Chapter 201 Li Shimin didn't even dare to be so rampant
Chapter 201 Li Shimin doesn’t even dare to be so rampant
"Report, General, the invading army has left Tongguan yesterday. The troops and horses have been stretching continuously since the morning, and they have not completely left the pass at dusk!"
"Hmph! A group of grass bandits also want to compete in the Central Plains. They simply don't know whether to live or die!"
In the commander's tent of the former army, Wu Sangui snorted disdainfully when he heard that the spies had come to report.
It seemed that he had anticipated this situation, and after speaking, he gave another order to the messenger: "Order Gao Jie's grandson to defend Luoyang. At least he must hold on for half a month for me, otherwise I will skin him."
"Yes, General."
The ordering soldier clasped his fists and ducked out of the tent.
A lieutenant who was responsible for recording Wu Sangui's orders frowned slightly, stopped writing and reminded: "General, do you want to change the order just now? If not, the general will record it truthfully."
"Um…"
Wu Sangui also reacted, knowing that things are no better than before. If His Majesty and the Imperial Concubine read the order just now, they would inevitably not think too much, so he waved his hand and said: "Change Gao Jiegui's grandson to the second town, and change Papi to the second town."
Let’s engage in military law!”
After saying that, I sighed in my heart. It is really getting harder and harder to be a general of the Ming Dynasty. Not only do I have to abide by a lot of rules, but now even the general's every word and deed must be recorded. It's really hard for me.
I feel uncomfortable, but I have to be careful about what I say.
Because no one knows whether His Majesty will actually read this file.
In this case, let alone dig a hole for those two bastards Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing and kill them, he would not even dare to give a slightly out-of-the-ordinary order.
One can imagine the depression in my heart.
The captain in charge of recording was naturally a graduate of the martial arts hall, so he took up writing again and started recording.
"General, the intruders are coming in force. Depending on the situation, I'm afraid there will be no less than 200,000 to 300,000 people. There are only 30,000 people in the second town. Should we withdraw some troops from other towns to reinforce them?"
The speaker was also a student from the Jiangwu Hall, but he was a colonel. Although his military rank was low, his position was very important. He was responsible for the daily training and ideological work of the entire former army.
All generals in the former army, including Wu Sangui, kept a respectful distance from these students in the martial arts hall, with an attitude of neither offending nor getting close to them.
After all, no one knows if he says something he shouldn't say while drinking with these students, whether he will be secretly reported to His Majesty.
So although Wu Sangui felt a little unhappy at this moment, he still explained: "The city of Luoyang is high and the pond is thick, and there is plenty of food, grass and weapons. Thirty thousand people in the second town can hold it for half a month, which is more than enough. When the enemy can't attack for a long time and their morale is dampened, the army can encircle them again."
That’s it.”
The original plan was to take the initiative to attack Tongguan, so the former army was stationed under Luoyang City. After receiving Zhu Cixiang's order to switch from offensive to defensive, Wu Sangui withdrew the former army to a hundred miles away, leaving Gao Jie to lead the second town alone.
Stationed in Luoyang.
The purpose was to attract the Chuang army to leave Tongguan and attack Luoyang directly, and then encircle all the towns together, and annihilate the Chuang army and the Daxi army in one fell swoop under Luoyang City.
Wu Sangui had no doubt whether Gao Jie could hold Luoyang.
In fact, Wu Sangui did not pay attention to the 300,000 or 400,000 troops of the Chuang Army and the Daxi Army.
In his opinion, there is no need to be so troublesome and conservative at all. As long as the opponent's army dares to leave Tongguan, with his front army of 60,000 troops, plus the three towns of Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Zuo Mengeng, an army of 150,000 troops can directly attack them.
, the person who refused to kill was pissed off, and he mentioned the word "Wu" upside down.
However, His Majesty was overly cautious and insisted on spreading the army to various places, so he had no choice but to obey the order.
Originally, the main forces of the Chuang Army and the Daxi Army had already left Tongguan, and Wu Sangui did not need to wait for half a month. Instead, he could have all the towns surround him immediately. However, selfishly, he still wanted Gao Jie to suffer.
After all, if you hold on for half a month, with the army at the top, your chances of winning are much greater, and no one can say anything.
The colonel who made the suggestion said nothing more when he saw what Wu Sangui said. He just asked for advice, because he had no right to interfere in the war.
When Gao Jie received Wu Sangui's order, he just snorted coldly. He was equally confident in holding Luoyang.
Not to mention half a month, even half a year, he was sure of it. As for not saving his life, even if Wu Sangui had the courage to do so, he wouldn't even dare to do so.
The two kings' combined troops of 300,000, plus a large amount of food and baggage, took three days to get out of Tongguan.
Sun Kewang and Li Guo had a disagreement as soon as they left the border.
According to Sun Kewang's wishes, the army marched straight to Luoyang along the official road, without the need to spend time and energy attacking the states and counties along the way.
But Li Guo felt that it was too arrogant and risky to directly attack Luoyang without first clearing out the prefectures and counties along the way.
At the beginning, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty did not dare to be so rampant.
Tongguan is also three to four hundred miles away from Luoyang. Although the road is flat, there are still many state and county passes along the way. It is indeed a taboo for military strategists to bypass it and attack Luoyang directly.
"Brother Li, I also want to fight steadily, but the situation is that we have no choice but to make a desperate move. If we attack one city after another, by the time we reach Luoyang City, the Ming army will have already surrounded us."
"Having said that, the army just bypassed it. Once it is blocked in Luoyang and unable to attack for a long time, Liu Zeqing's troops in Pingyang Prefecture will definitely cross the Yellow River southward and cut off our army's return route. If one of them fails, we will have hundreds of thousands of troops.
I'm afraid it will be difficult to return to Tongguan." Li Guo said solemnly.
"Haha, Brother Li, if we lose this time, even if you lead the army back to Tongguan, is it possible that King Chuang can still use Tongguan to separate the northwest?"
Sun Kewang sneered. At this time, he still wanted to retreat to the northwest after losing the battle.
Do you think northwest is southwest?
"Forget it, Brother Sun is not afraid, so what can I say? If you don't win, you will perish!"
Li Guo also knew that the army had left Tongguan. Even if they could not win and retreated, the people's hearts would be dispersed. It would be extremely difficult to continue to defend the northwest, so it was better to sink the boat and make a desperate move.
Sun Kewang saw that he agreed and nodded appreciatively. If this guy was still timid, then there really would be no need to fight this battle.
After the two reached an agreement, the army marched along the official road in a mighty manner and headed towards Luoyang.
In just five days, the army arrived at Luoyang City in a steady stream, and then set up camp and built siege equipment at the same time. They were very busy.
Luoyang, the ancient capital, is destined to face another war.
Seeing that the Chuang Army and the Daxi Army had arrived at Luoyang City, Wu Sangui stopped waiting and began to mobilize his troops.
First, Tang Tong was asked to mobilize 20,000 troops from Xunyang and march north to Nanyang, and then join Zuo Menggeng and go north to Luoyang via Ruzhou, totaling 50,000 troops.
He also asked Liu Liangzuo to mobilize 20,000 troops south to Pingyang. After joining Liu Zeqing, the army crossed the river from Hongnong and cut off the enemy's retreat to Tongguan.
As a result, there are 50,000 Ming troops in the west and south, plus 60,000 former troops in the east, and the natural danger of the Yellow River in the north. Once the Chuang Army and the Great Western Army cannot attack Luoyang, they will definitely be unable to escape.