"Han Shun and King Xichuan have led their troops to break out of Xiangcheng and crossed the river together to escape back to Yuzhong Mansion?"
Lu Yuan read the secret message that was urgently delivered in his hand, and then looked at the dusty messenger below, oh no, it should be said to be a military junior high school.
From the smell of blood on the other party that was not washed away in time, it was not difficult to guess what the other party had experienced along the way.
It is not easy to bring this letter back alive.
"Back to your Majesty, yes."
The junior colonel below felt the king's gaze falling on him, and felt a little pressure in his heart. He did not dare to look at him, and hurriedly lowered his head and replied: "Ten days ago, news came back from the rear of Xichuan Kingdom, and General Zuo and King Xichuan were shocked. Finally, the two discussed together and decided to withdraw their troops from Xiangcheng and break out of the encirclement.
This resolution was made and implemented that night.
At that time, Mo Jiang burst out of the formation with General Zuo, fought several times, and finally escaped from Xiangcheng.
Then General Zuo ordered the last general to lead his personal guards and deliver this urgent letter at starry night.
General Zuo, on the other hand, led the remnants of his troops and followed the path they came from with King Xichuan towards Xichuan County.
According to the deployment when he left, General Zuo was preparing to lead his troops back to Yuzhong Mansion, but whether he could return now, he didn't know yet.
When we led the army to break through, the Jianchuan Yi army seemed to have expected it and had taken precautions early.
On the way, the army has been ambushed and chased several times, and the corresponding arrangements seem to have been started a long time ago, and are definitely not hasty arrangements..."
The junior high school student told one by one the arrangements made by Han Shun after his breakthrough, as well as the details of his breakthrough along the way.
The more detailed and in-depth what he said, the more profound Lu Yuan's eyes could not help but become.
Although his expression remained calm, a depressing atmosphere gradually enveloped the room as the matter was spoken.
The junior high school student noticed the change in the atmosphere and knew how bad the news he had brought was. For a moment, he couldn't help being attracted by Lu Yuan's momentum, and a trace of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Okay, your message came in time. If there is nothing else, go down first. This time you worked hard to deliver the message. I will take note of it. I will give you a reward later."
Sensing the slightly unnatural smile below, Lu Yuan glanced at him, calmed down his breath slightly, and said expressionlessly.
"Yes, I'll be resigning at the end of the day." The principal breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He didn't even bother to wipe his sweat, and quickly retreated, as if running away.
After the people left, a terrifying aura instantly erupted in the room.
The biting chill seemed to freeze everything.
"Nanzhao Kingdom, Gu Hao really is, I underestimate you..."
The low and suppressed voice turned into a murmur, floating back and forth in the room.
The two guards outside the room felt the terrible pressure coming from inside the room. Their bodies could not help but tremble slightly. They looked at each other with a hint of fear.
'I don't know what that person said to the king just now, but it actually made the king exude such a terrifying aura. '
The two of them had this thought in their minds, but soon the fearful aura in the room faded away, and then the king's voice sounded.
"Someone is coming."
Regardless of continuing to be curious, after hearing the order, one of them quickly went in.
"There is a military order here. Send it to Xiangyang County immediately and hand it over to the general."
In the room, Lu Yuan, who had regained his composure, handed the letter in his hand to his bodyguard.
"yes."
The personal guard who entered the room quickly took it, and then left in a hurry holding the urgent letter.
Lu Yuan looked at the departing figure with a silent expression.
The hinterland of Xichuan Kingdom was attacked by Nanzhao Kingdom. To be honest, this incident was indeed a bit beyond his expectation. It should even be said that it caught him off guard.
No one would have thought that Nanzhao, which had gathered troops in the capital but had not made any moves, could actually plan to attack thousands of people like this.
It has to be said that the other party's move really hit him, or it hit Nishikawa Kingdom where it hurts.
Taking advantage of the emptiness in the rear of the Xichuan Kingdom, they directly dispatched a large army, marching thousands of miles through the mountains and ridges, hiding their eyes and ears, and entered the hinterland of the Xichuan Kingdom in one fell swoop.
This unparalleled strike was almost the same as the two surprise attacks by Lu Yuan on Xiangyang and Xichuan seven years ago during the Northern Expedition. It hit the enemy seven inches above where they did not expect it, and pinched the enemy's fatal point. .
Now the Nanzhao army raided Jinguan City and captured the capital of Xichuan Kingdom. What they did was no worse than Lu Yuan's two surprise attacks.
At this time, the two armies of Ji Hui and Han Shun, who had lost their rear, were forced into a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides, just like the Zhou and Shu coalition forces that were blocked at Wushan Pass that day.
The only thing they were better than the Zhou and Shu coalition forces was probably that their retreat was not completely blocked.
The Xichuan Kingdom was lost, but Lu Yuan's Xichuan County was still there. For the time being, they would not end up losing all their territory and not even have a place to stay.
But even so, it is at most just a little comfort under such terrible news.
This time the Nanzhao army raided the Xichuan Kingdom and used a lot of troops.
Although there is no exact number yet, judging from the secret letter just sent back by Han Shun, the news from the mainland of Xichuan Kingdom is that there are at least 50,000 or 60,000 thieves, maybe even more.
This number is already quite terrifying.
You must know that during the heyday of the Xichuan Kingdom, including some militiamen, there were only this number of troops. After Lu Yuan's Xichuan County took away 10,000 county soldiers, there were only 6,000 county soldiers left.
With this number of armies on both sides, it can be said to be very difficult and even dangerous to withstand the Nanzhao Kingdom's surprise attack.
An accident.
Then the Xichuan Kingdom is in danger of being destroyed, and the Chu Kingdom is also in danger of losing the three prefectures of Xichuan County.
Whichever of the above is unacceptable to Chu State.
"I have already written to Xiaoqing, asking him to take out a Forbidden Army from Xiangyang County and march westward, and rush to Xichuan County for rescue.
However, to mobilize troops from Xiangyang County to Xichuan, even if they travel lightly and quickly, it will take twenty days at the earliest. Hope all this can come in time. "
Lu Yuan tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, thinking with worry in his eyes.
…
Ever since Han Shun led his army to break out and sent people to risk their lives to send back the news, before Lu Yuan could make more arrangements in time, bad news came one after another from Xichuan and Nanzhao.
On the fifth day of July, the Xichuan branch of the Imperial City Division rushed to report that a large number of Nanzhao troops poured out from the mountains to the west. In just half a month, they captured a large area of Xichuan Kingdom's territory.
Now the Chengdu and Anyue mansions of Xichuan Kingdom have been lost, and Jinguan City has fallen.
And the Nanzhao army that suddenly appeared, after seizing the above territory, divided its troops into several groups to capture the remaining three prefectures of Xichuan Kingdom.
Nowadays, Xichuan is empty and there is no master in charge. I don’t know how long it can last.
On the seventh day of July, Han China received the news that the capital of Xichuan had fallen, and Qiao Kangquan was shocked.
After realizing that he might be attacked from both sides, he immediately made a decision to mobilize 20,000 soldiers and horses and 10,000 Hanzhong troops sent by the Xichuan State to assist the defense from the front line confronting the Zhou State, and rushed back to Xichuan territory to set up defenses. The invasion of Nanzhao army.
Now Qiao An'an is leading these 30,000 people, stationed in the Jiange Mansion area, to contain and monitor the Nanzhao army that is raging in Xichuan.
At the same time, Hanzhong County also sent a flying report, urgently asking for reinforcements from the Chu State.
On the eighth day of July, news came back from Nanzhao Jianchuan Kingdom. King Xichuan and Han Shun joined forces to break out of the encirclement. They encountered a tenacious blockade by the Jianchuan Army on the way, and they encountered many ambushes on the way.
Moreover, after breaking through the siege, the Jianchuan troops continued to pursue and bite tightly, showing a posture of not giving up until the coalition forces were destroyed.
In desperation, Wang Jihui of Xichuan had no choice but to lead five thousand soldiers and horses, and desperately blocked the Jianchuan army after the line of Nuoyi River was cut off.
However, in this last-ditch battle, King Xichuan failed to show his power.
Because among the pursuing troops, Zhao Zhenshui, the Yongchang King of Nanzhao Kingdom, was hidden.
This King of Yongchang, Zhao Zhenshui, was also born in the royal family of Nanzhao Kingdom. He is the uncle of the current leader of Nanzhao Kingdom and an innate master of the older generation.
He could only hide in the Jianchuan army all the time. Even when he attacked the city before, he did not show up and be exposed.
It was not until the news came that the Nanzhao army had invaded the Xichuan Kingdom and Ji Hui escaped with his troops that he finally started to take action.
Therefore, when Ji Hui wanted to rely on his innate strength to block the Jianchuan Army for the army, the King of Yongchang who was hidden in the army directly made a sneak attack.
Unprepared, Ji Hui fought with him and was immediately seriously injured.
In the end, if he hadn't desperately used several secret techniques and managed to fight his way out, the King of Xichuan would have ended up in Nuoyijiang.
But even so, the situation was very bad when Ji Hui used the secret technique after being seriously injured. Although a life was saved, it was impossible to do anything again in a short period of time.
As for the Jianchuan Army, after defeating Ji Hui, they did not give up the pursuit. They still pursued the breakout army all the way, showing a strong attitude of never giving up.
On the tenth day of the seventh month, Xichuan County sent another report.
General Han Shun of the left led more than 3,000 remaining troops and retreated to Yuzhong Mansion in Xichuan County in embarrassment.
At this time, Xichuan County was already mobilizing because Han Shun had also sent an urgent letter back. Fifty thousand militiamen gathered in Yuzhong Prefecture and began to set up defenses in the border towns bordering the Nanzhao Kingdom's sphere of influence in the south and the towns near the Xichuan Kingdom in the west to prevent Nanzhao from attacking.
With these 50,000 militia groups, as well as the remaining nearly 10,000 county and county soldiers in the county, and 60,000 troops stationed in Yuzhong Mansion, they should be able to protect this territory for the time being.
On July 12, a letter came from Xichuan Kingdom.
After the Battle of Nuoyijiang, the missing Wang Jihui of Xichuan led more than 5,000 remaining soldiers and fled back to Panshi Mansion of Xichuan Kingdom.
However, at this time, more than half of the Panshi Prefecture and counties had been occupied by the Nanzhao army. Even though Ji Hui brought back five thousand soldiers and horses, it was still not enough to face the tens of thousands of troops pressed by Nanzhao's heavy troops.
Now he can only huddle in the city, surrounded by tens of thousands of troops from the other side, and cannot leave the city at all.
At the same time, an urgent message from the Xichuan Kingdom asking for help was quickly sent to the Chu Kingdom. Ji Hui asked Lu Yuan to fulfill his covenant and help him repel Nanzhao and regain his territory.
July 15th.
The Xichuan Kingdom sent news again that the Jianchuan Kingdom's 100,000 troops marched north, entered Panshi Mansion, joined the Nanzhao Army, and officially joined the army to besiege the city.
At the same time, news came from the north that Xuanwu Mansion in the north of Xichuan Kingdom had been captured by the Nanzhao army.
The remaining Nanchong Prefecture only occupies a small half because the Hanzhong Army went south to assist in defense. Now the two sides are locked in a tug of war there, attacking and defending each other.
At this point, Xichuan Kingdom only has the majority of Nanzhong Prefecture and the smaller half of Panshi Prefecture, less than the territory of Yifu.
The worry of national subjugation has already appeared.
July 20th.
After a month of long journey, a forbidden army of 20,000 people transferred from Xiangyang County finally arrived at Yuzhong Prefecture. Afterwards, there was no time to rest and recuperate, so he went to the front line, set up defenses in various places, and guarded the Nanzhao army together.
Then Han Shun tentatively sent five thousand soldiers and horses to Panshi Mansion to rescue Ji Hui.
However, they encountered Nanzhao's army on the way, and the two sides fought fiercely. In the end, because the enemy had too many troops, they had no choice but to retreat after losing more than a thousand people.
The strategy to rescue Nishikawa Kingdom failed.
As for the Nanzhao Army, they also strengthened their defenses against the Chu State because of this incident.
At the junction of Panshi Prefecture and Yuzhong Prefecture, 50,000 troops were stationed to prevent Chu State from intervening in Xichuan state affairs.
At the same time, in the southern part of Yuzhong Prefecture, 50,000 soldiers and horses were once again recruited from Nanzhao and sent to the border between the two countries, making a posture of wanting to attack, which immediately restrained Han Shun's hands and feet.
Facing an army of 100,000, he was under unprecedented pressure and had no energy left to do other things.
"Finally we have secured our position."
In the Shicheng Palace, Lu Yuan put down the latest news in his hands and breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the news coming back from Xichuan County is still very serious, the situation is not optimistic.
But after the 20,000 forbidden troops arrived at Yuzhong Mansion, Chu's troops in Xichuan County reached 80,000. Among them, 30,000 are regular soldiers and 50,000 are militiamen with certain training.
This kind of strength cannot be underestimated.
Although it is wishful thinking to use this to break into Xichuan Kingdom and completely drive away those Nanzhao troops.
But with these 80,000 people guarding it, it would be impossible for Nanzhao's army to break into Xichuan County of Chu State.
Now, with constant testing, the number of Nanzhao troops in Xichuan and Chu Xichuan counties has gradually become clear.
The enemy, including the vassal Jianchuan Army, has about 234,000 people, including two innates from the Nanzhao royal family, which can be said to be a quite powerful force.
In Xichuan territory, the only thing that restrained the opponent was a large number of conscripts. After emergency expansion, the Hanzhong and Xichuan coalition forces had reached 50,000.
Eighty thousand soldiers and horses in the Yuzhong Prefecture of Chu State.
As well as huddled in Panshifu City, there are thousands of remnant soldiers led by Ji Hui himself.
The three kingdoms' camps totaled only 130,000 troops.
There are two innate masters, and the number is not bad. However, Ji Hui has been seriously injured now, and his combat power has been greatly reduced. At most, he can only be regarded as half an innate master.
So just from the perspective of hard power, the Nanzhao army is obviously superior, almost twice as powerful as their Three Kingdoms Allied Forces.
If they hadn't insisted on holding on and taking advantage of the defense, the coalition would have been unable to withstand the strength gap between the two sides.
However, even if the defense line is now defended, with the strength advantage of the Nanzhao army, it is only a matter of time before the confrontation between the two sides continues and the other side wins the final victory.
Especially with Nanzhao's national strength, they have only dispatched more than 200,000 troops, which is far from the opponent's limit.
You must know that in the capital of Nanzhao, as far as Lu Yuan knew, the 100,000 soldiers and horses that the other party used to confuse various countries have not yet been disbanded and are still stationed near the capital.
Although they all now know that these 100,000 soldiers and horses are only temporarily recruited militiamen with limited combat power.
But even if the number of militia reaches 100,000, it is still a quite terrifying force.
If it is thrown into the battlefield of Xichuan Kingdom, it will undoubtedly make the defense line of the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces, which is already under great pressure, once again become unbearable.
This must never happen.
"The defense force in Xichuan is still a bit weak. Especially in terms of the innate master. There is no innate master in Yuzhong Mansion. It will be too much of a disadvantage in the face of the Nanzhao army. We need to send more reinforcements there."
Lu Yuan frowned and thought.
The strength of Nanzhao's army was beyond his expectation.
The most important thing was that the eldest prince of Nanzhao Kingdom, this innate master who had been hiding it from others before, gave everyone a surprise.
If this prince is included, then Nanzhao already has three innate masters, and in terms of top-level combat power, they are not far behind Chu State today.
In comparison, the troops and horses that Nanzhao can mobilize now seem worthless.
After all, no matter whether it is the more than 200,000 Nanzhao troops in Xichuan or now, there are 100,000 soldiers and horses gathered in Nanzhao Kingdom, the total is only more than 300,000, which is equivalent to 400,000.
Although this strength is already good, but looking at the past, which one of the prosperous Dali Kingdom and Dachanghe Kingdom couldn't gather such troops with all their efforts?
Even if we exaggerate a bit, it is not impossible to bring in 500,000 to 600,000 people.
After all, the three southwest countries, including their vassals, are all big countries with a population of more than two to three million.
With this population potential, there is no problem in mobilizing this number of soldiers and horses.
But it's not elite enough. No matter how many soldiers and horses there are, it doesn't mean much.
Simply counting the number of people, even the current Xichuan County of Chu State can pull out a militia of about 150,000 people at any time.
But this doesn't make any sense.
Without training, the militia's combat power is always limited and cannot be mobilized to fight in the field.
And if the city is to be defended, the current 80,000 troops in Xichuan County are enough.
With an army of this size, even if the enemy comes to attack with 200,000 soldiers and horses, it will not be afraid at all.
Therefore, simply increasing the number of troops, especially the number of miscellaneous troops, is completely meaningless. On the contrary, it will easily delay local production in Xichuan County and further increase logistics consumption.
This is simply a waste of money.
Nowadays, the Chu army's only disadvantage in Xichuan County is its lack of top-level combat power and innate masters.
Only in this aspect, Chu State had an absolute disadvantage compared to Nanzhao State.
But now among the three innates of Chu State, Zhou Qing wants to defend the northern countries in Xiangyang County, and Lan Cai'er wants to defend Ning State in Baling City.
Lu Yuan himself wanted to sit in Qianzhong County to suppress the rebellion in the county, and at the same time be prepared for any counterattack by Da Changheguo.
No matter which one of the three people they were, they couldn't get away at all.
At this time, if you want to dispatch an innate grandmaster and rush to Yuzhong Mansion, you can't do it at all.
"We can only add more soldiers and horses there, and rely on the number of people to increase the defense."
After frowning and thinking for a long time, Lu Yuan sighed helplessly and made the decision he least wanted to make.
Now in Qianzhong County, after several months of cleaning up, most of the local rebel barbarians have been eliminated. The remaining remnants can be cleared away slowly.
At the same time, those local independent or semi-independent urban tribes were intimidated by the garrison of armies in local prefectures and counties, and began to slowly be included in the government's rule.
At this time, Qianzhong County cannot be said to be completely stable, but as long as there are no major changes, there is basically no need to worry about local barbarians causing trouble.
In this case, the nearly 20,000 mobile forbidden troops in Lu Yuan's hands can be mobilized and sent elsewhere.
"If there are 20,000 people going to Yuzhong Mansion, the number of soldiers there will be as many as 50,000, and the number of soldiers and horses can also reach 100,000. In this way, facing the innate master, it can be considered as a battle force, and will not be easily defeated. .”
With this in mind, Lu Yuan began to sign transfer orders and prepare to send them to various ministries for the transfer of personnel.
Nowadays, the situation in Xichuan is urgent. Every day that passes, there may be more danger.
He is really worried if the strength there is not strengthened quickly.
Things in this world are indeed changing.
Although the joint vertical alliance he created achieved significant results, the Chu State opened up a county. But it is equally difficult to fill the holes that have been dug.
It's hard to say whether misfortune brings blessing or not!
