Gu Jiqian's face was gloomy and he didn't say anything in a hurry. He first handed the two confidential letters to the other people sitting in the hall to read. After reading the secret letters, the faces of the other people present also showed uncertainty, ranging from hesitation to shock.
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Xu Huai, on the other hand, drank tea calmly and calmly.
Linfu Road is a military road, while civil affairs, prisons, storage and transportation are all subordinate to Hedong Road, so it has always been regarded as a part of Hedong.
Zheng Huaizhong, as the special Hedong Zhizhi envoy, had a higher status than the traditional economic and strategic pacification envoys, transfer envoys, prison guards, and promotion envoys. He commanded the power of all departments and clearly had control over Linfu Road.
Therefore, Zheng Huaizhong was able to directly bypass the imperial court and invite the remnants of the Khitan tribe to move to Linzhou and temporarily take refuge in the northern part of Fuzhou.
If not for this, even if the Gu family hoped in her heart that the remnants of the Khitan clan would move into Fuzhou and rely on each other, she would not be able to follow Zheng Huaizhong's orders at will.
As the envoy of Hedong, the secret order issued by Zheng Huaizhong to raid Taiyuan had the same effect on Fuzhou, and was even completely within the scope of Zheng Huaizhong's authority.
The choice now faced by the prefectures is either to fully cooperate or to disobey the order and suffer the corresponding consequences.
The plan to raid Taiyuan had been launched for more than a month, and the secret letters from Zheng Huaizhong and King Jing were only brought over by Xu Huai himself. It was not difficult for Gu to imagine the consequences of disobeying the order.
Xu Huai also didn't believe that the Gu family would resolutely choose to detain hundreds of them and surrender to the barbarians at this time.
Mrs. Gu couldn't make this decision at this time.
On the one hand, the Gu family has been filial and loyal to Dai Viet for more than a hundred years, the soldiers and civilians of Fuzhou and most of the Gu family's children still have the deep-rooted concept that they are Dai Viet subjects.
Before the Chihu people came to the city and all retreat routes in Fuzhou were cut off, Gu Jiqian wanted to surrender to the Chihu people. He had to consider whether one of his own children would kill his relatives out of justice and stab him in the back?
On the other hand, the imperial court performed very badly in the first defensive battle of Bianliang, which disappointed various local forces. However, at this time, most people still did not think that the Chihu people could destroy Dai Viet.
Especially now, the Red Husbands are already making preliminary preparations for the second southern invasion. A small group of elites have penetrated southward. Zheng Huaizhong and King Jing have actually launched a plan to raid Taiyuan at this time, which gives them some different confidence.
It makes it even more difficult for Gu to tell what the situation in Hehuai is.
As for Dai Viet, even if Hedong, Hebei, and Hehuai are completely destroyed, in Huainan, Jingjiang, Jiangdong, Zhejiang, Lingnan, Jiannan, and Guanzhong, there is still a hinterland several times deeper than that in the north. There are hundreds of millions of people in these places, and in Jianghuai
Competing with the Chihu people in this area is not an extravagant hope.
Xu Huai also always believed that the battle for the Jianghuai battlefield would truly determine Dai Viet's rough future.
Of course, Gu Jiqian's eldest son Gu Cong was leading more than a thousand soldiers from Fuzhou in Bianliang at this time, which was also a reality that the Gu family had to face.
"..."
The middle-aged man Gu Jian sitting at the lower left of Gu Jiqian is the Superintendent of the Army and Horses of Fuzhou and the second-ranking figure in the Gu family after Gu Jiqian. After everyone circulated the secret letter, he stared in a deep voice.
Xu Huai asked,
"How can we, with these few men and horses, break the siege of Taiyuan? Even if the Japanese soldiers are not on guard at Taohuachong, Xiling Ao, Yang Guang's old road, and Tianmen Pass, we are indeed caught by surprise and take advantage of the main force of the Chihu West Route Army to move south.
, went to the outside of Taiyuan City, killed the soldiers guarding Taiyuan, caught them off guard, and temporarily solved the siege of Taiyuan. However, the Hulu cavalry galloped at great speed, Taiyuan changed, and it only took three or four days to return reinforcements. Is it possible that our small number of troops could not do it?
Do you want to continue to fill it in to defend Taiyuan City, which has already run out of food?"
Others also nodded. They are planning to attack Taiyuan from Fuzhou and cross Lanzhou. Currently, Cao Shixiong has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Lanzhou staring at Fuzhou. Not to mention the direction of Xishan, he is going from Lanzhou to Taiyuan in order to achieve a surprise attack.
The purpose of the raid could only be penetrated through Yang Guang's old path.
The question is, Yang Guang's old road is too dangerous. If they enter Lanzhou, they will be alerted. At this time, as long as the enemy deploys a small number of elite troops on Yang Guang's old road, they may block their eastward path or drag them away.
In a day or two, more troops and horses can gather near Tianmen Pass at the east end of Yang Guang's old road to wait for work. How many troops do they need to fight through and successfully break the siege of Taiyuan?
There is another more critical thing, which is what is the significance of resolving the siege of Taiyuan?
The troop rush for reinforcements will be very fast. Where is the escape route for the raiding troops? It is impossible to expect three to five thousand people to raid and be trapped in the enemy's territory and still be able to fight against the elite Red Husband cavalry returning for reinforcements, right?
Seeing that Gu Jian did not intend to categorically disobey the order, but instead questioned the feasibility of the raid on Taiyuan, Xu Huai glanced at him and said solemnly:
"The Red Husbands are about to invade the south. The main purpose of our raid on Taiyuan is to share the worries of the imperial court and to attract part of the main force of the captive soldiers back to make them exhausted. This is also the time when we are loyal to Dai Viet, even if we are broken into pieces.
. So I was ordered to come here without considering whether I could escape safely..."
If you don't want King Jing to fall into injustice, you can no longer openly discuss the matter of supporting the establishment. King Jing Zhao Tuan also strictly prohibits further discussion of the matter.
In the overall situation of the world, the life and death of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan are irrelevant.
Xu Huai could not say that he was on this trip because he could not bear to see hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians guarding Taiyuan for nearly a year, choosing to die rather than surrender to the barbarians. In the end, the whole city was massacred.
This will only be laughed at by Mrs. Gu as an immature and impulsive move, which will give Mrs. Gu even more reason to refuse to cooperate.
So many cities in the east of Hedong will fall into enemy siege. How much can they save?
There must be an honest reason, and it is also a reason that both King Jing Zhao Tuan and Zheng Huaizhong strongly support. The purpose of raiding Taiyuan is to contain the main force of the captive soldiers and relieve the pressure that Bianliang is about to suffer.
This is what the imperial court has always wanted Fuzhou to do. Fuzhou has been reluctant to do it, so Zheng Huaizhong and King Jing ordered Xu Huai to do it.
Only in this way can the Xuanwu Army, a direct line of troops led by Zheng Huaizhong and King Zhao Tuan of Jing Dynasty, which they had managed to pull together with great difficulty, were once again stopped to the west of Hulao by the captured soldiers. In the end, they were unable to break the siege of Bianliang, and could they calmly face the accusations of the people of the world.
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For this reason, King Jing Zhao Tuan and Zheng Huaizhong would each send hundreds of elites to obey Xu Huai's control and participate in the raid on Taiyuan.
Of course, only such "righteousness" can force Gu to cooperate.
The imperial court repeatedly ordered the Gu family to contain the Japanese soldiers from the flanks. The Gu family had all kinds of scruples and found various reasons not to follow it. Now Xu Huai personally led thousands of elites over and just asked the Gu family to cooperate. If the Gu family continued to push back, they were not afraid of Shuo.
Will the state incident happen again?
Or maybe the Gu family would dare to refuse the soldiers of Chushan to enter Fuzhou at this time?
Gu Jiqian, Gu Jian and others present looked at each other for a long time before he said in a hoarse voice: "Marquis Xu Jun did not hesitate to risk his own life to raid Taiyuan to share the worries of the imperial court. It is an awe-inspiring act of justice. It is absolutely impossible for Fuzhou not to cooperate fully, but Marquis Xu Jun and
The men under my command are all loyal to Vietnam, and every one of them is especially precious to Vietnam in these difficult times. Nian An also hopes that the more careful the arrangements, the better..."
"Of course," Xu Huai saw that both Gu Jiqian and Gu Jian had expressed their willingness to cooperate. He also said in a slower tone, "Mr. Zheng, your highness asked me to lead troops to Fuzhou. You also want me to listen to you on all matters."
At the same time, I was asked to contact the remaining Khitan troops and ask them to send troops together."
"Why is that old fox Xiao Linshi willing to send troops?" Someone in the hall immediately asked angrily.
After absorbing the Xishan Fanhu, Xiao Linshi took control of Xishan, and the total number of Khitan remnant clans he received was just over 100,000, and his military strength was only about 10,000.
This was the last remaining resistance force of the Khitan, and it could not withstand heavy losses.
How could Xiao Linshi throw his last direct lineage troops into a tug-of-war with the Red Husbands before the situation saw a glimmer of light?
What qualifications does the Khitan have to compete with the Chihu people in Shuozhou?
The Red Husbands might even force the troops of Xiao Qian or Li Chulin to surrender and fight with them.
The Gu family can understand this, but it does not mean that they are satisfied with the remnants of the Khitan clan occupying Linzhou and not contributing half of their efforts to the northern part of Fuzhou.
"His Highness has ordered this. No matter what, I have to make a trip to see Xiao Linshi." Xu Huai said.
"Xiao Linshi may not be as easy to talk to as us. Marquis Xu Jun should be careful." Gu Jian couldn't help but stab Xu Huai and said.
Gu Jian'an was dissatisfied, and his words also contained a hint of threat. Xu Huai just looked at Gu Jian indifferently and said, "I still say the same old saying, for the sake of the imperial court, Xu Huai will not hesitate to break his body to pieces!"
The overtone is just that I don't need you to remind me how risky this trip is. I just walked into Fuzhou City with my head tucked into my belt.
Since I dare to bring such a small number of people into Fuzhou City, I am not afraid of going to see Xiao Linshi alone.
"Although there is little hope of persuading Xiao Linshi to send troops, Xiao Linshi should not embarrass Xu Junhou at this time." Gu Jiqian moderated.
After Xu Huai showed a tough stance, he still discussed some early details.
The Gu family needed to immediately raise the alert in Fuzhou, order all the people to avoid the fortress, implement the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness, and send a large number of scouts to clear out the wild people outside the fortress, including the captive soldiers and spies mixed in.
This is a more convenient, better and more covert way to receive the surprise troops and horses to secretly enter Fuzhou; at the same time, the troops entering Fuzhou will put on the flags and costumes of the Fuzhou army. Gu will order the main generals in Fuzhou to cooperate fully.
Fuzhou on the east coast only has a county of 20,000 people. There is a seven-fort defense system to resist the enemies in the north and northwest. It is so vast and sparsely populated. If the arrangement is careful, three to five thousand people can lurk into Fuzhou to wait for the final blow.
It is not difficult to achieve the opportunity to attack...
