Chapter 3 The War (Part 2) Li Shimin is wearing a black-leaf rhinoceros leather armor and a black-gold cocked helmet. Except for the lack of beard on his face, from a distance, he looks like a shrunken man.
Xuzi warrior Yun and another general Li Xu couldn't name followed him, followed by Murong Luo and Li Anyuan. For a moment Xuzi thought that Zhang Xiu and Yuwen Shiji would also appear in the crowd opposite, but in the end except for
Apart from these few people, he didn't find any more familiar faces.
"Brother Zhongjian, I really didn't expect to meet you here!" A miniature version of "Li Xu" clasped his hands on the horse, with a scarlet cloak fluttering behind him. The horse under his crotch was also black, with no half of his body
The root of miscellaneous hair, face to face with the black wind, complement each other.
"I heard that the second young master took this road, so I took the time to chase him from behind." Xu Zi immediately clasped his fists in return, looking constantly at the opponent's front and back.
The heroic spirit of the warrior next to him still looked as calm as before, with a happy expression on his face, but his behavior did not change at all. Murong Luo and Li Anyuan greeted Xu Zi with smiles and waited quietly for the end of their general's greetings with each other.
"Have you been to Taiyuan?" Li Shimin heard that the other party came here deliberately to join him, and the smile on his face became even stronger. He regarded this as Li Xu's respect for him, and felt very proud, "You have seen me."
Are dad and brother together? Everyone has been talking about you recently!"
At this point, the smile on his face suddenly became a little strange, as if he was sharing a tacit secret with the other party. In fact, everyone was talking about Li Qi. This lawless little girl made Li Yuan so angry that he almost lost his temper.
The news that Xuzi had married Zhang Xutuo's adopted daughter as a concubine had already been sent to Taiyuan by friends of the Li family. The core members of the family knew very well that the bride must be Xuer, but they could not take Xuzi seriously. After all, she was
Zhen'er brought it to the door herself. Moreover, a pot of uncooked rice had already been made into muddy porridge. Even if the Li family came to the door, they would not be able to get any justice.
Xu Zi thought for a moment and understood the meaning of Li Shimin's words. He smiled and replied calmly: "I came directly from Qi County. I took a shortcut and didn't pass through Taiyuan Tang Gong and Brother Jiancheng. Fortunately, Brother Hongji
Well, why didn't he come with you?"
"Everyone is doing well except for Brother Hongji. He has a bit of a cold. He may have to be nursed for a while. Brother Zhongjian, how are you doing recently?"
"Everything is fine, everything is fine!" Li Xu conveyed his message to the other party in a general way and then turned to the warrior Xun, "How are you, brother Shi Xun? General Murong and General Li are fine!"
"Lao Lilang will ask, we have been doing well recently!" Murong Luo and others finally got the chance and gathered around with smiles.
They wore the same style of armor as the warriors, and their official positions were still governors, but they were definitely no longer affiliated with the Xiongwu Camp. Xuzi quickly drew a conclusion from the clothes of several friends: "These people are now under Li Yuan's command. What exactly is the Xiongwu Camp?"
What happened?' He was a little worried, but at the same time he understood that there was nothing he could do.
"General Yun Dingxing is organizing the troops to set up camp. He asked me to say hello to you for him!" Li Shimin explained very skillfully the reason why General Yun Dingxing did not come to greet him. Then he pointed to the young people beside him.
Subordinate, "This is my army chief, Sun Wuji. Brother Wuji, this is the brother Zhongjian I have been telling you!"
"See General Li!" Changsun Wuji cupped his fists and saluted Xuzi, followed closely by Li Liechen, Liu Chong, and Chen Jian, all rising stars in Tang Gongfu. Xuzi had never dealt with them before, but judging from their behavior and
From their expressions, it can be inferred that these people are direct descendants of Li Shimin.
He also introduced Qin Shubao to Li Shimin. Luo Shixin and Zhang Jiang heard that the other party was a hero whose portrait was painted by the emperor and hung in the palace. Li Shimin's eyes immediately ignited with a burning light. He quickly led the war horse forward and stretched out his hand to hold it.
Qin Shubao's arm was saluting, "I should be the one to salute Brother Qin. You are older than me and have a higher official position than me!" After that, he quickly jumped off the horse, cupped his fists and bowed, "Li Shimin of Taiyuan, I have met Qin
Brother! I’ve heard about Brother Qin for a long time, but I didn’t expect to meet him today!”
"Young Master, how could this happen!" Qin Shubao also quickly got off his horse and bowed his head. The children of aristocratic families he had seen in the past were more arrogant, so for the sake of Xu Zi and Tang Gong Li Yuan, he did not want to fight with him.
For those who are serious about their official positions, they never expected that Li Shimin was actually a different kind. Not only did he not have the slightest arrogance of a descendant of aristocratic families, but he also showed enough humility.
"I've seen Brother Luo, I've seen Brother Zhang!" Li Shimin bowed to Qin Shubao, turned around and bowed to Luo Shixin and Zhang Jiang, and bowed to Luo. The two Zhangs also quickly jumped off their horses and clasped their fists in return, "I've seen the young master!
"
"Don't call me Young Master. I am Brother Zhongjian's clan brother. When it comes to official positions, Brother Qin and Brother Luo are both above me!" Li Shimin waved his hands and said angrily.
"We are all of the same age, so it's better to talk about friendship as equals!" Changsun Wuji was experienced and made a timely suggestion.
This proposal received a lot of response, especially from Luo Shixin and Zhang Jiang. The politeness just made them feel uncomfortable. "It's best to call them by their first names, which saves a lot of trouble. Otherwise, there are so many generals, and they don't even have to call me General Li."
Know who to call!”
"Just what Brother Yiluo and Wuji say!" Li Shimin promised with a smile, and then stepped forward to pull the reins of Hei Feng. "I will take you in. With Brother Zhongjian here, this battle will be much easier!" He smiled.
While introducing, he saw with satisfaction that Asahi quickly jumped off the horse.
Li Xu handed over the task of reorganizing the team to Zhang Jiang and Luo Shixin. He was accompanied by Qin Shubao to see General Yun Dingxing Huben. His position was also fourth rank, but Yun Dingxing belonged to the border army and had far more power than Xuzi, so it was inevitable.
Xuzi has long been accustomed to this kind of bad habit in officialdom, and is unwilling to argue with the other party.
After a brief exchange of greetings, the host and guest quickly brought the topic to the current battle situation. "General Li has come thousands of miles to come to his aid. His loyalty is commendable! But the Turks are coming with great force, and we must not underestimate the enemy!" Yun Dingxing was obviously dissatisfied with the number of county soldiers.
A little disappointed, although he doesn't have many soldiers under his command.
"The bluff was the idea I gave to General Yun. The Turks are very powerful, and reinforcements have already suffered losses in their hands because they can't figure out our numbers, so we haven't encountered any interception yet!" Li Shimin took Yun Dingxing's hand.
He started to explain to Xu Zi and Qin Shubao in a low voice.
"It's not like that guy surnamed Yin was so incompetent that he was scattered by thousands of people. If General Yao hadn't tried his best to save him, he probably would have had his own head cut off by the Turks!"
Yun Dingxing sneered and commented sarcastically.
This person's gloating attitude made Xu Zi very disgusted. If he had known this, the county soldiers should not have come forward to join him. Looking back at Qin Shubao, Xu Zi also saw the same dissatisfaction on the other person's face. He turned his gaze again
Turning to Li Shimin, I found that the latter's expression was very calm, as if he had already become accustomed to everything around him.
"General Yin underestimated the enemy too much, so he was caught off guard by the Turks who suddenly came out. In the end, the entire army was wiped out!" Changsun Wuji's words confirmed the seriousness of the situation from the side. "Except for Yanmen Pass and Guoxian County, the other thirty people in Yanmen County
All nine cities have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Thanks to General Yun's caution, our troops and horses are temporarily safe. We are less than half a day's journey from Guo County. If we go further, we may encounter enemy troops at any time!"
"General Yun's advice is a blessing for us younger generations!" Warrior Yu also came over, intentionally or unintentionally blocking Li Xu's face with his body. The Xuzi in his memory was still the young man who couldn't bear the grievance. Someone needed to help him.
But Xuzi proved his maturity with practical actions, nodded to everyone who cared about him, and said with a smile: "Fortunately, I met General Yun, otherwise I would have suffered a big loss if I didn't know the situation!"
"After all, Jiang is the hottest!" Qin Shubao quickly exchanged glances with Li Xu and praised
Youdao was the person carrying the sedan chair. Seeing that everyone was so respectful to him, Yun Dingxing was embarrassed to say any more offensive words. He proudly stroked his white beard on his chest and said, "It's easy to say, it's easy to say. You and I are in the same palace."
The brothers must have encountered a lot of troubles on the way, and I heard that the Taihang Mountain area has been very unstable recently!"
"Thanks to General Yun, the road is relatively peaceful!" Li and Qin smiled and answered in unison.
"Well, put your brothers at the back. If there is any trouble, my men will take care of it first. You can rest assured to recover your strength!" Yun Dingxing nodded and made a decision without hesitation. "If you have anything to add, just ask.
Although my hands are tight, I can still squeeze out some bows and arrows and a staff!"
"Thank you, General Yun!" "Thank you, General Gaoyi!" Li Xu and Qin Shubao were overjoyed, and thanked Yun Dingxing repeatedly and waved their hands generously, "You're welcome, we all have to fight together! Your weapons are better, mine are
My brothers will lose less!"
This was his only reasonable word. Several generals who were familiar with Xu Zi looked at each other and smiled, and the atmosphere in the tent became relaxed. Li Shimin ordered someone to lay out a map and detailed the situation he had grasped. "
This invasion by the Turks may have been planned for a long time. Over the past few years, their camps have been moving closer to the border. Some places where Hu and Han used to mingle have now completely turned into pastures for the Turks. Local officials have reported to the court many times, but Your Majesty sees that
The Hu people don’t know the etiquette and have always refused to argue with them!”
Speaking of this, he smiled, with a bit of helplessness on his face. Dingxiang, Mayi, and Yanmen counties also fell under the jurisdiction of the Hedong Soothing Envoy. After Li Yuan took office, many people discovered that the three counties were invaded by Turks.
Due to the serious situation, he had repeatedly revised books to report to the court, but every memorial came to nothing.
"This time the Turks came from the junction of Yanmen and Mayi, and their number was close to 300,000."
"So many?" Qin Shubao gasped. After receiving the imperial edict from King Qin, he analyzed the enemy's situation with Zhang Xutuo and others and believed that the maximum number of Turkic soldiers and horses could not exceed one hundred thousand.
At that time, the Shibi Khan could not even provide supplies!" At that time, Mr. Zhang Xutuo, who had had contact with the Turks, analyzed very confidently
"In addition to the subordinates of Shibi Khan, there are many other tribes from eastern Liaoning who have entered the fortress and robbed them." Li Shimin nodded and responded that as long as the Central Plains is weak, foreigners will definitely come in to fight for thousands of years. This has become a common practice. Moreover, those in the fortress
The tribes were originally just outsiders. If they had to choose between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks at this time, they would definitely choose the latter.
"Then what do they eat?" Qin Shubao had previously heard from Xu Zi that other tribes outside the Great Wall would follow the Turks' judgment, so the reason for his surprise was not due to the complex composition of the enemy.
"In addition to looting all the cities in Yanmen County, they also looted most of Mayi County!" Li Shimin's words were full of anger. "You arrived a little late, and the fires in many places have already been extinguished. If it had been two days earlier, it would have been possible."
You can see black smoke covering the sky...!"
"It's because Wang Rengong is so timid that he doesn't dare to go out of the city to fight!" Yun Dingxing suddenly added another sentence, startling everyone.
Xu Zi disagreed with this point. In his memory, Wang Rengong was a very brave general. He remembered that it was this man who led Zuo Wuwei's soldiers and horses to break through the Goguryeo interception on the banks of the Liao River. In an instant, the Mai Tiezhang
, Qian Shixiong, Liu Wuzhou, Xue Shixiong, familiar faces dangled in front of his eyes, giving people the feeling of being in a dream.
"General Wang Rengong is old!" Warrior Yu sighed in a low voice, confirming Yun Dingxing's evaluation of this man. "He is no longer the General Wang he used to be. If he is still half as brave as he was, the Turks will not be as arrogant."
Would be so arrogant!"
"We are no longer what we were before." Xuzi responded with a sigh in his heart and pointed at Yanmen Pass. He continued to inquire about the surrounding situation, "How many defenders are there in Yanmen Pass and how long can they last?"
"It was very dangerous before, but three days ago, Yu Wenshiji, with the help of old general Qu Tutong, led the Xiongwu camp to break through the siege and rushed in. Now the Xiongwu camp is guarding Yanmen Pass, and General Qu Tutong leads the remaining soldiers to retreat.
Xiaoheishan responded and the situation no longer seems so urgent, but there are barbarians everywhere, and it is not easy to repel them!" Li Shimin showed a bit of admiration on his face, thought for a while, and answered
"It's also possible that the Turks deliberately put the Xiongwu Camp into the city. There wasn't much military rations in the city, but suddenly there were more than 20,000 mouths, which were consumed faster!" Changsun Wuji took over Li Shimin's words and said from another
