Late Tang

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The 15th year of Xiantong is also the first year of Qianfu.On the winter solstice on November 15th, the ministers Shang Xizong honored him as "the emperor of the Holy God, Congrui, Renzhe, Zhexiao and Filial Piety", and changed Yuan Qianfu.Last year was not only the [-]th year of Xiantong, but also the first year of Qianfu.Once New Year's Day is over, it will be the second year of Qianfu in a blink of an eye.

Li Jing feels that time flies, but Li Keyong of Shuozhou feels that this period of time feels like years.

This battle has completely deviated from the control of their father and son. At this moment, they are like sitting in a carriage that is constantly sliding into the abyss. They know that they are about to fall into the abyss, but they are powerless to stop it.After going through this continuous battle, Li Keyong now has a lot more composure in his body, and his temper is no longer as aggressive as that.At the beginning, he looked down on Li Tang, thinking that he was just a sick tiger who had already fallen ill.But now he finally understands that maybe Li Tang is really going to die, and it is true that not many of those feudal towns are truly loyal to the imperial court.However, the Shatuo people were not yet able to challenge him, and those feudal towns were still willing to send troops for Li Tang.

He regretted a little, if only he could have obeyed his wife.

The wind and snow were getting heavier, but Li Keyong stood at the Yanmen Gate like a statue.

This year's snow is extraordinarily heavy, and he is worried now.Originally, he had discussed with his wife that he crossed the river to pick up his father, and his wife was going to pack up and go outside the Great Wall.It's a pity that the Zhenwu Army's rebellion made him angry and lose his mind.And the subsequent annihilation of the Zhenwu Army made him feel lucky for a while, thinking that he could win a few more victories with the bravery of the Shatuo cavalry, and the current situation could be changed.He has indeed won consecutive victories.

In the Battle of Camel Weir, 6000 troops of the Zhenwu Army were annihilated.In the battle of Honggu, another 8000 Tang troops were destroyed.In the battle of Tanglin, another [-] troops of the Zhaoyi Army were wiped out, and Li Jun, the envoy of Zhaoyi's Jiedu, was killed.Three battles and three victories, and thousands of miles away, the Shatuo people can still be called the strongest cavalry in the world even at this time.

But why did the situation get worse even after winning battles in succession?

The brothers Gao Wenshun and Gao Wenji he sent to Yunzhou as reinforcements were originally arranged by him to help guard Yunzhou and keep his passage outside the Great Wall.If you defend Yunzhou, you can advance and attack, and retreat and defend.But the Gao Wenshun brothers surrendered to Li Jing as soon as they arrived in Yunzhou.Even the two tribes of Sage and Anqing, who had followed them for generations, turned their backs.His envoy, Fu Wenda, and his brother Fu Wentong also led the army to surrender. Of the several soldiers and horses in Yunzhou, only his uncle Shatuo Governor Li Youjin escaped.

The blow was so great that Li Guochang even fell ill after hearing the news.

Yunzhou was lost, and their retreat to the grassland was also cut off.

Li Jing's [-] troops guarded Yunzhou, and the other [-] troops guarded Weizhou.There are only three roads leading to the outside of the Great Wall, from Yunzhou to the Baidao and over the Yinshan Mountains, or to Weizhou to join the army and enter the fortress, or to Zhenwu, and to leave the fortress from Shanyu Duhufu, but now these three roads are all blocked.

He wiped out the Zhaoyi army, but the imperial court gathered soldiers and horses from eight towns.Even the five troops of Helian, Tuoba, Qibi, Sage, and Anqing, whom the Shatuo people had never looked down upon in the past, dared to follow the imperial troops to attack them.

Tiger fell and Pingyang was bullied by dogs!

This winter was really cold, and Li Ke felt chills all over his body. He took off the sheepskin wine bag around his waist, and took a big gulp of kumiss. A burst of fire rose from his belly, and he felt much better.

As soon as he returned to the warm town general's residence, Mrs. Liu immediately took off his cloak and held his cold hands in his hands.

"We can't stay in Shuozhou anymore. It's snowing heavily. Although our food and grass can last for a while, we don't have enough winter clothes." Liu advised Li Keyong to take the opportunity to go out of the fortress immediately. "It's snowing heavily right now, and it's unlikely that the imperial court will send troops at this time. We just took the opportunity to open a passage out of the fortress. If this continues, the people in Shuozhou will almost freeze to death before spring begins. And when that time comes, all kinds of soldiers from the imperial court will attack us, and we will not be able to defeat them."

Li Ke was silent.

It took a long time before he said: "Aye is seriously ill now, how can I get out of the fortress in the snow at this time."

He was really not reconciled, so he fled without fighting.He also has 2 elite cavalry under his command, and 3 soldiers and horses recruited from various ethnic groups.With [-] people in hand, Li Ke still wanted to fight in his heart.Shuozhou is the stronghold of the Shatuo people. Although he lost the other states, he still owns Loufan and Yanmen, two great passes into Shuo.Moreover, on the outskirts of Jincheng, the base camp of the Shatuo people in Shuozhou, there are three hillocks and four towns with strong fortresses and heavy troops stationed there.When necessary, he can even arm all the Shatuo people.

"The strongest fighters in Shatuo are the cavalry!" Mrs. Liu pointedly pointed out the impracticality of Li Ke's thinking, "We are good at maneuvering cavalry, fighting defensive battles, and defending the city. This is not our forte. No matter how strong Fortresses, there are times when they are breached."

Now it is the time when Shatuo lives and dies, not even compared to the time 60 years ago when Zhu Xie was loyal and oppressed by Tubo and decided to return to the Tang Dynasty.

"Let's withdraw. In the past, my Shatuo people withdrew from Hexi to Datang, and fought for three thousand miles. I was outflanked and blocked by Tubo people all the way, and lost two-thirds of my tribe, but I still escaped in the end. The situation now is similar to that of the past. If you stay here, even if you can win a few more battles, so what, in the end we will still not be able to fight against the Tang people. The green hills left behind are not afraid of running out of firewood." Mrs. Liu has already seen clearly that one or two victories are powerless to change the situation .The Tang Dynasty has such an advantage now, there is no chance of relaxation at all.

"Let me think about it again!" Li Ke was blocked in his heart.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Qianfu, Zheng Congxuan personally led [-] soldiers from seven towns to Loufan Pass for [-] miles, but the defenders in Loufan were still trapped in the pass surrounded by wind and snow, without knowing it at all.Loufan Pass and Yanmen Pass are the gateways to the south of Shuozhou.Yanmen is in the northwest of Daizhou, and Loufan is in the northeast of Lanzhou, but the distance is not too far.Li Keyong personally led [-] cavalry to garrison Yanmen Pass, and Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass each stationed [-] infantry.

After arriving at Guanxia, ​​Zheng Congxuan did not immediately give an order to attack.In order to achieve better results, he had already agreed with Li Jing before departure that the troops of the three routes would launch an attack on the same day on the tenth day of the first lunar month in order to give full play to their superiority in strength.

In fact, according to Zheng Congxuan's meaning, he wanted to join forces with Li Jing and attack Loufanguan together with the eight towns.Unfortunately, Li Jing didn't want to be with them.Zheng Congxuan guessed that maybe Li Jing wanted to send troops alone so that the credit would be greater.After all, the eight towns joined forces, and the final first contribution must be his, but Li Jing's contribution cannot be taken away when the troops are divided into two groups.However, Zheng Congxuan was always worried, what if they attacked Loufan as scheduled, but Li Jing did not send troops to attack Yanmen.

The time soon came to the tenth day of the first lunar month. Because of the heavy snowfall, Zheng Congxuan sent Tuoba Sigong's party cavalry rangers to mobilize. Occasionally, all the horses who left the customs were captured. Guan Guan didn't know that Zheng Congxuan had led the army to the customs. Down.

"Marshal, I would like to lead the warriors of our party as the forward of the army, and take down the upper pass!" Ever since he joined Zheng Congyu's command, Tuoba Sigong was actually a little worried that Li Jing would make trouble for him.After all, he only dispatched soldiers after he got Li Jing's gold in the first place, so it should belong to Li Jing.Now he has chosen to recruit Zheng Congxuan, who treats him well and strongly recommends him, allowing him to change from the self-appointed governor of Youzhou to the governor of Xia Sui.Now that things have happened, their party members have to follow Zheng Congxuan closely and hold on to this backer.

"Is there any good strategy for General Tuoba to destroy the city?" Zheng Congxun was very satisfied with Tuoba Sigong's initiative to challenge the battle.

Tuoba Sigong smiled, and there was a bit of humility in his voice, "It is enough to attack the unprepared one. After dark, I will directly lead the elite of my subordinates to sneak into the Guancheng and open the door." Some things seem difficult. , but sometimes it is very simple.Attacking Loufan by force will inevitably cost a lot, but if a sneak attack is used, in the current situation, it is very possible to take Guancheng without much effort.

Zheng Congxuan did not refuse Tuoba Sigong's challenge, it's okay to try, even if he fails, it doesn't matter much.That night, Tuoba Si respectfully selected five hundred elite party soldiers, and after a feast, he changed into a white cloak, and quietly approached the upstairs to close it.

Afterwards, they succeeded in nailing iron rods into the city wall, and nailed a passage, allowing several powerful party fighters to successfully climb to the top of the city where no one was guarding in the snowy night. And five hundred elites responded to the top of the city.When five hundred Dangxiang men descended from the sky, the guards on the city were still hiding in the towers and turrets to warm themselves up from the cold. They never expected that Tang soldiers would suddenly appear at this time before the New Year was over.

Zheng Congxuan was wearing a big cloak and had been standing beside the horse waiting.

All the generals and soldiers thought that the Dangxiang people were seeking their own death, and that 500 men could not win the Chengguan.But the commander asked them to wait here, so they were all ready to go.When everyone was about to be turned into popsicles by the cold wind at night, three torches suddenly appeared shaking in circles, and then the door slowly opened like a huge monster in the night Open your mouth.

Zheng Congyu was overjoyed and took the city gate.

"Go into the city! Go!" Zheng Congxuan's excited voice trembled a little.

The soldiers and horses of the Seven Towns rushed into Loufan Pass roaring, and fought until dawn. The [-] infantry defenders in Loufan Pass were almost wiped out. More than [-] people died in battle and more than [-] were captured.When the red sun in winter rose late, the building was closed and replaced with the imperial banner.

The victory was so easy that even Zheng Congxuan, who was standing on the city, couldn't believe it. So much so that the soldiers and horses of the seven towns in the city took advantage of the situation to rob, and he selectively ignored it. (To be continued.)