Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 33
"This king's opinion is exactly the same as Du Canjun's. Wang Shichong's troops are exhausted and he is centrifuged up and down. Now our army does not attack, but we can defeat him in defense. If we don't bother to attack hard, we can sit back. Dou Jiande is now breaking the sea Lord, you will be arrogant and lazy. We only need to firmly guard the Hulao Pass and strangle him by the throat. If he ventures to attack, he will inevitably suffer heavy casualties; if he hesitates to move forward, within a month or two, Wang Shichong will be defeated without a fight Luoyang will belong to me. At that time, our city will be broken and the army will be full of momentum. If we turn around and fight against Dou Jiande again, he will undoubtedly lose. We will kill two birds with one stone and go here. On the contrary, if our army does not advance quickly, the tiger prison will be occupied by Dou Jiande Go, when the time comes, all the surrounding local forces will definitely belong to Dou Jiande. His power will definitely become stronger, and if we unite with Wang Shichong, we will not be able to compete with him. If this opportunity is lost, Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande will gradually become stronger. The unification of the Tang Dynasty will definitely be postponed! Therefore, I have decided now: divide the troops into two groups, and continue to besiege Wang Shichong along the way, let him starve to death; guard the Hulao Pass along the way, and wipe out Dou Jiande's army outside the pass."

After Li Shimin said that, he ordered Qu Tutong and Qi Wang Li Yuanji to continue to besiege Luoyang; he personally led 500 elite cavalry to rush to Hulao.

Originally, the garden was full of spring, but suddenly dark clouds covered it, and a violent storm was coming!

8
In the middle of the night, under the light of the moon, on the trail interlaced with mountains and ridges, a cavalry force of 500 men galloped rapidly.The leading young commander, Li Shimin, was only 22 years old.A handsome face, although still looks young, the thick eyebrows under the broad forehead, and those sharp eyes, but it makes people see fortitude and maturity.At this moment, Li Shimin took the lead and led his cavalry through Heyang and Gong counties for a whole day, before heading towards Hulao Pass non-stop.From a distance, he finally vaguely saw the closed door at the Songyue junction, and he couldn't help turning his head and said:
"Brothers, if you work harder, Hulaoguan will be here." At this time, he called his subordinates brothers, and it was sincere.Because he knew the danger of this battle, it is very possible that in an hour, most of the [-] "brothers" who followed him would die in Huangquan and be buried in Hulaoguan.Condescending to a humble position can win the hearts of soldiers. Li Shimin knows the way of generals well.What's more, now that it is clear that they are going to sacrifice their lives for the Li family and call out brothers, it is really sincere.

Sure enough, his subordinates were all excited after hearing this.The King of Qin actually called us to be brothers, following him is so exciting!The subordinates thought so, whipping the horses, chasing each other, if the horses under the crotch were not as good as King Qin's, everyone must have rushed to his head.At this moment, the dark clouds completely covered the moon, and the mountains were completely dark.Li Shimin had no choice but to pull the reins tightly and let the horse go slowly.

"King Qin, look at this moon, it will go to Humen Pass when it sees us, and it will not take another ride." Hou Junji, who followed closely, walked side by side with him in an instant, looked up at the black sky, and said jokingly Say.

The moon was covered by dark clouds, but Li Shimin thought of another benefit. Hearing what Hou Junji said, he said, "Advance troops on a moonlit night, and if the enemy is unprepared, you can win a complete victory."

"Yes, the King of Qin is knowledgeable and superior in everything." Hou Junji said sincerely.

Li Shimin didn't respond, so he rode his horse and continued to walk slowly.Soon after arriving at Guanxia, ​​Li Shimin asked the soldiers to rest for a while, summoned four generals, Hou Junji, Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and Qin Shubao, and said: "You and this king each lead 700 cavalry, divide into five groups, and quietly Go to the pass. No matter which road is blocked on the way, just rush to kill; if there is no block, don’t go to rescue, and go to the pass as quickly as possible. Whoever wins the Hulao Pass first, should remember the first achievement.”

All the generals nodded in agreement, led their troops, and quietly boarded the pass.Dou Jiande's general, Shen Yue, took the lead in occupying the Hulao Pass yesterday. While having people build fortifications, they also made people prepare the crossbow stones for guarding the pass.He looked around, looking at the dangerous road of Xiongguan from time to time, feeling very proud.In his opinion, if Tang Jun Lu Yao came to Duohulao Pass, it should be after tomorrow at the latest.Therefore, he ordered the troops to rest early, have a good night's rest, recharge their energy, and prepare for battle tomorrow.Due to exhaustion along the way, Shen Yue was already very sleepy. After the order was given, she took off her armor and put on her clothes, and fell asleep.In the middle of a deep sleep, he vaguely heard the sound of killing, and when he opened his eyes, Cheng Zhijie's ax was pressed against his chest, and the sharp edge of the ax was already pointing at his neck.

This Cheng Zhijie, formerly known as Cheng Yaojin, is a descendant of a great family.His great-grandfather, Cheng Xing, was the Sima of Yanzhou in the Northern Qi Dynasty; his grandfather, Cheng Zhe, was the Sima of Jinzhou in the Northern Qi Dynasty;Cheng Zhijie and Qin Qiong were the generals in Zhai Rang Wagang Village.After Zhai Rang abdicated to Li Mi, Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong were deeply valued by Li Mi, and they became the "inner army" hussars.Later, Li Mi formed an array to face Wang Shichong at the southern foot of Mang Mountain. Due to Li Mi's unfavorable command, the Wagang Army suffered heavy losses and suffered a great loss in strength.Dissatisfied with Wang Shichong's behavior, the next year Cheng Zhijie, Qin Qiong and others bid farewell to Li Mi and turned to Tang Dynasty Li Yuan.Seeing that each of them was good at fighting, Li Yuan assigned them all to Qin Wang Li Shimin's account.Li Shimin had heard the names of Cheng Zhijie and Qin Qiong for a long time, and respected them very much. He appointed Cheng Zhijie as the left three commanders of Qin Wangfu, and Qin Shubao as the commander of the horse army.Cheng Zhijie is brave and upright, always at the forefront of every battle, since he joined Qin Wang Li Shimin, he has never been able to make any contribution, this time he can lead the army to charge alone, it is inevitable to show his glory again.Leading 700 brave riders, quietly entered the closed gate like a gust of wind, took the lead, hacked and killed nearly a thousand enemies all the way.Most of his 700 brave riders were killed or injured.He finally fought his way out, and was the first to rush into the bedroom of the guard commander Shen Yue, and put the big ax around his neck.

Shen Yue looked at the sharp edge of the axe, then at He Zhijie's rough black face, and immediately understood that he had no way out except to surrender, so she said:
"The general is merciful, the last general is willing to surrender."

After hearing this, Cheng Zhijie withdrew his ax and took Shen Yue to see Qin Wang Li Shimin.At this time, Li Shimin, Hou Junji and other four groups of people had rushed to the pass.Everyone hacked and killed, and after a while, they killed [-] of the [-] defenders who were locked in Hulao.The remaining [-] soldiers were surrendered, enriching Li Shimin's military resources.Li Shimin was very happy to see Cheng Zhijie escorting Shen Yue, and after hearing Shen Yue's surrender, he shook his head in disdain, before he could ask any questions, Shen Yue begged for mercy again and again.Li Shimin snorted and said contemptuously:

"If you want to kill, general, I will spare you. It's a pity that the general is a general, with a knife and an axe, and he only asks for his life. Such a greedy person who fears death, what's the use of keeping his life. Come, chop me up." gone."

Li Shimin beheaded Shen Yue, counted his own troops, and unexpectedly also died two thousand.Now there are only 500 people, but there are [-] captives. I am full of emotions. Yuchi Jingde came to report:

"Li Ji's escort has arrived."

When Li Shimin heard this, he hurriedly went to meet Li Ji together with Yuchi Jingde.As soon as he walked a few steps, he saw Li Ji galloping towards him. When he saw King Qin, he fell to the ground and bowed down, saying:

"The response is late, and the king of Qin will punish you."

Li Shimin took a step forward, helped Li Ji up, and said calmly: "The general is already very fast, what is the crime? Please hurry up and discuss with me about the deployment and attack."

After hearing this, Li Ji got up quickly and followed Li Shimin to the hill in front of Hulao Pass.At this time, the sky was already bright, and although the generals had been rushing and fighting all day and night, they did not say they were tired. After carefully inspecting the terrain, they returned to the meeting room and immediately discussed strategic issues related to defense and offense. .

The warm spring sun slanted through the window and shone on Li Shimin's resolute face.

"Now that our army has seized Hulao Pass, I expect that Dou Jiande will not come to attack, but will only confront our army here, trying to attack Wang Shichong back and forth when our army is running out of food and grass. For the current plan, our army should Lead Dou Jiande to a decisive battle as soon as possible, and destroy his military strength!" Li Shimin's voice, every word, was sonorous and powerful, echoing for a long time on the Hulao Gate.

Outside the meeting hall, the tiger prison was closed, and Li Shimin's soldiers were working hard at the fortifications that Shen Yue's subordinates had not built yesterday.Everyone jokingly said: Thanks to the efforts of Shen Yue, the general who is afraid of death, the construction of this fortification is much less laborious than in the past.

8
Dou Jiande had heard earlier that Li Shimin was young and brave, with considerable military talent, commanding a large army, like a chess piece in his hand, turning and rushing, walking freely.Dou Jiande was very aware of the importance of the Battle of Hulao Pass. As a precaution, he sent Shen Yue to seize Hulao Pass, and then sent his general Wang Wan with 1 people to meet him.Wang Wan took the order and led the army straight to Hulao Pass. As soon as he arrived on the way, he heard the news that Hulao Pass had been taken by Li Shimin and Shen Yue had been killed.In desperation, he had no choice but to return to Bingbanzhu and report the situation to Dou Jiande truthfully.

Dou Jiande was shocked when he heard this.This Li Shimin was really powerful, no wonder he was able to defeat Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou in a row, and trapped Wang Shichong in Luoyang City.I can't underestimate the enemy, I need to be careful and careful.Thinking of this, Dou Jiande said to counselor Ling Jing, general Zhang Qingte and others:
"The Tang army is far away from Guanzhong and Hedong, and has besieged Luoyang for more than half a year. Now their soldiers are exhausted, and the food and grass supply is not as convenient as our army. From this point of view, a quick victory must be what they hope for. Now, they have robbed Hulao Pass , cut off the contact between Xia and Zheng, trying to trap Wang Shichong to death while hurting our army. However, I already know the intention of the Tang army. As long as they are trapped by high fortifications and deep ditches, they will be trapped. If Wang Shichong is dead, I will be able to trap these Tang troops to death. Wouldn’t it be nice for the Tang and Zheng families to die and one be injured?” After saying that, he laughed loudly.

Zhang Qingte heard it and thought it was true.Therefore, Dou Jiande issued an order: the three armies stand firm and do not attack.

After Li Shimin fought Hulaoguan, he had expected that Dou Jiande would not fight easily.Therefore, every day, while sending generals to Dou Jiande's camp to call for battle, they also led cavalry to reconnaissance around Dou Jiande's barracks secretly, trying to find out the situation further and attack Dou Jiande in a targeted manner.In the blink of an eye, one month passed, and Li Shimin's war ended with no results.Dou Jiande said in a sullen voice, no matter how much you yell and scold, he just ignores it and is still secretly complacent.Li Shimin's scolding move was useless, but his reconnaissance move was effective.After he found out the situation further, he already had a bottom line in his heart, and he was also secretly happy.

This is a good day when the spring grass is affectionate and the mountains are green.In the spring breeze of Hexi, Li Shimin took Yuchi Jingde, Li Shiji, Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao and other generals, led more than a thousand elite cavalry, raised their whips and rode their horses, and galloped eastward for more than [-] li.As they approached Dou Jiande's camp, Li Shimin asked Li Shiji to lead his troops to ambush beside the road, and he only took Yuchi Jingde to Dou Jiande's camp.Qin Shubao worried about the danger, and wanted to persuade Li Shimin.Li Shimin smiled and said:
"Don't worry, general, this king has a bow, arrow and long sword, and Yuchi Jingde has a jujube. There are millions of people, so what can we do?" After saying this, he clamped his legs and flew away with Yuchi Jingde.Soon, Dou Jiande's patrolling cavalry found Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde, while sending people to report to Dou Jiande, they forced Li Shimin and the others to come over.

There were more than 30 cavalry in this team. When Li Shimin saw it, he smiled slightly and said to Yuchi Jingde: "The number is too small, so you should cultivate your spirit first, and then you will fight when there are many people."

Yuchi Jingde listened and nodded in agreement.Opening his eyes and looking at Li Shimin, he bent his bow and set up an arrow, one arrow at a time, killing more than [-] people in a blink of an eye.The few remaining people froze in shock for a moment, and none of them dared to move forward.At this moment, I saw dust everywhere behind, and the sound of horseshoes came in bursts.It turned out that after Dou Jiande knew the situation, he was worried that there was a fraud in it, so he sent the general Wang Hun with [-] cavalry to meet him.

Li Shimin became happy when he saw this, and said to Yuchi Jingde: "It's not too bad, it's not in vain for me to wait for this trip." As soon as the words fell, more than ten cavalry vanguards of Dou Jiande had arrived, each holding a steel knife, ah Yeah, howling like a wolf.Without waiting for Li Shimin to open his mouth, Yuchi Jingde raised the Zaoyang lance, smashed it violently, and more than half of the cavalry vanguard fell down.Not to be outdone, Li Shimin drew his long sword, leaped forward on his horse, and chopped down three people in a row. When he got upright, he heard Yuchi Jingde shout:

"King Qin, retreat quickly!"

Li Shimin looked forward and saw Dou Jiande's large army was close at hand.Then he pulled the rope, turned the horse's head, and Yuchi Jingde, and the horse galloped back.Eight thousand cavalry, like dark clouds against the sun, rolled straight towards Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde, and soon entered their pre-set ambush circle.

Li Shiji was born in a wealthy family. When he was young, he was willing to do good and help the poor. Later, due to the chaos in the world, he joined Zhai Rang's army.Zhang Xutuo, a famous Sui general, attacked Wagang. Zhai Rang was so frightened that he wanted to run away. Li Shiji came forward to stop him and asked him to lead 3 horses to fight against Zhang Xutuo. In the end, the Sui army was defeated and Zhang Xutuo was beheaded.When Li Shiji was defending Liyang Cangcheng, Yu Wenhuaji led an army to surround the city and forcibly attacked the city. The situation was extremely critical.Li Shiji didn't panic, and ordered the soldiers to dig a tunnel outside the city, and suddenly appeared behind Yu Wenhuaji, defeating Yu Wenhuaji.After Li Mi returned to the Tang Dynasty, Li Shiji took over Li Mi's old department, covering the sea in the east, the Yangtze River in the south, Ruzhou in the west, and Weijun in the north, all under the jurisdiction of Li Shiji.Even so, he did not claim it for himself, but dedicated it to the Tang Dynasty in the name of Li Mi... After Li Shimin gradually figured out every bit of Li Shiji, he respected Li Shiji's loyalty and believed in his military skills even more. ability.Because of this, when attacking Dou Jiande this time, Li Shimin brought along Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and Qin Shubao, who he thought were the bravest generals, but let Li Shiji be the leader of the ambush and responsible for the arrangement of the ambush.

After Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde had left, Li Shiji immediately ordered the cavalry to dismount, dug a small ditch more than ten meters apart on the road, and buried thick horse ropes.In this way, small ditches were dug one after another. Cheng Zhijie was puzzled and asked, "Why do you need to dig so many ditches? The enemy cavalry came and tripped once. Could it be possible to do it a second time?"

After hearing this, Li Shiji smiled and said confidently, "You will know when the time comes."

As soon as everything was ready, Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde flew past.Wang Hun led [-] cavalry in hot pursuit.Seeing that there were only Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde, Wang Hun was overjoyed and shouted loudly:
"Whoever captures Li Shimin first will receive a thousand catty reward!"

After hearing the shouts, the cavalry became more energetic, each of them raised their whips and spurred their horses, galloping forward.At this moment, the first rope to stop the horses was pulled up in the air, and the few horses chasing at the front were knocked to the ground immediately, and the ones following behind did not have time to stop, and the ones that hit them fell down a few more.The horse fell to the ground, and the people were thrown far away. For a while, Wang Hun's pursuers were chaotic and had to stop.

When Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde saw each other, they also stopped and looked back.Wang Hun couldn't help being furious, shouted at the cavalry, and continued to chase Li Shimin.After several times of tossing like this, Wang Hun's iron cavalry was knocked down several times, and he didn't dare to run wildly anymore, but moved forward cautiously and slowly.Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde were amused, they also slowed down and walked leisurely.Wang Hun was even more furious, and couldn't help shouting:
"Follow me!" After drinking, he took the lead and led his iron cavalry to chase after him.Unfortunately, within a few steps, he was tripped by the rope and fell to the ground.The generals Yin Qiu, Shi Zan and others wanted to come to rescue him, but Li Ji, Qin Jibao, and Cheng Zhijie galloped over early.Behind them, there are more than a thousand warriors.Everyone rushed forward, chopping with knives, hacking with axes, whipping, and stabbing.Yin Qiu, Shi Zan and others had been brought down long ago.Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde turned their horses around, rushed into the enemy's horses, slashed and smashed wildly.The bloody battle between the two sides, although the Tang army said that one would fight ten, but there were first-class generals such as Li Shiji, Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and Qin Shubao, and the accompanying soldiers were all very skilled, and everyone risked their lives.What's more, their commander-in-chief, Li Shimin, killed several generals of the Xia army as soon as they fought.Now after killing for a while, Xia Jun's army was in a state of confusion, leaving behind the dead and wounded, scrambling for their lives.

When Li Shimin saw it, he let out a long roar, like a dragon chant in the deep sea, shaking the sky and the earth.After singing, he held up his long sword and rode his horse to chase the defeated army.Xia Jun, who was fleeing for his life, was stopped by Li Shiji and others within a few steps.Another burst of mad killing forced them to turn their horses around.At this time, Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde came face to face early.There was no way for Xia Jun to advance or retreat. Amidst the shouts of Tang Jun, they were all killed like wolves in a hunting circle, leaving no one left.

After killing Xia Jun's [-] cavalry, Tang Jun shouted in unison, turned his horse's head, ran wildly, and returned to the camp.

8
In the ambush battle thirty miles away, Li Shimin was able to kill the Xia army's eight thousand cavalry in the face of a huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves.Although it could not hurt Dou Jiande's main force, it greatly dampened the morale of Dou Jiande's army.From then on, Dou Jiande didn't dare to go to war any more, he just shrank in the camp, and the Tang army still yelled at him and challenged him, ignoring them all.Dou Jiande tried to stop with silence, and confronted Tang Jun silently. When he was short of food and grass and the morale of the army was dissipated, he would strike hard and defeat Tang Jun.

Compared with Dou Jiande, Li Shimin's rear is indeed too far away.During the siege of Luoyang for more than a year, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji took care of food, grass and military supplies to ensure the supply.Hulao Pass, which needs to be guarded now, is located between Luoyang and Banzhu. It is too difficult to transport grain and grass, but it is often intercepted by Dou Jiande's army.Although Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji didn't say anything, Li Shimin knew it very well in his heart, so he summoned Du Ruhui and others to discuss, hoping that he could come up with a way to break the confrontation.Du Ruhui said:
"Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, they have no friendship. The reason why they came to save each other was just to protect themselves. In the ambush battle, although only [-] enemies were wiped out, spiritually, it gave Dou Jiande a severe blow. At least, he already knows that the current Tang army is quite powerful in combat. He has been afraid to attack now, which shows that he has lingering fears about us. The minister thought that King Qin could take this opportunity to write a letter to Dou Jiande, explaining the pros and cons, and maybe he can withdraw the army At the same time, our army can only send more detectives to inquire about the news, and make a decision as soon as there is an opportunity."

Li Shimin listened, nodded in agreement, and asked Fang Xuanling to come and write a letter to Dou Jiande, and at the same time asked Hou Junji and Li Shiji to be in charge of the detective work.

Fang Xuanling was intelligent since he was a child. He was well-versed in classics and history, and was especially good at writing various articles.In recent years, he has been by Li Shimin's side. Whenever he is asked to write an article, he always does it without drafting and swiping a pen.The article written is concise and smooth, and the reasoning is thorough.Li Yuan also praised Fang Xuanling later, saying: "Xuanling knows the timing well and is worthy of appointment. Every time I make a statement for my son, I will surely win people's hearts. Thousands of miles away, I still talk to each other." This is a later story.

(End of this chapter)