On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 434 The war on the Eastern Front begins

Shaanzhou, Shaanxian County (now Shaanzhou District, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province).

Yang Su led 60,000 Guanlong soldiers, who had finally regained their morale, and 40,000 Shu troops to garrison here.

The news of the fall of Luoyang caused an uproar in Kansai. Yang Su was determined to lead his troops eastward, regain the lost territory, and compete with Cui Che again.

However, this idea was not adopted by Yang Guang.

After the defeat in Hedong, and now Yu Zhongwen was defeated in Luoyang, Yang Guang urgently needed a victory to stabilize people's hearts.

Rather than launching a direct attack on Luoyang, Yang Guang followed Su Wei's suggestion and preferred to dispatch Yu Wenshu and Lai Huer to go north to attack Cui Qiji's territory.

Cui Qiji was young and had never had the experience of being on his own. Previously, Cui Che had placed him in Liaodong, Qingzhou and other places to cripple surrounding hostile forces, making it difficult for them to launch an offensive in a short period of time.

From Yang Guang's point of view, his young and immature nephew and son-in-law could not resist Yu Wenshu coming to protect his son no matter what.

Once Cui Chedong comes out to rescue, Yang Su can take the opportunity to regain Luoyang. If Cui Che just sits back and ignores it, he can also regain Qingqi and other places, boosting the popularity of Kansai.

Yang Su was both angry and helpless about this. It was true that he wanted to send troops directly to Luoyang, and although he wanted to avenge his shame, he also knew that Cui Che would not give up Luoyang no matter what.

Previously, Cui Che captured Luoyang. He faced two choices. One was to advance westward and occupy Shaanzhou.

The second is to turn south and capture Yizhou and Luzhou.

Two different choices also represent two tendencies.

Choosing to occupy Shaanzhou was undoubtedly to threaten Tongguan and wait for an opportunity to raise troops to enter the pass.

The capture of Yizhou and Luzhou was to cut off the connection between Kansai and Kanto.

The four fortresses in Guanzhong are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the way out is also easy to be blocked.

Generally speaking, there are three main routes out of the Kansai region eastward.

The first is to pass through Shayuan and reach Hedong via Puban.

However, Hedong has long been occupied by Cui Che, and his general Qin Qiong is guarding Puban. This road is no longer feasible.

The second is to go out from the east via Tongguan, pass through Shaanzhou, and arrive at Luoyang.

However, with Yu Zhongwen's defeat, Luoyang had also surrendered to Cui Che.

The third one is related to Yizhou and Luzhou. It follows the ancient trade route and goes east through Wuguan to reach Luzhou.

Now that Cui Che has blocked these three passages, from now on, if grain from the Huaihe River and Jiangnan is transported to Kansai, it must go through Hanzhong and make a big circle.

As we all know, lengthening the route for transporting grain also means a surge in costs.

What's more important is that Cui Che has now cut off the direct connection between Guanxi and the Huaihe, Jiangnan and other places. Over time, it will inevitably weaken the Western Sui Dynasty's control over the Huaihe, Jiangnan and other regions.

When the Western Sui Dynasty wanted to send envoys to deliver edicts to these areas, it had only two options left.

Either try to be quick and risk taking the enemy-occupied area; or seek stability and take a detour through Hanzhong.

Yuan Shanda, minister of the Western Sui Dynasty, was ordered to go eastward and urged Lai Hu'er to go north to attack Cui Qiji, risking his life by walking into enemy-occupied territory.

After all, they want Lai Hu'er to send troops as soon as possible. Time is tight, so how can Yuan Shanda be allowed to take a safer route.

Fortunately, due to luck, Yuan Shanda had no dangers along the way and finally made it to Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

Yuan Shanda found Hu'er and read out the edict for him. Yang Guang came to Hu'er as the marching general of Huaibei Road, leading the troops from various states in Huaibei to go north to attack Cui Qiji.

Lai Huer received the order to thank Yuan Shanda and expressed his gratitude:

"I also ask your envoy to report back to the saint. Lai will immediately go north to attract Cui Nidong so that the Duke of Yue can take the opportunity to regain Luoyang."

Lai Hu'er has been preparing for war since he lost Caozhou and came to Huaibei.

During the battle between Cui Che and Yu Zhongwen, the reason why he did not send troops for a long time was because Laihu'er's prestige among the Huaibei soldiers was not established. Fortunately, after this period of hard work, this problem has been solved.

Yuan Shanda did not stay in Pengcheng for long. After the decree was announced, he immediately set off to return to Kansai to resume his duties. However, this time, he would not risk going to the Eastern Sui occupied areas no matter what.

After sending Yuan Shanda away, Lai Hu'er immediately sent 80,000 troops from Huaibei to go north to Yizhou.

Cui Qiji is now in Caozhou. When he learned the news, he immediately summoned Chief Shi Du Ruhui and Sima Li Mi to discuss countermeasures with them.

After Li Mi heard this, he immediately spoke:

"The officials sincerely ask the prince to lead the troops south to guard Yizhou."

Cui Qiji also had this intention. He had previously selected 30,000 elite soldiers from Qingzhou's 100,000 infantry and cavalry.

Now that I've come to protect my children, it's time to show off my skills.

Cui Qiji asked Du Ruhui again:

"What do you think, Mr. Du?"

Du Ruhui pondered for a moment and said:

"I came to protect my son bravely but without any plan. Since I was ashamed of the defeat in Hebei, I must be eager to win. Being anxious will lead to chaos. The subordinates agree with what Li Sima said."

Seeing that Du Ruhui agreed, Cui Qiji was overjoyed. He immediately sent Li Mi to recruit soldiers, and then said to Du Ruhui:

"My grandfather once said that Mr. Cui has the talent to serve as a king's assistant, and he told Mr. Cui to treat him with courtesy.

"Now that Cui is going south, no one but Mr. Cui can take on this important responsibility regarding the rear. Please do not shirk it, Mr."

Even though Du Ruhui is only twenty-one years old now, he was born one year later than Cui Qiji.

But since Du Ruhui came to Cui Qiji's shogunate, he quickly showed his talents and won Cui Qiji's heartfelt respect.

Of course Du Ruhui knew how much the Cui family and his son valued him.

Especially Cui Che, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to great lengths to rescue his family members from Kansai.

Cui Che had saved him from worries before. Now it was Du Ruhui's time to save Cui Qiji from worries. He immediately responded:

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, my subordinates will ensure that the rear is safe."

After Cui Qiji handed over all government affairs in Daxingtai, Henan Province to Du Ruhui, he and Li Mi led 30,000 elite troops south to Yizhou, accompanied by generals Shan Xiongxin, Wang Bodang and others.

As for Yu Wenshu in the southwest, Cui Qiji didn't care. There was also Li Jing in Zhengzhou leading 35,000 soldiers.

Cui Qiji still doesn't trust Li Jing's ability.

With Li Jing restraining him in Zhengzhou, Yu Wenshu couldn't afford to bother him even if he wanted to come.

Cui Qiji was not nervous at all when he led an army alone for the first time. On the way south, he talked and laughed calmly with Li Mi, Shan Xiongxin, Wang Bodang and other generals.

As Du Ruhui said, Lai Huer is more than brave, but lacks strategy.

He was just starting out and had little reputation. In the eyes of the other party, he only relied on his father to achieve his current status.

It is a big taboo to underestimate the enemy. If you are eager to win and wash away your shame, you will inevitably expose many flaws.

Cui Qiji understood that as long as he dealt with it calmly, he might have a chance of winning.

At the same time, Cui Che, who was in Luoyang, also learned about the news that Lai was going north to protect his children.

In Cui Che's opinion, with the assistance of Du Ruhui and Li Mi, Cui Qiji can handle the task of protecting his son.

I went to the hospital in the morning, so the update is late. I have to go there again in the afternoon. The next chapter will be around five o'clock.

(End of chapter)