Chapter 718 Fork in the Road
When the banner with the word "Jin" was planted on Danzhu Ridge, warm cheers broke out on the Changping Ancient Battlefield, whether the troops were attacking or taking turns to rest. Voice.
After more than half a month of fierce fighting, with thousands of casualties, we finally conquered the mountain boundary between the northern and southern parts of Shangdang.
Hou Feihu threw away the drumstick and raised his eyes to look north.
The mountains and rivers inside and outside are really not that easy to defeat. This was achieved only after Jingxing Pass was defeated and the enemy's morale was shaken. If there hadn't been Li Chong's breakthrough along the way, or if there were only troops from Shangdang's Northern Expedition in this expedition, we don't know how many people would have been killed or injured.
In Changping, there have been countless wars and wars in the past dynasties. New souls overlap old ghosts. Duandi is the burial place destined by God.
He took a deep breath, got off the platform, turned over and got on the horse.
Breaking through this ridge, the army surged northward and penetrated directly into Lu County (the seat of Shangdang government) and Xiangyuan. They captured this gateway to Jin in one fell swoop and joined forces with Li Chong.
Just as they were about to gallop, a messenger sent a military report: The Huns sent troops from Wuling to attack Gaodu.
I was suddenly shocked. When I looked again, I saw that there were only two thousand soldiers, and I was immediately relieved. Gaodu was guarded by Liu Runzhong, the prefect of Gaodu, and Liu Shan, the general's general's general. The former had tens of thousands of tribesmen, and the latter had 2,500 Yanzhou soldiers. No matter what, they were able to drive away the 2,000 enemy troops who were inconvenient to supply.
Danzhu Ridge was beaten to death, but he did not mobilize this army. To put it bluntly, he was afraid that Liu Cong would cross the mountains and cut off the retreat of the army.
Especially after consulting the classics, I learned that at the turn of spring and summer, the water level (Huoze River, a tributary of Qinshui River) rose. In the past, Qin general Wang Lu transported grain by ship, saving a long mountain road. It happens that there is a lot of rain this year, so there is no guarantee that the Xiongnu will not be able to transport food by water and reduce losses to support more troops and horses heading eastward.
After his deployment and reasons were known to Shao Xun, he publicly told everyone that "if you don't know astronomy and geography, you are in vain to be a general", and also mentioned that "Qier is calm and tenacious", "Jin San is brave and resolute", " Feihu is thoughtful and considerate." This shows appreciation.
Today, his deployment finally took effect.
Liu Cong's sneak attack failed to achieve the effect. The army had no worries about its retreat and could safely advance northward.
On the night of April 12th, the army crossed the mountains and reached twenty miles north of Danzhu Ridge, catching up with Liu Yao's rear troops.
The Heiyi army set up a battle formation, fought with the enemy in the field, defeated them, and beheaded more than a thousand people.
In the dark night, Liu Yao ran all the way and got rid of his pursuers.
At this time, there was a fork in the road ahead.
Liu Yao suddenly stopped.
The faces of the soldiers showed confusion, but more of them were puzzled. After finally escaping from the pursuers in the dark, why did he stop if he didn't run away?
Liu Yao ignored them. He just stared blankly to the west, which was the direction of Changzi County.
Wuling North Road has Pingyang at the west end and Changzi at the east end.
If you rush to your eldest son now, you can rely on the county seat and stick to it for a while. Even if we can't hold on in the end, we still have the opportunity to break out of the encirclement and run back to Pingyang on the Wuling North Road.
If you do not go west to the eldest son and continue to the north, you can go back to Huguan (county, not Hukou Pass) and Luxian, try your best to integrate the manpower and material resources of the six northern counties, and make the last wave of desperate struggle.
The choice of fate was placed in front of him. How to go, it was just a matter of thought.
The defeated soldiers who followed him back seemed to have thought of this, and they all held their breath and waited for Liu Yao to make a decision.
Liu Yao did not think for too long. After sighing longly towards the west, he turned around, looked at everyone, and said: "The defeat of Danzhuling is a crime against everyone. It is really a shame." The war situation is too dangerous and the morale of the army is unstable. At this point in the battle, I don't want to lie to you anymore. Shangdang and Jinyang have no hope of recovery. "
Everyone listened quietly. , there wasn’t much change on the numb face.
"There is a fork in the road ahead. If you go west, you can reach the eldest son, and if you go north, you can return to Shangdang." Liu Yao said again: "All the soldiers fought bloody battles in Danzhu Ridge, killing and wounding nearly 10,000 Shao soldiers. It cannot be said that they are not doing their best. The matter is over. At this point, I don’t have the shame to drag you to the funeral. It’s up to you to decide where to go.”
"Where is the Governor going?" The general couldn't help but ask.
Liu Yao sighed and said: "I have returned to Shangdang and dealt with Li Chong and Hou Feihu."
"I will go wherever the governor goes," the general said.
This statement is perfectly true.
Where else can the coach's loyal troops go? Even if the coach is to die, he must die with him, otherwise it will be social death or even physical death of the whole family.
Beyond the close troops, passionate voices rang out from among the defeated soldiers: "Follow the Governor to the death."
Unfortunately, the voices were a little sparse, and many people lowered their heads. , silent.
This is the reality in times of great defeat.
Ants still live in vain, let alone humans? After all, there are only a few people who are willing to die generously.
"Okay!" Liu Yao suddenly smiled, sweeping away the previous decline, and said: "When we were defeated, there were still so many strong men following us. At this point in our life, what more could I ask for? Let's go back to the party. .”
"Go back to the party." Thousands of people followed, shouting.
The others first looked at each other, then bowed to Liu Yao, and under the leadership of their respective military academies, ran towards Changzi County.
After Liu Yao left, many broken troops came back one after another.
Similar to the previous choice, most of the defeated troops took advantage of the night to head westward to the eldest son, while a small number continued northward.
The Heiyi Army arrived at the fork in the road just before dawn. Without any hesitation, they pursued all the way north. On the 15th, two powerful local troops who could not clearly understand the situation were defeated along the way.
In the evening of the same day, they arrived outside Huguan County. After beating the drum, they captured this city with almost no defenders.
Arrived here, they stopped for a moment, waiting for supplies and follow-up troops.
Liu Yao has nowhere to run, there is no need to chase him so hastily.
******
Li Chong led his troops southward on the 12th and spent a day crossing the Dongguo (same as "vortex") water.
Arrived in the northeast of Qi County (today's Taigu District) on the morning of the 15th, met the Wang family's rangers from Taiyuan. After being arrested, they were tortured and interrogated. After learning that Wen Qiao failed in his attempt to capture Qi County, he headed southwest He ran wildly in the direction, saying that he would surrender to Jingling, Zhongdu and Wu counties.
Li Chong immediately sent a messenger to bypass Qi County and rush to Jingling. He ordered Wen Qiao to raise troops from three counties to go north to attack Qi County and hold back the Wang family's troops.
Then they continued south into the mountains, marched along the Jianggu River (today's Xiangyu River) valley post road, and arrived at Jianggu on the evening of the 16th.
There are more than a thousand armed men from local wealthy families here, who are ordered by Liu Yao to guard Jiang Valley, the core hub connecting Shangdang and Taiyuan. But they had no intention of fighting and surrendered as soon as the army arrived.
It was also at this time that Li Chong learned through the surrender that Hou Feihu had broken through Danzhu Ridge and was pursuing Hukou County.
Almost at the same time, another news came: The Wang family of Taiyuan surrendered to Qi County.
Li Zhong just laughed after hearing this.
In troubled times, there are always people who are confused and do ridiculous things like being arrogant and respectful. It is not up to him to decide how the Wang family in Taiyuan will fare. He has to make the decision. Liang Gong has to come.
This family is also considered a first-class wealthy family in the North. It is as famous as the Langya Wang family, Taiyang family, Hedong Pei family and other families. It is the largest wealthy family in Bingzhou.
Not only did they have deep entanglements with the Xiongnu, and their interests were tightly bound, but there were also people who went south to Jianye to serve as officials - people who were attached to Sima Yue at that time, such as Wang Cheng who served as Sima Yue's secretary to join the army, the prince Sima Pi's division, and the governor of Donghai.
There are even people who are officials in Luoyang.
It’s the old routine of aristocratic families to divide the officialdom into different parties.
But the main line of the Wang family is dependent on the Xiongnu. Many years before Jinyang was conquered, the Wang family sent a considerable number of tribesmen to settle in Pishi County, Pingyang County, purchased land and manors, recruited refugees, and prospered.
Li Zhong is not optimistic about the future of the Wang family in Taiyuan. Maybe the whole clan will not be exterminated, but the main line of Qixian County will definitely be severely punished. From now on, only the Wang family branch will probably exist.
At noon on the 20th, five thousand troops passed through Xuancheling (today's Huanghualing in Yushe County). They heard that Hou Feihu had captured Huguan County. They rested for three or four days. After completing their supplies, they sent troops to Lu County.
Li Zhong ordered to rest for two days and wait for supplies.
At this point in the battle, there is no rush anymore.
At this moment, he also pieced together the Shangdang's battle situation. To his surprise, Liu Yao did not flee westward, but chose to live and die with the Shangdang.
But if you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
As the king of Zhongshan, he took charge of the war in the four counties of Shangdang, Leping, Taiyuan and Xinxing. Shouldn't he be held responsible for a disastrous defeat?
Even if he ran back to Pingyang, he would probably die and even bring harm to his family.
If he died in the Shangdang battle, his family would be saved.
If you die, your family will survive. There is almost no need to hesitate. You must choose to sacrifice yourself.
While resting, Li Chong was not idle either. Instead, he sent a vanguard ranger to Wuxiang County, seventy miles to the south, and successfully recruited this county to surrender.
The most dangerous part of the post road connecting Shangdang to Jinyang is between Yushe and Taigu in later generations.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many passes were built, which were followed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Such as Xuancheguan located in Huanghualing (this is also the highest point of Jianggu Avenue, similar to Danzhuling), such as Shihuiguan located in the north of Yushe.
Because the war in Bingzhou during the Western Jin Dynasty was not as intense as during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xuanche Pass, Shihui Pass, Changping Pass (on Danzhu Ridge), etc. did not exist, but they greatly facilitated the war.
On the 22nd, the army marched south again. At this time, Li Chong received news again: Hearing of the defeat in the rear, the garrison at Hukou Pass surrendered.
"The final nail in Liu Yao's coffin." Li Chong sighed after hearing the news.
Liu Yao's skills are actually not bad. He has not made any obvious mistakes in the past few years. His failure has little to do with his personal ability and more to do with the national strength of the Xiongnu.
As soon as Hukou Pass fell, not only the Yangdan tribe swarmed in, but also Liang Gong led his army into Shangdang. Liu Yao was surrounded from all sides and had no way out.
On the 25th, the army entered the Zhuozhang River Valley and camped on Songmen Ridge that night.
At this time, Xiangyuan County, thirty miles south of Songmen Ridge, had surrendered to Hou Feihu, and the other counties also sent envoys to discuss surrender matters.
At this point in the war, only Lu County, the administrative seat of Shangdang County, and Changzi County to the west have not surrendered.
Li Chongtun stationed himself at Songmen Ridge and sent an envoy to report to Liang Gong for instructions on his next move.
To put it simply, he felt that there was no point in going south. It was better to turn around and go north, join Liu Ling, and try to encircle and annihilate thousands of Liu Yasheng's troops.
(End of this chapter)