Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 545: Watching the Battle in Taicheng
In early November, after Wang Sengbian completed his reorganization, the Jingzhou army went downstream from Jiangling to Jiankang to support the king.

Sun Changshi, who had persuaded Wang Sengbian to go to prison, was left behind in Jiangling to block Hou Jing's army in Yizhou.

Xiao Yi and Wang Sengbian had guessed that Hou Jing would attack Jiangling, but they did not expect Hou Jing to arrive so soon.

In winter, the water level of the Yangtze River drops, making it difficult for large ships to pass. When Hou Jing attacked Baidi City and Kuimen that year, Wang Sengbian knew that Yizhou had built large ships, so they naturally thought that Yizhou had no ships to attack Jiangling.

However, neither Xiao Yi nor Wang Sengbian had expected that Hou Jing had been continuously building warships, recruiting Yizhou soldiers who were familiar with water, and training the navy since the capture of Baidi City.

When attacking Kuimen and Jingmen, Hou Jing did not show up these naval forces, waiting to use them when attacking Jiangling.

On November 10, the fleet of Xiao Yi and Wang Sengbian was about to arrive in Jiankang. They took in 10,000 troops along the way who were coming to support the king, plus the 10,000 troops that Xiao Yi originally had in Jingzhou, a total of 20,000 troops.

At this time, the sixth prince Xiao Xu, who had been surrounding the city without attacking, got the news and finally could not sit still anymore.

If they waited until Xiao Yi's army arrived, Xiao Yi, as the King of Chu, would be above him in status and he could seize his title of leader of the alliance.

Once Xiao Yi led the army to rescue Xiao Yan, he would be doomed to die.

So Xiao Xu summoned troops from all over the country to attack Heba Sheng's army, and appointed Liu Zhongli as the general.

Liu Zhongli was actually a little restless.

His father Liu Jin was in Taicheng, guarding beside Xiao Yan. During these days, Liu Jin often went up to Taicheng to shout to Liu Zhongli, asking him to lead troops to attack Heba Sheng's rebel army and defend the king immediately.

If this drags on, Liu Zhongli will probably be poked in the back by his father and scolded for being disloyal and unfilial.

However, the consequences of the previous inaction have already become apparent.

The various troops had long lost their enthusiasm for supporting the king, and the soldiers were unwilling to fight. They just watched Liu Zhongli lead his troops to charge. As for the remaining troops supporting the king, except for Wei Fang, the governor of Shouchun, who also led his troops to support, the other troops remained motionless.

Heba Sheng was also a veteran general, having fought in the fierce Gu-breeding fields in the north.

Although he was not ranked in the north, he became a top cavalry general in the south.

Heba Sheng saw at a glance the disconnect between Liu Zhongli and the army in the rear. He personally led the cavalry to infiltrate the weak spot and cut off Liu Zhongli's retreat.

The army in the rear was frightened to see that Heba Sheng was still so brave and brave, so they dared not advance. When Liu Zhongli's army saw such fierce cavalry, they were about to be cut off by the cavalry, so their morale immediately collapsed and their formation was in chaos!

At this time, the third prince Xiao Gang also immediately led his troops to attack and completely defeated Liu Zhongli's army.

Liu Zhongli panicked and tried to flee, but was stopped by Wei Fang, who angrily shouted:
"Your Majesty is watching you from Taicheng! The enemy is strong but outnumbered. As long as we keep fighting, we can turn the tide! General, you cannot retreat!"

Liu Zhongli was stopped by Wei Fang and was about to cry. Seeing such a cowardly look, some of his personal guards also fled secretly.

Wei Fang and Liu Jin who was trapped in Taicheng are of the same generation. Seeing his nephews and nieces being so useless, Wei Fang sighed.

He had no choice but to take a step back and say:
"General, you may retreat. Leave your flag here and let me command you!"

At this time, Liu Zhongli was only concerned about escaping for his life. He immediately handed over his flag, horn and drum to Wei Fang, and then fled to the camp in a panic with his confidants.

But after this episode, the army had already been defeated. Wei Fang sighed and could only raise the flag and launch a charge towards Heba Sheng's central army.

The sound of horse hooves reminded Wei Fang of his childhood. His father, Wei Rui, had stopped the Northern Dynasty's iron hoofs in the Battle of Zhongli, and was known as the Tiger of Jiangdong and became a famous general of the time.

Now it's time to charge forward.

Looking at the oncoming cavalry, Wei Fang showed no fear and led his troops in a desperate charge.

It’s a pity that in such a chaotic battle, Wei Fang was ultimately unable to reverse the situation and died in battle!
Heba Sheng killed Wei Fang in battle and cut off Liu Zhongli's flag. The morale of the vanguard troops completely collapsed and they surrendered to Heba Sheng in an organized manner.

Xiao Xu in the rear looked as pale as death. This army was his direct lineage, and it was destroyed overnight. When Xiao Yi led his troops to Jiankang, he was no longer qualified to compete.

When Xiao Xu thought about how he had dealt with the troops who came to the king's defense in the same way before, letting them go and die while he watched from behind, he felt that it was karma.

Liu Zhongli fought his way back to the camp under the protection of his troops. The king and his ministers looked at each other in silence. It was no use blaming Liu Zhongli at this time.

I wanted to raise a bandit to protect myself, but I didn't expect that the bandit really turned into a tiger.

It wasn't just the king and his subject, Xiao Xu, who cried bitterly after the war.

Wei Can, who was watching the battle in Taicheng, was naturally extremely sad when he saw his father die in battle. However, Taicheng had no manpower left to go out and provide support, so Wei Can could only kneel down and cry facing the battlefield below.

Chen Qingzhi and Wei Fang were old friends. Chen Qingzhi felt depressed after witnessing his old friend die in battle.

So many loyal ministers and capable generals were unable to save the emperor who was so close to them.

But the emperor is not the only one who needs to be saved.

Chen Qianzhi's health, which had not been good to begin with, was becoming increasingly unsustainable.

Early in the morning, Xiao Yan also came out of the Buddhist temple and climbed onto the city wall of Taicheng.

The Bodhisattva Emperor, who once had a face full of Buddha's light, suddenly became old after being besieged for many days. He even needed the support of people around him to climb up to the city wall.

Xiao Yan had also led troops to fight in battles. He stood on the city wall of Taicheng and looked at Heba Sheng's army below. The troops were well-organized and their morale was high. The soldiers rode tall horses and wore shining armor.

On the other hand, looking at the Southern Dynasty reinforcements, it was clear from the formation of the soldiers that they were no match for Heba Sheng.

As expected, Heba Sheng quickly found the flaw and defeated Liu Zhongli's army in one fell swoop.

Seeing his son fight such a bad battle, Liu Jin, who was standing next to Xiao Yan, was so angry that he broke the whip.

Even though this time the commotion was so big, they still failed to break the siege of Heba Sheng. Xiao Yan was almost in despair.

Xiao Yan was the emperor. If he did not have the will to defend the city, the defenders would collapse.

Liu Jin quickly said to Xiao Yan: "Your Majesty, don't worry. Although the rebels are elite, they have been besieged. Any loss counts. Although the Qinwang Army was defeated today, the main force is still there. As long as we continue to attack the rebels, they will definitely show signs of decline."

After hearing what Liu Jin said, Xiao Yan finally perked up a little. He said a few words to encourage the soldiers guarding the city before returning to his palace.

(End of this chapter)