First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 205
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Li Zhongwen, the general manager of the army, is the grandson of Li Bi, one of the Eight Pillar Kingdoms of the Western Wei Dynasty, the son of Li Yan, the Duke of Zhenxiang County, and Li Mi's uncle. , was able to lead the army alone, and Li Zhongwen was full of energy.

The army rushed all the way, Jiang Baoyi, the deputy commander, felt that he was too eager, and immediately advised him: "General Manager Li, the march is too hasty, and the soldiers are tired. I'm afraid that the bandit army will wait for work at ease, or set up an ambush in the middle."

Li Zhongwen was very displeased when he heard the words, but he knew that Jiang Baoyi was a close friend of the prince, so he didn't want to get angry. He said bluntly: "Soldiers are expensive, and Bingzhou has been lost. We need to resist the situation of the bandit army going south as soon as possible, otherwise the impact will be bad."

Seeing this, Jiang Baoyi couldn't persuade him anymore, so he had to cheer up and be vigilant all the way.

When Song Jingang found out that Li Zhongwen was traveling all the way, he was overjoyed immediately. He ordered Huang Ziying to set up an ambush at a dangerous place on the way. Li Zhongwen was defeated and only led the remnant army to flee to Haozhou to assist Liu Shan, the governor of Haozhou, to defend the city. Jiang Baoyi was accidentally captured .

Song Jingang attacked all the way and occupied Bingzhou. The soldiers were in full swing and attacked Haozhou. Liu Shan, the governor of Haozhou, could not hold on. Song Jingang had to retreat and turned to enter Jiezhou.

When Li Yuan was worried, Pei Ji, who had never been involved in the military, volunteered to lead an army to conquer Song Jingang. Pei Ji was willing to go out, and Li Yuan naturally agreed.

Immediately appointed Pei Ji as the marching officer of Jinzhou Road, he could act cheaply, and led General Liu Hongji of You Xiaowei and others to meet Song Jingang.

At this time, Jiezhou had already fallen. After the arrival of Pei Ji, the army was stationed on Dusuoyuan in the southeast of Jiezhou City. Dusuoyuan was under Jieshan Mountain, and Jiezhou was named after Jieshan Mountain.

Liu Hongji was quite worried about this, and asked, "Why didn't you station soldiers on Mount Jie?"

Pei Ji smiled and pointed to the lush forest on Mount Jie and said, "If soldiers are stationed on Mount Jie and the bandits set fire to the mountain, wouldn't we become Jie Zitui?"

Jie Zitui was a celebrity in the Spring and Autumn Period, who refused to be an official, and was burned to death by the angry Jin Wengong who set fire to the mountain.

Liu Hongji looked at Jieshan, it was autumn, the trees were flammable, and he was really afraid of fire attack, but Du Suoyuan was backed by Jieshan Mountain, it was a plateau, and it was also condescending, so it should not be afraid of fire attack.

After learning that the Tang army was stationed in Suoyuan, Song Jingang once again found the fatal place of the Tang army, and ordered people to cut off the water source of the mountain stream.

It turns out that Dusuoyuan is a high-lying plateau, and the water source is all from the mountain stream flowing down from Jieshan Mountain behind. Song Jingang cut off the water source, and Pei Ji had no choice but to move the camp to find the water source.

However, when the camp of tens of thousands of troops moves, the whole body is moved. Taking advantage of the unsteady foothold of the Tang army, Song Jingang's whole army attacked fiercely, and the Tang army was defeated. There were countless casualties. Pei Ji, Liu Hongji and others fled to Jinzhou in panic Stick to it.

Song Jingang was always resourceful in his military operations. Seeing that Jinzhou was defending, he turned his head to attack Jiangzhou. Pei Ji was terrified and hurriedly pleaded guilty to Li Yuan.

After all, they are friends for many years, Li Yuan did not drop his responsibility, but continued to let Pei Ji guard Hedong.

Pei Ji expressed his gratitude and vowed to stick to the river east. He immediately ordered the surrounding states and counties to fortify the walls and clear the fields, move the people into the city, and directly burn the houses and food of the people who did not want to enter the city.

As the saying goes, when the wall falls and everyone pushes it, this Tang Dynasty has not yet fallen, but it has only lost several times in a row and lost several states, so someone has moved their minds.

There was a hero in Xia County named Lu Chongmao. Seeing that the people complained a lot, and the Tang army was losing a row, he immediately gathered a crowd to revolt. He called himself the king of Wei, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered in just a few days.

Pei Ji was furious when he heard the news, and ordered Liu Hongji to stick to Jinzhou and lead an army to attack. However, Pei Ji's political ability was outstanding, but his military ability was mediocre. When he arrived in Xia County, he was defeated by Lu Chongmao.

And just after Pei Ji led the army to Xia County, Song Jingang seized the opportunity and stormed Jinzhou. The army was taken away by Pei Ji, and Liu Hongji suffered from the lack of major generals. captured.

Pei Ji was defeated one after another, lost troops and land, and fled to Yuzhou in embarrassment. He once again implemented the strategy of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness, defending the city, and asked Chang'an for help.

Pei Ji was defeated, Liu Hongji was captured, and the government and the public were shaken. Li Yuan saw that Pei Ji seemed unreliable, so he quickly recalled him, and appointed Yong'an Wang Li Xiaoji as the marching officer, leading the Minister of Industry Dugu Huai'en, Shanzhou Chief Yu Yun, and the Ministry of Industry. Shi Shilang Tang Jian and others led the army to attack Lu Chongmao.

Lu Chongmao was shocked, and immediately wrote a letter to Liu Wuzhou, expressing his attachment. Liu Wuzhou ordered Song Jingang to rescue him as appropriate. Song Jingang made great strides at this time.

Song Jingang immediately dispatched General Xunxiang and Yuchi Jingde to rescue Xia County.

The brave Song Jingang first defeated Li Zhongwen, then Pei Ji, and captured the land of several states in the Tang Dynasty. Li Yuan was a little panicked, and said: "The bandit army is fierce and difficult to defeat. It is better to abandon the defense of Hedong and try to protect Guanzhong."

Li Shimin was very upset when he heard the words, and said bluntly: "Taiyuan is the foundation of my king's business. It is a great shame and shame to lose it to the thieves. Moreover, the rich land in the east of the river is the barrier of Guanzhong. How can I give up lightly? Please lead the army to fight. Restoration of Fen and Jin".

Gao Junya also said: "Today when Liu Wuzhou comes to attack, he abandons the east of the river. What should we do if other people come to attack in the future?"

Li Yuan was also awakened when he heard the words, and immediately appointed Li Shimin as the marshal of the marching army to conscript all the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong to meet Song Jingang.

Gao Chong also went out with the army. The army marched all the way to the northeast, and confronted Song Jingang through Longmen to station troops at Baibi.

Not long after arriving at Baibi, Gao Chong's face was heavy, and he went straight to find Li Shimin.

"My lord, our army is running out of food and grass," Gao Chong said with a frown.

Because Li Zhongwen and Pei Ji were defeated one after another, Li Xiaoji led the army to fight again, the food and grass in Guanzhong was already running low, and now Li Shimin was short of food before the battle, Gao Chong felt very aggrieved.

Li Shimin was shocked when he heard the words, and knew the reason in his heart. He immediately wrote to Li Yuan to urge the food and grass, and then sighed: "There is no food in the pass. Even if the sage presides over the financing, it will not be able to quench our thirst. We have to figure out a way first." ".

Gao Chong nodded, "For the current plan, the only way is to raise food on the spot."

Then Li Shimin wrote a notice in his own handwriting, borrowing food from the people in Hedong. Hedong was once laid down by Li Shimin himself, and Li Shimin has a deep popular foundation here.

At this critical moment, Li Yuan also cheered up and ordered the prince Li Jiancheng to oversee the country and increase food collection efforts, while Li Yuan himself went to the Changchun Palace to dispatch food and grass for Li Shimin. With the efforts of internal and external cooperation, Li Shimin's food crisis was slightly relieved .

In Xia County, Yong'an King Li Xiaoji stormed the city for several days, but Lu Chongmao defended the city to the death, and Li Xiaoji had no breakthrough.

At this time, Xunxiang and Yuchi Jingde led the army to attack from behind. Lu Chongmao saw this and went out of the city to attack. Li Xiaoji was attacked from the front and back. The Tang army was defeated.

(End of this chapter)