Plan to cut off the nine states

Tang Weitian led his troops out of the camp and defeated a group of Qiang soldiers who came to check the situation. He was still brave and invincible on the battlefield, but he set a few rules for himself: Those who have been stabbed or kneeled down and surrendered will not make up for it. He scattered the fugitives and left them all to his subordinates to chase. He only charged in crowded places.

There were not many Qiang soldiers, and only a few of the more than fifty people were killed. Half of the remaining ones escaped and the other half became prisoners.

Tang Weitian acted according to the plan and released the prisoners in front of the battle, and asked them to go back and inform Qiang King Xu Qiu: Yizhou army will enter Liang within ten days, so that the Qiang people can prepare to welcome the guests.

Xu Chu was not in a hurry to enter Liang, he was waiting for the Yang family to come over on their own initiative.

The military camp moves forward several miles every day, and does not move much behind. Zuojiazhai has been burned down, and all the materials in the village have been moved out, which is enough for this team of thousands of people to build a huge camp and establish a Countless flags.

Tang Weitian led his troops for twenty or thirty miles every day, but never saw the Qiang soldiers again.

On the fifth day of camp, an envoy from the Yang family in Liangzhou came.

The roads ahead were all occupied by the Qiang people, so Yang's envoy could only go around Qinzhou and come from the rear of the military camp. Xu Chu had been prepared for this and deliberately left a thousand people to guard the back door.

The envoy saw the camp lined up along the road from a distance. The soldiers entering the camp were full of tents and soldiers. He couldn't help being shocked. He held his breath and entered the tent. He was very respectful and called Xu Chu "the honored envoy". He was polite to Xu Chu. Later he changed his name to "Mr. Xu".

The conversation went very smoothly. The envoy was very grateful for the arrival of the Yizhou army. Borrowing roads and food was no problem. He only had one request: to march into Liangzhou within ten days and attack the Qiang people together with the Yang family.

Xu Chu shook his head and refused, "No, this plan is inappropriate."

The messenger immediately changed his words and said: "If ten days is too fast, half a month will do."

"Five days ago, I had informed the Qiang people that they would enter Liang within ten days. Now there are only five days left, but Liangzhou has to extend it for another five days, which will break the promise of the Yizhou army. It is inappropriate."

The envoy smiled and said: "I see, there is no problem. I will return immediately to explain the situation. The two armies are scheduled to attack at the same time. Even if rain and snow come together, they cannot stop the Liangzhou army."

The two sides agreed on a date for sending troops and a meeting place. The envoy left an entourage as a guide and took the others to leave and return to Liangzhou overnight.

The next day, Xu Chu ordered the camp to expand forward twenty miles. Tang Weitian led his troops further and occupied a mountain ridge. The border of Liangzhou could be seen, but there were still no Qiang soldiers.

On the evening of the ninth day, the envoy from Liangzhou arrived and said that everything had been arranged. The two armies would march together tomorrow. He also brought the decree of the King of Liang, ordering the officials of Nanliang to provide grain and grass to the Yizhou army and send them out of the country as gifts after the war.

Xu Chu was not polite, accepted the order, and immediately ordered people to send it to the Iron Bird Camp, and then invited the envoy to drink. He had a small drink capacity and asked other generals to come over to accompany him. He made excuses to leave and went through the camp overnight to find him. Tang Weitian.

Tang Weitian had only more than 2,000 soldiers, some of whom were descended from Zuojiazhai. They knew the strength of their own side and the strength of the Qiang people, so the closer they got to Liangzhou, the more panicked they became.

Xu Chu summoned the generals and said, "We will send out troops tomorrow, with the Yang army as the main force and the Yizhou army as the auxiliary. This battle will be won."

After everyone calmed down for a while, Xu Chu talked and laughed freely, joking with Tang Weitian, and finally said: "Tomorrow I will go to the battlefield with you. After capturing the next city, we will stop to have a meal, so that you can encourage each other."

After everyone left, Tang Weitian said: "Young master, it's better to stay behind, just in case..."

"Did the scout discover the Qiang soldiers?"

"No, but many people think this is not a good sign. The Qiang soldiers may set up an ambush."

"The Qiang soldiers did not know how to set up an ambush. They must have thought that there were more troops here, so they concentrated their forces to fight the Yang family."

"Ah? Is King Qiang so stupid?"

"King Qiang is not stupid. I met him once and thought he was a very decisive person. He thought that Yizhou had many soldiers but came as a guest from afar. If the host was defeated, the guests would naturally retreat. On the contrary, the guests would If defeated, the master may not retreat, but will take advantage of the situation. "

Tang Weitian thought for a while, nodded and said: "Well, if I were the Qiang King, if I thought Yizhou had more soldiers, I would also concentrate my troops to fight the Yang family."

"Moreover, the Qiang people have been fighting against the Yang family for a long time and have won consecutive battles. They have high morale and are determined to win, but they may not be able to defeat the Yizhou army."

"Can the Qiang people still win this time?"

"Actually, the odds of winning are not high. If the rumors are true, the Qiang King has just put down the civil strife, and his strength has weakened, and his morale is not at its peak. On the contrary, the Yang family, who was forced to have no way to retreat, has the ambition to mourn the soldiers, suddenly received strong reinforcements, and fought to the death , the odds of winning are better.”

"Haha, it will be interesting when Yang discovers the truth." Tang Weitian smiled.

"The truth? The Yizhou Army is in its early 40,000, so the claim of 50,000 is absolutely correct."

"But most of the soldiers are at General Tie Er's end."

"General Tie Er will immediately enter the territory of Liangzhou after receiving the decree from King Liang, just as agreed."

Tang Weitian was stunned for a while, then smiled and said, "Young master is really good at playing tricks." Suddenly he sighed, "I really miss him."

"What do you miss?"

"I miss you when you were the king of Wu."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Don't be careless. Everything will never go as I expected. You need to be on guard."

"Understood, I'll just walk more slowly tomorrow."

A guard came in and said to Xu Chu: "Another envoy from Liangzhou has come. He must see Mr. Xu."

"Another messenger?"

"Well, I asked him to see the previous envoy, but he refused to go. He also said that he was not on the same side as him, but he refused to reveal his identity. He only said that his surname was Yang and that he was also the envoy from Liangzhou, and that he came head-on. "

"Bring it in."

There was something special about this new envoy. Coming head-on meant that he had passed through the territory occupied by the Qiang soldiers.

The envoy was alone, without any entourage, and carrying only one baggage. Even so, Tang Weitian still guarded the envoy himself and never left an inch.

"Mr. Xu, you're fine." The visitor said with cupped hands.

Xu Chu was very surprised and immediately stood up and said: "It turns out to be the fierce army general."

The new envoy from Liangzhou turned out to be Yang Mengjun, the son of King Liang. Xu Chu was able to escape from the hands of the He Rong people with the help of this person.

"Mr. Xu is going to march into Liangzhou tomorrow?"

"Exactly."

"Absolutely not."

"Why is this? Tomorrow's date is agreed between me and the envoy of Prince Liang."

Yang Mengjun glanced at the guards in the tent.

Xu Chu signaled the guards to retreat, but left Tang Weitian behind and said to Yang Mengjun: "This General Tang is my old friend. General Mengjun has something to say, but it doesn't matter."

Yang Mengjun stared at Tang Weitian for a while, nodded, and said, "Who was the envoy that Mr. Xu received before?"

"I call myself Yang Ge, the younger brother of King Liang."

"Hey, he is the younger brother of King Liang in terms of seniority, but he is actually far from it. But he is not the envoy of King Liang, but the envoy of my brother Yang Mengzhi."

"Um?"

The old King of Liang has many children and grandchildren, so naturally there is a struggle for power. He has always been able to suppress it. However, since the world was in chaos, he became seriously ill again, and the situation began to become chaotic. The children and grandchildren first united with the civil and military ministers, regardless of his opposition. , forcibly established the King of Liang, and then competed for the crown prince's position. The secret fight developed into an open fight, and the verbal quarrel turned into a sword fight.

The Yang family has been running Liangzhou for several generations and is deeply rooted. If it were not for the discord between their descendants, they would not be defeated by the Qiang soldiers.

Yang Mengjun did not deny that he had participated in the fight for the throne. After his failure, he asked to lead his troops out of the town and away from the capital.

Just a month ago, Yang Mengzhi, the son of another old Liang king who failed in the struggle for power, was unwilling to quit, so he also asked for a group of soldiers from his father, claiming to go out to control Liangnan to fight the Qiang people, but in After gaining the troops, they attacked the palace and imprisoned King Lao Liang.

Xu Chu had also heard this rumor, but soon afterwards there was another rumor that the old Liang King had returned to power.

Yang Mengzhi received too little support. He killed some people, but still could not save the situation. In desperation, he decided to introduce outsiders.

"Yang Mengzhi has made peace with the Qiang King and ceded all the southern part of Liang. He will occupy the northern part of Liang. Mr. Xu will enter Liang tomorrow and will face not only Qiang soldiers, but also tens of thousands of Liangzhou soldiers."

Xu Chu was shocked, and Tang Weitian was even more surprised. He couldn't help but said, "Don't they know that our Yizhou Army... has many soldiers?"

"I know, that's why we join forces. Yang Meng has a wrong ambition and is worried that the Yizhou Army will release the old Liang King."

Tang Weitian changed his expression, and Xu Chu was even more frightened. He cupped his hands and said, "If General Mengjun hadn't reminded me, the soldiers of the Yizhou Army would have died in a foreign land. I was saved twice by General Mengjun. It's a great kindness that I will never forget."

"After all, the Yizhou Army is here to help. The Yang family can't just watch the reinforcements be fooled."

"Who does the Liangnan Zhucheng support?" Xu Chu asked.

"Liangnan still supports the old King of Liang and does not accept Yang Mengzhi's orders."

Xu Chu felt a little relieved. The decree brought by the messenger Yang Ge, stamped with the seal of the old Liang King, might work.

"Why did the fierce general come from the front?" Xu Chu asked again, quite doubtful about this.

"I returned to Liangzhou to inquire about the military situation on the order of the Golden Saint. I walked for half a month. I just learned the day before yesterday that Mr. Xu was leading troops to enter Liang, so I immediately came to remind him that everyone I led stayed behind."

Yang Meng's army was familiar with the terrain of Liangzhou and could easily avoid the Qiang soldiers.

"Golden Saint?" Xu Chu and Tang Weitian called out at the same time.

Yang Mengjun smiled and said: "I led my troops to form an alliance with the World Army. I plan to invade Liangzhou in one fell swoop, rescue the old Liang King, and expel Yang Mengzhi and the Qiang people. Therefore, I have to come to carefully check the enemy's situation."

"It turns out that the Liangzhou Army who was rumored to be assisting the Golden Saint is Your Excellency." Xu Chu said with a cupped hand.

"When I was young, I served as a soldier under General Cao, Duke of Xiao Guo. I received many teachings and had a master-disciple relationship, so I led my troops to help. Unfortunately, I couldn't save General Cao."

The Yang family was from a scattered family, and their descendants were usually sent to the imperial army to stay for several years, firstly for training and secondly as hostages.

Yang Mengjun was worried that Xu Chu still didn't believe it, so he took off the baggage on his back, opened it and revealed a wooden stick.

Xu Chu was fine. Tang Weitian screamed and immediately took off the stick from his waist, pulled off the brocade wrapping, compared it with Yang Mengjun, and became even more surprised: "This... this is the real stick of birth!"

Yang Mengjun nodded, "The Golden Saint said that if I have to go around Qinzhou and encounter the World Coming Army, this stick may be useful."

"Maybe? It must be useful. Just wait." Tang Weitian put away his wooden stick, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the stick respectfully, and said kindly: "Long time no see, are you okay?"

Yang Mengjun waited for a while, a little embarrassed, but confirmed that he had been trusted, so he said: "Fortunately, the Yizhou army has many generals, and I will lead the way. As long as we don't get into an ambush, we can still fight."

Xu Chu smiled bitterly and said: "To be honest, the Yizhou Army only has three thousand people."