Beida River is the largest tributary of the weak water system in the Hexi Corridor. Its upper reaches are called Tuolai River. It originates from the eastern section of Tuolai Mountain controlled by Tuyuhun. When the river flows north to a valley called Huangyang Valley, it is renamed Beida River, and further north , it is Fulu County, Zhangye County.
Huangyang Valley is sandwiched between two mountains and is about 20 miles long. It is extremely steep. It is not only the junction of the Sui Dynasty and Tuyuhun, but also a shortcut from south to north. If the two parties do not go through this valley, but go through the group. If you go around the mountains, you will be delayed for at least ten days.
In the battle a few years ago, Sui soldiers occupied Huangyang Valley with lightning speed, just like they occupied Qilian Plain, and pushed their troops to the south valley of Huangyang Valley. Today's camp is located south of the valley entrance.
The chief general of the Sui Army was Li Daliang, the Prime Minister of Zhangye County, and the deputy general was Dugu Pingyun of the Fulu Army. Both of them were descendants of orthodox martial arts families. They have followed Yang Ji from the moment he became an official to this day; every battle Yang Ji fought They were present in every battle, especially when Yang Ji launched the punishing Second Great Lakes War against Murong Bei. The two men each led an army and officially became independent generals. But neither Li Daliang nor Dugu Pingyun are fierce generals who only attack and kill blindly, but are wise generals who are good at taking advantage of the right time, place and people, and taking advantage of all the favorable conditions around them to fight. This is also what Yang Ji decided to do after repeated consideration. The important reason why the Liangzhou base camp was handed over to these two people.
Before Yang Ji led his army to leave Zhangye, he solemnly confessed to Li Daliang: He said that once the main army launches a fierce offensive against Dangjincheng, it must conquer it within three days, and then march eastward and formally attack. We arrived here on the eighth day after entering the city. Under this premise, the task Yang Ji gave them was to first hold the camp and not allow any Tuyuhun soldiers to enter; then, on the fifth or sixth day after Yang Ji officially launched the attack, they would capture the confrontational Tuyuhun camp, and then take down the Tuyuhun camp. The supplies needed by the main force were transported to the front line. Only in this way can the main army that has rushed here get a good rest and continue fighting the next day.
Li Daliang understood that the reason why Yang Ji did not allow them to fight within one day was that, first, Zhang Ye was behind this camp, so safety should be the top priority, and holding on to it would be a great achievement; second, because Tuyuhun had a large number of troops, Yang Ji was worried that Murong Yong would send troops to help. Just yesterday morning, they received a battle report from Yang Ji, saying that he would officially attack the city in the afternoon and asked them to proceed as planned.
At noon when Yang Ji divided his troops and marched eastward and Murong Yong was far from arriving at Yema Town, Li Daliang, Dugu Pingyun, and marching commander Shi Liujie gathered in the Chinese army's tent to discuss the military situation on a sand table.
In fact, the battle plan had already been decided, and the three of them had nothing to discuss. They were mainly thinking about how to transport supplies to the south.
Although the road through Huangyang Valley is called a road, it is actually just a river beach washed out by the river. Although it is not very narrow, the river beach is covered with stones that have rolled down from the mountains and washed down from the upper reaches. Both the enemy and ourselves are worried that the other party will attack them, so from ancient times to the present, no force has tried to level it.
The road opposite is not a road. Human beings can walk across it, and caravans and baggage can also walk slowly. However, the food and other supplies needed by tens of thousands of troops cannot cross it in a short time.
Liu Ji's current mission is the same as that of Wang Cong, which is to help the general in charge of logistics and handle military chores. After taking office, he worked hard to fulfill his duties as a long history officer and transported a large amount of supplies from Zhangye City. He had just commanded a sled team to move a group of soldiers. After a batch of supplies arrived at the camp, Li Daliang summoned him to discuss matters. However, after arriving, he saw that after the general and deputy generals finished talking about how to transport the supplies as quickly as possible, they stared at the sand table in silence, so he said. "Li Juncheng, General Dugu. The Beida River bed is solid ice, and the sled team we have prepared can move completely unimpeded on the river bed. As long as the army conquers the enemy camp, I can let the sled team transport supplies."
"Chang Shi didn't know something. Because the weather has been getting warmer in the past few days, the ice and snow downstream have begun to melt. We were worried that the ice and snow on the riverbed would melt and we would be unable to march, so we sent scouts to watch the changes in Huangyang Valley day and night. And just like you, Chang Shi Before entering the account, the scouts said that the ice and snow in the valley were showing signs of melting. Although it will freeze into solid ice sooner or later, no one can predict whether it will change in the next few days." Li Daliang glanced at Liu Ji and said worriedly: "We are now What I’m worried about is that the river in Tuyuhun has also melted. If it melts in the next few days and we can’t march, how will we be able to transport supplies to the south bank of the Tuolai River as scheduled?”
Liu Ji knows the meaning of ice and snow melting
What does it mean? After hearing this, his expression suddenly changed drastically.
"According to me, your Majesty is a little worried." Dugu Pingyun said to Li Daliang: "We might as well capture the enemy's camp today. As long as we destroy the enemy, we can move supplies day and night before the ice and snow melt. Transported to destination."
"It's normal for the king to have concerns." Li Daliang sighed: "Tuguhun has the advantage of the right time and place, and Murong Fuyun went to war with hundreds of thousands of soldiers; but the king only has the power of Liangzhou, he not only We have to conquer Tuyuhun with less to defeat more, and we also have to withstand the huge pressure exerted by the major political forces in the court. It is this kind of strong resistance from both inside and outside that makes the king extremely cautious."
"Who is so bold?" When Liu Ji heard this, he couldn't help but became furious. Although he knew that in any regime or dynasty, there are some people who don't necessarily think others are better than him, but when this kind of thing really happened to him, Quite annoying.
"There are so many people in the Sui Dynasty who want the king to fail." Dugu Pingyun sneered and said, "They are greedy for life and afraid of death, mediocre and incompetent, and they are trying their best to hinder our Liangzhou. I think these people, He is several times more hateful than Murong Fu Yunyou."
"These people really deserve to die!" Liu Ji was even more angry. They were going through life and death here, but someone was stabbing them behind their backs. This feeling was really unbearable.
Li Daliang and Dugu Pingyun were not actually that angry, but they were die-hard loyalists to Yang Ji, while Liu Ji was a latecomer, and his loyalty to Yang Ji was definitely not enough. So seeing that the topic had reached this point, I used the topic to play with specific goals, hoping to influence Liu Jie in a subtle way, so that he would identify with the King Wei family in the depths of his soul and regard himself as a core member of the King Wei family.
Seeing Liu Ji blushing with anger, the two knew that the heat had come, and they tacitly agreed not to continue the topic.
"Jun Cheng, your Majesty has received an urgent military report." Just when Li Daliang was about to get back to business, a captain stepped in and handed Li Daliang letters one after another.
Li Daliang quickly took it and watched it, with a look of ecstasy on his face. He handed the battle report to Dugu Pingyun and laughed loudly: "Chang Shi, Dugu, the king has successfully conquered Dangjin City. The king is still awesome! No. If you attack, you will conquer yourself."
Yang Ji asked them to act as planned yesterday, but the main army only spent an afternoon and a night to capture Dangjin City, and also left all the enemy's main forces in Dangjin City. This unexpectedly brilliant victory caused Yang Ji's established tactics to undergo earth-shaking changes, so the battle report he sent not only explained the results of the battle, but also made them confident and bold to conquer the enemy on the opposite side. And the things they worry about will no longer exist.
Liu Ji couldn't believe his ears. Everyone knew that Dang Jincheng had many soldiers and generals, and even Yang Ji had many concerns before going on the expedition. However, Yang Ji himself thought that Dang Jincheng was easy to defend and difficult to attack, but he was easily defeated by him. I got it, it was unbelievable.
He asked in surprise and joy: "Li Juncheng, what's going on? Please don't coax me, I will take it seriously."
"Chang Shi, read it yourself!" Dugu Pingyun read the letter at a glance, handed the battle report to Liu Jie, and said to Li Daliang with a smile: "I thought the king was overly worried just now, you still don't believe it!"
Li Daliang laughed and said: "Haha, Murong Fuyun had high hopes for Murong Yong and gave him 140,000 to 50,000 troops. Who would have thought that he would be defeated so miserably in just a few days?"
After reading the battle report, Liu Ji said with great joy: "Li Juncheng, General Dugu. For us, Your Majesty, this battle is really enlightening, the rain has cleared, and the clouds have dispersed. Now it is easier to handle."
Liu Ji was proficient in law and not good at military affairs. However, the outstanding literati of this era were all pure Confucian scholars who had read military books and learned the six arts of a gentleman. In addition, he lived with a group of militants all day long, so his military vision was naturally poor. The value of the victory was so high that one could see at a glance the significance of Yang Ji's victory to this army.
"Chang Shi is right. The current battle situation has indeed become very clear." Li Daliang nodded with a smile. He pondered for a while and said to the two of them: "But we must also make tactical adjustments based on this battle report. .”
"But I don't know what Jun Cheng wants
How to adjust? "After reading the battle report, Dugu Pingyun already had a bold battle plan in mind. However, Li Daliang was the leader of the army after all. He had to listen to the other party's opinions first before expressing his own opinions.
Li Daliang picked up a stick and pointed at Xtieshan Mountain on the sand table, and said: "The Xtieshan Mountain Range divides Tuyuhun in two from northwest to southeast, so the king and Murong Fuyun coincidentally used this as a benchmark to divide this area. This battle was divided into two major battlefields, the east and west."
"To a certain extent, the western battlefield is now owned by our army, and the western gate of Tuyuhun has also been moved from Dangjin Pass to the Xitieshan Mountains. If the Yuka River is the main road connecting the east and the west, then the wood on the mountain Lihu is the gateway. As for the Tuyuhun camp to the west of the lake, it is not only the most critical key, but also the granary. What I mean is that we must not only kill the tigers blocking the road, but also quickly seize the key granary and occupy the new west gate of Tuyuhun."
Dugu Pingyun actually thought so too. After hearing this plan, he smiled and said, "What do you mean, Jun Cheng, to make up for the time difference?"
"What General Dugu said is true. This is the time difference I want to hit!" Li Daliang smiled and nodded: "Since Tuyuhun was defeated in Jincheng, the 20,000 enemy troops on the opposite side were the only large-scale troops left in the western battlefield, and Muli Because the battalion is deep in the rear area, there are only 5,000 elite soldiers stationed there, and the two armies are far apart, so our army is enough to deal with them one by one!"
After a pause, Li Daliang continued: "Now, they have definitely not received the news of Murong Yong's defeat. We will use the time difference to defeat the current group, and then use the time difference to attack the Muli camp."
Liu Ji nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and said with full praise: "Li Juncheng's method is very good. If the victory is achieved, our army will not only not have to attack every city, but also obtain a large amount of supplies from Muli City. As for his own supplies, There is no need to carry it around anymore, it can be said that it serves multiple purposes with one stone.”
"Then it's settled!" Dugu Pingyun pondered for a while and then said to Li Daliang: "But I have two points to add!"
Li Daliang nodded: "Please speak!"
"First, although the Muli Battalion does not have many troops, we must be mentally prepared to confront and fight with a large number of reinforcements. Therefore, we must preserve our strength instead of confronting the army in front of us head-on. We only need to defeat it. "Dugu Pingyun continued: "Secondly, the Muli Camp is deep in the rear area. It cannot be said that the defenders are not cautious, but even if they are, they are not too high. It would be a warning to others and bring unnecessary trouble to themselves. , we must expel all the defeated troops to the west, so that we can effectively hide the Muli Army."
"Yes!" Li Daliang nodded: "If this battle starts, we will deploy heavy troops in the east. As for the defeated troops, let them go to Murong Yong."
As soon as these words came out, Dugu Pingyun and Liu Jie burst into laughter. Dugu Pingyun laughed and said, "I hope Beigong Wu will challenge today."
The Sui army now has 15,000 main battle soldiers and a baggage army composed of 10,000 retired veterans, which adds up to 25,000 soldiers. However, they were mainly defensive here and had never provoked the enemy. This led the enemy general Beigong Wu to think that they were timid and afraid of fighting, so he pulled out an army every day to challenge them.
When Li Daliang was about to reply, a military general rushed in and reported to the three of them: "General, Chang Shi, that Bei Gongwu is here again."
"Really?" Li Daliang glanced at Dugu Pingyun and saw that his eyes were full of surprise and excitement, so he asked: "You came at the right time, but I don't know how far away the enemy is?"
The general quickly replied: "General, according to reports from scouts, the enemy is still six or seven miles away from my camp!"
Li Daliang asked again: "How many troops have come from the enemy?"
"It is said that they are dispatched in full force!"
"Sent out in full force? Very good, very good!" Li Daliang stood up and said to Dugu Pingyun in a razor-sharp voice: "General Dugu, Bei Gongwu has been crazy enough, we will defeat this army today. "
"Here!" Dugu Pingyun stood up and responded.
"I will lead five thousand elite soldiers and six thousand heavy baggage troops as the forward, responsible for defeating the enemy's army and occupying the enemy camp." After Li Daliang arranged the task for himself, he said to Dugu Pingyun: "You will lead ten thousand elite soldiers as the rear army. Once a war breaks out on my side, you will immediately cut off the enemy's eastward advance.
No one is allowed to escape. "
"I will obey your orders!" Dugu Pingyun solemnly obeyed his orders.
"Chang Shi!" Li Daliang said to Liu Ji, "I will leave the camp to you."
Liu Ji clasped his fists and saluted, "Yes!"
