Chapter 742 Three-party war
In early March, the Zhongwai Mansion, with General Yuchi Jiong as the commander of the army, led more than 12,000 infantry and cavalry from Chang'an to the south to attack Shu.
At the same time, Li Tai, who was far away in Rangcheng, Jingzhou, also learned the news of Yuchi Jiong's army's departure at almost the same time. Because the military and political affairs of Hanzhong are now controlled by the Jingzhou General Administration Mansion, the Jingzhou General Administration Mansion also received an order from the Zhongwai Mansion to cooperate with Yuchi Jiong's march and battle.
Also receiving the cooperation notice was Yuwen Dao of Qinzhou. Yuwen Dao had just ended the attack on the Diqiang tribe in Longnan, so he used his subordinate, Nanqizhou Governor Chi Luoxie, to lead 3,000 troops to flank Yuchi Jiong, and then Chi Luoxie was also appointed as the marching chief historian.
Although Li Tai himself did not participate in this matter, his presence and voice in this matter were not low. As early as last year, the Zhongwai Mansion summoned him back to the mansion for discussion. This year, before Yuchi Jiong officially set out, Yuwen Tai sent someone to ask Li Tai for his opinion.
So Li Tai also proposed a two-way march plan. The main force was naturally the army of Yuchi Jiong, who went out of Sanguan through Chencang Road to enter Hanzhong, then passed Baima, entered Jiange, and went straight to Fushui and then attacked Chengdu's Jinniu Road.
In addition, Li Tai proposed to use He Ruodun as the general of the east route, crossing Daba Mountain to attack Dangqu and Baxi's Litchi Road, which was also the route he arranged Li Qianzhe to focus on.
There was no objection to this from the Zhongwai Mansion. The two-way march itself was a more stable way of attack. Just like when Hanzhong was recovered before, Da Xiwu and Li Tai also attacked from the east and west. Although Li Tai took the lead in a surprise attack and captured Nanzheng City, it would be difficult to control the situation in Hanzhong in time if Da Xiwu's army had not arrived in time.
Although the Di chieftain Yang Qianyun has already submitted a letter of surrender, there will inevitably be variables and accidents before the army enters Shuzhong. While the main army is knocking on the gate of Jiange, crossing the mountain with other troops can also produce more coordinated changes in tactics.
Even if there are no variables, while the main army enters Shuzhong and directly takes Chengdu, attracting the Shuzhong troops in Dangqu and Baxi on the side road can also relieve the pressure on the main army, so that it can focus on taking Chengdu.
What's more, this detachment does not need to bother the Zhongwai Mansion to recruit troops and provide supplies, and there is no additional burden, so there is naturally no reason to refuse.
In order to ensure that the two troops can respond to each other and cooperate flexibly, the Zhongwai Mansion also listened to Li Tai's opinions and appointed his cousin Li Shicao as Yuchi Jiong's marching Sima, mainly responsible for communication with He Ruodun's troops.
Because Yuchi Jiong's troops needed to go through Sanguan to Longnan, although they had set out in early March, they did not enter the Hanzhong area until the end of the month.
Cui You, the governor of Liangzhou, had been waiting in the territory for a long time. When Yuchi Jiong's army entered the country, he led the officials of the prefecture to greet him. He wanted to invite Yuchi Jiong to Nanzheng City for a short rest, but Yuchi Jiong, who was eager for success, directly refused.
"The soldiers have been resting in the capital for several years. Now they are finally on the road. They can go to foreign lands and open up new borders for the country. How can they sit idle! Please arrange for the delivery of food and grass, and the army will rest here for two days, and then go directly to Baima."
Yuchi Jiong has been in charge of the imperial guards for a long time. He has not led his troops to march outside for several years. Although he has marched on the mountain road for more than half a month, he still does not feel tired. He is ready to rush into Shuzhong with this momentum. After rejecting Cui You's invitation, he asked him to transport the supplies directly to the military camp.
When Yuchi Jiong's army arrived in Hanzhong, He Ruo Dun and Li Qianzhe also led 5,000 infantry and cavalry from Ankang in the south of the mountains and entered the mountainous range of Daba Mountain.
This mountain road was first used for military purposes when Sima Yi opened it up during the Three Kingdoms period hundreds of years ago, and there has been no large-scale repair since then. It is barely usable as a road for merchants, but it is relatively rugged and difficult to travel if used for marching. One can only travel with light equipment, and the marching speed is not fast.
While the two armies were competing to attack Shu, new changes occurred in the Western Wei Kingdom. Emperor Yuan Qin sent an envoy to invite Taishi Yuwen Tai to the court, hoping to discuss matters related to the attack on Shu nearby, but Yuwen Tai temporarily refused on the grounds of inspecting the river defense.
Next, the Qinzhou General Administration Office reported that Tuyuhun had repeatedly invaded the border and plundered counties. Yuwen Tai was very angry after hearing the news, so he ordered to mobilize troops and horses, and led 30,000 elite cavalry together with the Grand Sima Dugu Xin to Longyou and directly to Guzang in Liangzhou, and was about to launch a large-scale attack on Tuyuhun. After hearing the news, Tuyuhun Khan Kua Lu was shocked and hurriedly sent an envoy to apologize and surrender, which calmed Yuwen Tai's anger.
The current situation of the Western Wei Dynasty was certainly not enough to launch a two-front war. The reason why Yuwen Tai chose this node to show a posture of using troops against Tuyuhun was, firstly, to establish his authority, and secondly, to temporarily avoid the pressure from the emperor. Once there was any change in the country, he could lead the army back in time.
When the military dispatch and conquest of the Western Wei Dynasty were carried out separately, the Jiangling regime was also busy fighting on two fronts.
The Xiangzhou rebellion, which was originally ignored by Emperor Liang Xiao Yi as a minor illness, became more and more intense. Soon after Lu Na's rebels occupied Baling, Wang Sengbian led the army to return in time. After repeated attacks, Baling City was recaptured. Lu Na led the rebels to defend Changsha and defeated Wang Sengbian's front pursuers on the way.
Wang Sengbian led the army to advance slowly and surrounded the rebels in Changsha. Changsha City was not originally very tall, but in the early stage of Hou Jing's Rebellion, Hedong King Xiao Yu once relied on this city to fight against the Jiangling Military Government, which greatly strengthened the city defense of Changsha City during that period.
Now the rebels are guarding Changsha Jiancheng, and Wang Lin and other tribesmen are also brave and elite. Although Wang Sengbian besieged the city, it was difficult to capture the city for a while.
Due to the presence of the Xiangzhou rebels, the Jiangling regime was unable to mobilize all its troops west to defend the gorge. Emperor Liang Xiao Yi could only dispatch leading general Hu Senyou to lead a group of troops west to reinforce Lu Fahe who was stationed at the gorge.
Due to the very lack of combat effectiveness, Xiao Yi had no choice but to release Hou Jing's generals Ren Yue, Xie Dayen and others who were imprisoned in prison, and ordered them to lead their troops westward for reinforcements.
Xiao Yi here in Jiangling was troubled by being caught in a two-sided war, but soon his good brother Xiao Ji also faced the same situation as him.
The news that the Western Wei army came south to attack Shu soon spread from the rear to the Badong front line. Xiao Ji led the army eastward this time, which was not popular in Bashu. When they learned that there was a fire in the backyard, these civil and military officials of Bashu were extremely anxious. He repeatedly asked Xiao Ji to return to the army and take charge.
But the matter had come to this, and Xiao Ji clearly felt that the troops deployed by Jiangling at the mouth of the gorge were insufficient, so he naturally refused to give up this opportunity.
However, the crowds among his subordinates were so loud that he had no way to avoid it. With no choice but to order General Qiao Yan to lead his troops to return for reinforcements, he repeatedly asked Qiao Yan to lead his troops back here as soon as the Western Wei Dynasty withdrew to continue fighting.
As a result, such a strange scene occurred along the Yangtze River. Although Jiangling was fighting on two fronts and had insufficient troops, the people in Shu could not break out of the gorge because they divided their forces to return reinforcements, causing the situation to fall into a balanced stalemate. It was supposed to be a life-and-death battle between warlords, but it actually revealed a bit of black humor.
But after all, not everyone was willing to play with the Xiao family's conspicuous gangsters, and soon the three-party constraint was broken.
Thanks to Yang Qianyun's move to Beitou, Yuchi Jun's army was able to enter the center of Shu unimpeded in mid-May, reaching the coast of Fulishui and looking directly at the Chengdu Plain without any fighting.
Yang Qianyun's surrender was a given, and it went smoothly without any disturbance, and there was no surprise at all. Yuchijiong first arranged for envoys to send Yang Qianyun to the court to receive rewards, and then assigned his sons and sons-in-law to various parties. He also used his marching commander Shi Chiluo Xie to temporarily handle Liangzhou affairs and lead his troops to sit in Jiange.
The real surprise came next. Not long after Yuchijun's army arrived in Fulishui, people from Brazil County sent envoys to the city to ask for surrender.
Yuchijiong was very happy when he learned about this. Although the Chinese Foreign Affairs Office had vigorously carried out infiltration and lobbying work since last year, it had not yet reached Brazil County. Unexpectedly, these Shu people came directly to surrender out of fear.
Although Brazil County was an attack target for He Ruodun's group in the previous plan, now that the opponent has taken the initiative to surrender, Yuchi Jiong didn't mind taking it in advance, so he sent his general Kaifu Yuanzhen to lead an army. The troops went to surrender and collect supplies from Langzhong's treasury to assist the military.
However, when Yuanzhen and his troops arrived, the Brazilians who originally asked to surrender were unable to leave the city. Yuanzhen was very angry when he failed to accept the surrender. He even ordered his troops to attack the city. However, the terrain of Langzhong City was very important, and Yuanzhen's troops came with more than a thousand troops lightly armed. It was naturally difficult to conquer it. It was worth leading the troops back to the Fushui camp. .
After Yuchijiong learned about this, he was also very angry. However, the most important thing at the moment was to capture Chengdu. He had no time to pursue the Brazilians' crime of false surrender, so he could only drop the matter for the time being.
However, although Yuchi Jiong suppressed his anger for the time being, the Brazilians still refused to give up. Soon after Yuanzhen returned, he sent people to ask for surrender, and their words and attitude were sincere, which made Yuchi Jiong confused for a while.