The Yongkang Army is located in the west of Chengdu, not only to defend the various tribes of the foreign countries, but also to protect the Dujiangyan water conservancy.
The Miao army suddenly attacked the important military town of Guanxian at night, obviously heading for Dujiangyan.
The Yongkang Army has at least 20,000 troops stationed. If the Miao Army dares to attack, the number will definitely not be less than this number.
Let the small tribes in Miao territory harass in the south and distract Chengdu's attention, and then gather large forces to send cavalry to attack the military towns, which is a good strategy of "making an impact in the east and attacking in the west".
"Do you know this Miao army?" Song Che asked Asang.
"It is the army of Xia Jiu, the leader of the Black Miao tribe. He is the most powerful warrior in the Miao territory." Asang said about this man, his eyes full of admiration.
"Then do you think that if we go to him for peace talks, he will agree?" Song Che asked again.
Asang remained silent and did not answer. That means I don't quite agree.
Song Che said: "If he can fight without bloodshed, why would he need to bury his soldiers' bones? If he is really a leader with an overall view, he will definitely agree to peace talks."
It is more than a hundred miles from Chengdu to Dujiangyan. It can be reached in one day by an urgent march. No matter how bad the Yongkang army is, it can still hold on for one day.
"Brother Jiang, go to the Chengdu garrison camp quickly, order 3,000 horse infantry, and assemble in the western suburbs. General Shi, General Yang, and General Chen, please return to the camp quickly and reorganize your armaments. This is a rush march, so there is no need to bring any food, grass, or baggage. Let the soldiers prepare two days of rations each, and we will go into battle lightly and rush to the rescue of Dujiangyan at starry night!"
"What should we do with those people on Yunjing Terrace?" Jiang Yuntian asked.
Song Che said: "I'll lock them up for a few days without starving to death. With the Jiaofang Secretary watching, they can't do anything small. We just need to fight the battle in front of us well. When we return with victory, everything will be settled."
No further delay, everyone goes about his or her own business.
Half an hour later.
Six thousand troops and horses were assembled in the west of the city.
"Set off!"
Jiang Yuntian gave the order and the army advanced to the west.
"Why is there only one cannon? Didn't I tell you in the letter to bring at least two?"
Song Che rode next to the carriage carrying the artillery and asked Shi Tao, who was accompanying the escort.
Shi Tao said bitterly: "I originally brought two doors, but this thing is too heavy, and the southwest Shu road is extremely difficult to walk. It happened to rain heavily in those few days, and I accidentally broke one door. This door in front of me" "Du Miao" was also pushed to Chengdu step by step."
Song Che added: "Gunpowder cannot get wet. You have to rely on it to win by surprise."
Shi Tao patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry, the gunpowder and cannonballs are all sealed tightly with oilcloth. I checked them before departure, and they are fine."
At this time, Ah Sang, who was following him, pulled Song Che's sleeve fiercely, frowned and asked, "Didn't you say you were going to have peace talks? Why do you insist on winning by surprise?"
"Of course I'm going for peace talks, otherwise why would I bring you here?"
Let Asang be the bridge of communication and go find out about Xia Jiu first. If we can talk about Song Che, we will personally arrange a place to have a good talk. If we can't talk, then we can only roll up our sleeves and fight.
But,
If you can't get something on the battlefield, how can you get it at the negotiation table?
Some people still have to be beaten. If they don't know the pain, they will never bow their heads.
Song Che took out two letters from his sleeve and handed them to Asang: "The first one is what I wrote to you, and the second one is for you to bring to Xia Jiu. Diplomacy is a technical job. If you think you are stupid, If so, just memorize it."
Asang put away the first letter, opened the Huanshu one, glanced at it, thought about it in his heart, glanced at Song Che again, winked at him, hummed softly, and rode forward for a while. distance, and then began to concentrate on memorizing it.
Throughout the next night, she read it over and over again, memorizing word after word without stopping at all.
The next day, dawn broke.
After marching lightly and hastily, they walked eighty miles in one night and entered the boundary of Pengzhou, which was still more than thirty miles away from Dujiangyan.
The clothes of the six thousand soldiers were all wet. There is sweat and dew.
Yongkang scouts have come to report twice. The first time at midnight, Guanxian was still fighting. The second time at dawn, Guanxian had been captured by the Miao army. The Yongkang army was beaten to pieces and only 20,000 soldiers were left. With less than 5,000 soldiers, they had to retreat to Dujiangyan to defend the last dyke.
"Even if there are more than 20,000 pigs, the Miao army will have to catch them for two or three days, right? You have lost the county after only one night? Go home and raise pigs!"
Jiang Yuntian yelled at the scouts.
The scout knelt on the ground and complained: "General, you don't know that the construction of Dujiangyan is a huge project. There are nearly one hundred thousand workers alone. Many Yongkang troops are supervising the work on the dam. Just yesterday during the day, the group of Miao slaves broke out. Guan County resisted and dispatched some troops to suppress it, which resulted in a lack of troops in the county. What's more, the Miao army reached the city without anyone noticing last night. We...we were really caught off guard!"
"Idiot! You have fallen into Miao Jun's trap!"
"Okay, Brother Jiang, there is no point in pursuing the fault," Song Che asked the scout: "After the Miao army captured the county seat, did they send troops to attack Dujiangyan again? How many people did they have? How many war horses? How many ordnances did they have?"
The scout answered truthfully: "There are about 30,000 Miao troops, almost all infantry, and they wear ordinary rattan armor, but they have gunpowder. When I left, they only occupied the county seat and did not attack Dujiangyan again."
Although the Miao army won, they fought fiercely with the Yongkang army all night and must have been exhausted. However, Guanxian County is only ten miles away from Dujiangyan. If the Miao army is well prepared, they will attack as soon as possible.
No matter how you analyze it, it is extremely urgent right now.
"Brother Jiang, quickly lead the Qingqi to Dujiangyan. Don't let the Miao army get even half a step closer to the dam!" Song Che ordered.
Jiang Yuntian reined in his horse and marched out, raising his arms and shouting: "All cavalry, remove your excess burdens and follow me straight to Dujiangyan!"
Thousands of cavalry called out and galloped towards the west frontier with the power of thunder!
"Infantry, speed up the march and reach Dujiangyan within two hours!"
The soldiers took out the dry food they carried with them and trotted while eating and drinking, increasing their speed.
Less than two hours later, the embankment came into view.
Song Che used his binoculars to examine the situation. There was no sign of fighting, indicating that the Miao army had not yet launched an attack.
"Commander Bai!"
Chen Hong led a cavalry squad to greet him and reported:
"After General Jiang arrived at Dujiangyan, he quickly formed a team of 5,000 people and stationed himself at the mouth of the river three miles away. According to reports from spies ahead, the Miao army is reinforcing the city defense. It seems that they are planning to switch from defense to offense."
Turning defense into offense? Could it be that it gives me a chance to sharpen my knife?
"very good."
Song Che nodded. After a night of rapid marching, he, a horseman, was exhausted, let alone an infantryman who walked on poles.
"All the troops, station in the dike and recharge your batteries!"
