Chapter 535 Troops Arrive at Fancheng

Chapter 535 Troops Arrive at Fancheng

The people in Jingzhou were not familiar with Li Tai's style of doing things, so his casual actions made the crowd agitated and lively.

Originally, Li Tai was supposed to be the biggest suspect in kidnapping the missing three people, but after some operations, the suspicion on him was eliminated, and he also established a more heroic and righteous image to the masses.

Of course, not everyone thinks he is innocent. After all, too much coincidence often means something is fishy, ​​and calling a thief to catch a thief is not a clever and unimaginable trick.

However, even if some people still have this suspicion, they dare not talk about it openly anymore, especially the three families who are suffering. Instead of doubting the new envoy, they continue to express their gratitude to the new envoy.

The earthen platform in the east of Jingzhou City has now become a major scenic spot here, and many people can't help but come here to watch. The silks, gold and other prizes displayed on the earth platform are full of visual impact. In addition, from time to time, people come on the stage to receive rewards for providing clues, which also greatly enhances their sense of participation.

For a time, the people inside and outside Jingzhou City even forgot their original intention, hoping that the excitement could continue. And the new envoy did not disappoint them. When the silk prizes on the high platform were decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye and were about to be exhausted, there were state officials driving ox carts pulling carts of silk. Silk is added.

Since this high platform was erected, tens of thousands of pieces of silk have been distributed in front of everyone in just a few days. This has also brought great shock to the onlookers, and at the same time, it is also real. I can feel the heroic spirit of this new envoy who will follow through on his words.

As for Li Tai, the initiator of all this, of course he didn't really have too much money and had nowhere to put it, so he was squandering it everywhere.

He caused such a big show for the people of Jingzhou, and the first gain was that he gained a strong sense of presence. I believe that as the turmoil has intensified in the past few days, there will be people in Jingzhou who have not heard of him. Running out.

As a local military and political chief, there is no doubt about the importance of presence and visibility. Without these two points, it would be very difficult for his voice and will to reach the people within the jurisdiction. Not only would he be intercepted and obstructed by the powerful local powers, but he would also not be taken seriously by the people.

Another important point is that through this incident, the seeds of suspicion among these local forces are sown, and the manpower they control is invested in this meaningless consumption through the temptation of large sums of money, so that they cannot be effective. They joined forces to jointly fight against themselves, the new military and political chief.

For Li Tai today, things that can be solved with money are really not a problem, and the money spent basically stays in the country and can still be returned. Soon the people of Jingzhou will realize his true methods. .

While all the forces in the country were obsessed with this and couldn't extricate themselves, Li Tai was not idle either.

He himself used this time to take over the state affairs of Jingzhou and understand it. At the same time, he also allowed the troops he brought to fully rest and recuperate. He also sent Qingqi scouts to cross the territorial boundary between the two countries and go deep into the Yongzhou territory of Nanliang to investigate the enemy's situation and geographical conditions. Prepare for the next war.

Time always flies quickly when busy, and the ten days Li Tai left for the opponent soon ended. He also had a general understanding of the situation on the ground, so he immediately started preparing for the attack.

The officials in Jingzhou have recently been looking for someone for the considerable bounty. When the order from the state government was officially issued, they were shocked to realize that the time to send troops had arrived so quickly!

Now they have a preliminary understanding of Li Tai's style. It is useless to try to persuade the governor at this point. Those who have not completed the assigned tasks are in a hurry to make amends, while those who have completed the tasks are... He hurried to the state capital to meet him.

In the main hall of the state capital, Li Tai put on a military uniform again and said in a deep voice to the people in the mansion: "I am not the only one who wants to raise troops today. It is because the southerners are bullying others too much! They took advantage of our lack of defense in Jing Town to gather a crowd." Attack, you still have no intention of repenting after making this provocation, you have deceived no one in Jingzhou! How can you forgive me for violating our territory and not correcting your mistakes?"

After hearing this, all the generals under his command responded loudly: "The generals and others will obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief and fight bravely to kill the enemy, so that we can avoid this humiliation!"

When other Jingzhou officials saw their high-spirited appearance, they all expressed their opinions one after another after being affected by this. Although the tone was not unified, an atmosphere of courage to move forward was finally created.

As soon as Li Tai gave the order, the generals immediately agreed, filed out of the hall and went to the military camp outside the city to gather their troops. Soon a total of five thousand elite troops were assembled outside the moat called Caogou outside the city, waiting to set off.

Although the troops Li Tai led to the south this time were not the 20,000 troops he claimed, they were still quite large. This was the first time he was fighting against the Southerners. Although he had consulted others for advice before, he had not yet had real combat experience. Therefore, he was slightly conservative, starting with 5,000 elite troops and leaving the rest of the troops to guard the territory.

Of course, this is not the only group of people who will actually go to Nanliang to fight. Quan Zhongzun will also lead a thousand elite troops to accompany the army. At the same time, all the powerful Hu chiefs in Jingzhou also received different numbers of conscription orders, and they also gathered together 5,000 troops, so there was an army of more than 10,000 people.

When Li Tai went out of the city to review the troops, he inspected the local troops in Jingzhou and found that although the number was not five thousand, the gap was not big.

It can be seen that the currency policy he pursued after entering the country was quite effective. Even if it was just out of the desire for profit, these local powerful people still obeyed his orders.

More than 10,000 horses were divided into three parts: front, middle and rear. Zhu Meng was responsible for leading a thousand fine cavalry on the front, and formed the vanguard together with 2,000 Jingzhou soldiers, taking the lead to clear the way for the army.

On the middle road, there were 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 Jingzhou soldiers, plus Quan Zhongzun's troops, forming the central army, led by Li Tai himself. The rear section was commanded by Linghu Yanbao. In addition to the grain, grass and baggage required for the army's expedition, there were also many empty chariots accompanying the army.

This battle was a small test for Li Tai, so he did not formulate too complex tactical plans and offensive targets. After setting off, the army headed straight towards Xiangyang along the west bank of the Feishui River.

The distance from Rangcheng to Xiangyang is about two hundred miles. The journey is mostly through plains and there are no dangerous fortresses. Only along the Feishui River, there are several forts that also serve as Jindu wharves. Facing the transit of the Western Wei Dynasty troops, these forts were naturally closed, and the soldiers and civilians in the forts were prepared.

Faced with these insignificant forts, Li Tai did not order to capture them one by one, but ran straight to Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River. While the men and horses in the middle were still marching, the light cavalry in the front had arrived not far outside Fancheng, and attacked the garrison buildings around the city, clearing the battlefield for the army to garrison and attack the city.

Zhu Meng originally followed He Basheng back to Kansai from the Southern Dynasties, so he was quite familiar with the offensive and defensive tactics of the Southerners. He knew that in addition to relying on water conservancy and boats to fight, the Southerners also had very powerful long-range weapons such as crossbows and crossbows. All garrisons, large and small, must have a combat organization of strong crossbow units.

Therefore, when he selected the first team to attack the garrison, he prioritized them with a flexible and strong body, good at climbing and using swords and shields, so as to be able to rush to the enemy's defense line in the shortest time, and then support the shield with one hand and slash with the sword with the other. Gun chisel, impact and destroy the defense line.

At the same time, he also personally led his elite cavalry to fight on the flanks to guard against the enemy's reinforcements across the defense line. Whenever an enemy dares to cross their own defense line and rashly enter the plains, they will immediately use cavalry to outflank and attack.

Under Zhu Meng's precise command and the brave fighting of the soldiers, they successively breached the enemy's three forts in the docks outside the city, creating a passage gap in the northeast of Fancheng that could reach directly under the city gate.

Although the defenders here were fully prepared for war, when the actual battle began, they could not help but be surprised by the astonishing combat effectiveness of the Western Wei army. When they saw that the nearby fortresses were being breached one after another and the defenders in the forts were either killed in battle or captured, the other garrison defenders were also frightened and depressed, and their fighting spirit suddenly disappeared.

However, the overwhelming offensive of the Western Wei forwards did not last long. When they launched an attack on the largest garrison along the river, they encountered stubborn resistance. Several organized offensives were repelled, but they only spent a lot of effort. Hundreds of lives.

Seeing that the powerful men in Jingzhou who were traveling with him were already showing embarrassment and had no intention of fighting again, Zhu Meng also knew that any further attack would be in vain.

His forward force had only a small number of troops and limited equipment. He could only burn down the three captured forts under the eyes of the enemy, and then left the fort named Xiazuo garrison on the east side a few miles to the north. They set up a camp and sent people to report the results of the battle to the rear.