Chapter 213: The three armies meet

Wei Wensheng was blocked by Cijian Road, and the situation was critical.

The situation is very clear. If the Xijing army fails to quickly kill the Dongdu city to restrain Yang Xuangan's main force, causing Beimang Mountain to be lost under the fierce attack of the rebels, then Wei Wensheng will face the rebels several times his own. Once the Xijing army is defeated, Guanxi will inevitably be in danger.

Wei Wensheng and Wei Fusi discussed overnight and decided to go to Beimang Mountain to meet Pei Hongce first, gather the forces from Guanxi, Hedong and Henoi together, and use the convenience of the river waterway and the favorable terrain of Beimang Mountain to fight head-on with the support of continuous food and grass weapons, and drag the rebels to the city of Dongdu to wait for the arrival of other reinforcements.

That night, Wei Wensheng commanded the army to bypass Cijian, heading north from the intermittent road to Mengjin, crossed the river from Mengjin, and then headed straight to Jinyong City.

The move of the Xijing army just met Yang Xuangan's wish. He could not only fight quickly, but also leave the Xijing army and quickly run to Guanxi when the situation suddenly changes. Yang Xuangan immediately adjusted his deployment, stopped the attack on the Dongdu, gathered the main force and the Hanshui River, returned to Luocang and Jinyong City, and prepared for the decisive battle.

After noon on the 27th, the vanguard of the Xijing army encountered the rebels on the east bank of the Hanshui River and Huiluocang, and the two sides fought fiercely.

In the afternoon, Wei Wensheng, Yuan Chengshou and Huswanshou personally came to the front line to command the battle, while Wei Fusi and Su Shichang stationed their troops in Jingu and met Pei Hongce and Dugu Wu who came after hearing the news.

Pei Hongce could no longer support him, and the army suffered heavy losses. The food and grass weapons that Hanoi could provide reached its limit. At the critical moment, the Xijing army arrived and rushed to the foot of Beimang Mountain, which just saved Pei Hongce. From the 13th of this month to today, Pei Hongce seemed to have experienced a nightmare. The eight thousand army suffered losses in a fierce battle of fourteen consecutive days. If it weren't for the full support from Hanoi, he would have been wiped out.

Now Pei Hongce and Dugu Wu can only count on the Xijing army, and the Xijing army has only 40,000 people. They traveled a long distance and are obviously weaker than the rebels in terms of strength. If they fight to the decisive battle, they will definitely lose. However, if they do not fight to the decisive battle, they will not be able to hold Yang Xuangan. Yang Xuangan is a civil and military strategist, and must have a clear understanding of the development of the situation. His attack on the East may be fake. His real purpose may be to lure the Xijing army to the Dongdu city as bait, and then command his main force to seize the empty Guanxi with lightning speed, and ultimately achieve the strategy of dominating Guanlong.

On the morning of the 28th, Wei Jin and Li Dan led their troops to Mangshan, Xijing, Dongdu and Hanoi to join Jingu.

Wei Wensheng, Pei Hongce, Li Dan, Wei Jin, Dugu Wudu, Liu Xu, Wei Fusi and others urgently agreed to fight at any cost.

At this moment, Pei Hongce's Dongdu army was mostly left; the reinforcements in the Hanoi were mainly rural bravery, and after a series of fierce battles, they had suffered heavy casualties and were unable to bear to fight again; while the Xijing army rushed to the scene, exhausted people and horses. What's more serious is that even if the three armies joined forces in Mangshan, their strength was not enough to fight head-on with Yang Xuangan. But the problem now is that if there is no decisive battle, there will be danger of losing Kansai. Only by fighting the decisive battle can the outbreak of this crisis be delayed as much as possible.

On the same morning, Yang Xuangan personally visited the front line and commanded the army to launch a fierce attack, and the decisive battle in Mangshan began.

On the night of the 28th, Pei Hongce held a military discussion at Jingyu Temple and deployed a decisive battle plan.

The imperial guard, the Yueqi Clan, was ordered to attend the military convention and lived in the same tent with a group of high- and middle-level officers such as Wu Ben Lang, Wu Ya Lang, Ying Yang Lang and Ying Jilang. This is an honor, which is a glory accumulated through military achievements. From Wu Ben Lang General Fei Yao and Heyang Dugu Wudu to Zhu Ying Yang, there was no objection.

The strength of the Dongdu and Hanoi army was limited and they could only cooperate with the Xijing army to fight the rebels from the flanks, so the military discussion ended soon.

Pei Hongce left Galan.

The current situation is for our side to do our best and work together. Several major forces work together for the common interests. Pei Hongce's previous view on cooperation was quite pessimistic, but unexpected changes occurred.

However, Galan still saw the reason keenly. In the critical moment, the people of Guanlong put aside the conflict and worked together. Whether they were conservatives or reformists, they made the right choice at this moment, but the "cooperation" with the people of Shandong was as always. Both sides distrust each other. The conflict not only did not ease, but became more and more intense.

Pei Hongce, Dugu Wudu and Liu Xu participated in the Jingu Military Conference and reached a compromise with Wei Jin, Li Dan, Su Shichang and other local nobles in Guanzhong. Finally, they decided to fight Yang Xuangan at any cost. What are the benefits compromised? In addition to protecting the conservative forces of Guanlong to the greatest extent, what other interests can be compromised? Of course, it is the imperial throne.

The Princess of Yuande was Wei, and the Prince of Qi (Yang Xiao) was also Wei. The legitimate son of Prince Yuande was Yang You, the Prince of Dai, who was born by Concubine Wei. According to the conventional law, Prince Yuande died, and the successor should be King Qi Yang You. However, something happened at a critical moment. After his princess died of illness, Yang You had an affair with the princess' sister and gave birth to a daughter. The princess' sister was the granddaughter-in-law of the inner-sergeant Ling Yuanshou. If this scandal was exploited by political enemies, it would be unimaginable, so Wei had to break his arm and impeach him by the Censor Wei Deyu. The King of Qi lost his "virtue" and was suddenly far away from the position of the crown prince, so Wei turned to support the Prince of Dai Yang You.

However, Wei was a conservative in the court and an important force that hindered reform. At that time, Wei's political enemies tried their best to prevent King Yang Hung of Qi from entering the Eastern Palace. This is why the resistance to succession of King Yang You of Dai was also very great. The emperor preferred the eldest son of Prince Yuande, Yan, and Wang Yang, who was by his side, was taught carefully every day and every day, and spared no effort to cultivate King Yang Tong of Yue, and publicly created conflicts and obstacles for King Yang You of Dai on the matter of imperial unification. This can imply that the emperor's attitude on the matter of imperial unification is closely linked to his political pursuits.

The empire finally needs a crown prince, and the Eastern Palace eventually needs a crown prince. From the perspective of inheritance law, Yan King Yang Neng is actually far from the crown prince than Dai King Yang You, and Yue King Yang Tong is the same. Therefore, the conservative nobles of Guanlong, such as Wuchuan and Hedong, have to admit that Dai King Yang You have an innate advantage. Wei took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity before him to put pressure on the Wuchuan and Hedong groups, and then force them to make compromises on the unification of the emperor.

Cui Xun from the Shandong clan failed to participate in the Jingu military convention, and Sima Tongxian did not appear in the Jingu. Why is this? The conflicts between the Guanlong people and the Shandong people are everywhere, and the competition for interests is everywhere. These can prove Jialan's speculation.

Jialan kept concentrating on his mind, and Pei Hongce did not disturb him, so he planned to write a memorial. After finishing writing, Pei Hongce put down his pen and asked with a smile, "What are your deductions about this decisive battle?"

"There will be a situation of defeat." Galan spoke out bluntly.

Pei Hongce smiled but said nothing, signaling Galan to continue.

"Since the Xijing army has come, this battle must be fought, and it is impossible not to fight." Jialan said, "Yang Xuan touched many people and strong strength. The Xijing army was no match at all, so they rushed to Beimang Mountain as quickly as possible to join the Ming Guihui Association. Their intention was self-evident, which was to rely on the dangers of Mang Mountain and stand firm for assistance."

Pei Hongce smiled and nodded, "So, will they give their all their strength?"

"It would be good to invest half of the troops." Jia Lan sneered, "Now that Xijing is empty, Cijian Road is controlled by the rebels, Hongnong is the foundation of Yang Xuangan. It can be foreseen that Yang Xuangan will use his sharp edge to abandon the Eastern Capital and attack Guanxi, and then take control of Guanlong to defend himself, split the Middle Earth, and wait for the chaos in the world. Shandong and Jiangzuo are li, then go out to Guandong to advance, compete for the Central Plains, and dominate the world."

Pei Hongce kept silent and asked, "As you said, if Xijing comes to help and the decisive battle in Mangshan is not a move to seek defeat?"

"If you can think of this, you can certainly think of Xijing. The reason why you dare to raise troops to go out of the customs is that you must be fully prepared and have the confidence to get a generous reward on the battlefield of Dongdu." Jialan continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, Xijing has already been stationed in Tongguan, Wuguan and others. If Yang Xuangan divides his troops to attack, he will inevitably be blocked and fall into the dilemma of being attacked from both sides. When the Jiyan army and the Donglai navy come to help, Wei Wensheng will attack with the remaining 20,000 troops, and the great achievements of fighting the rebellion are at your fingertips."

Pei Hongce smiled slightly, "By your speculation, Yang Xuangan intended to lure the Xijing army out of seclusion and fight to the decisive battle, while the Xijing army took advantage of the situation, intending to kill Yang Xuangan. If so, the final decision of the Jiyan army and the Donglai navy will be decided. Then, wouldn't someone be the persistence of Mangshan...?"

Jialan shook her head, her eyes showing a sarcastic look, "Those who have no achievements can be made are just Shandong people."

Pei Hongce looked at Jialan with admiration and said with a smile, "The son is teachable."

"It's obvious." Galan said, "I can see it, but how can I hide it from His Majesty?"

Pei Hongce frowned slightly, his expression gradually became solemn, "The country cannot be without a king for a day, nor can it be without a crown for a day."

Galan was speechless and smiled bitterly.

I thought I could save more Guanlong nobles and preserve the strength of Guanlong people, but I didn't expect it to be counterproductive. Guanlong people had to rely on their own strength and the merits they made in this storm to fight head-on with the emperor and the reformists. This was a even-match battle, and both sides were inseparable. In other words, conflicts and conflicts would be more intense, so there would be more dead nobles and the empire would move towards the abyss of collapse faster.

"Why would Shandong people give in?" Jialan sighed.

"At this moment, they have no choice but to give in." Pei Hongce sneered, "Dugu has convinced the Li family of Zhaojun, and I hope to convince the Sima family of Wencheng."

If the Li family of Zhaojun, Hebei, Sima family of Wencheng, Henei, formed an alliance with the Dugu family and Wei family, and some Guanlong noble forces cooperated with some Shandong noble forces, then the conservative noble forces of the empire will not only not be weakened by Yang Xuangan's defeat, but will instead be strengthened.

Jia Lan understood that now, Pei Hongce’s most difficult mission was how to convince Cui to give up King Yang Tong of Yue.

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Chapter completed!