A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 521 Taking on Three Challenges

What makes a fierce general a fierce general is his indomitable spirit.

Go ahead to dangers.

The three founding viscounts each had only two thousand light cavalry, yet they acted with the same arrogance as if they commanded a hundred thousand iron cavalry.

"Brother Su's suggestion is excellent. The three of us can split into three groups, seize the three passes, and trap the enemy at the gate. First, we'll clear out Weizhou, and then we'll sweep through Daibei." Liu Heita slammed his hand on the table, his face flushed with excitement.

Li Cunxiao knew nothing of fear, and even shouted, "Three passes? I think after we take the three passes, we might as well take one prefecture from each of them: Dai Prefecture, Beiyan Prefecture, Yun Prefecture..."

Li Yi looked at this Chi Paiqiang, who had only drunk two cups of persimmon liquor. He knew his own alcohol tolerance; although he would become drunk and act crazy, he could still drink a jin (500ml) of liquor.

He took out his money bag.
Pick out one Kaiyuan Tongbao coin each from gold, silver, and bronze.
Let's draw lots.

With three coins, you can find the Golden Kaiyuan and head to Beikou Pass and Beiyukou. You will have to pass through the forty-mile-long Black Wind Cave, a winding valley that stretches forty miles. The widest part is no more than thirty feet, and the narrowest part is so narrow that you can miss a pack animal or a mule. You can only see a sliver of sky.

Upon reaching the North Pass, the mountain range resembles a thousand swords drawn, with exposed peaks and clustered stars. The mountain path changes in countless ways, winding like pearls and ants weaving through the rocks, with the highest point resembling a heavenly gate.

One man can hold the pass against ten thousand; it is the easiest place to defend and the hardest to attack.

To capture this pass, a swift and unexpected attack is necessary. If even the slightest hint of danger leaks out and the garrison at Beikou Pass becomes prepared, then even two thousand cavalry, or several thousand more, will not be enough.

If we alert the enemy, they might ambush us from their advantageous position.

All three generals vied to seize Beikou Pass.

"Don't rush, whoever draws the Golden Coin will take on this important task." Li Yi put the three coins into three bags and let them choose.

The North Pass is the most dangerous; those who get the gold go there. The Bottle-Shaped Pass is the furthest; those who get the silver go there. The Straight Valley Pass in the middle is relatively easier; those who get the copper coins go there.

Each of the three generals grabbed a money bag.

Liu Heita couldn't wait to open it first and took out the coin, which was gleaming silver.

"Sigh, I didn't win the grand prize. The bottle-shaped challenge is mine now. It's a bit far, but that's good because I can run fast."

The name of the Swift General is quite famous in Hebei.

Li Cunxiao quickly pulled out his own money. At first glance, he saw the gold and was overjoyed, thinking he had won the jackpot.
“Copper Kaiyuan,” Liu Heita said with a laugh from the side.

Upon closer inspection, Li Cunxiao realized they were indeed copper coins, not gold coins. "These new coins are as shiny as gold, but they've made me happy for nothing."

Su Dingfang smiled and took out his money, which was indeed Jin Kaiyuan.

"It seems I'm the luckiest; I'll get to experience this forty-mile-long Black Wind Cave Skyline."

Liu Heita said, "Brother Dingfang, Beikou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Why don't you let me go instead?"

"What, Brother Heita, are you looking down on me, Su Dingfang? How about we have a match here first? I'd like to test my horse spear against Brother Liu's broadsword."

Liu Heita laughed loudly: "I'm just a rogue by birth, unlike Brother Dingfang who comes from a powerful family and learned riding and archery from a young age, as well as the horse lance. When I was young, I only knew how to wield a knife and stick, but I was quite good at using a wood-chopping knife and a wood-felling axe."
Later, he joined the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty and got used to using a large sword.

Today, I'd like to ask Brother Su for some pointers.

The two were determined to do it.
Li Yi quickly called out to the two of them.

"If you have the strength, save it for the battlefield against the enemy. After the victory, at the celebration banquet, we can have another match."

"Come, eat food."

Li Yi filled everyone's glasses with wine and raised his glass.

"Gentlemen, I wish you a resounding victory and a swift success, may you be granted great honors and titles!"

Liu Heita raised his wine cup high, "Good! If we succeed, we'll be ennobled; if we die on the battlefield, we'll die for our country!"

Su Dingfang raised his glass, "I look forward to our triumphant reunion soon, and to drinking dishes personally prepared by Sikong."

"Yes, when you return victorious, I will personally prepare a sumptuous feast to celebrate your success!"

I didn't drink any more alcohol after that.
While eating, they discussed some battle plans, such as lighting beacon fires to signal if they captured the pass, and using smoke signals to signal if they failed, agreeing on different signals for each situation.

However, all three generals were very confident.

Twenty thousand troops marched out of Feihu.
The three generals each led two thousand light cavalry ahead, while Li Yi, along with Qin Wutong, Li Xuantong, Wang Xingmin, and other generals, led eight thousand infantrymen and soldiers to follow. Finally, four thousand auxiliary soldiers carried supplies and provisions.

Three generals capturing three passes—this was a very bold plan.

But Li Yi also had a Plan B. If he couldn't capture Guancheng, it wouldn't matter. After leading his central army across Hengling and into the Feihu Basin, he would take Feihu County. With this stronghold, he could attack or defend at will.

The Dingzhou army controlled the southern section of the Feihu Road, giving them options to attack Beiyan Prefecture to the north, Dai Prefecture to the west, or Yun Prefecture to the northwest.

Both could tie down Turkic forces and even block Gao Kaidao's return to reinforce.

It's just that if Plan A succeeds, the gains will be even greater.

These three light cavalry units consisted of one person with two horses, each carrying a bag of fried rice, two bags of water, and a load of bean, wheat, salt, and other feed for the horses.

They can go seven days without resupply.

"Ah Lang, I want to go too."

After the three generals left, Liu Heizi helped tidy up. Once everything was clean, he finally couldn't help but speak to Li Yi.

Li Yi smiled and beckoned to Luo Dafu, who was dawdling beside him, "Brother, please boil some water and make tea."

Liu Heizi blushed and said, "I know I'm not as skilled as Liu Heita, Su Dingfang, and Li Cunxiao, but I'm absolutely loyal to Alang."
"I also want to join the battle to attack the three passes." "Of course I know you are loyal. You have been following me since Jingzhou. Several years have passed in the blink of an eye. You have participated in every one of my battles."

Your abilities have all been honed on the battlefield. This time, the attack will be a surprise attack across three passes, hence the use of light cavalry; all three of them are cavalry generals.”

A cavalry general is not someone who can be trained overnight.

Liu Heizi and Luo Dafu, who used to be farm laborers and tofu sellers, have been lucky in recent years to follow Li Yi and are now both fifth-rank military officers. They have some experience in fighting and leading troops, but not much, and they lack even more experience in commanding light cavalry and making raids over hundreds of miles.

To be honest, they were indeed somewhat inferior to those three generals, even though Liu and Su were also military commanders like them.

“I know you also want to make contributions, but there’s no rush.”

Everyone has their strengths. Commanding cavalry is their forte; Liu Heita is known as the Swift General, and Su Dingfang began leading troops into battle at the age of sixteen. Li Cunxiao, from the Chipai Qiang tribe of Longyou, was already riding sheep at six or seven. At ten, his mother sewed battle armor, and his father helped him onto his horse, where they began learning riding, archery, and combat.

“Ah Lang, I know I can’t beat them, but I still want to join the fight.”

Li Yi patted Hei Zi on the shoulder, "Of the four military commanders around me, Liu Heita and Su Dingfang, although they still hold the position of military commander, have also been appointed as generals of a separate prefecture."
Are you all leaving me now? What about my safety? I trust you all the most.

As soon as these words came out,
Liu Heizi immediately said, "Then I will stay and protect Alang."

“Me too,” Luo Dafu, who was brewing tea nearby, quickly added.

"Don't worry, there's still a long battle ahead. This time, the fight with the Turkic bandits will probably last a long time. Taking the three passes is just the beginning," Li Yi sighed.

Especially since the commander-in-chief of this battle was none other than Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, Li Yi felt that this battle would be even more difficult to win.

If a general is incompetent, the whole army will be exhausted.

The selection of Li Jiancheng as marshal, with him stationed in Puzhou, a strategically important location in the rear, signifies that, on the surface, the eight general administrations of Hedong and Hebei have been integrated.

But in reality, the marshals were thousands of miles away. How could they command from there?

Chiang Kai-shek liked micromanagement and even knew to parachute into the front lines to command. In this era, commanding from thousands of miles away is no different from Li Yuan commanding from the Taiji Palace in Chang'an.

A thousand miles away, it would take two or three days for a message to travel back and forth, delaying all sorts of fighter jets.

Jieli is good at choosing his timing.
Although he was invited by Li Jing to Chang'an to serve as the chief court dancer for Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin) within ten years in history, he was not swayed by the gold, silver, and sweet words of the Tang emperor and his ministers.
Being able to recognize the situation, and while the Tang Dynasty had completely unified the world and was still recovering, they focused their attacks on the Tang Dynasty.

This man does have some insight; he has indeed learned something from his three fathers and brothers, Qimin Khan, Shibi Khan, and Chuluo Khan.

The enemy is very strong.

The teammates, however, are still fighting amongst themselves.

Located in Hebei,

Li Yi, however, could not focus solely on Hebei.

As he told his subordinates, offense is the best defense. If they don't take the initiative now, then once Jieli has swept through Daibei, he will attack Hebei.

The battlefield must be moved to Shanxi. We must seize Weizhou and Beiyanzhou as buffer zones. Ideally, the war should spread to Daizhou and Yunzhou, and we should be able to threaten the Dingxiang Khanate.

Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.

Wang Junkuo of Youzhou was a fierce general, and he commanded a capable Youzhou army. In terms of military strength, the Youzhou army was stronger than the Dingzhou army.

But Li Yi couldn't trust Wang Junkuo, especially given his previous performance in Youzhou.

Even though he now has the power to control the troops in Youzhou, he doesn't have time to slowly integrate them.

We must strike immediately, without delay, otherwise if Daizhou falls to the Turks, there will be no room for maneuver.

Li Yi didn't even expect Wang Junkuo to actually capture Jundu Pass and take over Beiyan Prefecture after receiving the military order. The fact that he could lead his troops to Jundu Pass and attract the attention of the Yan army behind the mountain was already a great help to him.

We have to fight the war ourselves.

Although Li Daoxuan, the new Grand Administrator of Youzhou, is reliable, he is too young, and we can't wait for him to arrive.

Li Yi looked up at the starry sky.
The nights in Dingzhou are quite cool at the end of March.

I wonder if, thousands of miles away in Chang'an, under the starry sky, Prince Qin, Li Shimin, is also unable to sleep at this moment, gazing at the stars with worry.

True heroes have no place to use their skills.

But they're forcing this incompetent guy into this situation.

At this moment, an idea popped into Li Yi's mind: why not let the Xuanwu Gate coup happen ahead of schedule?

Continuing to let Li Yuan play the balancing act is wasting the fortune of China and harming hundreds of millions of people.

However, this thought only flashed through my mind for a moment.

At present, the world has not yet been unified, the King of Qin's prestige is not yet sufficient, the time is not right, and preparations are inadequate.

It's not so easy to stage a rebellion or a palace coup.

I'm afraid even Li Shimin himself wasn't fully prepared for this.

To repel external aggression, one must first secure internal stability.

But for now, let's unite against the enemy and repel Jieli's attack first.

(End of this chapter)