Chapter 663: Bashang Military Camp

Five days later, Li Guangbi led an army of 50,000 to Chang'an. The army did not enter Chang'an, but stationed troops in Bashang. After waiting for Li Qing'an to inspect the army, he rushed south and drove from Ziwu Valley to Hanzhong.

At this time, there were already 100,000 troops in Hanzhong. In addition, the 50,000 elite troops brought by Li Guangbi were a total of 150,000 troops. The Southern Tang Dynasty had an army of 300,000, which was almost twice that of the Northern Tang army. However, Li Qing'an was not worried at all. Winning more with less has always been Li Guangbi's strength. Moreover, the 50,000 elite troops brought by him were all veterans of Anxi who had experienced many battles. With these 50,000 elite troops, Li Qing'an also believed that they could sweep Jiannan.

The army was stationed in Bashang, and Li Qing'an arrived at the military camp early in the morning. Bashang has been a place for troops since ancient times. Zhou Yafu of the Western Han Dynasty stationed here. Emperor Wen of Han came to reward the army. Zhou Yafu really let him appreciate what is the true general.

Li Guangbi did not stationed in the ready-made military camp. This was his habit. He always believed that the warm and soft water and soil of the Central Plains would remove the toughness of the Western Regions Army. Therefore, no matter where he stationed, he would let the soldiers maintain their true nature of garrisoning in the desert.

He set up fences, lived in camp tents, and slept on carpets. During the war, he did not take off his armor and was one foot away from his hand. Each tent had a rotation of soldiers. This strict way of camping has been maintained to this day. It was precisely this strict military discipline that he finally defeated the 30,000 Yan troops with 3,000 cavalry in Xiangzhou, which was awe-inspiring world.

Li Guangbi's military camp was stationed on an empty high ground. Li Qing'an led three thousand guards to come by at a speed of lightning. From a distance, he saw neat camp bars and high whistle towers.

At this time, a rocket shot out from the mail tower and exploded in the air. This was asking them about their identity. Although Li Guangbi's military camp had already received a report from the scout in advance and that their general was here, the rules of the military camp were like this, and they could not give up just because they were their own people.

A person shot out from Li Qing'an's personal guards immediately. The rockets roared and exploded in the air. This was a response to the military camp. Only the Anxi Army had such rockets.

The camp gate opened wide, and Li Guangbi led dozens of generals to greet him. They were lined up in a row, each with his helmets and armor, with anticipation and excitement in his eyes.

There were two generals standing in front of him. The thin and dark-skinned general was the main general Li Guangbi. He wore a silver helmet, and the silver helmet was a cluster of fiery red helmet tassels drifting in the wind, making him look majestic. Half a step behind him was the deputy general Tian Qianzhen. He also wore a silver helmet, but it was a white helmet tassel. Everyone was solemnly waiting for Li Qing'an's arrival.

A moment later, the sound of horse hooves came like muffled thunder, getting closer and closer, as if the sky was falling and the earth was cracked, and suddenly disappeared, leaving only the sound of more than a hundred war horses running hooves. One hundred cavalry had already surrounded Li Qing'an and came to the front of the camp. The horse hooves were tapping a few times, and Li Qing'an stopped the war horse.

Li Guangbi immediately led the generals to kneel down on one knee and knelt down on one knee for Li Qing'an. "The last general Li Guangbi led the generals of Longyou to meet with the general!"

"See General!"

Li Qing'an's name in the army has been changed to General, because a few days ago, the Zhengshi Hall officially issued an order to commend the soldiers of the three armies. Among them, Li Guangbi, Li Siye and Feng Changqing were promoted to the second-rank general of the army. Li Guangbi was granted the title of the crown prince's junior division, Li Siye was granted the title of the crown prince's junior tutor, and Changqing was granted the title of the crown prince's junior guru.

Li Fei Yuanli, He Lou Yurun, Li Sheng, Li Fei Shouyu, Duan Xiushi, Cui Qianyou, Lei Wanchun and others were also named the champion generals, so there were more than Li Qing'an in the Anxi Army.

But in terms of title, there was only one general in the Anxi army. Li Qing'an also felt that it was inappropriate. He asked the three armies to change him to be the general because he was already the General of Tiance. Everyone followed his advice and changed him to be the general, and sent a letter to the military camps in various places with flying pigeons.

Li Qingan turned over and dismounted, helped Li Guangbi up, and smiled and said, "I thought General Guangbi should have arrived the day before yesterday, why was it two days late?"

Li Guangbi said ashamedly: "I passed through Luoyang and a war horse died of illness. I was worried that it was a horse plague, so I stopped to check the horse for two days, so I came late, so I asked the general to forgive me."

Li Qing'an nodded, "If on the battlefield, Gu Zhan ignores the horse and is mobilized in the marching, he will take the horse and then Gu Zhan, General Guangbi will handle it properly and be punished without guilt!"

Li Guangbi was grateful and hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, General, please inspect the general's military camp."

"Okay! Let's talk in detail when entering the camp."

Seeing that everyone was nervous, Li Qingan smiled and waved his hand: "Please feel free to you, don't be so nervous. I am not a military discipline officer, so I won't check your true feelings."

Li Qing'an's easy-going and humor made everyone relax. Everyone walked towards the military camp with a smile. Li Qing'an slowed down and smiled at Tian Ganzhen and said, "Congratulations on having a son."

Tian Ganzhen's wife gave birth to a son in Chang'an last month, but her wife was weak and almost died of birth. Fortunately, Princess Zhao Dugu Mingyue ordered someone to send a thousand-year-old ginseng to hang her breath, and then she slowly turned into danger. Tian Ganzhen had already received the family's trust, and his gratitude was hard to express in words.

He immediately wanted to kneel down and thank him, but Li Qing'an helped him and said lightly: "As the head coach of the Anxi generals, I led the generals to fight bloody battles in front of the enemy, and I have no time to take care of the rear. If the younger brother and sister are in trouble, if the princess turns a blind eye, she will be an unqualified princess. This is her duty, you don't have to take it to heart."

Tian Ganzhen nodded silently, and he said in a deep voice: "Thank you for your heartfelt words, I am only effective and obedient to repay you!"

Li Qing'an patted his shoulder and said, "Let's go! Let's discuss military information together."

． ． ． ． ． ． ． ．

When all the generals walked into the tent, they all consciously placed the tent side by side. The rule of the Anxi Army was that officers above the General of the Central Army could listen, but only officers above the general had the right to speak.

There is a huge sand table in the middle of the tent. This is a sand table map of Hanzhong and Bashu. It was made two years ago and it has not come in handy until today.

The vanguard of the southern expedition was served by the general Xi Yuanqing. He was in Shu for many years and knew very well about the terrain and combat methods of Bashu. He picked up the wooden pole and pointed at Nanzheng and said: "The land of Hanzhong has been occupied by us. In this way, the difficulty of the southern expedition is reduced by at least half. Attacking Bashu, the difficulty is not fighting, but marching. Li Taibai said in his poem: The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to climb to the sky!"

Li Qingan interrupted him with a smile, "I don't think it's so difficult!"

Li Guangbi understood what Li Qing'an meant. When it was necessary to boost morale, he could not let the soldiers feel afraid of difficulties first. He said to Xi Yuanqing: "Most of Li Taibai's poems are exaggerated. Don't use poems, just say them according to the actual situation."

"yes!"

Xi Yuanqing continued: "There are three roads to enter Shu from Hanzhong, one is the Taurus Road. This is the main road to enter Shu. The road is slightly flat and you can ride a horse, but there are natural obstacles like Jianmen Pass.

The second is the Micang Road. You have to cross Micang Mountain. The road is very difficult and most people don’t walk.

The third is the litchi road. It crosses Bashan and arrives at Xuanhan County, Tongzhou. This road was overhauled during the Tianbao period. It is the way to send litchi to Yang Guifei. To keep the litchi fresh, you must ride a horse. Therefore, it is most suitable to use cavalry on this road, but it is far from Chengdu."

Li Qing'an glanced at Li Guangbi. He knew that Li Guangbi must have studied it a long time ago and even had the combat plan decided. He smiled slightly and said, "General Guangbi, tell me about it! Your combat plan."

Li Guangbi did not postpone it, and took the wooden pole from Xi Yuanqing and said, "In fact, I have already talked with many Bashu soldiers. The Jiannan Army is no longer the Jiannan Army of Gao Xianzhi. The morale is dispersed, the morale is sluggish, and the training is seriously insufficient. It is far from our opponent. Just as General Xi just used it, the key is Shu Road. As long as we pass the Shu Road, the destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty will be just around the corner. My southern expedition will be planned to complement each other. The main force takes the Jinniu Road, attack Jianmen Pass, and then use the surprise troops to take the Litchi Road and attack Chengdu by detour. In this way, the Jiannan Army is difficult to take the head and tail, and its combat power will collapse quickly. This is my rough plan. I will lead the main force to take the Jinniu Road, and Tian Gan really leads 10,000 cavalry to take the Litchi Road. I wonder what the General thinks?"

Li Qing'an pondered for a moment and said, "The general direction is correct and can complement each other, but you must implement some details, especially our Anxi Army's winning magic weapon and full and comprehensive intelligence, you must not forget."

Li Guangbi bowed, "I remember the humble profession!"

． ． ． ． ． ． ．

All the generals dispersed, and there were only a few core generals left in the tent. Only then did Li Qingan express his idea: to attack the enemy's plan.

"I just said that the importance of intelligence is. Maybe you didn't understand what I mean. Of course, it's normal for you not to understand. I mean to make full use of the civil strife in the Southern Tang Dynasty, attack the enemy's plan, and take down the Southern Tang Dynasty with the minimum casualties."

Li Qing'an's words made Li Guangbi realize something, and he hurriedly said, "What is the general who means is that there has been civil strife in the Southern Tang Dynasty?"

Li Qingan nodded slowly, "I have obtained the exact information. A crack appeared between Li Heng and the prince Li clan. Li Heng wanted to make his other son, Prince Peng Li, only the prince, and abolish the current prince. However, the prince clan has a deep connection in the Southern Tang Dynasty, especially the military support. Therefore, there will be a injury for father and son to fight for power. In this battle of conquest of the Southern Tang Dynasty, you are just a frontal battlefield, and in fact there is a second battlefield."

Li Qingan looked back at Tian Ganzhen and smiled and said, "General Tian, ​​do you understand what I mean?"

"The General's second battlefield refers to the Intelligence Hall!"

"That's right!"

Li Qing'an said to everyone again: "The predecessor of the Intelligence Hall was the Han and Tang Association. I believe you have all heard that as early as a hundred years ago, the Han and Tang Association had already operated their forces in Bashu, and it was deeply rooted. Our Intelligence Hall had penetrated into the Southern Tang officialdom when Li Longji entered Shu. Just as the Southern Tang could win over our officials, we also attracted a group of officials, and some of them were lurking deep, which you could not imagine. So when I decided to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, I had already ordered the people of the Intelligence Hall to start acting. So this battle of the Southern Tang Dynasty was actually two fronts, one was your frontal attack, and the second was the second battlefield within the Southern Tang Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Li Qing'an took out a document and handed it to Li Guangbi, "This is the list of the main intelligence personnel of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and it belongs to the highest secret. Since I appoint you as the chief general this time, the people from the Chengdu Intelligence Hall will contact you directly, which will make it easier for you to cooperate."

Li Guangbi took the list and nodded silently, "I understand!"

Li Qing'an patted his shoulder and pointed to the soldiers standing guard outside the tent and said, "These soldiers are all veterans who follow us. Anxi has fought for hundreds of battles and then moved to the Central Plains. We generals should try our best to save their lives so that they can return home to gloriously and reunite with their families. So what I want to do for you in this battle is not to defeat the Southern Tang, but to the extent you will occupy Chengdu with the smallest casualties...."
Chapter completed!