On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 592 Smuggling across the Han River

Since Wang Gui sent the news back to Xiangyang in the middle of the night that the Yan army was on the upper reaches of the Han River and blocked the river with iron ropes, it was already dawn when Zhang Xutuo learned of the matter and led the Xiangyang navy to leave Yuliangzhou.

At this time, the only people left behind in Yuliangzhou were some old and weak men led by the deputy general.

Even though the river fog was very thick in the early morning, the faint firelight on the Xiangyang Navy ships still could not escape the Yan army sentries who were looking at the Anyang Castle Tower.

The news was quickly sent to the mouth of the Feishui River. Cui Che, who had been mistakenly thought by Zhang Xutuo and others to be in Wudang, was actually hiding in the Yanjun water stronghold.

When the generals in the village learned that Zhang Xutuo had led the Xiangyang Navy to the west, they all complimented him. Qu Tutong, who had surrendered after being captured by Feng Yi, praised:

"Xiao Jue and Zhang Xutuo thought that they could use Xiangyang and Yuliangzhou to form a corner to resist the heavenly soldiers. How could they have expected that His Majesty had a clever plan and manipulated the two of them?"

Another general, Yu Juluo, who once surrendered Feng County to Cui Che, said with a loud smile:

"Your Majesty used the side troops as bait to lure the snake out of its hole and lure Zhang Xutuo to Wudang. Now Yuliangzhou is empty and it is easy to get it.

"Occupying Yuliangzhou leaves only Xiangyang."

The other generals rushed to praise the Emperor of Dayan first, and the King of Wei Cui Youzhi on the side was also looking at his grandfather with admiration.

As the focus of everyone's attention, Cui Che waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Zhang Xutuo definitely still has troops to defend Yuliangzhou. You and others should not take it lightly."

Obviously, Cui Che was in a good mood after successfully deceiving Zhang Xutuo to go to Wudang.

Zhang Xutuo mistakenly thought that Cui Che wanted to block the river with iron cables to protect the floating bridge.

But Cui Che has never been in a water battle, but he also knows that the so-called iron rope blocking the river will not have much effect.

Regardless of whether it was Wang Jun, a famous general in the Western Jin Dynasty, who used an oil tanker to melt the iron ropes and eventually flowed down the river, destroying Soochow.

Or if the Hunan Army attacks the Taiping Army, faces the Taiping Army's iron cables blocking the river, chooses to occupy half of the mountain on the south bank, and removes the roots of the iron cables on the bank, it can easily break this so-called iron cable formation.

Naturally, Cui Che would not hope that Zhang Xutuo could be deterred by relying on a mere iron cable formation.

After confirming that Zhang Xutuo had really left, the Nanyang Navy of the Yan Army was ready for battle. They were just waiting for time to pass so that Zhang Xutuo could go further and not have time to return to Yuliangzhou.

In the water village, Li Xiaogong was riding on a battleship, waiting for Cui Che to give orders.

After Cui Che split the Xuzhou Navy into two parts, the 30,000 naval forces that still remained in Xuzhou were placed under the control of Li Jing, the former Governor of Xuzhou.

The remaining 30,000 naval troops transferred to the Nanyang Basin were actually commanded by Li Xiaogong as the Sima of Luzhou and controlled by Cheng Yaojin, the governor of Luzhou.

This appointment has caused controversy in the past. After all, Li Xiaogong has not made any military exploits and is also very young. Many people question whether he can shoulder the important task.

But Cui Che relied on his absolute authority among the ministers to force the appointment.

Li Xiaogong did not live up to Cui Che's expectations. In the past three years, he worked hard and tried every means to improve the combat effectiveness of Nanyang Navy.

Although it suffered repeated defeats in the battle with the Xiangyang Navy, the progress made is obvious to all.

The time came to noon. Following Cui Che's order, the sound of drums and trumpets resounded throughout the water village. The messengers standing on the ship's observation deck waved flags. The gate of the water village opened and the ships sailed out one after another.

At the same time, the main force of the Yan army, which had been hidden previously, also appeared on the north bank of the Han River.

The Sui Dynasty boat that was originally monitoring the movements of the Yan army's water stronghold on the river was horrified when they saw this. They quickly changed direction and hurried back to report the news.

Lieutenant General Zhang Xutuo, who was staying at Yuliangzhou, heard the news. It was a sunny day, but his hands and feet were so cold.

Before Zhang Xutuo left, he had explained that if Yuliangzhou could abide by the rules, he would retreat if he could not.

But this is the prerequisite that the main force of the Yan army has crossed the Han River from Wudang. Now on the north bank of the Han River, flags are flying, blocking the sky and the sun.

On the river, 30,000 Yanjun naval forces were coming from the mouth of the Feishui River in a mighty manner.
Even though he was mediocre in intelligence, he still knew that the prefect and the county magistrate had fallen into each other's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

At this point, the deputy general did not believe that Yuliangzhou could be defended by relying on the old and weak men under his command, so he immediately ordered everyone to board the ship and evacuate.

But it was too late, and the Yan Army navy was already blocked outside the water stronghold.

Although Cui Che's imitation of the Five-Tooth Warship was not seen, the Yan Army ships outside the village were still taller and taller than the small boat Zhang Xutuo left for him.

Zhang Xutuo moved westward to block the river, so naturally he would not leave any large ships for his lieutenants.

In a decisive battle outside the stronghold, there is no chance of victory.

At the same time, some of the Great Yan Navy troops had landed at other locations on Yuliang Continent and were heading towards the water village.

The deputy general glanced at the old and weak people who stayed behind with him. Their faces were full of fear and despair. The deputy general said dejectedly:

"The defeat is certain, so you should stop making unnecessary sacrifices and put down your weapons. At least the Yan army will treat the prisoners preferentially."

As he spoke, he took the lead in throwing down the steel knife in his hand. Seeing this, everyone also followed suit.

Immediately, the gate of Yuliangzhou Water Village was opened and he surrendered to Li Xiaogong, who commanded the capture of Yuliangzhou.

As the actual commander of the Nanyang Navy, Li Xiaogong's warship was not the largest five-tooth ship.

It is precisely because all the Wuya warships have been mobilized by Cui Che and are busy traveling to and from both sides of the Han River to transport Yan army officers and soldiers.

At this time, the main force of the Xiangyang Navy was all heading west, and there was no power to prevent the Yan army from landing.

The Han River passes through Xiangyang and turns a big bend, changing from east-west to north-south.

Yuliangzhou is at this bend.

Previously, the defense focus of the Xiangyang defenders was on the east-west stretch of the river. After learning the false news that the main force of the Yan army had appeared in Wudang, they moved the army to the west side.

Because the Yuliang Continent was empty, Cui Che was able to use the five-ya boat to cross the river in the north-south section.

The east side of Xiangyang City is nearly 20 miles away from the river section. It is precisely because of the existence of Yuliangzhou and the false news about the Yan army in Wudang that Xiao Jue neglected the east side.

The Yan army with 100,000 cavalry landed 20 miles away. Xiao Jue knew nothing about it. Even at this time, he was heading to Tanxi in the west of Xiangyang City to inspect the defense line.

Previously, Xiao Jue and Zhang Xutuo were deceived by Cui Che and changed the road defense line along the Han River to the defense line along the Tanxi River.

The so-called Tanxi is the river where Liu Bei jumped on his horse in Tanxi in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He had no idea that Cui Che had completed the landing behind him.

At the same time, Cui Che was also mobilizing his troops and generals after crossing the Han River.

Xiao Jue's scouts were not the only ones who could swim in the Han River at night to detect the enemy's situation.

Cui Che also received information last night that the main force of the Xiangyang garrison was setting up defenses in Tanxi.

He immediately appointed Dou Jiande as his general and Liu Heitai as his deputy, and led 70,000 infantry to attack Xiangyang City.

He himself commanded 30,000 single-horse cavalry. Under the guidance of the surrendered generals and soldiers sent by Li Xiaogong, he bypassed Xiangyang City from the south and ambush in advance on the only way for the Tanxi defenders to return for reinforcements.

(End of chapter)