Li Jing sent out troops one day earlier than originally planned because he did not expect Gongsun Xuanyuan's operation to go so smoothly.
Li Jing thought it would take at least two days for Xuanyuan to defeat Chencang's second brother Sanguan, but he did not expect that it only took him one night to occupy the two fortresses of Chencang and Sanguan.
Gongsun Xuanyuan's movement was really too fast, but Ban Chao hadn't arrived in Chang'an yet.
Without receiving a message from Ban Chao's envoy Tang, many subsequent plans could not be carried out, so Li Jing deliberately waited for Ban Chao for a day.
After receiving the news that Ban Chao was not dead but was just imprisoned, Li Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He still valued Ban Chao very much and naturally did not want Da Qin's first literary champion to die prematurely.
Ban Chao was not dead, and there was still room between the Qin and Tang Dynasties. Li Jing could already predict that after the conquest of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of Li clan members would surrender to the Qin Dynasty.
However, these had nothing to do with him. His mission was to capture Guanzhong at the minimum cost, so he decisively ordered a seven-pronged army to attack Chang'an.
Not only did most of the generals of the Qin army not understand Li Jing's decision to attack the Tang Dynasty, but also Li Shimin, Li Kui, Changsun Wuji and others.
"Why didn't Li Jing concentrate his forces to attack Chang'an? It was clear that he only needed to capture one city of Chang'an, and the rest could be decided by propaganda, but why did he disperse his forces for some insignificant cities instead?"
Changsun Wuji muttered to himself in confusion.
"The reason why Li Jing did this was to turn Chang'an into an isolated city and completely isolate Chang'an City, so as to undermine the will of the defenders in the city?"
Li Kui said with some uncertainty.
After hearing this, Li Shimin thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Li Jing definitely wants to end the Guanzhong war in the shortest possible time without giving other countries a chance to support him.
If it is an isolated strategy, it will definitely be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is prone to variables over a long period of time, which is not like Li Jing's style."
"Then why?"
Changsun Wuji whispered to himself.
Seeing that none of the three advisers he relied on most could see through Li Jing's intentions, Li Shimin couldn't help but miss Li Ru and Du Ruhui.
Although the two of them were not as good as Li Si and Li Kui in politics, they were both stronger than them in military terms.
If Li Ru and Du Ruhui were still there, they would surely be able to see through Li Jing's intentions. Li Shimin thought to himself.
With the command of Li Shimin, Li Kui and Chang Sun Wuji, the reason why they couldn't see Li Jing's intention was actually because they were looking in the wrong direction.
Li Jing's arrangement was not based on military purposes, but to coordinate with the political actions of Li Si and Ban Chao.
Li Shimin and the other two officials were so confused that they couldn't turn this corner, so they couldn't see the deeper meaning.
On the other hand, Li Si knew the deep meaning of Li Jing's actions after hearing the news.
This time, the pro-Qin faction in the city of Chang'an, as well as the generals in charge of the military who tended to be pro-Qin faction, took sides.
The most difficult city to defeat in Guanzhong is the city of Chang'an. If you divide your forces to capture other cities, although it will increase casualties to a certain extent, the total losses will definitely not be as great as the losses incurred by storming the city of Chang'an.
If you don't care about the casualties of dividing your troops to capture other cities, and divide your troops to capture other cities, Chang'an will gradually become an isolated city that cannot be defended, and the defenders in the city will inevitably bear great psychological pressure.
Once the pressure exceeds the tolerance of some people, the occurrence of mutiny will change from accidental to inevitable.
Once Chang'an falls into internal fighting, the Qin army will be able to defeat the enemy without fighting.
This is not much less than the loss caused by storming Chang'an.
The civil servants of Li Tang were okay, after all, they could only talk and talk, but many generals were now very conflicted.
They knew that Li Tang's ship was going to sink and that no one could stop it, but they thought of Li Shimin's kindness and did not want to sink with it and be buried with Li Tang.
Under such circumstances, Li Jing's constant pressure on Shou Dan was far more torturing to their hearts than a direct war.
After realizing this, Li Si immediately said: "My lord, I have a message, no matter what Li Jing's intention is, we can use these cities and the garrisons in various camps to delay the Qin army's advance.
If the Qin army can be held back for a month, reinforcements from various countries will arrive by then, and the pressure on the Tang Dynasty will be much less."
After hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but fell into deep thought, while Li Kui frowned and said: "But if we don't send reinforcements, we won't be able to hold on for long with these alone."
Li Si asked calmly: "But once reinforcements are sent out, are you sure they can reach the city? You know, the Qin army's cavalry is not slow."
Li Kui was immediately speechless. Yes, even if they sent reinforcements, it would be difficult for the reinforcements to support them, because once they leave Chang'an, they will inevitably be attacked by the Qin army's cavalry on the plains.
With the current morale of the Tang army in Guanzhong, they will undoubtedly lose in a field battle with the Qin army. The only way they can fight is by relying on city defense.
Therefore, if you leave the city, you will be defeated, and only by defending the city can you have the strength to fight.
"Moreover, the Qin army came in seven groups, and the entire Guanzhong was on fire. Even if we wanted to save them, we simply couldn't save them with our strength," Li Si added.
Hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes flashed with determination, and he said in a deep voice: "Instruct the city lords of each city to recruit troops on their own, organize people, and defend the city. They must hold on for at least a month. Reinforcements from Chang'an will arrive soon."
Although Li Shimin said this, in his heart he was not prepared to send reinforcements at all.
Li Kui and Changsun Wuji did not dissuade him, because they both knew that even if they were sent, they would be destined to die and would never arrive.
Seeing this, Li Si remained calm on the surface, but he was really happy in his heart, and said secretly: "Li Shimin, you have fallen into a trap."
After Li Shimin decided on the strategy of defending Chang'an, the first thing he did was to ask for help from the three kingdoms of Shu, Chu and Sui, and at the same time recruit troops from various battalions scattered around Chang'an to return to the city.
After receiving the order from Chang'an, Li Mu, the commander of Chang'an North Camp, was so angry that he tore the edict into pieces.
"The defensive line cannot be defended alone. If we are trapped in Chang'an, we will die." Li Mu said in a deep voice.
"But the Lord has given an order..."
"We will not accept military orders from abroad. We must not just retreat to Chang'an and abandon the line of defense that we have worked so hard to build." Li Mu said with great determination.
At this moment, Li Mu was extremely disappointed with Li Shimin. He didn't understand those complicated politics. He only knew that being trapped in Chang'an was a dead end.
And Li Shimin knew this, but still issued such an order. This was because he was prepared to sacrifice a hundred thousand Tang troops in the pass to fight against the Qin Dynasty to the end for his own selfish interests.
Li Mu was a general who cherished his soldiers. Li Shimin's behavior made him very dissatisfied, but as a member of the Li family, he could not betray Li Shimin, so he decided to fight in the best possible way.
Chang'an did not lack the strength of his battalion. Even if he led the army back, it would not have much effect, so he decided to fight his own battle independently from Chang'an.
"I will write a letter of divorce immediately and explain my interests to the lord. I hope the lord can change his mind."
After saying that, Li Mu ordered in a deep voice: "Pass on my general order and leave a thousand troops to defend the promise. The rest of the army will immediately garrison Ba Ling. Let's test the Qin army's spirit here."
"promise."
All the captains shouted in response.
After receiving Li Shimin's order, Li Mu not only did not return to Chang'an, but instead led his five thousand troops to garrison the county.
After Li Shimin saw Li Mu's reply, he became furious. He was suspicious that Li Mu was going to rebel, so he immediately ordered envoys to ride fast horses to seize Li Mu's military power.
Li Mu did not know that Li Shimin doubted his loyalty, and his move into the county did not go smoothly, because there were many pro-Qin factions in Litang counties. They were all ready to surrender directly to Da Qin, so how could they allow Li Mu to enter the city to do bad things.
When Li Mu saw that the county magistrate would not allow him to enter the city, he knew that the magistrate must be rebellious, so he wrote a letter of resignation, implying that he also wanted to surrender to Qin, and invited him to come to discuss.
The county magistrate didn't know there was a deceit, so he trusted Li Mu. When they met, he was killed by Li Mu with a sword, and then he entered Baling City without any bloodshed.
After Li Mu settled in Ba Ling City, he immediately changed the defense layout and sent someone to deliver a message to Li Zuoche, hoping to invite him to defend Ba Ling with him.
Even with his small strength, Li Mu could never stop the Qin army. Li Zuo also had a battalion of troops in his car. With his help, he had the confidence to fight the Qin army.
As soon as Li Mu's messenger left, Li Shimin's messenger arrived, and read out the punishment for Li Mu in front of all the generals.
After hearing this, Li Mu's face turned extremely ugly. Li Shimin's reaction was so extreme, which he never expected, but it was impossible for him to hand over military power just like that.
Li Shimin had already suspected him. If he didn't make any reaction and was taken back to Chang'an, he would definitely die, so he wanted to use actions to prove that he had no intention of rebellion.
The envoy was originally confident, thinking that Li Mu's subordinates would help him capture Li Mu, but he did not expect that after waiting for a long time, no one moved, and was finally asked by Li Mu to leave the city.
On the other side, Li Zuoche, who also did not want to retreat, was extremely conflicted after receiving Li Mu's letter. After much deliberation, he finally decided to believe Li Mu, so he led an army of five thousand to join Li Mu.
After the two sides joined forces, Li Mu had 5,000 troops and horses, Li Zuochao had 5,000 troops, and the 2,000 defenders of Ba Ling, which brought Li Mu's strength to 12,000.
At the same time, Wu Qi's army had defeated two counties in one day. One of them surrendered without a fight. The magistrate of the other county resisted desperately, but to no avail. In less than half a day, the Qin army attacked the city and was defeated.
Killed.
Wu Qi's next target was Baling County, but he didn't expect that Li Mu picked peaches before him.
"Report...to the governor, General Ba Ling refused to surrender."
"What?"
Wu Qi was startled. If he remembered correctly, the Baling County Magistrate had decided to surrender to the Qin Dynasty, but now he refused to surrender. Something was wrong.
"interesting."
The corners of Wu Qi's mouth turned up slightly, he found a good prey.