A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 281: Splitting Troops Halfway
Chang'an is a full 1,200 miles away from Taiyuan.

In the middle, we have to cross the Yellow River.

Reinforcements were needed as soon as possible, but it was not easy for 20,000 troops to march a thousand miles, especially when they encountered heavy rain in early summer. Although there were 6,000 auxiliary troops to transport food, fodder and weapons, the marching speed of the 20,000-strong army was still slowed down.

The daily march was only forty miles, which meant it would take nearly a month to reach Jiexiu.

Li Zhongwen reined in his horse and stood on the mound, frowning as he watched the army, winding like a dragon, marching with difficulty through the ravines.

"That won't do. It's too slow. We have to cover more than sixty miles a day."

Li Yi rode Ye Zhaobai. The scene of the 20,000-man army marching was still very spectacular. Because they carried a lot of baggage, the entire army was thirty miles apart from the front and the rear.

The roads were muddy after the rain. The combat soldiers, infantry and cavalry were still okay, but the auxiliary troops and baggage trains were in trouble. The vehicles had difficulty moving and the speed slowed down.

"Report!"

A horse came galloping over.

"Report, Pingyao, Pingyao has fallen!"

Upon hearing the news, Li Zhongwen swung his whip fiercely into the air.

"Lord Qianshui, we must speed up, otherwise Jiexiu will be difficult to defend." He looked at Li Yi and said, "Divide the troops. I will lead the combat troops first, and Lord Qianshui will lead the right rear army and auxiliary troops to escort the baggage and food."

At this time, Li Yi and his men had just entered the territory of Jinzhou, which is Linfen in later generations. It is more than 300 miles away from Pingyao.

It is still three hundred miles away from Jiexiu City.

At the current speed of thirty to forty miles a day, it will take another ten days to arrive.

"I will lead 12,000 infantry and cavalry, carrying seven days' worth of food and fodder, and march lightly. I will arrive at Jiexiu in five days to reinforce them."

"Duke Qianshui, you will lead two thousand rear-guard infantry and cavalry, and six thousand auxiliary troops, to transport the baggage and food supplies."

Li Yi felt that Li Zhongwen was taking a very risky action.

Of course it is possible to march sixty miles a day, but if we only carry seven days' worth of food and fodder, wouldn't that be dangerous if the rear troops couldn't keep up?

"Lord Zhenxiang, I think this is too risky. Why not send cavalry to Jiexiu first?"

If the cavalry maintains their physical strength, they can easily march 70 to 80 miles a day. If they march quickly, they can march 100 to 150 miles a day, but the damage to the horses will be great and the march cannot last long.

Li Yi suggested sending a thousand cavalrymen to Jiexiu first at a speed of one hundred miles a day.

If the enemy is still besieging the city, the presence of this cavalry can help to reduce the pressure on the city defense. If the enemy has already broken through Jiexiu, then the cavalry can retreat to Lingshi County or defend Haozhou Xicheng.

"Pingyao has been broken, how long can Jiexiu hold out? Sending a thousand cavalrymen is just a tactic to add fuel to the fire." Li Zhongwen decided to take the Sixth Army with the Seventh Army.

Li Yi had to remind him, "Please be cautious, Lord Zhenxiang. It is too dangerous for six armies to only carry seven days of food and fodder."

"Carrying more will affect the marching speed." Li Zhongwen was also a little helpless.

At Li Yi's suggestion, Li Zhongwen sent his personal soldiers to summon the generals of various armies.

Upon learning that Pingyao City had been conquered by Song Jingang, the generals all looked unhappy. If this news was passed back to Chang'an, it would undoubtedly be their responsibility.

Li Zhongwen mentioned his plan again.

Longxi King Li Boyi directly stood on Li Yi's side: "Li, I think what Wuyi said makes sense. You should give it more consideration."

Bohai King Li Fengci also said bluntly: "If the real Xianggong insists on going first, then my two brothers plan to stay and go with Wuyi."

These two brothers, one is the commander-in-chief of the left rear wing army and the other is the commander-in-chief of the right front wing army, commanding more than 5,000 troops, but now they are unwilling to act with Li Zhongwen.

Li Zhongwen's brows suddenly frowned.

He really wanted to get angry. At this time, these two brothers were still acting like this.

"My Lords, the military situation on the front lines is urgent and we must divide our forces."

"Go ahead and divide the troops. We don't disagree with dividing the troops. There are seven armies in total. You take the fourth army and go first. The two of us will follow behind with Wu Yi."

Chief Clerk Wang Xingmin and Sima Liu Shirang felt that it was necessary to divide the troops so as to speed up the reinforcement and leave three of the four armies behind.

Neither of them wanted to offend the two young princes, so they tried to smooth things over.

So, in the end, Li Zhongwen had no choice but to compromise.

Li Yi led the right rear army, Li Boyi led the left rear army, and Li Fengci led the right front army, with a total of 5,550 combat soldiers, plus 6,000 auxiliary soldiers, and a camp of young soldiers who followed the expedition, more than 1,000 people, who also stayed behind to accompany them.

In this way,
Li Zhongwen led the four armies of soldiers to advance, with a total of more than 8,000 people. Together with the sons and followers of some generals, there were almost 9,000 people.

Li Yi's side, on the other hand, had almost 13,000 people.

"Be careful on your journey, Mr. Zhenxiang,"

"Shallow Water County is also catching up quickly."

The two men divided their forces on the banks of the Fen River on the border between Jin and Jiang.

Li Zhongwen ordered the front army to march seventy miles a day, while Li Yi ordered the rear army to maintain a daily march of at least thirty-five miles.

The two armies gradually distanced themselves from each other.

Li Yi traveled 35 miles a day and it took him nearly ten days to reach Jiexiu.

In the afternoon,

As the sun was setting, Li Yi had already stopped his mount and ordered his men to choose a place to set up camp.

Although this place is still in the territory of the Tang army in Jinzhou, he dare not underestimate the enemy. After Li Zhongwen took the main force away, although he still had three armies of combat soldiers, there were only about 5,000 people in total. The remaining 6,000 auxiliary soldiers and the more than 1,000 volunteer soldiers did not have much combat effectiveness.

If there is no camp at night and the enemy attacks suddenly, it will be a disaster.

Li Yi dare not be careless.

The auxiliary soldiers surrounded the baggage wagons, forming a wagon camp first, and then erected a fence and arrow towers outside. They even dug horse traps in front of the fence and cut off deer antlers.

Middle-level officers such as Zhao Yongan, Qiu Shenyan, Qiu Yingqi, and Ji Sigong are all relatively experienced. With their command and arrangements, everything is in order.

Cui Dunli, the military secretary, and Ji Siwen, the military officer, accompanied Li Yi on his inspection of the camp.
The Li Boyi brothers started barbecuing there.

Not far behind their camp, there was a caravan, which was composed of several caravans and some small vendors, carrying all kinds of supplies and goods, and even prostitutes. Every day as soon as they set up camp, they started doing business. The brothers' family soldiers bought live sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. for them.

"Do you think Jiexiu can be held?" "It's hard to say. Pingyao fell so quickly."

"Taiyuan has a lot of soldiers and horses, why can't they do anything?" Cui Dunli asked.

Li Yi thought, don't you know the reason? It's because Taiyuan is now under the command of Li Yuanji. Li Yuanji is seventeen years old, the same age as Li Daozong, the chief of his camp, but Li Yuanji is a big naughty child.

Look at the idiotic things he did in Bingzhou.

Previously, Song Jingang had several tens of thousands of troops stationed at Huangsheling.
As a result, Li Yuanji forced General Zhang Da to lead 100 infantrymen to attack. It was unknown how Zhang Da had offended Li Yuanji.
This is a time to kill with someone else's knife.

Zhang Da had just arrived at Huangshe Ridge with a hundred men when his brothers were quickly slaughtered. Angry, Zhang Da turned against his allies and became a guide, leading Song Jingang's Han army to capture Yuci City.

Maybe Pingyao was conquered by Zhang Da.

"From Jinzhou to Taiyuan, one must pass through Xihe."

When Li Yuan started his rebellion in Taiyuan, he sent Jiancheng and Shimin to attack Xihe in the first battle. The two brothers took over Xihe County in three days.

When the Tang Dynasty was founded, counties were changed into prefectures, and Xihe County was divided into Haozhou and Jiezhou.

There is a reason why one county was split into two states.

There are two roads leading to Jinzhou from Taiyuan to the south. One is the road that Li Yuan took when he led his army south, which goes along the west side of the Fen River through Qingyuan and Haozhou, crossing the Fen River to Lingshi.

Another route goes along the east side of the Fen River through Yuci, Pingyao, Jiexiu to Lingshi.

The road on the west goes through Haozhou, and the road on the east goes through Jiezhou.

This time, Liu Wuzhou sent Song Jingang to march south in a large-scale campaign, first taking Yuci and then Pingyao. The next step was to attack Jiexiu and occupy Lingshi.

The intention was very clear, which was to surround the important city of Taiyuan in Bingzhou while sending troops south to block the route of reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty.

Now Song Jingang is taking the east route,
If he were to seize Jiexiu and Lingshi, the western front would be blocked.

By then, no matter how strong the Bingzhou city is or how much food and grass it has, it will be trapped in an isolated city.

Li Zhongwen was right to rush his troops north. If Song Jingang could conquer Jiexiu and Lingshi again,
Then they would be blocked in the south and couldn't even reach the edge of Taiyuan City.

at night,

Li Yi chatted with the Li Boyi brothers and mentioned that they were unwilling to go ahead with Li Zhongwen.

"We two brothers trust you. Saints say you are a lucky general. Li Zhongwen has a short lifespan, so we two brothers don't trust him."

"Yes, I trust you, brother."

What followed was a march through wind and rain, and wading through mud. With 13,000 auxiliary troops, they could only barely march 35 miles a day.

The nine thousand troops led by Li Zhongwen marched seventy to eighty miles every day, rushing all the way.

Four days later,
Li Zhongwen's troops had passed Huoyi in Jinzhou and arrived near Fenshui Pass, south of Queshu Valley on the border of Jinjie.

This pass is only fifty miles away from Lingshi City.

"Report!"

"Han cavalry spotted ahead!"

"Send out a hundred light cavalrymen and try to capture one or two alive." Li Zhongwen pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist, frowning.

This place is more than a hundred miles away from Jiexiu City.

How did the Han cavalry appear here? Jiexiu is far away from here, but there is Lingshi City, Yindi Pass, Lengquan Pass, etc. between them.

Could it be that they were still a step too late, and the Han army had already captured Jiexiu City and even Lingshi?
Thinking of this, Li Zhongwen couldn't help but become anxious.

If Jiexiu is broken, the eastern route to Taiyuan will be completely blocked. If Lingshi is also broken, they will be blocked here and unable to reinforce Taiyuan.

The light cavalry pursued the Han cavalry.
Arrows flew back and forth from both sides.

Soon these Han cavalry disappeared in the north.

Li Zhongwen gripped the knife handle tightly, "Be on guard, and speed up the march!"

"Report!"

Scouts came galloping to the front of the army,

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, my scouts have pursued the enemy cavalry and discovered a Han army of about a thousand men."

Li Zhongwen was cheered up.

"Only a thousand people?"

"There are only a thousand people, all of them are light cavalry."

Li Zhongwen drew his sword, "Fortunately, we arrived in time. This group must be the vanguard of the Han army. Blow the horn, attack, and annihilate them!"

The nine thousand Tang army infantry and cavalry bravely charged forward.

Ahead of them was Lingshi County, Jiezhou.

There is a narrow valley several dozen miles long in the south of the county, called Queshu Valley. The cliffs on both sides are as sharp as knives, and the stream at the bottom of the valley is turbulent.
Because it is the only way to march from Jinzhou to Taiyuan, it has always been a battleground for military strategists.

The ancients avoided Queshu Valley as a dangerous place, especially during the flood season in summer and autumn.

Huang Ziying, the vanguard general of the Han army, King Song Jingang, stood at the entrance of the valley on horseback.

A Han army scout was reporting to him.

"The Tang army consists of approximately eight to nine thousand men, led by Li Zhongwen."

Huang Ziying sneered: "No wonder they arrived a few days early. It seems they divided their troops in Jinzhou and left the baggage train and auxiliary troops behind."

"Let this Queshu Valley become the burial place of Li Zhongwen and these eight or nine thousand Tang soldiers."

Outside the valley.

Li Zhongwen led the cavalry to charge and catch up with the Han army's light cavalry. The two sides fought fiercely. The enemy was outnumbered and retreated in panic.

"Chase, don't let them escape!"

(End of this chapter)