Chapter 253 Get through

Nanyang, Wancheng.

The 140,000-strong army, as well as an almost equal number of laborers and auxiliary troops, built a large camp around Wancheng, leaving only a gap in the north, which was in line with the military strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one.

The army in Guanzhong is now called the Western Yan Army, or the Li Army.

This name came not only because the two main commanders of the army were both surnamed Li, but also because almost the entire Western Yan court was also surnamed Li.

The brothers Li Dalang and Li Erlang fought side by side for the first time, serving as the left and right commanders respectively. Although the left commander was nominally superior, and as the elder brother, Li Dalang should be the first commander.

However, because Li Erlang's military achievements were too outstanding and he had cooperated with various generals, Li Dalang's influence in the army could not be compared with that of his second brother.

So the two brothers formed a tacit understanding without any communication.

Li Er was in charge of military marching and fighting, while Dalang was in charge of logistics and supply.

The two of them cooperated very well, and Li Er also respected his elder brother enough, so the two brothers cooperated quite well.

Although most of the generals in the army were close to Li Er, there were also some who were very close to Li Dalang.

Especially Li Yuan's former confidants and old subordinates, whether by instruction or on their own initiative, all became close to Li Dalang.

Li Er was in charge of all the marching, including how to set up camp according to the terrain and deploy troops after arriving in Wancheng.

Li Dalang handled the military supply, conscription of civilian laborers, and baggage transportation in an orderly manner.

At the very beginning, before the two brothers set out to fight, they sent spies to gather information and gained some understanding of the situation in Wancheng.

First of all, Wancheng is a strong city. The walls are high and thick. If there is no internal and external support, if you want to break through from the front, as long as the defenders have enough food, it is unknown how long they can hold out.

The premise is that there is enough food.

Therefore, no matter how useful the siege equipment is, or how sophisticated the siege methods are, they are not as important as food.

There are more than 30,000 defenders in Huangniujiao city. They are the old troops who have fought with him all the way from Qingxu area for so many years, and some of them are elite troops absorbed from Yuzhou and Jingzhou. The combat effectiveness of these 30,000 people is not low.

But with more than 30,000 mouths to feed, plus the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the field, how long can this food last?

After careful study, the two brothers decided to surround Wancheng without attacking it, but to withdraw Xinye, Rangxian and Nanxiang outside Wancheng.

In the end, only Wancheng, an isolated city, remained.

The siege plan went smoothly. Li Er sent General Yuwen Jue to attack Xinye, Liu Zongxun to attack Rang County, and Mu Changling to attack Nanxiang, all of which were captured.

The reinforcements from Yuzhou, led by Changsha King Murong Deyu, consisted of 40,000 infantry and cavalry. They set out from Ye County, but were stopped by Li Er's army when they crossed Funiu Mountain.

The two sides fought a fierce battle between Funiu Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain.

In this battle, Li Er led more than 10,000 cavalrymen against Murong Deyu's 40,000 infantry and cavalry.

Li Er ordered Li Xiaojie to lead light cavalry to lure the enemy, causing Murong Deyu's cavalry to become disconnected from the infantry due to the pursuit.

Afterwards, the ambush troops were deployed, and Hou Jun and Zhang Jin on both sides each led a thousand cavalry to encircle and divide the infantry and cavalry. Li Er then personally led three thousand armored cavalry to fiercely attack the infantry formation of the Yan army.

In this battle, Li Er personally braved the arrows and stones, and led Xue Renmei, Yuwen Xiao and other fierce generals to charge into the battle formation five times in a row, and finally defeated the Eastern Yan army's infantry formation in one fell swoop.

In the Battle of Funiushan, the Western Yan side beheaded more than 8,000 enemies, captured more than 20,000 enemies, and the rest fled.

From the Eastern Wei side, Murong Deyu led hundreds of cavalry to escape the encirclement.

Li Sanlang's army also followed the Han River all the way to Xiangfan, surrounded Fancheng north of the Han River, and fought several battles with the Wei army in succession, successfully suppressing Cao Xuan's intention to move north.

Sima Xiuye, who had been in Fangling Shangyong for several years, was not idle. Although there were few battles in the past few years, a lot of food was stored. The fact that Shangyong and Fangling, which were mainly mountainous areas, could still store food was enough to show that he had some ability in governing the area. Sima Xiuye ​​probably hoped that Guanzhong could seize Jingzhou as soon as possible, except for Li Yuanhui.

Because he has a past relationship with Li Yuan, he can take advantage of the Li family's rise to power.

He was in a very awkward position in the three eastern counties, and he himself did not have the talent and determination to enter the world, so he wrote a letter to Li Yuan, with whom he had a good relationship, to express his attitude. The meaning was probably that if you quickly attack Jingzhou, I will definitely help you.

After Sima Xiuye ​​joined forces with Li Sanlang, he directly handed over tens of thousands of soldiers under his command to Li Sanlang, as if he was getting rid of a burden.

Even Li Sanlang couldn't be so generous.

But Sima Xiuye's words made Li Sanlang understand that the other party had also settled the accounts.

"When I arrive in Chang'an, will your father not abandon one of your servants?"

If I go to Chang'an, will your father not give me the position of prime minister?

The calculation is clear.

This has to do with the fact that Li Yuan had been an official for many years, and the golden reputation he had established since he started the rebellion, such as "leniency", "generosity", "elegance", "the demeanor of an elder", and "the qualities of a heroic hegemon".

Why did the Yuwen family and the ministers in Chang'an choose to surrender when they still had tens of thousands of people under their command?

Because everyone knows that you are a loyal person, there is nothing wrong in hanging out with you.

This kind of thinking is now widely prevalent in Wancheng.

Even Huang Niujiao himself was somewhat tempted. Why not surrender to the Li family?

It seems that those who surrendered to the Li family all had a good ending?

However, Cao Xuan treated him quite well, so Huang Niu Jiao was a little conflicted.

After discussing with his good brother Xu Tianzuo, he decided to wait and see for a while.

There is enough food and grass in the city to last for about two months and defend for one month.

If Cao Xuan can open up a passage to the north and rescue Wancheng, then there is nothing to say. If he can't go up, he will be trapped in an isolated city and it will be over sooner or later.

By July, Cao Xuan's attempt to go north failed again and he could only defend Xiangfan.

After the Battle of Funiushan, Li Er returned to Wancheng and rushed southwest almost non-stop to capture Sui County.

This move shocked Ding Jingzhen in Yiyang.

Now Xiling has been lost. If Sui County is lost as well, the troops stationed in Yiyang and the three passes will become rootless and isolated.

So Ding Jingzhen quickly gave up Biyang, Yiyang, Geyang and the three passes of Yiyang, and then withdrew his troops to the south, preparing to retreat to Anlu.

Then, the Grand Marshal of the Western Wei Dynasty understood what speed is of the essence in war.

On the way to Anlu, tens of thousands of Western Wei troops were caught up by 3,000 cavalry led by Li Er himself, and they were "severely defeated" again, and "only escaped with their lives."

Of course, it is an exaggeration to say that he escaped with his life. When Ding Jingzhen entered Anlu, he was still accompanied by dozens of personal guards.

Moreover, a large number of Western Wei soldiers, nearly 10,000 people, also successfully fled back to Anlu.

But in the short term, this army is estimated to have little combat effectiveness because its organization has been disbanded. Only when the organization and command system are restored can the army go out to fight.

This battle became the last straw that broke the camel's back, and finally prompted Huang Niu Jiao to surrender.

In September, Huang Niujiao and Xu Tianzuo opened the city and surrendered.

Western Yan took control of the strategic location of Wancheng, and also obtained the three passes of Yiyang, Goyang and other places.

This means that the connection between Guanzhong and Jianghuai has been opened. After several years, the Li brothers are finally going to reunite.

(End of this chapter)