Li Chengzhi knew that Long Pass was difficult to break, and he also knew that Cui Yanbo was determined to fight to the death, but he never thought that it would be so difficult?
Yuan Qin would rather Qianyang be flooded into an isolated city, and even burn up all the food and grass in a fire, rather than take advantage of it.
When Yang Zhi saw that Li Zhao and Song Shihe had blown up the mouth of the Weihe River and wanted to flood Yongcheng, he went around to the upper reaches and dug up the embankment of the Weihe River.
In just three to five days, the area east of Longshan and west of Qianhe River was flooded into Zeguo.
This certainly cut off Zhang Jingzhi and Da Xi's retreat, leaving Zhang Xinyi, Li Zhao, Zhang Jingzhi, and Da Xi as four isolated armies. But didn't it mean that it also cut off Cui Yanbo's retreat?
At this point, the two sides completely fell into a melee.
Fortunately, Li Chengzhi did not think about victory, but thought about defeat first, and made arrangements in advance. If Li Feng hadn't made an attack in the east and attacked in the west, and then the momentum was overwhelming, Li Chengzhi would have almost failed and returned home...
On the tenth day of April, Li Chengzhi officially declared war. He sent troops from Qingshui City, marched to Guanlong Road, and approached Longguan.
On the same day, Li Liang sent troops from Yueshi County to attack Xiaoguan.
The next day, Da Xi and Zhang Jingzhi launched from the clear water, and nearly a thousand paddle boats went down the Wei River.
At this time, Li Feng had also been forced to the gate of Woye City.
Yuan Yao planned deeply, dug the trenches deep enough, built the moat long enough, built the city walls high and thick enough, and prepared a lot of kerosene.
But it's hard to say Li Feng.
He used his artillery camp to clear the way and blasted a road with gunpowder.
Then they set up a formation two miles away from Jilukuan. From then on, Yuan Yao and Xi Kangsheng's nightmare began.
No matter morning or evening, day or night, the rebel artillery under the city never stopped for a moment. Countless incendiary bombs and explosive bombs fell into the city.
Because they were caught off guard, the city and the city were burned to death on the first day, killing nearly 10,000 soldiers.
Forced by helplessness, Yuan Yao could only let a small number of soldiers stay in Ruoweng City, while the rest of the soldiers retreated to Guancheng and two miles east of the border wall.
In this way, the damage was slightly reduced. However, correspondingly, the morale and morale of the defenders became lower and lower day by day. There were even incidents of camp roaring in the middle of the night.
At this point, both Yuan Yao and Xi Kangsheng knew that whenever the city was destroyed, it would be their defeat.
Even though Li Feng only had 20,000 or 30,000 troops, Yuan Yao and Xi Kangsheng had more than 200,000 troops.
Just when the two men were talking to each other, inspiring the morale of the troops, and vowing to live and die with Guancheng, Li Feng suddenly slowed down his pace.
Starting from the fourth day, except for half an hour each in the morning, noon and evening, the cannons in the city were no longer heard at the rest of the time.
Suspecting that something must have happened, but unable to satisfy Xi Kangsheng's pleas, Yuan Yao reluctantly agreed to send troops from Liziyuan, hoping to go around the border wall to find out what was going on.
As a result, as soon as Xi Kangsheng led his five thousand light cavalry out of the side wall, he was shot head-on.
It turned out that after arriving at Jilu Pass, Li Feng had divided his troops into two groups, one guarding outside Jilu Pass and the other going straight to Bogulu.
Bo Gu Lv is originally located in Hexi and very close to Wuwei. Once the two sides start a war, they will be the first to bear the brunt.
Therefore, after Li Feng withdrew his troops last winter, he knew that the city was empty and there were at least a thousand rebels garrisoned there, but Yuan Yao did not attack by force.
But now Li Feng first showed off his power outside Jilu Pass, and then sent heavy troops to garrison Bogulu. You can guess what the plan is with your toes.
One is to block Yuan Yao's route south, and the other is to wait for the opportunity to advance from north to south and approach Guanzhong.
Sure enough, two days later, Yuan Yao received an urgent report from Yang Jun, the governor of Jingzhou: Gaoping was in danger.
On the third day, Cui Yanbo's urgent report for help was also sent to Binzhou to Jilu Pass.
Yuan Yao wanted to save him, but how could he come in time?
Five days later, on April 29th, Xi Kangsheng had just gathered his army, prepared food and grass, and was preparing to set off from the fertile fields. Another urgent report came from Jingzhou: Gaoping had been defeated, and the rebels marched straight in, holding high the word "Feng".
The word flag went straight to Xiaoguan.
It was ten days later when Xi Kangsheng led 60,000 cavalry into the pass...
On April 28, Li Feng defeated Gaoping.
On the sixth day of May, Li Liang and Li Feng attacked Xiaoguan in a flanking attack. General Diao Zheng of the right army, Shaoqing of the guard, and Sima Yuanyou (the second son of Wang Yuanying of Zhongshan) of the left army were defeated and captured. Nearly 30,000 defenders were killed and captured.
More than 40,000.
The next day, Li Feng sent his troops north to attack Xi Kangsheng east of Luoshui. On the same day, Li Liang entered the pass, and within ten days he conquered Chaona, ancestral home, Jingyuan, Jingyang and other three counties and one county, and defeated Yang Jun, the governor of Jingzhou.
.
On May 18th, Li Liang defeated Xin Pu, the governor of Longdong, conquered Long County, and entered Longguan.
On May 21st, Huangfu Rang and Li Liang attacked from both sides and Long Pass was defeated. Cui Tingbo refused to retreat and jumped from the city to his death.
The next day, Yuan Qin burned the grain and grass in Qianyang and fled to Huazhou. On the same day, Yangzhi abandoned Yongcheng and retreated to Yongzhou (Xi'an).
Three days later, Xi Kangsheng retreated after hearing the news and retreated to the north of the border wall. Li Feng took advantage of the situation and entered Jinming County.
On May 17th, several armies from the West China Sea met An Ding, took a short rest, and sent out troops again five days later.
By the tenth day of the sixth lunar month, after two full months of fighting, more than 120,000 prisoners had been surrendered, and there was countless food and fodder. By now, they had reached Jinming in the north, Qinling Mountains in the south, Xianyang in the east, Dunhuang in the west, and they had all returned to the West Sea.
If you look at the map, Li Chengzhi and the Yuan and Wei Dynasties have divided the world equally.
Of course, that's not how the accounts are calculated.
In terms of population and grain fields, the West Sea is less than one-fifth of the imperial court. What's more, if you don't conquer it, you will be surnamed Li. You have to defend it...
Li Chengzhi stood on Xianyang City, like a wooden sculpture, letting the mountain wind ruffle his hair but remained indifferent.
A few days ago, this place was covered with streets and thousands of acres of fertile farmland. But now, it has become a scorched earth with no edges visible at a glance.
Yuan Qin, Yuan Qin, how should I thank you?
It was enough to burn down Qianyang County, but he became addicted to playing with fire and set fire to it wherever he went. No matter how many people there were in the city, let alone whether the spring wheat had turned yellow or it was the harvest season?
If not, how could the 11 counties east of the Qianhe River, a total of 89 counties, be able to decline so quickly?
Originally, Li Chengzhi could have conquered all of Binzhou (south of today's Yan'an and north of Tongchuan) and the eastern border of Huazhou in one go. However, he was very happy to see Yuan Qin lighting the fire, so he simply suspended the war temporarily.
First, I wanted to see how those aristocratic families who generously donated food, grass, tribes, and recruited their clansmen to help the court put down the rebellion would feel. I also wanted to see how Yuan Qin and the court would clean up this mess. They worked hard for the court.
How should the Hongnong Yang family, who was deeply hurt, explain to the gentry and people of Guanzhong?
Is it impossible that the Western Sea Army is still west of Luoshui (Guluo River, a tributary of the Yellow River), but the artillery fire flew to Luodong, a hundred miles away?
The common people are so fooled, are all those Kanto nobles, powerful and powerful, just blind?
Secondly, the number of armies in the West Sea will total 100,000. If we can defend the two states of Jing and Qi, we will have to exert 120% of our strength. If we are greedy for more, it will not be a matter of biting off more than we can chew.
It will be strangled to death.
Li Chengzhi is very self-aware of how big the meal is and how big the bowl is...
"Mr. Lang, my aunt has arrived and is reminiscing with Zhang Sima at the county government office!"
Li Xiaoxian stopped three steps away and reminded Li Chengzhi softly.
"Please quickly..."
After the words were spoken, Li Chengzhi was shocked to realize that he was blowing the cool breeze on Guancheng. How could this be the way to treat guests?
"Please enter the central hall first, I will be there later..."
Li Xiaoxian quickly responded to Zhang Jingzhi, followed by Li Chengzhi, who ran down the city wall.
Li Shao's ability to stay in Guanzhong can be considered an unexpected blessing: when Cui Yanbo was defeated, Li Liang captured Yang Zhi's son Yang Kan.
To put it into detail, Li Chengzhi and he were known as masters and disciples, although he basically taught Yang Kan nothing.
In addition, the two are legitimate brothers-in-law: Yang Kan's first wife Wei Jin and Wei Yu are the same mothers and full sisters.
Since it fell into Li Chengzhi's hands, it was natural that he couldn't let it go.
Yang Kan was brave and resourceful, but his prowess was second to none compared to Li Chengzhi. After all, Xihai relied on firearms, and the age of individual bravery had long passed.
Just because when he decided to counterattack, Wei Zijian reminded him: if he encounters Yang Zhi and his son, it is best to show mercy, maybe it will come in handy in the future.
It's hard to say whether Yang Zhi and his son are in trouble, but they are relatives after all, and Yang Kan is very practical and does not play the trick of preferring death to surrender, so Li Chengzhi will naturally not embarrass him.
But I can give Yang Zhi a reminder: Your favorite legitimate son is in my hands...
So when he knew that Li Shao and Yang Zhi were in Yongcheng together, he asked Yang Kan to write a letter in person, focusing on the oblique relationship between Yang Zhi and Li Shao. He also ordered the retinue who sent Yang Kan to deliver it to Yong City overnight.
city.
Then, Yang Zhi sent Li Shao to Yongcheng and asked him to defend the city with a good name. Then he led more than a thousand cavalry and retreated to Yongzhou overnight.
In addition, he not only left all the food and grass in Qizhou City, but also left nearly 20,000 infantry.
With Li Shao here, Yongcheng would be easily destroyed.
When Li Chengzhi learned about it, he was filled with surprises and wondered whether he should put Yang Kan back and catch him again if he had another chance.
Of course, just thinking about it in my heart, I still need to take my reputation into consideration...
After taking three steps and two steps at a time, Li Chengzhi entered the county government office, and Zhang Jingzhi and Li Shao had a pleasant conversation.
Li Chengzhi followed the etiquette, clasped his fists, and called out again: "I have met Uncle Shi!"
Li Shao hurriedly took a step forward and lifted him up.
Li Shao was filled with emotion when he saw that Li Chengzhi was still handsome and handsome, and his appearance seemed to be the same as it was six years ago.
We had known for a long time that he was definitely not a creature in the pond, but we never expected that he would grow so fast?
In just six or seven years, he has gone from being a white man to a powerful man who aspires to dominate the world. In two or three years at most, he will be able to restore all the land in the Central Plains and become emperor just around the corner.
Looking through the history books, there is no fourth person except Gaozu of the former Han Dynasty and Guangwu of the later Han Dynasty.
As for Li Shao, who was the first to help him and worked hard for him, he was happy from the bottom of his heart.
Regardless of the rest, the Li family can continue to be rich and prosperous for a hundred years...
When Li Chengzhi stood up, Li Shao sighed and said: "Today is different from the past, there is no need to be so polite in the future!"
"What Uncle Shi said is true!"
Li Chengzhi was slow to agree, but everyone knew that he would definitely go in through the left ear and out through the right ear.
Even Wang Mang knew that he had not usurped the throne, let alone Li Chengzhi, who had eight hundred scheming minds?
The three of them sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries before Li Chengzhi got straight to the point and got down to business...