The fourth day of March in the second year of Qianning, Nancheng, Heyang.
Huo Cun, who had just fallen asleep, was shouted at by his own soldiers. He climbed onto the tower angrily and was stunned.
There are torches everywhere in the wild, like two fire dragons, extending into the distance.
The fire dragon did not move very fast, probably because of the night march, but the psychological impact it had on people was very large. At the same time, doubts arose in my heart: Where did they come from?
"They must have smuggled themselves across the river to the south." Huo Cuntie went straight down the tower with a livid face.
He had no doubt that those who were carrying torches in the wild were Xia thieves. They were not many in number, probably riding in the hundreds. They could have walked quietly from other places, but they "passed by" near Nancheng of Heyang in a big way and started to fight. No matter what your idea is, you will know.
After returning to the mansion, Huo Cun was not sleepy and stared at the map in front of him carefully.
"The situation is better than that of Wang Shichong in the early years of the Kingdom." After looking at it for a long time, Huo Cun laughed to himself.
Between Chang'an and Luoyang, the Weihan area is the most important. Whoever controls the entire Weihan area will have the initiative over the enemy and have a huge advantage.
If no one can control all of it, then at least half of it should be controlled.
The Kansai Group based in Chang'an must at least capture the western part of Weihan, namely Shaanzhou, and the Kanto Group based in Luoyang must control at least the eastern half of the Weihan Valley Road.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the western part of the Weihan Valley Road was controlled by the Jin State, which made the Qin State very uncomfortable and found it difficult to leave eastward.
During the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, Yuwentai occupied Hongnong County (Shaanzhou), and he suddenly got rid of the passive situation and no longer had to be bullied to the gate of Tongguan. Because he urged Yuwentai to be enterprising in Hongnong, Yuwenshen was called "I" by Yuwentai. "Chen Ping of Home".
In the early years of the Republic of China, there were few troops between Chang'an and Luoyang, and the defenses were extremely weak. Liu Wenjing led the army to the east, almost occupying the entire Xiaohan Valley Road like an armed march, and directly stationed troops in Xin'an County. No one believed it.
Why was Liu Wenjing able to occupy such an extremely critical strategic location so effortlessly? Why was no one defending it?
In fact, this is the chaos caused after the collapse of the unified dynasty. There are so many gaps in the place and so many opportunities. It is very likely that it will be swept away. Even the Xiaohan Valley Road is not guarded. It is simply incredible.
But after Liu Wenjing left Tongguan, she discovered that the Xiaohan Valley Road was controlled by a separatist vassal town that had existed for 140 years. This vassal town had professional warriors who had been trained for many years, a complete military production system, an administrative team, and internal mutual exchanges. The marriage has been intermarriage for more than a hundred years and is relatively stable. How long will it take him and how much price will he pay to conquer the dangerous passes?
And in the process of fighting, you may also encounter interference from other vassal towns. Because each force has existed for more than a hundred years, the borders are relatively stable, and the alliance has played horizontally countless times. But in the last years of the Great Unification Dynasty, the world In the chaos, various forces may be busy seizing territory, consolidating their power, and establishing a team. When he finishes these things, he opens his eyes and sees that he has been attacked at the door of his house. There is no danger of defending.
Wang Shichong's Luoyang did not have the entire Hangu Road from the beginning, and Hangu Pass (Xin'an County) was all in the hands of the Tang army. This was a waste of time.
"The younger generation of the Wang family is incompetent. Shaanxi and Guo let Shao thieves play a fake road to attack Guo, and they lured wolves into the house from the river. They are really useless." Huo Yanwei, the adopted son, sat next to Huo Cun and said angrily.
"We are already very lucky." Huo Cun shook his head and said: "In the second year of Dashun, Zhang Quanyi was in Henan Prefecture, and Shao led more than 30,000 troops to the east. If the king of Liang had not made a decisive decision and mobilized 100,000 troops to go west, the Weihan Valley Road
Most of it will be taken up by Shao Thief. These territories that Shao Thief swallowed and spit out, how many lives has it cost him over the years? How long has it been held for? So I say, it will be much better than when Taizong attacked Wang Shichong. My son
, you have also seen the recent situation, take Taizong's attack on Wang Shichong as an example, look at what Li Tangbin and Gao Renhou would do."
Huo Yanwei turned his attention to the map and began to think deeply.
"In the first year of Wude (618), Li Mi's old army and the defender of Baiya City, Huang Junhan, surrendered under Cui Yixuan's lobbying. Later, they defeated Wang Shichong's son in Jiyuan and attacked the three cities of Tuheyang." Huo Yanwei said: "This so-called northern road is difficult and dangerous.
Pass and Heqing are also the same. After the Shao bandits entered the river, they continued to go eastward. In the battle of Heqing last year, our army was defeated. The dangerous strongholds of Baiya, Heqing and Zhiguan were all lost. Most of Heyang fell, and the northern city was also liberated by the traitors.
Bin, Su Junqing and others contributed, leaving only Zhongli City and Nancheng. Taizong already had this route in his hands before the war with Wang Shichong, but the Shao thieves did not do their full work."
Huo Cun nodded and encouraged him to continue speaking with his eyes.
"In the first month of the second year of Wude (619), Li Mi's old army and the governor of Yizhou, Zhang Shanxiang, surrendered and returned to the country." Huo Yanwei said: "Yizhou is the general crossing of the three passes in Luonan. Wang Shi can go down through the Luoshui Valley and attack directly.
Luoyang, this is the so-called south road. The Xia thieves blocked our army at the Erqiao Mountain and were unable to detour through the Luoshui Valley. If they want to reach Luonan, they might as well go north from Ruzhou. This road is worry-free for the time being."
"In December of the first year of Yining (617), Liu Wenjing took the Xiaohan Valley Road and established Yiyang and Xin'an counties. At this time, Wang Shichong had just arrived in Luoyang in March and was fighting Li Mi. After he finished fighting Li Mi, there was no one left west of Luoyang.
The dangerous pass can be defended, and the dangerous passes are all in the hands of Master Wang." Huo Yanwei continued: "This way, the bandit commander Li Tangbin attacked repeatedly and pushed forward desperately. Now he has reached the foot of Xin'an City. Compared with Liu Wenjing's time, it is only one Xin'an County away.
."
"Father, I think that if the Shao thieves want to take Luoyang, Gao Renhou will need to conquer Heyang Pass, Mengzhou Nancheng, and Li Tangbin will attack Xin'an County along the way. Only in this way can they capture the land that Taizong occupied before the battle against Wang Shichong.
Geographical advantage.”
Talking about this brings tears to my eyes.
Shao Shude has been fighting tooth and nail for several years, and until now, the strategic situation is still not as good as before Li Tang officially attacked Wang Shichong.
In July of the first year of Yining (617), Li Yuan raised his troops to go south and entered Chang'an in October. In December, he sent Liu Wenjing eastward to collect the unattended Xiaohan Valley Road.
In the first year of Wude (618), Li Mi's old subordinate Huang Junhan gave the stronghold north of Luoyang to Li Tang, and Wang Shichong had no time to take care of it.
In the second year of Wude (619), Zhang Shanxiang almost gave Luonan to Li Tang, but Wang Shichong finally freed up his hands and sent troops to take it back.
In the third year of Wude (620), Li Yuan decided to go to war against Wang Shichong. Governor Li Shimin sent troops from all directions, and he went directly to Xin'an County.
Xin'an County, or Tongluo City, or Hangu Pass, is still controlled by Hu Zhen, and is run like an iron barrel, leaving people speechless.
"My son, you are a bit wrong." Huo Cun said with a smile: "Today is different from the past. Li Tangbin may not attack Xin'an violently. But the Shao thieves will definitely attack the three cities of Heyang."
Huo Yanwei thought deeply after hearing this.
…
Just when Huo Cun and his son saw the cavalry army smuggling southward flashing outside the south city of Heyang, the next day, Qi Banzhang, the envoy of the Feilong Army, personally led a large group of troops, carrying milk powder, beans, etc. for more than ten people.
The daily consumption of grain and grass broke into the territory of Weizhou, a subordinate state of Weibo Town.
Wei Bo was very busy now, and the local defense was empty, so when they broke into Jixian County, no one took care of them.
The Feilong Army, with one man and two horses, marched very fast, rushed straight to the ferry, collected some ships, and took advantage of the favorable opportunity when the Bianjun navy was attracted to the west. They crossed the river at night and went south, entering the boundary of Suanzao County.
Jujube belongs to the county of Huazhou, which is only a hundred miles away from Bianzhou in the southeast.
The interior of the Liang people is empty. There are several ferries in Suanzao County, and the number of soldiers is less than a thousand, and most of them are state and county soldiers with average combat power.
After the army moved south, regardless of fatigue, they immediately launched a fierce attack on the ferry.
A thousand soldiers dismounted and fought on foot. It only took an hour to completely capture the ferry, capturing and killing more than 400 people.
Afterwards, the auxiliary soldiers began to cut down trees, set up fences, and build camps.
The soldiers were divided into several groups, and before the Liang people could react, they went to the surrounding villages to collect food and grass, and captured a group of civilians who came back to help build the fort.
Qibizhang was sitting at the ferry, looking at the officers and soldiers of the Feilong Army who were still crossing the river one after another. He couldn't believe that the Liang people's mainland was so empty.
"They all thought we were going to attack Luoyang. That's Li Tangbin's business. I'll beat up Luoyang." Qi Banzhang smiled coldly.
The Liang Army had two heavily armed groups along the Yellow River. One was the Hu Zhen Group stationed in Luoyang, and the other was the Zhu Zhen Group in the Zheng and Meng areas. Both of them had a combined force of nearly 60,000 people, and both were yamen with strong combat effectiveness.
military.
In the past, the Xia army mostly moved in the west, occasionally visiting Zhengzhou. Before the river thawed, they basically retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River.
After the river thawed, the Liang people relaxed a little. Just as the war broke out in Caizhou in the south, some garrison troops were pieced together and handed over to Pang Shigu to lead them south. The place was extremely empty.
After Shao Shude's order was rushed to Heyang after five hundred miles, Gao Renhou immediately summoned the generals to discuss the matter. Fu Cunxen suggested taking advantage of Li Keyong to attack Wei Bo, break into Weizhou, and then cross the river to go south. The Liang people must have been caught off guard.
Qi Bizhang was a little nervous at first, but today he saw that Fu Cunchen had guessed correctly. There were only a few hundred soldiers at the ferry crossing, and they were easily captured by the vanguard troops crossing the river, allowing the main force to cross the river and go south.
What to do next? Qi Binzhang was hesitant.
In front of him was an open Happy Valley, which could reach Huazhou to the east, Bianzhou to the south, and Zhengzhou to the southwest.
It seems that going to Bianzhou is the most valuable. Although it cannot be captured, it can at least scare Zhu Quanzhong.
But things are not that simple.
This time the Feilong Army dispatched 5,000 men and brought tens of thousands of horses. The biggest problem was food.
Going to Bianzhou, Liang Jun may be stronger, but may not be able to plunder much food and grass. Once supplies are interrupted, people can still be hungry for a day or two, but horses cannot be hungry for a meal. This is the biggest problem.
Qibizhang thought about it over and over, but could not make up his mind. He planned to wait until the whole army had crossed the river, then summon the generals to discuss a countermeasure together.
"It's a pity that there is no internal agent. If there is an internal agent, tell the Liang people the truth and the truth, the chance of winning will be greatly increased, and the land of the Central Plains can be turned upside down." Qi Banzhang sighed heavily, feeling helpless.