royal robes

Chapter 939
The sixth day of the first lunar month
The Great Zhou and Southern Tang battles officially started. Li Gu led troops to attack Shouzhou, and Southern Tang defended the city gate of Shouzhou. After several tentative attacks, they also found that Shouzhou's defense was indeed well-deserved.The iron wall is like an iron wall, and Li Chongjin led his troops to charge several times, but he was unable to shake the gate of Shouzhou.

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Liu Renshan, the envoy of the Qinghuai Army Jiedu, firmly defended the city, and repeatedly defeated the Later Zhou Army.This also made Li Gu feel that the strength of Shouzhou is by no means ordinary. It is true that if you want to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, you must first take Shouzhou.

Li Chongjin was afraid of the Southern Tang navy, so he summoned his generals and assistants to discuss.

"The reinforcements on the opposite side are coming soon. My Zhou army is not good at water warfare. If the Tang army cuts off the pontoon bridge, it will be attacked by the enemy and cannot return. It is better to retreat to the pontoon bridge and wait for His Majesty's reinforcements."

Shouzhou has been unable to attack for a long time, and morale is slightly low.At this moment, Li Chongjin, Zhao Kuangyin, and Wang Pu's complexions were ashen, and they were sweating profusely.Everyone took a pair of chopsticks to put the meat in the pot. Although the door was shut down several times, the mentality of Zhao Kuangyin and his party was still very good. They must eat their fill before fighting.

"Are you guys listening to me?"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said: "Of course, how dare we not be afraid of Mr. Li's words? Pass me that plate of meat, the boiled mutton is delicious, don't talk about it, let's eat some first."

As the saying goes, go all out, then decline, and exhaust three, and being unable to attack for a long time will have a great blow to the mentality of the soldiers.But the morale of the soldiers is still very different from these generals. In fact, everyone knows that Shouzhou is difficult to fight. As long as Shouzhou can be captured, it is equivalent to capturing the entire Jiangnan area.

Wang Pu took up his cup and drank it down, and then said: "I have tried several times, but there is no progress. Shouzhou is indeed well-deserved, but we never thought of taking Shouzhou directly. Originally, this was a long process. Of course I'm useless, anyway, you generals can figure it out for themselves."

Li Chongjin said: "Liu Renshan, the governor of the Qinghuai army, has no skills, but he has made great achievements in defending the city, and he is not inferior to Fu Yanqing in this aspect. This is also the reason why Shouzhou is so difficult to break. It is impossible to hand over such an important place as Shouzhou to incompetent people."

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, according to the usual practice, the cities that cannot be captured are surrounded, so that Liu Renshan can experience the pain of the siege. We don't care, as long as we keep Shouzhou and don't let the Tang reinforcements deliver food and grass." Zhao Kuangyin said: "However, Liu Renshan is really powerful. He has a very precise control over the overall situation. Moreover, he took advantage of the fortification of Shouzhou City, and no one can rush to the gate of Shouzhou City after several attacks... This grandson is really impatient, otherwise I will go directly to the gate of Shouzhou City. The city killed this grandson."

"It's ok ~ Brother Zhao is indeed world-class in martial arts. I fully support this matter." Li Chongjin is definitely the kind of person who doesn't think it's a big deal to watch the excitement. If he can directly kill the enemy's defender, it will be very easy to attack the city. up.And everyone knows what Zhao Kuangyin used to do, so it is most appropriate for him to do assassination.

In fact, Li Chongjin had this idea a long time ago, but... he was too embarrassed to speak up, and had been waiting for Zhao Kuangyin to take the initiative to invite him.

Zhao Kuangyin said: "That's what I said~ But I am afraid of two people in the Southern Tang Dynasty. If these two people are in Shouzhou, I am afraid that they will be beaten by meat buns. They will never return."

"I don't know where Wang Ran is, but Huangfu Jixun must be in Shouzhou. You already knew about it. You sneaked into Shouzhou secretly, and then killed Liu Renshan when he was alone. I’m here. I’m roasting a lamb here, and I’ll prepare the shochu and wait for the news of your meritorious deeds.”

Li Chongjin really hoped that Zhao Kuangyin would assassinate Liu Renshan. After all, such a general who is good at defending the city is the most annoying. It is really not easy to capture a city, unless you really want to pile up the city wall with corpses regardless of sacrifice.

The siege party needs at least three times as many troops to ensure that a city can be captured, but this is only a normal situation.If the walls are high and the opponent is not a rookie, how easy is it to conquer a city?In the case where a strong attack is not possible, there are only two options, either to retreat or to besiege the city.

In fact, Li Gu's original plan was to besiege the city, but now there are other problems.It's not that Li Gu doesn't want to continue the siege, but that the reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty led by Liu Yanzhen are approaching.What Li Gu was afraid of was the Tang navy, so he proposed to retreat first and wait for Chai Rong's reinforcements to arrive before coming back.

"Who is the commander of the reinforcements?" A young voice asked, Zhao Kuangyin still felt that his face was quite shameless, because a group of adults were discussing things, why would a child interrupt?Just eat obediently.

The person who spoke was Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Kuangyi. Zhao Kuangyi was also 16 years old, and he was the same age as Tianya.After Tian Ya left Lei Wang's mansion, he followed his own ideas to wander around Tian Ya, fighting for justice everywhere.However, Zhao Kuangyi chose another path, directly entering the military camp, hoping to make meritorious service and get promoted, so as to make a big difference.

Li Gudao: "Finally a normal person asked a normal question... The reinforcements were led by Liu Yanzhen. I don't know much about this person. I heard that this person governed the people like Gong Sui and Huang Ba in the Western Han Dynasty, and fought with soldiers like the Western Han Dynasty. Han Xin, Peng Yue. If his reinforcements reach Shouzhou, it will be even more difficult to attack Shouzhou again."

"Leave false rumors, Mr. Li, don't believe this kind of nonsense." Zhao Kuangyi said: "As far as I know, Liu Yanzhen has always been arrogant and favored. He has neither talent nor strategy, nor is he familiar with the military. Da Wanwan was used to bribe those in power. Therefore, officials in power competed to praise him, thinking that he governed the people like Gong Sui and Huang Ba in the Western Han Dynasty, and fought with soldiers like Han Xin and Peng Yue in the Western Han Dynasty. But this person has no ability, just an idiot That's all."

Zhao Kuangyin asked in surprise, "Yi, how do you know these things?"

"We are going to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty and seize the land of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Don't you know how to do some homework? Anyway, I want to understand the internal affairs of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the characteristics of each general, so that we can prescribe the right medicine, right?"

Zhao Kuangyin said: "Is this necessary? Lead troops to rush to open it, continue if you win, and run if you lose. If you can't, then sneak into the city to assassinate the opponent's coach. I have always led troops to fight like this, without you It's such a hassle."

Wang Pu said embarrassingly: "The last time we were able to recapture the four states around Hanzhong was entirely due to luck. If the other party responds, we will surely be wiped out."

Wang Pu understands Zhao Kuangyin's tactical use, which is simply not a material for fighting after leading.But Zhao Kuangyin's luck is really good, and every time he encounters some accidents that allow him to win.It's a pity that Zhao Kuangyin never succeeded in assassinating the enemy's commander. Wang Pu began to doubt whether Zhao Kuangyin really knew martial arts.

Li Gu waved his hand and said, "Zhao Kuangyi, since you know Liu Yanzhen so well, how do you think you should deal with it?"

Zhao Kuangyi said: "As Lord Li said, if Liu Yanzhen robs the pontoon bridge, it will cut off our army's retreat. At that time, we will face the enemy and die. We must retreat, but not too fast, retreat little by little, This looks more real. If the whole army retreats, it will make people suspicious. Our army is divided into several groups and retreated to the pontoon bridge. It is indeed a bit strange for ordinary people to retreat like this, but those who think they are smart will think that retreat is to ensure safety. Under the circumstances, the whole army will withdraw from this place. Liu Yanzhen will definitely think that there is something wrong with the Zhou army, and will rush to pursue it. At that time, we will retreat to the pontoon bridge, and when Liu Yanzhen's reinforcements come after him, we will fight him. As long as the two If you lead the troops to rob Liu Yanzhen, he will definitely die. We can still get a lot of supplies sent to Shouzhou by the reinforcements."

Li Gu nodded quickly and said: "Okay~ This plan is very good. Zhao Kuangyin, are you brothers? Your younger brother is so smart, why are you acting like a fool?"

"The nine sons of a dragon are all different. Anyway, they are from our Zhao family. You have the ability to ask your mother to give you another smart younger brother."

Li Gu really didn't want to argue with a rascal like Zhao Kuangyin, but Li Gu admired Zhao Kuangyi's ability very much. Although he was not young, he was only 16 years old after all. At 16 years old, he has such vision and resourcefulness, and he will definitely have great achievements in the future.

This feeling is not limited to Li Gu, everyone around him thinks this way.Zhao Kuangyi gives people the impression that he is mature at an abnormal age. Zhao Kuangyi's temperament should definitely be in his thirties, but his real age is only 16 years old.

Zhao Kuangyi was extremely intelligent since he was a child, and the biggest regret in his life was not being able to study under Zong Xin.But Zhao Kuangyi did not give up because of this. He was familiar with the classics of military art and practiced martial arts diligently. Although he was only 16 years old, his ability was far better than that of a veteran who had been on the battlefield for decades.

Ordinary children who dare to stand firm on the battlefield without diapers are already worthy of praise, and it is even more impossible for Zhao Kuangyi to not only go to battle to kill the enemy, but also to make suggestions.His mentality is much more mature than that of ordinary children, and his martial arts...is not ordinary high.

Zhao Kuangyi has been educated like an elite since he was a child, because his martial arts are definitely much better than ordinary people.Zhao Kuangyin is just a kid at his age, and his martial arts are even more incomparable.

Li Gudao: "If everyone has no objections, we will act according to this plan. We will withdraw in batches first, wait for Liu Yanzhen to come and chase, and then kill him by surprise. General Zhao, you prepare a group of good soldiers in advance, just waiting for you Cut off Liu Yanzhen's back, and we'll give him a back and forth attack."

Wang Pu suddenly asked curiously: "What if Liu Yanzhen didn't chase after him?"

"If you come or not..." Li Gu said: "Retreat to the pontoon bridge and wait for His Majesty's personal conquest."

Wang Pu nodded immediately, forgetting about it.In fact, whether they come or not, Zhou Jun has nothing to lose.As soon as His Majesty Chai Rong's reinforcements arrive, they will immediately besiege Shouzhou and attack several surrounding counties at the same time.

(End of this chapter)