In the first year of Tongzhi, on July 6, Zhou Bai sent troops to enter the country on the grounds that Yan Luo, the envoy of Ruinan Festival, could not protect the territory and the people and resist the Qingxu invaders.
In name, of course, it is to help the people of Ruinan, drive out and destroy the invaders, so that everyone can live and work in peace and contentment, and ensure that there are no problems with the autumn harvest.
But in fact, no one knows that you, Zhou Bai, just want to take this opportunity to annex Ruinan County.
Spiritual energy revived, battleships flew across the sky, and the last fig leaf of centralized power was torn. Even the three officials and ministers of the imperial court had to admit that the troubled times were irreversible.
But any foresighted tycoon knows that the last year and a half will determine the power structure for a long time to come.
Everyone wants to seize this opportunity, but due to limited strength, they cannot quickly stabilize the internal territory and send troops to expand externally like the Anbei Governor's Mansion.
Spies from various houses in Dingzhou swarmed in, and for the first time the strength of the Anbei Governor's Mansion was fully exposed to the eyes of Dingzhou's heroes.
Is the sect force behind the Anbei Governor's Mansion the Wuding Sect? This is too absurd.
How could a large county with a population of more than one million settle down so quickly? Is there no internal turmoil?
The government and the people are working hard to plant in summer and harvest in autumn, and everyone is working hard to survive the drought.
The monks sent by Governor Lei Haomiao and Lu Ding observed the situation from a distance and found that Bei'an County's legal network was stable and the luck was rising, at least it was a light red system.
All forces were speechless. The facts were before their eyes. The chaos caused by foreign enemies in Bei'an County had ended without any obvious impact.
No one expected that Zhou Bai had just defeated a general ship and two warships, and that he could also bring out 35,000 armored elites.
The morale is high and the military appearance is in good order. It looks like a strong army with strong soldiers and horses.
Jiao Tu led five thousand forwards. As soon as they entered Shuiyang County, Ruinan County, envoys from various forces came to negotiate privately, hoping to negotiate terms early.
Yan Luo said he was the governor of Jiedushi, but in fact, no one, including the imperial court, recognized him. Like Zhou Bai's Anbei governor, he was self-proclaimed.
The key is that his self-proclaimed title is not yet valuable. Zhou Bai is the real deal. He won Bei'an County after repeated tough battles and won the support of the people by relying on the foundation he laid in Pingcang.
As for Yan Luo, except for one or two short bloody battles when he raised troops to take over the county seat, the rest of the time it was just small fights.
The victory over the six counties was mostly through political negotiation and reaching agreements with many wealthy families and county magistrates. It can be said that Ruinan County is a separatist alliance.
Yan Luo is the leader of the alliance, and the county magistrates are the powerful leaders below. The county magnates, county magistrates and other large families retain a certain degree of autonomy, and flirt with the alliance leaders and leaders, playing both sides.
If there hadn't been a third wave of invasion from the Qingxu Realm, and Yan Luo had been given some time, he might have been able to slowly consolidate and annex local forces and become a truly powerful force.
In Ruinan City and Jiedu Mansion, the guards were armed and murderous. It seemed that the news of Zhou Bai sending troops had been learned by Jiedu Mansion.
In the government hall, Yan Luo, who was originally elegant and dignified, was obviously a little out of sorts at this time.
While he was tearing up the intelligence on the frontline, he was cursing like a villager: "What a fart, he's just a kid with a dirty mouth. Ruinan needs their help to eliminate foreign enemies? I think the Anbei Army is the real enemy!"
"If a heavenly being doesn't want to ascend as soon as possible and lives in the world of mortals, is it possible that he can really become an emperor? Bah!"
When Chang Shi saw Yan Luo's angry face twitching uncontrollably, he knew that this was his lord who was actually a little afraid in his heart.
What are you afraid of? I am afraid that I will not be able to resist, my body and head will be in a different place, I am afraid that my inheritance will be taken away, and my dreams will become empty.
But after all, Chang Shi has been with him for many years, and he dared to pour water to put out the fire at this time: "My lord, my lord..."
"Everyone is waiting for you outside, do you think?"
Yan Luo wanted to express his anger, but after hearing Chang Shi's words, his heart suddenly became cold and he quickly calmed down.
What's the use of venting his anger? If he couldn't control himself, the people below would be even more panicked.
"Thank you sir for reminding me." Yan Luo bowed his hands and bowed deeply to Chang Shi.
"This is your duty as a subordinate, but the more critical the moment, the more stable you must be."
After Yan Luo adjusted his mood, he became much calmer. He waved his hands and said, "I'm a little bit rude. I really didn't expect Zhou Bai to come so quickly. Our county was turned upside down with just three warships, but one general ship from Bei'an County had enough power to spare." Invasion from the south.”
Chang Shi encouraged Yan Luo and told some good news: "The main force of the two warships is attacking the mountain gate of Xuanwu Gate. The warship base outside the county city has been destroyed. Most of the people in the sequence have died. Now it is just the final stage. You There is absolutely time to consolidate military strength."
"You have 30,000 yamen soldiers. As long as you win a small victory or even a stalemate for a few days, other counties will have the confidence to send troops. After all, the Anbei Governor's Mansion will never give them such great autonomy."
Yan Luo nodded, thinking that he had served Ruinan for several years and had some foundation after all.
If you can't win, it's okay to keep the draw, right?
But even with this thought, Yan Luo was still not in a hurry to convene the county court meeting. Instead, he walked towards the back door, and then said in a low voice through the door curtain: "Xin Chongfeng, what do you think the victory is like?"
Changshi was very interested in seeing this. He checked that no servants had broken in, then strode out of the hall and calmed the civil and military officials.
No matter how valuable he is, he, Yan Luo, is a dignified scholar in the same county. He himself was born in the same Jinshi family, so it is normal for him to have several monks to worship him.
When the benefactor asked the question, the worshiper sitting behind the curtain naturally responded immediately: "The fierceness of military battles is difficult to predict, but if we only talk about the accumulation of luck, Ruinan cannot compare to Bei'an."
"You don't have the Qianlong destiny. If you want to do something great in this great age, you can't look forward and backward."
"Sun Yucheng, the hidden dragon, was killed by Zhou Bai against the odds. He must also be a hidden dragon, and not a small dragon. If you fight with him, you may be able to steal the dragon energy and add it to your body, and get your own destiny. There will definitely be an opportunity to build a country in the future."
The eloquent talk made Yan Luo feel reassured, but he still sighed: "It's a pity that time does not wait for me. If only some time passes, I can take advantage of the invasion of Qingxu to integrate the power of the entire county."
"At that time, the strategic idea was not to seek peace with a small victory, but to seize the Xuanwu Sect for our own use, and counterattack Bei'an."
After a long while, Xin Zongfeng said leisurely: "One county is a bit unlucky in founding the country. If there are two counties, the imperial court may ask for a letter of approval."
"The Daxu royal family wants to grant the title of prince to respect Zhengshuo. This is an opportunity. As long as the country is successfully established, you will definitely be the master's order."
Yan Luo couldn't help but laugh a little as the enemy was facing a great enemy.
But just like that, it relieved his heavy pressure a lot.
"Hahaha... If there is a day when the country is founded, you and others will be rewarded by luck officials. I also ask you to help me tell you that if this disaster happens again, we will put an end to the cause and effect."
Soon, the war drums were beating outside the Yamen Hall. Yan Luo was full of energy and calm and summoned hundreds of officials to discuss resisting the Anbei Army's advance.
…
Let’s not mention how Ruinan Jiedu Mansion discussed and planned, how to deploy troops and generals, but Zhou Bai’s side was rushing forward, and the offensive was like fire.
Jiao Tu, the vanguard, wanted to send troops to conduct a forcible search on the grounds that the demon had sneaked into the military fort.
The defenders were naturally unwilling, and as a result, several checkpoints and forts on the border of Shuiyang County were defeated in one battle, with very few losses on their own side.
The military fort blocking the road was pulled out, and Lou Jinpeng, the commander of the cavalry army following the vanguard, immediately led a thousand cavalry and drove straight in, aiming directly at Shuiyang Ferry.
This is also the initial goal that must be won. With the Shuiyang Ferry, the territory of the Anbei Governor's Mansion is no longer completely isolated on the northern border.
Whether it is trade or the strategic value of water transportation, Ningjiang is a top priority that cannot be ignored for any force in Dingzhou.
On July 8, Ruinan Jiedu's denunciation was sent to Zhou Bai.
The whole text is written by Yan Luo himself, which is very exquisite and has everyone's style.
Of course, Zhou Bai's current demeanor can be viewed with peace of mind, because the statement was naturally meant to scold him.
On the same day, Jiao Tu completed the cleaning of the roads along the way and arrived at Shuiyang County.
Lou Jinpeng successfully raided Shuiyang Ferry. He not only captured the military city at Shuiyang Ferry, but also took control of several warships.
This made the Yuhou staff of the Chinese Army overjoyed. They were very familiar with the strength development of the Bei'an Army in recent times.
In the sand table deduction, there is no difficulty in capturing Ruinan. The only thing that needs to be considered is that the Anbei Governor's Mansion lacks navy.
Once Yan Luo gets involved with the navy and deploys troops along the Ningjiang waterway to harass, the war may come to a stalemate and Ruinan County cannot be captured quickly.
Having a ferry and not having a ferry, having a boat and not having a boat are completely different concepts. Lou Jinpeng's success can be said to have suppressed the variable of the navy to the greatest extent.
They can't beat them on water, but at least they can deploy defenses and warnings in advance.
On July 9, Ruinan defeated Yan Luo and sent his general Yan Chang to lead 30,000 troops to support Shuiyang County. It was expected to arrive in three days.
At this time, the 30,000 main force commanded by Zhou Bai was still one day away from Shuiyang City.
In other words, as long as the city of Shuiyang County holds out for two days under the attack of 35,000 people, it will be able to wait for reinforcements to arrive.
With 30,000 yamen soldiers guarding the county seat, even if they could capture it, it would be delayed for a long time and delay the progress of the attack.
To capture Ruinan, we must fight quickly and cannot wait for Dingxi and Zhouli to free up their hands. Zhou Bai knows this, and naturally Jiao Tu and other senior military officials also know this.
Therefore, before Zhou Bai issued the military order, he started to attack the city without stopping.
Shuiyang County is located at the end of the Ningjiang River and sits on the Shuiyang Ferry. It is the hub of transportation and trade routes for Biancheng County, Bei'an County and other areas further north.
With a population of 200,000, and more than 100,000 people gathered in the county seat and ferry, it has convenient commerce and rich products, making it one of the richest and largest counties in Ruinan County.
The county magistrate Tian Mingnai was a fellow Jinshi for 40 years in Xiangxing Dynasty. He has strong governance ability. Unfortunately, his family connections are not good and he has missed opportunities for promotion one after another.
However, it was precisely this that allowed him to take root in Ruinan in an upright manner and become a powerful faction that even the county government could not touch lightly.
After Yan Luo came to power, Tian Ming became the de facto "Tu Emperor", obeying the orders of Jiedu Mansion but not the propaganda.
It originally had three thousand county soldiers. Later, after Zhou Bai unified Bei'an County, he faced too much pressure and expanded his army to five thousand, which was quite tyrannical.
Five thousand attacking five thousand is difficult to fight, but it can't be resisted. The morale of the government army is now very high, and there are even several innates in the forward army.
Moreover, when Jiao Tu entered the boundary of Shuiyang, the army welcomed envoys from various forces in Ruinan County, including representatives of the powerful forces in Shuiyang City.
They are inclined to surrender, but they have not yet made up their mind.
Jiao Tu took the initiative to start the war just to show his muscles and let these forces understand the gap in strength.
During the day, the army only focused on building camps and resting, with no intention of going to war, which was very suitable for the position of a forward.
This also made the county magistrate Tian Ming breathe a sigh of relief. Like most of his subordinates, they thought that Jiao Tu was waiting for the main army and siege equipment.
Tian Ming was actually very unwilling to do so. The era of separatist rule in troubled times had come. How could a man like him, who had some military power, be willing to be annexed.
But his arms couldn't hold his thighs. As one of the only people in the world who was born in the same Jinshi class, of course he had read history books.
He knows that not making a choice at this moment is the stupidest thing to do. If you want to be a fence-sitter, you have to see whether you have the strength.
Now that neither the Governor nor Lu Ding can intervene, the battle for Ruinan County is only between Yan Luo and Zhou Bai, with Tian Ming choosing one of the two.
Choosing Yan Luo means choosing to defend Shuiyang City and Ruinan County, so that he will most likely continue to retain his independent status.
Choosing Zhou Bai means surrendering, handing over military power, and waiting for the governor's arrangements.
Because there are examples of county magistrates in Bei'an County, there is a high probability that he will serve as an official in a different county, and the power he retains will be limited and subject to more restrictions.
In terms of actual benefits, it is definitely better to choose Yan Luo, but the risk is also greater.
Shuiyang County is adjacent to Bei'an, and Tian Ming knows better than everyone in Ruinan County the true strength of the Anbei Governor's Mansion.
Tian Ming fell into a deep sleep with deep confusion about whether to give up or not.
It's night, after midnight.
Originally, the sky was clear on summer nights, and the bright moon and stars were enough to illuminate the dark night, making it difficult to sneak around.
But for some reason, when Jiao Tu gave the order to take action, Shuiyang City was shrouded in black clouds, and the light night seemed to be splashed with a layer of thick ink.
As a genius who was promoted by Zhou Bai's elixir, he personally led the night attack.
The forwards were already quite elite soldiers and horses in the army, and the five hundred men selected by Jiao Tu for the night attack were even more elite among the elite. The average number of people who were able to forge a strong body would be more than fifty the day after tomorrow.
Although it is not as strong as the demon-suppressing army, it is really beyond the strength of existing mortal soldiers.
Hidden in the night, they moved quickly and silently. In order to ensure that the defenders were not alerted, they all removed their armor, wore night clothes, and stole the city in person.
Tian Mingshang believed that Jiao Tu would not attack the city, and the defenders at the top of the city naturally did the same, half asleep and half awake in the gentle night wind.
They didn't even notice that a group of night ghosts had stepped on the silence of the wilderness and got close to the city wall.
At the foot of the city wall, Jiao Tu looked around, but never gave an order to take action, as if he was waiting for something.
Slowly, the dark clouds in the night sky gradually dispersed, and the men became anxious waiting, but Jiao Tu still only ordered silence.
Until, where he looked up in the night sky, a divine figure appeared floating towards him and gestured towards him.
Jiao Tu immediately gave the decisive order: "Do it, let go!"
Whoosh, one after another, the crossbow arrows accurately hit the guards guarding the wall.
"Climb the city with a sword in your hand!"
Several hooks and ropes were thrown up to the top of the city, and the five hundred people immediately clung to the wall like geckos.
The defenders had no time to react. After a section of the city wall was captured, the forward army followed, unable to resist.
(End of chapter)
