In terms of war zones, it can be roughly divided into Hebei, Hedong, Yanzhou, and Lingzhou. The main battlefield is in Hedong. During the process of withdrawing from the south, the Daizhou Army has lost 40 to 50% of its education. Li Shiji and Liu Shirang were divided into After arriving at Shuozhou, Tuli Khan led his army to settle in Xinzhou, showing off his force and power, as if he was taking advantage of victory to pursue.
But Li Yuan, Li Shimin and Li Shan in Chang'an did not expect that the war in Hedong would stop. Although the stop was short, it stopped after all... The word "stop" is used because the next war broke out in Lingzhou.
This battle seemed a bit nonsense. After all, after continuous fierce attacks failed, Dubu Khan chose remote control and led the main force to move to the east. He only deployed heavy troops on the north side of the Mingsha Camp to prevent the Tang army from suddenly detouring. To attack the flanks, even Dubu Khan sent partial divisions to Yanzhou and even Xiazhou to contain Yanzhou Dao troops.
In a word, the sudden outbreak of the Lingzhou War was beyond Dubu Khan's expectation.
Li Shan could not have imagined that, in fact, even Zhang Zhongjian, the commander of the Lingzhou Army, could not imagine that this sudden battle would play an extremely crucial role in how this large-scale war, which stretched thousands of miles from east to west, would end.
On the night of September 23, when Li Shiji and Liu Shirang of Shuozhou decided to gather their troops, Hou Hongtao, who had been stationed at Mingsha Camp, appeared in Zhongning.
There were about six to seven thousand Tang troops stationed in Zhongning. The leader was Guo Xiaoke, the general manager of Lingzhou, and his deputies were Hou Junji and Feng Li.
"Why are you here?" Hou Junji's expression changed greatly, "How is the situation over there in Mingsha?"
Hou Hongtao took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Guo Xiaoke after hesitating for a while, which made the latter look a little better. Guo Xiaoke hated Zhang Zhongjian deeply, but he didn't have much hatred for Li Shan's other former subordinates. Opinions... After all, on the one hand, the power and prestige of Wei's successor king Li Huairen in the army was there, and on the other hand, it was because of Hou Junji's mediation, not to mention that Hou Hongtao was Hou Junji's clan brother.
Guo Xiaoke read the letter at a glance, his face turned blue and white, and after a moment he roared: "How can you act so hastily on a major military and national matter?"
"Once the army is defeated, can Zhang Zhongjian be able to shoulder this responsibility?"
Hou Hongtao smacked his lips, "Can we withstand this responsibility... But once we send out troops, no one knows whether we will win or lose, but at least someone will be the vanguard."
Guo Xiaoke was dumbfounded for a moment. Zhang Zhongjian was indeed taking a dangerous move, but he sent out Hou Hongtao, one of the leaders of Wei Siwang's bodyguards who had already been given the title of County Duke... He was just saying two things, you don't want to do it. , then go to Hou Hongtao, but at least he is not trying to trick you.
"Even if Hong Tao doesn't come, Duke Guangling would not dare to frame his colleagues." Feng Li suddenly interrupted: "Otherwise, even if the Turks are defeated, Wei Siwang will behead him."
As soon as these words came out, everyone nodded. Everyone knew how Li Huairen hated those bastards who stabbed him in the back.
To be fair, after receiving letters from Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Yu Wenshiji, Yu Zhining and other colleagues in the Tiance Mansion, Guo Xiaoke had no dissatisfaction with Li Huairen. After all, the oolong incident last year was ultimately due to his stupidity. , or that I don’t trust the other party.
Guo Xiaoke frowned and thought carefully, then handed the letter to Hou Junji, who was waiting anxiously. After looking at it for a few times, the latter couldn't help looking up at Hou Hongtao, "You already know?"
"Yes." Hou Hongtao licked his lips, "The Turks have been attacking the Mingsha camp for many days and have suffered heavy casualties and refuse to retreat. However, the Duke of Guangling is not allowed to attack rashly. His hands have been itchy for a long time."
After a pause, Hou Hongtao couldn't help but smile and said: "A few days ago, Duan Zhixuan disobeyed military orders and led two thousand cavalry into battle. Although he made a lot of gains, he was reprimanded."
"Deserve it!" Hou Junji also laughed, pointed at Feng Li and said: "In the battle of Jingzhou, King Wei Si ordered not to pursue, Duan Zhixuan got up to kill... If brother Shili hadn't rescued him, he would have been trapped in the formation. It’s hard to come back alive.”
As he spoke, Hou Junji handed the letter in his hand to Feng Li, who suddenly whispered after reading it: "The Turks did not attack Zhongning, and there was no large group that bypassed Zhongning to harass Huizhou."
Hou Hongtao glanced at Feng Li unexpectedly, nodded and said: "This is exactly the confusion between the Duke of Guangling and the Duke of Ju. I'm afraid Dubu Khan has a big plan."
Guo Xiaoke immediately understood. Although he was not engaged in production when he was young and was regarded as a scoundrel by the villagers, and later he hung out in Wagangzhai, he was not a simple military commander. In the fourth year of Wude, the Tang army besieged Luoyang, and Dou Jiande led a large army to come to the rescue. It was Guo Xiaoke who accepted the pros and cons and was the first to advise the King of Qin to lead a partial army to defend Hulao and garrison Sishui.
After the war, Guo Xiaoke was ranked first in meritorious service by Li Shimin for this reason, and he was publicly praised, "Xiaoke made plans to capture the thieves, and Wang Chang sent the canal first. His merits are firmly in the hands of all the kings."
"So Zhang Zhongjian wanted to risk sending troops to disrupt Dubu Khan's plan..." Guo Xiaoke stroked his beard and murmured: "What does Dubu Khan want to do?"
"I don't know." Hou Hongtao gave an affirmative but speechless answer.
Hou Junji also came to his senses, "But as long as we can do something, we will definitely disrupt the enemy's deployment... Before coming to Lingzhou, His Highness the King of Qin had carefully warned that Tuli Khan would also lead his troops." Attack Hedong or Hebei."
"It may also be the Longyou Road." Hou Hongtao thought for a while and said: "Before setting off, Alang once said that the leader of Longyou, the king of Huai'an, seems to have tens of thousands of troops, but in fact he is not very powerful."
"The Turks crossed the Yellow River to attack Liangzhou?" Guo Xiaoke shook his head, "If so, why did Dubu Khan stay in Lingzhou and attack Mingsha Camp without retreating... It can't be Yuanzhou, even if Xiaoguan If we fall, Zhang Wu'an will definitely hold on to the pass, and it will be difficult for the Turks to break through."
The room fell silent for a moment, and Hou Hongtao suddenly came forward, next to Guo Xiaoke, and whispered: "Alang's family has a lot of property..."
Guo Xiaoke was a little confused, "Huh?"
"The generals under my sect, such as Zhao Guogong and other personal guards, all have Fenrun." Hou Hongtao said in a low voice: "There are also Guangling County Dukes. Let him go later..."
"Hong Tao!" Hou Junji couldn't help but pull Hou Hongtao away. "Brother Xiaoke has his own ideas about military and national affairs. Will he depose the public servant because of personal grudges?"
Guo Xiaoke, however, stared at Hou Hongtao with squinting eyes, "Is it true or not?"
"Really!" Hou Hongtao assured, patting his chest, "Zhang Sanlang deserves to be brought up in front of A Lang!"
"We have already made up our minds to withdraw the troops stationed in Mingsha and Zhongning, but we are not allowed to transport the generals..." Hou Hongtao laughed, "I ran very fast that day, and I also left some goodies in Lingwu. "
Hou Junji's face almost burst into tears, "Once the news is leaked, the whole army will collapse..."
"It's transported by carriage, who knows what's inside?" Hou Hongtao sneered: "To be honest with brother Xiaoke, Zhang Sanlang is not popular in Sun Moon Lake... Besides, King Qin is about to take over the East Palace, and Alang and Tiance Mansion were There is quite a gap among the generals..."
Guo Xiaoke was a meticulous person, and after listening to a few words, he knew what Hou Hongtao was talking about...Obviously he was saying that he would lose money and things later. His resentment towards Zhang Zhongjian was partly due to military and strategic disagreements, but also because Zhang Zhongjian was too junior. , on the other hand, or mostly because a large number of his treasures were lost in Lingwu County, this is a personal grudge.
Hou Hongtao's words were to give Guo Xiaoke a ready-made step. This was Tang Jian's idea for Hou Hongtao.
