Chapter 2594: Yang Jian cheers up, Zhang Yi makes Yunnan
After the Qin army increased its troops and marched to Yangping Pass, news soon spread that the Sui State had given in and declined to participate in Liu Yu's enthronement ceremony.
However, not many people criticized the Sui State. After all, in the face of the threat of Qin, even the Wei and Song Dynasties succumbed, not to mention the Sui State, which was at the bottom of the list of powers.
After Chu and Ming learned the news that the Sui State had surrendered, they were naturally worried that they would be the next to be threatened. After all, they were the only forces that clearly accepted the invitation from the Shu State.
King Liu Xiu of Chu and King Zhu Di of Ming both held response meetings overnight, but tacitly made the same decision. Even if they went to war with Da Qin directly, they would definitely accept the threat.
The three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Sui could compromise with Qin, but Chu and Ming could not do the same.
The three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Sui could not withstand the pressure and surrendered to Da Qin. First, the country was weak, and second, they were more or less bound by certain interests to Da Qin.
For them, just because they accepted the invitation from the Shu Kingdom, they had to take the risk of going to war with the Qin Dynasty. The benefits and risks were not proportional at all, but no rational person would do this.
But Chu and Ming were different. They were mortal enemies of Qin, and there was no room for relaxation, and there were no interests tied to them.
If Chu and Ming choose to give in on this issue, they will only expose their own weakness, thereby fueling Da Qin's arrogance and making it even more aggressive.
In addition, compared to the three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Sui, Chu and Ming had stronger national power and were naturally more confident.
The Ming Dynasty has repeatedly challenged the Wei and Song alliances with one against two. It is recognized as the strongest among the three kingdoms of the Central Plains, and with its backing to the Central Plains region, it can be said that a single move can affect the whole body.
As for the Chu State, most of its territory is located in the south of the Yangtze River. It has sufficient strategic depth and has provoked Qin many times, but it still exists today.
Even if they really went to war with Great Qin, Chu and Ming had absolute confidence that they would never be destroyed in the short term, so naturally they would not accept the threat of Great Qin.
In addition, if Liu Yu ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor this time, if there is no ally to support him, it will be a huge blow to the anti-Qin forces in the world.
If everyone has hope in rebelling against Qin, what if they can resist the Qin army and prevent Qin from unifying the world?
Therefore, even if it is to encourage anti-Qin people in the world, Chu and Ming must stand together with Shu.
Although Chu and Ming were not prepared to compromise, they were afraid that this incident would intensify conflicts between the two parties and trigger a war, so they also made preparations for war in advance.
But what Liu Xiu and Zhu Di didn't expect was that they were all ready, but Da Qin didn't react at all, as if they were simply ignoring the two countries.
Regarding this, Liu Xiu and Zhu Di were relieved, but at the same time they felt extremely unhappy. However, it was a good thing that the conflict disappeared.
Afterwards, both Chu and Ming Dynasties accelerated the pace of military expansion, and both sent envoys to Shu to attend Liu Yu's emperor-proclaiming ceremony.
Zhu Di appointed Zhu Yunwen as his envoy, while Liu Xiu appointed Liu Qi as his envoy. Both of them were sufficiently powerful to represent the Chu and Ming Dynasties.
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Yangping Pass.
After Ying Hao's order was issued, Li Jing immediately mobilized his troops and generals and personally led a hundred thousand troops from Guanzhong to march to Yangping Pass.
Yangping Pass is not far from Guanzhong. It was only the second day before the troops were dispatched. Ten thousand cavalry arrived at the pass, and the leader was Yang Jian.
At this time, Yang Jian no longer had the decadence and self-blame he felt when he surrendered. It seemed that he had recovered from the blow of the Yang family's destruction.
The reason why Yang Jian was able to get out of the shadows so quickly was mainly due to Chang'e.
It's not that Yang Jian didn't know that the responsibility for the destruction of the Yang family was not on him. After all, he was not loyal to Li Tang at the beginning. Instead, he decided to be loyal to Li Tang for the sake of the family after being persuaded by Yang Biao and Yang Xiu.
What Yang Jian really hates is that he failed to see through Li Shimin's true face earlier, so that he was still fighting bloody battles for Li Tang on the front line, but his relatives at the rear were massacred instead, which made him a complete joke.
Yang Jian actually understood the truth, but there was a hurdle in his heart that he couldn't overcome.
Therefore, no matter how others persuaded him, even if Ying Hao and Taoist Yuqing intervened, Yang Jian still refused to listen.
Only when he hurts himself and feels pain will he feel better and feel less guilty.
Seeing that Yang Jian, the peerless god of war, was getting thinner and thinner due to guilt and self-blame, the prefect of Wuwei also worked for a month before he could no longer work because of a serious illness. Even famous doctors could not cure him. Now even Ying Hao was completely helpless. Can't stand it anymore.
Sun Lingming's resignation and journey to the west left Da Qin without a top combat power.
Although Yang Jian could take Sun Lingming's place, he blamed himself because the Wei family was exterminated by Li Tang, and he looked half-dead after surrendering.
In order to cheer up Yang Jian, Ying Hao personally came to enlighten him, and even called Taoist Yuqing, but it still had no effect.
Ying Hao didn't want Yang Jian to die on the bed, so he sent Chang'e to take action with the idea of giving it a try. After all, Chang'e was the only person Yang Jian had ever loved, so Yang Jian should be willing to listen to her words.
Under Chang'e's patient guidance, Yang Jian actually came out, and his body recovered quickly, which is simply a medical miracle.
Seeing that Yang Jian regained his composure, Ying Hao was relieved.
In the past, Sun Lingming traveled thousands of miles westward to save Zixia, and in the latter, Yang Jian immediately became energetic after seeing Chang'e.
In this regard, Ying Hao can only say that the power of love is so great.
Yang Jian had already cheered up, and the Qin Dynasty was expanding its army, causing some generals to face promotions. The three cavalry battalions in Yongzhou were short of one general, so Ying Hao asked Yang Jian to command the three cavalry battalions.
After the order to send troops to Yangping Pass was issued, Li Jing thought that if he reacted quickly enough, he might be able to catch the defenders of Yangping Pass by surprise. Even if they could not capture Yangping Pass, they could at least clear out the Wu Fort built by the Shu army outside the pass.
Since the Qin army retreated last time, in order to strengthen the defense of Yangping Pass, the Shu Kingdom built three camps and more than 20 forts on various important roads and dangerous places outside the pass.
There are at least a thousand defenders in these camps, but no more than 3,000 at most.
As for Wu Fort, there are at least a hundred defenders, and no more than 300 at most.
These camps and forts alone naturally do not pose much of a threat to the Qin army, but if there are more of them, they can also play a role in delaying and warning, buying time for the defenders of Yangping Pass.
Li Jing ordered Yang Jian and Long Qie to each command 10,000 cavalry.
The dragon walked to Longxi and came out of Longshan;
Yang Jian then walked through the pass and left the pass. He marched in one day and conquered the city in one day. The Shu army had no time to prepare.
With Yang Jian's personal participation in the battle, the camps and Wubao of the Shu army were naturally not much different from those in Zhihu.
It only took the Qin army one day to defeat one camp and seven forts of the Shu army, killing more than a thousand Shu troops, taking two thousand prisoners, and inflicting less than two hundred losses on themselves;
Zhang Ren, the guard general of Yangping Pass, never expected that the Qin army would have arrived at Yangping Pass within one day of issuing a warning from the front line. This speed was a bit too fast.
Zhang Ren was observing the Qin army, and Yang Jian was naturally observing the Shu army.
Yang Jian originally thought that since he came so fast, Yangping Pass would not be able to react in time.
But when they arrived, they didn't find that the Shu army was not panicked at all. All defenses had been arranged at Yangping Pass, as if they had been prepared for a long time.
"Perhaps the Shu army has never relaxed." Yang Jian sighed.
Looking at the solid Yangpingguan city wall and the towers covered with crossbows and catapults, even Yang Jian couldn't help but feel like he had no idea where to start. After thinking for a long time, he said:
"Junior Brother Wuji, go call the formation and see if you can lure the Shu army into battle."
"Yes, senior brother."
Wu Ji's rank in the Tang army was not very high, and he fought until the last moment before surrendering with Li Mu and others. Therefore, after the war, he was demoted to captain, and was later transferred to a new military camp in Yongzhou as deputy general.
However, after Yang Jian took over the command of the cavalry, he saw that among the Yuqing disciples, Wu Ji was the worst, so he wanted to help him, so he asked Li Jing to transfer Wu Ji to his command, and served as the captain of the first battalion cavalry. .
After being transferred to Yang Jian's command, Wu Ji was still a captain, but he was transferred from the new recruits to serve in the established cavalry battalion. Not only did the army have stronger combat power, but the cavalry had more opportunities to perform meritorious service, so he was naturally promoted.
In addition to Wuji, Yang Jian also has two powerful generals, Kang Anyu and Kang Junli.
The boss of Meishan, Kang Anyu, and Yang Jian were sworn brothers. As a peak general, he was naturally reused after he surrendered to the Qin Dynasty. He was appointed as General Bi by Ying Hao and was in charge of a reserve recruit camp, while he was implanted as his younger brother Kang Junlize. It's his lieutenant.
Kang Anyu originally commanded an army of 10,000, but after learning that Yang Jian had cheered up, he took the initiative to submit his resignation to Li Jing, preferring to be demoted to serve under Yang Jian.
Kang Anyu's move seemed loyal, but it was actually a smart move.
It was only after he took charge of the 10,000-strong army that he realized how troublesome it was to manage the 10,000-strong Qin army.
The rules of the Qin army are completely different from those of the Tang army. In addition, Kang Anyu only manages new soldiers, and he is not good at training soldiers.
When a person's position is beyond his ability, this is not a good thing.
Kang Anyu naturally understood this, so he decided to resign and become a captain under Yang Jian, so that he could grow better.
Now that Kang Anyu is here, Kang Junli, who was implanted as his younger brother, naturally had to go, so he and Kang Anyu defected to Yang Jian.
Naturally, Yang Jian would not treat Kang Anyu and Kang Junli badly, so he appointed Kang Anyu as his deputy general and commanded a special-level cavalry battalion, while Kang Junli, like Wu Ji, commanded a first-level cavalry battalion.
Although Yang Jian only has 10,000 cavalry under his command, he not only has Yang Jian, a super god general, but also has Kang Anyu, a peak god general, and two superb generals, Wu Ji and Kang Junli. Their combat effectiveness is naturally far superior to that of ordinary armies.
It is precisely because of this that it was possible to defeat one camp and seven forts of the Shu army in one day.
"Listen to the Shu thieves on the tower, I am Wuji, the general under the command of Yang Jian, the prefect of Wuwei. Who dares to fight me to the death..."
Before Wu Ji could finish his words, Zhang Ren on the tower had already ordered the arrows to be fired.
Suddenly, arrows rained down in front of Yangping Pass.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Wu Ji quickly raised his shields to help each other's vital points, and at the same time galloped wildly on his horse, so that he was not hit by the arrow.
Yang Jian saw that Zhang Ren was so cautious and knew that it would be difficult to motivate him to fight, so he simply chose to withdraw his troops.
Yang Jian ordered Wu Ji to re-establish a 100,000-strong camp at the location of the originally destroyed Qin stronghold, and he himself led 3,000 iron weapons to capture the unbroken camp and Wu Fort.
Two days later, Long Qie, who set out from Longxi, arrived at Yangping Pass after defeating the Shu army's first stronghold, Liuwu Fort, and completed the rendezvous with Yang Jian, who returned victoriously.
As for Li Jing's main army, with Yang Jian and Long Qie leading the way, they are naturally not far from Yangping Pass.
Five days later, Li Jing's main force arrived at Yangping Pass, but they did not immediately launch an attack on the city. Even if his generals asked for battle, they were still rejected one by one.
None of the generals quite understood Li Jing's intentions, but based on their trust in Li Jing, they all chose to obey his orders.
Li Jing didn't mean to explain at all. After all, how to explain this? Could it be that this battle was just a show, for the world to see?
How could such words be said openly?
Li Jing actually hoped to start a war this time. He felt that this was a good opportunity to capture Hanzhong.
In addition, Li Jing also received some rumors that the court will make big moves next and will carry out reforms in the military system.
The general level will be further divided into five levels: brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general, admiral, and grand prize.
There is probably only one general at the general level, Bai Qi.
The governors of various states, such as Li Jing and Yue Fei, as well as Li Cunxiao, the most powerful general in the world, should all be at the rank of general;
Among the many great governors in the Qin Dynasty, Li Jing's achievements are considered to be among the best, and his status is second only to Bai Qi, so naturally he wants to take a step closer, challenge Bai Qi's status, and compete for the second general of the Qin Dynasty. position.
There is a great opportunity right now in front of Li Jing.
This time Liu Yu proclaimed himself emperor. Once Qin and Shu really started a war, if Li Jing could capture Hanzhong, the Qin Dynasty would be able to advance, attack, retreat or defend, and would no longer be afraid of the threat of Shu.
After the expansion of the army is completed, if Li Jing leads the Yongliang army to destroy the Sui Kingdom in one fell swoop, then the second general after Bai Qi will definitely be his Li Jing.
Of course, the imagination is rich, but the reality is very skinny.
Whether Qin and Shu can fight this time, the choice does not lie with Li Jing at all, but with the Southern Barbarian King Chi You. Only if he agrees to join forces with Da Qin to attack Shu from the north to the south can Li Jing send troops to attack Hanzhong.
Li Jing looked far away in the direction of Shuzhong and thought to himself: "Master Zhang Yi, you must convince this Southern Barbarian King this time. Whether I, Li Jing, can catch up with Bai Qi depends on you."
As for Zhang Yi, who was longed for by Li Jing, he had successfully entered the southwest Dian land, which was the territory of the Nanman Kingdom, under the protection of the New Seven Swords.
