On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 592 Smuggling across the Han River
Since Wang Gui sent the news back to Xiangyang in the middle of the night that the Yan army was on the upper reaches of the Han River and blocked the river with iron ropes, it was already dawn when Zhang Xutuo learned of the matter and led the Xiangyang navy to leave Yuliangzhou.

At this time, the only people left behind in Yuliangzhou were some old and weak men led by the deputy general.

Even though the river fog in the early morning was very thick, the faint fire lights on the ships of the Xiangyang Navy still couldn't escape the sentinels of the Yan Army who were watching from the Anyang City Tower.

The news was quickly sent to the mouth of the Feishui River. Cui Che, who had been mistakenly thought by Zhang Xutuo and others to be in Wudang, was actually hiding in the Yanjun water stronghold.

When the generals in the village learned that Zhang Xutuo was leading the Xiangyang Navy to the west, they all complimented him. Qu Tutong, who had surrendered after being captured by Feng Yi, praised:

"Xiao Jue and Zhang Xutuo thought they could use Xiangyang and Yuliangzhou to form a corner to resist the heavenly soldiers, but how could they expect that His Majesty had a clever plan to play with them."

Another general, Yu Juluo, who once surrendered Feng County to Cui Che, said with a loud smile:
"Your Majesty used the partial master as bait to lure the snake out of its hole and lure Zhang Xutuo to Wudang. Now Yuliang Continent is empty and it is easy to get it.

"Occupying Yuliangzhou leaves only Xiangyang."

The rest of the generals rushed to praise the Emperor of Dayan, and the King of Wei Cui Youzhi on the side was also looking at his grandfather with admiration.

As the focus of everyone's attention, Cui Che waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Zhang Xutuo definitely still has troops to defend Yuliangzhou. You and others should not take it lightly."

Obviously, Cui Che was in a good mood at this time after successfully luring Zhang Xutuo to Wudang.

Zhang Xutuo mistakenly thought that Cui Che wanted to block the river with iron ropes and protect the pontoon bridge.

But Cui Che had never fought a water battle, but he also knew that the so-called iron chain blocking the river would not have much effect.

Regardless of whether it was Wang Jun, a famous general in the Western Jin Dynasty, who used an oil tanker to melt the iron cables and eventually flowed down the river, destroying Soochow.

Or if the Hunan Army attacks the Taiping Army and faces the Taiping Army's iron cable blocking the river, they can choose to occupy half of the mountain on the south bank and pull out the roots of the iron cable on the bank. This so-called iron cable formation can be easily broken.

Naturally, Cui Che would not hope that Zhang Xutuo could be deterred by relying on a mere iron cable formation.

After confirming that Zhang Xutuo had really left, the Yan Army's Nanyang Navy was ready for battle. They were just waiting for time to pass so that Zhang Xutuo could go further and not have time to return to Yuliangzhou.

In the water village, Li Xiaogong was riding on a battleship, waiting for Cui Che to give orders.

After Cui Che divided the Xuzhou Navy into two, the [-] naval forces that still remained in Xuzhou were under the control of the former Xuzhou Governor Li Jing.

The remaining [-] naval troops transferred to the Nanyang Basin were actually commanded by Li Xiaogong as the Sima of Luzhou and controlled by Cheng Yaojin, the governor of Luzhou.

This appointment has caused controversy in the past. After all, Li Xiaogong has not made any military exploits and is also very young. Many people question whether he can shoulder the important task.

But Cui Che relied on his absolute authority among the ministers to force the appointment.

Li Xiaogong also did not disappoint Cui Che's expectations. Over the past three years, he worked hard and tried his best to improve the combat effectiveness of the Nanyang Navy.

Although it suffered repeated defeats in the battle with the Xiangyang Navy, the progress made is obvious to all.

The time came to noon. Following Cui Che's order, the sound of drums and trumpets resounded throughout the water village. The messengers standing on the ship's observation deck waved flags. The gate of the water village opened and the ships sailed out one after another.

At the same time, the main force of the Yan army, which had been hidden previously, also appeared on the north bank of the Han River.

The Sui Dynasty boat that was originally monitoring the movements of the Yan army's water stronghold on the river was horrified when they saw this. They quickly changed direction and hurried back to report the news.

Lieutenant General Zhang Xutuo, who was staying at Yuliangzhou, heard the news. It was a sunny day, but it was so cold that his hands and feet were icy cold.

Before Zhang Xutuo left, he had explained that if Yuliangzhou could abide by the rules, he would retreat if he could not.

But this is the prerequisite that the main force of the Yan army has crossed the Han River from Wudang. Now on the north bank of the Han River, flags are flying, blocking the sky and the sun.

On the river, [-] Yanjun naval forces were coming from the mouth of the Feishui River in a mighty manner.Even though he was mediocre in intelligence, he knew that the prefect and the county magistrate had fallen into each other's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

At this point, the deputy general did not believe that Yuliangzhou could be defended by relying on the old and weak men under his command, so he immediately ordered everyone to board the ship and evacuate.

But it was too late, and the Yan Army Navy was already blocked outside the water stronghold.

Although Cui Che's imitation five-tooth battleship was not seen, the Yan army ships outside the village were still taller than the small boat Zhang Xutuo left for him.

Zhang Xutuo moved westward to block the river, so naturally he would not leave any large ships for his lieutenants.

There is no chance of winning in a decisive battle outside the stronghold.

At the same time, some of the Great Yan Navy troops had landed at other locations on Yuliang Continent and were heading towards the water village.

The deputy general glanced at the old and weak people who stayed behind with him. Their faces were full of fear and despair. The deputy general said dejectedly:

"The defeat is certain, so you should stop making unnecessary sacrifices and put down your weapons. At least the Yan army will treat the prisoners preferentially."

As he spoke, he took the lead in throwing down the steel knife in his hand. Seeing this, everyone also followed suit.

Immediately, the gate of Yuliangzhou Water Village was opened and he surrendered to Li Xiaogong, who commanded the capture of Yuliangzhou.

As the actual commander of the Nanyang Navy, Li Xiaogong's warship was not the tallest five-tooth ship.

It is precisely because all the Wuya warships have been mobilized by Cui Che and are busy traveling to and from both sides of the Han River to transport Yan army officers and soldiers.

At this time, the main force of the Xiangyang Navy was all heading west, and there was no power to prevent the Yan army from landing.

The Han River passes through Xiangyang and turns a big bend, changing from east-west to north-south.

Yuliangzhou is at this bend.

Previously, the defense focus of the Xiangyang defenders was on the east-west stretch of the river. After learning the false news that the main force of the Yan army had appeared in Wudang, they moved the army to the west.

Because Yuliangzhou was empty, Cui Che was able to use the five-ya ship to cross the river in the north-south section.

The east side of Xiangyang City is nearly twenty miles away from the river section. It is precisely because of the existence of Yuliangzhou and the false news that Yan Jun was in Wudang that Xiao Jue neglected the east side.

Yan Jun's [-] horsemen landed [-] miles away. Xiao Jue knew nothing about it. Even at this time, he was heading to Tanxi in the west of Xiangyang City to inspect the defense line.

Previously, Xiao Jue and Zhang Xutuo were deceived by Cui Che and changed the defense line along the Han River to the defense line along the Tanxi River.

The so-called Tanxi is the river where Liu Bei jumped on his horse in Tanxi in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He had no idea that Cui Che had completed the landing behind him.

At the same time, Cui Che was also mobilizing his troops after crossing the Han River.

Xiao Jue's scouts were not the only ones who could swim in the Han River at night to detect the enemy's situation.

Cui Che also received information last night that the main force of the Xiangyang defenders was setting up defenses in Tanxi.

He immediately appointed Dou Jiande as general and Liu Heitai as deputy general, leading [-] infantry to attack Xiangyang City.

He himself commanded [-] single-horse cavalry. Under the guidance of the surrendered generals and soldiers sent by Li Xiaogong, he bypassed Xiangyang City from the south and ambush in advance on the only way for the Tanxi defenders to return for reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)