Chapter 430 Wanqi Mountain Blocks the Road
"General Peng, I order you to lead a hundred thousand troops from the left wing, capture Yongzhou, Linzhou, Quzhou, and finally occupy Yizhou. Together with the main army, you will encircle the imperial city."
After unfolding the map and taking a look, Wei Chengyi quickly made a decision.
"I obey your command."
General Peng was overjoyed and quickly bowed to accept the order. After such a long time, he finally got the task of leading the attack.
"As for the right wing."
Wei Chengyi looked at the map again. General Chen and other generals looked at him eagerly, their hearts in their throats, hoping that their names would come out of his mouth.
"General Chen, you will lead a hundred thousand troops from the right wing, bypass Taizhou, capture Tingzhou, Guanzhou, Qingzhou, and finally Dazhou. Together with the main force, you will encircle the imperial city."
"I obey your command!"
Soon, Wei Chengyi made a decision, and General Chen finally felt relieved. The other generals were all disappointed, including Qingying, who had always been the main force. However, when they thought that their opponent would be Wanqishan, whom the Dog Emperor regarded as his life-saving straw, they felt relieved. Leading troops to attack other prefectures would be good, but defeating Wanqishan head-on would also give them a sense of accomplishment.
"Jun Ling, I'm sorry to trouble you with the dispatch of food and military supplies. You must keep up with the soldiers' marching speed."
After the deployment of troops was arranged, Wei Chengyi turned to Yan Junling. He was currently responsible for all resource allocation. As the saying goes, food and fodder must be sent before troops move. He must ensure that his soldiers are well fed and clothed and will not fight on an empty stomach.
"yes."
Even though the task became more difficult, Yan Junling still agreed to it.
"Yanzhi, after the cities are taken, the task of pacifying and resettling them will be left to you. Promote more scholars who have already taken those cities. Those with talent can be hired as exceptions."
Wei Chengyi also knew that Xie Yanzhi had the most difficult task, which was why Shen Xiangwan did not go to the military hospital now, but assisted him in presiding over the overall situation. In the past, they were only governing Chenzhou, and with the foundation left by the royal palace, their manpower was barely enough. However, as they conquered more and more prefectures, they were seriously short of manpower.
"Okay, I'll discuss these matters with my wife."
Xie Yanzhi was indeed very troubled. After the provincial capital was conquered and settled, each county town needed to be equipped with a set of county government staff. Yamen runners were easy to deal with. Soldiers who were injured and could no longer go to the battlefield could serve as yamen runners. This not only solved their personnel needs, but also settled the disabled soldiers. However, officials at all levels were more troublesome. There were many scholars, but they wanted more than just scholars. They didn't want any parasites to hinder the city that they had conquered and settled with great difficulty.
"Well, thank you for your help."
Nodding, Wei Chengyi looked at his wife again, a trace of heartache flashing across his eyes.
All the necessary arrangements were made simply, and everyone soon left the Pingzhou government office one after another. General Peng and General Chen returned to the military camp as quickly as possible to check on the troops, and ordered the cooks to prepare meals at 3:00 am the next day. Before dawn at 4:00 am, the two armies set out from different directions. Pingzhou was only a few prefectures away from the imperial city, so they had to speed up, otherwise they would not be able to join the main army and the Eastern Border Army in encircling the imperial city, which would ruin their plans.
It was not until early March that the spring plowing in Pingzhou was completely completed. Shen Xiangwan and Xie Yanzhi temporarily placed the soldiers who were farming in different counties. In the middle of the month, the 200,000 northern troops led by Wanqi Shan were finally about to arrive in Quanzhou. Before that, Wei Chengyi did not hesitate to treat him politely. He directly took over Taizhou and Binzhou in the middle, as well as Luoyang County in Quanzhou, giving him a complete warning.
At about the same time, Wanqishan's two sons also led the southern border army to Zhenzhou. Chu Liang was even more rude than Wei Chengyi, and successively captured more than half of the cities in Zhenzhou. Wanqishan's two sons were so angry that they gritted their teeth and had to deploy most of their troops in Tanzhou behind, making it their main battlefield.
At the same time, General Peng and General Chen, who set out from the left and right wings respectively, successively captured Tingzhou and Yongzhou. After a short rest, the two armies will march towards Guanzhou and Linzhou. As Shen Xiangwan said, the emperor no longer has any extra troops to mobilize, and can only allow them to quickly seize various prefectures. All his hopes are placed on Wanqishan and his son.
"withdraw troops!"
Wanqi Shan was indeed a general who could really fight. He seemed to have known their disadvantage in equipment. No matter how Qingying challenged him, he had no intention of leaving the city to fight, forcing them to attack the city by force. However, they still underestimated Wanqi Shan. He had actually learned their method of using black oil to repel the enemy, and had people pour a lot of black oil on the city walls and under the towers in advance, so the Wei family army could not get close easily.
"Hold!"
This battle was so frustrating that Qingying, who was leading his troops to retreat to Luoyang County, was so angry that he cursed. Yue Ruyan, who had come to find him, stepped forward and shook his hand: "Don't be angry, we will soon find a way to defeat the enemy."
"I'm sorry to have caused you worry."
Nodding, Qingying tried hard to suppress the frustration in her heart, lowered her eyes and looked at the hand she was holding. Since the two got engaged, their interactions had increased, but they were both self-disciplined and polite, and did not do anything presumptuous. It was still the same as before, at most they just held hands.
"Who said I was worried?"
Following his gaze, Yue Ruyan slowly withdrew her hand. From the beginning to the end, she had never been worried, because she knew them better than anyone else. The current predicament was only temporary, and soon they would continue to attack cities and march straight to the imperial city.
“···”
So he was just being overly sentimental?
Qingying couldn't help but laugh, but his mood also improved a lot, and he was no longer so depressed.
Many people knew that Shen Xiangwan had used black oil to drive back the Western Hu people. They never dreamed that one day they would be blocked by their own tactics. Wanqishan was fully prepared. If they made any movement, the black oil under the city wall would be ignited immediately. It would be difficult for the army to get close, let alone attack the city.
"Second Master, what should we do now?"
The city was right in front of them but they couldn't get close. This battle was so frustrating. Qingying and all the generals were angry, but there was nothing they could do. They had been blocked for almost half a month. If this continued, the morale of the army would probably be unstable and it would have a huge impact on morale.
Wei Chengyi did not respond, but just hugged his left elbow with his right hand, stroked his chin, and stared at the sand table in front of him. Wanqi Shan's methods were really too frustrating. If they could not break through head-on, even if they took down Heyang County at great sacrifice, Wanqi Shan could still do the same in the next city and use the same tactics to deal with them. That was definitely not what he wanted to see.
[End of this chapter]
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