The Shu Kingdom suddenly tore up the treaty and sent troops to occupy the Wuchuan Valley, which should be classified as the territory of Da Chu. In the end, the disturbance caused in Jinling City was far less eye-catching than the recent large-scale gathering of Forbidden Army troops along the Yangtze River and Shuzhou.
Even most of the gentlemen and nobles in the city may not be able to figure out where the Wuchuan Valley is located.
In the minds of most people, the two countries Shu and Chu only share a border in the Chang Gorge of Wushan and the valleys in the upper reaches of the Han River.
In Jingzhou, downstream of Chang Gorge in Wushan, Junzhou, downstream of the Han River Valley, and Chu, there were elite imperial troops stationed there, but there was no news of any changes by the Shu army.
Where is the Wuchuan Valley?
As for those gentlemen and children of aristocratic families who knew the location of the Wuchuan Valley, they didn't care much about the actions of the Shu army.
Qianjiang and Qianzhong were originally synonymous with barbarians, and Sizhou only belonged to Dachu in name.
In fact, in these places, the Chu Dynasty could not even send a single official as big as Sesame, and collected less than half a basket of money and grain. Many Jizhou prefectures in central Guizhou were rebelliously outside the rule of Chu.
The Wuchuan River Valley was originally the territory that Sizhou had just wrested from the Wuliao people.
Even during the Qin and Han Dynasties, Wuchuan was subordinate to Bajun, the hometown of Sichuan and Shu. In the previous dynasties, it was also subordinate to Jiannan Road, the hometown of Sichuan and Shu.
When the Shu army took the Wuchuan Valley from Sizhou, not to mention the common people, even a considerable number of officials in the court felt that it was more or less irrelevant.
Only ministers with real political ambitions can see how far-reaching the gains and losses in the Wuchuan Valley will be on Dachu's control of the southwest.
Of course, considering that Chu and Shu both faced the threat of Liang Jun, and that Chu's internal troubles north of the Yangtze River had not yet been completely resolved, most ministers in the DPRK did not advocate a complete break with Shu.
In Jingzhou and Junzhou, they only sent orders to Zhang Wei and Zheng Hui to strengthen their guard, and there was no plan to increase the number of troops for the confrontation. In the end, they only sent troops to put Wei Qun, the Shu envoy to Dachu, under house arrest in Dutingyi.
In and out, there is no mention of being directly imprisoned in prison.
Not to mention that he became angry out of shame and beheaded him directly to show his severance of friendship with the Kingdom of Shu.
And carefully analyzing the mentality of the monarchs and ministers of Shu, perhaps it was precisely because they expected such a reaction from the top and bottom of Chu that they felt that taking advantage of the civil strife in Sizhou and sending troops to occupy the Wuchuan Valley would not hinder the overall situation of the alliance between Shu and Chu.
Only then would they feel that as long as they could successfully control the Qianjiang Passage first, the Chu monarchs and ministers would eventually choose to compromise and acquiesce to this fact.
After the Xuanwei envoy Huang Hua arrived in Hunan, he contributed to the civil unrest in Sizhou ending in this way. Shen Yang, Yang En, Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, Yang Zhiyuan and others were still satisfied.
Without large-scale use of resources in the hinterland of Hunan, the civil unrest was quelled, Sizhou was preserved, and the possibility of the Shu army completely controlling the Qianjiang Passage was curbed.
No matter how harsh a person is, they will feel that no one who rushes to Hunan can do better than Huang Hua.
The imperial court did not fall into the embarrassing situation of having to compromise with the Shu army.
It is precisely because of this that the imperial court was able to make up its mind to transfer 600,000 shi of grain from Hunan Province to be shipped to Shuzhou as military supplies and pay, so as to make final preparations for the next phase of the all-out offensive against Chaozhou.
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Even Xuzhou has taken advantage of it. Even after the recapture of Wuchuan, the role of Salt and Iron Academy Supervisor established by Hunan Province in Wuchuan County will be temporarily controlled by Xuzhou to return this
During this period, grain, grain, soldiers, armor and other materials were borrowed from Xuzhou.
But all this is still within the tolerance of the political officials.
After all, Xuzhou did not directly annex Sizhou, nor did it show any untimely ambitions. The imperial court even directly extended its hand into the high mountains along the Qianjiang River for the first time.
Otherwise, if we really have to dispatch troops and generals to that remote place in Sizhou to confront the Shu army, I really don’t know how much food it will cost to stop it.
At the same time, it will also affect the whole body, directly affecting Da Chu's layout and military plans in other aspects.
As for whether Han Qian, the Marquis of Qianyang, was docile and docile in his heart, all the officials in the political affairs hall felt that there was no need to care too much.
As long as Huang Hua, Wu Zun and others can truly control the situation in Hunan and attack the rebels defending Yongzhou first when they have enough strength, then the Minister of Hunan will have enough troops and food, and there will be no worries about foreign invasion, and they will also worry about Xuzhou and Sizhou.
Can these remote places cause any waves?
As far as the entire Chu State is concerned, if the upcoming offensive can successfully recapture Chaozhou and Shouzhou, and annihilate the Anning Palace rebels, the situation of internal and external troubles and torment will be completely changed.
When the time comes when there is enough energy left to dispatch a force of imperial troops to garrison in the Wuchuan Valley, and the 3,000 soldiers and horses of Tianpingdu are moved to the hinterland of Hunan for rest and recuperation, can the Marquis of Guizhou Yang still be able to stop him?
At present, along the Qianjiang River, there are Xuzhou soldiers as backing and flankers, Tianping threatens from the flanks, and Sizhou soldiers and Chenzhou soldiers join forces to intercept frontally in Shiqian. The Shu army wants to continue fighting south along the steep Qianjiang River Valley. In fact,
It is quite difficult and extremely risky.
Under the current situation, Dachu Chaotang does not need to worry about any major changes in the situation in the Wuchuan Valley in the short term. Even if there is a stalemate and the situation is tightened, they do not need to worry about the situation there.
worsen further.
In the final analysis, the subsequent development of the situation in the Wuchuan Valley will not affect the overall situation.
At this time, Shen Yang, Yang En, Yang Zhiyuan, Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang and others, including Xinchang Marquis Li Pu, all advocated that Li Zhigao lead his troops to attack Chaozhou as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams.
However, Emperor Yanyou issued several imperial edicts, ordering the Shangshu Province of Hunan Province to urge Tianping to send troops to recover the Wuchuan Valley as soon as possible, and insisted on waiting until the Shu army was expelled from the Wuchuan Valley before deciding whether to launch an offensive against Chaozhou.
Even though Shen Yang and others believed that the smooth progress of the war in the Wuchuan Valley would not affect the overall situation, they were also worried that delaying the war in Chaozhou would have some subtle adverse effects on military morale. However, Emperor Yanyou insisted that they
No idea either.
They could only continue to put pressure on the Hunan Shangshu Province, and ordered Tianping to launch an offensive against the Shu army occupying the Wuchuan Valley before the year, and expel the Shu army from the Wuchuan Valley as soon as possible at all costs.
After nearly five months of brutal attack and defense between the rebel generals and Sizhou soldiers, 3,000 soldiers were finally selected and incorporated into the Tianping capital. In terms of the personal qualities of the generals, they were generally able to reach the qualified level.
However, even if Xuzhou provides sufficient supplies now, armor and weapons are still supplied according to the standards of the Xuzhou infantry camp. There are also more than a hundred military attachés led by Xi Faer, Dou Rong, Han Bao, etc. to assist Tan Yuliang in the battle against Tianping City.
The generals conducted all aspects of emergency training, but it was extremely hasty to complete the preparations for the battle against the Shu army within a month.
However, in addition to Fu Gengwen and others who stayed at Hujian Pass to supervise the war on behalf of Hunan Province, Huang Hua, the envoy of Xuanwei, directly copied Emperor Yanyou's edict and the official letter of the Privy Council to Tan Yuliang and Fu Gengwen
, put pressure on them.
For a time, Huang Hua felt that this side would delay the fight any longer, so he dispatched troops from Shaozhou into the Wuchuan Valley to fight.
Chai Jian was previously worried that his military power would be lost and refused to listen to Huang Hua's call, but now that Emperor Yanyou has issued several imperial edicts to promote the war, it is really difficult to say anything.
According to the original plan, Xuzhou did not send troops directly, and Han Qian could only mobilize the maximum amount of logistics as quickly as possible.
With the assistance of Xuzhou and the support of sufficient supplies, Fu Gengwen and others mobilized nearly 10,000 remaining adult men and able-bodied women from the homes of the rebel generals and mobilized them as quickly as possible.
Enter the southern slope of Caojing Ridge and the northern foot of Panlong Ridge.
These people spread out along the Wuling Mountain Trail connecting Hujian Pass to the Wuchuan River Valley. They worked day and night to repair and widen this trail, which was about 140 miles long and had to cross a total of 16 large and small mountain ridges along the way.
At the same time, Xuzhou also mobilized thousands of able-bodied people to use wheelbarrows or directly carry them on their shoulders to transport bags of grain and bundles of arrows through the intestines and into the east wing of the Wuchuan Valley.
An outpost established by Qingyan Temple.
Almost before the time point set by the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council, a large number of Tianping soldiers officially set off from Qingyan Temple on the northwest slope of Xiage Mountain and entered the Wuchuan Valley to fight.
The so-called war does not always involve clever strategies. Most of the time, it is bloody, cruel confrontation and fighting.
The Shu army has established a foothold in the Wuchuan River Valley and established a solid stronghold, and warships can freely come and go on the Qianjiang River.
In comparison, it was impossible for Xuzhou to transport warships from the Ruan River system into the Qianjiang River in a different water system out of thin air.
Sizhou's shipbuilding yard in Shiqian County was pitiful in scale and poor in technical level. It could only build small awning boats and paddle boats, and it was difficult to compete with the Shu army's warships on the Qianjiang River.
Under this situation, the Tianpingdu brigade could only forcefully advance to the bank of the Qianjiang River, withstand the pressure of the Shu army's water and land attack, establish a stronghold, and then use cyclone cannons to occupy the steep cliff bank and block the more than 100 feet wide Qianjiang River channel.
Suppress the Shu army's warships in the lower reaches of the Qianjiang River.
This process seems simple, but it is an extremely bloody and cruel tug-of-war process.
Especially in the early days, the transportation capacity of the small intestine trails was extremely limited, and there was no way to transport a large number of sophisticated weapons. Everyone had to pay a very heavy price just to gain a foothold.
When a large number of sophisticated weapons were shipped in the later period, the balance was not at a disadvantage, but casualties were inevitable.
After all, the Shu army that entered the Wuchuan Valley was also an elite force with strong weapons and armor. It can even be said that the two sides directly entered the most brutal war of attrition.
It is difficult for anyone to deliver a fatal blow to the other in a short period of time. However, in fact, whoever cannot withstand such consumption and shows fatigue first will lose in such a tug-of-war and ultimately fail.
Taking the dangerous and remote post road from Hujian Pass to transport people, horses, and materials into the Wuchuan River Valley placed Xuzhou under even greater logistical pressure than taking the 500-mile waterway from Yuzhou to transport materials into the Wuchuan River Valley.
However, the most favorable aspect of the situation is that the Shu army faces a more serious threat from the back and front than Tianpingdu, Sizhou soldiers, and Chenzhou soldiers.
That is because the Shu army had only opened up the Qianjiang River channel before, but failed to launch a timely campaign against the Wu Liao people on both wings of the Qianjiang River who had hid in the mountains and old forests.
When the main military resources were concentrated in the Wuchuan Valley at one end, the Shu army's control along the nearly 500-mile winding waterway from the Wuchuan Valley to Yuzhou was naturally weakened.
The Wuliao people's counterattacks launched from deep mountains and old forests seemed small in scale, but they launched short and sudden attacks at frequent intervals, causing the Shu army to suffer frequent casualties, but the cumulative number was not a small number.
And the worries about the way back made it difficult for the Shu army to fight in the Wuchuan Valley.
The war lasted until the end of February of the second year of Yanyou. Tianping initially had 3,000 generals. Twice, the last young men from the family were recruited to supplement the troops. However, due to the exhaustion of the tug-of-war, there were still no more than 2,000 soldiers left.
A man's capable soldier.
The casualties of the Shu army are slightly better. It seems that the Shu army has more soldiers and generals and can withstand consumption. However, in fact, as the Wu Liao people attack more and more frequently on both sides of the Qianjiang River, the Shan Liao people also carry out large-scale attacks in southern Sichuan.
Assembling, there was great momentum to advance into the Qianjiang River, recapture Banan, and regain control of the source of salt. In the end, the Shu army could not hold on anymore and chose to withdraw from the Wuchuan Valley.
…………
…………
After the Wuchuan War ended, Han Qian entered the Wuchuan Valley with the latest batch of grain transport teams. Surrounded by his guards, he stood on the stone cliff like a goshawk flying in the sky, looking at the turbulent Qianjiang River below. Zhenghao
It flows majestically to the north.
As winter turns to spring, algae grow, the river becomes lush and green, and the remains of sunken warships still remain on the river beach.
The Wuliao people rebuilt the walled city on the ruins of the old city of Wuchuan not far away, and it was later occupied by the Shu army. The incomplete city wall was still stained with flesh and blood and had not been completely washed away by the continuous drizzle in the past two days.
To be honest, if there is more time, even one more month, the generals of Tianping City can be more fully trained, or if the Wuling Goatchang Trail is slightly widened and a standard five-foot post road is built, Xuzhou can be more
With more war weapons transported to the Wuchuan Valley, it is possible to drive the Shu army out of the Wuchuan Valley with much smaller casualties.
Instead of being like now, the balance is almost crippled and destroyed. In just one or two years, there is no hope of regaining combat effectiveness.
Although nearly 20,000 people would migrate over as quickly as possible, from the time of the Panlongling incident to the recovery of the Wuchuan Valley, more than 6,000 young and strong men were either killed in battle or seriously injured and disabled.
, which also means that if these women, children, old and weak want to take root and thrive in the Wuchuan River Valley, they have to work harder.
In today's world, young and strong men are still the main source of labor force.
Tianping wanted to maintain a standing force of 2,000 men in the Wuchuan Valley, which basically meant that there would be no young and strong men to participate in the subsequent farming.
This level of sacrifice can be said to be extremely tragic for the rebels.
Tan Yuliang, who was once very ambitious and thought about regaining his fame, now has more frosty white hair and looks somewhat downcast.
"Your Majesty will no longer suspect that your Excellency has colluded with the Shu army, right?" Zhao Zhixian said with a hunched body, hands in his sleeves, and a somewhat hoarse voice.
Han Qian looked back at Zhao Zhixian and heard the resentment in his tone. He felt that the generals who died tragically were not worth it, but there was no way to blame him.
Although Zhao Zhixian's youngest sons, Zhao Fangcheng and Pei Pu, were doctors and would not directly enter the frontline battlefield, they were unfortunately sacrificed in a surprise attack launched by the Shu army.
Zhao Zhixian had already submitted a letter to the Ministry of Education to resign, and his eldest son Zhao Fanghai also insisted that he did not want to succeed him as the Prime Minister of Wuchuan County. Of course, Zhao Zhixian had previously hoped to live out his old age in Chenzhong or Qianyang, so he decided at this time After becoming an official, he and his eldest son Zhao Fanghai stayed in Wuchuan Valley to open a medical clinic.
"When the land of Zeguo enters the war, there is no plan for the livelihood of the people. If you don't talk about the matter of making a prince, one general will make thousands of bones wither. It is said that all the gods will be sad after the first battle, and the strong troops on both sides of the strait will be exhausted. Who knows that Cangjiang will never be defeated? Things have been bloody and bloody lately..."
These are two poems written by the former poet Cao Song about the An-Shi Rebellion. Han Qian finished reciting them softly, but his expression became more determined.
He once thought that Shen Yang and others would push forward the war to regain Chaozhou first. As long as Li Zhigao successfully regained Chaozhou, Dachu's internal and external troubles would be improved to a certain extent. If he then pushed Tianpingdu to regain the Wuchuan Valley, the resistance would be minimal. If there were many, the casualties would never be so heavy.
He really did not expect that Yang Yuanpu's suspicion of Xuzhou would be so paranoid that he would not hesitate to recover Chaozhou first and annihilate the Anning Palace rebels, which would have to be delayed in advance.
Or maybe people like Lu Qingxia and Yao Xishui never gave up on adding insult to injury to Xuzhou from beginning to end?
Seeing the two brothers Feng Liao and Feng Yi coming from a distance, Zhao Zhixian decided to retire and retire. He had no intention of getting involved in any confidential matters, so he resigned and left without enthusiasm.
Han Qian did not try to persuade Zhao Zhixian to stay. He stood on the cliff bank with his hands and hands, letting the river breeze ruffle his robes. After a long time, he said to Feng Liao who was walking behind him: "I want to restart the intelligence network in Jinling! You choose the people. , report my case and come here!”
Although Tianpingdu suffered heavy casualties, the results were still optimistic.
Hearing Han Qianxin's decision, Feng Liao beamed with joy and said, "Okay, I'll make arrangements right now..."
