Eight hundred and twentieth chapters strategy and prediction
In the autumn and September of the second year of Qianyuan, Li Mi crossed the Yellow River and the peace talks with Li Siye in Puzhou City failed. The two sides entered a state of imminent war. Guo Ziyi made a petition to the emperor and suggested that the imperial court move to Lingwu first, so that he could relax and fight against the rebels.
Military decisive battle.
Li Heng kept shouting that he would live and die with Chang'an, saying that he would never take a step back, and also asked Guo Ziyi not to retreat. In fact, he had already prepared the escape team secretly. The emperor still held great hope in his heart, thinking that
Guo Ziyi was able to turn the tide, defeat Li Siye, protect Guanzhong, and protect Datang.
Therefore, he sent envoy Xing Yanen to the front line to supervise the battle on behalf of the emperor. In fact, he was acting as eyes and ears to report the news in advance. The distance between Jinpudu and Chang'an was only a few counties. As long as Li Siye succeeded in crossing the river and the Tang army was defeated, they would have to run away quickly.
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Guo Ziyi distributed his army at Pujin Ferry and Longmen Ferry at Tongguan, and built camps along the Yellow River beach. There were only 89,000 troops in Guanzhong and they were divided into three parts. Because it was estimated that the place where Li Siye was most likely to cross the river was Pujin Ferry.
, so Yu Chaoen’s 30,000 Longxiang Army was stationed here, Cheng Yuanzhen’s 20,000 Longwu Army was stationed at Tongguan, and Shuofang Army’s 25,000 troops were composed of Jiedu Deputy Envoy Pugu Huai’en and Shence Army Envoy Guo Yingyi.
The Longmen Crossing camp was set up to prevent Li Siye from crossing the river at any place.
This method of dispersing troops is very detrimental to the Tang army. As long as Li Siye concentrates his troops to break through in one place, they will not be able to stop them. This is like piercing Lu Zun with the tip of a needle. Although it is difficult to cross the river by boat, but in the world
There is no unbreakable line of defense.
Guo Ziyi was troubled by this. On the one hand, he continuously sent scouts across the river to explore Li Siye's troop deployment in order to deduce the exact location of crossing the river, so as to concentrate troops for defense and confrontation. On the other hand, he decided to send people to build buildings every five miles along the Yellow River.
A beacon tower, leading all the way upstream to Longmen Ferry, and downstream all the way to Tongguan. Once Li Siye on the other side concentrated his troops to launch an attack, they would light the beacon tower to convey the message, and let the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River rush to rescue. This way, the limited troops could hinder as much as possible
The enemy troops cross the river.
Li Siye also knew that the longer he waited by the Yellow River, the tighter the Tang Army's defenses would be, so he planned to take advantage of the fact that the Tang Army's beacon tower had not yet been completed, and choose a location to break through the Yellow River and enter Guanzhong.
Therefore, he sent people to cut down trees at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain and build rafts and pontoons to prepare for crossing the river at any time. He also sent a message to Lingbao outside Tongguan and ordered Tian Zhen and Yan Xiaosi to step up the siege to put pressure on the Tang army in Tongguan.
, so that the entire defense line from the Yellow River to Tongguan is like a house leaking air and rain everywhere.
Before the battle, he summoned all the military think tanks together, including An Lushan's surrendered general Yan Zhuang Gaoshang, Xu Bin Cen Shen who had followed him from Hexi, Cui Qianyou, Cai Xide and others were also sitting on the seats.
Li Siye put his hands on his knees and asked confidently: "We stationed troops in Puzhou just to enter Guanzhong. Now Guo Ziyi has three troops and is stationed at Jinpu Ferry, Tongguan and Longmen Ferry in turn. He called you here today because he wants to ask
I ask you, where should we cross the river and attack Guanzhong?"
As his number one military advisor, Xu Bin was the first to speak: "My lord, these three attack locations each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Tongguan is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if there is Fenglingdu to cross the river, the city wall has been extended to the beach of the Yellow River.
Crossing the river still has to be fortified, and the attack is very difficult. But there are two advantages. First, we can attack Tongguan from both sides with Tian Zhen and Yan Xiaosi. Second, it also has an unexpected effect. Guo Ziyi never expected that we would attack from here."
"Pujin Ferry, the key defense of the imperial court is at Pujin Ferry. It is also the most ideal place to attack across the river. Although the pontoon bridge was burned by a fire, the iron cables on the pontoon bridge are still there, and the iron oxen pulling the iron cables on both sides are also there.
, as long as they use wooden boats on the left and right to feint attack, and lay planks from the pontoon that night, they can reach the other side the next morning. But Guo Ziyi is personally stationed here, and the military deployment is also the heaviest, and it is located between Longmendu and Tongguan. Once the river is crossed,
It’s a head-to-head confrontation.”
"The third place is Longmen Crossing. Although it is far away from Chang'an after crossing the river, the Tang army's military deployment is quite satisfactory, so overall, this is the best place to cross the river. But what we can think of, they must also be able to think of, Guo Ziyi must
We will make preparations for this in advance, so I suggest that your lord attack Guanzhong from Longmen Crossing, but you just need some planning."
Li Siye nodded cautiously, stood up and held his chin and asked: "If it is as Xu Gong said, how should we use the plan?"
"The Lord should transfer most of the troops to Hejin County and leave some troops at Pujin Crossing to cut down trees, build bridges, and make rafts, so as to spread suspicion and build up momentum to attract most of the Tang Army's troops to Pujin Crossing. Our Hexi army will take advantage of the opportunity to cross
Longmen and attack Chang'an."
He stroked his beard and paced in the tent. He hummed in agreement at first, then turned around and asked: "Guo Ziyi is well versed in the art of military use. Naturally, it is impossible for him not to know the false and true tactics of military strategists. This kind of story tells
Suspicious Formation's tactics may be able to deceive others, but they cannot deceive him."
Xu Bin took a step forward and asked: "What do you mean, lord...?"
"Soldiers never tire of deceit. Since Guo Ziyi can see through the tactics of suspicious soldiers, why don't we do the opposite and lead the army to Longmendu to cut wood and build ships, and make the noise as loud as possible. We will tell the Tang army that we are going to cross the river at Longmen, and Pujin
On the other side of the crossing, the troops were all silent and only a small number of troops were deployed along the river. This caused Guo Ziyi to over-interpret and continue to accumulate heavy troops at Pujin Ferry. Our army broke through Longmen and crossed into Guanzhong in one fell swoop."
Everyone crossed their hands and said yes.
He turned his attention to his adopted son Li Chongbao and asked inquiringly: "How about Bao'er and his eight thousand soldiers staying at Pujin Crossing? Mr. Cen will also stay to assist you."
Li Chongbao bowed and said, "My child obeys your orders."
Li Siye added: "For you to stay at Pujin Ferry, it is not just to stand still, but also to expose some clues to the Tang army. You hibernate during the day, and at night you lead your troops out to move around, making some torch noises on the beach of the Yellow River."
"Father, don't worry, your child will take care of you with care."
After he gave instructions to his son, he gathered the army and set off that night. The firelight shone like waves on the Yellow River rippling under the moonlight. The Tang army scouts on the other side saw this and reported it to Deputy Marshal Guo Ziyi who was hesitating in the tent.
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Guo Ziyi was shocked when she heard this, and quickly waved her hand and said, "Take me over to take a look."
He and Yu Chaoen went to the bank of the Yellow River together, and saw thousands of shining torches forming a procession and heading upstream along the Yellow River.
Yu Chaoen said with a happy face: "Li Siye's army has moved. He is going north to Longmen Ferry, crossing the Yellow River from Longmen and entering Guanzhong. Guo Sikong, we should also set off immediately to Longmen Ferry to reinforce and intercept."
Guo Ziyi lowered his head and pondered, then raised his palm and said, "Wait a moment, envoy fish. The movements of the Hexi Army are so obvious. Even if they set off at night, it can be considered a big fanfare. Li Siye has always acted carefully, and there is no way he would make such a big mistake."
"Then based on what Sikong sees, how should we act?"
"Immediately ordered someone to send a message to Pugu Huai'en, reminding him that Li Siye had led his troops to the north, and asked him to step up the construction of fortifications and be prepared. Sentries were set up along the river to monitor the movements of the Hexi Army at all times, and to report changes to the direction at any time.
I understand."
Although Yu Chaoen disagreed with Guo Ziyi's judgment, he knew that the current situation could not tolerate any mistakes. No wonder Guo Ziyi was so cautious and suspicious.
The messengers rode fast horses from the Pujindu camp to Longmendu and reported to Pugu Huai'en, the deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedu who was stationed here. Pugu naturally followed Guo Ziyi's words and ordered his people to step up along the Yellow River.
Build a lookout and always pay attention to what's going on on the east bank of the river.
When the night was quiet, soldiers of the Tang Army climbed up to the observation deck and looked into the distance. They could vaguely see countless torches marching upstream at the beachhead of the Yellow River in the distance. Even the sound of horse hooves could be heard from the river, and the sharp blades of swords and guns could be heard.
It seems to be reflected on the sparkling water.
The soldiers on the observation deck were frightened. They immediately rode fast horses overnight to the Longmendu camp and reported the news to Pugu Huai'en.
News came one after another, which clearly indicated that the Hexi Army had transferred most of its troops to the north and was about to concentrate its efforts on attacking Longmendu. Pugu Huaien also had doubts in his heart, but he wisely did not send his judgment to Guo Ziyi as military information.
Instead, he informed Guo Sikong of all the details in a long letter.
Since Guo Ziyi received this letter, his forehead has not relaxed, and he often paces in the camp and thinks hard. Li Siye has always been cunning, and now that Li Guangbi has also joined his army, his strategy will never be so simple.
Even a rough guy like Pugu Huai'en became suspicious.
According to Pugu Huai'en's letter, looking at the actions of the Hexi Army along the Yellow River, there are great doubts. If Li Siye really wants to lead his army north to Longmen Ferry and doesn't want them to know, he only needs to march far away from the banks of the Yellow River.
What he did now was just deceiving others. He would never make such a mistake.
Guo Ziyi has come to the conclusion in his mind that Li Siye's so-called northward march to Longmen Ferry is just a false shot and a tactic. His main force has not left Pujin Ferry and Puzhou City at all. If he can't calm down, under his inducement
I will also transfer most of my troops to Longmendu, Guanzhong will fall to the enemy, and the Tang Dynasty will eventually be in darkness.