The army went to war, and murderous intent filled the fields.
In early June of the second year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, nearly 130,000 Tang troops broke out from Hongnong, which started the war in Henan.
Previously, after a fierce quarrel among the generals, General You Qianniu Beishenfu and Yunnei County Duke Liu Jingsheng volunteered to stay in Hongnong and led 10,000 troops to garrison Hangu.
Behind him were General Zuo Yuwei and Duke Zhibian of Yanmen County who led 5,000 troops to garrison Tongguan.
These two men were the emperor's most trusted military generals. They were very senior, slightly less talented, and not as ambitious as others. They were willing to take a step back in some matters.
With everyone vying for credit, their actions undoubtedly seemed very rare. Everyone remembered their benefits, and after the war, they could not be left behind in the discussion of merit.
……………………
Once the army rises, there will be no stagnation.
Accompanied by the rumble of horse hoofbeats, Xu Shiji, the general of the Wuhou Guards on the left, and Xue Wanche, the general of the Wuwei Guards on the right, each led 5,000 cavalry troops and left Hongnong eastward, heading straight for Mianchi.
They were part of a partial division, cutting off the food and fodder of Liang Jun in Luoyang. From the time they arrived near Luoyang, the road in the direction of Luoyang would be cut off.
In other words, from the beginning of June, no more carriages transporting grain and grass could be allowed to enter Luoyang City. The strategy of the Ministry of War during the winter was to trap Liang Jun in Luoyang.
Nowadays, there have been many changes, but generally there will be no changes. More than 100,000 Liang troops led by Qiu He, the general manager of Jiangzhou, have entered Luoyang City.
What Xu Shiji and Xue Wanche wanted to do was to trap them in Luoyang. This was undoubtedly a difficult task, because not only did they have to block the road from Luoyang to Nanyang and to Jiangzhou, but they also had to be prepared for Dou Jiande to come to help.
The large-scale maneuvers of the cavalry would make the battlefield unimaginably open, and the cavalry units led by Xu Shiji and Xue Wanche were the essence of the Tang army, providing the prerequisites for this tactic.
Although the generals of the former Sui Dynasty had great military exploits, their use of cavalry was far less flexible than that of the Tang army today, and their combat effectiveness was also very different.
There was no shortage of war horses in the former Sui Dynasty, but in terms of tactics, heavy cavalry was generally used in conjunction with infantry operations. It was not until the end of the Sui Dynasty that the strategic advantage of the frontier fortress was greatly reversed, and the light cavalry became the protagonist of the frontier fortress war.
Especially when Li Po led his army to guard Yunnei, he almost maximized the potential of the light cavalry, and only then stood out in the bloody frontier war.
Until now, the cavalry tactics of the Tang army have become more mature, and the training of cavalry in the army has been greatly different from that of the former Sui Dynasty. Heavy cavalry gradually withdrew from the stage, and light cavalry formed alone on the battlefield.
Invincible.
This was undoubtedly a major innovation in the military power of the Central Plains. In addition to greatly reducing the logistical pressure on the cavalry, it also made tactics more varied.
Just like now, when the large group of cavalry spread to Mianchi like a tide, the Mianchi defenders with only 2,000 people were immediately stunned.
The cavalry from all over the mountains and plains came on horseback, their sound was like thunder, and they stirred up dust all over the sky.
The Mianchi garrison was divided into two parts. One part was the Liang army that had just arrived, and there were hundreds of people who were the remnants of Wang Shichong. There were less than a thousand Henan people in the city.
They are all old and weak people who cannot leave their hometown. Like many places in Henan, they are all in a dying situation. They cultivate some thin fields around Mianchi to maintain the most basic life, and they have to beware of some bandits coming to snatch food rations.
When Liang Jun came, he temporarily brought some hope to the people here. Seeing that they were too pitiful, even the soldiers guarding the city were in ragged clothes, and their faces were sallow and thin, so they distributed some military rations to them, and they immediately gained support, which gave Liang Jun a lot of children.
A savior feeling.
But when the army came to the city... Even though the general repeatedly warned the cavalry that they were not good at attacking the city, as long as they defended the city, the enemy could not do anything to them. However, looking at the raucous momentum, the defenders were stunned, and the battle had not started yet.
Morale has collapsed.
Liang Jun had never seen so many horses and cavalry before. The Tang Jun cavalry walking around the city kept shouting for them to quickly open the city and surrender, otherwise they would do something. Liang's soldiers were on the city.
He tightened his grip on the weapon, his arms and legs fighting, and he almost fainted.
What made them even more regretful was that those who were so grateful a few hundred years ago showed their ferocious face without much discussion about the surrender of Henan soldiers to their parents and relatives, and when the Tang army arrived, they tried their best to kill the surrounding Liang army and opened the door.
The city gate.
Mianchi came down with a drum, and the Tang army did not stop. Only a hundred people were left to wait for the arrival of the follow-up infantry, and then they roared away. For them, who had experienced hundreds of battles, this was just a small test. The success of breaking the city was
So insignificant.
Mianchi and Luoyang were already within easy reach. After leaving Mianchi, the Tang army divided its forces according to the previous plan. Xu Shiji led the army out of Luoyang, and Xue Wanche led the army south to Yiyang.
Liang Jun, who was guarding Yiyang, was still in an unsettled state. He was defeated after a short attack. In one day, he captured two cities in a row and there was no longer any barrier in the west of Luoyang.
The feeling given to the Tang army was that Liang Jun was vulnerable. It seemed that although they entered Henan, their souls remained in Jiangzhou, and they were not prepared at all for a life-and-death battle with a powerful enemy.
The weakness of the southern soldiers also surprised the Tang army. They had been fighting against the Turks and Li Yuan, and they were shocked when they first came into contact with the Liang army.
In the impression, the Liang army, which has a large number of people, sufficient food and grass, and dominates the river, should be their strong enemy. However, after the battle, it seems that the Liang army is not much more difficult to deal with than the northern bandits, and is even more ferocious.
Not as good as.
Of course, the Tang army would not change its battle plan because of the enemy's weakness.
Xue Wanche passed through Yiqian without stopping, entered Xiangcheng County, and attacked Chengxiu.
When they arrived at Chengxiu, which was the county seat of Xiangcheng County and where grain and grass were transferred, Liang Jun's behavior finally became normal. They stayed behind closed doors and planned to defend the city.
In fact, the performance of the Tang Army frightened them. They just heard that Li Ding'an started out as a cavalryman. The Tang Army's cavalry was very powerful, so it was best not to fight with them in the field.
But I didn't see it with my own eyes, I just imagined it based on the scattered cavalry in the south. How could it be possible?
The feeling given to Liang Jun was that the time had been peaceful at the last moment, and he only needed to take care of the army's logistics. The news he received was that there was no need to worry. The Tang army was still in Hongnong and there was no movement. Both armies were advancing in triumph, and the situation was great.
The next moment, enemy troops appeared in groups in front of them. If it weren't for the hungry and red-eyed bandits in Henan, which caused them a lot of trouble and alerted them, they would not have let people into the city unnecessarily.
As soon as the Tang army arrived, they could rush into the city gate.
On the eighth day of June in the second year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Wanche besieged Xiu. It was only four days before Qiu He led his army into Luoyang. The retreat of the Liang army in Luoyang was already in danger.