Taiyuan City is still bustling with commerce and business. Two armies, one from the east and the other from the west, are about to launch an attack on Taiyuan Prefecture, but the Yuan family knows nothing about it.
As usual, Qilin Guard General Yuan Zheng led a group of cavalry to patrol the streets of Taiyuan. He liked this feeling of being superior. Looking at the fearful looks of others towards him, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction in his heart.
As he was passing by a shop, he suddenly heard a woman shouting: "Dalang, don't make trouble. If it's not true, you will be in big trouble!"
"Hurry up and let me go. If I don't tell you, Taiyuan will fall and everyone will be dead!"
Yuan Zheng was startled and reined in his horse. He saw a short and fat shopkeeper from the shop running out, bowing and saying: "General, I have an important situation to report to the general!"
"What's going on?"
"My brother came over from Feihuxing early this morning. He said that he saw tens of thousands of troops there the day before yesterday."
Yuan Zheng was shocked and grabbed the shopkeeper's lapel, "Are you serious about what you said?"
"My brother said this. If you don't believe it, you can investigate it yourself."
"Where is your brother?"
"My brother has gone south. He told me to run for my life because a war was about to break out."
Yuan Zheng glared at him fiercely, "If you don't want to die, just shut your mouth tighter, do you hear me?"
The shopkeeper was so frightened that he nodded repeatedly, "I heard it!"
Yuan Zheng let him go, and the shopkeeper was so frightened that he crawled and ran into the shop. A woman came out to catch him, complaining in a low voice.
Yuan Zheng ignored them, turned his horse and ran towards Jinyang Palace.
Jinyang Palace is the palace of the Emperor. It is located in the north of Taiyuan City and covers an area of hundreds of acres. It was once the imperial palace of the Northern Tang Dynasty. After Li Song deposed the emperor, Yuan Xuanhu moved into Jinyang Palace and renamed it Wei Palace. Although he was
He was granted the title of King of Merger, but the name Yuan Xuanhu really wanted was Wei. This was the dynasty established by his ancestor Tuoba clan.
Yuan Zheng came to the Yangxin Hall, where Yuan Xuanhu usually stayed. In fact, the eldest son Yuan Jin was responsible for the government affairs of the Taiyuan vassal town, the second son Yuan Lu held the military power, the third son Yuan Chu held the financial power, and the direct rule
The generals in the army are all descendants of the Yuan family, such as Qilin General Yuan Zheng, Flying Eagle General Yuan Ren, Longwu General Yuan Lingxiang, etc.
Yuan Zheng waited for a moment, and then the guard came out and said: "Old prince, please invite the general in!"
He quickly walked into the main hall and saw his old family leader Yuan Xuanhu and the three brothers of the Yuan family discussing something?
He hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "I am humble enough to meet the old prince and my three uncles!"
Yuan Lu frowned and asked impatiently: "Lao Wu, what's so urgent about you that you have to see the head of the family now?"
Yuan Zheng said nervously: "Bizhi was training on the street in the morning and overheard the news that someone discovered tens of thousands of troops in Feihuxing."
Yuan Xuanhu was originally half-lying, but these words made him sit up straight. He looked at Yuan Zheng with sharp eyes, "Is this news true?"
"It was said by a businessman that his brother saw tens of thousands of troops with his own eyes and told him this morning to run for his life."
Yuan Xuanhu's eyes became solemn, and he asked his eldest son Yuan Jin: "Dalang, what do you think?"
Yuan Jin pondered for a moment and said: "Haier thinks that there is no need to make up this kind of thing. It should be true. We are sitting here, aren't we just discussing how to respond to Zhu Tao's sending troops?"
Yuan Lu stood up and said, "Haier will lead his army northward now!"
"What are you in a hurry for?"
Yuan Xuanhu glared at his son, and then asked: "How many troops are there at Yanmen Pass?"
Yuan Jin hurriedly said: "There are two thousand troops, and there are also three thousand troops at Loufangguan!"
Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass are the two major passes into Taiyuan Prefecture from the north. Coming from Feihuxing, you have to take Yanmen Pass first. However, Yanmen Pass is extremely steep and easy to defend and difficult to attack. So you can only continue heading west for hundreds of miles and go to Loufan Pass.
, Loufan Pass is a valley road that is dozens of miles long and several miles wide. A high-walled pass is built at the north entrance of the valley. Although it is not as steep as Yanmen Pass, it is not that easy to break.
Yuan Xuanhu pondered for a moment and said: "Immediately send someone to Yunzhou to deliver a message, requesting Huihe to send troops as agreed. In addition, eight thousand more troops will be sent to Loufan Pass and two thousand more troops to Yanmen Pass."
.........
The Yellow River Wharf in Yanfu County is also the Yellow River Ferry in Wubao County today. The water surface of the Yellow River here is not very wide, only a few dozen feet wide, but the current is very fast. The best way is not to cross the river by boat, but to use boats to build pontoons.
The soldiers tied two long iron chains on the Yellow River, and more than a hundred boats were locked side by side on the Yellow River. Wide wooden boards were put on them to form a pontoon bridge.
However, such a pontoon bridge also has obvious weaknesses. Once a fire ship drifts down the upstream, the entire pontoon bridge will be burned down. Therefore, the Hexi Army pulled up an iron chain one mile away to the north to intercept the ships coming down from the north.
That night, 30,000 troops crossed the pontoon bridge in a mighty manner, and the army gathered in a wilderness on the east coast. General Qin Fen, the general of the army, led 2,000 soldiers and rushed towards Dinghu County, 30 miles away to the north.
The majestic Luliang Mountain divided Taiyuan Prefecture and Shizhou into two. By taking Shizhou, the Hexi Army had a foothold in Hedong.
The most important city in Shizhou is Lishi County, but the first city that the Hexi Army must capture is Dinghu County. Dinghu County has no garrison, but it has a beacon. Taking Dinghu County can prevent the enemy from passing the beacon notice.
Taiyuan.
At the same time, Commander Li Bing led 5,000 men on a starry night march. Their mission was to capture Lishi County before dawn.
At the fifth watch, Li Bing led 5,000 soldiers and finally arrived at Lishi County. Lishi County is a large city with a population of nearly 200,000 and a garrison of 1,000 people. However, it is separated by the Luliang Mountains. Zhu Tao in the north cannot kill him, and Zhu Tao in the south cannot kill him.
Even Li Huaiguang could not get through, so Lishi County did not feel any danger, and the defenders lost their vigilance.
The city gate was closed tightly, and no defenders could be seen on the city head. The soldiers laid long wooden boards on the moat. A thin soldier ran towards the city wall holding a bamboo pole. On the other end of the bamboo pole were three strong men. The soldiers
He jumped onto the city wall and continued running upwards. The bamboo poles tightly supported him all the way up, and the soldiers climbed to the top of the city.
Seeing that there was no one around on the top of the city, he threw down a rope ladder. The soldiers climbed up the rope ladder one after another. After a while, more than a dozen rope ladders were thrown down one after another, and more and more soldiers climbed up to the top of the city.
go.
Not long after, the beacons in Lishi County were pulled out first, and then the city gate slowly opened, the suspension bridge was lowered, and Li Bing gave an order, and five thousand cavalry launched, running towards the city like lightning...
The sky was slightly bright. Guo Song led the army to Lishi County. The city had been cleaned up. A thousand defenders became prisoners of war while they were sleeping. They sat in the open space outside the city with blank eyes. They didn't know what they were going to face.
destiny?
Li Bing came up and saluted and said: "To your Majesty, Lishi County was successfully captured. My brothers did not injure a single soldier. We captured 1,100 enemies and the beacons have been pulled out!"
"here you go!"
Guo Song praised: "Has the beacon fire in Dinghu County been lit?"
Li Bing shook his head, "It's not lit!"
Although I don’t know the situation in Dinghu County, as long as the beacon fire in Dinghu County is not ignited, it means that Dinghu County has been successfully moved south. In fact, there is nothing to worry about. There are no defenders in Dinghu County, only a few
The veteran is in charge of the beacon. The last time the beacon was lit was when there was a locust plague many years ago. After so many years, it is still questionable whether the beacon can still be lit.
At this time, Li Wantai, the governor of Shizhou, was brought up by the soldiers. Li Wantai was an official loyal to the Yuan family. After Zhu Si occupied Chang'an, some officials fled to Chengdu, but many officials also fled to Taiyuan. Li Wantai was one of them. He was originally appointed as
Wai Lang, a member of the Criminal Department, was appointed governor of Shizhou after arriving in Taiyuan.
He originally thought that Shizhou was safe and sound, but he did not expect that the Hexi Army actually came to kill him, which made him extremely shocked and frustrated.
He lowered his head and saluted: "Your Majesty, Li Wantai, is here to see Mr. Guo!"
Guo Song asked coldly: "Let me ask you, are there garrisons in Linquan County, Fangshan County and Pingyi County?"
Linquan County, Fangshan County and Pingyi County are the other three counties in Shizhou. They are relatively far away and Guo Song cannot take care of them for the time being.
Li Wantai quickly shook his head and said: "Reporting to the envoy, there are only a thousand defenders in Shizhou, and they are all in Lishi County."
"What about beacons? Do they exist in three counties?"
"There are a total of six beacons in Shizhou, one each in Dinghu County and Lishi County. The other four are all in the Luliang Valley Road. There is a detailed map on the wall of the humble official's room, and you can see the specific locations of the six beacons."
"How much food and supplies are there in the warehouse?"
"There are 20,000 dan of grain, 30,000 guan of money, 10,000 guan of which are old money, and the rest are newly minted Hedong money. There are also 100,000 pieces of cloth and other materials, but there are no soldiers and armor."
Seeing that he was quite honest, Guo Song said to the soldiers: "Send him back to his house under house arrest and not allow him to go out!"
The soldiers took Li Wantai down, and Guo Song then urged his horse into the county town.