Chapter 1978: Hebei Qin Army
Chapter 1978 Hebei Qin Army
Chapter 1976: Hebei Qin Army
The composition of the Hebei Qin army supporting Sizhou was very complex, consisting of five parts, namely:
Li Jing’s 30,000-strong Northern Navy.
Zhang Liao's main force of 70,000 Qin troops.
Xiao Yan's 30,000 Zhao troops surrendered.
Zhang He's 30,000 Korean troops surrendered.
And Han Xin's 40,000 Han and Zhao mixed troops surrendered.
Of the 200,000 troops, fully 100,000 were surrendered troops. In fact, Xiao Yan and Zhang He's 60,000 troops surrendered directly, while Han Xin's 40,000 troops were all reorganized from war captives.
So it can be imagined that the 200,000 Hebei reinforcements composed of 100,000 Qin troops and 100,000 Han and Zhao surrender troops are definitely inferior to the Tang army in terms of comprehensive combat strength.
North Korea and Zhao are not weak countries, and the overall quality of their soldiers is not low. It is just because they surrendered not long ago that their morale is low, which lowers the overall level of the entire army.
However, the training foundation of the Han and Zhao surrendered armies is still there. Overall, it is not much worse than the Tang army, and the large number of troops also makes up for the shortcomings in morale.
Before the expedition, these 200,000 troops were scattered throughout Hebei. With Qin Hao's order, the five armies marched towards Henan like long snakes, and finally met at the north bank of the Yellow River.
As the commander-in-chief of the 200,000-strong Hebei Army, Li Jing thought that this operation was a good one. After all, the Tang army that ravaged Sizhou had only 150,000 troops at its maximum. With his 200,000-strong Hebei Army, plus Sizhou, It is absolutely easy to defeat the Tang army with tens of thousands of local troops.
What Li Jing didn't expect was that a lot of time was wasted on army dispatch. It took nearly a month just to leave Jizhou. If he arrived in Luoyang, he would have to walk for another month.
Will Luoyang still be in the hands of the Qin army by then?
The reason why the Qin army in Hebei marched so slowly was actually caused by various factors such as the different numbers, qualities, and speeds of each army.
In addition, the five armies belonging to Li Jing, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Xiao Yan, and Han Xin had different starting locations, and naturally the marching distances were also different.
Zhang Liao's main Qin army moved the fastest, Li Jingbei's navy was slightly slower, and the 100,000 surrendered troops were not only slow, but also delayed their march due to various mishaps, which directly affected the overall march speed.
In this regard, although Han Xin, Zhang He and Xiao Yan were also anxious, they had no good solution. In addition, since they were not the commander-in-chief, the matter had nothing to do with them, so they naturally let it go.
Seeing that more and more time was wasted, Li Jing could no longer sit still, so he adopted Guo Jia's suggestion and directly issued a death order to the generals. They must meet on the north bank of the Yellow River at the end of the month, otherwise the entire army will be punished. .
I have to say that Guo Jia’s proposal is somewhat destructive, but the effect is still very obvious.
The generals of each department did not want to be punished, so they naturally urged the soldiers severely and forcibly accelerated the march, which made the soldiers at the bottom full of resentment. Of course, these had nothing to do with Li Jing and Guo Jia.
When the 200,000 Hebei reinforcements officially joined forces on the north bank of the Yellow River, Qin Hao had already launched a war to destroy the Han Dynasty and occupied nearly half of Youzhou.
After joining forces, Li Jing immediately started to cross the river, but the commanders of the various ministries were quarreling over who was going first and who was last. Only then did he discover that the arrogance and contempt for the enemy were so rampant in the army.
In the eyes of the generals of the Qin Army in Hebei, a nearly 300,000-strong army against Li Tang's 130,000-strong army was a war that could not be lost. Therefore, in their eyes, the Tang Army's achievements were a series of achievements, and they were already fighting for the victory before they started. A battle achievement.
Among the 200,000 Hebei troops, those who surrendered the army were the most eager to achieve success. Han Xin, Zhang He, and Xiao Yan all wanted to be the first to cross the river and seize the first victory since their march south, so as to stabilize their position among the Qin army.
Although Li Jing understood the eagerness of the surrendered generals to perform meritorious service, he could not openly favor them. After all, this would cause dissatisfaction among the main generals, especially Lieutenant General Zhang Liao.
The surrendering army wants credit, but doesn’t the main force not? Although Li Jing was the commander-in-chief of the Hebei Army and had the command of an army of 200,000 people, his actual direct troops were only 30,000 Northern Navy troops, while Zhang Liao, as deputy general, commanded a main army of 70,000 people.
Although Li Jing made great contributions in the Hebei War, he was only the governor of a county before. There were many people in the army who disobeyed him, and Zhang Liao was naturally one of them.
As one of the two lieutenants, Zhang Liao had neither qualifications nor merit. However, Li Jing's performance was too eye-catching, so he missed the position of chief general.
Although Zhang Liao admired Li Jing very much in his heart, it did not mean that he was completely convinced.
A lieutenant general who does not want to be a general is not a good general.
Zhang Liao also wanted to prove that he was no worse than Li Jing, so how could he give up the opportunity to win the first prize.
Hence, if Li Jing gives the first victory to the surrendering army, although he can get the support of 100,000 surrendering troops, it will also arouse the dissatisfaction of the main force headed by Zhang Liao.
After all, although the number of surrendered troops was large, the main force was obviously more powerful, which was not worth the gain for Li Jing.
When Li Jing was in a dilemma, Guo Jia offered Li Jing a plan to let the main force and the surrendering army share the merits.
Guo Jiayan, after the Tang army learned that 200,000 Hebei troops were about to arrive in Sizhou, they were frightened and would most likely flee without a fight.
In order to prevent the Tang army in Luoyang from escaping, the cavalry of the entire army can be gathered together and the cavalry can be sent across the river to Luoyang first.
There are cavalry in the five divisions of the Hebei Army, and together they can have 40,000 cavalry.
If the Tang army escapes, they can have their cavalry pursue them. If they do not escape, they can fight outside the city to share the pressure on Luoyang City.
Guo Jia's words made Li Jing react. He had been thinking about how to annihilate the Tang army with minimal casualties, but he ignored the possibility that the Tang army would give up the victory and flee without fighting.
No matter how great the victory achieved by the Tang army in Sizhou, the total strength was only 130,000, which was not enough to defend the victory against the 290,000 Qin army. It might be embarrassing but also wise to withdraw from Sizhou without a fight. Lift it.
Li Jing, realizing this, decisively gathered all the cavalry in the army, appointed Zhang Liao as the vanguard general, and 40,000 cavalry, and took the lead in crossing the Yellow River to aid Luoyang.
Among Zhang Liao's 40,000 cavalry, 20,000 are from the main army, and the remaining 20,000 are from the other four armies, led by generals such as Zhang He, Xiao Yan, Tai Shici, and Zhang Kui. They are temporarily under Zhang Liao's command. .
With this arrangement, although the main force still accounts for the majority, other departments can also share the credit, which can be said to be the best of both worlds.
The reason why Zhang Liao was chosen to lead the troops was naturally because in terms of cavalry commanding ability, except for Li Jing and Han Xin, no one was better than Zhang Liao.
After Zhang Liao led the cavalry one step ahead, Li Jing and Han Xin led an army of 160,000 to continue crossing the river. After crossing the Yellow River in batches, they marched towards Luoyang at full speed.
Hebei Province had just crossed the Yellow River with 160,000 soldiers, and received news that the Tang army had withdrawn from Luoyang.
Li Jing felt very happy when he learned about it. Fortunately, he had sent the cavalry one step ahead. Otherwise, by the time his army arrived in Luoyang, Li and Tang's army would have already retreated to Guanzhong.
Second update, the monthly ticket has exceeded 200 plus more updates, and I still owe 4 chapters.
The slow march is really necessary for the plot, otherwise the timelines before and after will not match up. This is a bad point in dual-line narratives. I will definitely pay attention to it next time.
(End of this chapter)