The Seven Star Sect really lost miserably this time.
When Lu Yuan led the main army to Luyang Mansion, he received two more pieces of good news.
One was Qiao Xiuyuan, the bandit leader of the Seven Star Clan. After escaping back to Luyang Fucheng, he immediately began to gather troops from various places, preparing to gather troops to defend the Fucheng.
Therefore, except for Fucheng, the defenses of other counties in Luyang Prefecture have become very empty and can be easily collected.
The other group of people in Luyang Prefecture were loyal to the imperial court. After seeing the imperial army coming back, they all raised troops to respond. Now many of them brought rebels to join them.
Even some of the thieves and generals assigned by the Seven Star Sect to guard various counties began to take the initiative to defect to the imperial court after seeing that the Seven Star Sect was about to be destroyed.
So three days later, Lu Yuan led his army to Pingyang County and gathered with his disciple Zhou Qing. This disciple already has two thousand more rebels under his command.
In addition, there are five counties where there are powerful uprisings or rebel armies anyway.
Counting the three previously recaptured counties, eight of the ten counties in Luyang Prefecture have re-hanged the imperial flag.
However, except for the first three counties, which were directly controlled by Lu Yuan, the remaining five counties were all controlled by local snakes.
Now that the imperial court is in full swing, those local snakes have chosen to surrender.
But if his side doesn't play well and the wind direction is wrong, the rebel flag may be hoisted on the opposite side.
Therefore, after understanding the situation, Lu Yuan immediately began to divide his troops and arranged for his registered disciples to lead the army and go to various counties to take over the city defense.
As for the surrendered soldiers and local snakes, they were all required to gather here in Pingyang County and accept the direct jurisdiction of General Fenwu.
We are about to attend the Tianluo event.
Lu Yuan had to attack the Seven Star Sect within the remaining six months, and at the same time develop the divine blood elixir, so as to break through to the top of the first class. Time was running out.
Therefore, within this limited period of time, he did not allow any changes in the situation in Luyang Mansion to affect his participation in the grand meeting.
Those surrendered soldiers and local snakes are all unstable factors. Lu Yuan will naturally not tolerate them staying in the local area and causing trouble for himself.
Zhou Qing has been in charge of Pingyang County for a few days, and he still nominally takes over the counties that have rebelled.
So he couldn't be more clear about the situation in Luyang Mansion.
At this time, after listening to his master's arrangements, he couldn't help but worry: "Master, those local powerful people and surrendered soldiers and generals all regard the county they occupy as their own territory. I'm afraid they won't give in so easily."
In troubled times, for those military leaders, the army and territory are undoubtedly the most important things.
At this time, Lu Yuan not only wanted to take over the other party's territory, but also wanted to take over other people's armies. Any military leader with a bit of blood would probably not be able to accept it.
I'm afraid the process won't go smoothly this time.
"The counties and cities in various places are all the territory of the imperial court. When did they become theirs? As General Fenwu, I have the responsibility to command the local troops and horses in the county.
Now that the rebels are being crusaded, it is reasonable and reasonable for them to come and obey orders.
If you don't accept this order, you must be a rebellious person with different ambitions. If you can discover it in advance, you can eliminate it.
This will save me from stumbling in the rear when the army and the Seven Stars rebels are fighting fiercely in the future. "Lu Yuan's tone was cold.
He has given orders to his disciples. If those local snakes and soldiers do not obey the orders, he will directly lead his troops to destroy them.
All he needs is complete obedience and nominal submission. To him, that is tantamount to fighting against rebellion.
Those who cannot be used by me have no value at all.
Now Lu Yuan's momentum is at its peak and his troops are sharp. This is when he is at his strongest.
He defeated all the more than 20,000 Seven-Star Rebels in one battle. The other five counties combined have a mob of several thousand people, so what's the point?
These guys, with their little strength, still want to bargain with Lu Yuan, they are really thinking too much.
"If this is really going to happen, I'm afraid we won't be able to attack Luyang City immediately."
Zhou Qing sighed and said helplessly: "I'm afraid that if we delay for too long, those Seven Star Sect traitors will be able to relax. Then it will be even more difficult to eradicate them.
And now that the Seven Star Sect is desperate, they might jump over the wall to unite with the Miao rebels.
If the Miao people are lured over, the battle will become more variable. "
Lu Yuan's tone was still cold: "That's why we need to clean up those unstable local snakes. If the Miao people really attack, they see that the wind is in the wrong direction and turn to the Miao people. Once we lose the peripheral shielding, we will be even more worried." We were attacked from both sides and were at a loss to deal with it."
Of course he knew what his disciple was worried about.
To the south of Luyang Prefecture is Yangshan Prefecture. To the west are Jiuyi Mansion and Lingling Mansion. These three mansions are basically mountainous areas and have always been where the Miao people have the strongest influence.
Now it has been captured by the rebel Miao people, and the land of the Three Prefectures is no longer owned by the imperial court.
The Miao people from the three prefectures joined together and claimed to have 100,000 troops and a huge momentum. They were the largest Miao rebel army in Dongting County.
In addition to the Miao people in these three prefectures, Wuling Prefecture in the north, where the main altar of the Five Poison Sect is located, has also been captured by the Miao people, and the whole house has been captured by thieves.
Next to Wuling Mansion is Changsha Mansion, and now there are tens of thousands of Miao people in rebellion. However, they did not capture Fucheng. They only occupied four counties in the west of Changsha and have joined forces with the Miao rebels in Wuling Prefecture.
This Miao rebel army in the north is also known as one hundred thousand, but this should be an imaginary number. According to Lu Yuan's inquiries over the years, the opponent should only have sixty or seventy thousand people.
But even so, this is an extremely powerful force.
Then the problem comes.
Between Wuling Mansion and Lingling Mansion, there is Shaoyang Mansion. There is only Hengyang Prefecture between Changsha Prefecture and Luyang Prefecture.
This means that Shaoyang and Hengyang have become the biggest obstacles to the merger of the northern and southern Miao rebels.
In fact, the Five Poison Sect originally planned to capture Shaoyang Mansion and connect their territories together.
But who would have thought that he would meet Lu Yuan.
The 30,000 Miao people who rebelled in Shaoyang Mansion were put down by Lu Yuan with his troops before they could cause any trouble.
Not only did he put down the Miao rebels, he also massacred the Miao villages in Shaoyang Prefecture, killing a large number of young and strong Miao men, completely eliminating the possibility of the local Miao rebels.
As a result, the original plan of the Five Poison Sect to merge their territories into one was completely in vain.
In addition, Lu Yuan has killed so many Miao people, it can be said that he has already become a thorn in the side of the Five Poison Sect, and he wants to kill them quickly.
But it turns out that Lu Yuan was in charge of Shaoyang Mansion and had fifteen thousand elite soldiers.
If we include the re-established local soldiers of prefectures, counties and local braves, then the number of men and horses he can use will be close to 30,000.
As long as such a large army concentrates on defense, even if hundreds of thousands of Miao people come to attack, they will not be able to capture Shaoyang Mansion.
So after trying several attacks and finding that there was nothing they could do against Shaoyang Mansion, the Five Poison Sect had no choice but to retreat and watched helplessly as Shaoyang Mansion divided its territory into two pieces.
But even if they withdraw their troops, it is completely impossible to say that the Five Poison Sect has accepted the reality and no longer plots against Shaoyang Mansion.
Lu Yuan believed that as long as the other party had the opportunity to open up the north-south passage and merge the two sides, they would never let it go.
And this time the rebellion of the Seven Star Gate in Luyang Mansion is the Five Poison Sect's best opportunity.
Shaoyang Mansion's most elite 15,000 soldiers have been taken away by Lu Yuan to quell the chaos. At this time, there were only 2,000 county soldiers and more than 10,000 village warriors left in the mansion. It could be said that the strength was at its weakest.
The Luyang Mansion, which originally blocked the Miao people from the south from going north, was also opened wide due to the rebellion of the Seven Star Gate.
The Miao people in the three prefectures in the south can follow Luyang Prefecture and drive directly to Hengyang Prefecture to join the Miao rebels in Changsha Prefecture.
Therefore, for the Five Poison Sect, whether it is a joint attack on Shaoyang Mansion, they must open up this shortest but most tightly guarded passage.
It would be a good choice to respond to the Seven Star Sect and start with Luyang Mansion and Hengyang Mansion, which are far away but have the weakest defenses.
Lu Yuan understood this clearly, so he made such a firm request to take over the city defenses in various parts of Luyang Prefecture, and at the same time seize local soldiers and horses.
In addition to his desire to centralize power, the more important thing is to eliminate hidden dangers in advance and establish a solid line of defense to prevent local snakes and Miao people from colluding internally and externally and causing flaws in his north-south isolation zone.
Isolating the two rebel forces of the Five Poison Sect and blocking them on the north and south sides was the counter-insurgency strategy decided by Lu Yuan after communicating with the county government.
Otherwise, if we just sit back and watch the Miao rebels merge from north to south, the other side will be able to gather an army of 200,000 in an instant. Even if these troops are just a mob, their numbers alone are enough to crush most of the government forces in the county.
Anyway, Lu Yuan knew very well that if the Five Poison Sect really gathered an army of 200,000, then with the hatred between the other party and himself, the first one would not let him go.
And when an army of 200,000 people came to attack, no matter how hard the 5,000 soldiers in his hand could fight, they were no match for more than ten times the enemy.
Therefore, blocking the Miao people and separating them was not only for the imperial strategy, but also for his own interests and safety.
"I'm not too worried about Shaoyang Mansion. Magistrate Cui and Brother Sun are watching over there. There are 2,000 prefecture and county soldiers in the manor, as well as the perfect militia mechanism I established.
When the Miao people come to kill them, they can immediately gather 20,000 soldiers and horses.
Although these people can't fight in the field, they can still defend the city with no problem.
With 20,000 people here, even if the Miao people attack with a hundred thousand troops, it will be no problem to hold out for several months until I can lead my army back to support. "
Lu Yuan explained his strategy and ideas to his disciples, and then said: "On the contrary, I am most worried about the Luyang and Hengyang Prefectures.
Hengyang Prefecture went through the previous battle of Changning County, and more than 10,000 township brave militia and prefectural soldiers in the prefecture died in that battle.
With the loss of these men and horses, the entire Hengyang Mansion, including the township brave militia, could not muster 5,000 soldiers at this time, and the defense could be said to be extremely empty.
Not to mention Luyang Mansion.
From top to bottom in the whole government, after this war, only two thousand righteous men came to surrender. Counting the surrendered militia groups I am preparing to take over, the number of soldiers and horses that can be integrated is estimated to be less than five thousand.
Judging from the situation in these two mansions, if the Miao people were allowed to come in, even if there were only ten thousand people, they would be able to pierce through these two mansions in an instant.
At that time, the good situation will disappear in an instant.
Therefore, no matter what, we must take over the defense of Luyang Prefecture and establish a new line of defense to block the Miao people from the three prefectures in the south.
I can't trust the locals in Luyang Mansion. They are too deeply involved with the Qixing Sect and even have connections with the Miao people. They are undoubtedly making fun of the safety of the army by handing over their abdomen and heart to their guard.
I can only rest assured if my own people are guarding me. "
Lu Yuan expressed his concerns and plans.
After hearing this, Zhou Qing couldn't help but show admiration on his face, and he quickly said with shame: "This disciple is short-sighted and failed to understand the master's strategy."
Lu Yuan shook his head: "It's nothing, I just thought too much."
He does think too much.
After all, being stared at by such a powerful enemy as the Five Poison Sect, without much thought, he would have become a corpse by now.
Zhou Qing doesn't have as many worries as Lu Yuan, so it's understandable that he doesn't think about things so comprehensively.
But it is not possible for a master to have a big heart as a disciple, and that is the case at this time.
…
In the army, Lu Yuan was both the commander-in-chief and the master of all generals. When he had a strategy, he would naturally implement it firmly as quickly as possible.
Facts have proved that his strategy is very prescient.
At the time when Lu Yuan's army was at its peak, those military leaders who had revolted anyway surrendered their troops. After receiving the order to hand over the city defenses and go to the front of the army to obey, some people actually chose to resist and refused to accept the order.
Three military leaders from the five county towns gathered to defend themselves and refused to let the army sent by Lu Yuan enter the city.
Only two county towns chose to obey the order, surrendered their city defenses, and then rushed to Pingyang County with their armies.
In this regard, Lu Yuan could only lament once again that the majesty of the imperial court was gone, and the local military leaders were too short-sighted and unable to distinguish the situation.
None of the military leaders in those three recalcitrant counties had more than a thousand soldiers. How dare they resist with such little strength?
Needless to say.
For those stubborn resisters, Lu Yuan directly mobilized a large army. It took him a few days to destroy them all one by one after losing hundreds of prisoners to the advance army.
In the end, more than a thousand prisoners were even captured. Not only did the number of the first troops not decrease, but it increased to nine thousand.
After pacifying the place, Lu Yuan left 5,000 direct soldiers and horses to guard each county, and then led tens of thousands of main troops, 3,000 volunteer militia groups, and 9,000 prisoners who first came to camp, a mighty force of 20,000 people, to kill Shaoyang Fucheng.
On the 23rd of the first lunar month, Lu Yuan led his army to Luyang Fucheng.
At this time, after these days of gathering in the city, the Seven Star Gate has gathered nearly 10,000 troops in the city.
Seeing the arrival of the imperial officers and soldiers at this time, these rebels still could not hold on and looked like they would fight to the end.
Under the scorching sun, the ice and snow melted.
War flags were waving in the fields and drums were beating.
Lu Yuan stood on the high platform, looking at the majestic Luyang City in the distance. After staring for a while, he finally gave the order.
"Siege the city."
Under the order, the advance troops organized in the distance, the first battalion of a thousand people, were immediately driven towards the city.
A new round of flesh-and-blood fighting has officially begun.
Although the Luyang Mansion looked quite strong, Lu Yuan was not confused by the performance and wanted to retreat.
Didn't the camp of the Qixingmen rebels in Changning County also be quite strong?
But it was not broken in the end.
Whether this city is hard or not depends on the battle.
