Outside Nanjing, on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
While the civil and military officials of the Hongxi regime of the Great Xin Dynasty were busy with factional struggles and fighting among themselves, and busy dividing the country along the river with Prince Chen Huai'an, Wu Sanjia, who had been labeled a traitor, was not idle in the Tiger Warriors' camp on the north bank.
At this time, a month had passed since the Tiger-like New Army, which had marched south to Beijing to defend the emperor, arrived on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
During this period, under the orders of General Wu Sanjia, Deputy General Zhao Kui was building warships and training soldiers in naval warfare, and had already achieved considerable success.
Tang Ziyi, another deputy general of the Tiger Legion, also carried the order of General Wu Sanjia, who had the power to control all the military forces in the country, to go to various places to gather troops to march south to the capital to defend the emperor.
Unfortunately, the troops in various parts of Daxin, which were already in a state of disarray, seemed to have little interest in marching to the capital to defend the emperor.
In particular, when the local garrison commanders learned from Tang Ziyi that Admiral Fang Tianyao of the Navy had kidnapped the Emperor and Empress Dowager, and that Prime Minister Qin Ruhui had enthroned Zhao Lingzhan, the son of the Prince of Fu, in the capital city;
They took the attitude of sitting on the fence and observing to the extreme.
As a result, after a round of persuasion, Tang Ziyi only managed to bring back 70,000 troops who were willing to follow General Wu Sanjia and die for the Lingwu Emperor of the Great Xin Dynasty.
Now, Wu Sanjia, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, commands an army of 250,000, and the warships needed to cross the river are being built day and night.
It seems that everything is moving in a positive direction.
However, time was not on Wu Sanjia's side.
Wu Sanjia has received intelligence from his scouts that Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin has led 100,000 reinforcements to Jinan Prefecture. Once they join forces with the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army that has conquered Jinan Prefecture, their advance will surely be directed at Nanjing City.
At that time, Wu Sanjia's Tiger Warriors will face a difficult situation of being attacked from both sides.
"Hey, this Wu Qidong, the garrison commander of Jinan Prefecture, even had the audacity to write to me, saying that holding Jinan Prefecture for a year or two wouldn't be a problem;"
Inside the central command tent, Wu Sanjia stood alone, staring at the battle map on the table, muttering to himself, "Who would have thought that Chang Yuchun would breach the city in just ten days?"
"If you had held out in the breached city for even a month, I wouldn't be in this predicament!"
Eh—
Wu Sanjia sighed deeply and said, "Truly, Heaven is going to destroy me, Wu Sanjia, and Heaven is going to destroy my Great Xin Dynasty's Lingwu regime!"
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, there is an urgent military situation on the south bank!"
Just then, the voice of Deputy General Tang Ziyi suddenly came from outside the central command tent.
oh?
Wu Sanjia raised an eyebrow, his usual confident expression returning, and ordered sternly, "Come in and talk!"
"Yes, General!"
Soon, Vice General Tang Ziyi appeared hurriedly in the central command tent, and said to Wu Sanjia with a serious expression, "General—"
"This humble general has just received a secret letter from Su Chen, the governor of the garrison on the south bank. Su Chen has expressed his willingness to give way to the Tiger Army's new naval forces, allowing them to sail south along the Yangtze River and directly attack the Jiangyin Daxin naval headquarters to welcome back Emperor Lingwu and Empress Dowager Su!"
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Sanjia immediately stood up, his face filled with excitement as he asked, "Vice General Tang, is this really true?"
Tang Ziyi nodded emphatically and said, "General, it is absolutely true. This news was personally delivered to me by the son of Su Chen, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, who crossed the river to inform me."
"Furthermore, Su Chen's son is currently in my tent."
"The Governor-General of Liangjiang, Su Chen, is using this method to demonstrate his determination and sincerity to us!"
Tang Ziyi said decisively, "Otherwise, he would never have sent his eldest son to my Tiger Legion's camp as a hostage!"
Wu Sanjia's mind was racing.
In fact, during the standoff between the two armies across the river, it was not uncommon for them to secretly communicate with each other, and Wu Sanjia and Su Chen were no exception.
These two were old acquaintances, and it was only natural that they would stand on opposite sides for their respective masters during the coup in Daxin Lingwu.
Ultimately, it's all about gaining more political capital for themselves.
Therefore, when Wu Sanjia learned that Su Chen, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, had actually sent his son to the Tiger Army camp as a hostage to show his sincerity and determination, he believed the story to be 70-80% true.
Clearly, Su Chen failed to get what he wanted within the Hongxi regime of Daxin.
Wu Sanjia then asked, "What are the conditions?"
Without hesitation, Tang Ziyi replied, "Lord Su's son said that after the General welcomes the Emperor back and regains power, he wants to be ranked among the Three Dukes and also receive a golden edict granting him immunity from death!"
"As a pledge of loyalty, Lord Su is willing to provide convenience for the Tiger Army's new naval force to march south to Jiangyin, and after the General welcomes back the Emperor, he will cooperate with the General to seize Jinling City from within and without!"
Um!
Upon hearing this, Wu Sanjia frowned and nodded, saying, "Lord Su's request isn't too outrageous!"
"If Emperor Lingwu can regain power this time, he will surely not be stingy with a position among the Three Dukes, nor with any imperial edict or pardon!"
"On behalf of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, I, the General, grant this request!"
Then, Wu Sanjia instructed, "Vice General Tang, go to the navy..."
After thinking for a moment, Wu Sanjia said again, "Forget it, I'll go myself!"
Before long, Wu Sanjia personally arrived at the Tiger Warriors New Army naval camp where they were training.
"General, you've arrived!"
Upon hearing the news of General Wu Sanjia's arrival, Zhao Kui, the deputy commander in charge of training the navy, ran over shirtless to greet him.
The situation was urgent, and Wu Sanjia, disregarding pleasantries, went straight to the point: "Vice General Zhao, immediately select ten thousand elite soldiers from the navy. In three days, they will accompany me south along the Yangtze River to seize Fang Tianyao's stronghold in Jiangyin."
"This general will personally go to welcome back the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
......
At the same time, in the Bohai Bay area of Yingzhou.
Wengcheng Town, the military and naval camp of Longcheng.
Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, traveling light and with minimal entourage, arrived at Yingzhou ahead of the reinforcements from Longcheng and went to the naval camp to inspect the training of Qi Jiguang's naval forces from Longcheng.
Naval Admiral Qi Jiguang was leading a group of naval officers outside the city gate of the small town of Wengcheng, preparing to welcome the Prince of Jin.
Chen Huai'an was riding a yellow horse, hurrying towards the naval camp.
"Report—"
"Your Highness Prince Jin, an envoy has been sent by Emperor Hongxi of the Great Xin Dynasty!"
When Chen Huai'an was less than two miles from the naval camp, he was suddenly stopped by the valiant General Pang Xianchu, who had caught up with him, and Pang Xianchu reported the intelligence he had just obtained to Chen Huai'an.
oh?
Chen Huai'an reined in his yellow horse and asked with great interest, "Why did Emperor Hongxi send an envoy to see me?"
Pang Xianchu handed a piece of brocade to Chen Huai'an and said with a complicated expression, "Your Highness, please take a look at this first!"
Chen Huai'an took the document and opened it—the three large characters "Edict of Self-Reproach" immediately caught his eye!
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