Chapter 484: National disaster calls for good generals

The Tang Dynasty's war machine began to move, which naturally could not be hidden from the nearby sleepers.

Needless to say, the Northern Han, having captured a large number of Tang officials in the Battle of Baigou, was extremely successful in infiltrating Guanzhong and Luoyang.

And immediately formulated a strategy to take this opportunity to attack the Central Plains.

As for the Eastern Wei and Western Wei, things naturally became clear as time went by, especially the Western Wei.

Cao Xuan could even feel the chill from the Tang army's swords.

Starting from July, the Western Wei began to receive continuous news of troops and large amounts of food and fodder gathering in Wancheng in the north. Food and fodder were also being mobilized in Shuzhong and Jiangzhou.

Jiangxia County under the rule of the Tang Dynasty began to purchase rice on a large scale, so much so that people in the southern counties of Jingzhou took risks to sell grain at a high price. They transported grain to Jiangxia for sale despite the strict inspection of the navy, and the practice continued despite repeated bans.

Obviously, this was a sign that the Tang Dynasty was preparing to launch an attack on Jingzhou.

Because Jiangxia itself is part of the Jianghan Plain, and backed by the Poyang Plain of Yuzhang, it is also an important grain-producing area. These places are rich in fish and rice and can grow at least two crops of rice a year. As long as there are no disasters, there will be no shortage of food.

Therefore, such a large-scale purchase of food at such high prices can only mean that a war is about to break out.

Combined with the unusual movements in Wancheng and Shuzhong, it can be confirmed that military action is going to be taken against Jingzhou.

Cao Xuan had no choice but to summon the Grand Secretary Martin Jingzhen, who had been unemployed for a long time, and the General of Chariots and Cavalry Lei Shimeng and other heroes who had supported him as emperor, as well as the Jingzhou nobles Kuai Wenxian and Xiang Gong who were now in his employ.
The so-called imperial palace in Xiangyang was not very big, because Cao Xuan was not actually a person who liked luxury, and he actually governed the Western Wei Dynasty quite well.

And Cao Xuan has also been working hard to make achievements in the Northern Expedition and restore the glory of the Wei Dynasty.

But unfortunately, I am not capable of doing that.

He was quite good at political scheming and was also quite capable of governing the local areas, but he was far inferior to military leaders like Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng, and You Zilu in terms of military command and use of troops.

And although he seemed to have given high positions and generous salaries to these ministers who supported him, he was actually always very wary of them, which inevitably increased a lot of internal friction.

In the meeting hall, Cao Xuan, who was already in his fifties, had some graying hair on his temples, but his eyes were still bright and his figure was upright.

Wearing the emperor's uniform, he looked at Ding Jingzhen and Lei Shimeng and said, "Lord Ding and Lord Lei, I haven't seen you for a while. How are you doing?"

Ding Jingzhen said: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Everything is fine."

Lei Shimeng, who was nearly fifty years old and still in good health, patted his chest and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I am very strong and can still fight for Your Majesty!"

Cao Xuan said solemnly, "That's great. I didn't want to disturb Lord Ding and Lord Lei, but the situation is critical. The Tang Dynasty wants to send 500,000 troops to attack the Western Wei. At this critical moment, I hope you can lend me a helping hand to defeat the powerful enemy and save the Kingdom of Wei." Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng and others clasped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, we dare not shirk our responsibilities. Please give your orders."

Cao Xuan got down from his seat and walked up to Ding Jingzhen and Lei Shimeng, holding their arms and saying, "With the two of you helping me, what else do I have to worry about? General Xiang, please tell the other generals about the situation."

Upon hearing this, General Xiang Gong stepped out and said, "As you command."

"A few days ago, my spies have received reliable intelligence from Wancheng and Shuzhong. The Tang Dynasty is preparing to divide its troops into four routes. Among them, Li Xuanqing, the King of Jin in Guanzhong, will personally lead 200,000 elite troops from Guanzhong out of Wuguan to Wancheng to attack our Xiangyang. Shuzhong will send 150,000 troops, led by Wang Yao, the governor of Yizhou, to leave Baidi City and go down the river to attack our Yidao and Jiangling. Li Yaoshi, the governor of Qingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, will lead the army of Luoyang out of the three passes of Yiyang and go to Jiangxia to attack our flank. There are also naval forces from Jiangzhou and Yangzhou, which will go up the river from Xiakou. These two routes have a total of 150,000 troops."

"Recently, Jiangxia and Wancheng have been stockpiling military rations, and Tang troops from all over the country are gathering. I think the intelligence should be correct."

Xiang Gong was born into the Xiang family, a noble family in Jingzhou. Originally, he did not think highly of Cao Xuan. However, over the years, forces in various places rose and fell, and after Cao Xuan became emperor, he was able to hold on to powerful enemies and rule southern Jing for more than ten years. He was considered a great man of the time.

Therefore, Xiang Gong gradually changed his mentality, became Cao Xuan's right-hand man, and even took charge of the central army, becoming one of the most powerful generals in the Western Wei Dynasty.

After hearing the information, Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng, You Zilu and others all looked solemn.

After a while, Ding Jingzhen said, "I think that the so-called 500,000-man army of the Tang Dynasty should be a lie. After the Battle of Baigou, although the Tang army reorganized the Weifu soldiers, it is impossible to exceed the number of the previous army. Therefore, the total number of Tang troops in Guanzhong will not exceed 200,000, and it is impossible to send all of them to Jingzhou. So I think the army in Jingzhou should be around 100,000. As for Shuzhong, the so-called 150,000 is even more impossible. With the wealth of Shuzhong, it is not impossible to support a 100,000-man army. But will the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty really let Shuzhong have a 100,000-man army? I think the number of troops sent from Shuzhong will not exceed 100,000, at most 70,000 or 80,000, and there must be troops from Hanzhong and Guanzhong. As for the Tang army in the Central Plains and Jianghuai, if they send out 150,000, they will not be afraid of the Eastern Puppet and Northern Han sending troops? Li Yuanhui has always been cautious in his actions, and the two Tang armies will never exceed 100,000."

"The total force of the Tang army will never exceed 300,000 this time, and they are divided into several routes. I think we can divide our troops to guard the dangerous passes, Xiangyang and Fancheng in the north, Yidao and Yiling in the west, and Linzhang and Dunkou in the east. As long as we hold the strongholds on the Jianghan waterway, we can keep the Tang army out, and the prosperity of our great Wei will be safe."

The places Ding Jingzhen mentioned are all important strongholds along the Yangtze River and Han River. They are also the only way to advance by water. If you want to attack Jingzhou, you must take these strongholds on the waterways.

Because the cost of transporting grain by land was too high and the waterways in the Jianghan Plain were relatively developed, it would be impossible to take Jingzhou without a strong navy.

The Tang army had a navy. The navies of Shuzhong and Jianghuai probably had thousands of warships combined, so the Xiangfan battlefield in the north was destined to be a city attack and defense battle. Navies were also needed in the east and west directions to deal with the enemy's navy.

After listening to Ding Jingzhen's words, Cao Xuan thought for a long time before finally making up his mind and said, "In this case, I will lead the army to resist the enemy in Xiangfan, and ask You Gong to lead the army to stop the enemy in Shuzhong, and Dunkou and Linzhang will be handed over to Ding Gong. Please do not refuse."

You Zilu was originally a general of the Yan navy. He led his troops to surrender to the Western Wei regime in the early days of its establishment. Therefore, his official position was second only to Ding Jingzhen and was the general.

Upon hearing this, Ding and You both clasped their hands and bowed to show that they accepted the order.

When they left the hall, Lei Shimeng said excitedly: "Brother Ding, this time we can show our skills again, hahahaha, I have been in Xiangyang for the past few years, and I haven't been in the army for a long time. I feel very depressed."

Ding Jingzhen remained calm and composed, and asked, "Brother Lei, you don't think that we can easily resist the Tang army coming from Guanzhong and mobilizing troops from the Central Plains and Bashu, right?"

Lei Shimeng frowned when he heard this. He had fought against the Tang army and knew how brave they were. However, some of his fear was masked by the excitement of not having to fight for many years. But Ding Jingzhen's words brought back some bad memories.

An unknown number of Tang cavalrymen rushed over, and the elite troops he relied on as his confidants were slaughtered one-sidedly by the black-armored knights like wheat. Now the old knife wound on his shoulder still hurts.
The country won’t be destroyed by the attack, right?
(End of this chapter)