The second volume, the surging wind, the fourth quarter, the battle of wits and courage
Li Shimin followed Yin Kaishan into Qinzhou City, where there has been no peace since the day the war began.
After Xue Ju was defeated and returned to Lanzhou, he still left three or four thousand troops to attack from time to time. Although there was no substantial progress, the frequent harassment also made the soldiers and civilians in the city extremely annoying.
Yuwen Chengdu also went out of the city to chase down these fly-like cavalry, but with little success. As soon as they saw the Sui army leaving the city, they would run into the mountains and learn the essence of guerrilla warfare.
After Yin Kaishan took over Qinzhou, he devoted all the efforts of the city and spent half a month to build the outer city wall before they were stopped.
But the cost of building the new city wall was also very high. Except for the wooden buildings in the city that were not demolished to house the people who did not want to leave, the other masonry foundations were pulled out before the outer city wall was repaired.
So when Li Shimin followed Yin Kaishan into the city, he saw that the entire Qinzhou City was devastated, and a few old people in ragged clothes were looking for useful things among the rubble. Their numb eyes and slow movements made Li Shimin feel very uncomfortable.
This cannot be blamed on Yin Kaishan. If the city of Qinzhou is destroyed, Xue Ju may massacre the city in revenge. At that time, no one can survive. What is even more unimaginable is that Chencang will also face the crisis of troops approaching the city.
The situation did not allow him to pity these people. On the second day after taking over Qinzhou, he let all the people who could leave leave, and the young men who remained were recruited into the army to jointly defend Qinzhou.
Fortunately, there are not many old, weak, women and children left, so it doesn't take much trouble to relocate them together. As for the food, they are all bought from the wealthy households who have withdrawn from the city. Together with the military rations and horse feed originally in the official warehouse, it is enough.
Lasts for three months.
Of course, this is because there are not many war horses in the city. It has been almost a month since the war started, and now more than 2,000 and 3,000 more war horses have been added, so food and grass have become a big problem.
Li Shimin couldn't wait, he had to fight quickly. The complicated situation in the country was still changing. Although the Li family now occupied the periphery of Chang'an and would not cause a siege for the time being, who could guarantee that other problems would not arise?
That night, Yin Kaishan held a banquet at the general's residence to honor Li Shimin. Liu Hongji and Xue Li accompanied him. Three lieutenants from Qinzhou and four captains attended.
When the Qinzhou Army heard the news that Yin Kaishan was leaving, they reluctantly came to the general's residence to express their opinions. However, what the imperial edict said was true. This veteran had fought for the country for half his life, and it was time to go back and have grandchildren.
During the banquet, everyone gradually became acquainted with each other after having four or five glasses of wine and two or three delicious dishes. They were all rough men in the army, not so frivolous, and they told everything they knew about the situation in Qinzhou.
After the party ended, Li Shimin chatted with Yin Kaishan alone for more than half an hour before going to Liu Hongji and Xue Li's room to discuss military strategy.
Under the chrysanthemum yellow oil lamp, Li Shimin frowned and said: "Our army is short of food and grass. Xue Ju is also facing the same problem. Transporting food from Chencang can't solve the urgent need. What do you two think?"
Liu Hongji said: "Food and grass are a problem, and we also lack understanding of the terrain outside the city, but we are not blind. There are two locals among those captains. We will bring the terrain map early tomorrow morning.
In my opinion, it is better to study the map and then find a way to go around the city to ambush them."
Xue Li said: "We have a map, which should be more detailed than theirs. The most important thing now is how to make Xue Ju retreat, not to mention how to get around the vast mountains to the north. Even if they go through all the hardships to get around them, they
If we don't retreat, our army will not be able to ambush them on the narrow mountain road."
Li Shimin thought for a while and said: "Exactly, but your combat ideas are still fixed in the conventional method and have not taken gunpowder bombs into consideration. If our army comes up with two thousand gunpowder bombs, all problems may be solved.
Xue Ju knew he was outmatched and had no choice but to retreat, so our army's ambush battle was not empty talk."
Only then did the two of them remember the power of gunpowder bombs. Indeed, this kind of unconventional weapon had not been widely used in the first place. It was only human nature that they did not include it when thinking about military strategy.
Now that there is a way to make Xue Ju retreat, the next thing to do is to send out the ambush troops. Xue Li took all the maps around Qinzhou drawn by the special forces team. They first needed to find a suitable place to ambush the troops, and then
Find a suitable marching route among the high mountains and ridges.
Luo Yu wrote the textbooks all night. At dawn, Li Xiuning came over with a bowl of millet porridge and two buckwheat steamed buns. Seeing Luo Yu's red eyes and the thick textbooks on the table, she felt distressed and said: "Don't be too busy."
If you are tired, let's have breakfast first. Don't be in a hurry. Don't be busy today. Have a good rest after breakfast."
Luo Yu put down his pen, shook his aching arm, picked up the towel in the basin next to him, wiped his hands, and said with a smile: "Listen to Madam, the early teaching materials have been almost completed, and Madam will not be left alone in the future.
Girlfriend."
Li Xiuning put down her breakfast, walked behind Luo Yu, and put her hand on Luo Yu's shoulder. The strength of a martial artist cannot be said. She heard Luo Yu's teasing, and deliberately made it a little heavier. It was originally a massage, but instead
Luo Yu felt abused.
Don't offend women. Luo Yu gritted his teeth and said nothing. He reluctantly picked up the millet porridge and took a big sip. It wasn't until Li Xiuning finished breathing that he picked up the steamed buns and started eating.
Li Xiuning smiled and said: "Look at how you dare to speak freely in the future. I am not alone in the empty boudoir, I have Man'er accompanying me." Then he whispered in Luo Yu's ear and asked: "You really don't consider marrying her.
?”
Luo Yu sighed and said: "As long as I have you, it's enough. A person only has one heart, and my heart can only accommodate you."
Li Xiuning was moved and said: "I know how you feel, but Yang Man is also a pitiful person. You..."
Luo Yu interrupted her and said: "There are too many pitiful people in this world, can I take care of them? Don't worry, she is still young, and she will not think about it again when she meets the person she likes. The teaching materials are here
Here, if you have the leisure, just take it and copy it, I'm going to find Duke Zhou."
After saying that, without waiting for Li Xiuning to answer, he got up and walked to the wing. In the afternoon, he had to go to Kunshan to study movable type printing. He had no time to think about the love between his children.
Li Xiuning hesitated to speak, looked at Luo Yu's back and shook his head, put away the tableware on the table, picked up the thick stack of textbooks and went to find Yang Man.
Zhang Yang and the others were already living in the school dormitory, and Luo Yu had too many things to do, so he had no choice but to stay at Father Li's house. Li Xiuning and Yang Man naturally followed.
Xiao Li got up very early. She wanted to help her grandfather make breakfast. When she came to the kitchen, she met Li Xiuning who was washing dishes. She smiled and said: "Sister Ning, you got up so early to help Brother Yu make breakfast!"
Li Xiuning smiled and said: "He hasn't slept all night, and I can't help. I can only get up early to get him some food. By the way, I have always wanted to ask you a question..."
Xiao Li was scouring the millet and said, "You want to ask me why I shot you with an arrow."
Li Xiuning nodded, and Xiao Li said: "That's a trap. It was originally used to catch small animals such as hares, but it was triggered not long after I set it up. The beast didn't hit it, and you just happened to be standing there..."
It turned out to be a misunderstanding. No wonder she appeared silently in the tree. She must have been hiding there for a long time.
Xiao Li added: "The arrow is far away. As long as it doesn't hit the vital part, it can't hurt anyone."
Li Xiuning smiled and said: "Sister didn't blame me, I just had doubts in my heart. Now it's solved. You cook very delicious food. Can you teach me?"
Xiao Li said happily: "Really? Let's cook for them together at noon. Brother Zhang and the others are also working very hard."
Outside the door, Yang Man stepped over. She must have heard the content of their conversation and continued: "Count me in, but Sister Ning, we still have textbooks to copy."
The three girls looked at each other and chuckled. They lived a fulfilling life like this. Making three meals a day was the happiest thing.
After reading the map, Li Shimin decided to set up the ambush battlefield at Cuiyi Mountain in Gangu. The terrain here is similar to that of Qiujia Pass. There is a narrow official road between the two high mountains, with a total length of 20 miles. It is also necessary for Xue Ju to return to Lanzhou.
Through the road.
This official way was built when Yang Guangxi conquered Qinghai. Now it is convenient for Xue Judong to attack Qinzhou. I have to say it is a bit ironic.
There is another reason why Li Shimin chose this place. Twelve miles after entering the official road, there is an open space that can accommodate seven or eight thousand people. Here, he can ambush Xue Ju's retreating army in the middle, cut off the long snake formation, and then use
A small number of troops guarded the exits on both sides and used gunpowder bombs to destroy the rocks, creating a situation of closing the door.
If this battle is fought well, Xue Ju's more than 70,000 troops can be wiped out in one fell swoop. It is also possible to kill Xue Ju and his son, and solve the crisis of the fall of Longyou Road.
If you think about it, execute it. A special force will lead the way, and 4,000 strong men will be selected from the Qinzhou garrison and 1,500 of them brought by Li Shimin to form an ambush of 5,500, of which 5,000 will go to the valley.
They laid an ambush everywhere, and another 500 people each carried five gunpowder bombs and went to the exit to blow up the rocks.
Xue Li stepped forward and took a Qinzhou deputy general to select people early the next morning. After breakfast, he set off.
Li Shimin also had to deploy pursuit forces. Otherwise, with more than 10,000 troops and horses chasing 60,000 to 70,000 people, even with the help of gunpowder, there would be no guarantee that unexpected situations would not occur.
Gangu County is located in the northwest of Qinzhou, eighty miles away from Qinzhou City. It is the birthplace of the Qin people. There are seven or eight ethnic minorities living in the territory, and they have many exchanges with the Han people. In the fourth year of Daye, a second-class Jinshi and a Jinshi were born here.
Third, it can be said that he is an outstanding person.
The county is bordered by the Wei River to the north, Wushan Mountain to the west, Qinzhou to the east, and the remaining Qinling Mountains to the south, stretching for five to six hundred miles.
The ambush site chosen by Li Shimin was in the Qinling Mountains, which meant that more than 5,000 people led by Xue Li had to march fifty miles in the ravines of the Qinling Mountains to ambush before Xue Ju's troops arrived at the ambush site.
Therefore, it is difficult to grasp the timing of Li Shimin's attack. When two thousand gunpowder bombs are thrown, Xue Ju will choose to retreat or resist, or whether to fight and retreat at the same time. It is impossible to predict how he will choose.
Because there is no gate in the west city wall, Li Shimin's troops must either go around the east gate, or directly blow up the west wall, and then lead his troops to pursue them through the blasted hole.
The north and south sides were not suitable for dispatching large armies. In order to dispatch troops quickly, the only option was to blow open the city walls. This also required timing. If the cavalry wanted to pass through the place where there were rubbles and broken bricks everywhere, they had to spend time clearing a passage first.
Fortunately, there is a distance of several hundred steps between the moat and the outer wall. The square formed can accommodate more than 3,000 cavalry. They can line up in the square and attack first. Anyway, there is a narrow official road a few miles ahead, and the large group of cavalry can also
It can only be divided into a row of five riders.
With an order, more than twenty newly built trebuchets on the city wall, under the control of the sergeants, threw ignited gunpowder bombs into the enemy camp more than 300 steps away from the city wall.
Each trebuchet was loaded with three bombs, and more than a hundred smoke-emitting gunpowder bombs exploded one after another. Under the sun, tent fragments and red and black soil were flying like snowflakes.
The few patrols outside the tent had deliberately moved closer to the west when they were preparing the trebuchet on the city wall. When the gunpowder bombs fell, they had ignored the people in the tent and rushed towards the official road to the west, forgetting their orders.
There were no screams or chaos as imagined. The camp was still there, but it was already empty. No one knew how long Xue Ju had been withdrawn.
Seeing such a scene, Li Shimin said to Liu Hongji: "No, Xue Li and the others are in danger. Hurry up and blow up the city wall. All the cavalry will quickly pursue them along the official road."
Liu Hongji also understood that he had been fooled this time. After receiving the order, he called over the second-generation team member and ordered: "Quickly withdraw the people on the city wall, ignore the things above, blow up the city wall and quickly clear out the
aisle."
The team member accepted the promise and turned around to leave. Li Shimin added: "Find a way to contact Xue Li and ask them to terminate this mission and retreat."
The team member bowed to obey the order and left quickly. He was a little confused. Xue Ju's tens of thousands of troops retreated. There was such a big movement. The three generations of team members outside the city were working hard, so why didn't they report it?
The matter has come to this, and there is no way to blame anyone. Now we have to blow up the city wall as soon as possible and pursue them out of the city.
Yin Kaishan came behind Li Shimin and saw that his hands were shaking slightly, so he explained: "My dear nephew, the way of using military force depends on the truth and falsehood. You used gunpowder bombs at the east gate yesterday. Of course they have something to do with it."
Be prepared, retreat is an option, and ambush in the open area ahead is also an option. In your hurry to pursue, have you ever thought that you will encounter an ambush?"
After hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly woke up and hurriedly saluted and received instructions. After all, he was only seventeen years old. Although he had military strategies, his understanding of human nature was far less than that of a veteran general like Yin Kaishan who had been on the battlefield for many years.
Suddenly I remembered that Yin Kaishan had gone south to Hanzhong early this morning. Why was he still in the city at this time?
Yin Kaishan saw his doubts and said: "I have already left the east gate. I rushed back when I heard the noise. You go ahead. There is an old man here. Remember, be careful in everything. To deal with a veteran like Xue Ju, who has been in the army all his life, you have to
More thief than him."
Just as Li Shimin was about to reply, a loud noise shook the ground and a section of the city wall about three feet wide collapsed. The trebuchet on it also fell and fell to pieces on the ground, sending sawdust flying everywhere.
They used the technique of directional blasting, causing sand and stones to fly outside the city wall, but only a few stones flew across the square inside the wall.
The horses arrayed on the square retreated in fear. The knights patted their necks to comfort them. More than two hundred sergeants in gray armor came quickly from the city wall. They had to clear the passage quickly.
Li Shimin cupped his hands towards Yin Kaishan and said, "Uncle Shi, please give me a day or two of hard work. My nephew will go over first."
Yin Kaishan nodded and said: "You can't do anything, don't force it, go ahead and be careful."
Li Shimin saluted again and descended from the city. Liu Hongji was already waiting by the drawbridge with his horse. He was the deputy general and had to follow Li Shimin.
The two men flew onto their horses, raised their whips and whipped their buttocks, then bolted out like arrows, bypassing the knights in formation and arriving at the gap.
The passage had been cleared. Li Shimin drew out his spear, formed a rectangle in the air, and rushed out at the first opportunity.
There are only more than 3,000 horses in Qinzhou City, and the total brought by Li Shimin does not exceed 7,000. Therefore, there are only more than 6,000 cavalry sent out this time, and the infantry cannot keep up, so it is better to stay in Qinzhou.
Soon, more than 3,000 horsemen in the square formed a rectangular formation and followed Li Shimin out of the gap, pursuing westward. More than 3,000 horsemen in the city also crossed the suspension bridge, merged and followed.
After the gap, there was a large flat land, where Xue Ju camped. At this time, no one was seen, only a mess left by gunpowder bombs.
Not in the mood to watch, Li Shimin chased directly to the official road to the west. The two third-generation team members outside the city seemed to be in danger and had not yet appeared. He had to send three more third-generation team members and five scouts to search forward to prevent
Ambush.
It's strange. We are about to enter the narrow official road, but there is no news of an ambush. What kind of medicine is sold in Xue Ju's gourd? Does he also want to set up an ambush in that open area?
If they had withdrawn as soon as darkness fell last night, they would have been lurking there now. Xue Li and the others would have just bumped into their ambush. I hope Xue Li can act according to the situation. No one can help him now.
Recalling Yin Kaishan's words, Li Shimin had already made a calculation in his mind. No matter whether the front was a dragon's pond or a tiger's den, he would still have to make a breakthrough.