Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 144 Longxi Situation

"Harder!"

"Damn it, you're so heavy!"

At the foot of the yellow and green hill, a soldier was climbing up with all his might, and beneath his feet were two soldiers acting as stepping stones.

For people living in mountainous areas, this hill less than ten feet high is not difficult to climb.

But for Chen Ying, who lives on the plain, this broken hill is like a natural moat.

He used both hands and feet, stepped on the shoulders of two brothers, and was supported by them before he climbed up the broken hill.

As he climbed up the broken hill, he gasped heavily and lay on the yellow and green grass to rest for a few breaths before staggering to his feet.

The sunlight was blinding, so he put his hands over his brows and looked around.

Below the broken hill where he was, there was a mound that stretched for several miles. The mound was dozens of feet high and horses could not climb up, so it could only be climbed by manpower.

As he stood up, he had a clear view of the surrounding situation.

This place is different from the emerald green grassland in Hexi. Even if there are wild grasses here, they are yellow and green.

This yellow-green color extends to the surrounding hills. Although there is no shortage of trees on the hills, these trees are of strange shapes and have sparse branches and leaves.

In the distance, there was still snow on the top of the Qilian Mountains. On the left side of the hill was the valley that Chen Ying and his team had climbed up, and on the right side were the rolling mountains.

There are rarely any green patches on the rolling hills on the right. Instead, they are all yellow and green vegetation, so it is impossible for an ambush to exist.

Chen Ying looked to the left and saw a team stretching for miles in the wide valley.

The team kept moving forward, but there was no end in sight.

Looking in the direction the team was advancing, the terrain ahead began to gradually become lower, and a river valley ran from northwest to southeast, blocking the path of the army's advance.

"Chen Ying! What happened?!"

The two soldiers at the foot of the broken hill asked him about it, and Chen Ying came to his senses and said, "There's no problem for the first five or six miles. There's no one in the river valley!"

After that, he said to the two people at the bottom of the broken hill: "Throw the flag up, I will go ahead, and you follow below!"

"Hey!" Upon hearing his reply, the two people at the bottom of the broken hill immediately threw up a flag and a flagpole, and then walked forward along the broken hill.

Chen Ying picked up the flag and flagpole on the ground, put them together, and began to blow the whistle and wave the flag.

Soon, his flag signal was responded to by the Tang soldiers in the valley below the hill. The Tang soldiers waved flags and asked him to continue exploring forward.

After Chen Ying waved the flag in response, he took the flag down from the flagpole, carried the flagpole, and walked forward with his elite cavalry.

The walkable space on the broken hill was long and narrow. If one lost his footing, he would roll down the hill. Even if Chen Ying was wearing armor, it would be difficult for him to survive, so he walked very carefully.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh: "This mountain is really barren. There is not even a piece of green to be seen."

He walked and talked to himself, looking at the team in the valley from time to time.

After walking for about half an hour, a stone fortress standing on a broken hill suddenly appeared in front of us.

Seeing the stone fortress, Chen Ying groped his way over carefully, and the space under his feet became wider and wider.

Soon, he reached the foot of the stone fort, but there was no sound from inside the fort.

He found the gate of the stone fort, on which hung a wooden sign with the words "Wu Castle" inscribed on it. These were the three words his captain had asked him to remember before he set out.

I carefully pushed open the door of the fort. It was clean inside, with nothing inside except some wood and discarded tables, chairs and benches.

The stone fortress of about 100 square meters was empty, and there was a thick layer of dust in the water tank, which showed that it had been abandoned for a long time.

Upon learning that there was no one there, Chen Ying breathed a sigh of relief, then climbed up the horse trail to the stone fort, planted the flag on the horse trail, and picked up the wooden whistle and blew it.

"Beep--"

As he blew the wooden whistle, two soldiers at the foot of the broken hill popped their heads out: "Chen Ying, how is it?"

"No one, it's been abandoned for a long time!"

Chen Ying responded loudly, then stood on the horse trail and had a clear view of the river valley and both sides of the river ahead.

After observing the surroundings, he continued to instruct the two soldiers under his feet: "There are no flags or ambushes on the mountains on both sides of the river valley!"

"Okay, you and Cha Mi Gan wait here, I'll go down and report the military situation."

A soldier responded, then began to search for a way down the mountain, walking down the hill carefully.

It was only about thirty or forty feet high, but it took a whole cup of tea to get down the mountain.

When the Tang soldiers arrived at the valley, the Tang soldiers team he belonged to also trotted up to him on horseback.

"Captain! Wu Castle has been abandoned for a long time. Chen Ying didn't see any ambushes on the opposite bank of the river valley or on the opposite mountain while walking on the horse trail!"

After the soldiers finished their report, the leader of the soldiers on horseback nodded and said, "Let them wait on the mountain."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and looked at a Tangqi: "Send the message back to the central army."

"Yes!" Tangqi turned his horse's head and galloped away quickly.

The journey of seven or eight miles only took a quarter of an hour, and soon the information from the front was passed back to the central army.

On horseback, Liu Jilong listened to the report and then looked at Li Yizhong beside him.

"It seems that the information is correct. The Castle of Wu has indeed been abandoned for a long time."

"This place is the key point leading to Changsong. You'd better leave a group of soldiers here to guard it."

Li Yizhong nodded when he heard this, and instructed the brigade commander behind him: "Leave a group of soldiers to garrison in Wuchengbao, and leave them enough food to last for half a year."

"I obey your command!" The brigade commander responded and started to make arrangements soon.

At the same time, the army continued to move forward along the official road, while the soldiers continued to explore forward.

This was the second day since they set out from Changsong. They entered the Herong Mountains in the eastern part of the Qilian Mountains yesterday afternoon.

The mountains in Lanzhou are relatively flat and the official roads are wide enough, so we didn't encounter any problems along the way.

However, judging from the vegetation conditions in Herongling, the drought in Longxi is obviously not optimistic.

The Herong Mountains seem to be a dividing line, separating the lush Liangzhou from the arid Lanzhou.

The yellow and green vegetation around them made them realize that they were far away from where they grew up.

Because there were old, weak, women and children in the army, the marching speed was not fast, only forty miles a day.

It is nearly 200 miles from Changsong to Guangwu in the north of Lanzhou, which normally takes five days.

Now it is the second day. If nothing unexpected happens, they should cross the Wunishui River between Herongling and Hongchiling Mountain, and set up camp south along the official road on the west bank of the Wunishui River.

"The flags are fluttering, the horses are galloping..."

"Good men, good men, good men serve their country today..."

Amid the loud singing, the army gradually walked out of Herong Ridge and arrived at the east bank of Wunishui River.

"Xu..."

On horseback, Liu Jilong reined in his horse and watched the Wu Ni Shui flow.

The river does not flow fast and is about ten steps wide. There are traces of the river's previous water levels on both sides of the river.

Liu Jilong dismounted, took the spear from a soldier, and walked to the river to demonstrate it.

A ten-foot-long spear was unable to reach the water surface from its original water level, which meant that the water level in Wunishui had dropped by at least ten feet.

The water level of a river of this width dropped so much, especially during the flood season, which made Liu Jilong frown.

"Governor, what are you doing?"

Zhang Chang and Ma Cheng dismounted and walked towards Liu Jilong. Liu Jilong also stood up and gestured:
"Look at the water level. It has dropped by at least ten feet, and the width has shrunk from more than twenty steps to more than ten steps."

He returned the spear to the soldier, and Ma Cheng and Zhang Chang looked at each other before saying, "It would be better if the water level dropped, so that it would be easier for us to cross the river."

The two were not familiar with the terrain of Longxi, but Liu Jilong was very clear about it.

The Wunishui River is the Zhuanglang River in later generations. It flows through Guangwu County, irrigating tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland in Guangwu County, and finally merges into the Yellow River, irrigating the Lanzhou Basin together with the Yellow River.

The water level of the Wunishui River has dropped, which means that the upper reaches of the Yellow River have suffered a severe drought, and the Longxi area that relies on river water for irrigation will also continue to suffer from severe drought.

"The drought in Longxi may be more serious than we thought. I don't know if water-turning trucks can solve the irrigation problem." As the water level drops, the problem of not being able to grow crops can only be solved by using water trucks to divert water to ditches for irrigation.

Water-powered pumps can solve part of the problem, but if the water level drops too much, even a water-powered pump will not be able to pump river water into the canal.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked towards the west of the river where Wu Ni Shui was.

The west of the river is blocked by mountains, and the only way to get there is to walk south along the Wuni River valley.

Now flags have been hoisted on the mountains west of the river, which means that both sides of the river are very safe and we can cross the river without worry.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong signaled to Zhang Chang and the others, "Soldiers, build a floating bridge to cross."

"Yes!" The two men bowed in response and quickly arranged for soldiers to build a pontoon bridge.

Due to the drop in water level, the water level of Wunishui River is only up to a person's chest.

This is good news for the army that needs to cross the river, but it is not good news for cities such as Guangwu and Wuquan downstream.

An hour later, the pontoon bridge was built by hundreds of soldiers, and horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts began to pass by, followed by the army's family members, laborers, and finally the soldiers.

After the floating bridge was built, Liu Jilong did not have anyone dismantle it. After all, Li Yizhong still needed the floating bridge to communicate with Changsong.

Under the command of Liu Jilian, a Guiyi Army of more than 10,000 people began to march southward along the river valley.

Thanks to the drop in the water level of the Wuni River, the official road on the east bank has become wider, and even three carriages can pass side by side with room to spare.

Before dark, they found a gorge to set up camp and rest, and they cut down large tracts of the sparse vegetation around them, and it was unknown how many years it would take for it to recover.

At night, fires were lit in the camp, and delicious meals and wild vegetables were served to people.

Although life was much harder than in Hexi, no one in the camp complained, because Liu Jilian also sat outside the tent with Zhang Chang and others, eating the same food as them.

What is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth. As long as we don’t feel unfair, temporary hardships can be endured.

"Starting tomorrow, if you encounter mature trees along the way, you must cut them down and take them with you."

"If there are no trees around Guangwu, we won't be able to build catapults, and it won't be easy to capture Guangwu."

After finishing the meal without any oil, Liu Jilong gave instructions to Shang Duoluo, Chen Jingchong and others.

Everyone agreed, and Zhang Chang sniffed the air.

"Where does the smell of meat come from?" Zhang Chang looked in the direction of the smell, only to see that it was coming from Li Yi's tent.

He clicked his tongue twice, and although he didn't say anything, his mocking look was very obvious.

Ma Cheng, Li Ji and others naturally also smelled that smell, but no one of them said anything. After all, after taking Lanzhou, they probably wouldn't have any contact with Li Yizhong anymore.

At the moment, they still need Li Yizhong to lead his troops to help them recapture Guangwu, Jinchengguan and Wuquan, so there is no need to create trouble for themselves.

However, they could also see that Li Yizhong's way of leading troops was destined to not win the love of the soldiers.

With this in mind, everyone calmed down, and Liu Jilong returned to the tent after giving a few quick instructions.

When everyone saw him leave, they all ate and drank their fill and returned to their own tents.

After returning to the tent, Liu Jilong did not rest because he had too much to do. The communication with Shang Duoluo in the past few days made him better understand the situation in Longxi, so he had to record all the information.

As it was inconvenient to carry a sand table on the march, after returning to the tent, he took out a piece of rough paper and drew a map of Helong on the paper with a brush.

After the maps of Hexi and Longyou were drawn, he further divided Hexi and Longyou into specific areas.

He drew Huizhou and Lanzhou, which were about to be attacked by Tubo, into one group, the three states of He, Lin and Wei into one group, the seven states of Longnan into one group, and then drew Lun Kongre in Mochanchuan, and drew Shanzhou and Guzhou into one group.

After circling these forces, Liu Jilong took out the document and began to estimate the population of each force and the number of soldiers under their command based on the information provided by Shang Duoluo and the early Tang Dynasty records of the population of Longyou Road.

In the Helong area, the strongest force is undoubtedly the Guiyi Army that is currently recovering Liangzhou. It has a population of about 210,000 and more than 17,000 soldiers.

In addition, there are the Tubo people in the seven states of Longnan, with a total population of about 130,000 and more than 8,000 soldiers.

Next were Shang Yanxin with a population of 74,000, and Shang Bibi with a population of 60,000.

The number of soldiers and horses of the two men was more than 4,000 and 5,000 respectively.

Apart from them, the only ones left were the Tubo people in Lanzhou and Huizhou.

Lanzhou has a population of 10,000 and 1,000 soldiers, while Huizhou has a population of 26,000 and more than 2,000 soldiers.

These data are not absolute, because it is impossible to count how much the number of foreign people has increased over the years, so the population of Longxi may be very different from the actual population.

If he could recapture the entire Longxi area, and with the ready-made armor, with a population of 200,000 in Longxi, it would not be a problem to maintain 10,000 armored soldiers.

However, Liu Jilong rubbed his brows because of the water level of the Wuni River.

"Sir, are you feeling unwell?"

Cao Mao, who had just gotten hot water for Liu Jilong, saw him rubbing his eyebrows and immediately showed concern.

"No." Liu Jilong shook his head, and then said: "The drought in Longxi is more serious than I thought."

"Although the imperial court built many weirs, canals and dikes in Longxi in the early years, after the fall of Helong, Tubo neglected to manage it. In addition, Lun Kongre sent troops to Helong, and many canals and weirs were probably blocked or even damaged."

"It will probably take a lot of effort to restore these canals and dams."

"Besides, if we have to feed the people of Wuquan with the food our army has, I'm afraid we won't even be able to make it through the New Year."

"After arriving at Wuquan, I have to find a way to solve this matter."

Food is the foundation. Without food, everything Liu Jilong has now will be lost over time.

The reason why Lun Kongre went from being a great Tubo general with 30,000 soldiers to being a local bandit in Mochanchuan today was because he could not feed the Tibetans in Longxi enough.

If he could feed the barbarians in Longxi, he would have no shortage of followers no matter how cruel he was.

"Governor, can't we borrow grain from Xiao Zhang Jiedushi?"

Cao Mao asked in confusion, but Liu Jilong shook his head: "It's time to cut off our connection with Hexi."

Liu Jilian was very clear about what Zhang Yichao and his nephew were thinking. They just wanted to send him to Longxi and wait until Zhang Huaishen's position was consolidated before finding a way to recall him back.

But he had had enough of being someone else's subordinate, and this time he left to be the master of his own house.

Even if he would return to Hexi in the future, he would not go to help Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen, but would annex Hexi, leaving only one Guiyi Army in the northwest.

It is much better for this uncle and nephew to be under his command than under the Tang court.

"In response to this, Governor." Cao Mao seemed to have thought of something and could not help but say:
"I heard from Governor Li that Governor Suo seems to be very hostile to you. Should we be careful?"

"No need." Liu Jilong shook his head and chuckled. He didn't think Suo Xun could pose a threat to him.

Although because of his own reasons, the Guiyi Army recaptured Liangzhou ten years ahead of schedule and attempted to expand its influence to Huizhou east of the Yellow River.

However, this move would not make the Tang court look at them with new eyes, but would make them more vigilant.

After all, in history, they only recovered Liangzhou, which led to the Tang court dispatching the Tianping Army from Yunzhou to intervene in Liangzhou, and even supported the Uighurs in Ganzhou, Anxi and other places to restrain them.

Now that they have crossed the Yellow River and recovered Huizhou, even Liu Jilian is not sure what kind of reaction the Tang court will have.

If Suo Xun wants to become more powerful by relying on Huizhou, he also has to see whether the Tang court is willing to help him.

Without the help of the Tang court, it would be a fantasy for Suo Xun to take root in Huizhou, where there are more foreigners than Han people.

Compared to Huizhou, although I will face a difficult period in Longxi, as long as I can get through it, I can take advantage of the situation and rise.

This so-called situation was not only about the bandits in Shannan West Road, but also about the southwestern problems of the Tang court.

If I remember correctly, not long after the death of Tang Xuanzong Li Chen, Nanzhao changed its country name and proclaimed itself emperor, launching an attack on the southwest of the Tang Dynasty and even conquering Bozhou and Jiaozhi.

As long as a conflict breaks out between the Tang court and Nanzhao, he will have an opportunity to take advantage.

Even if the battlefield is not in Jiannan Road, he can still create conflicts in Jiannan Road.

Thinking of this, the figures of Shang Bibi, Shang Moyan and Tuoba Huaiguang flashed through Liu Jilong's mind.

In the late Tang Dynasty, how to make the Tang court pay attention to you?
In addition to giving the Tang Dynasty a small shock, the next thing is to keep the enemy at bay.

If Longxi wants to obtain resources, there is no better way than to keep the enemy at bay.

While thinking, Liu Jilong put away the documents on the table, gave some instructions to Cao Mao, and then went to bed peacefully.

Before he could support the enemy and gain strength, he still had to strengthen himself first and let the Tang court recognize his strength.

(End of this chapter)