Chapter 589 Breakthrough

The new calendar is three years old, and September has just passed.

Du Fuwei, who occupied Liyang, had not had time to recover from the joy of farming, when he was sent to the city by an army corps.

On Liyang City, Du Fuwei didn't dare to appear with great fanfare at all, but he and Fu Gongzuo and others carefully went up the city wall after dressing up in disguise.

"Boss, I have a lot of soldiers in Liyang, and the 600,000 Shilin Yi rice that I just collected, it's still..." a partial general said hastily.

But the assistant at the side seemed to be looking at a fool:

"Do you want to trap the chief executive to death? Chief executive, don't listen to this killer nonsense. There is only one dead end to defend Liyang City. We should take the opportunity to move to the Dabie Mountain area and rely on the mountains to resist the bandits. Otherwise, once Liyang City If we are completely surrounded, our army will undoubtedly be defeated."

"Fu Gongzuo, you are trying to increase the ambition of others. I and we can strengthen the city wall, and then send a small group of cavalry to attack the food transport team of the Kun bandits. Then the bandits will naturally break down without attacking." Another unwilling person will stand out.

In fact, it's not that these people don't know the horror of the People's Revolutionary League, but that they don't want to part with Huainan's colorful world. During the past few years of occupying Liyang County, the generals of the Jianghuai Army have all made a fortune.

There are a lot of women, gold, silver and jewelry, land, and servants. No one is willing to give up these things and go to the Dabie Mountains to eat dirt.

Even Du Fuwei has no way to forcibly order these subordinates. If he really does this, the Jianghuai army will immediately fall apart.

After all, they are just grass-headed kings. Many people have completely forgotten the original intention of rebellion, and completely degenerated into a group of new tyrants.

Although Du Fuwei had the idea of ​​transferring, but the people under him were not reconciled.

Zheng Sen referred to him, Lin Shihong, and Xiao Xian as the "Three Bears in the South of the Yangtze River", but he wasn't making fun of them, but he really didn't take them seriously. .

For example, Xiao Xian, who claims to have 400,000 soldiers, is actually just a mascot temporarily pushed to the stage, and the people under him don't listen to him at all.

But Lin Shihong was in the Poyang Lake area, and he couldn't even get past the north of the Yangtze River. He was talking about fighting for hegemony.

Just when Du Fuwei hesitated.

The other two army regiments had quickly captured the northern part of Liyang County and began to advance in a detour to the west of Liyang.

On the Yangtze River waterway, a specially modified steam ship was moored at the position where Du Fuwei blocked the Yangtze River waterway.

At the bottom of the river here,

A large number of stones have accumulated, and many stones even appear on the river surface, large and small piles of stones, stretching for three to four kilometers.

Obviously, Du Fuwei also took great pains to block the Yangtze River and prevent the Yangtze River Squadron of the People's Revolutionary League from advancing westward.

On the steamship, the crew in charge of hydrological exploration shouted loudly: "The first rock pile has been identified, and the divers have come up, and we can start working."

"receive."

I saw a few crew members pushing a large iron frame protruding from the hull. There was a 15-meter-long iron pipe on the iron frame, and there was a crew member on it.

"put!"

Pull down the control push rod, and under the action of gravitational potential energy, the iron pipe is quickly inserted into the sand at the bottom of the river, with a large pile of stones beside it.

"Pumping sand."

"Yes."

Woohoo... The steam engine drives the negative pressure sand suction pump, and the sediment in the river is quickly lifted up.

There is also a draining boat next to it, which is rebuilt from a cement boat, with a steam engine installed on it, and a draining and sand conveyor belt. Specifically, it will have a structure similar to a waterwheel, and a barbed wire fence that can trap sand and sand will be installed on it. , but the water will pass through the barbed wire.

On the other side of the water draining boat, this is a cement carrier whose deck has been removed and is used exclusively as a sand carrier. The silt that has been drained of most of the water continues to fall into the open-air cabin.

In less than an hour, the sand carrier, which can carry 150 tons of sand, completed loading.

At the bottom of the river, 90 cubic meters of sand were also pumped away, exposing a large pit.

The sand was pumped day and night. In less than eight days, the sand pump pumped away 18,000 cubic meters of sand. It not only pushed a large number of stones accumulated on the bottom of the river into the sand suction pit, but also let the nearby The river silt has been greatly reduced.

The Yangtze River Squadron passed quickly, and before Du Fuwei had time to react, it quickly blocked Liyang Port, completely blocking the possibility of the Jianghuai Army fleeing westward to the Dabie Mountains.

However, Yugu, who was in charge of the Yangtze River Fleet, did not stop at Liyang City, but left behind five gunboats, and handed over the task of capturing Liyang to Song Que.

The Yangtze River Squadron led three battalions of marines, and the three army regiments that had already arrived on transport ships behind them, drove straight along the Yangtze River.

Since the Yangtze River waterway controlled by Lin Shihong and Xiao Xian was not connected to the NRG, they thought Du Fuwei's blockage would be enough to delay it for several months.

After all, they knew how many rocks Du Fuwei had dumped in the Yangtze River, even if tens of thousands of civilians were employed, it would take several months to clean up the rocks in the river.

Empiricism kills people, which is what happened to Lin Shihong and Xiao Xian now.

They thought it would take a few months to start, but the NRU completed the river clearing work in eight days.

Since Song Que and Yugu blocked the nearby land during the cleaning process, neither Du Fuwei nor Lin Shihong and Xiao Xian knew that the river course had been dredged.

When the Yangtze River Squadron arrived at Liyang Port and then quickly drove straight in, the spies from various forces hurriedly flew pigeons to send letters back.

However, the five steam warships that served as the vanguard rushed towards Jiujiang County occupied by Lin Shihong at a speed of 16 knots.

Almost at the same time, the Human Revolutionary League, which had previously controlled Xuancheng County, and the three army regiments stationed in the area, marched into Poyang County occupied by Lin Shihong at the same time.

As the important town of Lin Shihong's water army, Jiangzhou City, the prefecture of Jiujiang County, is only about 550 kilometers away from Liyang City along the Yangtze River waterway.

With 5 steam warships at a speed of 16 knots, it only takes about 19 hours to reach Jiujiang County.

Yugu first led people to capture several coastal cities along the way, and then rested for a night near Anqing.

The next day, early in the morning, they led another 5 steam battleships and rushed all the way. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, they appeared in Jiangzhou City.

Lin Zhang, who was stationed in Jiangzhou, and Huang Yiming, the general of the navy, turned pale with fright.

Huang Yiming shouted hurriedly: "Boss Lin, quickly send someone to inform His Majesty that the Kun bandits have entered the Yangtze River."

Boom boom boom...

As soon as the words fell, dozens of shells had been ejected from the steam battleship.

The city wall suddenly burst into flames, screaming endlessly, Lin Jun, who had never been hit by artillery, ran around like a headless chicken.

"Let's go! Jiangzhou can't stay any longer." Lin Zhang admitted decisively.

Huang Yiming didn't dare to go back to the water village, and directly gave up the 20,000 sailors and more than 100 warships in the water village.

Boom boom boom...

Under the cannon fire, Yugu roared loudly: "Quickly, blast the gate of the water village for me. The Roar is approaching the Jiangzhou Wharf, and the Screech is for me to block the waterway of Pengli Lake. Don't let any ships approach."

The semaphore soldiers quickly waved the flag.

The gate of Jiangzhou Shuizhai was blasted open by six or seven shells, and the black-clothed guards lurking inside responded quickly.

"Kill the generals and welcome the alliance army!"

"You bastards..."

Pooh!

In the shadow of swords and swords, there were also guards in black who were attacking in secret, and the 20,000 sailors in the water village became confused.

The setting sun is like blood.

Jiangzhou City has been completely captured. Yugu and 1000 navy troops, together with the surrendered 30000 soldiers, completed this long-distance raid.

It was just dawn on the second day after Jiangzhou City was captured.

The convoy escorting three Army Corps also arrived in Jiangzhou City.

Yugu and the army quickly completed the handover, then replenished fuel and artillery, left the wounded behind, and continued westward without stopping.

Valley hemp

As for Lin Shihong, who is still entrenched in the south of Pengli Lake, it will be left to the army to solve. This time, the core task of the navy is to seize the various node cities on the main waterway of the Yangtze River.

In the end, Xiao Xian, who was entrenched in Nanjun (now Jiangling), was taken down, and the established strategy of going straight to Huanglong was completed.

As the vanguard composed of steam warships advanced rapidly to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the army did not keep all its troops in Jiujiang County, because the army and three corps advancing on the road were also approaching rapidly.

Therefore, the army and the army continued to send 2 corps, take the transport ship, follow the forward of the navy, and help the navy control the cities along the river that have been captured.

After passing Jiangzhou City, the next important town on the Yangtze River is Jiangxia City, the prefecture of Jiangxia County. It is about 320 kilometers along the Yangtze River waterway.

It took 11 hours for the vanguard's steam battleship to reach the city of Jiangxia in the evening.

This is Xiao Xian's Liang Guodong Gate.

However, due to Xiao Xian's very low control over the generals under him, and the forward speed of the Yangtze River Squadron was too fast.

Although Xiao Xian already knew about the news that the Human Revolutionary League was advancing westward, he was still at a loss as to where the attack would go.

Just when he was about to deploy troops to support Jiangxia County, another bad news came from the south.

In the temporary palace, Xiao Xian looked panic-stricken: "What did you say? Lingling, Hengshan, and Changsha fell? The thieves came down the river from Lingnan? Are you all pigs?"

The general manager of Changsha, who had thrown away his helmet and armor, looked decadent. If he hadn't resisted desperately with his own soldiers, he would have been hacked to death by the soldiers of Changsha defenders.

The furious Xiao Mian slapped the table with a livid face: "Pull this trash out and chop it up for me."

"Your Majesty! Please think twice..." A scribe hurriedly stood up.

"Fart! Drag me out and chop me up." Xiao Xian had lost his patience. If it weren't for the guys here fighting each other all day, how could Liang Guo be defeated like a mountain.

The fall of Changsha, for Liang Guo, would mean that the Jianghan Plain had opened its doors to the RPG. Baling County, where he started, would most likely not be able to defend it.

If it was other forces, he would surrender at most. However, the Human Revolutionary League started out fighting local tyrants. Except for Song Que, no one was willing to surrender to the Human Revolutionary League.

It's just that now Liang Guo has been defeated like a mountain, where else can he escape?

Looking at the map on the wall, Xiao Mian found that there was only one road left for him, and that was Jiang Tang.

After Li Tang captured Chang'an, he immediately dispatched Li Xiaogong and Li Jing to pacify Bashu. At the same time, he built buildings and ships in Bashu, preparing to reproduce the tactics of the Sui Dynasty's demise of Nanchen.

Xiao Xian can only surrender to Li Tang now.

Just when Xiao Xian sent people to hurry up and negotiate conditions with Li Xiaogong who was stationed in Bashu.

Under the heavy blow of hundreds of shells, a section of the city wall of Jiangxia City was blown down, and more than half of the naval warships were destroyed. The Liang army generals and powerful men defending Jiangxia abandoned the city and fled.

At the same time, the Lingnan Army marched north from the Xiangjiang River and entered the Jianghan Plain, and quickly captured Baling County.

New calendar year 3, October 16th.

Yugu's steam battleship appeared directly under the city of Jiangling, the prefecture of Nanjun.

The smoke-breathing steamship and the silver-gray artillery shone coldly. Even though the continuous long-distance raids made more than 900 naval soldiers exhausted, they still gritted their teeth and persisted.

At this time, Li Jing, who had already arrived at Jiangling City by boat, felt unusually apprehensive looking at the huge monster on the river.

But he didn't give up.

He is fully aware of the importance of Jiangling, but Li Jing does not have much confidence in staying here for a long time.

Because facing the Human Revolutionary League with artillery, Jiangling City has no danger to defend, and now the people in the city are fluctuating, this is not a place to defend for a long time.

"Send me an order to release the fire boat."

"As ordered."

The muffled sound of war drums on the city made Yugu, who was about to launch an attack on the city, frown.

Suddenly, on the west side of the river, dozens of small wooden boats connected by iron materials were flying down the current at high speed, and smoke was rising from them.

Yugu immediately understood the other party's plan, and he immediately ordered: "Fire the cannon and sink these fireships for me, and at the same time let the boiler workers heat up the boilers, ready to speed up the transfer at any time."

After some semaphore exchanges, the five steam warships quickly turned their bows, and the boilers heated up rapidly.

Boom boom boom... The shells smashed into the group of fireships.

Although many fireships were blown up, some fireships continued to approach, and with the iron chains attached to them, once they were entangled, the steamships would be very dangerous.

Yugu had to order to move downstream while fighting.

Seeing the People's Revolutionary Alliance Fleet being forced to retreat by the fire boat, Liang Jun in Jiangling City also regained some morale.

Many generals immediately surrounded Li Jing, complimenting Li Jing with all kinds of nasty words.

"General Li is really a master of soldiers."

"Haha, the Kun thief is nothing more than that."

"It seems that Jiangling City can be saved."

"General Li doesn't know about marriage..."

Li Jing really wanted to throw these guys off the city wall and defend Jiangling City? What an idiot who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth, no wonder Liang Jun suffered a crushing defeat. With these pigs around, it is difficult to be undefeated.

However, considering Li Xiaogong's order, he calmed down quickly:

"Everyone, Jiangling City can't be defended anymore. Don't look at the enemy warships that dare not approach, but the fire boats can only block the river. When the enemy's infantry arrives, Jiangling City will also be captured."

"what……"

A group of Liang Jun generals finally came to their senses, and suddenly they looked at each other in disbelief.

Li Jing said helplessly: "Retreat! Withdraw into Bashu, or you will surrender to the RPLU."

"..." These guys were silent for a while, but no one dared to mention the matter of surrendering to the Revolutionary League.

Xiao Mian, king of Liang, had already taken a large family to Bashu by boat, and a large number of tycoons, aristocratic families, and literati who had received the news also dragged their families to Shu.

It's just that when the soldiers were evacuated, many soldiers at the bottom of the Liang army turned against each other. Li Jing, who was worried about the roar of the camp, did not dare to use strong methods, so he could only use voluntary methods.

Finally on October 19th.

Li Jing, who had used the fireboat tactic three times in a row, was approaching Jiangling City after receiving the news that the Army of the People's Revolutionary Army had landed fifty miles away.

He decisively withdrew three thousand Tang troops to Bashu.

As for setting fire to the city, Li Jing did not do so, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't dare.

Once the city is set on fire, it will not only discredit Tang Jun, but also the retaliation of the People's Revolutionary League is not what he wants to see.

This time, more than 50,000 people from Liang State could be evacuated to Bashu, which had already taken a very huge risk, and Li Jing was unwilling to make extra troubles.

He even gave up Yiling County, which was difficult to defend, and only planned to stick to the Three Gorges.

Using the difficult-to-navigate waterway of the Three Gorges, coupled with fireboat tactics, and burning part of the plank road at the same time, Li Jing is confident that he can block the attack of the People's Revolutionary League.

Just after Li Jing abandoned Jiangling City, Yugu and the Army's 206th Corps, welcomed by the defenders, occupied this important town in Jingzhou without bloodshed.

Yiling County in the west of Jiangling also surrendered without a fight. The main reason is that the tyrants and Liang Guo generals all fled, leaving only a group of big soldiers and ordinary people.

But the big-headed soldiers and the flat-headed commoners did not reject the arrival of the Human Revolutionary League, so they naturally won here without any effort.

It's just that Xiao Xian and others escaped, which made Yu Gu a little upset.