Chapter 80 Yumen Attack and Defense

The Cao family finally took action.

Since the people dealt with this time were a big trouble, political propaganda and military strikes must be used at the same time. If it is an invasion of foreign enemies, the Cao family can mobilize the entire territory within one day. However, there is an unclear alliance and friendship relationship between the Anxi Army and the Guiyi Army. The force displayed by Zhang Mai made Cao Yuande feel that it was too slim to destroy him with a small-scale sneak attack. He had to exert the country. It was not that the Cao family could do it in just one sentence, so all the preparations in the early stage took a lot of effort.

Cao Yuande replaced Cao Yuanshen with Yan Su, and took control of the military power of Guazhou. At the same time, he sent Kang Long to Yizhou to unify the troops deployed by the Guiyi Army in Yizhou. Shazhou attacked the Zhang family, Li family and other families, as well as Buddhist forces that were obviously inclined to Zhang Mai, and placed Cao Yuanshen under house arrest. Although he did not successfully encircle Cao Yuanzhong, Cao Yuanzhong chose to shrink himself to the northwest border, and Cao Yuande was not even able to do so. Only then did the internal integration of the Guiyi Army be roughly completed.

When Cao Yuanzhong arrived in Shazhou, the defenders of Jinchang City had already been dispatched. Yan Su used to be Murong Guiying's deputy, and in recent years he has been in charge of government affairs in Shazhou. His official position was equivalent to Murong Guiying and he had a high prestige within the Guiyi Army, so Cao Yuande sent him to take over Jinchang.

But it is different to want the army not to rebel and to want the army to fight to the death.

Yan Su took over Guazhou's defense, and Jinchang's generals didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but when it came to control this army, he was much worse than Murong Guiying's. Even Murong Tenglai might be better than him, because in the eyes of many Guazhou generals, Murong Teng is Murong Guiying's son, and to some extent, it can represent Nai's father's will.

Furthermore, the target of the attack this time was Zhang Mai. Zhang Mai was not the first day for the generals of Guazhou. When Zhang Mai attacked Yanqi, the Guiyi army was going to mediate. Zhang Maiyi. The Cao family invited the Anxi army to withdraw from the Tiemen Pass, and the Anxi army retreated. Cao Yijin invited Zhang Mai to Long. Zhang Mai came without saying a word. The Uighurs in Ganzhou invaded Guazhou. Zhang Mai led troops to rescue him. In a night attack, he forced tens of thousands of Huma with three thousand people, and almost captured Di Yin. That was something that happened under his nose. Until the relationship between the two sides officially broke down, the military and civilians of Guazhou were all talking about it. This influence could not be offset by a manifesto. Therefore, when he heard that he wanted to attack Zhang Mai, many people within the Guiyi army felt that it was unreasonable. Many soldiers and generals were afraid of Zhang Mai, and they became lazy in this action.

When the staff meeting was held, when Yan Su ordered the generals to offer advice, Li Yifu, the governor of Guazhou, said: "Donald Yan, this time he went to attack Yumen Pass, but he didn't know what to say to the soldiers."

Yan Su frowned and said, "What do you think!"

Li Yifu said: "The army follows the right path, and the right name means the right words, but I don't know what we are trying to attack Zhang Mai?"

Yan Yishan said: "Zhang Mai pretended to be an imperial envoy and provoked our relationship with Ganzhou. As a Hu man, he pretended to be a Han man and had bad intentions towards me, Hexi. Therefore, he ordered the Duke to order a storm to fight against the ten major crimes listed in Zhang's manifesto. Haven't you read it?"

Li Yifu said: "The fake imperial envoy is too much on the northwest ground in more than a hundred years! It was Zhang Yichao himself who started the army in the name of the court. However, after entering Chang'an, the court admitted it, so everyone accused it. As for pretending to be Han people, I dare not doubt Ling Gong's judgment, but our Guiyi army has not made friends with the Hu people. Yutian is also Hu'er, who is known as the Han people. We are not the relatives of him?"

Yan Su's face darkened, and Yan Yishan shouted: "Li Biejia, what do you mean by saying these words? Do you want to disobey?"

"Don't dare." Li Yifu said: "As long as it is Ling Gong's order, Bei Zhi dare not refuse to obey him. It's just that Bei Zhi thought that Zhang Mai was the guest we invited after all. Even if he really made a ill-thinking plan against us, we can expel him. Now we have joined forces with the Uighurs in Ganzhou to siege him, which is unreasonable."

Yan Su did not debate with him and said frankly: "Bold Li Yifu! Our army is about to move, how dare you speak for the enemy chief? Have you taken the benefit of Zhang Mai? Come quickly!"

Li Yifu was shocked: "I have never even seen Zhang Mai's face, how can I take his benefits?"

Yan Su said coldly: "If it weren't for this, why did you come to abdicate our morale? Just from your words just now, it is undoubtedly proved that you are Zhang Mai's spy! Come here!"

The Yan family is also an old family. Yan Su came to Gua without being empty-handed. There was a confidant soldier in front of the tent. When he heard the order, Yan Su said, "Pull this spy down and behead him!"

Li Yifu was shocked, and all the generals thought: "Li Yifu hit the knife at this moment. Yan Su is coming and is about to find an opportunity to establish his authority." But he was afraid that Yan Su would start to kill people and demote officials one by one, and he couldn't help but even himself, the so-called protection of things, came up to plead with mercy and shouted: "Li was not loyal to the three generations of people, and he must be a spy. Please investigate Yan Gongming."

Yan Su still wanted to punish Li Yifu. Twenty-five of the twenty-eight generals in the tent had knelt down. They were all willing to use their lives to guarantee that Li Yifu was not a spy. Yan Su said coldly: "If he is not a spy, but he neglects the morale of the army before sending troops, he will also be considered as a death!"

Li Yifu even had several friends who paused their heads and bleeded, shouting: "Duke Yan, Li Gongxun is outstanding, and he killed him with one sentence, for fear that the soldiers of the three armies would not accept it."

Yan Su said coldly: "If you have any credit, you can do whatever you want, so what else should you do!"

When the generals who were pleading for mercy heard this, they changed their words and said, "Before the army moves, kill the general first, Yu Jun is forbidden." They also said, "Although Li Yifu has committed a crime, he will not die. Please be lenient."

From pioneers to logistics, everyone came to persuade them. Even the two or three people who were very disagreeable with Li Yifu on weekdays came out to persuade them. They were not to save Li Yifu, but most of them moved at this time. If they did not follow the crowd, they would be rejected by others in the future, so they were out of the list.

Finally, even Yan Yishan said, "Uncle, Li Yifu is punished, but the spy has not been revealed. I beg my uncle to spare his life." He also knelt down.

At this time, only Yan Su and a few soldiers were standing there. Seeing that the fire was almost the same, Yan Su said, "Well, I'll send you your life, but the death penalty can be avoided, and the crime of living cannot be escaped. Delay it and beat forty military sticks to serve as a warning!" Seeing that someone was coming to plead, he waved his hand and said, "If anyone dares to plead again, he will be punished with Li Yifu!" The generals were so scared that they dared not stand up again.

The warriors dragged Li Yifu down and puffed him, and the forty army sticks were hit hard, and the two flesh and blood were fuzzy before dragging them up again.

Yan Su didn't even look at him, and he deprived him of his position on the spot. He sent another general to take over and said, "Everyone is ready to go, and set off at noon tomorrow. Anyone who delays his resignation will be dealt with by military law!"

The generals hurriedly went busy, but a few intimate people came to find Li Yifu to see his injuries. Li Yifu lay on the bed and sighed: "I have nothing to worry about if these forty military sticks didn't beat me to death, but Yan Su sent troops against the righteousness and could not defeat others with virtue, so he could only suppress others with might. With such a morale, if he went to deal with the rebellious peasants or herders, it would be fine, but he would go to deal with Zhang Longxiang... Alas! Those who go out of the city to fight, please take care of me. I should pray for you in Jinchang."

Everyone sighed and retreated, but the news leaked to Yan Su. When Yan Yishan found out, he said angrily: "This Li Yifu has been beaten forty military sticks but still has no repentance. He is still there to bewitch people's hearts! Uncle, why not kill him to sacrifice the flag!"

Yan Su was in a powerful military tent, but then shook his head and said, "What are you anxious about? Most of the people we are in charge of now are subordinates trained by Murong Guiying. They are like teachers and fathers of Murong. This time, Murong and his son were imprisoned by the eldest son and broke off contact with Guazhou. His old subordinates must have doubts and uneasy. However, these are internal decisions. They dare not make a comment, so they made a fuss about Zhang Mai, expressing some resentment and making some temptations. Now the eldest son and Di Yin urged the army to promote the army very tightly. They beat Li Yifu just to show others, so that others would not dare to act rashly. After they could leave the city, they would slowly use military rules to smear them."

Yan Yishan asked: "Uncle, do you think we have a great chance of winning this time to attack Zhang Mai?"

"This..." Yan Su pondered: "This person must be extremely unfighted. Fortunately, he also has weaknesses, that is, he is in a siege, and the more he is in a siege, the less he can keep up. Let's set up troops and horses to surround him, and Zhang Mai is unable to fly. However, Di Yin takes the lead in the battle, and he consumes his energy. When the Anxi army is exhausted, it will not be too late to collect the results of the battle."

Yan Yishan said: "This plan is very wonderful, but Shazhou seems to hope to make a quick battle. Besides, if time continues to delay, what if the news leaks into Gaochang and they are sending troops to help?"

Yan Su smiled coldly and said, "Fight quickly, Humph, they stand and speak without a back pain. They naturally want to solve the problem quickly when they are in the rear, but are our opponents able to solve the problem quickly? Satuk, Gudu, Viaga and Di Yin have all suffered the loss of aggressive advancement? Now our troops are better than the other party, so don't worry about food and supplies. You should use the long and short. Why fight with Zhang Mai? The faster you will have something to happen. Don't forget that the person surnamed Zhang is the best at surprise attacks. As for Gaochang, hehe, you don't have to worry. Everything has been arranged long ago. Now Zhang Mai's subordinates are afraid that they have no time to save their master."

——————————

After Yan Su left the city, he arranged 150 teams of cavalry to quickly rush to Guabei, chasing Zhang Mai's big flag and red satin blood spear tightly. Yan Yishan said, "Zhang Mai is the most cunning, but the people may not be there when his big flag is located." Yan Su said, "You don't understand this. This flag is a symbol. Seizing the big flag is equivalent to taking half of Zhang Mai, and winning the battle is half. We advance with a dignified army. As long as we don't reveal flaws, we are not afraid of him using strange things."

Yan Su was one of the only veterans of Guiyi Army who had achieved fruitful results in the Zhang family chaos. He had a good governance of the army. Although the Guazhou army was deeply influenced by Murong Guiying, as time went by, Yan Su's control over the army became stronger and stronger. At the same time, Cao Yuande sent nine thousand troops from Dunhuang to his command. Yan Su slowly eliminated or transferred disobedient generals, and gradually replaced seven generals. After the re-adjustment, the command of the army became smoother, and those who did not kiss him obediently would obey his command.

The army advanced north along the Styx. Di Yin sent people to write a letter to meet him. Yan Su sent people to return the letter, but still advocated a split and joint attack. He took Yumen Pass as the core, mobilized Yizhou troops to block the northwest, and gave up the southeast to attack Di Yin. He occupied all the key strongholds from the west to the south. The cavalry came and went, and opened the way forward, behind them were infantry taking root. Starting from Jinchang, approaching Yumen Pass step by step, and within ten days, a circle of loose and tight encirclement seemed to be loose, but in terms of the results achieved, it seemed to be slow and fast.

Although Yang Yi was the commander-in-chief of the Tang army, he also galloped out of the pass to peek at the enemy's military situation. When the military masters saw the opponent's layout, they could see a leaf falling and falling in autumn. After Yang Yi looked at the enemy, he was quite impressed and came back and said to Zhang Mai: "The enemy has come a veteran. It's so hot. It seems that he is not inferior to Uncle Yong!"

Zhang Mai said: "Can you fight him?"

Yang Yi said with a sneer: "It's not that the army is facing each other by a ruler than the height. The generals have their own strengths. It depends on the right time, place and people."

Xue Yunshan is familiar with the water sources and geography around Yumen Pass, but Yan Su is more familiar than him! In addition to the bright water sources known to Xue Yunshan, he also has sixteen dark water sources. Xue Yunshan once told Zhang Maijiance that he should use the geography of the deserts around Yumen Pass to control the water sources and harass the enemy. He also said that he would not be afraid of the opponent's army's suppression when fighting here, because the army suddenly surged to gather together. If the battle could not be done quickly, supply would be a problem. It is barely enough for the water sources near Yumen Pass to provide the army with drinking, but it is impossible to ensure that the army can have enough water to keep cool and moist. Now it is summer, and the sun is fierce, and people are exposed to the sun on the sand for too long and cannot keep up with water, and they will collapse without fighting. Xue Yunshan's construction strategy is to take advantage of the right time and place near Yumen Pass.

However, Yan Su did not advance with a large army, but sent a small group of troops to attack. His own army stayed in the lower reaches of the Styx River, which was located in the southeast of Yumen Pass. It was stationed here without worrying about not having enough drinking water, and could contact Di Yin nearby. What made Yang Yi admire was that Yan Su actually used the method of using troops at night to advance to compete for the water source.

When the army was operating, it was most afraid of night attacks, but Yan Su had the conditions for night battles: a large number of soldiers in his army were familiar with the terrain of Guabei, and they were local wars here, and they could distinguish the roads even in the dark night. Moreover, Yan Su had more soldiers than Zhang Mai, and could bear more losses than Zhang Mai. Even if an accident occurred, a small number of troops would not interfere with the overall situation of the army too much.

Yang Yi originally wanted to win by surprise, but Yan Su sent dozens of cavalry to take the dark water source as a base. These dark water sources are usually located near the bright water source. They only have to shovel the surface to expose the ground spring or wet sand. Yan Su first occupied the dark water source and formed an encirclement of the bright water source. Following the Tang army's cavalry that was invaded by the Ming water source, step by step, removing the Tang army's stronghold outside the Yumen Pass City.

Seeing this method, Yang Yi couldn't help but praise him and said to Zhang Mai: "It's amazing, we're meeting an opponent that is not easy to deal with. I didn't expect that there were such people in the Guiyi army!" If Guo Shiyong must be worried at this moment, Yang Yi would be excited instead.

Yan Su used this approaching tactic and pushed the front line to the vicinity of Yumen Pass fifteen days after leaving Jinchang. His vanguard cavalry sometimes rushed to the bottom of Yumen Pass. The construction strategy that Xue Yunshan said had completely failed.

You should know that this Yumen Pass is the dividing point between the Guiyi Army and the Hundred Treasures. The climate and geography of the Zebei region north of Yumen Pass is the intersecting deserts and grasslands, which is more conducive to the activities of the Hundred Treasures. To the south of Yumen Pass, there is irrigation farmland, and grasslands and sandy land. A hundred years ago, it was the place where irrigation farmlands were everywhere. The army mixed with infantry and cavalry can play a greater role in this area. These are the impacts of geography and climate on the military division, so the northernmost direct control stronghold in Guazhou is at Yumen Pass.

Yan Su had explored the land in Guabei for countless years, and knew every mountain and every sand dune, so he arranged for the uprising of troops and retreating as if he could predict the actions deployed by Yang Yi! However, Yang Yi, the small base he arranged in some military blind spots, may not be able to see in time. Gradually, the dominance of the war gradually fell to Yan Su.

The main force of the Guiyi Army still did not appear in the view on the Yumen Pass city wall, but Yang Yi in the city had already felt the pressure, knowing that this opponent must be within a day or two away from Yumen Pass at this moment. As long as his side exposed his flaws, he would immediately start an attack!

In the eyes of laymen, the two armies still couldn't see who was better and who was playing. Just as the chess was not in the middle game, the two sides were still in a difficult position to distinguish. Including the middle and low-level soldiers and generals of the two families, the brother was all confused by the authorities, but Yan Su and Yang Yi knew in their hearts that the situation had become increasingly beneficial to the Guiyi Army.

Yan Yishan also saw this and added good news to Dunhuang's daily documents. After listening to his draft, Yan Su asked him to remove the good news, and instead asked him to describe the situation in a critical way. Yan Yishan said: "Now Dunhuang needs good news urgently. Now our army is clearly in favor, why do we have to say the opposite?"

Yan Su said: "It is precisely because Dunhuang needs good news that he cannot give it to him! You are not unaware that the eldest son is very confident about the situation in Hexi now. He wants to make a record and consolidate his position. If you report good news now, he will immediately urge us to advance troops when he sees it. The battle with Zhang Mai will take a long time to fight. If it is a war to promote soldiers, it will be a bad thing! On the contrary, if the situation is unbearable, the eldest son will not blame us when he sees it, but will try to increase troops and food for us."

After hearing Naishun's analysis, Yan Yishan was skeptical, but he still re-wrote the letter according to Yan Su's wishes. Sure enough, after receiving the letter, Cao Yuande immediately sent the letter in a hurry, with all the words of comfort, saying that Yan Su is now a pillar of Hexi, and the survival of Guiyi's army depends on his success or failure of the battle. He encouraged him to persevere and said that he would send additional 5,000 troops to reinforce soon.

After receiving the letter, Yan Su smiled at Yan Yishan and said, "How?"

Yan Yishan admired him and said, "Uncle is a clever plan. Now that Hexi has the opportunity to defeat Zhang Mai, I am afraid that the only uncle is the only one who has the opportunity to defeat Zhang Mai."

Yan Su yelled and said, "Zhang Mai has only 3,000 troops. How many soldiers do we have? He is still so cautious when besieging him with several times his strength. Even if he wins in the end, it will be humiliating even if he wins. There is nothing to boast about."

Yan Yishan said: "Then we should attack next, right?"

Yan Su shook his head and said, "It's not that fast. Zhang Mai must have extraordinary power to fight from Xinxuye City to this point! His three thousand iron cavalry have not moved yet. That is not the iron army of hundreds of battles that can win if there is a large force. Now he is head-on, and there may not be a chance of winning. They must be exhausted and restless. We still can't move. You can go to Di Yin's army and let him change his strategy."

Yan Yishan said: "How to change it?"

Yan Su said: "Zhang Mai is now at Yumen Pass. He looks like an isolated city. In fact, he can advance or retreat. Although the Zebei Grassland is poor, if the herdsmen have been bewitched by Zhang Mai and are willing to tighten their belts and support him, then the Zebei Grassland can also provide Yumen Pass with crude but sustainable resources. If we join forces with Di Yin to attack, we may not be able to attack Yumen Pass, but in that case our losses will definitely be heavy. Moreover, if Zhang Mai is unfavorable, he can retreat to Zebei. At that time, we will chase him again, as if we are catching wind and shadows. After our infantry enters Zebei, they will have a great opportunity to turn defeat into victory. Therefore, to break Yumen Pass, we must first cut off its connection with the Hundred Treasures of Zebei and turn it into a real lonely city."

Yan Yishan was not a mediocre person, so he was mentioned by Naishun and said, "So we can ask Di Yin Khan to send troops to bypass the Daze of Guazhou and harass the rear."

Yan Su laughed and said, "Half right, Di Yin wants to send troops to harass him, but we can do it in three ways: on the one hand, he uses his spirit cavalry to attack from the rear of Yumen Pass to disturb him; on the other hand, he sends people into the grassland and wins over those who are not convinced by Zhang Mai. After all, Zhang Mai has entered Guagua for a short time. Even if he can deceive people, he can't make the Hundred-Treasures a piece of iron plate without gaps, so we still have the opportunity to provoke civil strife of the Hundred-Treasures; the third is to send people to Baowenshan tribe and ask Di Yin to make a great profit to them, and that after the Hundred-Treasures tribe is eliminated, all the north of the Hundred-Treasures will be returned to him."

Yan Yishan said: "It's a good plan, but Di Yin has always been arrogant. If he refuses to listen to his uncle's arrangement..."

"He will listen." Yan Su said: "Di Yin may not pay any attention to us in the past. He didn't take Cao Linggong seriously, but you see his recent attitude and he was also very angry with me. But I still have to be grateful to Zhang Mai. The night attack should have knocked out Di Yin's arrogance. Now he should be jealous and hate Zhang Mai, but he is deeply afraid of him in secret. He will definitely practice the idea I gave him after listening to it."

Yan Yishan took the order and left.

Yang Yi saw that the Guiyi Army's vanguard had repeatedly forced the city to the city, but the main force had not appeared for a long time. Shi Ba wanted to lead his troops to make a tentative attack. Yang Yi refused and said, "The opponent's chief general is a powerful figure. He is extremely skillful in using the mixed and matched infantry and cavalry. This person is even more difficult to deal with than Long Bai. I expect that from this city to the enemy's chief account, there will be layers of traps along the way. It is easy to get in the past, but difficult to get back. Even if you break through and break back, you will be afraid that you will have bleeding and injured. This will make people see through our reality."

Three days later, the besiegers still had no movement. Yang Yi said to Zhang Mai: "This matter is mysterious. I am afraid that the other party will divide his troops to attack our retreat, enter the Zebei grassland, and give us a pot to remove the firewood."

Tian Hao said: "On the Zebei Grassland, Xue Yunshan and Cao Kun have made arrangements. We also have ambushing on the north bank of the lake. We will definitely be able to intercept the troops behind our Guancheng when they attempt to surround the lake."

Yang Yi said, "If the only one who came here is Jiangshan, Cao Kun and others, they can resist it, but what if Di Yin's main force entered the Zebei grassland? Now the opponent's troops are much more than ours, and they can divide their troops."

Shiba asked, "What should I do?"

Yang Yi said: "There are two ways. First, the entire army abandons Yumen Pass and retreats into Zebei immediately."

Zhang Mai said: "That won't work. If you retreat without fighting, you will show your timidity and will not be good for motivating morale in the future."

Yang Yi said: "Then use the second method, but that's even more risky." He stopped talking.

Zhang Mai pondered for a moment and said, "Do you want me to deal with it here? You lead the troops to deal with the troops entering Zebei, and then come back?"

Yang Yi said: "Yes, the red satin blood spear of the Great Protector is enough to restrain tens of thousands of troops. But in that case, it is impossible to make any mistake in the calculation of timing and time! Otherwise, the Great Protector will be in danger."

Tian Hao, Qiu Ziqian and others all felt that Yang Yi’s suggestion was almost speculation out of thin air. It seemed that it was not appropriate to take risks based on such speculation. Tian Hao said: "The enemy is not attacking now, maybe it is just fearing the reputation of the Great Protector. Could it be that General Yang was over-concerned?"

Zhang Mai looked at the changing sky for a while and said, "Although there is no reason, I think what Ayi said is reasonable, and I think something is wrong." He patted Yang Yi on the shoulder and said, "Okay, just do what you said. It's not the first time we cooperate."

Yan Yishan came back from Di Yin's tent and reported to Uncle Nai: "Uncle's divine calculations, Di Yin really agreed. When I left, he had already secretly set off the camp and led the troops to take a detour, but left Long Bai to help his uncle."

Yan Su nodded and smiled, "Okay, it's very good. I'll inform Long Bai that I'll be ready to attack the city tomorrow."

Yan Yishan Daqi: "Didn't you say that you will take action after Di Yin Khan cut off the retreat route of Yumen Pass?"

"That's right," Yan Su said: "But before that I want to see if Zhang Mai is really in Yumen Pass. I don't want to spend time around a red satin blood spear."
Chapter completed!