It is not a simple matter to form an army of 20,000 people and attack an enemy five hundred miles away.
Although there are many smart and capable people under Wu Huaiyu, the Jianwu Army has just undergone a round of major adjustments. No matter how urgent it is at this time, it still has to be done step by step.
Fortunately, there are many helpers, each with their own division of labor.
Wu Huaiyu strategized and issued orders to the commander, and everything was going on in an orderly manner. In just a few days, several more lords from Jizhou Prefecture announced to join the rebel alliance, which brought the number of rebel alliances to twenty-one Jisuzhou.
Huang, Wei, Nong, Qin, Mo, Meng, Lan, Luo and other surnames rebelled one after another, or arrogantly claimed the title of king, or marshal, general manager, governor, etc.
It is said that there are 200,000 combined troops, and the momentum is so scary.
Of course the Yong Mansion did not show weakness,
Wu Huaiyu officially issued a crusade, and at the same time issued a mobilization order in the ten prefectures of Yong Prefecture. He also offered rewards to the rebel chiefs of Zhuxitong and others for seizing their posts.
After a busy day, listening to A Liu and Dugu playing the pipa in the backyard of Xingyuan can always wash away the fatigue. Late at night, there will be A Liu waiting for you.
This is a very good girl. She seems to admire Wu Huaiyu very much. In this southern borderland of the empire, it is actually very good to have such a girl to accompany her. Although she is ignorant and completely inexperienced, she is
On the contrary, it has a different flavor.
After the work was done, a thin layer of sweat broke out,
It was already April, and the weather in Lingnan had already warmed up, so everyone put on rattan mats.
She was blushing and nestled in his arms like a kitten.
"We will go on an expedition in two days, and A Liu wants to follow A Lang."
Huaiyu stroked her black and smooth hair, "How can I take a woman with me when we go to war?"
Moonlight poured into the room through the window lattice. She raised her head and looked straight at Huaiyu with her dark eyes, pleading, "A Liu just wants to be by A Lang's side forever."
Although Wu Huaiyu did not give her a title, for this girl, she had fallen in love and only had eyes for this mighty man.
She was happy these days, but it always made her uneasy. Sometimes she would be in a trance, thinking that this was a beautiful dream, and she was always worried that she would wake up from this dream at any time.
She had never thought that she would meet a man who was so kind to her in this life. He was so noble, but could be so kind to her. He could be so powerful yet gentle even on the bed. Her past experience made her
She always felt that this was a dream.
But even if it is a dream, she hopes to keep doing it.
As long as she doesn't see him for a while, she will feel uneasy, her palms will become sweaty, her heart will panic, and she always feels that she will never see him again.
"Alang is the prime minister. Just leave it to the generals to lead the troops in war. Alang can stay."
Huaiyu let out a long breath,
"Don't worry, it won't be long before I can triumph."
Perhaps out of fear of separation, A Liu quickly clung to him again, murmuring that he wanted to do it again.
The next day, Huaiyu got up late.
It turns out that not only is she like a wolf at thirty, but she is like a tiger at forty, this beauty is a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and is even more fearless when it comes to cruelty. She scored three times in one night, which is a bit tiring for Wu Huaiyu now.
Not caring about rest, after discussing with Ning Chun and other prefectural officials in the morning, he went to the military camp for inspection in the afternoon and checked the logistics preparations.
"It's still too slow. Let's speed up. We can't wait for all the barbarians in the Thirty States to rebel, let alone let them unite. We have to take advantage of their lack of preparation to break the Huangjiadong first and capture and kill the puppet Sino-Vietnamese King Huang Gan. Only in this way can we deter the barbarians and stop the current momentum."
in the military camp,
Xi Junmai and others said they would speed up the process.
Gao Rong and others have formulated several plans to send troops and march. However, although this journey is only five hundred miles, it will not be smooth. It is very unlikely to go directly to Huangjiadong.
Because leaving Yongzhou City and going a hundred miles to the west, you have already reached the actual control boundary.
Further west, the left and right river basins are already the territory of the barbarians. Although the imperial court has set up thirty Jisi prefectures, these barbarians have always been unruly, and now there are twenty-one rebels. .
Longzhai, one hundred and fifty miles away from Yongzhou, was the first obstacle in this expedition.
Longzhai is the first Xiyuan mandong village in the Zuojiang River Basin west of Yongzhou. Its strength is not weak. Its leader is named Gong. There are five other villages on the south bank of the Zuojiang River near Longzhai, and their owners are all The surname is Gong.
After the Wude Dynasty surrendered to the imperial court, these six villages established Jilongzhou, and Gong Xing was the governor of Longzhou. In the past, because they were close to Yongzhou, they had a good relationship with the imperial court.
But now he also raised troops to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. Although Gong Xing did not arrogantly claim the throne, he respected Huang Gan of Huang Jiadong as the leader. He was worshiped by Huang Gan as the marshal of Zuo and the governor of Longzhou.
"The location of Longzhai is very important. It blocks the path we must pass through and chokes the Zuojiang River. We cannot get around it."
The Longzhai is not big, but it occupies an advantageous location. Not only does it guard the Zuojiang River, but there is also a south bank tributary that merges into the Zuojiang River next to the Longzhai. The valley of this tributary also connects the vast area in the south, reaching Shiwan Mountain, and even Qinzhou.
"We must capture Longzhai, but this village occupies a dangerous position, with a river and mountains behind it, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Gong Xing is determined to rebel again. This will be a tough battle. What we are most worried about is that if we cannot win it with all our strength, Congzhai, if the rebels gather together, we may be trapped under Dunjian City, and then the situation will deteriorate."
"How many rebels are there in Longzhai?"
"It's hard to say. There are more than a thousand households in Longzhai itself. Now that there is a rebellion, the original Wudong of Longzhou alone can gather at least 5,000 young people. Plus other small creeks in Longzhou, it is not difficult to gather ten thousand people.
And Huang Jiadong is not far away, and with the Xidong barbarians on the north bank of Zuo River and the downstream banks, the number of people and horses that Longzhai can gather will not be less than ours."
Twenty to thirty thousand, or even more.
Huaiyu frowned.
He looked at the map,
The advantage of the Tang army is that Longzhou is very close to the Yongzhou base camp, only a few dozen miles away. Supply and support are quick, and there is convenient water transportation.
But the disadvantage is that the location here is difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and the rebels will definitely not let this stronghold go. The speed and quantity of their reinforcements will not be weaker than the official army, and the defenders will even exceed the official army.
Huaiyu also has a trump card, he has a firearm in his hand.
After all, Longzhou is a barbarian village, unlike a city like Yongzhou.
But Huaiyu is worried not only about Longzhai, but also in case the rebels play attrition tactics with him. Along the way from Zuoxi, there are many villages like Longzhai. If the rebels continue to block the attack along the way, then this battle will start.
There's no end to it.
"Xiangguo, we have another plan, which is more risky," Gao Rong said at the side.
"But it doesn't matter."
"We have issued a crusade, and the Western Plains barbarians must also know that we are going to launch a large-scale crusade to annihilate them. And when Yongzhou attacks Huangjiadong, it basically means taking the Zuoxi River, and then advancing along the tributary Heishui River, so the rebel barbarians will definitely also be there.
This line of five hundred miles blocked and intercepted us along the way.
We might as well pretend to attack Longzhai and mobilize the main force of the rebels to the front line defense of Longzhai and Zuoxi. In fact, we can build a plank road to cross the team warehouse secretly."
Huaiyu looked at the map and heard it.
In fact, there is not only one way to go from Yongzhou to Huangjiadong, and you don’t have to take the Zuoxi route.
It is also possible to take the Youxi River, because Huangjiadong is located in the middle of the Left and Right Creeks, but it is more convenient and faster to take the Zuoxi River through the river valley.
To take the Youxi River, you must first follow the Youjiang River, pass through Langning to Sirong, then enter the Lushui River, a tributary on the south bank of the Youxi River, go southwest along the valley, and then go over the mountains and ridges to reach Huangjiadong.
It is about 200 miles from Sirong to Huangjiadong, of which the Lushui River section is easier to walk for a hundred miles, while the remaining 100 miles involves climbing over mountains and ridges, making the road very difficult.
Although there are roads, they are all small roads, which will definitely be difficult for cavalry troops and baggage convoys.
This is a very risky route. Although it cannot be compared with Deng Ai's crossing of the Shu Road, let alone Hannibal's feat of crossing the Alps, it is indeed quite risky.
Without cavalry, baggage, or even supplies, this would be a one-way street.
Of course, the higher the risk, the greater the chance. There are not so many interceptions on the Youxi line now, especially in the 200 miles from Sirong to Huangjiadong, there are only some small creeks on the road, and there are no strong soldiers to intercept them at all.
Xi Junmai stood up at this time and said, "Prime Minister, I am willing to lead a group of troops to attack Siclong first, and then use part of the troops to stay at Sicong, and only lead the light infantry to cross the mountains and attack Huangjiadong."
To fight for this opportunity, he even only needs a few thousand people.
"Xiang Guo pretended to attack Longzhai, and my light troops rushed to attack. After the general captured Huangjiadong, he used a reverse rolling bead curtain to kill the rebels from behind. Finally, we met at Longzhai."
I have to say that this plan is very bold and risky, but if you don’t want to waste time in the cage, it’s really good.
Even the more fierce Wu Huaiyu's feint attack in Longzhai is, the more empty the enemy's defense on the right line will be and the more opportunities there will be for him to take advantage of it.
It is even possible that the main force of Huangjiadong will be transferred to the front line of Youxi to intercept and defend, leaving the base camp of Huangjiadong empty and undefended, giving them an opportunity to take advantage.
"Can this route be traversed?"
"There has always been a road from Huangjiadong to Simongzhai, but some sections go over mountains and ridges, and even cross streams. Ordinary mules and horses can also transport goods, but some sections are not open to traffic. If we attack with light troops, there will be no
question."
Huaiyu thought.
He didn't want to waste time at Longzhai, and he also had to consider that even after taking Longzhai, there might be many more such blocking villages in the Zuojiang River Basin for the next few hundred miles.
If he had to gnaw hard bones one by one, this would not be in line with his plan to dispatch troops to capture the thieves and capture the king quickly.
After some deep thought,
Wu Huaiyu decided to use the 5,600 people from Yuhou's army as the right army, and Xi Junmai and Gao Rong were responsible for commanding them. Xi Junmai was the chief general and Gao Rong was the deputy general.
"I will give you 600 crossbowmen, 1,200 archers, 1,600 combat infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and 1,800 auxiliary troops."
"In addition, I will allocate another thousand cavalry to you, and give you the 500 people from my Yajun Shenji Battalion. I will send them to Sirong Village to help you raid and capture this village. Then you will take 3,400 people with you.
One hundred infantrymen marched 200 miles to attack Huangjiadong, while the two thousand cavalry and 1,800 auxiliary troops stayed at Sirong Prefecture and the Lushui River line to support them."
There were 20,000 troops in the camp, and Huaiyu transferred 6,600 to them. There were still 13,400 left, which was enough to pretend to attack Longzhai.
Hearing this, Xi Junmai patted his chest excitedly and said, "Please rest assured, Prime Minister, if the general cannot capture Huang Jiadong, and cannot bring Huang Gan's head to the meeting, he will pick off his own head and let the Prime Minister kick it as a ball."
Last year, this guy was just a former captain that Ding You had been working hard to select in Beijing three years later. After getting drunk and fighting with pandas in the Wu family, and gaining Huaiyu's favor, he followed him to Lingnan for more than a year, and was further appreciated by Huaiyu.
Huai Yubiao came to inspect the school's Jianwu Army garrison. He also knew that he had insufficient qualifications, so he was holding back his energy and wanted to take this opportunity to perform well and never embarrass Wu Xiangguo.
