Tiantang Splendid

4233 - Arrangement to resist the enemy
The towering and majestic Xuanwu Gate stands tall on the Longshou Plain, looking up from the bottom up, the towering tower seems to have pierced the dark sky, and the rain is gurgling down, which makes the gate of this Taiji Palace even more unique. The high mountains stand upright, and Yuezhen is majestic in Kyushu.

Both Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong were wearing bamboo hats and coir raincoats, standing on top of the city tower, looking at the Tai Chi Palace in the dark night and rain, and the lights reflected the most noble palace in the world. Kind of peaceful and comfortable.

However, behind the tranquility and comfort illuminated by the lights, there is another direct struggle for imperial power since the founding of the Tang Empire. Who wins and who loses, who lives and who dies, is no different from that night more than ten years ago.

Winner takes all, loser for Kou.

Li Xiaogong turned around, under the tower behind was the barracks of the left and right guards, the camp of the right guards was brightly lit, one could vaguely see cavalry scouts going to and from the gate of the camp, and there were many figures in the camp.

Zuo Tunwei was pitch-black, with only a few lanterns flickering in the darkness. The whole army had rushed to the front line of Bashui to set up defenses, and only a few soldiers remained in the camp to guard.

Li Xiaogong remained silent, the rain dripped from the edge of the bamboo hat, making his vision a little blurred, and his mood became more depressed and irritable.

The lamps and candles on the city walls on both sides are brightly lit, and teams of "Yuan Cong Forbidden Army" with their helmets and armor standing in the wind and rain, their knives are still in their sheaths and their arrows have not been wound, but the strong murderous aura has permeated the entire Xuanwu Gate. With one command, a thunderous strike can be launched like a hunting beast.

After a long time, Li Xiaogong said in a deep voice: "Have you considered it?"

Li Daozong stood in front of the stack of arrows with his hands behind his back, looking down at the Tai Chi Palace under the rain, and said calmly: "There is nothing to consider, we have been deeply favored by the late emperor, and we should be crushed to repay the favor, even though the late emperor has passed away at this moment, We must also follow his will, otherwise what face will he have to face the late emperor in the future?"

Li Xiaogong sighed and fell silent again.

There is no doubt about Zhenguan Xunchen's loyalty to His Majesty Li Er, but whether His Majesty Li Er is alive or dead, this loyalty will inevitably change.

If His Majesty Li Er was still there, no one would dare to rebel, and even after his death, the Guanlong clan headed by Changsun Wuji would only dare to raise troops in the name of deposing the prince, and then deposed the prince and established a new crown prince. Tang, the successor must also be the heir of His Majesty Li Er.

Loyalty and reverence have been deeply rooted in Zhenguan Xunchen's heart, and he dare not forget or disobey.

But now that His Majesty Li Er has passed away and the new emperor has ascended the throne, when that loyalty to His Majesty Li Er is contrary to the interests of the new emperor and even the whole world...

Is it loyal or not?

Li Xiaogong himself didn't know the answer, so he didn't force Li Daozong to do it, but advised him as much as possible.

But obviously, his persuasion had no effect. Li Daozong had made up his mind and chose to continue to be loyal to His Majesty Li Er and his will.

Is it right or wrong?

Li Xiaogong himself didn't know either.

*****
At dawn, when the rain gradually subsided, Qu Tuquan rode his horse in front of him with his helmet on, and behind him five thousand infantry waded through the muddy water on the road. Yuli is the rolling Bashui. Looking from a distance, another army is echoing along the right bank of the Bashui and advancing side by side. The pine oil torches burning in the rain are like a long dragon, fierce and murderous.

More than [-] troops lined up along the Weishui, Bashui, and Chanshui to defend Chang'an as solid as gold. They only needed to resist Yu Chigong's sudden surprise attack and wait for the navy to capture Luoyang and Hangu from behind Tongguan and cut off their retreat. They can attack back and forth and counterattack aggressively, defeating the rebels gathered in Tongguan in one fell swoop, and put an end to the rebellion.

But the gist of marching is to defend while attacking, and attack while defending, and to switch freely between virtual and real advances and retreats, rather than blindly defending and allowing the enemy to launch an offensive, to maximize the strength of troops and combat power.

Therefore, while arranging a line of defense to secure Chang'an, Qu Tuquan led a part of the East Palace Six Rates, and Chai Zhewei led most of his Zuo Tunwei. The two armies set out from Baqiao to protrude from the entire line of defense, along the mountainous terrain of Lishan Mountain. Advance towards Xinfeng along the official road, trying to build defenses in Xinfeng to slow down the enemy's raid speed so that they cannot go all out to attack the Chang'an defense line.

When the sky was bright, the two armies marched side by side and were not far from Xinfeng. Scouts came and went along the way, constantly reporting back the enemy's movements.

"Report! The enemy army has arrived at Xinfeng, and the defenders in the city surrendered without a fight. Xinfeng has fallen!"

"Report! The enemy army has made some adjustments in Xinfeng and has left the city to attack westward."

"The main general is Yu Chigong, and his subordinates are all elite guards, with a number of between 2 and [-]!"

……

Xinfeng is to the south of Lishan Mountain. At this moment, Qu Tuquan and Chai Zhewei have led their troops around Lishan Mountain and arrived at a place tens of miles west of Xinfeng. Lishan Mountain is to the north.

Hearing that there were more than [-] enemy troops, Qu Tuquan was determined. His five thousand East Palace elites, plus the more than [-] troops led by Chai Zhewei this time, were already close to [-]. [-], even if Yuchi Gong is famous and brave enough to win the three armies, and the soldiers under his command are even braver, he only needs to take a defensive position to slow down the speed of the opponent's advance, which is enough for a battle.

Qu Tuquan immediately ordered the whole army to stop advancing, sent people to Chai Zhewei to discuss stopping the march, and waited for the arrival of the enemy.In his opinion, Chai Zhewei was more than successful, but not aggressive enough. It would probably be unwise for him to go forward and fight an encounter with the enemy's Field Zhanfeng.

Still the same sentence, the two armies on my side are horns of each other and cooperate with each other. Their strength is comparable to that of the enemy. As long as they fight steadily, even if they cannot win a big victory, they can greatly slow down the speed of the enemy. Even if they show defeat, You can also retreat calmly and complete Li Jing's previous order.

Soon, Chai Zhewei replied, agreeing to Qu Tuquan's suggestion, and urged Qu Tuquan and the two armies to maintain correspondence. Take advantage of the situation to pursue and defeat each one.

Qu Tuquan immediately ordered the construction of fortifications on the spot, placed all the deer villages and rejecting horses he carried, and lined up the army to wait for work at leisure.

The rain kept pattering all the time, the crude concrete on the official road had been trampled to pieces, mud splashed, and the road conditions were extremely bad. This would greatly slow down the speed of the enemy's charge, which would be more beneficial to the defensive side.

Qu Tuquan is not very old, but his personality is calm. The art of war and strategy is also a source of family knowledge. The temporary defensive formation looks decent. Since both Li Siwen and Cheng Chubi were defeated and captured, the enemy can drive straight in, so the slightest Not daring to be careless, he personally commanded the formation in the rain, constantly boosting the morale of the army.

The time, place and people are harmonious, Qu Tuquan is confident to stick to his position and defeat the enemy's offensive. At the very least, he must slow down the speed of the enemy's advance, and then slowly retreat, retreating to the vicinity of Baqiao and re-arming.

A gust of north wind was blowing, and the rain was swaying and the rain was getting heavier. The cold air made the soldiers in the rain tremble.

"Report! The enemy has already reached twenty miles!"

"Report! The enemy's forward three thousand light cavalry have left the brigade and are coming at full speed!"

"Report! The enemy army has arrived one mile away and is charging at full speed!"

……

As one after another of messages came, the soldiers in the front line had faintly felt the ground shaking under their feet, and under the rain, a black line came from far to near, hurricanely.

A charge formed by thousands of light cavalry suddenly jumped into sight amidst the rain, with their leather armor slashing across their swords and galloping at full speed, they arrived nearby in the blink of an eye.

"Bowman ready, let go!"

collapse!
There was a sound of the bowstring, and a rain of arrows soared into the sky, piercing through the rain, drawing a parabola and falling into the charging enemy formation.

Puff puff!Even if the bowstring is wet and the tension is greatly reduced due to rainy days, the arrows shot carry inertia from top to bottom, and can still easily penetrate the leather armor of the light cavalry. The triangular arrow clusters penetrate into the bodies of soldiers and horses, causing damage.

Herod!
A burst of war horses neighed, and dozens of charging horses fell down, causing the companions behind them to be affected and tripped. There was a chaos in the charging array, but the rest of the soldiers ignored the robes of the fallen horses and pressed their bodies tightly against the horses to reduce the damage. Force area, constantly urging the horse to continue to accelerate.

"put!"

The second round of arrow rain soared into the air again, and then fell into the enemy's formation.

"put!"

Three rounds of arrow rain inflicted great damage on the charging light cavalry, but failed to completely destroy the enemy's charge array. After the three rounds of arrow rain, countless horseshoes stepped on the ground and caused slight vibrations. The galloping horses were soaked and their speed was increased to the limit , slammed headfirst into the Luzhai and Rejecting Horses lined up in front of the defenders.

Another two cavalry formations quickly broke away from the brigade, and detoured on both sides to launch a surprise attack on the defenders' array behind Luzhai and Juma.

The battle became fierce in an instant.

(End of this chapter)