As the downstream changes, the war in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River also began, and the movement was much greater than the movement in the downstream. Starting from September 16, the water and land army led by Cao Bin began to attack Ezhou according to the original plan.

The core of Ezhou's defense lies in the two cities of Hanyang and Jiangxia. Since the Huainan War that year, in order to alleviate the pressure from the Han army from the middle reaches, the Jinling court has invested a lot of personnel and material resources in Ezhou to strengthen its defense to consolidate the security of downstream prefectures and counties and Jinling.

In addition, Liu Renshan, the main general who has been guarding Ezhou for many years, was originally a good defender. He built a complete set of defensive facilities around Hanyang and Jiangxia, and the city was repaired very strongly. There are more than twenty fortresses along the river, each of which is solid, easy to defend but difficult to attack, forming a horn to each other and jointly protecting the main city.

When Liu Renshan died, the successor veteran Lu Jiang continued to strengthen the city, repair the armies, train the army, and practice the methods of defending the city on the basis of Liu Renshan's defense.

By the 14th year of Qianyou, the garrison troops in Ezhou had reached 50,000. Although most of them were prefectures and county soldiers and township soldiers, there were still more than 10,000 Xiongwu Army, which were trained all year round, and this was a powerful force.

Therefore, Ezhou's garrison is actually quite sufficient. If it can be used well, even if it is not defended, it will always cause a lot of trouble to the Han army. This is also the reason why the imperial court will prepare 40,000 troops to attack Ezhou.

However, the problem is that the defenders of Ezhou cannot fully play their role. The reason is that their new commander, the new Ezhou Jiedushi, and the Xiongwu Reunification Army Huangfu Jixun.

Under pressure from the court, Li Yu replaced the veteran Lu Jiang, who thought he was old and ineffective, and wanted to rely on Huangfu Jixun, a loyal and famous general, but took on the responsibility. However, it was Huangfu Jixun that made the two veteran generals Liu and Lu carefully build defenses and become decorations.

Huangfu Jixun's arrival was actually a disaster for the garrison of Ezhou. The biggest blow was the weakening of the morale of the army. As mentioned earlier, Huangfu Jixun only used his father to protect him, but he was a general, but he had no talent.

That would be fine. If we can unite the soldiers and accept advice humbly, so that the whole country can unite and persist in resisting, it will also cause trouble for the Han army. However, Huangfu Jixun's approach is exactly the opposite.

After he took office in Ezhou, he did not focus on military garrison. He liked to show off, put on airs, indulge in sensuality, inquire about enemy situations, city defense, military morale and other matters.

He also had a clear attitude towards resisting the Han army. He felt that the northern army was so strong that it could not be stopped. Since it could not be stopped, why bother to do anything to help the useless work? Even Huangfu Jixun was still at the military meeting, advising the generals that if they resisted stubbornly and offended the court, they would be afraid of harming themselves in the future.

Why did Huangfu Jixun dare to take on the garrison task in Ezhou? Because from the beginning, he had no determination to be loyal to the country and repay the emperor to the death. What he thought about was to preserve his status and wealth.

As the head coach, Huangfu Jixun had such a negative attitude. Influenced by him, how could the situation of the Ezhou defenders be better? In less than two months, the Ezhou defenders were disinterested and their morale gradually declined.

Cao Bin, who was sharpening his sword in Yuezhou, was also very clear about the situation of the Ezhou garrison and completely knew himself and his enemy. He was originally a little concerned about his defense, but after Huangfu Jixun's performance after taking office, Cao Bin was shocked and could not understand it at all.

In fact, the torrent of history rolled forward, and in addition to the great Han monarchs and ministers who were in charge of the general trend, there was also the cooperation of hostile forces. From the perspective of the development of the matter, this is the case.

In any case, Cao Bin is happy about the situation of the Ezhou garrison. The worse the enemy's situation, the more problems it has, the more beneficial it is for him. As a general who has always been mature and persistent, how to achieve the greatest result at the lowest price has always been considered by Cao Bin. It would be better for his opponent to take the initiative to give him opportunities.

When the imperial edict was sent, Cao Bin and Liu Guangyi immediately led their troops to attack Ezhou. Liu Guangyi was also a relatively young general. He was known for his rigorous military management. He pacified the war in Shu and followed Zhao Kuangyin into Sichuan on the east road. He made military achievements and participated in the Northern Expedition. This time he was sent to pacify the south because he had experience in fighting in the south.

Cao and Liu divided into two groups, with 25,000 troops. Leaded by Cao Bin, set out from Baling, advanced along the river, and passed Chibi. Jiayu surrendered without fighting. Then he went north with his navy and defeated thousands of navy troops in Ezhou head-on, thus cutting off the connection between Hanyang and Jiangxia cities. Later, Cao Bin gradually removed the fortresses around Jiangxia.

Liu Guangyi led a 15,000 army to go south from Xiaogan to attack Hanyang. According to the combat plan formulated by Cao Bin, he also first removed the fort towns around Hanyang. It took only three days before and after, the two Han troops gradually removed all the surrounding forts and Zhendians, and then the troops came to the city and cut off water and land transportation, making Hanyang and Jiangxia an lonely city.

During this process, the Ezhou army's reaction was slow and chaotic. A group of garrison soldiers trained by Liu Renshan still had certain combat ability and will, especially during the first battle, they still carried out some tenacious resistance.

However, this lacks organizational coordination after all. With only some low-level officers, they are full of courage and no cooperation. With the entire defense system being broken, the resistance of several forts is of no use, except to add a bit of desolation and tragic to the Jiangnan court.

During the Han army's removal of the forts, the performance of the commander Huangfu Jixun was not too unexpected. He was ineffective and was sitting in the city without ordering or rescue. Even some generals were willing to fight against the Han army, but he was stopped.

Under the command of Cao Liu, the Han army calmly attacked the fort and pulled the camp and completely removed the obstacles to advancing the city. In addition to suffering some losses at the beginning under the stubborn resistance of the Hubei army, the fortresses behind were all desperate and surrendered one after another. In short, the Han army fought very easily.

After the troops were at the city, Cao Bin ordered camps, rest on the spot, and prepare for the siege. The same combat arrangement was made, Cao Bin attacked Jiangxia in Jiangnan and Liu Guangyi attacked Hanyang in Jiangbei. In fact, this was a bit sturdy. The remaining defenders in the two cities still had no less than 40,000 troops. However, the bad situation of the defenders gave Cao and Liu the confidence to arrange boldly.

"General Cao, this progress is a bit too smooth!" Liu Guangyi came across the river on a boat and discussed military affairs with Cao Bin. Yingwu's face was still a little disbelief and said, "I thought it would take seven days to sweep the forts. After the city was captured, it might be after winter. Who would have thought that the defenders' will to resist was so weak that they would almost be destroyed!"

"General Liu, we have to thank Huangfu Jixun!" The two of them walked by the river and observed the surrounding terrain. Cao Bin also said with a smile on his face: "According to the current situation, Ezhou can be taken down without entering winter!"

"The letter of surrender has been shot into the city, and it can continue to slash its morale. However, although the enemy is weak, the city is strong, but it cannot be faked!" Liu Guangyi said: "A strong attack may also be able to break it quickly, but it is inevitable that there will be more casualties!"

"General Liu said so much!" Cao Bin nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "It's better to prepare for siege first, continue to disrupt the morale of the army, reduce his will to resist, and then act according to the situation. If you can persuade the surrender and defeat the enemy's troops without fighting, it's best!"

"Oh..." Liu Guangyi couldn't help but sigh and said, "I had experienced some hard battles before, but now the march is going smoothly, but I'm a little uncomfortable. The battle is a bit boring!"

Hearing Liu Guangyi's words, Cao Bin couldn't help but smile: "According to the emperor's order, we will lead the king's army to promote righteous deeds, and we will naturally be invincible. Those who are trapped in the chariot with a mantis arm will naturally be wiped out! However, we still cannot relax, after all, there are still tens of thousands of enemy troops!"

Cao Bin is still like this, calm and steadfast, dare not slack off, and dare not become arrogant and stubborn.

Liu Guangyi nodded, immediately clasped his fists and said, "I'll go back to Jiangbei first!"

......

When Cao and Liu were surprised that the war was going smoothly, there was already panic in Jiangxia City, and morale continued to decline, almost falling to the bottom.

Under a water gate in the north city, a group of people gathered together, all of them were officers. The highest rank was Du Yuhou. The atmosphere was very depressing. The people gathered together, obviously planning major events.

The man who spoke was Du Yu, and he did not hide it. He said directly: "The king of the country is stupid and does not need to be a general, but a villain. Huangfu Jixun has no talent and virtue. He only lives above us based on his family background. He regards military affairs as a joke and serves soldiers like cattle and horses. The Han army launched a large-scale attack, neither making preparations nor sending troops to rescue him. He sat and watched the forts fall. If there is such a commander, if we don't make plans early, we will be buried with him sooner or later!"

"Zhu Yuhou said it right. Huangfu Jixun, an incompetent person, will be harmed by him. We should make another way to live!" A general immediately responded, gritting his teeth.

"The Han army is already at the city, and the traffic is cut off everywhere, and reinforcements are difficult to reach. It is an isolated city. Even though the city is high, the people are uneven and the commander is incompetent, so he will definitely not be able to defend it. It is better to revolt, kill Huangfu Jixun, surrender to the Han army without losing any credit!" Another officer followed and pointed out the question directly.

In fact, these people gathered together, and each knew what was going on and what to do. Therefore, as soon as this statement was spoken, they were eager to try. Soon, they all turned their attention to Du Yuhou, the surname Zhu, who was the highest military position.

At this time, a few steps came from outside, and an officer broke in. The group quickly drew their swords. It was Zhu Yuhou who said "Our people" to ease up.

The visitor said: "Huangfu Jixun is already ordering people to pack their bags, and he may be willing to abandon the army and escape!"

"This waste!" someone immediately cursed.

Zhu Yuhou looked around, lowered his voice, and said murderously: "Everyone, we will raise an army, kill Huangfu, and return to the court, do you have any objections?"

"Kill Huangfu!"

"Kill Huangfu!"

“…”

All the officers agreed viciously. It is rare for Huangfu Jixun, the head coach, to do this.

"Okay, we will swear to the bloody pledge, and we will raise our troops tonight, lead our subordinates to the general's mansion, take Huangfu Jixun's head, and join the court!" Zhu Yuhou made the decision.

"yes!"

That night, thousands of Xiongwu troops in Jiangxia City, led by Zhu Jun, the Duyu Marquis, suddenly made trouble, entered the Jiedu Prefecture Office, and killed the chief general Huangfu Jixun. Because the chaos suddenly broke out and was in a cold night, Cao Bin did not act rashly until the early morning of the next day, the gate of Jiangxia City opened wide, and more than 20,000 defenders chose to surrender.

As soon as Jiangxia surrendered, the news spread, and Hanyang surrendered immediately. In this way, Cao and Liu soldiers came to the city, but without bloodshed, they took Ezhou. At the cost of 431 casualties, they all took Jiangxia and Hanyang, and more than 47,000 surrendered troops...
Chapter completed!