"The prince can be escorted by Youtun Guards to retreat to the counties in Hexi, regroup and call on all forces loyal to the empire in the world to come back. What I want to tell you is that although a 'last-ditch battle' can unleash stronger combat power, it will lose the Changes and flexibility in strategies and tactics are never advisable except when you are on the verge of despair. Instead, you must open your mind, let go of victory and defeat, and use the battle of Tai Chi Palace as your whetstone to sharpen yourself bit by bit. Only by being bright and sharp, and transcending victory and defeat on the battlefield, can you control victory and defeat!"
Li Jing's eyes were bright, his tone was sonorous, and his expression was full of determination.
The morale of the generals was high, and they all stood up: "The last general will be taught!"
"The Last Stand" is on the verge of desperation. In the face of death, everyone will burst out with a fighting power that is far beyond normal. It is indeed possible to defeat the strong with the weak. But if you force yourself to be placed in a "backward place" before reaching a desperate situation, that is a recipe for death.
Li Jing waved his hand, asked everyone to sit down, and continued: "As for Tongguan...you may not know the British Duke. Even Li Siwen has never fought side by side with the British Duke. Let me say something proud. In terms of tactics, strategy, and command of the entire army, I and the British Duke alone are responsible for it. His Majesty and the Prince of Hejian County are slightly inferior. The Prince of Jiangxia County is half of it. However, the Duke of Lu and the Duke of E can only be called fierce generals... Therefore, There must be sufficient reasons behind the seemingly unreasonable actions of the British stallion to support him in doing so, and he must have clearly deduced the current situation, knowing what he is doing, and even more knowing how to do it!"
He paused and said in a deep voice: "Did the British Council sit back and watch the crown prince fall, and then bring hundreds of thousands of troops to Beijing to establish a new prince and monopolize power? Absolutely not! Anyone who speculates on the motives of the British government is wrong. !”
He and Li Ji have fought side by side for many years, and they cherish each other. Although they don't have much contact, they understand each other's abilities and temperament very well, which is why he made this categorical assertion.
But he overlooked one thing. Although Li Ji did not have such great ambitions, he could not make the final decision among the current Eastern Expedition army...
Li Siwen spat fiercely and cursed: "I don't know how many people are slandering my father now, saying that the father is so greedy for power that he sits back and watches the prince's destruction, and then leads the army to Chang'an to annihilate the rebels and achieves a reputation that will shock the ages. Establishing a crown prince, following the story of Huo Zimeng, establishing a young prince and taking over all the power... Bah! My father has a noble temperament and is never greedy for power. How could he do such dirty things? Today, with the words of Duke Wei, if my father It must be very gratifying to know that.”
Nowadays, both the rebels and the Sixth Leader of the East Palace are speculating about Li Ji's strange actions. All kinds of speculations are rampant, and naturally there are too many slanders among them.
As a son of a man, Li Siwen was naturally very angry.
Li Jing nodded slightly, looked around, looked at the young generals in front of him who he valued very much, and said solemnly: "In this rebellion, from beginning to end, we have faced enemies several times stronger than ourselves, and we have faced challenges every moment. Under tremendous pressure, there are countless casualties around the army, which seems sad and sad. But what I want to tell you is that no famous general can emerge from the sky and be invincible, no matter how talented and beautiful he is! A famous general The birth of the world will be accompanied by countless setbacks and countless scars. Only by standing up from failures and piles of corpses can we achieve great things after going through hardships!"
What is most important to an empire?
It's talent!
Not only do we need smart, intelligent, diligent and honest civilian officials to govern the world, but we also need loyal, brave, brave, and fearless military generals to protect our country and expand our territory.
The ministers of Zhenguan have gradually aged, and as His Majesty Li Er is very likely to have passed away in Liaodong, the figures of their generation will also fade out of the core of power, and naturally they need talents of the new generation to replace them.
He was a noble man by nature, ignorant of government affairs, and had wasted his time in officialdom for more than ten years. Although he was now entrusted by the prince with the important task of commanding the East Palace, the sixth rate was fighting fiercely with the rebels, but he no longer had the excitement of being on the battlefield. After this battle, no matter what the situation was, , he will leave with his seal and withdraw from officialdom.
Compiling war strategy books and teaching the art of war to his children became his greatest spiritual sustenance.
He has high hopes for these people in front of him. They have backgrounds, backing, abilities, and character. As long as they are carefully cultivated and supplemented by continuous hard work, they will surely become the best among the next generation in the future. The sense of accomplishment of cultivating several world-famous generals single-handedly is as good as riding into battle yourself.
Li Siwen, Cheng Chubi, Qu Tuquan, Qin Huaidao and others knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "Don't worry, Commander, we will definitely live up to your expectations!"
Li Jing stroked his beard and nodded with a smile: "The situation in the empire is in decline. This is the time for our men to show their talents. You should move forward with determination, be loyal to the emperor and love the country, and you will definitely achieve great achievements!"
"Here!"
Everyone responded with a bang.
…
Due to the sudden heavy rain, the fighting outside Chengtian Gate was temporarily suspended. Both sides paid money to withdraw their troops. While treating the wounded and collecting corpses to prevent the corpses from being soaked in rain and causing diseases, they also replenished ordnance and dispatched troops.
In the evening, the rain gradually subsided, and both sides mobilized their troops.
As soon as the heavy rain stopped, the rebels surged up like a tide, and the brutal and fierce fighting started again.
Cheng Chubi stuck to Chengtianmen and faced great pressure. Previously, gunpowder was planted here and the rebel corpses were scattered all over the ground, and the city wall was greatly damaged. At this moment, the rebels used ladders to climb the incomplete city wall, braving the arrows and rolling logs of the defenders at the top of the city to launch a charge.
Cheng Chubi patrolled back and forth with a horizontal sword in hand at the top of the city, sizing up the rebels who were responsible for the frontal attack. Then he looked at the black flag in the distance fluttering in the wind under the dark sky, and knew that this must be One of the few elite private troops of the Changsun family.
Most of the rebels were a ragtag group hastily formed by slaves, farmers, and refugees. They lacked training and weapons, and were vulnerable to attack. They only relied on the strength of their numbers to cause endless trouble to the East Palace. But the private armies of each Guanlong clan are all elite.
The strength of the Guanlong clans is uneven, some are strong and some are weak, and each family naturally has more or less elite private armies. Among them, the two families with the largest number of private armies are the Changsun family and the Yuwen family.
The ancestor of the Yuwen family was the military leader of Woye Town, and he has been the commander of Woye Town for generations. His private army numbered around 20,000 people, most of whom were elite and powerful. However, when they tried to attack Xuanwu Gate from the west city of Chang'an to the north, they suffered a head-on attack from Gao Kan, and were cut off by the Tubo Hu cavalry. They were defeated and suffered heavy losses.
The Changsun family relies on the overwhelming power of Changsun Wuji and the trust of His Majesty Li Er. The size of the private army is roughly 40,000 to 50,000, of which half are elite. Since the war started, the losses have been huge...
What if this elite of the Changsun family is severely damaged again?
Presumably, the powerful Changsun family must have suffered a lot, and even failed to recover since then. The title of leader of Guanlong was replaced by another family...
But if you want to achieve the goal of severely damaging this elite Changsun family, you must take risks. Otherwise, before the enemy can suffer heavy losses, your own side will lose its position first.
Cheng Chubi's heart was beating rapidly, and he quickly gathered a few confidants together.
"General, do you want to severely damage the enemy?"
A school captain was a little puzzled. As long as we block the enemy's charge, won't we naturally inflict heavy losses on the enemy? The private soldiers of the Changsun family are certainly elite, but our East Palace Sixth rate is not bad either!
Another handsome captain touched his chin and asked: "General, do you want to inflict heavy damage on the enemy while preserving our strength as much as possible?"
Cheng Chubi nodded and said, "Guo Chang knows what I mean!"
If we fight hard and kill one thousand enemies, we will lose eight hundred, so why should I bother with this?
The school captain Guo Chang said with a smile: "If that's the case, it's easy. We might as well repeat the past and let the Changsun family's private army fall twice in the same pit!"
Cheng Chubi was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed, clapped his hands excitedly, and said loudly: "That's it! You're still smart! Before, we deliberately abandoned Chengtian Gate to lure the enemy deeper, and planted gunpowder in advance to blow up the rebels. The enemy army never expected that we would repeat our same tactics!"
Guo Chang said hurriedly: "I don't dare to praise you as a general... It's just that there is not much gunpowder in the army at the moment, so I'm afraid it may not be very effective."
Cheng Chubi smiled and said: "It is true that there is not much gunpowder in stock, but we still have a lot of thunderbolts! Come on, come on, send the order, collect all the thunderbolts, and get some more fuses..."
