On October 27, Dou Jiande broke camp and headed south, heading straight for the Yellow River.
It happened that Guo Shiheng brought a large number of ships, and the Xia army recruited some more. Hundreds of thousands of people began to cross the river in batches.
We worked hard for two or three days, and it was not until the afternoon of October 29th that they all crossed the river.
That night, the Xia army was stationed by the river, and Dou Jiande convened a civil and military meeting to discuss matters.
"My lords," Dou Jiande looked at everyone with a proud look on his face: "Now that we have crossed the river, we are not far from Hulao Pass, only more than 300 miles away. But there are three states, Bianzhou, Guanzhou and Xingyang, blocking the road.
Let’s discuss how to fight.”
"Your Majesty," Xu Yuanlang's new subordinate jumped out very actively: "The last general is willing to be the vanguard. If there is any dissatisfaction along the way, he will be punished."
"Don't dare trouble General Xu, this pioneer officer is Wang's job." The former army general and pioneer officer Wang Wan on the side was unhappy, his eyes were angry, and his tone was a bit harsh.
Good guys, you two have just arrived and are still generals. You don’t know how to put your tail between your legs and reach into someone’s bowl. How can you tolerate this?
Seeing that something was not going well, Xu Yuanlang quickly shrank his head and did not dare to say anything anymore.
Dou Jiande turned a blind eye. He always thought that it would be a good thing if the generals could not work together and fight for each other.
Otherwise, would he still be able to sit firmly on the throne?
"Your Majesty," Zhang Xuansu, Huangmen's assistant minister, said, "I think it is inappropriate to attack by force. Now, Luoyang is besieged and is extremely short of food. I am afraid that it will not last for a few days."
"Bian, Guan, although the three prefectures of Xingyang are inconspicuous, they still have more than twenty cities. If we delay for too long, I am afraid that all the soldiers and civilians in Luoyang will starve to death."
"Therefore, I think it is best not to fight if possible. It is better to recruit and appease the enemy while the troops are pressing down on the territory."
In ancient times, siege of a city was always a troublesome matter, and it basically relied on crowds.
Maybe if you encounter a tough problem, it will drag you down for ten and a half days, or even longer, and then people in Luoyang City will probably eat each other.
After hearing this, Dou Jiande touched his beard and glanced at Ling Jing: "What do Ling Aiqing think?"
Ling Jing and Zhang Xuansu agreed: "Your Majesty, I also think that we cannot afford to delay. If we can appease them, it is best not to use troops."
Military generals want to fight, civil servants want to make peace.
It was difficult for Dou Jiande to make a decision at the moment. It would be best not to fight, but if he fights again after the appeasement fails, wouldn't it be a waste of time?
At this moment, a royal guard came from outside the tent to report: "Your Majesty, there are envoys from Bianzhou, Guanzhou, and Xingyang outside the gate of Junzhai."
Dou Jiande and all the civil and military officials were stunned. This was really about Cao Cao, and Cao Cao was here.
"Could it be that he saw that the situation was not good and came to surrender?" Wei Zheng was clever and suddenly said something.
It's possible!
The eyes of all the civil and military officials brightened up. Nowadays, it is still common for the king's flag to be changed at the top of the city. It is rare for someone to fight to the death and refuse to surrender.
Dou Jiande was also looking forward to it, and quickly asked the messenger to bring the envoy in.
The three envoys entered, and after receiving the greetings, they quickly and respectfully presented letters from their respective bosses.
After Dou Jiande opened it, he quickly browsed it, but with a strange look on his face, he waved his hand and asked his personal guards to take the envoy down to rest first.
Seeing that the envoy had left, Ling Jing couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, what did you say in the letter?"
"Please wait and see."
Dou Jiande handed over the letter, and the civil and military officials circulated it one after another. They were a little stunned when they saw it. It turned out that these three places were not surrendering, but they were also working together.
"Cunning guy!" Before Dou Jiande could ask, Qi Shanxing snorted coldly: "Your Majesty, these three words sound nice, but in fact they are just trying to win the battle between me and the Tang army before we place our bets."
"No." Everyone nodded one after another, willing to give in if they wanted. This cowardly behavior was not refreshing at all.
"Do you think I will accept it?" Dou Jiande hesitated.
If you don't accept it, you're afraid of wasting time by fighting hard. If you accept it, with these three hidden mines on your food path, you won't be able to sleep without worrying.
The civil and military officials were also in a difficult position, and they basically had the same idea as Dou Jiande.
Ling Jing pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, I think this is unacceptable. If you want to surrender, I will do it neatly. If this is a trick, our army's retreat will be in danger!"
"Exactly." Wei Zheng and Ling Jing, who had always been advancing and retreating together, agreed: "Your Majesty, please don't forget that Li Shimin has always been cunning and cunning, especially good at robbing food!"
"In addition, Xia Yu, the newly rising military advisor of the Tang Army, is a disciple of Guigu. It is said that he has unpredictable opportunities. Could this be his plan?"
Dou Jiande was stunned when he heard this, and his back felt cold.
When Qi Shanxing heard this, he was unhappy.
He and Ling Jing competed fiercely for favor. If Dou Jiande listened to Ling Jing, would he still be able to sit firmly on the throne of prime minister?
"Your Majesty, I think Ling Jijiu and the others are worrying too much."
"In Bian, Guan, and Xingyang, the two ends of the first rat may be true, but if it is a ruse, then it is over."
"There are only a few thousand soldiers in these three places, and there are not even any good generals. Thank God for being able to protect ourselves. How dare they come to stroke the beard of my army of hundreds of thousands?"
Qi Shanxing's words were sharp and he immediately objected.
Qi Shanxing's judgment was correct. Xia Yu just wanted to protect the three places and then let Xia Jun rush to Hulao Pass as soon as possible to die.
As for letting the three places sneak attack on Xia Jun's food road, I really don't have the idea, because it would be to risk death.
At best, Xia Yu just wanted to let the three places collect the fleeing soldiers after defeating Xia's army, so as not to harm one party.
Kong Desao, Zhang Xuansu, and Liu Bin immediately agreed, but they became friends with Qi Shanxing.
Dou Jiande hesitated for a moment, and Qi Shanxing's opinion couldn't help but prevailed in his heart. He muttered: "I also think it should be accepted. There are only a few soldiers in these three places, so I can't play any tricks."
When Ling Jing heard that he was in a hurry, he had always been careful and would rather worry than be arrogant. Just when he was about to speak, Dou Jiande waved his hand and said: "I understand Ling Jijiu's worries. Let's do it this way. Outside the three states, I
Each of them left three thousand troops to garrison and protect the grain roads."
"In addition, along the way, the three prefectures and cities are not taken, but all the counties along the way are taken. These county towns are garrisoned by at most two or three hundred soldiers and horses, and they can be taken without any effort. In this way, there should be no worries about the way back.
What do you dear ladies think?"
When the civil and military officials heard this, they felt that Dou Jiande was clever, which not only saved time but also avoided possible hidden dangers, and immediately agreed.
Ling Jing hesitated for a moment and thought it was acceptable.
The only small drawback is that a little more troops were spent on the food route, but now that the Xia army has strong troops, this shortcoming is completely acceptable.
Dou Jiande was immediately very proud, feeling that he was too smart, but he didn't know that his reaction had played into Xia Yu's hands.
Immediately, Dou Jiande summoned the envoys from the three places again and said: "I hope I won't attack the three states, but I will take it from the counties west to protect the food road. Do you want to sacrifice it yourself, or I will send troops to go there."
It can be decided with just one word."
When the envoys from the three places saw that there were slight discrepancies in the plan, but they had been given the opportunity early, they all said: "How dare you trouble His Majesty's army? I will withdraw the troops immediately when I get back and give up the counties to show my sincerity."
When Dou Jiande heard this, he was very satisfied and felt more relieved. He nodded and said: "That's very good. You will go back and report immediately. I will start the army the day after tomorrow and march westward. Don't make any mistakes."
"I'll take my leave."
Just as the envoy was sent away, suddenly, a spy hurriedly came to report: "Your Majesty, the villain and his party have been lurking near Hulao Pass recently and made important discoveries."
"Oh?" When Dou Jiande heard this, he became energetic and said, "Say it quickly."
"According to the villain's observation: at Hulao Pass, the banner of the Xuanjia soldiers appeared, as well as the handsome flag of Qin King Li Shimin. The villain speculates that Li Shimin has led his army to aid Hulao Pass."
"In the following days, I saw Li Shimin leaving the customs several times to survey the nearby terrain. The military situation is serious, so I came here to report to Your Majesty."
"Li Shimin is here!" Dou Jiande cheered up: "It seems that His Highness the King of Qin wants to compete with me at Hulao Pass."
"Very good, what do I fear? Let me ask you, how many troops did Li Shimin bring? How is the situation in Guanzhong?"
The secret spy hurriedly said: "Back to your majesty, the villain has spent a lot of effort and finally found out: in Guanzhong, only Zheng's army surrendered 7,000 troops and Li Shiji's troops 10,000. Li Shimin came here with only 3,000 Xuanjia troops.
Five hundred men, and five hundred hussars!"
"What!?"
When Dou Jiande and other civil and military officials heard this, they were all shocked and almost thought they had heard wrongly.
Immediately, Dou Jiande burst into laughter and said with a look of contempt on his face: "What a frivolous Li Shimin. With only four thousand riders, he dares to challenge me!"
"Everyone in the world says that Li Shimin is brave and invincible and that no one in the world can stop him. In my opinion, this is probably exaggerated. There are no heroes in the world, so he made Zhuzi famous."
"This time, I will meet this young King of Qin to see how good he is."
Ling Jing, who was always cautious, shook his head. He also felt that Li Shimin was too trusting. Xia's army was more than 100,000 people. What do you mean by bringing 4,000 people?
Do you really think that Xia Jun is made of clay and will break into pieces with a single beating?
Although there are still 17,000 Tang troops in Hulao Pass, 7,000 of them have surrendered and have to guard the pass. How many people can be mobilized to fight?
"Congratulations to your majesty, our army is expected to win this battle. If we can defeat the Tang army, we will be able to shock the world and accomplish great things!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
As soon as they saw Ling Jing, they all began to flatter him, and all the civil and military officials also followed suit. For a moment, Dou Jiande was so happy and proud of him.
…
One day later, more than 100,000 Xia troops broke out of their camp and marched for more than ten miles, fighting all the way to Hulao Pass. Counties along the way watched the wind and fell.
