In Bingzhou in July, the sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly. Under the cloudless blue sky, it is a lush and prosperous place.
On this lush grassland, a team of horses suddenly galloped past. The rumble of horse hooves startled a flock of birds. The frightened birds hurriedly flapped their wings and flew away into the distance.
"Uu——"
The group of people galloped for more than ten miles, and the leader suddenly reined in his horse, wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned to the scribe behind him and said, "Auxiliary machine, what's going on with the Song Army in Queshu Valley these days? "
The young man who spoke was wearing a golden helmet and gold armor. He was more than seven feet tall, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a majestic face. He had a BMW with yellow fur and white under his crotch, named Teller Piao.
This person is Li Yuan's second son, King Qin Li Shimin, who enjoys the reputation of military god among the Tang army. And who is the young scribe whom he calls his auxiliary, if not his brother-in-law Sun Wuji?
Since Li Shimin set off from Chang'an last winter, after more than half a year of hard work, he successively recovered Lishi, Linfen, Longquan and other counties.
Zhao Kuangyin lost a series of battles and lost countless troops, so he led his army to retreat to the Queshu Valley Fortress, intending to use the geographical advantage to stalemate the Tang army and wait until internal changes occurred in the Tang court before counterattacking.
Queshu Valley is located in the southwest of Jiexiu County, with dozens of miles of dangerous passes. It was originally a dangerous place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. After the fall of Taiyuan, in order to resist Zhao Kuangyin's invasion, Li Keyong, who stayed behind, recruited civilians many times to reinforce the city wall.
Although Zhao Kuangyin was defeated by Li Shimin many times in field battles, this was closely related to the fact that the overall combat power of the Song Army was not as good as that of the Tang Army. When it comes to military strategy, Zhao Kuangyin is not much inferior to Li Shimin.
Now that Zhao Kuangyin was unable to escape with the help of Queshu Valley, Li Shimin was unable to attack by force for a while, so he adopted the plan of counselor Du Ruhui and pretended to lead the army to retreat westward on the pretext of the Sui army's invasion to the north, with the intention of drawing out Zhao Kuangyin.
However, Zhao Kuangyin was not a fuel-efficient lamp. Although Li Shimin retreated again and again in recent days, almost all of them had retreated to the edge of the Yellow River, Zhao Kuangyin still stood still. This made Li Shimin quite depressed. In the past few days, as soon as he set up camp, he would go out to walk his horse and hunt to vent his inner anger.
Changsun Wuji heard Li Shimin's question and immediately smiled bitterly. Li Shimin had asked him this question no less than ten times in the past few days, but he still could only give him a disappointed reply: "Back to your highness, according to the report from the scouts, Zhao Kuangyin still stands still. "
"well!"
Li Shimin sighed helplessly: "How could Zhao Kuangyin be able to stand out from Liu Wuzhou's subordinates and become a powerful figure in Bingzhou without some abilities? Gu Tai underestimated him."
"Your Highness!" Changsun Wuji enlightened from the side: "Zhao Kuangyin certainly has the style of a heroic ruler, but the barren land of Bingzhou has experienced continuous wars in recent years. Except for Taiyuan and other wealthy places, other places have been in ruins in the past two years. There is no harvest. As long as we keep entangled Zhao Kuangyin, with the national power of the Tang Dynasty, we will definitely consume Zhao Kuangyin to death."
"But time waits for no one!"
Li Shimin shook his head and said: "Auxiliary machine, I believe that with the national power of the Tang Dynasty, I can kill Zhao Kuangyin, but how long will it take? Half a year? One year? Or two years? Yang Gao in the south, Zhu Yuanzhang in Hebei, Wang Shichong in Luoyang And Temujin on the grassland will not stand still and wait for us, so we can't waste too much time on Zhao Kuangyin."
The expression on Changsun Wuji's face gradually darkened, and he sighed: "The Queshu Valley is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Zhao Kuangyin also believes that there is no way out. It will be difficult to defeat Zhao Kuangyin quickly!"
Li Shimin took a deep breath, and a trace of determination flashed in his eyes: "The matter of Bingzhou must not be delayed any longer. For the current plan, the only way is to use dangerous tactics!"
Changsun Wuji frowned slightly: "Dangerous move? Your Highness, have you thought of any way to speed up the merger of the states?"
Li Shimin nodded: "Auxiliary machine, do you still remember how Zhao Kuangyin captured Queshu Valley from our army?"
"How did Zhao Kuangyin capture Queshu Valley in the first place?"
Changsun Wuji murmured to himself several times, then suddenly looked horrified: "Shimin, you could be thinking..."
Li Shimin nodded and said: "Yes, I plan to personally lead a group of elite troops to detour through the grassland, attack Taiyuan by surprise, and force Zhao Kuangyin to fight me."
Changsun Wuji hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, this is really too risky. Now that Jieli Khan is dead, Temujin, who unified the Eastern Turks, has never had contact with us, and he is also in close contact with Zhao Kuangyin. If he is If he learns of your whereabouts, he will most likely send out troops to intercept you."
Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said resolutely: "For the Tang Dynasty, for our victory. Such a risk is worth taking. And I will bring Xuan Ba with me on this trip. With his protection, I will be safe on this trip!"
Seeing that Li Shimin had made up his mind, Changsun Wuji put forward his own suggestion: "His Royal Highness is the commander-in-chief of the entire army. If anything happens, our army will be in chaos! Wei Chen suggested that he should be sent there. In my opinion, Li Jilong, Qu Tutong, and Chai Rong are all qualified to do this."
Li Shimin smiled slightly, looked at Changsun Wuji and said, "Auxiliary machine, can you really not guess my intention to lead the army personally?"
Changsun Wuji was shocked when he heard this, his face suddenly changed, and his mind suddenly became enlightened. He suddenly understood what Li Shimin meant.
Li Shimin made a dangerous move and personally led his troops to fight on the Qianli Grassland, not only to destroy Zhao Kuangyin, but also to enhance his prestige. It is conceivable that if Li Shimin wins this move, his prestige in the Tang Dynasty will skyrocket, surpassing that of Prince Li Jiancheng and even Tang Emperor Li Yuan.
After understanding Li Shimin's intention, Changsun Wuji couldn't help but take a breath of cold air and said with a trembling voice: "Shimin, do you really want..."
Li Shimin closed his eyes slightly and said calmly: "It's not that I covet the throne, it's actually forced by the situation. Although the eldest brother is kind-hearted, sincere in treating others, and has the appearance of a benevolent king. But in troubled times, Yang Gao, Zhu Yuanzhang and Tie Mu Zhen is a rare hero, and the eldest brother is no match for them. For the future of the Li family, Gu must sit on the throne of the Tang Dynasty."
Changsun Wuji looked at Li Shimin in front of him. This was the first time he heard Li Shimin reveal his heart, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.
After a long time, Changsun Wuji suddenly gritted his teeth and said sonorously: "Shimin, no matter what you want to do, I, Changsun Wuji, only know that you are the most important friend in my life. No matter what the situation is in the future, I will do it." I swear to follow you to the death!"
After hearing this, Li Shimin slowly opened his eyes, smiled, stared at Changsun Wuji and said, "Auxiliary machine, thank you very much!"
Immediately, he raised his hand to cover his dazzling eyes, looked up at the sky and said secretly: "Heaven, if Gu is really the master of destiny, then please bless Gu to achieve this great achievement!"
