Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 1252 The War in Hedong
September 27, Hedong, sunny, no wind.

After four or five days of confrontation and testing, Tuli Khan commanded the army to begin a formal attack. Guarding Hezhuang Pass was Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan with a group of defeated soldiers, but at the same time, the governor Shi Doujing had already He led his army to arrive five days ago. In fact, he arrived at Hezhuang Pass before Li Daoxuan.

Hezhuang Pass is not one of the Eight Trails of Taihang, nor is it an important pass like Yanmen Pass or Loufan Pass. After Li Yuan raised his troops in Jinyang, Hezhuang Pass was not taken seriously. However, after Li Shan revitalized Dai Di and Dai Zhou Army, Hezhuang Pass was not taken seriously. After defeating the Turks three times, Li Daozong, the current general manager of Bingzhou, Rencheng King, began to set up military camps at Hezhuang Pass and dispatch troops.

The reason is also very simple. In the previous years, because of the fear of the Turks, the Tang Dynasty did not dare to control Feihu Trail and Yanmen Pass, allowing the Turks to come and go freely. After the first Daizhou Governor Li Daen died in the battle, the Tang Dynasty even half-abandoned Daizhou. state.

During those years, the main force of the Tang Army in Hedong was stationed in Bingzhou, and the general manager of Bingzhou was also the first border official in the world. He had great authority. However, Hezhuang Pass was located on the border between Xinzhou and Bingzhou. There was no one man who could not open the pass. Therefore, the previous general managers of Bingzhou deployed their main forces in the Jinyang, Yuci, and Jiaocheng areas to resist the Turkic incursions at all levels.

At that time, Jieli Khan invaded Hedong and was stationed in Xinzhou, but he did not move south in a large scale. Instead, he sent partial troops to attack various places through Hezhuang Pass. Although his troops reached Fenzhou and Jinzhou, they could not destroy the defense line of the Bingzhou Army.

Well, the only time was when King Li Yuanji of Qi became the general manager of Bingzhou. This guy forced the cavalry general Zhang Da to lead 100 men to resist Liu Wuzhou who led [-] cavalry... As a result, Zhang Da surrendered immediately and led Liu Wuzhou to attack successively. Yangqu, Yuci, Qingyuan and Jiaocheng were lost. At that time, only Jinyang and Mengxian and Leping in the east were not lost among the county towns in Bingzhou.

However, as the Daizhou Army became stronger and stronger, the Bingzhou Army gradually had no chance to go into battle. Hedong was no longer a place where Turks came and went, and Li Daozong, the king of Rencheng, no longer arranged his troops in a parallel position along the middle road of Bingzhou, but instead formed a front line. , one was stationed at Hezhuang Pass and Shiling Pass to Yangqu County, and the other was stationed at Jinyang and Yuci.

Just as Li Shimin and Li Shan judged after knowing that Feihu Trail was attacked by Turks, the cautious Li Daozong did not rush north to support or meet Li Daoxuan. Instead, he dispatched troops and generals to guard Hezhuang Pass, and then deployed heavy troops. Settled in Yangqu County, fifty miles south of Hezhuang Pass, Li Daozong himself was based in Yangqu County.

Judging from the strength of the troops, Tuli Khan came with an army of more than [-], leaving [-] cavalry in Shuozhou. After all, Li Shiji and Liu Shirang in Mayi and Sanqiao Town still had the strength to fight, and some of them had to be left at the same time. Troops guarded Feihu Trail and Yanmen Pass, and some troops looted Daizhou and Xinzhou, especially the large amounts of grain and grass stored in the fields in Wutai County.

Therefore, the number of troops in Tuli Khan's hands was approximately between [-] and [-].

The Tang army was a bit miserable. Li Daoxuan tried his best to bring back nearly [-] Daizhou troops. A large amount of food, grass and ordnance were lost. The Bingzhou army under Li Daozong only had [-] troops, plus the temporarily recruited troops. The total strength of the government soldiers did not exceed [-].

The comparison of military strength is almost one to two. The most important thing is that Yanmen Pass was breached. The morale of the Tang army dropped sharply, while the morale of the Turks was high... After experiencing Wei Siwang and Dai Guogong, many years later, the Turks' horseshoes once again stepped on the road. In the land east of the river, killings and looting occurred everywhere, and the corpses that could be seen everywhere on the roads made the Turks even more excited.

In terms of terrain, the Tang army was able to take advantage. The key was that Li Daozong built a camp at Hezhuang Pass, blocking the most important route for the Turks to go south.

The east side of Xinzhou is covered by the Tiezhou Mountains, which makes it difficult for Turkic cavalry to climb, and the west side is the Luliang Mountains. Although the space on the west side is not small, a small group of Turkic cavalry can sneak in, but Li Daozong has also made adequate preparations and stationed a partial division at Tianmen Pass. , and Li Daozong personally led a heavy army to guard Yangqu County, he was also afraid that the Turkic cavalry would detour from the west and attack, causing the defenders of Hezhuang Pass to be attacked from both sides.

Therefore, the main attack direction of the Turkic cavalry is still in the south of Zhoushan, that is, at the Hezhuang Pass.

Unfortunately, the situation did not develop as Li Daozong imagined.Hezhuang Pass is said to be a pass, and it is indeed located in the mountains, but it is not a pass like Feihu Trail, Yanmen Pass, and Loufan Pass. The space is quite large, and it is difficult for the tens of thousands of Tang army camps to cover the space. Therefore, it is impossible for the Tang army to follow the camp And keep it, otherwise the Turks can easily cross Hezhuang Pass and enter Bingzhou.

Therefore, Li Daoxuan chose an upright confrontation, with [-] infantry holding weapons in the center, arrayed with chariots, forming an arc formation, and more than [-] cavalry on both sides. This is the Yanyue Formation.

The entire formation is arranged in an arc, shaped like a crescent moon. Li Daoxuan personally sits at the concave bottom of the crescent moon, using thick crescent moons to resist the enemy. The crescent moons on both sides can cooperate with infantry to attack or flank.

"I heard that King Huaiyang was defeated in Shandong that year, but I didn't expect that he also had some strategies." Tuli Khan commented with a smile: "It can not only cover the battlefield, but also resist the cavalry charge."

Ashina Jishe led did not say anything. He had just led more than 3000 cavalry into the battle. It was not that he did not want to bring more troops, but was limited by the terrain. Unfortunately, the Tang army's infantry was quite tightly guarded. They were first covered with arrow rain, and then The chariot was launched to block the cavalry charge. Li Daoxuan personally led two hundred infantry to charge in the opposite direction. The Tang cavalry on both sides mobilized their troops to attack from the flanks, causing Ashina and the Association to return without success, but lost hundreds of corpses. .

Li Daoxuan, who was somewhat out of breath, stood on the chariot and felt a little calmer. From the fall of Yanmen Pass to the present, his mood has been silent in disappointment and depression. It was not until the Turks were defeated in the first battle that he felt a little relieved.

"Do you want to change your armor?" Governor Shi Doujing asked. Because of the reverse charge just now, Li Daoxuan took the lead, and the Mingguang armor on his body was broken again, and blood stains were faintly visible.

"No need." Li Daoxuan shook his head, "We only need to hold on for a few days, and follow-up troops will come to help. Tuli Khan will retreat."

"Ren Guogong Liu Hongji has led troops from the government office to come for reinforcements. The strength is about [-]. A messenger came yesterday evening to report that he has arrived in Jinzhou. He should be able to arrive in two days." Dou Jing paused and smiled: "Unexpectedly Daoxuan has this ability, and with such a formation, it will be difficult for the Turks to defeat him."

"The Yanyue Formation." Li Daoxuan showed a rare smile, "I mentioned it when I was chatting with Huairen in Chang'an two years ago."

Dou Jing was greatly surprised, "No wonder, King Wei Si is a famous general in the world, but he didn't expect to be proficient in formations."

"Huairen formed the Daizhou Army, abandoning chariots and only relying on sword and shield soldiers, crossbowmen, spearmen and cavalry." Li Daoxuan explained: "Later Ashina She'er entered Hedong from Loufan Pass , was blocked by the infantry led by Er Zhu Yichen in Naoxian County. Chariots were particularly crucial, so Huairen only paid attention to chariots later."

On this day, the Turks attacked six times, but the Tang army was as stable as a mountain. After all, the terrain was advantageous. In a direct confrontation, the Tang army did not suffer in strength.

But after withdrawing their troops that day, a messenger came from the rear, and both Li Daoxuan and Dou Jing's expressions changed drastically.

The look on Li Daoxuan's face was mixed with incomparable bitterness. He retreated all the way from Yanmen Pass to Hezhuang Pass. Do he still have to retreat?
(End of this chapter)