Phoenix and Longshan are two counties that Ding Sheng still has complete control.

After the defeat in Xiangtan and Zhuzhou, Ding Sheng saw the opportunity quickly. With the help of Sun Debin, he led most of the main forces to escape to the western Xiangxi region. With the high mountains and dense trees here, the terrain is complex, and with the little bit of his past here, he barely gained a foothold.

But the good times did not last long. Shi Zhuang led the Tang army to enter in large numbers. He conquered the county towns of six counties including Jishou, Luxi, Huayuan and other six counties, as well as various transportation nodes. Ding Sheng retreated step by step. If it weren't for the sudden outbreak of the Tang Dynasty's war against Tubo at this time, he would probably not be able to save Fenghuang and Longshan.

But that's it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that Chang'an's attention was all focused on Tubo, Ding Sheng seized the opportunity to clean up the interior and completed the complete rule of the two counties of Fenghuang and Longshan. This process was naturally not so smooth and peaceful, but the big stick and candied dates were smashed together, and the integration was successfully completed.

The tribes scattered in Huayuan and Luxi, like the mountains, forced them to send their legitimate sons to their side, using this as a qualifier, forcing them to tie themselves to fight against the Tang people.

I originally thought that the war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo would last for a long time and I had enough time to consolidate my rule and strengthen my strength. But who would know that the huge Tubo Empire was cleaned up by Li Ze.

As soon as he recovered, Shi Zhuang's offensive became fierce again.

This time, Shi Zhuang changed his strategy, but the army stopped moving, and only blocked it through various methods, but the harassment and attacks of small troops never stopped. Ding Sheng suffered a lot and was infiltrated by them several times. They split and merged. When they separated, a small team of only more than 100 people, but once they gathered together, a large army of thousands of people, with their combat effectiveness and equipment, would be more than enough to attack any important stronghold.

Whenever they go to a place, they do their best to destroy it, burn houses, burn crops, and destroy everything available, and then they grow and turn into small streams of vanishing among the mountains and ridges.

The behavior of these people is even more bandits than bandits.

This makes life more and more difficult for the people in the area controlled by Ding Sheng.

The reason why Ding Sheng is still struggling to support him is entirely because Qianzhong and Yizhou behind him are still trying their best to provide him with logistics support.

But the road is difficult and dangerous. The materials can only be transported through mountains and rivers by mules and horses. Compared with Ding Sheng's shortage, it is too far behind. But these materials can still keep him alive? He is trying hard to support him.

Ding Sheng knew very well that the reason why these places were willing to spend a huge price to provide him with logistics supplies was because he still had a certain amount of strength in his hands and could withstand Shi Zhuang's attack. Once he lost this value, it would be impossible for them to take out a piece of food.

And now the situation is getting worse and worse.

The news from Huayuan made Ding Sheng extremely angry.

The Lu family and Hu family of Huayuan actually surrendered to the Tang army. After these two surrendered, the remaining three villages also went down the mountain one after another and surrendered to the Tang army. The entire Huayuan completely fell into the hands of the Tang army, and Ding Sheng's last nails in Huayuan were also removed.

At this point, the eight counties in western Hunan have already had Jishou and Huayuan, and the Tang army has been completely held in their hands.

"Young Marshal, the current situation is no longer enough for us to hide." Aide Jin Yunzhi looked worried. "Qianzhong, Yizhou's last batch of supplies has been shipped this year, but we are not even able to use these supplies. This year, due to the harassment and destruction of the Tang army, the harvest has dropped by about half compared to last year. Although we still have a large amount of medicinal materials, raw lacquer, tung oil, etc. in our hands, we cannot sell them at all. There is not enough logistics supply and cannot supplement the villages in various places. The rebellion of these villages in Huayuan can only be the beginning, and some remaining places will probably follow their examples."

Ding Sheng walked around the house in annoyance.

"What's even more terrifying is that in order to win over the local tribes, the Tang people did their best to appease those tribes who went down the mountain to surrender, building houses, dividing fields, and giving livestock. These news has spread throughout western Hunan. If we don't take action, we will be afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable."

Ding Sheng stopped, "What do you mean, if you take the initiative?"

"Young Marshal, is there any other way now? The complete loss of Huayuan is equivalent to cutting off the connection between us and Longshan, and we have been divided into two parts. We must send a strong signal to the local tribes in other places, that is, we are not without the power of a battle. As long as we are willing, we can still fight against the Tang army, thereby consolidating the confidence of these people and not allowing them to easily betray us." Jin Yunzhi said.

"But it is so difficult to get Huayuan back?" Ding Sheng sighed: "How could Shi Zhuang not have any plans to get Huayuan back? Didn't the information be sent back yesterday? Another general of Shi Zhuang, Hou Fangyu, had already appeared in Huaxi. Is the purpose of it? Isn't it just to cut us from Longshan?"

Jin Yunzhi shook his head and said, "Young Marshal, Hua Yuan, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to get it back. At this time, when we hit Hua Yuan, we will only kick it on the iron plate."

"What do you mean?"

"We pretend to be the Huayuan, and actually attack Jishou." Jin Yunzhi gritted his teeth and said, "Jishou is a county seat that the Tang people deliberately run. Now there have been a large number of workshops, gathering a large amount of money, grain and all kinds of materials we need. And there are not many Tang troops stationed there. We mobilized a large number of troops to advance towards Huayuan, and at the same time, let Longshan move towards Huayuan, and make plans to attack Huayuan. In private, the young marshal personally led an elite force to attack Jishou. Once it was successful, we could reverse the entire situation in western Hunan. When Jishou was about, the Tang army would not be able to stand firm in Huayuan."

Ding Sheng stood in front of the map, looked for a while, nodded: "It seems that there is only one way now, and we can't wait to die. If we don't reverse the situation, even if we have survived this winter, what should we do in the coming spring? Let the Tang army erode us like this, we can't last long, and we must have a victory to boost morale."

"Once we win, we have the confidence to provide more military supplies in Yizhou, Qianzhong, and even ask them to send troops to Xiangxi to fight with us. Especially in Qianzhong, once we fail, they will have to bear the direct military pressure from Shi Zhuang, and they will never want to see us fail like this." Jin Yunzhi said.

"Call all officers above the generals to discuss the plan and details of this battle." Ding Sheng finally made up his mind: "It just so happened that Yang Qiu from Guizhou is still here, let them see our determination to fight."

Jin Yunzhi nodded.

The last batch of supplies to aid Xiangxi this year was sent by Yang Qiu, the Duke of Qianzhong. Yang Qiu, as the Duke of Qianzhong, had a high position and a powerful figure. Yang Qiu, who was born in Bozhou, is an important figure in the Yang family who is now in charge of Qianzhong. It is naturally fake to deliver the supplies to him personally. It is true that he wanted to see Ding Sheng's current strength and the actual situation in Xiangxi.

Because the current form in Xiangxi is crucial to the subsequent decisions in Guizhou.

According to Yang Qiu, the voices among the four major families in Guizhou are now inconsistent. Some voices have been issued to demand a break with the Southern Alliance and surrender to Chang'an. The reason is naturally very clear. Li Ze of Chang'an is now very powerful, which makes the Southern Alliance breathless and can only hold on. At this time, he tied himself to the Southern Alliance ship, but he is afraid that he will sink together with the Southern Alliance ship in the end.

However, Qianzhong has not yet publicly rebel. It is because Yizhou, Rongguan, Guiguan and other places still belong to the Southern Alliance, and there is Ding Sheng in western Hunan. Qianzhong is surrounded. Once the rebels are reversed, it is very likely to be besieged by these companies. Once Xiangxi fails completely, I am afraid that the wave of Qianzhong surrendering to Chang'an will immediately become bigger.

The Yang family naturally did not want to surrender to Chang'an. They are now like local emperors in Guizhou, and they have ruled Guizhou for hundreds of years. Although the other three major families also had their rise, they never could suppress the Yang family. Chang'an's policies are indeed too unfriendly for local emperors like the Yang family. If there is a slight possibility, they are of course willing to maintain the status quo.

This is also the reason why Qianzhong is willing to spend a lot of money to provide support to Ding Sheng.

"Brother Yang, it's a pity that you are going to set off tomorrow, otherwise you will definitely see the next big victory we will win." Ding Sheng raised his glass to invite him to drink.

Yang Qiu was a little surprised. In his opinion, Ding Sheng is now at a loss, so where does this victory start? It is already good to maintain such a situation. Even so, I don’t know how long it will last. Qianzhong should consider the future.

"Is the young marshal ready to fight back?" Yang Qiu asked.

Ding Sheng smiled and raised his glass and drank it all, but did not speak.

Yang Qiu nodded: "Since it is a military aircraft, I won't ask more. Although I will leave tomorrow, once the young marshal wins, I think I will still receive the news."

"Brother Yang, next year, I need more support. I also want to ask you to send reinforcements to fight against the Tang army with us." Ding Sheng said seriously.

"Now we have done our best." Yang Qiu frowned slightly and said, "Young Marshal, you must know that when we transport supplies to you, the real tofu is mixed into meat. Every time we transport a pound of grain in, two pounds of food will be consumed on the way. But directly sending troops is very important, and I can't make the decision. Moreover, the Yang family in Qianzhong is not the final decision."

"I'm not hiding it from Brother Yang, I'm planning a large-scale counterattack battle. Once it's successful, I can stabilize the situation. In this way, by next spring, I will have enough manpower to transport many of our things to your Guizhou Central. I won't want yours for nothing. I'll exchange these things for you. You just need to send the supplies I need to the border and I'll transport them back by myself."
Chapter completed!