Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 173: Battle of Linyi, Dispute between Xi and Liu

Xi Junmai also realized it later. The two strategies could obviously be used together, but he was so stupid as to ask Tan Dian which one to use. He was speechless.

Xi Junmai looked at Tan Dian and spoke again.

"We must hurry. Half a month ago, a message came through a carrier pigeon that the army led by Liu Rengui has begun to attack the Linyi navy. The Linyi navy is definitely no match for Liu Rengui. When Liu Rengui lands, his army will be larger than ours.

Linyi's attention has been attracted by us and they are making every effort to guard against our army. When Liu Rengui lands, he will surely be able to quickly advance to the capital of Linyi. We must not give up such a feat of destroying a country.

You must be prepared. After defeating Linyi's elephant soldiers, we must rest as little as possible. We must defeat the capital of Linyi and capture Fan Fanzhi alive before Liu Rengui and his men do!"

Xi Junmai's eyes were firm. In order to communicate the battlefield situation as much as possible, Li Yuanji deployed ten carrier pigeons on the two battlefields to make the transmission of military intelligence faster. But even so, there was still a time error of half a month to one month.

This is the bad thing about this era. The transmission of information is too slow. In addition, the roads in Lingnan are difficult to travel, so the transmission of information is even slower. This is already the limit of what Li Yuanji can do at present.

Xi Junmai would not let the credit for conquering Linyi slip away from his hands. In fact, both Xi Junmai and Liu Rengui wanted this credit. The reason was that Li Yuanji valued both of them very much, and let them take power as soon as they arrived.

As a military general, the only way to repay Li Yuanji's kindness is through military achievements, especially for Xi Junmai. It was not only Li Yuanji who showed his gratitude, but also Li Yuanji who saved his mother's illness.

Tan Dian nodded firmly upon hearing this. He was now completely following Li Yuanji, and he also wanted to establish merits. Otherwise, how could he gain a foothold under Li Yuanji? Did he want others to think that he relied on the merits of donating land?
He now has a very good understanding of the combat power of the Tang army. With such combat power, even if he does not offer land or take the initiative to follow Li Yuanji, such a large army can still conquer those places, and he will still be defeated.

After a moment, Tan Dian spoke again.

"General Xi, how can we lure the enemy over here and then launch a fire attack?"

When Xi Junmai heard this, a smile appeared on his face.

"The food and fodder that we transported here previously contained a lot of rice straw, which is more flammable than the millet straw. We moved the camp forward, filled the camp with flammable objects, and then immediately retreated after a fierce battle with the Linyi army, abandoning the camp.

We are defeated head-on, so we abandon the camp. The enemy will not notice. Then we will deploy a large army to lurk in the dark. As soon as the enemy enters the camp, we will immediately set it on fire with rockets and shoot with crossbows. The enemy will surely be defeated!"

After the two men made the decision, they immediately started to act. After seven days, the crossbows were delivered. Xi Junmai and Tan Dian immediately moved the camp forward and led the army to fight. They were then defeated and retreated, abandoning their weapons and armor along the way.

The Linyi army did not suspect anything and immediately occupied the camp, looting food and grass as soon as possible. However, all the food had been diverted by Xi Junmai, so there was no real food for them. The ambush troops arranged outside immediately fired rockets, setting the camp on fire, and the Linyi army fled in panic.

Xi Junmai used a bed crossbow and a powerful crossbow to shoot, and threw out some high-concentration alcohol to set fire to the area outside the camp.

After nearly two hours, the battle ended and many Linyi soldiers were burned to death. Xi Junmai and Tan Dian immediately led the army forward and marched straight to the capital of Linyi.

On the other side, Liu Rengui led the navy to destroy the Linyi navy and chose to land in Duonong.

"General Xue, I want to land in Donong. There is a small island near Donong, named Zhanbulao Mountain. We will use Zhanbulao Mountain as our springboard for landing. The army will rest and replenish supplies here. I will send a large ship to meet the remaining troops in Danzhou.

Afterwards, please ask General Xue to lead the troops to land. If we cannot break through for the time being, please ask General Xue to lead the troops back to Zhanbulao Mountain to rest, and I will lead the troops to continue the attack.

As long as we can capture Duonong, we can reach Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar by marching quickly, and then it will only take eight days. If we go even faster, we can reach Linyi's capital Zhenlong even faster.

As long as we advance fast enough, we can end the war against Linyi within a month.

Half a month ago, General Xi and his army were already not far from the real dragon, but were blocked by the Linyi elephant soldiers. We don’t know where they have advanced to now, but relying solely on an elephant soldier is not enough to stop General Xi’s army.

So we must hurry, otherwise the capital of Linyi will not be ours! "Liu Rengui's words were full of determination, directly showing his desire to break through the capital of Linyi and capture Fan Fanzhi alive. As a general, who doesn't want to be the first to make a contribution? Especially such a contribution to destroying a country.

Even if everyone has a good relationship on a daily basis, once they are on the battlefield, they have to fight and there is no way to give in.

Upon hearing this, Xue Wanche also looked solemn. He looked at the map for a while, then looked at Liu Rengui with a firm gaze.

"General, how about we take a gamble and not go to meet the army from Danzhou? We have 30,000 people here, which is enough. We can attack with all our strength and capture Duonong within three days!
After conquering Duonong, the army marched directly towards Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar without resting. As for food and fodder, the food and fodder stored here is enough for us to eat for twenty days. During these twenty days, we will collect food from Linyi.

I don’t believe that we can’t find enough food and grass in Donong City to feed the army for half a month. By then, more than a month will be enough for us to defeat the True Dragon and capture Fan Fanzhi alive!"

Xue Wanche was even crazier. He also wanted to take the credit for destroying the country. His ideas were even more radical than Liu Rengui's, especially in terms of food and fodder. He simply thought of fighting to support the war and plundering the food and fodder of the Linyi army to supply himself in order to speed up the march.

Once they do this, they will not be able to get into a protracted war. If they encounter the Linyi army, they must fight quickly and decisively. Once they are delayed, a food and grass crisis will arise and the army will be in direct danger of defeat.

After hearing this, Liu Rengui frowned and fell into deep thought. He was also very tempted by Xue Wanche's idea, but he knew that he was the commander-in-chief and had to be responsible for the entire army. In his eyes, victory was inevitable and there was no need to drag the entire army into danger in order to achieve the feat of destroying the country.

After a moment, Liu Rengui spoke slowly.

"General Xue, our army is already confident of victory, and the destruction of Linyi is inevitable. It is not good for a commander to put the army in danger just to compete with General Xi and his men for the credit of destroying a country.

Although I yearn for the achievement of destroying a country and want to prove myself, and prove that I am worthy of the king's attention and trust, I must consider the overall situation. The army here occupies half of the king's absolutely elite troops, and I must not take such risks!

This cannot be said anymore, but the original strategy can be changed. There is a port at Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar, which was built by the Sui army but was abandoned later. Although it is not convenient for landing, it can still be carried out.

We will first transport one month's food and fodder and five thousand troops from Danzhou and land at Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar. It will take about twenty days to get there from Danzhou. We must capture Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar within twenty days so that we still have a chance to fight.

It's settled, General Xue, you must be prepared. Don't wait until tomorrow. It's still early. Launch an attack on Donong directly. Don't let Donong's enemy troops have more time to prepare!"

Listening to Liu Rengui's arrangements, Xue Wanche's heart was full of approval. He made such a suggestion because he was a general and his duty was to win, not to consider the overall situation. Liu Rengui was a commander and his duty was not only to consider victory, but also the overall situation.

This is the difference between a general and a commander, one is about tactics, the other is about strategy, coordinating the entire army and looking at the overall situation.

Xue Wanche agreed that it was not only Liu Rengui's demonstrated military talent, but most importantly, he had fulfilled his duties as a commander. He was able to control his desire and even endure the credit of destroying a country. This was what a commander should do.

Xue Wanche immediately took the order, went down to prepare the army, and launched a direct attack on Duonong.

In the following two days, Xue Wanche and Liu Rengui successfully landed in Duonong under their attack, and captured Duonong the next day. The army rested for a night, and then Xue Wanche led 10,000 troops as the vanguard, Liu Rengui led 15,000 troops in the rear, and 5,000 troops stayed in Duonong to ensure the subsequent food and reinforcement channels for the army.

After a seven-day rapid march, Xue Wanche arrived at Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar. After the army rested for a day, he immediately sent out scouts to observe the enemy situation. Two days later, he launched an attack on Ma Yuan's Bronze Pillar. However, the Linyi army had the advantage of terrain. Although Xue Wanche attacked for three consecutive days and made some gains, the army's advance was blocked.

After Liu Rengui led the army to arrive, he defeated the Linyi army in three days. Then Xue Wanche led his army to the abandoned port to meet the food and army coming from Danzhou.

After a rest, Xue Wanche once again led 5,000 troops as the vanguard, and Liu Rengui led 10,000 troops behind, heading towards the real dragon.

On the other side, Xi Junmai and Tan Dian advanced for 27 consecutive days and captured Xinrong in one day. The army rested for three days. Xi Junmai led Tan Dian as the vanguard and led the army straight to Zhenlong.

(End of this chapter)