mesbooks Chapter 279 Wait a little longer
Chapter 279 Wait a little longer
Chen Guo.
Guangning City.
Pan Hou looked anxious and came to the county government office.
At this moment, General Wang Qilei was already staying in the Guangning County Government Office.
As soon as he saw Pan Hou, Wang Qilei asked, "Prefect Pan, the Yan State said that our Chen army attacked their north bank camp at night. If I remember correctly, the troops on the south bank belong to you."
Hearing this, Pan Hou said coldly: "Our Chen State is attacking his Yan State? What a joke! That Yan thief is just trying to use this as an excuse to declare war! Did General Wang believe it?"
Wang Qilei said solemnly: "Of course, this general will not believe the tricks of the Yan State. The Yan people are warlike. No matter what, they will not succeed."
Pan Hou added: "General Wang, I have already said that Yan will definitely take the opportunity to invade the border of Chen, so we cannot transfer any more troops from the border."
Prior to this, in order to quell the rebellion within the Chen State, Wang Qilei had repeatedly asked Pan Hou to transfer defensive forces from the north, resulting in fewer and fewer defenders.
Although the previous anti-bandit campaigns were apparently great victories and a lot of land occupied by the peasant army was recaptured, Pan Hou was clear that the casualties of the imperial army were far greater than those of the peasant army.
If the imperial army's strength continues to be depleted in this way, it will always be at a disadvantage.
What's more, those rebels were not ordinary peasant armies, but elite troops with certain sophisticated preparations, no weaker than the imperial army. And with the assistance of the Yan people, the rebels did not have to worry about the lack of supplies.
Chen Jun now faces two difficult problems: whether to suppress the bandits first, or to concentrate his forces to resist the State of Yan.
Pan Hou was extremely distressed. Even though he now had the command of a lot of troops in his hands, due to Wang Qilei's repeated orders, he had to hand over the command of some troops to others for nothing.
This time, Pan Hou will never give in again.
"The Yan army is gathering in the area around Changzhou City. It is obvious that they are about to attack Changzhou City. Send troops immediately to reinforce Changzhou City."
At this time, Wang Qilei spoke again in a commanding tone.
"General Wang, the defense forces on the south bank of Ling River are still insufficient. We cannot withdraw more troops."
Pan Hou flatly refused Wang Qilei's order.
Wang Qilei frowned and said, "I can guarantee that the Yan army will never dare to cross the river. You can rest assured and send all the defense forces of Guangning City to Changzhou City."
Wang Qilei seems very confident about this.
Hearing this, Pan Hou sighed inwardly, but still refused to obey. He only said, "According to the reports from the spies on the front line, the Yan army has a large number of naval forces on the north bank, and they are obviously going to cross the river! I have decided to send all the officers and soldiers previously sent to suppress the bandits to the south bank to defend against the Yan army."
Wang Qilei frowned and said, "You dare to mobilize troops without authorization. No matter what, we must reinforce Changzhou City."
But this time, Pan Hou ignored him and said, "General Wang, without the imperial order, I will not dispatch troops from the south bank again."
Pan Hou observed the movements of the Yan army on the north bank and guessed that the Yan army would definitely choose to cross the river rather than forcibly attack Changzhou City.
Perhaps the mobilization of Yan's troops in Changzhou City was just a feint. If Chen's army sent most of its forces to Changzhou City, then other places would likely be left undefended, allowing the Yan army to take advantage of the situation and attack.
"You still dare to disobey the orders of this general?"
Wang Qilei looked unhappy, with a hint of anger in his eyes.
This time, Pan Hou was not afraid. He snorted and said, "This is my decision. I cannot withdraw troops from Guangning. Please ask General Wang to order the others. A battle is about to break out on the front line. I have to go there in person to command. Excuse me!"
Having said that, Pan Hou ignored Wang Qilei and turned to leave the county government office, leaving Wang Qilei standing there scolding Pan Hou for his intention to disobey the court.
But Pan Hou no longer cares about all this.
All he had to do was to defend the Linghe direction and protect Guangning City under his rule.
……
Two days later.
What Jiang Zuo had been waiting for finally arrived at the port.
The port has not yet been completed, but more than 20 warships of the navy have already been anchored on the north bank.
"Move these cannons onto the warships as well."
Jiang Zuo ordered.
Before this, Anding County produced more cannons and transported them to the front line as soon as possible.
"Waited for two days, just for these things?"
Chen Xiu on the side said puzzledly.
You know, these two days may very well determine the entire war situation.
He had never seen the power of these An Ding cannons, so he still had some doubts in his heart.
But Jiang Zuo remained calm and directed the soldiers to carry weapons.
Now the entire Anding Army has forty cannons, which are enough to crush the Chen Army on the other side of the river.
"Everything is ready. When it gets dark, we will cross the river and launch a general attack!"
Chen Xiu said in a low voice.
At this time, Jiang Zuo shook his head and said, "No, let's wait until dawn."
"Why? If we cross the river at daybreak, the Chen army on the other side will definitely notice our movements."
Chen Xiu was a little anxious at this moment.
But Jiang Zuo still said calmly: "Don't be impatient, wait a little longer."
Chen Xiu looked across the river and saw that the Chen army soldiers had already built a number of temporary defensive fortifications on the shore.
If they really want to attack by force, they will probably face the stubborn defense of the Chen army, and the Yan army will definitely suffer heavy casualties.
I had planned to launch this southern expedition by surprise, but I didn't expect it to be delayed many times, thus missing the opportunity to fight.
"But the enemy's reinforcements are increasing. If we don't cross the river, the enemy's number will be more than twice ours!"
Chen Xiu's face showed a hint of anxiety.
Previously, in order to deceive the State of Chen, they sent most of their troops to the area around Changzhou City, and they did so with great fanfare, just to make the people of Chen mistakenly believe that the Yan army's attack direction was the area around Changzhou City.
And now there are only more than 20,000 Yan troops stationed in the Yujiang Fortress.
This number is completely incomparable to Chen Jun on the other side of the strait.
Before this, Chen's army had already stationed nearly 30,000 troops on the south bank, and the number has been increasing in recent days.
As they were talking, Chen Xiu used the telescope to observe again that the Chen army on the other side of the river had once again sent additional troops.
At this moment, the enemy troops on the other side of the river are definitely more than 30,000.
"Replying to the prince, Lord Jiang, the enemy's strength on the other side has increased by 3,000."
At this time, the spies also came to report.
"Another reinforcement? Could it be that Chen Jun knows our attack plan?"
Hearing these words, Chen Xiu felt a little uneasy.
It is not easy to cross the Ling River in the lower reaches. According to common sense, the Yan army would never launch an attack from here. The Chen army must have known about some of the Yan army's troop movements, otherwise, the Chen army should not have sent reinforcements to the north bank.
Chen Xiu felt more anxious, turned his head and looked at Jiang Zuo, and said again: "We must cross the river tonight!"
Jiang Zuo said, "Don't worry, let the bullet fly for a while."