Northern Dynasties

Chapter 605 Xiangyang is in Danger
Anlu is located in the north of the Great River, an important area connecting the east and west of the Yangtze River Basin. It is also the leading city in the east of the Hanshui River, and it is also the seat of Nanliang Sizhou.

At the beginning of the year, Jiankang Taicheng was captured by Hou Jing's rebel army. Liu Zhongli, as the commander of Qinwang coalition army, failed to rise up and kill the enemy. After Hou Jingjin occupied Taicheng, he even disarmed and surrendered.

Afterwards, although Liu Zhongli was released by Hou Jing, most of the elites of Yongzhou and Sizhou under his command were left in Jiankang City, and only a few confidantes returned with him to the west.

His own power has shrunk greatly. Although Liu Zhongli was reinstated by Hou Jingguan, he also knew that this puppet court and puppet official might not be enough to deter the tyrants among Suilu and make them bow to him as before.

So after returning to the west, Liu Zhongli did not go straight back to Anlu Prefecture, but first went to Jiangling upstream to meet Xiangdong King Xiao Yi.

After the Second Palace was taken over, the towns under the world were governed by themselves. Jingzhou, which was controlled by King Xiangdong, was the most powerful party between Jianghan and Han, and he himself was the most respected and famous among the clans.If he can get the acceptance and endorsement of the King of Eastern Hunan, he can greatly compensate Liu Zhongli for his lost popularity in Jiankang.

The facts are exactly as Liu Zhongli expected. Although he has done nothing for the king and humiliated the country by losing his teacher, the King of Xiangdong did not blame him too much in order to expand his strength and influence, but treated him with courtesy.

But what Liu Zhongli didn't expect was that the king of Xiangdong turned his head and appointed himself as the governor of Yongzhou, and asked him to deal with the king of Yueyang in Xiangyang, Xiao Xi.The Zongwang, who was originally the most friendly to the prince, now blatantly oversteps the authority of the second palace, and ignores the clan's family relationship, unabashedly pointing the finger at his nephew, not intending to steal the government's Hou Jing at all.

Rao Liu Zhongli himself is an expert who tolerates traitors and does nothing, but he can't help but secretly sigh at the performance of the King of Eastern Hunan.

Originally, he didn't think it was a problem, because King Yueyang was young and unable to convince the masses.Coupled with the fact that the Hedong Liu family is originally a rich family in Xiangyang, and Liu Zhongli is also a well-known hero in the Yongfu, after receiving the support and funding of the King of Xiangdong, it is not difficult to replace King Yueyang.

But after he really got to know it, he realized that this matter is still quite difficult. Compared with the Xiangdong King who was in the same room, although Yueyang King is a junior, he has gone further. , and now the governor of Jingzhou in the Western Wei Dynasty is even more grandiose to directly build the city and garrison troops to cooperate with Xiangyang to defend.With such strong foreign aid, King Yueyang dared to be an enemy of King Xiangdong.

If it was normal, Liu Zhongli would not take this seriously.

When Li Boshan, the governor of Jingzhou in the Western Wei Dynasty, came to the town, he was still sitting in Anlu, Sizhou, and knew a little about him. His own defeated general, this Li Boshan naturally could not make Liu Zhongli fearful.

But now Liu Zhongli is also down and out like a bereaved dog, and he is no longer as strong as before. He can't turn a blind eye to the collusion between Yongfu and Jingzhen in the Western Wei Dynasty.

So he first used the excuse of rectifying his forces, and begged the King of Eastern Hunan to temporarily borrow some armored soldiers so that he could return to Suilu to recruit Xiangqu and reorganize his troops before attacking Xiangyang.

The king of Xiangdong also had high hopes for Liu Zhongli because of his brilliant achievements in the past, so he temporarily lent him two thousand armored soldiers to serve as envoys.

With men and horses in hand, Liu Zhongli became more courageous. After leaving Jiangling, he took the lead in rushing to Jingling, where he continued to recruit armored soldiers and collect weapons and staffs. Soon his men and horses grew to more than five thousand.

When the soldiers were strong and the horses were strong, Liu Zhongli continued to lead his troops eastward, and finally returned to Anlu's old nest. After hearing the news, his chief Shi Maxiu and others also summoned Lu Haoqiang to welcome Liu Zhongli back to the town.

An encounter in Jiankang City was tantamount to a catastrophe for Liu Zhongli, which made him not as aggressive as before, and he should be cautious in everything.After the initial settlement of Anlu's lair, he was not in a hurry to toss, but patiently handled state affairs and rectified personnel affairs, and turned a deaf ear to the several envoys and urgings sent by the King of Eastern Hunan.

But this does not mean that Liu Zhongli will stick to his duty and is willing to hide in Anlu. He is still concerned about the changes in the external situation, especially the various personnel changes in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

After Hou Jingjin occupied Taicheng and Qin Wang's armies retreated, Hou Jing took control of the government and dispatched his minions to all parties, especially increasing his control over the Sanwu area, so he had no time to take care of the upstream.

However, in Huainan, there is also Poyang King Xiao Fan who sits in Hefei and pretends to be brave and still wants to cross the river. King Qin, so he abandoned Hefei and sent his two sons to the Eastern Wei Dynasty to ask for reinforcements from the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Gather people from all walks of life to regain Jiankang.

But the Eastern Wei Dynasty had no plans to send troops to help after accepting his second son. As for the upper reaches, the King of Eastern Hunan had already sent troops to fight Xiaoyu, the King of Hedong of Xiangzhou, and the others were still attracting people to wait and see, so no one paid attention to Poyang. king.

The king of Poyang originally planned to gather all the troops in Ruxukou, but he didn't wait for reinforcements when the food was exhausted. Hefei was also occupied by the Eastern Wei Dynasty, which made him lose his plan and had to move his troops westward.But Hou Jing took the opportunity to leave Jiankang and go out to Tun Gushu, and Pei Zhiti, the general of the Poyang king's department, led his troops to surrender.

After learning about this, Liu Zhongli hated it secretly. Originally, the demon king Hou Jingna was still concentrating on controlling the Sanwu area and had no time to look around, but in the end he was attracted by the trash of Poyang King.

Although there are many towns in the upstream and the battle lines are long, they do not belong to each other, and even fight endlessly.

Liu Zhongli had experienced Hou Jing's strengths before, but felt that once he led his troops westward, the upstream towns would inevitably be destroyed one by one, and Anlu, where he was located, was also unsafe.

Once Hou Jing advances to this point, Anlu will inevitably become the front line to prevent the enemy from attacking Jiangling, and Liu Zhongli has deeply realized the danger of cooperating with the clans of Liang after going through all kinds of incidents, so he is naturally unwilling to fall into this desperate situation.

If you want to get rid of this situation, you can only open up a larger living space. Between Jianghan and Han, Xiangyang is naturally the best choice.So regardless of the urging of King Xiangdong, in order to improve his situation and strengthen his power, Xiangyang is also the goal that Liu Zhongli must seize!
After realizing this, Liu Zhongli continued to reorganize his troops while stepping up his spying on the Xiangyang area, and soon his troops returned to more than ten thousand troops.

Although quite a few of them follow Lu Tuhao's trilogy, but under the temptation of Liu Zhongli's prestige and the goal of advancing Xiangyang, these people are willing to obey Liu Zhongli's order, and plan to have a good time after capturing Xiangyang share of the pie.

This kind of troop strength is naturally much inferior to Liu Zhongli's heyday, but it is also enough for a battle.

Xiangyang is where Liu Zhongli's township is located, and he knows its city defense layout very well. Hedong Liu's family still enjoys a high reputation among Xiangyang scholars and people. There is still no lack of confidence.

It was probably a matter of time and fortune, and when Liu Zhongli put the attack on Xiangyang on the agenda, good news soon came from Xiangyang.According to his eyeliner who sneaked into Xiangyang, a large number of boats on the Hanshui Channel were filled with flags and carried a large number of people upstream, at least tens of thousands of people, but the defenders in Xiangyang have not decreased significantly. .

Liu Zhongli pondered for a while when he heard the news, and immediately beamed with joy: "It must be the Wei army plotting Hanzhong, and marching westward through the Han River! Hanzhong is the south gate of Guanlong, which is related to the comfort of the country's heart. Xiangyang is far away in Hannan. After several times of using troops, Han Dong was defeated. It is clear at a glance which is more important!"

Liu Zhongli's taboo was that when he attacked Xiangyang, the Western Wei Dynasty might suddenly intervene and reap the benefits of the fisherman, but now that he has figured out that the Western Wei Dynasty is about to march into Hanzhong on a large scale, the scruples in his heart have disappeared.

The surrounding roads in Hanzhong are dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although Xiao Xun, Marquis of Yifeng, who sits on the other side is not known for his bravery and talent, he is also benevolent and wins the hearts of the people.Moreover, in the south of Hanzhong, there is Shuzhong, where Wuling King Xiao Ji sits, which can be nearby for help. Even if Hanzhong cannot be held in the end, it is possible to delay the Wei army for a period of time.

As for this period of time, it is a good time for Liu Zhongli to enter Xiangyang.After entering and occupying Xiangyang, his power will span the east and west of the Han River, which is no less than that of the King of Eastern Hunan.
However, Liu Zhongli is also an experienced veteran, and he was not overjoyed by the good news. First, he led a group of troops to occupy Xiawei Garrison, which is adjacent to Jingzhou in the north of Mian, with Ma Bofu, the son of his long history Ma Xiu and the prefect of Yiyang. In order to test and attract the remaining troops in Jingzhou in the Western Wei Dynasty, the troops did not go directly north through the Suijun Passage, but went south along the Jiangxi to Jingling, and then went north from Jingling by boat and chariot.

Next, Liu Zhongli's army arrived at Shicheng in the south of Xiangyang, and sent envoys to Xiangyang to inform Yueyang King Xiao Xi that he was ordered by the King of East Hunan to attack Jingzhou, the northern captive, and hoped that King Yueyang could provide a batch of boats for his troops at Xianshanyan. attack the enemy.

After attracting the attention of the Xiangyang defenders to the Han River in the east and heightening their defenses, Liu Zhongli finally revealed his true colors, led three thousand cavalry to abandon the ship and landed, and then rushed straight to Wanshan in the west of Xiangyang City The embankment, based on this, can control Xiangyang waterway wharf, cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Hanbei, and can directly hit Xiangyang Fucheng!

Jiankangqin Wang failed but was forced to surrender to Hou Jing. It was indeed a big stain in Liu Zhongli's life, but it did not mean that his talents were mediocre.

As a famous general of the Southern Liang Dynasty and used troops in his own hometown, Liu Zhongli could easily handle King Yueyang in Xiangyang City. Rush up the embankment, only one step away from Xiangyang City!
(End of this chapter)