Zhang Lun's strategy is destined to have no results.
In many cases, the best strategy is not necessarily what the generals want. Those who can lead large armies will not only think about strategy and tactics.
They will think about all kinds of things, and the first thing is actually themselves.
This is not surprising, or to put it another way, selfless people will not have the opportunity to ascend to the position of army commander, they will have been eliminated on the way to promotion.
It is actually similar to the birth process of an emperor. People who appear to be selfless must have great selfishness in order to ascend to the throne.
Therefore, Li Zhongwen was destined not to listen to Zhang Lun's words and abandon Jiexiu to guard Queshu Valley.
Zhang Lun had actually expected it and was not upset. He just turned his head slightly and sneered as he walked out of the lobby.
Everyone under the command of Tang Gong is just like this, there is no difference. They treat him as if he is nothing. They are all timid and timid, and most of them cannot be regarded as heroes.
Tang Gong used nepotism, and Zhang Lun was so confused by his virtuous reputation that he ended up in the company of such people and had to succumb to them. It is really annoying.
In this battle, this is his last effort. What happens next depends on the outcome of the war.
But there is a disadvantage. If these people are still giggling, don't blame Zhang Lun for being ruthless.
…………………………
In fact, it was too late for the Tang army to make arrangements at this time.
No matter whether they leave the city to establish a stronghold or retreat to Queshu Valley, it will be of no use to the Tang army, and it may even cause a disaster.
The cavalry came so fast. From the time the Tang army was alerted to the time it took more than a day to respond, the leading scouts of Li Po's cavalry army had already appeared around Jiexiu.
This time, they did not try to hide their whereabouts. Instead, they patrolled Jiexiu City in groups of twos and threes like a pack of wolves. Some of them went directly to the Queshu Valley. In their eyes, the tens of thousands of Tang troops in Jiexiu City looked like
Nothing is ordinary.
The proud soldiers of Daizhou finally appeared on the land south of Jinyang.
The Tang troops marched to the top of the city one after another, holding on to their swords, guns and shields, preparing to fight the enemy. Fireworks were rising in the city and the noise was loud. It was the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who were preparing the equipment to defend the city.
Seeing that the enemy was few and yet so arrogant, the generals of the Tang army were furious and asked for orders to leave the city. They wanted to chop off a few heads to dampen the enemy's arrogance.
But even Jiang Baoyi understood that this was just the prelude to the war. It would be useless to leave the city at this time. The war was still to come.
Zhang Lun's men were the most elite and few in number. They were supposed to serve as the central army and could assist the four city defenders in critical situations.
But at this time, Li Zhongwen really couldn't trust him anymore and sent him to the south of the city to guard the southern wall of Jiexiu.
It is still early in the day, smoke and dust are rising in the north, and the enemy army has arrived.
Accompanied by the thunderous sound of horse hooves, four thousand cavalrymen, each with two horses, came on horseback and circled the city like a demonstration. The people and horses were like dragons, stirring up the dust below the city, and then stopped outside the north city.
With the flag fluttering, people and horses gathered together and formed a military formation. It didn't take much time to hear anything except the neighing of horses in the north of Jiexiu City. A faint aura of killing spread quickly.
Come, it seems that the warm spring breeze has become a bit colder.
Not to mention that the soldiers of the Tang Army had never seen such a majestic military force, even the generals of the Tang Army looked at each other with fear on their faces.
Li Zhongwen, who was holding the city wall and looking at the appearance of the enemy's troops, also looked a little pale. He had seen what the elite of the Sui army looked like, but most of the ones he had seen were Chang'an hussars. What did a strong frontier army look like? He was
I've never seen it with my own eyes.
As for the grandson of Li Bi, the general of the Shangzhu Kingdom, why he did not live in Chang'an City that day, but lived scattered in Chang'an County, this matter is kept secret by the disciples, but everyone knows it, but they just don't say it.
In order to escape the conscription for the conquest of Liaodong, the young sons of the Chang'an nobles left the city one after another.
Yes, they are deserting from military service.
Therefore, there are really not many of the Guanxi disciples under Li Yuan who have participated in the Battle of Liaodong. Otherwise, anyone who has seen the cruelty of the Battle of Liaodong will no longer feel sorry for this mere few thousand cavalry.
Moved.
At this time, Li Zhongwen's face was a little pale, and he was secretly glad in his heart that he had never encountered such an enemy on the ground. Otherwise, I am afraid that only these thousands of horsemen would be able to break through his army formation composed of tens of thousands of soldiers.
Of course, he is not a fool like Jiang Baoyi after all.
Seeing that the generals around him were silent, he suddenly woke up and patted the city wall, laughing loudly, and then said loudly: "When I saw it today, the frontier fortress cavalry really lived up to its reputation, but it's a pity..."
"We were originally the screen vassal of the country, but now we have become our enemies and brought trouble to the world. It is really hateful. You should work together with me to kill the thief Li Ding'an, eliminate the border troubles, and bring peace to the people of the two states."
He spoke impassionedly, and it didn't matter whether the generals listened or not. Anyway, the more courageous the general, the more stable the hearts of his subordinates. If one soldier is timid, the generals will be timid.
The fear subsided slightly, and someone continued: "They are just forwards, with only a few thousand cavalry, so why should we be afraid? General Manager, I am willing to lead my troops out of the city and fight with them to show our military might."
Well, let’s not talk about whether the Tang Army has so many cavalry. Even if there are, this is a death-seeking behavior. It sounds like it is just talk.
Li Zhongwen encouraged everyone, and his courage seemed to have recovered. He waved his hand calmly and said with a smile: "Don't be anxious. The enemy's morale is high and it will not be easy for them to fight. After a few days, they can defeat their troops under the city.
It’s not too late to leave the city and defeat the enemy.”
As mentioned above, the people below were not idle either. Several horses were galloping under the city, and the voices of persuading people to surrender could not be heard. They were answered by crossbows from the city.
Several people under the city were furious and urged their horses to draw their bows and shoot at the city. No matter how powerful or accurate they were, they were much better than the Tang army. The shot only hit the shield in front of Li Zhongwen with a bang. It was obvious that they saw this group of people gathered together.
unusual.
The generals immediately followed Li Zhongwen down the city wall. It was too dangerous there. It would be a joke if the general of the army was shot dead on top of the city by a few soldiers.
Among the few cavalrymen under the city, one of them was hit by an arrow in the arm, but they still laughed loudly and returned to the army behind the city. They were so strong and wild that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty changed their colors.
Fortunately, the thousands of cavalrymen under the city made no other moves. They dismounted one after another, took off their equipment from their horses without any scruples, and set up simple small tents.
The cavalry under the city were as busy as hard-working ants, running back and forth from the bare Jiexiu city, and soon dragged back more and more wood, preparing to set up camp.
At sunset, Li Zhongwen just returned to his mansion and planned to take a rest. But before he could take a bite of hot food, someone came to report that the main force of the enemy army had arrived.
Li Zhongwen left his bowls and chopsticks behind and rushed towards the Beicheng wall.
Still far away, Li Zhongwen's expression changed a little, because the ground under his feet was shaking slightly, and there was a thunderous sound in his ears.
If there weren't any clouds in the sky, Li Zhongwen might have thought he heard the rolling spring thunder.
When he led his men onto the city wall, even the city wall began to shake.
The cavalry from all over the mountains and plains rushed in like a tide in the dusk.
This kind of momentum is definitely not comparable to that of thousands of cavalry. It seems that there is no other sound between heaven and earth, only the sound of horse hooves is left.
Thirty thousand horsemen and horses finally arrived at Jiexiu City.
Flags were fluttering in the army, and the sturdy knights from the North wearing half-body armor skillfully controlled their horses, forming a torrent that covered the land with darkness, as if there was no end in sight.
This time, Li Zhongwen also changed his face in shock. The cavalry were all cavalry. He couldn't count how many there were. Li Ding'an had only been in Daizhou for a few years? How could he... without Turkic help, form such a large force?
This is not something that Li Zhongwen is making a fuss about. The total number of cavalry in the Tang army is probably not that many. When the army gathered to attack Chang'an, Xijing, there were only more than 10,000 cavalry in the army of more than 200,000.
But now, the number of cavalry in the two states has far exceeded Li Zhongwen's expectations.
Moreover, cavalry and infantry are completely different concepts. Compared with the two, cavalry can be said to be one to ten in terms of cost and combat effectiveness.
This is why cavalry is precious.
The rest of the Tang army was fine, but their fatal injury was here. All the racecourses in the world were in the northern border area. The Tang army only occupied the Chang'an Royal Racecourse, which was the most gorgeous, but also the most unworthy of its name.
Whether it was Li Gui, Xue Ju, or even Liang Shidu, Guo Zihe and others, they all had a natural advantage over the Tang army in terms of cavalry, not to mention Li Po who had repeatedly succeeded in robbing Turks.
Daizhou's war horses once made Li Po worry about whether he could feed them. This kind of happy worry is something that no one in the world can enjoy.
The only thing that the Daizhou cavalry lacks today may be the insufficient number of Hexi horses, which limits their impact, which is slightly inferior to those in the northwest.
Luo Shixin and Wang Zhibian led their troops to prepare for the arrival of the army, but they waited until they received Li Po's military order.
Let them retreat five li to camp.
The two of them have been leading troops in battles for many years, and they knew something was wrong as soon as they heard it.
They did not pay attention to the Tang army in the city, so they set up camp closer to the city. They set up a simple camp only two or three miles away.
This distance is not good for cavalry.
The victory of cavalry is speed. Without the distance of impact, the power of cavalry is greatly reduced immediately.
Especially after hearing this military order, the two of them looked at each other and understood that the general manager was afraid that the Tang army would leave the city and attack the camp.
Now that the Tang army in the city could defeat these many cavalry troops or cause serious damage to them, there would be no other tactical options except defending the city and fighting at night.
Of course, the possibility of a night battle is extremely low. Those who can still be attacked by a night battle while the two armies are in a stalemate are probably fools.
But no matter how many reasons there were, neither of them dared to neglect, and immediately led the army back five miles and stationed themselves in front of the army again.