After Zuowuwei entered Tongguan, tens of thousands of troops immediately deployed their defenses. Not only did they make the defense outside the pass impregnable, but they also stood ready inside the pass. Heavy troops were deployed at many checkpoints in the Forbidden Valley. The front line even extended to the bank of the Yellow River, with numerous sentries and troops.
The array is connected and watertight.
When Cheng Yaojin completed the defense arrangements at Tongguan, Li Jicai led the main army to belatedly arrive...
Climbing up to Guancheng, looking far into the distance, he suddenly felt that the sky was high, the clouds were vast, and the mountains and rivers were vast. Li Ji looked at the troops of nobles who entered Tongguan from time to time and rushed to Chang'an, with an expressionless face but sharp eyes.
Returning to the tower, he knelt down behind the desk. In front of him were Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Zhang Liang, Xue Wanche, Ashina Simo and other generals. They all had a desk in front of them with a teapot and hot water.
Li Ji lifted his cloak, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then looked around everyone, and finally his eyes rested on Cheng Yaojin, and asked: "How is the situation in the pass?"
Cheng Yaojin said: "It has been calm these past few days. The fighting in the Taiji Palace has temporarily stopped. The peace talks between the East Palace and Guanlong have started again, and it seems to be progressing quite smoothly. Yesterday evening, the scribes and scribes of the Duke of Ying arrived in Tongguan and wanted to leave the customs to visit the emperor.
The commander-in-chief has been stopped by me and is staying in the pass. If the commander-in-chief receives him, I will send someone to notify him later. If he does not see him, I will order him to be expelled."
Li Ji pondered for a moment and said, "No one is coming from the East Palace?"
Until now, he was about to lead his army into the Pass, influence the situation in Chang'an, and decide the fate of many people. Since Guan Long sent people to lobby, there was no reason why the East Palace couldn't come.
Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said: "No one has come yet... But now the vast area east of Chang'an is controlled by Guan Long. If the East Palace sends people to come, they will definitely need to take a detour and face Guan Long's pursuit and interception along the way. Even if they finally arrive at Tongguan
It will take a long time, and even if you are not careful halfway, you will become a prisoner of Guan Long."
Originally, when the army was stationed in Luoyang, Fang Jun could still reach Luoyang via the ancient Shang-Yu Road, but now Li Ji was in Tongguan, and Dong Gong wanted to come, so he faced even more difficulties and obstacles than before.
Li Ji said in a deep voice: "Don't pay attention."
Then he looked at the generals and said: "All departments in the army must try their best to restrain the soldiers and garrison at Tongguan. No one is allowed to leave the camp without authorization for any reason. If there is any violation of the order, I will only ask you!"
Hundreds of thousands of troops have been on the Eastern Expedition since the spring of last year, traveling thousands of miles to fight for nearly a year. The homesickness in the army is extremely serious. Especially for the children of Guanzhong, who are now stationed in Tongguan and their hometown is so close, it is inevitable to feel homesick. If not
If they are restrained, the morale of the army will be weakened and discipline will be loose.
We are just soldiers. If the lieutenant general returns home privately, it will not only shake the morale of the army, but also leak information about the general...
It must be strictly stopped.
"Here!"
The generals agreed with a bang.
Li Ji nodded with satisfaction, but he also knew in his heart that the people in front of him each had countless interests involved, and their respective camps belonged to different factions. It was almost impossible to get them to act in accordance with military disciplines without violating them.
Sometimes, the leakage of information in the army will make the army extremely passive. But as the saying goes, soldiers are unpredictable and water is unpredictable. There is no unchanging military method in the world, let alone permanent principles. Sometimes, you can also take the initiative to disclose the information to the army.
Some leaks...
He said: "If there is nothing urgent, please go back. Remember to restrain the army and obey orders at any time. If there is any delay, military law will be dealt with."
"Here!"
When the generals responded to the order and were about to withdraw, Li Ji suddenly remembered something, raised his hand to stop the generals, frowned and asked: "Zhou Daowu led his headquarters to escort the prisoners back before the army, why has he still not been able to return to Guanzhong until now? "
Zhou Daowu took the lead and escorted the prisoners back to Chang'an. The Eastern Expedition army besieged Pingrang City for many days before withdrawing. The army was advancing slowly and slowly. As a result, the army arrived at Tongguan, but Zhou Daowu, who had taken the lead, had not yet arrived...
It seriously delayed the military aircraft and is unforgivable.
Zhang Liang was in charge of military correspondence and intelligence transmission. When he heard Li Ji's inquiry, he thought about it carefully and said: "When the army was passing through Yecheng, he received an official letter from Zhou Daowu, the inspector general of You Xiaowei, saying that it was snowing heavily in winter. The road conditions in Liaodong were difficult, and the prisoners suffered many injuries. In addition, frostbite was difficult to heal, and the casualties were extremely heavy. The march was slow. When Zhou Daowu sent the document, he was about to arrive at the border of Yingzhou, and he begged the general to allow him to station for a few days to replenish supplies. , and then hit the road and drive quickly."
"Ah!"
Li Ji sneered and was very dissatisfied: "There are so many casualties and the march is slow? In my opinion, the prince-in-law dislikes the difficulty of traveling on the road and simply stays in Yingzhou until the spring warms and civilizes before he can go. Even, I'm afraid there won't be many prisoners left."
Li Ji looked down upon the prince-in-law who was raised in the palace by his majesty when he was a child.
When fighting, he avoids danger and fights for advantage. He has no character of being a soldier who endures hardships and is not afraid of hardships and dangers. He is just a dandy who loves to eat.
They are not even as good as the dandy children. With the sudden rise of Fang Jun, Pei Xingjian and others who have repeatedly made meritorious deeds, the upper limit of the dandy children has suddenly been raised. As a result, even the dandy children now have high hopes from their families. To be able to repent once and for all like Fang Jun and others, and turn back the prodigal son...
Yuchi Gong was also dissatisfied with Zhou Daowu, even though he fought side by side with Zhou Daowu's father: "I'm afraid it's not just that the captives suffered heavy casualties. Since the Prince Consort stayed in Yingzhou and never set off for Chang'an for so long, maybe it was Not even one of the ten prisoners left in the escort remained. He was afraid of being dealt with by military law when he arrived in Chang'an, so he delayed his trip, hoping that the chaos in Guanzhong would change and no one would hold him accountable."
Everyone was silent.
This is very possible. Once they encounter a difficult journey when escorting prisoners, army generals are often afraid of abandoning or even killing seriously injured prisoners, so as to speed up the speed, reduce the burden, and save food and baggage. Throughout the ages, this has almost become Unwritten rules.
Even the great Confucians of the Han family did not take the prisoners seriously...
Li Ji waved his hand and said: "Ignore him, no matter what the situation is, military discipline and law cannot be violated. Anyone who dares to test the law must bear the corresponding consequences."
After everyone dispersed and returned to camp to restrain the army, Li Ji, led by Cheng Yaojin, came to a posthouse located under the pass and saw Yuwen Shiji who was waiting there.
…
The weather is good today, the sun is warm and the warm breeze is caressing. Except for the corners, the snow in the shade of the house is still white, and the ice has gradually begun to melt in other places.
In the side hall of the post house, the post soldiers prepared a table of wine and food. Li Ji and Yu Wenshi sat opposite each other, with Cheng Yaojin accompanying them.
The three of them clinked glasses and drank, and Yu Wenshiji sighed with a look on his face: "Last spring, hundreds of thousands of troops marched eastward with flags flying, chariots and horses tumbling, and they conquered the unfaithful. Who could have imagined that this war, which involved the entire country, would end in Working in vain and returning home defeated?"
Cheng Yaojin, who was drinking and eating at the side, took the time to swallow the food in his mouth, glanced at Li Ji, their eyes met, and then reminded Yuwen Shiji: "The Duke of Ying probably had too many thoughts in Chang'an and was unaware of the major events in the world.
, now Pingrang City has been captured, and the Yuan clan is on the run in embarrassment. Although the forces from all over the country support it, it won't be long before the entire Goguryeo will be incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Although there were many mistakes in this Eastern Expedition, it was completely successful.
achievement."
During the Eastern Expedition, the entire army excluded Fang Jun's troops, fearing that they would share the military merits of a must-win battle. After all, in the past few years, Fang Jun was the leader in almost all the foreign wars of the Tang Dynasty. This man repeatedly
After many battles and great achievements, a prince-in-law, Captain Qingyun, was promoted to the title of Duke of the country, which made countless people red-eyed.
But now that Guanzhong has collapsed and the situation is in chaos, Fang Jun and his troops can no longer be excluded, no matter which camp Fang Jun is in.
Moreover, the navy captured Pingrang City with one force. This feat has shocked the past and present, and is so powerful that no one can just ignore it?
Especially this despicable act of deliberately dividing the navy, Cheng Yaojin was particularly disdainful...
Although the Eastern Expedition was not fully completed, and His Majesty died because of the jealousy of the British Lord, the Tang Dynasty is now at its peak, with strong soldiers and horses. Even if it suddenly encounters a catastrophe, it can still make a safe transition with its strong foundation. As long as the prince ascends the throne, the situation in the court will be quickly stabilized.
, it was still the Tang Empire that looked down on all directions and had all the nations coming to court.
The result was a group of scofflaws who only had their own interests in mind. They brazenly conspired for their own selfish interests. They gathered an army of more than 100,000 people to depose the East Palace, and reduced Chang'an, the imperial capital of the world, to almost a ruin.
Selfishness and lawlessness are just a bunch of bugs in the country.