Chapter 672 Yiling’s sudden change (Part 1)

Linghu Fei was assassinated and the prince Li Shi was extremely angry. The prince Li Shi wrote a letter to his father and asked the whole city to re-martial law and to arrest the murderer with all his might. However, Li Heng did not adopt his suggestion. On the contrary, he was very ordinary about this matter and just conferred Linghu Fei as Duke Jian and issued an order to give a grand funeral.

This matter seemed to be in vain. Soon, news came from Li Fuguo that the emperor had secretly summoned King Peng, and King Peng had admitted that it was his doing assassination of Linghu Fei.

‘The emperor is quite commending’

This is Li Fuguo's evaluation of Li Heng's attitude, which frightened the prince Li Shi. Linghu Fei's death caused him to lose the most critical support of the court officials. He only had the support of Li Fuguo and his mother, but King Peng had the court, royal family, and the support of the Jiannan Jiedushi. Now even his father praised King Peng for his courage. What does this mean? It means that the father's determination to replace the prince has been decided.

Prince Li Shi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Fortunately, his father had agreed to withdraw Yu Chaoen's army back to Shuzhong. He was his only hope, and he still had Yu Chaoen's 200,000 troops to support him.

But at this moment, an unfortunate news came: A sudden change occurred in the important throat of Yu Chaoen's retreat, Yiling, the important place of the important place.

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In the night, an army was moving rapidly among the vast mountains. On this summer night, the sky was covered with dark purple clouds, but it was not raining, the ground was wet, but it was not muddy. The army was moving silently, and you could occasionally hear the sound of horse hooves.

This is an army of 20,000 people. They set out from Hanzhong and passed through Jinzhou and Fangzhou. They have now entered the boundary of Xiazhou. After walking more than a hundred miles, they will arrive at the destination of this march - Yiling.

This is naturally a Northern Tang army. The general Zhao Chongyan led this army. At this time, Li Siye's 50,000 troops had arrived in Hanzhong, and Li Sheng's army was also deployed in Ruzhou and Yuzhou. The Northern Tang army had completed its preparations to attack the Southern Tang and was ready to go. Whether on the eastern or western fronts, all the Northern Tang army were waiting for an opportunity. This opportunity was Zhao Chongyan's army, to capture Yiling and cut off the return of the Southern Tang army in Xiangyang.

Yiling is today Yichang, Hubei. The water reaches here and the mountain reaches here and the tomb is here, so it is called Yiling. The Battle of Yiling during the Three Kingdoms period took place here.

This is the gateway of the Three Gorges and is also the most important strategic location for Jingxiang to enter Bashu. If Yiling is cut off, the 200,000 Southern Tang troops in Jingxiang will not be able to withdraw to Bashu. Yiling is also a logistics center for the Southern Tang. The Southern Tang has hoarded a large amount of military supplies such as millions of stones of grain and arrow tents here. At present, the Southern Tang also has 20,000 troops stationed here.

Whether Yiling can be captured has become the key to the entire Southern Tang battle, and this task is on Zhao Chongyi, the former Yiling commander.

Zhao Chongyan was the elder brother of Zhao Chongjie, the general of Anxi Divine Arrows. He was also a veteran of Anxi. He participated in the Xiaobolu Battle with Li Qing'an. He served as the Shule Army Envoy and became Gao Xianzhi's confidant.

Later, Li Qing'an was in charge of Anxi, and Gao Xianzhi was transferred to the governor of Jiannan. He followed Gao Xianzhi to Bashan and Shushui, and was always loyal to Gao Xianzhi. Gao Xianzhi was imprisoned by Li Heng and was immediately released by the Northern Tang Dynasty. Zhao Chongyan was the commander of Yiling, and Xi Yuanqing was the commander of Zigui. The two were desperate. After being persuaded by their brother Zhao Chongjie, they led their troops into Hanzhong and surrendered to the Northern Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Chongyi is about forty years old this year. He is tall and black, with wide joints and a military temperament. However, he is a relatively silent person, and he does not show his emotions. It is difficult to understand his thoughts.

It was Li Qing'an's suggestion to let Zhao Chongyan attack Yiling. Li Guangbi originally wanted Xi Yuanqing to shoulder this important task. Compared with Zhao Chongyan, who has always been taciturn, Li Guangbi knew Xi Yuanqing better.

But Li Qing'an wrote a letter to tell Li Guangbi that Xi Yuanqing could occupy Yiling, but could not save Yiling's food and food, while Zhao Chong'an could win completely. Although Li Guangbi was still a little skeptical, he did not dare to disobey Li Qing'an's order, so he asked Zhao Chong'an to write a military order, ordering him to lead 20,000 old troops to capture Yiling.

‘If you take down Yiling and military capital, you can remember your first merit. If you can be promoted to general, you can't take down Yiling, so come and see you!’

At this time, Zhao Chongyan had just received the news that his family had been rescued by the Chengdu Intelligence Hall and was very safe now. This made Zhao Chongyan breathe a sigh of relief. Without the constraints of his family as hostages, he could let go of his hands and feet and do something big.

Zhao Chongyan looked at the sky. It was already the first update, and there were about a hundred miles away from Yiling. The guide told him that the road ahead was not easy to walk. At the current speed, by the fourth update, it was about fifty miles away from Yiling. The area was high and densely covered with forests, which was very easy to hide.

"The army is ordered to speed up the marching speed and rest in the camp during the fourth update."

Twenty thousand troops traveled lightly and without food and supplies. Each soldier only brought dry food for three days. Most of them were infantry, but there were also two thousand mountain horses, mainly carrying wounded soldiers and some necessary weapons. The army did not walk on the main road, but took hidden mountain paths. This winding and rugged mountain road, except for a small number of mountain horses that could pass through, large supplies such as supplies and carriages were not accessible. They had been forcing their troops from Hanzhong for two consecutive days and were already a little tired.

This army was the old subordinate of Zhao Chongyi, most of which were locals in Shu. They were elite troops in the Jiannan Army. They were not good at riding horses, but were good at mountain warfare and could adapt to high-intensity marching in the mountains and ridges.

Although it was still late at night, the soldiers were still excited and accelerated, and walked forward and entered the rugged mountain road. The mountain road was difficult. The army climbed over two hills for about fifty miles and finally arrived at a canyon area. From here to Yiling, there were basically canyons. You can go straight to the back of Yiling City along a river called Huangbaishui.

The army had stopped marching, and the soldiers ran to the river to get water and eat dry food. Many soldiers spread their sleeping bags. Without tents, the soldiers just rested in the sleeping bags. After two days and two nights of march, the soldiers were exhausted. They got into the sleeping bag and fell asleep, leaving only a thousand soldiers guarding and patrolling around.

The valley was humid and hot, with a lot of mosquitoes, and the soldiers were extremely tired. In addition, they had a sleeping bag seal, and they could not do anything to the mosquitoes no matter how crazy they were. They had pity for two thousand mountain horses and had nowhere to cover their bodies. In the end, they became the target of mosquitoes attacking. They bit them so hard that they were so angry that they were in great pain. Zhao Chongyi had to order people to take them back to the mountain to take care of them. There was a bare rocky land on it, and there were very few mosquitoes.

The fourth update was over, and the sky had already turned blue. Zhao Chongyan was not tired at all. He sat in front of a flat stone and studied the map through the morning light of the twilight.

Zhao Chongyi's map is different from others. His map is the urban defense layout in the Yiling area. He knows it well, especially the Xialaozhen granary where food and grass are stored. He personally directed the construction. It made him feel a little moved. When choosing the site of the granary, he wanted to put the grain and grass in Yiling City, but the city was small and there was no vacant land. He wanted to move some of the residents in the city to Xialaozhen. However, the people in Yiling were strong and the residents in the city refused to move, and they had a confrontation with him. For this reason, the military supervisor Yu Chaoen impeached Li Heng and fined him half a year of salary. In desperation, he had to rebuild the grain and grass in Xialaozhen, where there was an empty dirt city.

At that time, he was still indignant of Gao Xianzhi. It would be reasonable to keep the granary twenty miles away from the main city. This not only dispersed its troops, but also easily attacked the granary by the enemy. Gao Xianzhi only replied to him that no one had sneak attacked him.

Unexpectedly, the mountains and rivers did not turn around, but today it was him, Zhao Chongyi, who came to attack the granary. This incredible ending made him feel that things in the world are like chess.

Although Zhao Chongyan was taciturn, his heart was like a mirror. When he received this task, he had a general outline in his heart. Now his plan is very clear and clear. If he wants to take Yiling completely, it is best to adopt the strategy of sneak attack and wisdom, and make full use of the distance between Xialaozhen and Yiling City.

The general of Yiling is called Yu Baobao. His name is quite interesting. He is Yu Chaoen's adopted son. Zhao Chongyan knew that this person was very mediocre and had no experience in leading troops to fight. He only relied on Yu Chaoen's power to obtain a high position. It is not difficult to deal with him. However, the military order issued by Zhao Chongyan to Li Guangbi was a complete victory. What is a complete victory? It means to seize Yiling, preserve materials, and obtain prisoners of war as much as possible, turning the enemy into his own army. In this way, his army will increase greatly and truly cut off the return of the 200,000 troops.

Besides, Zhao Chongyan has been in the Jiannan Army for many years, so he doesn't want to kill the Jiannan Army too much.

At this time, a low sound of horse hooves came from afar. Zhao Chongqi immediately stood up and judged from the sound of horse hooves that this should be the scout he sent back.

After a moment, several soldiers brought a scout over, and the scout knelt down on one knee to salute, "Scout Wang Ping, see the general!"

"Where are the rest of you?" Zhao Chongyi was a little worried. He sent ten scouts to Yiling, why was only one of them back?

"Report to the general, we met members of the intelligence hall who had withdrawn from Xiangyang in Yiling North. The team was following them into the city with seven brothers. Li Fang was going to the prison town. I will come back first to report."

Zhao Chongqi was overjoyed and asked quickly: "How did you meet the Intelligence Hall? How many people have withdrawn? Tell me carefully!"

"Report to the general, there are many people who fled from Jingxiang, many of them were the families of the Xiangyang garrison. It is rumored that there will be a great war in Xiangyang, so their family members first withdrew from Shuzhong, with as many as 10,000 people. There were about 60 people from the Intelligence Hall and mixed in the fugitive team. They said they were ordered to go to Chengdu, and they recognized us first. The team was asking for their assistance, so everyone went into the city together."

Zhao Chongqi looked at the map carefully again and asked, "Is the beacon fortress ahead still there?"

At the exit of the valley ahead, there was a beacon fire fort, which was built by Zhao Chongyi. At that time, it was to prevent the Northern Tang army from coming out. Zhao Chongyi knew that the beacon fire fort was not big and could only be stationed at most twenty people, which was something he was more worried about.

The scout shook his head and said, "The beacon fire fortress is still there, but there are no troops stationed, and it is covered with weeds."

"Damn it!"

Zhao Chongyan cursed inwardly, and the baby fish didn't even consider the minimum defense.

Everything is going smoothly now, the key is to look at the garrison in the prison town.

There were 5,000 troops in Xialao Town. The defending general was named Li Yunshu, a native of Chang'an. When Yang Guozhong was defeated in the attack of Nanzhao, Li Longji had no choice but to transfer Gao Xianzhi from Anxi to Jiannan, and then transferred tens of thousands of Guanzhong prefecture soldiers to Jiannan. Li Yunshu was a commander of the government army at that time. He followed the army to Jiannan and made great contributions to suppressing the Nanzhao rebellion. He was promoted to a general by Gao Xianzhi. He had a very good personal relationship with Zhao Chongyan and had always been stationed in Nanzhao.

After Zhao Chongyan and Xi Yuanqing defected to the Northern Tang Dynasty, Li Heng transferred Jia Chongyan's army to Nanzhao, and replaced his army to Yiling to station, making him the chief general of Yiling. But not long after, Yu Chaoen seized his military power, let his adopted son Yu Baobao be the chief general, and demoted Li Yunshu to deputy general, and was soon demoted to the garrison commander of the Xiazhu.

So the key to seizing Yiling this time was Li Yunshu. Xi Yuanqing had a marriage with Li Yunshu when attacking Nanzhao. The two almost had internal conflicts to compete for their merits, and their personal grudges were very deep. Li Qing'an had mastered this important information, but Li Guangbi didn't know.

‘Xi Yuanqing can win Yiling, but he cannot win in full!’ This is the conclusion drawn by Li Qing'an, and this is the reason.

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Among the ten scouts sent by Zhao Chongyan, one of them was Li Fangzheng. This man was just a soldier in the Tongguan army. Li Qing'an specially transferred the soldier from Tongguan to Hanzhong. The intelligence hall found out that the soldier named Li Fangzheng was Li Yunshu's nephew. To be precise, he was Li Yunshu's biological son and adopted him to his uncle since he was a child, so he served as the liaison officer and lobbyist.

Li Fangzheng is twenty-six years old today, from Chang'an. He is tall and fat. He is a handsome man. He was originally a small businessman. Last year, he responded to the call to fight against An Lushan and joined the army. He was assigned to Tongguan to be a soldier. But he never dreamed that he was received by Li Qing'an, encouraged him to make meritorious service for the country, and rewarded his parents with 500 silver dollars. At the same time, he promised that if he could successfully convince his biological father, he would be promoted to the lieutenant.

He was like a dream when he gained fame and fortune, but it made him even more excited. After strengthening his emotional training in the Intelligence Hall for two days, he embarked on the journey of reaping fame and fortune.

Just as dawn was dawn, Li Fang was arriving at Xialao Town. Xialao Town is about twenty places west of Yiling City. It is a town with only more than a hundred families. It is close to the exit of Xiling Gorge on the Yangtze River. On the north bank of the Yangtze River, the people in the town make a living by relying on the river, with their main business of ferrying and fishing. About one mile north of the town, there is a flat land where a Tucheng was built. It was originally used to garrison troops, but now the Tucheng has become a major area for grain storage, with millions of stones of grain stored. In order to protect these grains, the Yiling chief general Yu Baobao was appointed to lead 5,000 troops to garrison.

In fact, it was just that he was not going well, so he transferred him from Yiling City.

Li Yunshu's military camp was next to Tucheng. As soon as dawn, a young peddler wearing a thick gray cloth clothes came to the gate of the military camp with a load.

"stop!"

The soldiers guarding the camp shouted loudly, "This is the important place of the military camp, hurry up and go away!"
Chapter completed!