In the first month of the fourth year of Yuanzhen in the Tang Dynasty, Li Daozong, the general manager of Jiaozhou, set off from Panyu and took one month to reach Ningyue County.
At this time, his military strength had reached 8,000, and he was walking a little slowly, because he ordered the counties in Jiaozhou to bring grain and grass to wait along the way, and also ordered each county to recruit soldiers to join him in conquering the rebels.
This was a military parade. When he first arrived, he wanted to see the reactions of various counties and also to scare those with ulterior motives.
The situation was not bad, all counties responded one after another, and there was no problem with the army's supplies along the way. However, the number of soldiers from each county was a bit small, most of them were hundreds of people.
On the contrary, the mountain natives who heard the news of the Tang army's arrival along the way joined the army more enthusiastically.
Otherwise, Qiu He managed this place very well. One of his greatest achievements was that he made the barbarians in Jiaozhou think that everyone was a family and no longer had such a strong rejection and hostility towards outsiders.
Of course, the ideas of the barbarians who volunteered to join the army and the Khitan and Mohe tribes recruited by Yang Guang during his conquest of Liaodong were actually similar.
War means gain to them. You don’t need to count on them to put in much effort. When escaping, don’t walk with them. Otherwise, they are likely to chop off your head and sacrifice it to the enemy, or take it with you.
Go back to your own tribe to show off.
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Li Daozong was quite satisfied with this situation. Jiaozhou was under his rule. Since the counties supported the arrival of the Tang army and were willing to attack the enemy for the Tang army, this was enough. There was no need to ask for too much.
Under the guidance of his guide, he led his army into the jungle and mountains, and walked for more than half a month before reaching Jiaozhi.
When everyone came out of the forest, even though Li Daozong had been prepared, his scalp was numb. When they arrived at Ningyue County, the army numbered 8,000 people. When they arrived at Jiaozhi County, there were only 7,000 people left in the army.
None of them looked human, let alone the wild beasts in the mountains. Snakes, insects, rats and ants were the main factors responsible for the attrition of the army. Even Li Daozong was covered in mosquito bites, let alone the others.
It was a hellish journey. When we came out of the woods, the whole army was in a state of panic and looked like deserters. It also rained several times. Some of the troops led by Li Daozong were elite soldiers from the north, and some were soldiers from Jiangzuo.
Because they are not adapted to the climate here, the number of people along the road is very serious, but most of the new natives who join are not affected.
Time, location, people, and the essence of the art of war summed up by the people of the Central Plains were very concretely demonstrated during this march.
Without the help and guidance of the local people, when the Central Plains soldiers arrived here, the environment alone would cause them to lose 80% of their combat effectiveness.
Especially the army's heavy equipment made it almost impossible to move forward in the jungle, so Li Daozong could only let people move forward lightly.
Not to mention armor, even leather armor cannot be worn in this environment. Knives will rust quickly, and arrows cannot be stored for a long time because the arrow shafts will deform.
There are so many kinds.
Walking awkwardly through the primitive jungle, the army was in rags and looked like ghosts.
When they arrived at Jiaozhi County, Li Daozong ordered the entire army to rest for a full half a month before they finally felt relieved. Many people fell ill again here.
At this point, Li Daozong finally understood why the administrative seat of Jiaozhou was moved from Jiaozhi County to Panyu during the Han Dynasty. The transportation between the north and the south was so difficult. It would have been better if the three counties of Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan were not thrown away. Where would it be?
Are you an official here?
But having said that, the 7,000-strong army stationed in Jiaozhi is already a decisive force, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a behemoth.
When Funan, a relatively powerful small country in the southeast, was in civil strife, the enemy and we only had 15,000 people in the largest war.
Most of the sporadic battles involve dozens of people, hundreds of people are a big battle, thousands of people are a posture to destroy the country, tens of thousands of people are a situation where everyone can't survive, and the old, weak, women and children have to go forward to fight.
The Tang army of 7,000 men can undoubtedly be called a large army here. In the former Sui Dynasty, King Linyi was captured and taken to Chang'an with a few hundred men. Now that the Tang army is back, there is no longer much suspense in the war.
Lou Jing, the governor of Jiaozhi County, was a descendant of local natives and immigrants. He had longed for the Central Plains for a long time. The arrival of the Tang army made him overjoyed. He pretended to welcome the king's army and asked Li Daozong to join the army in the battle.
His wish was very obvious. If he wanted to follow the army back south after this battle, it would be best for his family to move to the Central Plains. Instead of going to Chang'an, he could go to Luoyang, Jiangdu and other legendary places.
A standard bitch... Well, Li Daozong said he liked it, but how could he move? Li Daozong thought it would be good to use this person to take charge of Linyi in the future.
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In March of the fourth year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, Li Daozong launched an army to attack Jiuzhen.
The background of Li Qing, the governor of Jiuzhen County, is similar to that of Lou Jing, but this guy has a more rebellious spirit. He led his people to stay in the country and asked for help from Rinan and Linyi Kingdom.
But he thought too much. Li Daozong's march this time was completely different from before. He reached Jun'an in three days.
The cities here are incomparable with those in the Central Plains. Most of them are walled cities built of wood. It is better to say they are cities than villages.
There was no need to attack. After the news of the arrival of the Tang army spread, some people ran to Xupu, and some fled into the mountains. So the army passed Jun'an, moved the wind, and came to Xupu.
Prefect Li Qing still wanted to resist, but the army defeated him in an instant.
When Li Daozong beheaded Li Qing, what bothered him a little was that the mountain barbarians in the army were difficult to control. After Xupu was defeated, the barbarians became more animalistic and almost slaughtered the entire Xupu. Well, in fact, there were not many people in Xupu.
, the old, weak, women and children combined are not as large as the army, only about 3,000 people.
The mountain barbarians killed and wounded people wantonly and collected property. It was not until Li Daozong summoned several mountain barbarian leaders and killed two that they learned the rules of the Tang army.
However, Li Daozong also thought about it, and it was unacceptable to be merciful in a place like this. After that, he let the mountain barbarians lead the march and continued to attack Rinan.
The prefect of Rinan County was much smarter than Li Qing. Before the army arrived, he led his family and confidants to flee to Linyi. Li Daozong entered Jiude City without any effort.
At this time, the old lands of the Sui Dynasty had been restored, and then King Fan Fanzhi of Linyi sent someone to see him.
The Fan family in Linyi has always been the core group of nobles in Linyi. Although they have Han surnames, their origins are unknown. They lost power in the process, but the family still holds power. Now they have become the king of Linyi again.
When the people sent by Fan Fanzhi arrived at Jiude City, they behaved very respectfully and were not as arrogant and rude as Li Daozong expected.
Not only did Fan Fanzhi not want to fight with the Tang army, but he also wanted to send an envoy to meet the Tang emperor...