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Chapter 498 The Final Battle
Inside the Tang army camp, Li Shentong couldn't sit still.

The collapse of the battle situation in Mingzhou is already difficult to contain. Unless Li Yuan can use the main force of the Tang army in Guanzhong to attack Hebei, it will be very difficult to stop the Zhao army's striding forward in Hebei.

However, it was impossible for Li Yuan to attack Hebei before he defeated Luoyang.

Li Tang's current situation is even better than that of Qin during the Warring States period. The order of Qin's destruction of the six kingdoms was first to send troops to destroy South Korea in Henan, and then ordered General Wang Jian to come out of Jingxing to destroy today's Zhao in Hejian, Boling and Hengshan. State, then break the Yan State in Youjing today, and finally destroy Wei, Chu, and Qi.

First Henan and then Hebei is Li Yuan's established strategy. Relatively speaking, Li Chongjiu wants to unify Hebei. Before Li Tang defeats Wang Shichong, he will take the lead in integrating Hebei's power and fight against Li Tang.

Each of the two has its own calculations.

Li Shentong, as the appeasement ambassador of Shandong Province, played a very subtle role in it. Li Yuan was planning to attack Shandong.

Just like when Li Yuan was in Guanzhong, with the help of Wei, Pei, Liu, Xue, Yang and other Guanlong clans, grandson, Dugu and other noble relatives from the north, he successfully pacified Bashu in Guanzhong.

Using the power of aristocratic families to collect Hebei was very effective in the early days. At that time, the Guanzhong clan was still in charge of official positions, the Hebei clan was in charge of surnames, and the noble relatives of Daibei who were born in Xianbei were in charge of blood.But after the change in Jiangdu, Yang Guang died, and Hebei officials didn't know what to do.

Therefore, officials all looked at the powerful Shandong gentry. Cui Mingan, as the head of the Boling Cui family, went to Shandong at this time, laying a good foundation for Li Tang to manage Shandong.At that time, Shandong officials surrendered one after another, and even several giant bandits such as Wang Bo and Xu Yuanlang also defected to Li Tang one after another at the beginning to show their favor.

However, Li Shentong's smooth days in Shandong were very short. Cui Minqian made great contributions to Li Tang, but Li Yuan only gave him the official system of a mere fourth-rank Huangmen servant, and he was assigned to the Guanlongmen Clan and Dai Beigui.Li Yuan's move disappointed the gentry in Hebei.

And at this time, Li Chongjiu and Dou Jiande, who were born in a poor family, rose up one after another, and set up a plan to snipe Li Tang into Hebei.

Dou Jiande and Liu Heita successively attacked the counties in Hebei under Li Tang's command.

While Li Chongjiu was attacking Hebei, he did not forget to win over the gentry. First, the Lu family of Fan Yang was forced to sever ties with Li Tang under Li Chongjiu's purge. Tang and Zhao remained neutral.

In this way, the Hebei prefectures and counties that had taken refuge in Li Tang in the first place fell one by one, and even Wang Bo and Xu Yuanlang defected to their new masters. This action turned Li Tang's good situation in Hebei into a passive one.

In the second year of Wude, after Li Chongjiu defeated Dou Jiande in Yishui, he first showed signs of annexing Hebei.From top to bottom, the State of Zhao's advisers and generals are not limited to Hebei, but to cover the whole world, covering the north and the south. How can the ambition of the State of Zhao be comparable to that of Zhao, Qi, and Wei in the Warring States Period?

So once Li Chongjiu defeats Liu Heita, it is likely to be a battle with Li Tang in the future.With Li Tang's strength today, he is naturally unwilling to have such a powerful opponent appear in Hebei at the time of unifying the world, who can fight against him in a separate court.

After hearing that the main force of the Zhao army came, Li Shentong finally made a decision that night to withdraw his troops overnight.

Three days later, on the official road into Hanoi, in the torrent of vehicles, a long line of Tang army soldiers marched hard on the sticky mud.

There are harvested wheat fields on both sides of the official road. Due to the heavy rain yesterday, the road is very slippery.

After Li Shentong made his decision, [-] Tang troops returned to Hanoi with their belongings. Now the official roads are bustling with soldiers of the Tang soldiers. They marched in three days. Dying animals lay on both sides of the road, and occasionally there was a cart with its wheels upturned.

Sometimes cavalry rushed into the crowd, the soldiers pushed and shoved, the horses stood up and neighed non-stop, the pack horses were frightened, and the grain carts also overturned.

After galloping for a while, Li Shentong adjusted his helmet and glanced behind him, only to see soldiers of the Tang army stepping in the mud and drizzle, accompanied by yelling, the crackling of whips and the creaking of axles.Tang Jun's head and shoulders were buried in the road, and he looked in a hurry. He didn't have the high spirits when he marched into Liyang.

Li Shentong regained his composure and asked, "Has Zhao Jun come in pursuit?"

Li Shenfu said: "Yesterday, the day before yesterday there seemed to be cavalry hanging from our army's tail, but since today I haven't seen them."

Li Shentong's complexion sank, he pointed at a mountain ridge in front of him with his horsewhip, and said: "Seize this place immediately, and check if there are any invincible troops nearby!"

After giving the order, General Li Daozong of the Tang Army led two thousand light cavalry and headed straight for the mountain ridge.

A moment later, three red flags were raised on the mountain ridge. Li Shentong and Li Shenfu were relieved to see them.

Li Shenfu said: "The commander-in-chief is too cautious. Li Chongjiu's enemy is Liu Heita. Before Mingzhou is conquered, he will not fight head-on with our army. It is of no benefit."

Li Shentong said: "I also expect the same, but Li Chongjiu's use of troops cannot be speculated with common sense. It is better to be careful. After passing the front, our soldiers will respond."

Just at this moment, a horn sounded suddenly on the mountain ridge.

Li Shentong, Li Shenfu's expression changed completely.
Li Shentong shouted to the scout general: "What's going on?"

The scout general said: "The last general will go and investigate."

After speaking, the scout general waved again and again, and the two teams of scout cavalry were sent out, but at this time Li Daozong's cavalry had already retreated from the mountain ridge in a hurry.

Li Shentong said angrily: "As a general, Li Daozong went down the mountain and fled before finishing his formation."

Li Shenfu said: "The commander-in-chief is too late, now we have to form an array to meet the enemy."

Li Shentong glanced at the exhausted Tang army infantry winding on the road.In order to avoid Zhao Jun's pursuit, Tang Jun marched for three days and was already exhausted, but he didn't expect Zhao Jun to catch up.

Could it be that Zhao Jun flew over with wings on his back?
When Li Daozong withdrew in front of Li Shentong, he said: "The commander-in-chief is..."

Li Shentong immediately shouted: "Did I order you to withdraw from the mountain ridge? What if the Zhao army attacked from above? I will punish you by military law."

Li Daozong sighed, and said: "Marshal, you are wrong, it is not Zhao Jun, but Yu Wenhua and that guy!"

Li Shentong and Li Shenfu were both stunned.Li Shenfu said in surprise: "It's Xu Jun from Yu Wenhuaji!"

"Yu Wenhuaji!" Li Shentong yelled up to the sky, and he lost even his usual self-cultivation.Li Shentong's face turned red, and his eyes revealed a ferocious look. He said: "Yu Wenhua and that idiot actually helped Li Chongjiu to beat me. Doesn't he know that Li Chongjiu is his biggest opponent?"

At the other end of the mountain ridge, Xu Guo's army marched forward.

Yu Wenhuaji put his whip on his horse, and a general said to Yu Wenhuaji, "The vanguard cavalry of the Zhao army have turned back after seeing our army."

Yu Wenhua nodded when he heard the words, and said: "Let the troops of Zuoying and Defengying not be wary of Zhao Jun's cavalry, and transfer here together."
The general at the side heard the words and said: "Your Majesty, are we really going to deal with Li Shentong? You know, this is helping Li Chongjiu."

Yu Wenhua looked coldly at him, and said, "Do I need you to teach me what I do?"

Seeing that Yu Wenhuaji was angry, the general wanted to pull his horse and turn around, but Yu Wenhuaji urged his horse forward and chopped him off with a single blow.

The generals were silent, Yu Wenhua put the blood-stained knife back into the scabbard, and shouted: "The whole army is attacking!"

After speaking, Xu Jun's side sounded a rumbling drum.

Hundreds of large and small ships are floating on the Yongjiqu Canal and are rushing along the river.

At this moment, the setting sun is slanting, and thousands of golden lights are shining on the river. The river here is wide, and the north wind is blowing again.The ships are all half-sailed, and they travel extremely fast, even better than galloping horses on land.
It turned out that upon hearing the news of Li Shentong's withdrawal, Li Chongjiu ordered Xue Wanche and Luo Shixin to lead the cavalry to pursue, while Li Chongjiu led [-] elite troops to board a boat and pursue directly along the Yongji Canal.

Li Chongjiu stood on the deck with his sword in his hand. Hearing the report from the general beside him, he couldn't help but smile. The general beside him said with a smile, "In these years, there are people who add to the icing on the cake, and there are also people who make things worse. Li Shentong is really out of luck."

After speaking, all the generals laughed out loud.

It turned out that when Li Chongjiu received the battle report, Li Shentong heard that the Zhao army advanced by land and water, followed and chased, and the soldiers hurried away, traveling for dozens of miles a day, and the soldiers were exhausted.

Yu Wenhua and Li Shentong were defeated in this battle, and countless banners and drums were captured. Li Shentong could only lead the Tang army, which had lost all their supplies, to retreat to Hanoi in desperation to protect themselves.

Li Chongjiu smiled and said: "Although I can't cut off Li Shentong's head with my own hands, I am happy to defeat Tang Jun with Yu Wenhuaji's hands."

In fact, even without Yu Wenhuaji's action, Li Chongjiu could have stopped Li Shentong by the waterway a day or two later, and the result would be the same.But now that Yu Wenhua is acting on his behalf, it is no longer necessary to pursue Li Shentong.Li Shentong's embarrassment in Hebei is already a big embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, there is news from Liyang City that six thousand Mohe cavalry from Tudiji have entered Liyang City."

"General Guo Xiaoke led 1 Uncle's troops, [-] horses, and sent troops from Linqing to attack Mingzhou through the official route. It is estimated that in two days, they will be able to form an army on the bank of Mingshui!"

"Yinghefu, the [-] cavalry of Ertuo's troops have assembled in Wu'an County, waiting for the king's order!"

"In the end, Generals Xu and Yuchi led 2 troops to Zongcheng. In a few days, they joined forces with Zhang Xuansu's [-] troops in Daming."

All the generals raised their chests when they heard this. At present, Mingzhou has gathered 10,000+ troops from Zhao State in such a tiny place. They can launch a general attack on Mingzhou only after Li Chongjiu gives an order.

"The overall situation has been roughly settled, and the battle to capture Hebei has finally come to an end."

Li Chongjiu said to the left and right generals: "Pass the order down."

"promise!"

"The navy returns to Li Yang!"

All the generals agreed after hearing the words.

"The commander-in-chief has an order to return to Li Yang!"

"Return to teacher Li Yang!"

(End of this chapter)