Chapter five hundred and seventy-six: meet on a narrow road
These five groups of soldiers and horses actually only had 50,000 soldiers and horses in Yizhou New City, which started from Yizhou.
The other four branches are all soldiers and horses directly recruited near Shuozhou.
However, the generals leading the army were replaced by Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong, Li Daozong and others.
The 50,000 soldiers and horses led by Wang Fangyi were actually very fast.
Because they don't need to carry much military rations at all.
You only need to carry a few days' worth of rations, and there are ration supply points along the way.
Now the Tang Dynasty's national power was prosperous, its grain storage was sufficient, and its transportation capacity was greatly enhanced.
Grain and grass can be easily transported to Shuozhou.
Of course, when transporting forward, there will be no such ordinary roads, and the speed will be greatly reduced.
But before Shuozhou, everything was smooth sailing.
Moreover, they are now helping the Turks, and the Turks will definitely produce a large number of cattle and sheep.
Based on the above situation, Yizhou's cavalry is very fast.
Of course, the faster ones are actually infantry.
There is no other way. The infantry can take the train and get off the train and take the passenger car.
Even taking a rest at night can be done in the car.
The cavalry is not that fast. First, it is definitely not as fast as trains and cars.
Furthermore, the endurance of war horses is not that strong, and they must rest at night.
Along the way, it took more than a month to reach Shuozhou.
At this time, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong, and Li Daozong, each with 50,000 troops and horses, had assembled outside Shuozhou.
The Turks Libi Khan expressed a warm welcome to the aid army of the Tang Dynasty and gave them a grand reception.
At the banquet, Li Min couldn't help but ask: "As for Libi Khan, I wonder where Xue Yantuo's army is now?"
Turkic Libi Khan couldn't help but introduce: "His Royal Highness the King of Shu of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Yantuo's army has now finished digesting our Turkic tribes, and is now marching towards Shuozhou, and will attack Shuozhou in the near future."
After listening to Qilibi Khan's words, Li Min nodded slightly.
Then he said to Qilibi Khan: "Please also ask the Khan to give me a complete map of Mobei."
Qilibi Khan said quickly: "This is natural. I have prepared the map a long time ago and will send it to His Royal Highness the King of Shu of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible."
…
After the banquet, when Li Min returned to the commander's tent, he found that Libi Khan had indeed sent him the map of Mobei.
Li Min took the map, stared at it carefully for a long time, and then discovered an extremely serious question.
Damn it, I can't understand this map at all.
I have to say that the Turks' ability to draw maps is really poor.
Looking at the dark mass in front of him, Li Min really didn't see what the painting was about.
Next, Li Min couldn't help but call Wang Fangyi, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong and Li Daozong all over.
"Xue Yantuo's 200,000-strong army will attack soon. When the time comes, how and where we are going to fight, please tell us your opinions!"
Hearing Li Min's words, Cheng Yaojin said directly and carelessly: "What else is there to say? Just do it and be done with it?"
Yuchi Gong also said: "Yes, just do the fucking thing!"
Qin Qiong said seriously: "Xue Yantuo's combat effectiveness is still higher than that of the Turks, and he faced an army of 200,000. If we are as reckless as you, then we will lose the lives of many generals?"
"Therefore, when fighting, you must make a decision before taking action. You must be responsible for the lives of the soldiers. From now on, all actions must obey the orders of the King of Shu!"
Hearing Qin Qiong's words, Li Min couldn't help but nodded slightly.
What Li Min is actually afraid of now is these old guys who rely on their old people to act like they are old and don't obey his orders.
On the battlefield, if a general does not obey his command, the consequences will be very serious.
Now that he heard Qin Qiong's words, Li Min felt more relieved.
So, Li Min stood up and asked Qin Qiong: "General Qin, come here and take a look at the map of Mobei."
Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and others all stood up and walked towards the hanging map.
Then Li Min discovered that Qin Qiong could indeed understand the map drawn by the Turks.
Even Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong can understand it.
It seems that their ability to become all-powerful generals is definitely not for nothing.
Under Qin Qiong's guidance, Li Min quickly figured out the nearby map.
Shuozhou is located in the northwestern part of Shanxi Province, China, on the upper reaches of the Sanggan River.
It borders the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the northwest and Yanmen Pass to the south.
The entire Shuozhou is generally surrounded by mountains on three sides in the north, west and south, and the mountains are relatively high.
In the middle is a plain formed by the impact of the Sanggan River, which is relatively low.
The overall terrain of Shuozhou is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, only the east side is accessible.
And to the south is Yanmen Pass, which is not impregnable, but is extremely easy to defend.
However, after discussing with the five generals, Li Min finally decided to resist the enemy outside Shuozhou.
It's not that they didn't want to wait for work and relied on the geographical advantage to attack Xue Yantuo.
But Xue Yantuo is not a fool either.
The Tang Dynasty's 250,000-strong army was stationed in Shuozhou, and their total strength was only 200,000.
Will they take the initiative to attack Shuozhou with an egg against a stone?
What they were afraid of was that Xue Yantuo would take the initiative to evacuate when he saw a bad opportunity.
The army of the Tang Dynasty could not escort the Turks all day long.
After Xue Yantuo retreats, he can launch an attack on the Turks at any time.
It's impossible for the Tang Dynasty to send troops to assist every time, right?
The best way is to beat Xue Yantuo completely until it hurts and scares him this time.
They were so beaten that they did not dare to attack the Turks again, and they even had no ability to attack the Turks again.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty actually had no strong intention to destroy Xue Yantuo.
Because the kings and ministers of the Tang Dynasty knew it very well.
The grassland people are like leeks, they are cut one crop after another, but they are never finished.
If Xue Yantuo is destroyed now, the Turks will have no natural enemies.
It may allow the Turks to develop rapidly.
Although the Tang Dynasty is sending troops to help the Turks now, when the Turks develop and grow, they will definitely threaten the borders of the Tang Dynasty.
There are no eternal enemies between countries, only eternal interests.
Therefore, for them, this time Xue Yantuo's army was approaching, so they could not scare them away at once.
We have to drag them down, then dig a hole and bury them all.
The plan was decided, and Li Min ordered Wang Fangyi to be the vanguard, lead the army out of Shuozhou, and set up camp outside Shuozhou, waiting for the arrival of Xue Yantuo's army.
Li Min ordered Qin Qiong and Li Daozong, two generals, to set up camp in the dangerous places outside Shuozhou.
Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong served as the central army.
In fact, the most suitable army for the Chinese army should be the 50,000 Yizhou Army led by Wang Fangyi.
But these four are all veteran generals, and Li Min felt that if they were allowed to serve as vanguard officers, they might not be happy.
The army's rations were specially placed on an unnamed mountain in front of their central army.
The nameless mountain is nameless because the mountain is not high, just a hill.
Of course, its area is not small, and the top of the mountain is very flat.
Because the mountain is not high, it is very convenient to transport food up and down.
The Wuming Mountain is not far from where all the armies are stationed.
This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so Wuming Mountain is used as their military food station base.
On Wuming Mountain, Li Min sent three thousand infantry to garrison.
After the formation of troops was completed, Li Min sent out a large number of scouts to investigate the movements of Xue Yantuo's army.
One day later, the scouts reported that Xue Yantuo's army was heading here.
Xue Yantuo's army of 200,000 was led by Xue Yannian.
There are four generals in the army who are good at conquering and fighting, namely Xue Yanhua, Xue Yanli, Xue Yanshou and Xue Yanhong.
Xue Yantuo's army was only more than a hundred miles away from them.
In three days at the latest, we can reach the front line of the position.
If you hurry, you can get there in one day.
Therefore, Li Min ordered all armies to strengthen their alert and be ready for battle at any time.
…
At the same time, among Xue Yantuo's army, their scouts also detected that Tang Dynasty had sent an army of 250,000 troops, and they lined up in front, waiting for them.
After receiving the news, Xue Yannian immediately ordered the army to be stationed, and then called four generals, Xue Yanhua, Xue Yanli, Xue Yanshou and Xue Yanhong, to the tent to discuss military affairs.
Regardless of the names from handsome to general, the first two characters are called Xue Yan. In fact, they are not biological brothers, not even uncles or brothers of the same clan.
In fact, take the country of Xueyantuo. Their ancestors lived together with tribes surnamed Xue, and later annexed Yantuo, so their name was changed to Xueyantuo.
The surname Xue is the largest surname in Xue Yantuo.
After Xue Yannian called the four generals into the account, he couldn't help but ask: "The news returned from the scouts is that the Tang Dynasty's 250,000 troops have already marched outside Chenshuo Prefecture. Now let's discuss, how should we respond?
"
Upon hearing Xue Yannian's question, Xue Yanhua immediately said carelessly: "Military advisor, we, Xue Yantuo, all grew up on horseback. We only have 250,000 Tang troops. We're done!"
Xue Yanli also followed up and said: "That's right, my general Xue Yantuo is unrivaled in bravery and is invincible in all attacks. How can I be afraid that the Tang Dynasty will fail?"
Xue Yanshou said cautiously: "The Tang Dynasty's national power is at its peak, and it has become even more powerful in recent years. The general thinks that we should be cautious!"
Xue Yanhong couldn't help but said: "Looking at the future, it will be difficult for us to become enemies of the Tang Dynasty. Our national strength is less than one-tenth of the Tang Dynasty. If we go head-to-head with the Tang Dynasty, it will be like an egg hitting a stone."
"Even if we can win one or two wars, if we offend the Tang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty insists on fighting with us, we will be the ones who suffer in the end."
I have to say that Xue Yanhong has very profound knowledge.
In the original historical trajectory, the Tang Dynasty fought wars with many small countries in the Western Regions. In fact, they always won less and lost more.
But a few failures were of no consequence to Datang.
But for those small countries, although they have been victorious, in the end, many small countries perished.
Because as long as there is a war, even if they win, the cost of war is huge.
And the national strength of their small countries simply cannot support the consumption of several wars.
Therefore, although they often won the wars, their national strength was exhausted, and they naturally embarked on the road of national subjugation.
But not everyone can understand this political truth.
Even Xue Yanhong himself, who proposed this theory, does not really fully understand this truth.
He was just instinctively afraid of the Tang Dynasty and was unwilling to fight against the Tang Dynasty.
Hearing Xue Yanhong's words, Xue Yanhua suddenly felt angry and full of hatred.
He couldn't help but pointed at Xue Yanhong's nose and cursed: "Little thief, don't try to gain other people's ambitions and destroy your own prestige! In front of my Xue Yantuo army, how can Datang be considered a ball? We Xue Yantuo warriors can do it with just one breath."
Blow them to the sky!"
Xue Yanli also said: "That's the truth! You are all afraid of the Tang Dynasty, but I am not! If you are afraid, you should go home and find your own mother-in-law to breastfeed! There is no danger in breastfeeding at home, but it is not dangerous on the battlefield.
suits you!"
Being scolded angrily by these two people, Xue Yanhong immediately turned pale and annoyed.
"Ya-ya! You are the only ones who are brave, aren't you? Are you the only ones who are not afraid of death? Those who came out with us are all my warriors, Xue Yantuo!"
"The Tang Dynasty can muster an army of one million, but I, Xue Yantuo, can only muster an army of 200,000 with the strength of the whole country!"
"As the saying goes, killing one thousand enemies will result in eight hundred losses. How many Tang troops can we kill with our 200,000-strong army?"
"Once our warriors lose too many, where will we, Xue Yantuo, go?"
"So, my suggestion is that we withdraw for the time being and not confront Datang head-on."
"After the Tang army retreats, we will attack the Turks. Sooner or later we will be able to destroy the Turks."
Xue Yanhua couldn't help but laughed strangely and said: "Shameless boy, you are afraid of death, just say you are afraid of death, don't talk about these useless things! My two hundred thousand Xue Yantuo army is enough to wipe out a million Tang troops! The Tang Dynasty, in front of my Xue Yantuo army
, what does it matter?"
For a moment, the four generals couldn't help but fall into a quarrel.
The quarrel escalated quickly and the four people stood up and were about to start fighting.
Snapped!
Xue Yannian slammed the table and said angrily: "That's enough! If you have the ability, don't fight here. Go out and kill the Turks and the Tang people."
"What are you trying to do here? Sit down!"
Seeing that the military advisor was angry, the four generals sat down angrily.
Looking at the four generals under his command, Xue Yannian felt angry.
I am confused myself, so asking the four of them to discuss matters is simply asking the question from the blind!
It’s better not to ask!
If I didn't ask, I wouldn't be so angry.
Thinking of this, Xue Yannian couldn't help but said: "What the four of you said makes sense."
"We Xue Yantuo, with an army of 200,000, go out for the expedition this time. If we encounter the Tang Dynasty's army and are scared away without even daring to fight, won't we be laughed at when we return?"
"And the national power of the Tang Dynasty is indeed stronger than our Xue Yantuo. This is an indisputable fact."
"So, I am going to test the combat effectiveness of the Tang army first."
"If Datang's combat effectiveness is very strong, then we will retreat."
"If the Tang army is just an embroidered pillow and is vulnerable, then we will march straight in!"
"At that time, not only can we defeat the Tang army in one fell swoop, but we can also take advantage of the opportunity to capture the Turks and then attack the Tang Dynasty!"
"I don't know what my military advisor is doing, what do you think?"
Hearing Xue Yannian's words, the four generals under him couldn't help but roll their eyes.
Huo, what's your idea?
Isn’t it a combination of the four of us’ ideas?
These five people are all generals of the same rank in Xue Yantuo's country.
This time, they competed for the position of commander-in-chief, but in the end, they were defeated by Xue Yannian.
It would be weird if these four people were convinced.
That night, Xue Yantuo's army sent out a large number of sentries to prevent Datang from sneak attacks.
Although the distance between the two sides is more than a hundred miles, they must be prepared for Datang to ambush them in advance.
Because even though Xue Yantuo was a little far away from the Tang Dynasty, they had heard that the King of Shu in the Tang Dynasty seemed to be very cunning.
Therefore, we must beware of them stealing camps at night.
At night, Xue Yantuo's barracks was not quiet.
They had just attacked the Turks, killing their soldiers, enslaving their men, and taking their women.
These people, as well as their horses, cattle and sheep, all accompanied the army at this time.
Those slaves will become cannon fodder in their war.
If you are lucky enough to survive the war, you will be taken back to the tribe and used as cattle or horses for them.
As for those women, there is no need to think about the outcome...
These women were all detained in a separate barracks.
At night, Xue Yantuo's soldiers could be seen lining up in separate camps to go to this barracks.
The heartbreaking and desperate screams of women could be heard inside.
If they can survive here, they will be taken into Xueyantuo's tribe and become women of their tribe.
And their status is the lowest.
In addition to being a tool for the owner, it also needs a lot of complicated work such as milking cows and shearing sheep every day.
From the day they were captured, their tragic fate was destined.
However, these women have become numb inside and have even become submissive.
Because it has always been like this on their grasslands. It has always been like this.
If there are lush vegetation on the grassland and there are no disasters, then that's it.
It is possible for everyone to live peacefully.
But once the pasture withers, they can no longer feed themselves with the income from grazing.
So in order to survive, they would mount their horses, pick up their scimitars, carry their bows and arrows, and go to plunder other tribes.
If they can get their things back, they can survive.
If they can't be snatched back, it proves that they have died in the robbery.
Then their children and women are destined to become the prey of others.
The rules of the grassland have always been so bloody and cruel.
At night, a white full moon rises above the grassland.
However, even the moon seemed unable to stand, and such a dirty scene that happened in Xue Yantuo's tent on the grassland was quietly hidden in the clouds.
The grassland returned to darkness.
…
Three days later, Xue Yantuo's army arrived at the front line.
Their cautious attitude can be seen from Xue Yantuo's marching speed.
Moreover, they have only sent a small number of troops over now.
The large army was stationed thirty miles away.
Once the vanguard army suffers a big loss, I'm afraid their army will retreat immediately.
There are no steam locomotives chasing them on the grassland now.
Everyone is a war horse, it is not that easy to catch up with them.
This Xue Yantuo is really cautious.
What Li Min wanted was to severely injure Xue Yantuo.
We can't let them run away so easily.
Therefore, Li Min couldn't help but frown and think deeply.
At this time, Cheng Yaojin held a Xuanhua ax and couldn't help but come to ask for a fight.
"Subordinate, Xue Yantuo's former army has arrived, why don't we keep him here to celebrate the New Year? I, Old Cheng, want to fight! I, Old Cheng, only need to lead my own troops, and I can kill them all and establish the first success for our Tang Dynasty!
"
Hearing Cheng Yaojin's words, Li Min couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "General Cheng, the vanguard officer now is Wang Fangyi. Even if he goes to war, it won't be your turn!"
Li Min was not worried about Cheng Yaojin, so he specially put him in the Chinese army and kept him by his side, just to prevent him from becoming hot-headed and making irrational actions.
Cheng Yaojin said impatiently: "Ah, Your Highness, if you don't have to be a pioneer, you can't go to war, right? Then you can change it for me, old Cheng, and I will be the pioneer officer!"
"It's been so long since I've been on the battlefield. It's really killing me, Old Cheng! No, you have to give up this opportunity to me, Old Cheng!"
Hearing Cheng Yaojin's words, Li Min couldn't help but frown.
But soon, Li Min thought of a way to deal with Cheng Yaojin.
He couldn't help but smile and said: "General Cheng, it is not impossible for you to go to war, but in this battle, you are allowed to lose but not win! If you can't do it, come back and engage in military law! If you dare to issue a military order, I will send
How about you go?"
Hearing what King Shu said, Cheng Yaojin also frowned.
Although Cheng Yaojin usually cuts meat with a knife, he looks invulnerable.
In fact, he is pretending to be crazy and acting stupid, but he is not stupid at all.
Now he is out on the march and fighting. Although he is older than Li Min, the king of Shu, he is a bit disobedient to discipline.
But he's definitely not someone who doesn't know what's important.
As long as he dares to issue a military order, if he fails to complete the task, then the King of Shu will really cut off his head, and he will have no place to redress his grievances.
And asking him to allow defeat but not victory is really more uncomfortable than killing him.
Therefore, Cheng Yaojin couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Your Highness, forget it! I, Old Cheng, have always been invincible in battles. When did I lose a battle?"
Next to them, Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong, Li Daozhong and other old guys couldn't help but curl their lips when they heard Cheng Yaojin's words.
If it were normal times, he would have come up to criticize Cheng Yaojin. This guy has lost countless battles in his life, and he still dares to brag here.
But now in front of the military tent, they also understood the importance and did not speak against Cheng Yaojin.
Li Min said to Cheng Yaojin: "Okay, General Cheng, since you are unwilling to go, then I will let Wang Fangyi take the lead in this battle!"
"General Wang, listen to the order. I order you to lead your troops and attack Xue Yantuo's forward! Remember, in this battle, you are allowed to lose but not win!"
"Yes, the general will get the order!"
Wang Fangyi accepted the order with an aggrieved look.
He is a young general with high spirits. He does not want to lose the battle, even though he is pretending.
But since this is the master's order, he will absolutely obey.bdshare();
