On this day at the end of May in the second year of Tang Wude's reign, it started to rain lightly in the southern part of Bingzhou.
This is a relatively bad weather for both cavalry and infantry.
Of course, this also shows that the impact of Tianshi on the war in Jin was not great.
This should have been an ordinary day, but because of the war, this day became important, and the battle that took place on this day was undoubtedly a battle worthy of being recorded in history.
In the early morning, the rain was hazy. Different from the previous two days, Xue Wanche led his troops to appear near the Tang Army early. The Tang Army broke out of camp as usual. Because the trenches dug in the evening were still there, the Tang Army did not need to be too cautious and moved forward in order.
But this time, Xue Wanche's troops were different from the past. They directly followed the Tang army and quickly moved north to approach the Tang army's front army.
This made the front troops of the Tang Army nervous. So far, the main force of the Tang Army had not been attacked by the enemy. The beginning of this day seemed to be different from the previous two days.
The front troops of the Tang Army were all quite elite compared to the rear troops, and they had learned lessons from the past, so they were not in a panic, and they did not even stop to defend on the spot like the rear troops did.
Groups of archers hid behind shields on the flanks, holding bows and arrows, waiting for the enemy to come forward.
Thousands of cavalry, divided into several teams, rode on the right flank of the Tang army, as if monitoring the Tang army. They were far away from the Tang army, but did not come forward to invite a fight.
When the march arrived, Li Shentong could not sit still.
In the Battle of Bingzhou, after the Queshu Valley was captured and the army entered the empty city of Jiexiu, everything became a little weird.
So far, except for these thousands of cavalry, the enemy's main force has never appeared. The scouts sent out have been damaged, and those who have returned have not found anything useful about the enemy.
The strangeness of the battle situation is unprecedented. If he had not been convinced that he should be able to encounter the main force of the enemy in Pingyao and would fight with it, otherwise he would not be able to figure out the actual situation of the enemy. Even if there was an edict urging him, he would not
It would be better to leave the army exposed in the wild like this.
In fact, with Li Shentong's little combat experience gained from raising troops in Chang'an County, it would be difficult for him to cope with such a large-scale battle. It was normal for him to think that the battle situation was strange.
Just like his opponent Li Po, while trying to seize opportunities before the war, he was also constantly adjusting his battle plan. In fact, this was also a sign of inexperience.
It's just that Li Po has experienced too many battles. In comparison, he is much more calm than Li Shentong, and he can also make good use of his strengths and avoid weaknesses at critical moments.
Relying on the power of cavalry to shield the battlefield and lure the enemy into a battlefield that is beneficial to oneself is the embodiment of this experience advantage.
And he has always had a very keen sense of war. Once he realized that he was too cautious, which was detrimental to the war, he immediately led his troops south.
His decision-making before battle also made up for some lack of experience.
In comparison, Li Shentong was inferior. Not only did he face many constraints, but his combat experience was also inferior to that of Li Po.
The surrendered generals in his army who fought on the battlefield in Henan were much more experienced than this army commander.
On this day, the Tang army had left Jiexiu for more than fifty miles. Li Shentong was a little uneasy, but he was still thinking about leading the army forward, and did not feel the danger coming from the enemy's abnormal behavior. He could only say that his battle was
Really little experience.
At this time, Li Shentong moved his command flag slightly to the right, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, and also wanted to see with his own eyes what the combined cavalry looked like.
He could only hide his uneasiness in his heart, but on the outside he remained calm, issuing military orders in an orderly manner, trying to control the marching speed of the army.
At noon, in the drizzle, Tang Jun stopped to eat.
More than 200,000 people were spread out within a radius of more than ten miles. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were cursing the damn weather and those damn enemies while chewing dry and hard corn rice, intending to enjoy a rare and barely comprehensible quiet.
Have a happy time.
The generals of various ministries were thinking about when they would be able to see Pingyao City. The slow marching speed and various complicated military affairs had been tormenting their spirits. Military orders were passed down one after another, but they were all very similar, so they were ready to prepare.
Can't the damn thing have some new tricks? Everyone came all the way here just to head north?
In fact, by this time, the grievances of the generals were building up. They were not afraid of war. What they were actually afraid of was that they could not see many enemy troops, but they always felt that they could encounter the enemy's main force at any time.
A sense of urgency.
This is a problem that infantry will almost inevitably encounter when marching long distances. There is nothing surprising about it. As long as there is a clear strategic goal, this resentment will naturally dissipate.
The important thing is that the Tang army's various units come from different places, and the cohesion of the Tang army is far less than when Li Yuan took office in Taiyuan. In other words, people in the Jin area lack a basic sense of identity with Li Tang.
This emotion is mixed with resentment, just waiting for the right time to burst out.
And Li Shentong's uneasiness stems more from this, rather than from a powerful enemy.
But this was still a relatively peaceful period of time during the army's march.
But their enemies chose the right time to attack at this time.
The Tang army only had a few bites, and the desolate horn sound sounded in the distance, and then there was a horn sound in response from the flank of the Tang army.
The sound was still echoing in the wilderness. The enemy cavalry on the flank of the Tang Army tried their best to swallow the last piece of dried meat, got on their horses, whistled repeatedly, and suddenly launched the first attack of the day.
Correspondingly, Tang Jun also became commotion
Armed with steel, the drizzling summer days were gone in an instant, and the world between heaven and earth was filled with murderous intent.
The Bingdai cavalry came on horseback, changing formations, bows and arrows, and dense arrows rose into the sky. As the drizzle fell, the Tang army immediately responded with arrows, and the soldiers screamed and fell to the ground.
The war horses tumbled in the mud and water amidst the whine.
Blood mixed with rainwater began to flow freely on the ground.
"Report to the general manager, there are about 5,000 enemy troops in the northeast. Look at the flag. The leader's surname is Liu."
When Li Shentong heard this report, cavalry all over the mountains and plains were already engaged with the Tang army's vanguard.
The first thought of Li Shentong, who had tens of thousands of cavalrymen, was that he finally saw the main force of the enemy's cavalry. This judgment naturally came from Jiang Baoyi's narrative, and was also more consistent with the judgments of Li Shentong and others.
In the understanding of the generals of the Tang Army, the appearance of tens of thousands of cavalry in the two-state army should be the enemy's limit. You must know that Xue Ju's bandit army in the northwest is huge and has the help of Turks, but it only has more than 10,000.
Cavalry is available.
Bai Yusuo, the big thief at that time, had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, and he occupied the Liangzhou pasture. He only had 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry under his command, but he was rampaging across the northwest, and no one could control him.
Li Shentong became nervous, and the Chinese army began to move slowly toward the flanks, and military orders to reinforce the flanks were constantly issued.
The sound of horse hooves could be clearly heard across countless armies, and the ground was trembling slightly. In the distant sky, arrows kept coming and going, and the faint shouts of killing also echoed in the ears.
Is this the time for the decisive battle? Everyone from Li Shendong to the next generation probably has this idea.
Li Shentong was still very calm. After hearing that the enemy army had no heavy cavalry, he became much calmer, and then sent an order to Li Xiaoji in the rear army, ordering him to stay where he was and not to move without orders.
When he heard the report in front of the formation that the enemy troops were only harassing the outside and had no intention of charging into the formation, Li Shentong not only breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little regretful. If the enemy troops were charging into the formation at this time, they should
Only if you can take the opportunity to kill the enemy's cavalry and cut off Li Po's arm in one fell swoop.
At this time, Li Shentong didn't feel much joy, but instead frowned.
He was not very familiar with the generals of the border army, but he had heard of some names. After all, Jinyang was not a monolith, and some families had inextricable relationships with Li Tang.
These ten thousand cavalry troops have many flags, but there are only two flag generals. One should be Liu Jingsheng, and the other should be Xue Wanche or Xue Wanjun.
These two men actually commanded five thousand cavalry each, so where were the others such as Yu Chigong, Bu Qun, Luo Shixin and others?
Is it still a harassment? With tens of thousands of cavalry, Li Po is really putting his money where his mouth is.
Thinking of this, Li Shentong snorted coldly and blocked my army from moving forward. It seemed that he had no intention of decisive battle. Did he want me to retreat without a fight? Being weak and timid, this really coincided with his previous prediction.
Li Po's son is already timid. If he can find the main force of his army, he will definitely be able to capture him in one fight.
Then it is easy to understand the military orders passed down by Li Shentong, which told all the troops not to panic and act according to orders. He also ordered Xu Shiji's troops on the left wing to go up the river to reinforce the front army, and ordered his trusted general Wang Lingju to lead his troops to reinforce the right wing.
In fact, it's still the same old thing, just staying the same to cope with the ever-changing situation.
It can be said that these more than 10,000 cavalry did not make Li Shentong feel too much of a threat. Without the heavy cavalry accompanying them, they could not break through his military formation of more than 100,000 troops.
This kind of thinking originated from the old military concepts left over from the Sui Dynasty. Needless to say, Li Shentong actually overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Tang army under his command. With 10,000 cavalry, even if they were fierce, they would not be able to attack the Tang army's formation.
, it was enough to make it difficult for the Tang army to move.
This is a large-scale cavalry force with a lineage that is good at fighting on the frontier. There are not many cavalry in the world today who can compare with them.
If it weren't for the army's other plans, these 10,000 cavalrymen alone would be able to make the Tang army helpless. In the stalemate with Dou Jiande's tribe in Hebei, they had stopped Dou Jiande's hundreds of thousands of troops from advancing. Now, it's just a repeat of the story of the past.
It can be said that now that Li Po was full-fledged, the Tang army from the north encountered a very hard rock, but he still didn't know anything about it.
At this time, Li Po led his infantry to less than thirty miles in front of the Tang army.
Looking down from the sky, a huge cavalry army has slowly moved less than twenty miles away from the Tang army.
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This chapter has been completed!