Leaving Huazhou, crossing the Weishui River, heading south to Shangluo, then passing through Danshui River and descending through Wuguan, we will exit the Qinling Mountains and will soon enter the Nanyang Basin.
The Danshui flows down along the western edge of the Nanyang Basin. To enter here, the team needs to go east, cross the Junshui of the Danshui flow, and then enter the heart of the Nanyang Basin.
There are no fixed bridges on the Junshui River, so the only way to cross the river is by boat. Li Tai's men, horse soldiers, craftsmen, soldiers, soldiers, etc., totaled more than 15,000 people, plus a huge number of people.
It is obvious that if we want to cross the river with all the heavy logistics teams, only three or five ferries can be used.
As early as when they were about to arrive at Wuguan, Li Tai rode ahead and notified the local governors to prepare for the army. The first place the team entered after leaving Wuguan Ancient Road was Xizhou, and Xizhou was then
Cui Xuanyou, the governor, had already led his ministers to greet Li Tai and his party in the state.
"Cui You, the lower official, has asked you to send some people to deliver the message. Now all the state and government officials are at the border to greet you respectfully. The state government has also tried its best to provide the boats and carriages needed for the army's journey. If there are any shortcomings, please forgive me!"
Seeing Li Tai riding out on horseback surrounded by all the soldiers, Cui You hurriedly led the people to meet him and stood in front of the horse on the left side of the road to bow to him.
When Li Tai saw this, he quickly turned over and dismounted. He quickly raised his hands to support Cui You's arms and did not dare to accept the courtesy. He said with a smile: "Cui You is the first to advance in matters, and he is virtuous in private affairs. The juniors come here later."
I still need to ask for more advice, and don’t be too polite when riding, just to make fun of the juniors.”
In the early years when he first entered Kansai, when Li Hu made things difficult for him and unintentionally offended the eldest son's family, Cui You had come forward to help him. Now that they meet here, Li Tai will naturally not be arrogant because of his higher official position.
Seeing Li Tai's attitude, Cui You was quite pleased, but he still adhered to the etiquette of his subordinates and introduced the people in his state capital to Li Tai one by one. He then said with a smile: "I know that something will happen to you in Jingzhen.
The officer's heart is really uplifted, which makes you a distinguished and proud man. He is brave enough to defeat all the troops, harmonizes with the masses and can inspire people to make progress. Now that all the people are looking up to you for your outstanding demeanor, you should know that the preface is true!"
Today, Li Tai can be said to be the favorite among the clans that migrated to the west. It can be said that he single-handedly broke through and elevated the treatment and power of the Kanto clan in the Western Dynasty. Such as Cui Qian and others
Relatives and party members have made real progress because of it.
In recent years, Li Tai has shown himself to be strong and brave. Every time he was praised and praised, it was related to his military exploits. People at that time were more cautious and respectful when facing him. It had been a long time since he had heard similar praise. After hearing this, he was very happy.
Talking and laughing with Cui You, they went to the prefecture.
Xizhou is also one of the thirteen states under Li Tai's command, but its territory is not very large. It is located in the transition zone between the Qinling Mountains and the Nanyang Basin. Its basic function is to guard Wuguan.
The entrance and exit of the road.
Li Tai only supervised military affairs, so it was not easy for him to inquire too deeply about the people's livelihood and government affairs here. However, when he asked Cui You about the state's military preparedness, the answer he got was a bit dumbfounding.
Although Xizhou is at the state-level administrative level, the only thing that can be called an armed force is the more than 2,000 barbarians allocated to the state capital. If there is military demand, it can barely make up four to five hundred barbarians.
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Although Xizhou's armed forces are weak, that is because of its position as a state, and it is not without its merits. It is an important transit point between Nanyang and Guanzhong, so the reserves of vehicles, horses, boats and other means of transportation are very considerable, and
Wuguan guards often rest here when they are on duty.
After hearing Cui You's introduction, Li Tai immediately became interested and asked Cui You about the preparations for warships, attack equipment, etc. for water battles.
After hearing this, Cui You shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Water warfare is certainly not what we northerners are good at. Even if warships are prepared, they will inevitably be idle for a long time, and the annual maintenance cost is not small. Therefore, the state does not have much preparation. Even Jingzhou
This town also has few provisions, and the only boats we can use are to cross the river. But if the war requires it, we can attack the enemy's waterfront garrison. If we can't attack it, there's no point in thinking about it."
Li Tai also heard the implication of Cui You's words, which is that we are really not good at water warfare. If you really want to do it, it's not impossible. If you capture the enemy's dock, you will have warships to use. But if you can't even attack the southerners' dock,
Come down, then just take a shower and go to sleep.
So being poor is not useless. At least you can have a safety net when you are hot-headed. If you are rich and have what you want, then giving away your life will be extremely smooth.
Li Tai stayed another night in the capital of Xizhou, and asked Cui You about the current situation around Jingzhou. Cui You's answer also made him afraid to be optimistic.
All in all, Wang Sizheng abandoned the town and went to Henan, which caused a very bad impact on Jingzhou and even almost created a power vacuum.
Changsun Jian has been in the town for many years. Although he has made little achievements in military and political affairs, he is finally able to maintain a basic situation and stability. Under Changsunjian, the most important military and political figure in Jingzhou is Quan Jing, who came from the Heluo battlefield.
Xuan. Quan Jingxuan's troops were also the most effective troops in Jingzhou before. They could defend the territory and overwhelm both the inside and outside.
Although some of the more than 10,000 troops that Wang Sizheng brought from Jingzhou were from Hengnong, most of them were locals in Jingzhou.
Since the Bafu rarely directly increases troops in Jingzhou, the development of Jingzhou's armed forces is also very slow. Although there are tens of thousands of them, most of them are local powerful tribes and barbarians, and only a few are actually under the jurisdiction of the state government.
Thousands of people.
When Wang Sizheng went to Henan, he took away most of the state soldiers, especially Quan Jingxuan's troops, leaving Jingzhou with no military force representing the Western Wei Dynasty for a while. Only a few county officials
He could not suppress the mighty barbarian chieftain at all.
These local powerful barbarian chiefs live on the border between the north and the south. They are cunning and prone to chaos. Seeing that Jingzhou's defenses are so empty, they are naturally ready to take action. Even some who have close contacts with the Southern Dynasties take advantage of this.
In order to convey the news and attract the southerners to join the invaders, Liang Guo led the invasion with his clan member Xiao Fan, which is not unrelated to this.
Fortunately, Quan Zhongzun, a powerful force in Shangluo, arrived with his troops in time, set up additional defenses and called on the people of the state to resist, and successfully defended the state territory. The main way Quan Zhongzun ordered the people of the state was to distribute a large number of state and county official positions.
Grant it to those mighty barbarian chiefs who attracted the attention of the public.
So now, although Jingzhou has been saved, its personnel and administration are in a mess. It can be said to be an out-and-out mess.
Cui You only knew a rough idea of the military and political chaos in Jingzhou. After all, he was still subordinate to Jingzhou in terms of authority. Telling Li Tai this was just a precautionary measure for him.
But after Li Tai listened, he couldn't help but feel that even if it was just a vaccination, the medicine seemed a bit strong.
Feeling that the situation in Jingzhou was not good, Li Tai did not continue to stay on the way. Early the next morning, with half of the troops and horses crossing, he led his three thousand elite troops straight to Rangcheng.
The Nanyang Basin was prosperous in the Han Dynasty, but it quickly became lonely after the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In addition, it was already late autumn when Li Tai arrived here. The grass and trees in the fields were withered, and it was extremely lonely. There were very few people in sight.
, where there are occasional settlements of villages, there must be walls to isolate the inside and outside, which shows the depth of the damage caused by wars.
When Li Tai saw this scene, he couldn't help but frowned. In his opinion, Nanyang has rarely been at war with the Three Kingdoms in the past few years, and the latest situation that his cousin Cui Qian learned from Zhang Sunjian also said that the lives of the people in Nanyang
Stability has always been followed by chaos. But based on what he saw on the ground, the people were frightened, which was far from what they should be like in peaceful times.
As they marched along, the ranger scouts scattered around also reported that there would be groups of disciples appearing around them. They thought they were afraid of the size of their team and did not dare to approach them. If they chased them, they would disperse. They did not look like good people.
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The cavalry brigade of more than 3,000 people was still very intimidating in this wilderness. Li Tai and his party successfully arrived outside Rangcheng without any surprises.
The city has a circumference of nearly twenty miles, and is quite large. There is a river running east and west around the city in the south. In the east of the city, there are mounds of earth, with forts and watchtowers on the mounds. The two city gates in the northwest are straight.
It was closed tightly, and it looked like it was well guarded.
Li Tai walked around the city to admire it. On top of the city, there were constant shouts from the defenders nervously, and the few city gates that were opened were also hurriedly closed.
Li Tai was waiting to see how the soldiers guarding the city reacted to stress. He was not in a hurry to announce the names of his troops. His troops were only arrayed in the west of the city. Looking at the soldiers who were constantly running around in the city, they seemed to be in good order, but Li Tai
It was also noticed that a considerable number of these soldiers were not wearing ordinary hakama pleated military uniforms, but mostly had stripes and colorful clothes, and most of their shouts were in dialect with obscure tones that were difficult to understand.
At this moment, another stream of smoke and dust came from the rear from far to near. Several cavalrymen rushed forward, waving their hands to indicate that they had no weapons. After approaching, they shouted loudly: "May I ask if your general has entered the town?"
Xihe Gong Li Shijun? Some subordinates of Yizhou Prefecture were originally waiting for the envoy on the post road. They heard that there was a large group of people entering the country on the side road..."
Li Tai then waved his hand to signal his soldiers to come forward and display the talisman and identify himself. After the other party saw that everything was correct, he rode his horse back to report. Soon, the group of knights came towards him one after another. The first one was Quanzhong, the former governor of Jingzhou.
obey.
Quan Zhongzun met Li Tai before, and they had only been separated for a few months. Now he was as enthusiastic about returning as before. He dismounted from a distance and walked towards him, crossed his hands and said with a smile: "Since I got the order, I have never been there."
We have been waiting for you to enter the town for a long time, but at this time of year, we welcome you at the wrong time. It is really rude!"
However, the crowd behind him was not as enthusiastic about Li Tai's arrival as Quan Zhongzun. A short and stocky middle-aged man in colorful clothes, who seemed to be the chief of the Barbarians, said in a deep voice: "Jing
The situation in the town is very evil, which is different from that in Kansai. If you let me wander around as much as you want, I'm afraid you will be disturbed in the wild."