First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 49 Garrison Jiahu Fort

47. Garrison Jahu Fort

Fifty miles to the northwest of Huoyi City, there is a strong castle built of earth and stone, named Jiahu Fort.

Jiahu Fort is at the exit of Queshu Valley. Since ancient times, it has been a battleground for military strategists. When the Northern Zhou Army marched from Jinzhou to Taiyuan via Lingshi and Jiexiu, Jiahu Fort was the garrison. Then go straight to Taiyuan through Queshu Valley.

From then on, whenever there was a war in Linfen, the location of Fort Jiahu was particularly important.

The continuous heavy rain hindered the march. Li Yuan's army was originally stationed in the south of Jiexiu City. According to the suggestion of Pei Ji and others, before Song Laosheng arrived in Huoyi, he marched in the rain, seized Jiahu Fort, and entered the fort to garrison.

Li Yuan was hesitant at first, because marching in the rain was quite risky, but Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin's brothers tried their best to persuade him, so Li Yuan had no choice but to agree. Jiexiu's official road goes straight to Fort Jiahu.

Fortunately, Song Laosheng's army had not yet arrived in Huoyi. The fortress in the northwest of Huoyi was abandoned and unmanned. The Tang army stationed overnight and urgently repaired it.

After entering Jiahu Fort, Li Yuan was still worried.

"Once Song Laosheng cuts off Jiexiu's official path, we will have no way out," Li Yuan said quietly looking at the map.

Seeing this, Pei Ji shook his head and smiled, "Jiexiu is still under our control. If Song Laosheng can sneak around the back under our noses without anyone noticing it, it would be a hell."

Li Shimin pointed to Queshu Valley behind him, "There is still Queshu Valley, so Aye doesn't have to worry."

"Squirrel Valley..." Li Yuan couldn't help but nodded as he thought about the steep valley passage behind him.

It is of course very correct to seize Jiahu Fort in advance, because once Song Laosheng garrisoned Jiahu Fort and blocked the exit of Queshu Valley, the Tang army would have to attack from one side of the official road. What really worried Li Yuan was actually this It rained continuously.

It has been five days since they entered Jiahu Fort. During these five days, Li Yuan and others saw with their own eyes Song Laosheng leading [-] Sui troops into Huoyi City, and they couldn't help but feel great hatred in their hearts.

Originally, the defenders of Huoyi City were only a few thousand people. He has 3 horses here. It only takes half a day. The city is under siege.

Even Song Laosheng personally led scouts to Fort Jiahu to investigate, but Li Yuan had no choice but to send a small number of elites to drive them away.

Such heavy rain also allowed Gao Chong to see for the first time how restrictive the weather is to cold weapon warfare.

The rain was so dense and fierce that not only the movement and sight of the soldiers were blocked, but even the bows and crossbows were unable to be used. The bows and crossbows were most afraid of rain.

There are also armor and weapons, which also need to be stored in the wet weather of heavy rain. They need to be dried by the stove every day, and wiped with a dry cloth from time to time to prevent rust.

As the days passed, Li Yuan became more and more restless. Every day, he called all the generals together to discuss countermeasures, and even pulled Gao Chong from time to time to ask when the weather would be fine, but Gao Chong was helpless.

At the same time, everyone was also thankful that the army had enough food and grass, because the food and grass that originally arrived every half a month were now out of date, and Li Yuan was even more worried about this.

On this day, the food transportation team that had been out of schedule for five days finally came, but it brought two pieces of news to Li Yuan, one good and the other bad.

When Li Yuan heard the bad news, it was like a thunderbolt.

"You..." Li Yuan stood up in a daze, a little absent-minded, and looked at the terrified scribe in the tent, "You... Seriously what you said?"

The scribe in the tent is Cui Shanwei, who is in charge of the treasury of the general's mansion, who joined the army. He escorted food and grass all the way from Jinyang, and rushed here in the rain. He was very embarrassed and had no time to take a bath and change clothes. .

"Mr. Tang, people in Jinyang are panicking now, and rumors are spreading everywhere." Cui Shanwei also said with a worried face, "The fourth son has sent someone to investigate, and it was spread by those vendors from Loufan and Mayi. The news, nine out of ten... is true."

The source of this news must have been ordered by Dou Dan and Yu Wenxin to investigate, and they automatically skipped it. This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Liu Wuzhou colluded with the Turks and intended to attack Taiyuan.

Hearing this, Li Yuan fell down on the couch with a very ugly expression on his face.

"Xuanzhen, what should I do?" Li Yuanman looked at Pei Ji who was on the side.

Pei Ji looked at Cui Shanwei with a heavy expression on his face, "Cui Canjun, did Jinyang change when you came? Who told you to pass this news back? What's the attitude of Dou Dan and Yu Wenxin?"

"The four sons patrol the city every day, training soldiers, and the rest have divisions, each performing its duties, and there is no change." After hearing this, Cui Shanwei shook his head and said, "This news was sent to me by Dou Dan."

Cui Shanwei suddenly paused while speaking, frowned and said: "However, Yu Wenxin is very opposed to it. He thinks that the news has not been confirmed and is not a cause for concern. If it comes to the front line, it is afraid of disturbing the morale of the army."

Li Yuan and Li Yuan were also full of doubts when they heard the words, Pei Ji remained silent, as if thinking, Li Yuan immediately ordered people to summon all the generals to discuss.

When everyone gathered, they were shocked when they heard the news.

Wen Dayou looked worried, "Mr. Tang, Taiyuan is our foundation, and we can't afford to lose it. Now that the heavy rain is blocking it, it is hopeless to capture Huoyi. Why don't you go back to Jinyang."

As soon as the words fell, Li Shimin shouted decisively: "No, there is no reason to give up halfway."

Li Jiancheng also echoed his voice: "The news has not been confirmed yet, and it is too early to make false claims about withdrawing the army. What's more, there are still [-] elite soldiers in Jinyang, and there are Yu Wenxin and others to assist them. The child should be safe."

After hearing a few people's words, everyone's brows were tightly frowned, and the morale, which was already dull due to the heavy rain, became even more depressed.

Upon seeing this, Li Yuan immediately ordered: "At any time, this news must not be spread to the outside world, so as not to disturb the morale of the army, and those who violate the order will engage in military law."

Everyone is a confidant and wise general, so they know it and respond immediately.

After Gao Chong followed Li Shimin into the tent, he sat next to Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, and the three of them sat next to each other.

"Why do I think this matter is quite strange?" Changsun Wuji poked Gao Chong, lowered his head and whispered.

Gao Chong also nodded when he heard the words, and was about to speak, when suddenly, one of Li Yuan's personal guards rushed to report.

"Mr. Tang, someone from the right army is making noise, saying..." The guard paused for a moment, and hurriedly said: "It is said that the Turks are besieging Taiyuan, and my family is in danger."

Everyone was shocked, Li Yuan jumped up against the case, looked at the generals, and understood that none of the generals went out, it could not be leaked by the people present.

Li Shimin heard that it was his right leader, the First Army, and was furious. He looked at Liu Hongji, who stood up abruptly, "Tang Guo, Second Young Master, I'll go and investigate now."

"We just learned the news, the soldiers must have been incited to make trouble." Li Shimin suddenly remembered something, waved his hand, and signaled to wait a moment.

"Cui Canjun has been here all the time, so it must have been done by members of the food transportation team. Liu Hongji, except Cui Canjun, all the rest of the food transportation team are under custody."

Liu Hongji took the order and left.

(End of this chapter)