Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 435 Deng Ai’s Wisdom
But Song Zixian quickly calmed down. At today's military meeting, Hou Jing had just announced that he would be the one to guard Nanzhong City. Doesn't that mean this plan has nothing to do with him?
Hou Jing patted him on the shoulder and said:

"When the soldiers from Liangzhou arrive, you will lead them to defend Nanzhong City. As long as you can defend Nanzhong after this general enters Shu, you will have made a great contribution!"

Song Zixian was a trusted general of Hou Jing, a brother that Hou Jing brought with him from the Six Garrisons. He immediately said:

"General, I want to go to war with you!"

Hou Jing shook his head and said:

"No, you stay in Nanzhong. This is part of the plan. Without you to hold back the Southern Dynasty's army, how can this general attack Shuzhong?"

Hou Jing said again:
"I'll leave the two thousand soldiers of Liangzhou to you, plus the defenders in Nanzhong City. As long as you can hold out until I attack Chengdu, it will be a great achievement!"

"After the two thousand soldiers of Longxi County gather in Dazhong, I will lead them personally to enter Shu from the ancient Yinping Road, and follow the old strategy of Deng Ai in conquering Shu!"

The Yinping Ancient Road that Hou Jing mentioned is the mountain road that Deng Ai took to conquer Shu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Deng Ai started from Da Zhong in Longxi County, turned east and south along Jinggu Road from Yinping, and went more than 200 miles south of Jiange.

Deng Ai led his troops to climb the trails, cut through the mountains to open roads, build planks and bridges, and advance in a line, crossing more than 700 miles of uninhabited dangerous areas.

Finally, Deng Ai reached Ma Ge Mountain. The road was cut off and he could not move forward or backward. Deng Ai led the way, wrapped himself in a felt and rolled down the hillside.

Deng Ai finally led his army to Jiangyou, the gateway to Shuzhong, unexpectedly. After Jiangyou surrendered, Deng Ai captured Fucheng, Mianzhu, and Guanghan along the way and pressed into Chengdu. Finally, Liu Chan, the last emperor of Shu Han, led all the officials to surrender to Deng Ai.

Shu, one of the Three Kingdoms, was destroyed by Deng Ai's surprise attack. This was of course because Shu had lost its will to resist. More importantly, Shu had been peaceful for a long time, and after they attacked Jiangyou, there was no strategic location to defend, so Deng Ai's surprise attack took advantage of the opportunity.

The same situation exists in Shuzhong today.

The Northern Wei Dynasty had not attacked Shu for more than 20 years, and Xiao Yan basically encountered no resistance when he seized Shu. Shu had been peaceful for more than 20 years.

More than 20 years is the time of a generation, which means that the new generation of young people growing up in Shu have never seen war.

This is also the reason why Xiao Ji did not recruit Shu soldiers when he launched the Northern Expedition, but instead borrowed troops from Jingzhou, because the soldiers from Shu were not very useful.

In order to attack Nanzhong, Xiao Ji must have tried his best. As long as all his troops passed through the Shu Road, Shuzhong would definitely be empty.

Then if this special force of mine appeared in Jiangyou, we could replicate Deng Ai's miracle! Destroy Shu in one battle!

Song Zixian was also excited. This was the Hou Jing he knew!
Hou Jing was so good at coming up with unexpected strategies that he could always find unexpected ways to break the deadlock.

But is the Yinping Ancient Road still passable?
Since Deng Ai conquered Shu, no one has walked this ancient road again, which shows that it is too difficult to march along this ancient road.

Moreover, it was more than 200 years ago that Deng Ai conquered Shu. Even if Deng Ai had built plank roads and excavated roads back then, they have long been abandoned over the years.

Hou Jing said:

"That's not something you need to worry about. In fact, since Longxi County fell into the hands of Lord Su, the route of the Yinping Ancient Road has been discovered. Over the years, the Lord Su has secretly sent craftsmen to build the plank road."

"Although this ancient road is difficult to travel, with some places only wide enough for one person to pass through and cliffs to climb, several scouts pretending to be caravans have already entered Shuzhong through this ancient road."

Song Zixian was shocked.

It was four years ago that Su Ze occupied Longxi County. Did Duke Su already plan to attack Shu from the Yinping Ancient Road since then?

What Song Zixian didn't know was that Su Ze had already prepared the route for the attack on Shu four years ago, and even the main general for the attack on Shu had been selected four years ago.

He even transferred Hou Jing out of Liangzhou, secretly ordered Yang Kan to remain on the defensive, and lured Shuzhong to attack Hanzhong. These were all part of Su Ze's plan.

Hou Jing is the best person to implement this plan.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Hou Jing led his troops alone and advanced deep into the enemy's territory, starting from Shouyang and fighting all the way to the city of Jiankang, besieging Xiao Yan in Taicheng.

When it comes to fighting ruthlessness, there are not many people throughout history who can surpass Hou Jing.

This is exactly the same as when Deng Ai attacked Shu.

When Deng Ai came out of Yinping Road, the entire army was on the verge of collapse. It was with the last bit of strength that he pried open Jiangyou City, and then rode non-stop all the way to Chengdu, forcing the last emperor of Shu Han to surrender.

The current situation in Shu is similar. Xiao Ji is a prince of Southern Liang who has never experienced a battlefield. If he is handed over to Hou Jing to fight, he might be able to replicate Deng Ai's miracle of destroying Shu in one battle.

For so many years, Su Ze had been on the defensive in Liangzhou, waiting for this opportunity! Hou Jing patted Song Zixian on the shoulder and said:

"I came to Nanzhong specifically to confuse the Southern Dynasty. You explain to the soldiers that I am in charge of the rear, and Nanzhong City is now in your hands."

Although Song Zixian was extremely reluctant, he also knew that it concerned the overall situation. Hou Jing did not discuss it with him, but announced the military order directly to him.

Song Zixian had no choice but to accept Hou Jing's order.

On the second day, Hou Jing left Nanzhong City under the pretext of going to the rear to supervise the supply of food and fodder, and then rushed all the way to Dazhong.

The Zhecho Mansion where Yang Jia was located was in Liangzhou, near Longxi County. Originally, when the Zhecho Brigade commander gathered the troops, he said that they would go to Nanzhong City, but after the team set out, they headed west.

Several soldiers who had fought in the war went to the brigade commander to ask questions, but were scolded by him.

Yang Jia was very calm. Now under the rule of Duke Su, rewards and punishments were clear, and it was the responsibility of the brigade commander of the Zhechou Prefecture to assemble the troops.

The brigade commander of Zhechongfu was responsible for the daily training of soldiers and the rights and interests of the soldiers. During war, he was also responsible for bringing the soldiers from Zhechongfu to the designated assembly point.

If the brigade commander fails to bring the troops to the assembly point on time, he will be punished. If the military order is urgent and delays the opportunity to fight, he will be punished by death.

As for ordinary soldiers, as long as you strictly follow the orders of your superiors, you will not be punished.

As for why, just look at the results of the harsh laws and punishments at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

Yang Jia didn't care about these things. The post stations along the way had prepared supplies. The fact that their army of soldiers could pass meant that the commander of the Zhechou Brigade had received military orders.

Yang Jia vaguely felt that this mission might be different from what was announced before the expedition, but Yang Jia didn't care.

All of them, the palace soldiers, have received favors from Duke Su. No matter where they fight, they are repaying the Duke's kindness.

Over the years, since Yang Jia came down from Qiuchi Mountain, Duke Su has fulfilled all of his promises one by one. The thoughts of ordinary people are very simple and honest, and everyone remembers this kindness.

Su Ze's credit also made everyone feel at ease. He would definitely fulfill his promises. Even if he died in battle, his wife and children would be taken care of.

As a palace soldier, all you need to do is hone your martial arts and repay the Duke's kindness on the battlefield.
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Wang Sengbian did not think highly of the soldiers from Yizhou.

However, Wang Sengbian also had the capital to look down on the Yizhou soldiers. Since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the two most powerful military groups were the Northern Palace Army and the Jingzhou Legion.

The Northern Army was a group of elite soldiers selected from the northern refugees who migrated south. The people in Jingzhou were tough and relatively independent compared to Jiangdong, so the spirit of bravery still existed.

Wang Sengbian led an elite force, and he was not even willing to wait for the 10,000 Yizhou soldiers to gather, so he led his troops to Jiange.

Jiange is the entrance and exit of the Shu Road. Li Bai, a later poet, once praised the strategic importance of Jiange in his poem “The Difficult Road to Shu”: “Jiange is majestic and steep. One man can guard the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it.”

Now Jiange is controlled by Southern Liang, and another exit of Shu Road is Nanzhong City, where Song Zixian stationed his troops.

Ever since Xiao Ji took office as the governor of Yizhou, he has been continuously conscripting civilians to repair the Shu Road. Now most of the planks on the Shu Road have been replaced and can accommodate the passage of the army and mules and horses.

However, the road to Shu was still rugged and difficult to travel. Although the march was difficult, the biggest difficulty was logistics.

This is also what Wang Sengbian is most worried about. Transporting food and fodder from the Shu Road is a terrible logistical pressure that even Prime Minister Zhuge Liang could not bear at that time.

However, Xiao Ji, the governor of Yizhou, did not take care of civil affairs after taking office in Yizhou. Yizhou was in a state of civil and military laziness. Although he managed to raise enough military rations by relying on Yizhou's wealth, the rations were now piled up in Jiange, and there was no way to organize people to transport them to Shu Road.

Wang Sengbian was also decisive. He killed the grain supervisor sent by Xiao Ji, and then summoned the local county magistrate and county lieutenant, forcing them to send out men. Finally, he managed to gather a team of laborers.

After arriving at Jiange, Wang Sengbian also heard the news that the governor of Liangzhou was changed from Yang Kan to Hou Jing.

When he was in Jingzhou, Wang Sengbian had also heard of Hou Jing's reputation and knew that he was a brave and courageous general under Su Ze. However, when he heard that the other side had replaced the generals, Wang Sengbian happily said to his subordinates:
"Yang Kan is good at defense, and Hou Jing is good at fighting. If the Beinuo army really blocks the Shu Road and hides in Nanzhong City, it will be difficult to deal with. Now Hou Jing is new. If he loses the battle after taking office, he will not be able to lead the army. So now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our army should leave the Shu Road and attack Nanzhong City immediately!"

Most of his subordinates agreed with Wang Sengbian's opinion, but some objected and said:
"We have more soldiers than the enemy. We should wait for the Yizhou army to gather before leaving Shu Road. This is the best strategy."

Wang Sengbian shook his head and said:
"Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Who knows when the Yizhou troops will be assembled? If Liangzhou is mobilized, given the solidity of Nanzhong City, who knows how many lives will be lost if we want to capture it!"

"I have made up my mind. I will cross the Shu Road tomorrow and attack Liangzhou!"

(End of this chapter)