Chapter 65: Fight Back
Due to King Xiao Nanchen's advance battle arrangements, Huang Tianhe and others engaged in guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare with Xiao Xu's officers and soldiers in the nearby mountains and plains, leaving the other side exhausted.
The officers and soldiers could not catch up in pursuit, but when garrisoning, they often fell into the encirclement of the natives without realizing it and suffered heavy losses.
Such a battle report made Xiao Xu, who thought he could feel at ease, extremely angry. Instead, he guarded Jiangling City and personally directed all the troops to fight against the cunning natives.
Just when he was worried about this matter, he received another open letter from Zhou Shengchen from Bei'an.
In the letter, Zhou Shengchen severely reprimanded Xiao Xu for his breach of contract and decided to avenge the humiliation he suffered in Nanxiao.
Xiao Xu then remembered that just when he was being tortured by the natives, Zhou Shengchen and the female apprentice had already taken advantage of the chaos and returned to the north bank, and were even preparing to gather an army to attack.
The matter with the natives was not settled yet, so Xiao Xu had to deploy heavy troops to the south bank of the Yangtze River to counter Zhou Shengchen's attack.
Both sides of the Yangtze River suddenly became tense, and most of Nanxiao's troops quickly gathered in the Jiangling area. At this time, Zhou Shengchen had already prepared war mobilization, and immediately ordered the navy to launch an attack on Nanxiao's army on the south bank.
The war was about to break out, and the armies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were immediately at war. On the wide water surface of the Yangtze River, a large number of battle fleets from both sides soon appeared. After these warships got close, they then launched a fierce attack and killing battle.
If you are familiar with water battles, Nan Xiao's army will naturally have the upper hand. But since Zhou Shengchen had already thought of destroying Nan Xiao, he made full preparations for this in advance. From the number of large and small warships to the corresponding combination of tactics, he gave clear instructions.
If Nanxiao dispatched large ships in unison, the troops on the north bank dispatched more small boats. These small boats maneuvered flexibly among the larger ships, disrupting the opponent's formation first. Then, fireworks erupted from the small boats, and fire attacks were used to deal with the large and heavy ships that turned around.
Seeing that his side suffered a loss, Nan Xiao quickly sent another boat to respond to the enemy. But the warships on the north bank were shooting and throwing arrows and rocks as densely as locusts towards this side.
The battle situation on both sides was tangled, and every day there were fierce battles between a varying number of ships on the water. The fighting was quite fierce, and many people on both sides suffered casualties.
In addition to dealing with such a battle, Xiao Xu also had to be extra vigilant against the natives who came back to attack. Just when he was anxious about this, and even regretted his words and deeds to prevent Zhou Shengchen from returning, and was thinking about negotiating peace with King Xiao Nanchen again, another shocking news came from Jinling City that he regretted for the rest of his life. Horrible news.
When most of Nan Xiao's troops gathered in the Jiangling area and continued to fight with the natives and King Xiao Nanchen, Xiao Yan, the military adviser of the Northern Chen King's army and King Fengyang, suddenly issued a secret order from King Xiao Nanchen, ordering people to travel to the north bank of the Yangtze River. The moved Hong Xiaoyu, Yu Feng and other troops launched a core attack on Jinling City on the south bank.
This was due to Xiao Xu's carelessness - he thought that Zhou Shengchen's heavy troops were on the other side of Jiangling. It was also a problem that Xiao Xu ignored in his hurry when dealing with the natives and Zhou Shengchen.
He originally thought about having a peace treaty with Beichen, but he didn't expect that Xiao Yan, who had taken away his parents' lives and the throne from him, had already been watching Jiangbei with great fury, preparing his troops and waiting for danger.
Such a blitzkrieg will be difficult to resist not only now, but also in future generations.
The royal army on the north bank was an elite division that had been prepared for a long time. After receiving the general's order, they rushed to the south bank with a dark fleet that covered the sky and covered the river.
Jinling City was originally immersed in the secret struggle between various parties for power, and in order to cater to Xiao Xu, most of the surrounding troops were transferred to Jiangling. There must be some leftovers, but these soldiers and horses are second-rate and third-rate, or even temporarily recruited by farmers to serve and fill up their numbers.
The battleships in Jiangbei did not send any letters of challenge or declarations of war or anything like that. So when the defenders near Jinling on the south bank saw those warships, they were all stunned.
Having been able to see the flags on the warships, the Nanxiao defenders reacted as they thought appropriate - either immediately taking off their armor and fleeing, or reluctantly stopping to respond to the enemy.
Can such a situation stop the king's army who is a hundred times more ambitious? The answer is no.
Because there was a confrontation between Zhou Shengchen and the Southern Xiao Emperor Xiao Xu, the royal army here immediately sent tens of thousands of elites by boat to the south without declaring war.
No matter how the defenders on the south bank could resist, the Wang army quickly and completely landed ashore as if they were traveling. Under the orders of Xiao Yan, who was personally on the main ship, these royal troops did not need to integrate their respective units.
They only received one order, which was to attack Jinling immediately, and then integrate their respective troops while attacking the city on one side. At present, all orders are taken by the nearest military generals wearing official uniforms of different ranks!
The king's army, which was like a tidal wave, ignored the Nanxiao soldiers and horses that were fleeing in all directions - if they could take advantage of the situation, they would be the entire organization, such as hundreds or thousands of troops.
The soldiers and generals of the royal army each had only one order in mind, which became their only goal - to gather at the gate of Jinling City and launch an attack immediately!
The tens of thousands of elites in front landed ashore and immediately launched a charge to besiege Jinling City. What followed was countless ships, large and small, carrying more royal troops, arriving in a steady stream.
The Nanxiao soldiers and horses guarding Jinling City may have never seen such a formation from a high place in their lives. Apart from putting up a little resistance in a state of extreme horror, they would either sneak away and escape, or simply leave the city and surrender.
It was not a fierce battle, and by noon on the third day, the outer perimeter was over. The elite troops of the king's army, led by Hong Xiaoyu, Feng Qiao, and then Yu Feng and others, climbed to the top of Jinling City and then entered the city.
The city suddenly became chaotic. It was impossible for the civil and military officers to escape with their family documents and Xinruan.
At dawn the next day, Xiao Yan, who was sitting in the camp outside the city with a gloomy look, saw Hong Xiaoyu and Yu Feng coming back to report: "The imperial city has been occupied and is guarded by General Feng Qiao! Order in the city is being stabilized Among them, all Nanxiao Wenwu were banned!"
Xiao Yan nodded silently, his heart immediately filled with excitement.
After Hong Xiaoyu reported to Jiao Feng, he did not see his subsequent general order. But the two of them also knew that his mood was extremely complicated at this time, so they didn't press him.
After a long time, he slowly stood up and prostrated himself towards the north bank of Jiangling where Zhou Shengchen was.
"I, Xiao Yan, dare not to be grateful to the Regent and His Highness Prince Xiao Nanchen for the rest of my life, to be grateful to His Highness from generation to generation, and to travel for Zhou's birthday from generation to generation!" He choked with sobs and then bowed again.