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

Chapter 581 The Turkic Cavalry Enters Guanzhong

The autumn night was slightly cool.

Li Yi was in a bad mood, so he drank a few more glasses of wine and got a little drunk.

After the banquet, the Ren family invited Li Yi and his party to rest at their home. Ren Zhi even wanted to send his younger sister to serve him in bed, but Li Yi refused. So, they arranged for a young and beautiful maid to accompany him.

That courtesan was young and beautiful, even surpassing Zhi Mei in some ways, and was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Most importantly, she was still a virgin.

Nobles and powerful families often kept courtesans, who were taught singing, dancing, music, and chess. Their primary function was to entertain guests.

If a distinguished guest likes it after being entertained, it can be given away directly.

Li Yi was in a bad mood and had no interest in dismissing the courtesan.

Ren Zhi thought that this maidservant did not suit Li Yi's taste, so he sent another one. Li Yi had no choice but to call him over and have a few words with him in person.

"I just learned at the banquet that the Turks have launched another large-scale invasion, and in a short period of time, both Shuo and Ying prefectures outside Yanmen Pass have fallen."

A mutiny broke out in Mayi City, and Gao Manzheng was killed.

Ren Zhi was surprised, "How could this be?"

Yes, how could this happen? The great situation that Li Yi, Liu Shirang, and others had worked so hard to build has been completely lost in one day.

The Turks attacked, using Li Yi and his group's alleged sabotage of the peace talks as a pretext.

Regardless of whether the Battle of Huanghualing or the surrender of Mayi occurred, the Turks would certainly have invaded again this autumn.

The Crown Prince toured Yanmen Pass in the north.

Killing Liu Shirang, dismissing Li Yi and Li Daoxuan, and sending Liu Shirang's head to the Turks did not appease the Khan of the Eastern Turks; instead, it only made him think that the Tang Dynasty was weak and easy to bully.

In particular, Li Jiancheng withdrew the 4,000 Youzhou cavalrymen that Li Daoxuan had left stationed in Mayi, and also withdrew the 10,000 Dingzhou troops that had been stationed in Yingzhou back to Hebei.
The defenses of Ying Shuo and the other two prefectures outside the pass are very weak.

The Mayi army followed Gao Manzheng in killing Yuan Junzhang and the son of Bu Lishe, surrendering the city. They also defeated the Turks at Huanghualing, but the crown prince did not reward them.

The Battle of Huanghualing was a victory with no real merit.
It can be said that this is precisely why Gao Manzheng's subordinates were extremely dissatisfied. Even when the Turkic army attacked, they still took the initiative to fight and won the Battle of Lahe Valley.
However, when Li Gao arrived to reinforce Mayi, he saw the Turkic troops and fled overnight, leaving the Mayi army to defend the city alone.

Yuan Junzhang secretly instigated a mutiny among Gao Manzheng's former subordinates, which led to Gao Manzheng's deputy generals assassinating him and surrendering the city.

Ren Zhi was surprised by the loss of Shuo and Ying, but he wasn't too panicked. He felt that with the Crown Prince personally overseeing Yanmen, Jieli's revenge should be satisfied after capturing the two prefectures of Ying and Shuo.

"The Turks couldn't get through Yanmen Pass because the Crown Prince was still alive."

Li Yi thought to himself, "Precisely because the Crown Prince is in Yanmen, I'm afraid Yanmen will be difficult to defend this time."

Based on his understanding of Li Jiancheng, the Crown Prince was definitely not the kind of person who would have the courage to personally oversee and command operations on the front lines.
It is highly likely that Li Jiancheng had already retreated from Yanmen to Taiyuan by this time.

Look at the performance of the generals in Daibei this time. Li Gaoqian led his troops to aid Mayi, but as soon as the Turkic army arrived, he abandoned his allies in Mayi, broke through the pass and fled at night, just like Wang Junkuo betrayed his teammates last time.

As for Li Zihe, the governor of Weizhou, he led his troops to observe from Yingzhou and did not dare to send troops to rescue Mayi. Once Mayi was lost, he did not even dare to defend Yingzhou and abandoned the city and fled.

Such were the two general managers, Dai and Wei.

With Li Jiancheng, the weak crown prince, what can we expect from them?
Despite being known as natural fortresses, Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass still have many other passes that allow one to cross the mountains.

Behind Yingzhou, on Hengshan Mountain, there are five passageways leading to Fanzhi.

After Li Da'en died in battle at Xincheng, Shuozhou at the beginning of the year, the two passes of Yanmen and Loufan failed to stop the Turks.

Brother Ren,
"Although Fenzhou is far from Yanmen Pass, I think the Turks are very likely to penetrate deep into our territory this time, so you should be on guard as soon as possible," Li Yi said.

Ren Zhi was somewhat nervous this time. "The Turks broke through the pass twice, last winter and this summer, but failed to capture Yanmen City."
They also failed to capture Xinzhou. Even if the two prefectures outside the pass fall this time, they probably can't capture Yanmen City in such a rush.

Li Yi said, "Do the Turks really have to take Yanmen City? They besieged Yanmen twice and failed. This time, they are very likely to bypass the city and take it."

Not every city needs to be conquered.

By bypassing the city and going around the pass, there are many hidden dangers. However, if the enemy has enough troops and strength, they can sometimes bypass the pass.

There are too many such examples.

Especially when it comes to invasions by nomadic tribes, they often don't attack major cities, but instead plunder everywhere, taking advantage of the defenders' lack of field combat capabilities.

Historically, when the Later Jin attacked the late Ming Dynasty, they bypassed the Guan-Ning defense line and the Shanhaiguan Pass, daring not only to besiege Beijing but also to penetrate deep into Shandong, looting for over half a year before finally leaving laden with spoils. The Ming Dynasty, however, remained helpless, forced to watch as city after city fell and countless villages were plundered.
Even important cities like Jinan and Yanzhou were captured by the Later Jin, and the vassal kings were killed.

Previously, Jieli had launched two major invasions.

They were all locked in a fierce battle for Yanmen City, and Yanmen City was successfully defended twice. This led many people to subconsciously believe that if Khagan Jieli attacked again, he would definitely take Yanmen City first before launching a large-scale southward offensive. Otherwise, he would only send some cavalry and small tribes southward, and at most they would only enter the Taiyuan area, not daring to go any further.

"It's better to be prepared than not, so let's be careful."

Ren Zhi nodded. He wouldn't believe it if others said it, but he had to take it seriously because Li Yi said it.

"Is Sikong returning to Yanmen tomorrow?"

"Given my current status, how can I change my itinerary? Even if I insisted on going back, the Crown Prince wouldn't welcome me."

Now that the Turks have launched a large-scale invasion, Li Jiancheng will only increasingly believe that it was caused by his sabotage of the peace agreement, and will be even more determined to impeach him. Even if he returns, he will not be able to use him.

Crown Prince Li Jiancheng is probably only thinking about how to compromise and back down to the Turks, and how to negotiate peace again.
The commander-in-chief lacks the will to fight.
How could the generals and commanders of all units be united in purpose?

Li Gaoqian and Li Zihe's cowardly behavior this time may be related to the Crown Prince's attitude.

Li Yi and Li Daoxuan, who advocated war in the previous conflict, were dismissed from their posts and returned to the capital. Liu Shirang, who also advocated war, was executed. Gao Manzheng, who led his troops to surrender, was killed while defending the city with a lone army.

Who still advocates for war?

The victory at Huanghualing was such a great triumph, yet there was no reward whatsoever. Who would be willing to fight again?

I tossed and turned all night.
At daybreak, Li Yi, sporting dark circles under his eyes, continued his journey.

Li Daoxuan also didn't sleep all night, his eyes red as he rode alongside Li Yi, constantly muttering that the promising situation had been ruined.

During the journey south, we kept receiving bad news.

Along the way, you won't hear any firsthand, up-to-date news; it's usually delayed, and it's all bad news, no good news at all.

Li Yi and his party arrived in Chang'an two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Li Yi is now being accused of treason, so he voluntarily went to the Censorate to accept the investigation after returning.

Fortunately, it was just a routine questioning.

No one from the Censorate made things difficult for him. After leaving, he went to the Secretariat and talked with the prime ministers of the Council of State Affairs.

It was a simple inquiry, and no one made things difficult for me.

The inquiry was over in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

"Gentlemen, how is the war in Daibei progressing?" Li Yi asked.

Grand Secretary Feng Deyi answered him.

"The situation is very unfavorable. After capturing Shuo and Ying prefectures with an army of 150,000, Jieli then attacked Yanmen Pass."

This time, Jieli came with great force, personally leading his main army south, reaching the walls of Taiyuan.

Last time, Jieli's main force remained under the walls of Yanmen.
This time, Jieli launched a direct attack on Taiyuan City.
The cities of Yanmen and Xinzhou, which they had held firm against last time, have both fallen this time.

Because Li Gaoqian, the governor of Daizhou, and Wang Junkuo, the prefect of Xinzhou, both led troops to escort the crown prince back to Taiyuan City on the crown prince's orders, although they did not directly abandon the cities of Yanmen and Xinzhou,

But they only left some old and weak people to guard the city.

Once the Crown Prince and his men withdrew, neither city could be defended. After all, no matter how strong a city is, it still needs people to defend it.

"Now, Jieli has his main force besieging Taiyuan, while his troops are plundering Fenjin, Zelu, Shixi, and other places," Feng Deyi said, letting out a long sigh. "The entire Hedong region is now mostly under the trampling of the Turkic iron hooves, including Yingshuo, Daixin, Lanwu, Shixi, Jin, Fen, Zelu, and Xi..."

"More than a hundred cities and fortresses have been captured by the Turks, and the number of people captured is well over 100,000."

The bad news doesn't stop there.

This time, Jieli still launched a two-pronged attack from the east and west. On the western route, he dispatched Yushe Ashina Momo, stationed in the Yahetao region, and Shaboluo Ashina Sunisha, stationed in the west of Yalingzhou, to lead 100,000 troops to invade Yuanzhou and Lingzhou.

last time,

Only when Yu Sheshe sent troops to Lingzhou, and Li Daozong defended Lingzhou, did Li Shimin briefly leave to guard Yuanzhou.

With the peace agreement reached, Yusheshe withdrew his troops, and Li Shimin was recalled to the capital.

And this time,
Jieli sent out his uncle, Shaboloshesunish, and his nephew, Ushashemomo.

But no one expected that...

It was this detached force that...

This time, however, they were even more ferocious than Jieli Khan. They plundered along the way, advancing south from Lingzhou, first capturing Yuanzhou, and then continuing south along the Longshan Mountains.

They advanced all the way to Longzhou.

And together with Dazhen Pass, which had fallen in Longzhou,

It is only 500 li away from Chang'an City.

Although the imperial court successfully defended Xiaoguan Pass and the Jinghe River Valley, it did not anticipate that the Turks would descend the Longshan Mountains and seize Dazhen Pass in Longzhou.
When Xue Ju attacked Tang, he also took this route.

Now, several thousand Turkic vanguard light cavalry have left Dazhen Pass and entered the Guanzhong Plain.

Meanwhile, Jieli of Hedong not only besieged Taiyuan, but also sent troops to plunder and pillage.

The central route went south from Taiyuan, passing through Jiexiu and Queshu Valley, and reached Jinzhou. The eastern route reached Luzhou, and the western route reached Xizhou.

This was even more intense than the previous invasion of Hedong by Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.

Li Yi heard a lot of bad news along the way.

However, these reports were all rather delayed, and some even suspected that the news was exaggerated.

Inside the Secretariat, those who heard the latest battle report from Prime Minister Feng Deyi in person were incredulous.

How could they have lost so badly?

The Turks advanced rapidly from the east and west; could not a single person stop them?

"Is the Crown Prince currently besieged in Taiyuan?" Li Yi asked.

Right Minister Xiao Yu chimed in, "The Crown Prince was not in Taiyuan. Before the Turks besieged Bingzhou, he rode south at high speed under the escort of Li Gaoqian."
He's currently in command in Puzhou City.

Xiao Yu emphasized the phrase "taking command from the sidelines," revealing his dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince.

However, the Left Minister Pei Ji remained silent.
The speed at which the Crown Prince fled was exactly the same as Pei Ji's back then, which brought back many unpleasant memories for Prime Minister Pei.

Back then in Hebei, he was beaten by Song Jingang and ran eight hundred miles in one breath.

While everyone was silent,
A young eunuch entered, and the emperor summoned him to the palace for an audience immediately!
It seems Li Yuan is getting anxious.

(End of this chapter)