Li Chengqian singled out five thousand elite soldiers among the Liangzhou soldiers, and then led his troops to attack the Daxianbei Mountains.
Because some of the Liangzhou soldiers had followed Li Chongyi through this road before.
So this time, the difficulties Li Chengqian faced were much smaller than those faced by Li Chongyi. .??.
And there is another very important reason.
That was when Li Chongyi led his army into the Daxianbei Mountains, there was heavy snow that blocked the mountains, which made the march very difficult.
But now, spring is warm and flowers are blooming, and the people are marching much faster than when Li Chongyi led the troops.
At the same time Li Chengqian set off for the Daxianbei Mountains.
Li Tingxue also personally led 35,000 Liangzhou soldiers to continue heading north.
…
The Western Front Battlefield of the Tang Dynasty.
After the Western Turks joined the war.
It seems that the war on the northern front is no longer so important.
After all, in terms of national strength, the threat of the Western Turks to the Tang Dynasty was much greater than that of Goguryeo, a small land.
In order to fight against the invasion of the Western Turks, the Tang Dynasty sent not only the two powerful generals Li Jing and Li Ji, but also troops from Shannan Road.
Perhaps when it comes to Shannan Road, others are a little unfamiliar with it.
I even forgot that the Tang Dynasty had a force called the Bashu Soldiers and the Xiangyang Soldiers in Shannan Road.
Of course, I can't blame anyone else, I just blame Bashu soldiers for having too few opportunities to appear.
The only time he made an appearance after the founding of the People's Republic of China was when Li Shimin was stationed in Yunzhou with Li Daozong when he was campaigning against the Northern Desert Turks.
But that time, because of Li Chengqian, Jie Li, who should have been captured alive by Li Daozong, got into Hou Junji's pocket.
This is also a big credit to Hou Junji for picking it up.
And because of this, the soldiers of Shannan Road missed a good opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
As a result, in recent years, even people within the Tang Dynasty have not taken the soldiers of Shannan Road seriously.
But they look like I have forgotten, thinking about which regiment was the one that fought across the Yangtze River and made Xiao Xian surrender...
Recall that at the beginning, Li Xiaogong and Li Jing led the Bashu soldiers to go down the river to attack Xiao Mian. On the way, they joined the Xiangyang soldiers led by Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang, and went all the way south.
Zhou Faming, a general under Xiao Xian who fought within one day, led the four states to surrender.
Later, they captured Anzhou and defeated Xiao Mian's general Lei Changying and Lu Shan, who surrendered.
Especially in the battle at Qingjiangkou, the Bashu soldiers and the Xiangyang soldiers both showed their daring and unafraid of death, fighting the enemy in a thrilling manner.
Not only defeated the enemy, but also captured thousands of warships.
Next, Li Xiaogong led the Bashu soldiers and Xiangyang soldiers to attack Yichang, Dangyang, Zhijiang, and Songzi.
Attacked Jiangzhou and forced the general manager Gai Yan to surrender...
It can be said that without the bloody battle between the Bashu Army and the Xiangyang Army, it would have been at least a few years before the Tang Dynasty unified the world.
And this time, the two armies also had full strength when they came to the northwest battlefield.
They also want the world to see that these soldiers from Bashu and Xiangyang are not living off the ground, and are not much worse than the soldiers from Bingliang and Liangzhou.
When Li Jing and Li Ji led their troops to the northwest, the Western Turks had already broken through Yumen Pass.
And they have begun to gather troops and horses to besiege Hecang City.
Faced with this dilemma, Li Jing didn't say a word, and immediately ordered five thousand cavalry, entered from the left wing of the Western Turks' military formation, fought out from the right wing, and fought straight to the gate of Hecang City.
There were originally fifteen thousand soldiers in Hecang City.
And because the Fengsui Fortress and Yumen Pass in the northwest have been successively breached recently.
Many scattered soldiers who had escaped from the front line were also gathered here, totaling nearly 18,000 people.
After seeing the reinforcements coming, the defender of Hecang City was too excited and made arrangements on the spot.
The generals were dispatched, leaving 3,000 men to defend the city, and then led the remaining 15,000 men to rush out of the city and engage in a melee with the enemy.
Twenty thousand soldiers were united in one place, and the twenty thousand Western Turkic soldiers on the east side of Hecang City were defeated in just one charge. Groups of Western Turkic soldiers broke into pieces and fled.
After hearing the news, the Western Turkic general did not lead his army to come to aid, but immediately ordered the entire army to launch a three-sided attack on Hecang City.
There were less than 3,000 people left in Hecang City itself. As a result, three city walls were breached without even putting up any decent resistance.
Li Jing didn't have time to scold the general, so he quickly ordered the entire army to enter the city for rescue.
He originally planned to consume the enemy troops and find an opportunity to open a safe passage for the backup troops.
But they never thought that the general of Hecang City would be so brainless that he would dare to lead his troops to fight out when the enemy troops were surrounding the city on all sides.
Fortunately, the recent victory allowed the Hecang City defenders to regain their lost morale.
Next, they followed Li Jing and started a fierce battle with the enemy in Hecang City.
The fighting lasted from day to night.
After a bloody battle by the defenders of Hecang City and the 5,000 soldiers and horses brought by Li Jing, they finally recaptured the city walls and gates that had been captured by the enemy.
But this time, a new problem arises.
There was no safe passage. If Li Ji wanted to lead his troops in, he would have to kill him forcefully.
But in such a chaotic battle, no one can guarantee that they will have the last laugh.
Neither Li Jing nor Li Ji dared to do this.
Therefore, Li Ji, who arrived later, could only order the entire army to set up camp.
But this time, the situation became a little funny.
Li Jing and the defenders of Hecang City were besieged by the Western Turks.
Li Ji led the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to besiege the Western Turks. No one could do anything to anyone, and the battle situation changed from an offensive and defensive battle at the beginning to a confrontation between 200,000 people.
… …
Inside the Chinese military tent.
Li Ji looked at the map with a sad face.
Now even he doesn't know what to do.
After all, the confrontation between the two armies is not like a children's house game where you punch me and I kick you.
It's not like in a confrontation with thousands of people, once one party has the advantage, it can trample the other party to death.
In this kind of confrontation between hundreds of thousands of people, just a little carelessness can lead to a total loss.
If 100,000 people were defeated, it would be a real rout.
It’s unclear how many people would have to die along the way to stop the rout.
Li Ji didn't dare to gamble, and he couldn't afford it.
Similarly, the Western Turks did not dare to gamble, so the two sides could only confront each other like this.
However, the Western Turks have an obvious advantage. They are besieging Hecang City.
The tens of thousands of soldiers inside need to eat and drink. If time goes on, they will have no choice but to break out.
By that time, Datang had completely lost control of Hecang City.
Yumenguan and Hecang City are specially designed to protect the Hexi Corridor Silk Road.
If these two cities were lost, it would mean that Datang lost control of the Hexi Corridor.
At that time, not only the Tang Dynasty would lose a lot of money earned through the Silk Road.
It will even cause Datang to completely lose its northwest barrier and fall into a situation where the enemy can attack whenever they want.
Li Ji looked at the generals in the field and said, "Everyone, has anyone thought of a good strategy to defeat the enemy?"
The generals looked at me and I at you, and finally they all lowered their heads.
Obviously, they did not dare to speak randomly at this time, for fear that if they lost the war, the fault would fall on themselves.
Seeing this, a young military general in the crowd chuckled and expressed disdain.
Immediately, he stood up directly, raised his hands towards Li Ji and said: "Commander, I will eventually have a good strategy to defeat the enemy..."