The first thousand five hundred and eighty-eight chapters see who has superb acting skills
However, from the outside, Li Shimin was unwilling to show weakness and was unwilling to withdraw his troops first, and the Far East Army seemed unwilling to do so, so they did not withdraw their troops either.
So it wasn't until it was completely dark that both sides had to stop fighting, each grabbing the wounded soldiers and their dead comrades and retreating.
The Far Eastern Army retreated another ten miles or so, but did not retreat to the Hehe County. Instead, they set up camp in a dilapidated village in Shanggu County under the rule of the Far Eastern Army.
Although both sides did not invest many troops in this day's battle, the fierceness of the battle was something many soldiers had never experienced before.
After a half-day bloody battle, Li Shimin's two thousand cavalrymen led by Du Youchao suffered more than 600 casualties in total. The Far East Army also suffered similar losses. There was a small stream flowing in front of Shisha Village. After the battle, the stream flowing through it was dyed red.
of blood.
While Li Shimin carefully asked Du Youchao's specific judgment and personal experience of the Far East Army's combat power, he sent a large number of spies to keep an eye on the main force of the Far East Army. At the same time, he also contacted the person in charge of his intelligence spies in Shanggu County to try to figure out Yuchi.
What is the strategic purpose of Jingde and other Far Eastern Army commanders this time?
But the whole next day, the Far East Army was resting and recuperating. Apart from sending out a large number of scout horses to prevent the Li family's army from stealing the camp, there was no new action.
In any case, the Far East Army happened to be in the territory of the opponent's Shanggu County, and so far there has been no movement. Although Li Shimin was eager to win the battle because of Li Yuan's secret order, under the current unfavorable situation on the North and East Roads, he could not
He likes to act rashly and strives to make progress while maintaining stability as much as possible.
However, Li Shimin saw from the cautious actions of the Far Eastern Army that yesterday's battle with the same number of cavalry made the Far Eastern Army seem to be more wary of their own side, and they did not even attack the military stronghold.
Li Shimin and his generals, who were obviously more confident than in the previous days, were discussing how to win the battle. Soldiers outside brought in a messenger.
Li Shimin knew this person, he was an intelligence officer arranged by him in Shanggu County under the rule of the Far East Army.
After the intelligence officer saluted Li Shimin, he took off his pants and exposed his thighs in front of everyone.
No one was surprised at all, they just watched the intelligence officer remove the sutures from a wound on his thigh and took out a small wax bomb from inside.
Everyone knew that these were "wax bombs", which were used by the intelligence organization founded by Li Shimin to deliver military secrets. They were usually written on white or yellow silk, sealed with wax on the outside, and sewn into the thigh flesh of the messenger.
Li Shimin ordered his soldiers to take the sweaty and pale intelligence officer down to treat his wounds, and rewarded him on the spot. Then he took the wax bullets that the soldiers had cleaned, pinched them open, and took out a strip of white silk.
, he moved closer to a candlestick and looked closely at it by the candlelight.
"Luo Yi in Youzhou will send 50,000 elite troops to assist Yuchi Jingde in ten days, and they will all be cavalry. By then, the opponent's troops will have greatly increased, and it will be even more difficult to win the battle. So we have to fight under Luo Yi's
Fight a victorious battle before the troops arrive." After Li Shimin read a piece of writing on the white silk, his expression became solemn and solemn, and finally he made up his mind.
The generals cheered up and clasped their fists one after another: "Please give me your instructions, Second Young Master."
Li Shimin had regained his confidence and said with a smile: "I do have a plan."
He looked at the sand table in front of him that was modeled after that of the Far Eastern Army, and said: "From our Shisha Village to the Far Eastern Army's Hehe County, there is almost a flat plain with no danger to defend. However, there is a forest to the east of the Shisha Village."
Everyone looked at Li Shimin in confusion, not understanding what the latter meant.
Li Shimin pointed at the piece of green cloth representing the forest on the sand table with a thin stick in his hand, and continued: "Although this forest is not as good as the dense forest in the mountains, it is still better than nothing. Near the Shisha Village, looking around, there is nothing but farmland.
With this forest, God has given us a chance. I watched the battle today. It is really a blessing that the Far Eastern Army was able to capture Hebei, Shandong and the Central Plains. The combat power of the Far Eastern Army is indeed as powerful as the legend, but now it seems
We are not weaker than them, and even if we have steel plate armor, nine-shot quick crossbows, and gunpowder weapons, we will be stronger than them. Therefore, if the Far Eastern Army comes to provoke again, I have a plan to keep them."
At this time, a general stood beside him and said with a smile: "Does the Second Young Master want to lead the Far Eastern Army into the forest?"
But Li Shimin shook his head and said: "Yuchi Jingde is a person who should not be underestimated.
I'm afraid that the Far Eastern Army will not be easily fooled. This forest is too small. Instead of going deep into it, the Far Eastern Army might as well just set fire to the forest. The weather in winter is dry now. If the Far Eastern Army sets fire, the forest will not be able to withstand several burns.
A fire can easily start, and if we lurk in the woods, we may be seeking death."
"What does the second young master mean?" An older general asked the generals what they were thinking.
"My plan is that we take the initiative to attack them. After a fierce battle, we resisted for a while, then pretended to be defeated and escaped in two groups. One group was led by Du Youchao and retreated to Qingshi Valley via the road south of the woods. The other group retreated to Qingshi Valley.
They were led by Li Guangming all the way and retreated into the woods as guerrillas. Yuchi Jingde of the Far Eastern Army made smooth progress along the way compared to their north and west sides, but there has been no progress, so they must be eager to kill the enemy. We must use their
One thing, I think they will never let go of the opportunity to pursue the retreating enemy, so the Far East Army will definitely only pursue Du Youchao's route."
The generals understood immediately and said: "Second Young Master, what do you mean by asking General Du to attack again and attack from both front and rear?"
"Of course, the main force will be led by me personally." Li Shimin said confidently, "Li Guangming and Du Youchao are attacking from both sides, and I'm afraid they will steal the chicken but lose the rice."
"Huh?" The generals had doubts again.
"I will lead the main force to wait at Huangyang Slope, twenty miles away to the west. Du Youchao will lead the Far East Army to Huangyang Slope. Once the Far East Army pursues it, Li Guangming will lead the troops to cut off its retreat!" He sneered,
There was a hint of murderous intent on his face, "If this plan succeeds, we will definitely cause heavy losses to the Far East Army."
…………
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In the early morning of November 29th, Huangyang Slope.
Li Shimin reined in his horse and stopped on the side of the road, looking at the groups of cavalry and infantry marching silently eastward on the road beside him, thinking that success or failure depended on this one move.
At this time, he had ordered Li Guangming and Du Youchao to take the initiative to send troops to attack the Far East Army.
If their strategy succeeds this time and they can annihilate tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Far East Army in one fell swoop, this will be a great buffer against the unfavorable situation of their army on the North and West Roads. At the same time, it will also allow Li Shimin to gain personal control over the Li Yuan Group.
His prestige has reached an extremely high level, and he can even surpass his elder brother Li Jiancheng, who has the inherent advantage of being the eldest son.
However, the only thing he had to worry about now was whether Du Youchao and Li Guangming were capable of his plan. He suddenly regretted that it was too early to send Duan Zhixuan to Sichuan. If Duan Zhixuan, a good general, cooperated with him to implement this plan, he would
It can be 100% successful.
After thinking about it carefully, he realized that Li Jing might be plotting secretly around Yuchi Jingde. To be cautious, Li Shimin divided his troops into two groups and sent his general Mao Haizhong to lead 10,000 cavalry.
, inserted to the east of Du Youchao, once Du Youchao's ambush was exhausted, Mao Haizhong led his troops to raid the camp of the Far Eastern Army, which could not only disturb the morale of the Far Eastern Army, but also prevent the arrival of additional reinforcements from the Far Eastern Army.
If another Far Eastern Army force heard the news and came to the rescue, Mao Haizhong only had to hold it off for a moment or three, and Li Shimin could concentrate his elite troops to first annihilate the tens of thousands of Far Eastern Army troops in front of the sudden attack, and then retreat the main force back to Shishazhai.
Even if Li Shimin's arrangement cannot be said to be flawless, it can still be considered very thorough.
Li Shimin thought about it for a long time, but couldn't find anything wrong. Even if Li Jing might have some conspiracy, as long as he deployed a surprise force like Mao Haizhong, he could always escape safely.
However, looking at Mao Haizhong who was obeying the order and preparing to mobilize 10,000 troops to leave, Li Shimin remembered that Mao Haizhong's ability was not very outstanding, and he faintly murmured in his heart.
Suspiciousness is a common problem among many high-ranking people, and Li Shimin is particularly serious about this. However, he usually hides it very well. After thinking about it for a while, he finally felt relieved after thinking that Mao Haizhong was usually quite brave and his abilities were acceptable.
But he couldn't help but think over the whole plan again in his heart, and only gave up until he couldn't find any flaws, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This time the plan has been carried out so far, for Li Shimin, the arrow is actually on the string and must be launched.
At this time, it was too late to inform Du Youchao and Li Guangming of his change of mind. If he changed his mind at the last moment, it would be like leaving nearly 40,000 soldiers under his command led by Du Youchao and Li Guangming behind.
To the point of death, this kind of thing cannot be done.
The Li Jiajun still acted in an orderly manner according to the established deployment.
After Mao Haizhong left with 10,000 cavalry, Li Shimin still had 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry under his command.
He divided the 50,000 troops into three parts, with 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry as the left wing of the army. The right wing and the left wing had the same layout of troops. Li Shimin personally went into battle, sat in the center, and commanded the remaining 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.
infantry.
Because Li Shimin was young, strong, and highly skilled in martial arts, although he was quite resourceful, he still liked to take the lead when fighting. It was precisely because of this that he had a high prestige in the hearts of his soldiers.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that all the thousand soldiers around Li Shimin are brave and fierce, and they are selected from the best of the entire army.
These people can guarantee that Li Shimin will not die easily. Otherwise, it is not certain whether Li Shimin would dare to charge forward again and again.
In order to prevent being discovered by the Far Eastern Army's scouts, spies or military intelligence agencies, they could only hide in Huangyang Slope and wait patiently until the Far Eastern Army got into the trap.
Li Shimin was quite familiar with the terrain of Huangyangpo. On the plain of Mapingchuan, Huangyangpo was relatively a good place to hide troops.
In terms of implementation, in order to irrigate the rice fields, last year he mobilized local gentry and people's organizations to dig a ditch more than ten miles long to divert water from a nearby river. Although the ditch was very narrow, there were two rows of poplar trees planted beside the ditch.
, willows, and behind the poplars and willows are large expanses of reeds. The army was hidden among the reeds, and it would be difficult for the Far Eastern Army to detect them unless they were in front of them.
At the beginning of the morning, the Li Jiajun entered Huangyangpo quietly.
Because Huangyangpo was too close to the temporary camp where the troops led by Li Guangming and Du Youchao faced off, any louder movement within a mere ten miles could be noticed by the Far Eastern Army. Therefore, the Li family's cavalry all dismounted and walked, group after group.
Scattered into the village.
Naturally, the few people in Zhuangzi had already been evacuated overnight by Li Shimin. Li Shimin had previously sent several spies to survey the terrain and map out where the various armies were hiding. Therefore, as soon as the Li Jiajun army arrived, these spies would guide them.
Follow them to your hiding place.
Although Li Shimin acted carefully and prepared for the battle thoroughly, it still took more than half an hour for the formation of the three armies on the left, center and right to be completed.
The location of the ambush is so close, although it is forced by terrain restrictions, but as long as the goal can be achieved, it will definitely surprise the pursuing Far Eastern Army.
However, he didn't feel it when he was talking on paper on the sand table. When it came time to actually take action, Li Shimin observed carefully and realized that it was still difficult to hide from the enemy. An army of 50,000 people had to complete the formation without any danger.
The pushing, the noise, it's almost impossible.
There are so many people, no matter how well-drilled the troops are, even in a relatively familiar place, someone will stand in the wrong position and cause a little confusion.
Especially for cavalry, no matter how well trained the war horses are, they are still just beasts. There are many unexpected factors that can frighten the war horses.
But Li Shimin led the Li Jiajun to do it. Although there must be some luck in this, it has to be said that Li Shimin's army was well trained. In the words of later generations, it had strict discipline and excellent style.
Du Youchao and Li Guangming, who were more than 20 miles away to the east, also wanted to cooperate with their actions. More than 20 miles away, Li Shimin could still vaguely hear the beating of war drums.
This is Du Youchao and Li Guangming leading their men to fight against the Far East Army with 30,000 people!
Without being at the scene, Li Shimin could close his eyes and imagine the scene of arrows raining down and flesh and blood flying everywhere.
In order to prevent the Far East Army from doubting their victory over Du Youchao and Li Guangming, Du Youchao and Li Guangming only led nearly 40,000 people, only a few thousand more than the Far East Army. They would definitely fight with the Far East Army with real swords and guns.
It's a bloody battle, and I don't know how many people will die as a result.
Li Shimin naturally did not sympathize with these soldiers, but he was vaguely worried that Du Youchao and Li Guangming would suffer too many losses.
For most of the Li Jiajun soldiers, the faint sound of war drums coming from the east and the billowing dust can make people feel comforted at first, and even give them a sense of excitement of being close to the battlefield, but soon, it will
It becomes something that erodes people's patience.