After Xuzhou was captured.
Li Qin led his army directly into Xuzhou, while his two children, Li Ruwen and Li Ruwu, followed closely behind him.
After capturing the important city of Xuzhou, Li Qin did not rest but instead ordered his troops to continue south to sweep through various parts of Huaibei.
At the same time, he also kept an eye on the movements of Jiang Xiangyang, who had been ordered to go to Huainan to test the strength of Jiangnan's defenses.
According to intelligence, he led his army around the prefectures and counties along the way and has already stationed himself in Huaibei.
They were preparing to head to Huainan.
Li Qin also planned to divide his army into two routes to attack Huainan after completely conquering the region.
He planned to send Zhang Hengshuo and Qin Chenyao to Huainan to cooperate with Jiang Xiangyang's troops in attacking Hu Zongxian in Huai'an.
He himself led a large army across the middle reaches of the Huai River to attack Qi Jiguang in Fengyang, which was located in the middle reaches of the Huai River.
At the same time, monitor the movements of Hong Chengchou and Yang Zhiyong upstream.
No matter what problems arise upstream or downstream, he can lead a large army to provide support.
We must strive to completely seize the three towns north of the Yangtze River from the Jiangnan court.
Runing.
Yang Zhiyong stood on the city wall, looking at Hong Chengchou and his army besieging the city.
He also looked furious, and Yang Zhiwen, Yang Zhiyong's younger brother standing next to him, also looked very unhappy.
Looking at those flags bearing the character "Hong".
Yang Zhiyong also wished he could rush out and tear Hong Chengchou to pieces.
To avenge the Yang family members who died tragically in the Northwest.
The feud between them and Hong Chengchou was a truly irreconcilable one, a blood feud that could lead to the extermination of their entire clan.
Although he desperately wanted to rush out and tear Hong Chengchou to shreds.
But he managed to suppress his anger.
Although he was filled with hatred for Hong Chengchou, he also highly recognized and praised Hong Chengchou's talent, not only himself but also Yang Shizhong, the former chief minister.
Now his forces are roughly equal to Hong Chengchou's. Driven by hatred, he leads his troops out to fight Hong Chengchou to the death.
He might not necessarily win.
At the same time, there is also the possibility of being defeated by Hong Chengchou, leading to the fall of Runing and a breach in the three-town defense line set up by the imperial court in Jiangbei.
So although he really wanted to rush out and fight Hong Chengchou, he suppressed his anger.
Considering the overall situation, it was decided to continue to defend Runing Prefecture.
Hong Chengchou, following Li Qin's orders, arrived in Runing and stationed his troops outside the city. During this time, he ordered his troops to use captured civilians to attack the city.
He had absolutely no intention of ordering his army to attack the city.
Hong Chengchou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Yang Zhiyong had not left the city to fight him to the death.
In reality, he was very worried that Yang Zhiyong, out of hatred, would leave the city and fight him to the death.
Of course, although he was worried, he was not afraid of Yang Zhiyong.
He was very clear about his purpose in sending troops south with Li Qin. The task Li Qin had given him was to hold off Yang Zhiyong's troops.
His situation was completely different from that of Jiang Xiangyang, Li Hongji, and others; he did not have any of Li Qin's troops by his side to monitor and supervise their battle.
This gave him a great deal of autonomy, as long as he could carry out the orders given by Li Qin.
He was, of course, preserving his strength to the greatest extent possible.
These are his assets for survival and self-preservation in this chaotic world, so of course he wants to keep them if he can.
Therefore, he is very satisfied with the current stalemate without fighting.
This way, they can preserve their own strength while also completing the delaying task assigned by Li Qin.
Why not?
Since Li Qin provided all the supplies for his army, and it didn't cost him any money, he could continue this stalemate indefinitely.
He then ordered his army to capture another group of civilians and force them to attack the city again, continuing to deplete the strength of Yang Zhiyong's troops inside the city.
He continued to order his troops to remain stationed outside the city, maintaining a tight defense, and continued the standoff with Yang Zhiyong and others.
As Li Qin's army was conquering cities and seizing territory in Huaibei.
Li Xuanshang's army also arrived in Jiujiang.
Looking at the flags of the Jiangnan imperial court still fluttering over Jiujiang City.
Based on intelligence gathered from Jinhu Prefecture in Jiangxi, Li Xuanshang learned that the commander stationed in the city was Yan Yingyuan, a general from the capital garrison sent to Jiangxi by the Jiangnan court.
At this time, Jin Hufu surrendered with his army and Jiangxi.
The navy deployed by the Jiangnan court on Poyang Lake was also severely damaged in a surprise attack by the Jinhu Mansion.
They were now completely isolated in Jiujiang, and Jiujiang itself had become an isolated city.
Facing this isolated city, Li Xuanshang now has more than two hundred cannons at his disposal.
He was fully confident that he could take Jiujiang City.
However, he still decided to try to win over the hearts and minds of the people in Jiujiang first.
After all, they must know that they are now a lone force.
He could guarantee their safety as long as they were willing to leave the city and surrender.
He could even petition his uncle, Li Qin, to bestow titles upon those who had rendered meritorious service.
After all, he was very confident of taking Jiujiang City.
However, siege warfare is always the lowest form of military strategy.
The best strategy is to win hearts and minds, and subdue the enemy without fighting.
As a general, one should not only study how to win battles, but also how to win without fighting.
Li Xuanshang then sent an envoy to Jiujiang City.
If they surrender before nightfall, their safety can be guaranteed, while their official positions and even titles can be continued.
In response to Li Xuanshang's envoy's attempt to persuade them to surrender, Yan Yingyuan in Jiujiang City simply threw out the envoy's head.
After seeing the head of his messenger being thrown out.
Li Xuanshang, who was in the army, knew that the other side had no intention of talking anymore.
Even if the other party refuses, as long as your messenger returns, it means that the other party still wants to leave a way out.
Their resistance was not very strong.
However, killing the messenger directly would be a fatal mistake.
Li Xuanshang then stood up angrily and ordered more than two hundred cannons to begin bombarding Jiujiang City.
At the same time, he ordered Liu Sixiu, Li Hongji, and others at the front to prepare.
As soon as they breached the walls of Jiujiang, they immediately led their troops to attack the city.
With continuous and concentrated bombardment of one section of the city wall by cannons, a breach was finally blasted open in the city wall of Jiujiang.
Liu Sixiu and Li Hongji's troops immediately began to attack the breach, but they soon discovered that behind the collapsed city wall, there were rows of troops armed with muskets.
With a gunshot, the soldier at the forefront fell to the ground. The defenders then threw sandbags and other materials they had prepared into the breach, completely sealing it off.
Li Xuanshang, who was far away with binoculars in hand, also saw this scene and nodded in agreement.
It seems that the Nanjing garrison in Jiangnan still has some fighting power; they are not the kind of army that crumbles at the slightest touch.
But how long can they hold out in a lonely city?
He then ordered the artillery to continue bombarding.
At the same time, he sent Jin Hufu from Nanchang with his army to meet him here.
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