Emperor Sui Yang

In fact, Fugong Er had no reinforcements, but he thought there were, so he kept defending.

He has 5000 men under his command, and there are [-] ships at the dock, which can be supported, although he watched the Xiangyang navy go south from Jiangning and upstream.

But he still had a glimmer of hope. As long as Du Fuwei's reinforcements crossed the river smoothly, there would be no problem in Jiangning.

Having said that, why did he not dare to fight against Laikai's 1 men despite his superior strength?
Because he did not refine weapons, what came under Kai Kai's command was the Luoyang garrison, which was well-equipped.

The equipment gap is so obvious. Just like the two companies currently fighting in the Middle East, a fully armored infantry equipped with a large shield and a spear in the Luoyang Army can kill a rebel army composed of refugee bandits like Fugong Er. Ten of them, strong and strong, can even kill dozens of them.

This is not an exaggeration. Heavy weapons such as axes and hammers are needed to deal with full armor. But as for these two types of weapons, not to mention there are not many among the people, and there are not many in the Sui Dynasty's treasury, because they are not practical and too heavy. You can take them. Do not move.

The ax here is not the ax common people use to chop wood, it is a big ax, the kind of semi-circular crested axe. The common people's ax is hard to chop wood, let alone armor.

There are only 500 axe-hands in Laihu'er's team, and they are all so well-fed that they are basically useless.

After keeping watch for a day and a night, in the early morning of the next day, the four five-tooth fleets of the Xiangyang Navy came back again, cruising on the water to the west of Jiangning City, which could be seen from the city wall.

Fu Gonger knew very well that he was doomed.

The return of the navy from the navy revealed that the general manager, Du Fuwei, was unable to cross the river. In other words, the Yangtze River was blocked.

Fugong Er would definitely not surrender, because he knew that surrendering would mean death. After all, he was the second-in-command among Du Fuwei's rebels.

Lai Kai sent people to shout on the city wall, probably saying that Du Fuwei has fled and no one will save you. Whoever can kill Fugong Er will be the chariot general of the Sui Dynasty.

This is how Fugong Er died. A general named Zhang Hu led his men to kidnap him and Kaicheng surrendered.

Lai Kai was right under the city gate and chopped off Fugong'er's head.

"Meet Rong Gong!"

In the lobby of the Jiangning County Sheriff's Mansion, Lai Huer walked in followed by a group of generals and sat down at the main seat.

"What's wrong?" Lai Huer looked at the eldest son.

Lai Kai said: "Thirty-five thousand, a mob. Most of them are civilians gathered together. They don't have much fighting power. My son selected [-] strong men from them and put them under his command. The rest were handed over to Zhang Hu."

"The last general, Zhang Hu, had the honor to serve Duke Rong. He was so heartless and did not hesitate to do anything," Zhang Hu stood up and said.

Lai Hu'er said seriously: "Knowing that mistakes can be corrected, there is no greater good. I will appoint you as the vanguard general of Zuo Yuhou. After two days of rest, he will lead his subordinates to cross the river first and capture Wujiang County north of Liyang. It's up to you to make up for your mistakes."

Zhang Hu was greatly refreshed by being deceived, and said: "I will die as soon as possible."

"Fei Qingnu," Lai Hu'er said.

"The general is here," Fei Qingnu stood up and said.

Lai Huer said: "You should set off now. Under the cover of the Xiangyang navy, we will build a pontoon across the river. I will give you three days. In three days, our army will march directly to Liyang."

"The last general takes orders!" Fei Qingnu said.

Lai Huer put on his armor and stood up and said: "Military orders are like mountains, military law is ruthless, anyone who delays the military plane will be killed!"

"Yes!" the generals said one after another.

Next, Lai Huer only left a few generals and his retainers and staff to discuss matters in the inner palace.

"Jin Ling and Wu Commandery have surrendered, and the battle was fought without any loss. The prince's strategy is correct," Lai Kai said. "Wang Shichong sent someone to send a message, hoping to take over Wu Commandery. What does father think?"

"Let him go!" Lai Hu said: "Who is he? He dares to bargain with me."

Dugu Wudu chuckled and said, "Let's grab the credit. Mr. Rong is occupying the territory in the front, and others are occupying the territory in the back. I don't know who gets the credit at that time."

He is Luoyang Lieutenant, equivalent to the director of the Dongdu Public Security Department, Dugu Zuan's second brother, and Dugu Feng'er's second uncle. He came with Lai Hu'er because many of the generals in the Luoyang army under Lai Hu'er are From the Dugu family.

Also coming with him were Zhang Dinghe and Zhou Zhongan.

Zhou Zhongan was Zhou Zhongmou's eldest brother. During the expedition to Goguryeo, he served under Lai Hu'er's tent. He was originally going to Jiangdu with Yu Wenshu, but Lai Hu'er came over because he was easy to use and felt at ease.

Lai Kai sneered and said: "They can do some tricks like this. Jiangdu's matter was originally simple, Wei Xuan could handle it alone, but it has been dragged on until it is so complicated now."

"Facts have proved that the prince is far-sighted," Zhou Zhongan said: "Jiangnan still has to focus on recruiting people. Except for Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian, everyone else can give it a try."

Zhang Dinghe glanced at Lai Huer and said, "Actually, recruiting Xiao Xian would be of the greatest benefit to us. Unfortunately, he rebelled under Rong Gong, so we can't keep him."

Lai Hu'er smiled and said: "I have no tolerance for anyone but me. In fact, I have no objection to recruiting Xiao Mian, but it will definitely not work. Do you know why Chu Mi (Zhang Dinghe's nickname)?" Zhang Dinghe shook his head. Shake his head.

Shen Yuan, the chief staff member who came to protect the child, said: "Because the queen cannot tolerate a traitor in the Xiao family. Otherwise, the Xiao family would have tried to recruit him. Now, she wishes he would die soon."

Zhang Dinghe suddenly realized: "So it turns out that Duke Rong saw everything clearly."

Lai Hu'er smiled and said, "I just received an urgent military message here. It was sent by Duke Xu from Jiangdu. Please take a look."

Then, a letter was taken out by Xie Xing, the staff member, and handed to everyone for circulation.

Zhang Dinghe was stunned: "Is this Xiao Mian so powerful now? Jiangxia has three major cities, Hanyang, Hankou, and Wuchang. How come they were lost so quickly?"

"There are so many people and so much power that I can't stop him," Dugu Wudu sighed: "Thief Xiao is good at deceiving people's hearts. Most of his generals are from Xiaoguo, and they are all people who are good at conquering and fighting. I am afraid that his harm will be far greater than that of Du Fuwei. "

"I can't say I'm good at fighting," Lai Kai said, "But I'm definitely better than Du Fuwei and the gang of bandits. The question now is, should the Xiangyang navy know about this report? You all know that they are from Jingzhou. Come on, Jiangxia is the most important place in Jingzhou after Jiangling. Now that it is lost, should the Navy rescue it?"

Zhang Dinghe and others looked at each other and remained silent.

This is not something they dare to suggest. If the navy master leaves, the court will not be able to pass it. If he is not allowed to leave, the prince will not be able to pass it.

In the fight against rebellion in the south, there are more intrigues than wars.

Lai Hu'er smiled and said: "I believe that this military information should be known to Shen and Zhou, so that we can all go out together to suppress the bandits. Military information must be communicated with each other and must not be concealed. As for what will happen to them after they know it, you can just pretend to be deaf. It’s just dumb.”

"Thank you, Mr. Rong," Zhang Dinghe said hurriedly: "We can't get involved in this matter, but the navy is gone, how are we going to fight next?"

Lai Kai said: "Whether the Navy can leave or not, the rebels don't know. We have already captured Jinling and Wu County, and are in line with Yuhang County. Now we have occupied Jiangning. As long as we capture Liyang, it will be equivalent to taking back five County, at that time, if the King of Qi continues to refuse to borrow troops, it will be unjustifiable. Although the Jiangdu Navy is useless, it can still be used to scare people."

Zhou Zhongan said: "It seems that everyone thinks that the navy will leave, but the stakes will be too great if my brother and the others leave. Not to mention that your majesty will not spare them, King Qi will not be able to pass the test. "

After all, he is his younger brother, so Zhou Zhongan must still think about Zhou Zhongmo.

"It depends on Zhong An," Lai Huer said with a smile: "Jiangdu Navy does not have five-toothed ships, which are used to deter the rebels and are of little use. If Shen and Zhou can leave us a five-toothed fleet, Jiangnan Things will be as stable as Mount Tai, and Jingzhou can be saved from a critical situation."

In fact, it is just pulling the tiger's skin to promote the banner. You don't need to fight. You can just wander on the Yangtze River every day. As long as the rebels see Wu Ya's presence, they will have great concerns about their deployment.

The Xiangyang navy has eight five-tooth ships, each equipped with more than thirty ships of various types, and its combat effectiveness is already very impressive.

"I will try my best in the end," Zhou Zhongan said.

Lai Huer smiled and said: "Cai Ju and Zhong An were both under my account back then. If possible, it would be best for him."

"Will you leave now?" Zhou Zhongan asked.

Lai Kai nodded and said: "The sooner the better, take this military message with you and let them know."

In this way, Zhou Zhongan left the city overnight and went to the fleet docked by the river to meet his brother.

"We will definitely not leave. Brother, tell Rong Gong to let him feel at ease." Zhou Zhongmo did not dare to tell the truth to his brother on such a big matter.

Zhou Zhongan is not a fool. He knows that his brother has something to hide: "On the expedition to Goguryeo, General Cai and I are both under Rong Gong's account. Where is his fleet?"

Shen Lun listened obediently and said with a smile: "General Cai will fully cooperate with Duke Rong to cross the river."

After the word "crossing the river", he paused deliberately, and Zhou Zhongmo also understood.

Covering the children to cross the river is the task of the entire naval force, not Cai Ju alone. After completing this task, Shen and Zhou will also lead the main force of the fleet to leave, leaving Cai Ju behind.

They have Yang Ming's marshal order in their hands, and they are not afraid of being held accountable in the future. If the emperor wants to hold him accountable, he will hold him accountable first, but it is unlikely because Jiang Xia is lost, so you can't help but save it, right?

Especially if the navy cooperates to protect the children and get back Danyang and Liyang, you can't hold them accountable.

As for Lai Huer, as long as he captures Liyang, he will stand still. First, his troops are limited and surrounded by rebels, making it difficult to concentrate. Furthermore, if Jiangnan is really leveled, he will offend the prince. Thoroughly.

His purpose was to ensure that Yang Guang could safely patrol Jiangdu in June and capture several counties south of Jiangdu, which was enough.

To quell the rebellion in Jiangnan, we have to rely on the prince in the end. Even if he just comes to Jiangdu to show his face, if he shows up, the credit will be his.

Because the prince is the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, in name, any rebellion anywhere is put down, it is the prince's credit.

The rebels had to be suppressed, and they couldn't be completely suppressed. Lai Hu'er had a sense of restraint.