As night fell, Kublai Khan walked down the high observation tower. "Great Khan, reinforcements from the Tang Army have arrived."
"Let the warriors camp and eat before fighting again tomorrow."
In the end, they still failed to complete the battle today. The generals were worried that Kublai Khan would be angry, but when they took a sneak peek, they found that his face was very calm.
Yes, after all, he was not defeated, and he was always suppressing Li Xia.
Zhang Yi stepped forward and reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Tang Army has come to support two troops. Look at the flags. One is the Ningwu Army, with more than 4,000 infantry. The commander is called Pifeng. He was originally a soldier of the Song Dynasty.
, was garrisoned in Yunding City, Sichuan in the early years. Since the Ningwu Army appeared, it means that Li Xia transferred all the troops in Hanzhong and Lizhou to the north. I think Kong Xian is likely to lead his troops behind."
Having said this, Zhang Yi glanced again, worried that Kublai Khan would be impatient to hear him introduce these Tang generals. Seeing a slightly cautious look on Kublai Khan's face, he continued to speak.
Who would have thought that these once unknown soldiers and generals would one day need to be understood in such detail by the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
"Kong Xian was originally the defender of Yunding City. Later, he had some in-laws with Li Xia and rebelled against the Song Dynasty. These Sichuan generals are the best at defense."
While saying this, the sweat tent had already been transported.
Kublai Khan walked into the sweat tent, signaled An Tong to spread out the map, raised his pen with his own hand, and wrote the names and distribution of the generals of the Tang army.
"The other supporting army is the cavalry, with more than 8,000 people." Zhang Yi followed Kublai Khan and said, his tone gradually becoming serious, "This Tang army is a new army that was reorganized last year."
"New army?"
"Since Li Xia formed an alliance with Uluru Hunai, part of the cavalry guarding Hexi was transferred away. First, he went south to attack the Song Dynasty with him. Then the cavalry was reorganized in Guanzhong, expanded with the old soldiers from Hexi as the skeleton, and was organized into Shaanxi
Yongxing Army. The leader of this army is called Lu Xiaoyou, and he is also a civilian with no family background."
Kublai Khan looked at the crooked names on the map that he had personally written. They were all the first he heard today, and they all came from a humble background, and he admired them all.
But he sighed again: "Li Xia is very lucky to have so many talented people left behind."~~
The camp was busy.
Beside the bonfire, one by one the generals finally arrived in front of Li Xia, and they all raised their hands. "Greetings to Your Majesty."
Li Xia's eyes swept over their faces. Because there were so many things to ask, he didn't know where to start. Many of them hadn't seen each other for many years, and he didn't know how to reminisce about the past.
Finally, he couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha." All the generals laughed.
"Your Majesty, I heard that Kublai Khan personally went to conquer Lanzhou. He defended Lanzhou for several days but did not see the Yuan army attack. It turns out that he was led here by your Majesty, hahaha." Bao San said loudly.
He had been responding to Li Xia since the afternoon, but at that time the Yuan army kept attacking. He was very nervous and his whole body was in a tense state. At this time, he felt quite relaxed.
"Yes, before Kublai Khan's personal expedition, he probably never thought that the battle with us would be in this area." Li Xia said, feeling a little relieved because of Bao San's words.
He first helped Li Zengbo sit down on the saddle and asked all the generals to sit down. After all, there were many wounded in the army. Then he spread out the map on the ground and pointed at Helan Mountain with his finger.
"Obviously, when we go out to fight with him in the field, we can't use high walls, artillery, and various defensive equipment. This is using our own shortcomings to attack the other's strengths, which plays into his hands, so he is willing to enter.
On this battlefield, we hope to eliminate our main force in one battle. In this way, we are suppressed by him."
When Li Xia said this, the generals' eyes were glaring, waiting for the word "but" after him.
"But on the other hand, we chose the battlefield where the main force will fight so that the Yuan army cannot enter our hinterland to destroy and plunder. This is more important and beneficial to us. Just like the foundation of a tree is still there
, why should we fear that the branches and leaves will be cut off? So far, we have defeated the 150,000 troops that the Yuan army transferred back from the Western Regions, and then selected the battlefield. This is a major strategic victory."
"good!"
Hule
Gen has always been the most supportive. Although he didn't understand what Li Xia said, he finally understood the word "major victory". He stood up and cheered: "Wonderful victory! Your Majesty's destiny."
Return, the Emperor of the Central Plains and the Heavenly Khan of the Grassland who have descended from the Immortal Heaven will surely defeat Kublai Khan. From now on, wherever the horse's hooves go, it will be His Majesty's territory."
Li Zengbo laughed and scolded: "You can say these things now. When we win a big victory, let's see what else you can say." "Haha, don't worry, Marshal Li." Hu Legen said: "I, Old Hu Duo,
It’s as beautiful as poetry.”
"That's not how the words "praising words" are used." Li Zengbo shook his head and said, "Sit down and don't mention your crooked poems again." "Hehe."
No matter what, the morale that had been low due to casualties and exhaustion had improved a little. Li Xia smiled a little and continued to talk about strategy.
"As I said just now, the reason why Kublai Khan is willing to fight here is because he feels that cavalry field combat is Meng Yuan's strength, and he will definitely win."
"He has a good idea." A general cursed in a very low voice.
"Yes, he just wants to be beautiful." But Li Xia heard this and answered this sentence in public, and said: "Then there are only two situations in the next battlefield. One is that we can't defeat Meng Yuan, and we need to fight against Meng Yuan.
Retreat and defend the Gansu line of defense; secondly, if the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty cannot defeat us, then Kublai Khan will give up the idea of a decisive battle with us and instead attack our hinterland. In this way, the key positions of the entire battlefield will be
There are several places like this.”
Li Xia first refers to the official road south of Helan Mountain.
"Three Passes, this is the most important point. You can rush over to support me. It is precisely because Lian Xixian took advantage of Kublai Khan's army to besiege me and seized the Three Passes."
Song He and Bao San cupped their fists and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, all our troops, horses, and baggage are now transported from the Sanguankou Post Road."
Li Xia said: "Lin Zi, you cooperate with Hu Legen and send out exploration horses to expand the exploration to the west. I am worried that the Yuan army will detour through the three passes and cut off our supplies and retreat."
"Here!"
The Sanguankou Post Road is a section of the Wuyin Expressway in later generations. Although the Great Wall and passes here were not built until the Ming Dynasty, it has actually been a strategic location since the Western Zhou Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Tubo entered Guanzhong eastward from here.
Li Xia attaches great importance to the management here and ensures the communication between the main force and the rear. This is not only a passage for baggage, but also a way to retreat in case of defeat.
"Secondly, there are these passages through Helan Mountain, Gunzhongkou, Suyukou, Helankou, and Dawukou. By guarding these passages, we can restrain Yang Wen'an who is currently in Xingqing Prefecture City from attacking Kubi.
With strong support, they were divided into two."
"Your Majesty." Bao San was puzzled and asked, "Even if the passage through the mountain is guarded, Kublai Khan can still bypass the northern end of Helan Mountain, and Meng Yuan can also support him from the Hetao?"
Yang Ben looked at Li Xia and explained: "The journey is different in time. If Kublai Khan mobilized troops, horses and fodder from Hetao, it would be 700 miles one way, but if he went through Helan Mountain to Xingqing Mansion, it would only take more than 100 miles.
miles, and a round trip is a distance of more than a thousand miles."
Bao San suddenly understood, stretched out his fist and lightly hit Yang Ben's armor, and praised: "You're such a bad-faced Yang. I haven't seen you for a few years, and you've grown even more. I'll tell you that you are born to fight."
Yang Ben grinned, no longer the stinky look he had in the past.
No matter how indifferent he is, after experiencing life and death and seeing his comrades who lived and died together ten years ago, he can't help but smile before continuing to talk.
"What your Majesty means is that as long as Kublai Khan is slightly behind in the battle, he can turn to attack elsewhere. Then even if he is defeated, he will still be 'undefeated.' Only by guarding these roads can we truly defeat him."
possible."
"Understood." Pifeng said: "This is the way that Pu Shuai used to 'close the door and beat the dog'."
"That's right." Li Xia said: "In the battle to recapture Chengdu, Pu Shuai first recaptured Jianmen Pass and then attacked Chengdu. He locked the dogs in the house and beat them."
With Li Xia's current dignity, it is actually not appropriate to call Pu Zhezhi "Pu Shuai" in front of his subordinates. He really didn't realize it at this time. What he was thinking about was that a lot of the experience of the Anti-Japanese War was in Sichuan.
I learned it during the Shu Dynasty.
"But today is different. Today we are beating the dog outside the house. We also need to close the door to prevent the vicious dog from getting mad and rushing into our house and biting our family members."
Hu Legen, Desuamu and others needed such a metaphor, and they suddenly realized it after hearing this. "Your Majesty, we understand. Close the door and beat the dog outside."
"In this battle, we are Cao Youwen back then. Only by holding on can we keep our homeland behind us. Do you understand?" "Understood!"
"The Meng Yuan army prefers to attack rather than defend, so they will not set up too many troops at these passes. Moreover, these passes are often narrow and one man can guard the pass, and ten thousand people are invincible. I intend to send dozens of elite troops to each pass.
Jump across the chasm and seize the key points first, and you will each recommend a candidate."
Yang Ben first glanced at the injured generals behind him and remained silent. He thought that it would be great if Wang Mancang under his command was still there.
However, Pifeng recommended several generals under his command, hundreds of generals, and said that all of them were men who climbed the mountains like flying from the Bashan Mountains in the Qinling Mountains.
At this stage of the strategy, it can be said that the strategy is to consider victory before considering defeat.
Although he was still at a disadvantage, he first arranged how to prevent Kublai Khan from moving the battlefield. Only then did Li Xia mention the frontal battlefield.
"Having talked about how to close the door, now let's talk about beating the dog. Our troops have not yet been assembled. Lian Xixian, Kong Xian and other troops have not yet arrived on the battlefield. Therefore, we need to return to Yingpanshan Camp and defend until the troops are gathered before counterattacking. This