People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 400 Iron lock Yanxi, ready to go to war

The Wujiang River is vast, flowing downstream from east to west.

Li Xuan stood at the bow of the ship, holding the Eight-Faced Han Sword, and the black-bottomed gold-edged robe was rustling by the bitter river wind.

"Flicking Lengling" a homing pigeon flew from a distance.

Li Xuan raised his right hand, and the carrier pigeon landed directly on his forearm.

Li Xuan reached out and stroked the pigeon's feathers, and the pigeon immediately "cooed" twice.

Li Xuan lifted it vigorously, and the carrier pigeon flew high, but the secret letter on its leg was already taken off by Li Xuan.

"Lanxi County has..."

With a pinch of Li Xuan's fingers, the secret letter had been turned into scraps of paper and fell into the river.

Li Xuan's eyes swept across the fertile and fertile fields in his field of vision, and landed on the calm and solemn Qianniuwei behind him.

Unknowingly, in the bitter wind of the river, the big ship slowly sailed out of the boundary of the state city.

Li Xuan collected her mind, turned around, and pointed the tail of the eight-sided Han sword in her waist at the Wujiang River below.

Wang Bo, Wang Qin, Qiu Zhenmu, and Feng Hua handed over at the same time: "My lord!"

Li Xuan looked at everyone calmly, nodded and said: "Everyone has worked hard, let's go into the cabin. There is still some time before the spiritual cave. I will discuss what to do when we arrive."

"Here!" Wang Bo and others cupped their hands at the same time.

Qiu Zhenmu was at the end, looked at Li Xuan, and cupped her hands: "My lord!"

"How are you resting? The brothers of Qianniuwei are the only swords I can rely on, and they must be kept sharp at all times." Li Xuan looked around and nodded slightly to the many Qianniuwei.

"Don't worry, my lord, no one will complain about being tired, and making great achievements is just around the corner. Everyone can't wait to meet the rebels and kill him immediately." Qiu Zhenmu glanced across the crowd.

On the red clothes and gold armor, the eyes of every Qianniuwei are extremely eager.

After this trip, following Li Xuan, their merit books have already increased by many turns. Seeing that more opportunities to make meritorious deeds are in front of them, they are already extremely excited.

Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction, and said: "This is the best. Lanxi is the first hurdle for me to wait for this trip, so after arriving at the Lingdong, Brother Qiu, you personally bring a team of soldiers under Qianniuwei and Captain Yan. , set off immediately, head to Lanxi overnight, and cut off all connections between Lanxi and the east and north."

To the east of Lanxi is Jinhua Mountain, fifteen miles away, to the northeast across the mountains to the Pujiang River, and to the north of the Wujiang River to pass through Sanheguan and enter the Longmen Mountains.

Once the news communication between the east and the north is cut off, then only Lingdong Township in the south and Meiling Pass in the northwest are left for Lanxi.

Li Xuan came from the south with a large group of people, so the only thing Lanxi could contact was Meiling Pass in the northwest.

"Don't worry, my lord, I'll make arrangements now." Qiu Zhenmu immediately cupped his hands, then turned around and made arrangements.

Qiu Zhenmu, who has experienced so many things, did not have any doubts about Li Xuan's plan.

Every plan brings them victory.

Numerous victories have long established unbreakable confidence.

Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

The Qianniu Guards were all cavalry, and Li Xuan's Nanchang Mansion Guards were also all cavalry, but his Kuaiji Mansion soldiers only had a hundred horses, and all of them were infantry on horseback.

Only the vast majority of them were tall horses suitable for war horses that he found from Muzhou, Changzhou, Hangzhou, and even Wuzhou after he arrived in the south of the Yangtze River.

The remaining small part was carried by the sergeants themselves.

After all, this is Jiangnan, and the people here are better at water warfare, but they don't know much about horse warfare.

Because of this, the cavalry of Qianniuwei and Kuaiji Fubing became Li Xuan's most important trump card.

This is also their biggest advantage over those of the Tianyin Sect.

Today's Lanxi County is the best time for them to practice.

……

After entering the cabin, Wang Bo and Wang Qin were talking in low voices.

Feng Hua stood aside, looking at the map of Wuzhou hanging high on the wall, especially the Lanxi one.

"After winning Lanxi, you need to win Meiling Pass. What you need to do afterward is to defend Meiling Pass. To achieve this, the most important thing is to build ordnance, especially crossbows and catapults." Li Xuan said The voice sounded from behind Feng Hua, calm and firm.

Feng Hua immediately turned his head, cupped his hands to Li Xuan and said, "My lord!"

Li Xuan walked to Feng Hua's side, stretched out his fingers to the Meiling Pass, and said softly: "To the north of Meiling Pass are tens of miles of high mountains, and there is only one road in the middle. The south of the pass is the vast boundary of Lanxi. It is a two-foot-wide lane, and there is no way to deploy many troops."

Li Xuan's fingers slid up to the other side of the Muzhou Mountain Road, and slid down until Meiling Pass, and said at the same time: "The Tianyin Sect wants to attack the city, and they can't hold the crossbows on the city without manpower." Shooting, if there are too many manpower, it is easy to be taken advantage of by catapults and other institutions. The manpower arranged is not too many, and it is easy to be killed by cavalry recoil. A shock..."

"The prince is worried that the repair speed of the crossbow and catapult can't keep up?" Feng Hua immediately understood what Li Xuanhua meant.

Li Xuan nodded, and said: "Whether it's a crossbow or a catapult, they are all worn out, and the number of times they can be used is limited after all; once the battle starts, there is no time for repairs, let alone tens of thousands of people from Tianyin Sect. Yes, even if thousands of people come, we may not be able to support it. Therefore, in addition to preparing more finished products, please join the army and prepare more semi-finished products, so that they can be replaced and updated in a timely manner."

"Don't worry, my lord, I will obey the order." Feng Hua immediately took a step back and bowed to promise.

Raising his head and looking at Li Xuan, Feng Hua cupped his hands and said with a serious expression: "My lord, I have always had a question in my mind."

"You said."

"From now on, how long will it take for the Tianyin Sect to attack Meiling Pass?" Feng Hua needed to hear this answer.

All of Li Xuan's actions during this period have already gained the trust of everyone, so there are many people who are convinced by this time he judged.

After a little hesitation, Li Xuan continued, "The longest will not exceed ten days, and the shortest will not be shorter than five days."

"Oh?" Feng Hua's face was full of surprise, he was very curious, how did Li Xuan come up with such an answer.

"The Tianyin Sect's original plan to attack Wuzhou was ten days later. If this king's prediction is correct, then the Tianyin Sect's original plan was to take down Muzhou after ten days. Hurry up, we also need to gather believers, spread teachings, organize the army, gather food and grass, and distribute weapons, it will take at least three days to sort out a vanguard to attack Meiling Pass."

"Two days to cross mountains and mountains." Feng Hua nodded knowingly.

Li Xuan waved his hands and said, "Although the Tianyin Sect is a native of Muzhou, the marching of an army is different from walking alone. They pay attention to orders and prohibitions, so their speed cannot be fast, and when they reach the other side of the mountain, they may have to come down to rest overnight. , and then act again during the daytime the next day.

So even if the Tianyin Sect has received the news and started to mobilize the army immediately, we can at least have five days.

So at the earliest, after five days, we will welcome the first wave of strikers, but if..."

"What if?" Feng Hua asked subconsciously.

Li Xuan thought about it, and said: "Feng Canjun, after taking Lanxi, can we organize the local blacksmiths in Lanxi to make a batch of gadgets... If we can delay Tianyin's teaching for a while on the mountain road, we can win the battle." More prep time."

"Your Majesty will follow the prince's arrangement." Feng Hua immediately bowed his hands.

If he can really make something unexpected and useful to the war, then he, Feng Hua, will definitely have a chance to take another step up.

"That's good." Li Xuan looked at Wang Bo and Wang Qin, and said: "This time, I will be in charge of the front line of Lanxi, and Qin Sima will be in charge of the front line of Dongyang. Even if there are only two thousand soldiers and horses, this king is sure enough to guarantee that no one from the Tianyin Sect can even enter Lanxi County."

Li Xuan's words were full of confidence, and no one present was suspicious of him.

"It seems that the lord has a comprehensive plan, I wonder if you can tell me a little bit." Wang Bo looked at Li Xuan curiously.

Li Xuan smiled faintly, and said: "It should be so, I still need your help to check and make up for the omissions!"

……

Lingdong, Yanxi.

It is a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, but the river is suddenly bent, and the boats must slow down when they get here.

At dusk and sunset, three large ships came downstream from the east.

Li Xuan stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the Yanxi Village in front, carefully staring at the terrain.

On the east side of Yanxi River is the rolling Dahua Mountain, on the south side is the long-flowing Wujiang River, and on the west side is a vast plain.

But in the middle of the plain, there is also a large Lanhu Lake.

In this section, as long as the Wujiang River is sealed off, and then a barrier is set up on the road, no one can escape.

The big ship slowly pulls aside on the east bank of the Wujiang River.

In front, a huge iron chain pulls in the center, blocking all boats on both sides.

The ships coming from the east have already received the news that not only Yanxi Creek has been closed, but Sanhe Pass in front has also been closed.

But to the east, the checkpoint leading to Hangzhou on the Dongyang River was opened.

At this time, quite a number of ships were blocked between Yanxi and Sanheguan, unable to advance or retreat.

"I have seen the prince!" Yan Tao was first, followed by Qi Guang, and a group of government soldiers and soldiers, all waiting in an orderly manner.

Li Xuan slowly descended from the ship deck, glanced at the ship merchant who was watching this side, looked at Yan Tao, and said, "Let's go, go to your school grounds."

"Here!" Yan Tao bowed to Li Xuan, then bowed to Wang Bo, Wang Qin, Qiu Zhenmu and others, then turned around and led Li Xuan towards the school grounds.

Qi Guang followed Yan Tao and was about to follow, but at this moment, Qiu Zhenmu grabbed him and nodded, Qi Guang immediately stayed knowingly.

A large manor appeared by the river, Li Xuan was walking by the road, but looked at the Dahua Mountain on the east side, subconsciously asked: "Those people from the Tianyin Sect entered the state city from there?"

"Yes, it's because the officials didn't block it tightly, so I ask the lord to punish him!" Yan Tao stopped in his tracks and cupped his hands at Li Xuan, his expression full of remorse.

"It's none of your business. I did so many things in Zhoucheng just to lure them into attacking the city." Seeing Yan Tao's surprised expression, Li Xuan said softly: "These seven hundred black soldiers, they died in the city. Under the city of Wuzhou, it is better than when we attacked Lanxi and Meiling Pass, which caused us huge damage."

"I see." Yan Tao finally understood.

"You have been here for a long time, how do you know the situation in Lanxi?" Li Xuan stepped into the manor.

This place seems to be the house of a local rich family, and after Yan Tao came, he gave it up to Yan Tao.

Yan Tao regarded this place as a military camp, and after Qi Guang came, he also lived in it.

"Lanxi County has now mostly fallen into the hands of the Tianyin Sect. Although the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county magistrate are not followers of the Tianyin Sect, their families have already been controlled by the Tianyin Sect, so they are forced to follow the thieves. But outside Lanxi City, most of the people are not followers of Tianyin Sect, but there are always one or two people in their families who believe in Tianyin Sect, but they are just superficial believers."

Yan Tao explained Lanxi's current situation clearly in a few sentences.

"In that case, then tonight, you and Qiu Beishen will act together to completely block all news in the two directions northeast of Lanxi. After tomorrow morning, anyone will only be allowed to leave Lanxi, and no one will be allowed to enter."

"The next official obeys the order!" Yan Tao's eyes suddenly became extremely eager.

Going to war.

(End of this chapter)