Chapter 63 The Prince's Inspection of Farming Matters
The imperial army arrived in Wen'an on the 24th of the first lunar month and joined the remaining troops of Xue Wanshu's four brothers.
The reason why there were only remaining troops was because Luo Yi suddenly launched an attack, and Xue Wanshu was unprepared and was caught off guard. Fortunately, his two younger brothers, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, were both top-notch generals in the world.
One of them came from Miyun, the other from Yongnu, and they fought their way through to meet Wen'an and Xue Wanshu.
"That day, without knowing what was going on, I was ordered to go to Jixian to meet the traitor Luo Yi. Fortunately, my second brother saw through the traitor's plot to rebel. I killed his own soldiers and fought bloody battles all the way to escape." Xue Wanche told Duan Zhixuan.
explain.
After listening, Duan Zhixuan asked Xue Wanjun again, and the story he got was consistent with what Xue Wanche said.
All in all, this was a sudden attack by Luo Yi.
This also made Duan Zhixuan a little disappointed, because when he came, the prince told him that the Xue brothers had already defected to the East Palace. The prince originally planned to use the influence of the Xue brothers in the Youzhou army to capture Luo Yi without any blood, but he did not expect that he would be killed.
Luo Yi seized the opportunity and united with Shibo to rebel.
Xue Wanshu looked at his younger brothers and comforted him: "Now that Luo Yi's treachery has been exposed, the prince is leading General Duan to attack him, and he will definitely be victorious in the near future. You must obey General Duan's command."
"As ordered." Xue Wanshu and others quickly clasped their fists.
They also knew that although their eldest brother had defected to the prince, in terms of status, Duan Zhixuan, who followed the prince in Jinyang and raised an army, was the real confidant. Therefore, they did not dare to trust him in front of Duan Zhixuan.
Duan Zhixuan said with a smile: "Brother Xue, His Highness the Crown Prince praises you as a humerus. I will serve His Highness the Crown Prince. We should be as close as brothers, like brothers and sisters."
Immediately, Duan Zhixuan thought to himself that for this expedition to Hebei, His Highness the Prince gave him 30,000 elite troops, plus the remaining 10,000 remaining troops of the Xue brothers, the total number should be 40,000 troops.
So, he asked: "How many troops and horses does Luo Yi have at the moment?"
Xue Wanshu replied: "Reporting to the general, the Youzhou army originally had 50,000 troops, and our brothers have 20,000 in hand. Luo Yi has 30,000 troops and horses, plus Shibobi's Turkic troops and horses, there are at least 50,000.
about."
There is an asymmetry in military strength.
Duan Zhixuan clicked his tongue, but he wasn't too scared.
Because the entire imperial court stood behind him, and what did Luo Yi have?
A broken Youzhou.
Is it possible for Youzhou alone to feed such an army?
impossible.
Moreover, it is the first month now, how much food is left in Youzhou?
In addition, there is an ambitious Turk in Youzhou, and Luo Yi will not be able to stay around for long.
Thinking of this, Duan Zhixuan made a plan.
He looked at Xue Wanshu and said, "General Xue."
"The end will be here."
"You lead 10,000 people, together with two generals, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, to Guiyi. Remember, only defend but not attack."
Only defensive but not offensive?
Xue Wanshu hesitated and said: "General, Luo Yi has a large number of soldiers and horses. It may be difficult to defend the small town of Guiyi for a long time."
"It doesn't matter. If he pursues you, you can retreat directly. As long as you lure Luo Yi's soldiers and horses away from Youzhou, you will be considered a great achievement."
Hearing this, Xue Wanshu thought thoughtfully, "Is the general planning to defeat Youzhou with a surprise force?"
Duan Zhixuan was slightly surprised and said: "General Xue is wise."
After saying this, Duan Zhixuan did not explain, but asked Xue Wanshu to take over the general order.
Immediately, he looked at Xie Shufang.
"Thank you, General."
"The end will be here."
"You and General Xue Wanshu are stationed in Wen'an with 20,000 troops, ready to support General Xue at any time. If Luo Yi's army comes out, you can do your best to intercept it."
"As you command!"
Finally, Duan Zhixuan clapped his hands and said: "I will personally lead ten thousand people to Feihuxing, go north to Jimen, and break through Jixian!"
Jimen is Juyongguan!
When the generals heard the words, they immediately understood.
"Follow the order!"
In Youzhou, with Luo Yi's rebellion, the people were panicked. The doors of every household were closed tightly. Youzhou, which was already depressed, now looks even more depressed.
Luo Yi was too lazy to care about the people now, he was angry.
As angry as he was for not killing the Xue brothers, he was also angry at Shibobi!
"They still don't want to lend troops?"
"Yes, Shibo Bi said that he does not have many troops and must stay in Tanzhou to recuperate." Luo Shou said.
"Fart!" Luo Yi yelled, "Why didn't he say he didn't have many troops when he was robbing? I gave him Tanzhou, but he didn't send troops, you're a treacherous guy!"
Luo Shou wanted to say that Turks have always been like this, but when he saw his elder brother's appearance, he swallowed his words again.
"How's it going over there in Wen'an?" Luo Yi asked again.
"It is reported that Li Zhiyun sent Duan Zhixuan to lead troops to support Wen'an."
"How many troops do they have?"
"It should be around 50,000."
Luo Yi's head started to hurt.
It was not that he had never imagined the situation of the imperial court sending troops, but when this moment actually came, he felt a lot of pressure.
In particular, the Turks broke their agreement and refused to lend him troops.
"Wen'an." Luo Yi breathed softly and ordered: "You and Luo Cheng lead troops to station in Xinchang and Xincheng counties respectively, and be careful."
"yes."
Tanzhou.
Miyun City was already in a state of chaos.
After the Turks looted, they massacred the Han people and occupied their houses.
Shibo Bi lit the fire, blew gently, and said to his two brothers: "Although Youzhou is also very cold, the Han people are very clever. This house and this brazier are much warmer than our grassland."
"That's right." Jisheshui said: "The Han people are not strong, but the Han people are strong. If our Turks had the backing of the Han people, they would have marched into Chang'an City long ago."
Yu Gushe had a different opinion. He said: "It is precisely because the land of Han Dynasty is rich and fertile that the people of Tang Dynasty are lazy and only know how to farm, and are as soft as lambs."
Shibo must be non-committal.
He was thinking, is it really because the Turkic people go south every year because they are warlike?
Of course not, they were just trying to survive. If they couldn't survive on the grasslands, they had no choice but to come to the Han region to survive.
"By the way Khan, are we really not going to lend troops to Luo Yi?" asked the association leader.
Shibo Bi said: "Why do you want to lend him troops? I agreed to help just to plunder things from Tanzhou. You don't really think that Luo Yi can deal with Li Zhiyun, do you?"
Yu Gushe asked: "Then when are we going to rob Youzhou?"
"Don't worry." Shibo Bi said: "I guess that if Li Zhiyun knows that Luo Yi is rebelling, he will definitely send troops to suppress it. When they start fighting, we will take action directly!"
At this moment, a Turkic guard came to report.
"Khan, Luo Yi sent someone here."
"Humph, no see!" Shibobi refused directly.
He had no intention of really helping Luo Yi to rebel. Jieli had violently attacked his tribe in the past two years, causing him heavy losses. How could he get involved in the Tang people's fight now?
What he wants is real benefits.
"Yes." The Turkic guards followed the order and left.
After Luo Yi learned that Shibo Bi had once again refused to lend troops to him, he cursed, but there was nothing he could do.
There were Tang troops in front of them and Turks behind them. Only then did Luo Yi understand what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.
However, there was no turning back, so he could only bite the bullet and continue to rebel.
So, he ordered Luo Shou and Luo Cheng to lead troops to attack Guiyi.
Guarding Guiyi are the three brothers Xue Wanshu, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche.
Xue Wanjun squinted his eyes as he looked at the soldiers and horses coming from the opposite side, and said: "They are the Youzhou Army, but they are not Luo Yi's elite soldiers and horses. Brother, let me deal with them."
"Proceed with caution."
"rest assured."
Xue Wanjun smiled confidently, turned around and ordered all his troops to go out of the city to fight.