Chapter 1823: The Third Battle of Luoyang (Part 2)
The city is different from the checkpoint. The checkpoint cannot be bypassed, but the city can be bypassed. However, the army can be bypassed, but the logistics cannot.
It is precisely because of this that in ancient wars, it was rare to cross the previous city and directly attack the next city. After all, the risk involved was too great.
Li Kui and Changsun Wuji also opposed it for the same reason.
Luoyang is not a small town. If there are few people who go there, it will be impossible to capture it. If there are too many people go there, and the logistics are not guaranteed, once the food is exhausted, the whole army will be annihilated.
The most important thing in a war is logistics. Instability in logistics is a taboo for military strategists.
It is impossible for Li Shimin not to understand such a simple truth, but even if he knew the risks involved, he was still prepared to take the risk, otherwise he would not be willing to do so.
This time the Tang Army dispatched a total of 150,000 troops, and now has nearly 15,000 casualties, including 64 generals who died in the battle. Even Li Yuanba lost an arm, but they only captured one Nannan without a seat.
Xiangjunhe has destroyed Hangu Pass.
Gains and losses are not proportional at all!
In addition, Li Shimin knew that this was his last chance. If he couldn't capture Sizhou this time, it would be even more impossible in the future.
The strength of the Qin army that has obtained the land in Hebei will inevitably increase significantly, and the initiative in the war will completely belong to the Qin army.
From now on, whether he goes south to attack the Central Plains or west to attack Kansai, it all depends on Qin Hao's thoughts, while the weak Li Tang has only passive defense.
Li Shimin didn't want to see this scene, so no matter what, even if he knew it was impossible, he had to try it.
This is not just for venting, but also for self-help.
Li Shimin made up his mind and would never retreat like this. Since Yewang and Yiyang could not be captured in the short term, he would surround these two cities and then divide his troops to bypass the two cities and attack Luoyang directly.
Nowadays, most of Luoyang City is filled with new soldiers, and veterans and famous generals are on the front line. Li Shimin feels that if Luoyang goes to the city like this, even if the troops are divided, it can be captured, and then he can turn around to attack Yewang and Yiyang.
Li Shimin dared to ignore logistics and divide his troops to capture Luoyang. In addition to the large number of new soldiers in Luoyang City, the main reason was because there were internal agents in the city, and there were quite a lot of them.
With Qin Hao proclaiming himself king and conferring official titles on Cao Cao, Zhao Kuangyin and others, the conflicts between Qin and Han became difficult to reconcile.
This time the five armies of the Southern Han Dynasty attacked Qin. Although Ma Teng and Han Sui on the Liangzhou route responded to the banner of the Southern Han Dynasty, it was actually the Luoyang Dynasty who operated from it.
When the Southern Han Dynasty attacked the Qin army, they were also attacking the Luoyang court. However, the ministers in the court united with foreign enemies to target their own families. This shows how fierce the contradiction between Qin and Han was.
There were a large number of Han officials in the Luoyang court, and they hoped that Li Shimin could seize Luoyang and take control of Sizhou, and become the spokesperson of the Han Dynasty to fight against Qin Hao.
Therefore, even if he goes deep into the country alone, Li Shimin is not fighting alone.
After hearing Li Shimin's explanation, Li Kui and Changsun Wuji pondered for a long time, but still opposed dividing their troops to attack Luoyang for two reasons:
First, they feel that Li Shimin is a little irrational now.
The second is that Jia Xu is in Luoyang, and those Han officials are destined to be unable to defeat Jia Xu.
Shimin had made up his mind and it was useless no matter how Li Kui and Changsun Wuji objected.
In the end, Li Shimin gave Zhao She 10,000 more troops, ordered Zhao She to lead 30,000 troops to surround Yiyang City, and ordered Li Keyong to lead 40,000 troops to surround Yewang City.
Li Shimin left an army of 70,000 to contain the Qin army in Yewang and Yiyang. He personally led an army of 65,000, bypassing 20% of Yewang and Yiyang, and went to attack Luoyang as quickly as possible.
Generals Gongsun Yan and Tan Daoji saw that the Tang army did not continue to attack the city, but instead besieged the city and divided their troops to go elsewhere. Although they had doubts in their hearts, Li Shimin did not divide his troops to capture Luoyang. Instead, he thought that this was the case.
It was Li Shimin's strategy to lure them out of the city.
Bypassing the two cities of Yewang and Yiyang, without logistical support, the risk of dividing the troops to capture Luoyang was too high. Li Shimin was once as famous as Qin Hao, and neither Gongsun Yan nor Tan Daoji thought he would do such an outrageous thing.
A sensible thing.
Although neither Gongsun Yan nor Gongsun Yan believed that Li Shimin dared to divide his troops to capture Luoyang, the situation on Ye Wang and Yiyang's side still needed to be reported in a timely manner.
When Jia Xu, who was far away in Luoyang, received the news that Hangu Pass had fallen and Li Cunxiao's whereabouts were unknown, he felt both self-blame and happiness in his heart.
I blame myself for not discovering Li Tang's conspiracy earlier. Fortunately, because of my caution, the situation has not completely deteriorated and is still within my control.
As for whether Li Cunxiao had died in the battle?
Jia Xu felt that it was more likely that Li Cunxiao was still alive. After all, if he was really dead, Li Tang would definitely take out his body in demonstration to undermine the Qin army's fighting spirit.
Since Li Tang could not produce the real body, it also proved that Li Cunxiao was still alive, but his whereabouts were temporarily unknown.
After taking a look at the latest military report, Jia Xu closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before issuing an order: "From now on, a curfew will be implemented in Luoyang. After this hour, no matter whether it is the common people or the princes, they are prohibited from going out."
"promise."
"Send more spies to the west to prevent small groups of Tang troops from escaping from the front line and harassing the counties."
"promise."
Not long after Jia Xu's order was passed down, news came that a large number of Tang troops had been discovered in the territory.
Sixty-five thousand troops, such a big target, no matter how hard they try to hide it, it is impossible to hide it from the eyes of Qin Army spies. After all, if this cannot be discovered, then Black Ice Platform should really be disbanded.
The amount of food and grass for the 65,000-strong army was not a small amount. Li Shimin's army traveled lightly and simply, and the food and grass they brought with them could not be used at all, so they could only replenish it on the spot in each village, town or county.
Under Qin Hao's vigorous governance, Sizhou's vitality has been restored. After the people paid their grain taxes, every family still had surplus grain. This was one of the reasons why Li Shimin dared to go deep alone.
Of course, it is impossible to supply a large army just by relying on the people's rations.
Therefore, Li Shimin decided to attack Ping County at the junction of Hongnong County and Henan Yin, in order to temporarily alleviate the food crisis.
The total number of county soldiers in Ping County is only 300, so how can they stop the 50,000-strong Tang army that looks like wolves and tigers?
Li Shimin originally wanted to persuade the magistrate of Ping County to surrender. In his opinion, as long as the magistrate of Ping County was not a fool, it was absolutely impossible for him to fight with 300 county soldiers against an army of 70,000. However, he did not expect that the magistrate of Ping County was actually a descendant of the Qin family.
Li Shimin decisively took the order and forcibly attacked the city, but before he could attack the city, the county magistrate had already led dozens of cavalry to escape, and before leaving, he even burned the county grain depot.