Late Tang

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"Gongsun, you should report the military situation first." Li Jing cheered up.

The enchanting Gongsun Lan didn't have a smile on her face today, and bowed heavily to report: "Your Highness, everyone, according to the urgent report from Feiying in Yunzhou, tens of thousands of Hu people besieged Li Siyuan's troops to guard Niupi Pass on the sixth day of this month. In the battle between the two sides, Li Siyuan defeated the Hu people and beheaded more than 3 people. The Hu people were defeated. Li Siyuan took advantage of the situation and pursued him all the way to Baishuiluo outside the Great Wall. Ambush, the Shatuo army was defeated. Li Siyuan's 10,000 Shatuo army and [-] auxiliary soldiers were almost wiped out. At least [-] people were killed in battle. The corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed like rivers. Now Khitan Yuyue Luzheng Leading [-]+ Hu people to move southward, pointing directly at Niupi Pass in Qingpodao. His general Yelu Sala led a partial division out of Baidao, bypassing Zhenwu to attack the northwest of Yunzhou, and has conquered Jingbian Juncheng and Wuzhou City. Hu Renbing It's so sharp, it's hard to resist."

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the conference hall of the camp immediately stirred up.

Cui Yunqing asked: "Didn't the Supervision Office find out that there were only 6 Hu people going south, and the number of soldiers was only [-], and the rest were old and weak. Didn't they just want to take advantage of the fire? Why did Li Siyuan have [-] horses, but almost all of them disappeared all at once? How many people went south?"

Gongsun Lan bowed her head and said in a deep voice: "For this matter, I will first plead guilty to the King of Qin on behalf of the Supervision Office. This time the information was wrong, and the crime of dereliction of duty is inevitable. It is our Supervision Office that underestimated the strength and determination of the Khitan people, and did not investigate in advance. It turns out that the Khitans have carefully planned this time and came prepared. They have done a lot of secret work before, so they failed to find out the strength and movements of the Hu people going south. Here, I formally take the blame and resign to the King of Qin, and wait for the King of Qin to deal with it."

Li Jing glanced at Gongsun Lan, feeling a little angry.For a long time, the various bureaus of the Supervision Office have clearly defined responsibilities and have their own tasks. Li Jing is very satisfied with the performance.But this time, the Supervisory Office made a huge mistake, they didn't even notice the movement of the Khitan's tens of thousands of horses, which not only defeated Li Siyuan, but also put Zhang Zimian's army in danger.What made Li Jing even more angry was that the Staff Council and the Political Affairs Hall finally made the decision to take the risk of sending troops to replace the North based on the intelligence of the Supervisory Office.

Now, 20 barbarians came from the south instead of 5 mobs. This huge error put the entire decision-making of the Qin army in fatal danger.Now, Li Jing personally sent 5 horses into the enemy's trap, and made Yanjing and Hebei unprecedentedly empty.In the entire four provinces of Rehe, Hebei, Beiping, and Shanxi, there are only [-] garrisons.

Once this 20-strong Huren Corps breaks through the Daibei line, the newly established Shanxi Province may fall, and even the Rehe Province to the north of Yanshan Mountain may also be lost.If Chengde Town and Weibo Town in Hebei also took the opportunity to send troops, even the situation in Hebei would be turbulent.The central Hebei land is critical, and it will inevitably involve the great situation in the Northeast.

One hair can affect the whole body. The mistakes made by the Office of Supervision this time will lead to extremely serious consequences.

But at this time, it is not the time to pursue responsibility, but the time to make remedies and change the current bad situation.He barely maintained his composure, and said: "The Office of Supervision has seriously neglected its duties, and the crime is unforgivable. But now is not the time to pursue responsibility, let's write down your responsibility for the time being, and allow you to make meritorious deeds. Gongsun, you should talk about the information you have now. Let’s just say, I hope your information is correct this time.”

"Yes!" Gongsun Lan got up, turned around and walked to the sand table in the hall.

"After the incident, the Supervision Office went all out, and all the bureaus worked together. Now some information has been found out, and now it is summarized and reported to the King of Qin and you. According to our recent inquiries, the number of Hu people who went south this time was not 20, but 20. Wan. Yuyue Yelu Shilu, who was in charge of military affairs in Khitan, was the marshal of the Southern Expedition, Yelu Sala was the deputy commander, and Yelu Guzhi was the vanguard. A total of [-] horses from various tribes such as the Turks, Turks, and Uyghurs. Among them, there are [-] elite Khitan cavalry, [-] auxiliary soldiers, [-] warriors of various ethnic groups, [-] auxiliary soldiers, and slaves of various ethnic groups and the old and weak who accompanied them to the south. Eighty thousand."

Hearing that there were 20 Qingqi troops and [-] auxiliary soldiers among the [-] Hu troops going south, all the people present changed their colors even more.Even without counting the [-] allies, the [-] soldiers and [-] auxiliary troops alone are enough to shock people.No wonder someone like Li Siyuan was defeated in one battle.

However, Li Jing was still a little puzzled, Li Siyuan was no ordinary general, how could he chase the enemy so easily and lie in ambush, almost wiped out all his troops?

"Li Siyuan was betrayed!" Gongsun Lan gave Li Jing the answer.After Li Siyuan retreated from Shuozhou to Yunzhou, he still had [-] soldiers under his command. In addition, he also had an auxiliary army, and temporarily recruited a group of young and strong men to join the army. Finally, when he guarded Qingpo Road, There are still [-] soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers under him.After Li Siyuan was besieged by his subordinates in Yanmen last time, he rectified his army and horses. Many suspected officers were transferred away and put under strict surveillance.He even reorganized the various ministries and sent his confidant officers to the various ministries to serve as supervisors and monitor the officers of each battalion.

His series of measures started to work well, and many generals who were loyal to Li Keyong were recruited.

However, the final facts proved that Li Keyong's influence in the army was far beyond Li Siyuan's imagination.Many middle- and upper-level officers were monitored by Li Siyuan, but there were still a large number of middle- and lower-level officers who had been loyal to Li Keyong.They got Li Keyong's instruction, kept secret and waited for the opportunity.

This opportunity was when Li Siyuan fought with the Hu people. When the Hu people came to tackle the problem, Li Siyuan fought and defeated the Hu people.Then, a large number of soldiers under his subordinates did not follow the military order to withdraw troops, but chased and fought hard.Li Siyuan was forced to lead his troops to follow and pursue him, but as a result, he chased farther and farther, but the troops never returned.Until the troops were brought all the way into the ambush circle of the Khitans, they were almost wiped out.

At this time, Li Jing finally understood why Li Keyong stayed in the river so calmly. His move was really powerful.Li Siyuan may be very good at leading troops in battle, but compared with Li Keyong, what he lacks is the prestige in Shatuo's army.Li Keyong could respond to everything, but Li Siyuan couldn't do it.In addition, Li Keyong colluded with the Khitans, and they concealed a real army, which made Li Jing and Li Siyuan miscalculate the situation on the battlefield, which led to the defeat.

If Li Siyuan knew that there were 20 Hu people, even if the officers loyal to Li Keyong tried to confuse the soldiers to pursue them, Li Siyuan would never leave Niupi Pass easily.

"Where is Li Siyuan now?" Li Jing asked, rubbing his temples.

"After Li Siyuan defeated Baishuiluo, he disappeared. According to our speculation, Li Siyuan should have about [-] troops. These should be loyal to his subordinates. But they failed to return to Niupi Pass. Yelv Shilu An ambush has already been set up on the way back. Li Siyuan has either been killed by the whole army, or has turned to flee to another place. However, according to my speculation, with Li Siyuan's ability, it is unlikely that he will be wiped out so soon. Therefore, it is very It is possible that Li Siyuan is hiding from the Hu people in the area south of the Yin Mountain outside the Great Wall at this time."

Jing Xiang and others also agreed with Gongsun Lan's conjecture that Li Siyuan should not be defeated so easily.However, Li Siyuan couldn't come back for a short time, and now the Hu people had crossed the Great Wall and entered the periphery of Yunzhou City.

"There are three barriers in the periphery of Yunzhou, Niupiguan, Yunzhong Shouzhuo, and Baideng Mountain. In addition, there are Jingbian Army and Wuzhou City in the west, and Qingsai Army and Tiancheng Army in the east. But now we know that Yun The Jingbian Army City and Wuzhou City in the west of the prefecture have been captured by Yelu Sala's army, and the Jingbian Army and Tiancheng Army in the east are also estimated to be in danger. Yelu Shilu's strategic layout is very clear , That is to divide the troops into three groups, the central army directly attacked Yunzhou, the left and right troops captured the four outer cities of Yunzhou, and finally surrounded Yunzhou on three sides to break it. Then surrounded and ate the Zhang Zimian Corps in Shuozhou, and took After going down to Shuozhou, gather the Shatuo Army from Yanmen, enter Weizhou, and then go all the way north to attack the four prefectures in front of the mountain, and the final goal is still Junduguan and Yanjing."

Gai Yu squeezed his beard and said suddenly: "The Khitan people are here to encircle Wei and save Zhao. During the Northeast War, they dispatched such a large army to go south. It is absolutely impossible to come to help Li Keyong clean up the family. They will never In the early stage of such a decisive battle, they came to the Central Plains to fight grass valleys. The Khitan people planned to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, forcing us to send troops from the Khitan grassland or the Bohai battlefield to return to Hebei."

"The Northeast battlefield is very important. The battle is imminent and Feng Zhan has already begun. We must not send troops back from the Northeast." Jing Xiang said.

Li Jing also nodded. Although the Qin army invested four legions with a total of 35 horses in the Northeast battlefield, it did not have much advantage over the northern Rongdi coalition army. The two sides gathered millions of troops on the front line thousands of miles away. In such a battle, it is absolutely impossible for troops to be dispatched to the south.On the battlefield in the north, there is a radish and a hole. If the army is transferred back at this time, it is very likely that other troops will be strained, and even the whole line will collapse.

The Khitan people hoped that Li Jing would send troops back to aid them, so that they would have an extra advantage in the big battlefield in the Northeast.

Li Jing can't do this!

"How about sending troops from Shandong to go north?" Li Liang suggested, "Drop troops from Jianghuai to Shandong, send troops from Shandong to Hebei, and then send troops from Hebei to the north for reinforcements."

"No, how many troops have to be mobilized? Besides, Jianghuai and Shandong have to defend against Huainan Gaoping, Henan Huangchao Army, and Hebei Weibo and Chengde Town. The troops themselves have already reached a very low level. Level, how can it be transferred again." Li Zhen objected, the military transfer involving several provinces and regions was too big.At this time, the north is fighting, and the south is becoming more and more stable.If they are mobilized together, and Yin Gao Pian, Huang Chao, and Hebei Fanzhen also start to change, that will be a big trouble.

"The Hulu are powerful, and our army can't mobilize more soldiers and horses to compete with them for Daibei. In my humble opinion, it is better to let General Zhang Zimian retreat into Weizhou before the thieves encircle him, and concentrate Soldiers and horses, defend the city, and fight defensive battles with the Hulu. At critical times, we can even retreat to the military capital. In short, the key is to keep the Northeast War. As long as the Northeast War can win the final victory, we will send troops at that time Just take back the front of Daibei Mountain. Don't compete with the bandits for a moment, and focus on the distance!"

Li Zhen's proposal is full of conservativeness, but also prudent.If the battle line is stretched too long, the Qin army will be too tense, and the risk will increase a lot. .

Qin Fan still has many enemies, Sha Tuo, Cheng De, Wei Bo, Huang Chao, Gao Pian...

If you fight on the whole front without leaving any spare energy, then it is possible to attract these enemies to take the opportunity to attack. At that time, it will really get out of control.At any time, it is most correct to leave some spare energy.

The northern army cannot be transferred back, and the southern army is not suitable to be transferred back. Hebei has no troops to send. It seems that the Qin army has no other choice but to give up on behalf of the north and withdraw troops as soon as possible.

Just withdrawing Zhang Zimian's army at this point means that the Qin army's dispatch of troops this time has failed in an all-round way.Not only was a lot of money and food wasted, but Li Siyuan would be lost in vain, and even Datong Town was lost again.

Li Jing was unwilling to reconcile, and he knew very well that in the current situation, if he really abandoned Li Siyuan and withdrew Zhang Zimian, the Hu people would not give up. They would take advantage of the victory to attack Weizhou and Wuzhou , Xinzhou, Ruzhou, and Guizhou, all the way to Junduguan, and even Yanjing.

"Regarding the Chief of Staff, how many soldiers and horses are there in Hebei?" Li Jing raised his head and asked.

Jing Xiang was startled, but he still replied seriously: "Except for Zhang Zimian's army that sent 5 troops, now the entire four provinces of Rehe, Beiping, Hebei, and Shanxi have 5 soldiers in total."

5 horses may seem like a lot, but they guard the thousands of miles from Shanhaiguan to the Yellow River.These tens of thousands of horses guard the four provinces.

"How many united soldiers and rural soldiers are there in Hebei?" Li Jing continued to ask.

"The record of the Ministry of War records that Qin Fan now has a total of 20 united soldiers and 15 rural soldiers. The united camps in the four provinces have a total of 40 rural men and soil regiments, and 20 rural soldiers. Among the troops, the united soldiers and township soldiers accounted for half of the 20 people, and half of the [-] people were transferred from Hebei and other four provinces. Right now, there are still [-] united soldiers and township soldiers in the townships of the four provinces! "

Fifty thousand warriors and fifty thousand rural soldiers, even if Li Jing took them all away, it would only be 10, and Zhang Zimian's 5 would be only 15, which is not even as large as the number of Hu people.Besides, it is impossible for Li Jing to take all these soldiers away.

The soldiers from Mozhou Sanguan and Hejian must not be transferred, they have to guard against Chengde and Weibo.Soldiers at Shanhaiguan, Junduguan, and Lulongsai cannot be transferred. These are the three gates of Yanjing, and there is no room for loss.If you want to send troops, where else can you deploy them from?

Li Jing thought for a while, Yanjing's garrison and his bodyguards could be transferred. In addition, students from the lecture hall and military academy could be transferred, senior students from the scout school could be transferred, and a group of marines from the navy could be transferred. Team come here.Well, by the way, there is also a soldier and horse that can be adjusted.

"Counselor Gai, the last time the Wuhu came to surrender, what happened to the reorganization of the Wuhu soldiers and horses, how many soldiers and horses have been reorganized now?"

"Back to the King of Qin, there were a total of one million soldiers from the Wuhu army, including 20 soldiers from various tribes. After the first check, 10 people have been selected, and the plan is to expand into each original army. Now some Hu soldiers are still there. In training."

Hearing that there were 20 tribal soldiers, Li Jing's face couldn't help but move.Although the new defeats of the five tribes suffered heavy losses, the so-called 20 soldiers actually included a large number of old and weak soldiers.After entering the Qin Dynasty, the old and the weak have been eliminated, and one hundred thousand young and strong have been selected.Among them, [-] of the most elite are cavalry, and [-] ordinary are infantry. After receiving a year's new training of the Qin army, they will be dispersed and supplemented into the existing armies.

It has been less than half a year since this army received the new training of the Qin army, but it is indeed a large military force.Originally, they would be added to the Northeast, Hebei, and Jianghuai troops in turn after half a year.Now, Li Jing couldn't help having a new idea.

"From the Yanjing garrison, the king's guards, and students from various lecture halls and military academies, as well as students from the scout school who are over 14 years old, all are gathered. If you do the math, can you get 5 people together?"

Jing Xiang lowered his head and calculated carefully, "Back to the King of Qin, it is almost the same number. If Yanjing City only keeps 1 people for defense, and gathers all the military academy students over the age of 14, and then dispatches 5 united soldiers and [-] rural soldiers. , adding up the exact number should be about [-] people."

The Qin army has a large number of military academies at all levels, and it implements a professional military system. It includes combat soldiers, united soldiers, and rural soldiers.

"Very well, now you gather these 5 people, and immediately reorganize them with the 6 trained soldiers and horses of Wuhu, and reorganize them into thirty entire armies, twelve cavalry armies with 9 men, and ten infantry armies." Eight armies of 15 people are limited to you to complete the reorganization within three days. Three days later, the king will personally lead the 20 people out of the customs. Since Khitan is aggressive, let's fight him to the end. This time, I will not only Beat these [-] barbarians back to their hometowns, and take Dai Bei into their pockets." Li Jing shouted in a deep voice with a determined look on his face.

Cui Yunqing said in shock: "Your Highness, please think again. It is too risky to bet so desperately. Besides, one hundred thousand Hu soldiers will be used in this battle. I am afraid that the Hu people may not be able to fully trust them, and the army will be reorganized before the battle. I am afraid that it is difficult to have a tacit understanding. Such a team The army, although there are 15 people, is no different from a mob, it is too risky."

Li Jing said loudly: "It's not that this king intends to take risks, but that we have no choice now, and we have no choice but to retreat, so let's fight happily. Teacher, there is no need to say more, this king has made up his mind, and after three days, lead the army Conquer yourself!" (To be continued.)