Chapter 859: Counterattack
"What is the movement of the Xiangzhou army?" Zhao Xu retracted his gaze and looked towards Xiangzhou in the west. Read
"The scouts haven't come back yet, but I estimate that it will be two or three days." Chang Wei said, "Your Highness, do you think the army of Changcheng will withdraw to Shacheng, or will the army of Shacheng support Changcheng?"
"They will support Changcheng." Zhao Xu said, "I don't believe Liang Kai will easily give up Jiangzhou, and this is an opportunity to attack from both sides. The most important thing is that it is too late for the army of Changcheng to withdraw now. Even if the generals of the powerful clans don't understand, the generals of the Western Land in Bacheng will understand."
The Shacheng mentioned by Chang Wei is the contemporary Changsha area of Hunan.
The main force of the Wu Kingdom is basically stationed in Shacheng.
Chang Wei nodded.
The speed of the powerful clan army is not a little slower than that of the royal palace's personal army.
Moreover, now they can directly reach Changcheng through Changhu Lake.
Once the powerful army of Changcheng withdrew, they ordered a small army to march to the front of the Changcheng army and stop it, and then ordered the main army to catch up, attack from both sides, and defeat them.
Sure enough, three days later, the scouts returned and brought news that the Shacheng army was heading towards Jiangzhou.
"Your Highness guessed right. The Shacheng army did not go directly east to Changcheng, but circled south and headed towards Anqing." Chang Wei received the information sent back by the scouts and went straight to Zhao Xu's house in Anqing.
At this moment, Zhao Xu was staring at the map of Dasong under the willow tree in the yard, thinking about something.
Hearing this, he said: "If we send most of our troops to Changcheng, the Wu army will definitely attack Anqing, cut off our retreat, and then go south to join forces with the Changcheng garrison."
He paused, "If we don't move and leave most of our troops in Anqing, they will definitely confront us, leaving us in a dilemma."
He stood up and took two steps, and then said: "Before Xie An closed the city gates, the people from the four courtyards sent out intelligence that Xie Bi was under house arrest by his father, which shows that Xie An is determined to resist us."
"If so, we can only have a bloody battle." Chang Wei said, "These powerful families are really stubborn."
After thinking for a while, he said: "Your Highness, I think that we only need to leave 20,000 troops in Anqing City to defend Anqing, and the remaining 80,000 troops are more than enough to attack Changcheng, so there is no need to worry Heart."
"I know this, but this war can be easier." Zhao Xu said with a smile, "Since they are waiting for us to attack Changcheng, we will not move to Changcheng, but go to Shacheng without anyone noticing, so that their wishful thinking will fail."
Chang Wei's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Yes, Shacheng is now equivalent to an empty city. As long as Shacheng is taken, the Wu army will become lonely ghosts. At that time, we will leave a small number of troops to garrison Shacheng, and then join forces with the Anqing garrison to attack the Wu army, and we will be able to annihilate it. As for the Changcheng army, it is just a lamb to be slaughtered in a cage by us. It will not be too late to deal with it later."
"That's right, that's what I mean. Without further ado, you will lead 60,000 troops to Shacheng and take it down." Zhao Xu said.
He could only give Chang Wei 60,000 soldiers.
After all, Anqing needs 20,000 soldiers to garrison.
Another 20,000 soldiers are recovering the counties on both sides of Changhu Lake.
According to the battle reports that were constantly sent back, the actions of these 20,000 soldiers were very smooth, and the counties on both sides of Changhu Lake were basically taken by them.
Moreover, seeing the arrival of the royal army, the people of Jiangzhou were really very enthusiastic, not only sending food and drinks.
They also took the initiative to help the royal army make ladders, and even helped to hold the ladders during the battle.
It was with the help of the people that they made rapid progress.
I am afraid that in two or three days, only Changcheng will be left in the entire Jiangzhou.
At that time, these 20,000 soldiers will still have to take on the task of besieging the Changcheng garrison.
"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei responded.
Zhao Xu nodded, "In order to ensure the smooth operation, you can take Qinshan and Guantong's first and second armies."
Chang Wei wanted to say that Qinshan should be left behind to prevent the Wu army from attacking Anqing.
But he thought about it and gave up.
The King of Yan gave this order, of course, after careful consideration.
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the various armies of the royal army was not very different.
The most important thing is that each army is equipped with Qin-style rifles and carries a large number of grenades.
Each army also has sufficient howitzers and rifled guns.
With such firepower to defend the city, the 600,000 Wu army has no chance of taking Anqing.
After deciding this, Chang Wei went back and ordered the First Army and the Second Army to sleep.
As night fell, they marched lightly to Shacheng.
The distance between Shacheng and Anqing is only 600 miles, about 300 kilometers.
With the marching ability of the royal army, it only takes six days to arrive.
…
At the same time, in Tong County, Xiangzhou.
The 600,000 Wu army was resting outside the county, and the torches in the night were like stars in the sky in the camp.
The general who led the 600,000 army was named Liang Tong, who was Liang Kai's cousin and was currently the Wu national defense army.
In order to firmly control the Wu army, most of the main generals of the Wu army were from the Liang family.
At this time, they had been setting out from Shacheng for two days.
"This battle is a battle of life and death. Our Wu Kingdom has no way to retreat. You must be fully prepared this time."
In the central army tent, Liang Tong was eating and drinking with the generals.
After eating and drinking, Liang Tong said to the generals in a serious tone.
The order Liang Kai gave him contained two words - fight to the death.
Last time the Yan Wang army came west, they were just in a false alarm, but this time they really had no way to avoid it.
"The Yan Wang is too much of a bully. Jiangbei and the three states in the southeast can't satisfy his appetite. He must kill us all. If that's the case, let's fight to the death." A general said angrily, throwing the wine glass to the ground.
"Only by killing the Yan Wang can we relieve the hatred in our hearts. It is said that the Yan Wang is in Anqing now. We can't let him escape this time."
"..."
The Wu generals were excited.
They were driven from the rich coastal areas to the barren land of Xiangzhou, and they hated the Yan Wang very much.
Some of the generals also looked worried, but in such an occasion, they dared not say anything inappropriate.
Moreover, no matter what they thought, the outcome was already doomed. They had to obey the military order and attack the Yan Wang army from both sides with the army of Changcheng.
Liang Tong was very satisfied with the performance of the generals.
He looked towards Anqing and narrowed his eyes.
He knew very well how powerful the army of the King of Yan was.
But they couldn't stop walking on this mountain road just because the tigers ate people.
Even if they lost this battle, they had to severely damage the army of the King of Yan.
In this way, they could buy time for the powerful families to wait for the arrival of the Westerners.
At that time, the balance of victory would tilt towards them.
Thinking of this, he drank the wine in the cup.
The next day, the army continued to march towards Anqing.
Due to the large number of troops and the large amount of baggage they carried.
After another six days of marching, they only reached the border between Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou.
It would take another three days to reach Anqing City.
However, Liang Tong stopped marching here.
He was waiting for news from Changcheng.
If the army of the King of Yan attacked Changcheng, he would attack Anqing again.
While he was waiting for news from Changcheng.
Chang Wei and the soldiers of the First and Second Armies had arrived in Shacheng after six nights of marching.
Prepare to attack Shacheng at night.