The three thousand cavalry were all elites of the Tang army. In this regard, Li Jiancheng was very generous. In fact, he had no intention of using Zhang Shigui as cannon fodder.
According to the art of war, guarding the gate must go out to fight, and cannot allow the enemy to attack the city with all its strength. In addition, it also has the advantage of boosting the morale of the defenders.
Of course, this is just for general combat. If you don't have enough troops, you'd better stay at home, otherwise wouldn't you risk your death if you leave the border?
In terms of the art of war, there are many conditions for going out to fight. On the one hand, military strength, and other cities as support, and mutual support are also necessary.
For a key pass like Tongguan close to Chang'an, if we don't go out and fight, there will be nothing to say except showing the incompetence of the defenders.
Zhang Shigui was chosen as general not because of anything else, nor because Li Jiancheng wanted to play with this Henan thief, but because Zhang Shigui was a native of Hongnong and was very familiar with the terrain. With him leading the troops, he could not only detect more enemy situations, but also
Why not reduce casualties?
It was a good idea, but Li Jiancheng didn't understand Zhang Shigui's character too well. What he did would only make Zhang Shigui furious. After leaving the border, Zhang Shigui immediately ordered Lu Chengye to lead his men on an emergency trip to detect the enemy's movements.
Zhang Shigui and Ashina Danai stood side by side under Tongguan. The warm summer wind blew on Zhang Shigui's face, but it made him feel a bit desolate.
Looking east, the wild mountains and rivers of Henan seem to be all in sight. Such mountains and rivers should be the place for a good man to gallop to his heart's content and make great achievements. However, Zhang Shigui was still in his prime years and had not accomplished anything yet.
Although he claimed to be a hero, he could neither establish meritorious deeds and bring glory to the Zhang family nor protect his hometown from the suffering of rebellion.
Thinking of this, Zhang Shigui looked back at the majestic Guancheng and groaned in his heart. He was so blinded by Li Yuan's reputation that he turned to such a person...
Zhang Shigui at this time was actually very similar to Zhang Lun at the time. They both felt that they had served Li Yuan and had made a lot of contributions, but in the end they did not get much benefit. Instead, they were constantly suspected and excluded. This made them very dissatisfied and unhappy, so
There were complaints in my heart, and I gradually developed different aspirations.
There is no need to beautify them too much. This is actually the inevitable result of the stagnation of Li Tang's expansion. Some talented people with poor family backgrounds cannot continue to make military achievements and cannot rise to high positions. Then resentment will follow.
Come.
You couldn't fulfill your original promise and let me gain glory and wealth, but instead I was treated unfairly. So why should I still serve you?
Zhang Shigui's experience was not as good as Zhang Lun's. Both his official position and military power were far behind those of Zhang Lun. For the arrogant Zhang Shigui, one can imagine the resentment in his heart.
At this moment, there was a fire in his heart, but he was also very entangled. After all, his family members were all in Tongguan, and it was not that simple to leave.
But once a person like him has a different intention, he can't stop it.
So after sending Lu Chengye away, he said calmly to Ashina Danai: "My worthy brother has accompanied the King of Qin in the south and north, and has made countless meritorious deeds. I cannot compare with him. But now it is my brother who leads the army. I am really ashamed."
Ashina Danai is in his early twenties. He has a stout build and a lot of stubble on his face. He is already tending to grow into a full beard. He also has a big nose that stands like a mountain in the middle of his face, taking up a lot of space.
A very important position, a pair of eyes that are not big, but always reveal a fierce light.
Yes, this Western Turkic royal family is ugly and has a bad temper, but he is not a brainless person. He has the standard character of a Turkic aristocrat.
After listening to Zhang Shigui's words, the man bared his big white teeth and laughed coldly, "What are you talking about, General Zhang? I see among all the people in Guanzhong, only General Zhang is the most heroic. With General Zhang leading the army, I am
I am convinced."
When Zhang Shigui heard this, he immediately looked overjoyed, slapped the other person on the shoulder and laughed, but in fact he said in his heart, you, a Turk, are here to play tricks on me, hum, you won't even be able to cry after that.
But he said: "I've said it before, my dear brother has been in battle for a long time, and he is much better than us. Actually, I just want to ask, my dear brother, do you think that fifty thousand horses is not too much?"
Ashina Danai blinked and felt a little blurry, thinking to herself, why are you telling me this?
But he did not want to lose courage in front of Zhang Shigui, and immediately said: "No more, no more, just fifty thousand lambs. If I lead my troops to kill them, they may be scattered."
This is what Zhang Shigui wanted, but he suppressed his smile, looked at the other person sideways and said, "I want to kill a lot and make some achievements when I come back, so that people can look at me with admiration, but I'm afraid that what I said is very good, but then...
…”
Being underestimated? Ashina Danai looked at Zhang Shigui and listened to what he said. She felt a little annoyed at that time and opened her mouth to retaliate.
But the man's eyes rolled, his beard twitched, and he swallowed his breath, "General Zhang, there is an old saying in our Turks: the horse's reins are always held in the owner's hands, so that it will not fall, and the knife is always held in the owner's hand.
In the hands of warriors, this way we will not hurt ourselves. The prince has an order that we must not..."
Zhang Shigui curled his lips, turned around and pointed at Tongguan and said: "I thought that my virtuous brother has made countless achievements and is a hero, but instead of being like those people in Guanzhong, he is timid. No matter what big thing he can achieve, it doesn't take much effort on my part. The enemy will come soon."
Far away, let General Lu take a trip, and we will wait here for the reward, which will save us some horsepower."
After saying that, he sneered several times, which was very irritating.
Now Ashina Danai was really angry and wanted to punch this guy who underestimated him to death.
"Don't provoke me. If you have any good ideas, just tell me. As long as I don't come back and get scolded, huh, even if I keep running behind your horse, what does it mean?"
Zhang Shigui finally found his sense of superiority again. The Turkic royal family had been tricked by him, so they naturally felt proud.
But the look on his face was extremely solemn, "Don't worry, dear brother... You see, I sent Lu Chengye out for my brother and asked him to lead five hundred troops to cruise behind the enemy's side. This will definitely make the enemy suspicious..."
Having said this, Zhang Shigui looked at the sky and continued: "Tonight when the sky is getting dark, let's lead the army to rush over... I wonder if Wang Shiwei, a gangster from a wealthy family, and Shan Xiongxin, a Henan bandit leader, can lead the army.
?”
"Under suspicion, these people must have gathered their troops, and seeing that our troops were few and divided into two places, they must have thought that we were just sentrying to detect the enemy's situation, so they were slacking off. I expect that they will rest early tonight and wait for the follow-up.
Army, this is a good opportunity to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. As long as my dear brother is of the same mind as me, the credit for defeating the enemy in the first battle will belong to you and me."
