Chapter 2256: War is a continuation of politics
Chapter 2256 War is a continuation of politics
Chapter 2252: War is a continuation of politics
During the Battle of Wuzhangyuan, everyone's attention was on Wuzhangyuan and the army itself. Only Li Siyuan noticed the importance of Chencang and Dashan Pass.
With the passage of Fenglingdu and Yiguan, more than 100,000 Qin troops invaded the pass. Tongguan completely lost its role as a gateway, and Dashan Pass became the only channel for the Tang State to connect to the outside world.
Dashan Pass, one of the four fortresses in Guanzhong, is located in Chencang. If Chencang and Dashan Pass are also captured by the Qin army, then the entire Guanzhong will be blocked by the Qin army and completely isolated and helpless.
Based on this consideration, Li Siyuan abandoned Huaili, guarded Chencang, and also guarded Dashan Pass.
Facts have proved that Li Siyuan made the right move. It was his timely takeover of Chencang and the defense of Dashan Pass that gave Li Tang, who was almost in despair, a chance to continue to survive.
“Dashanguan Pass is surrounded by a natural chasm, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The difficulty of storming is not lower than Wuguan Pass, but if you just block the middle of the pass, capturing Chencang can have the same effect.”
Gongsun Xuanyuan pointed to the position of Chencang on the sand table and said in a deep voice: "After capturing Chencang, we sent heavy troops to blockade the major roads. Blocking the Dashan Pass is equivalent to blocking Guanzhong."
Xuanyuan wanted to use Chencang to blockade Sanguan. Naturally, he couldn't completely blockade it, but it didn't need to be completely blocked.
If the Tang army on the front line of Dashanguan wanted to break the blockade, they would have to go out and fight the Qin army in the field. The Qin army was not afraid of field battles, and they even wanted the Tang army to go out and fight.
“But Chencang is also a fortified city, and the difficulty of capturing it is not much lower than Chang’an.” Zhang Liao pondered.
Chencang is located in the west of Guanzhong, with Longshan Mountain to the west, Qinling Mountains to the south, and the Weishui River. It has a very advantageous geographical location. It has been a transportation fortress since ancient times, a battleground for military strategists, and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
During Zhuge Liang's second Northern Expedition, he sent troops to disperse the pass and surrounded Chencang. They were blocked by Wei general Hao Zhao, and the second Northern Expedition ultimately failed.
At that time, Zhuge Liang had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, Hao Zhao only had more than a thousand troops, and Wei's reinforcements had not yet arrived, so he sent out all his troops to attack Chencang, but he did not expect that he could not capture Chencang even after more than 20 days of attack.
At this time, reinforcements from the Wei army were about to arrive, and the Shu army was out of food and grass. Zhuge Liang had no choice but to retreat.
The reason why Zhuge Liang failed to capture Chencang was because, firstly, Hao Zhao was good at defense and well prepared; secondly, Chencang was indeed a fortified city that was easy to defend but difficult to attack; and thirdly, due to the terrain, he could not take full advantage of his military strength.
Now if the Qin army wants to attack Chencang, the difficulty is not much less than that of Zhuge Liang. After all, Li Siyuan's ability to defend the city is no worse than Hao Zhao, and Li Siyuan has much more troops than Hao Zhao.
“Precisely because old warehouses are difficult to attack, it is even more important to attack them as early as possible.”
Xuanyuan picked up a flag, wrote "Li Siyuan" on it with a brush, inserted it on the sand table where Chencang was, and said: "Li Siyuan is a general with both wisdom and courage. Now that he has entered Chencang for the first time, he is not well prepared. Our army Taking advantage of his unstable foothold, he sent troops to capture Chencang.
Once Li Siyuan has completely mastered Chencang and is fully prepared, it will be difficult to capture Chencang. "
Zhang Liao and Huo Qubing nodded unconsciously. They were convinced by Xuanyuan. After all, if they could blockade Guanzhong and catch turtles in the urn, it might not be impossible to defeat the enemy without fighting.
Who wants to die if the battle can be won without killing people?
IPS
Li Jing clapped his palms lightly, looked at Xuanyuan with admiration, and said with a smile: "General Xuanyuan, you are the third person in the army to see this besides my governor and General Han Xin. This governor is very relieved. "
With that said, Li Jing took out a letter and handed it to everyone to circulate. The content on it was exactly what Xuanyuan just said, the plan to capture the four passes and blockade Guanzhong. Huo Qubing, Zhang Liao and other generals were all shocked. It turned out that Li Jing had expected this and submitted it to his lord. However, he did not seem to be ready to implement it immediately, but as a backup plan if he failed to attack Chang'an.
After Xuanyuan looked at it, his eyes showed confusion and he asked: "Since the Governor has long realized that it is a good thing to take the four passes first and completely block the pass, why do he need to attack Chang'an first?"
Li Jing did not answer, but looked at Xuanyuan meaningfully. Xuanyuan looked thoughtful after understanding. He knew that Li Jing wanted him to figure it out by himself.
Xuanyuan's intelligence and politics have exceeded 90, especially politics, which has reached 96 (+1) points. He quickly guessed Li Jing's intention.
War is a continuation of politics. Li Jing chose to attack Chang'an instead of taking the four passes first. In fact, he was building momentum for the founding of the country a month later.
Capturing the four passes and completely blocking the center of the pass is indeed the best strategy strategically, but politically it is a bad idea because it means that a protracted war will follow.
In ordinary sieges, one must surround three and one is missing, leaving a glimmer of hope for the opponent so that the opponent will not resist desperately.
Now Guanzhong is like a big city, with Tongguan, Wuguan, Xiaoguan and Dashanguan as its four gates. Once all four passes are taken and Guanzhong is completely blocked, it will be equivalent to blocking all the retreat routes of the Tang army.
It is not difficult to imagine that not only the Tang army in Guanzhong will fight to the death and fight to the end, but the Tang army in Hanzhong and Longxi Qiang will also fight to the death. The battle in Guanzhong will be fought, not to mention two months, not even half a year. able to end.
The biggest purpose of the Qin army's attack on the Tang Dynasty was to establish prestige and deter the princes from all sides. The demand for Guanzhong was not that great.
It is naturally best to be able to occupy Guanzhong, and it is okay not to be able to occupy it. After all, even if it fails this time, with the results of this battle, it will be easier next time to succeed.
But if it turns into a protracted war, it will be self-defeating. After all, Qin's next focus is to recuperate.
The war in Guanzhong was destined not to drag on for too long. Li Jing had to end the battle before the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, so the strategy of blocking Guanzhong could only be postponed and used as a backup plan.
However, as the main general in the attack on the Tang Dynasty, Li Jing naturally wanted to maximize the results, and capturing Chang'an was the best way.
Li Jing certainly knew how difficult it was to capture Chang'an, but he had to give it a try no matter how difficult it was.
“The strategy of seizing the four passes and locking the pass can be implemented at any time after the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China, but before the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China, Chang’an can only be captured.”
After listening to Li Jing's explanation, not only Gongsun Xuanyuan, but also all the generals fell into deep thought. Apparently, they did not expect that there would be so many ways to fight this war.
Xuanyuan took a deep breath, clasped his fists and saluted: "The Governor has given you careful consideration, and Xuanyuan bows to you."
Li Jing smiled indifferently, and admired Xuanyuan even more in his heart, and thought to himself: Xuanyuan's bravery is no less than that of Jintai, and his ability in commanding troops is no less than that of Huo Qubing, and he is also so humble and polite, he will definitely have a place in the army in the future.
Li Jing didn't know yet that his lord planned to marry Xuanyuan's adopted sister, and that the Ying and Gongsun families were about to get married. If he had known about it, his evaluation of Xuanyuan would definitely be higher.
(End of this chapter)