Shi waved his command flag and ordered the artillery to begin bombarding the Southern Tang army.

"Raise the muzzle with three wooden blocks, facing due east, and test fire one volley!"

Under the command of the artillery commander, more than two hundred gunners began to operate in an orderly manner, and soon completed the final step.

As the fuses were lit, all twenty cannons went into action...

"Boom!!"

In an instant, smoke filled the artillery position, and the cannons retreated several steps, compacting more than a dozen wooden wedges buried behind the wheels of vehicles.

The ropes on both sides were taut, stabilizing the cannon and allowing the artillerymen to quickly return it to its position.

At the same time, twenty iron cannonballs whistled through the sky and finally crashed heavily into the direction of the Southern Tang army's vanguard.

"boom!!"

"Um..."

Mud flew up several feet high, and the iron cannonballs that landed bounced up, causing injury upon contact and death upon impact.

The unfortunate soldier was hit by a cannonball, and his flesh and blood shattered and splattered everywhere. Countless blood clots flew onto the soldiers around him who had not yet reacted, and their cries of pain and agony were endless.

Even the veteran generals in the Southern Tang army couldn't help but take several steps back in fear, let alone the ordinary Southern Tang soldiers.

The troops began to riot after being bombarded. Gao Pian was also quite frightened by the Han army's artillery fire, after all, his vanguard was still more than a mile away from the enemy, at least five hundred paces away.

Even so, the Han army's cannonballs still hit their own troops, with a range and power greater than that of a counterweight catapult.

"No wonder..."

Gao Pian looked at the chaotic vanguard with a solemn expression. He finally understood why Liu Jilong was able to pacify the three towns of Hebei so quickly and destroy most of his arrangements in Guizhou.

If this item is used on the battlefield, but the quantity is small, it will not have any impact on the overall situation.

However, if used for tackling difficult problems, it can be considered an excellent weapon.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian took a deep breath and sternly rebuked his panicked attendants: "What's all the panic about?"

"You've all seen the rebels' arquebuses before, haven't you? These arquebuses simply have a longer range, but they need to rest for about half a cup of tea after each shot. Use that time to deal with the rebels!"

Gao Pian ordered all the armies to study the Han army's artillery, but the artillery at that time could only be used for defending the city and had a short range, so no one paid much attention to it.

Although the Han army's artillery now has a longer range and greater power, as long as other characteristics remain unchanged, it cannot change the course of the battle.

The generals gradually calmed down, while Gao Pian continued to observe the speed at which his own army moved toward the Han army.

After a brief period of turmoil, the Southern Tang army calmed down and continued its advance towards the Han army.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, from 500 paces to 300 paces. At this time, the Han army bombarded the Southern Tang army again, with mud flying and blood and flesh splattering.

Although the Southern Tang army had made ample mental preparations, they still inevitably panicked when faced with the artillery barrage.

However, after the shelling, they regrouped and accelerated their offensive.

At this moment, the general on the Han army's artillery position had already ordered the removal of the three wooden blocks, and the cannons were laid flat and aimed at the approaching Southern Tang army.

Faced with a densely packed force of tens of thousands of people, the gunners did not need to aim deliberately. They only needed to clean the breech, load the shell, and finally light the fuse.

"Boom!!"

In an instant, the shelling resumed, but this time the shells did not fall from the sky, but were fired directly from the front.

Of the twenty cannonballs, only a few bounced off the ground and began to kill the enemy. The rest hit the soldiers directly, piercing through several of them, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere, causing the Southern Tang army to riot continuously.

"This thing is indeed a powerful tool for breaking the formation."

Standing atop Lü Gong's chariot, observing the battlefield from a high vantage point, Wang Shi couldn't help but stroke his beard and praise him.

At the same time, Chen Ying continued, "If our army has cavalry, we can use artillery to break through the enemy lines, and then use cavalry to expand our gains. Even mediocre generals can defeat veteran generals with this."

"That being said, our cavalry is mainly in the north, and a small number of cavalry are in the hands of Governor Li, Governor Chen, and Governor Zhang. They are too far away to be of immediate use."

"Order the artillery to switch to shotgun shells, and prepare to launch a counterattack with the vanguard after breaking through the enemy lines. Let's see if it can have a surprising effect."

"Yes!" Chen Ying responded without hesitation, then waved the command flag to transmit the flag signals to each army, while also ordering a fast horse to personally deliver the military orders to each army.

With this double guarantee, all armies received the correct military orders, and the artillerymen began to clean the gun barrels and replace the shells with grapeshot.

At this moment, after a brief period of confusion, the Southern Tang army rallied and the sound of wooden whistles began to echo through the ranks.

"Beep--"

"put!"

In an instant, countless arrows shot towards the Han army, the two sides were less than a hundred paces apart.

As the arrows rained down, the vanguard scramblers moved forward, using their shields to protect the gunners who were loading grapeshot.

After the gunners finished loading, they lit the fuses, and the scramblers retreated. The twenty cannons, their fuses burned out, roared at the Southern Tang army that had approached within fifty paces.

"Boom!!"

"Hmph..."

"Uh-huh!!"

In an instant, thousands of iron pellets the size of quail eggs shot out, instantly felling countless soldiers of the Southern Tang army like wheat being harvested.

"kill!!"

"Woooooooo..."

Seeing that the Southern Tang army's formation was broken, Ma Yin, who was commanding the vanguard, raised his spear and charged forward with a shout.

The bugle sounded, and nearly 10,000 vanguard soldiers began to fight back against the Southern Tang army.

Meanwhile, the gunners began to bring in the horses from the rear, struggling to pull the cannons away from the front lines.

"boom!"

"kill--"

"Um..."

Caught off guard, the Southern Tang army lost its footing and was counterattacked by the Han army. They were initially in disarray, but quickly recovered thanks to the command of veteran generals who had followed Gao Pian from Xichuan to Jiangnan.

They reorganized their second line of defense and then engaged the Han army in battle.

As the spears clashed, countless soldiers were felled in the blink of an eye, and the soldiers behind them skillfully led them away from the battlefield.

After all, these were elite troops personally trained by Gao Pian for nearly ten years. In terms of organization and coordination, they were almost on par with the second-line troops of the Han army, and even showed signs of being slightly suppressed.

"As expected of the elite troops meticulously trained by Gao Pian, it's no wonder they were able to ambush our army and leave most of our soldiers alive."

Wang Shi offered his evaluation without reservation, while Chen Ying beside him frowned and stared intently at the battlefield situation.

Gao Pian, like them, kept a close eye on the battlefield, but when he saw that his own army had suppressed the Han army, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He worried that his elite troops, trained for nearly ten years, would be at a disadvantage against the Han army, which had been trained for less than three years.

Fortunately, the outcome was not as expected. Apart from suffering some losses at long range, he still gained a slight advantage in close combat.

"kill!!"

The battle at the front continued, while Gao Pian's two thousand cavalrymen were arrayed on both flanks of the central army, ready to charge at any moment.

Gao Pian did not directly deploy his cavalry because he was worried that Wang Shi had hidden them, after all, Liu Jilong's cavalry was famous.

However, after a series of probing attacks, Gao Pian confirmed that Wang Shi's army had no cavalry, and thus began to become bolder.

"Gao Qin, you lead the cavalry to roam the flanks of the Han army. If you spot any movement from the enemy's arquebuses, find a way to harass them."

"The last general takes command!"

At Gao Pian's command, Gao Qin immediately obeyed, dismounted from Lü Gong's chariot, and led his cavalry to outflank the Han army on the left flank.

Through his observations, Gao Pian had a general understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of firearms.

Firearms have a longer range and greater power. At close range, they can be used to launch concentrated attacks on approaching enemy troops with scattered iron balls. However, their disadvantage is that they are very heavy and difficult to move.

Cavalry is undoubtedly the best weapon against such an enemy, because cavalry can rely on speed to quickly approach the cannons and kill the troops operating them.

This is why Wang Shi deployed heavy troops near the cannons, in order to guard against cavalry attacks.

"It seems a frontal assault is not feasible..."

Based on his observations of the battlefield, Gao Pian quickly determined the outcome.

Unless he can defeat Wang Shi head-on, he will hardly have the opportunity to charge with the arquebus.

However, given the situation on the battlefield, Wang Shi was clearly only prepared to wear him down rather than engage in a decisive battle. The Han army was on high alert and did not pursue the enemy at all.

This tactic made Gao Pian very uncomfortable. Even though the casualties of the Han army were roughly equal to those of his own, he could not be happy.

He couldn't possibly exchange his elite troops for this Han army, especially since Hunan and Jiangdong on both sides of Jiangxi were in grave danger and needed his help to relieve them.

Wang Shi had anticipated these things, which is why he used this tortoise-like fighting style to deal with himself.

If he were to leave the Jiangxi battlefield, he could easily annex Jiangxi and then join forces with Chen Jingchong and Li Yangchun to attack him from both sides.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian felt his anger burning. At the same time, the Han army's artillery, which had retreated to the central camp, began to raise its muzzles, preparing to continue bombarding Gao Pian's troops.

Gao Qin could only watch helplessly, but dared not attack the artillery, because Wang Shi had deployed thousands of soldiers in formation on both the left and right flanks of the artillery.

Even two thousand heavily armored cavalry wouldn't dare charge against thousands of soldiers arrayed in formation, let alone Gao Qin's elite cavalry, who were only soldiers in armor.

He could only keep moving around to harass the Han army, but Wang Shi saw through his intentions at a glance and focused on directing the main force to engage Gao Pian's troops.

In his heart, even if it meant sacrificing his 40,000 Han soldiers to defeat Gao Pian's 40,000 troops, it would be worth it, because these 40,000 elite soldiers represented Gao Pian's spirit.

Once this army is completely wiped out, Gao Pian's morale will be broken, and it will become much easier for the Han army to recover the entire Jiangnan region.

As he thought this, he saw the situation on the battlefield becoming increasingly deadlocked.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly, the Han army's cannons roared again, and iron cannonballs streaked across the sky, falling into the distance, their target being Gao Pian's central army.

The falling shells shattered the unsuspecting soldiers in the central army into pieces, causing panic among the surrounding soldiers.

Gao Pian's face darkened, and he commanded, "The central army should disperse and not stand in one group. Be alert for enemy attacks!"

"Yes!" The soldiers on both sides responded, and Gao Pian's central army dispersed.

Gao Pian dared not retreat, fearing that if the central army retreated, Wang Shi would surround his vanguard with his three armies, causing his army to suffer heavy losses.

As he thought this, the Han army and the vanguard of the Southern Tang army continued to clash, and the casualties on both sides continued to increase.

The two armies clashed from dawn until dusk. The Southern Tang's central army endured more than thirty rounds of artillery fire before Gao Pian reluctantly ordered a retreat.

Wang Shi did not order the army to pursue, but allowed Gao Pian to retreat. After Gao Pian's army had retreated far away, he waved his hand and said, "Clean up the battlefield."

"Yes!" Chen Ying nodded in agreement, and then began to have people clean up the battlefield.

The Han soldiers, who had been on edge all day, finally relaxed and sat down to rest, while the laborers went forward to clean up the battlefield.

Two hours later, as the battlefield was cleared up and the army returned to its camp, Chen Ying also brought the war documents to the command tent and presented them to Wang Shi.

"In today's battle, our army lost 1,652 men, and 314 of them were seriously wounded or disabled."

"The rebels' corpses were captured on the battlefield, and many more were taken back to their positions by the rebels."

On paper, it seems that the Han army suffered nearly two thousand casualties, while the Southern Tang army had only about fourteen hundred. However, if the casualties of the Southern Tang army are taken into account, the casualties of both sides should be roughly the same.

"The casualties on both sides should be roughly the same. If the stalemate continues like today, at least Gao Pian can be wounded and forced to withdraw his troops."

Wang Shi was not concerned about his own casualties; he was more concerned about how much time these casualties could buy for the other armies and how many prefectures and counties they could recover.

As he was thinking this, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out outside the tent, followed by someone singing outside the tent.

"A report of victory from Jiangdong is hereby submitted for your perusal, Your Excellency!"

"come in!"

Upon hearing the news of victory in Jiangdong, Wang Shi and Chen Ying exchanged glances and then signaled for a fast horse to enter the command tent.

After receiving Wang Shi's permission, the fast horse outside the tent lifted the curtain and entered the tent, presenting Wang Shi with the victory report sent by Li Yangchun.

Wang Shi opened it, his eyes lit up instantly, and he couldn't help but stroke his beard and laugh:
"This Li Qie Biao is indeed worthy of being taught by His Highness. He actually managed to seize the opportunity when Gao Pian was planning to cross the Yangtze River through Yangzhou and capture Runzhou. Now it seems that most of Jiangdong is probably in his hands."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ying showed a curious expression, while Wang Shi handed him the news of the victory.

When Chen Ying saw Li Yangchun decisively cross the river to attack Runzhou and defeat Wang Zhongren on the riverbank, forcing Wang Zhongren to retreat to eastern Zhejiang, he couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

"Truly a young hero, I am no match for him..."

Chen Ying felt somewhat ashamed. He had suffered over 7,000 casualties but still hadn't taken over the entire Jiangxi province, while Li Yangchun had only suffered a little over 1,000 casualties and was likely to take over several prefectures in Jiangdong. The gap between the two sides was indeed too great.

"Everyone has different methods, and besides, you are facing Gao Pian's elite troops head-on, so it's not surprising that you suffer some setbacks. Don't be discouraged."

Wang Shi comforted Chen Ying and then discussed with him how to continue the standoff with Gao Pian the next day.

About half an hour later, the sound of horses' hooves rang out again outside the tent, and the two continued to stare at each other.

"His Highness commands, please receive the order, Lord Wang!"

Suddenly, a panting voice sounded outside the tent, announcing an order. Wang Shi dared not delay and quickly got up and went out of the tent, where he saw the fast horse that had come to deliver the order.

"Your subject, Wang Shi, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangnan Expedition, hereby receives the order."

Wang Shi, along with Chen Ying and the others, bowed and paid their respects. A messenger on horseback relayed the order:

"Your Highness has decreed that, with the year drawing near, I have already mobilized 120,000 troops from Jianghuai to cross the Yangtze River from Hanyang and Yangzhou and advance south. The troops have been deployed... I hope you will quickly pacify Jiangnan and return in triumph!"

"Your subject receives the order..."

Wang Shi extended both hands to receive the order, then read through its contents before instructing Chen Ying:

"The 120,000 new recruits in Jianghuai have been training for nearly eleven months. Now, the twelfth lunar month is approaching, and after the twelfth lunar month, when spring arrives, the weather in the south will change."

“I have lived in Annam for several years and can naturally tolerate the southern weather, but most of you are from the north and have never been to the south before, so I’m afraid you will not be able to adapt.”

"Your Highness's move is likely to prepare for the replacement of your 150,000 troops. What our army needs to do is to occupy all the key locations in Jiangnan before these 120,000 Jianghuai troops march south."

The key areas in Jiangnan mentioned by Wang Shi mainly refer to densely populated and productive areas such as Hunan, Jiangdong, Liangzhe, and Jiangxi.

Only by occupying these places can they greatly reduce the pressure on the imperial court and prevent the war from shaking the foundations of the north.

"If that's the case, then our army will probably have to recover all the key locations in Jiangnan soon."

Chen Ying naturally knew what this meant. Wang Shi nodded, but then said:
"However, there is no need to worry so much. Chen Jingchong's troops are about to march south to Yong and Chen, and Wang Jian, Li Qiebiao, and Governor Cao's troops are all attacking cities and seizing territories. Before the end of the year, our army will surely be able to take control of all the key places."

"As for Jiangxi, there's no need to rush there. The priority should be to hold Gao Pian back. I will personally report this to Your Highness, and Your Highness will naturally understand."

"Yes!" Upon hearing Wang Shi's words, Chen Ying bowed and responded calmly.

Seeing that he understood, Wang Shi waved for him to leave and rest. He then returned to his tent and wrote a memorial, dispatching a troop of fast horses from the camp to escort the memorial to Jiangling.

(End of this chapter)