Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 1065: Restoration of Western Chu (Part )

While Liang and Mang were fighting in the north, Guangling Road, the former site of Western Chu, officially restored its country with Jiang Si, the princess of Western Chu, as its leader.

The governor sent by Liyang to Guangling Road, Sun Xiji, the former Grand Tutor of Western Chu, had been watching the Liyang court with cold eyes for twenty years and finally waited for this opportunity.

The restoration of the Western Chu State under the banner of restoring the orthodoxy of the Central Plains was well received in the former territory of Western Chu.

When Western Chu was destroyed, even historians believed that "the fault was not with the emperor, his ministers and the people." The demise of Western Chu was regarded by countless scholars as "the sinking of China."

At the beginning, in order to prevent one party from becoming dominant, Zhang Julu created the situation of "Southerners went north to serve as ministers, and northerners went south to serve as generals", although this move separated the two powerful groups in the south and the north from their respective local areas.

After arriving at Guangling Road, the northern generals were proud of their contributions to the country.

In addition, the imperial court took the lead in exploiting this fertile land, so naturally they had no scruples when it came to taking action.

As a result, these people have been sustainably exploiting the resources throughout Western Chu.

Over the past decade, the only thing they could do without any real power was to take turns to be the banker and plunder.

One can imagine what the situation is like for the people living on this land.

This time when Western Chu restored its country, in addition to its unstoppable momentum, with the help of internal supporters, it captured cities and strongholds along the Guangling Road, and also sent troops to raid the Yanjiao Lake between Guangling Road and Nanjing.

This place is an artificial lake created after Li Yang unified the world. It is said that it was used to suppress the dragon energy left over from Western Chu.

There is an island in the lake, and a storehouse is built on the island, which is heavily guarded. It is used to store the Yellow Book compiled every five years by the states of the dynasty, which records the household registration, cultivated land and taxation in various places in Liyang. However, people do not know that in addition to the Yellow Book managed by the Ministry of Revenue in the capital, there is another more obscure file that cannot be read by the Prime Minister of the dynasty, let alone the various ministries, and even the two chief officials of the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel. That is the register of the local military.

All this stems from the fact that when the late emperor ordered the compilation of "Responsibilities of Various Departments", he had to provide an accurate number of arable land in the world while keeping military secrets. So he took a compromise and posted the Yellow Book of Military Farms under many departments and prefectures. Guangling Road was originally the granary of the world, and now, these key information fell into the hands of Western Chu.

According to the plan, the Liyang Dynasty ordered the princes in and around Guangling Road to go out in three groups. One group was led by the veteran general Lu Xiangsheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, to station at Youlu Pass.

On the other hand, Yang Shenxing led 40,000 elite veteran soldiers from southern Ji and stationed them in the western Henan area, along with a group of children from noble families who had been waiting for a long time, hoping to take this opportunity to gain military merit and prepare for entering the court in the future.

The last route was led by Yan Zhenchun with more than 30,000 cavalrymen, who attacked from the East Henan Plain, where the terrain was flat and wide, with no strategic locations, and was the most suitable place for cavalrymen to gallop.

If Yan Zhenchun had not had very little contact with the royal families in the capital, more people would have wanted to join General Yan's army so that they could gain more military merits earlier.

The restoration of Western Chu this time seemed to be a grand event, but in the eyes of most people in the Liyang court, it was just the resurgence of the remnants of Western Chu.

The question is not whether Western Chu can be destroyed, but when to destroy Western Chu.

If Li Yang really exerted his full strength, he could destroy Western Chu in the blink of an eye.

But if Li Yang really destroyed Western Chu, the infantry would not be able to move as fast as the cavalry on horseback.

Looking back to the Great Chu, which was the leader of the various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period, in addition to the military saint Ye Baikui who was the stabilizing force, it also had countless good generals, 120,000 halberd soldiers who were at the peak of infantry combat power, and a huge cavalry fed by countless gold and silver. Both light cavalry and heavy cavalry were invincible.

But all these disappeared with that battle.

The apparent strength of the restored Western Chu now comes mainly from the 20,000 "rebels" stationed in the old capital of Western Chu, the 80,000 troops in various military towns and passes, and the approximately 30,000 refugees and bandits hiding everywhere.

In addition, in order to break the situation as quickly as possible before the arrival of Li Yang's troops, these troops were divided into various places and appeared to be very scattered.

There were obvious flaws everywhere. Just based on these mobs in the eyes of the ministers in the court, there was no way they could be a match for Li Yang, who had a million soldiers under armor.

What's more, there is the newly promoted Minister of War, Chen Zhibao, the Military Saint personally appointed by Zhao Zhuan, to support him from behind.

Once the battle situation becomes unfavorable, it is the time for Chen Zhibao's new Li Yang sword to make achievements.

At the beginning of the war, General Yang Shenxing of Liyang Anguo advanced recklessly with a light force. Without waiting for orders, he led 40,000 elite veteran soldiers from southern Ji and advanced deep into the enemy's territory alone.

Western Henan is mountainous and has many rivers.

It is not right to advance rashly and lightly. For Yang Shenxing, a veteran with many years of experience and commanding troops, this is not the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, this veteran who had experienced the Spring and Autumn Period and the National War was not alone.

His success in the Liyang Dynasty was inseparable from the support of the princes and nobles behind him.

The 40,000 infantrymen were fully staffed and well-supplied, and thanks to their operations in the court, the old soldiers in Ji'nan were not reduced in number when the country was reducing its troops.

In order to make Yang Shenxing obedient this time, the people in the court allocated him 5,000 war horses and 3,000 elite soldiers brought by the princes and nobles.

Now, it is my turn to repay them. If I disobey them, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Under the pressure of that group of princes and nobles, Yang Shenxing had to send troops.

In addition, with Cao Changqing dead, the only people that Western Chu can rely on now are Pei Hongzhi, Zhou Song and Zhu Yinliang.

These three veteran generals were confronting Guangling King Zhao Yi on the northern front of Guangling.

As long as I get the first credit, I can give an explanation to those people in the capital.

Even if someone from Western Chu dared to send troops to intercept, they would not be able to resist this superior army.

Compared with Yang Shenxing's optimistic attitude, Lu Xiangsheng, the commander-in-chief, was full of worries. He had not been able to find out where the real main force of Western Chu was.

Zhao Gou, who should have been able to play a role in this battle, lost all his backbone and elite troops after the joint attacks by Zhu Wang and Fushuizhai.

Even its leader, the half-tongued strategist Yuan Benxi, died outside the Iron Gate Pass because of Prince Yan's scheme.

There was no one at the helm, and a series of major events occurred with the death of the old emperor, the ascension of the new emperor, and the North Mang's move south.

Even though Zhao Zhuan wanted to rebuild Zhao Gou, he failed due to opposition from many court officials.

Without the support of Zhao Gou's intelligence, even if Lu Xiangsheng wanted to investigate, it would be of no avail.

He once sent out forty spies to investigate, but within three days, more than twenty of them died, and the remaining dozen or so spies rebelled and defected to Western Chu.

Now the entire front line is in complete darkness.

Lu Xiangsheng didn't think that Cao Changqing had left no backup plan before his death.

(End of this chapter)