Chapter 1326 What will happen?

Chapter 1326 What will happen?

Chapter 1326 What will happen?

On April 21, when Li Chong received the news, he was supervising the construction of a warehouse city.

The staff suggested naming it "Fancheng" (near Pingquan in later generations) because it was not far from the Fancheng of the late Han Dynasty east of Bailang Mountain. That city had been abandoned, so the name was just right - this is also one of the reasons why the locations of many cities in border areas are controversial, either they are often relocated or their names are appropriated.

Cangcheng is located on a high place, and there is a post road under the city. At this moment, a large army is advancing.

Li Chong had just had a conversation with the son of the Taishan Yang family who led the team and learned that they had dispatched 3,000 people, both civilians and escort soldiers, carrying 50,000 hu of grain to Pinggang.

Pinggang's dilapidated earthen city was also being repaired and expanded. King Shao Yu of Yan allowed them to take part of the military rations, and then used rammed earth to build the city, cut down trees to build sheds, in short, doing everything possible to expand the storage space for military rations.

Fifty thousand soldiers, not counting draft animals, would consume 130,000 to 140,000 hu of grain a month.

A horse-drawn carriage can carry between 40 and 60 hu of grain, and an ox-drawn cart can carry more, but after all, it is still land transportation, so it is not that big. Moreover, ox-drawn carts are larger, and the road conditions are so-so. In some places, it is more difficult to drive than horse-drawn carriages or mule carts.

The preparations for the Peking Camp began last year. Up to now, it has gathered more than 10,000 vehicles from You, Ji and some counties in Sizhou, as well as more than 50,000 pack horses, donkeys and mules, which transport provisions, equipment, crossbow carts, medicines, tools and other items day and night.

The good news is that Li Chong sent many tribes from Youzhou to the north to set up defenses in the mountains, and they have not encountered large-scale attacks by Murong Xianbei cavalry so far.

As for the several hundred cavalrymen, they were not considered harassment and were directly expelled.

The war has not yet begun, but the preliminary preparations are going very smoothly.

Li Zhong was very politically conscious. He felt that this was the emperor's credit, because he acted decisively to preserve Murong Ren's power in Liaodong and allowed them to tie down a number of enemy troops.

Goguryeo might have also taken action, and it should be their usual sneaky behavior, that is, breaking into Xuantu County and looting property and people, which would also have a restraining effect.

Unfortunately, the Fuyu Kingdom was like a dead person. It neither paid tribute to Daliang nor sent troops to attack Murong. It just closed its doors and lived its own life. However, in a world of great strife, can it really be isolated from the world? Impossible.

"Appoint Jiang Ke as the governor of Banghai Road, commanding the Left Silver Spear Camp and the Left Cavalry Guard, with 10,000 auxiliary soldiers, to march out of Linyu Mountain, cross Liaoze, and attack Tuhe. The Left Changzhi Guard and the Right Dragon and Tiger Guard will guard Liaoxi, cover their retreat, and supervise the shipment of grain."

When Li Chong deployed his troops, he attached great importance to the retreat and food supply. From this order, we can see that his style of play was not radical at all. First of all, his premise was to try not to be defeated - even if he was defeated, he would withdraw as many troops as possible.

"The remaining troops of the Right Cavalry Guard and the three towns of Linji, Jingsai, and Beikou will gather 10,000 soldiers and immediately rush to Pinggang. Each of them will look for the enemy cavalry to fight. If the vanguard commander, Prince Yu of Yan, gives orders, they will obey his orders."

This order may seem a bit strange, but it was actually made considering that the King of Yan had never commanded so many troops before. Therefore, these generals were allowed to maintain their independence and not wait for orders from the King of Yan for everything. Instead, they were allowed to take the initiative to find enemy cavalry and engage in battle, pushing the enemy eastward.

To put it bluntly, Li Zhong did not trust Shao Yu's ability.

The Prince of Yan had the ability to lead 3,000 cavalrymen to crush the enemy, but he had not yet proven his ability to command a mixed force of more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry.

If Shao Xun had not specifically requested it, Li Chong would most likely have let the Prince of Yan lead 3,000 cavalry to serve as the personal guard of the Peking Camp, and set out with him, Li. This would not only be safe, but would also allow him to gain some credit.

"Appoint Zhao Wei, the commander of the Heilongjiang Right Camp, to stay behind to guard the camp, and divide the garrison between Yan and Beiping counties with the Heilongjiang Central Camp. If any bandits cross the mountains and break into Youzhou, they will be severely suppressed."

This was the emperor's order. First, he was worried that the Xianbei might pass through the tunnel in Yanshan Mountain and rush into Youzhou to create chaos. He was even more worried that someone in the rear would rebel, so he left two imperial guards with 12,000 people to deter them. Second, he was worried about accidents.

"The rest of the Imperial Guards, the Left and Right Imperial Guards, the Left and Right Imperial Guards, and the Right Flying Dragon Guards left Peking and moved to Lulong and Fancheng with their chariots, awaiting orders."

This unit had a total of more than 30,000 combat soldiers and was the absolute main force in this battle. It was assisted by Hebei garrison troops, Youzhou miscellaneous Hu people, and the powerful tribes to transport supplies and food. It was led by Li Chong himself.

"Send a message to Jizhou and let the emperor know."

After giving all the orders, Li Zhong waved his hand and went to rest.

He is not in a hurry at all.

The most taboo thing for such a large army is to get in chaos. If they are not in chaos, the commander will not panic, and they are all veterans who have fought for many years, what can the enemy use to fight?
******
On April 25th, Shao Xun received the military report from Li Chong in just four days.

He didn't object.

Li Chong was the Recruiting Envoy and had full authority. These were "notifications" rather than "requests."

On this day, he was in Zhangwu County, and 40,000 infantry and cavalry were marching towards Piaoyujin in a mighty manner.

On the 26th, they received a report from Xu Lang, the commander of the Donglai camp: the unit was scheduled to cross the sea at the end of April, and transport thousands of Northern Army soldiers and Qingxu noble tribesmen from Jiangnan, totaling more than 10,000 people, to Liaodong.

The purpose was actually to free up the Zuo Feilong Guard soldiers and the First Battalion of the Huangtou Army, who had relatively strong field combat capabilities.

After they hand over the garrison mission, they can cooperate with Murong Ren's troops to go north and try to recapture Xiangping and other places.

When Shao Xun saw that the signature was April 20th, he knew that the action of the Donglai camp was imminent.

Now only the grassland camp with Shao Shen as the commander remains.

Shao Xun thought about it, wrote a letter by hand, and sent it to Pingcheng by express horse, ordering Tuoba Xianbei to send troops to join the 5,000 elite cavalry under the Chanyu Protectorate, the 10,000 volunteers, the 2,000 cavalry commanders of Youzhou, the 3,000 guards of Pingcheng, the 8,000 infantry and cavalry from the three towns of Gaoliu, Hongcheng, and Wuzhou, the 3,000 shield and crossbowmen, and the 2,000 soldiers of Liangcheng, a total of more than 80,000 people, to drive the cattle and sheep eastward into the pasture of the Yuwen tribe.

The grass grows vigorously in May, which is a good time to march and fight on the grassland.

"With so many people mobilized, there will be a lot of rewards on the grassland this year, right?" Yang Xianrong said with a frown on the spacious carriage.

"We'll talk about it then." Shao Xun said with a smile.

Of course, he agreed with Yang Xianrong's words that war is not something that can be created out of nothing, and logistics is the most important thing.

To mobilize so many people on the grassland, at least millions of livestock must be used, divided into more than ten routes. It's not that the area is not wide enough to move, but so many livestock must be dispersed widely, otherwise the livestock in front will pass through and sweep away all the grass, and the grass won't have time to grow before the next batch comes, won't they starve to death?
This type of migratory warfare requires a lot of skills and is also very dangerous, especially when you are defeated.

Shao Xun remembered that in the Tang Dynasty in later generations, there were so many Tibetans in the western half of Guanzhong that they often liked to fight in waves. They would first migrate all men, women, old and young to the nearby area, bringing tents, cattle, sheep and slaves (of various ethnic groups, even Central Asians and South Asians). They would graze in Qinghai in the summer and drive cattle, sheep, horses and camels to Guanxi in the autumn. Then they would attack Guanzhong. If they won, they would rob everything. If they lost, they would surrender to Fengxiang, Jingyuan, Bining and other vassal states, and even the elderly, the weak, women and children would be abandoned.

In fact, if he had a choice, he would rather go to Pingcheng, lead this huge army, march along the grassland, and experience the feeling of being the reverse Yelu Abaoji.

A flying feeling, a different experience.

The reward that Yang Xianrong mentioned must be given, otherwise it will not be so easy to get people next time.

But he doesn't necessarily have to pay for it. He should first see how much money the Murong family has.

If that's not enough, go grab some from Goguryeo.

If there is enough time, let the Hu cavalry plunder Fuyu, fight quickly and retreat quickly, and take as much as you can.

Do you really think that I, Shao Zei, am a good person?

"Is there a sea in Piaoyujin?" Shan Yinan asked from the side.

Yang Xianrong glanced at her and said, "You are getting dumber and dumber. I really don't know how you gave orders in Jianye before. If people see you like this, no one will obey your orders."

Shan Yinan felt a little embarrassed.

"I will go." Shao Xun said, "There is Jieshi in Liaoxi County. Let's go and see what the saying 'the water is so calm and the mountains and islands are so tall' means."

"Do you want to compose a poem?" Shan Yinan asked again.

Shao Xun smiled awkwardly but politely, and said, "It's not that I can't write poetry, but I don't have the inspiration to write poetry."

Both girls had smiles on their faces.

"It's too stuffy in the carriage, let's get off and take a walk." Shao Xun said, and jumped off the carriage lightly, which startled Tong Qianjin so much that he looked worried again.

"Nian Liu." Shao Xun jumped onto a horse and shouted.

"Your Majesty." Shao Xu was inspecting the ranks of the Fifth Battalion of the Yellow Head Army. He immediately came over upon hearing this.

"You and Li Deguang will immediately lead your 10,000 men northward as the vanguard to Liaoxi." Shao Xun said, "This is a forced march, you must learn it eventually. Practice well and don't make any mistakes."

"Yes, sir." Shao Xu immediately rode back to find Li Shang to make arrangements.

Shao Xun looked at the endless wilderness and admired the magnificent military appearance.

Unknowingly, he was able to organize such a large-scale army, which would have been very difficult more than ten years ago.

But today, in the third year of Zhenming, he controls all of China and looks down upon the world. The national strength is growing stronger every day, and his reputation is spreading far and wide. Things are no longer the same.

The Shu soldiers in the gorge maneuvered the boat across the sea for him.

The Wu people of Kuaiji cut through the waves for him.

The herdsmen of Yinshan fought bravely for him.

The men from Guanxi put on armor and held swords for him.

In addition, there were countless nobles and chieftains in Henan and Hebei, with carts, pack horses, and even boats, which sent bushels of grain and bundles of arrows to the front line.

How could Murong Xianbei deserve such a thundering blow?

In history, Shi Hu's army was said to be 500,000 when he conquered Liao, and it was already good enough if he had 100,000 combat soldiers. How can this bandit compare with me?

Shao Xun laughed out loud, this feeling was really wonderful.

……

At the end of April in Jicheng, Murong Huang also received news from all directions.

First of all, the war situation in Liaodong is at a stalemate, and Crown Prince Murong Jun has nothing to plunder, so please send some food and fodder.

Then news came from the direction of Xuantu County that Goguryeo King's brother Gao Wu led thousands of cavalry to break into Xuantu and looted thousands of cattle, sheep and captives.

Then news came from western Liaoning that the guard general Song Huang and others surrendered to the enemy, and the Liang army easily captured the county and went east through Tuhe River, seemingly with some plan.

Then, someone from Liucheng actually defected to the enemy...

"What should we do?" This was a question Murong Huang asked subconsciously.

However, he quickly reacted and realized that he had lost his composure, so he summoned close officials and chiefs to discuss matters on the first day of May.

(End of this chapter)