Chapter 825: The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying (Part 1)
Chapter 825: The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying (Part 1)
This time, Qin Hao had already thought about this plan to lure the enemy before they even formed an alliance, specifically targeting Li Shimin's plan.
Using the entire Kwantung Allied Forces as bait, all they want is to severely damage the Liang Army, which is obviously not cost-effective compared to the trading expenses and income.
But even so, Qin Hao still tried his best to defy everyone's opinions, and his handiwork was really not insignificant.
If the commander-in-chief of the Liang Army was not Li Shimin, Qin Hao might not have designed it like this, but if it had been Li Shimin, Qin Hao was sure that Li Shimin would never remain indifferent, because Li Shimin was not a conservative person.
You must know that when the Tang Dynasty was first established, Dou Jiande led an army to invade Luoyang. Li Shimin led 3,000 Xuanjia troops and dared to fight against 100,000 Hebei troops. This shows that Li Shimin definitely lacked the adventurous spirit.
But this time, the casualties of tens of thousands of troops were exchanged for a chance to annihilate an army of 550,000. Even if Qin Hao encountered it, he would not miss this good opportunity, so Qin Hao believed that Li Shimin would definitely send troops.
Qin Hao's guess was absolutely correct. At this time, Li Shimin was extremely confused.
After Yang Guang's reminder, Li Shimin also discovered the problem. After all, Qin Hao really shouldn't make such a mistake, so the possibility of luring troops is extremely high.
But no matter how hard Li Shimin tried, he still couldn't figure it out. If this was really Qin Hao's plan, how could Qin Hao avoid the fire?
Once this fire breaks out, it will be difficult to put it out. Does Qin Hao want to mobilize his troops and leave the camp in advance?
But it was impossible to hide the recruitment of half a million troops from his spies.
If Qin Hao really mobilized his troops to leave the camp in advance, he wouldn't be able to send them there stupidly.
But other than moving his troops out of the camp in advance, what else could Qin Hao do to avoid the burning camp?
Did he really think too much this time? It was just Qin Hao who made a careless mistake in Lianying? Who said Qin Hao would not make mistakes?
Li Shimin tried hard to convince himself that Qin Hao was definitely not an easy opponent to deal with. There must be some method that he didn't know, but he racked his brains and couldn't figure out the key.
How could Li Shimin be willing to give up this great opportunity to annihilate the Kwantung Allied Forces without knowing how Qin Hao could avoid the fire?
For the next ten days, Li Shimin spent time in a state of confusion. He was only thinking about one question: Will he take the risk or not?
Of course, tangles are tangles. It is time to implement the strategy of attacking the coalition forces. Li Shimin will naturally not forget it.
There are 50,000 cavalry in Hulao Pass. With such a powerful fighting force, Li Shimin certainly cannot let go.
Li Shimin sent dozens of small groups of cavalry to attack the coalition's food routes day and night.
In just ten days, the coalition's grain transport team was attacked more than 20 times by the Xiliang cavalry, causing nearly 100,000 shi of grain and grass losses.
Qin Hao had long expected that Li Shimin would do this. Although he had as many cavalry as Li Shimin's, he still could not completely solve this problem.
The Liangzhou cavalry only attacked the grain road and did not fight with the coalition cavalry at all. Once the cavalry sent by Qin Hao arrived, the Liangzhou cavalry immediately ran away.
Suanzao is only a hundred miles away from Hulao Pass. After a single attack, the Xiliang cavalry fled directly back to Hulao Pass regardless of whether it was hit or not. No matter how many times the number of coalition cavalry was that of the opponent, they could only look at the pass and sigh.
In order to prevent the losses from getting worse, Qin Hao tripled the number of people in the food protection team and at the same time increased the intensity of cavalry inspections, so that Li Shimin could not continue to succeed.
Time passes little by little.
Fifteen days have passed, and Li Shimin and his advisers still have not thought of the specific method for the coalition forces to avoid the fire after it breaks out.
On the sixteenth day, Li Shimin discovered that the wind direction of the military flag in Hulao had changed. He knew that the strong wind he needed was coming, but he had not yet made up his mind.
On the seventeenth day, the west wind gradually became stronger, and Li Shimin had less and less time, because once the wind passed, he would not be able to start a fire even if he wanted to.
On the eighteenth day, after struggling for eighteen days, Li Shimin finally made up his mind.
There is no risk at all if you don't take risks, but this is not what Li Shimin wants. What he wants is to defeat Qin Hao to prove himself.
It is true that you may fall into a trap when you take risks, but if you succeed, you will make an immortal contribution.
Send troops, even if you know it is a trick, you still have to send troops, but you must ensure the safety of Hulao Pass.
"The west wind has risen, and I have decided to lead the army eastward and burn the coalition camp."
After Li Shimin finished speaking, not only he himself breathed a sigh of relief, but the other generals also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Li Shimin was not the only one who was struggling during this period.
No one would be able to give up the opportunity to annihilate an army of 550,000 in one battle. Now that Li Shimin had finally made up his mind, the big stone in their hearts was relieved.
Not all the generals in Liangzhou supported the adventure. After hearing what Li Shimin said, Xu Rong frowned immediately and stood up and said in a deep voice: "General, our army only needs to hold on to Hulao for half a year. After the coalition forces run out of food, our army will
Naturally, we win, so why take the risk and escape?"
As soon as Xu Rong's words came out, he immediately aroused dissatisfaction among the generals who supported the adventure. Wu Yunzhao was the first to stand up and said disdainfully: "Xu Rong, you are too timid."
"It's just that if you miss such a good opportunity, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
"yes……"
Although he was criticized by his colleagues, Xu Rong remained calm and said in a neither humble nor condescending manner: "If the general is determined to send troops, please ensure the safety of Hulao Pass before sending troops."
Li Shimin's eyes were full of approval, and he said seriously: "General Xu, please rest assured, I will only lead the cavalry out of the customs this time, and all 50,000 infantry will be left to defend Hulao..."
Before Li Shimin finished speaking, Hou Junji hurriedly said: "My lord, if we only rely on fifty thousand cavalry, I'm afraid it will be difficult for our army to do its full work, right?"
Of course, it is impossible to burn all the Kwantung Allied Forces to death with just a fire attack. After all, the 550,000 Allied Forces are not puppets and will not stand still and wait to be burned.
Once the fire breaks out, the coalition forces will definitely flee in all directions. It would be good if the fire can kill half of the people. The remaining half of the Kwantung coalition forces will naturally need to be dealt with by the Liang army who have left the border.
After experiencing the fire attack, the coalition forces must have no fighting spirit, their morale is extremely low, and their combat effectiveness is less than 10% as before. How can they be the opponents of the Liangzhou warriors?
But even so, there are still 200,000 to 300,000 people in the coalition forces. Hulao's 100,000-strong army can be defeated easily. However, if only 50,000 cavalry are dispatched, although the opponent can be defeated, it will be difficult to annihilate them all.