Late Tang

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In Dengzhou Sirius Festival Hall, Li Jing is discussing with his four advisors Li Zhen, Li Liang, Gai Yu and Jing Xiang.

Youzhou finally became chaotic as they judged.

As early as when he was in Chang'an to bet on the Jiedu envoy, Li Jing saw that the emperor finally made him the commander-in-chief of Lu Long, and made Chen Jingxuan the deputy ambassador of Lu Longjun in Youzhou and Jiedu. There will be such a day.

But when this day really came, Li Jing was still full of disappointment.

If it weren't for Chen Jingxuan's mischief of selling cakes, Li Quanzhong would not have turned against Liu Yue, Li Keju would not have been defeated, and Chen Jingxuan himself would not have been chased like a bereaved dog.

Without Tian Lingzi and Chen Lingxuan's chaos, Li Jing could maintain the confrontation in Youzhou for a longer period of time, allowing them to consume their strength continuously. In the end, Li Jing could spend the least amount of effort to expand his power in Youzhou Town, and finally control the entire town. Youzhou Town.

Now, all previous efforts were for naught.

In the battle report just received, Chen Jingxuan was extremely arrogant, domineering in Youzhou, and completely ignored Li Keju, who stayed in Youzhou.As a result, Li Keju finally decided to attack Chen Jingxuan.

But the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole follows.

Because Li Keju's general Li Quanzhong was humiliated by Chen Jingxuan before, and Li Keju failed to uphold justice, he had secretly betrayed him and transferred to Liu Yue's tent.As a result, Li Keju and Liu Rengong attacked Chen Jingxuan's mansion at night and attacked the camp of five thousand forbidden troops brought by Chen Jingxuan.

Although Chen Jingxuan occupied Yacheng in Youzhou, he never expected that Li Keju would dare to attack him. In a hurry, the inner city was quickly lost, and Li Keju killed him in Yacheng.Although Tian Lingzi dispatched [-] elite imperial troops to bring to Chen Jingxuan, he also sent generals of the imperial army Yang Shili, Niu Xu, and Luo Yuangao to help Chen Jingxuan.But fighting together, with mental calculations and unintentional calculations, the five thousand forbidden troops were defeated.At dawn, more than half of the [-] imperial troops were killed or injured, and the rest surrendered. However, Liu Rengong was ordered by Li Keju to massacre all the surrendered troops.General Luo Yuangao was captured and executed.

Chen Jingxuan got Niu Xu and Yang Shili to escape at night with dozens of cavalry guards disguised as Uighur cavalry.

Li Keju was only happy for one day. On the second night, Li Quanzhong suddenly appeared with his troops.Li Keju only said that Li Quanzhong came here to receive his secret order, and opened the door to let him into the city.As a result, as soon as Li Quanzhong's 1 troops entered the city, they immediately attacked their own soldiers and horses, and quickly captured the city gate.They also guarded the city gate tightly, and two days later, the troops of Liu Yue and Fan Xinglong arrived.

Lu Long's army once again killed each other, and the two armies fought fiercely around Youzhou City. Li Keju used Yacheng to hold on for ten days, and finally lost and broke through.In the end, Liu Rengong had to lead [-] Uyghur cavalry to protect Li Keju and his family members from the encirclement, and fled all the way south.

"General Pei has led the navy to the mouth of the Zhangshui River in Youzhou, and joined the Yanyun army led by General Guo. The navy has built a water camp and is stationed by the sea." Li Weiyuan is in Khitan, and Gongsun Lan is the commander His deputy also participated in the meeting at this time, mainly providing intelligence information.

"Li Keju retreated with 3000 troops outside our camp to seek asylum. General Guo didn't get a military order from the commander in chief, so he didn't let them into the camp for the time being, but let them build camps twenty miles away. It is reported that Li Keju has personally sat down The boat rushed to Dengzhou, and the [-] Uighur cavalry were temporarily led by Liu Rengong."

"The Uighurs are short of brains." Li Jing shook his head and sighed, he just wanted to kill Chen Jingxuan and assassinate him, why bother to engage in such a big battle.Fortunately, he couldn't do it even after staying. According to Lu Longjun's tradition, he was driven out of Youzhou by the army leaders. He is no longer the commander of Youzhou.

"Marshal, Li Keju really has no brains, and he actually came here to ask for help at this time. This guy doesn't seem to be willing to be kicked out of the commander-in-chief position, but he came just in time. We didn't know the situation before, so we had to let Yan The Yun army retreated. But now the situation has been clarified. This is a chaotic battle where two tigers fight and the fisherman wins. Chen Jingxuan fled, his imperial army was destroyed, Li Keju was defeated, and his soldiers and horses were gone. , the final winner is Liu Yue. Some people think that we can detain Li Keju, swallow his soldiers and horses, and then use Li Keju's banner to send troops to Youzhou." Gai Yu suggested.

"No!" Jing Xiang objected.

"Why?" Li Jing asked, he felt that Gai Yu's plan was somewhat feasible.Detain Li Keju, and then take Youzhou under the pretext of sending troops to help Li Keju quell the civil strife in Youzhou.Youzhou had just experienced a civil strife, and it was at its weakest time.

Jing Xiang said: "Liu Yue and Fan Xinglong have not lost much in sending troops this time, and Li Quanzhong has turned his back on him. The original Li Keju's army is now also being transferred by Liu Yue. Liu Yue has already taken control of the Lulong prefectures since he was appointed as Youzhou. Except for Liu Rengong's [-] cavalry, there is no other opposition force in Youzhou Town. If we attack Youzhou, we have to rely on our own strength. Besides, Li Keju attacked Chen Jingxuan first, which was an act of rebellion, but Liu Rengong Yue and the others, under the banner of eradicating the imperial court's rebellion, we sent troops, and the division came out of no name, and if they were forced urgently, maybe they would join forces with the Khitan people. At that time, we will cross the sea and attack, and those who have to face the post, but The combination of Youzhou Town and the Khitan people may even lead to feudal towns like the German Army and Wei Bo, or they may be dissatisfied with our meddling in Youzhou Town and send troops."

Li Jing pondered for a moment, "What do you think the counselor should do?"

"You can send troops to assist Li Keju in capturing Pingzhou. As long as Li Keju has a foothold, Lulong Town cannot be reorganized again. With Li Keju's name, not only can you recruit troops to fight against Liu Yue, but you can also recruit Uighurs and other troops. The other one is that Pingzhou is the gateway to the western Liaoning Corridor, and now under the banner of Li Keju, we can garrison troops in Pingzhou, slowly occupy Pingzhou, and then expand to Yingzhou occupied by the Khitans."

"You mean we give up Youzhou temporarily?" Li Jing asked with a frown.

Jing Xiang thought about his words, nodded and said: "The intention of my post is indeed so. Forcibly attacking Youzhou is not in line with our long-term plan. It is better to retreat to the northeast corner of Youzhou Town, not only to keep Li Keju as a usable pawn, but also to fight against Youzhou. Let’s not confront them head-on for the time being. If we don’t fight Liu Yue and only occupy Pingzhou, I think Liu Yue won’t be so stupid as to pluck the tiger’s beard by force. And Liu Yue and the others are not monolithic.”

"In Lulong Town, there are only You, Tan, Ji, Gui, Zhuo, Mo, Ying, Ping, and Ying, a total of nine prefectures. Almost all of Ying prefectures are occupied by Khitan people. Therefore, Lulong Town actually only has eight prefectures. Liu Yue After defeating Li Keju, Liu Yue took the post of Youzhou Township and led the three prefectures of You, Zhuo and Gui; Fan Xinglong served as the deputy envoy of Jiedu and led Jizhou, Tanzhou and Pingzhou; Two states."

"What do you mean, there is a possibility of internal conflict among the three people in Youzhou Town?" Li Jing looked at Jing Xiang with a questioning look in his eyes, and said with a smile.

Jing Xiang said confidently: "Lulong Town has always been full of military leaders, and the arrogant soldiers will chase the generals, and the strong will rebel. As long as the military leaders are strong, they will drive away the old commander. History has come here. Now Liu Yue, Fan Xinglong has been uniting against Li Maoxun and his son, and Li Quanzhong, who has just turned his back, has almost taken over all of Li Keju's soldiers. The entire Youzhou Town is now the most powerful of these three. As long as there is no external pressure, I am sure that the three will definitely Internal strife. Therefore, I don't think we are in a hurry to attack Youzhou, but we can't completely ignore it. We can take advantage of this time to occupy Pingzhou. As long as we only take Pingzhou, I believe they will accept this result of."

Li Zhen stroked his beard and said with a smile: "You can use Li Keju's banner to say that you are attacking Youzhou to scare Liu Yue and others. Then let them hand over Pingzhou to us. You can even tell the three families in private that as long as If they agree to this matter, then Zhen [***] will not be their enemy, and if they can still become allies, they will help them when they need it like they did to Li Maoxun."

If Pingzhou can be occupied, although it is an enclave right now, it is equivalent to driving a nail in Youzhou.Moreover, it can directly threaten Khitan.When recovering Liaodong, they can go out of Yuguan to attack the back of the Khitan people in the Liaoxi Corridor, or even directly attack the rear of the Khitan grassland.

And to win Pingzhou, for Xiazhen [***], although the three lands of Dengzhou, Liaonan, and Pingzhou are separated by the sea, they have become horns.In this way, the entire Bohai Bay is under the control of the town [***], not only Youzhou Town, Changyi Town, and Ziqing Town are within the range of this corner, even Liaodong and Liaoxi are also within the scope of this corner. within the power of.

Youzhen [***] has a powerful naval force, although the three lands are separated by the sea, not only is it not weak, but it can become an excellent defense.Zhen [***] has a powerful navy to support the three places quickly and continuously, transporting soldiers, horses and supplies, but the enemy can't.With the help of the water army, the soldiers and horses of the three places can pass through the sea unimpededly, but the enemy cannot intercept them.

"In the second year of Kaiyuan, the Protectorate of Andong moved from Fanyang to Pingzhou, and in the second year of Tianbao, it moved to Yingzhou. If we occupy Pingzhou, we can tell the court that we want to recover the land of Yingzhou in western Liaoning. Prepare for Liaodong. Pingzhou and Yingzhou are not important places, and they were originally under the jurisdiction of Youzhou, so I thought the imperial court would not interfere with this matter," Li Liang said.

All the counselors believe that now is not the time to send all your troops to Youzhou. To seize Youzhou, you must recover Liaodong and Liaoxi.Otherwise, if Youzhou resists and counterattacks, with the huge territory of Youzhou and Kyushu, Zhen [***] may fall into the quagmire of war.The most worrying thing is that it will attract other people's intervention, and finally consume the supplies of soldiers and horses, exposing the ambition of the town [***], but not being able to take Youzhou.

After thinking deeply, Li Jing finally gave up his plan to take the opportunity to attack Lulong Town.There are only two states in the town of [***], so it is really impossible to take risks.Step by step, if you can swallow Pingzhou, it will be considered an excellent harvest. (To be continued.)