Chapter 1229: Kill the thieves and return

Chapter 1229: Kill the thieves and return

When the emperor's order reached Yedu, it immediately aroused great dissatisfaction. In particular, Gao Zhan was dissatisfied with the emperor's weakening of the personnel authority in Yedu in recent years. Now he couldn't help but directly complain to the minister. The province criticized the order.

"It has been several years since the two countries stopped fighting. They were already in peace and harmony. However, some strong soldiers were greedy for merit and provoked them. Now they have offended their powerful neighbors and suffered revenge from them. It is really their own fault! The current plan requires sending envoys to ventilate the situation, apologize and make peace. , don’t let the war happen again, don’t interfere with each other.”

When talking with Duan Shao before, Gao Zhan did not agree with the continuation of the war with the Western Wei Dynasty. Now that the emperor's series of orders have really affected the safety of Yedu, he is naturally more resistant and has no intention of doing so. He raised his doubts politely: "Besides, if a war breaks out, Jinyang will still be surrounded by mountains and rivers and blocked by the Great Wall, and Yedu will be the real first place to bear the brunt! Now that the enemy's situation is unknown, the Supreme Lord wants to collect soldiers from all directions. If all four directions are gone, , Even if Jinyang exists alone, why is it a country? "

Following Gao Zhan's remarks, Kinei Shiliu also spoke out in agreement. Some accused the country's warriors of acting recklessly and angering powerful enemies, while others believed that the emperor was making a fuss and ignored the safety of Yedu and Hebei. For a time, there were divergent opinions and public opinion was heated.

After receiving the order, Duan Shao couldn't help but feel a little surprised and regretful. Not long ago, the emperor was still ambitious and vowed to regain Jianzhou. However, the Western Wei Dynasty just made some moves. Even if they gave up the original plan, they still had to shrink their troops to Jinyang in a hurry. This is really disappointing. Frustrated.

But naturally he did not dare to openly question the emperor's decision like King Changguang did. He could only quickly appease his troops and adjust personnel and defense, preparing for the handover with Pengcheng King Gao Xun, and then quickly gathered the troops from Hebei and rushed to Jinyang.

This time the emperor ordered to assemble troops to Jinyang, but it was not that he wanted to abandon Yedu and Hebei as Gao Zhan said. In terms of Yenan, he only transferred Duan Shao and thousands of his elite men, and most of the garrison troops were still retained. Come down.

After hard work in the past few years, the current Yenan defense line is also quite impressive. A relatively complete Great Wall defense line has been built based on Baigou and Qishui and the hills south of Yecheng.

There are about 30,000 troops stationed on this line of defense of the Great Wall. Some are elites brought by Duan Shao from Jinyang, and there are also guards from Yecheng, such as Baibao Xianbei, the elite guards during the Tianbao period. Following Gao Yang's death, Naturally, these Baibao Xianbei could no longer be retained as guards, and most of them were integrated into the military defense line in southern Ye.

However, whether it is the elite Jinyang soldiers under Duan Shao or Baibao Xianbei, they are both elite troops with a relatively small number. If they are concentrated in a certain battle or their combat effectiveness is amazing, but if they are distributed over hundreds of miles, On the border defense line, it is inevitably stretched.

Therefore, in addition to these troops, the team of Han warriors who were also formed during the Tianbao period to prepare for the frontiers also greatly expanded. Han children from Hebei were selected as soldiers to supplement the lack of Xianbei sergeants. This also allowed The proportion of Han people in the Northern Qi army, especially around Yedu, has greatly increased.

Among the more than 30,000 troops on the Yenan defense line that Duan Shao was responsible for alone, there were more than 10,000 Han warriors. Yedu and Shangdang each had about 20,000 troops stationed. There are about 70,000 standing armed forces around Yedu, and the number of Han'er armor soldiers has increased to nearly half.

The number of Han Chinese in the army has increased sharply, and there is nothing that can be done about it. Although the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty accepted most of the six towns of Xianbei, they also consumed a lot of money in the battle missions over the years. For example, the Western Wei Dynasty lost almost all its elites in the Battle of Mangshan, and then began to recruit and reorganize the Han armed forces on a large scale, thus creating the Guanxi Prefecture Army.

In the recent battles between the Northern Qi and the Western Wei, the Northern Qi lost more than they won, and consumed a huge amount of manpower. Even if they still had the basic base of Jinyang soldiers and Liuzhou Xianbei, the fertility rate of these groups could not keep up with the huge consumption to replenish the Han army. Strength is already one of the few options.

However, the Northern Qi Dynasty itself did not have the foundation and courage to institutionalize and manage these Han armed forces as Yuwentai of the Western Wei Dynasty did when he established the imperial army. And today's Western Wei Dynasty will never give it the time to calmly form and integrate these Han armed forces. .

At present, the reason why Qi Zhu Gao Yan only summoned Duan Shao and his cronies to return was partly because he was worried about the safety of Yedu, but on a deeper level, it was also because he did not trust these Yedu troops, whose proportion of Han people had increased sharply.

Because the emperor urged him very urgently, after Pengcheng King Gao Jun was ordered to come to Baigou, Duan Shao handed over to him, and then he had to pass through Yedu and escort the money and grain from Yedu north to Jizhou and other places to gather people.

There was still excitement here in Yedu. After Gao Zhan saw Duan Shao, he immediately became angry again. He couldn't help but said angrily: "In the past few years, the king has been in charge of Yenan, and I have supervised the management of money and food for the military. Is there any mistake? Now that the war has started again, the king wants to abandon me, why is he so ruthless?"

Duan Shao lowered his head slightly, avoiding Gao Zhan's somewhat resentful eyes, and said: "I dare not refuse the emperor's orders. Although I have gone north, the Baigou mountains, rivers, city walls, and loyal and brave soldiers are still strong and reliable. Thieves If there is an invasion, we can rely on this to resist the enemy, but the Prime Minister needs to calmly command, reinforcements will arrive soon, and the thieves will be able to return without success!"

"What mountains, rivers, walls, and loyal soldiers? Who doesn't know that the weight of Ye's southern defense line only lies with the king? If the king goes, who can we rely on for safety? The king will stay here until I send an envoy to report to the Supreme Being, willing to lose ten thousand armies. , The king will be left alone to stay in Jinei!"

Gao Zhan knew very well who the Yenan defense line should really rely on. King Pengcheng Gao Yu seemed to have a good reputation, but he was not yet qualified and capable of leading a large army and resisting a strong enemy. As for the other generals, they were not as reassuring as Duan Shao.

Gao Zhan's high regard for him touched Duan Shao, but he could also understand why the emperor was eager to summon him to Jinyang. When the emperor launched a coup to besiege Liaoyang last year, he had planted some grudges between them because of his lack of enthusiastic support. He had been arranged in Yenan for the past few years. Of course, it was because of the construction of the Yenan defense line, but it was also because he did not want him to stay in Jinyang for a long time.

If he chose to stay in Yedu and get involved with King Changguang now, it would undoubtedly make the emperor more suspicious, which would be even more unfavorable for the next battle against a strong enemy.

Therefore, no matter how earnestly Gao Zhan expressed his attitude, Duan Shao finally refused his retention and resolutely led his troops northward.

Without a general who was trustworthy enough to guard the defense line, Gao Zhan was naturally worried. He could only pray silently in his heart that the Wei army would not invade Yedu and Hebei on a large scale. He also sent letters to Gao Yu in Yenan and Gao Guiyan, the King of Pingqin stationed in Shangdang, reminding them to be alert and guard against the enemy's sneak attack.

But many times, what you fear often comes true. At least the subsequent developments did not go as Gao Zhan prayed.

Just as the Western Wei's several actions made the Lord of Qi feel like he was facing a great enemy and shrink the country's power to Jinyang, the second phase of the Western Wei's actions had already begun. Under the call of the Bafu, the soldiers of the various military offices in Guanzhong quickly assembled 50,000 troops near Shangyang Palace. These troops will cross the river and enter Hedong under the leadership of the King of Tang, and then join forces with Puzhou, Tangzhou, Jianzhou and other troops to kill together in the Shangdang area of ​​Northern Qi!

Yes, in the first stage, Wei Xiaokuan's troops were just pretending to attack and forcing Northern Qi to shrink its defense. All of them would follow the King of Tang to attack Northern Qi. In addition to the 50,000 divisions assembled in Guanzhong, plus the troops from various states here, there are also a full 100,000 troops!

As for the third group of troops led by Yang Zhong and others, they are still gathering. The local mobilization is still 50,000 troops. With the border defense soldiers from Suizhou in northern Shaanxi, Hetao Lingzhou, etc., it can reach 80,000 troops. There is also a small Khan in the south of the Turks who will lead 20,000 Hubu city guards to follow the army, which is also a 100,000-strong army. If the Turkic Uzun Khan also leads his army to join, then this group of troops will have more troops, but the actual strength may not be greater.

Now the Western Wei's Fubing system has been tempered by war for a long time, and this level of conscription is far from reaching the upper limit of the system's operation. Everything is handy and efficient when it comes together.

This time, Li Tai did not choose to advance northward along the Fen River. He only asked Li Mu to lead a team carrying heavy weapons and a large amount of baggage to the north to join Wei Xiaokuan, while he led 10,000 lightly armed troops directly to Jianzhou.

When Li Tai and his team crossed the Lishan Mountain and entered the Qinshui Valley, Liang Shiyan, the governor of Jianzhou, had already led the civil and military masses in the state to wait for a long time on the bank of the Qinshui River.

When they saw the Tang King's flag appear in their field of vision, everyone strode forward, bowed down in the field, and said loudly with excitement: "Your Majesty, we welcome you respectfully, and we have been waiting for you for a long time. We are willing to follow you to kill the enemy and destroy the bandits again!"

"No need to be polite! In the last battle, we did not complete our mission. We withdrew our troops because we felt sorry for the people of Hebei. Unexpectedly, the bandits were fierce and stubborn. They came to challenge us again recently. This is intolerable! This time, we will not return until we defeat the eastern bandits!"

Although destroying Qi had been in his plan for many years, he had to find a reason to boost morale when the war came. The mental state of being reasonable and unreasonable is different. The previous Northern Qi's initiative to provoke trouble was a perfect excuse. Therefore, when everyone heard the words of the Tang King, they all looked indignant.

Liang Shiyan even stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Recently, many scouts in the border reported that they had found the enemy, but after the Lord ordered the troops to fight the enemy, the enemy suddenly disappeared in the territory. If the royal army does not go out this time, the enemy may come!"

Before, the discussion in the Bafu did not reach a conclusion on what the Northern Qi intended to do. Jianzhou is indeed a region with a higher probability, but now it is not important. Since the army is leaving the country again, the Northern Qi should just wash its neck and wait!