Li Keyong has returned to Jinyang. Li Siyuan and Shi Shanyou are fully coordinating the Xin Dynasty and Yunwei wars. Li Siyuan takes the lead and Shi Shanyou assists.
Li Siyuan is thirty-six years old this year. After more than 20 years of military service, he finally assumed the position of front-line commander and was responsible for the overall situation in one aspect. This was a huge breakthrough for him in his official career.
It’s just that——the future of Hedong is overall gloomy and unclear, which makes the position of this commander eclipse a lot.
The army under his command has been adjusted again.
The number of soldiers and horses coming from Youzhou is very large, with more than 20,000 people, even more than the 14,000 troops of the personal cavalry, flying cavalry, Xiongjie and Ma Qian silver spears that Li Siyuan has long commanded. How to manage it? In fact,
It's no small challenge.
This is not unfounded worry. In fact, Li Cunzhang, the current deputy envoy of Youzhou Jiedu, was very angry that his troops were taken away, because this weakened his power in disguise.
Unfortunately, this was an order from the King of Jin, and he could not refuse. But this debt must be settled more or less with Li Siyuan.
Of course Li Siyuan knew what was going on here. But dealing with the Xia people was a business matter, so that was it, there was nothing more to say.
"I urge Jinyang again. Since we are going to fight, why are we so slow to prepare? We have only sent two batches of food and grass and a batch of arrows so far. It is too slow." Li Siyuan frowned and put the hand in his hand.
Put down the account book.
He was illiterate, couldn't understand what was in the account book, and was too lazy to read it. His top priority now was to complete all preparations before the war began.
"Sir, I heard that Gai Sima, the manager of the Jinyang shogunate, is smart and capable, and is very familiar with military affairs. He shouldn't be so procrastinating in doing things. They - they may be doing it on purpose." Li Congke, the adopted son, said mysteriously.
He said, feeling a little proud at the same time, a kind of pride that revealed the secret.
Li Siyuan smiled and said: "You, a young man who has only been fighting for a few years, can see it. How could I not know?"
Yes, just as Liang Hanyong and Pei Guan had guessed, Li Keyong didn't think highly of Abaoji, his newly adopted brother. In other words, he might have some degree of fear of the word "adopted brother". Really
I don't have much favorable impressions.
He has decided to wait and see what happens.
The Khitans will now be full of resentment, and the possibility of fighting with the Xia people is very high, so they might as well wait a little longer and let the Xia people's troops be attracted to the Yanbei front line in large numbers. When the rear is empty, they can then send out elite soldiers and generals to defeat them in one fell swoop.
Xia people's top seven inches.
Li Siyuan did not comment on whether this strategy was correct or wrong.
All he knew was that he felt sorry for the Khitans by doing this. But then again, there really was no mutual trust between them and the Khitans, and even the hostility had not been completely eliminated. In such a situation, it was really difficult to be completely free of grudges.
Join forces without reservation.
When you are in the game, some decisions are indeed difficult to make. But King Jin————is really old, and he doesn’t have the same vigor as he did ten years ago. This would definitely not be the choice for King Jin at that time.
"It turns out that your Excellency already knows." Li Congke smiled sheepishly.
"You must keep your mouth shut." Li Siyuan said, "Once word spreads, the morale of the army may be affected."
"As ordered." Li Congke responded.
…
Li Siyuan sighed and walked around in the central hall.
After a long time, he suddenly said: "You make a trip to Jinyang for me. No matter what the shogunate plans, it is always right to get all the supplies first. Otherwise, once the troops are sent out in a hurry, you will find that nothing is prepared."
"Yes." Li Congke agreed again.
"Also." Li Siyuan said again: "Go to the Prince of Jin's Mansion in person and say that at this moment, instead of looking forward and backward, it is better to march north with all your troops and meet Abaoji in Yunzhou. By then there will be more than 200,000 troops.
The Xia people are afraid, and the initiative is on our side. If you can't see the King of Jin, go to Gai Yu and Li Xiji and ask them to persuade them."
"The King of Jin and Abaoji met in Yunzhou to form an alliance?" Li Congke asked in surprise.
"Young men, you don't need to ask too many questions, just go ahead." Li Siyuan waved his hand and told Li Congke to go and do things quickly.
"Yes." Seeing that his father was a little irritable, Li Congke immediately stepped away.
Li Siyuan does have some
I was irritated, so I left the army and trained the fifth battalion of new troops.
Once a war breaks out, the main force will definitely move north. At that time, the defense of the Xin Dynasty will have to rely on more than 50,000 infantry and cavalry to defend. These troops are currently trained by the Dujianshiyamen, but in fact it is dual management, because Jinyang
It has been placed under the command of Li Siyuan.
Faced with such trust, Li Siyuan was also very grateful.
He didn't have much ambition. Although Hedong was discouraged, he never wavered and always wanted to repay King Jin for his great kindness.
He is illiterate and has no talent for managing the world. The only thing he can do is to train his troops, fight bravely, and defend one side.
If things cannot be done in the future, everything must be done according to the orders of the King of Jin. If he fights, he will fight to the end and die without regrets. If he doesn't want to fight, at worst, the old brothers will disarm and return to their fields, that's all.
In the wind came the sound of passionate drums and bursts of shouts of death.
Li Siyuan stood on a high platform in the camp and carefully observed the new army's military situation. From time to time, he sent new soldiers down to deliver orders and make corrections. Every time his words were meaningful and to the point, everyone accepted them.
The days passed like this day by day.
****
On the eighth day of June in the second year of Jianji, early in the morning, a huge fire broke out on the grassland. Tents and vehicles were burned to the point of crackling sound, and smoke rose in clouds and wisps, misty and misty.
There was another faint cry of killing in the wind.
War horses neighed, swords clashed, and dull iron hooves almost trampled the entire grassland.
Screams came from time to time, sometimes mixed with curses. It is really difficult to tell where the meaningless screams made by a person before death came from.
When a red mist enveloped the eastern sky, the wandering clouds gradually dispersed, and the grassland became vast.
Wang He held his breath and concentrated, paying attention to the movements around him.
After a while, the sound of "dong dong" drums came from all directions. Gradually, the drum sound became faster and turned into the sound of horse hooves, shaking the ground slightly.
Soon, from the three directions of east, south and north, gray shadows jumped out one after another, gradually approaching here.
"For the sake of the Supreme Khan, kill!" Wang He straightened up his horse and took the lead.
"Kill!" Countless knights clamped down on their horses and rode forward.
…
There were enemies on three sides, but they showed no fear and only stared at the enemy troops rushing to the east.
That side has the strongest troops, and it looks like there are nobles and chiefs there, so I'll take action on you!
Unexpectedly, the Khitan people were surrounded on three sides, but the enemy dared to rush forward. They cursed one after another, and also rode their horses and whips to meet them.
The speed of both sides was getting faster and faster, and the sound of bowstrings began to sound slowly. However, on top of the galloping horses, the formation was still so sparse, it was somewhat difficult to shoot.
Some unlucky people fell off their horses, some rolled to the ground with their horses, and more people increased their horse speed to the extreme.
After the Khitans shot the last round of arrows, they drew their bones, sabers, spears, and iron swords and charged forward.
Unlike the traditional grassland mounted archers, the Khitans often engage in close combat and carry a variety of weapons with them.
The cavalry from both sides crashed into each other.
Wang He waved his horse spear and swept across the two oncoming Khitan cavalry. He was unable to dodge and was hit by this powerful and heavy horse warfare weapon. He screamed and fell off his horse.
A spear flashed out in front and headed straight for the front door. At the critical moment, Wang He abandoned his horse and ducked sideways, passing by the enemy cavalry.
As soon as he regained his balance, another spear came forward. Wang He was furious. Being a brave man, he held the barrel of the spear under his arm and hurriedly abandoned the spear. Wang He drew out a tea mountain sword with his right hand and swung it down, killing the enemy.
The rider fell to the ground screaming.
"The noble Saba is dead!" the Khitan people exclaimed one after another.
Dozens of people screamed in grief, abandoned the enemy in front of them with red eyes, turned their horses' heads, and rushed to the scene of the accident, trying to rescue them.
Wang He put the iron sword back into its sheath.
He took a look before sheathing it. The blade was covered with blood. The thief must be dead - it only appeared after cutting off the neck.
of heavy bleeding.
After holding the spear in his left armpit, he targeted the enemy's cavalry and stabbed them repeatedly. Wherever he passed, there was no enemy, and he killed three people in a row.
Suddenly, huge force came from his back and helmet, almost causing him to fall off his horse.
Wang He knew very well that he had been hit by more than one arrow. Heaven was kind to him. If the arrow had hit a war horse, he would have fallen to the ground. On the chaotic battlefield, once he fell off his horse,
The chance of survival is extremely small.
"Poof!" Another spear was thrust out, and the enemy cavalry fell down in response, but the spear also broke.
Wang He cursed loudly and turned his horse's head, only to see that the enemy cavalry from the south and north directions were already very close, and the arrow just now should have been shot by them.
"Retreat!" he shouted and led his troops to flee west.
How could the Khitan people let him go? They all chased after him with strange screams.
More than a hundred miles away in the northeast, Abaoji, who was camping, quickly received the news.
Wang He, the leader of the party in Sanquan Land, led his troops to attack and raided one of their horse pastures, killing dozens of people, taking away 3,000 horses, and burning many tents and heavy vehicles. Saba of Chu Te tribe led his troops to pursue
, the result was "falling down and dying".
"Absurd! How can you lay an ambush in the vast grassland?" Abaoji felt a little bad after hearing this, and subconsciously cursed out.
The truth may be that the Chute tribe had a head-on confrontation with the Party members and was killed.
"Yi Li Jin, the Xia people should gradually know that our army is embarking on a large-scale western expedition." After hearing the news, Haili hurried over and said, "This is not the first time. In recent days, the Xia people have obviously become more active. They must be
What happened?"
…
"What happened?" Abaoji asked with a solemn expression.
"In the past few years, it has been the Xia people who have taken the initiative to provoke our army." Haili said: "This year, Yi Li Jin is marching westward in a large scale. It is rare for the Xia people to see this. Even the dullest person knows that something is wrong and will definitely do it.
Proceed with caution. There are only three possibilities for this abnormal situation now."
"Say." Abaoji rubbed the bow on his waist and said.
"First, the Xia people are too reckless and arrogant. They don't take Khitan seriously. This is not a bad thing." Haili said.
"Secondly, one of the Han art of war is to deliberately show strength and conceal one's own reality. They must be very empty and afraid, so they took the initiative to attack, hoping to make our army suspicious and afraid to advance quickly."
"Thirdly, the Jin people have no intention of sending troops. The Xia people are not afraid of being attacked from both front and rear. They are confident and have mobilized a large army. But they should not be so fast."
"Which one do you prefer?" Abaoji asked.
"The second type." Haili said without hesitation, "The Xia people are deliberately showing strength, covering up their own weakness, and trying to delay time. They - they are definitely not ready yet.
Abaoji pondered silently.
More and more subordinates gathered around, waiting for his decision.
"We are not completely ready yet." Abaoji said, "But after all, we are more prepared than the Xia people. We immediately sent an envoy to Hedong and said that I wanted to see my brother."
The envoy quickly selected them and left after receiving the order.
Abaoji turned around and said, "Urge the rear to speed up the march."