Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 359 Recovering Two States
"kill!!"

In the early morning, when Tongchang County of Fuzhou in the river valley was still shrouded in thick fog, the shouting and killing sounds broke through the thick fog and reached the ears of the people.

People from every household huddled together, looking outside with fear on their faces.

Many brave people opened the windows a little, but the fog in the city was too thick to see anything. They could only hear shouts and screams.

About half an hour later, the shouting and screaming gradually died down, and in the fog on the street the rustling sound of soldiers' armor could be heard.

More than 4,000 people in Tongchang County were still hiding in their houses until noon, when the thick fog gradually dissipated and they could see the situation on the streets clearly.

Those rude foreign soldiers had disappeared, and were replaced by another army with distinctive armor.

Their armor was different from that of the government troops and the foreign troops. Their armor was heavier and thicker, and they were taller. Almost everyone led one or two strong horses, which were taller and bigger than the horses of the government troops.

"It's the Sanchen Banner, they are from the imperial court!"

"No, what they wear is different from the officers and soldiers in Dongchuan and Xichuan."

"What do you mean? Are they the government troops from Shannan West Road? Or Guanzhong?"

"No, none of them, they are the government troops from Longyou!"

After seeing the Sanchen flag, many people bravely ran to the streets, only to find that this government army was different from other government armies.

Thanks to the speculation of some old people, they finally knew the origin of this government army.

Unlike previous government troops, this army rarely interacted with the people, but they always smiled when innocent children approached them.

Just when the people didn't know what to do next, some people wearing breastplates, swords on their waists, and wearing fu hats came into the neighborhood with several soldiers.

"I am the grain officer of the Third Regiment of the Second Army of Wuzhou Town, Longxi Protectorate of the Great Tang Dynasty. I have come here on the orders of the general to inform the people."

"The Duokang bandits have been repelled by our army, and all the surrendered soldiers have been rescued."

"However, most of the officials and common people in the county have been killed. They will all pity your hardship, so I am here to inform you that starting from noon tomorrow, every household must register at the gate of the town according to the household registration."

"All registered households, regardless of gender, will be granted land."

"The fields outside the city will be measured equally, and anyone who causes trouble will be exiled to Anxi!"

The grain officer's words instantly caused an uproar among the crowd.

In border towns like Tongchang, the common people are almost all tenants of the military officers, common people and officials in the city, and few of them can own their own land.

Because of this, they had no objection at all to the matter of Tongchang County's land being taken back by the government for use, and they even strongly supported it.

Anyway, the land is not theirs, so it doesn't matter if it is taken over by the government.

But they didn't expect that the people from the Protectorate would actually distribute the land to them. After the news spread, the turbid eyes of all the people lit up.

"Remember, registration will begin at noon tomorrow, regardless of gender, and the land will be distributed according to the number of people in the household!"

The grain officer left after saying this, without giving the people in the neighborhood any chance to ask questions.

It was not until he and his soldiers disappeared that thunderous cheers broke out in the street.

"Good good!"

"I've heard that the people of Longyou Protectorate live very well, but I didn't expect that we would be so blessed!"

"Aye, we are going to have our own fields!"

"Don't be happy yet, what if I don't keep my word?"

"Right. What if it doesn't count?"

"Yes, and besides, if the general's relatives come to claim the land, what should we do?"

"Damn it! As long as the government gives me equal distribution of land, even the imperial court can't take my land away!"

"That's right! As long as you give land to a certain family, no one can take it away!"

When it comes to dividing the land, each of them seems to have "come alive" and is no longer as timid and hesitant as before.

This situation occurred not just in one place, but in every prefecture and county recaptured by the Longyou soldiers.

The officers and soldiers of Longyou did not let the people worry for too long. Instead, they began to register and measure the land the next day after they recovered the prefectures and counties.

While Longyou was registering and measuring the land in Yizhou and Fuzhou counties, Shang Moyan in Maozhou was also busy.

"Sorry..."

In Wenshan County, the seat of Maozhou, Mo Ludanzeng led more than a hundred elite cavalrymen into the city through the west gate.

There were not many civilians in the ruined city, and this was mainly because the populations of Weizhou, Yizhou and Maozhou were small. Even in Maozhou, which had the largest population, there were only more than 15,000 civilians according to old maps.

Among them, a small half were the Weixi people, and most of these people were relocated by Shang Moyan.

Shang Moyan had his own ideas. The six states had to be given to Liu Jilian, but he also knew that Liu Jilian only cared about the Han people in the six states, so he moved all the Tibetans who were good at farming to Jincheng in Weixi.

The reason why Mo Ludanzeng left and returned was because the migration of the foreign people had ended.

He rode his horse to the Wenshan County Government Office, dismounted and walked into the government office.

Soon, he saw his father looking at the map alone in the hall.

"Father, the aboriginals from several states have migrated to Weixi, but will the commander be unhappy if we do this?"

There was no worry on Lu Danzeng's face, but Shang Moyan said: "I know Liu Jilong, he cares more about the Han people."

"Here are two pieces of news, take a look first." Shang Moyan picked up two letters with the sealing wax torn off and handed them to Meilu Danzeng. Meilu Danzeng took them and looked through them.

The former was a letter sent by the Longyou Army after it took over Fuzhou and Yizhou. The content of the letter was that the Longyou Protectorate provided sufficient food in Diezhou at five times the amount according to the two-state knot provided by Shang Moyan and others.

The grain will be sent to Mochan City soon, and the rest of the journey will need to be handed over to Duokang Tubo to be transported to Weixi.

"We left more than 15,000 people in Yizhou and Fuzhou. Doesn't this mean we can get nearly 80,000 shi of grain?"

A look of joy appeared on Meilu Danzeng's face. Although they had just obtained nearly 20,000 sets of armor and more than 100,000 shi of grain from the Tang army in the six states, the population of Dokang Tubo was too large and the climate had become increasingly strange in recent years.

The land that once produced 100 kilograms of barley can now only produce more than 90 kilograms, and the output is getting lower every year.

Although it was not obviously low, Lu Danzeng still noticed the problem.

For the Dokang Tubo tribe, which had a population of more than 500,000, 80,000 dan of grain was enough to feed them for most of half a year, as they ate very little grain.

"This amount of food is nothing. If we can capture one of the three passes and advance into the heart of Xichuan, we can get more food."

Shang Moyan motioned him to look at the second letter, and Lu Danzeng quickly turned to the second letter.

Unlike the previous letter, this letter has no signature, but the content above is crucial.

"This is……"

Lu Danzeng's eyes widened because the letter mentioned the grain and fodder reserves, the number of troops and the situation of the troops in Gutao Pass, Songling Pass and Jiangyou Pass.

On the surface, each of the three passes was garrisoned with 7,000 men, but among the 7,000 men at Gutao Pass, only 5,000 were armored, and they were led by Fengxiang Town and Shannan West Road respectively.

Compared with Songling Pass and Jiangyou Pass, both of which were guarded by Dongchuan Yiyantang, Taoguan was undoubtedly easier to attack.

"Is this the information sent by Marshal Jie?"

Lu Danzeng looked at his father in disbelief, but he shook his head and said, "No, it was given to us by a merchant from Jiangyou County."

"Merchant?" Lu Danzeng was stunned, then immediately reacted: "Could it be that there is a conflict among the Tang people?"

"It's possible, but I'm worried that they are cheating." Shang Moyan hesitated and spoke, but Lu Danzeng shook his head and said:
"They rely on the three passes. If they are just holding on, why would they attract us to attack Gutao Pass?"

"Therefore, the terrain in front of Taoguan is open and it is not easy to set up an ambush. Moreover, once the pass is taken, it is basically difficult to lose it. They will not be so stupid."

Lu Danzeng clenched the letter in his hand, and then said excitedly: "Dad, now the commander has allowed us to attack the three passes, and we have intelligence about the three passes, why should we be so timid?"

"You're right..." Shang Moyan thought about it again and again, and finally nodded:

"Pass on my message. The new soldiers in armor will stay to garrison Jiangyou County and Wenshan County, and the rest of the troops will march towards Gutao Pass!"

"Dad is wise!" Lu Danzeng praised his father without hesitation.

Under the military orders of the father and son, nearly 20,000 veteran soldiers and 20,000 troops of Duokang Tubo gathered towards Gutaoguan.

The 20,000 newly-armored soldiers were left behind in the most critical Jiangyou and Wenshan counties. Within three days, the Tubo soldiers of Duokang gathered outside Gutao Pass, with banners and flags forming a vast expanse that seemed endless from afar.

In front of the gate tower of Gutao Pass, Fengxiang Town's Left Military Commander Li Changyan and Shannan West Road Commander Wang Fuyan looked at the scene outside the pass with serious expressions, and couldn't help but tighten the hilts of the swords at their waists.

Most of the soldiers from the two towns on the pass were breathing heavily and were very nervous.

Li Changyan was only thirty years old, but Wang Fuyan was already forty.

Both of them were of the same build, no more than five feet seven or eight inches tall, and were of average build, typical of the scions of military commanders' families in various towns.

However, the two men were under different affiliations. Although Li Changyan held a higher official position, Wang Fuyan, considering his old age, never obeyed Li Changyan's transfer orders.

After Yang Fuguang led his troops to rescue Chengdu, the emotions of the two men also affected the soldiers under their command, and they could not stand each other.

Now that Shang Moyan's army is at the gates of the city, although Li Changyan and Wang Fuyan usually pick on each other, they have to sit down and discuss countermeasures now.

Li Changyan looked solemn, and took the initiative to bow to Wang Fuyan and said:

"General Wang, although you and I have had conflicts in the past, the foreign invaders are now at the gates of the city. If Gutao Pass is lost, you and I will not lose our lives, but neither of us will be in a good situation."

"How about we wait until we defeat the bandits to settle this grudge?"

The two men came from the families of generals in Zhenzhong Army, so even if they lost Gutaoguan, the court would not sentence them to death, but scolding and withholding of rewards for fighting abroad were inevitable.

If the court did not issue rewards, they would have to pay out of their own pockets and sell their property to reward the soldiers, which was a result that neither of them wanted to see.

Because of this, Li Changyan suggested adopting a strategy of alternating defense, otherwise their more than 7,000 people would not be able to hold out for long.

Although Wang Fuyan was dissatisfied with Li Changyan taking the initiative, he nodded in the face of a powerful enemy: "With a powerful enemy at hand, I will reluctantly listen to the words of a child like you."

"But if your troops cannot defend Fengxiang, don't blame me for turning my back on you."

"Of course!" Li Changyan's eyelids twitched slightly, and he thought to himself that the old barbarian was too concerned about his reputation.

If there were no powerful enemy at hand, he would have wanted to kill the old barbarian first, take control of his troops, and then wait for an opportunity to repel the foreign troops.

Holding back his anger, Li Changyan said in a deep voice: "I want to divide the soldiers into three teams. The first team will be my 3,000 Fengxiang Town armored soldiers, the second team will be your 2,000 Shannan West Road armored soldiers, and the third team will be the garrison soldiers from our two towns."

“In addition, Chengdu has been relieved, so we should naturally send out light cavalry to tell General Yang about the invasion of foreign troops into Gutao Pass, and wait for the reinforcements led by General Yang.

"Of course!" Wang Fuyan responded with a cold snort, turned around and left the gatehouse.

Seeing his domineering appearance, Li Changyan's eyes flashed with coldness, but considering the foreign soldiers outside the city, he still held back and did not get angry.

While the foreign soldiers were setting up camp, Li Changyan and Wang Fuyan also began to deploy their troops and prepared items for defending the city, such as battering rams, rolling logs, and equipment such as wolf-tooth maces.

Until dusk, Taoguan, at least on the surface, looked as solid as a rock, not as idle as it was during the day.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

The soldiers from the two towns, exhausted after a whole day's work, finally lay down when they heard the whistling sound of stones. Many of the stones hit the wall of Gutao Pass violently, almost causing a roar in the camp.

"Damn it! The foreign soldiers are coming this way with catapults!"

"Put on armor and wake up! Use the trebuchets to greet them!"

"You cunning, treacherous foreign dog!"

Therefore, inside Taoguan, thousands of armored soldiers, under the command of the generals, put on their armor and prepared for battle while cursing.

In the dark night, the lights on the Gutaoguan Horse Road were particularly eye-catching, and the lights from the catapults on the Duokang foreign soldiers' positions were equally eye-catching.

Soon, both sides began to use trebuchets to attack each other in the dark. The one used by Xichuan was the counterweight trebuchet that Bai Minzhong learned from the Tianxiong Army under Gao Pian when he was in charge of Xichuan.

The trebuchets used by both sides were counterweight trebuchets, and they bombarded each other for most of the night, resulting in many casualties on both sides.

However, Gutaoguan was protected by a city wall, so the casualties were naturally much less than those of Duokang Tubo.

The next morning, when Shang Moyan, who had been resting all night, arrived at the battlefront, Mei Ludanzeng, who had gotten up earlier, hurriedly walked towards him and bowed:
"Father, more than 300 of our troops were killed or injured last night, and 12 catapults were destroyed."

"..." Shang Moyan frowned slightly, and said after a moment: "We must fight quickly and decisively."

"Order the three armies to prepare cloud chariots, nest chariots, and battering rams. Tell the catapults not to worry about hitting their own people."

"Inform the troops that if they can capture Gutao Pass within five days, they and their families will be transferred to the military!"

"Yes!" Mei Ludanzeng responded quickly, and Shang Moyan's military order also spread to the three armies.

The slaves were both excited and frightened, while the armored soldiers were conserving their energy and preparing to be in the best condition for the battlefield.

"Uuuuuu——"

Soon, the horns and drums sounded at the same time, and the 40,000-man army, under the command of Shang Moyan, rushed towards Gutao Pass like a wave...

When Chengdu received the message of request for help from Gutao Pass, it was already the third day since Shang Moyan attacked Gutao Pass.

At this moment, the city of Chengdu was still under high alert. The five destroyed stone bridges had not been repaired, and Yang Fuguang had not ordered the people who had taken refuge in the city to leave and return home.

When he received the letter asking for help from Gutaoguan, he immediately summoned all the officials in the Chengdu government, including Suo Xun, the left military commander of Qianzhong Road.

Even so, there were only about thirty officials in the main hall, and most of them were military officers.

Many officials who were attached to the Northern Secretariat and came to gild themselves in the city fled north to Xingyuan Prefecture (Hanzhong) just before You Shilong surrounded Chengdu.

"The foreign bandits led their troops to attack Gutao Pass. I think you all know the current situation in Gutao Pass."

Sitting in the main seat, Yang Fuguang looked solemnly at everyone in the hall, including Chen Qiqian who was sent from Lizhou by Cui Xuan to provide assistance.

"In order to defend Chengdu, our army lost nearly 5,000 soldiers. Apart from the 2,000 elite cavalry led by Chen Du, there are only about 8,000 soldiers left in Xichuan."

"There are less than 5,000 soldiers and horses left under the command of General Suo."

"The Tang cavalry sent from the south reported that You Shilong led his troops to stay in Jiazhou. If he knew that our army was rushing to support Gu Taoguan, would he reorganize his troops and continue to counterattack Chengdu?"

In just a few words, Yang Fuguang explained the current situation facing Chengdu.

Jiazhou fell, and Cui Xuan, the governor, was unable to capture the two cities of Hanyuan and Tongwang to cut off the barbarian army's retreat.

This allowed the barbarian army to occupy Jiazhou with ease, and they could attack or defend.

Heading north from Jiazhou, apart from the Yangtze River (Minjiang River) which could provide some blocking force, the only ones they could rely on were the troops from Dongchuan.

"Does Envoy Gao have any news? Can you contain Chief Long's barbarian army?"

Yang Fuguang asked Chen Qigan, who shook his head and said, "Envoy Gao said that they attacked Chief Long's rear and fought dozens of battles with the elite barbarian cavalry. At present, many Dongchuan soldiers and horses have been killed and wounded, and it is difficult to contain them."

"Military Supervisor, we still have 8,000 soldiers in Chengdu. How about having the general lead the troops from Qianzhong Road to rush to the old Taoguan?"

Chen Qiquan did not want to waste the troops of Xichuan, so sacrificing the troops of Qianzhong Road was the best strategy.

Yang Fuguang also knew what he was planning, so he couldn't help but look at Suo Xun.

Seeing this, Suo Xun cursed in his heart that the officials of the court were indeed of the same kind. It was a pity that Yang Fuguang had been calling him a brother when he was defending the city a few days ago.

Fortunately, he had been so reckless before, and now facing Yang Fuguang's question, he changed his attitude and said:
"Most of our veterans are gone, and the rest are mostly new recruits. Not only are they not good at fighting, but they also march slowly, only about thirty miles a day."

"If our army rushes to support Gutao Pass, it will probably take six or seven days to reach Gutao Pass."

"I am willing to go to Gutao Pass, but I am worried that my comrades in Gutao Pass may not be able to hold on until then."

Yang Fuguang had worked in the palace for such a long time that he naturally knew that Suo Xun deliberately exposed the matter in order to evade responsibility.

After all, he had already said that the soldiers in Qianzhong Road marched slowly. If he were to send him to Gutaoguan, he could easily delay it for six or seven days.

Therefore, although Taoguan is strong enough, it cannot withstand the gap between Li Changyan and Wang Fuyan.

If the two had a conflict on the battlefield, it might not be possible to defend Gutao Pass.

Thinking of this, Yang Fuguang could only frown and look at Chen Qiqian: "General Chen, you lead a thousand elite cavalry to Gutao Pass first."

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Suo Xun and said, "Commander Suo can leave the wounded soldiers in the city to recuperate, and lead 3,000 soldiers to Gutao Pass within seven days."

"I will obey your orders!" Chen Qiqian and Suo Xun agreed readily, but Yang Fuguang still had a bad feeling in his heart...

(End of this chapter)