Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 623
On the fourth day of March in the second year of Qianning, Heyang Nancheng.

Huo Cun, who had just fallen asleep, was shouted by his own soldiers. He angrily boarded the tower, and then he was dumbfounded.

There are torches everywhere in the field, like two fire dragons, stretching far into the distance.

The speed of the fire dragon is not fast, which may be due to the factor of marching at night, but the psychological impact on people is very large.At the same time, doubts arose in my heart: Where did they come from?
"It must have been smuggled down the river." Huo Cun went straight down the tower with a livid face.

He had no doubts that the Xia bandits were carrying torches in the wild. There were not many of them, probably hundreds of them.They could have passed by other places quietly, but they "passed by" near Heyang South City swaggeringly. It is self-evident what their intentions are.

After returning to the mansion, Huo Cun didn't feel sleepy, and stared at the map in front of him to check carefully.

"It's better than Wang Shichong's situation in the early years of the Kingdom." After watching for a long time, Huo Cun laughed at himself twice.

Between Chang'an and Luoyang, the Weihan area is the most important.Whoever controls the entire Weihan area will have the initiative and a huge advantage over the enemy.

If no one can control all of them, then at least half of them must be controlled.

The Kansai Group based in Chang'an must at least take over the western part of Weihan, that is, Shanzhou, and the Kanto Group based in Luoyang must control at least the eastern half of the Weihan Valley Road.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the western part of Xiaohangu Road was controlled by the State of Jin, and it was very difficult for the State of Qin to go east.

During the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, Yuwentai occupied Hongnong County (Shaanzhou), and suddenly got rid of the passive situation, so he didn't have to be bullied to the gate of Tongguan.Yu Wenshen was called "Chen Ping of my family" by Yu Wentai because he urged Yu Wentai to be aggressive and promote agriculture.

In the early years of the Guo Dynasty, there were few troops between Chang'an and Luoyang, and the defense force was extremely weak. Liu Wenjing led the troops to the east, almost occupied the entire Weihan Valley Road like an armed parade, and directly stationed troops in Xin'an County. No one believed it.

Why did Liu Wenjing easily occupy such an extremely critical strategic location?Why is there no defense?
In fact, this is the chaos caused by the collapse of the Great Unified Dynasty. There are so many gaps and opportunities in the area, and the possibility of sweeping up is very high. Even the Xiaohan Valley Road is unguarded, which is unbelievable.

But if Liu Wenjing leaves Tongguan, he finds that Weihan Valley Road is controlled by a separatist town that has existed for 140 years. This town has professional warriors who have been trained for many years, has a complete military production system, has an administrative team, and is intermarried internally. It has been relatively stable for more than 100 years, so how long will it take and how much will it cost him to conquer the dangerous passes?

And in the process of fighting, you may also encounter interference from other feudal towns.Because each force has existed for more than 100 years, the border is relatively stable, and I don’t know how many times they have played together vertically and horizontally.But in the last years of the Great Unification Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and various forces might still be busy seizing territory, consolidating forces, and building a team. When he finished these things, he opened his eyes and saw that he had been beaten to the door of his house, and there was no danger to defend.

Wang Shichong's Luoyang did not have the entire Xiaohangu Road from the beginning, and Hangu Pass (Xin'an County) was in the hands of Tang Jun, which is a chicken.

"The younger generation of Wang's family is incompetent, Shaanguo let Shao thief play a fake way to attack Guo, and the river lured wolves into the house, what a waste." Adopted son Huo Yanwei sat beside Huo Cun, said angrily.

"Our luck is pretty good." Huo Cun shook his head and said, "In the second year of Dashun, when Zhang Quanyi towned Henan Province, Shao bandits led more than [-] troops eastward. If King Liang hadn't acted decisively and dispatched [-] troops to the west, Weihangu Road Most of it will be taken up by Shao thief. These sites swallowed by Shao thief and spit out, how many lives have been consumed in these years? How long have they been held? So I say, it will be much better than Taizong's attack on Wang Shichong. My son , You have also seen the recent situation, take Taizong’s defeat of Wang Shichong as an example, let’s see what Li Tangbin and Gao Renhou would do.”

Huo Yanwei turned his gaze to the map and pondered.

"In the first year of Wude (618), Huang Junhan, the former commander of Li Mi and the guard of Baiya City, surrendered under Cui Yixuan's lobbying, and then defeated Wang Shichong's son in Jiyuan, and then attacked the three cities of Heyang." The same is true of Guan and Heqing. After the Shao bandits entered the river, they continued to go eastward. In the battle of Heqing last year, our army was defeated. The dangerous strongholds of Baiya, Heqing, and Zhiguan were all lost. Bin, Su Junqing and others donated, leaving only Zhongli City and Nancheng City. Taizong had already held this road in his hands before the war with Wang Shichong, but the Shao bandits did not do their best."

Huo Cun nodded and encouraged him to continue talking with his eyes.

"In the first month of the second year of Wude (619), Zhang Shanxiang, the former governor of Li Mi and the governor of Yizhou, surrendered and returned to the country." Huo Yanwei said: "Yizhou is the main crossing of the three passes in Luonan. Wang Shi can go down through the Luoshui Valley and go straight Luoyang, this is the so-called south road. The Xia bandits blocked our army at the Erwei Mountains, so they couldn’t make a detour to the Luoshui Valley. If they want to get to Luonan, they might as well go north from Ruzhou. This road is safe for the time being.”

"In December of the first year of Yining (617), Liu Wenjing lightly took Xiaohangu Road and set up the two counties of Yiyang and Xin'an. At this time, Wang Shichong had just arrived in Luoyang in March and was fighting Li Mi. After the battle with Li Mi, there was no one left west of Luoyang The dangerous passes are all in the hands of Wang Shi." Huo Yanwei continued: "This way, the bandit commander Li Tangbin repeatedly attacked and pushed forward desperately, and now he has reached the city of Xin'an. Compared with Liu Wenjing in the past, he is only one county away from Xin'an. .”

"Father, my son thought that if the bandits Shao wanted to take Luoyang, Gao Renhou had to conquer Heyang Pass and Mengzhou Nancheng all the way, and Li Tangbin would still attack Xin'an County all the way. Only in this way can we get the territory occupied before the outbreak of Taizong's war against Wang Shichong. geographical advantage."

It's all about tears.

Shao Shude has worked desperately for several years, until now, it is not as good as Li Tang's strategic situation before he formally attacked Wang Shichong.

In July of the first year of Yining (617), Li Yuan sent troops to the south and entered Chang'an in October. In December, he sent Liu Wenjing east to collect the Weihan Valley Road that was not in charge.

In the first year of Wude (618), Huang Junhan, Li Mi's former subordinate, gave Li Tang the stronghold north of Luoyang, but Wang Shichong had no time to manage it.

In the second year of Wude (619), Zhang Shanxiang almost gave Luonan to Li Tang, but Wang Shichong finally freed his hand and sent troops to take it back.

In the third year of Wude (620), Li Yuan decided to go to war against Wang Shichong. Governor Li Shimin sent troops from all walks of life, and he went directly to Xin'an County.

Xin'an County, or Tongluo City, or Hangu Pass, is still controlled by Hu Zhen, and it is run like an iron bucket, leaving people speechless.

"My son, you made a mistake." Huo Cun said with a smile, "It's different now. Li Tangbin may not attack Xin'an violently. But the Shao bandits will definitely attack the three cities of Heyang."

Huo Yanwei was deep in thought.

……

Just when Huo Cun and his son saw the cavalry army smuggling southward passing by outside the southern city of Heyang, on the second day, Qi Bizhang, the envoy of the Flying Dragon Army, personally led the brigade, carrying milk powder, beans, etc. for more than a dozen people. The daily consumption of grain and grass broke into the territory of Weizhou, which belongs to Weibo Town.

Wei Bo is very busy now, and the local defenses are empty, so when they broke into Ji County, they were also ignored.

The Flying Dragon Army with one man and two horses marched very fast, rushed straight to the ferry, collected some ships, took advantage of the favorable opportunity when the Bian Army navy was attracted to the west, crossed the river south at night, and entered the boundary of Suanzao County.

Suanzao is a county in Huazhou, only a hundred miles away from Bianzhou in the southeast.

Liang people's interior is empty, and there are several crossings in Suanzao County, with less than a thousand soldiers, and most of them are prefecture and county soldiers with average combat strength.

After the army went south, regardless of fatigue, they immediately launched a fierce attack on the ferry.

It took only one hour for a thousand soldiers to dismount and fight on foot, completely captured the ferry, and captured more than [-] people.

Afterwards, the auxiliary soldiers began to cut wood and set up fences to build camps.

The soldiers were divided into several groups, and before the Liang people could react, they went to the surrounding villages to collect food and grass, and arrested a group of people who came back to help build the camp.

Qi Bizhang was sitting at the ferry, watching the soldiers of the Feilong Army who were still crossing the river one after another, he couldn't believe that the interior of the Liang people was so empty.

"They all thought we were going to beat Luoyang, but that was Li Tangbin's business, I'm fucking Luoyang." Qi Bizhang sneered.

Along the Yellow River, Liang Jun has two heavy-armed groups, one is the Huzhen Group guarding Luoyang, and the other is the Zhu Zhen Group in the Zheng and Meng areas. The two have a combined force of nearly 6 people, both of which have strong combat effectiveness. military.

Previously, Xia Jun spent most of his time in the west, occasionally visiting Zhengzhou.Before the big river thawed, it basically retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River.

After the big river was thawed, the people of Liang relaxed a bit. It just so happened that the war broke out in Caizhou in the south. Some garrison troops were put together and handed over to Pang Shigu to lead southward. The place was extremely empty.

After Shao Shude's order was urgently sent to Heyang by five hundred miles, Gao Renhou immediately summoned the generals to discuss the matter. Fu Cunshen suggested that Li Keyong attack Weibo, break into Weizhou, and then cross the south of the river. The Liang people must be caught off guard.

Qi Bizhang was a little apprehensive at first, but after looking at it today, Fu Cunshen guessed it right. There were only a few hundred soldiers at the ferry, and they were easily captured by the vanguard of the crossing, allowing the main force to cross the river down the river.

What next?Qi Bizhang hesitated a little.

In front of him is an open Happy Valley, with Huazhou to the east, Bianzhou to the south, and Zhengzhou to the southwest.

It seems that going to Bianzhou is the most valuable. Although it cannot be attacked, it can at least scare Zhu Quanzhong.

But it's not that simple.

This time the Flying Dragon Army dispatched 5000 people and brought tens of thousands of horses. The biggest problem was food.

Going to Bianzhou, the strength of the Liang army may be stronger, and it may not be able to plunder much food and grass.Once the supply is cut off, people can still be hungry for a day or two, but horses can't be hungry for a meal, which is the biggest problem.

Qi Bizhang thought it over and over again, but couldn't make up his mind. He planned to wait until the whole army had crossed the river, and then summoned the generals to discuss a countermeasure together.

"It's a pity that there is no internal response. If there is an internal response, tell the Liang people all the facts, and the chances of winning will be greatly increased, and this land in the Central Plains will be turned upside down." Qi Bizhang sighed heavily, feeling very helpless.

(End of this chapter)