Late Tang

Lu Xiegang backed down to the military chiefs of the three towns who were in chaos, and demoted Wang Chengyan and Cui Jie. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, someone broke into the political affairs hall with paperwork.

"Sizhou urgent report!"

When the prime ministers of Zhengshitang heard that it was an urgent report from Sizhou, they all trembled involuntarily.

Although it is said that Lu Xie proposed the imperial court's plan to defend Sizhou against Huangchao, the other prime ministers in the DPRK and Lu Xie do not all share the same political views. If there is a serious situation in Sizhou's defense, it is indeed an attack on Lu Xie. Great opportunity, but the current Sizhou defense plan is also very important.In case the Sizhou defense line is broken by Huang Chao and the grass bandits go north to the Central Plains, this will be able to shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

Once Huang Chao is allowed to cross the Huaihe River and enter Henan, the bandit army will naturally go north along Bian and Yingbei, and then gather in Luoyang.Right now, the four towns in Hebei are rebelling, so that all the soldiers and horses in Henan are gathered in Luoyang for defense. to fight against.Once Huang Chao joins forces with Wang Jingwu back then, and joins the four Hebei towns across the river, back to back... Thinking of the consequences, Lu Xie shudders.

Then the facts are extremely cruel. After the Sizhou defense plan proposed by Lu Xie was distributed to the local area, the various feudal towns cut corners and cut corners in implementation.

In the past, Li Jing and Gao Pian, the two generals who commanded the army, were the role models. Later, there were threats from the rebels in Hebei and the bandits in Huainan.

In November, after Huang Chao plundered under Gao Pian's nose, the army expanded to 15 horses again.

As for Gao Pian in Yangzhou City, although Huang Chao once forced his army to the city, he did not dare to easily attack this world-famous city.Huang Chao clearly understood that there were at least 2 Huainan troops in Yangzhou City. Among them, although Gao Pian's elite had lost a lot in Jiangxi, they still maintained at least [-] troops.Especially with Yangzhou's strong wall defending, Huang Chao didn't dare to attack the city easily even though he had an army of [-].Especially right now on the Yangtze River, there is still an elite township naval fleet patrolling the river. At the mouth of the Yangtze River three hundred miles away, there are [-] Zhennan troops stationed in Hudouzhou, which can reach the city of Yangzhou in two days.

Therefore, after Huang Chao grabbed a lot of votes in Huainan and collected a large amount of money, grain, gold and silk, he led his army to show off his might under the city of Huainan, and then left arrogantly and went north, approaching Sizhou.

In November, Huang Chao approached Sizhou and reached the south bank of Huai River.

However, this important town that the imperial court plans to focus on defense has only gathered [-] Tang troops at this time.

Facing the 15 grass thieves on the other side, Cao Quanzhen, who had just been appointed by the court as the deputy commander of the southeast capital and the Jiedu envoy of the Tianping Army, felt extremely cold at this moment.Due to the battles in the court, Cao Quanzhen's official positions have also been transferred a lot in the past few years, from Zizhou Governor in Ziqing Town, to Du Yaya of the Tianping Army, to the Jiedu Envoy of the Tianping Army, and then to Jiangxi Jiedu Envoy, In a blink of an eye, he was transferred back to the Tianping Army from Jiangxi, and was awarded the post of deputy capital commander in the east, responsible for the Sizhou defense line.

It was only when Cao Quanzhen rushed to Sizhou with 15 Tianping troops that he discovered that the other towns either did not send troops, or only sent [-] troops. There are only six thousand soldiers and horses in total.

Six thousand vs. 15, Huang Chao's soldiers and horses are 25 times that of Cao Quan's, and there is a huge gap between the enemy and us!

Even a blind man can tell that this battle is far from ominous.

Cao Quanzhen had no choice but to report to the imperial court urgently, and at the same time ask Gao Pian for help.

But now Gao Pian was guarding Yangzhou City, and at the same time sent an elite army of [-] soldiers to defend Hailing in the east of Yangzhou.Now he doesn't even listen to the emperor's edict, so how can he pay attention to Cao Quanzhen, a Jiedu envoy who has been transferred here and there by the emperor.

Cao Quanzhen sent several envoys to Gao Pian to ask for help every day, but Gao Pian didn't want to save him at all.

On November [-]th, Cao Quanzhen did not receive reinforcements from Gao Pian, nor did he receive reinforcements from other towns. He was waiting for Huang Chao's attack.

Taking advantage of the shallow water season in winter, Huangchao's 15 troops launched a battle to cross the river.Cao Quanzhen had only [-] soldiers and horses, and he didn't dare to go out of the city to fight against the river. He watched Huang Chao's army easily cross the Huaihe River, and then directly rushed to the city of Xuyi, the governor of Sizhou.

Cao Quanzhen led [-] soldiers and horses in a bloody battle all day and night, and was finally outnumbered. Facing the Huangchao army that was attacking the city with countless ants, the governor only came to send his nephew to bring his own blood book to break through.

Out of the [-] Tang troops, only Cao Quan's son Cao Xiang and his nephew Cao Cunshi led more than ten cavalry to break through the siege, and the other [-] troops died with the city.

What Lu Xie received now was the blood letter written by Cao Quanzhen to the court when he was dying, reporting that the Sizhou defense line had been breached.

When Lu Xie first proposed this Sizhou defense plan, what he really expected to rely on was not Cao Quanzhang, but Yangzhou's Gao Pian.I hope that Gao Pian can send troops from Huang Chao's back when Huang Chao crosses the Huai River.

It's a pity that Gao Pian didn't move from the beginning to the end.

Based on this wrong judgment, Lu Xie never thought that the Sizhou defense line could block Huang Chao from the very beginning.The plan for Sizhou's defense line is nothing more than sending troops in parallel.Because of this, Sizhou belonged to the territory of the probation army, but the probation army was transferred to the Fushui defense line by Lu Xie.

Fushui is a tributary of the Huaihe River, later known as the Shahe River.Originating from Funiu Mountain at the junction of the eastern part of Henan Province and Shannan East Road, it enters the Huaihe River via Ruzhou, Henan Province, Xuzhou, Caizhou, Chenzhou of the Zhongwu Army, and Yingzhou in Xuanwu Town.

On the border between Ruzhou and Xuzhou, Yushui merges with Rushui, which also originates from Ruzhou, and then joins with Xiaoshui in Caizhou, and finally forms Dashui, which then flows into Chenzhou’s Mushui City. Yingshui, an important tributary of the Huaihe River, flows south into the Huaihe River.

The entire river has a total length of 830 miles.It spans the four states of Ru, Xu, Cai and Chen from east to west.

Although this river cannot be called a natural barrier, it is also a natural barrier between Dongdao and Chang'an in the east of Henan, where there is a flat river.

Compared with the Sizhou defense line, Lu Xie paid more attention to this wet water defense line.After all, if Huang Chao broke through Surabaya and entered Henan, it would not be the worst disaster.What the court was most worried about was Huang Chao's attack on Luoyang and westward advance to Chang'an.Therefore, defending Luoyang is the most important thing.

And setting the line of defense on the Lushui line instead of gathering on the Huaisi line is also worried that Huang Chao will abandon the Huaisi line to cross the river, and rush to the west, heading straight for Luoyang Chang'an.For Lu Xie and others, Chang'an and Luoyang are the most important.

Moreover, Lu Xie previously transferred both Xu Si's Probation Army and Yishu's Taining Army to Lushui. In fact, there is still one hope.That is like setting up defenses in Sizhou in the hope that Gao Pian will send troops in the end.

Now Lu Xie has transferred the Probation Army and Taining Army from Sizhou to Ziqing to the west, hoping that Huang Chao can see the situation clearly, and that he will not go west, but go directly to the richer Ziqing Denglai direction.

If Huang Chao really rushed to Ziqing Town, then no matter how calm Li Jing was, he would be forced to send troops to deal with Huang Chao.

Under Lu Xie's repeated urging, the towns in Henan did not dare to open the water one after another like Gao Pian and Li Jing at this time, whether they wanted it or not.

Taining Army Jiedu envoy Liu Kerang actively dispatched troops and led his troops to Ruzhou.

When the probation army Shi Pu also stationed in Yingshui.

The new Zhongwu Army Jiedu Envoy Xue Neng was very active. After all, when Huang Chao went north, the Zhongwu Army was the first to bear the brunt.However, although Xue Neng could write a lot of poems, he couldn't understand military affairs.Therefore, Xue Neng sent Zhongwu generals Qin Zongquan and Sun Ru to Caizhou to transfer troops, and then he handed over the main force of the Zhongwu army to another general Zhou Yu to lead him to join Qi Kerang.

The Tianping Army and the Probation Army stationed in Sizhou.

The Zhongwu Army, the Taining Army, and the Probation Army are stationed in Lushui!

At the same time, Cui Anqian, Zhang Zimian, and Du Wei led Yicheng, Dongdu Ji, Shannan, Shanguo, and several towns in Hezhong to gather troops and horses in Luoyang to establish a third line of defense.

The central court, headed by Lu Xie, faced the rebels from the north and the south. Until now, they have mainly formulated relatively conservative countermeasures.

After Li Jing and Gao Pian successively joined forces and did not send out troops, the court's strategy was mainly inclined to defense.In particular, a defense plan focusing on the two capitals of Luoyang and Taiyuan was formulated.The Tang army focused on defense, especially against the grass bandits in the south. The task of attacking was given to nine Hu soldiers.

Sizhou fell, Gao Pian still sat on the sidelines, Huang Chao's 15 troops had entered Henan, and the news spread to Chang'an, which worried the emperor, Lu Xie and others.

On November [-]th, the imperial court appointed Gao Pian, the envoy of Nanjiedu, Pingzhangshi, Taiwei, Jianghuai Salt and Iron Transshipment Envoy, King of Bohai County in Jin Dynasty.

On the same day, it was decreed to add Zhou Bao, the envoy of Zhenhai Jiedu, to make peace with Zhongshumen, Situ and the deputy envoy of Tianxia Zuyong, and Jin to be the king of Runan County.

On the same day, the Son of Heaven made another decree to add Marshal of the Northeast and Hebei Dao, Pingzhangshi under Tong Zhongshumen, Li Jing Taifu and Taiwei of Zhongshu Ling, and add servants, Hebei and Northeast salt and iron transfer envoys, Yingtian Zhidu ambassadors, Hebei, Dongdao Zuyong Ambassador, and Jiaziqing Town, Denglai Town, Hengqing Town, Jian'an Town, Liaoxi Town, Fushun Town, Lulong Town, Yiwu Town, Chengde Town, Weibo Town, Yichang Town , Datong Town, the twelve towns of Jiedu are all envoys, and the military soldiers and horses of the twelve towns of Jijie Jiedu.

In order to allow Li Jing to send troops, the court has now repeatedly made exceptions.

Li Jing originally served as the Taifu of the Three Masters, and now he is also added as the Taiwei of the Three Dukes.The position of the three masters and the three masters, although it is a vain position of the first rank, is extremely honorable.Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, only Tang Taizong Li Shimin and Taiwei and Situ have held two positions at the same time.

In addition, Li Jing served as the envoy of Tongping Zhangshi, and originally served as the order of Zhongshu, but this time he was added as a servant.

These are repeated exceptions, which shows that the imperial court is now afraid of Li Jing.

Outside of the positions of Marshals of Hebei and Northeast, the imperial court saw that Li Jing's soldiers and horses had not been dispatched for a long time. Li Xuan, who was anxious and worried, personally proposed to grant Li Jing Jiedu Dudu envoy at the Yanying Hall, and Jiedu Twelve Towns' soldiers and horses.

If it is said that Li Jing was awarded the post of Marshal, it is not too much, after all, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other generals have served as Marshal.

But it's not easy for Jiedu to get this position.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict to divide the country into four major combat military regions, with Prince Li Heng as the commander-in-chief of the world's soldiers and horses.That is: Shuofang, Hedong, Hebei, and Pinglu Jiedu districts, with Li Heng concurrently serving as the Jiedu envoy; Shannan East Road, Lingnan, Guizhong, and Jiangnan West Road Jiedu districts, with Yongwang Li Phosphorus as the Jiedu envoy; Jiangnan East Road As for Jiedu districts in Huainan and Henan, Li Qi, the king of Sheng, was the envoy; in Jiedu districts such as Hexi, Longyou, Anxi, Beiting, etc., Feng Wang Gong was the envoy.

Under the Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses are the four Jiedu Dushi, and under the four Jiedu Dushi, there are the Marshals, Deputy Marshals, and finally the Jiedushi of each town.

At that time, there were fewer Jiedu envoys in the world, and there were generally four to five towns in the Jiedu area under the command of each Jiedu envoy.

Now, there are more than [-] towns in the world, and the emperor has divided a total of [-] towns in Hebei, Northeast, Henan, and Hedong into a Jiedu District, with Li Jing as the Jiedu envoy.

Li Jing suddenly controlled more than one-fifth of the world, equivalent to one-quarter of the power of soldiers and horses in the world.

Although, this is only in name, but this is enough to shock the world.

Since the Tang Dynasty, this order is enough to make Li Jing comparable to Li Jing, Li Ji, Li Sheng, Guo Ziyi, and Li Guangbi.

If it weren't for the fact that the one-word king couldn't be canceled after the war like Jiedu Dushi and Marshal, Li Yan was already ready to give Li Jing the one-word king.

The pressure he faced was too great. Li Jing and Gao Pian's soldiers and horses, any one of them entering the battlefield could immediately play a decisive role in the battlefield.But that's the case, the imperial court obviously has so many troops, and they are still behind the rebels, but they can't use them.It can be seen that Li Xuan, the young emperor, is under pressure.

Now that Li Jing has been added as two marshals, the emperor doesn't care about giving Li Jing another degree.As long as Li Jing can send troops in exchange, even if it is only a part of the troops first, it can immediately dispel the doubts and worries of other towns, and play an important role in boosting the morale of the world and combating the arrogance of the rebels.

Li Jing stood still at this time, making Li Xuan and Lu Xie unable to sleep well, for fear that they would hear the news of Li Jing's rebellion when they woke up.

Now the emperor didn't dare to ask Li Jing to lead an army into the customs immediately to quell the chaos. What he hoped now was that Li Jing would make a statement immediately, declaring that he was still loyal to the court and insisted on suppressing the rebellion.

Just when the imperial court was about to collapse and despair, Li Jing finally replied to the emissary who went to announce the decree, and immediately dispatched some soldiers and horses to participate in the counter-insurgency.

Just three days after the news was sent back to Chang'an in five days, Chang'an received the news.

Li Jing finally made a move, and the two armies stationed on Yuzhou Island in Haizhou, 1 town troops, finally took the lead. The town troops landed in Haizhou at the fastest speed, and then stationed in Sizhou, an important town in Huaibei Go down to Picheng, and at the same time station troops in Shuyang, Haizhou, and Qushan, the government office of Haizhou. The [-] town government uses Yuzhou Island as the grain and grass logistics base, and then controls the three important cities on Sishui, Yishui, and Shushui, Xiapi, Shuyang, and Qushan.Quickly blocked Huangchao's passage along the Yishu River Valley and northward to Yimi, Ziqing, and Denglai.

When the news reached Chang'an, Li Xuan's face flushed with excitement, and he almost cried out.The other ministers were equally excited and waited for guesses, for fear that Li Jing would join forces and rebel at this time. Even if Li Jing did not rebel, if he continued to support troops and did not send out, it would be a great blow to the court.

Now, Li Jing is finally dispatched.Although Li Jing sent troops this time, only 2000 troops were dispatched, and they were forced to garrison the three cities along the east coast of the Probation Army.And judging from this action, maybe Li Jing is just to prevent Huang Chao from going north, so as not to attack Ziqing and other sites.But in any case, the significance of this troop dispatch is also very great.

Later, news came again from Hebei that Li Jing sent [-] soldiers and horses to station at Baoqiu River on the border of Jiyou and Youzhou, and on the east bank of Lushui on the border of Tanyou and Youzhou.

After Li Jing dispatched troops, Gao Pian, who had been standing still, finally sent general Liang Yan and his nephew Gao Jie to lead [-] troops northward, and recaptured Xuyi, Huaiyin, Shanyang, Zhaoyi, Zhongli, the important towns on the south bank of the Huaihe River. The important cities of Shouchun.

Zhou Bao from the west of Zhejiang and Liu Hanhong from the east of Zhejiang also began to send some soldiers and horses to escort a batch of money and food to the Weishui defense line.

Li Jing sent troops to garrison Xiapi, and Gao Pian sent troops to recover Xuyi opposite Linhuai in Sizhou. Under such a situation, Huang Chao did not stay in Linhuai much.Although he had many troops, he did not dare to fight against the armies of Gao Pian and Li Jing at the same time. Although Li Jing and Gao Pian were absent from these two armies, the total number of troops was less than 2.But Huang Chao still abandoned Sizhou very pre-employment.

Facing the imperial court's defense line in Lushui, Li Jing's defense line in Yishu Ershui, and Gao Pian's defense line in Huaihe River, Huang Chao thought carefully for a long time.First of all, he gave up the idea of ​​heading north along Shuyi to Ziqingzhu. Li Jing sent soldiers and horses to guard Xiapi, with a clear sense that he just didn't want him to go to Ziqing.

Li Jing's town boss is too dirty, Huang Chao, who almost failed to come back after going to Ziqing last time, refused this route without hesitation.

Going back to the south, Gao Pian last time, although Zhang Lin flinched and avoided the battle as soon as he died, but Huang Chao fought Gao Pian's army and lost nine out of ten battles. The only victory was a fluke.Now that Gao Pian has sent troops again, he dare not try his luck again.

After thinking about it, there is still a way out in the north. First of all, the towns in the Central Plains are very weak now, without strong opponents, and they just run rampant in Henan.Secondly, if you can take advantage of the opportunity of the four towns in Hebei to seize Luoyang, then you will really be the carp leaping dragon king.Even if it doesn't work, if you can capture Tianping Town and unite with the Hebei Army to fight against the imperial court, you will have a chance to establish a stable base, and you don't have to run around like this anymore.

After thinking about it again and again, Huang Chao finally made up his mind to go north and attack Luoyang directly. If he failed, he would fight back to his hometown of Caozhou, where he would establish a base with the Hebei Army behind him.

After making this decision, Huang Chao didn't wait, and immediately gave up Linhuai City in Sizhou, and the whole army marched westward, directly killing Luoyang, the capital of the east! (To be continued.)