Seeing that his troubles were gone, Li Chengdao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He knew very well that although he was Murong Cheng's confidant, although he had followed Murong Cheng for more than ten years, and although he had great trust in Murong Cheng. However, if one person is not good, it may make other people's heads roll off at any time. No one who is a monarch will kill people without blinking an eye.
Suddenly he remembered something again, so he said repeatedly: "Return to the Lord, I have one more thing to repay."
"Speak!" Murong Cheng said coldly. Although he did not blame Li Chengdao for allowing the navy to defect, one-third of the navy was lost, and it was impossible for him not to be a little angry.
Li Chengdao said in a deep voice: "My lord, Zhao Jun took away one-third of our navy. In addition to their great strength and subordinates' fear of attracting powerful enemies, it is also related to the news sent by Zhao Jun. The general believes that this matter is in The impact at this moment is greater than one-third of the naval power."
"Huh?" Murong Cheng and others were all startled and looked at Li Chengdao.
"Tell me about it? What news can compare to the role of one-third of the naval fleet at this moment? Although our naval fleet cannot compare with Zhao Jun, although the naval fleet cannot land. However, they can give Xuzhou a They can also carry out sneak attacks and suppression on the eastern coast. In addition, they can also provide great help to the Yangzhou prefectures occupied by the Xuzhou Army." Murong Cheng was a little unconvinced, and he was even a little annoyed, thinking that this was Li Chengdao exonerating himself for his actions. .
Li Chengdao also heard Murong Cheng's dissatisfaction, but he was not nervous at all. He said respectfully: "In the past, my lord was trapped in Xuzhou, and the navy was isolated overseas, with no information on the actual situation inland, and no one to report. Zhao Jun sent an envoy to say, If the Lord returns to Yangzhou, Zhao Jun is willing to cooperate with us and fight other princes. Zhao Jun can contain Yong Jun for us and reduce the pressure. At that time, his subordinates did not know the actual battle situation of our army, but according to what Zhao Jun said, Situ. Thunder has attacked my entire land.¡±
"That's why my subordinates dare not fight to the death, angering the Zhao army and putting us in a situation where we are all enemies. In addition, my subordinates also believe that if we are in a critical situation, the Zhao army in the north may be our help. After all, , we are not bordering Zhao Jun, and at most we will lose part of our navy. Zhao Jun's navy is already superior to ours, and its main place of action is still in the Yizhou Islands in the northeast, which poses minimal harm to us now. "
"But the Zhao army is bordering the Yong army. Zhao Xun definitely doesn't want to see Situ Lei develop and grow and pose a threat to himself. After all, the Yong army and the Turks in the north will bring him a flanking attack from the south and the north. situation. Although the navy is important, at this moment, the states on the road are our foundation. "
"That's what Zhao Jun sent the envoy to say?" Murong Cheng asked with a frown. If what Li Chengdao said is true, then it may not be bad news for Qi Jun at this moment.
"My subordinates will never dare to deceive the lord."
Murong Cheng looked sideways at Zhang Tu and others, with a strange look on his face, and said in a deep voice: "What do you think? What does Zhao Jun mean? Is it worth our while to cooperate with them?"
Zhang Tu rubbed his brows and said in a pensive voice: "My lord, now it's not a question of whether it's worth it, but that we have no choice. For Zhao Jun, whether we cooperate with them or not has little impact on them. And For us, if Zhao Jun joins the war, then we can relieve a lot of pressure. According to my subordinates' guess, once Zhao Jun joins the war, their target will be Liangzhou in the northwest. "
"Zhao Jun's attack on Liangzhou can alarm Situ Lei. But his subordinates are worried that Situ Lei will abandon Liangzhou and go south to capture Jiangzhou and Jiaozhou. After all, Liangzhou is poor in land. Compared with Jiangzhou and Jiaozhou, Still a lot worse.¡±
"The reason why Zhao Jun said he wanted to cooperate with us is because he hopes that we can persist in the southwest of Qidi longer and not let Situ Lei win too quickly. In other words, don't let Situ Lei develop too fast. Can we cooperate with him? Cooperation is the same for us. However, if we cooperate with them, we can purchase some grain and grass supplies through sea ships. Nowadays, we can recruit soldiers from various states, but the weapons, armor, equipment and grain and grass supplies are indeed limited. gap."
"Of course, as far as we know, Zhao Xun has already reached a certain agreement with Situ Daida. It is very likely that Zhao Xun is unwilling to directly tear up the recently signed agreement, so he wants to join forces with us to create a banner for his own army. So that others can After I go to the army, I won¡¯t bear the name of treachery.¡±
Immediately, Zhang Tu sighed slightly and said deeply: "This Zhao Xun just sat and watched the southern princes fight with each other, and then obtained benefits from it. Silently, he became stronger and stronger without having to pay too much. price."
Murong Cheng said bitterly: "What happened to the Turks? Didn't we agree at the beginning that we would send out troops to attack Xuzhou. But the Turks took the opportunity to go south,"Defeat Zhao Jun and give Yong Jun a chance to take action. Why haven't they been defeated by now? "
Zhong Yan replied: "Reporting to my lord, it's not that the Turks didn't move out, but that Zhao Xun had already prepared. According to our spies in the north, Zhao Xun began to win over various tribes with food last winter. He successively gathered nine large tribes. The tribes armed themselves with weapons and took advantage of the snow to advance northward for more than five hundred miles. They successively eliminated hundreds of tribes, large and small, and surrendered dozens of tribes. Now, these tribes who surrendered or surrendered are all under the command of Zhao Jun. Next, they fought with the Turkic Xue Nie Khan, while the Zhao army provided support from the rear. Therefore, the Turkic army remained in a stalemate in the northern prairie. "
"The most important thing is that Zhao Xun spent a lot of money on various materials such as food, salt, tea, ironware, and tribes that belonged to him, and won over those neutral tribes. It made it very difficult for Xue Nie Khan to gather troops to fight back."
"What's even more serious is that when Xue Nie Khan was defeated in Liangzhou and withdrew his troops, he offended many tribes. These tribes were already dissatisfied, and now that Zhao Jun was behind them, these tribes suddenly became dissatisfied. He began to turn away from Xue Nie Khan and no longer surrendered. Xue Nie Khan is now much weaker than before. Xue Nie Khan is busy dealing with his own internal problems and has no time to lead his army southward. "
Zhang Tu said with emotion: "The Zhao army has always been accustomed to dividing the other party, fighting each other internally, and then slowly annexing them. Now, the Zhao army in Bingzhou, Xiazhou and other places began to move people northward, and began to build cities more than a hundred miles north. To expand territory, the price paid is part of the trade of food and materials and the internal consumption of the Turks."
Hearing that the two civil servants under his command were praising each other, Murong Cheng suddenly felt depressed. Although he also deeply admired some of Zhao Xun's actions, this did not mean that he could accept his subordinates praising his enemies in front of him.
"Okay, let's talk about it for now. Since Zhao Jun wants trouble from Zhao Situ Lei and wants an excuse, then we will give it to him. Zhang Tu, send someone to contact Zhao Jun and sayjust say that we will give him three points One of the naval warships and half of Qiongzhou Island in exchange for Zhao Jun¡¯s assistance. This will not only cover up our situation, but also allow Zhao Jun to send troops with justification.¡±
"Situ Lei huh he can surprise us. Let me see if he can stop Zhao Jun's surprise attack on him."
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Liangzhou Prefecture, in the north of Yanzhou, was adjacent to the Yanzhou Army but was occupied by the Tang Army. Here, in order to make it easier to recover in the future, when Zhao Xun used the name of Li Feng and fought with Feng Ziming to fight against the Tang army going south, he left several bandit troops behind to prepare as internal responses.
However, now it seems that it is no longer needed. Because the Tang Army had reached an agreement with the Yanzhou Army to exchange a large amount of grain, grass, military equipment, and transit for the prefectures and counties occupied by the Tang Army.
"General Wei, aren't you on the front line of Yuzhou? Why are you here? This time, you are the general responsible for taking over the territory under the jurisdiction of the Tang Army?" Wang Yue, the leader of the "mountain bandits" who was left by Zhao Xun in Liangzhou Mansion as an internal agent, was surprised. Said to Wei Dong.
Wei Dong said with a smile: "Yuzhou has been pacified, and there will be no war in the short term. Therefore, my lord asked me to go north here and take over the Tang Army's garrison. Wang Yue, you have been here for a year and a half, right? How many are there now?" Are there people? Let¡¯s count them and join them as local soldiers. I don¡¯t have many troops to take over the Tang army¡¯s counties this time.¡±
Wang Yue smiled and said: "Not many. There are more than 10,000 brothers below now. However, they still need to be strictly trained before they can be incorporated into the army. I am not worried about their combat effectiveness. What I am worried about is their respect for our military regulations and disciplines. I don¡¯t understand. If I don¡¯t train, I¡¯m afraid¡¡±
Wei Dong understood that most of Wang Yue's men were bandits who had been gathered together. Although they rarely did bad things under the leadership and management of Wang Yue and some brothers in the guard camp, they were not soldiers after all. There is still a big difference between bandits and the army.
"Let's do this. Let them join the army and stay in the regular soldiers to fight. The original regular soldiers and the new soldiers recruited from the local area will be organized into local government soldiers." Wei Dong said in a deep voice.
Wang Yue said happily: "That's very good. Our group of people are all used to being wild and have no fighting ability." Then he frowned and said, "By the way, now that the Tang army has not yet evacuated, we have started to take over the place? What if we have to fight with them?" There was a conflict"
Wei Dong put away his smile and said slowly: "Now that Tang Xian, the leader of the Tang Army, has established his foundation in the northern part of Jingzhou, the territory under his command has been divided into two, and it is naturally impossible to manage it effectively. Therefore, he wants to move his troops from the north to the south. Withdraw in exchange for certain supplies. Now, their road to the south is in our hands, and this is the place they are about to give up. Therefore, they do not dare to have any dispute with us. "
"Of course, we have no intention of having any trouble with them. What we need to do isThen, people are deployed in various places, and when they leave, they will take over the place immediately to avoid any accidents. Especially the land of the two prefectures in the north of Xuzhou, since the Tang Army has handed it over to us, naturally it cannot be allowed to flow into the hands of the Xuzhou Army. "
When Wei Dong said this, Wang Yue understood. This time the army went north to the territory of the Tang Army, in order to take over and stabilize the place as quickly as possible after the Tang Army withdrew, so as to avoid accidents.
Shangqiu, the administrative seat of Liangzhou Prefecture.
"General Meng, this action between you and me is related to the overall situation of the two armies. I wonder if the general is ready? If nothing happens, the troops of our Yanzhou Army will begin to station in the counties. Our Yanzhou Army and you will each occupy two gates. , what do you think?" In the governor's office in the city, Wei Dong asked in a deep voice Meng Zhao, the right general of the Tang army who was in charge of the overall situation.
Speaking of which, Meng Zhao and Wei Dong are also old acquaintances. In the past, the Tang Army, the Xuzhou Army, and the old Yanzhou Army cooperated, at the expense of the Yanzhou prefectures, in exchange for the alliance of all parties, and went south to attack the Qi Army's offensive. But it is a pity that the Tang army was blocked by Zhao Xun. And Wei Dong was the general under Zhao Xun in the past. The two armies fought not once or twice.
"Don't worry, General Wei. We are ready and can hand it over to the city defense at any time. However, I made it clear in advance that we, the Tang Army, must take away those things that belong to us. This is also what my lord requested. ." Meng Zhao said coldly.
Wei Dong smiled faintly and said: "Of course, you can carry things that belong to you, as well as personal belongings of the Tang Army. But, I just don't know, what things are considered to belong to you?"
Regarding these issues, Wei Dong naturally knew that these conflicts of interest were inevitable from the beginning. However, now that the Yanzhou Army has a certain upper hand, Wei Dong is not afraid of the other party asking for too much.
Subsequently, the two parties started a debate. However, in order to enter various prefectures as soon as possible, especially the two prefectures in the north of Xuzhou, Wei Dong, who had already received Zhao Xun's instructions, gave up a lot of things. In the treasury of the various prefectures, the Tang army can be allowed to carry some money and food, and the wealthy gentry in the various prefectures who are willing to leave can be allowed to leave with their family property.
After reaching a certain agreement with the Tang army, Wei Dong took a guard of 25,000 people and Wang Yue's 10,000 people and began to fully station in the various mansions. It was better for the two prefectures in Yanzhou. They directly stationed a small number of soldiers and horses, and also transferred some troops from the local government soldiers in southern Yanzhou to station here.
For the two northern prefectures in Xuzhou, Wei Dong directly stationed 20,000 soldiers. Immediately, the Tang army, which had been well prepared, began to evacuate, and quickly took over Pengcheng and Haizhou. By the time the Xuzhou Army in the southern prefectures of these two prefectures reacted, the Tang Army on the opposite side had turned into the Yanzhou Army.
In early May, the Yanzhou Army had completely taken over Pengcheng and Haizhou. At this moment, Yangzhou is still in a fierce fighting and stalemate.
Since Murong Cheng returned to Jiujiang Prefecture, the situation in Yangzhou has gradually eased. The Qi army in Yangzhou had no leader before, and the situation of repeated defeats was suddenly reversed. After all, with Murong Cheng's withdrawal there were still 150,000 troops. Not to mention that Murong Cheng is still the leader of the Qi Army. Once he arrives in Jiujiang Mansion, he can make overall arrangements for the Qi Army even if he reassures the Qi Army.
The Xuzhou Army's war is not going well. At least it is not as smooth as before. In fact, there is a feeling of going backwards. Seeing this, Li Chi personally rushed to the front line of Xin'an to take charge, hoping to restore the situation.
However, the battle situation in Yangzhou did not change. On the contrary, big changes occurred in his own rear and north of Xuzhou, which made him very angry.
"You mean, it is the Yanzhou Army that occupies Pengcheng and Haizhou now, and it is no longer the Tang Army?" Li Chi squinted his eyes and coldly asked Li Dingfang, who was in charge of the situation in the north.
"Yes, the Tang Army and the Yanzhou Army did not know when they reached an agreement. The Tang Army ceded its territory to the Yanzhou Army in exchange for a passage to the south and a large amount of food and grass supplies. Now, the Tang Army's old territory has been occupied by the Yanzhou Army." Li Dingfang replied bitterly.
"Why didn't you report earlier? What do you do for food? Tens of thousands of people changed defenses, and you didn't even notice. What's the use of you?"
Li Dingfang whispered: "My subordinate reported to the lord once half a month ago, but"
Li Chi¡¯s face froze, and he suddenly remembered that the Xuzhou Army stationed opposite the Tang Army did report back to him that there was a sudden movement of the Tang Army. However, he was busy occupying Yangzhou and neglected it.
"That's it the matter has become a foregone conclusion and cannot be undone. Unfortunately, this was an opportunity. I should have seized it at the beginning." Li Chi deeply regretted not taking action earlier that day.
"Let the troops in the north withdraw. Except for the defense troops, the rest will go south to Yangzhou battlefield. Since the north cannot win, then?Yangzhou starts. "Li Chi sighed and said deeply.
On that day, the three parties united and prepared to take action against the Qi army. After Li Chi learned that Tang Xian's goal was Jingzhou, he became interested in the current location of the Tang army. Especially Pengcheng and Haizhou, which are under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, he naturally hopes to get them back. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, he deployed 30,000 elite troops in the north of Xuzhou, waiting for the Tang army to move south to attack the two prefectures.
It¡¯s just that since the Qi army started the war, the situation has been different from what he thought. The Qi army did not fight to the death with the Yanzhou army in Yuzhou. Instead, they entered Xuzhou and fought with themselves. Instead, the Tang army and the Yanzhou army took advantage. Seeing this scene, he naturally did not dare to offend Yanzhou Army and Tang Army again.
Now that these two prefectures have become areas under the jurisdiction of the Yanzhou Army, he knows that these two prefectures may not be able to take them back. At least, don¡¯t think about it in the short term. Even if he could get it back by force, he couldn't do it. If the Yanzhou Army were attacking from its flank at this moment, the Xuzhou Army would really be divided into two parts.
"Hatefulhateful! The Yanzhou Army was really taken advantage of. If Murong Cheng hadn't withdrawn to Yangzhou, how could it have been like this?" Li Chi regretted that he didn't join the Yanzhou Army, and the coalition forces trapped Murong Cheng to death in Xuzhou and handed over to Yuzhou. place. Even if he lost his troops and generals, he could still attack south. However, things were irreversible, and all he was left with was regret and resentment.
"Where did the Yanzhou Army get so many supplies to exchange with the Tang Army?"
"It is said that it was purchased from Zhao. The Yanzhou army slaughtered it in Yuzhou and gained a lot of money."
Although he was unwilling to do so, Li Chi finally gave up his ambitions for Pengcheng and Haizhou