Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 135 Return to the North and Return to the South
"There is no trace of Turks within five miles."

"There are no traces of Turks within ten miles."

The successive reports from the scouts who went out to investigate made everyone look more happy. It was natural for the Turkic people to withdraw their troops and return to the north, but there was another possibility.

Su Dingfang went out of the city yesterday and defeated the enemy army. This seems to show that Liu Heita's troops are not strong. If he wants to defeat the Tang army, the best way is to lure the Tang army out of the city and encircle and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

And the return of the Turkic people to the north may be a trap... Although Tian Liu'an made up his mind not to leave the city, he also sent scouts to investigate.

Liu Heitao besieged Guantao City, but he was not killed. He besieged three times and left the south.

And just an hour ago, Liu Heita's troops also followed north and west, and withdrew their troops.

The main general, Tian Liu'an, was determined not to leave the city anyway, the others were fine, but Ling Jing and Li Shan were the most suspicious.

There is a reason for the Turks to get out, a very good reason.

And why did Liu Heita get out?

No matter from which point of view, Liu Heita has no good reason to leave... Now in Hebei Road, only Xiangzhou and Weizhou are ahead of the rebels.

Compared with attacking Xiangzhou with Weizhou behind it, it is obviously easier to attack Weizhou with the Yellow River behind it.

Fifteen li away from the north of the city wall, Liu Heikai sighed and waved his hand to drive away the crowd, leaving only his younger brother Liu Shishan behind.

"Fan Yuan and Dong Kang died at the hands of that person?"

"It's Su Dingfang..."

"Bullshit!" Liu Heikai scolded sullenly, "Su Lie is the former subordinate of King Xia. Last year he went to war with someone. He would never fight back for no reason and even take away Yugushe!"

"Although Su Lie voted for the Tang Dynasty, Tian Liu'an dared to accept it like this, and still use him as the main general to invite him out of the city?"

"The person in charge must be the doctor... No, then Li Shan is definitely not a doctor!"

Liu Shishan was dejected, and after Liu Heitai led his army eastward, he blamed all the reasons on Su Dingfang, a traitor general... It was Liu Shishan's responsibility to raise food and grass in Beizhou.

He was nothing more than showing that it was not I who made a mistake...it was Su Dingfang who defected to Tang.

Especially yesterday Su Dingfang led the cavalry to break through the formation, blood flowed like a river, and almost all the siege equipment was burned... This is the ironclad proof that Su Dingfang voted for Tang.

But all this was exposed this morning.

Ashina Sheer wanted to go back to the grassland, and before leaving, he borrowed a letter from a small official under Liu Heita's tent... Only then did Liu Heita know the inside story.

"Li Shan, Li Shan...Where did this come from!" Liu Heitao looked at the invisible city of Guantao from a distance, "The conspiracy of the ovary, the wisdom of Chen Ping...In this way, it should be this person who captured it." Going down to the Valley of Desire to recruit Su Lie...Fan Yuan and Dong Kang all died in his hands, and Beizhou was on fire..."

Liu Shishan coughed twice, "Two days before the Xiabo battle, this person urged Li Daoxuan not to fight, and immediately left the city and went south after being rejected..."

After listening to Liu Shishan's intermittent explanation, Liu Heikai couldn't help but gather up his clothes, not because he felt cold, but because he had a feeling of being seen through without covering his body.

From three battles and three retreats, to the disappearance of the Turkic soldiers and then their exposure, Liu Heitai's plan was almost fully revealed, as if in front of his eyes.

Standing silently on the small hill all the time, Liu Heikai waited for a long time, the main force under his command had already retreated thirty miles away, and they had already gathered by the Yongji Canal, but the Tang army in Guantao City still could not retreat , there is no intention of pursuing at all.

A group of cavalry came galloping from the north, and the leading man quickly climbed up the hill, cursing: "He is still the son of the Khan, whoever has no eggs, has already left."

Liu Heikai had no expression on his face. In the morning, he urged Yugu to set up a retreat and retreat northward one after another, intending to lure out the Tang army. As long as he can entangle him, he only needs two or three thousand Turkic light cavalry to encircle and annihilate them.

Yugushe agrees... It's a pity that Tang Jun is like a tortoise shrunk in a shell, even if he doesn't show his head, Yugushe can only return north to the grassland.

"Your Majesty, next..." This big man is Wang Xiaohu, who is now the most valiant and skilled fighter under Liu Heita's tent. He gritted his teeth and cursed: "Su Lie surrendered to Tang, killed Dong Kang and Brother Fan with his own hands, and yesterday... "

Liu Shishan on the side hesitated for a while, "Brother, Wei Zhou is really tough, why don't you go back to Luozhou."

Wang Xiaohu immediately retorted: "It is necessary to wipe out the Hebei Tang army before the year, otherwise it will be difficult to gain a foothold."

"Qi Wang Li Yuanji leads an army of tens of thousands in Heyin, maybe he will go north at any time!"

"Wipe out the Tang army, set up defenses in Weizhou, Xiangzhou, and Weizhou. The king sits in Luozhou and controls Xingzhou from a distance. Next year, he will borrow troops from Turks to threaten Dingzhou. Only then can we barely support it."

Liu Shishan rolled his eyes, "Brother, remember I mentioned earlier that Li Yuanji seems to be at odds with Li Shimin?"

"I've been here for a month, so I might not go north..."

"And even if we want to attack, there is no need to attack Weizhou. After returning to Luozhou, the whole army should attack Xiangzhou."

Wang Xiaohu sneered and said, "That guy Qi Shanxing was determined, he set fire to the granary in Xingzhou, and set fire to Luozhou, if it wasn't for the emergency..."

"What if he retreats to Weizhou again and burns Xiangzhou's granary on fire?"

"That fellow Li Yuan fled, and the governor of Xiangzhou was killed. Now the Tang troops in Xiangzhou, Luozhou, and Xingzhou are all in the hands of Qi Shanxing!"

Liu Shishan was speechless, indeed, no matter what, it would be more cost-effective to attack Weizhou.

There is no shortage of troops in Xiangzhou and Weizhou. Although the main generals Qi Shanxing and Cheng Mingzhen are both Dou Jiande's former troops, they are absolutely impossible to surrender... The former set fire to Xingzhou's granary, and the latter's mother, wife and children all died at the hands of Liu Heitai .

But once Weizhou is captured, Weizhou and Xiangzhou can be threatened from the east at the same time, and then cooperate with Luozhou's troops to attack from both sides, and the chances of winning are quite high.

Liu Heita, who had been silent all this time, nodded slightly, "All the troops will return to the south to make weapons."

Liu Heitao's re-attack on Guantao was deliberate. On the one hand, it was strategic. Wang Xiaohu's words were indeed good. Breaking Weizhou was the most likely shortcut to wipe out the Tang army in Hebei.

On the other hand, in terms of morale, Su Dingfang went to battle yesterday and wiped out thousands of troops. He has already been recognized by many middle and lower ranks. If he is not killed, the morale will not be boosted.

Moreover, Tian Liu'an, the general manager of Weizhou, Li Daoxuan, the general manager of the Hebei Road march, and Shi Wanbao, the deputy general manager, are all in the city. As long as Guantao is broken, will Weizhou and Xiangzhou still have the guts to continue to support it?

"Today, October [-]th... order people to bring food and grass by boat from the east of Yongji Canal. Within ten days, we must conquer Guantao!"

After a pause, Liu Heita said lightly, "Massacre!"

Both Wang Xiaohu and Liu Shishan turned pale with fright. They are both from Hebei, and their hometown Beizhou borders Weizhou, and the massacre of the city... This is going to break the rules.

"Ok?"

"Yes."

"Yes!"

Liu Heita got on his horse and galloped down the hill, feeling mixed emotions in his heart.

Massacring the city was a helpless move. On the one hand, it was due to morale. Yugu forced him to storm Guantao for three consecutive days, causing countless casualties. In addition, Su Dingfang went out to sweep the city yesterday, and the army's morale was already unstable.

There is not enough food and grass in Luozhou. If it were not for the return of the Turks to the north, the food and grass in the army would already be...so Liu Heita could not do anything to boost morale.

Massacring the city is the most possible, most direct, and even the only possibility.

On the other hand, Cheng Mingzhen... Liu Heitai has begun to regret having executed the other party's mother, wife and children together.

Insufficient grain and grass... But now in Hebei Road, there is only one most concentrated storage place for grain and grass, the Liyang Warehouse in Weizhou.

That was Liu Heita's only hope.

Liu Heikai was really afraid that he would attack Weizhou, and he would see another piece of broken tiles, as well as rice and wheat that had been burned to ashes.

Threatening to massacre the city and spreading rumors, even if Cheng Mingzhen gave the order, the person in charge of the Liyang Warehouse would probably not dare to order the fire.

On October [-]th, the Turks returned to the grassland to the north. Liu Heikai led an army of [-] troops to the north, then suddenly turned around and went south. He stationed on the north, south, and east sides of Guantao and made weapons. .

(End of this chapter)