Chapter 624: The Army of Lingnan

The two countries fought and the envoy came. Zhang Zhijie left safely, but Li Lin was a little more worried. He understood what Li Qing'an meant in his letter, and ordered him to withdraw from Jiangnan. Logically, this was what he had always thought about. It was just that he was separated by Jingxiang in the past and could not retreat west smoothly, which always made him extremely depressed.

But for some reason, Jing Xiang has been taken down by the Jiannan Army and he can retreat west at any time, but there was a subtle change in Li Lin's letter. He was not so willing to withdraw from Jiangnan. Perhaps because he had no worries, he became more nostalgic about Jiangnan. Anyway, he could retreat west at any time, so why didn't he try to stay?

It was this mentality of worrying about gains and losses that made Li Lin's heart full of contradictions and distress. He paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. Some of the people in the tent advised him to evacuate, while others advised him to stay.

Deputy General Li Chengshi and his aide Li Bai advised him to evacuate, "The current plan is to retain strength first. With the strength of the Anxi Army and the personal expedition of Jiangnan with Li Qing'an is definitely not ours. It is better to retreat the army west to Jingxiang and replace Li Mao's power in the past, which will not only bring us no losses, but also preserve our strength."

The other three advisers in unison advised Li Lin to stay, "The Northern Army did not know the water battle, and it was now built warships. It would be impossible to cross the river in two or three months. Even if the warships were built, how could it be compared with the Jiangnan Navy? Geshuhan was the best proof. The brave general was killed by the ship in the water by the ship. Besides, after retreating west, he might not be able to stay in Jingxiang, and maybe defend Nanzhao. Besides, An Lushan, Hebei was not pacified. Once An Lushan counterattacked, Li Qing'an could only withdraw his troops to go north and eventually landed the river and ruled. It was not too early to give up Jiangnan now. Moreover, if Li Qing'an could cross south to attack, why should he send envoys to threaten it? This means he was helpless."

The two factions argued endlessly, which made Li Lin extremely annoyed, "Enough! Go out for me."

He drove everything out of the tent, sat on the soft couch, staring at the Jiangnan map in front of him, how could he be willing to give up the Jiangnan in Baotianhua?

At this moment, footsteps came from outside the tent. When the curtain was lifted, his son Li Yi walked in quickly. He was probably the only son in the Jiangnan army to enter the tent without reporting. Li Lin was very fond of his son, obeyed him, and handed over some of the military power to him. However, today he was a little annoyed that his son was rude to Jiangbei.

"What's the matter in such a hurry?"

With a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone, Li Yi understood his father's heart. He knelt down and said, "The child was too impulsive just now, please punish him."

He did not say he was rude, but said that he was impulsive. Impulsiveness is because he was young and energetic. These can be forgiven, especially when his father was impulsive to his son.

When Li Yi knelt down, the dissatisfaction in Li Lin immediately disappeared without a trace. He nodded and said, "I don't blame you for being impulsive, but you have to remember it next time, don't be reckless. If you didn't call you for your father today, you would make a bloody feud with Zhang Xiangguo. Do you know? The messenger is the son of Zhang Xiangguo."

"The child already knows it, so he regrets it and apologizes to the father."

"Forget it, just learn from the lesson."

Seeing that there was another person at the door and seemed to be coming in, Li Lin asked, "Is there anything else?"

According to Li Yi's personality, he would never bow his head for such things. Not to mention Zhang Yun's son, even the prince would not take it seriously. But if he bowed his head, it would only mean that he had requested his father.

"Father, the child just got the news that He Guangping, the governor of the Five Prefectures of Lingnan, led 30,000 troops north."

"What!"

Li Lin was surprised. He Guangping had always been loyal to the Northern Tang Dynasty. At this time, he went north, of course, not to help him, but to assist Li Qing'an in encirclement and suppress him. He hurriedly asked: "Where has the Lingnan Army been?"

Li Yi turned around and waved his hand. The informant soldier at the door walked in and knelt down and said, "Report to the prince, the Lingnan army has arrived in Yuzhang, Hongzhou and is heading east."

The Lingnan Army did not go on the sea route, which was a bit strange, but Li Lin could no longer care about this strange thing. He walked to the map anxiously and spread the map. Yuzhang is today's Nanchang. The Lingnan Army headed north and marched east for another half a month before reaching Hangzhou and Huzhou. It was a wealthy place in Jiangnan, and its military strength was extremely empty. If they were really allowed to occupy Hangzhou, the Jiangnan Army would be attacked from both sides.

This sudden intelligence made Li Lin a little confused, but there was an excitement flashing in Li Yi's eyes. He Guangping came too timely and could be used to enhance the fighting spirit and morale of the army. Moreover, Li Yi was very moved. Of course, the Lingnan Army could not be compared with the Anxi Army. He had never had the opportunity to command a war. How could he let go of the delicious food delivered to his door?

"Don't worry, Father, Li Qing'an has no warships and cannot cross the river for a while. Let the child lead his army to fight the Lingnan army. There are only 30,000 people, which is not worth worrying. The child is confident that he will defeat them in one battle. In this way, our army will be greatly motivated. Father, this is a good opportunity for us to gather the morale of the army!"

Li Lin was also a little moved by his son. If it were the Anxi Army, he would never dare to fight, but now it is the Lingnan Army, which is another matter. He also wants his son to lead troops to fight and train his coach. The only thing he is worried about is that his son is too young.

Li Lin thought for a while and said, "You can go. I will let Li Chengshi be your deputy general and try to lead the army as much as possible. After all, there are 30,000 people on the other side, and you have to be twice as good as them, so you can feel at ease as a father."

Li Yi was overjoyed. Although he wanted to fight independently and didn't want Li Chengshi, he knew that his father's preparation to lead troops to fight was already the biggest concession to him, and his father gave him a 60,000 army, which was a decisive step for him to completely grasp the military power.

"Xie Father, my child is going to send troops tomorrow to intercept the Lingnan army in Hangzhou and outside Huzhou."

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Li Qing'an's peace in Jiangbei for nearly a month greatly reduced the pressure on the Jiangnan army and made it possible for Li Lin to divide his troops into battle. In order to intercept the Lingnan army heading north, in late December, King Li Yi of Xiangcheng was the main general, and Li Chengshi was the deputy commander, leading an army of 60,000 to leave Runzhou and head towards Hangzhou in the south.

In the Jiangdu camp in Yangzhou, just the day after Li Yi led his troops south, a detailed report was placed on Li Qing'an's table. From the total number of troops to the number of people in each branch of the army, the number of war horses, the transportation of food and grass, the marching route, etc., all kinds of data were very detailed. This was something that ordinary scouts could not do. There is no doubt that Li Qing'an had installed many secret spies in the Jiangnan army camp, and even bribed some important officials.

Everything was evolving according to the track he designed. The only difference was that Li Qing'an thought Li Lin would send an army of 70,000 south, but he had predicted too much, and Li Lin finally sent only 60,000 south, which was a bit regretful.

In fact, Li Qing'an began planning to seize Jiangnan half a year ago. He carefully designed one trap after another, including seizing the salt port; including his announcement to build 300 large ships within two months; including his sending Zhang Zhijie to Jiangnan, all of this was the smoke bomb he fired. He did nothing to confuse the Jiangnan army and gave them an illusion that the Anxi army was not familiar with water wars and could not cross the river south without warships.

It took him nearly a month to confuse the other party, and he had achieved initial success, which had already made Li Lin relax his vigilance and sent his army south to fight the Lingnan army.

Of course, the northward advance of the Lingnan Army was also an important part of his plan. His purpose was to let Li Lin transfer the army away from the Yangtze River and leave the farther away, the better. All the smoke bombs he released before were also for the same purpose.

It was easy for Li Qing'an to go south to capture Jiangnan. Even if there were no warships, he could easily carry it out. Li Lin's defense was only from Jiangning to Jiangyin. Then he could use a canal boat to cross the river in Dangtu, west of Jiangning, or Hudou Island, east of Jiangyin, to avoid Li Lin's defense line, so that the Anxi cavalry directly attacked Runzhou.

But if that were the case, Li Lin's 100,000 army would board thousands of warships and enter the river and advance west from the Yangtze River. The Anxi Army was far from the opponent of the Jiangnan Navy in the river. Not only would it suffer heavy losses, but it would also be possible to watch Li Lin's army leave.

This is not his strategic purpose. His strategic purpose is not only to seize Jiangnan, but also to wipe out Li Lin's 100,000 troops. In this way, letting Li Lin's army leave the Yangtze River is the most critical link.

Li Qingan gently threw the report on the table, a smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he stood up and walked slowly to the door of the tent, and looked south with his hands behind his back. In five days, at most, he could get a message from Li Baozhen Fei Ge.

"General, although that Li Yi is brave, his conceit will kill him!" Zhang Zhijie whispered beside him.

Li Qing'an glanced at him. He knew the insult Zhang Zhijie suffered in the Jiangnan camp. That slap was enough to make Zhang Zhijie revenge against Li Yi for the rest of his life.

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "I started studying Li Yi half a year ago. He is Li Lin's only son. He grew up in the deep palace and did whatever he wanted. At the age of eight, he personally killed the little eunuch who followed him since childhood for a trivial matter. That was his first time killing people. At the age of eleven, he was as tall as an adult. At the age of twelve, he raped a concubine of Li Lin without any punishment. In the same year, he killed a guard of Li Lin, but received praise from Li Lin. Since then, he abandoned literature and martial arts. Li Lin has invited all the famous martial arts masters in the world and taught him his strong martial arts. He is only eighteen years old this year, but there are countless people who died under his hands, and there are countless women who have been raped by him...."

"This person is a devil!" Zhang Zhijie gritted his teeth.

"No!"

Li Qingan shook his head and said disdainfully: "He is not worthy of calling him a demon, he is just a rash boy who doesn't know the best of heaven and earth."
Chapter completed!