Zhang Xuan sent cavalry and navy to suppress Jiangdu not only to force Chen Leong to surrender. Of course, this is indeed the most important purpose, but there is another reason, that is, to control Jiangdu.

Whether Chen Ling returns to Zhongdu or surrenders to Chang'an, Zhang Xuan must firmly control the strategy of Jiangdu County in his own hands.

Otherwise, once Chen Len surrenders to Tang and retreats north, the capital of Jiangdu is empty, Du Fuwei or Jiangnan will take advantage of the situation, and his southern plan will be severely defeated. Therefore, Zhang Xuan is preparing for the future and must block this loophole in advance.

Gaoyou County is about 150 miles north of Jiangdu City. Gaoyou Lake had not yet been formed during the Sui Dynasty. It was still a narrow and long depression with a radius of hundreds of miles. The depression was covered with forests and swamps. Large areas of cultivated land were reclaimed to the north and south, and Tongji Canal passed through this depression.

In the north of the county town, 30,000 cavalry were stationed on the east bank of Tongji Canal. There is a barracks of the Xiaoguo Army. The barracks are extremely large and occupy a radius of five miles. Since the Xiaoguo Army is also mainly cavalry, all kinds of cavalry facilities are available, which greatly facilitates the cavalry of the Sui Army.

It was just a little longer, and it was covered with weeds and moss. The soldiers took only half a day to clean up the military camp and settle down. The food and forage on the ship were also moved into the military camp.

At night, most of the lights in the military camp were extinguished, and the Sui soldiers also fell asleep and rested. There were piles of mosquito-repellent mugwort burning in the military camp, with smoke smogs scattered. In the summer, a large number of mosquitoes were breeding in the nearby swamps. Thirty thousand soldiers and war horses became their crazy targets of attack. Fortunately, things in nature were incompatible, and a large number of mugwort grew around the swamp. If the juice was twisted, mosquitoes would not invade. If it was burned, it could repel mosquitoes. Although there were many mosquitoes, soldiers and war horses slept relatively safely.

At the first update, an army of thousands of people quietly approached the west bank of Tongji Canal. The leader was Du Fuwei. Du Fuwei's power was almost beaten to pieces by Zhang Xuan. Fortunately, the Bohai Sea would rage in Hebei, and Zhang Xuan was transferred back to Qingzhou, giving Du Fuwei a chance to breathe. When the Luoyang court was established, Du Fuwei immediately expressed his surrender to the Luoyang court and was named Duke of Chu by Emperor Tai. He also changed his flag and changed his banner, and put the banner of the Great Sui Dynasty, and turned into the Sui army overnight.

After several years of development, his army once again exceeded 100,000 people and separating the Jianghuai River. At this time, Du Fuwei had the idea of ​​establishing a dynasty and becoming emperor. Seizing Jiangdu County, and establishing the capital in Jiangdu became the key to Du Fuwei's founding of the country and establishing the dynasty.

In order to capture Jiangdu City, Du Fuwei installed a large number of spies in Jiangdu City. He knew very well that Jiangdu City had a large population. After not getting food supply from other counties, Jiangdu City was immediately in a food crisis, and Chen Ling's military rations also had difficulties. Du Fuwei believed that his opportunity was coming soon.

But man's plan is not as good as heaven's plan. A large number of Sui troops suddenly appeared in Jiangdu, which surprised Du Fuwei. At the same time, he was furious and immediately killed an aide who analyzed the Sui army's intelligence for him. This aide believed that the Sui army was trapped in the Battle of Goguryeo and could not take care of Jiangdu, which made Du Fuwei have the idea of ​​winning Jiangdu without fighting. However, the sudden appearance of the Sui army seriously disrupted Du Fuwei's strategic deployment.

In a panic, Du Fuwei personally led thousands of elite soldiers to Gaoyou County to test the Sui army's background.

"Kun Chu, there are ships in the canal!" A soldier whispered to point at the fleet in the canal.

Du Fuwei also saw a very long fleet of ships anchored on the east bank of the canal, with a dark tart cloth on it. I don’t know what it was inside. If it was food and forage, maybe he would have a chance.

Du Fuwei turned around and ordered: "Send a team of water ghosts to see what is in the boat, and then look at the situation of the Sui army on the shore."

Soon, more than a dozen water ghosts sneaked into the Tongji Canal. They were divided into two teams, one snorting towards the fleet anchored on the other side, and the other went ashore to inquire about the movements of the Sui army.

Half an hour later, the water ghosts who were exploring the fleet came back first, and they brought news that disappointed Du Fuwei. There was nothing in the more than 200 small boats, and it was an empty fleet.

But there was no news about another group of water ghosts who went ashore to explore the Sui army. After another quarter of an hour, there was a sudden sound of hurried horse hooves on the other side of the river, as if a group of cavalry were running. Everyone's hearts were in their throats. Then someone screamed, and the sound was far away, but it still reached the west coast on the quiet night. Du Fuwei couldn't help but squeeze his spear tightly. The spy he sent was discovered by the Sui cavalry.

‘Pu!Pu!’

With two consecutive sounds of falling into the water, a water ghost escaped from the pursuit of the Sui cavalry. Dozens of cavalry appeared opposite, riding horses back and forth on the shore and constantly shooting arrows into the water. One of them pulled his horse and looked here. For a moment, he waved his hand, "Let's go!"

Dozens of cavalry followed him to the east. Soon, two water ghosts who had dived back were rescued by the soldiers. They were all injured. One water ghost had an arrow inserted into the body. The two were extremely tired and still in shock.

At this time, Du Ruhui walked over quickly, squatted down and asked, "What's the situation of the Sui army?"

A spy said breathlessly: "Your Majesty Chu, the Sui army camp is the original Xiaoguo camp, all of which are cavalry, but we don't know how much military strength we have. When we were about to get close to the camp, we were discovered by patrols. Only two of the eight brothers escaped back."

"Are the rest of the brothers dead?"

"Four dead and two others were arrested, so we were lucky enough to escape back."

Du Fuwei heard that two other people were arrested, and he became a little worried. The Sui army would soon know that he was on the other side, but just withdrew like this, he felt a little unwilling to do so. Du Fuwei thought for a while and ordered, "Go and burn me the ship on the other side!"

Even if he cannot attack the Sui army, he will destroy the Sui army's grain transport ships, which may have a little effect.

As the sky gradually became brighter, Pei Xingyan led thousands of soldiers to the shore of Tongji Canal. Tongji Canal was only one mile away from his military camp. Last night, when he learned that Du Fuwei's army was on the other side, he also sent troops to strictly prevent the enemy from destroying ships on the shore, but he still couldn't defend himself. Although the enemy failed to burn the fleet, he still destroyed more than 30 small boats by means of digging ships and killing more than a dozen boatmen.

At this time, the Sui army had used more than 60 small boats to build a floating bridge. Pei Xingyan had a gloomy face and looked at the Sui soldiers busy building the floating bridge. Last night, Du Fuwei came to attack him. Although the sneak attack failed, they also lost the opportunity to strangle Du Fuwei.

A general came forward to report: "Report to General, the floating bridge has been built!"

Pei Xingyan immediately said to Yingyanglang general Shi Hengbo, "Source two thousand cavalry to search within fifty miles of the other shore. If there is any enemy situation, report it to me immediately. Be careful not to be ambushed by the enemy."

"Abide by the orders!"

Shi Hengbo immediately led two thousand cavalry to lead the horses across the floating bridge, then turned over and ran towards the opposite shore.

Du Fuwei's army against Zhang Xuan had reached the point of being full of troops. When he found that he had been noticed by the Sui cavalry, he immediately led his army to retreat westward and retreated from Jiangdu County.

It was not until he withdrew from Jiangdu County that Du Fuwei realized that he had made a big mistake after being excited. He shouldn't have appeared in Jiangdu County when the Sui army took over Jiangdu. This would make Zhang Xuan feel that he was threatening Jiangdu, and thus he would concentrate his troops to eliminate him.

If he attacked Jiangyang City as the army of the Jiangnan Association, he would lead the disaster to the south and let the Sui army clear the Jiangnan Association first, and perhaps he would have the opportunity to occupy Jiangdu again.

Regret was useless, so Du Fuwei had to return to Lujiang County with regret.

In Jiangdu City, Chen Ling finally had to face the reality. He decided to accept the position of Minister of Rites of Zhongdu and rejected Chang'an Li Yuan's envy of himself.

A simple military power settlement ceremony was held in the lobby of the county government. Chen Ling would give up his 30,000 Sui army and hand over the military power to Lai Huer. As a witness, he would read out the edict of the regent and the imperial edict of the empress dowager. Zhang Xuan appointed Chen Ling as the Minister of Rites as the regent and the imperial edict of the Ziwei Pavilion. Empress Xiao issued an edict and granted Chen Ling the Duke of Xuan.

Not only was Chen Ling awarded the title, but Chen Ling's left and right deputy generals Xu Zhenhui and Wang Wei were also appointed as the Hu Ben Lang General and were also awarded the title of Duke of the County. Most of the dozens of generals under him were also granted the title of Lang Yang General, each with rewards, and everyone was very happy.
Chapter completed!