Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

(Wai Dan and Nei Dan are Taoist terms. Wai Dan is a tangible elixir that is refined in an alchemy furnace and can be taken; Nei Dan is a practice method such as pointing, breathing, and Qi training, such as Chen Tuan's lock nose technique. It is impossible to discuss the effect, but it is something that exists in Taoism in reality, not fantasy.)

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Hundreds of thousands of people had already gathered outside the city of Shouzhou in the Southern Tang Kingdom. Emperor Chai Rong, who was originally in Chenzhou, also left the seriously ill queen and rushed here.

Shouzhou is on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huaihe River (near today’s Shouxian County in the north of Anhui Province). Several north-south rivers in the Central Plains flow vertically into the Huaihe River, forming a network of waterways. Most Chinese cities are built at the confluence of rivers to guard both water and land, and Shouzhou is no exception. Shouzhou City is where the West Fei River and the Huai River converge.

The main marching route of the Great Zhou Dynasty was to go south from Tokyo (Kaifeng, Henan) along the Caishui River, and then directly approach the Guohuai River Basin of the Southern Tang Dynasty along the Xifei River. The distance between the two places is eight hundred miles. Emperor Chai Rong dispatched various envoys to send troops from various towns, and the upper reaches of the Huaihe River also exerted military pressure; Jingnan Kingdom clamored to send troops, but there was no movement from them for the time being.

Zhou Jun's vanguard attacked Shouzhou for more than a month and could not break through. At this time, the soldiers and civilians of Song, Hao, Chen, Ying, Xu, Su, Xu, Cai and other prefectures mobilized by Chai Rong also crossed the Huaihe River from the pontoon bridge one after another.

Chai Rong put his hand on the hilt of his sword, frowned and looked at the besieged city, he was very upset now.

Since launching the war against the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Zhou army has won great victories in the field battles under Shouzhou City and in Zhengyang west of Shouzhou. What Chai Rong wants is the entire Jianghuai Plain!

In the early days, the strategy decided by the emperor and the Privy Council was very straightforward: Break through from the middle of the Huaihe River Basin, capture Shouzhou as a foothold, and at the same time eliminate the threat of the army’s offensive route; then use Shouzhou as the source of the war, break through Qingliu Pass to the southeast defense line, and capture Chuzhou (now Chuxian County, Anwei Province) and Dongdu (now Yangzhou).

A breakthrough in the middle road divided the Jianghuai Plain into two, occupied Jiangdufu, the eastern capital of the central town of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the army approached the Yangtze River. As a result, the area on the north bank of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty could not see each other from head to tail, and had no center, and became a mess. At this time, it is necessary to clean up the Jianghuai mess like the autumn wind sweeps the leaves.

But the problem is, it has been nearly two months now, and the original strategic goal of Shouzhou has not been won yet! Chai Rong already doubted the feasibility of this war at this time... It is useless to surround it if it cannot be conquered. The Southern Tang Dynasty is rich and has no shortage of food or money. Shouzhou, an important military town, has enough food for at least a few years; does it mean that the Zhou army will surround it for a few years and wait for the people inside to starve to death?

In the distance, a huge catapult made a "click, click, click" sound. The sound of the huge twisting force made people's muscles tense, and then there was a whistling sound. With a "bang", the wood hit the frame and stopped, and a large rock flew out.

Looking as far as the eye can see, more stones are flying towards the city wall of Shouzhou City, among them are mixed with incendiary bombs that draw long black smoke. The stone hit the city wall and splashed, and the burning fireball hit the top of the city and cracked, and the flames splashed everywhere. There are also crossbow arrows as thick as house beams flying in the air, dotted with large and small arrows, and the air is filled with smoke. Shouzhou City is like a pile of grain, the sky is full of locusts, and the smoke below is everywhere, people are like swarms of ants, and they may be burned to ashes at any time. Amidst the huge impact, the city seemed to collapse at any moment... Unfortunately, it has not collapsed after more than a month.

In the moat, a piece of black oil floated on it, as if it had been replaced with black water, and it could burn even in the water... The pontoon bridge that Zhou Jun placed on the moat was also burned, and the fire was fierce and thick smoke billowed.

According to the captives of the Southern Tang Dynasty, this kind of black oil is called fierce fire oil, and it was dug out from the ground! The king of the Southern Tang Dynasty also sent people to transport this kind of fierce oil to Khitan by sea to support the Khitan people who wanted to attack from north to south.

In the rain of arrows, countless civilians approached the moat with shields and sandbags on their backs, throwing sand into it. Several broken crash cars were being dragged back by people. Before those crash cars could get close, they were smashed by ballistas as thick as tree trunks in the distance. A towering cloud car was parked motionless by the moat, and the fire spread on it, as if it was a house that had been burned to nothing but a shelf after a fire broke out.

There are people carrying corpses everywhere, people are screaming and groaning in pain, and the world is like hell.

Chai Rong seemed to have a faint gloomy look on his face. He believed that the attack on Shouzhou was not going well, and the main responsibility should be Prime Minister Li Gu for delaying the opportunity! Let the Southern Tang army have time to prepare, otherwise why is the city defense so impenetrable and everything is used?

At this time, Li Gu and others knew that the emperor had arrived outside Shouzhou City, and finally rushed over with a group of generals.

A group of people kowtowed and shouted: "Holy life is boundless."

Chai Rong was so angry that he didn't talk about being flat and let them just kneel and talk.

Li Gu hurriedly kowtowed and said: "My lord, I built a pontoon bridge from Zhengyang to cross the Huai River and crossed the Huai River. At the foot of Shouzhou City, I encountered thousands of Southern Tang troops backing the city. I broke the formation with forward Shi Yanchao, quickly defeated the Tang army, and captured 3,000 people. Not long after the siege, I heard that the Southern Tang army rushed to help and approached Zhengyang... My forward pontoon bridge is in Zhengyang, and the food and reinforcements rely on this place. If there is any loss, the consequences will be disastrous!

The Tang army has a lot of reinforcements, and it is reported that the army stretches for thirty miles! The minister thought that in Shouzhou, he would be cut off from retreat, and he would be flanked by the Tang army back and forth, with no place to stand! We have to go back to Zhengyang immediately, and welcome the reinforcements from the Tang army first..."

Chai Rong said coldly: "You have all the elite guards in your hands. Can I have an opponent in the big Zhou iron cavalry battle?"

Everyone was in awe, and hurriedly bowed down, only to think that the emperor standing with the sword is very domineering, saying that there is no opponent in the world, what can everyone say?

Chai Rong said again: "I urgently ordered the bodyguard Sima Budu to command Li Chongjin to lead an army to attack the reinforcements in Zhengyang. What happened? The Tang army was powerless to fight back, and they were killed with corpses spread out for dozens of miles! You shouldn't have retreated from Shouzhou."

Li Gu didn't dare to defend himself any longer, kowtowed and said: "I am guilty!"

Chai Rong closed his eyes slightly, and thought of Li Gu's past efforts in coordinating the deployment of troops and horses, transporting food, and preparing ordnance during the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Jinyang. It is said that Li Gu only ate one meal a day and slept for two hours. Li Gu was also quite upright. He was captured by the Khitan in his early years and was tortured six times without yielding. He also made great achievements in military service and harnessing the Yellow River.

"Prime Minister Li, you are now in charge of judging the Shouzhou government. Go and appease the people in Shouzhou first, and let them return to their respective lands to work. My Zhou army will not plunder or kill indiscriminately." Chai Rong said.

Li Gu hurriedly said: "I thank the emperor for his kindness."

Chai Rong said again: "Send someone to convey the decree, let the bodyguard Sima Budu command the envoy Li Chongjin to be the 'Huainan camp recruitment envoy', and command the army of the former enemy."

"Decree ordered Han Lingkun to lead his troops to move the pontoon bridge to Xiacai Town for defense deployment."

Chai Rong saw that the black man Zhao Kuangyin was also kneeling in front of him, and said: "The Southern Tang army still has a lot of troops on the Huaihe River. I heard that they are stationed heavily in Tushan. Zhao Kuangyin, you lead the iron cavalry (reformed from the Xiaodi army) and wipe out the enemy soldiers that threaten my flank."

Zhao Kuangyin said in a loud voice: "The minister receives the order!"

Chai Rong was at the back of the battle formation, and made some deployments very neatly. His actions are in line with the usual style of military administration and administration. He can always grasp the key points concisely, and with a few simple and rude moves, everything can be clearly understood.

Tushan is in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River in Shouzhou, and in its northeast, the Southern Tang navy can defend the lower reaches from here, and control and threaten the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River along the river. Zhao Kuangyin did not disappoint Chai Rong. In three days, the 10,000 Tang troops in Tushan were wiped out by the iron cavalry. Zhao Kuangyin first lured the enemy into surrendering, and lured the Tang army to the vortex not far from Tushan, and then attacked on both sides to determine the outcome. The battle of vortex was fought neatly and beautifully.

Chai Rong was overjoyed, thinking about Zhao Kuangyin's great responsibility, he had a lot of confidence in his heart.

At this moment, an eunuch rushed from Chenzhou (Huaiyang County, Henan Province, in the southeast of Kaifeng City in "Tokyo", more than 300 miles away) to the front line. When Chai Rong saw that it was Cao Tai, he knew that this eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was often by the queen's side, so he immediately guessed that it was about the queen.

As expected, Cao Tai fell to his knees and burst into tears when he entered the tent. Seeing this situation, Chai Rong had an idea: Is the queen dead? In his mind, the Queen's death was a matter of time, and he had already prepared himself... He had seen her coughing up blood with his own eyes. Moreover, the famous doctor in Tokyo has already concluded that it is impossible to save him, and he is waiting for that breath as he becomes weaker by the day.

Cao Tai cried: "The Empress wants to see the official family for the last time."

After hearing this, Chai Rong knew that she hadn't died yet. He pondered for a moment, feeling that Huainan's deployment should not be changed for the time being, and he also thought that the empress was a person who was very valued by the late emperor, and the late emperor specially arranged someone to be by his side to stabilize his throne when he was dying. Usually the relationship is also very good, now we are going, it is time to see her again.

He then said: "I'm going to Chenzhou right away, you go back and make some preparations, and when I see the queen, I'll send someone to send her back to Tokyo Ouchi."

Cao Tai hurriedly said: "I implore you, the empress has only one breath left, and I'm afraid I won't be able to endure the hardships of the journey."

Chai Rong said angrily: "Use a sedan chair to carry it, find someone to carry it steadily! Are you going to let the queen die outside? You slaves, I have to teach you this, what use are you for!"

"Yes, yes. The servants are in command." Cao Tai hurriedly kowtowed.

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