First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 316
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At dawn, only two of the bodyguards sent by Fan Yuan arrived at Shahe, and the rest were lost in the night.

When Liu Heitai heard the news, he was shocked and didn't have any doubts, because it was indeed like Li Shimin's military style. He was unexpected and good at seizing the opportunity to go deep into the hinterland and hit his confidants directly. Now the main force going north is indeed to capture Mingzhou great time.

Mingzhou is where the foundation lies, and there is no room for loss, so Liu Heita hurriedly ordered his younger brother Liu Shishan to lead [-] troops to Gucheng to meet Li Yi.

Liu Shishan's expression changed when he heard the order, he was a little frightened and uneasy, Liu Heitai was startled when he saw this, and then became angry, he cursed Liu Shishan, and then appointed general Zhang Junli as the main general to meet Li Yi, Liu Heitai personally led The army returns to aid Yongnian City.

It turned out that ever since Liu Shishan was defeated by Li Yi in Xuhe, he was afraid of the brave Youzhou Tuqi.

Youzhou has produced elite cavalry since ancient times. The three elite cavalry specially established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for the Northern Expedition of the Huns are Liangzhou Dama, Bingzhou Bingqi and Youzhou Tuqi.

Although Youzhou Tuqi has not been passed down from generation to generation, its lineage of iron-blooded cavalry is deeply rooted. When Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty pacified the world, Youzhou Tuqi was also one of the three main elites. The other two were Jizhou Qiang Crossbows and Bingzhou cavalry, and Gongsun Zan's "White Horse Yi Cong" at the end of the Han Dynasty reproduced the glory of Youzhou Tuqi.

Until the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yi rose up in Youzhou, claimed to be the governor of Youzhou, and rebuilt the Youzhou cavalry.

Although there is no Yanyun Shibaqi "dressed in cold clothes, with a scimitar on his waist, a mask on his face, and a black scarf on his head".

However, the Youzhou iron cavalry under Li Yi's command is indeed brave and good at fighting. It can be seen that they are still firmly occupying the two Youying states when they fought against various forces such as Emperor Daxu Yu Wenhuaji, King Xia Dou Jiande, King Yan Gao Kaidao and so on.

Under the fierce and rebellious commander of Li Yi, the Youzhou cavalry were brave and fearless every time they went to the battlefield. In the battle of Xuhe, Liu Shishan's 8000 troops were not stable, so Li Yi led the army to attack, and the [-] troops were alive and well. Beheading and capturing [-] people, Liu Shishan fled in embarrassment, how could he not be afraid.

Needless to say, he was annoyed when Liu Heikai hurried back to Yongnian City and found out the trick, but it was too late, Zhang Junli led his army to the north, and Li Yi attacked fiercely. State, and then the two sides fought in Zhaozhou.

Undoubtedly, Li Yi once again demonstrated his military talent, fully proving that his ability has nothing to do with his character. He won another big victory, and Liu Shishan and others fled in embarrassment.

Li Yi then conquered Zhaozhou, captured Liu Heitao's general Liu Xidao alive, and approached Lianzhou.

At this time, Li Shimin also succeeded in breaking through Xingzhou. When the battle report came, the morale of the Tang army was greatly shaken.

Li Quhuo, the guard of Mingshui City, was originally a general of Dou Jiande's army. After Liu Heita raised his troops, he also responded against the Tang Dynasty.

Now seeing that the Tang Dynasty is in full swing, and the King of Handong is already weak, Li Quhuo immediately wrote a letter asking for his surrender.

Li Shimin let the past go, and sent General Youwuwei and Peng Guogong Wang Junkuo to lead [-] cavalry to Mingshui City.

Mingshui City is under the jurisdiction of Mingzhou. Its area is not large. It is surrounded by Mingshui. The water is more than twenty feet wide and three or four feet deep. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Town, its location is very dangerous, if you seize Mingshui City, you can attack Yongnian City unscrupulously without any worries.

Hearing that Mingshui threw himself into the Tang Dynasty, Liu Heita was furious, and immediately poured his entire army straight to Mingshui. Li Yi, king of Yan County, led a breakthrough from Lianzhou to Mingzhou, where the two armies from the north and the south converged.

Mingshui City, this military town surrounded by water immediately attracted the attention of the whole world. Anyone with insight can see that the battle of Mingshui will be the key to the decisive victory of General Tiance and General Brave.

As long as the Tang army guards Mingshui City, it will become a sharp sword hanging over Liu Heita's head, and Liu Heita knows well that Mingshui City cannot be lost, so he will attack Mingshui City with all his strength.

"Your Majesty, Lord Peng Guo is good at running raids, so this city guard may not be his forte," Li Shiji frowned thoughtfully in the Tang army's camp on the south bank of Mingshui River.

Facing Liu Heitai, even Li Shiji felt extremely difficult. More than a month ago, Li Shiji personally led [-] troops from Songzhou to attack Liu Heitai with Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun's troops in Youzhou, but he never thought that he would be defeated by Liu Heitai. Breaking down one by one, the Xue brothers were captured, and Li Shiji had to flee in embarrassment.

There were not many people in the big tent of the Chinese army. Li Shimin sat in the main seat, staring at the map on the desk and meditating. On the left and right were Li Yuanji, Qin Qiong, Fang Xuanling, Li Shiji and others.

Hearing this, Li Yuanji said disdainfully: "The Mingshui City is surrounded by water, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Unless Liu Bandit soldiers and horses can pass through the air, Wang Junkuo is too incompetent if he can't even stand this." .

Li Shiji was taken aback when he heard the words, and wisely shut up, no longer arguing with the rebellious King Qi.

Li Shimin frowned, "Let's see Liu Heita's offensive tomorrow." Then he looked at Qin Qiong, "Shubao, you fought Liu Heita outside Lieren City that day. How do you think his troops are fighting?"

"Quite tenacious", Qin Qiong thought for a while and said straightly: "In terms of fighting in the army, it may not be as good as our army, but its army is tenacious, even if it is defeated, it will not collapse."

Everyone knows that Qin Qiong has an upright nature, and he will not speak nonsense, all of which are heavy-hearted.

"Then Liu Heitai was known as a brave general back then, so he had some abilities. If he was a mediocre person, he wouldn't have the courage to make trouble." Li Shimin nodded and said in a deep voice.

The few people present here are all confidants and loyal ministers. Li Shimin believed that they would not affect their morale, so he did not deliberately belittle Liu Heitai in his words.

Only by paying attention to and respecting the opponent can one defeat the opponent. Li Shimin joined the army as a young man with high spirits and has always been bold in using troops.

On the surface, the Battle of Qianshuiyuan was due to Li Shimin's serious illness. Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, forming an undefended formation, so they suffered a disastrous defeat. If you go deep, you will definitely lose the battle. The coach has this in mind, so the actions of Liu and Yin are not surprising.

As for Liu Heitai, even Li Shimin never imagined that in just a few months, the territory of the former Great Xia Kingdom would be restored.

"Most of Liu Zei's soldiers belonged to Dou Jiande's old army. The reason why the army battles were inferior was because after Dou Jiande's defeat, his soldiers fled to various places, lived in seclusion in the countryside, neglected training, and originally belonged to various ministries.

Now they are gathered suddenly, and they don't know each other, so there is not enough cooperation in the military formation," Fang Xuanling analyzed from the side.

Hearing this, Li Shimin agreed very much, looked at Fang Xuanling and continued.

"As for his tenacity in the army, it is because of Dou Jiande," Fang Xuanling sighed secretly, "Dou Jiande was born in a rough place, and he valued common people over scholars, so the people in Hebei often miss Dou Jiande's old kindness."

(End of this chapter)