Although the bandits in Wanqiu County, Zibo Prefecture, fought hard, they soon lost all the cities including the county seat Changyuan City in the face of the Jingwu Town and Chaowu Town of the imperial guards, as well as the elite border troops of Liang State such as the Ganyang Army, Huaide Army, and Shaochang Army.
Tang Ba, the leader of the bandits in Wanqiu County, led tens of thousands of remnants and retreated into Xinxi County controlled by the brothers Liu Hu and Liu Bao.
In order to capture Wanqiu County, the imperial guards of the two towns and three border troops not only spent nearly two months, but also lost nearly 20,000 soldiers.
While the army led by Prince Yong'an Chen Su was fighting the bandits, another army led by Zhenxi Army recaptured Changge County in Zibo Prefecture without bloodshed.
Gao Bao, the leader of the bandits who occupied Changge County, immediately sent someone to contact Sun Hao after the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army and Nankang Army entered Changge County, and then surrendered to the Zhenxi Army with more than 300,000 bandits under his command.
In order to relocate the more than 300,000 bandits from Changge County back to Xizhou, Sun Hao sent out the last 10,000 troops around him to escort these more than 300,000 bandits.
On the one hand, they easily captured two counties, while on the other hand, it took nearly two months of bloody battle to recapture one county. Such a contrast made Yong'an King Chen Su very depressed.
However, Prince Yong'an Chen Su also knew that this result was caused by the massacre of hundreds of thousands of surrendered bandits in Zibo more than ten years ago.
But he never regretted killing those hundreds of thousands of bandits. After all, if it weren't for those bandits, he wouldn't have lost the functions of a normal man.
The next piece of news made Yong'an King Chen Su's originally depressed mood suddenly turn into anger.
The Qingyuan Protectorate in Zibo and the Shouchang Protectorate in Yizhou each sent out a guard of troops to join forces with the Ganyang Army, Huaide Army and Shaochang Army.
You should know that before, Prince Yong'an Chen Su had repeatedly requested the Qingyuan Army and the Shouchang Army to send troops to wipe out the bandits. However, the Gong family of Menshan City, who controlled the Qingyuan Army, and the Yao family of Ganquan City, who controlled the Shouchang Army, found various excuses to shirk their responsibilities and refused to send troops. This led to the bandits in Zibo and Yizhou growing stronger.
Prince Chen Su of Yong'an originally planned to hold the Gong family of Menshan City and the Yao family of Ganquan City accountable after wiping out the bandits in Zibo Prefecture and Yizhou, and directly take back the military power of the Qingyuan Army and Shouchang Army into the hands of the court.
Now the Qingyuan Army and the Shouchang Army ran over to join up with another army to suppress the rebellion. It was obvious that they wanted to unite with the armies of the three vassal states to make them hesitate and dare not attack the Qingyuan Army and the Shouchang Army.
"Mr. Xiao, what do you think I should do next?" Yong'an King Chen Su asked his aide Xiao Jing in a deep voice.
Xiao Jing shook his head and said, "With the Zhenxi Army here, the court shouldn't turn against these vassal states for the time being. The matters concerning the Qingyuan Army and Shouchang Army can only be put on hold for now."
Yong'an Prince Chen Su gnashed his teeth and said, "If we allow these vassal states to unite, it will bring endless troubles to the court."
Xiao Jing smiled slightly, "Your Highness, the Zhenxi Army is the key to the unification of these vassal states.
According to information obtained from the Jinyiwei, several countries in the Western Regions are preparing to form a larger coalition force against the Zhenxi Army.
After the bandits in Zibo and Yizhou are wiped out, I am afraid that the Zhenxi Army will have to rush back to Xizhou to deal with another coalition force from the Western Regions.
At that time, the alliance of several vassal states will collapse on its own, perhaps..."
Before Xiao Jing could finish his words, a guard from Yong'an Prince Chen Su suddenly burst into the tent, "Your Highness, urgent news from eight hundred miles away!"
There was generally a post station every twenty miles in various places in Liang State, and each post station was equipped with fast horses to deliver official documents from the court.
Normally, official documents from the imperial court could be delivered 300 miles a day. In case of emergency, they could be delivered 400 or 600 miles a day. Only the most urgent cases would require an express report of 800 miles.
When Prince Yong'an Chen Su heard the urgent report from eight hundred miles away, his heart skipped a beat. He had a premonition that he might no longer have the chance to personally lead the troops to wipe out the bandits in Zibo and Yizhou.
When Prince Yong'an Chen Su took the urgent report from eight hundred miles away and read it from the guard, his face suddenly changed.
It turned out that the Northern Jin State, which was adjacent to the three southern states of Liang State, had gathered a million troops and launched another northern expedition against Liang State.
The Liang court urgently summoned Yong'an King Chen Su back to the capital, preparing to let him lead the imperial guards to the south again to resist the invasion of Northern Jin.
Yong'an Prince Chen Su handed the urgent report from 800 miles away to his aide Xiao Jing with a serious expression. "Mr. Xiao, it seems I must trouble you to accompany me to the south again."
After reading the urgent report, Xiao Jing hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the Northern Jin Kingdom is coming with such force this time. I suggest that we take the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army, the southern and front guards of the Huaide Army, and the left guard of the Shaochang Army to the south."
Prince Yong'an Chen Su pondered for a moment and said, "These 100,000 elite border troops should be left in the north to guard against the steppe Tartars!
This time, I plan to lead Jingwu Town, Chaowu Town, as well as Guangwu Town, Xingwu Town, Yingwu Town, and Zhenwu Town that are resting in the capital, to the south to fight against the Northern Jin army.
The military power of the Tiansu Protectorate's 160,000 border troops and 100,000 garrison troops has been returned to the imperial court, and I can also draw troops from the other three southwestern and five southeastern protectorates."
Xiao Jing said worriedly: "Your Highness, the Tiansu Protectorate and the other three protectorates in the southwest still need to deter the barbarians in the millions of mountains, so I'm afraid they can't withdraw too many troops.
The five southeastern protectorates have had close ties with the Northern Jin Kingdom in recent years. I'm worried they'll sit idly by, or even directly defect to the Northern Jin Kingdom."
Yong'an Prince Chen Su said with murderous intent in his tone: "If any of the Protectorates really betray Daliang, I don't mind killing them all.
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