The people in Jingzhou were not familiar with Li Tai's style of doing things, so his casual actions caused the crowd to become very excited and lively.
Originally, Li Tai was supposed to be the biggest suspect in kidnapping the missing three people, but after some operations, the suspicion on him was eliminated, and he also established a more heroic and righteous image to the public.
Of course, not everyone thinks he is innocent. After all, too many coincidences often mean something is fishy, and calling a thief to catch a thief is not a clever and unimaginable trick.
However, even if some people still have this suspicion, they dare not talk about it publicly anymore, especially the three families who are suffering. Instead of doubting the new envoy, they continue to express their gratitude to the new envoy.
The earthen platform in the east of Jingzhou City has now become a major scenic spot here, and many people can't help but come here to watch. The silks, gold and other prizes displayed on the earthen platform are full of visual impact.
From time to time, people were rewarded on stage for providing clues, which greatly enhanced their sense of participation.
For a time, the people inside and outside Jingzhou City even forgot their original intention, hoping that the excitement could continue. And the new envoy did not disappoint them. When the silk gifts on the high platform were visible to the naked eye,
When the speed decreased and it was about to be exhausted, state officials would drive ox carts and pull carts of silk to replenish the supply.
Since this high platform was erected, tens of thousands of pieces of silk have been distributed in front of everyone in just a few days. This has also brought great shock to the onlookers, and at the same time, it is also real.
I feel the heroic spirit of this new envoy who will always practice what he preaches.
As for Li Tai, who was the initiator of all this, of course he didn’t really have too much money and no place to put it, so he squandered it everywhere.
He put on such a big show for the people of Jingzhou, and the first gain was that he gained a strong sense of presence. I believe that as the turmoil has become more and more intense in the past few days, there should be people in the entire Jingzhou government who have not heard of him.
Running out.
As a local military and political chief, there is no doubt about the importance of presence and popularity. Without these two points, it will be very difficult for his voice and will to reach the people within the jurisdiction, and he will not only be criticized by those local powerful
Interception and obstruction will not be taken seriously by the people.
Another important point is that through this incident, the seeds of suspicion among these local forces are planted, and the manpower they control is invested in this meaningless consumption through the temptation of large sums of money, so that they cannot be effective.
They joined forces to jointly fight against themselves, the new military and political chief.
For today's Li Tai, things that can be solved with money are really not a problem, and the money spent basically stays within the country and can still be returned. Soon the people of Jingzhou will realize his true methods.
.
When all the forces within the territory were obsessed with this and couldn't extricate themselves, Li Tai was not idle either.
He himself used this time to take over the state affairs of Jingzhou and understand it, and at the same time, he also allowed the troops he brought to fully rest and recuperate, and sent Qingqi scouts to cross the territorial boundary between the two countries and go deep into the Yongzhou territory of Nanliang to investigate the enemy situation and geographical conditions.
Prepare for the next war.
Time always flies quickly when busy, and the ten days Li Tai left for the opponent soon ended. He also had a general understanding of the situation on the ground, so he immediately started preparing for the attack.
The officials in Jingzhou have recently been looking for someone for the considerable bounty. When the order from the state government was officially issued, they were shocked to realize that the time to send troops had arrived so quickly!
Now that they have a preliminary understanding of Li Tai's style, it is useless to try to persuade the governor at this point. Those who have not completed the assigned tasks are in a hurry to make amends, while those who have completed the tasks are
He hurried to the state capital to meet him.
In the main hall of the state capital, Li Tai put on a military uniform again and said in a deep voice to the people in the mansion: "I am not the only one who wants to raise troops today. It is because the southerners are bullying others too much! We took advantage of our lack of defense in Jing Town to gather a crowd."
Attack, after making this provocation, you still have no intention of repentance, and deceive no one in our Jingzhou! You invaded our territory, and you know your mistakes and do not correct them, how can you ask for forgiveness!"
After hearing this, all the generals under his command responded loudly: "The generals and others will obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief and kill the enemy bravely to avoid humiliation!"
When other Jingzhou officials saw their high-spirited appearance, they all expressed their opinions one after another. Although the tone was not uniform, an atmosphere of courage was finally created.
Following Li Tai's order, the generals immediately agreed, filed out of the hall and went to the military camp outside the city to gather their troops. Soon a total of five thousand elite troops were assembled outside the moat called Caogou outside the city.
Waiting to go.
Although the army Li Tai led to the south this time was not the 20,000 troops he claimed, they were still quite large. This was the first time he was fighting the southerners. Although he had consulted others for advice before, he had not yet had real combat experience.
Therefore, he also adopted a slightly conservative strategy, starting with 5,000 elite troops, while the rest of the troops remained in the territory.
Of course, this is not the only group of people who are actually heading to Nanliang to fight. Quan Zhongzun will also lead a thousand elite troops to accompany the army. At the same time, all the powerful Hu chiefs in Jingzhou have also received different numbers of recruitment orders, and they have also made up their minds.
Five thousand men and horses, which is an army of more than 10,000 people.
When Li Tai went out of the city to inspect the armies, he inspected the local troops in Jingzhou and found that although the number was not five thousand, the difference was not big.
It can be seen that the currency policy he pursued after entering the country was quite effective. Even if it was just out of the desire for profit, these local powerful people still obeyed his orders.
More than 10,000 horses were divided into three groups: the front, middle and rear. Zhu Meng was responsible for leading a thousand elite cavalry on the front, and together with 2,000 Jingzhou soldiers formed the vanguard, taking the lead to clear the way for the army.
In the middle, 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 Jingzhou soldiers, plus Quan Zhongzun's troops, formed the central army, which was led by Li Tai himself. The rear was led by Linghu Yanbao. In addition to the food, grass and baggage required for the army's expedition,
There were also many empty chariots accompanying the army.
This battle was a small test for Li Tai, so he did not formulate too complicated tactical plans and offensive targets. After setting off, the army headed straight towards Xiangyang along the west bank of the Feishui River.
The distance from Rangcheng to Xiangyang is about two hundred miles. The journey is mostly plains, and there are no dangerous fortresses. Only along the coast of Feishui River, there are several forts that also serve as Jindu docks. Facing the Western Wei Dynasty,
When crossing the border, the doors of these forts are naturally closed, and the soldiers and civilians in the forts are waiting in full array.
Faced with these insignificant forts, Li Tai did not order to capture them one by one, but ran straight to Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River. While the troops in the middle were still marching, the light cavalry in front had already arrived a short distance outside Fancheng.
far away, and attacked and attacked the garrison buildings around the city, clearing the battlefield for the army to garrison and attack the city.
Zhu Meng originally followed He Basheng back to Kansai from the Southern Dynasties, so he was quite familiar with the offensive and defensive tactics of the Southerners. He knew that in addition to relying on water conservancy and boats to fight, the Southerners also had very powerful long-range weapons such as crossbows and crossbows.
All garrisons, large and small, must have a combat organization of strong crossbow units.
Therefore, when he selected the first team to attack the garrison, they all prioritized their bodies to be flexible and strong, good at climbing and using swords and shields, so as to be able to rush to the enemy's defense line in the shortest time, and then support the shield with one hand and slash with the sword with the other hand.
Guns and chisels are used to impact and destroy the defense line.
At the same time, he also personally led his elite cavalry to fight on the flanks to guard against the enemy's reinforcements across the defense line. Whenever an enemy dared to cross his own defense line and rashly enter the plains, he would immediately use his cavalry to outflank and attack.
Under Zhu Meng's precise command and the brave fighting of the soldiers, they successively breached the enemy's three forts in the docks outside the city, creating a gap in the northeast of Fan City that could lead directly to the city gate.
Although the defenders here were fully prepared for war, when the actual battle began, they could not help but be surprised by the astonishing combat effectiveness of the Western Wei army. When they saw that the nearby fortresses were broken one after another and the defenders in the forts were either killed in battle, or
When they were captured, other garrison troops were also frightened and depressed, and their fighting spirit suddenly disappeared.
However, the overwhelming offensive of the Western Wei forwards did not last long. When they launched an attack on the largest garrison along the river, they encountered stubborn resistance. Several organized offensives were repelled, but they only spent a lot of effort.
Hundreds of lives.
Seeing that the Jingzhou powerful tribesmen who were traveling with him were all showing embarrassment and had no intention of fighting anymore, Zhu Meng also knew that any further attack would be in vain.
His forward force had only a small number of troops and limited equipment. He could only burn down the three captured forts under the eyes of the enemy, and then left the fort named Xiazuo garrison on the east side a few miles to the north.
They set up a camp and sent people to report the results of the battle to the rear.