When Meng Zhixiang planned to send troops, in addition to the main attack on Suizhou and the auxiliary attack on Langzhou, he also sent a partial division to Fuzhou. If it is said that the burden of defending the Sword Gate is on Li Shaobin, and he can only wait for him to defeat Langzhou, and then go to reinforcements, and Meng Zhixiang can't get in, then for the defense task of Fuzhou, Meng Zhixiang will not let it be on his shoulders.

Meng Zhixiang sent a general stationed in Fuzhou, named Pan Rensi, who was also a general who stayed in Shu when Guo Chongtao attacked Shu earlier, Meng Zhixiang gave him 5,000 soldiers and horses, and went to Hezhou, Yuzhou, and Fuzhou day and night to arrange defenses.

Fuzhou, later Fuling District, Chongqing City (east of Chongqing City), Yuzhou, is later Chongqing City, Hezhou, Hechuan District, Chongqing City (Chongqing North). Among them, Fuzhou is located at the confluence of the Fuling River and the Great River; Hezhou is located at the confluence of Fujiang River, Jialing River and Ba Shui; The three rivers intersect into one, still called the Jialing River, about one hundred and fifty miles to the south, and the place where the big river meets, it is Yuzhou - Yuzhou is more than two hundred miles away from Fuzhou.

It can be seen that Hezhou, Chongqing, and Fuzhou, with Chongqing as the center, Hezhou is the hub of the north, and Fuzhou is the stronghold of the east.

In terms of distance, the distance from Chengdu to Yuzhou is almost twice as long as that from Chengdu to Suizhou, because although Pan Rensi marched quickly, he had not yet reached Hezhou when the Battle of Suizhou began.

At the beginning of the war in Suizhou, it was extremely fierce, and most of the Xichuan troops besieging the city were the elite left by Guo Chongtao when he attacked Shu.

Suizhou Xia Ruqi, this is a hundred battles of the general, although the Wuxin army is trapped in the lonely city, has not been timid, the enemy has come to attack, I welcome it, the more fierce the enemy's attack, the stronger I defend. After half a day of testing, the two sides pushed the war into a high tide in the afternoon of the first battle.

In this battle, the two sides invested nearly 40,000 troops, even if there was no such number in direct confrontation on the battlefield, it was definitely not to be underestimated. A fierce battle, the sound of the world, the sound of battle, tens of miles, even hundreds of miles away, can be heard. As you can imagine, the war was terrible.

When he was still more than half a day away from Hezhou, Pan Rensi heard the sound of fighting in Suizhou.

"General Li is fierce, this siege has not been around for a day, and he has already made such a big move, and he wants to break the enemy in one battle?" Beside Pan Rensi, his lieutenant couldn't help but change color slightly and sighed.

Different from the deputy general, Pan Rensi and Li Renhan are familiar with each other, before leaving, they exchanged opinions with each other on how to fight the Eastern Expedition, therefore, Pan Rensi knew what Li Renhan had in mind, and he said in a deep voice: "Earlier, the secret agents observed the city defense of Suizhou, which is very strong and cannot be underestimated. However, General Li also said that when he arrived in Suizhou, he would definitely attack the city day and night, and would not give Charuqi a chance to breathe, lest he become more and more brave and the city became stronger and stronger! ”

The more you fight, the more courageous you are, and the more you face the enemy, the more you defend the city, the stronger it becomes, which is a bit sensational, but Pan Rensi's words are not to increase the morale of others to destroy his own prestige. Now that the Xichuan army is attacking Suizhou, the advantage lies in two points, one is the advantage of troops, and the other is that Xia Luqi has not been out of Suizhou for a long time, and may not be deeply supported by the people of Suizhou.

And once the war lasts and the offensive of the Nishikawa army gradually weakens, so that Charuchi has to serve the people of the whole city, the war will be difficult. Li Renhan was ordered by Meng Zhixiang to never allow such a situation to occur, so once he started a war, he would definitely attack non-stop.

Pan Rensi glanced behind him, the marching team was steady and fast, he raised his forehead and looked forward, and said to the deputy general beside him: "The war in Suizhou cannot be ended in a moment, and because of this, it is extremely important to ensure the thoroughness of the flanks of Suizhou." There is no need to worry about the east of Suizhou, the mountains are continuous, and the Tang army cannot enter; You and I can't do it in the north, but Langzhou is weaker, and it is not difficult for Li Shaobin to overcome it; To the south, there are the three states of He, Chongqing and Fu, which are the gateways of our Shu to defend against the enemy of the Three Gorges, and there is no room for error. ”

He continued: "Tang Ting's arrangement in the Three Gorges is to use Wanzhou's defense envoys to deal with the two rivers, and I don't know how many times my Xichuan secret agents have traveled back and forth to Wanzhou over the years, and I don't know everything about the situation in Wanzhou, but I also know the details. Guo Wei, the defense envoy of Wanzhou, was the chief general of the Hundred Battles Army earlier, and he had many miraculous feats, and he was a wise and brave person. Previously, when he was the assassin of Fangzhou, he led the Fangzhou army to attack the hinterland of Kui, Gui and Xia, and the speed was extremely fast. This is the person we have to guard against this time. ”

The adjutant general said: "Under Guo Wei, there are 10,000 Wanzhou troops, although the number is quite a lot, but in terms of elite, how can it be compared with my Xichuan army?" None of the three can be one of the Xichuan soldiers! Moreover, although the three states of He, Chongqing, and Fu are not natural hazards, as long as we wait to seize and defend them, it is expected that the Wanzhou army will not be able to pass! ”

He, Chongqing, and Fu are in an important position, but there are not many defenders, and no one cares about the combat power, which seems to be a contradiction, but it is not. The weakness of the defenders of the three states is the delicate balance reached under the competition between the two rivers and the imperial court, just as before the two rivers incident, Dongchuan did not have many defenders in Jianmen, and the same is true of the three states.

Among them, Hezhou and Chongqing belong to the Liangchuan sphere of influence, and Fuzhou belongs to the imperial court's sphere of influence.

Pan Rensi snorted coldly, "This time Liangchuan raised troops, it was the marshal who rushed before the Tang Dynasty sent an army, and took the lead in attacking, even if Guo Wei used his troops quickly and intended to seize the land of Hezhou and Chongqing, but the order of the imperial court was not issued, how could he send a large army?" When he sent his army to come, you and I had already arranged it, and I promised to let him eat a meal of river fresh, and let him go back to Wanzhou! ”

"Shogun Takami!" The deputy general smiled and said, "He is also a handsome and wise, preemptive and then reprimanded." Wait for us to hold the north and south of the two rivers, and the Tang army will not be able to advance, even if it is difficult to fight in Nasui Prefecture, it is still fish and meat on the chopping board, let me wait for slaughter, hold on for a while, and let him turn the sky upside down? ”

Pan Rensi agreed with the adjutant general's words very much, and was full of pride, and immediately said seriously: "Okay, don't talk more, and go to Hezhou first!" ”

The sky was high and the clouds were low, Pan Rensi and others stepped up their march, and Hezhou City was getting closer and closer.

At this moment, I suddenly felt a big earthquake trembling, like a muffled thunder, like a big river bursting its banks, more like an earthquake sudden.

Pan Rensi was shocked, "What's the matter?" What's the anomaly ahead? Where's the scout?! After asking three questions in a row, a bad premonition suddenly rose in my heart.

The tremor was even worse, and the scout beat the horse back in a hurry, and rolled off the saddle in front of Pan Rensi, Zhang Huang was incessant, "Report!" General, there's a big army coming ahead! ”

Pan Rensi frowned, "Where is the army?!" "Naturally, it can't be the Hezhou Army, it's all their own people. Wait, is it possible, the Hezhou army was defeated? Hezhou was captured by the Tang army, and the defenders fled? But it is impossible, how can the fleeing army have such an earth-shaking momentum?

The great tremor of the cavalry could not cause such a disturbance.

Brigade cavalry? There is no cavalry brigade in Hezhou!

Pan Rensi's face changed drastically.

"Looking at its banner, it is written 'Wanzhou Defense Envoy Guo', I think it should be Guo Wei's Wanzhou Army!" The scout was sweating profusely, "All the people who came were horse soldiers, and the number of them was unknown, about three or five thousand horsemen!" ”

"It can't be!" The adjutant general exclaimed, "How could Guo Wei appear here?" Hezhou didn't even send a word back! If there is war in Hezhou, why haven't we met a messenger? If Hezhou is breached, why don't you see a rout? Don't see the fleeing people?! Also, what about Yuzhou? The Wanzhou Army crossed the border from Yuzhou, why didn't there be any news from Yuzhou?! ”

Pan Rensi is also a person with a strong temperament, and after the initial shock, he immediately drew his sword and raised his arms, and shouted: "The matter has come to this, it is useless to say more!" The generals listened to the order, formed a formation on the spot, and prepared to meet the enemy! ”

The military order was handed down, and the soldiers and horses moved together. However, whenever a large army marches, "the line is a formation, and the stop is a battalion", the marching army column will have a formation, and the defense is the road encountering the battle situation, and it is necessary to respond to the enemy at any time. Pan Rensi's order was given, and the Xichuan army was worthy of being elite, and there was no panic at all.

Although the Xichuan army was not panicked, the Wanzhou army was full of horse troops, but it came faster. Under the black clouds, Qingshan bowed his head, and the silent ground, without warning, appeared the figure of the cavalry of the Wanzhou Army, and in an instant, the ironclad army array galloped in, like a flood and a beast, attacking in a big way.

Look at the cavalry one by one, row after row, one after another, extremely powerful, at a glance, there is no end in sight. The horses are like dragons, with armor on their faces, and their iron hooves are like thunder, crushing dust; Immediately knighted, murderous and awe-inspiring, wrapped in iron armor, with a bow in front of his body, a long lance in his left hand, a round shield in his right hand, no reins, and a steady body with his heels back.

Killed in person, only to see the long lance like a forest, making people forget that it was flesh and blood, and they were all iron men covered in thorns, which made people shudder.

"Cavalry meets the enemy!" Pan Renhe's heart raised his throat, his cavalry is not many, only hundreds of horses, but at this time he has to be sent out, and the opponent has to fight hard, if not, the foot soldiers will not be able to form a formation - although the march has a formation, but it is not always a phalanx to hurry, this change, it still takes time. He felt a pain in his flesh, but more of a panic, he knew when he saw Wanzhou Army that it was not good stubble

Chengdu, Shuaifu.

An emergency military report, lying on the handsome case, Meng Zhixiang was wearing a black robe, holding his hands, pacing back and forth in the hall, his eyes wrinkled, and he couldn't stretch out.

He looked up at the door, the sunlight was a little dazzling, and in a trance, he seemed to see the scene of Pan Rensi's troops fighting with Guo Wei's Wanzhou army in the field that day. The sound of Jin Ge's iron horse echoed in his ears, the war horses neighed, the iron armor intersected, the soldiers shouted, the weapons pierced into the body, and the blood sprayed out, and the soldiers around him kept falling, but more were still rushing into battle and fighting

"Dashuai"

A light call brought Meng Zhixiang back to his senses, he looked sideways, and saw Su Yuan with a melancholy face in the dazzling afternoon sunshine.

"Dehuai is here?" Meng Zhixiang habitually showed a smile. Dehuai, the word of Su Yuan.

"The marshal is in a hurry to recruit lowly positions, but there has been a change in the front-line war?" Su Yuan took Meng Zhixiang's look in his eyes and asked aloud.

Meng Zhixiang bowed slightly, and his tone was slow, "Pan Rensi, defeated." ”

"Defeated?" Su Yuan showed a look of surprise, "Why did you lose?" ”

"Guo Wei, the defense envoy of Wanzhou, with an army of 3,000 horses, rushed to the north of Hezhou and was defeated with one blow."

"The three thousand horse army actually defeated the Pan Jiang army with one blow?!" Su Yuan was taken aback, and immediately realized the key to it, "Guo Wei's department, why can he attack in the north of Hezhou?" At that time, where was the Yuzhou Army and where was the Hezhou Army? There was no warning! ”

Speaking of this key point, Meng Zhixiang couldn't help sighing, he returned to the main seat and sat down, motioned for Su Yuan to sit down, and then said: "Before and after the commander sent the army, Guo Wei led more than 10,000 Wanzhou troops, took a boat, passed through the river, and arrived in Fuzhou. Immediately sent an envoy into Yuzhou, persuaded Yuzhou to assassinate the history, and the soldiers took Yuzhou without blood, and then, the main force passed through Yuzhou without entering, and went straight to Hezhou. Therefore, it was not until the Wanzhou army approached the city of Hezhou that Hezhou was shocked that the situation was not good. At that time, Pan Rensi was only half a day's journey away from Hezhou. Guo Wei then surrounded Hezhou with foot soldiers, personally led the horse army, rushed to attack Pan Rensi, and fought fiercely with him. In less than half a day, our army was in chaos, Pan Rensi was not angry with Guo Wei's bravery, stepped forward to counterattack, and was hit hard, and now, unconscious, his life is worried. ”

Guo Wei was brave and led his troops to pursue all the way, not hesitating to go deep alone and kill until Chishui. In this battle, I had 5,000 elites, killed and wounded, and less than 1,000 people survived! With the narration of the war, Meng Zhixiang's face gradually lost his gloom, but his emotions stirred, "Subsequently, Guo Wei returned to Hezhou and went down in a battle. ”

Rehearsing the real scene of this battle in his mind, Su Yuan only felt that his armpits were windy, and a chill suddenly appeared, "Then Guo Wei, is he so brave?" Such a use of soldiers makes people speechless! "It's true that there are no words, no words, I can only admire, but if I admire, Su Yuan can't say it.

"It is swift as the wind, and aggression is like fire. Guo Wei's use of soldiers is indeed the essence of this eight characters. Meng Zhixiang did not hesitate to appreciate, there was jealousy in his eyes, there was also appreciation, and there were deeper indescribable things.

"It's come to this, how is the marshal going to deal with it?" This was Su Yuan's greatest concern, he thought, this was probably the reason why Meng Zhixiang called him here, intending to discuss with him.

Su Yuan was wrong, Meng Zhixiang called him here, and he did have this intention, but on the way he came, Meng Zhixiang had already made up his mind in his heart, and said without hurry at this time: "After Guo Wei occupies Hezhou, there are only three options: first, go north to reinforce Suizhou, help Xia Luqi resist the enemy, and join forces with the Wuxin Army - this move is called a frontal advance; Second, to move westward, or to attack the front line of Zizhou, Puzhou, and Jianzhou, so as to directly coerce Zizhou and Chengdu -- this move is called a rapid advance of the division. Or plundered Changzhou, entered the line of Luzhou and Rongzhou, united the defenders here, went up Jiazhou, and oppressed us to make room for Xichuan - this move is to seek the general trend; Third, according to Hezhou, this move is said to be steady and steady, in order to move later. ”

Su Yuan groaned: "Advancing forward is the method of using soldiers in a dignified and upright manner; The rapid advance of the partial division can reap the effect of deterring the two rivers and forcing the two rivers to shrink the battle line, so that I can transfer back the army that attacked Suizhou, but there is also a risk of falling into danger; Seeking the general trend, the situation is the most favorable, but it is a tossing and turning battle, the battle line is too long, and it is too far away from Suizhou and Jianmen, and it is not easy to echo with the main force of the Tang Army; According to Hezhou, it can not only support Suizhou, but also mobilize the two rivers, observe the situation, and seek favorable fighters. ”

After speaking, he asked Meng Zhixiang, "How does the marshal think Guo Wei will march?" ”