Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 188: Soldiers are powerful and fast

"Giggle-"

The rooster crowed before daybreak.

Smoke was rising from Lianggong City, which lies across the north bank of the Jade River, and there were tents inside and outside the city and on the horse trails.

The blood on the street had been washed away, and the newly filled soil was fluffy. From time to time, local dogs went to dig the soil, but they were quickly kicked away by the soldiers sleeping not far away.

"Screw rustle..."

The sound of armor rang out, and Shang Duoluo and Hu Siguang walked side by side with more than ten captains towards the Lianggong County government office.

Lianggong City is oriented east-west, no more than a hundred steps wide and more than three hundred steps long. There are only about two thousand civilians in the city, and there is only one main road and seven or eight longitudinal roads in the entire city.

Most of the people in the city lived in wooden houses, which were burned down by stones last night. Now the city is full of broken walls and eaves. Many people live in tents vacated by the Longxi army, looking at them with fear.

But these are not important, because as the Longxi Army takes over the city, it will soon become more prosperous, and the people will know what kind of army the Longxi Army is.

When thinking this, Shang Duoluo and Hu Siguang were about to walk into the yamen, but Shang Duoluo stopped Hu Siguang.

"Hmm?" Hu Siguang looked at Shang Duoluo in confusion, but saw Shang Duoluo said:
"Huo Siguang, you said that we are all provincial governors now, so what should we call them?"

"This..." Hu Siguang was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said:

"That's right, what do you call it?"

Seeing this, Shang Duo Luo coughed and said, "It was fine before that everyone hadn't been officially awarded the title, but now Geng Ming is the governor of Chengzhou, and Li Ji and Wang Sifeng will also be officially awarded soon. It's not good for us to call them governors anymore."

"This time we have at least recovered the four prefectures of Chengwu, Min and Dang. With this achievement, it is not too much to ask the court to grant you the title of Jiedushi of Longyou Road."

"You and I will go in together in a moment. I will address you as the commander-in-chief first. If the commander-in-chief agrees, you and your brothers will address him as the commander-in-chief together with me."

Shang Duoluo glanced at everyone, and more than a dozen captains nodded one after another.

"Okay!" Hu Siguang agreed decisively. Shang Duoluo also patted him on the shoulder, and then walked inside happily.

Soon, everyone walked into the courtyard and saw Liu Jilong who was eating in the main hall.

"Are you all here? If you haven't eaten yet, sit down and eat together!"

Liu Jilong greeted everyone, but saw Shang Duoluo walked into the main hall and bowed: "General, I have counted, and there are still 8,600 dan of grain, more than 800 dan of beans, and hemp in the warehouses and storehouses in the city..."

Shang Duoluo reported as usual, while Hu Siguang and others were watching Liu Jilong's reaction.

Seeing that Liu Jilong did not respond, Hu Siguang continued after Shang Duoluo finished speaking:
"General Jie, I have interrogated him. Huai Dao only has 200 armored soldiers and more than 4,000 people."

"General, how about letting me lead two hundred elite cavalry and four hundred armored soldiers, recruit eight hundred civilians in this city, and bring ten catapults to attack Huai Dao?"

Hu Siguang asked for orders, and Liu Jilong nodded and said, "In that case, I will do as you say."

"In addition, I have stationed 100 soldiers in Lianggong. If you can recapture Huaidao, you can temporarily govern the two counties of Dangzhou for Dou Jingchong and send elite cavalry to catch up with us. The 400 armored soldiers will stay in Huaidao."

"Yes!" Hu Siguang was delighted, and more than ten captains behind him also called Liu Jilong the general one after another and reported their affairs respectively.

The Longxi army did not suffer many casualties in the recovery of Liang Gong.

After two hours of catapult fire last night, Lianggong City was breached, followed by a one-sided massacre.

More than a hundred foreign soldiers were killed, the rest surrendered, and more than 270 sets of armor were captured.

"Time waits for no one. The army will set out for Minzhou in two hours."

"The last general takes orders..."

The generals responded one after another and then left the government office.

After they left, Liu Jilong wiped his mouth with a rough cloth, chuckled and murmured: "Jie Shuai? That's a good name..."

"Xilulu!!"

At noon, accompanied by the sound of wooden whistles and the sound of horse hooves, the main force of the Longxi Army left Lianggong County and crossed the bridge to the south bank.

Although the south bank is an alluvial plain, it is scattered plains, so the arable land in Lianggong County is less than 10,000 acres according to the documents.

Perhaps this is why Dangzhou has such a small population.

While thinking, Liu Jilong shook the reins of his horse and continued to follow the army, heading southwest along the official road.

I have to say that Longnan is full of scenery.

Along the official road, there are secluded valleys, strange peaks and rocks, towering ancient trees, clear lakes, splashing waterfalls... everywhere you look.

Such scenery is dazzling.

It is a pity that in the past hundreds and thousands of years, this place was occupied by the Western Qiang, and many poets have never seen such scenery, otherwise there would probably be many more famous works.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilian and his companions advanced 120 miles along the official road. It took them two days to get out of the Lianggong Mountains and arrive at the north bank of the Qiang River.

"How come the Qiang River is almost wider than the Yellow River?"

"What's that? Marshal Jie once said in class that the Yangtze River is much wider than the Yellow River!"

On the bank of the Qiang River, several captains commented on the width of the river, and from time to time brought up the Yangtze River, which they had never seen before.

Liu Jilong chuckled when he heard this: "Whether it is the Yangtze River or the Yellow River, there are narrow places. We are still young, and we will have the opportunity to drink from the Yangtze River in the future."

"Don't believe me just because I told you so. You have to go and see for yourself to know. Dogmatism kills people..."

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong looked at Hu Siguang and asked, "Are the sheepskin rafts ready?"

"Ready!" Huke Siguang nodded.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong said, "There is no rush to attack the city. Bai Minzhong has just taken over as the governor of Xichuan. It is not easy to mobilize troops to attack Huaidao."

"Yes……"

While the two were talking, Shang Duoluo also led his troops and headed northwest along the northern bank of the Qiang River.

Huke Siguang led 200 elite cavalry, 400 armored soldiers and 800 good and respectful civilians to break away from the team, look for a narrow place on the bank of the Qiang River, try to build a bridge to the south bank, and attack Huaidao located in the ravines of the mountain area.

At the same time, Liu Jilong and his men continued to march towards Minzhou along the official road.

No matter what arrangements Gao Pian made, since they arrived at Qiangshui, it would be impossible for Gao Pian to block their way back.

It is 200 miles from Lianggong Mountain to Min County, but it only takes 120 miles to reach Youchuan County, one of the three counties of Minzhou.

Although Minzhou is more remote than Wuzhou and Dangzhou, its registered population is more than the two states combined, with a total of more than 4,300 households and more than 23,000 people.

The reason why Minzhou can feed such a large population is entirely due to the rich local resources.

Local tributes included tea, dragon beard mats, parrots, eagle feathers, pheasants, and gold bran, while popular commodities included asphalt, furs, and pepper (Sichuan pepper).

This place is a must-fight place for both the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, so more soldiers can be supported locally.

It was for this reason that Liu Jilian did not dare to make a plan to recover the four states in one go at the beginning.

But now it seems that it is not impossible to recover the four states in one go.

Even though the mountains would be blocked by snow in less than a month, they still had plenty of food and fodder, enough to last them two or three years.

If it were not for the time and manpower required to govern the local area, Liu Jilian would have wanted to further recover Tao, Die and Song states after recovering Minzhou.

"It still lacks teaching and straightforwardness..."

Liu Jilong sighed in his heart, and was mentally prepared to spend a few years training some scholars of his own after regaining the entire territory of Longnan.

Thinking of this, their speed of advancement increased as they entered the Minzhou River Valley.

The terrain of Minzhou is relatively flat compared to Dangzhou, and marching is more convenient. The army can travel fifty miles a day. Therefore, on the second day of marching north, the elite cavalry in front encountered the light cavalry from Youchuan County, Minzhou.

Youchuan is located in a valley between the mountains and gullies of Minzhou. The widest point from east to west is only one and a half miles, and it is six miles long from north to south. The terrain of the entire valley is narrow in the north and wide in the south.

Youchuan County is not very big. It relies on a small river less than ten feet wide to nourish the farmland. The city wall is only three hundred steps from east to west and one mile long from north to south. The population it can accommodate should not be large.

With the arrival of the Longxi army, Youchuan County gathered soldiers and civilians into the city to defend it, showing no intention of surrendering.

Shang Duoluo sent his elite cavalry to circle around Youchuan County and quickly estimated the situation inside the city.

"General, there are less than ten thousand acres of arable land here, and the population of the city should not exceed four thousand."

Shang Duoluo bowed to Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong nodded and said, "There is no rush for this attack. Most of our catapults have been distributed to Li Ji and Hu Siguang. Now there are only twenty catapults in the army."

"Youchuan is just the appetizer. The two populous counties of Yile and Hezheng are the main course."

"You order people to build catapults, and then send the brothers in the army to cut down trees, and take the opportunity to build more catapults." "I obey your orders!" Shang Duoluo bowed in response, and then began to order the army to set up camp, cut down trees, and dig stones.

There is not much else in the river, mostly rocks.

The laborers only needed to dig a side ditch to lower the water level and expose the rocks in the riverbed.

In the next few days, the army did not launch any attacks, but instead made preparations.

While they were preparing, an angel from Chang'an also arrived in Nanzheng, Xingyuan Prefecture, Shannan West Road, with the imperial edict.

"My disciples..."

Inside the magnificent Jiedushi Yamen, as the angels sang the contents of the imperial edict, kneeling under it was the old minister Feng Ao, who was then Jiedushi of Shannan West Road and Acting Minister of War.

Since Feng Ao entered the court during the Taihe period, he has served three emperors in succession, and Li Chen was the third.

Because Feng Ao was appreciated by Emperor Wuzong, he was exiled to Shannan West Road to serve as the governor.

Over the years, the imperial court had hardly issued any imperial edicts to him, and now that the imperial edict had arrived, he was filled with doubts.

As he expected, the court wanted him to send troops to recapture Wuzhou this time.

"I hereby award 20,000 pieces of silk to the officers and soldiers of Xingyuan Prefecture. The decree is as follows. Please follow it and implement it. I am very respectful."

"I, Feng Ao, the Minister of War, the Prefect of Xingyuan, and the Governor of Shannan West Road... I accept your order and kowtow to you for your longevity!"

Feng Ao took the imperial edict. The angel heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Minister Feng, this matter concerns the future safety of Xingyuan Prefecture. It must be handled urgently."

"If there is no trouble in the jurisdiction, please mobilize the troops as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble at night."

"I can save it." Feng Ao groaned in his heart, but had to agree on the surface.

Seeing that he accepted the offer, the angel bowed and said, "I have an imperial edict to be sent to Chengdu Prefecture, so I will not stay any longer."

"Goodbye, angel." Feng Ao bowed respectfully, and only sighed after seeing the angel off.

At this time, two officials in scarlet robes, one civil and one military, stepped forward. The military official spoke first:

"There is less than a month left before the mountains are blocked by heavy snow. The court is asking us to mobilize troops to attack Wuzhou at this time. Isn't that child's play?"

"There are more than a thousand foreign soldiers in Wuzhou. If we want to besiege the city, we need five times as many troops, at least five thousand."

"Not to mention the time it will take to gather 5,000 soldiers, even after the soldiers are gathered, we will need tens of thousands of civilians, all of which are money and food."

"What can you do with just 20,000 pieces of silk?"

As soon as the military officer spoke, Feng Ao felt something was wrong.

It is not uncommon for the generals of each town to be domineering, and the soldiers under them are even more so.

If they are asked to quell rebellions and suppress bandits, they will not attack by force unless they are given enough money and food. Instead, they would rather choose to besiege the city and wait for the enemy inside to surrender.

Twenty thousand pieces of silk were a reward for an unpopular military town like Hexi, but for a big town like Shannan West Road, it was like giving alms to beggars.

"Minister, I heard that Liu Jilong led his troops south and is currently attacking Chengzhou."

"The court ordered us to send troops, probably to contain Liu Jilong."

"Liu Jilong's army was very strong. He swept across the three states of He, Lin and Wei in a few months. Even Shang Yanxin was killed by him."

"If our army attacks Wuzhou, it may offend Liu Jilong. It is better to send some troops to make a show. If Liu Jilong leads his army to attack Wuzhou, we can use Liu Jilong as an excuse to lead the army to withdraw to Tonggu County."

The civil official stood up to explain the intention of the imperial edict, and Feng Ao looked at the military official after hearing it. Seeing that the military official also showed his approval, he nodded and said:
"General Wang, you should send someone to Tonggu to lead the troops. Tonggu has 2,000 soldiers stationed there, which can be of great use."

"I obey your command!" General Wang bowed in response, then turned and walked out.

After he left, Feng Ao and the civil servants went to the inner hall and complained:

"Although I am the governor, I have different ideas from the tens of thousands of soldiers in the West Road. Now I need to discuss the mobilization of 2,000 people with them. This..."

Feng Ao sighed, and the civil servant dissuaded him, "It's not the Shangshu's fault that the situation is like this."

"I just heard from the angel that he was going to Jiannan Road to look for Bai Sikong."

"In my humble opinion, Prime Minister Bai has only been in Xichuan for over a month, and the soldiers in Xichuan have not repaired their weapons and armor, and they like to be at ease and are afraid of the severe cold, so they will definitely not send troops."

"Compared to the situation at that time, our army did send troops, but was defeated and had to withdraw. The court will not blame you, the Minister."

With just a few words, the civil servant calmed Feng Ao's worries.

However, Feng Ao was still worried about something, so he hesitated and said, "What the angel said makes some sense. If Liu Jilong captures Cheng and Wu states, it will pose a threat to our Xingyuan Prefecture. If he attacks in the future, what should we do?"

"If the Minister is worried, I will personally go to Longxi in the spring of next year to test Liu Jilong's abilities."

After the civil servant finished speaking, Feng Ao finally felt relieved and said to him kindly, "You are a virtuous person who can help me make plans. What worries me about the Western Road?"

"You are too kind, Minister." The civil servant bowed and then exchanged a few words before leaving the inner hall.

A few days later, Feng Ao sent General Ya to lead 2,000 armored soldiers and 4,000 civilians from Tonggu to Wuzhou.

This group of soldiers and horses only traveled thirty miles a day, and Tonggu was two hundred miles away from Wuzhou. It would take at least eight days to advance at such a slow pace.

While they were slowly heading towards Wuzhou, the angel delivering the imperial edict was also rushing towards Chengdu Prefecture.

However, compared to them, the ones who were more anxious were Li Ji and Wang Sifeng, who led their troops to attack Wuzhou.

"Crackling..."

Wuzhou captured Li County. From the time Li Ji and Wang Sifeng led their troops to the city, the city was breached in less than three days. Most of the 200 armored soldiers in the city were killed and 78 were captured.

The fire in the city had not yet been put out, and many houses were caught on fire by the splashing asphalt from the falling rocks.

The fire was put out from early morning till noon, and it was mostly extinguished. Everyone was exhausted fighting the fire.

As soon as he captured the city, Li Ji led his men to seize the warehouse and began to count the food and grass.

As the last abacus bead fell, the military officer looked up at Li Ji who was sitting on a chair not far away.

"Governor, I have counted it carefully. There are 14,556 shi, 7 dou, 3 jin of millet and wheat in the warehouse, and 524 shi, 6 dou of beans."

After the military officer finished speaking, Li Ji nodded and then looked at another military officer.

Soon, the military officer also put down his plan, let out a long sigh and bowed to Li Ji.

"Governor, there are 4,424 candles, 754 catties of pepper, 1,654 bolts of cloth, 395 catties and 6 ounces of tea, and 350 strings of cash and 724 coins in the treasury."

The money and grain were re-registered. Li Ji stood up and nodded when he heard this: "Wang Huan, you will take a group of brothers to garrison Jiangli County, and recruit another 400 civilians to follow the army to attack Fujin."

"I obey your orders!" A captain not far from Li Ji bowed and accepted the order, and Li Ji walked out with more than a dozen elite cavalrymen.

They came to the street, mounted their horses and headed for the county government office.

After a cup of tea, everyone dismounted in front of the yamen and walked inside.

Wang Sifeng was sitting in the main seat of the yamen, leading people to look through the population register.

Seeing Li Ji coming, Wang Sifeng said, "The last time these bandits were registered was in the second year of Huichang. We will have to register them again later."

"How many people and acres of land are there?" Li Ji asked calmly. Upon hearing this, Wang Sifeng said:

"It records 952 households, 4,457 people, and a total of 29,640 mu of land, including 215 mu of tea fields."

"Almost done!" Li Ji nodded and gave the order in a deep voice:

"There is no time to lose, we must move camp and attack Fujin now!"

"Now?" Wang Sifeng was surprised and said, "The brothers have only rested for less than three hours."

"I can't wait any longer." Li Ji interrupted, "Speed is of the essence in war. Only by conquering the entire Wuzhou as soon as possible can we avoid any worries."

"Tell the brothers that after we recapture Wuzhou, I will give the army three hundred sheep and two hundred poultry as a reward!"

"Okay!" Wang Sifeng did not hesitate after hearing this, and immediately sent people to the military camp to gather a large army to attack Fujin.

After taking Fujin, their next step will be Pandi County, which is navigable.

After taking Pan Di, the Longxi army could build a ferry in the south of Pan Di County and go straight to Yuzhou (Chongqing) along the river.

At Li Ji's urging, the army quickly moved out and headed towards Fujin...

(End of this chapter)