The Tang Dynasty started from saving Empress Changsun

Chapter 434 New Usage of Firearms
Li Chengqian has never been a person who follows the rules, but he was watched by the tiger parents and tiger mothers in Chang'an.

Surrounded by a group of decathlon ministers staring at him, he had no chance to do anything special.

Now that he arrived in Dingxiang City, he was finally out of the sight of those people, and the restlessness in his bones began to germinate.

But he still maintains this sobriety, knowing what can and cannot be done.

For example, he would not interfere with Li Ji's use of troops, nor would he go to the battlefield to kill the enemy by himself.

But he is very supportive of sending elites to attack Xue Yantuo's tent.

Huo Qubing's lone army went deep into the grassland and raided for thousands of miles to seal off the wolf's residence, and Li Weigong attacked Jieli Wang's tent at night and created a military miracle.

So why not do it again?

Although he couldn't really act together, he was involved after all.

So after listening to Li Xiaoyi and Wang Fangyi's detailed plan and their preparations, they immediately agreed to this decision.

Wang Fangyi worried: "Will our action affect the use of troops by the British Duke?"

Li Chengqian said: "Don't worry, I will discuss this matter with the British government later."

As soon as he said it, Li Chengqian immediately took the two of them to see Li Ji, and explained the matter like this.

Li Ji raised his brows, and looked at the two of them in surprise, apparently not expecting them to dare to make such a bold plan.

He didn't express his opinion directly, but came to the sand table to deduce carefully, and Li Chengqian listened carefully to his analysis of the situation.

Not to mention Wang Fangyi and Li Xiaoyi, the boss taught them on the spot and listened more seriously than anyone else.

After some deduction, Li Ji finally said: "Okay, you can try this plan."

Both Li Xiaoyi and Wang Fangyi were very excited, and they were more confident in their plan.

Li Ji continued: "But you must be careful when marching, and don't reveal any traces."

"And the timing of the action must be chosen well... I am going to fight Yi Nan in Qingshan seven days later, and the date of your action must be chosen seven days later."

"Once the Yi men are defeated, they will definitely return with the remnants of the army, and the calculation of the distance will only take a day or two at most."

"You can only choose a date between seven and nine days, neither early nor late."

If it was too early, Yi Nan led his troops to withdraw after receiving the news, but if it was too late, he would be blocked by Yi Nan's remnants.

Don't think that Xue Yantuo is easy to bully, if he is really blocked, he will give away his head, and Qibi Heli will be implicated.

After agreeing on the general plan, Li Xiaoyi and Wang Fangyi returned to the barracks, and disappeared into the vast grassland and desert with Qianqi.

……

When the Tang army arrived, and the British Duke Li Ji personally led the troops, Dadu set great importance on it, and immediately summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures.

The Xue Yantuo people were still very afraid of Li Ji's prestige, but after a long discussion they came to a result and waited and watched.

At that time, someone asked: "Why don't you launch a night attack while the soldiers of the Tang army are exhausted from the long journey?"

Da Du set up and said: "Li Ji is using soldiers, how can he not guard against this?"

"I believe he must have taken precautions, and if we launch a night attack, he will take advantage of him."

The person who originally raised the opinion was still a little dissatisfied, so what if others are prepared?Can't you just try it?

If there is no chance, is it a big deal to withdraw it?

But soon the latest information came from the front: "We are reporting in detail about our work in Dingxiang City. Li Ji dispatched [-] Turkic cavalry and disappeared."

"The two Zhechong Mansion Tang troops who first arrived at Dingxiang City were also transferred away..."

Dadu said triumphantly: "I'm right, these 5000 people are the trap Li Ji prepared for us, is there still someone who wants to launch a night attack now?"

Those who supported the night attack were very embarrassed. Li Ji was indeed cautious enough to set up an ambush with five thousand horses.

If he really jumped into this trap, it was unknown whether he would be able to come back alive.

The self-confessed Dadu set the others to celebrate, avoiding another loss, and also highlighted his foresight and ability as a superior, perfect.

As for Tang Jun launching a surprise attack in the opposite direction, they never considered it at all.

Li Ji's army came from afar, how could he have the energy to launch a night attack.

However, as a cautious general, Dadu set up his defense.

It's just that when the people above hold this kind of thinking, one can imagine what the defensive arrangement below will look like.

It was night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the [-] soldiers of the Allied Forces had horses with grassy titles, and their horseshoes were wrapped in cloth. The whole army quietly went towards the barracks set up by Dadu.

The second watch departed and the fourth watch arrived. At this time, people were sleeping the most deeply, and Xue Yantuo's camp was completely silent.

Even the night watchman staggered around looking for a place to take a nap.

The army stopped three miles away, and first sent a scouting team to wade ahead, and quietly touched the side of the camp to remove the fence.

At this time, there was no need to cover up any more, and the whole army was ordered to speed up and rush towards the Dadu barracks.

Dadu, who was sleeping with his quiver on his pillow, opened his eyes suddenly, and put one ear to listen.

"Boom..." A voice like rolling thunder sounded.

The sound of horseshoes, at least three to five thousand horses, were coming towards the barracks, and they were all in sight.

After decades of military service, such a judgment instantly appeared in his mind.

Then, with a look of horror on his face, he jumped up from the bed and shouted: "Enemy attack...Enemy attack..."

The guard who was dozing off at the door also woke up in an instant, and knew what happened without any verification.

Because I no longer need to put my ears on the ground, I can hear the sound of rumbling horseshoes just by standing here.

Dadu set up an exasperated shout: "Go and gather the whole army to defend, quickly..."

In fact, he was not the only one who was awakened, and many people got feedback from the earth immediately.

However, such people are only a minority after all, and more people are still unaware, and even complain when they are woken up.

By the time they fully understood what had happened, it was too late.

The distance of three miles is hardly a distance for the cavalry. Before Xue Yantuo could react, they had already arrived.

Following the gap opened by Tanma in advance, the army rushed straight into the camp and started burning and killing.

As a result, there is no doubt that Xue Yantuo has no power to resist.

But Dadu set up and escaped with his bodyguards in advance after judging that the situation was wrong, and he escaped a catastrophe.

The remaining people were either killed or fled in all directions, and the [-] army collapsed like this.

The abrupt allied forces rushed for most of the night, and did not withdraw their troops until the east was bright.

Counting the number of people, it was found that there were no fatalities, most of them were minor injuries, and a few serious injuries were caused by falling from the horse.

Li Ji personally led the crowd to greet him at the door, and promised on the spot that he would ask for credit for everyone.

Li Chengqian watched all this from behind, and admired Li Ji even more in his heart.

This method of using troops is simple and unpretentious, but it is precisely because of the simplicity that he shows his superb use of troops.

Take advantage of the opponent's paralysis to launch an attack, defeating the enemy's [-] troops in one fell swoop.

Seriously dampened the morale of the Xue Yantuo people, and in turn the morale of the Datang side was even higher.

The Turkic people have also built up their confidence, and the Xue Yantuo people are no different. In short, they are full of confidence in this battle from top to bottom.

……

On the other hand, Dadushe didn't directly flee back to Qingshan and reconcile with Yi Nanhui. If he took these people back, his life would be in danger.

Xue Yantuo adopts a tribal system, each tribe has a leader, and the number of people in the tribe determines the leader's right to speak.

Among the 3 elites of the Dadushe tribe, if they were all lost, he would also lose everything in Xue Yantuo.

So he set up camp on the only way back to Mobei to gather the defeated soldiers, gathering more than [-] people in one day.

It's just that these people don't look like soldiers at all, their horses are lost, their bows and arrows are not complete, let alone other things.

Looking at the over 7000 people in a state of distress in front of him, Da Du set was filled with fear and remorse.

Why didn't I think that Li Ji would launch a night attack?Why don't I pay more attention to it, and then take measures in advance?
It's a pity that there is no medicine for regret in the world, he can only swallow this bitter pill.

Seeing that there were not many rout soldiers gathered, Da Du set returned to Qingshan with his remnants in desperation.

Yi Nan was shocked and angry when he heard the news of his defeat, but considering his status and strength, he only punished him and did not execute him.

After that, scouts and cavalry went out to inquire about Tang Jun's situation.

Similarly, Tang Jun also sent a scout team to inquire about Xue Yantuo's situation.

The scouts from both sides fought in the vast area between Dingxiang City and Qingshan.

Tang Jun is naturally the one taking advantage, but the loss is also not small.

Li Chengqian went back to the wounded barracks every day to visit and take care of the wounded soldiers, which quickly won him the recognition and love of the soldiers.

Just as Li Ji calculated, after Dadu was defeated, Yinan took an all-out defensive posture, with [-] to [-] troops stationed in Qingshan to stand ready.

Li Ji said: "He wants to fight us directly and defeat us with superior forces."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly and said: "We only have 2 people, including the 6000 cavalry of Huaihua County King, there are only [-] people. From the statistics, we are indeed at a disadvantage."

Li Ji said: "But in many cases, the number of people doesn't mean anything. The victory or defeat depends on the morale, weapons, strategies, etc. of both sides."

"Except for the number of people in this battle, we have the upper hand in everything else. Yi Nan wants to decide the outcome with us, why don't I want to?"

Five days later, the rested army led by Li Ji set off for Qingshan and set up camp [-] miles away from Xue Yantuo's camp.

For Li Jing's arrival, Yi Nan was also ready for it.

But he was most concerned about another thing: "Can you see clearly? Did the Tang army carry cannons?"

The spy said affirmatively: "We have dispatched several groups of spies, and we haven't found anything suspected of being a cannon in the Tang army."

Only then did Yi Nan feel relieved, and said, "That's good. The Tang army dispatched troops urgently this time, and the cannons are too heavy to carry."

"It's definitely not carried because of that, and that's our chance."

"Everyone, it's time to decide the ownership of the grassland. This battle can only be won and not lost."

"Yes." Everyone stood up and shouted.

Before the fight, Li Ji and Yi Nan met in front of the two armies.

Yi Nan accused Datang of placing their enemy, the Eastern Turks, in Monan because of distrust and disrespect for Xue Yantuo, and asked Datang to take the Turks away.

Naturally, Li Ji didn't like his tricks, and said: "Is it the king's land under the whole world, and the king's minister on the shore of the land."

The whole world belongs to my Tang Dynasty, and I can place the East Turks wherever I want.

Then he came to accuse Yi Nan of ignoring the emperor's order to send troops to attack Monan and take in the traitors of Tang Dynasty.

Ask him to plead guilty to the emperor, hand over the traitor, and return Qibi Heli.

The two sides had a big talk, and naturally neither could convince the other.

However, both parties did not expect to persuade each other with words, all of this was nothing more than courtesy first.

Things have developed to this point, this battle must be fought.

The two naturally broke up unhappy, and then began to prepare the army for war.

On the sixth day, the two sides each sent [-] cavalry for a confrontation.

In the early days, the Tang Dynasty won a complete victory. However, during the pursuit, the Xue Yantuo people suddenly dismounted and formed an formation, and shot the Tang army back with a volley of bows and crossbows. They were caught off guard and caused a large number of casualties.

Seeing this, Li Ji hurriedly called for gold to withdraw his troops, and Xue Yantuo also retreated when they saw that they were good, and did not pursue them.

"It is said that the barbarian is a hero, and today I saw him really extraordinary. I learned the tactics of dealing with cavalry from the Central Plains, and used them against us."

Seeing so many casualties at one time, Li Chengqian was very distressed, and said, "I wonder how the British Duke will deal with this method?"

Li Ji stroked his beard and said, "We also dismount."

Then a strange scene happened. The Tang army completely abandoned the cavalry and faced the enemy with infantry phalanx.

And Xue Yantuo, who is good at riding and shooting, also gave up riding and shooting, and changed to fighting on foot.

Datang was also on the offensive side, while the Xue Yantuo people tried to rely on the large formation formed in advance to meet the enemy.

Then Yi Nan saw what it means to be a weapon agent.

Li Jing assembled ten catapults in front of the formation, but what was fired was not stones, but flower bombs.

He did not carry artillery, and it was unrealistic to drag something weighing several thousand catties to fight in the field.

But no one said that shells must be fired with artillery, and the same is true for trebuchets.

The whole wooden structure is built on site, disassembled into parts for transportation, and assembled at the place.

Seeing the catapult, Yi Nan and others didn't realize the seriousness of the matter, but just got the cavalry ready, looking for an opportunity to launch a wave of raids, and burn the catapult.

However, when the first shell fell and made a loud noise, seven or eight people around were either killed by the shock or by shrapnel, Yi Nan's heart sank.

Thousands and thousands of calculations just didn't count that Datang's firearms could be used in this way.

The psychological pressure caused by unprecedented weapons on Xue Yantuo people is far greater than the actual lethality.

The ten catapults fired non-stop, and the rumble sounded one after another, and the morale of the Xue Yantuo people dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yi Nan knew that going on like this would undoubtedly lead to failure, so he made adjustments.

Offensive.

Since the defense is not good, then I will take the initiative to attack with superior forces. As long as I break through your army formation, no matter how powerful the weapon is, it will be useless.

Li Ji kept observing the movement on the opposite side with a telescope in his hand, and immediately judged Yi Nan's plan.

He laughed loudly and said, "I finally caught you... Order the Shenji Battalion to prepare for battle."

(End of this chapter)