Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 384: Urgent Attack on Lingzhou
"I have repeatedly warned you not to attack on your own. Is this how you follow my orders?"

On the ninth day of June, Liu Jilong, who had just arrived in Ulan County after crossing the river by boat, learned from Tang Bingde that Li Ji had attempted to attack without authorization.

He will immediately summon him to the county government office and question him in a deep voice. Li Ji seemed to have expected Tang Bingde to file a complaint, so he just bowed his head and said, "I admit my guilt."

He admitted his mistake readily, but his stubborn character really made Liu Jilong angry.

Before the battle started, Liu Jilian had anticipated that someone would disobey military orders and send troops on their own.

After all, human hearts are the most unpredictable. Commanders like Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang had all encountered generals who disobeyed orders, and subsequently suffered disastrous defeats in Qianshuiyuan and Lingbei, let alone the people under his own command.

Now it seems that his prediction was correct. If Tang Bingde had not stopped Li Ji, Liu Jilong couldn't imagine how many people Li Ji would have brought to pursue the government troops.

It must be understood that the elite cavalry of Shuofang Town has not been destroyed yet. If the elite cavalry comes to the rescue, Li Ji's reckless move will result in many people being trapped outside the country.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong couldn't help but grab the inkstone on the table and smash it at Li Ji, but he regretted it after he made the move and slightly deviated the angle.

"boom--"

The inkstone fell beside Li Ji, and Li Ji and Cao Mao, Tang Bingde and others in the hall were startled.

They had never seen their commander lose his temper like this before, and Li Ji's heart sank, obviously thinking of his own fate.

"Pass the order..."

Liu Jilong's face was uncertain, and he said in a cold voice: "Strip Li Ji of his real positions as the governor of Longxi and the governor of Linzhou, and order him to return to Didao and reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors!"

"General Ji..." Li Ji couldn't help but speak, but was pushed back by Liu Jilong's cold eyes: "Get out!"

Li Ji stood up and left dejectedly, but Liu Jilong turned his eyes to the captain who instigated Li Ji to chase.

"Commander Wang Shengye, take away your position!"

"Marshal Jie, I was confused for a moment, I..."

When Wang Shengye saw Li Ji's end, he knew that his own end would not be good, but he did not expect it to be simply "dismissal of position".

It may seem trivial, but it has already determined that he will have little success in the future.

Without a real job, he was only a sixth-grade casual official.

Although there is still a salary to be received, after experiencing power, he would rather have power than a salary of a certain rank.

"Get off!"

Liu Jilong lost his patience. His mind had been in a state of confusion for days, and now he encountered such a situation where one knowingly broke the law. He did not kill Wang Shengye because he considered Wang Shengye to be his old brother from Hexi.

Wang Shengye was led out by the soldiers in a depressed state. Liu Jilong then looked at Cao Mao:
"Order that Gao Jinda temporarily take over as the governor of Longxi, and Cui Shu concurrently take over as the chief officer of the governor's office."

"Inform all the governors about Li Ji's situation. I don't want another Li Ji to appear!"

"Yes!" Cao Mao knew why Liu Jilong was so angry, and he also knew that Li Ji had become the chicken to be killed to scare the monkeys.

But in his opinion, his brother Li had long deserved to be punished.

He should have been dealt with since he instigated his brothers in Hexi to force their own commander-in-chief to launch an attack on the imperial court.

But he didn't expect that he would end up like this.

"Tang Bingde, you did a good job on this matter. You should be credited for your contribution."

Liu Jilong did not forget to praise Tang Bingde, and Tang Bingde bowed and said, "I am just following the orders of the commander-in-chief."

"Okay..." Liu Jilong nodded with satisfaction, and then asked:

"If I ask you to lead the army to garrison Huizhou, how many soldiers and horses do you need?"

Huizhou was captured, but troops were still needed to garrison it.

Liu Jilian originally wanted Cao Mao to garrison there, but after what happened with Li Ji, Cao Mao had no choice but to continue fighting with him.

Apart from Tang Bingde, Liu Jilian could not think of anyone else capable of entrusting Huizhou's defense.

"Reporting to the commander, the two cities in Huizhou are both rammed earth. If the government troops come to attack, I can hold my own with only 5,000 men against 20,000 enemy troops."

Tang Bingde was not modest. Liu Jilong nodded and said, "I will leave another 1,000 cavalry and infantry for you, and transfer another 1,000 combat soldiers and 2,000 provincial soldiers from Lanzhou and Linzhou to you."

Huining has 600 cavalry and infantry, and now Liu Jilian has left another 1,000. Together with the combat troops and provincial troops transferred from Lanzhou and Linzhou, the total number of soldiers and horses is 4,600, not much different from 5,000.

"I will not disappoint the commander!" Tang Bingde bowed and accepted the order. Liu Jilong also glanced at Cao Mao:
"The cavalry and infantry are under your command. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. If you make a mistake in command, this opportunity will be gone."

Since Cao Mao entered the officialdom, Liu Jilong seldom let him lead troops alone. The time when he and Zhang Huaishen pursued the remnants of Umu and the Uighurs was one of the times, but that time he had the help of Chen Ying, but this time he was alone.

"Don't worry, Marshal Jie. Even if I say nothing else, at least I will obey orders better than Brother Li!"

Cao Mao was naturally excited about being able to lead the troops alone, but he also knew to learn from Li Ji's lesson and expressed his attitude to Liu Jilian in advance.

In fact, although Liu Jilian was occasionally disappointed that he did not have strong generals under his command, as long as his generals obeyed his orders, he could achieve his goals.

Only a spoiled general like Li Ji could disappoint him and give him a headache.

Even calm people like Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang could be burdened by Liu Wenjing and Lan Yu, let alone himself?

Taking a deep breath, Liu Jilong said in a deep voice: "Rest for a day and march to Lingzhou tomorrow."

"Aren't you going to attack Xiaoguan?" Cao Mao looked surprised.

In his opinion, attacking Xiaoguan would cause a shock in Guanzhong, which would certainly force Wang Shi to return to defend Longshan, and he could also capture Xiaoguan and prepare for attacking Guanzhong.

In this regard, Liu Jilong explained:
"Of course we have to take Xiaoguan, but not now."

"Even if we take over Xiaoguan now, there are still more than ten passes and cities behind Xiaoguan that will hinder our army's advance."

"Wang Shi is naturally aware of this, so he will not withdraw his troops in a hurry."

"We must quickly capture Lingzhou and Weizhou before Longxi is in danger. As for Yanzhou, it is too far away and it is useless to take it."

"As long as we take these two states, we won't have any problems going south to capture Xiaoguan. That will be the best time to force Wang Shi to return to defend."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Mao asked worriedly, "What if Commander Gao can't defend Longxi?"

"He can hold it." Liu Jilong ended the question in a deep voice, and then ordered Tang Bingde and Cao Mao to go down and prepare.

Li Ji and Wang Shengye were escorted back to Linzhou by people sent by Liu Jilong.

Even if the people who escorted him could guess that Li Ji still had the possibility of making a comeback, Wang Shengye, the instigator, would probably only be able to receive a casual salary for the rest of his life.

"Sorry..."

At noon on the next day, Liu Jilian gathered the soldiers and civilians outside the city, and divided 7,000 elite cavalry, 10,000 cavalry infantry and 10,000 civilians into three armies. The elite cavalry were sent out 30 miles north.

The entire territory of Lingzhou is more than 600 miles, so Liu Jilian naturally does not have that much time to recover the entire territory of Lingzhou.

What he needed to do was to lead his army to lure the main force of Shuofang Town to Mingsha, inflict severe damage on it, then divide his troops to capture Lingzhou and Weizhou, then march south to threaten Xiaoguan and attract Wang Shi to lead his troops back for support.

The terrain of Qin and Long is complex. Although the cavalry is powerful, the terrain full of mountains and hills still limits the cavalry tactics that he is good at using.

If they were on a plain, he could use cavalry and infantry to attract Wang Shi's main force, and lead the cavalry to wait for an opportunity to attack Wang Shi's main force from behind or from the side.

However, in the face of the Qin-Long terrain, the main thing is to use a large formation composed mainly of cavalry and infantry to face the enemy, and the rest are secondary.

While thinking, Liu Jilong murmured: "Based on the speed of our army, it will take at least three days to reach Mingsha City."

"Let the Tang cavalry go far away, and send a message to the herdsman to send cavalry and infantry to escort 2,000 military horses and an equal number of mounted horses north to Huizhou to await our military orders."

Long-distance raids are extremely exhausting for military horses. If it were the grassland, it would be okay, but the terrain in Longyou and Shuofang is not so flat. During long-distance raids, it is inevitable that the horses will stumble.

It is naturally necessary to prepare a sufficient number of military horses and riding horses.

While thinking, Liu Jilian looked back at the three armies, but saw that the cavalry and infantry had put their armor on the carriages driven by the civilians, while they themselves were riding on the backs of horses and marching slowly.

As long as the supply of soybeans is sufficient, this kind of march will not consume too much horsepower and body fat, and one can walk seventy miles a day.

But since the horse-drawn carriages could not move fast, their current marching speed was about sixty miles.

Even so, they were still much faster than the government troops.

According to Liu Jilong's speculation, they would be able to reach Mingsha shortly after Wulan's troops arrived at Mingsha.

However, if I want the government troops to gather their main forces, I still need to use some means...

“Release!” “Bang bang bang——”

While Liu Jilian led his troops northward, the government troops in Longxi, Gutaoguan, Jiangyou County and other places did not stop their attacks, but continued to attack the city gates with catapults.

At the same time, memorials from Wang Shi, Gao Pian and others were sent to Chang'an on June 12 by express horses.

Military music discs and music charts were flying in like snowflakes. Even Li Yi, who usually loved to listen to music, had not summoned actors and musicians for many days. His discussions with the ministers were also becoming more frequent, just like now...

"The Shuofang Army's military discs and memorials all reported that on May 28, Zhou Bao led 9,000 cavalrymen to advance quickly into Lanzhou. When the army reached Guangwu, it encountered seven rebel armies, captured them all and brought them with the army, killing 700 rebels."

"On the fourth day, Liu Jilong led 30,000 cavalrymen to invade Huizhou. The army engaged the rebels in a battle at Dongqiu, Guangwu. They fled because of the disadvantage. One tenth of the army was killed, and a thousand rebel cavalrymen were killed."

"Bao led his army to Wulan, but Liu Jilong was afraid of his power and refused to follow him, so he led his troops to attack Huining."

"On the seventh day, Huining fell. Liu Jilong led his troops to attack Wulan. Bao's army was divided into two armies. Bao and Sigong withdrew to Lingzhou, while Zhuye Chixin led his army to withdraw to Xiaoguan."

In the Xianning Palace, Prime Minister Xu Shang, who was in charge of the Ministry of War, was reading the military report of the Shuofang Army.

The contents of the military disc and the memorial were almost the same. As a result, the government army lost two counties in Huizhou, suffered the loss of 900 elite cavalry and 1,500 infantry, and killed 1,700 rebels in Longyou. Zhou Bao and Li Sigong withdrew from Lingzhou, and Zhu Ye Chixin withdrew his troops to Xiaoguan.

There was nothing wrong with the entire military disc. At least in the eyes of Xu Shang and others, losing 2,400 of their own men and killing 1,700 of the enemy was already very good.

As for whether there is any water in this military disc, they don't know, but they think there won't be too much water.

"It has only been eight days since the imperial court issued the decree to suppress the rebels, and Huizhou has fallen into the hands of Liu Jilong. Now it is already the twelfth, and I really don't know where else it will fall."

On Jintai, Li Yi was slightly satisfied with the number of casualties on both sides reported by Zhou Bao, but was very dissatisfied with Zhou Bao's loss of Huizhou.

If Zhou Bao had not hurriedly sent troops to station at Xiaoguan, he might have already punished Zhou Bao by now.

Facing Li Yi's ridicule, Xu Shang also comforted him, "The rebels are strong, and the loss of Huizhou is inevitable."

"Right now, Wang Shaobao is forcing his way to attack Weizhou, while troops from Dongchuan and Xichuan are also attacking Maozhou and Longzhou respectively."

"If Liu Jilong doesn't want his rear to be lost, he should retreat now."

Although Xu Shang said so, Li Yi said coldly: "The court has been fighting against the rebels for twelve days, and the rebels have not lost any city gates. How can we force Liu Jilong to retreat?"

"If I were Liu Jilong, why would I give up Ling and Wei states right now and go to help the three states that don't need help?"

Facing Li Yi's question, Xu Shang could only say: "If Liu Jilong attacks Lingwei Prefecture, I suggest that the troops from Tiande, Xiasui and other towns rush to help."

There was nothing wrong with Xu Shang's suggestion, but the Tiande Army and Xia Sui Army did not have many troops. Even if they could send troops to provide assistance, they would only have two or three thousand officers and soldiers.

It would be better to keep this amount of troops to garrison Tiande and Xiasui. There is no need to get involved in the war in Longyou.

"What's the use of a few soldiers and horses?"

Li Yi was naturally aware of the situation in the two towns, so he said, "Send a message to Zhou Bao, and tell him to hold on to Shuofang and wait for changes."

"I accept your order." Xu Shang bowed and responded. Yu Cong also spoke at this time:

"Your Majesty, since the war began, the price of grain in the two capitals has risen sharply. As of today, the price of grain in Chang'an is already 300 coins per dou of rice. I request that you discuss opening the Changping warehouse."

A dou of rice costs three hundred coins. The price of food is even more expensive than when Pang Xun and Wang Xianzhi rebelled. Ordinary people certainly cannot afford it.

At times like this, we should indeed open the granaries and release grain.

"How much grain is there in the Changping warehouse?" Li Yi asked, and Yu Cong also answered:

"There are 460,000 dan of grain in the warehouse. We can release 200,000 dan of grain to lower the grain price in Chang'an to around 100 coins."

Li Yi frowned when he heard this: "With only 260,000 stones left, can we handle the war in the western border?"

Xu Shang took over the conversation after hearing this, bowed and reported: "Qinlong's military rations are enough to feed the army for half a year, Your Majesty, don't worry."

"In this case, we will release 200,000 dan of grain and strictly prohibit merchants in the city from raising the price of grain and robbing it."

Li Yi knew why the grain prices in Chang'an rose so high, but he knew better who was behind these people.

The imperial court now needs to stabilize people's hearts and cannot panic for the time being.

After defeating Liu Jilong, he will deal with these people one by one.

While thinking about this, Lu Yan said, "Your Majesty, although the money and food in the court are enough to deal with the war in Longyou, the military pay owed by the court to the various towns has not been settled."

"I think it would be better to dispatch officers and soldiers from all prefectures and counties to confiscate the property of those who have old ties with Longyou, use 50% to supplement the local military pay, and transport the rest to Chang'an."

Lu Yan's words made Li Yi's eyes light up. In the past, Longyou relied on the Silk Road, and there were brokers in Guannei, Jiannan, Shannan, Hedong and other roads. Although many merchants sold their property and went to Longyou, these people were always a minority, and those who stayed in their hometowns were the majority.

If we could confiscate the property of these people to enrich the national treasury, it would also help the court to pacify Longyou.

"Prelude!"

"Your Majesty is wise..."

A few words between the emperor and his ministers determined the fate of countless merchants.

Half an hour later, fast horses galloped out of Chang'an City and headed towards various roads.

At the same time, time gradually came to the early morning of the 13th.

Li Sigong, Zhou Bao and others had just retreated to Mingsha County last night. Before they could have a good rest, they were woken up by the cavalry in the army.

"Tangqi urgent report, the rebel army has tens of thousands of troops coming from Huizhou!"

Inside the Mingsha County Yamen, Zhou Bao and Li Sigong looked at the general who was reporting with sullen faces. Zhou Bao couldn't help but ask, "How many people are there?"

"Based on the number of rebel Tangqi that the Tangqi saw, the rebels have no less than 30,000 soldiers and horses."

Judging the number of enemy troops by the number of Tangqi is not an accurate method, but it is the only other method.

"How many soldiers are there in Lingzhou?"

When Li Sigong learned about the situation, he immediately asked Zhou Bao.

Zhou Bao calculated after hearing this, and after a few snaps of his fingers, he said, "Counting the troops that arrived yesterday, Mingsha has 4,000 infantry, my elite cavalry, 1,600, and your elite cavalry, 3,500, a total of 9,100."

"Nine thousand and one?" Li Sigong looked solemn and looked at the general: "How far is the rebel army from Mingsha? How many days will it take to reach Mingsha?"

"It's less than fifty miles. We will reach Mingsha the day after tomorrow morning at the latest!" Everyone will answer without hesitation.

Li Sigong thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Why not abandon Mingsha and Huile counties and retreat to Lingwu west of the Yellow River?"

Lingzhou is divided into east and west by the Yellow River. There are only two counties, Mingsha and Huile, in the east, and three counties, Lingwu, Baojing and Huaiyuan, and two forts and one town in the west.

In Li Sigong's opinion, the most important thing to do now is to withdraw the troops and concentrate them in one place to let Liu Jilian decide whether to confront him head-on.

But in Zhou Bao's opinion, he had already lost Huizhou. If he lost Huile and Mingsha counties, Weizhou in the east would not be spared.

By then, Shuofang Town would be equivalent to losing two and a half states on the east bank of the Yellow River, and would also isolate Xiaoguan in the south. If the imperial court knew about this, it would certainly not let him go.

Thinking of this, Zhou Bao's eyes flickered, and then he said: "I would rather give up Huile and stick to Mingsha than give up Mingsha."

The terrain of Huile and Mingsha is different. Huile is flat and has no strategic locations to defend.

Mingsha is backed by mountains and the Yellow River, and can rely on the Yellow River to obtain support from the three counties of Lingwu.

Faced with the choice between the two, Zhou Bao naturally chose to stick to Mingsha.

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Li Sigong immediately said, "In that case, we should move the infantry and population of Huile to Lingwu quickly to avoid being captured by the rebels."

"Okay!" Zhou Bao nodded in agreement, and immediately looked at the general and gave instructions:
"Send a message back to Le, and relocate the population to Lingwu. Then send a message to the soldiers and civilians of Wenchi County to go to Weizhou."

"Send a fast horse to Xiaoguan to the south, inform Zhu Xiejun of Lingzhou's situation, and then go south to ask Wang Shaobao for help!"

Zhou Bao was helpless. The Longyou Army's offensive was so swift that they had actually lost more than 2,600 elite cavalry and infantry, and only captured 700 baggage soldiers and 400 to 500 combat soldiers.

He had already exaggerated his gains to the court, but no matter how much he exaggerated, it was impossible for him to exaggerate his gains to thousands.

If Wang Shi does not come to rescue him now, the Shuofang Army with less than 15,000 troops will not be enough to defend Shuofang.

By the time Shuofang fell, Liu Jilian's troops would be able to attack Xiasui, Jingyuan and other towns at will.

"I obey your orders!" The general received the order and left. Before Zhou Bao could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw him go and come back, bowing anxiously.

"General, urgent report from Huile, the rebels are surrounding Huile with elite cavalry, Huile requests assistance!!"

(End of this chapter)