On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 173 The war begins

Although the troops were divided into eight groups and attacked Nanchen from three directions: Jingzhou, Huainan, and Shu, there is no doubt that the most important thing is to station troops downstream and direct the troops to Yang Guangda's army in Jiankang, the capital of Nanchen.

Yang Jian also had high hopes for Gao Jiong.

In the eighth year of Kaihuang's reign (AD 588), on the second day of November, a few days after the edict was issued to attack Chen Cai, Yang Jian personally sent Gao Jun, Wang Shao and others to Tongguan and then stopped.

Outside Tongguan, Yang Jian held Gao Jiong's hand and warned:

"The military affairs are all entrusted to Duke Dugu. The military strategy can be decided by the Duke alone."

Gao Jun's father, Gao Bin, was a general of Dugu Jialuo's father, Dugu Xin. According to the practice of the Western Wei Dynasty, he was given the surname Dugu. Before Yang Jian came to the throne and issued an edict to restore the Han surname, Gao Jun always bore the name of Dugu Jun.

In the past, Yang Jian still called Gao Jun by his surname Gao, but today he calls him Dugu Gong, which has its own profound meaning. It is as if the two of them have removed the meaning of monarch and minister, and Gao Jun is his wife's natal family.

When Wang Jian destroyed Chu, he had to ask for land and ask for a house to clear up the suspicion of Yingzheng. He was also the leader of the army that conquered the country. Yang Jian did not need to be ashamed of himself, but he condescended to him and told him about his old friendship.

And the implication of this sentence is that Dugu Gong is as smart as Gao Qiu, so why can't he hear it? He said with emotion:

"Without Your Majesty's trust, how could I be where I am today? How dare I not dedicate my life to repay Your Majesty's kindness!"

Gao Jiong's words were truly sincere. Although his ancestor pretended to be the Bohai Gao family, he was actually a native of Goguryeo during the Northern Wei Dynasty. This is also known to the world.

In this era where family status is important, his current success is all due to Yang Jian's favor. How can he not be grateful for this?

After a farewell drink, Gao Jiao said goodbye to Yang Jian. He boarded the carriage and headed to Huainan to meet Yang Guang with Yang Jian's ardent expectations.

At the same time, with the envoy being detained and Yang Jian clearly issuing an edict to attack Chen, Nan Chen's monarchs and ministers no longer deceived themselves and others, but also understood that the war was coming and the country's survival was at stake.

The reason why Nan Chen reacted so slowly must be mentioned the deceptive tricks of the Sui Dynasty monarchs and ministers.

Cui Che once suggested purchasing dozens of dilapidated warships from Nan Chen, causing Nan Chen to mistakenly believe that the Sui Dynasty lacked naval forces and relied on the Yangtze River to control the world, so he relaxed his vigilance.

Gao Jiong offered advice. The climate in the north of the Yangtze River was cold and the paddy fields were harvested late. The temperature in the south of the Yangtze River was higher and the paddy fields were harvested earlier. So he suggested recruiting men and horses during the harvest time in the south of the Yangtze River and falsely claiming to attack Nanchen. Nanchen was busy preparing for war, which would inevitably delay the farming season.

When they braced themselves and prepared to deal with the Sui army moving south, the Sui army had already removed their armor and went back to work on the autumn harvest.

There are many other strategies like this. The Sui Dynasty's war preparations lasted for several years, and Chen Junchen in the south was like a villager who was used to hearing "the wolf is coming". It was not until the 520,000 Sui troops were wiped out in Chen Jiangbei that they finally reacted.

The wolf is really coming.

However, Chen Shubao did not panic. Historical experience gave him sufficient confidence.

He calmly said to the minister:

"The spirit of the emperor is in the south of the Yangtze River. The Qi army invaded three times that year, and then the Zhou army invaded twice, but they were all defeated. What did the Sui people have to fear?"

Kong Fan, the sworn brother of Kong Guifei and the official minister of the capital, flattered:

"The natural chasm of the Yangtze River has separated the north from the south since ancient times. Now the Sui people can fly across it without any difficulty. The border generals are eager to make meritorious deeds, so they falsely claim that the Sui army is powerful. I have always been worried about my humble official position, and I wish that the Sui army would attack so that I could take advantage of it. If their heads have established great achievements, they may all become Grand Dukes."

Chen Shubao laughed when he heard this. He also knew that the second half of what Kong Fan said was just a joke, but he also felt that the so-called Sui army was powerful was just a lie by the border generals.

Therefore, Chen Shubao was still intoxicated in singing and dancing, passively preparing for war.

In December, the Sui Dynasty's 520,000-strong army came to the river, and urgent reports came from border towns in Nanchen.

At this time, two lucky ministers were in charge of the secret, Shen Keqing and Shi Wenqing.

The two of them learned that there was an emergency at the border, but they did not want to report it to the emperor, but suppressed the report. Chen Shubao really thought that nothing happened at the border, so he continued to play music and dance.

He even ordered his two sons, Nanping King Chen Yi and Yongjia King Chen Yan, who guarded Jiangzhou (governed in Jiujiang, Jiangxi) and Nanxuzhou (governed in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), to rush back to Jiankang to participate in next year's Yuanhui.

Just celebrate the Yuanhui, just celebrate the Yuanhui. The old father missed his son, but Chen Shubao also asked Chen Ni and Chen Yan to take away the warships of Jiangzhou and Nanxuzhou to strengthen the power of the two kings when they entered the dynasty, so that the navy of Nanchen, Jingzhou, etc. No reinforcements.

For Yang Su, this was like dozing off. Someone handed him a pillow. While Chen Jun was fighting the shipowner, Yang Su immediately led the navy out of the Three Gorges and fired the first shot in the battle against Chen.

When the Sui navy arrived at Liutou Beach (now northwest of Yichang, Hubei Province), General Chen Qi Xin was ordered to lead more than a hundred Qinglong warships and thousands of soldiers to defend the Langwei Beach in front.

The terrain of Langwei Beach is steep and the current is rapid, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Yang Su got in touch with Liu Ren'en, the governor of Jingzhou who was stationed in Jiangling. The two coordinated by water and land, attacked separately and attacked Langwei Beach at night. Qi Xin was defeated and the Sui army was able to continue their eastward march.

Chen Huiji, the governor of Jingzhou in Nanchen, learned that the front line was defeated and immediately sent Lu Zhongsu, the governor of Nankang, to guard Qiting (now the mouth of Xiling Gorge in the Yangtze River).

Lu Zhongsu drilled holes in the rocks on both sides of the river and tied three iron cables across the river to block the Sui army's warships.

In order to defend the mouth of the gorge, Lu Zhongsu donated all his private property and rewarded his soldiers, so Chen Jun's fighting spirit was high.

Yang Su divided his troops and cooperated with Liu Ren'en to storm the Chen army's camp on the shore. Lu Zhongsu resisted in danger. The two sides fought fiercely for more than 40 times. The Sui army suffered heavy casualties, with more than 5,000 people killed in battle.

Chen Jun cut off the noses of the fallen soldiers of the Sui army in order to claim credit and reward, which undoubtedly angered the Sui army.

You must know that in the previous battle of Langweitan, the Sui army treated the prisoners of the Chen army without killing them or humiliating them, and released them all.

This was done to attack their hearts and let these prisoners spread the word about the power of the Sui army.

Secondly, it was also because Yang Jian had already set the tone for this battle. The reason why the Sui Dynasty attacked Chen was because Chen Shubao's ridiculous behavior aroused the anger of heaven and people. Therefore, the Sui army who attacked Chen must be a righteous army.

Torturing prisoners of war and robbing civilians are naturally prohibited.

It is precisely because of this comparison that the Chen army cut off the noses of the Sui soldiers who died in battle, which aroused the common hatred of the Sui army.

Yang Su also used this incident to boost morale, and the Sui soldiers fought desperately, finally forcing Lu Zhongsu to abandon the camp and leave.

As for the captured Sergeants Nan Chen, Yang Su still did not punish them, but let them all go.

Yang Su destroyed the iron cables blocking the river and continued to advance eastward. Lu Zhongsu retreated to Yanzhou near Jingmen (now in the Yangtze River near Zhijiang, Hubei), hoping to rely on the dangerous terrain of Jingmen Mountain to once again deter the Sui navy.

While Yang Su's troops were fighting bloody battles, Cui Che's army of Yang Jun was fighting a very new war:

Sit-in war.

No more today. The weather has changed here in Yiyang. It was still very hot yesterday. I wore short sleeves. Today the temperature suddenly dropped, so I caught a cold.

(End of chapter)