A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 321 Military Supervisor
"Lord Rongguo, we meet again."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Lu."

In mid-October,

Lu Chisong once again sped from Chang'an to Haozhou. Weary from his journey, he didn't have time to rest and quickly took out the imperial edict.

After reading the imperial edict, the emperor said, "Duke Rong, His Majesty has a few more words for you. Please dismiss your attendants."

Lu Chisong looked serious.

Upon hearing the emperor's secret edict that if Liu Wuzhou's army crossed the Yellow River and attacked Guanzhong, Li Yi should immediately abandon Haozhou and lead his troops south to Guanzhong to defend the emperor, he couldn't help but feel the immense pressure from the emperor.

They have already prepared for the worst-case scenario of fighting the Battle of Chang'an.

"The situation can't be that bad. Now that the King of Qin has taken command, I believe Song Jingang's day of defeat is not far off. I will be like a nail driven into Haozhou, blocking the three passes of Queshu Valley, preventing Liu Wuzhou's grain supplies from flowing south smoothly."

As long as Pu Jiang can hold on, the more than 1,000-mile-long battle line that Song Jingang has stretched out will be the noose that strangles him.

Of course, if anything were to happen, I would immediately lead my army south.

Lu Chisong greatly admired this young man. So many people in Hedong had been defeated, even captured or beheaded, yet he stood out from the crowd.

"Jiang Baoyi was killed. His Majesty posthumously granted him the title of General of the Left Guard and Governor of Youzhou, with the posthumous name of Gang, and ordered his son Jiang Ke to inherit the title of Duke of Yong'an County."

"Liu Hongji escaped by chance and has already gone to Changchun Palace to receive orders."

Lu Chisong sighed, "If Jiang Baoyi had stayed in Haozhou after escaping earlier, things wouldn't have come to this. In fact, his five thousand soldiers could have given Haozhou more strength."

"Who could have imagined that Jinzhou would suffer such a crushing defeat?" Li Yi could only say this.

"Duke Rongguo, I'm not going back this time. I'll serve under you." Lu Chisong had made several trips to Hedong and had been promoted to Pillar of State and Crown Prince's Attendant.

Li Yi sensed a hidden meaning in the words. "Serving" was a euphemism; surely he wasn't meant to stay behind as a military supervisor? Was the implication that Li Yi wouldn't lead the troops south when necessary, or that he would remain in Haozhou, afraid to attack and thus keep Liu Wuzhou at bay?
Perhaps both are true, but it's understandable.

With the south in such a mess, the tens of thousands of troops in Haozhou are undoubtedly a force that the emperor and the Tang Dynasty cannot ignore. The fact that no one has been sent directly to seize the commander's position is probably because of his outstanding performance.

"Then please have Commander Lu inspect the military appearance and discipline of my soldiers in Bingzhou."

"Once the Yellow River freezes over, the King of Qin will cross it on the solid ice. Does the Duke of Rong have any plans?"

"There really is. Huang Ziying, who besieged Haozhou earlier, retreated to Wenshui City after I defeated him. He has about ten thousand men and has been trying to recruit Liu Jizhen, Liu Liu'er, and others to join him. But those two Hu barbarians have been sitting on the fence and watching."

I have received intelligence that Liu Wuzhou is urging me to quickly capture the three passes of Sparrow Rat Valley.

Huang Ziying is already preparing to head south. I plan to ambush his forces along the way, ideally annihilating them before they reach Lengquan Pass.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Chisong became very excited. "Huang Ziying was defeated by the Duke of Rong, but he has 10,000 troops. How confident are they? Liu Wuzhou from Taiyuan, and the rebel armies from Jiexiu and other cities will surely come to our aid, won't they?"

"This battle must be fought with a blitzkrieg. We must annihilate Huang Ziying's troops before Liu Wuzhou and the garrison in Taiyuan and Jiexiu can react."

Lu Chisong thought it was difficult, but what Li Yi said made him feel that it was very possible.

"If we can really take down Huang Ziying's 10,000 men, then the three passes of Sparrow Rat Valley will be even more secure."

"By the way, I also brought my son Chengqing with me this time. I'll have him learn from the servants around the Duke of Rong."

He summoned a young man.

Tall, handsome, and talented, Lu Dalang, Lu Chengqing, is twenty-four years old this year.

He was skilled in writing poetry and in horsemanship and archery.

The Lu family was known as the leader of five surnames and seven clans, and was a family of scholars. Lu Chengqing's grandfather, Lu Sidao, was a famous poet of the Northern Dynasties, known as the Eight-Meter Lu Lang. He later served as the Prefect of Wuyang and the Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate.

"My eldest son originally studied at the Imperial Academy in Luoyang. Later, he followed me into the pass with the emperor and was selected as a personal guard. This time, Hedong is in danger, so I specially sent him to the front line to serve the country. Duke Rong, let him be a foot soldier."

Li Yi laughed heartily.
As the eldest son of the northern branch of the Lu family in Fanyang, he wouldn't come to the front lines to gain prestige, nor would he come to serve others.

"Young Master Lu is a man of exceptional talent; I hereby appoint him as Military Advisor of Haozhou."

Although the position of Military Advisor did not carry the Cao name and its rank was only the lower ninth grade, it was still a formal official position and the starting point for many people to enter officialdom. The Imperial Guard, although nominally a seventh grader, was in reality only a reserve officer.

After exchanging a few polite words, Lu Chisong smiled and told his son to thank Li Yi, "From now on, you should study hard under the guidance of the Duke of Rong."

Military personnel didn't have any specific duties; they mainly relayed orders.

"Military Advisor Lu, what are your thoughts on the current situation?"

"In my opinion, today's defeat in Hedong is only slightly worse than last year's invasion by Xue Ju and his son, when the Eight Generals of Qianshuiyuan were defeated."
Although Liu Wuzhou captured Taiyuan and several prefectures including Jiexiu and Lüjin, and also rebelled in Shizhou, the Duke of Rongguo still held Haozhou in the north with 50,000 troops and controlled Queshu Valley.

Not to mention that the two prefectures of Lüliang and Xici in the west were still under the control of the imperial court, and the Qinluze region of Shangdang in the east had not yet been attacked.

Now Liu Wuzhou is only taking advantage of his victory to flex his muscles in the plains, but he hasn't captured Longmen Ferry, Pujin Ferry, or Fengling Ferry.

Li Yi smiled and asked again, "So how do you think the war will develop next?" "As long as we can keep Pu Jiang in check, the Wu Zhou army will be surrounded on three sides, and even the long supply lines will eventually wear them down."

Li Yi was somewhat surprised that this young man could see things so clearly.

“What Military Advisor Lu said is the same as what I think. Liu Wuzhou originally only controlled a few prefectures in Daibei. He is too ambitious and wants to swallow the whole of Hedong in one gulp. This will kill him.”

The next crucial battle will be the offensive and defensive war between Haozhou and Puzhou.

However, I think the King of Qin might be even bolder, crossing the Yellow River on solid ice, landing at Longmen Ferry, and perhaps even crossing Taizhou, before establishing a defensive and counter-offensive base around Jiangzhou.

Li Yi dared to say this because Li Shimin in history did just that. He crossed the river at Longmen, stationed troops at Baibi in Jiangzhou, and guarded the three major ferry crossings of Longmen, Pujin, and Fengling.

Lu Chisong and his son accompanied Li Yi on an inspection of the military camp.
The soldiers took turns guarding the city, training, and resting. They could even help plant crops, chop firewood, and make charcoal. The cavalrymen also patrolled around the city, and even hunted and looted.

"Plunder?"

"Yes, plunder those Jihu tribes that surrendered to the bandits, as well as small groups of bandit troops and transport teams."

This is the advantage Li Yi enjoys now that he occupies two cities, three passes, and four fortresses. His castles stretch for over a hundred miles along the west bank of the Fen River, so small groups of Wu Zhou troops dare not approach this area.
The countryside was still under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, and the people still paid grain and taxes to the Tang Dynasty after the summer and autumn harvests.

Although the cities of Pingyao, Jiexiu, and Lingshi on the east bank were in the hands of the rebel army, they did not have as many soldiers as Li Yi, and were frequently raided by Li Yi's cavalry.

The Wu Zhou army had no way to deal with this.
If you come out to pursue them, you won't be able to win if you have too few soldiers, but if you have too many, the Tang cavalry will simply run away, or even run into the nearest Tang army castle, leaving you with nothing but helpless stares.

What's most infuriating is that the Tang army not only basically controlled Haozhou on the west bank of the Fen River, but also, on the east bank in Jiezhou, Li Yi had Zhangnan Fort blocking the way between Pingyao and Jiexiu, and Zhangbi Fort blocking the way between Jiexiu and Lingshi.

Both fortresses are easy to defend and difficult to attack; they are extremely fortified and cannot be breached by attacking or bypassing them.

Each time grain was transported, a large number of soldiers had to be sent to escort it, which increased the cost of transporting grain and tied up a lot of troops.

"Liu Wuzhou is just going to sit idly by?" Lu Chisong was surprised.

"It's not that he's ignoring it. He's besieged Haozhou twice, but failed both times. Liu Wuzhou now wants to take the three passes of Que Shu Valley first, but he'll soon find that without Haozhou, he can forget about taking those three passes."

Therefore, he will probably attack Haozhou again next month.

"It is truly remarkable that the Duke of Rong could remain so calm and composed even when his troops were deep behind enemy lines."

“We are not going to defend an isolated city alone. With 50,000 troops, two cities, three passes, and four forts, and we are connected to Xizhou, we are going to spread our influence from the center.”

Puban was truly an isolated city, yet it held out for almost three years.

Ren Gui was just a schoolteacher in the Duke of Tang's mansion before, but he has been defending Guzhou for almost two years and has repelled Wang Shichong's attacks many times.

Duan Decao only had a few thousand soldiers guarding Yanzhou, but he had been fighting Liang Shidu for two or three years, with both sides going back and forth, and he even often gained the upper hand.

In defending a city, as long as stability is maintained, there is a natural advantage.

Li Yi was not in a hurry to stay in Haozhou, but Liu Wuzhou was.

In Wenshui City,

Huang Ziying saw the imperial edict sent by the emperor again urging him to hurry up and knew that he could not wait any longer.

"Order that we prepare food at the fourth watch tomorrow night and depart at dawn."

He drew a marching route on the map with his finger, starting from Wenshui, first heading east to Qixian, then south to Pingyao, passing through Jiexiu to Lingshi, and then launching an attack on Lengquan Pass.

He dared not go downstream along the Fen River.

With only about ten thousand men, he was afraid of being intercepted by Li Yi from Haozhou, and he had already admitted in his heart that he couldn't beat Li Yi.

"Aren't you leaving troops to defend the city?"

"What's the big deal if Li Wuyi takes it? He dares to send troops to garrison it. When His Majesty sends troops to surround it again, will Li Yi dare to come to its aid? It's a perfect opportunity to besiege the city and attack its reinforcements."

“But you’re right, we can’t let Li Yi get away with this,” Huang Ziying coldly ordered, letting his troops plunder Wenshui City. “There’s still half a day before nightfall, let these brats have their fun for half a day. Return to camp after dark, and those who disobey will be executed.”

According to the old custom, the spoils were divided among three people: one part went to the emperor, one part to the army, and the remaining part to the individual.

"That's not good?"

"Our brothers risked their lives, what's wrong with letting them let loose and vent before they set off?"

After a series of defeats, morale was completely shattered, and how could they possibly fight? Huang Ziying could only resort to this simplest yet most effective method.

"Remember to requisition all the grain in the city, and have the able-bodied men haul away the supplies and provisions."

"Send another military order to Liu Jizhen and Liu Liuer, ordering them to immediately lead their troops to Lingshi to regroup. If they fail to arrive by the deadline, it will be considered a rebellion, and they will bear the consequences!"

(End of this chapter)