Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 340 The Land That Must Be Conquered
Beihai County, beside the Jishui River in Bochang, at the foot of Sheshan Mountain.

Wang Bo saw Pei Changcai and Shizihe's two thieves who had escaped from the battle, and he looked at the two in disbelief.

"Lost it all, lost all 2 horses?"

Pei Changcai said with some shame, "I didn't expect that Zhang Xutuo is so good, especially Zhangqiu City, which is worthy of being Luo Cheng's stronghold. An elite group was buried in the dark, and we will be fooled if we don’t find out and attack the city rashly.”

Wang Bodang came striding forward, very unceremoniously exposed the lies of the two thieves.

"Hidden elite soldiers, hidden dragons and crouching tigers? You two, don't make excuses for your failures. Changbai Mountain has only two hundred soldiers, and Zhangqiu City has only fifty soldiers, plus three to five hundred county soldiers and township braves. Some old and weak people." Wang Bodang spoke very rudely, "Outside Zhangqiu City, Zhang Xutuo's six cavalry charged at you with thousands of troops, but none of you left anyone, not even a single person. Xu Tuo killed seven in and seven out in your formation, and finally retreated with all his body, you said that even if Zhang Xu Tuo is great, but you Qian Qi can't surround Liu Qi, this is not justified."

He sighed, and he tried his best to travel in Henan and Hebei to contact the Quartet Rebels.This time, it was even more difficult to persuade several rebel armies to encircle Qi County from all sides. According to the plan, a total of more than a dozen rebel armies would meet at the Licheng City of Qi County. Not at hand.

But the damned Pei Changcai and Shizihe's two thieves didn't follow the plan and entered Qi County early. Now not only their entire army was wiped out, but they also startled the snake.

Even if it was [-] pigs, the officers and soldiers in Zhangqiu City would have to catch them for a few days.But the more than [-] men and horses of the two thieves were defeated overnight.

More than [-] people were beheaded in Zhangqiu City, tens of thousands were captured, and the rest of them all dispersed. In the end, only a few hundred riders were able to follow the two thieves all the way to Bochang, Beihai.

There are more than 2 people. When he thinks that more than 2 people will be defeated overnight, Wang Bodang can't wait to chop off these two people with his sword. They are incompetent and idiots.

"Wang Sanlang, it's not that we are incompetent brothers, it's that Zhang Xutuo is too cunning, there are definitely not only three to five hundred old and weak villagers in Zhangqiu City, at least thousands of elites, otherwise my two brothers would not have suffered such a disastrous defeat. "Pei Changcai was still looking for excuses for his failure, but Wang Bodang was no longer interested in talking to them, so he waved his hand and asked someone to take the two of them to resettle.

"Sanlang, why do we have to fight Qi County?" Wang Bo asked.

Uncle Wang said, "This is arranged by my teacher. Do you know that the situation of mountains and rivers in the world can be divided into four corners and four sides plus a heart?"

"Is there such a division?"

"Of course, the grass belly with golden horns and silver borders is talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the horn belly here."

Of course, this is what the teacher Li Mi told Wang Bodang. The teacher Li Mi once told him that the world structure, especially military geography, is actually an irregular chessboard.

On this irregular Go board, Guanzhong, Hebei, Jiangdong, and Sichuan and Shu are its four corners, Hedong, Shandong, Jingxiang, and Hanzhong are its four sides, and the Central Plains is the central hinterland.

Although China has a vast territory, those nine regions played a decisive role in the wars of the past dynasties.

In the great battle related to the unification or division of the world and the rise and fall of dynasties, the competition of these nine regions is particularly critical.

Since ancient times, mountains and rivers have been paid attention to. Generally speaking, strategic locations will be formed in places where there are both dangerous mountains to rely on and rivers and waterways to circulate.

Several east-west mountains and rivers and several north-south mountains and rivers criss-cross, dividing the hinterland of China into several relatively independent regions, such as Taihang Mountain, an important dividing line between Hebei and Hedong, Yinshan and Yanshan, important dividing lines between North and Beyond the Great Wall, and The Qinling Mountains is the dividing line between China and the outside of the Pass, the Tongbai Mountain is the dividing line between the Central Plains and Jianghan, and the Dabie Mountains is the dividing line between Jianghan and Jianghuai.

Another example is the Yellow River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, and Hanshui River. These major rivers also play the role of geographical division.

These mountains and rivers have divided each unique geographical area.

The meaning of mountains is to block, but the value is to have holes to pass through.

The significance of the river lies in its circulation, and its value lies in having a stronghold to defend it.

Generally speaking, the fault zone of the mountain or the valley lowland formed by the source flow of the river cutting through the mountain is convenient as a traffic channel through the mountain.This is the case for the four fortresses in Guanzhong, the passages strangled by the Eight Xings of Taihang and the several plank roads passing through the Qinba Mountains.

Rivers are mainly used as traffic lines for the transportation of manpower and material resources.With rivers as dangerous obstacles, strongholds must be established at those important ferry crossings or at the intersections of tributaries and main rivers to ensure control of these rivers.For example, Mengjin and Pujin on the Yellow River, Guazhoudu and Caishidu on the Yangtze River, and Yingkou, Wokou, and Sikou on the Huaihe River were all accompanied by the formation of important military strongholds.

If there are mountains and dangerous places to rely on, it is easy to establish a base area in a chaotic situation, form a local order, and accumulate power; if there are rivers and waterways to flow, it is easy to deliver power to the outside, easy to expand outward, and easy to intervene in the overall situation.Most of the nine strategic locations mentioned above have these conditions.

"The four sides are the most urgent in the geography of the world. For example, there are four fortresses in Guanzhong, and the thousands of miles of fertile fields in the Central Plains make Guanzhong the top strategic point."

Wang Bo has also fought in battles, but his status was low before, and he had no access to this kind of strategic-level overall thinking.

"But why do we want to fight for Qi County?"

"Because the eastern part of Henan, as one of the four sides, also has its unique features. The eastern part of Henan is very prominent in the great plains of the entire Kanto region. The terrain here is characterized by low mountains and hills in central and southern Shandong, and plains on three sides. In the eastern part of Henan , has many important military points, all scattered on the four sides of these low mountains and hills."

"The Yellow River runs from east to west in the north, and is the key point of transportation between the east and west. After the opening of the Grand Canal, it will connect the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, connecting the north and the south. The eastern part of Henan is at the intersection of these two traffic points."

Wang Bo shook his head, "That's not right, the one above the intersection of the two points should be Luoyang or Xingyang, right?"

Wang Bo said, "Luoyang and Xingyang are indeed more at the intersection of key points, but the two places actually lack defensive support. A flat river is easy to attack and difficult to defend. The eastern part of Henan is different. There are hills here, although they are not comparable to Qinling and Taihang. On the flat Kanto Plain, it is also a strategic point."

He pointed out the importance of Qi County's location, "Especially Qi County, with Mount Tai and Changbai Mountains, the Yellow River in front, Jishui in the back, and the canal on the west side. This is the real strategic point. Who controls Qi County? County, who can truly control the Central Plains and control the two major water transportation strategic nodes."

In Li Mi's plan, the struggle for Guandong is very important. After all, Guanzhong and Luoyang are places under the strict control of the imperial court. It is very difficult to get involved easily. Since the battle of Liao, Henan and Hebei were the most affected, and the people complained the most. , the fire has been ignited, and what Li Mi needs his student Wang Bodang to do is to integrate the rebels from all over the country, seize the highland Qi County in eastern Henan, and operate accordingly.

Advance can break the throat of the canal and water transportation of the army conquering the East, or encircle Luoyang, the capital of the East, and retreat south to the rich Jianghuai to avoid the most elite soldiers of the Northern Region.

"So that's the case. I said, why do we have to go to Qi County, but now that Pei Changcai and the others have been defeated, should we continue to march into Qi County?"

"Of course, Qi County must be taken." Wang Bodang said in a deep voice, this is also the task given to him by his teacher Li Mi, no matter what, he must find a way to take down Qi County.

Taking down ten Beihais is not as effective as taking down one Qi county.

"But Zhang Xutuo is in Qi County, and it may not be easy to take down Qi County." Wang Bo said.

"No matter how powerful Zhang Xutuo is, he is only one person. He is short of major generals under his command. Let us unite with the rebels from all walks of life. If we gather people, we will pile him up to death."

(End of this chapter)