Shao Shude was preparing to travel outside Minpandou Station, twenty miles southwest of Enxiang County.
There is a very famous locust tree to the east of the post station. It is called the "Locust Tree King" on the Liangjing Post Road. I don't know how many years it has been growing. Anyway, there are many people who chant poems to commemorate it. Wu Rong wrote "Inscribed on Hucheng County"
A poem called "Locust Tree in the West Road".
When Shao Shude lived in Tongguan Guanxiyi (also known as Tongguanyi), Wu Rong also left poems. At this moment, the commander only regretted that he was not a good poet. He traveled all over the country for so long and didn't even leave a word.
Even Duan Qirui can write good poems, he is worthy of being called a warlord.
About 28 miles east of Enxiang County is Hucheng County. From then on, the post road is divided into two roads, north and south.
The North Road runs northeast from Hucheng, passes through Cousangdian and Cousangyi, and reaches Lingbao for 65 miles.
The south road runs from the southeast of Hucheng, passes through Jingshan Hall, and reaches Hongnong County, Lisuo, Guozhou for fifty-two miles, where there is Bairen Station, southeast of Honglu River (today's Hongnong River).
From Guozhou, turn northeast and walk thirty miles along the Honglu River to Lingbao County.
At this time, the traffic on the north-south post road was like a dragon, and the spears were like a forest.
Group after group of sergeants moved in quickly, and the people of Shaanxi and Guo fled away one after another, looking uneasy.
Shaanxi and Guo are stable.
Since the Huangchao Rebellion, there have been no more military disasters. A large number of people from Henan have fled here, the number of household registrations has greatly increased, and both agriculture and business are prosperous.
When Marshal Shao was still fighting in the northwest, he sent people to set up a horse farm here to recruit refugees. Zhu Quanzhong also sent Guo Yan to Shaanxi and Guangxi to recruit tens of thousands of troops, which shows the abnormal growth of the population here during the war years.
Shaanxi and Guo are bounded by the Yellow River to the north and endless mountains to the south. The main road is along the river and is not very open.
Strictly speaking, this road is also fragile, and the main threat comes from Hezhong Town across the river. If Wang Chongying is willing, tens of thousands of soldiers can cross the river and go south, and only need to cut off a little to deprive Marshal Shao's army of food.
And this is also the main reason why he has been sending troops to guard Zhuguanjin in recent times, and has never had a direct break with Wang Gong.
Others can borrow the passage, but it does not mean that they have to dedicate their inheritance to you.
Regarding the occupation of Shaanxi and Guohan, we have to wait and see the situation in Henan.
On the 24th, the main force of the Chinese army arrived in Lingbao County. The town general Zhu Jian personally welcomed him and provided hundreds of pigs and sheep for labor. Afterwards, the city gates were tightly closed and Yingcheng defended itself.
Shuofang's army set up material transfer centers in Tongguan, Hucheng and Lingbao.
The concubines who were recruited from Guanzhong were transported day and night, transporting a large amount of grain, grass, and equipment. Because of the limited road traffic, the transport of materials was very slow, which greatly restricted the marching speed.
The 7,000 Fengxiang troops led by Zhe Silun were mixed in with the traffic of civilians and people, and their march was slow and extremely urgent.
If Wang Chongying sends troops southward at this time, Fengxiang's army will probably be dispersed by the fleeing Confucius, and Marshal Shao will have to retreat to prevent loss of retreat.
I feel more and more threatened by Hezhong Town!
On the afternoon of the 27th, Shao Shude arrived in Shaanxi County, where the Baoyi Army (Shaanxi-Guo) took over.
Shaanxi County is surrounded by mountains to the south and the Yellow River to the north. "There are over a hundred meters of suspended water, and everyone who comes near it is trembling with fear." It is extremely dangerous.
Li Mi once said: "The city of Shaanxi is hanging on three sides, and it will take many years to attack it."
These are all fortified cities, not easy to fight!
That night, Shao Shude stayed at the Gantang Inn on the Zhaogong Plain. The original name of the plain was "Zhao Gong". Could it be that Shaanxi City was acquired by the Shao family?
At this time, the distribution of Shuofang's troops was roughly that the cavalry troops guarding Marshal Shao were stationed in Zhaogongyuan.
The Shunyi army was stationed at the Sun Floating Bridge three miles northeast of Shaanxi County. This floating bridge was built in the 11th year of Zhenguan. It is an important transportation route from the north to the south of the Yellow River and can reach Pinglu County on the other side. This county is a county of Shaanzhou. The Shaanxi and Guo troops are here
Two hundred sailors were stationed, but they were also driven away at this time.
The Huazhou Army led by Wang Bian was stationed in the southwest of the state, stretching over a wide area, from Qilijian Pass to Taiyuancang, and continued for several miles.
Qilijian Pass is very dangerous. It is a key protection area that if lost, the whole army will be without food. To be honest, Marshal Shao doesn’t want to go forward. He wants to capture Shaanxi and Guo now. Along the way, the more he goes, the more he becomes more and more worried.
Surprisingly, this post road is too fragile, and the whole thing is just walking on a winding road.
Taiyuan Cang, with a river below the Cangcang, was the water and land transshipment hub for the imperial court. The rented millet from Henan and Hebei transshipped to Guanzhong was concentrated here.
When the dynasty was at its peak, there were thousands of canoe boats on the river under Cangxia in Taiyuan. During the tenth year of Tianbao, a fire broke out in the canoe boats, resulting in a loss of one million stones of corn. It is not known whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster.
The Taiyuan warehouse was taken over by Shaanzhou at this time, and a large amount of grain and grass was stored. There were hundreds of guards, and they were not driven away. However, the day before yesterday, Shaanxi County had organized civilians to transfer the grain and grass to the city, regardless of whether it was released or not.
Yes, but the fear of being robbed is real.
"Commander, we can't go any further!" Chen Cheng said seriously in Gantang Inn.
Shao Shude also hesitated.
The plan is a plan, but after such a journey, I found that this lifeline does have too many dangerous nodes, and it is easy for the enemy to take advantage of it.
"Commander, Wang Chongying seems to be loyal, but who can guarantee that he will not send troops south? On both sides of the river, even if our army has occupied Xujin and Taiyang Floating Bridge, there are more than two places where we can cross the river. Don't dare to gamble on this kind of thing!
"Chen Cheng continued to suggest: "It is better to occupy Shaanxi and Guo, and use these two states and fourteen counties as a basis, and use their resources to slowly plan for Guandong."
"However, this will inevitably lead to an enmity with the Wang family and his son. Our army has to move eastward, and the rear is not peaceful. How can we fight?"
"Commander, if you don't capture Shaanxi and Guo, you can't go eastward. If you want to go east, you must capture Shaanxi and Guo. It's best to capture the Hezhong Prefecture together. The three cities of Pujin Pass are also in the hands of Wang Chongying. It's really difficult not to get rid of this person."
An." Chen Cheng said.
"If we attack here, we may break Li Keyong's trust."
"I can't control that much anymore." Chen Cheng said anxiously: "I have a plan now! Why not invite Wang Gong out of Shaanxi County, hold a banquet, ambush people during the banquet, and kill him. He is unprepared, or he may marry
Come, it will be easy to kill, and then divide the troops to capture various places, including these two states. Shaanzhou has Ruicheng and Pinglu counties in Hebei. If we hold them, we can attack the middle of the river and bypass the natural danger of Pujin Pass."
"Commander, after killing Wang Gong, you can order the An army to use the Taiyang Floating Bridge to go north and capture Pinglu County. In this way, our army will have a stronghold on Hedong Road..."
Chen Cheng kept talking. Shao Shude guessed that he was racking his brains to think of these poisonous schemes along the way, and did not put his thoughts on dealing with Zhu Quanzhong at all.
This is actually not wrong. The false attack on Guo was originally one of the strategies formulated before the war. The minimum goal of this attack is to actually control the two states of Shaanxi and Guo. Sooner or later, they will fall out.
But Shao Shude felt that this fall-out came a bit early and might affect the plan to deal with Zhu Quanzhong.
Alas, after so many years of fighting, the plans drawn up before the war were never perfectly executed and always went out of shape.
"If you are worried about breaking your promise, the commander-in-chief can return to Lingbao, supervise the transportation of military supplies, and ask the military envoys to transfer hundreds of soldiers to me, so that the matter can be completed. The commander-in-chief does not know about it, but I am the one who makes the decision."
"Absurd!" Shao Shude scolded.
Then, his tone became softer and he said: "I am not a pretentious person, why should you take the responsibility? What I should do is what I did. You cannot bear the responsibility of killing Wang Gong, and there is no need for you.
Don't worry. It's not time yet, just wait."
Chen Cheng looked happy and said: "Now we can station troops in Shaanxi Province, and wait until all ministries are gathered together before taking action at the end."
What Shao Shude wants to wait for is the Tielin, Tianxiong, Tianzhu, Wuwei and other armies. This is his reliance on Zhu Quanzhong. The existing troops on hand are still a bit weak.
The Shunyi Army was descended from Hedong, with some Liangzhou troops added to it, and had not been reorganized. It was a foreign force, and Shao Shude did not trust it very much.
Let's not talk about the Huazhou Army, just focus on the ability to wave the flag and shout. If you want to use it effectively, you have to practice hard for several years.
Only Tielin and Feixiong's two armies, with a total of 11,000 soldiers, can be of great use.
"Where are the Flying Bear Army?" Shao Shude suddenly asked.
"We are heading to Xiashi County, and we are still on the way." Chen Cheng replied.
"After arriving at Xia Shi, order him to go eastward without stopping. Enter Shihao Town and test Zhang Quanyi's strength first."
"As commanded."
****
Xia Shi County is sparsely populated, with rugged and crisscrossed mountains.
At this time, the moon was in the middle of the sky and everything was silent. Liu Jianyi and more than ten people personally went out of the camp to investigate.
A gust of dark clouds was blown in by the night wind, covering up the still bright moonlight.
The wind was howling and the silence in the dark wilderness was eerie.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hoofbeats.
Liu Jianyi ordered his horse to slow down, and the opponent also reined in his horse and slowed down tacitly.
"Perhaps they are brothers who are sent out to scout." The soldier whispered. There are no enemies in this area, and Shuofang's army is still far away in Lingbao.
"Shut up." Liu Jianyi took out the strung horn bow and drew out the arrow.
The two sides gradually approached, and the horses almost stopped at a slow speed. They were obviously guessing and doubting the identity of the other party, but neither dared to open their mouths. It was still dark outside, and only vague shadows could be seen.
Another gust of wind blew from behind, and Silver Moon revealed half of her face.
"Shoot!" Liu Jianyi did not hesitate, the arrow flew out, and took advantage of the wind to pounce on him.
Both sides took action almost at the same time.
With continuous screams, several people fell off their horses.
Liu Jianyi urged his horse forward and met someone.
The person opposite was obviously a veteran, and he shot me.
Liu Jianyi didn't dodge at all, with a ferocious expression on his face, even a little crazy. He raised his left hand, grabbed the stabbing barrel of the gun like lightning, held it under his arm, and slashed it down diagonally with his right hand.
The man on the other side had superb riding skills. After letting go of the spear shaft, he leaned back and twisted around to avoid the fatal blow. He even had time to draw his secondary weapon from the side of the saddle, and the two horses passed side by side in the blink of an eye.
I flirted with him, but didn't hit him.
"What a thief!" Unexpectedly, Liu Jianyi's trick that he had tried many times failed, and he immediately turned around.
The opponent also turned around and came to fight. Unexpectedly, he couldn't tell the road at night and the mountain road was rugged. His horse stumbled and fell into the grass beside the road.
Liu Jianyi, an expert in martial arts, was so bold that he dismounted and chased after him.
A sword struck in the darkness and hit Liu Jianyi's left shoulder. Even though he was protected by armor, it still felt a little itchy and painful.
The opponent did not give Liu Jianyi a chance to breathe, and directly slashed with his sword. Liu Jianyi was short and stocky. He squatted down to avoid the attack on the spot. He took out a leg plug with his left hand, saw the opportunity, and stabbed the opponent's throat.
The opponent hurriedly retreated to avoid the fatal blow to the throat, but his head did not escape. By some mistake, the leg inserted into his left eye, causing blood to flow immediately.
Liu Jianyi was so surprised that he walked up to him, grabbed his braid, and thrust his leg horizontally. His opponent's legs softened and he fell to his knees.
Liu Jianyi came around behind him, stabbed him again, inserted it into the back of his neck, and stirred him.
Blood spurted out, and the opponent's thick body fell to the ground.
After finishing dealing with his opponent, Liu Jianyi looked towards the field, but saw that few people were still standing on their horses. He quickly rushed to the side of his opponent's horse, picked up a horn bow, and shot two arrows in a row, one empty and the other empty.
Shoot one person down.
"Whoosh!" Two arrows flew towards him, and the war horse jumped up in pain. Liu Jianyi did not hide at all, and shot another arrow, knocking down another person.
The other party realized that it would be difficult to get any benefits today, so he shouted directly, and the few remaining people rode away and disappeared into the vast night.
Liu Jianyi stopped his men from pursuing him.
His heart was pounding and he was breathing heavily. It was obvious that the fight just now was very thrilling.
After doing a little head count, he couldn't help but feel extremely heartbroken.
There were almost the same number of people on both sides, and there might be a little more than two on our side, but after such a fight, six people died, and only seven bodies of the other side were found.
You didn't get any advantage! He sighed, feeling lingering fear in his heart.
In the fight in the darkness just now, life and death were only on a thin line. The opponent's martial arts was actually pretty good, and the outcome of the fight was a matter of luck.
"Gather the horses and search the bodies, quickly!" Liu Jianyi ordered.
If the prediction is correct, this should be Shuofang's army's cavalry.
What does this mean? It means that the armies of both sides are close at hand and may clash at any time.