Among the 200,000 new troops added by the Sui Army, 20,000 troops were deployed at the Tongguan line to prevent the Tang army from entering the Central Plains. The other 80,000 troops were deployed at Pujin Pass in Hedong, commanded by Li Jing and Pei Xingyan. Their mission was to advance into the Central Plains.
east.
The 100,000 troops on the northern front were deployed to Guannai Road. At this time, there were already 120,000 troops on Guannei Road, including the 100,000 troops led by Qin Qiong and the 20,000 troops led by Sheng Yan Division on the western front. The newly added 100,000 troops were one.
Divided into two, Qin Qiong added 50,000 troops.
In addition, an additional 50,000 troops were added to the Western Front. Pei Renji, the general manager of Hexi, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, and Division Sheng Yan was appointed as deputy commander. Together with the 20,000 troops stationed in Huining County and the 20,000 troops in Hexi, the total was 90,000 troops.
Entering Longxi, where the Tang army was empty of troops, they pressed down the Dashan Pass. This was to prevent the Tang army from escaping from the western front and block their retreat.
In this way, Xu Shiji's tribe in Hanzhong on the southern line, Li Jing's tribe in Hedong on the east line, and Pei Renji's tribe in Longxi on the west line. Together with the main force of 150,000 Sui troops on the northern line, Guanzhong was besieged from four directions, forming a strategic fortress.
surrounded.
At this time, there were still 130,000 Tang troops in Guanzhong. As Yang Yuanqing expected, the Tang army once again forced conscription. All men over the age of fourteen and under fifty-six were required to sign up to join the Tang army. For a time, people in all counties in Guanzhong were panicked.
A large number of young people fled, and many young people hid in manors in various places in Guanzhong. They were hidden by Guanlong nobles such as the Dugu family and the Dou family.[
Although the recruitment of troops was not smooth, the Tang army carried out a unified defense. Li Shimin transferred 20,000 troops to Guandong, led by Li Shentong, the general of Tongguan, bringing the number of troops in Guandong to 30,000. In addition, 10,000 troops were deployed in Dashanguan area.
, led by Changsun Ji, resisted the Sui army from rushing into Guanzhong from Dashan Pass in the west.
Li Shimin personally led the main force of 50,000 troops to be deployed in Xinping County and Qianshuiyuan in the central part of Beidi County. This is the strategic route from Guannai Road to Guanzhong.
There are three main roads into Guanzhong from the northern Guannai Road. One is the Luoshui Road in the east, which goes south along the Luoshui River Valley and leads to Fengyi County.
One is the Tongguan Road, which was later known as the Tongchuan Line. You can also enter Guanzhong along the Tongguan River. However, this road is broken and rugged and requires climbing over mountains and ridges, which is not conducive to large-scale army marches, so the Tang Army did not consider this road.
The key defense on the road was to garrison 3,000 troops at Jinsuoguan, north of Tongguan County.
The third road is the Jingshui Road, which is the most conducive road for the army to go south. It is flat and wide. It is conducive to the transportation of baggage. If the Sui army goes south from the Jingshui River Valley, it will directly attack Chang'an. Li Shimin's 50,000 troops will be stationed in Jingshui.
On the waterway.
The Tang Army camp is located in the north of Xinping County. The camp stretches for more than ten miles and is built with plank walls. It is wide and thick and strong, just like a small city. Thousands of large tents are densely arranged in the camp. From time to time, groups of patrolling sentries can be seen appearing in the camp.
The defense inside and outside the military camp is very tight.
Li Shimin's Chinese army tent was located in the middle of the camp, surrounded by dozens of small tents. At this time, inside the Chinese army tent, Li Shimin stood in front of a sand table, looking worried.
Although he thought very carefully, he still seemed to have a strong will when faced with more than 300,000 Sui troops surrounded on all sides. The key was that his troops were insufficient. He only had 90,000 troops at his disposal. He could not cover everything. For example,
Facing the defense of the Sui army in Hanzhong in the south, there was no deployment.
If the Sui army in Hanzhong did not dare to go north easily because the Battle of Bashu was not over, they could temporarily ignore the threat from the south. Then the defenses of Tongguandao and Dashan Pass made it difficult for him to sleep and eat. At Dashan Pass, only a group led by Changsun Ji
How could an army of ten thousand resist the attack of nearly one hundred thousand Sui troops?
There is also Jinsuoguan. There are only three thousand defenders for defense. Thinking of this, Li Shimin sighed and said to Fang Xuanling next to him: "Sir, how likely is it that the Sui army enters the pass from Tongguan Road?"
"Your Highness, everything is possible."
Fang Xuanling picked up the wooden pole and pointed at Jinsuo Pass in the north of Tongguan County and said: "Jinsuo Pass is not a great pass. I have seen this pass. It can only be said to be a merchant pass. It is useful for merchants, but not for the army."
It will be difficult to defend against it. There can only be a maximum of three thousand troops stationed in the pass.
, but if the enemy sends 20,000 troops, they can break through this pass, and there is a mountain ridge just to the east of Jinsuo Pass, called Centipede Ridge. As long as the Sui army occupied this Centipede Ridge, commanded from a high position, and bombarded it with huge rocks, Jinsuo Pass would be defeated.
Facing catastrophe."
Fang Xuanling pointed the wooden pole to Tongguan Road in the south, "The so-called Tongguan Road is actually the Tongguan River Valley. I rode a donkey through it. Although this road is very bumpy and undulating, it is indeed difficult for heavy vehicles to pass, but
It does not hinder the simple movement of light soldiers,
I can ride over on a donkey, and so can the cavalry. The Sui army can send an army of 20,000 to 30,000 people, bring several days of dry food, and rush into Guanzhong to get supplies. Your Highness, this road is dangerous.
, we must send troops to defend."
Li Shimin sighed, "But I only have 50,000 troops in hand. If I divide another 20,000 troops for defense, the troops will be too scattered. They will be easily defeated by the Sui army and cannot defend any one place. In the end, it is still my strength.
It’s not enough!”
"Your Highness, how is the recruitment situation going?" Fang Xuanling asked again.
Li Shimin shook his head, his eyes even more worried, "I heard that the situation is very bad. No one in Guanzhong is willing to join the army. They are all running away. There are thirty recruitment points, some only recruit hundreds, and some only recruit one or two thousand."
, it is estimated that the total is only 20,000 to 30,000. What is even more troublesome is that unlike in the past when it was possible to recruit government soldiers, now they are all new soldiers. Without any training, they are just a bunch of rabble. Let them guard the Tongguan Road. I
Worried about defeat without a fight."
Fang Xuanling said: "Your Highness, what I actually mean is to let the new soldiers guard Chang'an and replace the Chang'an army. After all, Chang'an's army has been trained. Replace it with 30,000 troops, 10,000 reinforcements to disperse the pass, and 20,000 defenders.
Tong Guandao, in this way, the defense line will be complete."
Li Shimin walked a few steps with his hands behind his back. He was really annoyed. His father gave him the military power, but at the last moment, he took back the military power in Chang'an. At this critical moment, he still had to play the balance of power. Chang'an
The 40,000 troops were not under his command, which made his deployment extremely passive.
Also, King Yuanji of Qi fled back to Chang'an. Luo Yi surrendered to the Sui army and covered up all his responsibilities. However, according to his intelligence, this was not the case at all. It was his father who secretly ordered King Qi to seize power, which triggered internal strife.
The Sui army occupied Hanzhong without a fight. In the final analysis, the responsibility lies with the emperor.[
In addition, the King of Qi was extremely stupid in his handling of Luo Yi. Since he had seized the military power, he should have sent Luo Yi back to Chang'an immediately, but he did not do so. I don't know whether it was a woman's kindness or carelessness. In the end, the Sui army caught the loophole.
If the counter-intentional plan is successful, then how to deal with these responsibilities? It goes by in such a confused manner, with unclear rights and responsibilities, unclear rewards and punishments, and all this. How can the Tang army not be defeated?
Although he was resentful, Li Shimin had nothing to do. The military power of Chang'an was not in his hands, so he could only discuss it with the prince in a low voice. Li Shimin immediately returned to his seat, wrote a letter quickly, and then ordered: "Let Yu Wenshi come in time."
See me!"
After a moment, Yu Wenshiji hurriedly walked into the big tent, bowed and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"
Yu Wenshi and the current General Tiance joined the army and also served as generals of hussars. They were relatively trustworthy people by Li Shimin. Li Shimin handed the letter to him and asked: "Give this letter to the prince and give the current
Tell him the situation, let him understand the seriousness of the situation, and be sure to ask him to act according to the strategy in my letter."
"I understand, I will go back to Chang'an now!"
Yu Wenshiji took the letter, bowed and hurriedly left the tent. Li Shimin watched him go away, and said worriedly: "I don't know if it's still too late."
"It's probably not too late."
Fang Xuanling smiled and said: "The Sui army can't come so fast. They also need to deploy troops and arrange logistics. But now they should strengthen the strength of the scouts and collect as much intelligence as possible."
Li Shimin nodded, he understood the importance of information.
...
Tongguan County is located in the transition zone from the Loess Plateau to the Guanzhong Plain. It has undulating hills, crisscrossed rivers, and continuous mountains stretching into the distance.
Between the hills are patches of long and narrow ravines, most of which are distributed in an east-west direction. Small ravines are only one or two miles long, while large ravines are dozens of miles long. Farmland, villages, and cities are all located in this narrow basin-like area.
In the ravine.
Since most of the ravines are distributed in an east-west direction, transportation in the south direction becomes very difficult and requires climbing over mountains and ridges. However, some rivers have also washed out many north-south valleys, which have become natural north-south channels.
Tongguandao is composed of several large and small river valleys. This is because there are no big rivers like Luoshui in the east and Jingshui in the west in this area, which cannot form a complete river valley. Therefore, dozens of scattered river valleys cannot be connected together.
, you can only go up and down slopes, and cross mountains from one valley to another. Mules and horses can go over mountains and ridges with people, but heavy vehicles cannot travel.
There is a pass on the northernmost side of Tongguan Road, called Jinsuoguan. It was built in the Han Dynasty and rebuilt in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, because the terrain of Tongguan Road is not as high and dangerous as the Qinling Mountains and Longshan Mountains, there are many low and gentle passes.
Hilly, this means that Jinsuoguan cannot become a dangerous pass like Tongguan and Dashan Pass. It has little military role. It was originally built to prevent merchants from evading taxes.
That afternoon, a Sui army scout appeared in a forest about ten miles north of Jinsuoguan, consisting of about a hundred cavalry. The leader was Xiao Yannian, and beside him was Qin Huaiyu, the son of Qin Qiong.
The two of them stayed in Yan'an County all winter. They heard that the war in the south was going on with great turmoil, which made them extremely envious. They had already breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. Now that the war between the Sui and Tang Dynasties finally arrived, the two of them were eager to try and make military exploits.
"Brother Xiao, do you think the main force of our Sui army will follow the Tongguan Road?"
Qin Huaiyu is sixteen years old this year. He is tall and burly and has extremely strong martial arts skills. He can be regarded as the best among young generals. Xiao Yannian is also eighteen years old this year and has become an experienced scout leader. According to his accumulation,
As long as he can make another meritorious service, he will be promoted to general.
Xiao Yannian looked at the pass in the distance for a moment, and said with a faint smile: "I heard that His Highness personally ordered the investigation of Tongguan Road. I guess it is very likely that Tongguan Road will be used, but I don't know if it is the main force.