Chapter 1998: Attack Tongguan in Ming Dynasty and attack Wuguan secretly
Chapter 1998 Attacking Tongguan in Ming Dynasty and Attacking Wuguan in Secret
Chapter 1996: Attacking Tongguan in Ming Dynasty and attacking Wuguan in secret
Originally, according to Li Jing's idea, after resolving the crisis in Sizhou, he would personally lead more than 170,000 troops south to Jingbei and quickly defeat Shu and Chu with superior force.
Unexpectedly, Li Shimin was so alert and ran away immediately when he saw the situation was not going well. Now he is still sending more troops to Tongguan, harming others and not benefiting himself, just to hold back the Qin army's strength.
The war in Sizhou has not yet completely ended, and war may still break out in the future, so sufficient troops must be left to guard it. Even Li Jing himself must stay and guard it personally.
The decision to send Han Xin and Zhao Yun to lead an army of 100,000 troops to support Jingbei was made by Li Jing after discussing with Guo Jia and Jia Xu in advance and after careful consideration.
After an emergency expansion of the army, Jingbei had 90,000 elite soldiers and 70,000 new soldiers, for a total of 160,000 troops.
However, after this period of fighting, under the attack of the Chu and Shu armies, the strength of the Qin army in northern Jing was greatly reduced. The total casualties were close to 50,000, and the total strength now should be around 110,000.
I have to say that Qin Hao's decision to order the expansion of the army before the war was correct.
The 70,000 new recruits greatly eased the pressure on the Qin army in Jingzhou. Among the 50,000 Jingbei Qin army who died in battle, more than 30,000 were recruits.
Had it not been for the addition of new soldiers, the original defenders of Jingbei alone would not have been able to hold on until now.
Shu and Chu first sent 150,000 and 50,000 troops respectively. However, as Chu captured Jiangxia County, Shu also captured most of the Jiangling army. In addition, the situation in Hebei changed drastically due to Wang Mang's defeat, and they tasted the sweetness. In order to occupy Jingbei before the Qin army captured Hebei, both countries successively increased their troops.
Chu State increased its troops by 50,000, and Shu State increased its troops by 30,000. The total troops mobilized by the two countries reached 280,000.
In the battle with the Qin Army, although the two coalition forces also lost nearly 20,000 troops and their total strength dropped to 260,000, they still had an absolute military advantage over the Qin Army.
Yue Fei, Qin Qiong, Qin Zheng, Meng Gong and other generals used a mixed army of 160,000 new and old troops to fight against 280,000 Chu and Shu regular troops. Only 110,000 troops were left, which shows that the Qin army in northern Jing was having a very difficult time.
Even if only 100,000 troops are sent to support at this time, although the Qin army's strength in Jingbei reaches 210,000, the total strength is still less than the total strength of Chu and Shu. It can only be said that it can protect itself, but it will be difficult to defend itself. In a short period of time, the invasion of Shu and Chu was repelled.
Li Jing knew that sending a hundred thousand troops to support Northern Jing was not enough to repel Chu and Shu and stabilize Northern Jing, but he still did so. Naturally, he had his reasons.
First of all, Li Tang could advance, retreat, or defend. He had an innate geographical advantage and posed a great threat to Sizhou.
Secondly, Li Shimin is sending more troops to Hanguguan. Regardless of whether there will be a war in the end, the Qin army cannot ignore it with this attitude.
Based on these two points, Li Jing cannot transfer too many troops from Sizhou, otherwise once Sizhou is lost, it will be meaningless to recapture Jingbei.
Of course, there is another reason why Li Jing would do this, that is, the Tang army is currently weak.
Before the war started, the Tang army had a total strength of 300,000 troops, but only 230,000 regular troops.
70,000 elite troops have now been killed, leaving 160,000 regular troops. 80,000 are currently on the Tongguan front line, while the remaining 80,000 regular troops and 70,000 miscellaneous troops are responsible for guarding the entire Tang Kingdom.
The Tang State's military strength was actually very tight, but Li Shimin still sent more troops to Luoyang, which would inevitably lead to weak defenses in other areas.
Li Jing naturally does not expect to rely on an army of 160,000 to break through Tongguan with 80,000 defenders, but if the main force of the Tang army is dragged in Tongguan, there may be a chance to capture Wuguan, so as to break the geographical advantage of the Qin army facing Li Tang. of congenital deficiencies.
Jingbei, guarded by 210,000 troops, is enough to block the offensives of Shu and Chu. At least the situation will not continue to deteriorate.
Based on this consideration, Li Jing decided to stay in person to attract Li Shimin's attention, while secretly planning a surprise attack on Wuguan. As long as Wuguan is obtained, the Qin army will not be so passive when facing the Tang army in the future.
Zhang Liao was naturally a little reluctant when he saw that Li Jing sent Zhao Yunnan to Jingbei, but put aside himself who had just won the battle. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is difficult for the situation to change here in Sizhou, and in Jingbei But there is still a lot of credit to be made.
In this regard, Li Jing explained: "Cavalry must be sent to support Jingbei. The cavalry under your command, General Zhang Liao, has already experienced a battle, but General Zhao Yun's 30,000 Hetao cavalry have not experienced a battle yet. The morale of the personnel is at war." With his strength at its peak, it is naturally more suitable to go to support Jingbei."
Such rhetoric naturally could not convince Zhang Liao. The cavalry under his command had indeed suffered losses, but they had just won a great victory and their morale was high.
After repeated questioning by Zhang Liao, Li Jing was finally forced to tell the truth.
Knowing that Li Jing was planning to attack Tongguan in the open and attack Wuguan secretly, Zhang Liao no longer competed with Zhao Yun for the place to go south. After all, Wuguan was of great significance to the Qin army. Once it was captured, it would be no less than a big battle. After winning the battle, keeping him here is obviously to give him this task.
On the other hand, Han Xin originally thought that Li Jing would personally support Jingbei and leave himself and Zhang Liao to guard Sizhou, but he did not expect that he would let himself, a surrendered general, lead the army alone.
Faced with Han Xin's question, Li Jing smiled and said: "My lord has always used people without suspicion. Since my lord has appointed General Han as my deputy, it shows that he trusts you, general. Since even my lord can trust you, general, I will also trust you." What else is there to believe?"
Hearing Li Jing's heartfelt words, Han Xin no longer had any worries. He was grateful to Li Jing and at the same time determined to win a big victory in Jingbei so that the proud Qin generals would not dare to underestimate him.
The next day, the Qin army that met in Hongnong County was divided into troops after less than two days of rest. Han Xin and Zhao Yun led 70,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry and headed south to Nanyang toward Jingxiang.
Liu Ji and Liu Xiu had so many masters at their disposal. It was naturally impossible for Li Jing to let only Han Xin and Zhao Yun go to Jingbei. In addition to the two of them, he also sent Jiang Song, Yuwen Chengdu, Zhang Kui, Huang Tianhua, Huang Tianxiang, Huang Tianlu, Generals such as Gao Ming and Gao Jue were also transferred into the army.
Li Jing's subordinates were retained: Zhang Liao, Gao Chong, Yasu, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Gongsun Yan, Tan Daoji, Qin Ji and other generals.
As soon as the armies of Han Xin and Zhao Yun left, Li Jing led the army westward and set up camp at the ruins of Hangu Pass.
Although the Hangu Pass of the Qin Army is gone, there are still two strong cities in Yewang and Yiyang. In addition, the Yaohan Ancient Road is also a dangerous place. After setting up a camp, it can also resist the Tang Army.
Li Jing's move shocked Li Shimin. He stayed at Tongguan and refused to leave. He did not want to continue fighting with the Qin army, but just wanted to hold back part of the Qin army's strength.
The situation in Jingbei is more critical than that of Sizhou. Li Jing led the army south to save Si Jing, so it is impossible to ignore Jingbei.
Now Li Jing only sent 100,000 troops to rescue Jingzhou, but he personally led 160,000 troops to Hangu. Did he use too much force and support the Shu and Chu countries too much, which triggered Li Jing's overreaction? ?
With this thought, Li Shimin immediately stopped transferring troops from various places to Tongguan and asked the troops who came to support Tongguan to return to their original positions, hoping to dispel Li Jing's wariness.
Li Shimin’s meaning is very obvious, that is, let’s each do our own thing, and no one should provoke anyone else, okay?
Li Jing saw that Li Shimin would not mobilize his troops. How could this be done? While continuing to increase troops towards the Yaohan camp, he ordered the deployment of siege equipment from the rear.
Thousands of catapults were transported from Luoyang to Hangu, as if they were going to attack Tongguan.
Guarantee
(End of this chapter)