The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 477 The Idea of ​​Hou Junji
Outside the camp of the Tang Army in Changyuan County, Hongnong, a group of burly cavalry came galloping, and in a blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the gate of the camp.

"His Royal Highness King Jin!" Seeing the handsome general who was dripping with sweat at the head, several guards hurried forward to salute.

Li Shimin dismounted with a stirrup, threw the reins to the followers behind him, strode inward, and asked casually, "Have all the generals arrived yet?"

"Return to Your Highness! All the generals have arrived, and we are waiting for Your Highness." The leader of the guards replied respectfully.

"Okay!" Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction, and strode into the large tent.

Persisting these days, Li Shimin did not stay in the barracks to build cars behind closed doors, but went out from time to time, inspecting the surrounding terrain and the enemy's camp many times, trying to find a good way to defeat the enemy.The main general of the Sui army who confronted him was Yang Shanhui. Li Shimin had a deep understanding of Yang Shanhui. According to his past experience, he was a person who liked to take risks. This kind of person was actually easy to deal with, but things have come to this point , he found that Yang Shanhui had no sense of mobilizing troops at all, and he was defending every detail, and he didn't give Tang Jun the slightest chance.

Gradually, Li Shimin also understood what Yang Shanhui meant, but this discovery made Li Shimin feel deeply powerless and sad.

The conquests of great powers have always followed the prudent and righteous way, paying attention to using righteousness to conquer odds. The Sui Dynasty had strong capital, the general situation was in control, and it occupied an absolute advantage. Is it still necessary to use dangerous tactics?In fact, Yang Tong, Yang Shanhui and others have worked so hard to keep Li Shimin here, so they have the intention of surrounding him for help...

This game of chess played by Tai Sui may or may not be played. Tai Sui decides when to play, and the initiative is all in the hands of Tai Sui. However, the Tang Dynasty did not dare to bet on Yang Tong's withdrawal with the fortune of the country. No more.To put it bluntly, this move of the Sui Dynasty was nothing more than overwhelming Li Shimin and the Li Tang Dynasty with overwhelming military strength and sufficient supplies, forcing Li Tang to mobilize troops to confront the Sui army.

The Sui army stationed in Xiong'er County was originally an elite force with sufficient strength and excellent equipment, and was supported by Luoyang nearby, and the Sui army in the direction of Tongguan and Shangluo echoed each other at a distance, and even dispatched troops from the other side of the Yellow River. Sufficient, well-equipped, and sufficient food and grass, compared with Li Tang, the advantage is more than a star and a half?In this situation, Yang Shanhui can attack and defend, and he is not afraid of Li Shimin's "lone army". With strong backing, Yang Shanhui will have difficulty even if he wants to lose.

In this way, the initiative of the war is firmly in the hands of Sui, which means that if there is no accident, the Tang Dynasty can only be led by the nose for a long time to come. Fight according to the expected method of the Sui Dynasty, thus completely losing the initiative and decision-making power in the war, and being in a very passive position... unless you agree to Li Shimin's previous request, give up Hongnong County early, retreat to Xiyang County safely, and then adopt a closed-door policy. The strategy of earning a living is to bury your head in development for two or three years, and then meet Da Sui again.

But what can decide is neither Li Shimin, who is in a dilemma, nor Li Jiancheng, who knows the situation of the Li Tang Dynasty, but their father Li Yuan. Of course, from the emperor's point of view, Li Yuan's persistence is not wrong, because Li Yuan Tang Dynasty was filled with pessimism, and the government and the public thought that the Tang army was afraid of the Sui Dynasty like a tiger and didn't even have the courage to fight. Therefore, Li Yuan not only wanted to let the world know that Li Tang dared to fight and was able to fight, but also wanted a victory to inspire Li Tang's lost spirit. Qishen, the Li brothers all understand this point, understandable, but there is a gap in strength, how do you let everyone fight?
Li Shimin's powerlessness is due to Li Tang's national conditions. He not only wants to win, but also wins beautifully. Otherwise, he will win the present and lose the overall situation.

In the big tent, the generals in the army expressed their opinions.

Hou Junji put out his own point of view, "The strategic meaning of His Majesty letting His Highness the Crown Prince sit at Zhuyang Pass is nothing more than that if our army wins, the northern and southern armies will work together to expand the results infinitely; if our army loses, it will play a supporting role." The role of our army going south. However, with such a simple strategic intention, the Sui court, with countless capable people, will not be unaware, and has even made multiple targeted countermeasures. If we adopt this kind of strategy, the possibility of success is very slim. Therefore , I thought we couldn’t fight according to the established routine that would do no harm to the Sui Dynasty.”

Hou Junji's point of view was heard clearly by Li Shimin who stepped inside, he stopped the generals from saluting, and after taking the throne, he asked Hou Junji to state his strategic intention: "Tell me about your strategic intention. "

"Here." Hou Junji responded, and said with high spirits: "His Royal Highness, the final general thinks that the safest strategy is to take the Chaoguan pass first, then take the Tongguan pass, and command Guanzhong."

"What's the reason?" Li Shimin smiled slightly. Hou Junji had a unique vision, a strong outlook on the overall situation, and an adventurous spirit, which suited Li Shimin's taste very well. Li Shimin took special care of him and cultivated him as a jade pillar.

"Xiaoguan... the mountains on both sides of the southeast are connected to each other, and there are many deep valleys and dangerous cliffs. Here, military strategists must contend! ... But Tongguan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. After we take Xiaoguan, we should not rush to fight it. The method of encircling without fighting is to mobilize all kinds of soldiers and horses of the Sui Dynasty to help, and then concentrate the superior force to defeat the reinforcements of the Sui Army one by one. The important thing is that the mountains in this area are dangerous, which is not conducive to the cavalry charge and loses the advantage of the cavalry Is the Sui army still the Sui army?"

"And Tongguan occupies the key points of Qin, Jin, and Henan. It controls the waters of Wei and Luo in the north, the water of the Yellow River embraces the pass, and the Qinling Mountains in the south. The terrain is dangerous. This pass is in my hand, and I own the pass. The land of Guanzhong is not only a city. Strong, our Tang Dynasty still has a strong foundation in Guanzhong. If our army invades Guanzhong, we will definitely get the support of the people. The army's supply of soldiers and food are not a problem. After a short rest, we can threaten Yongbei, Liangzhou, and Yang Tong Taking the Silk Road as the center of gravity of the economy, once this economic artery is destroyed by our army, the Sui court will inevitably shake up and down, and deploy troops to support it."

"If the imperial court can give support at this time and launch the Northern Expedition, we can completely swallow the Sui army in Hanyang, Hanchuan, and Shangluo! Reconnect Yongliang and Bashu."

A needle could be heard in the big tent, and the generals listened to Hou Junji's battle plan, silently thinking about its feasibility.

"General Hou's idea is very good."

There was silence in the tent for a moment, and Yuwen Shiji, who closed his eyes and pondered, slowly opened his eyes. As a latecomer in the Jin Wang Party, Yuwen Shiji, who had inextricable ties to the Sui Dynasty, was very good at being a man. The strategy of Jun Ji.

Hou Junji said modestly: "Thank you Yuwen Yushi for agreeing, and please advise me if there are any shortcomings."

There are also many small groups in Li Shimin's lineage. Hou Junji, who is not of high birth, is a strange existence under the command of Li Shimin, who has many children in the family. He is proud and conceited and has a bad temper. Because of Li Shimin's attention, he really offended many people. As a result, after the fiasco of Jincheng, there was no one to speak for him. If Li Shimin did not guarantee it, he would have been killed by Li Yuan long ago. This made Hou Junji realize his mistake, and he learned to restrain himself and become humble from then on. Keep a low profile and try to befriend your colleagues.Yu Wenshi and his position in the Li Tang Dynasty were not high, but he had a very good friendship with Li Yuan in the past. Li Yuan treated him very differently from other ministers, and his sister was Yu Wen Zhaoyi, whom Li Yuan loved very much, and his second wife was Tang Dynasty. As the head of Shouguang County, the royal family, Hou Junji had long wanted to make friends, and made his attitude very humble.

"General Hou, if our army fights according to your thinking, we will completely cut off contact with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and become a lone army that goes deep into the enemy's territory, but I don't know how to attack and how to fight? I am worried that if we rush forward, we will end up like the old Eastern Wei Dynasty. The same end.” Yuwen Shiji expressed his worries, he is very aware of the dangers of Tongguan, and there is also a living example of a broken halberd under the city of Tongguan, that is—Eastern Wei Dynasty

In the first year of Tianping in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (534), Gao Huan set up troops from Jinyang to march westward, and sent the general Dou Tai on chariots to attack Tongguan. Dou Tai.Dou Tai really got the trick. When he found out that Yuwentai's army had descended from the sky, he hurriedly formed an formation against the mountain, but before the formation was formed, he was broken by Western Wei cavalry, and Dou Tai was defeated and committed suicide!It was precisely because of Dou Tai's disastrous defeat that angered Gao Huan, which indirectly triggered a series of disastrous defeats in the Eastern Wei Dynasty in the battles of Hongnong, Shayuan, and Yubi.

Gao Huan's strength was originally far higher than that of Yu Wentai, and the army of the Eastern Wei Dynasty had even crossed the Yellow River. The Western Wei Dynasty was in danger at the time, but Yu Wentai counterattacked like this.Gao Huan's series of disastrous defeats also made Eastern Wei forever lose the opportunity to attack Guanzhong... In the final analysis, Eastern Wei was too aggressive.

Tongguan is notoriously difficult to chew. The Eastern Wei Dynasty, which had an absolute advantage back then, could do nothing about it, let alone the Tang Army, who was at an absolute disadvantage. Yuwen Shiji was not optimistic about Hou Junji's plan.

"Furthermore, Yang Shanhui is close at hand, and he will be able to detect our army as soon as it moves. Our army will lose the miraculous effect of raiding Tongguan. Let alone capture Tongguan, he will even be defeated by his tail."

"This..." For a while, Hou Junji had nothing to say.

Seeing that he was at a loss for words, Yuwen Shiji couldn't help sighing. For the time being, he didn't have a better way. In fact, there was one thing he didn't say, and he didn't dare to say it: that is, the Sui Dynasty could bear the price of the annihilation of Yang Shanhui and Xue Wanjun. Because of the strong national power, the Sui Dynasty made a comeback easily, and the Tang army not only could not afford to lose, but even did not have the qualifications to win a tragic victory by killing one thousand enemies and self-defeating eight hundred. This is a gap in national power, not the current Li Tang Dynasty. of.

Yuwen Shiji can think of this, so why not Li Shimin?In fact, all the generals present knew that the best way to break the situation was to retreat southward alternately under the cover of Li Jiancheng, but Li Yuan did not agree to their request.

In Li Shimin's view, although there are many crises in the country, as long as the army is kept, those dissatisfied voices can only complain in secret. Don't they dare to rebel?The reason why he asked for reinforcements and proposed the crazy move of expanding the army by 30 was just a feint. His original intention was to let Li Yuan feel the danger of the Tang Dynasty, so he agreed to his request to withdraw the army, and then consolidate the country and concentrate on development. Train elite soldiers hard, and wait for the time to fight the Sui Dynasty to the death, but the result still fails to dispel Li Yuan's luck.

Li Shimin wanted to disobey the holy order more than once, but he really didn't dare to do so.

People in the world often say that "the general is outside, and the emperor's order is not accepted", but in fact, the result of the general who dares to accept it is death. This has been the case from ancient times to the present. Zhou Yafu, did he not know what the emperor caused?

Even outsiders are like this, the military power struggle between father and son is an insurmountable gap. Li Yuan can tolerate his son in anything, including forming private parties and forming cliques in the court, as long as military power is not involved Li Yuan can ignore this sensitive nerve.Only in terms of military power, Li Yuan would never tolerate it, not even his two sons whom he relied on the most.

(End of this chapter)