Chapter 312: Troops from Yinping
If someone else said that Yizhou could be conquered within a month, it might sound like a joke, but if Qiao Yan said this news, it would just sound like a decisive statement.
The last battle of Hanzhong was particularly deterrent to Yizhou.
At that time, the officials under Liu Yan's command would never have dreamed that less than two months after the coronation ceremony in Chang'an, Qiao Yan would brazenly send troops to Hanzhong, expel Zhang Lu from the country, seize Hanzhong, and then invite Liu Yan to come north to Yizhou for talks.
If such a terrifying existence, which is able to dispatch troops decisively and is not blocked by the Qinling Mountains at all, were to come to Yizhou again, I am afraid that it would really cause a huge wave here in just a month and a half.
Moreover, during the two years that Xu Shu served as the prefect of Hanzhong, he did not only open a paper mill and shipyard for Qiao Yan in Yizhou, but also supervised the young emperor Liu Xie who was in Hanzhong for Qiao Yan.
If that were the case, there would be no need for Qiao Yan to send such a trusted person over.
During these two years, he assisted the generals in Hanzhong in recruiting soldiers for Yizhou, while at the same time sending out signals of goodwill to Guanghan County and the neighboring Ba County. He took full advantage of the fact that Liu Yan could not fully control the northern border of Yizhou, and even made friends with the Qiang people near Baishui Pass.
If she really wanted to lead her troops south, it is very likely that the forces that could be mobilized would not only be the ones that originally belonged to her, but it would be a hunt for Shuzhong.
At the same time, Xu Shu also relied on the intelligence organization provided by Qiao Yan to integrate the information of some forces in southern Yizhou into a book. The purpose was to avoid the difficult situation of taking one city at a time after the battle line was deployed to the entire Yizhou.
These things seemed insignificant on a normal day, as if the Hanzhong governor was just trying to build good relationships with his colleagues in Yizhou, but in reality...
We can only wait until earth-shaking changes take place in Yizhou.
Xun Yu was not fully aware of this, but he had a brief exchange with Xu Shu when he returned to Chang'an from Hanzhong to report on his work at the beginning of this year.
It was this conversation that made him certain why Qiao Yan dared to delegate power to this young man and place him in Hanzhong, which was almost independent.
Because this must be the person who can guard the springboard for her attack on Yizhou!
And her own marching style also meant that such a thousand-mile raid was not impossible!
One month. This was the time limit she set for herself to quell the unrest in Yizhou.
So what the two people in front of her need to do is not to question whether her one-month march is possible, but to answer the question she raised.
"If it's just one month, I can ensure that no matter how Luoyang is when you leave, when you return, the situation will only develop in a direction that is more favorable to you."
Xun Yu made a promise solemnly.
He thought for a moment and asked again, "Excuse me for worrying about your marching plan, but I want to know where you plan to start your troops from when you march into Yizhou this time?"
Qiao Yan replied: "Since we want to fight quickly and reach Shuzhong directly, we can't go through Hanzhong."
Zhao Wei and others chose to support Liu Yan's young son Liu Zhang to take the throne when Liu Yan was seriously ill. They might even have made corresponding exchanges of interests with Liu Zhang's maternal family, the Jiangxia Fei family. They must have ensured that the situation in Yizhou could be completely controlled by him, the Fei family's people, and Liu Zhang before the news of Liu Yan's death reached Chang'an.
In this way, even if the imperial court really learned of Liu Yan's death, since the manpower at that time most likely could not be transferred to Yizhou, it could only accept the result that Liu Zhang would replace Liu Yan as the governor of Yizhou.
Driven by this purpose of control, they must strictly control all the Dongzhou scholars under Liu Yan's command, and also be on guard against Xu Shu in Hanzhong who may notice the changes in Shu and send Ma Chao, Chu Yan and Yao Chang under his command south to intervene in the succession dispute in Yizhou.
Therefore, if Qiao Yan went through Hanzhong, it might seem that he could directly mobilize the Annan Lieutenant General's garrison troops in Hanzhong, but in fact, it would be easy for him to be discovered by Zhao Wei, Liu Zhang and others. If something desperate happened, it would be very bad.
Once the situation is delayed, how can she make a miracle attack from the sky?
Xu Shu's preparations in Hanzhong were intended to secure his position in Yizhou later on, and were not intended to be used in the process of opening a breakthrough.
She said, "I'm going to Wudu County."
From Wudu County, go south to Yizhou and arrive at the vassal state of Guanghan!
Because the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, or the Tianshi Sect, the Yizhou Taoism, was not wiped out as the culprit for the chaos after Qiao Yan led his people to conquer Hanzhong, Zhang Lu's mother, Madam Lu, was even temporarily brought out by Qiao Yan as the leader to help the believers atone their sins in Hanzhong. Therefore, Zhang Lu, who was in the vassal state of Guanghan, still led his followers to study the doctrine and use the opening of roads as a form of collective activity after being driven here by Qiao Yan.
Therefore, this road that goes from Wudu County towards Guanghan State and extends within Guanghan State is actually not as difficult to travel as imagined.
"My lord, was it for today's surprise attack when you drove Zhang Lu here?" Guo Jia asked before sending Qiao Yan away.
If this is true, it seems too miraculous.
Qiao Yan replied: "Maybe, maybe not. Yizhou will not be able to remain independent sooner or later, so it won't hurt to build more roads."
The several roads leading to Chang'an were designed to enable Hanzhong, which was blocked by the Qinling Mountains, to travel between Hanzhong and Chang'an more conveniently.
The road between Wudu County and Guanghan State, as well as the road going south to Chengdu through Guanghan State, was intended to strengthen the connection between Yizhou and Liangzhou on the one hand, and on the other hand, probably because she stood on the shoulders of future generations and incorporated history, it was difficult to ignore the influence of such a road during the surprise attack on Shuzhong.
The name of Guanghan vassal state may not be so familiar to people, but the name Yinping Road must be familiar to people.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the famous general Deng Ai sneaked across Yinping and headed straight for Chengdu, completing the battle to destroy Shu and forcing Liu Chan, the last emperor of Shu Han, to surrender.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Fu Youde, a general under Zhu Yuanzhang, also took this road to cross the Motianling Mountains and completed the battle to pacify Shu.
When Qingchuan was liberated, the People's Liberation Army also marched from Yinping Road.
Let Zhang Lu develop in Guanghan's vassal state and apply Tianshi Dao's teachings on road construction on such a road. Even if it is not for today, allowing her to respond quickly to the situation of Liu Yan's critical illness and his sons competing for succession, it will definitely play a role in Yizhou, which has been independent for many years.
Now, it's just the right time.
In order to prevent the news of this military expedition from leaking out, Qiao Yan did not even tell Sima Fang, who was in Henan Yin, about his whereabouts.
In Sima Fang's eyes, Qiao Yan seemed to be leading only a small group of cavalrymen back to Chang'an. Perhaps it was because some actions in Luoyang needed Liu Yu's approval, or perhaps it was because Luoyang had gradually accepted the management of the court in Chang'an, which gave her the conditions to leave temporarily and report any actions that were slightly beyond her control in the battle situation in Yuzhou to the court in Chang'an.
But what Sima Fang didn't know was that Qiao Yan was rushing from Luoyang to Chang'an. When she passed through the capital city at night, she did not stay there but continued to go west, so she did not alarm anyone in Chang'an city.
It was not until she led her tribe on horseback to Meiwu that they stopped here for a while.
Here, she sent two letters via carrier pigeons to two other pigeon posts.
A letter was sent to Hanzhong, ordering Xu Shu to immediately have Yao Chang and Ma Chao return to Wudu County to meet her at the location where the Qiang River flows from Wudu County into the vassal state of Guanghan.
Another letter was sent to Hanyang County, ordering Lu Yuan, the deputy governor of Liangzhou, who was there, to dispatch Fu Gan, the general of Pingliang, and his subordinates to meet her in Wudu from Hanyang.
The troop movements in the two places must not cause any disturbance that could be noticed by the outside world.
Although the speed at which news can be transmitted from Wudu County or Hanyang County to the Yizhou scholars in Chengdu may not be as fast as Qiao Yan's arrival in Chengdu, it has actually been quite some time since she used carrier pigeons as a channel for spreading news. The number of pigeons lost along the way must be in the double digits. Who knows if any party has realized that this is no longer just a bird that was regarded as a good omen in the past, but the most qualified messenger.
In order to prevent the enemy from knowing the news in advance, I followed her method to spread the news. It is better to be cautious in this troop movement.
In short, while Qiao Yan was taking decisive action to pacify Yizhou within a month, Lu Yuan and Xu Shu, who had received the news from Qiao Yan, did not dare to delay at all.
The two teams set out quietly from Nanzheng in Hanzhong and arrived at Ju County in Wudu County. The other team started from Hanyang County overnight and was the first to arrive at the county seat of Wudu County, where they met with Wudu prefect Gai Xun who was there.
Fu Gan did not come here alone. Among the people traveling with him was an acquaintance of Gai Xun, who was Jiang Jiong, who escorted Gai Xun to Bingzhou that year.
When meeting an old friend again, Gai Xun felt that Jiang Jiong had changed a lot compared to the past.
As a descendant of one of the four surnames in Hanyang, Jiang Jiong's courage to do things despite knowing that they were impossible actually came from the confidence that his family could back him up.
But now, due to the fall and reconstruction of the Four Families of Hanyang, the frivolous arrogance in this confidence has completely disappeared, leaving only a kind of calmness after experiencing the changes.
On the contrary, Gai Xun, who is relatively older, has not undergone such a big change.
Although he had once competed with Zhang Lu for the position of prefect in Wudu County a few years ago, compared with the situation of the Liangzhou rebels and the Qiang people causing trouble back then, the current situation was something he could not even dream of.
After Qiao Yan completely established order in Liang Province and Zhang Lu was expelled from Wudu County after Liu Yu established Chang'an as the capital, Gai Xun's life became easier.
He had originally been very popular among the Qiang people because of his style of doing things - this was the case when he was an official in Hanyang County, and even more so after he became the prefect of Wudu County - and now he did not have to worry about wars, and he even looked a few years younger than he had two years ago.
When they met, they expressed their deepest feelings.
But before they could even start reminiscing about the past, Gai Xun got back to business, "What's going on?"
Jiang Jiong replied, "Your Excellency intends to lead troops out of Yizhou, and we need Governor Gai to help us mobilize some more soldiers who are good at traversing the mountainous roads of Liangzhou and Yizhou to go with us."
"Your Excellency will personally lead the expedition to Yizhou?" Gai Xun was almost startled.
For example, Qiao Yan's personal arrival in Yingchuan to negotiate with Cao Cao about demarcation of boundaries was already an extremely risky move.
Anyone in her position would rarely make such an advance personally.
But obviously, Qiao Yan not only did this, but even soon after completing the Runan talks, he wanted to do something even more risky -
Personally led an expedition to Yizhou.
If she wanted to go through Wudu County, she would have to transfer the troops from Hanzhong and Hanyang to Wudu County to cooperate with her actions. That would obviously mean not only attacking Hanzhong as she did in the first year of Jian'an, but also directly entering the southern part of Yizhou.
"I will give you a clearer explanation of this question when you arrive in person," Fu Gan replied.
Qiao Yan did arrive at the central part of Wudu County within two days of Fu Gan, Jiang Jiong and others, but the march was slightly slowed down because she also dispatched military supplies and fodder from Chencang to accompany them.
The journey from Guanzhong to Wudu through Sanguan did not cause any obstacles for her, allowing her to successfully meet Gai Xun in Wudu County on the sixth day after she received information about the changes in Yizhou.
In response to Gai Xun's question about whether it was too risky to personally lead an expedition to Yizhou, Qiao Yan gave the following explanation.
"Having the governor of Hanzhong appear at the scene of the act of impersonating the governor of Yizhou would probably not be as effective as having me, the Grand Marshal, appear on the scene. If even such an important figure can appear in the core area of Yizhou without anyone noticing, who would have the courage to plan such a shady trick?"
"Besides, this trip is not entirely a risk. The Lieutenant General of Annan I brought with me is an expert in mountain warfare, the Protector of the Qiang is the channel of communication between the Qiang and the Southern Barbarians, and Yan Cai and others are accustomed to fighting in bitter and cold conditions. This configuration is enough for me to successfully cross the Yinping Road."
"Besides, I am not fighting alone in Yizhou. I have to face various obstacles along the way. For example, if I go to Guanghan State first and then go south, will Zhang Lu be a stumbling block or a helper for me in Guanghan State?"
Zhang Lu?
When Gai Xun heard this name, he subconsciously thought that it would probably not be as easy for Qiao Yan to remove him from the territory of Guanghan as it was to drive him out of Wudu County and Hanzhong County in the past.
During the more than two years that he managed Guanghan as a vassal state, Zhang Lu must have learned from previous lessons and put more effort into guarding the checkpoints.
The complex relationship he had with the local Qiang people allowed him to mobilize more forces to his advantage, so as to avoid being easily expelled from the country.
But Gai Xun felt that he did not hear wrongly. From Qiao Yan's tone, she seemed to think that Zhang Lu was not her enemy.
Facing Gai Xun's puzzled look, Qiao Yan replied to him: "Friends and foes can change with the changing situation. If I can make Zhang Lu no longer be trapped in this small territory of Guanghan, and even let him regain the glory of Tianshi Dao, will he choose to be captured by my soldiers who suddenly entered the country, or will he choose to cooperate with me?"
Zhang Lu was a very smart man who knew how to adapt to the changing times.
Otherwise, he would not have wisely chosen to cooperate with Liu Yan so quickly after the Tianshi Dao was once seized by Zhang Xiu, and would not have used Liu Yan's power to achieve his goal of regaining control of the Dao.
If we say that two years ago his methods were still a little immature, so after being beaten by Qiao Yan as a gift to celebrate the establishment of the Chang'an court, he asked his mother to use the story of gods and ghosts to ask Liu Yan for help, then now...
He should have honed this character in difficult and harsh circumstances.
Seeing that Qiao Yan was so confident, Gai Xun did not stop her decision. Instead, he followed Qiao Yan's instructions and arranged the people she needed to transport food and fodder into the logistics team.
The troops coming from Hanzhong, the Liangzhou troops brought by Fu Gan, and the more than a thousand soldiers brought by Qiao Yan from Chencang, totaling about five thousand people, rested for half a day in Longnan, and then set out to attack the vassal state of Guanghan.
Zhang Lu felt particularly safe here because of the remoteness of the place. Also, due to the successive battles in Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places, he felt that he still had a few years of opportunity to recuperate.
By then, when he has more followers here, maybe he will become one of the people who are naturalized and absorbed, just like Qiao Yan's attitude towards the Qiang people.
However, he never expected that such a team would suddenly emerge from Wudu County in the north, which had been silent for more than two years, and head straight for his garrison at Huyiba in the Guanghan vassal state.
The leader was not even the general commanding any of the troops, but Qiao Yan himself!
The great Sima who conquered Hanzhong with lightning speed in the past rode his horse slowly to the outside of his camp, and looked at the scene that surrounded him. Although she did not show any mockery, her eyes and eyebrows revealed an attitude of being sure of victory.
That’s right, we should be confident of victory.
At the moment, the number of Tianshi Taoist followers stationed at Huyiba is only slightly larger than the number of her subordinates, but in terms of actual combat capability, the opponents are almost all fierce soldiers from Liangzhou, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they can fight one on one.
How could he compete with Qiao Yan!
Qiao Yan said, "Master Zhang, I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you all right?"
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