On the other hand, in Manghuang County, there are three Neiying County magistrates to provide support. The 60,000 Jiaozhou army is basically overwhelming. The so-called resistance is vulnerable to absolute power.
In less than two quarters of an hour, five of the seven counties in Manghuang County were occupied by the army.
The 60,000-strong army dispatched rarely encountered resistance along the way. Most of them took the initiative to open the door and surrender.
In the face of absolute military strength, the stubborn resistance of thousands of troops will only speed up the destruction.
It can be said that after entering Manghuang County, the army had an easy journey. However, after occupying five counties, the vanguard discovered something was wrong.
Among the five occupied garrison, except for a small number of the old, weak, sick and disabled, the rest of the combat-effective soldiers disappeared.
After understanding, the capable soldiers from the five counties had long been ordered by the governor of Manghuang County and had withdrawn to Manghuang County. It seemed that they were going to confront Su Qian's army head-on.
Su Qi'an would not be used to such stubborn and stubborn people, so he served as the vanguard of the first division and attacked the deserted county.
A Manghuang County with only 5,000 defenders could not afford a 60,000-strong army to attack collectively, just for Su Yong's first division to test the waters.
As for the remaining 50,000 troops, they did not continue to advance, but waited silently in the rear.
It's not that Su Qian didn't want to capture Xizhou as quickly as possible. He knew that Xizhou under Tang Feng's rule was no better than Jiaozhou under Li Kang's rule.
The territory that Li Kang could control in Jiaozhou was only six counties, while the other vast areas in Jiaozhou were controlled by the priest alliance.
Therefore, it seems to be a complete Jiaozhou, but in fact, the territory controlled by Li Kang is not large.
Therefore, it is not difficult to win Jiaozhou as long as we persuade the priest alliance and the six county governors to cooperate internally and externally.
But Xizhou, although there are only six counties, the territory of each county is at least two or three times larger than that of Jiaozhou.
The control of Xizhou is complete in Tang Feng's hands, and it is not controlled by others.
Especially three years ago, the trading firm founded by Su Qi'an was destroyed by Tang Feng, and he himself was driven out of Xizhou.
It is no exaggeration to say that the current Xizhou is all under Tang Feng's control.
Otherwise, if Su Qi'an's army counterattacks Xizhou, the subordinate counties should choose to surrender instead of stubbornly resisting.
The governor of Manghuang County is a good example. Therefore, if you want to divide your troops into multiple routes, bypass Manghuang County, and attack Guangyang and Yong'an counties on both sides of the rear, you will probably encounter more stubborn resistance.
When Su Yong led the first division to storm Manghuang County, Su Qi'an, who was in charge of the central army, received the latest military report from Xizhou.
In Xizhou now, with the invasion of Su Qi'an, the remaining five counties have received the news. According to Tang Feng's order, each county closed the city gates and prepared for battle.
The entire Xizhou army began to mobilize and headed towards the front lines of Guangyang, Yong'an and Sichuan.
This time Xizhou dispatched a total of 60,000 troops, which was equal to Su Qi'an in terms of military strength.
Among these 60,000 people, except for half of them were regular Xizhou soldiers, the rest were private soldiers that Tang Feng had secretly recruited over the past three years.
This is Tang Feng's true strength. After driving Su Qi'an away, under his high-pressure rule, he became the supreme overlord of Xizhou.
The local established families and dignitaries all relied on Tang Feng. As for some dissenters, they even wanted to take the opportunity to report Tang Feng and recruit private soldiers.
There were no accidents. In the past three years, they either disappeared inexplicably or disappeared quietly. In short, all those who opposed Tang Feng's arbitrary power were able to leave Xizhou alive.
This is Tang Feng's influence on Xizhou. Therefore, it is basically unrealistic to replicate Jiaozhou's internal cooperation and external rebellion here in Xizhou.
From the degree of resistance of the Manghuang County Governor, we can know how much influence Tang Feng had on the six county governors.
Moreover, these 60,000 people are not all of Tang Feng's troops, according to the latest news sent back.
Tang Feng, who was supervising the battle in the clan area, did not withdraw all the troops in the clan area. Instead, he left 20,000 troops to continue fighting with the barbarians in the clan area.
This plus
Up to now, Xizhou's total military strength has reached at least 80,000, if you include the private soldiers in the hands of major aristocratic families, the powerful, and the slaves who are capable of fighting in captivity.
It is easy to exceed one hundred thousand.
A state with 100,000 troops is already a terrible thing. Generally speaking, the imperial court allowed a state to have only 50,000 troops.
If you go up, you will be under the surveillance of the imperial court. During the last battle to defend Kyoto, Xizhou sent out 30,000 to 40,000 people. Through defense changes and deployments, when you return to Xizhou, the full number of soldiers can only be counted as 20,000 to 30,000.
In just three years, under Tang Feng's high-pressure rule, the military strength increased by about three times.
This has basically squeezed the military potential of a state to the extreme. If it continues to expand, Xizhou will collapse sooner or later.
After all, to support an army of 100,000, there must be at least 300,000 civilian support workers behind it, a total of 400,000 people, all of whom need to eat.
The grain output of Xizhou is not high among the twelve Great Liang states. It can only be said to be average.
To support such a large group of people, Xizhou's production would reach its limit in half a year at most during wartime.
Needless to say, under Tang Feng's high-pressure rule, only the people at the bottom were suffering and being squeezed.
This is why the imperial court established a rule that a state could only have 50,000 troops.
If there are more, the number of troops can indeed be doubled again to 14.5 million, but if this is the case, the people of the twelve states are afraid of being massacred.
Therefore, Tang Feng, who had an army of 100,000, looked really prosperous on the surface, but Su Qi'an could estimate how far Xizhou was being squeezed based on the strength of his troops.
And this can be the breakthrough for Su Qi'an to win Xizhou.
It's just that this matter needs long-term planning and cannot be rushed. Therefore, this is the reason why Su Qi'an led the army and has not taken action.
Judging from Tang Feng's arrangements, we can know that Tang Feng has not given up on the barbarian tribes.
As for Manhuang County, I'm afraid it was probably his pawn to buy time. In this case, Manhuang County Su Qi'an accepted it without ceremony.
Although his strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao did not seem to be completely effective.
Su Qi'an did underestimate Tang Feng's desire for barbarian land, but this does not mean that this was a failed operation.
At least Manghuang County would be captured by Su Qi'an, which would have to cause Tang Feng to change his strategy and send the entire Xizhou army back to the defense, focusing on the three frontline counties to defend against Su Qi'an's attack.
In this way, the barbarians are given some breathing space. As long as there is no winner in the Xizhou war, the barbarians will have a chance to survive.
In general, this counterattack basically achieved the effect Su Qi'an wanted.
Next, after taking over Manghuang County, we can have a good chat with the Xizhou Shepherd about his most beloved son.
Just when Su Qian's eyes flashed, he went through the current war in his mind.
News came from the front line that under Su Yong's fierce attack, Manghuang County was captured.
The five thousand defenders were almost completely wiped out, with only a few hundred wounded soldiers captured.
The Manghuang County Sheriff who resisted desperately tried to disguise himself as civilians and escape before the city was breached, but was directly captured by Su Yong's guards.
This news surprised Su Qi'an.
He originally thought that this seemingly arrogant Manghuang County Sheriff would kill himself to be a benevolent person, but now it seems that he is no different from ordinary people, and he is also afraid of death. This is human nature.
"Sir, there is one more thing. The Manghuang County Sheriff is clamoring to see you."
Hearing this, Su Qian was a little surprised, then nodded and motioned to take him to have a look.
Su Qi'an still has an impression of Manghuang County Sheriff. He escaped from Manghuang County three years ago. Although he has not met Manghuang County Sheriff, he seems to be a die-hard fan of Tang Feng. The manhunt for Su Qi'an that year was Call one to leave no stone unturned.
Now, meet this loyal governor of Tang Feng and let Su Qi'an see what kind of person this wild governor is.
Under the leadership of everyone, Su Qi'an soon saw the gray-headed man at the foot of the conquered Manghuang County.
Face, the captured Manghuang County Sheriff.
This man was about forty years old, fat, with a sinister face. Even if he was captured, he looked dissatisfied.
When he saw Su Qi'an approaching, Sheriff Manghuang struggled and started to curse.
"Su Qi'an, you, a rebellious official, dare to invade Xizhou. What is the difference between your rebellion and rebellion? When Master Tang arrives, he will definitely capture you and seek justice for the suffering people of Manghuang County!"
Sheriff Manghuang cursed loudly, causing the soldiers controlling him to go up and stop him.
But he was stopped by Su Qi'an. Su Qi'an was not angry at the scolding just now. Instead, he had a strange look on his face and said with a smile.
"Haha, it's not up to people like you to judge whether I am a treacherous traitor or not. On the contrary, it is you who are worthy of being a good dog by Tang Feng's side."
"Since that loyal master speaks for you, don't worry, I will let you see with your own eyes what his fate will be."
"As for you, I see that you are so loyal and speak for the people of Manghuang County, so let the local people benefit from it. How will such an official who is dedicated to the people be loved by the local people?"
After saying this, Su Qian turned around and entered the city without even looking at the Manghuang County Sheriff.
The Manghuang County Sheriff was dragged down, and the direction he looked towards was not the county prison, but the center of the county city.
At this moment, the expression on the face of the Manghuang County Sheriff who had been so aggressive and righteous just now changed immediately.
He kept struggling and cursed Su Qian in his mouth, but the curse did not last long. As he walked away, gradually, more noisy curses appeared in the city...
The people around him looked at this scene and sneered. They could have gone to jail in peace and quiet, but they wanted to die and be in the limelight.
If you want to be in the limelight, then do it enough.
Su Qi'an doesn't care much about this kind of clown. Since he is so loyal to Tang Feng, let him be loyal enough, and let these officials who are used to lording it over the people of Xizhou take a good look at this. Who has the final say in Xizhou?
