Chapter 1,162 Forming an array to resist the enemy
The majestic Xuanwu Gate stands high on the Longshou Plain. Looking up from the bottom up, the towering tower seems to have pierced the dark sky. The gurgling rain makes this gateway to the Tai Chi Palace even more mysterious.
The high mountains stand tall, and the Yue Town is as majestic as the Kyushu.
Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong, both wearing bamboo hats and raincoats, stood on the city tower, looking at the Tai Chi Palace in the dark night and rain. The lights illuminated this most noble palace in the world, which was less majestic and more solemn.
Somewhat peaceful and comfortable.
However, behind this tranquility illuminated by lights, there is another direct struggle for imperial power since the founding of the Tang Empire. Who wins and who loses, who lives and who dies, is no different from that night more than ten years ago.
Winner takes all, loser for Kou.
Li Xiaogong turned around. Under the city tower behind him were the military camps of the left and right guards. The lights in the right camp were brightly lit. Cavalry scouts could be vaguely seen coming and going from the camp gate, and there were many people in the camp.
Zuotunwei was completely dark, with only a few lanterns swaying in the darkness. The entire army had rushed to the Bashui line to set up defenses, and only a few soldiers were left to guard the camp.
Li Xiaogong remained silent. The rainwater dripped from the edge of the bamboo hat, making his vision a little blurry and his mood becoming more depressed and irritable.
The lights on the city walls on both sides were brightly lit, and groups of "Yuan Cong Forbidden Army" with helmets and armor were standing in the wind and rain. Their swords were still in their scabbards and their arrows were not unstrung, but the strong murderous aura had filled the entire Xuanwu Gate.
With a single command, you can launch a thunderous strike like a hunting beast.
After a long time, Li Xiaogong said in a deep voice: "Have you considered it?"
Li Daozong stood in front of the arrow stack with his hands behind his hands, overlooking the brilliantly lit Tai Chi Palace under the rain curtain, and said calmly: "There is nothing to consider. We have been deeply favored by the late emperor, and we should repay our bodies by being broken into pieces. Even if the late emperor has passed away at this moment,
We must also abide by his legacy, otherwise how will Jiuquanxia have the face to face the late emperor in the future?"
Li Xiaogong sighed and remained silent again.
There is no doubt about the loyalty of Zhenguan Honorable Ministers to His Majesty Li Er, but whether His Majesty Li Er is alive or dead, this loyalty will inevitably change.
If His Majesty Li Er was still there, no one would dare to rebel. Even after his death, the Guanlong clan headed by Changsun Wuji would only dare to raise troops in the name of deposing the prince, and then depose the prince and establish a new prince. The Tang Dynasty would still be the same country.
In the Tang Dynasty, the successor king must also be the heir of His Majesty Li Er.
Loyalty and reverence have been deeply ingrained in the hearts of Zhenguan Xunchen, and he dare not forget or violate them.
But now that His Majesty Li Er has passed away and the new emperor has ascended the throne, when the loyalty to His Majesty Li Er goes against the interests of the new emperor and even the entire world...
Loyal or unfaithful?
Li Xiaogong himself didn't know the answer, so he didn't force Li Daozong on what to do, but tried his best to persuade him.
But obviously, his persuasion had no effect. Li Daozong had made up his mind and chose to remain loyal to His Majesty Li Er and his legacy.
Is it right or wrong?
Li Xiaogong himself didn't know.
*****
It was about to dawn and the rain gradually stopped. Qu Tuquan rode his horse in front with a helmet and armor. Behind him, five thousand infantrymen waded through the muddy water and rushed on the road. Not far away on the right was the undulating Lishan Mountain. On the left were ten
The rest of the mile is filled with the rolling Ba River. Looking from a distance, another army is echoing along the right bank of the Ba River, advancing hand in hand. The pine oil torches burning in the rain are like a long dragon, menacing and murderous.
More than 100,000 troops lined up along the Wei River, Ba River, and Chan River to defend Chang'an. They only had to withstand Yuchi Gong's sudden attack and wait for the navy to capture Luoyang and Hangu from behind Tongguan and cut off its retreat.
They could attack from both front and back and launch a massive counterattack, defeating the rebels gathered in Tongguan in one fell swoop and putting an end to the rebellion.
However, the purpose of marching is to attack while defending, to defend while attacking, and to move freely between virtual and actual advances and retreats, rather than blindly defending and allowing the enemy to launch an offensive, so as to maximize the strength and combat power of the army.
Therefore, in addition to setting up a defensive line to secure Chang'an, Qu Tuquan led one of the East Palace Sixth Army, and Chai Zhewei led most of his Zuotun Guards. The two armies started from Baqiao and protruded from the entire defense line, along the mountains of Lishan.
They rushed towards Xinfeng along Guandao Road, trying to build defenses in Xinfeng to slow down the enemy's surprise attack so that they could not go all out to attack the Chang'an defense line.
When it got daylight, the two armies marched together and were not far from Xinfeng. Along the way, scouts came and went, constantly relaying the enemy's movements.
"Report! The enemy has arrived at Xinfeng. The defenders in the city surrendered without a fight. Xinfeng has fallen!"
"Report! The enemy troops have been reorganized in Xinfeng and have left the city to attack westward."
"The general is Yuchi Gong, and his subordinates are all elite Youhou Guards, numbering between 20,000 people!"
…
Xinfeng is to the south of Lishan Mountain. At this moment, Qu Tuquan and Chai Zhewei have led their troops to bypass Lishan Mountain and arrive dozens of miles west of Xinfeng Mountain. Lishan Mountain is to the north.
Hearing that the enemy's army numbered more than 20,000, Qu Tuquan was determined. Wu Qiandonggong Liu led the elite troops on his side, plus the more than 10,000 troops led by Chai Zhewei this time, the number was already close to 20,000. Twenty thousand were against them.
Twenty thousand, even if Yuchi Gong is famous and brave, and his soldiers are even more brave, he only needs to take a defensive position to slow down the opponent's advance, which is enough for a battle.
Qu Tuquan immediately ordered the entire army to stop advancing and sent people to Chai Zhewei to discuss stopping the advance and wait for the arrival of the enemy. In his opinion, Chai Zhewei was more than capable of defending but not aggressive enough, so he was allowed to continue to advance and fight the enemy in the field.
You probably wouldn't dare to engage in an encounter, but if you are ready to defend the road to Chang'an, there should be no problem.
Again, the two armies on our side are horns and coordinate with each other. Their strength is comparable to that of the enemy. As long as they fight steadily, even if they cannot win a complete victory, they can still greatly slow down the enemy's speed. Even if they show defeat,
You can also retreat calmly and complete Li Jing's previous order.
Soon, Chai Zhewei wrote back, and he agreed with Qu Tuguan's suggestion, and told Qu Tuguan that the two armies should maintain communication. If Qu Tuguan's side couldn't stand it, he must send a message to him, so that the two armies could advance and retreat together to avoid being defeated by the enemy.
Take advantage of the situation to pursue them and defeat them one by one.
Qu Tuquan immediately ordered the construction of fortifications on the spot, placed all the deer and horses he had brought with him, and arranged the troops in formation to wait for work.
The rain is pouring all the time, and the simple cement on the official road has been trampled to pieces, mud is splashing, and the road condition is extremely bad. This will greatly slow down the enemy's charge, which will be more beneficial to the defending side.
Qu Tuquan was young, but had a calm personality. He also had a family background in military tactics and strategy, and the temporary defensive formations he constructed were decent. In view of the fact that both Li Siwen and Cheng Chubi were defeated and captured, the enemy could march straight in, so there was no point in doing so.
Not daring to be careless, he personally commanded the formation in the rain, constantly boosting the morale of the troops.
With the right time, right place, and right people, Qu Tuquan was confident of holding on to his position and thwarting the enemy's offensive. At the very least, he had to slow down the enemy's advance, and then slowly retreat to the vicinity of Baqiao to redeploy his defenses.
A gust of north wind blew, the rain was swaying and the rain was getting heavier. The cold air made the soldiers arrayed in the rain tremble.
"Report! The enemy has been here for twenty miles!"
"Report! The enemy's forward three thousand light cavalry have separated from the group and are coming at full speed!"
"Report! The enemy has arrived one mile away and is charging at full speed!"
…
As the messages came one after another, the soldiers in the front line could already feel the shaking of the ground under their feet. Under the rain, a black line rushed from far to near.
A charge formation composed of thousands of light cavalry suddenly jumped into sight amid the rain, wearing leather armor and swords, running at full speed, and arrived at the distance almost in the blink of an eye.
"Crossbowmen prepare, release!"
collapse!
There was a sound of bowstrings, and a hail of arrows rose into the sky, penetrating the rain curtain, drawing a parabola and falling into the charging enemy formation.
Puff puff puff! Even if the rain causes the bow string to be wet and the tension is greatly reduced, the arrows fired carry inertia from top to bottom and can still easily penetrate the leather armor of the light cavalry. The triangular arrow clusters penetrate into the bodies of soldiers and war horses.
Inflict damage.
Herod!
There was a burst of war horses neighing, and dozens of charging horses fell down, causing the companions behind them to be affected and tripped. There was a chaos in the charging array, but the remaining soldiers ignored the loss of their horses and pressed their bodies tightly against the horses to reduce the pain.
force area, constantly urging the war horse to continue to accelerate.
"put!"
The second round of arrows flew into the sky again, and then fell into the enemy's formation.
"put!"
Three rounds of arrow rain caused great damage to the charging light cavalry, but they failed to completely destroy the enemy's charging array. After three rounds of arrow rain, countless horse hooves trampled on the ground, causing slight vibrations. The running horses were soaked and their speed was increased to the limit.
, and slammed his head into the deer camp lined up in front of the defenders' formation, blocking the horses.
Two other cavalry formations quickly broke away from the main group, and launched a surprise attack on both sides of the defenders' array at Luzhai, behind the resistance horses.