Jiuxi

Chapter 916 914 [Turning Point]

As time entered late July, the confrontation situation of Qi Jing's army gradually became clear.

The Jing army's eastern route army had a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses, with Shan Yang as the chief commander and Shen Gu as the deputy commander. They entered the southeast corner of Henan Road and stopped at the northern end of Dingfeng Road. The army headed straight to the south to attack the Qi army's stronghold system, while suppressing the outer area of ​​Baotai Mountain to the east.

Emperor Jing personally took charge of Heluo and appointed Wen Gusun as the chief commander and Zhuo Tuo as the deputy commander. He led 70,000 troops to advance eastward along An County and Shenze City, and directly approached Yaoshan Pass.

He also appointed Shi Dun as commander-in-chief, with 40,000 troops, to march from the southwest of Heluo to the Shiwan Mountains, with the aim of blocking the Qi troops that might come out from the north of Feiniao Pass in Shazhou.

The western battlefield was controlled by Changshan Prince Qing Yugong. When he went south, he brought 50,000 infantrymen with him. Together with the 40,000 light cavalry and more than 70,000 infantrymen left behind by Wuyan Shu, the total force was close to 180,000.

Tongbai City, the headquarters of Jingjun’s Western Route Army.

This is the core of the Tongbai Defense Line. Countless grain and grass are stored in several adjacent important towns. Previously, the front army advanced on three fronts, and the grain and grass used by the army were sent from here and then transported to the front line.

Liu Shouguang and Zhang Xu naturally knew this detail, and they could only sigh in despair, because the cavalry of the Jing army were cruising around, and would not give the elite infantry of the Qi army the opportunity to make a long-distance attack to the important food and fodder areas of the Jing army.

Tongbai, as the southern gate of Heluo, is actually a typical military city.

The city walls are more than 20 miles long, with more than 4,000 battlements and six city gates, of which the most important are the Ju Ning Gate in the north and the Kai Yang Gate in the south. There are also four corner towers, a drum tower at the cross street in the center of the city, and a watchtower on the south street. Various functional buildings are very complete.

The entire city has a rigorous layout, a dangerous situation, strong city walls, and is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In the hall of the South City Marshal's Mansion, all the generals of the Jing Army gathered together.

Except for Miegudi and Guyuk who stayed behind on the western front, all the direct generals around Qing Yugong and people like Gulijia were here.

They looked expectantly at the middle-aged man on the command post, while Qing Yugong listened calmly to a group of young generals reporting on the situation on the border.

After the Battle of Taikang, the Western Route Army of the Jing Army was forced to go on the defensive. Except for the Yanwu City and Qiliu City that had been captured earlier, the rest of the troops had retreated to the Tongbai line.

"Your Highness, there is no unusual movement of the enemy troops on the western front. According to the investigation of the front-line scouts, Fan Wendi, the deputy governor of Jingzhou in Southern Qi, is personally leading the Guangji Army to garrison Gaotang City."

"Your Majesty, Zhang Xu, the Marquis of Yongding in the Southern Qi Dynasty, led more than 20,000 troops from the capital to garrison Taikang City."

"Your Majesty, the Guangling Army of Southern Qi has withdrawn from Teng County and is heading southeast to Ningling City—"

Qing Yugong suddenly raised his hand to interrupt him and asked, "Did the Qi army give up Teng County?"

The young officer replied a little nervously: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Qing Yugong stood up and walked to the sand table, and a group of generals surrounded him.

He looked around and asked slowly, "What do you think?"

Xi Lie spoke first, "Your Highness, the behavior of Lu Chen of Southern Qi is indeed somewhat unusual. I thought he would take advantage of the boost in morale from the battle of Taikang and use this period of time to launch a counterattack against our army, but I didn't expect him to be so forbearing. It would be fine if he didn't want to retake Yanwu City and Qiliu City on the western front, but now he has even voluntarily given up Teng County on the eastern front. It's really strange."

Gulijia looked around and said with a smile: "Now that the prince has arrived, the south must adopt a conservative retreat strategy."

"This is not a good flattery."

Qing Yugong also smiled and shook his head, saying, "Judging from the Qi army's movements, Lu Chen's decision to switch from offense to defense was obviously before His Majesty appointed me as the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army."

Gulijia touched his forehead awkwardly.

Qing Yugong didn't dwell on this little thing. Instead, he looked at the gloomy young man in the corner and asked, "Tell me what you think of the Qi army."

Everyone followed the sound.

As Wu Yanhai is the nephew of Wu Yanshu, he has naturally seen many big scenes. Logically speaking, he should be able to remain calm at this moment.

But his expression seemed particularly complicated, a mixture of grief, anger and shame. This description was naturally because he personally experienced the defeat, and in the end he was unable to rescue the coach and could only lead his troops to flee in embarrassment.

Fortunately, he knew what kind of occasion this was, and was also clear about his own identity. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Your Highness, the Qi army not only has excellent weapons and high morale, but the most profound impression left on me is that they obey orders. On the battlefield that day, the situation was unpredictable, especially when the Tiger and Leopard Battalion attacked, the Qi army's infantry actually used their flesh and blood to delay the impact of our heavy cavalry. For example, at the end of the battle, I was ordered to attack the enemy's flag. At that time, Lu Chen had only more than 2,000 infantrymen, but the other Qi soldiers were able to ignore it and continue to resolutely execute Lu Chen's orders."

He paused slightly, and said with some difficulty: "I am not trying to boost their morale, nor am I trying to excuse my own incompetence. I just feel that the elite troops of the Qi army, under Lu Chen's training, may have strength that is not inferior to the main force of our army."

Neither the generals like Gulijia who arrived at the western front battlefield in advance, nor the latecomers like Qing Yuzhongwang showed any contempt for Wu Yanhai.

Because they have all suffered losses at the hands of Lu Chen to varying degrees.

Seriously speaking, since Lu Chen joined the army seven years ago, he has almost defeated all the young and strong generals of the Jing army. The biggest difference among them is that some suffered a small loss and some lost their lives on the battlefield.

Regardless of whether the generals who were able to appear in the hall and attend the military meeting in front of Qing Yugong today were afraid of Lu Chen, at least no one would underestimate Lu Chen's skills.

After listening to Wu Yanhai's statement, Qing Yugong said calmly: "With Lu Chen's strategy, the bravery of the Qi army, and the vigor of Taikang's victory, why do you think they did not think of marching north to further expand the results of the battle, but instead set up such an iron barrel formation?" General Shuhu tentatively said: "Your Majesty, could this be Lu Chen's conspiracy?"

"What conspiracy?"

"Perhaps he intends to show weakness on purpose like he did before, and after our army launches an offensive, he will secretly deploy troops and launch a counterattack."

"Is that so?"

Qing Yugong did not comment, staring at the battle situation on the western front on the sand table, and fell into long contemplation.

The generals did not dare to say anything to disturb them.

After an unknown amount of time, Qing Yugong said calmly, "Shu Hu, Xi Lie."

The two generals said in unison: "I am here!"

Qing Yugong ordered: "You two should be calm and steady, each leading 10,000 infantrymen to march southeastward, with Shuhu's troops stationed in Changyi and Xilie's troops stationed in Qifeng."

The two took orders.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

The cities of Changyi and Qifeng are located in the southeast of Tongbai, dozens of miles away from Teng County. Qing Yugong only deployed 20,000 infantry here, obviously not intending to advance on the eastern front, but only to guard against sudden attacks from the Qi army.

Qing Yugong then selected five cavalry and infantry generals commanding 10,000 soldiers each, and said slowly, "Go back and prepare your troops, and follow me south to Yanwu City in three days."

The five people responded in unison.

By this time they had understood that the prince would not stop moving forward, but he would not follow Wu Yanshu's previous strategy of spreading everywhere. Instead, he would use the western front as a breakthrough point and concentrate his forces to tear open a gap in Jingzhou's defense line.

In this way, even if Lu Chen wanted to use the same trick again, it would be difficult for him to find a suitable opportunity to fight in the wild.

Qing Yugong made all the arrangements and the generals bowed and left one after another.

The hall fell silent. Qing Yugong turned around and sat down, raising his hand to rub his brows.

Qing Yuzhong looked closer and whispered, "Father, what exactly does Lu Chen want to do?"

Qing Yugong picked up the teacup and moistened his throat, then said calmly, "He wants to give me a gift."

"Gift?"

Qing Yuzhong frowned slightly.

There was no one else in the hall at the moment. Qing Yugong chuckled and said, "Lu Chen knows everything about the dispute between your majesty and me. This time Wu Yanshu was defeated and died, and your majesty ordered me to take over the army on the western front. From Lu Chen's point of view, this is obviously a good opportunity. He first showed weakness on the western front, and then pretended to give me a few small victories, maybe he could arouse your majesty's suspicion. In short, if I regain control of the military power, I can turn the situation around. Wouldn't your majesty be afraid?"

Qing Yuzhongwang's face was not looking good. He knew that what his father said was true, but he didn't know what Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong had said that day, so he said in a deep voice: "What a good trick to kill someone with a borrowed knife."

"This is just the first step of Lu Chen's plan."

Qing Yugong remained calm and said leisurely: "This move of his was made on the battlefield and in Dadu. The person he really wants to plot against is your sister."

Qing Yuzhongwang finally understood.

If the situation really develops according to Lu Chen's plan, and the emperor becomes suspicious again, even if he just makes a decision to change the commander at the last minute, the ripples on the front line will be like a storm when they are transmitted back to Dadu. How can Qing Yu Huaijin remain calm?
He knew that his father had handed over the power of the Qingyu clan hidden under the surface to his sister two years ago. However, the emperor was leading the army in person today, and there was only an unremarkable crown prince as regent, so it was easy for something unexpected to happen.

How can the front be stable if the rear is in chaos?

Looking at Qing Yuzhong's slightly anxious expression, Qing Yugong shook his head and said, "Don't worry, your sister is not a stupid person. Besides, although I have given her great autonomy, it does not mean that she can do whatever she wants."

Qing Yuzhongwang felt relieved. His father had made it very clear. It was not that he did not trust his daughter, but how could a man like him not keep a few cards up his sleeve?

In short, even if Qing Yu Huaijin was desperate and wanted to take risks, she still couldn't force herself to do anything if the situation hadn't reached that point.

Qing Yugong put down the teacup, stood up again and walked to the sand table, saying meaningfully: "But I still admire Lu Chen a little. He has such determination at such a young age, and he never limits his vision to a city or a place. He can be said to be a natural talent rarely seen in a century. If he is given another three to five years, even if our dynasty can gain an advantage in military strength, I am afraid he will defeat and eat us all."

"He wanted to use some benefits to lure me into this, but he didn't know that even though I'm nearly 50 years old, I still have a good appetite. He thought it was too simple to just use Gaotang City to get rid of me."

"I will accept this gift, but it's not enough..."

There was a sudden sharpness in the eyes of the Prince of Changshan, as if he could break gold and jade.

(End of this chapter)