On May 19, the thirteenth year of Jianji, in the southern suburbs of Chengdu, the army set off one after another after swearing an oath.
Wang Yan, the deputy transport envoy of Jiannan Road, and Yin Lucheng of Chengdu, as the chief and deputy military envoys of the camp, will also set off with the army.
Wang Yan is an official of the Hedong Clique. After Li Keyong's death, he was assigned an official position out of the need for united front.
Lu Cheng was an old bureaucrat of the former Tang Dynasty. He was recommended by Prince Shao Chengjie and became the Yin of Chengdu after Duan Ning left office.
It was only after Li Tangbin came to Shuzhong that he carefully considered the details of these two people.
He is not a fool, he is just too lazy to take care of some things.
In his opinion, this Wang Yan seemed to be Li Keyong's old subordinate, but in fact he was a member of the prince. At least he had secretly defected to him.
Lu Cheng is a serious prince, everyone knows it.
He also remembered that after the former Chengdu Yin Duan Ning was transferred, he directly served as the transfer envoy of Hedong Road. The relationship between this old man from Hedong and the prince is really difficult to describe.
Maybe it's too late? I can only take a shortcut and seek refuge with the prince?
Li Tangbin felt that what he guessed was the truth.
But this doesn’t seem to be a good thing…
Li Tangbin felt a little pained in his balls. He really felt that the saint was getting old? He was always around the saint, and he knew this emperor with a kind face and a dark heart. If there is anyone in the world who can convince him, it is Jin Shang.
Every move of the prince was actually under the attention of the saint. It was just that some things were acquiesced and some things were tolerated.
The place of Jiannan was conquered by the prince, and all the people from top to bottom were originally from the prince, especially Li Maozhen, who was demoted from official position to general, and basically took refuge with the prince. Even the position of the governor Guo Fu is difficult to say, at least
He did not touch the generals arranged by the prince.
How could a saint really not see such an iron barrel-like place?
No, King Yan came to Shu twice, but there was nothing wrong with the prince. Every time Li Tangbin thought about this, he would laugh so hard that he couldn't stand upright.
If King Yan stays in Shu for a few more years, the situation arranged by the prince will be completely changed. The army and the camp are all in command, but the military and political affairs are in control, and officials are replaced and other trivial matters!
Of course, this does not mean that the saint has any objections to the prince. In fact, this is just the instinctive action of the emperor. The prince can place officials and even control part of the army, but the emperor sometimes declares his existence and experiences his control.
, tell the prince not to be so anxious.
The Shao family’s bullshit is ruining everything!
Li Tangbin curled his lips and raised his eyes to look at the Chengdu elders seeing him off outside the inn.
"I spend all my time fixing these flashy things. If I have the time, why not donate more money and food?" Li Tangbin said with disgust when passing by a group of Chengdu's elderly gentry.
Everyone's faces turned pale. This reminded them of the difficult days during the feudal era when warriors used knives to force them to pay.
Chen Jingxuan and Li Maozhen, two generations of Shu commanders, imposed exorbitant taxes and almost squeezed them dry. In the middle of Sichuan, there were also years of fighting, the population was greatly reduced, and the world was in decline. It has only been a breath of relief in the past few years, but you are coming to rob them again.
Money? When are we not going to participate in the donation? Don’t mess around.
"Look at how bearish you are." Li Tangbin laughed and rode away.
During this southern expedition, almost all the elite troops from the Chengdu camp were dispatched.
He brought 14,000 men and horses from Chang'an, and the Youguo army stationed in northern Sichuan also moved south to the south of about 20,000 people, plus 16,000 victorious troops, making the total army nearly 50,000.
It’s not that I don’t want to bring more, it’s mainly that it’s not necessary.
What kind of terrain is southern Sichuan? Li Tangbin, who has been fighting all his life, can't understand it? In this kind of war, the more people, the better. If the soldiers are useless, they will only waste food and even flee before the battle.
The more difficult the place is to supply, the more elite troops must be used. When the situation opens up, it may be possible to withdraw the elite troops and let miscellaneous troops go into battle, but that is not possible now.
As for the tactics of the Southern Expedition, to be honest, Li Tangbin didn't want to do anything fancy, he just wanted to fight the enemy decisively.
Strategically, the enemy has been brought in, and the idea is to defeat the enemy in one battle. Moreover, in the battle of Ya'an, you can also observe the enemy's combat effectiveness at close range. As long as you find an opportunity, you can directly attack them.
Tens of thousands of troops showed off their power and marched southward.
Liu Wei, Qiu Zengxiang, Wang Jichuan, Zhu Zhen, Shao Zhiyan and other generals followed closely behind Li Tangbin. Wang Yanwen, Li Cunxin, Liu Zhiyuan, Xianglijin, He Delun, Bai Fengjin, Shao Zhiwei, Yang Dingzhen and other secondary military academies were a few horses behind.
body.
Li Lin, Marquis of Yu, the capital of Youguo Army, who acted as the vanguard, had set off in advance with 5,000 cavalry, and had already arrived at Shuangliu County, forty miles southwest of Chengdu Prefecture.
Shulu Porun and Yang Shihou took two thousand cavalry, two thousand Shu soldiers and two thousand barbarian soldiers from Dongchuan. They detoured to Lingrong and went straight to Rongzhou as a partial division.
Li Tangbin didn't expect them to create many great results along the way. Anyway, it was a casual chess game. It would be best if they could create results. If they couldn't, it would be fine. There would be no regrets at all.
The Daxia family has a great cause, and the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses is no longer painful.
This is a partial division in tactics.
In terms of strategy, both the army led by Li Tangbin and the thousands of troops led by Shulu Porun and Yang Shihou were all "regular soldiers".
The "surprise troops" were the 18,000-strong Dragon and Tiger Army led by Zhu Yanshou, the surrendered general of Huainan. They also recruited more than 10,000 barbarians in the two states of Zang and Bo, and marched all the way to the southwest to fight against the Kunming tribe who responded to the Nanzhao.
advance to the area.
However, this section of the road is in disrepair and is obviously not easy to walk. It may not be so convenient when collecting food from the tribes along the way. It is hard to say what role it will play in the end.
Gu Quan's military department stationed in Yongzhou was not placed under the command of the Chengdu camp. They were unable to attack for the time being because during the process of collecting grain and grass, the barbarian tribes could not bear the oppression and rebelled angrily. They were in the process of countering the rebellion.
Li Tangbin didn't know the situation there yet, and he didn't think there was anything wrong if he knew it.
Across thousands of mountains and rivers, they can't help the main battlefield in Jiannan, so do whatever they want.
******
On the hillside east of Yazhou City, the fighting gradually became fierce.
Because the people fled in large numbers, the Nanzhao soldiers were not very satisfied because they did not loot much. After much deliberation, the only option was to capture Yazhou City first.
Lizhou City has been conquered by them, and the gains were huge. The tens of thousands of people they plundered made all the armies smile. After they brought them back to the country, everyone could share a share, and their strength increased.
I heard that Yazhou is larger, richer and more populous than Lizhou, so it is necessary to capture it.
The most important thing is that the banner of King Yan of the Xia Kingdom was displayed on the top of Yazhou City. Everyone knew what this meant.
It is no exaggeration to say that if this person is caught, Shao Shude will pay at least hundreds of thousands of dollars to redeem him. The benefits here are too great.
On May 17, Dachang and the pioneer general Yang Zhao went to the east of Yazhou City to supervise the war of various ministries.
He first sent his troops to attack the Shengjie Army camp on the south bank of the Rope Bridge, and continued to attack for three days without success. In addition, he was flanked by soldiers and horses rushing down from Yazhou City, which was very troublesome.
So they dug trenches, surrounded the camp on the south bank of the Pingqiang River, and began to attack Yazhou.
This fight lasted two more days.
On May 22nd, Shao Mingyi, King of Yan, climbed to the top of the city and overlooked the foothills.
"The thief suffered a great loss by attacking on his back, but he persisted. Maybe he was cheating." Shao Mingyi called Zhang Wu over and asked, "If the thief takes a detour to the back mountain, is it possible to succeed?"
Zhang Wu thought for a while and said: "The mountains are high and the forests are dense. There are no roads, so it is difficult to take a detour."
"Where is the trail that the woodcutter took to cut wood?" Shao Mingyi did not let down his guard and asked: "Where is the trail that the merchants took to avoid the tax card? Are there any?"
"This - maybe there is." Zhang Wu is from Hezhou, Dongchuan, and is not very clear about the situation in Xichuan. After hearing this, he immediately called a few local businessmen and asked carefully.
"Your Highness, there are indeed two paths that are used by woodcutters and hunters to go up the mountain. They are narrow and dangerous. Some unscrupulous businessmen will also use these roads to evade taxes."
Shao Mingyi nodded. That's right. The Tongguan Forbidden Pit was originally the road used by businessmen who evaded taxes. There are no small roads outside the main road, which is as incredible as eating meat without adding spices.
"Do you know how to do it?" Shao Mingyi asked.
"The general will immediately send people to lie down by the road and wait for the enemy." Zhang Wu replied.
"The thieves may not necessarily come from the back mountains." Shao Mingyi said: "I just raised the possibility. Just put hundreds of people on each road. The key is to scare off the enemy troops so that we will not be caught off guard. From now on
Back Mountain has come a long way, with insufficient armor, food, and equipment. The focus is on a 'surprise', but once it is discovered, it will be meaningless."
"Your Highness is indeed experienced in using troops." Zhang Wu said with admiration.
Shao Mingyi was a little embarrassed after hearing this, and said: "I am also a sage who studied. I have almost rotted through the "New Book". There are only a few moves to go back and forth in the battle. Yang Zhao was anxious to break the city and plunder, but he also wanted to
If you capture me, you will definitely attack me with all your strength. Look, the troops he sent are not just Li, Yabo soldiers."
Zhang Wu turned around and saw a large group of barbarian soldiers equipped with armor, sharp blades, and strong bows and crossbows attacking up the mountain road.
Nanzhao is not a tribe with nothing.
This is a country that has been in existence for a long time. It has its own weapons manufacturing industry, officials to manage horse administration, and well-organized cavalry and even armored cavalry. More than a hundred years ago, they made Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty suffer defeats one after another and made Ji Sheng even more prosperous.
During this period, Tubo suffered successive defeats.
More than a hundred years later, just like the Bohai Sea, the country's power has weakened and is not as strong as before. The Xia people call them "Southern Barbarians", but they don't really think of them as barbarians in their hearts.
The ones attacking now should be Yang Zhao's old troops. The equipment is pretty good, and the coordination is quite skillful. They look like a well-organized army, much more decent than those barbaric beasts.
But after all, they were in a state of upward attack, which had many disadvantages. As they continued to attack, they became a little overwhelmed, and the casualties were too great. The attackers in this wave had exhausted their morale and began to retreat down the mountain.
"Dongdongdong..." The drums beat, and a troop that had been resting behind the summer camp for a long time suddenly rushed out, chasing the defeated troops and slashing and killing them, reaping the victory.
Although the mountain road was wide, the Nanzhao soldiers in the chaos were still stumbling and crying.
Shao Mingyi stopped looking and turned around and walked down the city wall. Zhang Wu also hurriedly went to arrange things on the back hill.
Yang Zhao fought for two days and initially broke through a camp at the foot of the mountain. Then he was blocked on a gentle slope halfway up the mountain. From the looks of it, he would have to fight for a few more days before he could reach the foot of Yazhou City.
.And it is impossible not to leave thousands of corpses behind in this process.
How many people will die if he attacks Yazhou? Yang Zhao probably has no idea, because he doesn’t know the exact number of soldiers in the city. But they have come, and he will be unwilling not to fight. Moreover, if he really turns a blind eye to Yazhou and continues to go north, what will he do?
They can also kill you from the mountain and cut off your retreat. What should you do?
Some things are obvious and there is no room for trickery on your part.
Some pits are clearly there, and you have no choice but to jump.