"Marshal, Liu Shizheng's army has withdrawn into the territory of Qianzhou. It is expected to arrive in Shaozhou within three days. "In the barracks of the Western Route Army of the Tiance Army, the information of Xuan Yingwei was quickly handed to Xue Yang.

Xue Yang glanced at Xu Ying and the others who handed it to his side and said with a smile: "It seems that Liu Shizheng was scared by us this time, and Hengzhou hurriedly withdrew his troops and came back to rescue his lair halfway through." ”

"Dashuai, what should we do? Do you want to stop them? Li Shenfu has been eye-opening to these battles with Xue Yang during this time, the young commander in front of him has always been eclectic when he fights, although the entire Western Route Army has not fought a few battles, but the territory won is not less than that of the troops directly commanded by the headquarters, and it can be said that it is almost not inferior to the main force.

"Brother, since Liu Shizheng wants to rescue his own lair, we still let him fulfill his wish." Xue Yang spread out the map and smiled slightly at Xu Ying beside him: "You see, Liu Shizheng's territory is basically newly beaten by himself, the people's hearts are unstable, and the forces of all parties have not been integrated and rashly dispatched the main forces from all over the country to the north. Although Qianzhou is mountainous and the roads are bumpy to the south, it is the commanding heights of the entire southwest in terms of position, and as long as it occupies Qianzhou, it will inevitably grasp the initiative in the entire southwest campaign. The surrounding forces such as Qiqi, Nanzhao and Pang Juzhao Ye Guangluo will lose their offensive power, and our southwest theater will really be controlled by our Tiance army. ”

Xue Yang's analysis made several people around him nod, the importance of Qianzhou's location is known to several people, this is also the key to the follow-up southwest campaign, only by taking the edge of Liu Shizheng's Tiance army will it really deter other regions in the southwest.

"So how do we act?" Li Yang frowned and said: "Many of the troops in Liu Shizheng's hands are people from a small number of tribes, if we don't deal with it cleanly, I'm afraid that a few tribes in the entire southwest will have a discord with our Datang, and I'm afraid that when the time comes, it will restrain the energy of our army and make it impossible to move forward." ”

"Since Liu Shizheng wants to return to Shaozhou, then let's also set off to Shaozhou immediately, and when the other party's army enters the city to attack, we will definitely receive the effect of a half-crossing attack. And because the city gate was opened, the follow-up troops were in a hurry to enter the city, and ninety percent of the combat strength was removed, and when the time came, the siege and annihilation of the enemy could be done together. Xue Yang nodded at Li Yang's worries and said: "I have already reported what you said to the headquarters, and the headquarters will coordinate with the cabinet to deal with it at that time, and the follow-up work in the southwest occupied area will all be handed over to the National Guard, and Yang Yi has already set off for us." Although a small number of tribes are troublesome to deal with, under the irreversible trend of unification, they cannot make any big waves, and it is nothing more than a matter of how fast or slow the integration time is. The great national integration proposed by the emperor is to solve this matter, so we don't need to worry about it. ”

Xue Yang's words made everyone put their minds at ease, so the West Route Army no longer hesitated, and immediately pulled out the camp from Yongzhou to the north, and the armies were divided into four routes, the first road was Xu Ying, and the action and combat power of the mountain battalion in Qianzhou were outstanding, almost equal to the third battalion, and the main force of the three battalions led by Xu Ying was used as the forward force, detouring to the southwest of Shaozhou through the mountainous area of northern Qianzhou. The second way is Li Yang, moving in the opposite direction with Xu Ying, intervening from the southeast, secretly lurking, preparing to intercept the opponent's forward troops at a critical moment and buy time for other troops. The main force of the Western Route Army led by Li Shenfu of the Third Route was used as a frontal force, marching from Yongzhou to Shaozhou with great fanfare. Xue Yang took the third battalion to the starry night, and prepared to follow Liu Shizheng's brigade halfway as quickly as possible. In Xue Yang's opinion, if you want to achieve the tactics of attacking half-crossing, you must know every move of Liu Shizheng's department well, so that the other party can be attacked when entering the city, so as to take care of one and lose the other. Therefore, Xue Yang's advice to Xu Ying before leaving was to use the advantages of the mountain battalion to insert into the front of Liu Shizheng's troops entering the city when necessary, so as to attract the main force of the other party to stagnate, so as to buy time for the main force of other people, especially Li Shenfu's main force. In addition to Xue Yang himself, only Xu Ying and the mountain battalion can control the battle situation in the middle, so the soldiers and horses of the four routes are bright and dark, and all the connections in the middle are conveyed by the Xuan Yingwei who accompanied the army. It can be said that almost from the moment Li Shenfu set off, the fate of Liu Shizheng and Qianzhou entered the countdown.

When the Tiance army made proper arrangements, the main force of Liu Shizheng's Qianzhou army also withdrew from Hengzhou and entered the Qianzhou territory. Liu Shizheng was very annoyed by the sneak attack of the troops in his rear, in addition to withdrawing the army and preparing to come back to annihilate the opponent, he also attracted a small number of tribes along the way and gathered the army. Moreover, Liu Shizheng also had another purpose in doing this, that is, to control the forces in his own jurisdiction by controlling the military power of a few tribes, and only when his own strength reached the peak could he complete the integration of Qianzhou. It's just that the outcome of the war in Fujian made him feel very worried, and once the Tiance army made a large-scale attack on the eastern front, it would inevitably turn back and attack Qianzhou. So he has been thinking about how to contact the Qiqi in the west, and use the strength of the Qiqi barbarians to deal with the Tiance army.

In fact, the original Qi Qi had been co-opted by Lu Guangchou and them, but what made Liu Shizheng very strange was that Qi Qi had been standing still so far and had not sent troops as agreed, was it because of himself?

Maybe what Liu Shizheng didn't know was that when he was confused and puzzled by Lu Guangchou's side not to send troops, Lu Guangchou's side was already in turmoil, and after Qian Ning's department joined Li Tianyi's cavalry corps, he immediately launched an attack on Lu Yanchang, and under the sweep of the 100,000 army, Lu Yanchang's remaining tens of thousands of people could not stand Fuzhou and other places at all, and were compressed in the administrative office and could not move. After Lu Yanchang lost his combat effectiveness, Li Tianyi immediately led his troops back to attack Lu Guangchou, saying that Lu Guangchou and a partial army of Liu Shizheng he had wooed surrounded Qianzhou and Tingzhou, and used Liu Shizheng's soldiers and horses of a small number of tribes in the southwest to not see the strength of the cavalry of the Tiance Army, and fought a field battle outside the city of Qianzhou, and the southern cavalry equipped by the Dian horse was defeated in front of the northern cavalry, and it was impossible to compete with it at all, and the only formed cavalry unit under Liu Shizheng was wiped out in half a day. Lu Guangchou, who was frightened by the bloody killing, could no longer have any thoughts, and he never dared to fight in Qianzhou anymore.

It is impossible for Liu Shizheng to know the news that his cavalry was defeated in the First World War, what he didn't notice at this time was that Xue Yang's third battalion had quietly followed him, and Xue Yang saw Liu Shizheng's actions along the way. However, Xue Yang didn't intend to disturb Liu Shizheng, the other party did this in fact, it was also very beneficial to the rule of the Tang Empire in Qianzhou after the war, and the sooner the process of integration of the indigenous people in the southwest, the better.

However, as Liu Shizheng's brigade got closer and closer to Shaozhou, it became more and more difficult for Xue Yang's third battalion to hide his whereabouts, and there were more and more villages and villages along the way.

At this time, except for Li Shenfu's frontal corps, which was a distance away, the other two roads had already been deployed, waiting for the opportunity to attack. And the information of Xuan Yingwei in the city was also urgently transmitted to Xu Ying, after learning that the defenders in the city learned that Liu Shizheng's brigade had arrived in Shaozhou, they relaxed their vigilance Xu Ying nodded, and quietly approached Shaozhou City with the mountain battalion.

It can be said that at this time, the Tiance Army and the Western Route Army were all in place, waiting for Liu Shizheng to enter the city. The defenders in the city also prepared a welcoming ceremony, and the generals and gentry went outside the city to welcome Liu Shizheng back to the city. Since Yongzhou was lost and Shaozhou was held, the dignitaries and dignitaries in the city of Shaozhou have been looking forward to Liu Shizheng's return day and night, and at this time, the army is already in sight, and these classes who rely on Liu Shizheng to make a fortune and keep their glory and wealth are naturally overjoyed. The lively welcome ceremony diluted the atmosphere before the war, and even many of Xuan Yingwei's shadows felt that this Liu Shizheng was innocent, the previous war was imminent, and Shaozhou City had been harassed once before and still had the courage to engage in such a flashy ceremony. However, it was precisely because of this ceremony that Xu Ying was able to successfully intercept Liu Shizheng's vanguard and wait for the intervention of several other people.

Xu Ying watched Liu Shizheng lead the team forward to join the defenders in the city and waved his right hand to give the order to attack, and the archers who had already been ambushed in front couldn't wait to bend their bows and arrows, and the whistling arrows reflected the cold light, and instantly enveloped the scene of the ceremony that was still cheering at the moment before, and countless figures were shot to the ground by the arrows.

Almost with the archers, there were five ballistas brought from the rear, and the explosives that rose into the air made the crowd that had just dodged the arrows chaotic again, Liu Shizheng was desperately protected by the guards around him and retreated to the city, and in the panic, he didn't even care about giving orders to the follow-up troops. Because of this, the main force of the Guizhou army was completely wiped out outside Shaozhou in the subsequent battle.

Xu Ying immediately led the team to rush forward when the explosives bag was raised, and the mountain battalion rushed forward like a tiger descending the mountain over the lurking archer position, and rushed forward, their task was very important, they had to be entangled with the other party before Liu Shizheng closed the city gate, and control the city gate when necessary, so as to achieve the effect.

After the "boom" explosive package landed, it made a shocking explosion sound, which overturned the crowd at the city gate, and also made Liu Shizheng, who had not yet entered the city, feel like a ghost, and he didn't care about anything else, so it was important to save his life first. At this time, Li Yang's department, who heard the explosion, led the team to join the attack, and he chose the middle position of the city and Guizhou army, because of the return to the city, Liu Shizheng's army was almost unprepared, and hundreds of thousands of troops lined up in a long strip along the road.

"Marshal, the Qian army has already fought with our army, and General Li has led the team to attack." The news of the previous fight also made Xue Yang, who had just come out of the mountains and outside Shaozhou City, stunned, and then asked: "How far is Li Shenfu's soldiers and horses from Shaozhou?" ”

"The main force of the army is still more than twenty miles away." Xuan Yingwei's entourage hurriedly came to report.

"It's too late, the third battalion immediately attacked the tail of the Qianjun army and dragged them down." The first three roads combined were only 50,000 people, and once Liu Shizheng reacted, he would definitely not be able to stop more than 100,000 people, so Xue Yang did not hesitate to let the third battalion enter the battle. This time it means that the Guizhou army needs to face a three-way attack at the same time, and the scene is even more chaotic. The entire battlefield stretched for several miles, and after the third battalion was put into battle, the Qian's army was completely chaotic, and after the lack of central command, all the people fought separately, and did not form a joint force, and were even beaten by the Tiance army, which was more than twice as large as themselves.

And Liu Shizheng, who returned to the city, was ready to close the city gate and command on the city tower after a little calm, but he was firmly held by the mountain battalion at the city gate, although the 30,000 Tiance army fought at both ends, but it did not retreat, Xu Ying even went to the front line in person, and his lieutenant general managed all the way, and blocked the counterattack of the defenders in the city and the main force of the Qian army outside the city, and firmly grasped the battle situation in his own hands.

In the fierce battle, Xu Ying asked the ballista gunner to carry the explosive package into the battlefield and detonate it at the city gate, completely blowing up the city gate, and even Liu Shizheng himself was not spared from the violent explosion, and was directly injured on the ground. His fall to the ground also made the Qian army even more chaotic, and the situation at the city gate, which had just gotten up, was reversed by Xu Ying again, and the first part of the mountain battalion had even entered the city to fight fiercely with the defenders. After stabilizing the situation at the gate of the city, Xu Ying began to reflexively fight with the Qian army outside the city, and the Qian army, which was frightened by the explosion of the explosive bag earlier, did not dare to put down the burden and attack the Tiance army. In this way, at the gate of Shaozhou City, the two sides gathered together, and the Guizhou army said that Xu Ying's troops were surrounded by a semi-encirclement centered on the city gate, while the main force of the mountain battalion led other troops to begin to make an assault formation in the direction of the depth of the Guizhou army, trying to withstand this dying counterattack after the other party lost command, and prepare for the arrival of Li Shenfu's main force on the battlefield.

At this time, Li Yang's troops and the third battalion basically converged to stop the follow-up attack of the Guizhou army on Xu Ying, and after a little discussion between the two, the third battalion continued to attack in the direction of the city gate and converged with the mountain battalion, while Li Yang led his fifteenth battalion to stop the follow-up troops. In this way, Li Yang's troops faced the attack of the opponent's main force, and the absolute disadvantage in numbers made this interception line precarious, but Li Yang was not afraid at all, and personally led the personal guards to fight. The 15th Battalion was originally a unit mainly formed by the children of Jingzhou, and the morale driven by Li Yang after he came to the field was rising, and he forcibly stopped the life and death line of the Guizhou army.

At this time, the forward troops led by Li Shenfu himself had also appeared in the rear, and the situation in the rear suddenly surpassed the front, and almost as soon as Li Shenfu's troops came out, the defeat of the rear army of the Guizhou army could no longer be reversed, and the addition of this new force laid the foundation for victory at once. At this time, the third battalion under the leadership of Xue Yang had gradually converged with the mountain battalion, and the combat power of the two main forces was superimposed, even if Liu Shizheng stood on it regardless of his life, there was no way to break through, and he watched the other party drive his troops away from Shaozhou City little by little. And what scared him the most was that the Tiance Army was attacking the main force of the Qian Army, and the troops that entered the city were helpless to let all their harvest troops go together, and after breaking through their own three-layer attacks in a row, they faintly continued to assault the city.

Thinking that Liu Shizheng couldn't stay any longer, he quickly evacuated from the city tower with the guards around him and disappeared. His departure also buried the last hope of the Qianjun. As soon as Xue Yang and Xu Ying converged, they immediately dispatched the entire army of the mountain battalion into the city.