On the first day Li Po arrived in Jiangjun, he received news of Xue Wanche's success.
Xue Wanche led his troops to easily defeat King Wan Zan of Lu. He defeated hundreds of thousands of enemies and captured countless prisoners. He also expressed his strong intention to join forces with Yang Daosheng to take advantage of the victory and take Jingzhou directly.
More than 100,000 people participated in a local war, which undoubtedly surprised Li Po.
Of course he knew how much "moisture" there was in it, but he still had a different understanding of Xiao Mian's family background. Jianghuai had always been rich, and even though it had been destroyed by Zhu Can and others, it was much better than the north. This was
The Jianghuai region has natural advantages.
A slight collision will make a big difference. If you let the princes in the north casually divert troops all the way and bring out more than 100,000 people, that is simply a dream.
So it is conceivable how "rich" Xiao Mian really is. Unfortunately, it is an unbreakable truth in this age that the Northerners are good at fighting. Otherwise, such a good news will not come.
Xue Wanche had crossed the river last year and led more than 5,000 cavalry to guard Fengling Ferry with Zhang Shigui. The guard was actually Li Tang's Tongguan garrison. This battle was just an accident. It was a short-lived battle and had little practical significance in the overall situation.
But the earth-shattering sound of horse hooves frightened the people in the south. Riding from the north to the south actually had this effect.
It's just that many battle cases prove that the southerners are not without their strength. The Jianghuai area is similar to Jiangnan. Many cities are surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the cavalry will be greatly restricted.
Not to mention Jiangling, a fortified city like Xiangyang is almost impossible to be shaken by pure external forces.
Not to mention Li Po, even Xue Wanche doesn't understand this truth, but the former generals of the army are like this. They want to get more power and get more military exploits... So, it doesn't hurt to try to ask for a fight.
If the king is moved, he will not be allowed to rush over so blindly. Zhang Lun, Xu Shiji and others will be sent to help. With so many elite soldiers and generals here, it is not impossible to defeat Jiangling City, right?
There have been countless cases since ancient times when former military generals' eyes turned red, they lost control and acted on their own initiative. Sometimes they even changed the commander's established strategy. There is nothing strange about this.
Naturally, Li Po would not agree to Xue Wanche's request. He was a determined commander and would not let such things affect the established strategy, and he also believed that Xue Wanche and others would not dare to go against his will.
Xiao Mian's "weakness" has become more and more clear, and he has even vaguely felt that as long as he can remove the biggest stumbling block, the world will be at his fingertips.
Along the way, this feeling has always accompanied me, but it has never been as clear as this moment.
After receiving the victory news, Li Po was in a good mood. No matter what he thought, this was a victory after all. It could boost the morale of the army a little, which would be good for the upcoming wars.
As for Xiao Mian's reaction... well, in the battle with Li Tang, if Xiao Mian wins, Xiao Mian may be the next opponent. It is indeed a bit early to break up now, but looking at Xiao Mian's appearance, it is impossible to threaten him.
From the side, it's almost the same as Dou Jiande.
But having said that, adding a few layers of aura to the two of them for such a big move would probably be of no help. It would be impossible for them to do it in a short time.
If he was defeated and retreated back to Jin, he could only hope that Xiao Xian and Dou Jiande would hold Li Tang back and leave the land south of the Yellow River to them.
That was the worst situation. After a mess, the world was in chaos. The story of the late Jin Dynasty repeated itself. Everyone craned their necks and waited for the Turks to come south and take action.
This is not Li Po's imagination. Even if he loses this battle, he will not be able to reconcile with Li Tangyan. Naturally, he will struggle desperately. The same is probably true for Xiao Xian and Dou Jiande. The Turks will most likely reap the benefits.
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It can be seen from this that if such a situation happened, then Li Po would have to bear the main responsibility. Without him, Li Tang would have occupied most of the Central Plains, and he would have been in trouble when facing the Turks.
How could a single effort make the world situation as confusing as it is now?
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Obviously, Li Po's vision is much better than before, but the reason is that he can't help himself, and it is also not comparable to back then.
He knows how bad the outcome of this battle will be if he loses, so how determined he is to fight this battle. He doesn't have as many things that need to be resolved urgently as Li Shimin is entangled, but he also doesn't have a huge advantage. He can be like Li Shimin.
Just like Li Yuan did back then, he rushed through the Yellow River's obstruction.
Working hard, working hard again, being cautious, being cautious and being cautious again, is what Li Po looks like today.
Things in the south were quickly put aside by him, and military discussions one after another became the most important part of his days.
If when he was in Jinyang, he discussed general strategies with others, then when he arrived in Jiangjun, he discussed detailed tactics with the generals.
Military orders were sent to various armies one after another, adjusting the personnel and military strength of subordinates.
The first military order was to recruit Zhang Lun, the general of Yiwei from the left, and lead Zhang Shigui's troops to turn back, and replace them with the generals of the right, supplemented by generals Xue Wanche and Xu Shiji of the right Wuwei, and Liu Jingsheng, the right guard, to guard Hongnong.
Bu Qun was definitely not happy. The war was imminent and great achievements were ahead of him. No general would be willing to be appointed as a partial army. Otherwise, in the future, wouldn't he be inferior to others?
This naturally required some words of comfort, and Li Po was very familiar with it. He just took advantage of his free time in the evening to call Bu Qun and Liu Jingsheng to him. With a few words, they left happily.
In fact, there is no need to promise anything. There is no doubt about Li Po's control over the generals. He just let the two guys see their future achievements.
In front of Hongnong is the vast Henan Province, and behind it is the important town of Tongguan, where there is also Prince Li Jiancheng. In addition, to the south is Xiao Mian. This is obviously a land with great potential in the future.
They didn't say anything first. By then, the generals who had already achieved many meritorious deeds would have the nerve to compete with them.
Of course, the main premise is that this is defeated, otherwise everything will be just a pie in the sky.
Li Po has created quite a lot of cakes over the years, but fortunately most of them have been realized, and his credit is still relatively strong. So Bu Qun and Liu Jingsheng left Jiangjun with their troops early the next morning.
Of course, Bu Qun needs to go back to Longmen, which is the current headquarters of Youwei Mansion.
In fact, the most important point they all saw clearly was that Zhang Lun's Zuowu Guards were mainly infantry troops, which were very useful in this battle, and the cavalry guards had to suffer a little.
This kind of rotation is actually a bit hasty, but there is nothing wrong with it. Not to mention that after last year's battle, Li Po didn't even think about what would happen this year. Furthermore, when Xiao Xian came to attack, Li Po did not dare to recall Zhang Lun easily.
Come.
The military orders after that became more normal.
The riverside was completely taken over by the Infantry Guards. Yuchixin, Chen Yuan, Yuwen Wo, and Zhang Lun all had to gather their troops at Puban. This was the final choice of crossing the river after Li Po and the generals discussed it.
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Because the water in Longmen is slow, the beach on the other side is not large, and the area near Hancheng is also hilly, which is not conducive to the attack and defense of the army.
Some generals suggested that there should be suspicious soldiers at Longmen to prevent Hancheng defenders from aiding Feng Yi, but in the end Li Po did not adopt it.
There is no special reason, just because of the lack of troops. Although they are suspected soldiers, they still need to take practical actions. Otherwise, the defenders on the other side are not fools. No matter how fierce you are on the other side of the river, it will be in vain if you don't go to the river.
Doubting the role of soldiers will only waste military strength.
The infantry of the four guardsmen totaled approximately 70,000 to 80,000 people, which was a bit larger than the previous year, but they were tightly restrained by Li Po to this number.
If the land of Jin had not gradually become peaceful, there was no concern about the invasion of foreign enemies, and the cavalry was sharp, otherwise, with this small number of troops scattered everywhere, not even a splash could be seen.
But the more this happens, the more it becomes clear that the Jin army is elite. There is no need to worry about using useless weapons to make up for the numbers. They are all permanent troops and their combat effectiveness is extraordinary.
In a battle across the river that day, thousands of people overwhelmed the 20,000 elite Tang army. This shows how terrifying the Jin army was. Even when the Sui Dynasty was strong, how many such armies could there be?
For this, Li Po actually paid a heavy price. He had more than 100,000 elite soldiers, who even ate and chewed them, accounting for almost half of the autumn harvest in Jin Dynasty. Well, in fact, in a word, he couldn't afford it.
Otherwise, why would Li Po keep plowing in the spring and harvest in the autumn? This has only become more relaxed in the past two years. In the past, he was actually resting on his laurels.
The things snatched from the grassland and Youzhou have already seen their bottom. Speaking of which, Li Po's place has just entered a virtuous cycle not long ago.
The hard work he put in during this process is actually what Li Po is most proud of. To this day, he is able to lead his army on the banks of the Yellow River, and most of them owe it to this.
Li Po's own understanding of war was just like this. As long as the logistics could keep up, there was no reason to fail. This was obviously not due to Li Jing's teachings, but because of the influence he received from fighting with the Sui army.
You must know that the Sui army who had a full stomach was often synonymous with invincibility. All the failures he experienced could actually be attributed to the problem of food and grass.
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In early April of this year, Li Po finally finished reorganizing his army, set off from Jiangjun, and led his army to Puban.
As the mobilization of troops on the Yellow River became more and more frequent, the Tang army on the other side was already well prepared. Li Shenfu, the king of Xiangyi County, sent a message to Li Yuan one after another, requesting that the mobilization of troops by the river be stopped immediately and troops be sent to reinforce Feng Yi.
It’s just that the army on the other side came too fast. Within ten days or so after hearing the movement, Puban was already full of soldiers, and the clouds of war gradually enveloped both sides of the Yellow River...