History Live: Starting from Qin Shi Huang

Chapter 29: Battle of Asamizuhara

[Li Shimin led his troops to Gaoqiong City again. He still decided to use the tactics from last time, that is, to defend the city and tire out the enemy.

On the one hand, Xue Rengao and Xue Ju had the same problem at that time, they were both short of food and grass, and the transportation of food and grass was difficult due to the blocked roads. However, the Tang army was different, with Guanzhong and Jingshui behind them, so it was not difficult to transport food and grass.

On the other hand, the Tang army had just suffered a great defeat and its morale was low, so it was not a good choice to go to war at this time. On the contrary, waiting for the right time and building up morale would allow them to fight better.

Therefore, in the face of repeated provocations from Xue Rengao's army, Li Shimin did not move his troops, and the two sides confronted each other for more than 60 days until Xue's generals Mou Juncai and Liang Hulang surrendered.

Qin Dynasty.

Wang Jian, Marquis of Wucheng, was mature and prudent, and had long been able to keep his composure, but his admiration for Li Shimin could still be detected from his words: "If you can keep your composure and calm, you can win many wars."

Although Li Shimin was only in his early twenties at this time, he was already outstanding enough in not being blinded by his previous achievements and failures.

Moreover, warfare is all about deception. Insisting on defending the city like this would not only consume Xue's army's food and grass, but also cultivate their own morale. At the same time, it would consume Xue's army's morale. After many failed sieges and luring the enemy, and with their food and grass decreasing day by day, how could Xue Rengao's generals and soldiers not be shaken?

Look, someone has come to vote.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Wei Qing also sighed and said: "In this way, we can not only strike the enemy, but also reduce the loss of our own soldiers." If we do not fool the defenders of the city, there will always be fewer casualties.

Li Shimin insisted on waiting until Xue Rengao's army began to lose morale and some of them came to surrender before taking action. This was equivalent to fighting a group of people whose fighting spirit had been greatly reduced, and it would soon turn into pursuing the defeated army. In this way, the pressure on his own soldiers was greatly reduced, and the number of casualties would not be as high as in a head-on battle.

[Seeing that Xue Rengao's army was wavering, Li Shimin felt that the time had come, so he first sent Liang Shi to lead his army as bait to lure Xue Rengao's general Zong Luohou into the trap at Qianshuiyuan.

Seeing that the Tang army, which had been holding out for many days, finally sent out an army, Zong Luohou was overjoyed, and immediately led his main force to attack Liang Yu.

Afterwards, Li Shimin sent Liang Yu to assist Liang Shi, which gave Zong Luohou a reassurance. His attention was completely drawn to the Tang army in Qianshuiyuan.

At this time, Li Shimin felt that the timing was right, so he led the main force of the Tang army to suddenly appear from the north of Qianshuiyuan. Although Zong Luohou hurried back, the morale and timing of the Tang army were just right at this time. The commander Li Shimin directly led dozens of elite cavalrymen to rush into the formation, charging back and forth, and coordinating properly with the main force of the Tang army outside.

Zong Luohou was defeated and his soldiers scattered everywhere. Li Shimin did not stop there. He led his 2,000 cavalrymen and headed straight towards Zhecheng City where Xue Rengao was.

Xue Rengao was originally fighting outside the city, but he discovered that some of his generals had surrendered to Li Shimin. He was immediately frightened and retreated to the city.

That night, the Tang army arrived one after another and surrounded Zhecheng City. The next morning, Xue Rengao surrendered, and the Tang army captured more than 10,000 elite soldiers and 50,000 men and women.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Guangmei flipped through the records in the Book of Tang: "At that time, the Tang Dynasty should have been a combination of infantry and cavalry, but the strength of the cavalry was not as strong as that of Xue Rengao and Xue Ju." Otherwise, with the number of Tang troops, Liu Wenjing would not have been defeated so badly. Of course, Liu Wenjing underestimated the enemy, but it was also because the Tang army's infantry and cavalry were mixed, making it difficult to increase the speed of escape.

"So, this great victory proves the extraordinary military talent of Emperor Taizong of Tang." Zhao Defang continued, "He not only used infantry to defend the city, but also seized the opportunity to lead the cavalry to attack quickly, and he also led the cavalry directly to Zhecheng City..."

Indeed, this method of leading a small number of cavalry to fight bravely is indeed not very common. The key is to lead the cavalry to achieve extremely high results every time and avoid falling into the hands of the enemy. This is not easy. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Years.

Zhu Di watched Li Shimin use cavalry raids and personally lead the team to pursue the enemy, and he admired this fighting style from the bottom of his heart. He couldn't help but recall the gambling and cavalry attacks he had made during the Jingnan Campaign.

Well, apart from the current actual border situation, I do want to stretch my muscles. I was very happy to fight the Tatars before. It's just that the cost is too high and it can't become a daily activity.

Shu Kingdom, Jianxing period.

Liu Chan was also excited and admired Li Shimin deeply. But this did not stop him from asking Zhuge Liang: "Prime Minister, why did Emperor Taizong of Tang pursue the enemy to Zhecheng City immediately? Even if the enemy army had been defeated, Xue Rengao had not been defeated yet, and he only brought so many cavalry, why couldn't he wait a while?"

Zhuge Liang was somewhat helpless, but he also wanted to use this excellent case to fill Liu Chan's mind with as much information as possible: "Zong Luohou was defeated, but did the Tang army kill all the enemy troops?"

Liu Chan shook his head.

"Then Xue Rengao still has the energy to line up outside the city. Why don't these defeated soldiers flee to Zhecheng City and be gathered by Xue Rengao? Once Xue Rengao has time to pacify and gather them, Zhecheng City will be strong again." Seeing Liu Chan nod, Zhuge Liang added, "Besides, Zong Luohou has taken away a lot of troops who have fled, so Zhecheng City is actually quite empty."

Liu Chan raised his eyebrows: "I understand, father."

Zhuge Liang felt somewhat relieved and helpless. He understood now, but what about the future?

[In this Battle of Qianshuiyuan, the Tang Dynasty eliminated Xue Rengao's separatist regime, pacified Longxi, and ensured the security of the Guanzhong area of ​​the Tang Dynasty.

It was during this period that Li Mi of Wagangzhai was defeated in the struggle with Wang Shichong of Luoyang, so he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Later, Qin Qiong, Wei Zheng, Xu Shiji, Cheng Yaojin (Cheng Zhijie) and others from Wagangzhai also gradually surrendered.

Subsequently, Li Gui's subordinates who were entrenched in Liangzhou were instigated by Li Yuan to rebel, and later launched a military mutiny and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and the Hexi Corridor was pacified.

Overall, this battle demonstrated Li Shimin's outstanding ability in charging with elite cavalry, and also initially revealed his ability in pursuit.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Li Shimin was quite relaxed at this time. After all, he had experienced all these things before, and they were all about leading troops in battles, so there was nothing bad to say. If there was something to say, it was probably that he was constantly reviewing the events while listening to Tianmu's narration.

"Wagangzhai," Qin Qiong smiled and looked around the hall. Many people also looked at him. It was a coincidence that many people in Wagangzhai joined your majesty's army - not after your majesty ascended the throne, but when you were still the King of Qin.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che kept his eyes on the "Hexi Corridor": "Those are my four Hexi counties!" Two years ago, after Huo Qubing defeated the Huns, he successively established four counties there, namely Jiuquan, Wuwei, Dunhuang and Zhangye, and constantly encouraged the people to immigrate and settle in order to strengthen his control over the four counties.

"It seems that this place will become a part of the Central Plains in the future. My decision is correct." Liu Che once again affirmed his decision. At that time, he wanted to use this area as a springboard for governing the Western Regions, and it turned out to be correct.

(End of this chapter)