Chapter 271: An accident happened

At night, on the west bank of the Yellow River, the Yellow River still has thick ice, white and bright ground, like a jade belt, but as the footsteps of spring gradually arrive, the time for the Yellow River to thaw is approaching.

In the distance is the dark Wushaoling Ridge. The newly built Huixi Fortress at the ridge stands tall. At this moment, the gate of Huixi Fortress is wide open. Three long teams of soldiers rushed out of the fort, with neat armor and strict formations. An army of about 8,000 people drove eastward. Not far away is the solidified Yellow River. There are vanguard soldiers starting to walk down the ice surface of the Yellow River, and then head eastward to Huijun on the other side of the Yellow River.

In the night sky, a clear half moon is shining on the Tang Dynasty's thousands of miles of the country.

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A team of light horses swept through the sky like clouds, crossing the ridges of the fields, crossing the fields, and stepping into the half-ice and half-water mud pond, splashing large patches of mud and water. The road ahead was muddy, but they accelerated their speed, heading west and towards Kaiyang County.

This is a scout of the Xiliang Army, responsible for monitoring Li Zhengyi's actions. Last night, Li Zhengyi's army fought fiercely with the main force of Li Na's army in Qingshiling. Although Li Na's army finally retreated, Li Zhengyi also had a miserable victory. In this battle, the two armies suffered nearly 30,000 casualties.

The cavalry rushed up a hill and rested for a while. There was a large forest in the distance, which was within Kaiyang County.

This day was the sixth day of the first lunar month. Zhang Huan was not in Jincheng County, but in Kaiyang County. At this moment, the command center of the entire Xiliang Army has also moved to Kaiyang.

It has been four days since Zhang Huan returned to Longyou. As early as three days ago, when Li Zhengyi's army entered Pingliang County, Zhang Huan had already grasped his detailed whereabouts. It was obvious that Li Zheng was already trying to eat Li Na's 20,000 troops and 300,000 stones of grain stored there.

Although Li Zhengyi's army was less than a hundred miles away from Yang County, Zhang Huan did not act rashly, but watched the situation and sent a large number of scouts to monitor Li Zhengyi and Zhu Li in Hanzhong.

Kaiyang County is already full of troops, with nearly 80,000 troops stationed in three large camps, each of which is dozens of miles apart, arranged in a shape of a pin. Zhang Huan's commander's tent is within the largest military camp. At this moment, night has fallen, and the lights are brightly lit in the commander's tent. Several civilian soldiers are busy collecting documents. Inside and outside the commander's tent, three-layer soldiers are guarding with swords, and are very cautious.

In the middle of the tent, a huge sand tray was placed, about two meters long and one meter wide. The sand tray was shaped by the terrain of Guanlong area and Hanzhong, including the Yellow River, Qinling Mountains, Chang'an, Fengxiang and other mountains, rivers, and city passes.

Zhang Huan, He Lou Wuji, Li Panyu, Li Su, Du Mei, Pei Mingyuan, Luo Guangping and more than a dozen senior civil and military officials from Longyou gathered together to study Longyou's corresponding strategies under the huge changes in the situation.

"Everyone, according to the division of labor reached by me and Pei Xiangguo, he is responsible for controlling the situation in the Jianghuai River and will mobilize 100,000 Hebei troops to go south to quell Li Zhengyi's rebellion, while we are responsible for dealing with Zhu Li and preventing him from taking advantage of the chaos."

Zhang Huan used a long pole to gently click Nanzheng City in the sand table and said slowly: "But I think there is no need for Zhu Li to exist. In fact, we have taken to the west of Guanzhong and finally captured Hanzhong. We can connect Bashu, Longyou and Guanxi into a whole, but it is of great importance. I want to hear your opinions."

After saying that, he looked up at everyone, and saw that Pei Mingyuan wanted to speak but stopped, and then smiled and said, "Mingyuan, tell me what you think."

"Governor, I fully agree with the four pieces of our territory. However, I am worried that when Li Zheng was rebelling, we would launch a large-scale attack on Hanzhong, and I am afraid that the people in the world would be dissatisfied with us."

Speaking of this, Pei Mingyuan also picked up a long wooden pole and pointed at Shangyong and said, "I wonder, if Cui Qinggong really dared to attack Xiangyang and trigger a battle between King Cui, would Zhu Li take advantage of the situation and take Shangyong and attack Xiangyang from behind? If that's the case, we will be famous for our troops."

Zhang Huan nodded secretly. Pei Mingyuan really had a unique vision and could infer Zhu Li's true intention. Just as he was about to speak, Du Mei stood up next to him and said loudly: "I can't agree with what Mingyuan said."

Pei Mingyuan put the wooden pole in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Please tell me clearly, Brother Du."

"It's very simple. Since Pei Jun controls the situation in Jianghuai, how could he not deploy heavy troops to prevent Cui Qinggong from attacking Xiangyang? In that case, the battle between Cui and Wang will be difficult to happen. How could Zhu Li have the opportunity to attack Xiangyang? If it weren't for Brother Mingyuan's 'famous army', would we just stop moving?"

"No!" Du Mei shook her head and continued, "I thought Zhu Li was in Shu, and was in Hanzhong, causing trouble for the people. The people of the world had already concluded that he was a traitor, a demon in the eyes of the people of the Tang Dynasty, and a thorn in the eyes of the aristocratic families. If we can get rid of it, I think that not only will the people of the world not have any complaints, but will celebrate, praise the governor for eliminating harm for the people. This matter is beneficial to the country, the people and the self-interest. Why do you need to be famous for your army?"

Pei Mingyuan also nodded. From a certain level, Du Mei’s statement made some sense, but he avoided Li Zhengyi and ignored the possibility of Li Zhengji becoming a big shot.

"Brother Du, I'll ask you, if Li Zheng has defeated Pei Jun's Hebei army and then the Yellow River thaws and he grows when we are deeply trapped in Hanzhong, how can we explain to the world?"

Du Mei laughed and said, "Why is Mingyuan so arrogant? His 50,000 army has an absolute advantage over Li Na's 20,000 troops, and he will win miserably in the end. Let me ask, can such an army still beat the 100,000 elite soldiers of the Pei family?"

"Okay! Okay! Don't argue with you two." Zhang Huan waved his hand and interrupted the two's argument with a smile. "I want everyone to gather ideas and minimize the danger, rather than in the end, I will first take Du Sima's "removing harm for the people" and decide whether Zhu Li has any abnormal movements, he will send troops to Hanzhong, and then take Brother Mingyuan's caution. Li Zhengyi's side, I cannot take it lightly and be ready to cooperate with the Hebei army to wipe out this rebel."

"Does the governor mean to prepare for two fronts to fight?" He Lou Wuji, who had been silent all the time, suddenly asked.

Zhang Huan shook his head gently, "In fact, it is a third-line battle. I have ordered Lin Jiuhan, Changsha to cross the river north to monitor Li Xilie's army, and ordered Chenglie's troops in Huixibao to send troops to Huijun. If necessary, I will immediately attack Lingwu County."

"Governor, I also have an idea." The person who spoke was Li Su, the military envoy of Weizhou and the General of the Central Army. He was the second son of Li Qiao, the King of Sidi and the only authentic royal family in the Xiliang army. Although he was born in a wealthy royal family, he loved martial arts since he was a child, and received guidance from famous teachers and practiced outstanding martial arts. When he grew up, he formed a guard army of 1,000 people to protect the lives of the countryside and tribesmen.

During Zhang Huan's development and growth, Li Qiao spared no effort to support him. He donated 2 million stones of grain in just three years and nearly 500,000 jin of money. In order to repay Li Qiao's support, Zhang Huan not only appointed his eldest son Li Han as the military officer of the Longyou Jiedu Prefecture and was the assistant of Hu Yong, but also his second son Li Su also entered the Xiliang Army and served as the military envoy of Weizhou, and was in charge of the 20,000 garrisons in Longxi County.

Li Su didn't say much, but he was very insightful. When Zhang Huan saw him speak, he smiled and said, "It's okay for General Li to speak."

Li Su took a step and said to everyone: "We seem to have been ignoring a person until now. Li Zhengji rebelled, Cui Qinggong and Zhu Li will have abnormal movements, and Pei Xiangguo and us will be controlled by us, while Li Xilie was stared by Lin Jiuhan. So what about Li Huaixian of Chenliu? I think everyone seems to have ignored him."

Li Su's words reminded Zhang Huan at once. Yes, when he left Chang'an, Li Huaisian did not come to Beijing to report his work. Everyone only considered Cui Qinggong and Zhu Li, but missed this person.

Could it be that he had any ideas? Zhang Huan was confused.

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On the third day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Xuanren, Li Zhengji, the governor of Shuofang, suddenly sent troops to Jingyuan, officially opening the curtain for him to separatist the country. In the battle of Qingshiling, Li Zheng had defeated Li Na at the cost of losing 18,000 people. During the retreat, Li Na burned the warehouse and burned all 300,000 stones of grain, which made Li Zhengji go to waste and get nothing. The shy and angry Li Zhengji sent troops to plunder the people's wealth. At this time, Pei Jun's 100,000 Hebei troops had crossed the river and entered Yan'an County. Li Zhengji immediately concentrated his troops north to fight against the Hebei army.

But at this moment, Duan Xiushi, who was guarding the Western Suspension City, heard a shocking news that the government and the people were shocked. Nearly 100,000 Uighur army had approached the Yinshan line, and Duan Xiushi asked the court to send troops to support him quickly.

The news that the Uighur army was approaching shocked the government and the public and disrupted Pei Jun's deployment. He immediately ordered 100,000 Hebei troops to retreat north in a hurry. In order to prevent Li Zheng from entering the empty Hedong, Pei Jun ordered the transfer back to the 80,000 Hedong troops stationed in Nanyang, leaving only 30,000 troops to guard Cui Qinggong.

Without the pressure from Pei Jun's army, Cui Qinggong's ambition gradually became stronger.

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Ruyang, this is Cui Qinggong's old nest. He returned here on the eve of the New Year and began to prepare for attacking Xiangyang. It should be said that collecting Xiangyang was Cui Qinggong's long-planned plan. The insufficient grain production in Huaibei limited Cui Qinggong's development. Although he claimed to be a 300,000 army, in fact, a large part of it was half soldiers and half farmers, with almost no formal training, and there was a serious shortage of armor and weapons. The army that could fight was the old subordinates he brought from Shandong. Unfortunately, almost half of these Shandong troops were stolen by Li Huaixian, and Li Xilie also divided most of his money and grain. Cui Qinggong knew the current situation. He relied on intercepting the canal transport to supplement his huge army expenses. Once the canal transport was changed, Cui Qinggong's 300,000 army would be unsustainable.

To this end, breaking through the regional restrictions in Huaibei became Cui Qinggong's current urgent situation. Huainan was the richest place in the entire Tang Dynasty and the main source of finance for the imperial court. Yang, Sheng, Chang, Su, Hu, and Hang could support the entire army by one place. In such a prosperous place, only tens of thousands of Yingwei's army of Chu Xingshui. A few months ago, Cui Qinggong acted as an attitude of attacking Huainan, but it aroused a strong backlash from the court. Even Zhang Huan sent an expeditionary army to support him. Cui Qinggong also knew the importance of Huainan to the court, so he would stop when he made an attack.

Huainan could not take it. In order to appease the strong dissatisfaction of his generals, Cui Qinggong's eyes turned to Xiangyang again. In his plan to collect Xiangyang, there were two plans for civil and military. The so-called Wen was to use his relationship with Wang Ang as his children's relatives. First, the two families formed an alliance, and then secretly ordered Li Xilie to attack Xiangyang. He used the means of supporting Xiangyang to achieve a magpies' nest, and Wu was to directly attack Xiangyang. Relatively speaking, Wen's methods were more skillful and more hidden. Just when Cui Qinggong was about to reach an alliance with Wang Ang in the New Year, the Cui Xiong incident suddenly broke out, forcing Cui Qinggong's plan to change, and was preparing to attack Xiangyang with the excuse of revenge for his son.

The war machine had already started rumbling. Cui Qinggong's troops who came from all over the country gathered in Ruyang. Within five days, Cui Qinggong mobilized 100,000 troops, and the subsequent troops were still gathering continuously. The military logistics, recruits that were originally planning to attack Huainan were all used.

The cart full of food and grass on the official road was struggling in the light rain, and the tail was invisible at first sight. The shaft of the carriage was squeaking!' and a carriage full of grain bags fell into the mud, hindering the brigade's progress. The coachman desperately whipped the animal power. Dozens of soldiers worked hard to push the carriage out of the mud. After filling the mud pit, the huge convoy continued to move forward.

Teams of newly recruited soldiers walked south between vehicles and cavalry teams. Most of them were incompletely clothed and armored, some were holding iron rakes, some were wearing straw sandals, and there was a faint sadness in their silent eyes.

Suddenly, hundreds of war horses roared over behind him. Under the shouts and whips, all the big chariots and soldiers entered the fields and empty the official road. After a while, teams of cavalry with distinctive armor rushed from the distance of the official road, endlessly, and they continued to rush past nearly 10,000 cavalry before they saw nearly a thousand flag bearers coming. Amid the overwhelming flags, a carriage pulled by hundreds of horses slowly drove away. Hundreds of guards were guarding him, and they were extremely vigilant.

Behind the carriage, a three-meter-long black gold-edged banner was embroidered with silver wire. The one sitting in the carriage was Cui Qinggong, the Prince of Ruyang.

At this moment, Cui Qinggong looked proud. Pei Jun's army, whom he was most worried about, rushed north two days ago, and only arranged 30,000 troops in the Linru area. It was obviously not to interfere with him, Cui Qinggong's attack on Xiangyang, but to prevent him from going north to Luoyang.

Pei Jun is powerless to do anything about his behavior, so he can only rely on Wang Ang to protect himself.

Cui Qinggong was like a soldier who had taken off his heavy armor. He was relaxed and pulled the giant bow towards the Shannan Wang family with a grim smile.

The arrows shot towards Xiangyang were already out of the chorus. The 100,000 troops rushed to Shannan Road in two directions, and rushed into Huaian County from the front, and the other route was detoured by Nanyang County from Xinye to Xiangyang. At the same time, Cui Qinggong also informed Li Xilie to send troops to assist. Li Xilie then sent 30,000 troops to attack Jiangxia and Hanyang from Qi'an County.

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To be continued...