Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 492: Departure from Baidi
Hou Jing knew very well that in order to attack Southern Liang, he would need a navy. Currently in Guanzhong, few people had experience in commanding naval operations. As long as he trained well, he would be the best candidate to be the main general to destroy Southern Liang!
Such achievements are also the achievements of the founding marquis, and this track is much more promising than following Su Ze and practicing cavalry tactics.

Only trusted people can be appointed to lead a region, and the surrendered generals from the Southern Dynasty can only be generals, not commanders.

At present, Hou Jing has no competitors in this field.

But understanding this principle and putting it into practice is another matter altogether.

Hou Jing sat on the big boat and vomited so much that bile came out. On the third day on the boat, he finally recovered some strength and was able to drink some rice soup.

But standing on the boat, Hou Jing still felt dizzy. Not to mention commanding the battle, even normal movements became a problem.

Compared to Hou Jing, Yang Jia was able to adapt to life on the ship very well. He walked on the ship as if it were flat ground. This made Hou Jing extremely jealous of him. How could this kid have such good physical fitness!

However, Hou Jing has gradually begun to adapt to life on the ship. Today, with the help of Yang Jia, he walked out of the cabin and began to check the surrounding terrain.

Looking at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river, Hou Jing couldn't help but exclaim in praise, but he was not well-educated and couldn't say anything good.

He glanced at Yang Jia beside him. Yang Jia was also a former soldier. He knew less than himself and could not say anything nice.

The two commanders were embarrassed. Hou Jing said to Yang Jia in anger:

"How many times have I told you to study hard!"

Yang Jia was also aggrieved. Commander Hou, you have nothing to say, right? Why did you suddenly start to scold yourself?

No, we are generals now, how can we bear the humiliation ourselves?
Yang Jia looked around and his eyes fell on Chen Baxian, who had changed into the Guanzhong military uniform.

Yang Jia immediately said:

"Chen Baxian, aren't you from a poor family in Jiangnan? Come and compose a poem for the Grand Commander to cheer him up!"

Chen Baxian stepped forward reluctantly. Although he was also from a so-called poor family, it was a relatively poor family, otherwise he would not have gone to Guangzhou to join the army.

Now, if he was asked to compose a poem, he would scratch his head and groan for a long time before he could come up with half a sentence: "The road to the top of Baidi City is long and winding. The high hall is at the mouth of the gorge, and the flood has submerged the mountainside."

Fortunately, Hou Jing and Yang Jia's cultural attainments were limited, and they were unable to tell whether it was good or bad. Yang Jia said with satisfaction:

"Grand Commander, I still have scholars under my command!"

Hou Jing interrupted Yang Jia and said:

"Your subordinates are bullshit. Chen Baxian is a surrendered general from the Southern Dynasty. He was not brought here by you!"

Chen Baxian lowered his head. As a surrendered general he always felt a little ashamed.

However, Hou Jing patted him on the shoulder and said:

"But since you have surrendered, then do your best. The Duke does not care about your background. As long as you can make contributions, he will not be stingy with rewards."

"Look at Yang Jia. He was herding sheep on Qiuchi Mountain a few years ago! The Qiuchi rebellion was also suppressed by the Duke himself. He is also a surrendered general like you."

Chen Baxian looked at Hou Jing. He didn't expect that Hou Jing would talk about the past so fearlessly, and Yang Jia didn't seem to care either.

It is said that this Duke Su Ze is extremely good at controlling people, and now it seems to be true.

Only a person with such a broad mind would not care about the background of his subordinates and would employ them only according to their military merits and abilities.

When he thought of this, Chen Baxian felt a little hope for his future. Maybe he could also make some achievements?

Hou Jing brought the topic back to the military, and asked Chen Baxian:
"What kind of person is Wang Sengbian, the defender of Baidi City?"

In fact, there were already very detailed records by Wang Sengbian on Hou Jing's desk.

However, Hou Jing would rather hear what people who had actually come into contact with Wang Sengbian thought of him.

Chen Baxian said quickly:
"Wang Sengbian was born into a family of generals. His ability to train and lead troops is beyond reproach. However, he has one fatal flaw. At critical moments, he is indecisive and hesitant. He is not a good general."

This evaluation is fatal. In fact, many people are like this. It is like they always perform well in daily quizzes, but not in key exams.

But if he didn't perform well in the most crucial exam, it would be all in vain, so Chen Baxian actually had a very low opinion of Wang Sengbian.

Hou Jing actually thought the same way. Wang Sengbian sent the navy to pursue, but when the navy encountered a crisis, he hesitated and did not dare to send infantry support, and finally watched the entire navy destroyed.

In fact, the Southern Liang navy was really capable. Even when their flagship was on fire and they were ambushed by Hou Jing, they still fought for a long time before being destroyed.

Moreover, southerners are indeed good at naval battles. The Yizhou soldiers recruited by Hou Jing had not been trained for too long and were even put at a disadvantage at one point.

If Hou Jing's fleet had not been so numerous and Wang Sengbian was such a coward, the outcome would still be unknown. But now that the navy was destroyed, Wang Sengbian's Baidi City could no longer be defended.

Baidi City is strategically located, and it is a combination of land and water. Like most fortresses along waterways, the defense of such a fortress itself is not very strong.

Baidi City is actually on Jiangxinzhou.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu occupied Shu and built a city on the mountain. Because a well in the city often emitted white steam, like a white dragon, he called himself Baidi and named the city Baidi City. After Gongsun Shu died, the locals built a temple and a statue of Gongsun Shu on the mountain, which was called Baidi Temple.

Baidi City, simply as a land fortress, is far less solid than a city like Yubi City.

The simplest place is that Baidi City is connected to the shore through a shallow section of river. As long as this shallow section is cut off, Baidi City will be an isolated city on the Yangtze River. The fleet and troops can bypass it and completely ignore the defenders in Baidi City.

Therefore, Baidi City must have a navy of corresponding size in order to play the role of a fortress.

But now Wang Sengbian's navy has been destroyed and cannot be replenished in the short term. In fact, defending Baidi City to the death has no strategic or militarily value.

In fact, a better option for Wang Sengbian would be to withdraw from Baidi City to Jingzhou and then rebuild the defense line to block Hou Jing.

But Wang Sengbian hesitated again at this time.

There was no way. When he retreated to Baidi City that year, he received Xiao Yi's death order. If he retreated to Jingzhou now, he would definitely be held accountable by Xiao Yi, and his position would probably be lost.

What if Baidi City can be defended?
Wang Sengbian, with this lucky mentality, stayed in Baidi City, betting that Hou Jing would not rush to attack the city and that he still had a chance to regroup.

Hou Jing naturally would not give him such an opportunity.

In fact, in essence, the support provided by the two people is not on the same order of magnitude.

Hou Jing was the governor of Yizhou appointed by Su Ze with full authority. Hou Jing was the only one who made decisions on Yizhou's military and political affairs. Although the civil officials were all appointed by the Government Affairs Hall, they all supported Hou Jing strategically and would never hold him back.

It can be said that Hou Jing was fighting with the support of the entire Yizhou resources, and he could also get technological and talent support from the Guanzhong region. The Council of State and the Shogunate also gave him whatever he wanted.

But Wang Sengbian was different.

Xiao Yi of Jingzhou did not support his military actions, and was even not active in increasing troops and food supplies.

Xiao Yi had no enthusiasm for counterattacking Yizhou, and even his attitude towards Baidi City was very subtle.

Although they are now at war with Su Ze, the connection between the caravan and Jingzhou is still very close. A large number of merchants came to Jingzhou with the Shu brocade, treasures and books that Xiao Yi needed, and launched a vigorous trade activity.

Even the existence of Baidi City affected the activities of these caravans to a certain extent, making it impossible to transport some materials to Jingzhou smoothly.

Xiao Yi now discovered that although he lost Yizhou, it did not affect the business of Jingzhou, and in fact Jingzhou became more prosperous because of it.

Some merchants from the Western Regions would come to Jingzhou to do business. During this period, Xiao Yi presented his father with a lot of treasures, including several volumes of original Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, which were specially sold by those merchants from the Western Regions.

Xiao Yi even felt that Wang Sengbian was just exaggerating. No matter how powerful Su Ze's army was, could they cross the natural barrier of the Three Gorges to attack Jingzhou?
Jingzhou is home to the most powerful navy in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, Xiao Zong was actually not very active in defending Baidi City. He even felt that Wang Sengbian's stationing in Baidi City was a bit of an eyesore and affected the travel of caravans to Jingzhou.

Under such circumstances, one can imagine the support Wang Sengbian could get.

It was already difficult to feed his army, and he wanted more ships? No way!
This was also Chen Baxian's biggest feeling after his surrender. Within Guanzhong, everything could form a combined force. Even if there were struggles, they were all disputes over the route to achieve this goal and would not be hindered by differences.

But it was different in Southern Liang. Each force had its own little tricks, and each person's background was deeply tied to the political forces behind him. The various factions fought against each other, and nothing could be accomplished without the support of bigwigs.

For generals born in humble families, even if they have made achievements, it is easy for others to take credit for them, and they will be blamed if they make any mistakes.

All this was also the reason why Chen Baxian chose to surrender. Although Southern Liang seemed to favor officials, in fact the struggle had become extremely polarized.

"The White Emperor City is ahead."

Yang Jia picked up the telescope and could see the wall of Baidi City. Hou Jing also took out his own telescope and Baidi City was already clearly visible.

"Pass on my order. Parade around Baidi City and shoot arrows into the city!"

As Hou Jing controlled the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, such patrols had been carried out many times. The purpose was naturally to further undermine the morale in Baidi City and force Wang Sengbian to surrender.

However, Wang Sengbian still had some prestige and was able to suppress the soldiers in Baidi City. In response to Hou Jing's provocation, he even shot back arrows. However, this kind of shooting did not cause any substantial damage. After patrolling around, Hou Jing also chose to return.

On the return voyage, a merchant ship team was separated from the fleet and sailed downstream along the Yangtze River. They arrived in Jiangling in a few days.

(End of this chapter)