The strong horse galloped along the road, smoothly and swiftly. Li Shan, who had improved his riding skills, had an ups and downs body, calm and composed. He held the rein in one hand and stroked the horse's mane with the other hand, which was smooth and gentle.
In fact, Li Shan seems to be very good at riding. Even if he is rushing to Yanmen now, he can still keep up. This is largely due to the black horse under his crotch... Yu Sheshe is really interesting. He gave him this gift.
A BMW.
That's all. The key is that this horse has been trained, has a docile temperament, and is very intelligent. Li Shan only needs a slight rein, and the strength of his legs, the horse under his crotch can quickly slow down.
Accelerate, turn and perform various actions.
Yu Sheshe is really a good person... Li Shan couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Wang Junhao's cheers sounded in front, and the cavalry slowed down and stopped near a three-way intersection, preparing to take a short rest.
Li Shan glanced at the intersection and couldn't help but sigh. A few months ago, he passed through this intersection to go to Nao County. As a result, he witnessed the fight between Li Shenfu and Liu Shirang. Both of them ruined the national affairs because of their hatred, so he had to
He returned to Dai County through the intersection for the second time, summoned his personal guards, and passed the intersection for the third time that night and rushed to Yanmen Pass.
The changes in the past few months started from that night.
Li Shan turned over and dismounted, took the bamboo tube handed by the guard and drank two sips of water, "Brother Dingfang has never been to Yanmen Pass, has he?"
"I moved to Jingzhao when I was young, and later moved back to my hometown. I passed through Hedong, but unfortunately I didn't reach Yanmen Pass." Su Dingfang looked around. At the end of his sight in the distance, the mountains were undulating. After a while, he whispered: "The importance of Hedong lies in Daizhou. Daizhou
The most important thing is the Yanmen, which rises from the ground and has a sheltering effect."
“The land east of the river is full of mountains and rivers.” Li Shan said casually while pacing to soothe his calves: “Yanmen Pass is located at the intersection of Hengshan Mountain and Luliang Mountain.
The state is a shield, so it can cover the east of the river."
"To the west of Yanmen Pass, the terrain is flat and can go straight to Mobei. Therefore, Yanmen Pass is really the eye of the chess, and it is also the throat."
"Brother Dingfang, do you know why Jieli Khan attacked Yanmen first when he invaded?"
This problem is not a problem for people like Su Dingfang. He only thought about it briefly and said: "Since Mayi was established in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, although the barbarians entered the pass later, the Central Plains repeatedly went out of control, and successively established Shuozhou and Yunzhou. This is the key point.
road."
Li Shan nodded and said: "Whether it is infantry or cavalry, the cities along the way need to be used as supply points. Therefore, whether the Chinese are leaving the fortress or the Hu people are going south, the main force must pass through Yanmen."
The two most critical areas in Li Tang's dynasty, and where Li Tang's base camp was located, were Hedong Road and Guannai Road. From the perspective of routes, in fact, if the Turks attacked Lingzhou and moved south and east, they could quickly reach the vicinity of Jingzhao. For example, Wu
At that time in the fourth year of Germany, thousands of Turkic troops broke through the Great Earthquake Pass.
However, Chuluo Khan and Jieli Khan always led the main force to attack Yanmen Pass and wreak havoc in Hedong, mainly because the towns in Yunzhou and Shuozhou could provide supplies along the way.
Among them, Mayi is the most important and the city closest to Yanmen Pass, so it is very important to both the Tang army and the Turks.
Of course, the Turks did not give up other routes, such as attacking Hexi and Longxi, or attacking Lingzhou from the north of Guannai Road.
Li Shan also once wondered why the Turks did not directly enter the Guannai Road, but Li Daozong, who visited a few days ago, solved his doubts.
It’s not that the Turks don’t want to, but the large area north of Lingzhou was ceded to the Turks by Prince Li Jiancheng. It is quite desolate. Moreover, Lingzhou is a vast area with sparsely populated areas and not many towns. Therefore, the Turks can only take the Lingzhou route.
Attacking with partial divisions will only be possible if the main cities of Prefecture, Yinchuan and Anle can be captured and a large amount of food and grass supplies can be obtained.
However, the two governors of Lingzhou, Yang Shidao and Li Daozong, were ruthless people. Every time the Turks invaded, they would clear the country and defend the city. If the time was not right, they would rather let the Turks go south instead of attacking.
While chatting, Li Shan pondered in his mind, the Weishui Alliance in the original sky and Jieli Khan had all fought outside the city of Chang'an. Did they also take the same road as Yanmenguan?
Who was the governor of Bingzhou at that time?
Li Shenfu?
But from Yanmen Pass to Chang'an, it has to be thousands of miles, and you have to cross the Yellow River... Could it be that you go straight from Lingzhou to the inner pass?
Li Shan had no impression of this aspect, so he thought about it for a moment and then left it. Suddenly he heard the noisy soldiers not far away. He turned his head and saw that Su Dingfang had already walked over quickly. He glanced over and immediately became quiet.
Each general's leadership style is different. Su Dingfang led his troops into battle, sometimes charging into the battle, sometimes sitting in the rear. There was no normal situation, but he was usually very strict and had the wind of a thin willow.
Zhu Shitou beside him muttered in a low voice, "A bunch of bumpkins..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Shan turned around, glared, and scolded in a low voice: "When it comes to beheadings and military exploits, how do you compare yourself to others?"
"Is it brighter than the armor you are wearing?"
Su Dingfang is now serving as the Zhonglang General in the Twelve Guards. He is already a high-ranking general. As a foreign minister, he can bring personal guards. Most of these personal guards are his old troops during the Western Expedition. They have long heard the name of Dongshan Li Huairen.
There are no so-called Confucian commanders in this era, because before the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was no clear distinction between civil and military forces. These warriors who fought on the battlefield both respected and feared Su Dingfang, and their attitude towards Li Shan was a bit... to put it nicely,
Be respectful, but fearless.
After all, in comparison, Li Shan's image is a bit weak, which does not fit well with his legendary deeds of forcing the enemy general to surrender in the battle of tens of thousands of soldiers.
The respect for Li Shan mainly comes from the newly acquired mounts, ordnance and armor. Some of these personal guards were transferred by Su Dingfang from the rotating Nanya Imperial Army, and some were recruited from the rotating Fu soldiers system. Armor and ordnance are not the same.
Complete and of varying quality.
And what Li Shan was equipped with... included strong bows and crossbows, various types of armor, shining swords, new stirrups, and various horse equipment. Of course, the best ones were the war horses.
These were all brought back from outside the Great Wall and sent to Jingzhao. Each horse is worth ten thousand yuan. How can ordinary people afford it... As they were distributed, the horseless guards were all excited. How could they be disrespectful to Li Shan?
?
Su Dingfang mentioned this matter bluntly, and the implication was that these people were no better than Qi Laosan and the Zhu clan, and it would be difficult to win their hearts if they only showed kindness.
But Li Shan didn't care. From the beginning, he never thought of keeping Su Dingfang by his side. Now that he is a senior general, he should naturally have his own team... Well, the main thing is that both Li Shan and Su Dingfang understand in their hearts.
In terms of political stance, the two people are inseparable in this life. The connection is too deep.
After resting for a while, the group was ready to continue setting off. Su Dingfang glanced at the Mingguang Armor on several personal guards not far away and couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
During the Li and Tang dynasties, swords, bows and arrows were not prohibited among the people, but armor was prohibited. Even for soldiers, armor preparations had to be reported to Zhe Chongfu. After an ordinary soldier wore armor, his combat power immediately increased by 50%.
Li Shan didn't take it seriously. These armors were all sent by Princess Pingyang to Du Xiao years ago, including fifty pairs of Mingguang armors... a very heavy gift. Generally speaking, middle and low-level officers in the Twelve Guards system
You may not be able to have one.
However, these armors were all reported to Emperor Li Yuan in private... After all, he was in charge of the Daizhou Governor's Office, and fifty pairs of Mingguang armors was not too much.
More than half an hour later, they finally arrived at Yanmen Pass. Li Shan and Su Dingfang went straight to the top of the city. They saw that the guards all had ugly faces. They heard a few obscene words and curses from time to time, but they did not hear any shouts of killing.
Li Shan had a bad premonition, and despite the obstruction of his guards, he looked around and saw that there was a steep landslide under the towering city wall. There were more than a hundred unarmed people standing on the slope, while hundreds of Turkic cavalry were either yelling or cursing, or bending their bows.
arrow.
Li Shan understood immediately and punched the city wall hard, "How dare you, thief!"