Although Li Chengzhong gave himself three days of rest, claiming to "do nothing", and although the banquet was to entertain his old brother Zhao Zaili and his good friend Yuan Xingqin, since he was the governor of Yingzhou, the people present were all soldiers from the Lulong Army.
General, it is natural to discuss official matters during the banquet.
After the fun in the first half, the next topic gradually became heavier.
"The situation in Lulong is not good now. Although the Xuanwu Army has temporarily eased the pressure on us after withdrawing from Hebei, the battle just a while ago was really too miserable. All the troops in the Hebei camp were defeated, and we could only reluctantly build a camp in Fanyang.
Defense line." When talking about this issue, Li Chengyue couldn't help but sigh. He knew the situation in the south better than Li Chengzhong, and continued: "Many camp heads have been destroyed, including Dezhou, Shenzhou, Cangzhou, Jizhou, and Mozhou.
All Yingzhou fell to the enemy, the commander-in-chief's yamen army was almost destroyed, and all the state troops were defeated. Now only the Yi'er army and Ba Duqi still have some fighting strength..."
Li Chengzhong took a sip of wine and remained silent.
Zhang Xingzhong asked: "After the Xuanwu Army withdrew, did we not regain the lost state capital?"
Li Chengyue sighed: "It's easier said than done. The Xuanwu Army had already made arrangements when they withdrew. There was Wang Chuzhi of the Yiwu Army in the north, Wang Rong of the Chengde Army in the middle, and Luo Shaowei of the Wei Bo Army in the southeast. They all surrendered to Xuanwu and were facing us.
Lu Longjun is watching with eager eyes."
Zhang Xingzhong asked: "When did the Xuanwu Army withdraw from Chang'an? Are there any signs of continuing to attack Hebei?" Last winter, the Xuanwu Army held high the banner of Qin Wangyi and marched westward, but ultimately failed to enter Chang'an. The news received by Yingzhou was that they had returned to the division.
Bianzhou, but this was an old thing in February. Now more than a month has passed, and Yingzhou has not received the latest news.
Li Chengyue already knew the latest news, because he received an order from the commander-in-chief to mobilize troops for reinforcements.
The Xuanwu Army has indeed made a comeback, but this time their goal is directly toward Hedong.
At the end of February, Xuanwu Army Zhang Cunjing led his army to capture Jinzhou and Jiangzhou. Wang Ke, the military governor of Hezhong, asked Li Keyong for help, but Li Keyong could only watch helplessly because he was helpless. Last winter, Li Sishao of the Hedong Army,
In order to rescue Lu Long, who was in danger, Zhou Dewei fought repeatedly with the Xuanwu Army in Xingming Prefecture. Although it relieved Lu Long's pressure to a certain extent, he also suffered heavy casualties. Hezhong was the Ping Fan of the southern part of Hezhong, and Wang Ke, the military governor of Hezhong, was Li
Ke Yong's son-in-law can't even save his own son-in-law from crisis, which is enough to show how weak Hedong is now!
Li Keyong in the late Tang Dynasty was a relatively temperamental figure. No matter how the history books commented on his ambitions and ambitions, and no matter how later generations criticized him for being unruly and unruly, this Shatuo man was indeed full of loyalty and benevolence, with a clear sense of love and hate, and was absolutely worthy of his reputation.
It's called a person of temperament.
Although he was not very respectful to the emperor and often denounced the emperor's faults, he was loyal to the royal family of Li and Tang Dynasties and was as famous as the master of King Pinglu Jiedu. Even if he once went to Chang'an to admonish the emperor, his target was not the emperor, but more
The Shatuo people had a bad temper and never thought about the harm to the royal family. His loyalty was known even to the emperor. Zhu Quanzhong, who had just raised the banner of King Qin, sent troops to Hezhong. The emperor ordered Zhu Quanzhong to
Don't fight in the river, but Zhu Quanzhong is too lazy to pay attention to the emperor.
There is still a sense of honesty and stupidity in this Shatuo man's character. The Li family gave him his current status, and he regarded himself as the "loyal dog" of the Li family, saying that he wanted to take care of the country for the Li family. And he also treated all the feudal vassals.
He rarely takes the initiative to attack. Even the few times he sends troops are all to help his "friends". Moreover, because of his "stupidity", this Shatuo man is confused about the meaning of "friends".
It's too clear that he suffered a lot and became the laughing stock of all the feudal lords and towns all over the world.
For example, when Zhu Quanzhong was beaten by Qin Zongquan, the remnant of the Yellow King, he asked his "good friend" Li Keyong for help. Li Keyong immediately sent troops to rescue him. He was afraid that he would be delayed on the road and his "good friend" Zhu Quanzhong would die, so he simply abandoned his brigade.
He personally led five hundred Shatuo cavalry as the vanguard and killed Qin Zongquan. Later, Zhu Quanzhong arranged a reception banquet for him to reward him for risking his life to rescue. Halfway through the drink, Li Keyong drank too much and drank too much.
After praising himself for a few words, he started murderous intent to eliminate this "good friend" who "might" pose a threat to him in the future. Fortunately, Li Ke was brave and finally escaped alone, saving him from a violent death.
He cried to the emperor about his tragic experience, but the emperor had no choice but to comfort him with a few words of comfort. From then on, Li Keyong became a mortal enemy of Zhu Quanzhong.
Another example of Li Keyong's "good temperament" is also reflected in his generosity to his subordinates. His old subordinates, the Shatuo Black Crow Army, did not observe military discipline to an intolerable level.
He strictly rectified military discipline and killed several people to establish his authority, but Li Keyong couldn't bear it. He thought that these people had followed him and conquered the world for a long time, and now they had to suffer the pain of sword punishment. It was really unreasonable, so the generals had to sigh.
When Wang Ke's request for help was hopeless, Li Keyong once again showed his generosity to the world. He allowed Wang Ke to leave the land in the river that blocked the entrance to Hedong and evacuate on his own. He told his son-in-law Wang Ke that I was really unable to rescue him.
If you really can't do it, just evacuate from the river. Don't defend it anymore. Go to Chang'an. I'll tell the emperor that I can give you a good job and do it for him in the future. He also said to Wang Ke sincerely, "Don't do it."
He thought of surrendering to Zhu Quanzhong. That man was not kind. If you surrendered him, you would be killed. In the end, Wang Ke did not follow Li Keyong's advice. He surrendered Zhu Quanzhong and moved his family to Daliang. Later, Zhu Quanzhong found him.
An excuse to kill.
In March, when Li Chengzhong was still in Silla, Xuanwu's army captured Hezhong and opened the way to march to Hedong. At this time, Xuanwu had become a behemoth. Under the banner of King Qin, Zhu Quanzhong conquered countless territories and generals. This
Once, he showed his powerful power to the world. Under his order, Xuanwu General Shi Shuzong marched from Taihang Mountain Pass, Wei Bo's army marched from Xinkou of Cizhou, Ge Congzhou joined the German army and marched from Tumen, and Mingzhou Governor Zhang
Guihou marched from Maling, Yiwu Jiedushi Wang Chuzhi marched from Feihukou, Quanzhi Jinzhou governor Hou Yan marched from Yindi, and the six armies rushed towards the east of the river like a violent wave.
Such military prowess frightened Liu Rengong, who was living in Hebei and had the same problem. Liu Rengong had no confidence that Hedong could withstand it. Once Hedong was conquered by Xuanwu, it would definitely be his turn next, so he issued a call-up order again, asking everyone to
The army defends Fan Yang. The "armies" here are the northern states and Shanbei camps still in the hands of Lu Long's army.
Li Chengyue came to Liucheng just to finalize his marriage with Lan'er before sending out troops. This time, the military leaders of all parties in Lulong did not dare to ignore it. Three thousand of the descendants of the Gao family brothers had already left in advance.
Guizhou rushed to Fanyang. Wang Sitong has also left Lulongsai with two thousand Yinhudu troops. Zhao Jing will leave soon with Jizhou soldiers. All other pass defenders such as Jimen, Zhenyuan, Juyong and so on
Evacuate Guanqiang and focus on Fan Yang.
Including Zhao Zaili, the envoy of Yuguan Guard, he also received a letter from Zhou Zhiyu and recruited a thousand sergeants to help out. This time he came to say goodbye to Li Chengzhong. In addition to saying goodbye, Zhao Zaili also brought Liaodong County
Letters between Wang Liu Rengong and his old boss Zhou Zhiyu.
In Liu Rengong's letter, he encouraged Li Chengzhong and praised him for his great victory in the Eastern Expedition. However, Liu Rengong did not promote Li Chengzhong anymore. Li Chengzhong's official position was almost the same in the Lulong system. As for other rewards
, where can he get it now? Liu Rengong did not give Li Chengzhong a reward, but entrusted him with the important task of taking charge of external affairs, stabilizing Lulong's rear, and asked him to ensure the security of all borders so that the Lulong army could fight with peace of mind on the Fanyang front line. In fact,
This was also the authority granted to Li Chengzhong by the imperial court. At this moment, Liu Rengong not only ratified it but also showed a hint of inexplicable apology.
The Shanbei camp was disbanded. Except for the Yingzhou army, all military generals were transferred away from Guanqiang. The defense of the north, which had been shared by all parties in the past, fell entirely on the shoulders of Li Chengzhong. This was a kind of helplessness, but also an expectation.
, and even more guilty.
If it were still half a year ago, Li Chengzhong would never have dared to take on this important task. How long is the entire pass wall? How big is the grassland outside the pass? With less than 2,000 people in the Yingzhou Military Region at that time, it was impossible to defend it. But at this time
But it is different. At this moment, the Khitan is in a tense confrontation. To put it bluntly, they are on the eve of civil strife. How can they still have the strength to attack Guanqiang? It's just that the Lulong Army does not know such an important inside story.
More importantly, Li Chengzhong now has the confidence to protect the grassland, and he truly has the ability to "control all military forces outside the pass"!
The regular main force of the Yingzhou Army has 2,700 people, the three reserve battalions have 750 people, and the Waiyo Allied Forces have 5,000 people, which adds up to more than 8,000 people. With such a force at hand, it has experienced
Li Chengzhong, who was conquering the Bohai Sea and fighting for Silla, was confident that he could hold up a safe sky on the back of the Lulong Army! At the same time, 1,500 new soldiers were about to walk out of the recruit training camp of the Training Department, and the next batch of recruits
The recruitment is already in the plan, Yingzhou's treasury is abundant, and the two workshops in Liucheng and Yanjun are also working hard to build military armor. What else does he have to fear?
Li Chengzhong opened Zhou Zhiyu's letter again. Zhou Zhiyu described in his mind the current severe situation Lu Long was facing. His description was more shocking than those of Li Chengyue and Zhao Zaili. He also told Li Chengzhong that Zhao Zaili was about to go to Fan Yang for reinforcements.
There will be no soldiers in Guanping Prefecture in the near future. I hope Li Chengzhong will not be careless and stabilize the border situation. Liu Rengong was embarrassed to ask Li Chengzhong for things, but Zhou Zhiyu was easy to ask. This was also the main purpose of his letter. Zhou Zhiyu
I asked Li Chengzhong whether the war horses promised to the commander-in-chief last year were found. Now Fan Yang is short of horses—in fact, he is short of everything. I hope Li Chengzhong can send a batch of war horses to the emergency.
At the end of the letter, Zhou Zhiyu implicitly hinted to Li Chengzhong that if the current situation changes, he would contact Guo Bingcheng, the general magistrate of Jiedu Prefecture who stayed in Youzhou, but he did not say much about what happened.