Cold sweat broke out on Qian Siyi's forehead. He glanced back and bravely said: "General Tang, it's not that a humble general will not fight. It's really...!" After a moment of hesitation, he stood up and came closer.
He stepped forward and arrived at Tang Kaijia's side and said: "General, the enemy general is Yuwen Chengchao. He is Qin Xiao's number one general. And... and I have observed that the cavalry he leads are skilled in their movements.
He has superb riding skills and follows the rules and regulations. He is definitely not... definitely not a rabble."
Tang Kaijia frowned and said, "What do you mean?"
"General, I have a thousand brothers under my command. They are the direct descendants of the general." Qian Siyi whispered: "If they all die at the foot of Jiping City, I... it will be difficult for me to report to the general."
.If the general asks about the deaths and injuries, the humble general...the humble general will not know how to answer."
He spoke hesitantly, but Tang Kaijia certainly understood what he meant.
If Qian Siyi is forced to return to attack Jiping, and if he loses his troops and generals, then Wang Xingchao will ask questions, Tang Kaijia will naturally be involved.
In the eyes of outsiders, the Liaodong Army is monolithic, but internal generals know that there are many factions within it.
Over the years, all factions have been developing their own strength. Naturally, Wang Xingchao also attaches great importance to the soldiers of his direct sect. If it is not a must-win battle, Wang Xingchao rarely sends soldiers and horses of his direct sect to fight, and often sends troops of other factions to fight.
Qian Siyi and his thousand soldiers and horses were direct descendants of Wang Xingchao. If they were forced by Tang Kaijia and destroyed under Jiping City, Wang Xingchao would naturally not spare Tang Kaijia lightly.
Tang Kaijia snorted coldly and turned to look behind him. Qian Siyi was feeling uneasy. Seeing Tang Kaijia looking back, he couldn't help but follow his gaze. In the night, he could faintly see dense figures of people not far away.
It's like black waves are sweeping over here.
Qian Siyi was startled, but he realized something in an instant. Soon, he saw a dark formation of soldiers and horses approaching in order.
"General Tang...!" Seeing countless soldiers and horses appearing, Qian Siyi was overjoyed and said excitedly: "Is... reinforcements?"
Tang Kaijia said proudly: "The general has ordered that I will lead three thousand soldiers and horses to come to the rescue. General Qian Lang, you have two thousand soldiers under your command. If we join forces together, with five thousand of us, can we capture Jiping City?"
"Then the attack is invincible." Qian Siyi was very excited and said excitedly: "General Tang personally went out, let alone 5,000 men, even with only 2,000 men, he could easily capture Jiping." He said this in his heart.
Xia was even more confused, wondering if Tang Kaijia had brought these three thousand troops from Liaodong?
Huangfu Yunzhao brought eight thousand soldiers and horses from Liaodong to Shunjin. Including the original garrison in the city, there were only about ten thousand people.
Song Shixin was defeated, with nearly 2,000 casualties and soldiers who had joined Long Rui's army. In fact, excluding some of the wounded, the actual number of combatable soldiers in the city was only about 7,000.
Many of them were defeated soldiers who had withdrawn from Shunjin from the previous defeat, and their morale was low.
After Huangfu Yunzhao allocated 2,000 troops to capture Jiping, the strength of the troops in the city was even further weakened, with only 5,000 men in charge.
This amount of troops is used to defend Shunjin City, which is already the minimum. If another three thousand troops are deployed, the city will be short of troops when it is neutralized. Huangfu Yunzhao will never let himself get into such a predicament.
Moreover, the soldiers in Shunjin City were all Huangfu Yunzhao's men, so it was naturally impossible to easily allocate three thousand troops to Tang Kaijia's command.
Therefore, these three thousand troops can only be direct descendants of Tang Kaijia.
However, a team of 3,000 people came from Liaodong, and they were mainly infantry. Even if they traveled day and night, it would be impossible to arrive in less than four or five days.
It only took two days for Jiping to fall. How could Wang Xingchao send reinforcements in advance?
But now that the reinforcements had arrived, he didn't waste any time. He returned to his own military formation and ordered the entire army to turn around and prepare to march towards Jiping City again.
In fact, he had just retreated not long ago, and this place was less than thirty miles away from Jiping City.
The soldiers under his command were not surprised. They all saw the large number of reinforcements arriving and knew that their superiors were determined to capture Jiping.
Qingqi shuttled back and forth in the military formation, conveying the general's orders, and the two groups of soldiers and horses joined together.
Tang Kaijia's three thousand soldiers and horses also had four to five hundred cavalry, and the rest were infantry.
Qian Siyi also saw that there were many grain trucks in Tang Kaijia's team, and they obviously brought grain along the way.
Seeing this, Qian Siyi was even more surprised.
If it was just an army marching, the speed might be faster, but if the team carried baggage, the marching speed would only be slower. It would take more than four or five days to send troops from Liaoyang City. Maybe Tang Kaijia would be longer than he expected.
Have to leave earlier.
However, Tang Kaijia's baggage team did not carry siege weapons such as ladders or catapults, otherwise the speed would only be slower.
However, when Qian Siyi retreated from Jiping City, forty ladders were brought back intact. At this time, the entire army turned back and advanced towards Jiping, with the cavalry clearing the way in front and the baggage train guarding the middle of the army.
Five thousand men and horses marched in formation, densely packed in the wilderness, but also powerful and full of momentum.
"General Tang, are you preparing for a decisive battle with Long Rui's army in Yingping?" Tang Kaijia and Qian Siyi rode at the front of the team. Qian Siyi was half a body behind Tang Kaijia, but he was too worried about the sudden appearance of Tang Kaijia's leader.
Feel puzzled.
If he was not involved in this operation, even if he had doubts in his heart, he would not ask.
But this time the troops are united, and a thousand of his direct descendants are also among them. If you are confused and unclear about the situation, it is really unreasonable.
At this time, he had determined that when Tang Kaijia led his troops out, Jiping was still in the hands of the Liaodong Army, and everything seemed peaceful in the past few days. There was no sign that Jiping would fall into the hands of Long Rui's army, so Tang Kaijia
The reason why I was ordered to lead troops to Yingping County was definitely not to reinforce Jiping's war.
In this case, there can only be one explanation. Wang Xingchao started to send more troops to Yingping because he had made up his mind to start a head-on confrontation with Long Rui's army.
Both land and sea transportation lines were cut off by Long Rui's army. This not only cut off the trade routes, but also completely cut off many supplies needed by the Liaodong Army.
It is a disadvantage, and Long Ruijun will become stronger and stronger.
If this continues for another year and a half, the gap in strength between the two sides will widen, and even if this continues, the Liaodong Army will be consumed alive by Long Rui's Army.
The decisive battle between the two sides will come sooner or later.
For the Liaodong Army, naturally this decisive battle should be fought sooner rather than later.
Wang Xingchao had no choice but to choose to start the war as soon as possible, which is also reasonable.
Therefore, Tang Kaijia was first sent to reinforce Shunjin and strengthen the Liaodong Army's military strength in Yingping. This was also preparation for the decisive battle.
Tang Kaijia raised his head and looked at the night sky, raised his hand and touched his thick beard and said: "General Qian Lang, you are also a person who knows the military. You should be able to judge that I have already sent troops from Liaoyang before Jiping fell. Do you think I
Are you not here to reinforce the Jiping War?"
"That's right." Qian Siyi nodded and said, "General Tang had set out at least five or six days ago. At that time, Jiping was still in our hands. There was no sign that Jiping would fall into the hands of the enemy."
Tang Kaijia smiled and said: "General Qian Lang, our thinking is still far behind that of the general. The general can predict the things we can't think of, otherwise why is he a general? I won't hide it from you,
Before you even realize it, the general has already calculated that Long Ruijun will definitely target Jiping."
"Seriously?" Qian Siyi said in surprise.
"Where is Jiping?" Tang Kaijia looked to the south. At this time, he was still some way away from Jiping City. In addition, it was dark at night, so it was impossible to see Jiping City, but his eyes seemed to have seen the city in the distance.
He slowly said: "Jiping is an important town in the south of Yingping County. It is at the throat. Almost all transportation from the southern counties to Shunjin Prefecture passes through Jiping. The importance of geographical transportation is unparalleled."
"That's natural."
Tang Kaijia stroked his thick beard and said: "I heard that there is plenty of food and grass in Shunjin City, and it can be maintained for two years. But Huangfu still has people step up the collection of food and grass from the southern counties, and even transport it to Shunjin with great fanfare. Why do you think it is?"
"You don't have to worry about too much food and grass." Qian Siyi said: "Although Shunjin has plenty of food and grass, it is not a bad thing to hoard more food and grass. Moreover, General Huangfu said that the general is recruiting a large number of young men in the rear to replenish his troops. At that time,
The soldiers need to eat food, so before the decisive battle with Long Rui's army, the more food and grass we hoard, the better."
Tang Kaijia smiled and said: "Then let me tell you, Huangfu didn't tell you the truth. He did not come up with the conscription and hoarding of grain and grass. It was the general who ordered him to do it. There are two purposes for doing this.
But this is not the main purpose. The most important reason is to lure the snake out of its hole."
"Luring the snake out of its hole?"
"Qin Xiao and his gang are not fools." Tang Kaijia said: "Shunjin was collecting grain and grass from all over Yingping, and they must have seen it. The southern counties are where the granaries of Yingping County are located, and of course they also know the importance of Jiping City.
.Do you think they will watch Huangfu hoarding all the food and grass in Yingping to Shunjin? Whether they are willing or not, they must take over Jiping as soon as possible. Only in this way can they control the southern counties, and even control Yingping's food and grass.
The granary land is under your control."
Qian Siyi was a little confused when he heard this, and asked doubtfully: "Since the general has thought of it a long time ago, why...why not make arrangements in advance? If the general gives the order, let the humble general lead two thousand troops a few days in advance.
Once stationed in Jiping, it will be impossible for Long Rui's army to capture this city."
"What the general wants is for them to garrison in Jiping." Tang Kaijia chuckled and said, "If heavy troops were deployed in Jiping for defense in advance, Long Ruijun would think it was a tough nut and wouldn't dare to act rashly." He raised his head and said, "There are gains and losses, there are gains and losses.
Gains must come with losses. They gained a county town, but fell into the trap of the general. They have lost the initiative in this battle. The general's strategizing is unpredictable and I admire him deeply."