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Chapter 344 Taiyuan County Raiders ([-])

According to historical records, Taiyuan blocks Taihang and Changshan in the east, Mengshan in the west, Huotaishan and Gaobiling in the south, and Dongxing and Xixingguan in the north, so it is called the Four Fortresses.

With an army of [-], Li Chongjiu, who entered the Jinzhong Basin from Yanmen, is now in front of him, the important town of Taiyuan County, and the pavement is unfolding.

Under the setting sun, the turbid waves of the Fen River flowed along the bank.

In ancient times, the water flow of Fen River was turbulent, far better than today. The torrent rolled and turned westward, heading straight for Zhaoyuqi of Daze.

On the Fen River, three pontoon bridges were erected, and Youzhou soldiers rushed to the river like a torrent.
The orderly army cavalry, the tall and burly Mohe heavy cavalry, and the infantry of the army marching forward on foot, all the people and horses on the road were highly morale, and they each marched south in formation.

"Bring the map!" Li Chongjiu said solemnly.

Immediately, two personal guards trotted to Matou and unfolded the map. Wen Yanbo, Ji Chuan, Yu Chigong, Wang Mahan and other generals stood beside Li Chongjiu.

"Yinghofer, where are Erto and the others?"

"We're almost here at Zhaoyuqi!" Wen Yanbo, the marching commander, reported.

Not to be outdone, Ji Chuan said, "This year's sky is dry, and Zhaoyuqi is completely dry for a hundred miles, so there is no need to worry about the muddy water, which will slow down the speed of our cavalry."

Zhaoyuqi is a large lake in Shanxi in ancient times, which is comparable to Yunmeng Lake (Dongting Lake) and Juqu (Taihu Lake).

Hearing this, Li Chongjiu slid his horsewhip from left to right on Lishi County Avenue, and touched a place called Queshu Valley next to Zhaoyuqi, and asked, "Where is Queshu Valley?"

Wen Yanbo on the side is from Taiyuan, he is familiar with the local terrain, and said: "Queshu Valley is a place that must pass through from Hexi to Taiyuan. I would rather avoid a thousand miles than dare to take this road, although this year is drought, but this place is also very difficult and dangerous. But once this is stopped, the road from Hexi to Taiyuan will be cut off."

Li Chongjiu laughed and said, "Last year Li Yuan defeated Song Laosheng, could it be here."

Wen Yanbo said: "Shanggu Gong Mingjian is in Queshu Valley."

Li Chongjiu said: "Immediately order Ertuo to lead [-] troops to Queshu Valley to block Li Tang Hexi's reinforcements. If the enemy troops in Xicheng attack and intercept them, just ignore the repulsion. Ying Hefu and Yan also lead [-] troops You don’t need to attack the city along the way, just go directly to Jinyang City to join our army.”

"Promise." Wen Yanbo immediately took the order, and Xue Wanshu, the secretary of the Governor's Mansion, joined the army and immediately drafted the documents on horseback.

After writing, he stamped Li Chongjiu's seal, sealed the envelope with wax paint, and then ordered someone to go to Shizhou on a fast horse.

At this time Ji Chuan said: "Let's go to Lishi County, Taiyuan will lose the barrier of Luliang Mountain. If two wings are broken, there will be no Luliang shelter, but in Jingxing, Li Tang still has [-] troops and must be on guard."

Li Chongjiu couldn't help smiling when he heard this.

Seeing that Li Chongjiu didn't take it seriously, Ji Chuan immediately said: "Mr. Shanggu, Jingxing is the direct descendant of Princess Pingyang, the third daughter of the Tang Emperor. This daughter raised [-] yuan in Guanzhong, and she was the first to attack Chang'an. Her subordinate Pan Heren, Li Zhongwen, Xiang Shanzhi, and Qiu Shili are all brave and skilled fighters and should not be underestimated."

Seeing Ji Chuan's words, all the generals twisted their hearts. Everyone knew the relationship between Li Chongjiu and Li Zhiwan, but everyone knew it.

At this time Wen Yanbo said: "Don't worry, Ji Langzhong. Lord Shanggu has already contacted Hengshan bandit Zhao Wanhai and marched from the east side to attack the east side of Taiyuan County."

Zhao Wanhai, everyone was taken aback.At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Zhao Wanhai raised an army from Hengshan County. After gathering more than [-] people, he was defeated by Yang Yichen and fell into hibernation.Now that the Sui court has collapsed, Zhao Wanhai has once again risen from Hengshan County.

Li Chongjiu said: "The governor of Hengshan County served Li Tang before, but Zhao Wanhai refused to accept it, so he intended to raise troops to seize this county. We just hit it off with him and took what we needed."
Hearing Li Chongjiu's words, all the generals were overjoyed that Zhao Wanhai was able to restrain Li Sanniang's [-] troops.Li Chongjiu's army happened to be as powerful as a broken bamboo, and went straight to Jinyang.

Li Chongjiu said: "Yuci is the key point between Jinyang and Jingxing. Who will cut this point for me?"

Hearing Li Chongjiu's words, Yu Chigong and Wang Mahan came out together and said: "I am willing to go."

When Li Chongjiu saw the generals calling for the battle, he was full of fighting spirit. He couldn't help laughing and said: "You are all my generals, Yuci is only one county. How can you kill a chicken with a sledgehammer."

At this time, a young general stood up and said: "Mr. Shanggu, a certain newcomer to the army has not achieved an inch of merit, and I implore the general to allow me to fight."

Li Chongjiu saw that it was Ying Yang Lang General Xue Wanche, and after the other party finished speaking, Ying Yang Lang General Xue Wanjun also spoke first: "Shang Gu Gong, the same is true for a certain one, please let me be the vanguard."

Seeing Xue Wanjun come forward, Xue Wanche said angrily: "Third Brother, how can you preempt me?"

Xue Wanjun said: "I am the elder brother, there is no reason for the younger brother to be in front."

Xue Wanche said: "Where is the distinction between brothers and sisters in front of the army?"

Seeing the two arguing, Li Chongjiu said: "Don't quarrel."

Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche also pleaded guilty.Li Chongjiu said: "Listen to me, General Ying Yanglang Xue Wanjun, I will give you 3000 troops, plus your headquarters to attack Yuci. After the capture, you must cut off the connection to the east of Jinyang."

"No!" Xue Wanjun got Li Chongjiu's promise, and immediately glanced at his younger brother triumphantly, and went down to take orders.

"Yingyanglang General Xue Wanjun obeys the order. I will make you the vanguard and lead the headquarters to attack Fenyang and open up the passage for our army to Jinyang."

The original name of Fenyang was Yangqu. After the Yang family founded the Great Sui Dynasty, it was renamed Yangzhi with the surname of Yang and the name of Evil Yangqu.In the 16th year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, it was renamed Fenyang, and the county seat was located in Mujing City.Fenyang is the passage to the north of Jinyang. Once it is breached, there will be no danger to defend the north of Jinyang, and Li Chongjiu's army can go straight to the city of Jinyang.

After hearing that Li Chongjiu entrusted him with this important task, Xue Wanjun's mood suddenly changed from disappointment to joy, and he said, "No."

At that moment, Xue Wanjun strode down.

Li Chongjiu looked at the generals and continued to issue military orders.

"Hu Benlang general Wu Gunai listens to the order. You lead your troops to attack Jiaocheng. After breaking the city, come and join me at Jinyang City."

"promise!"

Wu Gu Nai, who was as tall as an iron tower, clasped his fists heavily in front of Li Chongjiu, and immediately stepped on his Liaodong horse and left.

"Hu Benlang will take orders from Tan Zong. You lead your troops to attack Meng County. After breaking the city, come and join me at Jinyang City."

"Yes, brother."

Tanzong immediately danced with the iron rod, and also took orders to go.

At this time, Yuchi said respectfully: "Shanggu Lord, Jiaocheng, and Meng County are not important towns like Fenyang and Yuci, why send troops to attack and divide our forces."

Li Chongjiu said: "I don't know, it's just that this time, the army was short of food when they rushed thousands of miles to Taiyuan County, so they had to divide their troops, plundered the counties, and plundered food and grass. Otherwise, the food in the army would not be enough for ten days. Capital."

From Yanmen to Taiyuan County, there are rugged mountain roads along the way, and it is very inconvenient for our own army to transport grain. If we divide the troops to transport grain, we must send troops to protect the grain road.Li Chongjiu remembered that in history, Liu Wuzhou was defeated because of insufficient army food, and later the food and grass were robbed by General Li Tang.

So Li Chongjiu learned from Liu Wuzhou's lesson and regarded the success of the attack on Taiyuan as the most important factor in victory or defeat. Fortunately, it is now September, and the autumn is breezy.

Not only is his Fanjun cavalry in autumn when they are fattest and their horses are the strongest, but for Taiyuan County, September is also the time for a bumper harvest of wheat and millet. As long as they can eat from the enemy, they will not be short of food.
So now, regardless of the infantry and horse troops, it has become Li Chongjiu's fixed tactics to carry two big bags when marching.

This is also the saying of Sun Tzu's Art of War, eat the enemy for one minute, and fight for twenty minutes.

In order to seize food and grass, after Li Chongjiu's [-] main force entered the territory of Taiyuan Mansion, it quickly split into countless trickles, passing by in all directions.

The [-] horsemen on the western front captured Shizhou and completed their assembly. Together with the main force of Li Chongjiu's infantry in the front, they were like two huge crab claws holding Taiyuan in the middle, and the attack was fierce.

In Jinyang City, Li Tang's troops were not many at all, and after Li Zhiwan returned to Jingxing, it was even more difficult for Li Zhiwan to support her with this little force in Jinyang City.

In the city, Yin Kaishan, as the marching officer of Taiyuan Road, was worried all day long, and his troops were insufficient. He could only watch Li Chongjiu's army plundering the territory of Taiyuan County like locusts passing through the border.

The autumn crops are already ripe outside the city, but it is impossible to send people to harvest them inside the city.

And Li Chongjiu's soldiers, like experienced farmers, went to the field to harvest wheat.

That's all for harvesting crops. At the same time, Yuci, Mengxian, Fenyang, and Jiaocheng counties all came from news that they were surrounded and attacked by Li Chongjiu's army.

At the same time, in the direction of Queshu Valley, Li Chongjiu also sent troops to cut off the reinforcements coming from Hexi.

Yin Kaishan wanted to go out of the city to fight, but the strength of the two sides was too large. Even if Li Chongjiu divided half of his soldiers into the fields to harvest wheat, the remaining troops would still be twice as many as the defenders in Jinyang City.

Seeing that Li Chongjiu was harvesting food and grass recklessly, all the generals in Taiyuan City couldn't sit still and asked for a fight.But Yin Kaishan was very good at holding back his anger, and ordered the gates of the city to be closed in all directions, so that they could not fight until the reinforcements arrived.
Yin Kaishan is now counting on Li Zhiwan's [-] troops in Jingxing, Luzhou governor Guo Ziwu, and Haozhou governor Liu Shan, if any one of them arrives, he can launch a counterattack.

But things backfired. In October, Meng County first, and then Yuci, Fenyang, Jiaocheng and other cities all fell one by one, and the gates of Taiyuan County were opened.

King Li Yuanji of Qi heard the news that the counties around Jinyang City had fallen, and he couldn't sit still at this time. He immediately questioned Yin Kaishan, and asked sternly: "As the general manager of Taiyuan, why did the enemy army come without firing a single arrow? Is this the way to protect the country and the people for the orphans?"

Yin Kaishan could only say at the moment: "There is a huge difference in the strength of the enemy and us, and Li Bandit has taken the lead. Now we can only rely on Taiyuan's fortified city to hold on. If we go out to fight, we will lose."

Li Yuanji said with a sneer, "I've never heard of a city guard who can defeat the enemy. Now I'm ordering you to leave the city immediately to defeat the enemy!"

(End of this chapter)