Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

The Sanya Road is a fast passage between the Heluo area and the Nanyang Basin. Its path is from the Nanyang Basin over Funiu Mountain to the north of Luonan. Although the mountain road is rugged, it is the fastest path between the two places. Every time a surprise attack occurs, Always follow this path.

Before the Eastern Wei besieged Yingchuan, they launched a series of counterattacks in the Heluo area and recaptured all the strongholds originally controlled by the Western Wei, such as Fuliu City in Yichuan, Luonan. After more than a year of siege, Yingchuan was finally conquered. Since then, the borders of Henan have returned to the Eastern Wei Dynasty, while the Western Wei Dynasty only controlled the Sanya Road south of Luyang Pass.

But even this stretch of road has been subject to a lot of harassment in recent days. The Wanluo barbarian chiefs, including the governor of Northern Jingzhou and the barbarian king Mei Jichang appointed by the Eastern Wei Dynasty, led their respective tribes and frequently harassed the pass defenses in recent days. Although the guard Guo Xian led his troops to defeat these barbarians several times, it was not long before They came back again and refused to disperse.

This situation is unusual. Although these barbarians are disobedient to enlightenment, they are not stupid. They fight frequently without success but still linger. Either they have an unusual plot or someone is instigating them behind the scenes.

This is indeed the case. After Guo Xian went into battle to capture several barbarian chiefs and interrogated them carefully, he learned that the instigator behind them was the Eastern Wei Dynasty general Murong Shaozong.

If it was an ordinary barbarian rebellion, Guo Xian was still confident that he could predict it. But when he learned that Murong Shaozong was behind it, he naturally did not dare to take it lightly and hurriedly reported the situation to the Jingzhou Governor's Office at the rear.

Even if he had the confidence to face Murong Shaozong, he did not have the strength. The total number of troops under his command was only a little over two thousand. If it were not for the material support from the Jingzhou area, even Luyang Pass would not be able to hold it.

After Yingchuan City was defeated, the Eastern Wei army retreated one after another. Its general Peng Le planned to pursue the victory and lead his own troops to attack Luyang Weike, but he had no choice but to withdraw. After all the troops returned, it was Duke Murong Shaozong of Yan County who stayed behind in Henan to clean up the mess.

Murong Shaozong's headquarters has more than 8,000 people. In addition to the loyal and loyal soldiers who have been following him since he was a subordinate of the Zhu family, the rest are also the people who have been recruited and accepted by serving in various places over the years. Of course, the most are him. He took up the post of Southeast Dao Xingtai and took charge of the army to suppress the enemy's rebellion.

Especially right after the Battle of Guoyang, many veterans of Beizhen who had rebelled against Hou Jing were worried that they might be severely punished by the court and General Gao after they returned, so many people rushed to protect Murong Shao's disciples. Zong also accepted many elite soldiers from Henan under the command of Yuan Hou Jing.

After the Battle of Yingchuan, its city had long been in dilapidated condition and was naturally no longer suitable for military garrisoning. In order to prevent the Western Wei forces from coming back again, Murong Shaozong first moved his defense to Xiangcheng, so that he could coordinate with Zhu Hunyuan's troops who guarded Heluo.

Murong Shaozong is nearly fifty years old, but he still does not show his age. He is tall and majestic. Especially after experiencing several great victories, his reputation is now at its peak.

The barbarian king Mei Jichang and other barbarian chiefs came to Xiangcheng to pay homage and report to the military. Seeing Murong Shaozong sitting at the table with a calm and dignified posture, they were all nervous for a moment and did not dare to be presumptuous. They carefully reported the truth to the general. come out.

When he heard that these barbarians had been harassing for a long time but still failed to shake the defense of Luyang Pass, Murong Shaozong could not help but frown and said: "You and other people are several times more than the enemy, but you can cooperate closely and attack one after another, how can you do that?" Allow the thieves to enter Rongdunzuguan City!"

After hearing this, all the barbarian chiefs broke out in cold sweat on their foreheads. As the leader, the barbarian king Mei Jichang kowtowed again: "I am reporting to Murong Xingtai that although the thieves are few in number, the city of Luyang Pass is in a dangerous location. The thieves will be led by Guo Xianjiu." From Wang Sizheng's garrison campaign, I also received many strategies and teachings, and Jingzhou, which still had a way out, sent aid and supplies, and it was really difficult to conquer for a while..."

Although what the barbarian king said was not unreasonable, Murong Shaozong still snorted coldly after hearing what he said, pointed at a few people and reprimanded: "Many of you disciples have followed the old evil ways of chaos. Now, although Yuan evil is chasing the island barbarians, but The rebels have not yet had time to interrogate and punish you! I will not ask you to wait for your old sins now, but I will give you the opportunity to make meritorious service and atone for your sins. If you still refuse to cherish it, you will go to Ye to receive the punishment of being skinned and cooked in oil. !”

After everyone heard this, they were immediately horrified. They kowtowed and begged Murong Shaozong to give them a little more time, and they would fight bravely to capture Luyang Pass.

"I'll give you another half month to wait. If you still can't attack the city and seize the pass, you will be severely punished!"

Murong Shaozong shouted again in a deep voice, and immediately waved his hands to let these barbarian chiefs return to their respective positions and continue to attack Luyang Pass.

After the group of barbarians withdrew, Fang Bao, an officer in the hall who joined the army, couldn't help but said: "The thief Guo Xian is guarding Sanya, and he is as brave and strong as Peng Le but can't be shaken. It must be even more difficult for these barbarians to succeed. If Duke Yan threatens them like this, I'm afraid these barbarians will harbor different ambitions!"

"These thieves are originally a mob, accustomed to relying on the strong and ignorant of loyalty. Now that I have newly conquered Yingchuan and the army is strong, even if they rebel against me and surrender to the enemy, the Westerners may not dare to accept it. Besides, what is my plan? "Yang, forcing the thieves to fight is just to disturb the enemy."

After hearing this, Murong Shaozong said in a deep voice: "Our army will stay here without any worries, but it will be difficult for a long time. Yingchuan has been in war for a long time, and the people have been displaced. It is difficult to make any gains in a short time. The thief's Mianbei The land is close to here, and I heard that it is very well controlled. Even the people who were stationed in Yingchuan are going to the other country for food. I will lead the people to attack it. Even if the soil cannot be broken, the troops and horses can eat it. "

After the Battle of Yingchuan, under Murong Shaozong's initiative, General Gao Da agreed to his request and kept him here to calm Henan after the chaos. The subtext could be regarded as tacit approval of Murong Shaozong to take over Hou Jing's legacy in Henan. personnel resources. But how much he can take over still depends on Murong Shaozong's own operating level.

The first problem Murong Shaozong faced when he stayed in Henan was the food, clothing and clothing for his troops. In Henan, after Hou Jing's rebellion and a series of wars, the production environment had been severely damaged, and the local order had also been destroyed. Almost collapsed.

Although the army also left some remaining supplies when it retreated, Murong Shaozong had nearly ten thousand troops under his command, and the daily consumption was also very huge. If he could not prepare for the rainy day and just sit back and eat, he would be exhausted in an instant.

If Murong Shaozong cannot obtain new military supply channels in Henan before the remaining grain is exhausted, he can only leave here temporarily and move closer to Qingxu.

But as soon as he retreats, it will be equivalent to voluntarily giving up the tacit understanding reached between him and General Gao, and it is inevitable that his authority will be weakened.

Although he had outstanding achievements in putting down Hou Jing's rebellion, and General Gao Da also gave him a chance, but in the end he was useless, so he couldn't blame others.

As former members of the Erzhu family, Murong Shaozong and Jinyang Xungui were somewhat out of sync, if not incompatible. When King Gao was still alive, he could still make some peace between them, but now that General Gao is in charge of the country, he still has a lot of friction with the noble ministers, not to mention Murong Shaozong's interpersonal relationship, and may even have to He was used as a tool to suppress Jinyang veterans.

If given a choice, Murong Shaozong would of course be willing to stay aloof and take charge alone. The reason why I didn't pursue Hou Jing to the end before was because I wanted to support the bandit's self-respect. Now Hou Jing went to Jiangnan to create a new situation, which more or less stimulated Murong Shaozong and strengthened his thoughts in certain aspects.

As early as before Yingchuan City was conquered, Murong Shaozong had already begun to think about his next step, and the Miobei area controlled by the Western Wei Dynasty also became one of his target options.

Murong Shaozong was taciturn and rarely expressed his true thoughts. Even his closest attendants found it difficult to guess his thoughts.

Now he felt that the heat was almost there, so he informed his subordinates of his plan: "Li Tai, the Westerner's governor of Jingzhou, was fortunate to advance in power due to his achievements in Jinyang and Heyang in the old years, but looking at his whereabouts, we can see that his People are impatient and restless, and they are greedy for success. How can they hold back and defend themselves when they see the chaos in Southern Liang? However, their country is weak and has few soldiers, and they cannot take care of all sides. I don’t know who I want to stay with.”

Fang Bao came to his senses after hearing this: "So Yan Gong forced the barbarians to invade Sanya to lure the Mianbei defenders to go north, and then transfer to Mianbei via Fangcheng?"

After hearing this, Murong Shaozong nodded, and then said: "Although Li Boshan relies on luck and risk in his army, since he has experienced many battles and gained fame, he should not be treated as a lucky man. Qinghe Gong and others Although he is not said to be a man of great intelligence and talent, he can be said to have experienced battles for a long time and knows a little bit about military affairs. He is still humiliated by the powerful city and wants to do it now, and it is not considered to be a little test by the barbarians. It’s unnecessary.”

From Henan to Mianbei, in addition to the mountain road shortcut of Sanya Road, you can also go straight south via Xiangcheng, pass through the pass between Funiu Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, and pass through Fangcheng directly to enter it.

This road is straight and open, and rarely produces surprise troops. Therefore, military strategists rarely focus on this when using troops. However, in Murong Shaozong's view, although the war was affected by various factors such as the right time and location, in the end it was human nature that was fought.

Although he had never seen Li Boshan of the Western Dynasty, after taking Mianbei as the target of his strategy, he used various channels to find out about Li Boshan and his life to enhance his understanding of him. Even when he was besieging Yingchuan, he He asked Qinghe Duke Gao Yue about the details of the battle in detail, so that Gao Yue misunderstood that he was mocking him and almost fell out.

In Murong Shaozong's view, it was impossible for Li Boshan to hold back when faced with the chaos in Nanliang, and the reinforcements the Western Dynasty Bafu could give him must be limited, so there must be a certain emptiness in Mianbei at the moment. It's a good time to plunder the land.

After deducing the next action plan, Murong Shaozong ordered the waiters to prepare warm soup for bathing, filled the huge pool, then took off his clothes and plunged into it, and began to bathe carefully.