By this time, the Bingdai army had already withdrawn to Pingyao.
This kind of strategic retreat is nothing to the highly mobile parallel army. Moreover, the retreat began almost as soon as the Tang army raised troops in Jiangzhou, so the time left for the army was
Too generous.
In order to confuse the Tang army as much as possible, they even fought with the Tang army in Queshu Valley, which also bought more time for the army.
As soon as Li Po arrived in Pingyao, he ordered his army to camp and rest for a day, and then he began to set up defenses in Pingyao. Anyway, he was idle. The camp was high and the base was deep. It took more than ten days to completely transform Pingyao City and several miles around it.
built a large military camp.
When Yu Chixin and others returned with their troops and calmly entered their respective garrison areas, the area around Pingyao City looked like a giant beast covered in thorns and with sharp claws.
When the front line reported that the Tang Army had left Queshu Valley and entered Jiexiu City, it was completely different from the Tang Army. The Bingdai army had completely quieted down, and the entire army was waiting for the final battle.
The movements of the more than 100,000 Tang troops who were nearly a hundred miles away from the main army could no longer escape the eyes and ears of the Bingdai army.
In fact, at this time, everyone from Li Po down to the generals and even the soldiers in the army had no other thoughts but to fight against the Tang army.
Strategically, the Tang army has completely entered the rhythm of merging large armies. All pre-war plans have been realized, and what is left is a tactical contest.
At this time, Li Po no longer thought about whether the Tang army would come north. The Tang army gathered in Jiexiu and the 30,000 Tang army before had no other advantages except that they had a numerical advantage and there was still a slight leeway in Queshu Valley.
the difference.
Even if the Tang army did not come, he would lead his army south to fight the Tang army before winter came.
In fact, in Li Po's view, from the moment the Tang army passed through Queshu Valley and stationed in Jiexiu, the Tang army had almost lost the possibility of retreating.
The narrow Queshu Valley was simply not a place where more than 100,000 Tang troops could retreat calmly.
Li Shentong's so-called advance, attack, retreat, and defense only exist in his own imagination.
Just like once the Bingdai army chooses to fight the Tang army south of Queshu Valley, then the retreat of the Bingdai army will actually be cut off. Once the war is unfavorable, there is no difference between retreating north from Queshu Valley and digging one's own grave.
But now, Li Po has dug a grave for Tang Jun nearly a hundred miles away. Whether Tang Jun jumps in by himself or waits for others to kick him, it is almost the same to Li Po. The only difference lies in time and
issues of energy and self-inflicted casualties.
The more than 40,000 cavalry troops were stationed south of Pingyao except for Ashina Jihu who left 5,000 men as Li Po's central army in Pingyao.
The distance is less than a hundred miles, and the land is far from open. It is indeed not the best battlefield for cavalry.
But there are too many cavalry in the army. Whether a cavalry of this size is charging head-on or harassing along the way, the impact of distance on them is actually not very important.
If there is a suitable battlefield, these cavalry alone can compete with an army of more than 100,000 people in a field battle.
In fact, the biggest mistake of the Tang Army was not in its own condition or in entering the battlefield set by the enemy, but in the fact that the Tang Army was simply not prepared to deal with tens of thousands of cavalry.
The so-called knowing yourself and your enemy means you can win a hundred battles. Li Shentong, who for the first time held the power of more than 100,000 troops, and even most of the generals of the Tang army, ignored this point intentionally or unintentionally.
Most people are self-righteous and believe that Li Po, who originated from merging border counties, cannot stop the Tang army with strong military strength.
And Jiang Baoyi, the only one who had seen the power of a large army, also played a vital role in it. He only glanced at the top of Jiexiu City for a few times, and then he became dizzy while defending the city. In addition, in order to shirk the
The blame for the unfavorable defense of the city brought a lot of wrong information to the Tang army.
Especially when it comes to the number of cavalry, they are even more ridiculous.
Of course, no matter what, Li Po can't hear so much good news and bad news now. His rule is not as big as that of Li Tang, and he doesn't have as many enemies.
That's the good thing about border counties. As long as the Turks don't come, there will be no worries.
And Li Po is not a former military general. He is the master of two states. No one can force him to do anything. Every corner of the country has its own benefits. He does not have as many worries as Li Shentong and Pei Ji.
Li had been following a very regular schedule these days, listening to intelligence reports and inspecting various military camps. In the evening, he summoned the idle generals to have dinner in the commander's tent and discuss the military situation.
Chen Yuan's injury was almost healed, and Li Po ordered him to lead troops to guard the four cities of Pingyao. He almost replaced Xue Wanche and became Li Po's lieutenant general.
When he heard that the Tang army had left Queshu Valley and was stationed in Jiexiu, Li Po was convinced that the war had progressed to this point as he expected. The satisfaction of strategizing was difficult to describe in words.
At this time, what he had to do was very clear. In addition to carefully detecting the movements of the Tang army, he also had to shield the battlefield.
At this time, he didn't care what happened to the Tang army. With Jiexiu and Queshugu here, the possibility of the Tang army voluntarily retreating to Linfen was extremely slim.
Setting up a decisive battle to lure the Tang army north or frighten the Tang army from Jiexiu was within his acceptable range.
This was undoubtedly a battle between the scouts of the two armies. Within a few days, from Pingyao to Jiexiu, within a radius of dozens of miles, the scouts of the two armies were traveling freely and fighting each other.
Countless blood was shed.
The elite of the elite border troops, the Daizhou Rangers who had fought each other with the Turks on the grasslands, used their fierceness, more proficient killing skills, and their tacit cooperation to easily become this warrior in a few days.
The protagonist who does his duty on the battlefield.
Since the arduous battle in the winter of the eleventh year of Daye, the Daizhou cavalry had never retreated a step in front of the enemy. This time, it was obvious that Li Po suppressed them too hard.
When Li Po let go of the reins a little, these elite cavalrymen were like wild beasts that had just escaped from their cages, going too crazy.
A few days later, when the Tang army's scouts suffered heavy injuries and fled back to Jiexiu, many cavalry figures showing off their power appeared around the Tang army.
Of course, those who ran far enough were quickly recruited back, otherwise, these guys might try to attack the Tang Army's outer camps.
The generals and soldiers of the Bing Dynasty army were completely different from those of the Tang army. Although they were equally strong, the killing and destruction of the frontier army soldiers actually accounted for a large part when they faced the battle.
When they entered a wartime state, each of them became a complete desperado and only wanted to see blood, whether it was other people's or their own.
And around the neck of this very crazy beast is a rope called military discipline. Otherwise, there would be no difference between them and the Turkic Jingqi.
Unlike his subordinates, who were already a bit too irritable, Li Po calmly observed the movements in the south in Pingyao and tried his best to suppress the cavalry generals' calls for war.
He patiently reiterated military discipline to the generals over and over again, asking the generals to obey orders and not to act without permission.
The infantry is much more worry-free. After all, they have two fewer legs than the cavalry.
At this time, Li Po actually felt a little strange. You must know that there were more than 100,000 Tang troops on the opposite side, which was not a small number.
When everyone was discussing whether to choose a decisive battle with the Tang army south of Queshu Valley, everyone was apprehensive and lacked confidence in the decisive battle with the army.
But when the army retreated to Pingyao, the generals suddenly changed. Each one of them became more confident and seemed to be a little stronger than his commander.
Before the battle, Li Po had no time to think too much. High morale was always a good thing.
In fact, there is nothing strange about this change. The powerful cavalry force in northern Shanxi, which has been victorious in almost every battle, has gradually developed its own self-esteem and pride in the increasingly frequent wars.
Although the retreat had a clear strategic purpose, it still stimulated their hearts and made them feel vaguely humiliated. This inexplicable psychological state made them quickly put aside the last bit of resentment in their hearts.
The Tang army was afraid and eager to prove on the battlefield that victory would always belong to them.
Such a proud army cannot be formed in a moment. Once upon a time, the permanent elite armies of the Sui Dynasty actually had such a proud mentality and were convinced that no one could defeat them.
But time has passed, the wind and snow in Liaodong, the surging rebel armies, and the devastated Central Plains have buried all of this within a few years.
Li Po led the Shanxi border army and used the blood and lives of countless enemies to re-create all of this.
When they faced the Turks, they knew that they were weak and could not fight forcefully. However, once the enemy was replaced by the patchwork Tang army, their pride was aroused, and they even retreated slightly.
They couldn't accept it.
This kind of thing that cannot yet form a specific concept will naturally take longer for people to have an accurate understanding.
This is the formation process of the military soul, slow and imperceptible.
What's ridiculous is that Li Po has always wanted to build an army with a sense of honor, but now when things are happening, he didn't feel it at the first time, which is not a big joke.
At this time, Li Po was indeed laughing. Of course, he was not laughing at himself, but at his enemies.
On this day, the scouts escorted several people to Pingyao, and soon they were delivered to him.
They were from the Tang Army, and they also brought a letter written by King Yongkang and Li Shentong, the general manager of Jinzhou Road March.
Monthly ticket Monthly ticket, well, there is nothing I can do about it if the baby feels miserable. A little more verbosity can explain the events before and after the war. These chapters have value, and they are not just irritating, right? To be continued.
...
This chapter has been completed!