Chapter five hundred and seventy seventh: release yourself
Wang Fangyi led three thousand cavalry and launched an attack on Xue Yantuo's forward army.
This time, both sides are just testing.
Both sides sent 3,000 forwards to try to test each other's strength.
Behind them, there was a large army to support them.
Xue Yannian and Li Min were both observing the battle from high places.
They need to see the opponent's strength and weaknesses, and then make targeted deployments on the future battlefield.
On Xue Yantuo's side, the forward sent was Xue Yanli.
In fact, in terms of qualifications, both Xue Yanshou and Xue Yanhong are inferior to Xue Yanli.
But there is no way, Xue Yanshou is a centrist and Xue Yanhong is an opposition.
Xue Yannian was really not too relieved to send them there.
Not long after, three thousand soldiers from both sides began to come into contact.
The cavalry fought, and after entering the range of the arrows of both sides, both sides began to attack with bows and arrows, which was the prelude to the attack.
Then Xue Yannian, Xue Yantuo's military advisor, suddenly discovered that the bows and arrows of the Tang Dynasty were almost the same as theirs.
Even, slightly worse than them.
Seeing this scene, Xue Yantuo couldn't help but frowned tightly.
Huh?
It shouldn’t be!
Didn’t it mean that the Tang Dynasty was rich and its people were strong?
If this is the case, how could their armaments be worse than ours?
Could it be that there is some fraud in it?
Xue Yannian was filled with doubts and couldn't help but look at it carefully.
If Datang was really cheating, I believe it would not escape his eyes.
The horses on both sides are very fast, and it basically only takes the time for both sides to fire a round of bows and arrows.
The distance between the two sides was already very close, and it was too late to fire a second round of bows and arrows.
Soldiers from both sides quickly put away their bows and arrows, drew out their swords, and rushed toward each other.
Soon, the two sides fell into a bitter fight.
At this time, Xue Yannian looked carefully.
This time, he saw very clearly that the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty was indeed lower than that of Xue Yantuo.
This cannot be false at all. On the battlefield, the truth and falsehood are clear at a glance.
Moreover, the cooperation of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty lagged far behind that of Xue Yantuo.
It seems that the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty is actually not much better than that of the Turks. They are basically on the same level.
At this time, casualties began to appear among the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
And as time went on, the casualties began to intensify.
There were more and more casualties, and the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty began to be unable to withstand it.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Wang Fangyi quickly raised money to withdraw his troops and withdrew the soldiers.
Xue Yanli was overjoyed when he saw the situation, and quickly ordered Xue Yantuo's soldiers to take advantage of the situation to pursue him, followed him, and killed all the Tang soldiers in the rear army off their horses.
Xue Yantuo's military commander, Xue Yannian, was worried that the Tang Dynasty would deceive him, so he couldn't help but order people to withdraw their troops with gold.
Xue Yanli, who had won a great victory, looked unhappy when he came back.
"Military strategist, the final general will kill the Tang army and run away! As long as we take advantage of the victory and pursue it, we can annihilate the three thousand vanguards of the Tang Dynasty. I wonder why the strategist wants to withdraw his troops at this time?"
In Xue Yanli's opinion, if Xue Yannian did not withdraw his troops without asking for money, he would definitely be able to kill the three thousand Tang Dynasty vanguard troops without leaving any trace behind, and gain greater military merit.
And now?
Although the killing was very lively for a long time, in fact, they only killed a mere one or two hundred soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
On their side, they also suffered seventy or eighty casualties.
It is said that if you kill one thousand enemies, you will suffer eight hundred losses.
Being able to achieve this kind of achievement is enough to be proud of!
However, chasing down deserters is the most rewarding moment!
At this time, you can achieve the greatest victory at the smallest cost.
It happened that at this moment, they were interrupted by their military advisor.
When he thought of this, Xue Yanli became extremely angry.
Xue Yannian said cautiously: "General Xue, don't you think that the Tang army was defeated too quickly? I was also worried that the Tang army would deceive and set up an ambush, and it was for your sake that I retreated my troops!"
Hearing Xue Yannian's words, Xue Yanli said with a nose that was not a nose, and a face that was not a face: "Then I still have to thank you? Why did the army of the Tang Dynasty collapse so quickly? It's not because the soldiers under my command are united and work together to be invincible.
Is it caused by a reason?”
"If the military was afraid that there would be an ambush by the Tang army, why didn't they mobilize all their troops and attack them together? If the military advisor really did this, I'm afraid we would have completely defeated the Tang army by now!"
Xue Yannian was very angry after being attacked and wanted to fight back.
But considering that Xue Yanli had just won, he finally endured it.
However, this confrontation was very morale-boosting.
The morale of Xue Yantuo's soldiers, who were still very frightened at first, soared.
Xue Yanli, who was originally a centrist, has now completely moved to their side.
Xue Yanhong, who was originally an opponent, has now become a centrist.
…
After being defeated and returning, Wang Fangyi felt very aggrieved.
Return to the commander's tent and report back to Li Min.
"Your Highness, the mission has been completed and I have come to deliver the report."
It turns out that Wang Fangyi had been calling Master Li Min and His Highness all the time, and it was Li Min's request.
In the military, there must be military rules, and other titles cannot be brought in.
Not even father and son.
In fact, Li Min was watching the battle just now from beginning to end.
Moreover, Li Min had already laid out all the backup plans.
If Xue Yantuo only had 3,000 vanguard troops to pursue him, Li Min would only frighten them away instead of alerting the enemy.
Of course, what Li Min wanted to see most was for Xue Yantuo to gather an army of 200,000 people and cover them up together.
Well, 200,000 troops seems a bit too much. Although this battlefield is empty, it is generally unlikely to send such a large number of troops.
As long as the other party sends an army of 30,000 to 50,000 people, Li Min will quickly eat them up.
But Xue Yantuo was very cautious and actually took the initiative to withdraw his troops.
It seems that we need to give them a little more confidence.
Thinking of this, Li Min couldn't help but said to Wang Fangyi: "General Wang, you did a good job today. When you go to challenge again tomorrow, you will still be allowed to lose but not win. It will still be like today."
Hearing this, Wang Fangyi suddenly became unhappy.
"Your Highness, once is enough for your subordinates to die. Tomorrow, you should choose another option!"
Li Min frowned and asked: "Subordinate? Are those your subordinates? They are obviously Turkic soldiers. When did they become your subordinates?"
After hearing what King Shu said, Wang Fangyi blinked his eyes and then realized what he said.
That's right, it seems that the person who died was not my subordinate at all?
Then why am I so excited?
Hi, I didn’t react for a while.
Thinking of this, Wang Fangyi couldn't help but reply: "Your Highness, the general understands! Just wait until tomorrow for the general to leave again. By the way, your highness, do you want them to die a little longer?"
Li Min waved his hand and said: "No need, Turkic soldiers are also losing their lives! Of course, more importantly, if you do it too fake, they will inevitably see the flaws. Okay, you go down first."
"yes!"
It turned out that after making preparations for the war yesterday, Li Min suddenly thought of a question.
That is, if it is a feigned defeat, to what extent will it be defeated?
If the fight lasts only three rounds and no one dies, is it too false to lose at this time?
The other party is not a fool, will they believe it?
In fact, the trick of pretending to be defeated has been around since ancient times.
As the party that pretends to lose, it will inevitably pay a certain price.
For example, some soldiers will definitely be killed or injured before being defeated.
Otherwise, the other party is not a fool and ran away before the fight. Could it be that the other party was not wary at all?
Pretending to fail will cost you your life.
This is the saying that kindness does not control soldiers, justice does not control wealth.
If there are no casualties, then it is better not to lead troops.
But for Li Min, he was a master who did not want to see the casualties of his subordinates.
It would be fine if they were to fight and die on a frontal battlefield. After all, this was inevitable.
But just for a strategy, let your subordinates die?
This is something that Li Min really finds difficult to accept.
Furthermore, under the training of Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai and Wang Fangyi, the Tang army's combat effectiveness was very high.
Unless they die motionless, if they really fight, it will be difficult for the other party to kill them.
Are the soldiers ordered to die voluntarily?
So this is too difficult?
There are big loopholes in this plan of pretending to fail.
Li Min couldn't help but frown and thought hard.
After thinking for more than half an hour, Li Min's eyes lit up and he suddenly thought of a way.
Li Min directly sent someone to write a letter to the Turkic Qilibi Khan, ordering him to select three thousand Turkic soldiers in the army, and also select soldiers who did not look so obviously Turkic.
In terms of combat effectiveness, it might even be better if it is a little weaker.
As for the reasons for selecting these three thousand soldiers, Li Min did not hide it from Qilibi Khan at all, but directly stated it in the letter.
This time, the Tang Dynasty sent 250,000 troops to aid the Turks.
How could Turks not show any expression at all?
Now we need to feint and die, and of course we have to let the Turkic soldiers come in!
Compassion does not control soldiers, justice does not control wealth!
After Turkic Khan Libi saw the letter, he did not hesitate at all and immediately ordered people to select three thousand suitable Turkic soldiers and then ordered them to report to the Tang army.
If the lives of these three thousand Turks can be exchanged for a great victory, Xue Yantuo can be completely driven away and this threat can be eliminated.
For them, the Turks, it was definitely a sure-win deal.
Because of this, the targets that Xue Yantuo's army was fighting today were actually not Tang soldiers at all, but their old rivals, Turkic soldiers.
Even these Turkic soldiers were specially selected weak soldiers.
It would be weird if they didn't defeat quickly.
Li Min's strategy also successfully paralyzed Xue Yantuo.
The next day, Wang Fangyi led more than 2,000 Turkic soldiers and continued to challenge Xue Yantuo's forward.
This time, they acted as if they were going to burn the boat and avenge their previous humiliation.
Even Xue Yannian, Xue Yantuo's military advisor, was shocked.
But the result is almost exactly the same as yesterday.
The Tang army fled in embarrassment after leaving the corpses on the ground.
But this time, Xue Yannian still cautiously chose to withdraw his troops.
Because he still can't confirm whether this is Datang's trap or not.
Xue Yannian's decision made the three generals under his command so angry that their eyes were filled with anger.
Starting from the third day, the pioneers of the Tang Dynasty stopped coming to challenge, as if they were afraid of Xue Yantuo's army.
Next, in order to continue to test the Tang army, Xue Yannian continued to launch probing attacks against Datang.
After Datang resisted twice and both ended in defeat, Datang began to shrink and no longer accepted Xue Yantuo's challenge.
At this time, Xue Yannian still dared not launch a full-scale attack.
Xue Yanhua was so angry that he couldn't help shouting at Xue Yannian: "Fight and not fight, leave and not leave? What do you want? If you really don't dare to fight, you'd better withdraw quickly!"
Xue Yanli glanced sideways at Xue Yannian and said: "Military advisor, how can you achieve great things if you are so timid? If you don't dare to order a duel with the Tang Dynasty, then let me do it!"
"The weak will give way, and the capable will go up! If you can't do it, let me do it instead! I look down on you for looking like a bitch!"
Xue Yanshou also advised: "Military advisor, now our army has won successive victories and its morale is high. On the other hand, the Tang army's morale is low due to successive defeats."
"One is ebbing and the other is ebbing. Our morale is like a rainbow and has reached its peak. However, Datang's morale is low and has fallen to the bottom."
"Now that we are going to war against the Tang Dynasty, we will definitely be overwhelming and crushing! If we miss this great opportunity, we may not have such a good opportunity next time!"
Xue Yanhong said: "Military advisor, I think that although the Tang Dynasty is defeated but not in chaos, it is better not to be too hasty. I think we can adopt a gradual cannibalization method! We can weaken the Tang Dynasty bit by bit!"
Xue Yanhua: "Get out!"
Xue Yanli: "Get out!"
Xue Yanshou: "Get out!"
Xue Yanhong: "..."
At this time, after careful consideration, Xue Yannian also felt that the time was ripe for a battle.
In fact, it was Xue Yanshou's words that mainly moved him.
That's right, now their Xue Yantuo soldiers are united and their momentum is like a rainbow.
The morale of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty has dropped to the lowest point, and now is a good time to use troops.
As the saying goes, if you work hard at one go, you will be exhausted again and again, and then you will fail!
The morale of their Xue Yantuo soldiers cannot always remain at its peak.
After passing this village, there is no such shop.
Thinking of this, Xue Yannian couldn't help but said: "Okay, since you all agree to send troops, then we will send troops and capture the Tang Dynasty's 200,000 troops in one fell swoop!"
Xue Yanhua, Xue Yanli, and Xue Yanshou looked at each other and saw joy in each other's eyes.
Xue Yannian couldn't help but continued: "What if we attack the Tang Dynasty in a large scale? I have already thought of the strategy."
"Now Datang has been frightened by us. It doesn't dare to confront us head-on. It has been unable to retreat."
"What I fear most now is that once we launch a large-scale attack and they retreat to Shuozhou, we will face an embarrassing dilemma."
"So, the best way is to force them to fight us!"
"My method is to lay out the layout with Wuming Mountain as the center! Wuming Mountain is where they store their food and grass. Basically all their food and grass are stored here!"
"And the location of Wuming Mountain is right in the middle. My suggestion is that we build the plank road in the open and secretly attack Chencang. We openly prepare for a large-scale attack."
"Secretly, they sent a large army to sneak attack Wumingshan and surround Wumingshan."
Hearing Xue Yannian's words, Xue Yanhua couldn't help but frown and asked: "Military advisor, aren't we going to be surrounded by counterattacks? Wuming Mountain is surrounded by Tang troops. If they are surrounded on all sides, this army will have no way to escape.
!Why not just burn their food and grass?"
It is naturally much easier to burn the food and grass than to besiege.
Burning food and grass, or even using a small number of soldiers to conduct a sneak attack can complete the mission.
But a siege would be much more difficult.
The terrain of Wuming Mountain is not that steep, but if you want to attack by force, you will need at least three times the opponent's strength.
The Tang army in Wuming Mountain numbered about three thousand.
Then they would have to send at least 10,000 people.
And if these ten thousand people were made dumplings by Datang, it would be a huge loss for them.
Therefore, they could not understand why the military advisor would adopt the strategy of encirclement instead of setting fire directly.
How exciting would it be to run away after setting a fire?
Hearing Xue Yanhua's words, Xue Yannian smiled slightly and said: "It's very simple! Because the strategy we want to adopt is to surround the point and provide reinforcements!"
"If we burn their food and grass with fire, they will have no choice but to retreat."
"But if we surrounded the food and grass but it was not burned down, do you think they would send troops to rescue us?"
This is almost certain!
There is no need to explain the importance of food and grass to the army.
If the food and grass are really burned, there is nothing that can be done.
Then the Tang army would never choose to fight them head-on, and would definitely choose to retreat helplessly.
But if we encircle but don't burn, I believe the Tang army will definitely send troops to support.
At that time, they can surround Wuming Mountain and build a siege point for reinforcements.
Force Datang to start a decisive battle with them!
After listening to Xue Yannian's explanation, Xue Yanli couldn't help but stick out his thumb and said: "Military advisor, you are still cunning! You are still bad!"
I'm in a big mess!
Is everyone in your family so complimentary?
If you don’t know how to brag, don’t brag.
If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!
…
The plan was decided, and on the second day, Xue Yantuo changed from his normal situation and directly chose to attack the border with a large army.
Upon seeing this, Datang became extremely solemn and relied on fortifications to resist Xue Yantuo's attack.
And secretly, Xue Yannian ordered Xue Yanhong to lead an army of 10,000.
Quietly passed through a defensive blind spot exposed by Datang's retreat.
This defensive blind spot was very small and short-lived, but Xue Yannian seized the opportunity in time.
And Xue Yannian not only sent Xue Yanhong, but also Xue Yanshou.
Of course, Xue Yanshou did not follow Xue Yanhong to besiege Wuming Mountain.
After all, the two men have a total of 100,000 troops. Such a large number of troops cannot be deployed in the small area of Wuming Mountain.
Xue Yanshou led his own 50,000 troops and Xue Yanhong's remaining 40,000 troops to lurk outside.
Be prepared to launch an attack at any time, and cooperate with the inside and outside to attack the Tang army.
At this time, Xue Yanhua's 100,000 troops were pressing on the border outside, and they had been oppressing the Tang Dynasty's defense line.
He is ready to attack at any time.
However, the Tang army, facing the unparalleled and ferocious Xue Yantuo army, did not dare to take the initiative and could only defend passively.
Under such circumstances, Xue Yanhong successfully led 10,000 Xue Yantuo soldiers and surrounded Wuming Mountain.
There were only three thousand soldiers of the Tang Dynasty on Wuming Mountain. Now when they saw a black mass of Xue Yantuo soldiers suddenly appeared and surrounded them, they couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
In panic, they hurriedly lit a bonfire and sent out a signal for help.
The smoke billowed into the sky and was quickly seen by Li Min.
Li Min couldn't help but smile, his smile was hearty.
It was not easy. After constant showing of weakness, Xue Yantuo's army was finally fooled.
Now that they’re hooked, let’s get started!
First, eat up the 10,000 Xue Yantuo troops who came to your door.
This is fat meat delivered to your door. If you don’t eat it, you will be sorry for Xue Yantuo’s hard work.
And Xue Yantuo's army, which was preparing to surround the site for reinforcements, could eat as much as they could.
As for Xue Yantuo's army, which was putting pressure on Datang from the front, Li Min was not prepared to move.
If the 100,000 troops were to be mobilized together, it would be a real decisive battle between the two sides.
The troops deployed were too large. In the melee, Li Min was absolutely confident that they would definitely gain the upper hand.
But if you injure the enemy one thousand, you will suffer eight hundred losses.
By then, the Tang army will inevitably suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, Li Min did not want a full-scale battle to break out.
There were 100,000 Xue Yantuo's troops in front of them, and Li Min was preparing to hold them back.
They were unable to attack, and even if they wanted to retreat, they would not dare to retreat for a while.
And here, quickly destroy the enemy.
If they do it quickly enough, they can even cripple Xue Yantuo's team that made a sneak attack and ambush before their military advisor Xue Yanli could even react.
Next, Li Min continued to issue various orders.
"General Cheng, listen to your orders!"
"The end is here!"
"You take your troops and horses and quickly go to Wuming Mountain. Follow the pre-planned tactics and coordinate with the defenders of Wuming Mountain to defeat the 10,000 Xue Yantuo army besieging Wuming Mountain!"
"The general's order!"
"General Qin, listen to your orders!"
"The end is here!"
"You lead your troops to ambush Xue Yantuo's ambush army. Your mission is to block them from our protective line!"
"The general will get the order!"
"General Yuchi listens to orders"
"The end is here!"
"You lead your troops to ambush Xue Yantuo's army from behind, and cooperate with General Qin inside and outside to defeat Xue Yantuo's army in one fell swoop!"
"The general will get the order!"
"General Lee, listen!"
"The end is here!"
"You lead your troops, follow me, and be ready to assist Wang Fangyi's defense line and other generals' defense lines at any time!"
"The general will obey the order!"
Well, compared to several other generals, Li Daozong just came here to experience life.
Several other generals may still need military merit.
As for Li Daozong, he actually had no military merit and was no longer of much use to him.
Therefore, Li Min arranged for him to be by his side.
In this case, his military exploits will inevitably be the least in the end.
He is also the best candidate for this position, bar none!
After getting the order, Cheng Yaojin was extremely excited.
In the past few days, I watched that little guy Wang Fangyi lose every day, and he never got a chance to go to the battlefield.
Cheng Yaojin was really suffocated.
But this time, he finally got a chance, and Cheng Yaojin could finally let himself go completely.