Chapter 587: Diaomen Ancient Village, Ancient Tea-Horse Road
"It's not surprising that the troops of the Xishan and Yechuan tribes haven't moved!" Sun Ze said, "In fact, although they are all tribal troops, they are not under the same command. In fact, they often fight with each other."
"Right now, the Marshal's troops are mainly attacking Jiading, so the troops in Yazhou are naturally happy to watch the joke. If both sides can be defeated, they will naturally advance. If the outcome is decided, they also have more reliable options. In fact, even if the Wudeng and Xuhen tribes are both in Qiongbu Prefecture, when have they ever truly been at peace with each other? Now, they simply regard us Daqian as enemies and are reluctantly joining forces."
"The Marshal asked us to pay attention to the Yazhou troops. The most likely possibility is that the Qiongbu tribes are asking for a fusion of Yazhou troops, and they've even offered a very generous offer."
"In that case, the Marshal is putting a lot of pressure on Jiading Prefecture now!"
Indeed, Jiading Prefecture bordered Qiongbu Prefecture and the Wumeng Tribe, and was considered one of the main bases for the Southern Xinjiang military. Although the various tribes had mobilized numerous troops following the defeat at Chengdu Prefecture, the Southern Xinjiang commander regained his composure as Jia Cong's troops moved south. After all, the Southern Xinjiang troops had been defeated in previous direct engagements, demonstrating the strength of Jia Cong's elite troops.
Under such circumstances, Shentu Mou, an elder of the Xuhen tribe, suggested that they should take advantage of the fact that the main force of Jia Cong's central army had not yet moved south and first eliminate the Daqian troops in Danleng.
In this way, not only can the Daqian army be intimidated, but the subsequent pressure can also be reduced.
However, Meng Hua and Guan Jin not only had 20,000 troops, but they also used them cautiously. If they tried to force an attack, even if they were victorious, they would likely suffer heavy losses. Therefore, Shen Tu devised a plan to create some false alarms in the Shima Town area to lure this force there.
Shima Town is the main road that passes through Longzhou and goes north into Chengdu Prefecture. As soon as Guan Jin and the other two notice it, they will definitely send troops to stop it.
They can use their familiarity with the terrain and roads to set up an ambush first, and then surround the troops when they arrive.
It must be said that Shentu Mou's strategy was not bad. Meng Hua led 15,000 soldiers and fell directly into the opponent's trap. Moreover, in order to win the battle, Shentu Mou directly mobilized 50,000 soldiers and horses.
The reason for mobilizing so many troops was, firstly, to completely encircle Meng Hua's forces, and secondly, to deal with Jia Cong leading troops to come to support.
Why did he set up his main camp north of Baima Town? If Jia Cong came to rescue Baima Town, he would have come from the north. However, Jia Cong took a detour, heading first to Longtai Town before returning to Jingyan. If he had known this, Shentu Mou would have deployed his troops more cautiously to defend the mountain pass camp.
Jia Cong's troops defeated the camp in one battle, firstly due to the fire bull formation, and secondly due to the surprise attack...
The sudden reversal of the situation not only caused Shentu Mou's plan to fail, but also made the soldiers of Jiading Prefecture panic!
Qiongbu Prefecture is located south of Jiading Prefecture, across the Dadu River from the Liangshan Mountains. Why did the retired emperor previously call this a historical issue? It's because Qiongbu Prefecture, the Wumeng Mountain tribes, and the Luo clan's ghost kingdom have a long history. Even during the Song Dynasty, while this southern Xinjiang region nominally belonged to the Song, the Song was unable to establish local government, let alone exercise jurisdiction.
When Daqian came to power, Taizu also sent troops to attack, but the southern Xinjiang tribes joined forces to resist, causing the Daqian army to be defeated on the banks of the Dadu River. In addition, the country was unstable at that time, so Taizu had no choice but to give up southern Xinjiang first, and this abandonment lasted for a hundred years.
These tribes have been passed down for hundreds and thousands of years. Back then, Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times in this area. The so-called Xuhen tribe, Wudeng tribe, and Wumeng tribes were actually branches of the Wuman surname back then.
The strength of these tribes is certainly extraordinary, otherwise, they would not have been able to survive in the gap between the Central Plains Dynasty and Dali. It is true that they are powerful, but the tribal population is not endless. They suffered a lot of casualties in the previous battles of Jiulong and Chengdu Prefecture. If Shentu Mou's 50,000 elite troops were also damaged, then the Qiongbuzhou lineage would almost be wiped out in southern Xinjiang.
Therefore, in addition to Shentu Mou's plan to return to Jiading Prefecture, the troops of Jiading Prefecture were also thinking of ways.
Now, there are less than 30,000 soldiers and horses left in Jiading Prefecture, and they are restrained by Shi Nai and Guanjin’s troops outside, so it is impossible to go to the rescue. Therefore, someone suggested giving up some of the benefits to the Xishan and Yechuan tribes and letting them march into Jiading Prefecture.
With the arrival of the armies from the Xishan and Yechuan tribes, it will naturally relieve a lot of pressure on the Qiongbuzhou tribe.
…
Go west along Yazhou, pass Shiyang and continue for about a hundred miles, and you will reach Diaomen Village.
To the west of Diaomen Village lies the territory of the Xishan and Yechuan tribes. The so-called Xishan actually refers to the west of Qionglai Mountain, and the Chuan refers to the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan. The tribes here are mixed, but in order to cope with the pressure from Daqian and the Tubo in the west, the various tribes formed a scattered fusion, which is the Xishan and Yechuan tribes .
Diaomen Village can be traced back to the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. It is said that Zhuge Liang personally visited Diaomen Village and sent General Gao Xiang to garrison the village to curb the invasion of the Shaping barbarians.
The Xishan and Yechuan tribes evolved from the Shaping barbarians of that time.
Diaomenzhai has always been a strategic location. During the Tang Dynasty, a military formation was stationed there. During the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Diaomenzhai. However, the Song Dynasty relaxed its defenses against the barbarians in the west. Furthermore, the Song Dynasty established a market in the Diaomenzhai area, exchanging tea and cloth from Sichuan for barbarian specialties such as horses and furs. This area became the ancient Tea-Horse Road.
Now the main military camp of the Xishanyechuan tribes is stationed about three to five miles east of Diaomen Village.
The combined strength of these tribes was no less than that of the Qiong Prefecture tribes. Therefore, this expedition mobilized a total of 70,000 to 80,000 troops. In addition to some troops being sent to occupy Qiong Prefecture and Li Prefecture, the remaining nearly 50,000 troops were stationed here.
Inside the camp, leaders of various tribes gathered together, and among them was a letter that had just been sent from Jiading Prefecture.
"The Xuhen and Wudeng tribes have invited us to march into Jiading Prefecture. What do you think?" one person said. "Furthermore, these two tribes have promised that if we participate in the war, we will take 70% of the spoils. Furthermore, after the war is over, Qiongbu Prefecture will open up to trade with our tribe."
"In my opinion, we should dispatch our troops. Although we are currently sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight, since we are dispatching troops, we must let people know how powerful we are. If we just sit back and watch, no matter which side wins in the future, we will not benefit. What's more, our men are all elite soldiers and generals. Once we reach Jiading Prefecture, we may be able to take over the magpie's nest. By then, it is not certain who will be the host and who will be the guest."
