Summoning the world to be one

Chapter 617 On Xiliang in Qianyang Palace

Chapter 618: On Xiliang in Qianyang Palace

In the fourth year of Tiantong, in May, Xue Rengui led his army to conquer Luoyang City and took down the entire Henan County. When the news spread to Wancheng, Deng Sheng was overjoyed and felt that the war was going well. However, he poured cold water on him and told him that the war is the most difficult at this stage. At the same time, in view of the strength of Li Siye's troops in the West Road Army, which cannot capture Chang'an City, Cui Hao suggested that the West Road Army give up marching into Chang'an and turn to And went to attack the eight counties of Xiliang, blocking the last retreat of Qin State, so as to prevent Qin State from resurging again.

But how easy is it to attack the eight counties of Xiliang?Today's Xiliang is very mysterious to the Central Plains people. They only know that the Qin State was founded in Xiliang, and within the eight counties of Xiliang, besides the Qin people, there are also a large number of Qiang people and a small number of nomadic peoples. The ethnic composition is very complicated, but other than that, they don't know anything, even the topography of Xiliang, and attacking Xiliang rashly is undoubtedly catching the blind.

"Before the death of Lord Jing Guogong, he said to me that Qin's wolfish ambition was a stumbling block to my great Deng's unification of the world. Since then, I have secretly ordered Mingjing and the Department of Commerce to strengthen the penetration of Qin. Needless to say, Guanzhong , even Chang’an, the capital city of the Qin State, has spies from my Great Deng, and Xiliang naturally has one too, but Xiliang has been in turmoil all year round, and Qin State’s control over Xiliang is also very strict. The map of Tianshui County, Longxi County, Wuwei County, Anding County and other places has been drawn, and Jiuquan County, Dunhuang County, Zhangye County and other places have been difficult to penetrate by Mingjing and the Department of Commerce. Is it appropriate to attack Xiliang rashly? ? Attacking Xiliang will make the supply line longer than attacking Chang'an City." Deng Sheng thought for a while and said.

Of course Deng Sheng wanted to attack Xiliang. Since the pre-Qin period, Xiliang has never been controlled by the Central Plains dynasty. If Deng Sheng can control the eight counties of Xiliang, it will undoubtedly expand the territory, but thinking about it, Deng Sheng's biggest experience now is still on Ping Qin and Zhao. Even if he wants to manage the Western Regions, he has to wait until he unifies the world. Now that Guanzhong is still undecided, he went to attack Xiliang instead.

Cui Hao said: "Your Majesty, the most important thing to destroy Qin is not Guanzhong, but Xiliang. Although Qin State has been in Guanzhong for 20 years, the most important foundation of Qin State today is Xiliang, which is run by Qin State. For more than 200 years, the roots of Qin's military and political officials are still in Xiliang. In other words, even if Qin doesn't want Xiliang, he doesn't care about giving up Xiliang. If our army attacks Xiliang at this time, it will definitely disturb Qin. The hearts of monarchs and ministers are of great benefit to the battle in Guanzhong."

Deng Sheng also agreed with Cui Hao's statement that although Qin State had entered the pass for 20 years, due to the massacres in Guanzhong when it entered the pass, the people in Guanzhong hated the people of Qin very much. Those who rely heavily must be the Qin people who entered the pass from Xiliang. They have always been very wary of the people in Guanzhong. Although the civil servants and generals of the Qin State have settled in Guanzhong, most of their family roots are still in Xiliang. , even the royal family of the Qin State, except for the direct line of the royal family and some of the nearby royal families who moved to Chang'an, the other clans are still in Xiliang. Once Xiliang is attacked, it will definitely make Qin people panic, but Deng Sheng still He hesitated for the same reason, Xiliang is not easy to fight.

"Cui Qing, my Great Deng knows nothing about Xiliang, so he rashly sent troops to attack, and there are only tens of thousands of elites in the district. Going deep is too risky!" Deng Sheng shook his head and said.

"Your Majesty, I don't think so!" Cui Hao said: "At this time, it is precisely tens of thousands of elites who can make meritorious deeds!"

"Oh? How did Cui Qing see it?" Deng Sheng was a little curious. Why did Cui Hao conclude that at this time, sending tens of thousands of elite troops from the West Road to attack Xiliang would be able to make merit?

"Your Majesty!" Cui Hao explained: "The eight prefectures in Xiliang are not dominated by the Qin family, and the Qiang people are also very powerful, but they have been suppressed by the Qin people for so many years, and Qin entered the pass. Afterwards, although the control over Xiliang was still strong, it was much weaker than before. The Qiang people could no longer hold back. If at this time, my Great Deng's hundreds of thousands of elites attacked Xiliang, the Qiang people would definitely Be wary of my Great Deng. On the contrary, our army only has tens of thousands of people, and our military strength is not much superior to that of the Qiang people. Although the Qiang people will be wary, they will never oppose our army. When the Qin army faced difficulties, the Qiang people, who had been suppressed by the Qin people, would fight back."

"Cui Qing, even if what you said is reasonable, have you ever thought that our army only has tens of thousands of people, and in Xiliang, a place where people are not familiar with it, it is difficult to keep up with all kinds of supplies. After the Qin army, how should our army suppress the Qiang people?" Deng Sheng raised a new question, that is, how to suppress the Qiang people after the Qin army was wiped out with the strength of the Deng army that entered Liang?

Cui Hao smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to suppress it. The main purpose of our army entering Liang is to destroy the Qin army in Xiliang, cut off the retreat of the Qin people, and disturb the hearts of the Qin people. As for the temporary ownership of Xiliang, our army Don’t worry about it, as long as Guanzhong is captured in the future, my Great Deng’s hundreds of thousands of elites, mere Qiang people, can be wiped out.”

Now Deng Sheng finally understood what Cui Hao meant. He dared to send troops into Xiliang only to wipe out the last elite of the Qin army and cut off the retreat of the Qin people. It was not for the land of the eight counties of Xiliang. The land of the eight counties of Liang, but to think about it after taking the whole Guanzhong. After taking the whole Guanzhong, Deng Guo can easily gather hundreds of thousands of elites to enter Xiliang, and tens of thousands of Qiang people can be suppressed by the Qin army , Deng Jun counts 10 people and can't suppress it?This is of course impossible.

But Deng Sheng still hesitated in his heart. If Deng Jun only wanted to destroy the main force of the Qin army instead of running Xiliang, then after Deng Jun withdrew from Xiliang, the eight counties of Xiliang would definitely fall under the control of the Qiang people. At that time, the Qin people who had a century-old hatred with the Qiang people would definitely be slaughtered by the Qiang people. In Deng Sheng's view, both Qin people and Deng people were Chinese people, but the Qiang people were different. Let the Qiang people slaughter People from Qin, Deng Sheng couldn't accept it for a while.

"Cui Qing, have you ever thought about how the Qiang people in Xiliang will treat the Qin people who stayed in Xiliang once our army has wiped out the main force of the Qin army and withdrew from Xiliang?" Deng Sheng said.

Cui Hao knew that Deng Sheng felt sympathetic, so he persuaded him, "Your Majesty, Qin State has managed Xiliang for more than 200 years, and the people of Qin in Xiliang only recognize Qin State. After entering the eight counties of Xiliang, the people of Qin would not agree with me, Deng, and would often be in turmoil. This would be very detrimental to my running Xiliang in the future. Instead of letting Deng be the villain in the future, it is not for the Qiang people to come Do it, only when the Qiang people kill the Qin people to mourn and kill the Qin people to be terrified, and my great Deng enters Liang with a righteous teacher to calm the Qiang people, then the Qin people will definitely be grateful to my great Deng. The Sheriff is safe and sound!"

Hearing this, Deng Sheng struggled a lot. He admitted that what Cui Hao said was right, because only in this way could the eight counties of Xiliang be integrated into the Deng Kingdom quickly, but doing so would really harm peace. On the battlefield, Deng Sheng would not hesitate no matter how many people were killed or injured on both sides, but it was the common people who were slaughtered. That ordinary person is not a brat when he first came to the throne. Now Deng Sheng is the emperor of the Deng country, and everything he does must be based on the interests of the Deng country. Cui Hao is right, the short-term slaughter is for the sake of Better long-term peace and stability, besides, this villain is not Deng Guo, but the Qiang people.

After fighting in his heart for a long time, Deng Sheng sighed, and then asked Zhang Bin who was silent all the time: "Zhang Qing, what do you think?"

Zhang Bin thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, I think Cui Xiang's words are justified. As the saying goes, if one general succeeds, all bones will be destroyed. Besides, there are many people who are loyal to Qin in Xiliang. It is better for me, Da Deng, to do it in the future." Take the hands of the Qin people to get rid of them, but I think that if you want to conquer Xiliang, another place is very important!"

"Where?" Deng Sheng asked.

"Wudu County!" Zhang Bin said: "Wudu County borders Hanzhong County, and also borders Longxi County, one of the eight counties in Xiliang. If Wudu County can be controlled in our hands, the soldiers, horses, food and grass of our Hanzhong County will be more convenient." Being able to continuously transport them into Xiliang is very important for our army to attack Xiliang, so I think that if you want to make a difference in Xiliang, you must base yourself in Wudu County!"

Wudu County borders Hanzhong County. In the former Han Dynasty, it has always been the forward position of the Han State against Qin State. After Qin State entered the pass, it also took Wudu County. Later, after Deng State destroyed Shu, Qin State Heavy troops were deployed in Wudu County. After the Battle of Hanzhong, Deng Guo captured Hanzhong County. In order to prevent Deng Guo from invading Xiliang, Qin State has always deployed a large number of elite troops in Wudu County. After gathering troops and intending to attack Guanzhong, in order to resist Deng's attack, Qin State transferred back the soldiers and horses from Wudu County. Now there are only a few thousand Qin troops in Wudu County, so Deng State wants to It was very easy to win Wudu County, but Deng Guo has always focused on the Guanzhong counties, so he ignored it. Now that Deng Sheng has decided to attack Xiliang, Wudu County has become very important.

"It's just that in this case, our army has to abandon Mei County and other places in Guanzhong, return to Hanzhong, and attack Wudu County!" Deng Sheng said. Although Wudu County is the land of Qin State, it is in the south of Qinchuan. Therefore, if Li Siye's army wanted to attack Wudu County, it had to return to Hanzhong County first.

"Your Majesty, it is useless for General Li Siye's West Route Army to stay in Guanzhong. It is better to return to Hanzhong, attack Wudu County, and march into Xiliang." Cui Hao said.

Deng Sheng thought for a while and said, "Okay, since that's the case, I will pass on my order and order Li Siye to command the army to return to Hanzhong to attack Wudu County, and order Zhuge Liang, the governor of the Middle Road of Shu, to prepare all the food and supplies necessary for the army to enter Liang."

"Here!" Cui Hao and Zhang Bin responded.

In the fourth year of Tiantong, on the tenth day of June, Deng Sheng's imperial decree was sent to the frontline of martial arts. Li Siye was very hesitant after receiving the imperial decree. After all, he had fought bloody battles in Guanzhong for a long time before he wiped out the main force of the Qin army and Qinchuan, and took down Mei County. This frontier position, as long as Wugong County is taken, they can march to Chang'an City. It is a pity to give up like this now.

"General, what does your Majesty mean by this? Now that we are marching towards Chang'an, we are going to attack Xiliang at this time. Isn't this a waste of money?" Chang Mao said very dissatisfied in the large tent of the Chinese army.

In this battle of Guanzhong, Chang Mao can be said to have shined brilliantly. He first burned the Qin army in Chencang, and was the first to attack Mei County. However, Deng Sheng asked them to attack Xiliang. Isn't this giving up attacking Chang'an?
"General Li Jing, what do you think?" Li Siye ignored Chang Mao's complaint, but asked Li Jing. As Li Jing's cousin, Li Siye knew Li Jing's ability very well. The main general is the governor's mansion, so at this time, Li Siye chose to trust Li Jing.

Li Jing thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty and the adults in the court are very reasonable. With the strength of our army, even if we take Wugong County, there is no way to take Chang'an City. If it is the previous Chang'an City , perhaps paying more casualties, our army still has a chance, but now that Zhao Jun has settled in Chang'an City, it is impossible for our army to take Chang'an City. Instead of wasting time in Guanzhong, it is better to attack Xiliang, the Qin Dynasty. the foundation of the country."

Li Siye nodded. In fact, during this period of time, Li Siye had no hope of winning Chang'an City. However, once he moved to Xiliang, it would mean that everything Li Siye had done to conquer Wugong County would be useless. It's a pity. That's all, but now that Deng Sheng's imperial decree has arrived, he can't resist the decree, so he nodded and said: "Then let Yue Lei and Heping Zhang of Meiyang come back. After they come back, we will withdraw our troops and return to Hanzhong , to prepare for the attack on Wudu County."

Originally, Li Siye sent Yue Lei and Chang Mao to attack Meiyang City at first, but later Li Siye transferred Chang Mao back and sent Li Pingzhang instead.

"Here!"

In the fourth year of Tiantong, on June [-]th, Yue Lei and Li Pingzhang led the army back to Wugong from Meiyang. On the [-]th, Li Siye led the army to evacuate Wugong County, via Mei County, and return to Hanzhong County by Baoxie Road.

Regarding Li Siye's sudden withdrawal, although Qin Ping, the general of the Qin army stationed in Wugong County, was very puzzled, he was relieved. After all, he was under too much pressure during this period. He really didn't have the courage to continue to defend Wugong County. Now that Deng Jun has retreated, the crisis in Wugong County has also been lifted, so Qin Ping sent someone to Chang'an to report.

(End of this chapter)