Zhenguan Crown Prince Li Chengqian

Chapter 98
After the autumn harvest, Li Shimin ordered a crusade against the Eastern Turks under the pretext of the Turks attacking Hexi.

Li Jing, Minister of the Ministry of War, was the general manager of the Dingxiang Road, Yuchi Jingde and Zhang Gongjin were the deputy commanders, and Prince Li Chengqian was the supervisor of the army, leading the Chinese army.

Li Ji, the British governor of Bingzhou, was the general manager of the army marching through the desert road, and led the main force to directly attack the hinterland of the Eastern Turks from the east road.

Chai Shao, governor of Huazhou, Huo Guogong, was the general manager of the Jinhe Road march. He marched along the Yellow River on the west road, echoing Li Jing and Li Jiyao.

Li Daozong, the Minister of Rites, Rencheng County King, was the general manager of Datong's march, and marched from Lingzhou to the northwest.

Wei Xiaojie, the governor of Youzhou, was the head of the Heng'an Road march, guarding the Yanyun area to prevent the Turkic army from fleeing eastward.

Xue Wanshu, the governor of Lingzhou, was the general manager of the Changwu Dao march. He used the northeast to attack the Turkic rear, and joined forces with his ally Tuli Khan.

General Zuo Wu Qin Qiong was the governor of Fengzhou, leading the army to occupy the Hetao, flanking the enemy coming from the east at any time.The 30 troops were all under the control of Li Jing, and the troops were divided into seven groups to fight back against the Turks.

After the emperor issued an edict to hold a grand general obeisance ceremony, Li Chengqian followed Li Jing's Chinese army to the troops of Yuchi and Zhang Gongjin south of the Hun River.

It is said that everything is difficult at the beginning, and it is difficult to kick the first three feet, but what no one thought was that Yuchi Jingde was kicked three times in a row.

On the south bank of the Hun River, the Tang army camp

Yuchi Jingde sat on the commander's seat and looked down at the generals in the tent: "Recently, Jieli has been cutting wood day and night to build rafts on the other side of the Hun River. It seems that he wants to seize the ferry. Chai Shao, you can quickly dispatch five thousand troops to go Increase the number of troops to prevent the enemy from crossing the river."

Although he was not very satisfied with Yuchi's defense, Zhang Gongjin, who was also the deputy commander, did not say a word.Because no matter in terms of seniority or military merit, the two people are incomparable.

Besides, what he was mainly responsible for this time was the transportation of grain and grass, not commanding operations, so he just accepted it.

But Li Ji, who was sitting under him, didn't buy it.This is obviously a slap in the face, can it work if you can't even see this?Then explain that you know you can't stop it, and you still insist on that ferry, isn't it full?
"Deputy Commander, the general thinks that the enemy is building rafts at the Hun River Ferry to attract the attention of our army. It seems a bit bluffing."

Hearing that Li Ji disagreed with his general order, Yuchi Jingde frowned, glanced at Li Ji and said, "Why do you know that?"

Those who are familiar with him know that he may be angry with his indifferent tone.But what is Li Ji? He followed Zhai Rang to Wagang when he was a teenager, and he was already a member of the second rank when he was only in his thirties.

He fought no fewer battles than Yuchi, so he didn't pay much attention to Yuchi's face, so he didn't let people tell if there was a problem.

"The Hun River is shallow, and only small boats can be used by small troops in the river. What's the use of them taking the ferry, and it will freeze over in a few days. Wouldn't it be more convenient for them to cross the river on ice?"

"Then what do you think they're bluffing for?"

"The general thought they were trying to attract our army to cover the main force to attack Eiyang Ridge."

After hearing Li Ji's answer, he turned around to look at the location of Eiyang Ridge on the map, and shook his head involuntarily. It seems that Li Jing's apprentice still has a false name.Even if he seized Eiyang Ridge now, so what? Didn't he plunge into the arms of the army?
After laughing twice, Yuchi Jingde said leisurely: "According to what you said, if this Hunhe ferry is useless, then what's the use of this earthen village surrounded by water on three sides?"

The generals in the tent also laughed a few times. If he was so defiant, Li Ji would definitely have a fight with him.However, the hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides are constantly fighting against each other day and night, and they all want to kill each other, so there is no room for personal gain or loss.

Immediately, Li Ji suppressed his anger and walked to the map, pointing to the terrain near the Hun River to show Yuchi Jingde.

"Please look, deputy commander. It seems useless now, but once the Hunhe River is frozen, the surrounding river can be used for horses and carts. On the battlefield in the cloud, our army will be divided into two by this stronghold. Time is bound to be unable to support each other.

If not, they will be dragged back by the enemy. Everyone knows the mobility of the Jieli cavalry. Once they use this to counter-encircle our army, how passive the battle situation will be.

Then their cavalry can gallop freely on the river.Waiting for an opportunity to attack any wing of our army. "

Seeing Li Ji being so stubborn, Yuchi Jingde had no choice but to sell his face. After all, we still have to fight together, and it would not be good for anyone to get too rigid.

"Then how many people do you think will be used to guard the strategic location of Eiyangling?" Yuchi insisted on the words "strategic location".

"At the end of the day, I thought it would cost at least [-]."

What he said was completely angry with Yuchi Jingde, he thought Li Ji was making a fuss out of a molehill.How can there be so many ifs in war, and people who drink water and choke to death?
Hahaha, after laughing three times, he patted Li Ji on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Mr. Mao, is this little evil Yang Ridge so important? If even this is transferred to 1 people, then you are transferred Even a million people can't defend the hundreds of thousands of hills in the clouds.

Such a law-abiding person, what am I going to use to fight Xieli's camp?You are too careful, it is enough to put 1000 people. "

Seeing that Yuchi Jingde was about to leave, Li Ji hurriedly chased after him, and said: "Deputy Commander, Deputy Commander, no way, the terrain of Eiyang Ridge is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Once captured by the enemy, the battle situation will be reversed, the enemy is condescending, and our army looks up to attack. At that time, we don't know how many lives will be taken before we can come back. "

"Don't say any more, I, Yuchi Jingde, have fought wars for decades, so I've seen a little bit of the world." After speaking, he left in a huff.

After the account was disbanded, several generals got together and muttered together. Although Yu Chigong had a bad temper, he could still listen to what the brothers usually said.Even if what Li Ji said was wrong, he wouldn't be so angry.

Gao Zengsheng whispered to several people: "What do you know? I heard that at the beginning, the two prime ministers, Fang Du and Du, recommended Li Ji to His Majesty as deputy commander. Can Duke E not be annoyed?".
Taking advantage of the darkness that night, the Jinhe army was captured by a group of sudden enemy troops at the ferry of the Hunhe River.

The sneak attack on the enemy did not consolidate the ferry, but took advantage of the chaos of the Tang army, and when Chai Shao was eager to regain the ferry, he took advantage of the situation and seized Eiyangling, which was stationed by only a thousand people.

What Li Ji said during the day became reality, because this time it was Xieli's general Ashi Nasimo who attacked Eyang Ridge this time.

By the time Yuchi Jingde realized it was too late, A Shi Nasimo made full use of the advantage of the terrain to repel the Tang army's counterattacks again and again.

Gao Zengsheng and other generals were driven out in despair and suffered heavy losses.

"General, there are so many Tang troops, can we hold them?" Deputy General Ah Shi Nazhong looked worried.

"What are you afraid of? There will be 3000 soldiers and horses, and [-] people will be able to defend for ten days. After ten days, the Hun River will freeze, and the Khan's troops will be interspersed. At that time, they will attack the Tang army from three sides. How can they not defeat."

While answering his nephew's question, Ashi Nasimo watched the soldiers under him carrying the seized weapons.

This time, Ashi Nasimo drove a nail in the cloud, which put Yuchi Jingde in a dilemma, firmly held back the Tang army's footsteps, and captured a large amount of food, grass and ordnance. The morale of the Turkic army in Ling was greatly boosted.

On the south bank of the Hun River, the Tang army camp

Yuchi Jingde greeted Li Jing and the others who came and led them into the tent: "Commander, Your Highness, please hurry up, the last general and others are looking forward to the stars and the moon, and finally the commander-in-chief is here to coordinate the overall situation.

I have been waiting for such a long time, I don't know what the court means, when will the Dingxiang war start. "

"It's already started. I saw the battle at Eiyang Ridge on the way here. Our army has already lost one battle in the battle of Dingxiang." Take the handsome position.

"Jieli has been invading the frontier for many years. It is a disaster for the court and a disaster for the world. The commander-in-chief was ordered to crusade against this thief, and the elites of the Tang Dynasty gathered here. If the victory is won, the Tang Dynasty will prosper, and if the country is defeated, the country will perish. Apart from winning, our generation There is no other choice.

If we want to win, we must take back Eiyang Ridge, so that Xieli's camp in Dingxiang will be exposed to our cavalry, and the situation on the battlefield will immediately reverse. "

As he spoke, he solemnly took over the imperial sword from Su Dingfang, and then tore off the wrapped yellow scarf to show it to everyone.

"This imperial bestowed sword has been placed in this big tent from today. If this battle is defeated, any of you can use this sword to take my head. But if any of you shy away from the battle, my commander Just use the sword to chop off his head without mercy."

Seeing that Li Jing had taken out the Son of Heaven Sword, all the generals in the tent also bowed to accept the order.

"Since there is no objection, then this commander will begin to order generals. Chai Shao, the chief of the Jinhe Road March, at dawn tomorrow, you attack from the left flank, and you must rush to the east of Eiyang Ridge before noon tomorrow.

Gao Zengsheng, governor of Huizhou, will attack at dawn tomorrow, and attack from the right wing to the west of Eiyang Ridge before noon tomorrow.This commander personally led the troops to attack frontally, and he wanted to take Eiyang Ridge back to him at all costs. "

The next day, Li Jing personally led the front army and marched towards Eiyang Ridge. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he straddled his horse and came to the front of the formation.

"In the ninth year of Wude, Jieli fought in Chang'an. At that time, our national strength was weak, and we had to spend all our treasury to seek peace in order to protect the country. In the past few years, we have been waiting for today's battle.

In front of your eyes is the place where the enemy is entrenched. This commander orders you to rush up, use the blood of the enemy to wash away our shame, and move forward. "

Encouraged and supervised by Li Jing, all the Tang troops were full of energy, fearless of death, and hit the frontal defense line of Eiyang Ridge time and time again like a tide.

But the situation of the battle was beyond Li Jing's expectations. Before he could use up all his strength, the envoy Nasimo who had been recruited came up and knocked out one of his front teeth.

The Huizhou army led by Gao Zengsheng was suppressed again. His retreat gave Ashi Nasimo seized the opportunity to quickly increase his troops to the east, and ruthlessly tore a piece of meat off Chai Shao's Jinhe army.

The thing in front of it had lost on both fronts, and Li Jing had no choice but to order a temporary retreat.

(End of this chapter)