Under the city of Chizhou, the Xia army has been storming for a day, but the city of Chizhou has not wavered in the slightest, there are not many defenders in the city of Chizhou, the key is the people in the city of Chizhou, with the support of the people of Chizhou, the defenders of Chizhou have been stubbornly guarding the city of Chizhou, this is the first city that the Xia army wants to conquer, if even he can't do it, it will be difficult to destroy the Great Song Dynasty.
Outside Chizhou at night, inside the camp of the summer army.
Li De, the king of Liang, was furious and said: "Bastard, so many people can't even take a small Chizhou City, what use does this king want you to do?"
"The prince is angry, it's not that the brothers are not angry, it's really because the defense of Chizhou City is too tenacious, and the Song army has complete fortifications in Chizhou City."
A Xia general said to Li De.
Li De said to all the generals: "Tonight we launched a night attack, gathered all the gunpowder we carried with the army, blew up the west gate of Chizhou City to this king, and then the army entered the city. ” "Yes, follow the orders of the prince."
The generals took the military order.
After Li De issued the military order, the soldiers who did not participate in the attack during the day immediately began to prepare, and now there are only 150,000 troops around Li De, and the 50,000 troops behind are specially escorting grain, grass and baggage, and the gunpowder carried by the Xia army's southern expedition army is in the baggage army in the rear.
Under the cover of night, the dead soldiers of the Xia army quietly sent more than a dozen explosives bags made of more than 500 catties of gunpowder to the city gate of Chizhou City; Due to the fierce attack of the Xia army during the day, in fact, the Song army defending the city suffered great losses, and its vitality was greatly damaged, if it were not for the support of the young and strong, I am afraid that it would have been lost by now, so when night fell, the Song army rested, leaving only a group of young men to inspect the city wall, these new recruits who had just enlisted had not seen a battle "Boom" a loud sound, the gate of the entire Chizhou City was completely blown open, the Xia Army that was originally hidden in the rear immediately dispatched, rushed to the Chizhou City, the entire Chizhou City was lost in an instant, without the protection of the city wall, the defenders in the Chizhou City could not resist at all, the Xia Army, the tiger and wolf division, after dawn, the entire Chizhou City has completely fallen into the hands of the Xia Army.
The Xia army did not rest after taking Chizhou, but continued eastward along the Yangtze River and its goal was directed at Jiangning Mansion, the news of the loss of Chizhou soon spread to Jiangning Mansion, and it was learned that hundreds of thousands of Xia troops had crossed the Yangtze River in the Chizhou area, and Song Emperor Zhao Mao was instantly stunned, and now the Song army in Jiangnan is facing the attack of these two Xia armies, and it is impossible to hold it.
In the Great Song Palace of Jiangning Mansion.
Emperor Zhao Mao of the Song Dynasty paced back and forth in the imperial study, now there is no large number of Song troops along the Yangtze River to mobilize, the only one who can be mobilized is only the 50,000 Song troops guarding the Jiangning Mansion, it is too late to recruit troops temporarily, and there are no soldiers who can be recruited in the south of the Yangtze River near the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, and those who can move have gone to the battlefield to fight, and the remaining some are either missing arms and legs, or the old and weak women and children cannot join the army at all.
After seeing Li Gang, Emperor Zhao Mao of the Song Dynasty eagerly asked Li Gang: "Aiqing, now that the Song army has been killed to the south of the Yangtze River, what should we do?"
Looking at Zhao Mao, the Song Emperor who was a little flustered, Li Gang said: "Your Majesty, don't panic, as far as Weichen knows, there are hundreds of thousands of troops crossing the river in the Xia army, although Lao Chen did not lead the troops to fight, but it is impossible to transport hundreds of thousands of troops across the Yangtze River at once, according to Weichen's estimates, the strength of the Xia army is around 100,000, and we can still stop the Xia army, but if Your Majesty wants to hold on to the capital, you must make another plan." ” "What does Aiqing mean by this," Emperor Zhao Mao of the Song Dynasty asked Li Gang.
"Your Majesty, in Weichen's opinion, since the Xia army has crossed the Yellow River, it means that the Xia army has completely mastered a passage to cross the river; In that case, the million-strong army we have deployed north of the Yangtze River has become an ornament, and with the large-scale offensive of the Xia army, they can no longer play any role.
Li Gang said to Zhao Mao: "Your Majesty Weichen thinks that all the troops north of the Yangtze River should be transferred back, focusing on defending the area around Jiangning Mansion, so that the Xia army can shed more blood here and buy time at one time."
At this time, Emperor Zhao Mao of the Song Dynasty had no idea for a long time, and when he heard Li Gang's words, Zhao Mao thought for a while and said: "Aiqing, at this time, do what you say, you must handle it as soon as possible, and send the prince, the queen mother and the queen to Hongzhou overnight, remember to serve it secretly, and no one will find out." ” "Yes, Weichen understands, please rest assured," Li Gang took the military order and said.
The next day, Emperor Zhao Mao of the Song Dynasty ordered the troops north of the Yangtze River to be transferred back to the south of the Yangtze River, and at the same time ordered a part of the Jiangnan Navy Division to go west to block the eastward pace of the Xia army.
After taking Chizhou, the Xia army was divided into three routes, with 50,000 front troops opening the way in front, the Chinese army had 100,000 troops led by Li De, the king of Liang, as the main force, and 50,000 troops in the rear army were responsible for escorting grain, grass and baggage; The key is that there are still dozens of artillery pieces and a large amount of gunpowder in the rear army, so the Song army's advance is very slow.
Chuzhou City, in the camp of the Huainan Army.
Seed Master Dao took the holy decree he had just received and said: "This king has just received the holy decree from His Majesty, and he wants to send 500,000 troops back to defend Jiangning Mansion, so that this king can lead the rest of the army to continue to guard Chuzhou, what do you think about this?"
"Lord Wang, now that the Xia army has invaded Jiangnan, with the combat effectiveness of the Xia army, sooner or later it will hit Jiangning Mansion, and it is very likely that we will be attacked from both sides by the Xia army when we stay here, and the last general will suggest that the prince withdraw his troops back to Jiangnan."
A Song army general stood up and said.
"The last general also suggested that the prince withdraw his troops back to Jiangnan" "Han Shizhong, what do you think" Seed Master Dao asked Han Shizhong.
Han Shizhong stood up and said: "Lord Wang, the last general thinks that even if we return to Jiangnan, it will be useless, now the Xia army is attacking fiercely, even if we return to Jiangnan, we will be attacked by the Xia army on both sides, and with the Xia army after all the capital, our army's morale is low, but the Xia army's morale is high, it can be seen from the attack in the middle and two days, the Song army's heavy firearms have never stopped, so in the eyes of the last general, there is no point in withdrawing or not withdrawing."
Han Shizhong said to the seed master.
A Song general questioned Han Shizhong: "What do you mean by the surname Han, do you want to surrender to the Xia army":