Turbulent Times Chapter 1588: Look whose acting skills are superb
However, from a superficial point of view, Li Shimin was unwilling to show weakness, unwilling to withdraw his troops first, and the Far Eastern Army seemed unwilling, so they did not withdraw their troops either.
So it was not until it was completely dark that the two sides had no choice but to stop fighting, and each grabbed the wounded soldiers and the comrades who died in battle and retreated.
The Far Eastern Army retreated another ten miles or so, but they did not return to Hegu County. Instead, they set up camp in a dilapidated village in Shanggu County under the rule of the Far Eastern Army.
In this day's battle, although the two sides did not invest many troops, the intensity of the battle was unprecedented for many soldiers.
After half a day of **** battle, the 2,000 cavalry led by Du Youchao under Li Shimin's command totaled more than 600 casualties, and the Far East Army also lost almost all of them. It's **** water.
Li Shimin carefully asked Du Youchao about the specific judgment and personal experience of the Far East Army's combat power, and 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 his best Find out what the strategic purpose of Yuchi Jingde and other Far East Army coaches is this time.
But the entire second day, the Far Eastern Army was resting, and apart from sending out a large number of scouts to prevent Li's army from stealing the camp, there was no new move.
In any case, the Far Eastern Army happened to be in the territory of the opponent's Shanggu County, so far, there has been no change. Although Li Shimin was eager to win the battle because of Li Yuan's secret order, the current situation in the North and East Roads is not good. , It is not good to act rashly, and we must strive for progress in stability as much as possible.
However, Li Shimin saw from the cautious actions of the Far East Army that yesterday's battle with the same number of cavalry made the Far East Army seem to be a little more jealous of their own side, and they didn't even attack the army camp.
Li Shimin led the generals, who were obviously more confident than the previous few days, were discussing how to win the battle, and a messenger was brought in by a soldier outside.
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 saluting Li Shimin, the intelligence officer took off his pants and exposed his thighs in front of everyone.
Everyone was not surprised, they just watched the intelligence officer undo the sutures of a wound on his thigh, and took out a small wax bomb from it.
Everyone knows that this is a "wax bomb", which is used by the intelligence organization established by Li Shimin to transmit military secret information. It is mostly written on white or yellow silk, sealed with wax outside, and sewn into the thigh of the messenger inside.
Li Shimin ordered his soldiers to take the sweaty and pale-faced intelligence officer down to treat the wound, and rewarded them on the spot. A piece of white silk was brought to the side of a candlestick, and he looked closely at it by the candlelight.
"Youzhou Luoyi will send 50,000 elite soldiers to aid Yuchi Jingde in ten days, and they will all be cavalry. When the opponent's strength increases greatly, it will be even more difficult to win a battle. So we have to Before Luo Yi's men arrived, they won a battle." Li Shimin looked at the handwriting on the white silk, his expression became solemn, and he finally made up his mind.
All the generals lifted their spirits, clasped their fists and said, "Please order, Second Young Master."
Li Shimin has regained his confidence, and said with a smile: "I do have a plan."
Looking at the sand table in front of him imitating the construction of the Far East Army, he said: "From our Shisha Village to the Far East Army's Hegu County, there is almost a flat river, and there is no danger to defend. Woods."
Everyone looked at Li Shimin puzzled, 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 comparable to the deep mountains and dense forests, it is better than nothing. Near the Ten Killing Village, look around, except for the farmland. It is still farmland. With this forest, God has given us a chance. I watched the battle today, and the Far Eastern Army was able to conquer Hebei, Shandong, and the Central Plains. Now it seems that we are not weaker than them, and even if we have steel plate armor, nine-shot crossbow, 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 the opponent. "
At this time, a general smiled and said: "The second son's intention is to lure the Far East Army into the forest?"
Li Shimin shook his head and said, "Yuchi Jingde is not to be underestimated,
I'm afraid the Far Eastern Army will not be easily fooled. This forest is too small, and the Far East Army would rather set fire to the forest than go deep. The weather in winter is dry now, if the Far Eastern Army sets fire, the woods will not be able to withstand a few fires, and a big fire can easily ignite. We may be seeking our own death if we lie in ambush in the woods. "
"What does the second son mean?" An older general asked the generals what they thought.
"My plan is that we take the initiative to attack them. After a fierce battle, we resisted for a while, then pretended to be invincible, and the troops fled in two ways. One led by Du Youchao, went to Qingshi Valley through the road south of the forest. Defeated. The other route led by Li Guangming retreated into the woods as wandering soldiers. Compared with their north and west sides, Lieutenant Chi Jingde made no progress all the way, so he must be eager to kill the enemy. We must Taking advantage of them, they will never let go of the opportunity to chase the defeated enemy, so the Far East Army will only pursue Du Youchao's way."
All the generals immediately understood, and said, "Second Young Master, you want General Du to return to the carbine again, and attack from front to back?"
"Of course, I will personally lead the main force." Li Shimin said confidently, "It's just that Li Guangming and Du Youchao are attacking back and forth, I'm afraid it's not a loss."
"Huh?" The generals had doubts again.
"I will lead the main force to wait at Huangyangpo, 20 miles to the west. Du Youchao will lead the Far East Army to Huangyangpo. Once the Far East Army chases after them, Li Guangming will lead the troops to cut off the way back!" With a sneer, a trace of murderous intent appeared 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, Huangyangpo.
Li Shimin reined in his horse and stopped by the side of the road, looking at the groups of cavalry and infantry marching eastward silently on the avenue beside him, thinking that success or failure depends on one action.
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 is successful this time, they can annihilate tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Far East Army in one fell swoop. The prestige in the Li Yuan Group has reached an extremely high level, and it can even overwhelm his elder brother Li Jiancheng who has the inherent advantage of being the eldest son.
It's just that the only thing he needs to worry about now is whether Du Youchao and Li Guangming can carry out 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 in implementing this plan, it would be 100% successful.
After thinking about it for a while, Li Jing may be secretly plotting by Yuchi Jingde's side. To be cautious, Li Shimin divided his troops into two groups, and sent his general Mao Haizhong to lead ten thousand cavalry. Detour quickly and insert to the east of Du Youchao. Once Du Youchao's ambush is exhausted, Mao Haizhong will lead his army to raid the camp of the Far Eastern Army.
If another member of the Far Eastern Army heard the news and came to rescue him, as long as Mao Haizhong blocked it for a moment, Li Shimin could concentrate his elite troops to wipe out the tens of thousands of Far Eastern Army who had rushed forward first, and then the main force retreated to Shi Sha Village.
Li Shimin's deployment could not be called seamless, but it could be considered very thorough.
Li Shimin thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't find anything wrong. Even if Li Jing might have some conspiracy, as long as he deploys Mao Haizhong as a surprise soldier, he will always be able to escape safely.
However, seeing Mao Haizhong who obeyed his orders and began to mobilize 10,000 horses to leave, Li Shimin remembered that Mao Haizhong's ability was not very outstanding, and murmured again in his heart.
Suspicion is a common problem of many high-ranking people, Li Shimin is especially serious, but he usually hides it very well, after thinking about it for a while, thinking that Mao Haizhong usually behaves bravely, and his ability is passable, so he let go Heart.
But he couldn't help thinking about the whole deployment again in his heart, until he couldn't find any flaws before giving up, and secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
This time the plan has been carried out so far. For Li Shimin, the arrow is already on the string, and he has to launch it.
At this time, it is too late to inform Du Youchao and Li Guangming to change their minds. If he changes his mind temporarily, it will be like sending nearly 40,000 soldiers under the command of Du Youchao and Li Guangming
It's impossible to do this kind of thing.
The Li family army is still moving in an orderly manner according to the established deployment.
After Mao Haizhong led 10,000 cavalry to leave, Li Shimin still had 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry under his command.
He divided the 50,000 troops into three divisions, 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry as the left wing of the army, and the right and left wings had the same layout of troops and horses, while Li Shimin personally went into battle, took charge of the central army, and commanded the remaining 10,000 cavalry and ten thousand infantry.
Because Li Shimin is young and strong and has high martial arts skills, although he is quite resourceful, he likes to lead the way when fighting. It is precisely because of this that he has a high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers under his command.
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 whole army.
These people can guarantee that Li Shimin will not die easily, otherwise it is not certain whether Li Shimin will dare to charge forward again and again.
In order to prevent being detected by scouts, spies or military intelligence agencies of the Far Eastern Army, they could only hide in Huangyangpo and wait patiently before the Far Eastern Army got into the trap.
Li Shimin is quite familiar with the terrain of Huangyangpo. On the plain of Mapingchuan, Huangyangpo is relatively a good place for Tibetan soldiers.
Practically, in order to irrigate the rice fields, last year he mobilized local gentry and common people to dig a ditch more than ten miles long to divert water from the nearby river. Poplars and willows are lined up, and behind the poplars and willows are large reeds. The army is hidden among the reeds, and it is difficult for the Far East Army to find them if they are not in front of them.
At the beginning of the morning, Li Jiajun quietly entered Huangyangpo.
Because Huangyangpo is too close to the temporary camp led by Li Guangming and Du Youchao to confront each other. The dispersal of the teams into the Zhuangzhong.
As for the small number of people in Zhuangzi, Li Shimin sent people to evacuate them overnight. Previously, Li Shimin had sent several spies to survey the terrain and map out the hiding places of the various armies, so when the Li family's army arrived, these spies guided them to their hiding places.
Although Li Shimin acted carefully, prepared well for the battle, and considered it thoroughly, it still took more than half an hour for the three armies on the left, center, and right to complete their formation.
The location of the ambush is so close, although it is forced by the terrain, but as long as the goal can be achieved, it will definitely surprise the Far Eastern Army who is chasing it.
However, I didn't feel it when I was talking on the sand table before. When it came to the actual action, Li Shimin observed carefully and felt that it was still difficult to hide from the enemy. It is almost impossible for an army of 50,000 people to complete the formation without pushing and making noise.
With so many troops, no matter how well-trained the troops are, even in a relatively familiar place, some people will stand in the wrong position and cause a little confusion.
Especially the cavalry, no matter how well trained the war horse is, it is still just a beast after all, there are many unexpected factors that will frighten the war horse.
But Li Shimin led Li Jiajun to do it. Although there must have been some luck in this process, I have to say that Li Shimin's army has trained very well. In the words of later generations, they have strict discipline and a strong style of work.
Du Youchao and Li Guangming, more than 20 miles away to the east, also intend to cooperate with their actions. More than 20 miles away, Li Shimin can still faintly hear the sound of war drums beating.
This is Du Youchao and Li Guangming leading people to fight the 30,000-strong Far East Army!
Don't need to be at the scene, Li Shimin can imagine the scene of arrows raining down and blood flying everywhere when he closes his eyes.
In order to prevent the Far East Army from being suspicious of defeating Du Youchao and Li Guangming, Du Youchao and Li Guangming only brought nearly 40,000 people, which is only a few thousand more than the Far East Army, and they will definitely fight with real swords and guns In a **** battle with the Far Eastern Army, I don't know how many people will die because of it.
Li Shimin naturally didn't sympathize with these soldiers, but he was a little worried that Du Youchao and Li Guangming had lost too much.
For most of the soldiers of the Li family army, the sound of war drums faintly coming from the east and the billowing dust could make people feel comforted at first, and there was even a kind of excitement of approaching the battlefield, but soon , it becomes something that erodes patience.