In early September, when Qiu He came to surrender, Xu Shiji falsely claimed that the Tang army had 50,000 cavalry encircling Luoyang, which made Qiu He and others realize that there was no hope of breaking out of the encirclement, so they asked to surrender.
In fact, Bu Qun had already received news from Yuchi Gong at that time, and swarmed south with 15,000 cavalry led by Li Nian, Xue Wanche and others.
Liu Jingsheng, who was stationed in Hongnong, led 5,000 people to settle in Luoyang.
At this time, the autumn harvest had passed. Zhang Yunzhi, who was transferred to the general manager of Yizhou, recruited 10,000 soldiers in Pingyao. He followed him south into Henan and handed over the military power to Liu Jingsheng. Xu Shiji and others took office with their retinue.
At this time, the Luoyang army had nearly 150,000 troops. Instead of reducing the size of the army by eliminating the weak and retaining the strong according to the previous rules, the Tang army allowed Qiu He and others to continue to lead the army and recruited General Youyuwei, who was stationed in Hulao.
Wu Yuan came in and surrendered.
Wu Yuanjin wrote back and scolded Qiu He and others for betraying the emperor and refusing to surrender.
In mid-September, Xu Shiji, Liu Jingsheng, Qiu He and others led their troops out of Luoyang and attacked Hulao.
At the beginning of winter, there was not much time left for the army, and the war in Henan also entered the next stage, and the war with Dou Jiande began.
It was not the good news coming from the south that prompted the war in Henan to move forward, but the cavalry army moving south.
Bu Qun led the army to Xiangyang, rested for two days, brought enough food and grass, and immediately marched eastward to Zaoyang. Jun Jun, the general manager of Tangzhou, came out. The army did not stop here, but bypassed Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain to attack Yiyang.
Yiyang is located between Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. It controls the two Huaihe Rivers on the left and Jianghan on the right. It is the north-south thoroughfare and a strategic location. It is an important military town for Xiao Xian to prevent Dou Jiande from going south.
It's just that the two families quickly became friends after Li Yuan's defeat, and their contacts increased.
When Xiao Mian was preparing to go north to Henan, he mobilized troops from various places, and Yiyang was no exception. When Wang Shichong was defeated at Tongguan and Xiao Mian occupied Henan's territory.
It reaches Nanyang in the west and ends almost at Yiyang in the east. When the Yiyang garrison was at its largest, there were 15,000 garrisoned here, but now there are only 5,000 left.
Due to the wars in various places, the food and grass for the Yiyang defenders had been cut off for two or three months. Dou Jiande wanted to capture Yiyang to improve the defense of southern Henan, but he did not want to fall out with Xiao Mian at this time, so he delayed
Haven't taken action yet.
When the Tang army arrived, the isolated and helpless Yiyang garrison realized that the situation was over. The garrison generals discussed it before leading their troops to surrender. At this point, the southern gate of Henan had been opened, but the Xia army had not noticed it yet.
On September 18th, the second year of Yuanzhen in the Tang Dynasty, the cavalry of the brigade crossed Yiyang and entered Runan County along the eastern foot of Tongbai Mountain against the rising north wind.
The south side of Runan County was still surrounded by rolling hills, and the marching army was miserable. Under the leadership of the guide, the army emerged from the hills and finally entered the edge of the plains in eastern Henan.
The confused Bu Qun, Li Nian and others stopped and rested for three days before marching into Ruyang again.
The desolate scene of Henan was gradually revealed in front of everyone. The fields that used to be were overgrown with weeds, and from time to time you could find dead bones lying there. Most of the former villages and towns were silent, with ten rooms and nine empty rooms.
The description is very apt.
It is quite common for them to come from the west of Henan. The whole of Henan is in a dying state. The hinterland of the Central Plains, where the population is at its peak, has become a sad scene due to natural and man-made disasters, with bones exposed in the wild and no roosters crowing for thousands of miles.
But people are still fighting and competing for each other, and the pace of war has not stopped.
The Luoyang army attacked Hulao at the beginning of winter precisely because Bu Qun, Li Nian and others had led their troops to take a detour to attack Xia. What they had to do was to firmly drag the main force of the Xia army in Xingyang.
The strategy formulated by the Ministry of War could no longer keep up with the development of the war. The Tang army's early winter offensive was entirely the result of the exchange of letters between the generals before the battle.
The Tang army destroyed Liang, and its morale was at its peak. The cavalry had been recuperating in western Henan for several months. It was not as tired as the infantry, so it was time to use force.
The most important point is that everyone believes that the news of Xiao Mian's defeat has not spread yet, and Xia's army has little preparation. It is a good opportunity to regain Henan and severely damage Dou Jiande.
Even though severe winter was coming, it could not extinguish the fiery fighting spirit of the cavalry generals, so the early winter offensive was launched.
……………………
Xingyang, Xia Army Zhongjun.
Dou Jiande has always claimed that he had millions of soldiers, and under his rule, the people were kind, not picking up lost items on the road, and never closing their doors at night.
In fact, if you listen to it, you will know that most of them are just rumors. Military control has been implemented under Dou Jiande's rule. In many cities, there were not many people left. After the army moved in, they began to farm.
Generally speaking, it is the rhythm of all the people joining the army. It is similar to that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who exhausted all the people's resources to prepare for war. However, Dou Jiande certainly cannot compare with Emperor Wu. He could only barely keep everyone fed.
But when the big bandit in Shandong became the emperor, it would be nice to let the people under his rule live a peaceful life for a few days. How could he not pick up lost things on the road, stay open at night, and cheat ghosts?
As for having one million soldiers, that's just a false claim. He probably has two to three million people under his rule. If he recruits everyone, he can claim to have one million soldiers, but that won't be enough.
By the way, in November of this year, Li Jing and others sent the register of Jiangling to Chang'an. People from the Ministry of Household Affairs made a summary and found that the combined territories of Li Po and Xiao Xian had a population of eight to nine million.
The people were so miserable that Li Po's heart was broken.
Consider that when the Sui Dynasty was at its peak, the population was close to 50 million. Excluding the marginal alien races that were incorporated into the Sui territory, the population should be around 45 million.
In the early years of the Great Cause, the population began to decline slowly, and nothing could be seen in the household registration. Too many people died of various labors, and more and more people fled their registration. As taxes increased, the nobles
The phenomenon of hiding people has become serious again.
In the sixth year of Daye, the population decline trend began to intensify. The three conquests of Goguryeo were a turning point. From then on, the population in various places was declining sharply.
Until now, the world has been in dire straits, and the population... at best, it's almost fifteen million, and at worst, it's over ten million.
This is undoubtedly the most tragic and darkest period for the civilization of the Central Plains. More than two decades of chaos have led to the deaths of tens of millions of people.
Later, people only saw the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the glory of the heroes in the late Sui Dynasty. People even remembered the wars in the late Han Dynasty and the chaos of the Five Husbands in China. However, they always vaguely ignored the end of the Sui Dynasty when the Central Plains civilization fell into
What a deep valley.
This is a rather strange thing. Maybe it was because the romances of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people later on?
And when those shocking numbers are in front of you, how do people feel?
……………………
Despite the vigorous efforts of Dou Jiande and his ministers, the Xia army still retained many traces of the rebels.
Poor military discipline is their main characteristic, low morale is a common symptom, half-peasant and half-military is their essence, the government soldier system no longer applies to the Xia army, they should be standard field soldiers.
Of course, they have basically completed the transition from a rebel army to an official army, and they will not go into the mountains and forests at any time and come out to rob the people when they run out of food and grass.
The generals of the Xia army have also become a new generation of nobles. Give them ten to twenty years, and they may be able to reproduce the glory of the Northern Qi military group.
……………………
The Xia army's central army was in Xingyang, not the county and city.
Shangshu Ling Cao Dan had already crossed the river and became the commander-in-chief of this army of nearly 200,000 men. As Dou Jiande's brother-in-law and Shangshu Ling of the Xia Kingdom, Cao Dan was undoubtedly one of Dou Jiande's most trusted people.
The reason why the Chinese army was stationed in Xingyang was because it was closer to Hulao.
In the evening, Cao Dan, who had been discussing military matters with the generals all day, returned to his lodgings and was immediately served food by his servants. Cao Dan had no appetite and ate some.
After a hasty dinner, Cao Dan went to his study. While drinking tea, he had a headache and thought about how to explain the matter to the emperor.
I originally thought that this year would be like this, with Li Ding'an and Xiao Xian fighting over each other. Why would they have to fight for two or three years here in Henan alone? Look at Li Mi and Wang Shichong, that's not the case.
But Qiu and that guy suddenly surrendered, which shocked Xia Jun and made them puzzled. Finally, everyone agreed that it might be because the food and grass in Luoyang City were not enough to support Liang Jun through the winter.
Cao Dan thought it was a bit of a joke. More than 100,000 troops marched north to Henan, but they didn't prepare enough food and grass, so they sent the people to Luoyang to feed the dogs?
He felt something was wrong, but the cavalry of the Tang Army was so sharp that the spies couldn't find anything at all, and most of them never returned...
As soon as Qiu He surrendered, the situation in Henan immediately changed drastically. The Tang army began to attack Hulao, and the Xia army became nervous. Cao Dan sent troops to reinforce Wu Yuanjin while preparing to fight the Tang army in Xingyang.
As the sky grew dark, the lights were turned on in the study. Cao Dan rubbed his forehead, laid out some paper, and began to concentrate on writing the memorial.
In addition to describing the current situation, he also wanted Wang Cong to lead his army to help.
He rather believed in the saying of being prepared. The more than 100,000 troops deployed in Hanoi were just a gesture and of little use. Just like when the Tang army came to attack Hulao, Wang Cong did not dare to lead his troops across the river from Hanoi to attack Luoyang.
It is better to lead the troops to Xingyang County to spend the winter, and at the same time make preparations for a big battle with the Tang army in Xingyang County once Hulao falls. There are still many ancient battlefields where Chu and Han fought for supremacy.
In addition, he always wanted the emperor to ask the Turks to send troops for reinforcements. The Tang army had the advantage of cavalry and was invincible in every battle. The cavalry had to be dealt with by cavalry, so it became a good choice to lure the Turks south.
.
However, his repeated suggestions were not accepted. The emperor told him that after several contacts with the Turks, he could not give them what they wanted.
Dongfang Khan Ashina Duowen wants Youzhou, which is like a lion's mouth. Dou Jiande is not stupid, how can he agree?
This chapter has been completed!