Chapter 1986: Soldiers are expensive and quick (Part 1)
Chapter 1986: Soldiers are expensive and fast (Part 1)
Chapter 1984: Soldiers are powerful and quick (Part 1)
Zhang Liao did not expect that at this critical juncture, Commander Jia would be sent a brilliant plan. After opening it and taking a look, he was stunned by the contents.
“Soldiers are more valuable and faster? What does that mean?”
Zhang Liao frowned slightly, somewhat confused about Jia Xu's intention.
"Why does the military advisor want me to fight quickly? Our army obviously has the advantage now, so slowing down the fight is more beneficial. Fighting quickly will only increase casualties."
The Qin army that caught up had not only 40,000 iron cavalry and 10,000 elite infantry cavalry, but also a full 160,000 Qin army behind them.
In this case, it is obvious that the longer it is delayed, the more disadvantageous it will be to the Tang army, but the more beneficial it will be to the Qin army.
Of course, the reason why Zhang Liao wanted to delay the attack was mainly because the Tang army turned into a mourning army and deployed the Longmen Formation to restrain the cavalry.
If we fight quickly at this time, even if we win in the end, it will definitely be a tragic victory.
Not worth it.
Zhang Liao did not want to destroy his 40,000 cavalry just to annihilate these 50,000 infantry.
There are only 40,000 cavalry in the 200,000 Hebei Qin army. In addition to supporting Sizhou, they also help Jingbei to fight against Shu and Chu. If there are too many casualties in Sizhou, then a series of battle plans will be will be affected.
Based on this consideration, Zhang Liao couldn't help but feel shaken by Jia Xu. After all, Jia Xu didn't go to the battlefield in person, so how could he take care of everything? Maybe he made a mistake this time?
"No, the military advisor has never made a miscalculation so far. Since he deliberately left the tips, it means that this matter is not as simple as it seems."
At this thought, Zhang Liao couldn't help but become alert and began to recall all the details before and after the war.
The war is still going on.
The two cavalrymen, Xu Huang and Zhang He, continued to rain arrows into the Longmen formation. Soon they had fired ten rounds, killing about 3,000 Tang soldiers.
Two small formations with 5,000 people each were missing more than 1,500 people, leaving a large area vacant, but the Longmen formation did not collapse as a result.
One of the soldiers died in more than twenty minutes, but Li Shimin did not feel distressed at all. He still commanded the Longmen Formation calmly and passively defended against the Qin army's attack.
As Xu Huang and Zhang He kept shooting, they found that there were fewer and fewer Tang soldiers to shoot. A round of 14,000 feather arrows could only kill nearly a hundred Tang soldiers.
This is actually normal. After all, those who can kill have been shot to death. The rest are either hiding behind the shield formation, have bunkers, or are too scattered. The lethality of bows and arrows against the Tang army has been greatly reduced.
After realizing this, Xu Huang and Zhang He decisively changed their goals and led the army straight to the next small formation. After all, you can't catch a sheep to harvest its wool.
Xu Huang and Zhang He continued to harvest the Tang army bit by bit, but Li Shimin still didn't react at all, and at best he didn't care which soldiers lived or died.
"Mr. Sima, your strategy worked. The Qin army really did not dare to enter the formation and could only wear down our troops little by little outside the formation."
Li Shimin smiled lightly and said: "If we win this battle, sir, I will take the lead."
Sima Yi smiled modestly and said, "Even if Yi didn't say that His Highness would definitely do this, Yi's real contribution is just to help His Highness complete the Longmen Formation."
"This is also a great achievement. With this Longmen Formation, it is equivalent to giving our army a layer of armor."
A strange look flashed in Li Shimin's eyes, and then he said: "The next step is to see whether Li Keyong and Zhao She can arrive on time. If they can arrive on time, half of the 50,000 troops will be killed by the Qin army. It’s worth it.” Hearing this, Sima Yi couldn’t help but secretly thought, Li Shimin is really a hero.
Sima Yi did not expect that Li Shimin would be so courageous that he would use 50,000 troops as targets for the Qin army to shoot, but all he did was create a chance to win.
————
On the other side, Zhang He and Xu Huang just turned to the next target, and Zhang Liao received the news.
“Report... General Qi, the two generals Xu Huang and Zhang He have changed their targets and are now attacking Ximen and Shangmen.”
After hearing the news, Zhang Liao came back from his thoughts.
Looking at the two cavalrymen who were harvesting the lives of the Tang soldiers bit by bit, Zhang Liao couldn't help but frowned and said: "It's too slow. If we continue to fight like this, even if the Tang army stands still, our army will not be able to completely wipe out the Tang army even if we shoot for two days." annihilate.”
The rest of the generals looked at Zhang Liao in confusion. He could kill a large number of enemy troops without dying. Why would he be dissatisfied with such a good thing?
Zhang Liao also knew that this was a good thing, but he always felt that something was wrong.
Tang Jun just stood still and became a target for himself. Is it true that there is no other way to fight back, or is there a deeper conspiracy?
etc…
Suddenly, a bold idea appeared in Zhang Liao's mind, and he quickly asked to his left and right: "Does the Tang army have any other cavalry in Sizhou?"
"General Qi, yes, there are 30,000 Tang army cavalry invading this time. The most elite 10,000 were brought to Luoyang by Li Shimin, while the other 20,000 are under the command of Zhao She and Li Keyong, and are currently stationed there. In the areas of Yewang and Yiyang.”
"What!"
Zhang Liao's eyes suddenly widened. He finally realized what he had overlooked, and understood what Jia Xu meant by "Soldiers are more valuable and faster".
When the Qin Army's cavalry caught up, although the Tang Army's cavalry could escape, the infantry could not escape and could no longer escape. After all, this would more easily lead to a rout.
In this case, when Li Shimin led the army to a halt, Zhang Liao should have thought that he was fighting to the death.
Li Shimin's various actions after that, such as carrying coffins to boost morale, setting up the Longmen formation, etc., also confirmed Zhang Liao's idea that the Tang army just wanted to die and held the Qin army as a backstop.
The preconception and the great advantage made Zhang Liao ignore other things. He felt that under this situation, the Tang army could not come up with any conspiracy, but he did not know that he had fallen into Li Shimin's plan.
The Tang army still had 20,000 cavalry that could be mobilized, but because Zhang Liao arrived too quickly and urgently, even if they mobilized 20,000 cavalry, they might not be able to reach the battlefield in time and the war would have been over.
Therefore, the real purpose of Li Shimin carrying the coffin to fight to the death and setting up the Dragon Gate formation was not to fight Zhang Liao to death, but to make Zhang Liao realize that the Tang army was fast and tough.
If you know it is a hard bone and still bite it, you will only lose your teeth.
In this case, even if a forced decisive battle can be won, both sides will suffer losses. Although slowing down the battle is time-consuming, it can minimize casualties.
Smart people know how to choose.
Zhang Liao was naturally not a fool. He made a decision that most smart people would make, but he didn't know that this was exactly what Li Shimin wanted to see.
First update
(End of this chapter)