Surrounded by Changsun Wuji and a group of others, Li Shimin looked at the village called Manhan Village from a distance on the top of the mountain, his face a little ugly and heavy.
Not only did his important arm Duan Zhixuan's plan to borrow troops in the Siman King's City fail, but he himself was also involved. Li Shimin received the news that night.
Just like the close relationship between Xi Shuishu and the Far Eastern Army, the Heiluo tribe, one of the major tribes of the Xi barbarians, also has an extraordinary relationship with the Li family.
Duan Zhixuan had even made an agreement with the leader of the Heiluo tribe to take action against Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang last night, but it turned out that Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang colluded with Si Shuishu to strike first.
However, although Duan Zhixuan's group of people were all trapped inside, the leader of the Heiluo tribe immediately sent someone to tell the news to the Li family's secret contact person nearby, and the contact person finally
He quickly reported the news to Li Shimin by means of a flying bird.
Although Li Shimin was extremely depressed and cursed Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang's eighteen generations of ancestors in his heart, he did not waste any time and made the most correct decision at the first opportunity.
He gathered all the troops in Sichuan and Shu overnight, and even withdrew all the garrison troops in Hanzhong County and six counties, including Zhu Can's more than 40,000 troops that he had gathered in the past few days, and gathered a hundred thousand troops.
, directly surrounded the nearly 30,000 Wagang Camp troops led by Xu Shiji in Manhan Village.
This process was so fast that even after the Far Eastern Army's Military Intelligence Agency spies and the scouts sent by Xu Shiji reported the news to Xu Shiji, they had no time to react too much.
Li Shimin knew that if the Yi barbarians went out with all their strength, they could mobilize 50,000 troops, but even if Cheng Yaojin could finally borrow the Yi barbarian army, it would only be 20,000 to 30,000 troops at most, and there would definitely be a process to this.
Therefore, Li Shimin was scrambling for time. He wanted to fight to the death with Wagang camp before Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang borrowed the Si barbarian army. Even if most of the 100,000 troops were killed here, he would still be destroyed.
He had nearly 30,000 elite soldiers from the Wagang camp led by Xu Shiji, and as long as the Far Eastern Army was destroyed in Sichuan and Sichuan, he had various means to regain the Si barbarians in his hands.
"Second Young Master, all the generals have gathered in the big tent." Li Shimin was inspecting the Manhan stronghold when a subordinate came to report.
Li Shimin took a deep breath, thinking that if he lost this battle, not only would he lose most of the Sichuan-Sichuan land, but it would even be difficult to gain a foothold. Unless Xiao Qiang in the south could dispatch at least 100,000 troops to the north to Sichuan, he would have no chance of overturning the situation.
card opportunity.
But having said that, with Wang Junlin's evil reputation and the power of the Far Eastern Army, even Xiao Qiang, who occupied half of the southern country, would never dare to provoke the Far Eastern Army unless necessary.
After returning to the main tent and greeting each other, Li Shimin went straight to the point: "Everyone, we don't have much time left, so without further ado, let's discuss the attack on this barbarian stronghold."
When Li Shimin was speaking, he scanned the audience and found that the generals in the tent looked extremely solemn. Some of Zhu Can's subordinate generals even dodge their eyes, showing a faint look of fear. Apparently, they were a little scared after being beaten by the Far Eastern Army in the past few days.
Li Shimin noticed this, cursed secretly in his heart, and continued to speak loudly: "I personally saw this barbarian stronghold. Although there is a stronghold, which is tall and solid among ordinary strongholds, it is far from comparable to the city wall, and our military strength
It is nearly five times the size of Wagang Camp, and we will definitely win this battle."
At this point, Li Shimin's eyes flashed coldly, and no one dared to look at him, so he continued: "When attacking the barbarian Han stronghold, there are three rules: advance when you hear drums and horns, retreat when you hear gold. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed! Go to the city first.
Those who are brave will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and promoted to three ranks! Those who are timid and cowardly will be killed! In addition..." He paused for a moment and then continued: "The first to climb the city and open the gap to allow the rear troops to advance.
, all the wealth and women of the Barbarian Han stronghold will be returned to this army, and half of the weapons and armor of the Far Eastern Army will be rewarded to this army! After the stronghold is broken, a day's looting can also be carried out, and the stronghold can also be massacred."
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, he noticed that a smell of greed began to permeate the tent. Knowing that the effect had been achieved, he breathed a secret sigh of relief and began to issue orders.
With every order issued by Li Shimin, some people were happy and some were disappointed.
Some people even felt resentful, and Zhu Can's surrendered troops were turned into cannon fodder to varying degrees.
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At the same time, in the barbarian village.
Xu Shiji had already summoned the generals and issued combat mobilization orders and various defensive tasks. Everyone in this small village became passive and began to carry out defensive tasks in an intense and orderly manner.
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Half a day later, on the wall of the Manhan Village, Xu Shiji commanded the soldiers of the Wagang Camp to continuously attack with powerful crossbows and hard bows. There was no need to aim at all. The arrows flew down the city like a rain of locusts, and they could always hit a large number of Li Jiajun soldiers.
At several important openings, each captain braved the enemy's arrows and led his men to continuously push down rolling stones and knock down logs. Some villagers in the village set up iron pots on the city wall, fanning the fire as hard as they could, and burning the oil pot.
As soon as the oil boiled, soldiers from the Wagang camp poured it down the city. Suddenly, there was a wailing sound from the city.
However, after Li Shimin's instigation and coercion, the soldiers of the Li Family Army seemed to be desperate for their lives. They continued to attack and fight.
Therefore, the Li family's army's fierce attack on the Manhan stronghold was like a storm from the beginning. However, after more than an hour of fierce attack, there was still no sign of weakening. Instead, each wave became stronger than the last.
The Wagang camp at the head of the city used bows, arrows, crossbows, kerosene, rolling wood and other weapons to defend the city and never stopped killing the enemy.
At a certain moment, the gate of the village suddenly opened from the inside, and 10,000 Wagang camp cavalry, holding high the battle flag, rushed out of the door like a flood from the gate, and killed the Li family army outside the city who was attacking the city. The leader was Kuangniao.
Xu Shiji never thought of blindly defending the wall. When the siege was at its fiercest, he even dared to open the gate and let the cavalry go out to kill. This was the confidence of Wagang Camp, and it was also a manifestation of the Far Eastern Army's strong combat power.
As the cavalry rushed out of the city, the morale of the Wagang camp at the top of the city suddenly increased. They waved their swords and killed the Li family soldiers who climbed up the city.
But what surprised Xu Shiji, who was standing at the top of the city and commanding the troops, was that the soldiers of the Li family army outside the wall were not defeated, nor did they expect the scene where Mad Bird led the cavalry to chase down the enemies attacking the city.
And immediately afterwards, he heard the sound of war drums and horns coming from the east, which were the horns of the enemy's cavalry charging. Then he saw a total of 50,000 Li Family Army cavalry, facing the 10,000 Far Eastern cavalrymen who were leaving the city from four directions.
The army cavalry surrounded and attacked.
"Li Shimin unexpectedly anticipated my plan and made preparations in advance." Xu Shiji's heart sank and his face became solemn, "This person is indeed difficult to deal with. No wonder he is taken seriously by the prince."
When the morale of the Li family's army was greatly reduced at the top of the city, Xu Shiji sent out 10,000 elite cavalry who had been recuperating for a long time. He wanted to launch a surprise counterattack when the Li family's army was at its most exhausted and its morale began to decline. Unexpectedly, the opponent was prepared.
, the ten thousand fine knights led by Mad Bird not only failed to defeat the enemy attacking the city, but instead trapped these ten thousand fine knights outside, and were about to be surrounded by the enemy.
Li Shimin stood on a nearby hillside with a clear view, watching the battle intently. As long as he could destroy the 10,000 Far Eastern Army cavalry leaving the city, the strength of the Wagang Camp in the Barbarian Village would be reduced by less than half, which would have a negative impact on the morale of the Wagang Camp.
It will definitely have a great impact, and it is not impossible to break through the barbarian stronghold within a day or two.
However, at this time, a sudden change occurred.
"This is impossible!" Li Shimin couldn't help but change his face when he saw the sudden change in the camp behind them. Something completely unexpected happened in his field of vision.
All the original battle flags of the Li Jiajun camp suddenly fell down and were replaced by hundreds of Wagang camp battle flags.
In Li Shimin's field of vision, at least 20,000 cavalrymen were galloping and killing people in the western camp. Behind the woods not far away, military flags were flashing and dust was flying. It was clear that there was an army of tens of thousands of people heading here.
Come galloping!
"Reinforcements from the Far Eastern Army?"
"Where did the reinforcements come from?"
"How come the men and horses of the Yi barbarians were borrowed by Cheng Yaojin so easily and quickly, and there were so many of them."
It’s not that Li Shimin didn’t think of Cheng Yao
Jin could borrow men and horses from the Ximan tribe, but when he thought about it, it would take at least four or five days, and judging from the past situation of the Ximan tribe, it would be good to borrow at most ten or twenty thousand.
However, now it is clear that after something happened to Duan Zhixuan and the others, the barbarian troops had already set off before dawn the next day, otherwise they would not have arrived at this time, and now there are at least 20,000 of them seen with their own eyes.
And there seemed to be more men and horses coming to kill in the woods in the distance.
"It seems now that the Far Eastern Army's control over the barbarians is still beyond my imagination."
"Perhaps in addition to the Xi barbarians, the Far East Army has other troops hiding nearby."
Li Shimin had many thoughts, and for a while he still couldn't make up his mind whether to retreat first.
On top of the city, Xu Shiji also saw the reinforcements that suddenly attacked the enemy's rear camp. He was also surprised at first. The reinforcements from the Xi barbarians led by Cheng Yaojin arrived at least a day faster than he expected, but this time
It does not affect him from making the most correct decision at this time.
"Reinforcements have arrived, follow my commander out of the city and kill all the enemies." Xu Shiji gave the order loudly, and soon his order spread throughout the army.
"Reinforcements have arrived, go out of the city and kill all the enemies." The Wagang Camp in the city burst into loud cheers and the sound of drums and horns.
On the hillside, Li Shimin listened to the cheers of the Wagang Camp in the Barbarian Village and watched Xu Shiji in the city mobilize his troops to rush towards the gate of the village. He did not dare to hesitate anymore and ordered in a deep voice: "Send the order, all armies will withdraw north immediately! Order
Li Shaoguang's men and horses are cut off. Before the troops withdraw, they must burn all the equipment, food and grass as much as possible, and march in formation. Anyone who dares to disturb one another will be killed!"
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Cheng Yaojin naturally didn't know that Li Shimin would lead all the troops to attack the Manhan stronghold where Xu Shiji was stationed so quickly, nor did he know that Xu Shiji would let Mad Bird lead 10,000 fine cavalry out of the stronghold at the most tense moment of attack and defense, but this did not hinder him.
He led 20,000 barbarian cavalry to appear at this most suitable time for a sneak attack, and forcibly prepared the 20,000 horsemen to create a killing movement of at least 60,000 to 70,000 people.
Because, only at this time, the Li family's army had the fewest remaining troops in the camp, and 10,000 fine cavalry led by Mad Bird were attracted to leave the camp.
Therefore, when Cheng Yaojin waited for the Li family's army camp to be almost overwhelming, he personally led 10,000 barbarians with light cavalry to march straight in, captured the western camp of the Li family's army camp, planted the flag of the Far Eastern Army, and sent 5,000 people to disperse and gallop forward.
, to create the illusion of a force charge against the Li Jiajun camp in a large area, and at the same time left 5,000 people to spread suspicion in the woods behind, giving all the Li Jiajun officers and soldiers the feeling that there were many reinforcements from the Far Eastern Army, making the Li Jiajun think that they had been hit.
There was an ambush, and the morale of the army was instantly in chaos.
And Xu Shiji showed the decisive side of a seasoned general, leading the remaining 10,000-plus Wagang camp troops in the city to rush out of the city without hesitation at the first opportunity, which made Li Shimin suspect that the other party had already known that he would lead the army.
They came to attack, so they had already prepared an ambush and quickly withdrew their troops in a hurry.
Outside the city, Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang led 20,000 barbarian cavalry and 5,000 fine cavalry led by Kuangniao joined forces to pursue them. Behind them was the main force of more than 10,000 Wagang camp led by Xu Shiji.
During the pursuit and retreat, it was even harder for the officers and men of the Li family's army to figure out how many Far Eastern troops were pursuing them. They were frightened by the killings in the past few days. They were even more frightened when they ran for their lives. They were chased for more than ten miles.
Half a day later, the Far East Army killed more than 30,000 Li family troops and returned with a great victory.
Li Shimin withdrew north to Lueyang County, Hanzhong County. After analyzing the intelligence sent back by the spies sent out later, he discovered that he had been tricked by the enemy. He was defeated by the enemy inexplicably and lost his troops. He was extremely angry and wanted to send troops again immediately.
However, not only the losses in this battle were heavy, but also the morale was severely lost, and a lot of food and fodder were also lost. In a short period of time, they lost the ability to take the initiative and could only defend passively.
At this point, in the battle between Sichuan and Sichuan, the Far East Army led by Xu Shiji and Cheng Yaojin, led by the Wagang Camp as the main force, had firmly gained the upper hand. Next, they could suppress Li Shimin's troops, unless Xiao Xiao in the south
The gunmen's army launched a large-scale northern expedition.