The Nameless of the Common Clans

"See you, Your Majesty!" Jiangxia, north of Xiakou, Zhang Liao led a group of soldiers to greet Chen Mo.

"Wenyuan, please don't be too polite. Get up." Chen Mo jumped off the horse, stretched out his hand to help Zhang Liao and said with a smile: "Wen Yuan's ability is indeed extraordinary. In just a few days, he has already conquered all the land in Jiangxia!"

"Your Majesty," Zhang Liao stood up, shook his head and said, "It's not because the general is so powerful, but because the Jiangdong Army took the initiative to give in. Now, except Xiakou, all the cities on the north bank of Jiangxia County have given up on their own initiative."

"That's Xiakou over there?" Chen Mo asked, looking in the direction of Xiakou.

"Exactly." Zhang Liao asked someone to take out the map, unfold it in front of the two of them, and pointed at the map: "Look, Your Majesty, Xiakou is not a dangerous location, but it is also the main landing ferry here. If our army cannot Going down to Xiakou, the only place where we can station troops along the river is up, in the area around Chibi and Wulin."

Chibi? Ulin?

Chen Mo looked at the position drawn by Zhang Liao and shook his head slightly. It's not that this position is bad, but since it already occupies most of Jiangxia, this position is a bit far back and it is difficult to take Jiang Xia into consideration.

There are many advantages to occupying the river bank ferry. As long as the river can be blocked, the grain and grass transportation can be transported down the river, which is many times faster than transportation on land. If he sets up camp at Chibi, it will be difficult to take care of Jiangxia. Or Will be taken away by Jiangdong!

Chen Mo looked in the direction of Xiakou and said, "Is it difficult to conquer?"

"There are waterways all around Xiakou. The enemy also dug several ditches to divert the river water. Xiakou itself is not a fortified city, but our army's siege equipment is difficult to reach, so we can only attack with troops and horses." Zhang Liao nodded. Then he shook his head and said: "But if it is said to be difficult to conquer, it is not true. It is just that if the water army can cooperate, it is not difficult to attack here. If we attack purely by foot and cavalry, these dozen waterways and ditches will be difficult to attack." enter."

Chen Mo was able to capture fortified cities such as Xiangfan and Jiangling so quickly because of his powerful ballistae. However, in a terrain like Xiakou, it would be difficult to find a suitable location for even a stone launcher, not to mention a new and huge catapult. The city wall of Xiakou itself was only one or two feet high. If it was placed nearby, it would be better to attack the city directly. Jiangdong Army opened several more canals here, obviously to guard against Chen Mo's siege equipment.

Of course, if Chen Mo could have a navy in his hands to attack from the river, the effect would be different.

"Your Majesty, can the iron rope and boat used by our army to attack Jiangling be used again?" Ma Chao suddenly asked beside Chen Mo.

The last time they tied the boat with the iron rope, not only did they not feel any discomfort, but they were also able to race. Ma Chao felt that if that was the case, the water battle would actually not be as troublesome as what Chen Mo wrote in his naval strategy.

"That thing has to measure the direction of the wind. With the current wind direction, if we really use this method, we can be burned to death with just one fire." Chen Mo shook his head. Although the iron rope and boat can solve the problem of the Ming army not used to water warfare, shortcomings, but it is easy to crack, Even in winter, Chen Mo doesn't know how to use it. There are advantages, but the disadvantages are even greater. The wind direction on the river is unpredictable, and the east wind may blow even in winter. Chen Mo doesn't want to pin his hopes on this kind of thing. He just needs to hold on The gateway to Jingzhou will do.

Ma Chao stopped talking after hearing this. When he attacked Jiangling that day, even if the wind direction was favorable, nearly half of the iron rope and the boat were burned after the war. If the wind direction was north at that time, it might have been directly burned by a fire.

"This time, we have brought a batch of Yuanrong crossbows!" Chen Mo looked at Zhang Liao and smiled: "Since the wall of Xiakou is not high, we will not use foreign objects this time and let the soldiers bring these Yuanrong crossbows to attack Xiakou. , so that the people of Jiangdong know that even without siege equipment, our army is still invincible!"

"Here!" Zhang Liao heard this and immediately nodded in agreement. Although a strong attack would consume troops, as Chen Mo said, Xiakou is already weak. With the Ming army's advantage, Xiakou cannot stop it.

Accompanying Chen Mo back to camp, Zhang Liao began to command his troops to attack the city early the next morning, laid a pontoon bridge, carried a simple ladder to climb the city, and launched an attack on Xiakou.

This was probably the first time that the Ming army had stormed a city since they went south. Although the water channel blocked the march of the Ming army, seeing the groups of Ming soldiers crossing the water channel in tacit cooperation and attacking Xiakou, the Jiangdong Army was the first For the first time, I truly realized the terror of the Ming army.

Due to the water channel obstruction, the arrow rain was not dense, but it was continuous and could always suppress their counterattacks. The seemingly scattered Ming army cooperated with each other tacitly. During the shooting process, the two sides charged fiercely without fear of death. To reach the city walls, some require ladders, while others simply require three people to climb up on one.

On the top of Xiakou City, Cao Zhen roared and commanded his soldiers to kill the Ming troops who climbed to the top of the city. However, Ming troops were attacking from all directions, making Cao Zhen feel out of breath. Today's Ming troops, It seems even scarier than when Cao Cao was still there.

Cao Zhen beheaded a Ming soldier with one sword, but roars could be heard in the distance. Cao Zhen quickly turned around and saw dozens of Ming shield bearers holding their shields high and kneeling on the ground to form a ladder of shields. The soldiers of the Ming army quickly broke down the stairs composed of people and shields one by one and rushed up. Yuan Rong's crossbows fired dense rain of arrows to kill the defenders at the top of the city. The Ming army took the opportunity to rush forward and occupied a section of the city wall.

Cao Zhen was very anxious and shouted: "Use rolling wood and kerosene!"

But it was obviously too late. More and more Ming troops followed this method, and more Ming troops rushed up from everywhere. The city wall of Xiakou was completely lost less than half an hour after the battle started. Cao Zhen wanted to do it several times. He regained the city wall, but failed to block it in the end. Instead, he was hit by two knives and three arrows. He had no choice but to retreat into the water village under the cover of his personal guards, and retreated into the river on his cute pet.

"Good!" Chen Mo, who was watching the battle, couldn't help but praise when he saw this scene: "This method is good, Wen Yuan deserves the name of a wise general!"

"Your Majesty, this method was not created by the general. In fact, it was used by Liu Bei when he attacked Nanyang. The general only imitated it." Zhang Liao shook his head and smiled.

"Liu Bei?" Chen Mo nodded and said no more.

The Battle of Xiakou took only an hour from the siege to the destruction of the city. The strength of the Ming army was fully demonstrated in this battle without any auxiliary siege equipment. Cao Zhen led the remaining troops to retreat to Fankou, and at the same time, Xiakou City was The broken news spread back to Jiangdong, which made Jiangdong, who was already unstable, even more confused.

After the Ming army captured Xiakou, would the next step be to cross the river directly?

Chai Sang, in the lobby of the government office, Sun Quan was a little annoyed when he saw everyone making noises. He waved his hands and said, "Gentlemen, please stop arguing. How can you behave like this?"

"Masters!" Zhang Zhao stepped out and frowned: "The Ming army has occupied Xiakou. If they cross the river at this time, they can easily cut off the four counties of Changsha, Guiyang, Lingling, and Wuling. By then, they will not need to use waterways. But if we attack Jiangdong, I think we should send envoys to Xiakou at this time to discuss with King Ming. For the sake of the people in the world, it is not appropriate to start another war!"

The voices for peace talks grew louder as Chen Mo occupied Xiakou.

There was no expression on Sun Quan's face. When he started, Zhou Yu smiled and said: "Mr. Zibu, there is no need to worry. Although the Ming army is strong, it is stronger than its infantry and cavalry. On this river, our army should be the strongest, but I sent an envoy to investigate, but it is not unreasonable. As far as I know, the Ming army has sent a large number of troops to Shu to besiege Liu Bei. The Jingzhou army now cannot be as prosperous as when it attacked Xiangfan that day. My lord, I think, You can send an envoy to Xiakou to find out the truth."

Sun Quan nodded, looked at the ministers and said, "That's fine, who would like to go?"

"My lord, I would like to go to Xiakou in person for this matter!" Zhang Zhao stood up and said with a smile.

"Zibu is old. This..." Sun Quan looked at Zhang Zhao and frowned.

"My lord, Cao Ang is willing to go!" In the hall, Zhang Zhao was about to speak. Cao Ang, who seldom spoke, stood up and saluted Sun Quan.

"Zixiu has a family feud with Chen Mo. If you go, you may be persecuted!" Sun Quan quickly shook his head. He still liked Cao Ang very much. He did not fight or rob him, and he had enough ability.

"My lord, although Ang and Mingming have a hatred of family and country, I studied under King Ming when I was young. I know very well that this man is quite arrogant. The two armies are fighting. If Ang goes to meet me with the national gift, even if he wants to kill me , I will never use this method to cause harm, I hope you will be kind to me!" Cao Ang bowed and said.

Veteran Han Dang frowned and said, "Zixiu seems to have high regard for Chen Mo."

Cao Ang nodded slightly and said: "I highly recommend it. Most of what Ang has learned is from King Ming, but please rest assured, my lord, Ang will not hide his selfish motives because of this!"

Sun Quan smiled and said: "Zixiu need not worry too much. General Han is also worried about Zixiu. In this case, Zixiu will go to Xiakou. I will write a letter and Zixiu will take it with him. Please be careful."

In fact, Sun Quan also had hatred of family and country. Sun Jian died at the hands of Chen Mo's general Dian Wei. Sun Quan even suspected that his brother's death was related to Chen Mo, but there was no evidence. This kind of thing cannot be said nonsense, especially Now Chen Mo occupies the Central Plains and is arrogant in the world. Sun Quan does not want to anger Chen Mo on these matters if it is not necessary. There is no point.

"Thank you, Lord!" Cao Ang bowed.

Zhang Zhao frowned. This Cao Ang was from Zhou Yu's lineage, and he had a family feud with Chen Mo. He was not worried about Cao Ang surrendering, but he was more worried about whether Cao Ang would bring the official to seek personal benefits and deliberately provoke a war between the two families?

Now Sun Quan intends to fight Chen Mo, and Zhou Yu is also actively preparing for war. This makes Zhang Zhao very dissatisfied. If Cao Ang is appointed as the envoy, this matter may actually lead to a fight in the end.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Zhao stood up and said: "My lord, I think that Zixiu is inexperienced after all. I want to go with Zixiu so that I can help him a little, so I ask my lord for permission."

Sun Quan frowned, but after looking at everyone in the hall, he finally nodded and said, "That's fine. With Zibu Gong here, I feel more at ease."

Cao Ang can be regarded as the main war faction, but the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty mostly focused on peace. If Zhang Zhao is not allowed to go, I am afraid these people will not be willing and can only agree.

"Thank you, Lord!"