Chapter 1789: Yue Fei VS Li Shimin
Chapter 1789 Yue Fei VS Li Shimin
Chapter 1787: Yue Fei VS Li Shimin
Just when Qin Zheng was commanding the elite Beiwei army and preparing to go south to support Jiangling, the Wuxiang war took an astonishing turn.
The enemies the Qin army faced in Nanxiang County were mainly the 80,000 Tang troops who came from Wuguan and Hanzhong, and they were personally led by Tang King Li Shimin.
Li Shimin's original intention was to capture Wuxiang first, seize Nanjun, and completely cut off the connection between Sizhou and Jingbei. Then the Chu and Shu kingdoms divided up the remaining counties in Jingbei, and Tang took the opportunity to attack Sizhou from both sides.
Li Shimin's strategic plan was quite complete, but he underestimated the ability of Pei Xingjian, the governor of Wuxiang, and did not expect that Yue Fei would arrive so quickly with reinforcements.
Nanxiang County is adjacent to Hanzhong and Wuguan. The terrain is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, there is a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and our troops.
Over at Jiangling, Meng Gong used a mixed army of 10,000 old and new soldiers to face Liu Xiu's 50,000-strong army of Chu State.
Here in Nanxiang, Pei Xingjian's 10,000 troops faced off against Tang Li Shimin's 80,000 troops. The degree of danger was evident.
Nanxiang County is the east gate of Jingbei. Once Wuxiang County falls, Nanyang County will be flat and there will be almost no other place to defend except Wancheng, a fortified city.
Qu Yuan, the governor of Nanyang County, and Meng Wu, the governor of Zhangling County, both knew the importance of Nanxiang County, so they sent troops to Nanxiang to support Pei Xingjian in guarding Wuxiang against Li Shimin.
The two counties of Nanyang and Zhangling gathered 8,000 troops to support Nanxiang, which also caused the county's military strength to drop greatly. The total number of garrison troops in the two counties was only 8,000. However, it was precisely because of this that Pei Xingjian Only then could they persist until Yue Fei's reinforcements arrived in Wuxiang.
Pei Xingjian, who commanded 96, only had 18,000 defenders in his hands. Facing Tang King Li Shimin, who commanded 100, and the 80,000 elite troops of the Tang State, he could not defend at all even if he wanted to rely on the geographical advantage.
In less than half a month, the Qin army retreated in succession, and five counties including Yexian County were conquered by the Tang army, losing nearly 5,000 troops.
You must know that Nanxiang County only has eight counties in total. Five counties have been captured by the Tang army. Most of Nanxiang has fallen into the hands of the Tang army.
When Ye County, the strongest defense on the western front, was defending, Pei Xingjian knew that the counties behind him could not hold it at all, so he mobilized a large number of defensive equipment and concentrated his efforts to defend Nanxiang County, the seat of government.
With the gap between the fall of the five counties as a buffer, by the time the Tang army arrived at Nanxiang City, Nanxiang had been built into a fortress by Pei Xingjian, and the people in the city were also mobilized to help defend the city. The army and the people were united, and the defense power was by no means the previous city. comparable.
Li Shimin also realized that Nanxiang City was difficult to fight, so he only carried out a siege first, and then sent Li Yuanba, Zhang Xiu and other generals to capture the other two counties, hoping to completely reduce Nanxiang to an isolated city, leaving it without any hope. After that, he would take the opportunity to surrender and give the guard hope of survival.
Li Shimin played psychological warfare well, but he ignored that the Pei and Qin families were related by marriage. Qin Zheng married Pei Cuiyun, the eldest daughter of the Pei family, and Pei Xingjian was Qin Zheng's brother-in-law, so how could he join Li Shimin?
Li Shimin's attempt to persuade him to surrender failed as expected, but he was not disappointed in the slightest. If he didn't surrender, he would attack the city. Anyway, he had Li Yuanba's trump card in his hand. He attacked Nanshan without suffering many casualties along the way. Seven counties in the township.
The remaining counties in Nanxiang, except Ye County, all had wooden gates, which could not stop Li Yuanba's hammer. After several hammers, the gates were smashed, and the army entered the city, so the city naturally fell.
Even in Ye County, which has an iron city gate, it is naturally impossible to block Li Yuanba due to the relatively low height of the city wall.
Li Yuanba easily climbed onto the city tower, and after a brutal killing, he killed the entire city's defenders out of fear, and naturally surrendered.
Therefore, the Tang army attacked all the way to Nanxiang City. Not only did the Tang army not suffer much loss in strength, but it also suppressed more than 3,000 Qin troops and surrendered. The strength of the Tang army did not decrease but increased. In Li Shimin's view, seven of the eight counties in Nanxiang were easily conquered by him, so Nanxiang City was no exception. Even if the gate of Nanxiang City was made of pure steel and the city wall was the tallest, it would still be unstoppable. His younger brother Li Yuanba.
Li Shimin underestimated how difficult Pei Xingjian was. In order to prevent Li Yuanba from ascending the tower, Pei Xingjian personally commanded 1,500 strong crossbowmen, 100 crossbows and 50 catapults, specifically targeting Li Yuanba alone, just to prevent him from doing so. Climb to Nanxiang City.
In the Battle of the Bohai Sea, Su Dingfang used the crossbow stone array to kill the great master Yuan Shoucheng, which gave all the generals a good start and let them know that individual strength will ultimately be defeated by the army. The method of using crossbow stones to deal with masters has also been scrutinized. imitate.
Pei Xingjian had no other way to deal with Li Yuanba, so he could only use resources to smash it. Although this would reduce the defense of Nanxiang City, it was better than letting the Tang army break the city without damaging it?
Pei Xingjian's strategy is feasible. With so many weapons targeting him, even Li Yuanba can't get up. Li Shimin has no choice but to attack the city on a large scale.
Tang Jun, who fought without much damage all the way, finally suffered a **** blow at the foot of Nanxiang City.
After all, the Tang army was one of the strongest armies in the world. They suffered only casualties, which was not enough to shake their morale. They still attacked Nanxiang with the most violent offensive.
Under the ten days of fierce attack by the Tang army, Nanxiang City was on the verge of collapse and could fall at any time.
At this moment, Yue Fei, who had been reinstated as an official, arrived in time with 10,000 Sizhou reinforcements.
Yue Fei's timely arrival greatly boosted the morale of the entire Nanxiang army. Not only did he save Nanxiang City, but he also protected Nanyang in the rear.
The atmosphere of the Qin army changed as soon as Yue Fei arrived. Before his arrival, the Qin army had been passively being beaten and had never thought of taking the initiative to attack. However, after Yue Fei arrived, the Qin army was no longer afraid of fighting.
Yue Fei arrived on the same day and personally led thousands of cavalry that night to attack Li Tang's camp at night. He killed thousands of enemies and then fled, leaving only a chaotic fire camp for Li Shimin, which made Li Shimin shocked and angry.
After that, Yue Fei will send 30,000 new troops to Nanxiang to further enhance the defense of Nanxiang City.
You must know that there were 70,000 newly recruited troops in northern Jingzhou, but Yue Fei mobilized 30,000 to a city in Nanxiang, leaving only 40,000 for Xiangyang, which was under greater pressure. This clearly shows the importance he attached to the Tang army.
After Yue Fei arrived in Nanxiang, he used 15,000 main force and 30,000 new soldiers, and a total of 45,000 new and old mixed troops to block Li Shimin's more than 70,000 Tang troops from Nanxiang and prevent them from advancing.
Li Shimin, who has a command of 100, can easily defeat Pei Xingjian, who has a command of 96, but against Yue Fei, who has a command of 102, there is really no advantage.
If the comprehensive combat power of the Tang army was not higher than that of the Qin army, Li Shimin might have been defeated by Yue Fei.
After more than a month of fighting, Li Shimin tried every means, but still failed to break through Nanxiang. Not only did he have to deal with Yue Fei in the city, but he also had to be wary of Yue Fei's counterattacks from time to time. At this time, he finally realized Liu Xiu's attitude when facing Yue Fei. Desperate.
“This can’t go on like this.”
Li Shimin hammered down the document angrily and said coldly: "With Yue Fei in charge of Nanxiang City, even if we continue to attack, it will still be difficult to break through. If we can't pass through Nanxiang, we won't be able to enter Nanyang, and we can't attack Sizhou from both sides."
After hearing this, the four great counselors Du Ruhui, Li Ru, Changsun Wuji, and Li Kui looked at each other. The youngest strategist Li Kui stood up, cupped his fists and said: "My lord, the best strategy is no longer feasible. It's time to give up the best strategy. The middle strategy was adopted.”
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(End of this chapter)