On the eleventh day of the twelfth month, Zhao Hu led the elites of the White Tiger Camp to defeat the resistance of a small force of around one thousand. This force was led by the Nanpi County Magistrate and Nanpi County Lieutenant, and they put up a rather brave resistance. However, before the elites led by Zhao Hu, they were as weak as a chick.
After effortlessly defeating this small force, Nanpi County was taken. Cangzhou was close at hand, and in these places, the usefulness of cavalry began to become apparent. Commander Luo Rong was ordered to lead ten thousand cavalry to follow Zhao Hu into Cangzhou to open the way for the army.
Zhao Hu and Luo Rong encountered a rather tenacious resistance in Cangzhou. The resistance army numbered around ten thousand, and under the banner of a crusade against the rebels, they launched a counterattack against Zhao Hu's army.
Of course, the result was very miserable. The commander was clearly a rookie, and when facing cavalry, he actually launched a charge and was utterly routed by Luo Rong's cavalry.
This sort of rookie force was truly unable to satisfy Luo Rong. After fighting for around the time it takes for two or three incense sticks to burn, they were routed, and Zhao Hu and Luo Rong followed them into Cangzhou, striving to break the city.
On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Cangzhou put up a simple resistance before being broken through. The magistrate of Cangzhou died in battle, and the county magistrate and his men engaged in street fighting. They were quickly killed, and Cangzhou was pacified.
Next was Xingji. On the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, one day after Cangzhou was broken through, the county magistrate abandoned the city and fled. On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, the county magistrate of Qing County abandoned the city and fled. The garrison opened the city and surrendered, and Qing County surrendered.
Because Jiang Dahai had already taken over the Calm Sea, there was no organized force between Qing County and the Calm Sea that could stop the advance of the army.
The situation could not be reversed.
Back when the army had gathered in Dezhou to discuss the next step of the strategy, Xiao Ruxun had ordered the army to split into two groups and launch a pincer attack on the capital. One group would be led by Yuan Huang and would follow the original route of the canal to the Tianjin Garrison Command's Hejian Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, Zhuozhou, and finally the capital. The other group would be personally led by Xiao Ruxun to follow the route of Hejian Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, Zhuozhou, and finally the capital, forming a pincer attack.
At the same time, Xiao Ruxun had already sent someone to Liaodong to meet with Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, inviting them to send troops to the capital.
If the father and son were a little more sensible, Xiao Ruxun would consider having Li Rusong lead troops in other areas, Li Chengliang retire in the capital, and Liaodong would be under the full control of the central government. If they were not sensible, the first thing they would do after killing Shen Yicheng was to send troops to Liaodong to exterminate the Li Family.
The importance of Liaodong to Daming was self-evident, as was its importance to later China. The black soil of the White Mountains and Black Waters, the sorghum rice, and the rich resources. Although the weather was a little cold and it could not play the role it should have during the Little Ice Age, in the foreseeable future, Liaodong would play a very important role.
Like the southeast coast, it was a land that had to be controlled.
The Outer Khingan Mountains and Sakhalin Island could not be left out. If they occupied Sakhalin Island, they could even threaten Japan's Hokkaido from the north. Together with Korea, they could form a two-pronged attack and lock down Japan.
The future was very important.
On December 15th, when Qing County was breached, Xiao Ruxun led the army to conquer Jingzhou, Fucheng, Jiaohe, and Xian County, and directly captured Hejian Prefecture. Under the persuasion of Ye Mengxiong, the magistrate of Hejian Prefecture surrendered the city and turned to join the crusade camp.
Then, Xiao Ruxun led the army to Gaoyang.
They were unimpeded all the way.
On the same day that Hejian Prefecture and Qing County were captured, 10,000 troops from Datong entered the capital under the leadership of Fang Shoushi.
In the end, Fang Shoushi had still led his army to the capital. This was the first and only army to come under the imperial edict. There had never been enough time after receiving the edict, so the fact that he was able to arrive in such a short time was enough to demonstrate Fang Shoushi's loyalty to the Imperial Court. Shen Yicheng was deeply moved, and he personally went out of the city to welcome Fang Shoushi, whom he had dispatched to Datong.
That's right. Half a year ago, Fang Shoushi wrote a letter to advise Shen Yicheng not to do things that hurt his own people and pleased his enemies. Shen Yicheng bore a grudge against Fang Shoushi and even sealed his political future. He planned to let Fang Shoushi die in the bitter cold of Datong and never come back. But now, the only army that came to the capital was Fang Shoushi.
How could Shen Yicheng not be touched?
"Sheng Fu! Sheng Fu! I've been looking forward to seeing you! I've been looking forward to seeing you! "
Shen Yicheng held Fang Shoushi's hand tightly. His eyes were red and tears were welling up in his eyes.
Fang Shoushi sighed deeply.
"Jianwu, why have you come to this?"
Shen Yicheng clenched his teeth and hatefully said, "Traitor Xiao Ruxun is audacious enough to rebel. Although I have the advantage, this old man is not completely helpless. With Sheng Fu's ten thousand reinforcements, this old man is confident that he can defeat the rebel army in Tianjin in one fell swoop and then gather the main force to fight to the death with Traitor Xiao's main force! Slay Traitor Xiao and pacify the world! "
Shen Yicheng's face was red and his tone was so intense that those who didn't know the situation would really think that he could win.
"Jianwu, Hsiao Jixin has already attacked Tianjin?"
Fang Shoushi heard a different question, and the focus of his attention was completely different.
Shen Yicheng's expression was rather awkward, but he quickly adjusted his mood.
"Sheng Fu, there's no need to worry. This old man has long since prepared for this. Only one of Traitor Xiao's divisions has come to Tianjin, no more than twenty thousand men. This old man still has forty thousand elites, and with Sheng Fu's ten thousand, this old man is completely capable of exterminating Traitor Xiao's division and then dealing with Traitor Xiao's main force!"
Fang Shoushi let out a sigh.
"Jianwu, if you received my letter, why have you come to this?"
Shen Yicheng's expression changed, and his hand trembled. After a while, he slowly said, "There is really no other way. If I am not the fish on the chopping block, then I am the fish on the chopping block. If I had to choose between the two, if it was Sheng Fu, how would I choose?"
These words were the truth, and Shen Yicheng did not lie. Fang Shoushi did not know the inside story, and Shen Yicheng did not intend to say more. He could only sigh and then say, "This army is the border army and is slightly stronger than the soldiers in the capital. It is willing to guard one side of the city wall for me and Daming the duty of an official."
Shen Yicheng was overjoyed.
"With Sheng Fu here, I have no worries!"
He then gave the task of guarding the eastern part of the city to Fang Shoushi, allowing Fang Shoushi to command the Datong soldiers he had brought with him.
Afterwards, the capital did not receive any more reinforcements, while Xiao Ruxun's troops made rapid progress. On the morning of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month, Yuan Huang brought Zhao Hu and Luo Rong to the Calm Sea and rendezvoused with Jiang Dahai's troops. Jiang Dahai led his men to the Calm Sea to welcome them. The two armies merged into one and listened to Yuan Huang's command.
"At present, the borders of the Tianjin Garrison have been completely controlled by my army. Wuqing and Tongzhou are garrisoned by soldiers, and the 20,000 elite soldiers of Gansu Commander-In-Chief Da Yun in Wuqing are more difficult to deal with. Tongzhou has another 10,000 Gansu soldiers and another 10,000 soldiers from the capital, so they are relatively easier to deal with. Duke Yuan, what do you think we should do?"
Jiang Dahai explained the current situation.
"Of course we have to take Wuqing and Tongzhou as quickly as possible. It's already winter, and the cost of marching and fighting is too high. It's better to end this battle as soon as possible. Are Gansu Commander-In-Chief Da Yun and Shen Yicheng of the same mind? Is there any chance of persuading them to surrender? "
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