Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 1404 Prologue

October 24th, cloudy.

After two brief days of good weather, thick clouds appeared again.

Fifteen miles south of Yangqu County, Li Shan looked up and seemed to have seen snowflakes flying all over the sky. According to the solar calendar of later generations, it should be from the end of December to January of the next year. Even in later generations, Shanxi It should snow in the north too.

Looking back again, the Turks were retreating in an orderly manner. The dense cavalry came north from Chitang Pass. Li Shan only led more than 3,000 cavalry to wait silently. On the east side, Qi Shanxing had already led his troops to take over Shiling Pass.

From a strategic perspective, the key to locking down the Turkic army lies in mountains and passes. The Luliang Mountains on the west side are sloping to the northeast, and the Wutai Mountains and Taihang Mountains on the east side, as well as Yanmen Pass and Feihu Trail, are two extremely important passes.

As well as Chitang Pass, which the Turks are passing through, and Shiling Pass, which the Tang Army has taken over, as well as Tiezhoushan and Xiaowutai Mountains, which the Turks are about to bypass.

In other words, Li Shan let Tujue go, and Tujue was falling into the trap set by Li Shan... But Li Shan didn't feel happy either.

Because he is not sure whether the fish will die and the net will be broken, or it may even happen that the fish is not dead but the net is broken.

Li Shan even didn't know whether Su Dingfang and Yuchi Gong could block Yanmen Pass. Tuli Khan must have left troops in Shuozhou to check Liu Shirang and Li Shiji, and even if Su Dingfang blocked Yanmen Pass, he would have to beware of Turks passing through the Luliang Mountains and leaving. Lou Fanguan.

On the other hand, Li Shan was also worried about Cheng Mingzhen's side. Even if they arrived at Feihu Trail, if they could not capture Lingqiu County... it meant that the Turks would still have an escape route.

The key to this battle is not the number of beheadings, but Tuli Khan himself... It would be too difficult to capture Tuli Khan under such circumstances.

The horse under his crotch snorted. Li Shan moved slightly and patted the horse's head with his right hand. Today he did not choose a chariot but a horse. After all, infantry would not be of much use when chasing Turks.

However, if the troops are sent out too late and cannot create chaos in Daizhou and Xinzhou to allow the Turkic army to leave Yanmen Pass, even if Su Dingfang has nearly 10,000 elite cavalry, it will be difficult to block Yanmen Pass.

At dusk yesterday, Yuchi Gong led his troops southward from Huangdan Town, then detoured to the northwest, and rushed to Jingle County overnight.

Of course, Qin Wutong has already made preparations. After the cavalry sets off, he will lead the infantry to the north. It doesn't matter if the speed is slower... As long as the Turks are successfully blocked in Xinzhou and Daizhou, the infantry in the chariot formation will be It can play a role in sealing off the battlefield space.

Well, in fact, Li Shan is missing the glory that he despised in his previous life... If he had a few mobile phones, this battle would be much easier.

Li Daozong remembered that Li Daoxuan met him in Bingzhou on his way north to Yanmen more than a month ago. He once mentioned that His Highness the King of Qin said that Li Huairen, the heir of Wei, was the best at choosing opportunities.

Li Daoxuan and Li Daozong were not far away. The former stared at the retreating Turks, looking up from time to time, hoping that noon would come soon, while the latter looked at Li Shan from time to time.

Therefore, when to send troops, the intensity and frequency of attacks, it is very important to Li Shan's command ability. It will not work if it is too early, it will not work if it is too late, it will not work if the intensity is too high, and it will not work if the intensity is too small.

When to choose to attack to bite the tail of the Turks... This is a key question. If the troops are sent out too early, they will be easily attacked by the Turks. Now that the Chinese cavalry is insufficient, Cheng Minzhen and Su Dingfang have taken away more than 10,000 cavalry.

To be able to come up with a response plan so quickly after a fundamental change in the situation, it is obvious that this Wei Siwang is well-deserved.

At this moment, Cheng Mingzhen, who had been traveling all night, had arrived in Hengzhou. He sent his personal guards to nearby Zhaozhou, Shenzhou, and Jizhou to recruit all the government troops, and then led his troops north to Yizhou.

In addition, Liu Hongji has also led his army to Bingzhou today, on the one hand to transport grain and grass, and on the other hand to provide support for Qin Wutong.

Su Dingfang's troops, who also set out overnight, entered Lanzhou diagonally along the Wengu River. As soon as they entered Lanzhou, they received reports from the scouts sent by Yuchi Gong. Jingle County did not have any Turkic troops, but it had been conquered in early October. , all the food and grass were plundered.

This was the worst news. Su Dingfang made a prompt decision and immediately turned to Yifang County, where Lanzhou was governed... This place had not been breached and there should be food and grass reserves.

It's just a detour. In fact, there is another city on the way to Loufan Pass, Ningwu County, but it is just ten miles south of Loufan Pass. It is difficult to say whether it has been conquered... The most important thing is that once Heading north quickly, we arrived at Ningwu County. We were exhausted and both men and horses needed supplies.

The Turks were not stupid, so it was impossible that they would not be able to detect them. After the Tang army had replenished their troops... and then attacked Loufangguan, it would be half the result with half the effort. Therefore, Su Dingfang would rather take a detour. Time passed little by little. Tuli Khan had arrived at Xiurong County in Xinzhou. After much hesitation, he ordered the plundered people to be dispersed... He even hated the idea he gave Li Shan back then. Jieli Khan wanted to In order to redeem Gushe, he had no choice but to return 40,000 serfs.

Nowadays, Yunzhou lacks a large number of serfs, so Tuli Khan's southern invasion, in addition to political purposes, hopes to plunder a large number of people to replenish the population.

On the east and west sides, Cheng Minzhen was rushing to Yizhou desperately. Su Dingfang had replenished his supplies and joined forces with Yuchi Gong, preparing to go north and rush east along Kelan Mountain to Loufangguan.

Only Li Shan was still waiting silently, but with the retreat of the Turks, the waiting place had moved to the north of Yangqu County and fifteen miles south of Chitang Pass.

"Almost." Duan Zhixuan reminded impatiently.

Li Shan nodded, and the hundreds of Tang cavalry who had been ordered long ago galloped towards Chitang Pass.

Two quarters of an hour later, the haggard and haggard Zhang Wenguan finally appeared within Li Shan's sight.

Li Shan drove the horse out of the battle and helped the already shaky Zhang Wenguan off the horse, "Zhigui."

Zhang Wenguan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm lucky to have my dear friend Huai as my friend."

Those who went to pick him up were the personal guards led by Wang Junhao, who were all acquaintances of Zhang Wenguan, and the latter already knew the general story of the matter.

Li Shan looked up and down for a while. Zhang Wenguan had three wounds on his body, but they were not serious, and the possibility of infection in this weather was low, and they had already been wrapped.

"Meet His Highness King Wei Si."

Li Shan turned around and picked up Zhang Qianxiong, a middle-aged man with an elegant appearance, but his injuries were more serious than Zhang Wenguan's. His left leg seemed to be unstable, and it was only Li Daozhong who came over who kept him from collapsing.

Li Shan waved to his guards to re-wrap their wounds. Duan Zhixuan on the side couldn't wait to ask: "Can we pursue?"

"Wait a moment." Li Shan shook his head, "Are you ready on Fenshui?"

Fan Shiyi responded: "Get ready, there are three clippers in front and behind."

"Liu Heier has arrived?"

"A quarter of an hour ago, Liu Heier led his troops across Fenshui and arrived at Tianmen Pass."

Li Shan glanced at Chitangguan coldly. The troops left behind by Tuli Khan would not be too many or too few, so the attack required a certain strategy.

"Order the Clippers to light the smoke ten miles away from the Fen River, and order Liu Heier to lead his troops northward along the outskirts of the Luliang Mountains to cut off the retreat of the remaining Turkic troops."

"Order Zhang Shigui and Qin Qiong to lead their troops northward."

"In this battle, Qin Qiong and Liu Hei'er will take turns to be the vanguard. We must not fight in vain. We must stop after bypassing Tiezhoushan and do not attack Xiurong."

"The King of Rencheng, the King of Huaiyang, Zhang Shigui and Gu Tong led the central army as their backing."

This was a brutal battle and was regarded as Li Shan's last battle. It was also the first time that Li Shan's large-scale strategic thinking was demonstrated.

(End of this chapter)