Li Tangbin climbed up the mountain and overlooked the entire Yingdong.
It was foggy in the distance, and the sound of golden drums could be heard faintly. Taking advantage of the fog to make a sneak attack has always been something that both parties enjoy. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail, but they cannot determine the overall situation.
Almost the entire two sides of the Yingshui River were transformed into continuous fortresses by both sides. More than 200,000 troops were stationed in these fortresses, attacking each other day and night, shedding blood and consuming lives.
The situation is tilting towards our side little by little.
More than ten thousand Liang troops were annihilated on the southern front, and Caizhou fell into our own hands. After learning that Yingzhou was impregnable, Zhe Zongben made a decisive decision to send his troops north to attack Yancheng and start a battle with the Youguo army.
The Liang Army on the northern front had the upper hand. Li Tangbin sent more than 4,000 soldiers and horses from Fuzhou, Henan Province. Li Renjun in Huaizhou sent 9,000 Baoyi troops southward, under the command of Chishui Army envoy Fan He, and the situation was considered stable.
The three-pronged attack on the Liang Dynasty, including the Tu Tuan peasants, each side had more than 200,000 soldiers and horses, which was rare in the history of the country. It was probably only during the Anshi Rebellion and the crusade against several famous thorns in the rebel vassal.
Such a scale.
This battle is of great significance to Xia Jun, but it is not a matter of life and death, but it is a matter of life and death for Liang Jun.
In fact, there is still a way behind the enemy's rear. The Feilong Army and Bi Zhang evaded the truth and captured three counties in Bozhou, shocking the hinterland of Bian and Song Dynasties. I don't know what happened over there in Puzhou, and there has been no movement for the time being, but it would be great if they could contain Zhu Zhen
, no other requirements.
This battle has reached the end of the middle game, and the decisive moment is approaching.
"Send all the news to Liangzhou." Li Tangbin came down the mountain and ordered.
The messenger left Xiangcheng, went all the way north and west, passed through the Yiluo Basin, walked through the Xiaohan Valley Road, crossed the Guanzhong Plain, galloped through the Huizhou Grassland, crossed the natural barrier of the river, and entered the vast desert, and then rushed all the way
, arrived in Liangzhou on February 15th.
However, Liangzhou only had accompanying concubines of the royal family, officials and generals, and Shao Shude himself led a large group of cavalry to the west and rushed to Suzhou. There was no other way, and the post station sent a courier to rush all the way to deliver the battle report to the front line as soon as possible.
In the hands of Shao Shude.
"It costs a lot to maintain the post station express delivery system all year round." Shao Shude asked someone to reward the courier with four bolts of silk, and said with a smile to Chen Cheng: "One post is dozens of miles long, traveling five hundred miles a day, I don't know how much has been wasted by running.
horse."
"The king is sitting on the six horse farms of Dongshi, Xishi, Yinchuan, Yongqing, Heishui, and Xiedan. There are still Tibetan people paying tribute. Is there still a shortage of horses?" Chen Cheng said: "The difficulty of maintaining the post station is not so much horses.
Speaking of people, this is the biggest expense."
At the peak of the dynasty, there were thousands of post stations, ranging from three to five to dozens of people. The total number of post soldiers in the country was more than 100,000, and there were even more horses. The post fields for raising post soldiers and horses were set aside.
I don’t know how many, but in addition to that, the court also had to spend a lot of money, so that after the Anshi Rebellion, it was gradually unable to afford it, and most of it was contracted out to local wealthy households.
Xia Jun's post system is slowly recovering, but it has not yet reached the level of one post per thirty miles and more than 6,000 land and water posts at the peak of the dynasty. The business model has not changed, and it is still contracting to reduce expenses as much as possible.
Military reports were transmitted from the Ruzhou front line to Ganzhou via the Luoyang-Xiangyang line, Luoyang-Chang'an line, Chang'an-Lingzhou line, and Lingzhou-Anxi line. These main roads have generally restored the post station system.
"Let's talk about the war situation in Henan. The deadlock has been loosened. Can we enjoy the delicious food below?" Shao Shude said.
"Your Majesty, Li Tangbin is a prudent person. If you make a little more progress, the southern line should be able to enter the closing stage under the control of the two of you. There are three things to worry about. First, in the past six months, the east and west banks of Yingshui River have
There are many forts and strongholds, and it is difficult to attack when the enemy's morale has not collapsed; Uncle Cong of the two clans may still defeat Qibizhang and continue to maintain the southern front; Zhu Quanzhong of the third party may personally lead the army south to reinforce Bo and Ying.
Chen Cheng said: "I have gained the upper hand overall. Now I can plan for it slowly, focusing on annihilating the enemy. The first target is the five armies of Long Sword, Kuangwei, Jiama, Youguo and Jianrui under Pang Shigu's tent."
These five armies, with a total strength of 60,000, should be the pillars of the Liang Dynasty. After being annihilated, Zhu Quanzhong could no longer recover, so he could only retreat to Zheng, Bian, Song, Hua, Cao, and Shan states to wait for death. The Southern Front
The seven states of Cai, Chen, Xu, Bo, Ying, Xu, and Su can send partial troops to capture them lightly."
Shao Shude felt relieved and looked at the Guasha Jiedu envoy and the Guiyi army envoy Zhang Huaishen who were standing aside. He smiled and said: "Zhang Pushe, after the Central Plains matter is settled, we can send out troops to wipe out the Gaochang Uighurs. The southern towns are weak in force."
, I haven’t taken it seriously yet.”
He didn't believe that anyone could allow him to defeat Feishui, Chibi and Qingkou in these days, and attack and destroy towns in the south, just like picking out things from a bag.
"I admire the king of Xia for having such heroic spirit." Zhang Huai replied deeply.
"Are these the rising stars of the Zhang family?" Shao Shude looked at the people behind Zhang Huaishen and asked.
Zhang Huaishen also brought out several of his sons. He and his wife, the Chen family of Yingchuan (Xuzhou), had six sons in total. The eldest son was Yanhui, the second was Yanli, the second was Yanshou, the second was Yan'e, and the second was Yan'e.
Yanxin, later called Yanwu, had grown up. This time he traveled eastward to Suzhou with his father to meet the powerful Xia King in Guanxi.
Mrs. Chen and her daughter Ms. Zhang also came over and were talking next to Princess Zheshi.
"Why don't you, the prodigal son, come to see King Xia?" Zhang Huaishen turned around and said.
"Zhang Yanhui, the commander of the Guiyi Army's yamen, Zhang Yanli, the governor of Guazhou, Zhang Yanshou, the commander of the back building, and the shogunate's yamen..." The six people came forward to see the ceremony.
Shao Shude stepped forward to help each one and gave a few words of encouragement.
Shao Siwu, who was already fourteen years old, stood behind his father and quietly looked at Zhang Huaishen's sons. When he met Zhang Yanli's furtive eyes, they both avoided it in embarrassment.
He has been doing very well recently. He serves his parents with courtesy and courtesy, he never slacks off in studying literature and martial arts, and he becomes more and more humble in his treatment of others. In addition, he made a dispensable contribution to the northern expedition to the Yinshan Tatars a while ago, which earned him praise from his father.
He is familiar with history books and knows that Taizong led the army at the age of fourteen. He is also fourteen this year, which is the time for a good man to show his ambitions. Since the Western Tour, he has seen too many things, most of which are where you sit
I have a lot of insights into things that I cannot see or understand at home. I know how difficult it is to conquer and govern the world, and I am eager to share my father's worries.
"Da Lang, why don't you come forward to meet your uncle?" Shao Shude said suddenly.
Shao Siwu was so excited that he immediately stepped forward and bowed to salute.
Zhang Huaishen returned the gift.
Then he met with Zhang Huaishen's six sons one by one, which was a lot of work.
Shao Shude looked at it with a smile.
Yesterday, I heard from the Secret Service that the Shazhou Suo family, Cao family, Yin family and Tuguhun Murong family who accompanied Zhang Huaishen tried to contact Shao Siwu, but they did not meet in person.
The powerful people in these places knew how to work hard. Since they felt that they could not replace the status of the Zhang family, they simply curried favor with the more promising Shao family to seek greater benefits.
"I'll leave it to Zhang Pushe to deal with Shazhou. If Yizhou can be taken, take it. If you can't take it, leave it temporarily. When I have my hands free, I can march westward." Shao Shude said.
The relationship between Shuofang and Shazhou is called an alliance, and it is actually divided into master and slave. Zhang Huaishen also admits this. Moreover, over the years of their relationship, Shazhou has also benefited a lot and its strength has recovered. At least, they have spent a lot of time.
After using his hands and feet, he gradually subdued the rebellious Murong Bu, and the dilemma of being attacked internally and externally was improved.
This is called a win-win situation! If we work together, we will both benefit. If we don’t work together, we will most likely perish from internal and external troubles.
Long, the governor of Suzhou, stood aside silently and said nothing.
The King of Xia marched westward with an army of 26,000 soldiers, including golden swords, black swords, iron cavalry, and flying bears. Along the way, there were many banners and the sound of golden drums resounded throughout the desert grassland, frightening all the tribes near and far.
The Long family is not an absolutely dominant ethnic group in Suzhou. In fact, there are Han, Uighur, Tubo, Dangxiang, Sogdian, Momo, Tatar and many other tribes in the territory, which are extremely complex. When King Xia came, all the tribes came forward to pay homage.
He presented a thousand horses and a hundred thousand cattle, sheep, and miscellaneous animals. He also found three thousand warriors and was chosen, which can be described as extremely respectful.
Long's heart dropped when he saw it, and he immediately became dejected. He didn't dare to say a word about taking back the power to govern Suzhou.
Yesterday, Chen Changshi from the royal palace had already told him that he had to choose between joining the court or serving in the Hexi shogunate. Long thought about it for a long time and finally decided to go to Liangzhou to serve as the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu.
This is a noble position with respected status and generous salary, but it does not have any real power. Long originally looked down upon it, but what can he do now? King Xia is looking to stand on his own behalf for the Tang Dynasty. After establishing a new dynasty, he will probably not allow the separation of vassal towns.
If you are in such a state, you can only think of ways to use your brains on wealth.
Fortunately, the Long family tribe is still there, and with this foundation, it is not too bad. In addition, I heard that King Xia still liked the red-haired woman sent by the Long family, saying that she had a "unique charm". Long sent it before
They are all nieces and the like. He is considering whether to add a little more and send his granddaughter there, or give it to the son of King Xia?
He glanced at Shao Siwu, and felt a little pity that he was not the eldest heir. However, he heard that the Shazhou Suo family, the Yin family, and the Cao family were trying their best to curry favor with Shao Dalang. Should he also make some bets? He hesitated for a while.
.
"I don't have much time left. I hope I can wait until the day King Xia comes." Zhang Huaishen sighed sadly and said.
Yizhou was once regained by him, but was lost later, which was a pity. Suzhou was similar, but was lost again after he got it. Coincidentally, the people who occupied his two territories were Uighurs. The former was the Gaochang Uighur.
The latter is the Ganzhou Uighur.
Liangzhou was once occupied by Fu Mo, and he led his army to recover it. However, after all, he was not the governor of Hexi, and the court could not let one person hold the command of two towns at that time, so Liangzhou was gained and lost again.
Shan, Kuo and other prefectures were actually obtained by local tribal armed forces in the name of the Guiyi Army after they expelled the Tubo people. They only belonged to them in name, but in fact they were not obedient at all. For example, Tuoba Huaiguang, who was afraid of heat, was killed.
A handsome person.
At its peak, there were eleven states in name, but now there are only two states, Sha and Gua, with no more than a few generals and no more than 10,000 soldiers, so we can only manage to support it.
How difficult it is to accomplish something.
Shao Shude was also very emotional after hearing this, but he could not make any guarantees. After all, the Central Plains were important, so he could only comfort him: "I will destroy the Gaochang Uighurs. As soon as the Central Plains is settled, I will send troops to join forces with Zhang Pushe."