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Chapter 485
Tang Wude three years, August [-]th.

At the invitation of Yu Wenhuaji, Li Chongjiu announced to send troops to attack Liu Heita.

Li Chongjiu ordered Yu Chigong and Xue Wan to be the chief and deputy generals of the West Route Army, and ordered them to lead [-] government troops to dispatch troops from Taiyuan County.

Then Guo Xiaoke and Tudiji were the chief and deputy generals of the East Route Army, leading [-] Mohe Dingling soldiers, and [-] Han troops attacked Bohai County and sent troops to cut off the right wing of the Xia army.

Xu Shiji was the vanguard and general of the Central Route Army. He led [-] government troops and [-] township troops from Boling County to attack Gaoyang City in Hejian County.

As the first wave of troops, the three-way army went first, and Li Chongjiu led 10,000 elite Zhao troops, and Yinghe Fu and Ertuo's [-] grassland horsemen marched in turn. The [-]+ army spread out from east to west, from north to south, and the whole land of Hebei was covered with banners and gongs and drums.

Since Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Liaodong, the land of Hebei has not had such a big battle for some time.

Near Gaoyang City in Hejian County, war horses were galloping on the rammed loess road.

Xia Jun's posthorse, which was used as a post, was panting heavily, and the messenger's horse was whipped continuously with the whip, trying to make the posthorse run faster.

The war horse was spitting foam, and it was already exhausted. From this, it could be seen how urgent the letter sent by the messenger was.

When they came to a hill, the horseman suddenly reined in the stage horse, but from the woods beside the hill, a string of bows and crossbows sounded, and the messenger and his horse were shot by arrows flying out of the woods. overturned.The messenger's right chest was pierced by an arrow, and he fell to the ground, twitching with blood in his mouth.

Several people in the woods strode out with bows and crossbows on their backs. One of them, the messenger, was obviously unable to survive after being shot at a vital point.

Immediately, the letterbox behind the messenger fell into the hands of the burly man headed by these few people.The person took out the letter from the letter box and said with a sneer, "Gao Yaxian wants to ask Mingzhou for help, but it's too late."

After speaking, several people immediately disposed of the corpses of the messenger and the stage horse, and buried the blood with sand. It seemed that nothing had happened on the dirt road.
The head of Gaoyang City.

Gao Yaxian asked Su Dingfang: "Has the messenger who asked for help from Mingzhou gone?"

"Yes, I have already gone to the third wave, and they all went in different ways."

Gao Yaxian nodded and said, "Very good."

After finishing speaking, Gao Yaxian looked down the city, Zhao Jun's banner was fluttering, and the word Xu was written on the banner impressively.

Gao Yaxian knew that the opponent was Xu Shiji, the general of the Zhao army who gave Xia Jun a fatal blow in the Battle of Yishui.

Su Dingfang stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, and said: "Li Chongjiu's main force probably just left Youjing. Xu Shiji only has 2 horses. My son wants to go down and fight to defeat Xu Jun's spirit."

Gao Yaxian glanced at Su Dingfang and said with certainty: "That's right, Xu Shiji is a famous general, so it is expected that our army will be trapped in the isolated city because of concern about his popularity. Guarding the city is the worst thing about boring a city. Go down and kill for a while, and defeat Zhao. The spirit of the army is also good."

"Order!"

Su Dingfang laughed, and immediately led three hundred confidant cavalry to the Wengcheng, waiting patiently.

Suddenly the gate of Wengcheng opened, and Su Dingfang led [-] cavalry to fight out.The horses galloped forward, and the sound of gongs came from Zhao Jun's camp.Several teams of light cavalry in charge of guarding retreated to guard the guards who were repairing the camp.

Su Dingfang waved an iron spear, and the cavalry under his command raised their bows and arrows, and shot a wave of arrows towards Zhao Jun's camp.

Zhao Jun's soldiers ran to avoid each other, and there was some confusion in the camp. When the crossbowmen counterattacked, Su Dingfang had already fled away with light cavalry.

On the hill beside Gaoyang City, Xu Zishuai's flag fluttered impressively.

Xu Shiji looked at the city silently, and suddenly asked to the left and right: "Who is this enemy general?"

The generals didn't know it, but seeing this light cavalry rushing left and right outside their camp, Zhao Jun's vigilant cavalry wanted to drive them away, but they were often avoided or defeated by counterattacks.

Xu Shiji said: "Beat the drums and order the soldiers to retreat to Zuohou camp."

The generals on the left and right were in an uproar when they heard the words, and said: "When our army first arrives, we should retreat. Isn't it showing weakness to the enemy?"
Xu Shiji glanced sideways and said, "Do as I tell you!"

The generals did not dare to disobey, and immediately said: "Promise."

Soon after Su Dingfang returned to the city victorious, the soldiers of the Xia Army on the city wall and in the sheep and horse walls outside the city all cheered and celebrated, and raised their spears to pay Su Dingfang a salute.

Su Dingfang came to the top of the city, clasped his fists to Gao Yaxian and said, "Father, the child didn't embarrass you!"

Gao Yaxian nodded, and said calmly: "Just now I ambushed 2000 troops in Dongcheng. If Xu Shiji defended the camp and refused to retreat, I would order an attack to seize the camp. I didn't expect him to abandon the camp. His use of troops is really shocking." People can't figure it out."

Su Ding said in dialect: "In any case, we still won the first battle."

Gao Yaxian said: "Let's wait and see, Gaoyang is the northern gateway of our Xia Kingdom, as long as we stick to the city for half a month, why would Li Chongjiu travel hundreds of miles south to take Mingzhou?"

Wei County, Lin Lushan, Tang Army Camp.

Li Shentong, the pacifying ambassador of Shandong Province, Cui Mingan, the deputy envoy, and two reinforcements sent by Li Yuan himself, Li Daozong, Li Shenfu from Li Tang's clan, and Wang Deren, the governor of Xiangzhou, were eating together.Because Li Shentong likes Jinyi delicacies, even when he was in the army, he brought his cooking team from Chang'an to cook with the army and cook his favorite taste.

Therefore, the five of them enjoyed a rather sumptuous lunch.

But soon after, a military report spoiled Li Shentong's dining mood.

Generals Wei Chigong and Xue Wanjun of the Zhao Army led 2000 government troops from Jingxing, crossed the Taihang Mountains, and appeared in Hengshan County. It seemed that they wanted to go straight to Xindu, the hinterland of Xia Kingdom.But if it was Yu Chigong, it would be nothing more than Xue Wanjun's attack on the Xia army. They happened to drop in on the way to send troops, broke the Drum City of Li Tang and Zhao County, and wiped out all the [-] troops of the Tang Army stationed in the Drum City.

This is tantamount to stepping on Li Shentong's little face in Hebei.

"It's too presumptuous. Li Chongjiu doesn't take my Li Shentong seriously at all. Isn't he afraid of fighting on two fronts?" Li Shentong was furious.

What kind of behavior is this? Li Chongjiu dispatched a large army to attack Liu Heitai. When the Xia army was in a decisive battle, he was not afraid of becoming enemies with Li Tang, and captured Li Tang's important town along the way.The Shandong Tang Army led by Li Shentong has almost become a soft persimmon, and everyone can come up and pinch it.

"It's too presumptuous," Li Shentong's younger brother, Li Shenfu, stood up for his elder brother, and said, "Brother, Li Chongjiu has made up his mind and turned against us, Li Tang. Instead of this, it's better that we don't have to attack Yu Wenhuaji. Simply raise troops and go north to fight side by side with Liu Heita."

Hearing the words, Li Shentong showed hesitation, and asked back, "Where is Li Chongjiu's grassland rider?"

Cui Mingan said: "It must be a follow-up. Li Chongjiu even dispatched Yu Chigong and Xue Wanjun who guarded Taiyuan this time. His determination is not small. I think with the addition of grassland horses, Zhao Jun will have 10,000+ people going south."

"A crowd of 10,000+," Wang Deren, the governor of Xiangzhou, changed his face when he heard that, "I heard that Li Chongjiu was on the grassland last time. In order to suppress the rebellious tribes, he even did not hesitate to offend the Turkic people. He fought a war. Now the world is full of heroes Li Chongjiu is the only one who dares to turn against the Turks."

Seeing Wang Deren showing timidity, Li Shentong showed disdain. In his eyes, Wang Deren was a speculator. At the beginning, this person killed Fang Yanzao, the ambassador of Li Mi's governor of Hebei, and hated Li Mi, so he fought with Yuan Ziqian, the governor of Wu'an County. And descend to Tang.Later, Liu Heitai attacked Mingzhou, Yuan Ziqian surrendered, and Wang Deren wavered a bit. If Li and Tang's army hadn't come this time, this person would have surrendered Liu Heitai long ago.

Wang Deren said: "If Li Chongjiu has an army of 10,000+ behind him, I am afraid that with our Li Tang's strength in Hanoi, there is no way to deal with it. We need to ask Chang'an for reinforcements."

"Daozong, what do you think?" Li Shentong asked Li Daozong who had been silent.

Li Daozong is very young, but he is a rising star in the clan that Li Yuan also relies on very much.Li Zongdao has always been calm and experienced, saying: "This time Li Chongjiu has poured out the country, although there are many people, but if Hebei is determined in a battle, and Liu Heita is defeated, I don't think it will be so fast."

"How do you say it?" Li Shen told his nephew that he never speaks lightly, but he must hit the mark. Since he said so, he must be sure.

Li Daozong said: "Firstly, Liu Heikai is a famous general in Hebei. He has tens of thousands of elite soldiers guarding Mingzhou. It is not easy for Li Chongjiu to win. Second, if Li Chongjiu wants to go south to break Mingzhou, then he cannot bypass Gaoyang City, the gateway to Hebei. One day in the hands of the Xia army, Li Chongjiu was like a thorn in his throat. Gao Yaxian was stationed in Gaoyang City, and Su Dingfang had 1 horses. As long as Gao Yaxian did not surrender, it would not be easy for Li Chongjiu to suddenly attack Gaoyang City. In the battle of water, more than a dozen troops of the Xia army were defeated, and Li Chongjiu wanted to take advantage of the situation to sweep Hebei, but Liu Heitai stayed at the foot of Gaoyang City for half a month, and finally Li Chongjiu had to retreat when he ran out of food."

Hearing what Li Daozong said, everyone was stunned.

Li Shentong clapped his palms and laughed, and said: "That's right, no matter whether Gaoyang City is breached or not, Gaoyang's strong city is enough to kill Zhao Jun's spirit, and Liu Heita can go northward from Mingzhou calmly to relieve the siege of Xindu, or Defeating Li Chongjiu's army on the East Road of Bohai County, then the strategy of dividing and attacking that Zhao Jun preached is just a joke."
Li Daozong said: "In terms of power, Liu Heitai is enough to fight Li Chongjiu, but I don't worry about anything else. What I worry about is how many generals in the Xia army's cities can be rebelled by Li Chongjiu?"

While the generals were discussing, suddenly an envoy stepped inside quickly and said to Li Shentong: "Hebei urgent report, Liu Heita has sent troops!"

Everyone didn't expect what Li Daozong said, and they jumped up together. Li Shentong threw back his cloak, stepped on the table and asked, "How many troops are sent? Where are they going?"

"Liu Heita led [-] elite soldiers to Mingzhou to head for Xindu."

The generals walked to the map together.

Li Shentong laughed and said: "It is said that Li Chongjiu is good at fighting, but I think it is nothing more than that. Gaoyang City general Xu Shiji and Li Chongjiu's main force are all blocked under the city, so Yu Chigong's army on the west road has become a lone army all the way. Combined attack, in the end we can only give Liu Heitai a chance to defeat each of them."

(End of this chapter)