The city of Mayi was destroyed, and only the Turks were most proud... Despite the civil strife, they finally held the important town of Mayi in their hands.
If the Turks want to attack the east of Hedong, they must take advantage of Mayi. This nail must not fall into the hands of the Tang army... Yugu plans to return north with satisfaction.
The most disappointed person was naturally Liu Shirang. He originally thought that Gao Manzheng would be able to hold on for a while. As long as it snowed heavily, Yuan Junzhang would inevitably withdraw his troops. Now that Ma Yi fell, the DPRK and the Central Government would definitely hold him to account... Who else would be there besides himself?
Take the blame?
Perhaps the proud ones are Li Gaoqian and Li Shenfu... but the most aggrieved and unhappy person is Yuan Junzhang himself.
Although it had withstood the fierce attack for more than a month, the city gate of Mayi was still stable. With the horses passing through the gate, Yuan Junzhang saw that the city was still in chaos. Thinking about what he had just seen, the mess outside the city, he couldn't help but sigh.
Yuan Junzhang was the son of the former governor Shi Yuankan. Although he did not study at a young age, he was agile and brave and good at managing politics. He was not an ordinary martial artist.
After getting off his horse outside the Shuozhou Governor's Mansion, Yuan Junzhang felt a little emotional. This house was built by Wang Rengong, the former governor of Mayi in the Sui Dynasty in the early years. Later, Liu Wuzhou killed Wang Rengong and seized Mayi. Later, Liu Wuzhou was defeated and he took over. Six months ago, Gao Manzheng
Seize the throne, and then regain Mayi yourself.
This important military town has changed hands six times in a row in just six years, with an average of once a year... I don’t know when the next time will be.
Walking into the study, Yuan Junzhang sat down silently, frowning, and took a book casually, not knowing where his mind was going.
Although he captured Mayi, Yuan Junzhang is now very depressed. In fact, although he has the intention to regain Mayi, he does not want to fight this battle at this time... After Yuan Junzhang stormed Mayi for more than a month, Yuan Junzhang
I clearly feel that my foundation has been shaken.
This is inevitable. Yuan Junzhang's home base was originally in Shuozhou, but he was forced to go to Yunzhou by Gao Manzheng. His footing was unstable and he relied on Turks, but he wanted to seize grain and grass in Yunzhou and forcibly recruited young men to accompany his army...
…
After the capture of Mayi, Yuan Junzhang hesitated and was in a dilemma. He wanted to return to Yunzhou, but Yugushe refused without hesitation... The Turks needed Mayi, an important military town.
But sticking to Mayi... Yuan Junzhang has no confidence.
Although it was only one year apart, Yuan Junzhang's strength was already much weaker than before. First there was Gao Manzheng's rebellion, then the Mayi defeat, and then this vigorous attack on the city resulted in heavy casualties.
The most important thing is that Yuan Junzhang was very aware of the importance of Mayi. The Turks took advantage of Mayi to attack Yanmen Pass to encroach on the east of the river, and the Tang army also intended to occupy Mayi and push the front beyond Yanmen Pass.
Yuan Junzhang threw down his books and sighed in the room, pacing back and forth... Do you want to join the Tang Dynasty?
After all, he occupied the two states of Shuo and Yun, and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Yuan Junzhang was a little reluctant...and the Turks would not just sit idly by, and Gao Manzheng's fate was still vivid in his mind.
But if he was forced by the Turks to garrison Mayi, would the Tang army watch helplessly?
If it had been last year, maybe the Tang Dynasty could still endure it. After all, in the six years before that, the Tang army had never set foot west of Yanmen Pass. But since Gao Manzheng surrendered the state... and then lost it after winning, the feeling is definitely different.
More importantly, this year Gaoman surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, causing Mayi to change hands. Regardless of whether there was civil strife in the Turks... the result was that the Turkic army failed to invade Hedong this year.
In this case, would Emperor Li Tang tolerate Ma Yi leaving his control?
Yuan Junzhang was caught in the middle by the Turks and Li Tang, unable to move up or down, even raising his hands and feet... The most important thing was that he lost confidence and could not see where there was hope.
Thinking of what he saw during today's patrol, Yuan Junzhang cursed lightly. Although he was no more than a young scribe, and although he was no more than a Bailihou, he had a vicious mind, and the tactics he used seemed ordinary, but were actually vicious... Liu Heitai died at his hands. It was really
No injustice!
After Yugu made a false shot at Yanmen Pass and retreated to the west, Yuan Junzhang rectified his situation and realized how much trouble Li Shan had brought to him... This was also the main reason why he lost confidence, or what he saw today gave him
A fatal blow.
Although Yunzhou and Shuozhou were both places of the Fourth War and experienced many years of war, the catastrophe of this battle... far exceeded any previous ones.
Under the pressure of the Turks, Yuan Junzhang had no choice but to forcibly raise his troops south to attack Shuozhou more than a month after Xin's defeat. He squeezed out almost all the resources in Yunzhou, from population to food and grass, leaving almost nothing left for the people.
And the Turks' raids on Shuozhou were ruthless... Just think about it, this battle lasted for more than a month. For the first seven or eight days, Liu Shirang was willing to go out of the city to fight. At most, the Turks would help each other for ten battles a day.
But after Liu Shirang retreated into the city, it could only be that Yuan Junzhang led the infantry to attack the city. The remaining tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers... Do you expect them to suddenly collectively change their mind and eat fast and chant Buddha instead of looting places?
It was under this circumstance that Li Shan's strategy of amassing wealth and absorbing the population through business methods exerted great power... Li Shan never thought it would be so exaggerated, and neither did Yuan Junzhang.
Yunzhou's cronies wrote almost every day describing the people's escape. Yuan Junzhang personally went on a patrol today. He stood on the commercial road from Yunzhou, Shuozhou to Daizhou, watching the endless stream of people with good food going eastward.
...This scene gave Yuan Junzhang great excitement.
Yuan Junzhang was not a merciful person, but he was very keenly aware that the people's support was gone.
Already dependent on the Turks, and even more so with the help of sabers and palms, Yunzhou and Yunzhou, the people's support was not important to Yuan Junzhang, but he also knew that the people could not survive and there was nothing he could do.
If the people are not afraid of death, why should they be afraid of death?
What's more, not to mention the people of the two states, many soldiers under his command have fled, and some of his personal guards have even abandoned them... For example, the Hong family's personal guards who have followed the Yuan family for decades and served for three generations have their eldest son by their side.
The second son died in the battle, and the third son followed Erlang. As a result, they had a dispute with the Turks over food and grass, so Erlang simply sent the whole family to Dai County.
After thinking about it, Yuan Junzhang cursed a few more times. He was a young county magistrate who had not yet been crowned, which was a good trick!
It seems simple, but it is like a big net that tightly binds you and leaves you with nothing to do.
"Jun Erlang, please see me."
The guard's report sounded outside the door. Yuan Junzhang hummed, but thinking of his son Yuan Xiaozheng, he couldn't help scolding Li Shan... This guy is really not a good bird!
After Yu Gushe led his army to the south, Yuan Junzhang immediately confirmed one thing after several tests. Li Shan's existence or the news about Li Shan was not light... at least in Yu Gushe's mind.
Not a light weight.
But before Yuan Junzhang could think about how to use this weight, Yuan Xiaozheng came back from Dai County... and happily told him that Master Li had accepted the boy as his disciple!
Yuan Junzhang turned pale at that time. If Yu Gushe knew about this... the only son of Jieli Khan had always been an unreasonable person.
Looking at his son walking quickly with complicated eyes, Yuan Junzhang sighed. He also thought about making a clear distinction between his son and Li Shan... the name of master and disciple is all nonsense, there is no such thing!
But not to mention that Yuan Xiaozheng wanted to recognize this teacher, when Yuan Junzhang heard his son recite the "Inscription on the Humble Room", he knew that the master-disciple relationship was inseparable.