In Xuanhu City, when Murong Shaozong received the letter sent by the dignitaries of King Shouyang and read the contents, he immediately smiled, slapped the table and sighed: "I have helped you!"
As he spoke, he passed the letter for help to the family members in the hall, and everyone exclaimed in surprise after reading it. The amount of information contained in this letter was so great that many people accepted it at once.
Without this kind of impact, I temporarily lost my ability to think.
After a while, Fang Bao, who joined the army, said: "These are all the words of a noble king. I am afraid they are not trustworthy. Please consider it carefully, Duke Yan!"
After Murong Shaozong heard this, he smiled and asked: "Then from what I can see from joining the army, why does Wang Xiangui want to deceive me like this?"
"The book also says that after the Qiang people plundered Guiyang, they were still greedy and continued to advance. Wang Xiangui was afraid that the remaining city would be difficult to defend, so he boldly asked for help. Hou Jing was already a great scourge in Jiangdong, and if he was defeated
, then there will be rumors in all directions, but now only one of the king’s dignitaries has spoken out, which is really not enough to gain trust!”
After hearing the words, Fang Bao said again. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little strange. Why did Murong Shaozong have such an attitude of believing in such an obvious fraud?
After hearing this, Murong Shaozong's face suddenly darkened. He immediately stood up and looked at Fang Bao and said solemnly: "What if this is true? Wang Xiangui is a sinner. Once he enters the country, his life or death is uncertain. Now if he...
If you lie because you are afraid of danger, even if you are saved for a while, the general will ask you one day, will he be able to avoid death? If what he said is true, because of your cowardice, you will end up with this sacred treasure passed down to the country.
What are you going to do to atone for what you gained from Qiang thieves?"
When Fang Bao heard this, his face suddenly became solemn. Yes, this kind of thing should be believed rather than believed, especially now that the revolution in the country is booming.
If they missed an opportunity to obtain the imperial seal and ended up living in Kansai, then no matter how great their achievements were before, they might not be able to make up for such a big mistake. If someone exploits it again, they could even be charged with the crime of treason.
!
"Ji Qian, a humble official, made a mistake. Please forgive me, Mr. Yan!"
After realizing this, Fang Bao hurriedly apologized. At the same time, he glanced at the other colleagues in the hall. Only then did he understand in his heart that he was quick in thinking and realized that the matter was false. It was clearly because others had seen it more deeply and did not speak out. He was the only one.
I am young and energetic, and I like to show off, so I open my mouth and ask for trouble.
Seeing that no one was questioning this, Murong Shaozong then distributed the military camp affairs to the people present, ordered them to deal with the affairs quickly, and then rushed south to save Shouyang.
After these subordinates retreated, and only a few close confidants who had been with him for many years were left, Murong Shaozong led others to bring the envoys from Shouyang into the hall one by one, and interrogated them severely. Soon
This gave me an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the situation in Shouyang.
Murong Shaozong did not feel inappropriate about the remnants of Yiyang soldiers defecting to Shouyang. After all, the brothers Xiahou Dan and Xiahou Kui of the Southern Liang Dynasty had been in Shouyang for many years.
Restoration of momentum is also very normal.
As for the doubt raised by Fang Bao before, how could Murong Shaozong not be aware of it? But whether this matter is true or false, it has nothing to do with Murong Shaozong's original intention.
Murong Shaozong was very happy when Xiahou Qiang came to occupy Yiyang before. He even planned that after occupying Yiyang, the west could intimidate the Han Dynasty in the east and Mianbei, and the east could dominate the entire Huainan area, and through Jingzhou in the Western Wei Dynasty
The confrontation between them escalated, and Huainan's personnel and resources were gradually concentrated in Yiyang's own hands.
However, due to the restrictions of the Yedu court and the decisive attack of Jingzhou in the Western Wei Dynasty, Murong Shaozong's plan to strengthen himself in the border area was aborted, which made him deeply regretful.
At present, Murong Shaozong urgently needs a logistics supply base to maintain his increasingly large army. Before, it belonged to Yiyang, and Yiyang had the power to control the Huainan area. Now that Yiyang is gone, it is also possible to go directly to Shouyang.
a good choice.
It's just that General Gao Da didn't give Murong Shaozong too much autonomy. Even if he wanted to go to Shouyang, he still needed an excuse and an opportunity. Now the letter of help sent by Wang Xiangui is a perfect one for him.
Excuse. Even if this matter is false and General Gao is held accountable afterwards, he does not need to bear any responsibility at all.
"The Qiang thieves are already halfway through their march. In order to prevent them from entering Shouyang first, I will personally lead five thousand light cavalry directly to Shouyang and occupy the city first to await the coming enemy!"
With the lessons learned from the loss of Yiyang last time, Murong Shaozong became more serious this time. He also had information about the Western Wei people's advance in Yiyang. If he wanted to enter Shouyang before the Western Wei people arrived, he would rush to Shouyang day and night with light cavalry.
is the only choice, and five thousand Qingqi is the largest scale that Murong Shaozong can use now, which shows that he is determined to win this trip.
"But the defenders in Shouyang City only have less than 2,000 soldiers. The newly victorious Qiang bandit army may not be able to defeat it with only 5,000 light cavalry!"
After hearing Murong Shaozong's words, the general spoke up again and said that now they are not in the state where they had tens of thousands of Jinyang soldiers and elite troops before. Now their own troops plus the powerful tribesmen who come from all directions, there are only about
Twenty thousand people.
With all these men and horses engaged in the battle against the Western Wei Dynasty, there was still no absolute advantage. Murong Shaozong planned to fight the opponent with five thousand light cavalry, so he was already at a disadvantage in terms of military strength.
After hearing this, Murong Shaozong added: "When we met in a square city, the enemy generals could not get out of the strong formation and were timid to fight. Now, although they first occupied Yiyang, their military strength has been stretched to the extreme, and there is no response from the front and rear. When we return to Huainan,
The only purpose we took advantage of was that the land was unable to defend and we were just robbing people and goods. We must not have the intention to hold it for a long time. Seeing that we are fully prepared for battle, we should not have the courage to fight fiercely. Moreover, Li Bomu had already occupied Hefei in Huainan, and he had no strong strategy and knew thieves.
You will definitely feel panic when entering the country, so you can take advantage of the situation and recruit your troops to jointly resist the powerful enemy."
Just like Li Tai judged Murong Shaozong's behavior before, now that Murong Shaozong was the one to respond, he also judged through various signs that although the Western Wei Dynasty marched with great fanfare, it actually had no long-term plan to occupy Huainan, because there was no
This strength.
Even if Murong Shaozong is not here, if the Western Wei's defense line is further lengthened, they cannot afford the cost. Therefore, as long as they can reach Shouyang in time, the Western Wei's invading troops will have no choice but to see that the situation is not good.
Just like Murong Shaozong last time, he retreated back to Yiyang obediently.
If the troops of the Western Wei Dynasty were not as expected and still determined to attack Shouyang, it would be more beneficial to Murong Shaozong. He could use himself as bait to attract the main troops of the Western Wei Dynasty in Huainan to Shouyang and transfer them to other troops.
When people and horses attack Yiyang, the enemy will inevitably lose ground due to fear of losing their way back, and it is not known that they will be directly defeated in Huainan.
Therefore, Murong Shaozong ordered the troops behind him to advance slowly and march directly south to the north bank of the Huai River. If he saw that Yiyang City's defenses were empty, he would directly cross the Huai River and attack. If he saw that the city's defenses were well-defended, he would slowly march eastward along the Huai River, ready at any time.
Cooperate to meet the main force of the Western Wei Dynasty retreating to the east.
After making these arrangements, Murong Shaozong led his 5,000 men and horses who had been fully equipped and headed straight for Shouyang. They traveled day and night along the way and arrived at Huaihe opposite Shouyang in just over five days.
On the north bank of the water. Under Murong Shaozong's excellent command and control, the men and horses after several days of rapid marching still maintained a certain amount of physical strength and could participate in the battle at any time.
However, this is not necessary for the time being, because the Western Wei Dynasty's naval division that set off from Yiyang as discovered by the scouts is still on the upper reaches of the Huai River, more than 70 miles away.
Due to Nanliang's repeated massive damage to the Huai River, and the general disrepair of the weirs along the Huai River this year, the shipping conditions on the Huai River have become even worse. Therefore, the Western Wei Dynasty's boatmen will have to arrive here the next day at the earliest. If
If you encounter headwinds, siltation, etc., your arrival time will be even later.
Murong Shaozong was quite satisfied with this situation, so he first stationed his troops at the Huaibei Pier, where he sent a small team of men and horses to cross the water in light boats, went to Shouyang City, and ordered the guard Wang Xiangui to come out to meet him as soon as possible, and made arrangements immediately
Boats were used to ferry the army.
However, Wang Xiangui and the others could not be seen. Yang Zhong had already detained Wang Xiangui and others when he entered the city. He also distributed the wealth and food stored in the city to the soldiers in the city to win people's hearts. Now the city has been completely destroyed.
Get under control.
Faced with the request made by Murong Shaozong's envoy, Yang Zhong only replied on behalf of Wang Xiangui: "A certain class knows that their old sins have not been eliminated, and Murong Xingtai made meritorious deeds in order to appeal to Pinghou. Today, Shouyang Jincheng is a class of
The thieves have not retreated, and the outcome has not yet been determined. They really dare not leave the city easily to risk their lives.
The garrisons around Shouyang, such as Ma Tou and Xia Shi, are still intact. Murong Xingtai can send his disciples to divide them to stop the thieves. After the Western Army retreats, some of the ugly ones who have been robbed will definitely come out of the city to pay homage to Murong Xingtai, and
I will hand over the jade seal that has been passed down to me. The boats and ferries are all moored at Xia Shi, and there is no harm in the general taking them for himself."
When Murong Shaozong learned that Wang Xiangui was unwilling to go out of the city to greet him, he was naturally angry. However, he had no time to care about it at the moment. The most important thing was to cross Huainan quickly to build a defense line to fight against the invading enemy.