When Su Chen and Lu Jiang were reorganizing their troops in Shezhou, they received another great news. Lin Renzhao led his army to defeat Li Jixun's Song army in the Jianzhou area.

Now Li Jixun and Liu Guangyi are leading their troops to flee north to Xinzhou.

After Su Chen got the secret letter, he planned to send Taishi Zhao and Lin Juyi to lead 20,000 troops to Xinzhou to block Li Jixun's retreat, and together with Lin Renzhao, they would destroy the Song army.

Lu Jiang said: "Li Jixun is also a fierce general of the Song Dynasty. It is better for me to go there in person to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Su Chen nodded when he heard this, and ordered Lu Jiang to be the chief general, Tai Shi Zhao, and Lin Juyi to be the deputy generals. They went south to Xinzhou to intercept Li Jixun's troops.

Su Chen planned to lead his troops northward, first capture the city of Jinling, and then clear the Song army's barracks along the river, completely cutting off the Song army's retreat route across the river.

Tao Ze stayed in Shezhou and continued to pacify the people.

After the division of labor was completed, Su Chen led his troops north to Jinling. There was Shi Shouxin guarding Jinling City with 20,000 troops.

But Su Chen led 30,000 troops, and Lu Chaoqun led troops from Runzhou. Shi Shouxin saw that he could not resist, so he immediately abandoned Jinling City, took a lot of gold and silver jewelry from the Southern Tang Dynasty, and retreated westward to Chizhou.

Caishiji crossed the river to the north bank and did not dare to stay in the south.

Jinling City's troops fell into the hands of Su Chen and Lu Chaoqun without bloodshed.

"I've met General Lu!"

"Haha, General Su is really brave. I heard that you just defeated Pan Mei's 50,000-strong army not long ago. Pan Mei was a famous general of the Song Dynasty and you captured him alive. It's admirable!" Although Lu Chaoqun said words of admiration, his eyes were full of admiration.

But it's a little unnatural, with a bit of jealousy.

Su Chen knew in his heart that Lu Chaoqun and his son were very ambitious and planned to become powerful officials and control the government of Wu.

But Su Chen had already taken precautions. He had placed his trusted generals inside and outside Hangzhou, and had Shence troops to guard the palace. The ministers were also Han Xizai, Xu Xuan and others, so that the Wu court could operate normally and orderly.

"General Lu is ridiculous. We just ambushed the Song army and took advantage of them. General Lu went north this time and easily captured Suzhou, Huzhou, Runzhou and other places. He also made great achievements."

Su Chen also complimented and praised Lu Chaoqun. It is inevitable for officials to flatter each other.

Lu Chaoqun smiled and asked: "Next, how will we divide our troops? Does General Su have any plans?"

Su Chen hesitated for a moment and said: "I plan to clear the Song army's camps along the river and intercept the Song army from crossing the river north. By then, the Song army in Hongzhou, Raozhou, Fuzhou and other places will have no choice but to retreat westward to Jingzhou.

It’s the land of Chu.”

Lu Chaoqun nodded and said: "General Su's analysis is indeed in place. In this case, Lu is not talented and is willing to work hard to clear the Song army camps and pontoon bridges along the river, and then seize Jingzhou and Ezhou to drive the Song army out of the Southern Tang Dynasty!"

He plans to seize the credit. If he gets this task, he will gain more credit.

Moreover, Lu Chaoqun planned to go to the northwest. If he led his troops outside like this, he would not be able to accept his orders.

Once it develops and grows, Lu Chaoqun can support his own troops in Jingzhou and be free from the control of Wu.

Lu Chaoqun now felt that he could not place officials in the court because he had too few foundations and lack of close followers, and had been overrun by Su Chen's faction.

Now, Lu Chaoqun only considers leading troops to remote places, such as the land of Jingzhou. In such a wealthy place, with the support of troops and self-respect, he can establish himself as a king in the future, or be canonized as a king with a different surname.

Su Chen had another idea. Lu Chaoqun and his son were swaying in front of him, which was quite an eyesore. It was always a source of uneasiness. If they led their own troops to the land of Jingchu, it would be obvious that they would separate one side and not affect the Wu Kingdom in the east.

Stable, when the court becomes strong enough in the future, Lu Chaoqun and his son will not dare to rebel.

Therefore, after Su Chen expressed these thoughts, Lu Chaoqun decided to lead his troops to the west, and Su Chen readily agreed.

The two of them each have their own agenda, and each has his or her own ideas at this time.

A few days later, Lu Chaoqun and Lu Zheng were responsible for leading 50,000 troops. They left Jinling City with some supplies and food and headed for Chizhou.

Lu Zheng asked: "Father, why did we abandon the prosperous city of Jinling and choose to go to the land of Jingchu to fight against the Song Dynasty?"

Lu Chaoqun explained: "We have many soldiers and horses, but after all, they are the soldiers and horses of the imperial court. Now the officials in the imperial court are all from the old Tang faction and have a close relationship with Su Chen. They are gradually taking control of the government. Our father and son's status in the court will only increase."

It's getting lower and lower, which is very different from what we imagined before, and exceeds our expectations. Therefore, for the time being, we will go to the frontiers to develop, station troops and expand the army, and reserve strength. When the time comes, we can even support our own troops and establish ourselves as a king."

"I see." Lu Zheng already understood his father's good intentions.

The Lu family's father and son led troops westward. Along the way, they found that the riverside camps and pontoon bridges of the Song army had been demolished. They then left men to occupy the beacon tower. If there was a war, they could light the beacon smoke at any time to send out signals.

Su Chen took over Jinling City, took over Jinling, Runzhou and other places, stabilized the place and developed the economy.

He restored his original life to the outside world, and many people in Jinling learned that Su Lang of Jiangzuo had returned, took over Jinling City, drove away the Song army, and won the unanimous support of Jinling people and wealthy households.

During this period, Lin Renzhao led his troops like gods, defeated Li Jixun and Liu Guangyi's troops, and besieged Xinzhou City.

Li Jixun and others defended with 10,000 remaining soldiers. They found that Lu Jiang led troops from the north to block the retreat, and there was complete chaos. They were Song people. There was no military-civilian contact here in the Southern Tang Dynasty. The people in the city hated the Song army and could not defend at all.

in the end.

When soldiers of the Song Army go out alone, they are easily assassinated by the people in the city and secret spies. They are worried that someone will poison drinking water and food.

Li Jixun worriedly said: "It's no longer possible. We can't hold on in Shinshu and we need to evacuate immediately!"

Liu Guangyi replied: "The north is blocked by Lu Jiang's army. We can only retreat westward and meet General Cao Bin."

Li Jixun said: "Yes, I heard that the troops led by General Pan Mei have been destroyed, and we only have the remaining defeated troops. This means that the two troops have been defeated, and only the troops led by General Cao Bin are left. Come and rush

Let’s meet up and evacuate to Jiangbei together.”

Liu Guangyi said: "Without further delay, let's evacuate tonight, otherwise, it will be detrimental to our army if we delay for a long time. It is said that Lu Jiang will lead 20,000 troops and will arrive at Xinzhou City in one day."

Li Jixun nodded, seeing that the situation was over, he chose to break out before Lu Jiang led his troops to Xinzhou, and headed west to join Cao Bin's army in Hongzhou.

During the breakout, deputy general Liu Guangyi was shot by an arrow and fell from his horse in the rebel army and was captured.

Li Jixun finally broke through the siege and went to Hongzhou with only 3,000 remaining soldiers.

In this battle, Lin Renzhao won a complete victory and captured the weapons and equipment of the Song army, as well as countless supplies of food and grass. After resting in Xinzhou, he merged with Lu Jiang to gather an army of 80,000, and continued to march towards Hongzhou to compete with Cao Bin's army.

Tens of thousands of troops clashed.

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Chapter completed!