Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 414: Chaos in the North
After entrusting his family to his care, Liu Gui set out in a hurry. This mission was a life-or-death mission, but Liu Gui went resolutely.

He was unsuccessful in Luoyang at that time, but later when he came to Xiurong, he was treated with great courtesy by Erzhu Rong and was regarded as a national talent. Now that Liu Gui was needed, he naturally decided to die in battle.

This is the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

There are true gentlemen who are as good as their word, and there are true villains who tell lies all the time.

This is an era where ancient literature still exists, but morals are declining.

Liu Gui, along with his entourage, headed east from Jinyang, out of the Taiyuan Basin and into the Taihang Mountains.

The Fukou Line is an ancient road. During the Warring States Period, the State of Zhao used this important road to connect Jinyang in Shanxi and Handan City east of Taihang Mountain.

After traveling for several days, Liu Gui arrived at Liaoyang, an important town built during the Warring States Period. This place is an important town that controls the Fukou Line.

The strategic location of Liaoyang County had great strategic value until modern times. Later, the place was renamed "Zuoquan County" to commemorate a sacrificed general.

Liu Gui did not dare to waste time. He continued to cross the mountain road to the east and walked along the ancient plank road in the vast Taihang Mountains. It took him ten days to get out of the Taihang Mountains and enter Fukou.

This place is also a first-class dangerous place. To the west is Taihang Mountain, to the east is Fukou Mountain, and it is separated by the Zhang River. By defending this pass, the enemy can be kept out of Bingzhou.

However, among the eight passes of Taihang Mountain, only the road of Jingxing in the north is wide enough for large carts to pass. The road of Fukouxing is winding and can only be used to transport supplies by livestock. Once a large army is involved in a battle, the cost is huge. Therefore, it is both a barrier and a shackle for Bingzhou.

During the Warring States Period, the State of Zhao was wavering between the two centers of Handan and Jinyang, and had to station troops in various places to defend against wars on all sides. Ultimately, it lost the qualification to compete for hegemony.

Liu Gui finally understood Erzhu Rong's idea. It might not be possible to win a protracted war with the rebels under the conditions of Bingzhou.

Erzhu Rong had elite soldiers, and elite soldiers meant they had to be fully supplied before they could fight.

This is equivalent to the precious war weapons of later generations, which require sufficient logistics to operate, and will break down once the logistics supply cannot keep up.

The Six Garrisons soldiers under Ge Rong were actually similar to the Beggars' Army. Except for a few elite soldiers, they were at the level of refugee soldiers.

The advantage of the refugee army is that they are resistant to hunger and hard work, and you don’t feel sorry for using them.

If Ge Rong could exchange ten refugee soldiers for one of Erzhu Rong's elite soldiers, he would feel that he had made a great profit. Even if he exchanged a hundred for one, Ge Rong would not feel sorry.

The refugee army eats wherever they fight, and they basically rely on robbing for supplies. There is no such thing as logistical supplies.

Therefore, a long-term war would be very disadvantageous to Erzhu Rong.

These are the elite troops that the Erzhu family has accumulated over three generations. Once his elite troops fall into consumption, they will be continuously bled.

So Erzhu Rong sent Liu Gui to Yecheng, using provocation to lure Ge Rong from Yecheng to lead his troops out for a decisive battle with Erzhu Rong.

If Ge Rong agreed to a decisive battle, then as long as we could defeat his army head-on, we could win the battle in one go.

Large military groups themselves are the biggest risk. When a corps exceeds a certain size, not to mention ordinary soldiers, even the middle and low-level generals do not know the situation on the battlefield and can only act based on military orders.

Once there are signs of defeat, even if it is just a rumor, it is enough to cause a chain reaction of defeat.

This is how the Northern Army of the Eastern Jin Dynasty defeated Fu Jian's Former Qin army.

After Liu Gui walked out of Fukou Pass with difficulty, he immediately headed towards Yecheng.
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February, the first year of Wude.

Su Ze in Yongle City suddenly announced the gathering of troops and announced his march north to Wuyuan City. The reason was naturally the unrest on the grassland.

The ministers in Yongle City were discussing the matter, but going north to the grasslands to attack nomadic peoples during the lamb-bearing season in spring was also a common practice of the Central Plains dynasties. Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty would basically go north to collect money at this time every year. The earliest capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty was accumulated in this way.

The lambing period is the time when lambs give birth, and it is also the weakest period of the entire grassland.

This is the experience of dealing with nomadic peoples summarized by Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty.

Su Ze only brought 5,000 soldiers this time, and the discussion soon subsided.

However, only a few close ministers knew that Su Ze was not going to the grassland, but was going to bypass the grassland to attack Xianyu Ahu in Hengzhou.

However, Su Liang and Su Chao still expressed their opposition to this plan.

Su Liang opposed it from a military perspective:

"My Lord, although the five thousand soldiers can be supplied locally, our food and fodder can only be safely delivered to Wuyuan City. From Wuyuan City to Wuchuan, the whole road is a barren land full of bandits, and we have to take the Baidao to enter Hengzhou. Cutting off the food supply route is a taboo for military strategists!"

Su Liang felt that Su Ze's plan was a bit far-fetched. Since ancient times, no one had ever taken such a route to attack Jinyang.

Of course Su Liang didn't know that this route was taken by the Northern Zhou general Yang Zhong on the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through it. He had taken this route twice and brought back the army intact each time.

Su Ze said: "Don't worry, Jingshun, I plan to hold a meeting in the grassland first, and then lead all the tribes of the grassland to go south together."

It was called a meeting, but in fact they were preparing to defeat the grasslands first. Thinking of Su Ze's record on the grasslands, Su Liang could not say anything against it.

Su Chao stood up again and said:

"Mr. County, Guanzhong has just been settled, and the war in the Central Plains is raging. This is the time for us to develop Guanzhong well. Why do we have to take risks at this time? A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall!"

Su Ze knew that Su Cho was also trying to persuade him, but he really had no way of saying to Su Cho, "Er Zhu Rong is about to destroy Ge Rong. If we don't act quickly, we will have no chance!"

If they could seize Hengzhou and Youzhou before Erzhu Rong defeated Ge Rong, they could still maintain their military advantage.

Otherwise, it would be very difficult to rely solely on Guanzhong to fight against the entire Central Plains.

There is no way. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the center of the political map has been moving eastward.

Both the Qin and Han dynasties used Guanzhong as their base and gradually annexed the rest of the world. At that time, Guanzhong was the foundation of the overlord.

However, Guanzhong gradually declined, and after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Luoyang became the political center.

Tang was the last country to use Guanzhong as its base to swallow up the rest of the world. This was due to Li Shimin's extraordinary military ability, and the fact that the various rebel kings in the Central Plains had beaten their brains out, giving Guanzhong one last chance to establish its rule.

After Tang conquered the world through Guanzhong, it still wanted to make Luoyang the eastern capital.

The Song Dynasty moved further eastward and made Bianliang, the water transport center, the political center.

By the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guanzhong had become insignificant.

Even during the struggle for supremacy between Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, when Gao Huan was alive, Northern Qi's overall strength still surpassed that of Northern Zhou.

It’s a pity that the Gao family produced a series of unreliable emperors, who eventually ruined the huge family fortune.

However, the Gao family was so wasteful that after the situation was formed, the Northern Zhou Dynasty had a hard time going out every time, and suffered heavy casualties on several occasions.

Su Ze was very clear about the strengths and weaknesses of himself and Erzhu Rong.

Erzhu Rong's army was more elite, while Su Ze's army had more ordinary-level troops and more scientific logistical supplies.

Therefore, the best way to deal with Erzhu Rong is to attack from multiple directions, mobilize his elite troops, separate his elite forces and gradually defeat them.

Therefore, Su Ze urgently needed the strategic fulcrum of Hengzhou. With this strategic fulcrum, Su Ze could go south to Yanmen to harass Bingzhou, and Erzhu Rong would have to station troops at Yanmen Pass for defense.

In addition, Hedong County was also under Su Ze's control, and Su Ze could go out of Tongguan and attack the Shangdang area.

Because other people don't know how terrifying Erzhu Rong is, Su Ze must get the bargaining chip at all costs.

We can't expect Erzhu Rong to be killed by his "good son-in-law" again, right?

Su Ze insisted on going to war, and the Su brothers knew that it was useless to persuade him any further, so they could only let go and prepare for Su Ze's expedition.

On February 25th, when Gao Guiyi brought back the news that the Turks wanted to marry the princess of Wei, Su Ze, the "loyal minister" of Wei, was furious and decided to teach the ignorant Turks a lesson.
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This year was destined to be a year of turmoil. At the end of February, Luoyang received news that Ge Rong sent Xing Gao under his command to lead the Qingzhou soldiers to break through Ji County and head straight for Luoyang.

The officials in Luoyang were once again in panic.

General Erzhu Rong was not in Luoyang, so Shangdang King Yuan Tianmu, who was in charge of the government, had to step forward.

Yuan Tianmu led the remaining troops in Luoyang to attack Ji County, determined to retake Ji County, the eastern gateway of Luoyang.

However, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. Just after Yuan Tianmu raised his army, Suiyang, an important town east of Luoyang, also sent an urgent letter to Luoyang for help. The Southern Liang general Chen Qingzhi, escorting the deposed King of Beihai Yuan Hao northward, had already arrived at the city of Suiyang.

Suiyang is an important water transportation town connecting Luoyang with the Qi, Lu, Qing and Xu regions. It was guarded by Qiu Daqian, who fought against Chen Qianzhi in the first Battle of Xuzhou.

In the letter, Qiu Daqian said that there were still 3,000 defenders in Suiyang, and given the solidity of Suiyang, they would definitely be able to hold it, so he requested the court to send troops to support immediately.

Urgent military intelligence was sent to Luoyang. Xi Yi, who stayed behind to preside over the meeting, summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter. The final conclusion was two words - no rescue.

In fact, there was no way to rescue them even if they wanted to. All the remaining troops in Luoyang City were taken away by Yuan Tianmu. Heba Sheng, who stayed in Hangu Pass, had to guard against Su Ze in Guanzhong and could not move.

Moreover, the reasons of the officials in the court were sufficient. Qiu Daqian was a general under Yuan Yanming, the former governor of Yanzhou. Yuan Yanming had already surrendered to Southern Liang. Who knew whether Qiu Daqian was really asking for help or was planning to deceive the court's army and capture them all in one fell swoop?
Even when Qiu Daqian said that there were 3,000 people in Suiyang City, the ministers in the court who were familiar with military affairs did not believe it. The situation along the Yellow River was naturally serious due to Ge Rong, and many nearby states and counties surrendered to Southern Liang. How could Suiyang support so many troops?

Amid the chaos in the Central Plains, the Bodhisattva Emperor of Southern Liang ascended the Tongtai Temple to teach Buddhism in person. During his sermon, golden lotuses emerged from the ground, auspicious beasts listened to the sermons, and magical birds flew and lingered. The monks and laymen from the four groups who participated in the Wuzhe Assembly all prostrated themselves devoutly before Xiao Yan.

The war in the north continues, but the scenery in the south is unique.

But it is hard to say whether there are hidden undercurrents behind this beautiful scenery.

Amidst the chaos, the even more turbulent March arrived.

(End of this chapter)