Chapter 210 The war breaks out again
Chapter 210 The war breaks out again
Two pieces of calligraphy written by Xiao Xia were pasted right above the table. The handwriting was average, at the level of a county school student, but the two birthday greetings caught the guests' attention.
'May you live as long as the evergreen pines of the Southern Mountains, and may you be as blessed as the ever-flowing waters of the East China Sea.'
Many guests secretly copied down these two sentences.
Xiao Xia's seat was the first on the right side of the big tent, the chief of the guests. Next to him was the county magistrate Pei Xuanji, the eldest son of the famous official Pei Ju.
He was not only the county magistrate, but also represented the western Pei family among the four major families in Zhangye. Next to Pei Xuanji was the representative of the Li family among the four major families, Li Gui, who was one of the princes who later ruled Hexi at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
However, the Li family now lives in Liangzhou. The weather is cold and the head of the family, Li Hui, is in poor health and cannot come over, so he asked his son Li Gui to come and celebrate the birthday on his behalf.
The current Li Gui doesn't look like the prince who rebelled later. He looks rather mean and is very taciturn. He greeted Xiao Xia and stopped talking.
Below Li Gui is Cao Dayou, the head of the Cao family among the four major families. His son Cao Zhen married An Luo's daughter, and the two families are in-laws.
In fact, there were many Sogdians present, but they basically had the following seven surnames: An, Kang, Cao, Shi, Shi, Mi, and He. So why were they called the Nine Surnames? Because there was also an Eastern Cao State and a Small Shi State, and they also had the surnames Cao and Shi.
The most famous Sogdians in history are probably An Lushan and Shi Siming, who brought great disasters to the Central Plains dynasty.
Pei Xuanji smiled softly to Xiao Xia and said, "Before the road between Hexi and the Central Plains was closed, I received a letter from my father, and I learned that the envoy was the grandson of the emperor. My father didn't let me say it, and I didn't say it either. From what my father said, the envoy might also serve as the governor of Zhangye after the war."
Xiao Xia smiled puzzledly and said, "I really don't know. Can Pei Juncheng tell me in detail?"
"My father didn't say much in the letter, just saying that the King of Jin opposed your concurrent appointment as governor. I guess your father thinks you are too young, but it seems that the emperor hopes you will stay in Hexi for two more years."
Xiao Xia nodded and smiled, "I am indeed not qualified to be a prefect. A prefect is a civil servant who needs to start from the county and work his way up. How can I, a mere warrior, be the lord of a county? County Magistrate Pei was also promoted from the magistrate of Jincheng County!"
"Your Excellency, you don't know that border states are different. Border states and counties place more emphasis on military functions. The prefect's main job is also in the military, and the specific government affairs are handled by the county magistrate. Therefore, the prefect is basically a commander-in-chief concurrently. How many commanders have served as county officials? Including Xue Zongguan, he has never been a county official."
Xiao Xia was not very interested in this topic. It was not that you could become a prefect just because you wanted to. There was no point in them talking about this topic. Moreover, Xiao Xia felt that Pei Xuanji was more or less testing her. The position of prefect had been vacant for a long time. How could Pei Xuanji not be tempted?
It’s not that the Zhangye prefect has great power, but that after being promoted to prefect and then transferred back, he can go one step further. After all, the second-in-command and the first-in-command are completely different things.
At this time, music started playing and a master of ceremonies shouted, "The auspicious time has arrived, please welcome the birthday man!"
Everyone stood up and welcomed today's birthday celebrants.
A few days passed in a flash, and the soldiers, civilians and war horses of Shandan County all withdrew to Liangzhou. The county seat became an empty city, and the town commander Du Tianzhao also led 500 troops to Zhangye City.
Except for the 500 soldiers guarding Juyanhai, the 1,500 soldiers in the other three military cities were all withdrawn to Zhangye City. Only a beacon tower and 20 soldiers were left in Dadouba Valley to closely monitor the movements of the Tuyuhun army.
At noon that day, Xiao Xia, who was eating in the room, suddenly heard the urgent sound of the alarm outside, "Ding! Ding! Ding!"
The alarm sounded from the bell tower on the top of the city wall. Through the window, Xiao Xia saw the soldiers looking towards the top of the city wall. He was stunned. What was going on?
He put down his chopsticks and walked out of the door quickly. He saw three beacon smoke burning on the beacon tower on the top of the city. Xiao Xia sighed softly. The warning signal had finally come.
Xiao Xia immediately ordered: "Order the entire army to assemble!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The war drums sounded to gather the troops, and the soldiers who had just finished lunch came out from the barracks and assembled quickly. Currently, the regular army in Zhangye City has a strength of about 4,500 people, plus 1,000 militia troops, which is 5,500 people. In addition to the 3,500 registered reserve troops, a total of 9,000 people can be mobilized. Xiao Xia believes that these troops are enough to defend Zhangye City.
The team was gathering quickly. Xiao Xia said to An Xinggui who had come over, "Go and inform Pei Juncheng immediately to move the people outside the city into the city as soon as possible!"
An Xinggui nodded, and rushed there with his brother An Xiuren, leading a thousand militiamen. If they wanted to quickly move the people in the city into the city, they had to have the assistance of the militiamen, so that it could be done within one day. Four thousand five hundred soldiers had been assembled, and Xiao Xia walked up to the platform. He slowly glanced at the soldiers, and said in a low and slow voice: "Twenty days ago, Tuyuhun's sneak attacks on Zhangye City and Shandan County were both defeated, but I know they will not be resigned to it and will definitely come back. Now three smoke columns are burning, they are here as expected, they must be well prepared, and they are determined to take over Zhangye City. They want to massacre the people in the city, kill our parents and children, humiliate our wives and sisters, and rob all the wealth."
“But they are dreaming!”
Xiao Xia's voice suddenly became high-pitched, and he shouted sternly: "Because we are here, we are also fully prepared. Brothers, we must protect our parents, wives and daughters, we must defend our homes, we must defend the dignity of the Great Sui Empire, and let the Tuyuhun people know that with us here, everything they do is wishful thinking. Brothers, defend Zhangye! Defend the city!"
Thousands of soldiers were filled with excitement, and they raised their arms and shouted, "Defend Zhangye! Defend the city!"
The soldiers began their intense training again. Xiao Xia stood on the top of the city wall and watched the soldiers' spear training.
At this time, a soldier came running to report, "Sir, a camel team has arrived outside the East City. They are coming from Liangzhou and are bringing us weapons to defend the city."
Xiao Xia was overjoyed and hurried to the East City. The city gate had been opened and hundreds of camels entered the city. Each camel was carrying a bundle of items. Xiao Xia went forward to take a closer look and found that they were actually parts of a large catapult.
The leading escort officer stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Excellency Xiao, these are the twenty large catapults sent by General Xue, along with fifty craftsmen who are responsible for installing and repairing them."
An old craftsman stepped forward and added: "Sir, this catapult has wheels and can be moved on the top of the city wall. It does not need to be fixed!"
“When will it be installed?”
“It’ll take two days!”
Xiao Xia nodded and said, "The situation is very urgent. The enemy is already here. I hope everyone will work overtime and install it as soon as possible!"
The old craftsman nodded and said, "We will try to complete the installation before dark tomorrow!"
On the vast snowfield, 20,000 Tuyuhun troops, led by King Guangding Liang Qucong, were marching towards Zhangye City in a mighty manner.
The strategic intention of the Sui Dynasty was already very clear. It would launch an attack on Tuyuhun after the beginning of next spring. Tuyuhun King Murong Fuyun also realized that the Hexi Corridor would become the western battlefield for the Sui army to attack Tuyuhun, and Jiuqu would become the eastern battlefield.
In order to break the strategic intention of the Sui Dynasty, Tuyuhun decided to take the initiative and break the eastern wing or western line of the Sui army first. There was a threat from the Dangxiang people in Jiuqu, and Tuyuhun was not sure, so they turned their attention to Hexi. They had the advantage of the Daduba Valley and were more confident of taking the Hexi Corridor.
They didn't want to break the balance before, but now they have no worries. The Tuyuhun leaders unanimously decided to take over the Hexi Corridor before the beginning of spring. In addition, heavy snow in Wushaoling blocked the road and reinforcements could not come, which was a rare opportunity for them.
To capture Hexi, we must first capture Zhangye, use Zhangye County as logistics, and then divide the troops into two groups, one group to capture Dunhuang County, and the other group to concentrate on capturing Liangzhou. Once the Hexi Corridor is captured, the Sui army will have to abandon the plan to attack Hehuang and instead fight for the Hexi Corridor. Tuyuhun will be able to respond from both ends, making it difficult for the Sui army to take care of both ends. Maybe they can also seize the Hehuang Valley. It has to be said that this is a relatively perfect plan.
The plan was perfect, but the reality was very bleak. Tuyuhun originally wanted to take Zhangye at the lowest cost, attack Shandan Horse Farm, force Zhangye to send troops to rescue, and then defeat them one by one by surprise attack.
Unexpectedly, their plan was seen through by the Sui army, which led to them suffering two disastrous defeats, especially the attack on Zhangye, where they lost almost half of their 5,000 troops.
This made Tuyuhun King Murong Fuyun furious, but it also made him sober up. He could not play tricks but must send a general to attack Zhangye City in earnest.
He immediately appointed his trusted aristocratic general, King Guangding Liang Qu Cong, as the main general and Murong Baoshu as the deputy general. The two led an army of 20,000 to attack Zhangye City.
Why were there only 20,000 troops instead of 30,000?
Because once they send out 30,000 troops, the logistics will not be able to supply them. The logistics supply of Dadouba Valley can only support 20,000 troops at most. Therefore, when they attack Zhangye, they can only send 20,000 troops at most. If the logistics can keep up, they can continue to send reinforcements to the Hexi Corridor.
The army marched westward in a mighty manner. That morning, the 20,000-strong army saw Zhangye City from afar.
(End of this chapter)