Liu Lancheng's three thousand cavalry crossed the Yangtze River in Zhijiang County, about two hundred miles away from Yidao County. They did not cross the river in the county, so many people would find it, and it would be difficult to guarantee that there would be no Tang army's suspicion here.

Several Sui soldiers pretended to be merchants and bought two ferries worth 500 stone at a high price, and drove the ferry to an abandoned ferry about thirty miles west of Zhijiang County. Here, three thousand cavalrymen protected the Yangtze River while the night was covered.

Liu Lancheng and his army have rich experience in sneak attacks. They know that the key to successful sneak attacks is to use secret attacks and carefully planning.

Three thousand cavalry continued to march westward, hiding in a valley dozens of miles away from Yidao County, waiting for the scouts who went to inquire about the news to come back to report.

There is a dry cave in the valley, which is where hunters rest. It is temporarily changed to the command post of the inner guards. On a flat ground in the cave, Liu Lancheng used stones to put out a rough distribution map of Yidao County, and told two deputy generals Li Keshi and Zhang Li: "According to the preliminary information, Yidao County has stationed 20,000 Tang troops, of which 15,000 are stationed on the north shore."

Liu Lancheng put down a big rock on the north bank and smiled and said, "This is Beidaying, which has guarded the only way to go to Yiling County in the west, and it is also the first defense line of the Three Gorges Road."

Liu Lancheng picked up another small stone and placed it on the south bank at the other end. "This is Nandaying, with 5,000 garrisons. Their mission is to defend Qingjiang Road. Although there are not many records of the Central Plains army entering Ba County from Qingjiang Road, this is also a passage into Shu after all, so the Tang army also needs to strengthen its defense. As far as I know, there are 8,000 Tang troops defending Qingjiang Road. In addition to the 5,000 Yidao line, there are also 3,000 troops stationed in Qingjiang County, which is the second level of defense."

Speaking of this, Liu Lancheng whispered to Master Li and Zhang Li: "The General has specially assigned me two tasks this time, one is to destroy the Tang army warships in Yidao County, and the other is to explore the way."

"Explore the way?"

Mr. Li and Zhang Li looked at each other and asked in unison: "What way to explore?"

Liu Lancheng smiled, "Of course it's about exploring the road to Shu!"

"Is the general referring to Qingjiang Road?" Li Keshi understood a little.

Liu Lancheng nodded, "I plan to send the three hundred most elite brothers to explore Qingjiang Road and find a way to enter Shu. I wonder if the two generals have any intentions."

Li and Zhang Li expressed their willingness to lead the army almost at the same time. Li was a little anxious and said to Zhang Li: "I promised it last time. The next action will be my, why do you have to fight me again?"

Zhang Li knew that he was in the wrong, so he smiled and begged, "Brother, let me give it to me this time! I promise I will give you three times in a row next time."

"No! I have to go this time, and we will discuss it next time."

Zhang Li wanted to ask again, but Liu Lancheng smiled and waved his hand, "Let the guest go this time! Otherwise, he would be worried all the time, so we should not think about peace."

Zhang Li had no choice but to agree. Master Li was overjoyed and fisted at Zhang Li and said, "Thank you for giving in, I will remember it in my heart."

"Okay, let's continue to talk about the serious matter."

Liu Lancheng turned the topic back to Yidao County. At this time, Zhang Li pondered for a moment and said, "I just had a question. The Tang army deployed 5,000 troops on the south bank. Are these 5,000 troops defending Qingjiang Road or defending warships?"

Liu Lancheng nodded, "The problem is here. The reason why the Tang army did not place the warships on the north shore is because there is no dock on the north shore. The warships must be on the south shore. The Tang army's 20,000 naval troops were in Yiling County, not in Yidao County. Separating the navy and the warships was a very strange thing in itself, but the general has pointed out the reason. These 20,000 naval troops were all surrendered, and Xiao Xian is still in Zhongdu. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty was not at ease with the 20,000 naval troops who had just surrendered. They needed to undergo at least one year of reorganization training to completely digest this navy. Separating the navy and the warships was inevitable."

Liu Lancheng changed the topic and said: "Since the five thousand defenders on the south bank are not naval forces, their main responsibility is to defend Qingjiang Road. The defense of warships will definitely not be strict. This is just my speculation. I will know when the scout comes back."

As soon as he finished speaking, a report from a soldier came from outside the cave, "General, the brother who went to investigate the situation is back."

Liu Lancheng was overjoyed and quickly ordered: "Let them in!"

After a moment, a scout brigade coach walked in quickly, and he knelt down on one knee and bowed, "See General!"

"Tell me about the situation of the warship?"

The brigade coach stood up and said, "I did see more than 400 warships, parked in a messy manner on the dock. Many of the ships were damaged. It can be seen that the Tang army had not had time to repair it."

"Are there any garrison guards?" Zhang Li asked.

"There are garrisons, but not many, about one thousand people, and they are stationed on the dock, while the other 4,000 troops are stationed in the county."

While listening, Liu Lancheng used stones to deploy pictures on the ground. He pondered for a moment and said, "How far is the county town from the pier?"

“About one mile, there is a very spacious avenue.”

Liu Lancheng smiled and said, "Some methods have been used many times, but they are very effective. I believe we can continue to use them a few more times, just adjust them slightly at the key points."

He whispered a few words to the two, especially Zhang Li said excitedly: "Since you have to use thunder to attack, we will act tonight."

The biggest risk of Yiling County is that they are too far away from the risk. From the military to ordinary people, they all agreed that the Sui army was thousands of miles away, and even Xiangyang County and Jiangxia County were safe, not to mention Yiling County far behind.

The Tang Dynasty's security level was also divided into four levels, with the highest level of war, followed by the defense level, followed by the garrison level, and the last level was the public security level. Currently, Yiling County is the third garrison level, but in fact, the Yiling garrison has reduced the security level to the fourth, that is, the public security level. They only need to maintain local public security.

It is this security mentality that has caused the military to reduce its vigilance and relax its defense.

The pier outside Yidao County was particularly lively. The gates of the military camp were filled with stalls and vendors. The prostitutes' business even went to the military camp. More than a dozen well-made prostitutes walked freely in the military camp and got into another tent from one tent.

There were originally no military camps on the pier, but in order to monitor hundreds of warships and prevent unruly people and thieves from stealing material, the military temporarily set up a military camp on the pier. In fact, it was more than 100 tents, surrounded by simple fences. A three-foot-wide gap has been pushed open to the northeast corner of the fence, which is specially designed for hawkers and prostitutes to sneak in and out.

Hundreds of warships were piled up in the dock, almost all of which were large ships of more than 1,000 stone, and at least half were damaged. Waiting for the Ministry of Works and the General Office to send people to repair them. Repairing ships was the weakness of the Tang Dynasty. They lacked excellent craftsmen, and even ordinary boat craftsmen were rare. Almost all boat craftsmen from all over the world were recruited by the Northern Sui Dynasty for high salaries and generous salaries, mainly concentrated in Qingzhou and Yangzhou.

There was no talent or technical reserves in normal times, and the Tang Dynasty suddenly obtained hundreds of warships, which made them at a loss for a while. It was almost half a year since the warships were obtained, and the imperial court had not started the repair project.

Hundreds of warships were parked at the docks of Yidao County for half a year, and the interests of the locals gradually disappeared. In the eyes of Yidao people, they were just a pile of rags and occupied the docks, which affected people's livelihood and commerce, and made the people of Yidao County complain.

Although local people began to hate these hundreds of warships, some people also saw the interests in the middle. Although cargo ships could not be transformed into warships, warships could be transformed into cargo ships, and some people have begun to secretly contact the garrison leaders.

The general manager of Yiling County was General Liu Hongji, and the head general stationed in Yidao County was General Duan Zhihong. Duan Zhihong was stationed on the north bank of the Yangtze River and commanded 15,000 people, while the 5,000 troops on the south bank of the Yangtze River were led by his deputy general Qiu Mingda.

Qiu Mingda was about forty years old and was the brother of Qiu Shili, the general of the Left Supervisor.

Qiu Mingda originally opened a martial arts hall in Chang'an. When Li Yuan attacked Chang'an, he led hundreds of martial arts children to assist the Tang army in siege. Later, he was named General of Right Guard by Li Yuan and led his army to take charge of Shangdang County and Changping County. However, he was convicted of the Sui army's surprise attack on Changping County and was demoted to a commoner. Last year, Li Yuanji's favor had to be re-activated and was named General of the Central Army and followed Li Xiaogong to the south to fight.

Although Qiu Mingda was Qiu Shili's consul, he was greedy and liked to rush to the camp. When he was in charge of Shangdang County and Changping County, there was a scandal about him plundering people's wealth. Qiu Shili was deeply disgusted and broke up with him.
Chapter completed!