Chapter 249 Debut
Yuzhou, Runan County, Pingyu.

After the imperial edict came, Mr. Lou immediately gathered the surrounding tribes to prepare for assembly.

Because 70% to 80% of the food in the old city of Nandun had been burned by Li Yuanhui, and the composition of the various armies was complex, after returning to Yuzhou and reuniting with the army, Mr. Lou immediately assigned the troops to where to find food.

Among them, the Tianxiong Army and the Tianwu Army, two Hebei volunteer armies, were taken back to Hebei by the Su father and son and the Lu brothers on the pretext that the soldiers were homesick.

Mr. Lou originally wanted to keep these two groups of volunteers, because these two groups of Hebei volunteers were all loyal, brave and heroic men, and the Su father and son and the Lu brothers were all talented generals. Since Mr. Lou came to Yuzhou, he had relied a lot on these two groups of volunteers.

But given the current situation, Mr. Lou knew that he couldn't keep them by force.

These volunteers were originally there to defend their hometowns. Under the organization of local powerful people, they formed a base and defended themselves.

After Hebei was stabilized, the late emperor Murong Chao wanted to recruit these two volunteer troops to check and balance the power of the Luoyang army, so he rewarded the generals and soldiers generously.

Later, when the situation in Yuzhou became tense, these two volunteer groups were allocated to Mr. Lou.

From then on, the two armies were used as elite troops under the command of Master Lou.

But now, Emperor Guangping Murong Chao, who had rewarded them greatly, had passed away. There were also rumors that the new emperor had poisoned him, so these Yanzhao people did not want to serve the new emperor.

It has been almost two years since they left their hometown, and many people have begun to miss their hometown. In addition, the food was burned and the situation was bad, so Su Lu and others decided to return to Hebei.

After all, they couldn't see the situation in the world clearly, but once the war broke out, they had to protect their homes first. They formed an army to protect their hometown.

Mr. Lou was unable to stop it. Firstly, the supply of military rations was insufficient, and secondly, the situation was chaotic enough. As the Hebei Volunteers were volunteers rather than regular troops, they received rewards directly allocated by the late emperor from the Shaofu, but they did not receive military pay from the Dayan court.

Besides, they are from Hebei, and if they are not allowed to go home, there will be a mutiny. The situation will be very ugly.

Except for the Hebei Volunteers, the Wagang Army was repatriated.

Mr. Lou told Xu Maogong directly that there was no food left and the war could not be fought, so they should go back.

Xu Maogong also knew that what Mr. Lou said was indeed the truth, so he did not say much and directly led his troops north.

Then they robbed the Chenjun treasury.

The style is very pragmatic.

That’s not all. After boarding the boat on the canal, they continued northward, passing through Xingyang, and captured Xingyang “on the way”.

In addition, the Wagang Army, which had withdrawn its forces, directly captured the entire Yanzhou territory, which had a weak defense, almost without bloodshed.

Xingyang is an important city in the country and a key road on the canal. The actions of the Wagang Army directly put Luoyang into the embarrassing situation of fighting on multiple fronts.

Although Luoyang has Hulao Pass in the east, Xiaohan Pass in the west, and the Yellow River in the north, its defense system and geographical advantages are not as solid as Guanzhong.

The new emperor Murong Yang had only been on the throne for a few months, but the situation was even more critical than when the previous emperor Murong Chao was in power.

Moreover, the slogan raised by Wagang was extremely unfriendly, claiming to be for revenge for Emperor Guangping.

The pretext of revenge naturally corresponds to the claim from Chang'an that Emperor Guangping was poisoned to death by Murong Yang.

Zhai Rang saw it very clearly. In the long run, the Li family might be Wagang's rival for the world, but for now, if Wagang wanted to continue to develop its power and expand its territory, the best option was to go west.

Seize Yuzhou, Yanzhou and the surrounding areas of Luoyang, because this is the Central Plains.

Fight for the Central Plains, fight for the Central Plains. Only by winning the Central Plains can you win the world.

There was some panic in the Luoyang court.

Just as the imperial edict was issued to ask Lou Jushi and Murong Deyu to support the Western Wei, Wagang stabbed them on the eastern front.

The situation changed from being able to handle it with ease to being unable to save himself. Murong Yang even had an idea that seemed absurd to him: how about giving up Luoyang?
This idea even made Murong himself feel outrageous.

As the most powerful city in the world and the Eastern Capital built by his father, Emperor Zhaowu Murong Ying, if even this is abandoned, then will Dayan be in name only?

Therefore, he didn't dare and couldn't open his mouth.

Otherwise, the court officials would have to criticize him severely.

But he also vaguely felt that this was a highly feasible strategy.

Give up Luoyang and let the Wagang Army occupy it directly, and lead the army to retreat to Hebei. In this way, the Wagang Army will definitely fight with Li Yuan in Guanzhong over the ownership of Luoyang.

He led his troops to retreat to Hebei and watched the fight between two tigers from the mountain.

From the perspective of feasibility alone, this plan is indeed worth considering.

But after he told his trusted adviser Liang Chongli, Liang Chongli directly rejected it.

This former soldier in the Wu Palace, now a close confidant of the emperor who serves as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, stated directly: Although the situation is critical now, there are a million people in Luoyang, tens of millions of grains in the Luokou warehouse, and the court still has an army of 200,000. Even if Yuzhou and Yanzhou are lost, with Luoyang's defense, even if a million people come to attack the city, they may not be able to break the city. The two states of Hebei are still under the control of the court. If you abandon Luoyang and lead the army northward, the hearts of the people in the world will no longer be in Dayan, and Hebei will certainly not be able to be defended by then. It is better to return to your hometown in Liaodong and compete with the Goguryeo people.

These words woke Murong Yang up.

There was no mention of giving up Luoyang.

Later, Liang Chongli gave Murong Yang some advice, suggesting that troops from Hebei should be sent in at this time, and at the same time, high positions and generous salaries should be given to the Tuoba clan in Bingzhou in exchange for the Tuoba clan's submission and attacking Guanzhong from Hedong.

Murong Yang naturally accepted them one by one as if he had found a life-saving straw.

The nobles in Luoyang were in a state of panic, and Mr. Lou in Yuzhou was also in a dilemma.

The imperial edict in the court ordered him to go to Jingzhou to rescue Nanyang.

However, he had less than 100,000 soldiers and horses. If he followed the instructions in the imperial edict to rescue Jingzhou, then if Li Yuanhui of Jianghuai went north, or if the Wagang Army directly marched into Yuzhou along the Honggou, he would be attacked from both sides.

Under this situation, the only option left for him was to divide his forces.

Mr. Lou ordered Murong Deyu to lead more than 40,000 elite troops from home and abroad to enter Jingzhou to rescue Nanyang. He himself led more than 30,000 troops to station in Pingyu to form a pincer attack with Ding Jingzhen's troops in Yiyang to deal with Li Yuanhui.

If the Jianghuai Army goes north to Ruyin, the Western Wei Grand Commander Martin Jingzhen can attack the rear. If it goes west to attack Yiyang and Biyang, Lou Jushi in Pingyu can also send troops to support it.

If Li Yuanhui did not have enough troops, he would naturally not be able to attack Jingzhou or go to Yingchuan to threaten Luoyang.

As for the Wagang behind him, Lou Jushi ordered the governor of Runan and the military officer Li Yaoshi to lead 20,000 troops and station them in Xuchang to prevent being attacked from both sides.

Since Li Yaoshi was ordered by Murong Chao to join the army as the Grand Commander, Lou Jushi has followed all of Murong Chao's plans.

Mr. Lou also said to Pharmacist Li, "In the future, the person who can sit in my position and lead the army to bring peace to the world will probably be you, right?"
Such an evaluation represents undisguised appreciation and respect.

This time, it was only natural for him and Murong Deyu, as generals, to lead different routes.

As for the third detachment to guard against Wagang, the army thought that the candidate for the commander would be the Right Huben General Pu Gusu, or the Left Dragon Warrior General Xue Qi. Both of them were capable of leading an army in terms of seniority, fame and achievements.

But Mr. Lou chose Li Yaoshi, who had just taken up the post of governor of Runan and was still serving as the commander-in-chief of military affairs.

Such an appointment surprised the entire army. Pu Gusu and Xue Qi did not say much, because they both had to lead their troops to Jingzhou with Murong Deyu.

However, these people soon realized how powerful the person they criticized was.

(End of this chapter)