On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 612 Shrinking the Force
Badong County was formerly Xinzhou, and administered [-] counties including Minfu, Yun'an, Wushan, Dachang, Zigui, Badong, Nanpu, Liangshan, Wuning, Xinpu, Shengshan, Linjiang, Wuchuan, and Fuyang.

It is well-deserved to be the largest county in Shu, and it is also the eastern gateway to Shu.

The seat of Badong County is located in Baidi City (today's Fengjie, Chongqing) in Minfu County. In the history books written in the Tang Dynasty, in order to avoid Li Shimin's name, Minfu County was also called Renfu County.

Now Cui Che led the Yan army to come in force, and Badong County was the first to bear the brunt. This made Zang Sheng, the governor of Badong, horrified.

Fortunately, at this moment, there was Yu Wenshiji, who was leading the Xiangyang navy to rest and recuperate here, and he was making decisions with him.

Yu Wenshiji not only had [-] Xiangyang naval troops under his command, but he was also a confidant of King Yang Xian of Qi.

Badong County, like other counties in central Sichuan, is under the jurisdiction of Yang Jin.

However, when Zang Shen, the governor of Badong, rushed to the camp of the Xiangyang navy, he found that Yu Wenshiji had already ordered his soldiers to pack their bags.

He dared to grab Yuwen Shiji and asked:
"Where is Yuwen going when he joins the army?"

Yuwen Shiji said without hesitation:
"I will return to Chengdu and wait for the King of Qi's orders."

Obviously, Yu Wenshiji saw the Yan army coming fiercely and wanted to leave.

Zang Sheng originally thought he had some help, but he was already preparing to leave in advance.

He Yuwenshiji could just leave, but as a prefect, Zang Shen had the responsibility to protect the land, so how could he follow suit.

Zang Sheng tried his best to persuade:
"The Yan army is like a broken bamboo and is heading towards Badong. If Badong is captured by the Yan thieves, the gates of Shu will be wide open, and Cui Che can march straight in.

"When the army comes to Chengdu, where can Yuwen retreat to if he joins the army? It is better to stay here and guard Baidi City with me."

Yuwen Shiji did not agree immediately, but pondered:
"Please allow me to think twice about whether to go or stay. I will give you a reply tomorrow."

Zang Sheng did not dare to force Yuwen Shiji, not to mention that he was not his subordinate, and the identity of the other party was not something Zang Sheng could offend.

While Zang Sheng was tossing and turning, a new sunrise ushered in. After washing, he had no time to eat, so Zang Shen hurriedly came to visit Yuwen Shiji.

Yu Wenshiji was moved by his sincerity and finally agreed to Zang Sheng's request to stay in Badong and help him defend the city.

Zang Sheng was very excited. With the [-] Xiangyang navy under Yu Wenshi's command, he was a little more confident about defending the city.

However, Yuwen Shiji reminded:
"Badong has fourteen counties under its jurisdiction, and its troops are scattered. It is inevitable that the Yan thieves will defeat them one by one.

"Now that the Yan thieves are marching westward, recruiting surrenders and rebels along the way, how can the eunuch know that the county magistrates from various places will not be afraid and offer their cities to the Yan thieves to surrender?"

Zang Sheng thought about it in his mind and felt that what Yu Wenshiji said was reasonable. Since the fall of Jiangling, people everywhere were panicked, and there was a lot of rumors and rumors to the west of Jiangling.

As the largest county in Shu, Badong County has many soldiers and generals, but if it really wants to defend [-] counties, it will still be stretched thin in terms of military strength.

"Yuwen joined the army because he wanted me to shrink my troops and defend Baidi City?"

Yu Wenshiji nodded and said:
"Baidi City is surrounded by mountains and rivers. With its high altitude and deep control, it occupies the dangers of mountains and rivers. If we can concentrate our troops, Cui Che can only look at the city and sigh."

Zang Sheng was silent, because doing so meant giving up the counties east of Baidi City and allowing Cui Che to attack the city.

But he had to admit that with the steepness of Baidi City, Cui Che really couldn't think of any other way as long as he could cut off his warriors' wrists and shrink his troops.

In the previous attack on Jiangling, the threat of water attack was because Jiangling was located in the Jianghan Plain.Baidi City is built on a mountain. If the Yan army dared to break the embankment and release water, they would probably submerge themselves, but Baidi City would be safe and sound.

Seeing Zang Sheng's hesitation, Yu Wenshiji said:
"Fu Jun and I will defend the city together. If Fu Jun can use it, he will stay. If he can't use it, he will leave."

Zang Sheng thought about it, if Yuwen Shiji really left, without his Xiangyang navy to help defend the city, he would still have to shrink his troops, so he had to agree.

Seeing this, Yu Wenshiji was relieved and said:
"It's just a few small county towns that have been lost. The imperial court will definitely not blame them. As long as the emperor can defend Baidi City and the Yan army retreats in the future, we will still be able to recover the lost territory."

Zang Sheng cheered up again with Yuwen Shiji's comfort.

Zhang Heng and Murong Sanzang have strong troops, but they can't even defend Jiangling, so they have reasons to shrink their troops.

Immediately, while preparing for war, Zang Cheng immediately organized the people to move westward, asking them to move from the east of Baidi City to the counties on the west.

But to Zang Sheng's expectation, the Yan army was able to restrain military discipline along the way, so many people were unwilling to leave home.

The people who were unable to leave their homeland even hid in the mountains and forests to resist the government's forced eviction.

Seeing that the Yan army was getting closer and closer to Baidi City, Zang Sheng could only let the people go and stay.

Let’s talk about Cui Che, he is very proud now.

After the capture of Jiangling, not only did the Western Expedition progress smoothly, but Yu Wenshiji also successfully persuaded Zang Sheng to concentrate his forces in Baidi City so that he could march straight in.

Xu Shiji, who crossed the Yangtze River to conquer the south, received frequent successes. First, with the help of the soldiers from Baling County, he captured Baling without any effort.

Xu Shiji then led his troops to attack Changsha County, and only sent the head of Murong Sanzang, the governor of Changsha County, into the city. That night, civil strife broke out in Changsha.

The county magistrate who stayed in Changsha instead of Murong Sanzang insisted on defending the city, but was killed by everyone. As expected, Xu Shiji occupied Changsha City and the surrounding counties.

After occupying Baling and Changsha, Xu Shiji sent envoys to ask if he wanted to continue the attack on Jingnan.

This request was rejected by Cui Che. Murong Sanzang led the Jingnan coalition forces heading north, mainly soldiers from Changsha and Balingfu.

Although the other counties in Jingnan also sent some soldiers, there were no major losses on the whole.

Xu Shiji leads his troops southward, and may not be able to capture them quickly. Once Zhang Xutuo, who is eyeing Jiujiang, leads his troops to attack Changsha and Baling counties, the return route of the soldiers on the southern expedition will inevitably be cut off.

Cui Che is already satisfied with taking Baling and Changsha and establishing a foothold in northern Jingnan.

He ordered Xu Shiji to station the main force in Changsha, while Dong Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng and others led the troops to guard Baling.

Dong Jingzhen has been awarded Pingzhou Governor and will go to Hebei to serve after the war. Lei Shimeng and others also have their own awards. They can still be trusted today.

After all, the fall of Jiangling was closely related to these people. If Yang Guang knew the news, he would definitely hate these people. They could only follow Cui Che's path wholeheartedly.

Liu Heitai, who stayed behind in Jiangling, and Dou Jiande, who stayed in Ziling, arranged beacon towers along the Han River. Once enemy troops crossed the river, they would use beacons to report the news and did not dare to relax in the slightest.

After Zang Sheng followed Yu Wenshiji's advice and reduced his troops, Cui Che easily conquered all the cities in the eastern part of Badong County and reached Baidi City without any hindrance.

　Please take another day off, sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)