September 22nd, the seventh day when the war officially started.
Many, many things happened on this day.
After everything was settled, Li Shan, who looked back on the past, once lamented that many historical events happened by chance, but until the end, no one knew what the outcome would be.
As the old saying goes, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what the next one will taste like.
On this day, Duan Zhixuan's bold and rash attack disrupted Zhang Zhongjian's preparations, causing the leader of the Three Fengchen Heroes to make an extremely risky decision... He had no reliance on anything and only relied on his own intuition.
Just when Duan Zhixuan was attacking, thousands of miles away in Chang'an, the atmosphere in the Liangyi Palace was a bit solemn. Li Yuan was frowning and thinking, and his face with ravines could not be seen. The ministers and assistants below, the prince, the King of Qin, and Li Shan They were all waiting silently.
On the desk next to Li Yuan was the Lingzhou Military Report that had just been delivered. The reporter was Zhang Shigui, the governor of Yuanzhou. No one expected that Dubu Khan stormed the Mingsha Camp with a hundred thousand troops. The battle was tragic but not surprising. Ken turned.
Zhang Zhongjian felt strange because of his military intuition, because the Turks' movements were not in line with common sense. Li Yuan, Li Shimin and the people in the palace were also keenly aware of the strangeness... because of their political intuition.
Li Yuan thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out, and his eyes fell on Li Shimin, "Erlang, is this Hedong?"
Dub Khan refused to retreat for a long time. Obviously, this military operation had an obvious political purpose and was not a simple robbery. Considering that Dub Khan and Turli Khan had formed an alliance not long ago, the Turkic civil strife was temporarily suspended. , a de facto split, and went south almost at the same time, one attacked Hedong Road and the other attacked Guannei Road. Li Yuan could easily judge that Dubu Khan and Tuli Khan probably had a tacit understanding, or even had it in advance. agreed.
If Dubu Khan refuses to retreat, could he be waiting for Tuli Khan to make a breakthrough?
Obviously Li Shimin did not make an accurate judgment and was speechless for a while.
Li Yuan's eyes fell on Li Shan, "Huairen?"
"Uh..." Li Shan had nothing to say. You can't talk nonsense about this kind of thing. Once the possible breakthrough point of the Turks is determined or guessed, the allocation of troops, food, and ordnance will change. If the guess is wrong, it will be over.
However, Li Shan had a premise to judge that this Turkic invasion to the south was not only a premeditated and planned attack, but also a tacit attack between the two khans, and it was also a large-scale southern invasion deliberately planned by the Turks... The intention is right To put it simply, it is nothing more than a bid to bid farewell to the Tang Dynasty, which was founded less than ten years ago.
To put it formally, this was a military operation by the Turks to try to re-establish their authority and maintain their dominance over the grasslands after experiencing several disastrous defeats.
Therefore, it is really difficult to guess where the breakthrough is... from Hebei to Hedong, from Guannai Road to Longyou Road, it is possible.
Just like when Jieli Khan led an army of more than 100,000 people to attack Yanmen Pass, Dubu Khan or Tuli Khan must have chosen a breakthrough... At this time, he also thought of Xiao Yu's test when Jieli Khan attacked Yanmen Pass. Question: "Could it be Lou Fanguan?"
At that time, Jieli Khan sent Ashina Sheer to sneak into Lanzhou through Loufan Pass, and almost attacked Yanmen Pass from both sides. Now that it is autumn, the Hui River, which is a natural barrier at Loufan Pass, is likely to stop flowing. Can it be tolerated? The river valley where more than a dozen cavalrymen advance together may become a breakthrough point.
But Li Shimin immediately shook his head and vetoed, "The main force of King Daozong's brother is stationed in Bingzhou, but he sent heavy troops to guard Yuloufan Pass. It will be difficult for the Turks to break through."
After being silent for a while, Yang Gongren said, "It's unlikely to be Hebei or Shandong."
Everyone nodded in agreement. It didn't matter how fierce the commotion was in Hebei and Shandong. Anyway, it would not affect the Guannai Road... Everyone knew that the Turks' southern invasion, no matter which direction it came from, the final destination of the march would definitely be Chang'an. , although most likely unreachable.
At that time, Jieli Khan invaded Hedong and took control of Xinzhou. His army almost penetrated Hedong. Li Yuan had no choice but to release Li Shimin. Otherwise, the Turkic cavalry would have entered the Guannai Road through Longmen Ferry and entered Jingzhao.
Another example is the Battle of Jingzhou last year. If Li Huairen, the heir to Wei, had not turned the tide, the coalition forces of Dubu Khan and Tuli Khan would have marched southward, crossed Qizhou, entered Jingzhao, and drank from the Wei River.
To put it bluntly, if they want to show their power to the Tang Dynasty, the Turks' target can only be Chang'an, not any other place that is neither painful nor itchy.
At this time, Pei Shiju coughed slightly.
Li Yuan raised his eyebrows, "Hongda, but it doesn't matter."
"Your Majesty, Hebei must not be ignored." Pei Shiju said slowly: "If Youzhou is lost, the Hu people will not go south, but attack Yizhou westward, and invade Yuzhou via Feihuxing. Not only can they go south and invade Daizhou, And it can attack from both front and back to break the Yanmen Pass."
Li Yuan's face changed slightly. If the Turks attack Feihuxing, it will be a big trouble. The entire Daizhou army may be lost. Once Yanmen Pass is lost and Li Daoxuan cannot retreat south in time, the entire Daizhou army is in danger of being annihilated... Moreover, Liu Shirang and Li Shiji of Shuozhou were widows whose sons had died, and there was no hope.
Thinking of this, Li Yuan first looked at Li Shimin, and then at Li Shan... Both of them looked at Pei Shiju suspiciously, wondering what Pei Shiju wanted to do?
Will Pei Shiju sincerely counsel the military aircraft?
Absolutely not.
From before this war started to now, Pei Shiju has never said a word, but now he suddenly jumps out... What is the purpose?
Li Shimin couldn't figure it out for a while, and after thinking for a moment he said: "Feihuxing is located in the north of Laiyuan County and the south of Lingqiu County, connecting Hebei and Hedong. It is one of the eight places in Taihang. There are two steep cliffs here, and a slight line of winding road. Nearly a hundred miles."
"In the early years of Weizhou... so the flying fox was difficult to control. After the First World War in Luoshui, Liu Heitai escaped into the grassland through the flying fox."
Although Li Yuan raised troops in Hedong, in fact, until after the founding of the People's Republic of China, until Li Shimin settled in the Central Plains, and even until Li Yaoshi pacified Lingnan, Yuzhou was never under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. The main reason was the threat of Turks. Like Yanmen Pass, Feihuxing was not fortified, and the main force of the Tang army was stationed in Bingzhou.
Before Liu Heitai raised his army, Gao Kaidao, the king of Beiping County who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, was the general manager of Yuzhou. However, this man soon attached himself to the Turks and together with Liu Heitai, he raised an army against the Tang Dynasty.
In fact, there is no place named Lingqiu County now, but Feihu County, which is named after Feihuxing. However, because Feihuxing was not recovered for a long time, it was temporarily assigned to Suicheng... which was considered a false position.
Generally speaking, Yuzhou is similar to Yunzhou. In name, Daizhou General Administration governs Daizhou, Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Yuzhou, and Yunzhou, but in fact it can only control the first three, and the latter two are not under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. .
However, this situation gradually changed after Li Shan arrived in Daizhou.
(End of chapter)
