First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 228 Guarding the Hulao Pass

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Dou Jiande, who was full of harvest, immediately announced: aid Zheng to attack Tang, and ordered to recruit soldiers and horses from Caozhou Meng Haigong and Yanzhou Xu Yuanlang to go south today to rescue Luoyang.

At the same time, Dou Jiande dispatched Fang Shilang Wei Chuhui to envoy Li Tang, who spoke about the so-called "peace and justice" righteously, mediate in the middle, and let the Tang army stop.

When the news spread, the world shook, and Dou Jiande aided Zheng to attack the Tang Dynasty, which was both reasonable and unexpected.

Li Tang's power overwhelmed the princes of the world, first destroying Xue Ju, then swallowing Li Gui, and then pacifying Liu Wuzhou. Once Wang Shichong was defeated, Li Tang's unification of the world would be unstoppable. It is reasonable.

For a long time, Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong have been conquering each other. One is trying to go north to conquer Hebei, and the other is trying to go south to capture Henan. It was unexpected.

In Qingcheng Palace, Li Shimin sits at the head, and his lower and military seats are divided into two.

"Dou Jiande claims that 30 troops are coming to attack. What do you think?" Li Shimin asked solemnly.

Dou Jiande has been able to dominate Hebei for many years, subdued Meng Haigong, Xu Yuanlang and other fierce men, governed domestically, and fought wars externally, forming the current situation of the three kingdoms, and his power should not be underestimated.

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Feng Lun, an internal historian, came out and said: "The enemy's army is powerful, and our army will go out for a long time. It is not appropriate to face the enemy's front. It is better to avoid its front for a while, and fight again later."

"Mr. Deyi (Feng Lun's style name Deyi) is a safe policy," Li Shimin said noncommittally: "But if you retreat like this, the king will not be reconciled."

Feng Deyi was born in the Feng family in Bohai. He was talented and talented. He once attached to Yu Shiji, the minister of internal history, and worked in collusion and flattered the emperor, causing chaos in the government. He later returned to Yu Wenhuaji. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan issued an order to reprimand Feng Deyi for flattering and disloyalty, and dismissed him from office, but Feng Deyi offered a secret strategy, which made Li Yuan very happy, and worshiped him as an internal historian.

Seeing that Feng Deyi was the first to advocate withdrawing the troops, Gao Chong was immediately displeased, and said bluntly: "Our soldiers are fighting bloody battles, just now there is such a situation, the enemy troops retreat timidly after a little intimidation. Where are the soldiers who died for the country? Dou Jiande falsely claimed that he had an army of 30, but in reality it was at most [-]. Why should we be afraid of it?"

Feng Deyi murmured when he heard the words, but in fact Feng Deyi used to be the main battler.

Just a month ago, Li Shimin stationed troops in Beiman Mountain, and there was a stalemate. Li Yuan was so anxious that he wanted to withdraw his troops. He sent envoys several times to inquire about the situation of the battle. Li Shimin sent Feng Deyi back to the court to report the situation.

It's just that now Dou Jiande is coming aggressively, Feng Deyi and other officialdom old foxes have always done great things at the expense of their lives.

Song Guogong Xiao Yu was upright and upright. Seeing Gao Chong's youthful vigor and a posture of a newborn calf not afraid of tigers, he frowned and said: "The soldiers have been exhausted and their morale has been low for a long time. It is not easy to conquer, and Dou Jiande's new pacification of Meng Haigong, armed with the momentum of a great victory, is unstoppable. At that time, our army will be attacked by the enemy, what should we do?"

"The old man agrees", the veteran Qu Tutong even nodded in agreement, "Instead of taking the risk of a fight, it is better to retreat to Xin'an and Yiyang to wait for the opportunity."

When Gao Chong saw this, his heart suddenly became angry. The three of them were all over half a century old. agree.

Dang even faced tit-for-tat, stood up and said loudly: "A unified war is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. There is no perfect strategy for using troops. How can you blindly wait for the opportunity passively? The opportunity can only be won by yourself. The old general Qu Tu's plan is certainly safe, but Struggle for world hegemony requires an indomitable momentum to move forward, and it is difficult to achieve success.”

Li Shimin also nodded slowly, stretched out his hand to calm Gao Chong's emotions, and said bluntly: "What you said makes sense, tell me what you think."

Gao Chong pondered for a while, and then said directly: "Wang Shichong lost the hearts of the people, and the food and grass were not enough, and countless people died of starvation. Our army has been besieging the city for a long time, and the people in the city are already in panic. Not long after, Dou Jiande had just subdued Meng Haigong, and he was full of ambitions, and the arrogant soldiers were bound to be defeated.

Your Majesty can quickly occupy the fortress of Hulao Pass and choke its throat, and you will be invincible. If Dou Jiande comes to attack, you will find an opportunity to break it. The strength of the army is growing, the morale is high, and the two enemies are defeated in the first battle, and it is at this time."

Hearing Gao Chong's words, even Qu Tutong, who advocated withdrawal, couldn't help but nodded slowly. Yangzhai County Gong Guo Xiaoke said bluntly: "This battle has been fought for several months, and the king's thief is also at the end of the road. At this time, withdraw the army. A certain family was really aggrieved, the Dou thief came to attack, and it happened that these two thieves gathered together, and they were wiped out in one battle. .

After hearing the opinions of several people, Li Shimin had made up his mind, but at this moment, Xiao Yu stared and scolded: "You are young and energetic, and you don't know the dangers of military affairs. I have all the elites in Guanzhong here. If there is a mistake, Guanzhong will be in danger." carry on".

At this time, Xue Shou, who had been silent behind Li Shimin, coughed lightly, Li Shimin raised his brows, and asked directly, "What do you think, Bo Bao?"

Although Xue Shou is now an official worship office, he is in charge of Li Shimin's secret spies and is deeply trusted.

The reason why Xue Shou coughed softly to remind him was that he already had an idea in his mind, and he said immediately: "Wang Shichong defended the Eastern Capital by relying on his soldiers and food. The government treasury remains, and now its soldiers and horses still exist, but the treasury continues to be consumed. Even if the city is strong and the soldiers are elite, it is difficult to stick to it for a long time. This is its fatal point.

Dou Jiande came all the way to help, he sits in Hebei, and his treasury is full. If he is allowed to come to the city of Dongdu, and use Hebei's grain to rescue the soldiers of Jianghuai, then this war will be deadlocked, and the two thieves will be put down. I don't know when and what month, my lord We can occupy the Hulao first and look for an opportunity to defeat Dou Jiande, then Wang Shichong will be defeated without a fight, and the land of Hebei and Henan will be flattened in one battle, and the unification of the world will be just around the corner.”

Hearing this, Gao Chong clapped his hands and praised, "That's exactly the case. If the army is withdrawn without a fight, then the world will be unified. I don't know when it will be. Your Majesty, please make a decision."

Li Shimin nodded slowly, looked at Xiao Yu who was anxious, "I've made up my mind, uncle don't want to persuade me anymore", Xiao Yu was furious when he heard the words, "Your generation risked losing the country", and then waved his sleeves and left.

(End of this chapter)