Late Tang

(Thanks to Fen. Feng for the reward, please ask for a monthly ticket! Ranked [-]th on the classification list, brothers, can we take another step or two?)

On the tenth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Qianfu, the envoy Zheng Congxuan led seven townsmen and horses to raid Loufan Pass, defeating five thousand Shatuo soldiers and horses.After conquering Loufan Pass, all the generals scrambled to fight. Zheng Congxuan and Zhenwu Army Jiedu envoy Yu Jian stayed at Loufan Pass and allowed the remaining five towns to attack Xincheng. Helianduo, the military governor of the German army, each led his headquarters as the vanguard, and Li Zhuo, the military governor of Heyang, Li Zhong, the military governor of Yicheng, and Cui Anqian, the military governor of Zhongwu, each led their own troops to follow.

Both Tuoba Sigong and Helian Duo were dedicated to striving for merit, and the soldiers and horses marched quickly, and the soldiers and horses had already reached the new city that night.There are only [-] guards in the new city, so Ben and Lou Fan are referring to each other, but now they don't even know that Lou Fan Pass has been captured.That night, Tuoba Sigong repeated his old trick, using the method of attacking buildings and troubles, he took the new city and closed it, and then two [-] Huqi entered the new city.At dawn, when [-] soldiers and horses from the three towns of Heyang, Yicheng, and Zhongwu arrived, Xincheng had been completely captured.

After the soldiers and horses of the Dangxiang people and the Tuyuhun tribe captured Xincheng, they plundered and raped women and robbed property.When Tuoba Sigong seized the city, the resistance in the city was fierce, and the loss was not small. After entering the city, he simply ordered the massacre of the city. Helianduo did not stop him at all. At one point, the two sides even fought each other over looting.

When the follow-up troops from the three towns arrived, Xincheng had already become an empty city. The Tuoba and Helian tribes looted the entire city, and the severed heads piled up like a mountain.The two Hu soldiers not only killed all the Shatuo soldiers, but also killed all the Shatuo tribe and other tribal men in the city to pretend to be military exploits.The Tuoba tribe got [-] heads, and the Helian tribe got more than [-] ranks. Those children and women's belongings were divided up by the two tribes.

Cui Anqian, the governor of the Zhongwu Army, is the younger brother of the former Prime Minister Cui Youzhi. He is the most upright and honest man. Last time, he was hated by Tian Lingzi for refusing to help Tian Lingzi arrange his elder brother to serve in the Zhongwu Army.This time, the Zhongwu Army was also dispatched.The territory of the Zhongwu Army is not large, only Xu, Chen, and Cai states.However, the Zhongwu Army has always been arrogant and general. After Cui Anqian took office, he reorganized the army and recruited some strong and new Zhongwu Eight Capitals, each with 1000 troops. Known as the Yellow Head Army.

Among the allied forces of generals, the military discipline of the Zhongwu Huangtou Army is undoubtedly the best.After Cui Anqian rushed to Xincheng, he was very angry when he saw that Dangxiang Tuoba soldiers and Tuyuhun Helian cavalry dared to massacre the city.

Cui Anqian broke into the city directly with the eight generals of Zhongwu, and asked people to invite Tuoba Sigong and Helian Duo, put the sword in his hand on the ground, and asked them angrily: "We are the king's teacher of the imperial court. Put down the rebellion. The people of Daibei are looking forward to the imperial court to relieve the people, but now you are disregarding the discipline of the army, openly massacring the city, raping and looting, killing innocent people indiscriminately, how do you feel?"

Seeing that Cui Anqian was furious, the two couldn't help being terrified. Firstly, they were terrified by Cui Anqian's elite army of Zhongwu Badu, and secondly, Cui Anqian had a close relationship with Li Jing, and he was Li Jing's other teacher. Cui Yunqing's brother from the same clan, one is the Qinghe Cui family, and the other is the Qingzhou Fang branch of the Qinghe Cui family.The two were terrified and speechless. In the end, they could only watch as Cui Anqian transferred Zhongwu Badu into the new city, captured Tuoba and Helian troops who were still looting, and sent them to the soldiers of Wuzhen.In the end, the two had no choice but to order the execution of more than 100 people. The rest of the captured people were also punished with military sticks. Even the stolen property and population were forced to hand over at this time.Although the two of them didn't resist on the face, they already hated Cui Anqian very much in their hearts.

The soldiers and horses of the five towns entered the new city and stopped marching temporarily, waiting for Li Jing to attack Yanmen.

After passing through Yanmen Pass, Li Jing arrived at Yanmen City, Daizhou's prefecture, as scheduled. Here, Li Keyong had no intention of defending Yanmen City. Therefore, as soon as Li Jing's soldiers arrived, only a hundred cavalry in the city immediately abandoned the city and fled back to Yanmen Pass on Juzhu Mountain. .

When Li Ke heard that Li Jing led an army of [-] to Yanmen, he couldn't help being angry and shocked.He did not expect that Li Jing would dare to march in such a snowy weather.Li Keyong was about to send troops to deal with Li Jing, but Liu persuaded him, "Among all the towns in the imperial court, Li Jing is the strongest, with [-] troops under his command, and the Wei Daiyun states are all under Li Jing's hands. It is better to pretend to surrender to Li Jing and stabilize him first."

Li Keyong followed Liu's persuasion and asked Li Cunzhang, one of the seven generals of Yunzhou, to go to Yanmen City to deliver a letter to Li Jing.

Li Jing summoned Li Cunzhang at Daizhou Governor's Mansion, looked at Li Keyong's oldest foster son, and said with a light smile, "Li Keyong sent you here, why?"

Standing under the hall, Li Cunzhang looked at Li Jing quietly. Li Jing's youth made him feel a little unbelievable. Not only was he young, but what was more important was that although Li Jing was tall, but because of his fair complexion, he was full of heroism , looks more like a scribe.In particular, Li Jing was wearing a round-neck gown, a black gauze cap on his head, a white face, and a short beard an inch below his chin. He was sitting in a chair in the hall, holding a handful of books in his hand.

"The reason why I came here this time is because both Li Zhenwu and Li Liuhou admire Li Zhenguo's reputation very much. Li Zhenwu and his son had no intention of rebelling against the imperial court. It was all just a misunderstanding. Today, Li Zhenwu and his son are willing to return to the imperial court and serve Li Tang. I would like to ask Li Zhenguo to mediate on my behalf, to show my sincerity and admiration for Li Zhenguo, Li Zhenwu is willing to marry his legitimate daughter to Li Zhenguo, and the two families will marry each other to make Qin and Jin good."

Li Jing sneered, and Zhang Chengye, the military superintendent next to him, had already scolded angrily: "Bah! Zhu Xie's father and son have received the state's favor for generations, and they don't know how to repay them, but they defy the sky and have no morals. The rebellion raised troops and caused chaos. My emperor sent troops to fight for rebellion. My commander-in-chief responded to the emperor's order and was trying to deter his nine clans in order to frighten the world. My commander-in-chief is also able to marry a rebel, and you are also worthy? I will not kill you, you go quickly, let Li Ya'er quickly surrender and surrender, Bound to surrender, maybe it will give him a happy time."

Li Cunzhang didn't expect this white-faced eunuch to be so powerful, but he refused to leave and just looked at Li Jing.

Li Jing's eyes were still looking at the book, and he casually passed a page and saw that he was still there, so he turned his head and said with a sneer, "What Zhang Jianjun said is exactly what I mean, since you don't want to leave, then don't leave." Come. Come, tell Li Cunzhang's followers what Zhang Jianjun said, and let him go back. Li Cunzhang and the rest of his followers will stay and be imprisoned temporarily."

Li Cunzhang's face changed, "The two armies are at war, if you don't kill the envoy, Li Jing, you can't do this!"

"What kind of envoy are you? Li Ya'er is just a traitor, take him away!" Li Cunzhang's bravery and Li Jing still knew, and at this moment, he actually sent him to the door, Li Jing would not be pedantic to send him away again. sent back.Come and catch one, catch one, and Li Keyong will lose one assist.

Li Cunzhang came with dozens of people when he came, but when he returned, there was only one soldier left.Seeing this situation, Li Keyong angrily killed the soldier who reported the letter with his sword. "Li Jing's a thief, bullying me too much!" Immediately, soldiers and horses were called to attack Li Jing.

Mrs. Liu had already heard the news and rushed over to dissuade him from the left and right from Gai Yu.

"Then what do you say?"

With a bitter face, Gai Yu told the news about the fall of Loufan and Xincheng that he had just received, "Loufan, Xincheng and Yanmen are the southern gateways of Shuozhou. Now that the second of the three cities has been lost, it is too late to continue guarding Yanmen." It didn't work. There are many soldiers in the imperial court, and now they have divided into three groups to encircle them. Loufan New City fell, Zheng Congxuan's [-] troops have entered the south of Shuozhou, and Li Jing still has [-] troops in the north of Yunzhou. Although Yanmen The danger is limited, but the Tang army only needs to have Li Jing's soldiers and horses to hold us back, and the other two soldiers and horses can directly follow our back. In the current situation, Yanmen can't defend alone. Without outflanking them, we first took the initiative to abandon Yanmen and retreat to Mayi and Shanyang, so that our soldiers and horses can be concentrated, with Shanyang, Mayi, and Jincheng as the horns of each other."

Li Keyong asked Liu Shi again, and Liu Shi still felt that the officers and soldiers were invincible, and the 36 strategy was the best strategy.

"Go back to Mayi first. If there is a chance, we will drive back Li Jing's [-] soldiers and horses in the north, make a way out of the fortress, and break out of the fortress."

Now Li Keyong made up his mind, he quietly opened the north gate at night, the [-] infantry from Guanzhong went first, and Li Keyong personally led [-] cavalry behind.Yanmen is closed, but there are still black flags all over the place, with torches sticking out.

When it was dawn the next day, the scouts from the Flying Eagle Battalion realized that something was wrong, and cautiously approached the gate, only to find that the city was empty.Immediately reported to Li Wei urgently, Li Wei sent special soldiers to the top of the city, only to find out that Xiongtou of Yanmen, the number one Xiongguan in Jiuzhaigou, has turned into an empty city.

Li Jing was very happy after hearing the news.It is better for Li Ke to run. If a grand pass like Yanmen Pass really wants to attack the city, it is estimated that Li Jing's 2 horses will not take a month or two, and it will be difficult to take half of the casualties.

The soldiers from the town entered Yanmen Pass without bloodshed. Li Jing received Yanmen Pass and sent messengers to report to Loufan Pass.

After Zheng Congyu received the news that Yanmen Pass had been closed and Li Keyong had abandoned the pass and fled to Mayi, he was in high spirits. He immediately rewarded the messenger and wrote back a letter, asking Li Jing to send troops immediately, and together they sent troops to meet at the city of Shanyang.

Afterwards, Zheng Congxuan left a group of soldiers and horses to guard the building, and he and Yu Jian led the army to Xincheng, summoned the generals of the towns, announced the good news, and ordered the whole army to attack Shanyang City.Li Zhuo, the governor of Heyang, and Li Zhong, the governor of Yicheng, saw that Tuoba Sigong and Helianduo easily took down Loufan Pass and Xincheng, and Li Jing even took down Yanmen Xiongguan without bloodshed. Ke Yong's downfall is imminent, and they all ask for a fight.

Only Cui An, the military governor of the Zhongwu Army, read the copy of Tuoba Sigong and Helianduo in front of Zheng Congyu, saying that they massacred cities, raped and looted, and killed innocent people indiscriminately.After hearing this, Zheng Congxuan only reprimanded the two of them in public, but said that when employing people right now, instead of punishing them, they let the two of them make atonement. This result made Cui Anqian very dissatisfied.

In the end, Zheng Congxuan still took Tuoba and Helian as the forwards, led the four towns of Hedong, Heyang, Yicheng, and Zhongwu as the central army, and asked his deputy envoy Yu Jian to lead the Zhenwu army as the rear army to escort food.Forty thousand soldiers and horses went straight to Shanyang City, the governor of Shuo Prefecture. (To be continued.)