Except for the southwest mountainous area occupied by Tuyuhun, the rest of the Hehuang area was closely owned by the Sui Dynasty. These territories included the five states of Shanzhou, Kuozhou, Hezhou, Lanzhou, and Taozhou under the jurisdiction of the General Manager of Liangzhou. Among them, Taozhou's position in the Hehuang area has always been a top priority. Whether it was the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, or the Sui Dynasty, it was one of the important defense lines to prevent Tuyuhun from entering Guanzhong and northern Yizhou.
Since the Sui Dynasty adopted the rogue tactics of an arms race against Tuyuhun, Yang Ji deployed 10,000 troops in the Taoshui River Valley in the West Qingshan Mountains. Later, because the imperial court moved a large number of people from other major states to settle in the Hehuang area, Yang Ji wanted to ensure that the people In order to ensure the safety of life and enhance the people's sense of security, he made some adjustments to the confrontation line of defense and increased the Taozhou garrison to 20,000 people.
After Zhang Jun, the former governor of Taozhou and chief of the march, was found out by Xiao Yu for reselling official and military rations to Tuyuhun, the imperial court conducted a thorough investigation of Taozhou. It was found that all officials in Taozhou were involved; The enemy's move made Yang Jian furious and executed all corrupt officials including Zhang Jun. He also appointed Fang Gongyi, who was famous for his integrity and good governance, as the governor of Taozhou, and appointed Yang Ji's second uncle Dugu Sheng as the commander-in-chief of Taozhou's march.
Dugu Sheng led his army to sit in Taoyuan County, the source of the Tao River. On Yang Ji's orders, he used his free time during confrontation and training to raise horses in the Taoyuan grassland meadow area to strive for self-sufficiency.
In addition, because this area is at the forefront of the confrontation, the Hehuang Valley with fertile land and convenient irrigation has become sparsely populated and uncultivated. Therefore, after Dugu Sheng and Fang Gongyi took office, they began to cultivate the Hehuang Valley, which belongs to the second county of Taozhou. Farming in the valley, today's spring grain harvest has completely reversed Taozhou's dilemma of insufficient military rations and needing supplies from Guanzhong.
The grain fields of Juntun are mainly located in the eastern part of Taoyuan and Taoyang County, while the horse farm is located in the grassland meadow in the western part of Taoyuan. Since ancient times, it has been famous for producing Hequ horses with good endurance and strong physique.
Taoyuan County is located on the northwest bank of Tao River, with a circumference of 20 miles. Although the city covers a large area, due to Tuyuhun harassing the border from time to time and Dangxiang Qiang from time to time rebelling, a large number of people migrated to the east of Taozhou. To this day, the whole country The county population is only more than 50,000. This is still the result of continuous immigration from other places, and the previous population was even smaller.
Dugu Sheng's military office was set up in the county seat. In the afternoon, Dugu Sheng, who had returned from the military camp, was looking at a map of the Hehuang area in the lobby, taking a pen to record something from time to time.
Regarding the appointment as his nephew's direct subordinate, Dugu Sheng not only did not feel uncomfortable, but was full of excitement. After all, his nephew had achieved such great achievements at a young age, and only a few people could compare with him since ancient times. As Yang Ji's uncle, Dugu Sheng not only has face and dignity, but also has the opportunity to make contributions. It's just that Dugu Sheng is a little regretful that he is far away in Taozhou and has a heavy responsibility, so he cannot participate in his nephew's wedding in person.
A sudden rush of footsteps outside interrupted his thoughts. He turned around and saw a vigorous young military general striding over with five dusty soldiers.
This general is named Dugu Wudu. He is the second son of Duguluo and has the title of Duke of Guzang County. Because his father Duguluo was rejected and insulted by the sons of his stepmother Guo, the brothers Duguwudu The relationship between the five people and the Dugu family, headed by Dugu Shun, was very bad. When their father passed away and the position of head of the family was taken away by their uncle Dugu Shun, their brothers were marginalized in the Dugu family. The eldest brother Dugu Zuan responded in anger. Due to the imperial court's family separation policy, he and his four younger brothers moved out of Dugu Mansion to become independent. Their relationship with the direct lineage of the Dugu family is stiff, but they are very close to Dugu Kai and Dugu Sheng, whose original surname is "Li".
Dugu Wudu did not have any actual position assigned by the imperial court. His identity was only the commander of Dugu Sheng's personal soldiers. However, the military family has always led the young with the old. As long as he established his military exploits on the battlefield, Dugu Sheng would sooner or later recommend him to the imperial court.
He led five soldiers into the room, saluted Dugu Sheng from a distance and said: "General, these are the messengers from King Wei. They have urgent military orders."
"Where are the military orders? Show me." Dugu Sheng put down his pen, stood up and asked.
"Please take a look at it, Chief Dugu!" A soldier presented a sealed military order to Dugu Sheng.
When Dugu Sheng saw that the ink pad was complete, he opened the military order and read it. Yang Ji first said that he had led 10,000 elite troops to Taozhou, and said that Mai Tiezhang, the commander-in-chief of the march on Guazhou Road, would make a big move and asked the Taozhou army to attack Tuyuhun. The military camp carried out strategic deterrence, and at the same time, it was required to collect intelligence on Party Xiang Qiang.
After reading the military order, Dugu Sheng was greatly surprised. Yang Ji brought a strong army from Beijing. Could it be that he planned to fight against Tuyuhun?
After thinking for a while, he asked: "Is King Wei still in Daxing City?"
The fire chief quickly answered with his hands raised: "Back to Chief Dugu, when I came from Daxing, King Wei was taking over the army and was planning to march to Taozhou."
Dugu Sheng pondered for a while and then asked again. "Do you know King Wei's march route?"
"Back to Commander Dugu, King Wei's army is marching westward along the Wei River. In addition to the army, there are also fleets loaded with food and ordnance." The messenger, Fire Chief, thought silently for a while, and then said: "According to the preparation process, At normal marching speed, King Wei's army should have passed through the central part of Qizhou and entered the junction of Qizhou and Taizhou. As for other things, please forgive me for my humble position."
Dugu Sheng nodded: "I understand. You go back immediately and report to the King of Guards, saying that I have received the military order and will act in accordance with the military order."
"I humbly obey my orders." The fire chief saluted and led the team to say goodbye.
"Return to the military camp immediately." Dugu Sheng ordered to Dugu Wudu.
"Here."
…
The Sui army's camp was in the valley to the west of the county, only more than thirty miles away from the county. The three "pin"-shaped military forts set up on the watershed of the west Qingshan Mountain were the frontline of the war. Dugu Sheng overstimulated Tuyuhun. He usually only stationed 5,000 troops in the military fort. As for the main force of 15,000, they were concentrated in the camp for rest, training, and farming. As for the defenders on the military fort, he changed their defenses once a month, which not only ensured that the defenders did not slack off, but also allowed the entire army to become familiar with the mountain terrain and adapt to the harsh mountain climate.
When Dugu Sheng returned to the main tent in the military camp, he hurriedly ordered: "beat the drum to gather the generals."
The rumble of the war drums suddenly sounded, and more than thirty generals rushed to the big tent to wait for orders. Dugu Sheng said to everyone: "I just received an urgent military order from the chief general. He asked us to strengthen the deterrent against Tuyuhun. General Sima and the order General Fox, you two will lead your troops to support the military fort and closely monitor every move of the Tuyuhun military camp. General Zhao, you will lead a thousand fine cavalry and be responsible for the communication between the military camp and the military fort, ensuring that there are military exchanges every two hours. "
The three generals who were named bowed together and said: "I will obey the order!"
Dugu Sheng deployed 5,000 soldiers in three military forts. This time he added another 10,000 troops, bringing the total strength to 15,000. On average, each military fort has 5,000 soldiers. Not only did the Sui army occupy the place where they were mobilized, they also had the advantage of attacking the plateau meadow where the Tuyuhun military camp was located. If Tuyuhun wanted to defend against the invasion of the Sui army, it would have to use several times the force of the Sui army to defend it.
When the generals went back to prepare, Dugu Sheng handed Yang Ji's military order to the marching commander Shi Huangfuwan. Huangfu shrank and looked at it again, and couldn't help but ask: "General, is the chief executive going to attack Tuyuhun?"
He smiled bitterly and said: "The chief manager just said that Mai Tiezhang will make a big move, and our role here is probably to help Mai Tiezhang cover up."
Huangfu Wan was also a battlefield veteran with both civil and military skills and rich practical experience. He knew that during the long-term confrontation, both sides had become numb and slack, and this slackness was the key to the Sui army's victory. At this time, the sudden increase of troops in the military fort will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the Tuyuhun garrison, thus eliminating the chance of victory by the unexpected troops. He thought silently for a while, and then said: "It would be fine if it was just to help General Mai provide cover. If the general manager is preparing to launch a full-scale war, then the general's deployment will be a warning."
Dugu Sheng said: "General Huangfu is very worried! But I think the purpose of the general manager is to alert the enemy."
Huangfu Wan asked curiously: "How can you see it?"
Seeing that there was no one in the tent, Dugu Sheng whispered: "Both of us know that General Mai Tiezhang sneaked into Shanshan to fight as a horse thief. Although he has not revealed his true identity so far, he has sacrificed countless troops. The price is high, the equipment is not good, and the Yangguan army cannot be assisted. If he were to defeat Tuyuhun's army in Shanshan, you can imagine how difficult it would be. I think the general manager asked us to act in order to attract the attention of Tuyuhun. , Reduce the pressure on General Mai. If General Mai can open up the situation with his own power, that will be the best. If he cannot open the situation or is defeated, he is also a 'horse thief' who has nothing to do with the Sui Dynasty, and the Great Sui Dynasty has not been completely We broke up with Tuyuhun. This is one. Second, the general manager brought 10,000 elite soldiers here and asked us to inquire about the intelligence of the party members. Didn’t General Huangfu find any problems? "
"General, are you saying that the general manager is ready to deal with Dangxiang Qiang, a state within a state?" Huangfu Wan had just seen the military order, and his vision and thinking were not clear yet, but Dugu Sheng, after thinking all the way, had roughly guessed Yang Ji's intention.
"Not bad!" Dugu Sheng nodded and said: "We suddenly increased the garrison of the military fortress, which made Murong Fuyun think that the Sui Dynasty was about to attack Tuyuhun. When they focus on the border, General Mai will have a chance. If my guess is good, If so, Kuozhou, Shanzhou, Ganzhou, Guazhou, Yizhou and other places also received such military orders. Compared with the other five states, our Taozhou army has an additional mission, which is to mislead Tuobaning Cong made him mistakenly believe that the Sui Dynasty was about to start a war with Tuyuhun. If he really thought this and saw our army dispatching in large numbers, then some shady methods would be used, which also gave us an excuse and opportunity to dispatch troops. "
Huangfu Wan, combined with Tuoba Ningcong's aversion to the "Fourth Class" policy, and Dang Xiang Qiang's recent frequent demonstrations, already recognized Dugu Sheng's inference in his heart, and said: "If this is the case, I would suggest that the general go to the military fort in person , before departure, it is best to make a big splash, the more people know about it, the better, and the humble position is mainly responsible for collecting intelligence about the Party Qiang and evidence of their collusion with Tuyuhun. What does the general think?"
"Just follow General Huangfu's words!" Dugu Sheng was right when he thought about it. If he, a marching general, did not arrive at the front line in person, how could Tuoba Ningcong believe that the war was coming? If they attacked the village after they left, everything would be easy; if Dang Xiangqiang did not attack, then Tuoba Ningcong's behavior due to the "war" would be the most favorable evidence.
Dugu Sheng immediately ordered the state soldiers garrisoned in each county to assemble in Lintao County and Taoyuan County respectively, and asked Huangfu Wan to guard the camp. He also wrote a letter asking the governor Fang Gongyi to cooperate, and he led two thousand soldiers to the military fort. .
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