The winter of Wu Jianshuo's transition from ten years to eleven was not cold, and there were only a few light snowfalls in Jiangnan. In February of the eleventh year, a rare cold wave came suddenly as if to make up for the absence of winter, and came to most places in the Central Plains and Wu Dynasty. It was only a few days in mid-February, and it passed overnight. At dawn, thick frost forms under the eaves and under the trees.
Many flower buds and tree buds froze to death overnight.
This rare cold spring lasted for several days. In Jiangnan, the pace of the war did not slow down. On February 18, near Danyang, southeast of Zhenjiang, the general Lu Haifeng of the Wu Dynasty gathered more than 200,000 troops to besiege Xi Yin and Yu. The 50,000-odd Jurchen elites led by Yin Shuke were defeated and fled.
In the years since the popularity of artillery, the pattern of warfare has begun to change. In the past, infantry formed a phalanx so that the soldiers could not escape when they hedged. When the artillery was able to strike in groups, this style of play was curbed, and the importance of small-scale elite soldiers began to be highlighted. In the military of the Wu Dynasty, except for Han Shizhong's Zhenhai and Yue Fei's Beiwei Army, they were able to fight in an upright and upright manner. In the field, there were not many soldiers who rushed forward under the fire of artillery fire. Most of the troops were only able to use some of their combat power when they were defended by geographical advantages.
However, the army under Lu Haifeng was not so unbearable. The troops directly under him were also one of the new troops trained under the care of Jun Wu after the southward move. Lu Haifeng manages the army rigorously, so that he can train troops in various harsh weather and terrain, such as heavy snow and heavy rain, and let the soldiers advance and fight in the mud in the south of the Yangtze River. different faces.
Since Xi Yin and Yin Shu Ke led the Jurchen elites to arrive, the situation in the Jiangnan battlefield has become more intense and tense. In the capital, including all over the world, there are rumors that the East and West armies are determined to abandon their former suspicions and destroy the martial arts in one fell swoop. This kind of firm will, coupled with Xi Yin and various spies in the capital, made the situation in the Wu Dynasty extremely tense.
Before that, there may be some people who will pin their hopes on the conflict between the Jurchen and the imperial court, and make some articles on it. By this time, in the capital, I don’t know how many people have been lobbying all parties or looking for them for themselves. Back way. In such a situation, Lu Haifeng launched an attack on Xi Yin and Yin Shuke's troops out of his confidence in his own military governance.
This large-scale attack was also carried out with the approval of the leadership headed by Jun Wu. Compared with the inevitable long task of defeating Zongfu's army head-on, if it can defeat the long-distance travel, there will be certain logistical problems. , and is likely to have a rift with Zongfu Zongbi, the elite of the former West Route Army, the crisis in the capital will be resolved.
Of course, it is not easy to defeat the elite troops led by the world-famous Xi Yin and Yin Shuke, but if they dare not even attack, the so-called ten-year military training is just a joke at this point. On the other hand, even if Xi Yin and Yin Shu Ke cannot be repelled at one time, with two, three... 300,000, 500,000, or even a million troops attacking again and again, they will surely be able to attack like a water mill. Grind the opponent to death. Before that, the entire Jiangnan army must have the determination to fight.
The attack was carried out on a rainy day, and the cold spring was still going on. The 200,000-strong army invited the opponent to fight in the freezing rain. Such weather wiped out the power of all firearms, and Lu Haifeng took the 60,000-strong army he led as the vanguard, and faced the 30,000 Tu Shanwei who bravely fought.
In the pouring rain, even the arrow lost its power, and the armies of both sides were pulled back to the simplest rules of fighting. The 200,000 troops seemed to cover the entire land, and their shouts even overwhelmed the thunder in the sky. Tu Shanwei, led by Xi Yin, responded proudly, and the two sides collided in the muddy water.
In a sense, if the military of the Wu Dynasty ten years ago had the determination and quality of Lu Haifeng to govern the army, the battle of Bianliang that year would have been different. But even so, it does not mean that the current Wu Dynasty army has the quality of the world's first-class strong soldiers, and Tu Shanwei, who has followed Zonghan all the year round, at this time, is still the Jurchen that "fullness is absolutely impossible." The generosity of the enemy's morale.
After an hour of head-to-head confrontation and slaughter, Lu Haifeng's army was defeated. After half a day, the entire battlefield was in a state of rolling bead curtains. Tu Shanwei and Yin Shuke's troops chased and killed more than ten miles behind the defeated troops of the Wu Dynasty, but the casualties were not counted. Lu Haifeng was reluctant to retreat in the battle, and finally led the team to rush to kill, and his hand was cut off.
If it is said that in this tragic battle, Xiyin's performance is still not inferior to the bravery of the year, but the death battle of the people of the Wu Dynasty still brought a lot of things.
On the nineteenth day, as the casualty figures came out, Yin Shuke's face was not good-looking, and when he saw Xi Yin, he said: "As Gu Shen said, this little prince's determination is not light, and the army of the Wu Dynasty is like this every time. Resolutely, we should go back soon."
Xi Yin's eyes were serious and calm: "A dying rabbit will also bite people. There will always be some such people in the huge Wu Dynasty. With this battle, it has been very convenient for others to make a fuss."
On the 20th, Jun Wu in the Zhenjiang camp affirmed and encouraged Lu Haifeng's death battle, and asked the court for credit, to give Lu Haifeng a rank and an official promotion.
"In front of us is the strongest and most ferocious army in the entire world. It's no shame to lose to them! I'm not afraid! They destroyed the Liao Kingdom and swallowed the Central Plains. Our Wuchao rivers and mountains fell, and the people were enslaved by them! Now he 50,000 people dare to come to Jiangnan! I'm not afraid of losing and I'm not afraid that you will lose the battle! Starting today, I want you to give everything to fight! If necessary, we will fight every day, I will kill them, and I will let them fight. None of the 50,000 of them were able to return to the Jin Kingdom, all of you who went into battle, I will ask for the credit for you.”
Jun Wu's statement will soon spread throughout Jiangnan. At the same time, Yue Fei defeated the 130,000 Han army led by Li Yangzong near Taiping Prefecture and captured more than 60,000 Han troops. In addition to killing some of the "first evil" who had committed numerous bloody crimes in the massacre, Yue Fei proposed to the court to recruit the Han army, only punish the first evil, and ignore the past.
In the fierce battle between the two sides, some of the Central Plains Han army had previously made such a proposal in the Jiangnan massacre and looting and committed a lot of blood debt, which immediately caused a complicated discussion inside. However, although these Central Plains Han troops were extremely vicious after arriving in the south of the Yangtze River, in fact their fighting intentions were not firm. In the past few years, the spirit of the Central Plains has been ruined, and even the life in the army has been extremely poor. If Jiangnan can let go of the past and even give a full meal, it is conceivable that most of the Han army will look at the wind and surrender.
Soon after, Jun Wu accepted Yue Fei's proposal and made a statement. He recruited the Han troops who were willing to return south on the battlefield. As long as they did not commit the bloody debt of slaughter before, everything in the past could be forgiven.
At the same time, in response to Xiyin's request for "reconciliation" to the Wu Dynasty, before the end of February, a corresponding news came from the southwest. Under the deliberate push, Yu Jiangnan joined the boiling voice...
Jiang Ning, the sky in the field of vision was shrouded in layers of blue clouds. Wu Qilong and the prefect's master Liu Jing were seated in the noisy teahouse. Soon after, they heard the voices of discussions next to them.
"...Speaking of the current situation outside, our crown prince is really strong, and anyone will give a thumbs up... Although General Lu was defeated, our people are not afraid. I heard that Changzhou's Bian has now mobilized more than 100,000 people to encircle Xi Yin with the Zhenjiang army... We are not afraid of defeat, we are afraid that those golden dogs will be able to return alive... "
"... The green forest is also killing a lot, you don't know, the golden man fished in troubled waters and killed a lot of people secretly. I heard that half a month ago, there were several firefights in Xuanzhou, and hundreds of people died. They slaughtered the whole family, and left behind a book of cheating, but in fact, this thing was done by Jurchen's lackey... Later, Mr. Fu Lu led people to kill the golden dog. This is absolutely true. Ah, so many people died in a few days..."
"...Actually, if you want to say who should be killed, you have to look at the southwest side. I heard that at the end of January, there was a roster in the southwest. The Huang family used to have a Huang Shichu. After two years as a minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he took advantage of his reign to make a lot of money. Although he was later dismissed, he took advantage of those few years to form numerous party members, and even gave them to the Jurchen these years. Passing information, privately lobbying everyone to surrender, his mother's whole family bastard..."
"... He has countless fertile fields in Changsha, and his family has more than a thousand guests. He is truly a tyrant. As soon as the southwest hoeing order came out, he knew something was wrong. I heard that he set up a net of heaven and earth at home, and he was worried day and night, but by the end of January, the black The flag army came, more than 100 people... I tell you, that night, as soon as the hoeing case came out, everything was in chaos, and they couldn't even hold out for the army to come... "
Everyone in the teahouse gathered around, the speaker lowered his voice, as if he was talking about a big secret, and everyone talked in the same voice.
"...Speaking of which, although the guy from the southwest is rebellious, he is really a hero in these matters. You all know that Xiyin's beast persuaded us to surrender, and asked us to cede all the places from the west of Xiangyang to the fourth Sichuan province. Nianhan went to Chengdu to fight the Black Flag Army, hehe, it didn't take long for the Southwest to know, I heard that Mr. Ning wrote a letter directly to Nianhan a few days ago, saying: Waiting for you, you I'll be buried here in the future. Tsk tsk..."
"...If the two sides fight, I really don't know what the momentum is..."
In the midst of this discussion, Liu Jing smiled at Wu Qilong: "You said, are there any black flags among them?"
"It's hard to tell." Wu Qilong held the teacup and shook his head with a smile.
Jiangning is the birthplace of the demon Ning Yi, as well as the former residence of Zhou Yong, the king of Kang. In the past, Jiangning people were very secretive about the devil in the southwest, but when Zongfu crossed the river to attack Jiangning at the beginning of this year, it has been nearly two months now, and the city residents' perception of this great rebel has changed. When it is different, he is often heard mentioned in the mouth. After all, in today's world, the one who can really stand in front of Jurchen is probably the vicious gangsters in the southwest. Ning Yi, who was born in Jiangning, and some other heroic people, are often called by people. Take it out to boost morale.
Also mentioned in the middle are Princess Chengguo and her husband Kangxian who died in the previous fall of Jiangning.
"I heard that Brother Wu had an old relationship with Ning Yi earlier? I don't know if he is different from what these people said." Just asked. Wu Qilong was silent for a moment, looking at a table and chairs by the window.
"If he's staring at him, it's true to peel off the skin."
"Oh? Brother Wu was targeted?"
"He is a cloth dealer, and I am also a cloth dealer. There are festivals, but fortunately, it is not enough to see life and death." Wu Qilong smiled, "most of the belongings are gone."
When he said this, Liu Jing frowned and became interested. He kept asking, and Wu Qilong also recalled and talked about the incident of the royal merchants of the year. At that time, the entanglement between the two families, he sought cooperation with Xi Junyu, the ambitious shopkeeper of the Su family, and then the assassination of Su Boyong broke out. Events, big and small, can't help but feel embarrassed when I think about it now, but in the context of this world-shattering war, these things have also become interesting.
"Actually, now that I think about it, that Xi Junyu is too ambitious. There are some things he does that I can't think of, and if my family is just seeking money, and I haven't fully participated in it, I'm afraid I won't be able to do half of it later..."
"Then... how did you go to half of the property?" Liu Jing asked expectantly.
Wu Qilong continued to talk about the incident of the imperial merchant, took the formula and won the imperial merchant, and was so angry that Ning Liheng wrote the poem "Prime Minister Bai knows how to press his sword, and Zhumen Xianda laughed at the crown": "… Then one day, the cloth faded."
After saying this, Liu Jing was stunned for a moment, and then his face was full of surprise: "... Ruth, then later, how will I deal with you?"
"... One day later, in this teahouse, here, at that position over there, he was reading a book, and I went over to say hello to test his reaction. He was absent-minded, and then he suddenly reacted, looked at me and said: ' Oh, the cloth has faded... 'At that time... um, Brother Liu could have imagined... wanted to kill him..."
The two looked at the window over there. The sky was gloomy, and it seemed that it was about to rain. Now sitting there were two thin men drinking tea. Wu Qilong, who already has ragged white hair and an elegant bearing, seems to be able to see that afternoon more than ten years ago, the bright sunshine outside the window, Ning Yi was flipping the pages of a book there, and after that, the Wu family was cut off.
At that time, Wu Qilong was in his early thirties, and he encountered the biggest setback in his life. The Wu family was knocked down from the position of the first cloth merchant in Jiangning, and he almost collapsed. But not long after, Ning Yi, who was also heading north, joined Jiangning's businessmen and began to develop in the capital. Later, there was disaster relief. He came into contact with the power of the Qin clan, and later was appreciated by Princess Chengguo and Consort Kang. After all, they are both A native of Jiangning, Kang Xian also took good care of the Wu family.
At the beginning of the third year of Jianshuo, Wushu broke Jiangning. The old man refused to leave Jiangning, who had lived almost his entire life. He died when the army entered the city, and the Princess Palace of Chengguo was burnt to the ground. Soon after, Wu Qilong took his family back to Jiangning to rebuild the Wu family. Later, he took the Wu family to take over most of the military uniform business of the court. When the Jurchen went south, he donated most of his family wealth to support the army. The family property of the Wu family is still several times higher than that of the year.
Of course, he didn't have to talk to Liu Jing about many things in the middle, but thinking about it at this time, the vastness of time seemed to flow by in front of him. Compared to today, it was still more peaceful back then.
Even now in the southwest, Ning Yi, who can fight against the world, probably misses the time when he read books here.
Wu Qilong thought so.
Not long after, there was a huge vibration from the city wall, followed by a chaotic and irritable voice...