Just when the attention of the Liang court was attracted by the battles at Hangu Pass and Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, one of the eight major passes in the capital, was unexpectedly captured by the rebels of the Jiang family of Fuzhou.

This means that the defense line composed of eight major checkpoints collapsed in an instant.

Outside Hangu Pass, inside the Tianwei Army's camp, aide Gongsun Yu said to Tianwei Protectorate Grand Commander Jiang Shun with a look of shock, "I never thought the Grand Commander had already made arrangements, even keeping them secret from his subordinates."

Dagu Pass is adjacent to Songzhou, one of the seven states in the Central Plains. It was the Xiang Army from Songzhou that helped the Jiang family of Fuzhou capture Dagu Pass.

Because the rebels of the Jiang family in Fuzhou came from Qizhou, the Liang court only deployed two towns of imperial guards at Hangu Pass and Guangcheng Pass, which border Qizhou.

As for the other six checkpoints in the capital, in addition to the 10,000 soldiers who were guarding the checkpoints, the Liang court only drew some wing troops from the three neighboring states, namely Songzhou, Yongzhou, and Shunzhou, to reinforce these six checkpoints.

For example, Dagu Pass received support from 40,000 Songzhou troops.

However, what the Liang court never expected was that the several generals who led the 40,000 Songzhou troops into Dagu Pass had already defected to the Jiang family of Fuzhou.

As a result, under the sudden attack of 40,000 Songzhou troops, the 10,000 government soldiers stationed at Dagu Pass were quickly defeated.

Immediately afterwards, the rear guard of the Tianwei Army, which had secretly arrived outside Dagu Pass, successfully took over Dagu Pass with the cooperation of the Songzhou wing army.

Jiang Shun smiled slightly, "Please don't mind, Mr. Gongsun. This matter is extremely confidential. Apart from the rear guard commander Jiang Qi, no one else in the entire Tianwei Army knows about it."

Although Gongsun Yu, the staff member, felt a little uncomfortable about this, he certainly didn't show it, "The Grand Commander is right. The fewer people who know about this, the better.

"I thought it would be extremely difficult to break through the eight checkpoints in the capital, but I didn't expect the Grand Commander had already made arrangements."

Jiang Shun said with some pride: "If I hadn't made the right arrangements, how could I have so easily raised the banner of 'clearing the court'?"

After a pause, Jiang Shun continued, "Immediately order the various units of the Tianwei Army to take a detour to Dagu Pass, and at the same time send people to notify the Xianbei and Khitan people.

Tell them not to waste time at Guangcheng Pass, but to rush to Dagu Pass as soon as possible and enter the capital from Dagu Pass."

The loss of Dagu Pass caused the Liang court to panic and they had to quickly dispatch troops to try to retake Dagu Pass.

Unfortunately, Dagu Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In addition, there are 40,000 soldiers of the Tianwei Army and the remaining 30,000-plus Songzhou troops holding on. The army sent by the Liang court to counterattack Dagu Pass was unable to recapture Dagu Pass for a while.

When the main force of the rebels outside Hangu Pass arrived at Dagu Pass, the Liang court completely lost the opportunity to retake Dagu Pass.

At this time, the Liang court could only hope that the county seat of Ruwu County behind Dagu Pass could resist the rebels of the Jiang family of Fuzhou, as well as the 400,000 Xianbei cavalry and 400,000 Khitan cavalry colluded with the Jiang family of Fuzhou.

Ruwu County is also one of the five county towns between the capital and the eight major passes, and is the only way to enter the capital from Dagu Pass.

On the morning of August 15, 395 of the Daliang calendar, Emperor Chen Xun summoned Feng An, the Grand Commander of Tiansu Protectorate, Cao Tingjin, the Grand Commander of Ganyang Protectorate, Fan Cheng, the Grand Commander of Huaide Protectorate, Liang Zixing, the Grand Commander of Shaochang Protectorate, Liu Xi, the Grand Commander of Anfeng Protectorate, and Yao Yi, the Grand Commander of Xingling Protectorate, in a hall of the imperial palace in Anyang City.

In addition, Emperor Chen Xun also summoned the left prime minister Lu Zeng, the right prime minister Fan Ziyong, the Prince of Yong'an Chen Bin, the Minister of War Xia Shijun and the Vice Minister of War Sun Zhe into the palace at the same time.

Sun Zhe, who had completely controlled the military power of the imperial guards in Jingwu and Liewu towns, was not afraid at all that Emperor Chen Xun would take action against him at this time.

What's more, his son had sent 200,000 Zhennan troops to support him, and they would arrive in the capital that day. So when he learned that Emperor Chen Xun wanted to summon him, Sun Zhe immediately returned to the capital and walked into the palace with a swagger.

Emperor Chen Xun said to the people in the hall in a deep voice: "My dear ministers, you are all my loyal and faithful ministers.

Now that the rebels have broken through the defenses of the eight major checkpoints in the capital, what good strategies do you have to annihilate them?"

As the six border armies arrived in the capital city one after another, Emperor Chen Xun's helplessness at the loss of Dagu Pass was no longer visible.

Just as Princess Chen Yulin had said to comfort Emperor Chen Xun, although Dagu Pass was lost, the court had no way to keep the rebels of the Jiang family of Fuzhou out of the capital.

However, after the six border troops arrived at the capital, the number of troops in the court's hands suddenly increased by 700,000, and most of them were elite troops with considerable combat capabilities.

In addition to the more than 700,000 elite soldiers of the imperial guards, more than 100,000 elite soldiers of the capital, and hundreds of thousands of troops drawn from Qizhou, Songzhou, Yongzhou, and Shunzhou.

The imperial court had more military strength than the rebels of the Jiang family in Fuzhou, as well as the Xianbei cavalry and Khitan cavalry invited by the Jiang family in Fuzhou.

What's more, the 200,000 troops sent by the Zhennan Army to support the king will soon arrive in the capital.

Regardless of whether the 200,000 Zhennan troops had other purposes in coming to the aid of the king, they were, after all, the elite border troops of Liang State that were able to intimidate the southern countries, and they came to help the court.

Therefore, in the eyes of Princess Chen Yulin, the time is no longer to consider how to resist the rebels of the Jiang family of Fuzhou, but to consider how to completely annihilate the rebels of the Jiang family of Fuzhou, as well as the Xianbei cavalry and Khitan cavalry invited by the Jiang family of Fuzhou.

These words of Princess Chen Yulin also gave Emperor Chen Xun, who had not been involved in state affairs for many years, a reassurance.

Today, Emperor Chen Xun summoned these people together in the hope of formulating a strategy to eliminate the rebels.

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