Chapter 1066: Transfer to Shangdang

After returning to the camp outside Jinzhou City, Li Tai immediately learned about the military intelligence of the rear route.

When he heard that Hulugu really led his troops from Heyang to attack Chenguan Pass, Li Tai couldn't help but sigh that this guy really hated them or him.

Launching an attack from Chenguan Pass seems to be a choice of risking a lot with a small investment, but it is by no means a mature decision with a big picture.

When making such a decision, Hulugu obviously did not consider, or was unwilling to think deeply about whether the current Northern Qi could withstand the risk of failure, and whether there were any better options.

He focused on how much damage he would cause to the Western Wei, rather than how to prevent the Northern Qi from causing greater losses in this battle. This idea seems to be more positive, but it is actually unrealistic. Accepting failure and bearing losses is also a quality that a general must have.

In this war, since Sima Xiaonan rebelled in the city, or even earlier, the Northern Qi was in a passive state.

In particular, the wrong judgment and arrangement made by the initial decision-makers of the war further magnified this passive disadvantage. If you want to turn the situation of the whole war by relying on the surprise attack on the local battlefield, the difficulty is no less than the entrepreneurial experience of Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai. It requires not only your own efforts, but also the cooperation of your opponents.

After a little emotion about Hulugu, Li Tai began to think about Yang Zhong's idea of ​​attacking Jianzhou immediately. He also supported this. The current situation has indeed reached the point where it is time to enter the next stage.

Although since the two sides started the war, except for some small local battles, the main forces of the two sides have never met and started fighting, but have only dispatched their own troops. But this is also part of the war, and even this is the main form of the war.

For example, the way of fighting that the two sides gathered their own troops and then went to a fixed battlefield, and the victory and defeat were clear after a fight, was somewhat contrary to the mainstream. At least for the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, it was not enough to fully demonstrate its national strength.

Li Tai wanted to control the deployment of the entire Northern Qi military force. He had previously put on an eastward posture to attract the main force of the Northern Qi army to the direction of Heyang. Then the main force of the Western Wei immediately changed the direction of attack, entered Hedong and advanced towards Jinzhou, directly aiming at Jinyang, forcing the Northern Qi to concentrate its forces in Jinyang again.

Although it is not clear how many Northern Qi troops have been assembled in the direction of Jinyang, it is estimated that the number should be quite large. The construction of the Western Wei defense line in the north of Jinzhou has also gradually taken shape. Under the garrison of Wei Xiaokuan, it is difficult for the Northern Qi army in Jinyang to break through the defense line and march south in large numbers.

So the next step is to change the direction of attack again, from north to east, from Jinyang to Yecheng, Hebei.

Li Tai's original plan was to block the passage of the enemy army in Jinyang to the south and then march eastward. Yang Zhong's troops in the rear route got an excellent opportunity because they defeated the division led by Hulugu Guang, and they marched towards Jianzhou first, so the main force in Jinzhou would naturally follow.

The only obstacle at the moment is that Jinzhou City has not been captured yet, and a stable large base has not been established here.

However, this situation has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that Jinzhou can continue to be used as a bait to attract the enemy army in Jinyang to do useless work in the direction of Jiexiu, trying to rescue Jinzhou, thereby reducing the coordination between the enemy army in Jinyang and the enemy army in the direction of Yecheng in the east.

So Li Tai adjusted the military deployment here. Since Wei Xiaokuan took over the defense of the northern border, only 10,000 divisions were retained to guard the key roads there, and Gao Le, He Ruodun and other troops were all withdrawn.

At present, there are about 120,000 troops stationed outside Jinzhou City, and at Fenqu downstream, Han Guo has led his troops to conquer Zhengping City in Dongyongzhou of Northern Qi and opened up the Fenshui route.

Although the Fenshui River has not entered the flood season due to drought this year, and the water flow in the river is not abundant, the transfer of materials can be carried out by combining land and water. In this way, in addition to the materials previously concentrated in Hedong, the army can also obtain material replenishment directly from Guanzhong along the Fenshui River from Longmen, greatly improving the safety of rear-line supplies and subsequent combat endurance.

After the Fenshui River was unblocked, the army's logistics dependence on the Hedong Sushui River was reduced. Therefore, Li Tai sent another 10,000 divisions and brigades stationed in the upper reaches of the Sushui River in the rear route to follow Yang Zhongdong to attack and seize Jianzhou.

As for the main force outside Jinzhou City, Li Tai did not intend to transfer the entire force immediately. Most of them stayed behind. On the one hand, they continued to besiege Jinzhou City, and at the same time, they could eat on the banks of the Fenshui River to control the logistics pressure. He personally led the three guards and 20,000 elite troops as the vanguard division, and went east first to open up the road for the army.

After arranging the personnel here, Li Tai led his troops directly to the east.

On the east bank of the Fen River north of Jinzhou City, there is a tributary called Tongjunchuan. From Tongjunchuan, you can reach the Heishuiling, the remnant of Taiyue Mountain. However, this is only the current name. In history, after the Northern Zhou Dynasty unified the north, in order to avoid the taboo of Yuwen Tai, the Heishuiling was renamed Wuling Mountain.

Although the Black Water Ridge is steep and rugged, it is only the remnant of the Taiyue Mountain after all, and there are many naturally formed passages such as streams and rivers for walking. Compared with other steep places, it is relatively easy to walk, and in some places you can even ride a horse slowly.

Because the large mountainous area to the west has greatly restricted the use of cavalry power, the more than 20,000 soldiers under Li Tai are mainly infantry, and only retain more than 2,000 cavalry from the Hundred Cavalry Battalion and the Scout Team. Because there is no need for a large number of war horses to accompany the army, the pressure on logistics and supplies is not great.

Tongjunchuan is the direction of the army's next attack, so in the past period of time, the Western Wei scouts have been continuously exploring the east, and the exploration range is even as far as hundreds of miles. In addition, there are Zhang Baoluo and others who were transferred to Guanzhong by the Southern Chen Dynasty in the team. Therefore, although Li Tai came to this area for the first time, he is not unfamiliar with the geographical conditions here.

Pi Jinghe was the leader of the Hundred Cavalry Battalion, and he was also from Taiyuan, so he naturally served as the leader of the scout team. He had already investigated the situation in the east for several days. At this time, while marching, he reported the latest enemy news to Li Taijin: "There are six enemy garrisons in the Black Water Ridge, each with a different number of soldiers, ranging from more than a hundred to a dozen. All of them are from Yining. Yining stands between the Qin River and has two cities on the left and right. It is an important garrison town in the upper reaches of the Qin River. The governor of Yining is the bandit general Han Zunian. There were more than 2,000 soldiers stationed there before. After the army entered Pingyang, the number of soldiers defending the city gradually increased to more than 7,000..."

Yining County also belonged to the jurisdiction of Jinzhou in the Northern Qi Dynasty. It was located to the east of Pingyang, and its regional core was located in the upper reaches of the Qin River Basin. The Qin River originates in Pingyao, Shanxi, and flows southward until it flows into the Yellow River. It is also an important part of the terrain of the mountains and rivers in Shanxi. In the pre-Qin and Warring States periods, the Qin army occupied Pingyang and then entered Qinshui, and fought the Battle of Changping with Zhao in the lower reaches of Qinshui.

"Where Yining is located, Shenwu and He Liuhun once set up six military towns with 3,000 households in the territory to fill the Qinyuan River Valley, sweep out the bandits in the territory and garrison the east-west passages. Therefore, Yining Town was set up under the county seat Guyuan City. Yining Town is connected to Tunliu in the east and reaches Wusu in the upper reaches. These places are also where the town people live. They are convenient to go east and threaten Hebei."

Zhang Baoluo, who was traveling with the army, also reported in detail what he knew: "Han Zunian is a distant relative of King Ande, and is also a brave general of Qi. Qi actually used this person to sit in the important place of Qinyuan. It can be seen that all places on the east road are also well prepared!"

The strategic value of Qinshui in the entire Shanxi region can be said to be second only to Fenshui. The Qinyuan area in its upper reaches is an important passage from Pingyang to Shangdang, and its lower reaches are connected to the Jincheng Basin where Jianzhou is located.

When the Hedong area was not controlled by the Northern Qi, Qinshui was the hub connecting the entire western area of ​​Taihang Mountain.

Li Tai's attack on Qinyuan was also an important step in splitting the territory of the Northern Qi. Once Qinyuan was captured, the connection between the Changzhi Basin in the Shangdang area and the Jincheng Basin below and Jinyang would be greatly damaged, which would then affect the connection between Yecheng and Jinyang, making the territory of the Northern Qi more scattered.

The route along the Tongjunchuan Eastward was relatively smooth, and no traces of the Qi army were encountered before reaching the Black Water Ridge. After all, there were more than 100,000 troops stationed under the Jinzhou City at present, and the control and deterrence of the surrounding areas were directly maximized, so the Qi army did not dare to move forward easily.

There were two higher mountains in the east and west of the Black Water Ridge, and they were all connected by undulating valleys. Because this place had belonged to the territory of the Northern Qi before, there was naturally no need to waste money and labor to build any strong fortresses in these mountains and fields. The existing garrisons basically only played the role of sentinel warning and communication, and the real deterrent defense effect was not great.

After arriving at Heishui Ridge, Li Tai did not rush to order a large group of troops to cross the mountain. Instead, he first asked the scouts to clear out the enemy's scouts and ears between the ridges and valleys, and he led a light division eastward along the dry valley passage to observe Yining City.