(External alchemy, inner alchemy is a Taoist term. External alchemy is a tangible elixir that can be taken in an alchemy furnace; inner alchemy uses breathing, breathing, and qi training as a way of practice, such as Chen Tuan's nose locking technique. The effect is ineffective, but they are all things that exist in real Taoism, not fantasy.)

...

Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered outside Shouzhou City in the Southern Tang Kingdom. Chai Rong, the emperor in Chenzhou, also left the seriously ill queen and rushed here.

Shouzhou is on the southern bank of the middle reaches of the Huai River (near Shou County in the northern part of Anwei Province today), several north-south rivers flowing north and south in the Central Plains are vertically poured into the Huai River, forming a network of waterways; most Chinese cities are built at the confluence of rivers to guard both water and land routes, and Shouzhou is no exception. Shouzhou City is where the Xifei River and Huai River converge.

The main route of the Great Zhou army was to march south from Tokyo (Kaifeng, Henan) along the Cai River, and then directly approached the Huai River Basin of the Southern Tang Kingdom along the Xifei River. The two places were 800 miles apart. Emperor Chai Rong also deployed the Jiedushi of the towns to send troops from all over the place, and the upper reaches of the Huai River also put military pressure on the upper reaches of the Huai River. Jingnan Kingdom clamored to send troops, but they had not seen any movement at the moment.

The Zhou army 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, etc. who were mobilized by Chai Rong also crossed the Huai River from the floating bridge. In addition, the local troops of Zhuzhenjie began to siege Shouzhou from all sides, and hundreds of thousands of people carried out uninterrupted attacks day and night.

Chai Rong pressed the hilt of the sword with his hand and frowned at the city surrounded by water. He was very upset now.

Since the war to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty launched, the Zhou army won a great victory in the city of Shouzhou and the Zhengyang field west of Shouzhou. After many battles, there were only 10,000 or 20,000 people in the Southern Tang army... But these were not what Chai Rong wanted. What Chai Rong wanted was the entire Jianghuai Plain!

In the early days, the emperor and the Privy Council decided the strategy very simply and directly: breaking through the middle of the Huaihe River Basin, capturing Shouzhou as its foothold, and at the same time eliminating the threat of the army's attack; then using Shouzhou as the source of war, breaking through Qingliu Pass to the southeast defense line, and capturing Chuzhou (now Chu County, Anwei Province) and the eastern capital (now Yangzhou).

The middle road broke through, divided the Jianghuai Plain into two, occupied the Jiangdu Prefecture, the central central town of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the army approached the Yangtze River. In this way, the north bank of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty could not be taken care of each other, and there was no center, forming a pile of loose sand. At this time, we had to clean up the remains of the Jianghuai River like the autumn wind sweeping the leaves.

But the problem is that it has been almost two months since the battle, and even the original strategic target Shouzhou has not been won! Chai Rong had already doubted the feasibility of this war at this time... It is useless to be able to conquer the war. The Southern Tang Dynasty is rich and does not lack food or money. A military city like Shouzhou is at least enough to eat for a few years. Could it be that the Zhou army will be surrounded by people waiting for starvation to death?

A huge catapult car in the distance made a sound of "ticticaca". The sound of huge twisting made the muscles tense, and then a whistle, the thick pole rotated in the air, and the sound of wood rubbing made people feel sore. With a "bang", the wood hit the rack and stopped, and a large stone flew out.

Looking at it, more stones flew towards the city walls of Shouzhou City, mixed with burning bombs with long black smoke. The stones hit the city walls and splashed, burning fireballs hit the city heads and cracked, and fires splashed everywhere. There were crossbow arrows as thick as beams flying in the air, with arrows of all sizes dotted in it, and the air was filled with smoke. Shouzhou City seemed like a pile of grain storage, and the sky was covered with locusts. The thick smoke was filled with people like an ant colony, which could be burned into ashes at any time, leaving only the skeleton left. With the huge impact, the city seemed to collapse at any time... Unfortunately, it has not collapsed for more than a month.

A piece of black oil floated on it in the moat, as if it had been replaced with black water, and it could be burned in the water... The pontoon bridge placed by Zhou Jun on the moat was also burned, and the fire was fierce and thick smoke was rolling.

According to the prisoners of Southern Tang, this black oil was called fierce tinder oil, which was dug out from the ground! The king of Southern Tang also sent people to transport this fierce tinder oil from the sea to the Khitans, supporting the Khitans to attack from the north and south.

Countless people were approaching the moat with shields and sandbags in their backs, throwing sand and soil into the moat. Several broken collision cars were being dragged back by people. Before they could get close, they were smashed by crossbows as thick as a tree trunk in the distance. A towering cloud car parked motionlessly on the moat, and the fire spread on it, as if a house burned only after a fire broke out.

There were people carrying corpses everywhere, and people were shouting and moaning in pain, and the world was like hell.

There seemed to be a dark air on Chai Rong's face. He believed that the attack on Shouzhou would not go smoothly. The main responsibility should be that Prime Minister Li Gu missed the opportunity to fight! He gave the Southern Tang Army time to prepare, otherwise why would the city defense be so tight and use everything?

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

The group kowtowed and shouted, "The holy life is boundless."

Chai Rong was angry and didn't even say anything, so he let them just kneel down and talk.

Li Gu hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I first advanced by water and land, built a floating bridge from Zhengyang to cross the Huai River. I encountered thousands of southern Tang army formations under the city of Shouzhou. Then the front vanguard Shi Yanchao broke the formation and quickly defeated the Tang army, and captured 3,000 people. Soon after the attack, I heard that the army of the Southern Tang Kingdom rushed to help and approached Zhengyang... Our front vanguard was in Zhengyang, and the military rations and reinforcements were all here. If there was any loss, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The Tang army had a lot of reinforcements, and it was reported that the army would run for thirty miles! I thought that the retreat route would be cut off in Shouzhou and was attacked by the Tang army from front to back, and had no place to stand! I had to go back to Shi Zhengyang immediately and welcome the Tang army reinforcements first..."

Chai Rong said coldly: "The elite soldiers of the Guards are in your hands. Will there be any opponents in the battle between the Iron Cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

Everyone was in awe and hurriedly bowed, thinking that the emperor was very domineering when he pressed his sword. What else can everyone say when there is no opponent in the world?

Chai Rong said again: "I urgently ordered the commander of the guard Sima Budu Li Chongjin to lead the army to attack Zhengyang's reinforcements. What's the result? The Tang army was killed without resistance and was so dead that the body was covered with dozens of miles! You shouldn't have retreated from Shouzhou."

Li Gu did not dare to defend himself anymore and kowtowed, "I know my crime!"

Chai Rong closed his eyes slightly and thought of the past when Li Gu was in the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Jinyang. During the battle of Jinyang, Li Gu did his best in the coordination of the troops and horses, transporting grain, and preparing for military ordination. He heard that Li Gu only ate one meal a day and slept for two hours. He lost 20 kilograms when he returned to Tokyo. Li Gu was also quite honest. He was captured by the Khitan in his early years and tortured six times, but he did not surrender. He also made great achievements in military service, controlling the Yellow River, etc.

"Prime Minister Li, you are now re-appointed to the Shouzhou Prefecture. First, please appease the people of Shouzhou and let them return to their respective lands to work. Our Great Zhou army will not rob or kill indiscriminately." Chai Rong said.

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

Chai Rong said again: "Send someone to pass the order, and let the commander of the guard Sima Budu Li Chongjin serve as the 'Huainan Camp Recruitment Envoy' and lead the front army."

"Transfer the order to let Han Lingkun lead his troops to move the floating bridge to Xiacai Town and deploy defense."

When Chai Rong saw that the black man Zhao Kuangyin also knelt in front of him, he said, "The Southern Tang army still has a lot of troops on the Huaihe River. I heard that they are stationed in Tushan. Zhao Kuangyin, you lead the Iron Cavalry Army (Xiaodi Army Reform) to destroy this enemy soldier that threatens my back wing."

Zhao Kuangyin said in a loud voice: "I will receive the order!"

Chai Rong made a very quick arrangement behind the battle formation. His actions were very consistent with his usual style of military governance. He could always grasp the key points in a simple and rough way, but everything could be clear.

Tushan is in the lower reaches of the Huai River in Shouzhou, and in the northeast of its territory, the Southern Tang naval army was able to defend the downstream from here and control the middle and upper reaches of the Huai River along the river. Zhao Kuangyin did not disappoint Chai Rong. In three days, 10,000 Tang troops in Tushan were swept away by the Iron Cavalry. Zhao Kuangyin first lured the enemy to surrender, lured the Tang army to Wokou not far from Tushan, and then attacked on both sides to determine the outcome. The Wokou battle was clean and neat and beautiful.

Chai Rong was very happy and thought that Zhao Kuangyin deserved a great responsibility, and he felt very relied on it.

At this moment, a eunuch suddenly rushed to the front line from Chenzhou (Huaiyang County, Henan Province, southeast of Kaifeng City in "Tokyo", more than 300 miles away). When Chai Rong saw that it was Cao Tai, he knew that the eunuchs from the eunuch province were often by the queen, and he immediately guessed that it was about the queen.

As expected, Cao Tai knelt on the ground when he entered the tent, crying. Seeing this, Chai Rong felt clever: Is the queen dead? In his heart, it was sooner or later that the queen died, and he was mentally prepared... He saw her coughing blood with his own eyes. Moreover, the famous Tokyo doctor had concluded that he could not help, and he was getting weaker and waiting for that breath.

Cao Tai cried, "The Empress wants to meet the official family for the last time."

After hearing this, Chai Rong knew that she had not passed away. He pondered for a moment, feeling that the deployment of Huainan was not necessary for the time being. He also thought that the queen was the one who was valued by the late emperor very much. The late emperor specially arranged the candidate to stabilize his throne by his side when he was dying. He had a good relationship in normal times, so he was going now, so it was time to see her again.

He said, "I will set out to Chenzhou immediately. You can go back and prepare first. When I see the queen, I will send someone to send her back to Tokyo."

Cao Tai hurriedly said, "I beg you, the Empress has only breathe left, afraid that she will not be able to withstand the pain of the journey."

Chai Rong said angrily: "Please use a sedan chair and find someone to lift it! Do you want the queen to die outside? You slaves, I have to teach you all this, what's the point of doing it?"

"Yes, yes. I received the order." Cao Tai kowtowed hurriedly.

...

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Chapter completed!