In early March, the atmosphere of war in Henan and Hebei began to grow rapidly.
The Tang army on the other side was heavily armed, and the movement of Nuo Da, who was preparing to cross the river, could not be concealed by Xia Jun's eyes and ears. The smell of war could be clearly smelled across the Yellow River.
On the fifth day of March, the main force of the Tang Army, more than 100,000 men, set off from Xingyang, entered Dongjun eastwards, crossed Baima, and arrived in Puyang area to station themselves.
This place is located in the plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. It belonged to the Wei Kingdom in ancient times and was the site of the great battle between the emperor and Chi You.
The terrain here is flat, the river beach is wide, the ice-free period of the Yellow River has just ended, the water flow is slow, and the river is shallow, and war horses can even swim directly across it, which is convenient for the army to cross the river.
The intention of the Tang army to cross the river was so obvious that the Xia army on the riverside immediately became nervous. Wang Cong's army was first stationed in Xinxiang, and then moved east to Liyang and the Linhe area.
The personal guard general Liu Heitai led his troops to garrison in Guancheng.
On the front of the Tang army was 50,000 people led by General Liu Ya, the leader of the left army, stationed in Chanyuan. This should be the main force blocking the Tang army from crossing the river, with the other two armies acting as a containment.
At the junction of Henan, Hebei, and Shandong, hundreds of thousands of troops gathered here, and war was about to break out.
Since Dou Jiande sent the imperial seal across the river in February, only half a month had passed. It was not known whether the envoy had arrived in Chang'an, and the Tang army had already begun to prepare to cross the river.
The anger of Dou Jiande and his ministers can be imagined. Li Ding'an obviously did not understand their intention of "repair" and did not even intend to talk. He only wanted to win with force.
The war was coming, and it was different from last year. It was a surprise attack, and the generals of the Xia army had unsatisfactory response to the situation, which gave the Tang army a big advantage.
This year, it has become a head-on battle with open flames.
Even if there is no news about Cao Dan's army, the current actions of the Tang army have shown that Cao Dan's army is in danger.
In fact, how could it not have been heard? More than 200,000 people lined up from Xuchang and Xingyang to Luoyang. The journey was hundreds of miles, and there were so many people. If Dou Jiande had not received any news at all,
That’s why I saw a ghost.
It's just that the news was suppressed. Once such bad news spreads widely, it will easily cause panic among the officials and the people, and the morale of the army's officers will also be hit.
Of course, whether they leaked secrets internally or the Tang army spread them deliberately, there are more and more versions of rumors among the Xia army. If the Xia army was still the patchwork rebel army it used to be, they probably wouldn't have to fight the war.
Just like what everyone did when they met Zhang Xutuo, they hurried to the mountains to hide and come out again at the right time.
It's different now. The Xia army has undergone vigorous reorganization and is moving closer to the official army. It is no longer a rebel army that fights in a swarm and flees in chaos.
From the formation of the Xia army by the river, we know that the leaders are all people who are familiar with battle formations.
They all understood that the Yellow River could not stop the Tang army. Just like the Tang army crossed the river and entered Guanxi the year before, the Xia army was also waiting for the opportunity for the Tang army to cross the river and attack halfway when the foothold was not stable.
That was the best opportunity to severely damage the army crossing the river.
But after all, this place is different from Puban. Puban is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. The river water is high and downward, and the current is rapid. Although the river channel is narrow, the water is not shallow.
The theory of Kansai's shape and victory is somewhat related to this, because it is not easy to cross the river from Jin to enter Kansai.
But Henan and Hebei are different. The river here is not wide, and the water in many places is very shallow. Therefore, since ancient times, few people have said how dangerous the Yellow River is.
This is actually one of the reasons why it is difficult for places like Henan and Hebei to separate themselves from each other.
Take the Wagang Army as an example. The Wagang Army went rampant in Dongjun and caused a lot of harm to the people of Dongjun. Later, Xu Shiji joined the group and asked Zhai Rang and Shan Xiongxin to rob the canal boats.
They were not robbing in Henan, they were going across the river to Hebei to rob. Who else can you think of being stopped by this section of the Yellow River?
Dou Jiande's anxiety can be imagined. He originally wanted to wait for a while to see if there were any changes, especially since he was still waiting for news from the Turks in the north.
While stalling for time, he was also hesitating whether to lead his people to retreat to Youzhou.
The most important thing is that he wanted to take this opportunity to inquire about the news in the south from within the Tang Dynasty. Is Xiao Mian still there? Is Du Fuwei dead?
In recent years, news has been blocked, but it is still possible to get closer. For example, if something big happened around Luoyang, it would be normal for Hebei to receive the news ten days and a half later.
But if it were a little further away, let alone Jiangling, the news of Jinyang would reach Hebei. If no one specially sent the letter, it would probably take half a year. It would be a huge event.
The problem Dou Jiande now faces is not only the large army pressing down on the country, but also the lack of information. Because they don't know what is happening outside, the Xia Kingdom's monarchs and ministers cannot clearly know the general trend of the world.
People in Hebei were not as capable as Zhuge, so when the news spread that Dou Jiande asked Pei Xingyan to go to Chang'an as an envoy, people in the court started to quarrel.
The struggle between the doves and the hawks began. When the Tang army prepared to cross the river, the quarrels in the Xia Dynasty became more intense.
After Liu Heitai, Liu Ya and others came to lead the troops in front of the formation, the voices of the DPRK and the Central Committee asking for war suddenly dropped, and the voices of asking for peace from the Tang army became the mainstream.
No one dared to say the word "surrender". Even if the emperor did send someone to Chang'an, well, everyone still didn't know that the emperor secretly gave the imperial seal as a gift to Li Ding'an. Otherwise, the voices of surrender would have been overwhelming.
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Otherwise, the aristocratic families are unreliable. At this time, the suggestions from the Central Government to Li Ding'an for peace were basically made by the descendants of the aristocratic families.
This naturally made Dou Jiande very angry, but he could not complain. In the past few years, he had made extensive appointments with the remaining aristocratic families in Hebei and Shandong, and tried his best to win over them.
Now it's the sequelae. They don't care who becomes the emperor. If it's not forced by the situation, how can Dou Jiande's background be worthy of their allegiance?
Emperor Dou felt the danger, so he held on to his own soldiers tightly. He felt that he could not even trust people like Pei Ju and Cui Junsu.
At this moment, he really regretted killing Tong Guangshou, Du Fubao and others. No matter how evil and rebellious they were, they had no problem with their loyalty to him.
Having them by your side, or in front of the army, will make people feel more at ease...
Even if he wanted to change Wang Cong at this time, he would not dare to do it. Once Wang Cong noticed something, he would definitely lead his troops to surrender to the enemy.
In fact, before the Tang army launched an offensive, the Xia Kingdom was already on the verge of falling apart.
Dou Jiande's performance was not as good as Xiao Mian's. The reason is very simple. Dou Jiande's background was too low, and unlike Xiao Mian, he could not be recognized by the wealthy family.
The world is a world of clans, which is not a joke.