Chapter 827: The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying (Part 1)
Chapter 827 The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying (Part 1)
Chapter 825: The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying (Part 1)
This time, Qin Hao had already thought about this plan to lure the enemy before they formed an alliance, specifically targeting Li Shimin's plan.
Using the entire Kwantung Allied Forces as bait, all we want is to severely damage the Liang Army. This is obviously not cost-effective compared to the trading expenditure and income.
But even so, Qin Hao still defied everyone's opinions, and his handiwork is really not small.
If the commander-in-chief of the Liang Army was not Li Shimin, Qin Hao might not have designed it this way, but if it had been Li Shimin, Qin Hao was sure that Li Shimin would never be indifferent, because Li Shimin was not that conservative person.
You must know that when the Tang Dynasty was first established, Dou Jiande led an army to invade Luoyang. Li Shimin led 3,000 Xuanjia troops and dared to fight 100,000 Hebei troops. It can be seen that Li Shimin had no lack of adventurous spirit.
This time, the casualties of tens of thousands of troops were exchanged for a chance to annihilate an army of 550,000. Even if Qin Hao encountered it, he would not miss this good opportunity, so Qin Hao believed that Li Shimin would definitely send troops.
Qin Hao's guess was absolutely correct. At this time, Li Shimin was extremely confused.
After Yang Guang's reminder, Li Shimin also discovered the problem. After all, Qin Hao really shouldn't make such a mistake, so the possibility of luring troops is extremely high.
But no matter how hard Li Shimin tried, he still couldn't figure it out. If this was really Qin Hao's plan, how could Qin Hao avoid the fire?
Once this fire breaks out, it will be difficult to put it out. Does Qin Hao want to mobilize his troops and leave the camp in advance?
However, it is impossible to hide the recruitment of an army of 500,000 from his own spies.
If Qin Hao really mobilized his troops to leave the camp in advance, he would not be able to send them to his door stupidly.
But other than moving troops and horses out of the camp in advance, what else can Qin Hao do to avoid the burning camp?
Did you really think too much this time? Lianying was just a mistake made by Qin Hao carelessly? Who says Qin Hao won't make mistakes?
Li Shimin tried hard to convince himself that Qin Hao was definitely not an easy opponent to deal with. There must be some method that he didn't know, but he racked his brains and couldn't figure out the key.
How could Li Shimin be willing to give up this great opportunity to annihilate the Kwantung Allied Forces without knowing how Qin Hao could avoid the fire?
For the next ten days, Li Shimin spent time in a state of confusion. He was only thinking about one question: Will he take the risk or not?
Of course, tangles are tangles, and Li Shimin will naturally not forget the strategy of attacking the coalition forces.
There are 50,000 cavalry in Hulao Pass. Of course, Li Shimin cannot let go of such a powerful force.
Li Shimin sent dozens of small groups of cavalry to harass the coalition's food routes day and night.
In just ten days, the coalition's grain transport team was attacked more than 20 times by the Xiliang cavalry, causing nearly 100,000 shi of grain and grass losses.
Qin Hao had long expected that Li Shimin would do this. Although the number of cavalry in his hands was equal to that of Li Shimin, it was still not enough to completely solve the problem.
The Liangzhou cavalry only attacked the grain road and did not fight with the coalition cavalry at all. Once the cavalry sent by Qin Hao arrived, the Liangzhou cavalry immediately ran away.
Suan Zao is only a hundred miles away from Hulao Pass. The Xiliang cavalry fled directly back to Hulao Pass regardless of whether it was hit or not. No matter how many times the number of the coalition cavalry was than the opponent's, they could only look at the pass and sigh.
In order to prevent the losses from getting worse, Qin Hao tripled the number of the food protection team and at the same time increased the intensity of cavalry inspections, so that Li Shimin could not continue to succeed.
Time passes little by little. Fifteen days have passed, and Li Shimin and his advisers still have not thought of a specific way for the coalition forces to avoid the fire after it breaks out.
On the sixteenth day, Li Shimin discovered that the wind direction of Hulao's flag had changed. He knew that the strong wind he needed was coming, but he had not yet made up his mind.
On the seventeenth day, the west wind gradually became stronger, and Li Shimin had less and less time, because once the wind passed, he would not be able to start a fire even if he wanted to.
On the eighteenth day, after struggling for eighteen days, Li Shimin finally made up his mind.
There is no risk at all if you don’t take risks, but this is not what Li Shimin wants. What he wants is to defeat Qin Hao to prove himself.
It is true that you may fall into a trap when taking risks, but if you succeed, you will make an unparalleled contribution.
Send troops, even if you know it is a plan, you still have to send troops, but you must ensure the safety of Hulao Pass.
"The west wind has risen, and I have decided to lead the army eastward and burn the coalition camp."
After Li Shimin finished speaking, not only he himself breathed a sigh of relief, but the other generals also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Li Shimin was not the only one who was struggling during this period.
No one could give up the opportunity to annihilate an army of 550,000 in one battle. Now that Li Shimin had finally made up his mind, the big stone in their hearts was relieved.
Not all the generals in Liangzhou supported the risk. After Xu Rong heard what Li Shimin said, he immediately frowned and stood up and said in a deep voice: "General, our army only needs to hold on to Hulao for half a year. After the coalition forces run out of food, our army will Naturally, we win, so why take the risk?”
As soon as Xu Rong's words came out, he immediately aroused dissatisfaction among the generals who supported the adventure. Wu Yunzhao was the first to stand up and said disdainfully: "Xu Rong, you are too timid."
“It’s just that, if you miss such a good opportunity, you will regret it for life.”
"yes…"
Although he was criticized by his colleagues, Xu Rong remained calm and said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "If the general is determined to send troops, please ensure the safety of Hulao Pass before sending troops."
Li Shimin's eyes were full of approval and he said seriously: "General Xu, please don't worry, I will only lead the cavalry out of the pass this time, leaving all 50,000 infantry behind to defend Hulao..."
Before Li Shimin finished speaking, Hou Junji hurriedly said: "My lord, if we only rely on 50,000 cavalry, it will be difficult for our army to do its full work, right?"
It is of course impossible to burn all the Kwantung Allied Forces to death with just a fire attack. After all, the 550,000 Allied Forces are not puppets and will not stand still and wait to be burned.
Once the fire breaks out, the coalition forces will definitely flee in all directions. It would be good if the fire can kill half of the people. The remaining half of the Kwantung coalition forces will naturally need to be dealt with by the Liang army who left the border personally.
After experiencing the fire attack, the coalition forces must have no fighting spirit, their morale is extremely low, and their combat strength is less than 10% of the previous one. How can they be the opponent of the Liangzhou warriors?
But even so, there are still 200,000 to 300,000 coalition forces. Hulao's 100,000-strong army can be defeated easily. However, if only 50,000 cavalry are deployed, although the opponent can be defeated, it will be difficult to annihilate them all. .
(End of this chapter)