"But Your Highness..."
Li Siyuan sighed after hearing this and said: "Nearly half of the elites of our Tang Dynasty have gathered in Luoyang. Once our Tang Dynasty is overthrown, we will have no strength to compete with the Sui Dynasty!"
Gao Xianzhi said in agreement: "Yes, Your Highness, if we lose Luoyang, we will still have a chance to regain it in the future, but if there is no army and the Sui army marches straight into the pass, what should we use to resist it?"
"But have you ever thought about it, since Yang Gao'er can send troops to capture Hongnong, why doesn't he send the navy to go north to cut off our connection with Hedong and trap us in Luoyang?"
"this..."
As soon as Li Shimin said this, Li Siyuan, Gao Xianzhi and other generals were all stunned on the spot, their brows furrowed and they fell into deep thought.
"That's because Yang Gao'er sent troops to capture Hongnong just to force us to retreat. He didn't dare to fight us in a decisive battle!"
Li Shimin took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "You are all afraid that our army will be severely damaged if the Tang Dynasty is completely annihilated. But if you think about it carefully, if you want to annihilate more than half of our elite troops in the Tang Dynasty, he What price will Yang Gao'er pay?"
Gao Xianzhi, Li Siyuan, Bi Zaiyu and others were also elite figures in history. After hearing what Li Shimin said, they immediately came to their senses and nodded with understanding.
Li Shimin sneered and continued: "I can be sure that Yang Gao'er is waiting for our army to retreat now, and he will gather his elite cavalry to take advantage of the opportunity to chase and kill, eating away at the main force of our army step by step. Therefore, at this time, he abandoned the pass and left. This is playing right into Yang Gao's heart, how can I let that little thief get his wish?"
After listening to Li Shimin's words, Li Siyuan's brows relaxed at first, but soon became sad again, and said: "But Your Highness, now that Hongnong is occupied, the grain and grass in Guanzhong cannot be transported directly to our army's camp and will be diverted to Hedong." The road to transport food is long, and there must be serious losses along the way. Although the food and grass accompanying our army can still last for half a year, the last general has to say something depressing. The Sui army is very powerful, and its strength is not inferior to our army at all. Just based on our current strength Even if the troops and horses take another half a year, it will be impossible to decide the outcome."
"Half a year is enough."
Li Shimin curled his lips and said: "I decided to write a letter of resignation to Zhu Yuanzhang in Hebei, asking him to send troops to the Central Plains to support me, the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Siyuan frowned and said, "Zhu Yuanzhang, will he send troops?"
"meeting!"
Li Shimin looked firm and said: "The country with four fortresses in Guanzhong is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Zhu Yuanzhang is also a hero. He should know very well that if the Sui army wins a complete victory in the battle of Luoyang, the next target must be his Hebei . Hebei has experienced wars for a long time. Although Zhu Yuanzhang has regained his strength in Hebei in the past two years, he still cannot face the Sui army independently. In order to preserve his own foundation, he will definitely send troops.
However, there are many fierce generals of the Sui army outside the pass, and ordinary messengers may not be able to get out. I wonder who among you is willing to go to Hebei to deliver the message? "
"Amitabha!"
After hearing this, Tan Zong came out and said: "Your Highness, I am a poor monk but I am not talented. I am willing to go to Hebei for your Highness!"
Li Shimin was overjoyed when he heard this: "Master is highly virtuous and respected. If a master goes there, it will be smooth sailing!"
"Then thank you for your kind words, Your Highness!"
Tan Zong smiled slightly, then got up and left. He went back and simply packed his luggage. He came back and took the autographed letter Li Shimin had just written. He carried his stick and mounted his horse, leaving Hulao Pass and heading straight north.
The armies of the Sui and Tang Dynasties faced off at Hulao Pass for a long time. The Tang army's scouts had already clearly discovered which Sui generals were stationed at various important roads.
After Tanzong left the border, he relied on his familiarity with the terrain to avoid the main roads guarded by brave generals such as Gao Chong, Chang Mao, and Shi Jingsi. He only killed a group of patrol sentries and broke through.
Shortly after Tan Zong left, the surviving patrol soldiers hurriedly reported the matter.
"Your Majesty, according to the description of the soldiers, the man who broke through and went north must be the evil monk Tanzong who saved Li Shimin's life several times."
In the imperial tent, after listening to the dictation of the patrolling soldiers, Chen Ping immediately went out and said: "If the minister's prediction is correct, this evil monk must have followed Li Shimin's order to go north to seek help from Zhu Yuanzhang in Hebei!"
"Li Shimin sent people to Zhu Yuanzhang for help at this time. He must have received news that Prince Changping led his army to attack Hongnong."
Yang Gao smiled slightly and said: "I have to say that Li Shimin is much stronger than Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. If these two people were here, I am afraid they would have withdrawn by this time, let alone looking for reinforcements!"
"Zhu Yuanzhang is not a simple person. After Dou Jiande was captured by our army, he defeated Liu Heita and seized power in Hebei in a very short period of time. After that, he took advantage of the war between the Sui Dynasty and the puppet Tang Dynasty. Focus on developing your strength.
As far as Wei Chen knows, in the past two years, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops should have exceeded 150,000, and there are also powerful generals such as Li Wenzhong and Hua Yun under his command. His strength should not be underestimated! "
The man who spoke was thin, pale, and looked very sick. He was Xi Zhicai who was recommended by Liu Bowen to become an official.
General Gao Chong suddenly showed disdain when he heard this, and said loudly: "It's just a mere 150,000 troops, what's so terrible about it? Back then, Dou Jiande had an army of 400,000 troops, but in the end he was beaten to a pulp by us, and even himself He has also become our prisoner!"
Xi Zhicai shook his head and said: "Zhu Yuanzhang is different from Dou Jiande. Although Dou Jiande used to claim an army of 400,000, there were many mountains in the army. People like Liu Heitai, Meng Jiigong and others only superficially surrendered to Dou Jiande, but in fact they were all independent small warlords. . If they don’t nod, Dou Jiande will not be able to command the army under their command. And now Zhu Yuanzhang’s army of 150,000 was built by him and is loyal to him."
"Mr. Xi is right, generals must not underestimate the enemy!"
Liu Bowen also slowly spoke: "The 400,000 troops under Dou Jiande were of mixed quality. In order to expand their military power, many generals enlisted all citizens, ranging from sixty-year-old men to fifteen-year-old boys, to enlist in the army. This move not only greatly This weakened the combat effectiveness of the army, and resulted in a lack of labor force in the rear areas. Fertile fields were left uncultivated, becoming increasingly deserted, and people's livelihood became increasingly poor.
But now Zhu Yuanzhang believes in the policy of elite troops. The 150,000 troops under his command were all strong and strong, and all the old and weak who were forcibly recruited were returned to their hometowns to work in the fields. It is no exaggeration to say that Hebei's current situation, both in terms of military strength and people's livelihood, is above that of Dou Jiande's period. "
Xi Zhicai felt the same, nodded slowly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should send an elite force to Xingyang to support General Yang at this time, beware of any unexpected events!"
