After making the decision to rush north for reinforcements, Li Yuan quickly assessed the current situation.
The current situation of the battle in Shouzhou is unknown. The two troops in the city are Li Jinquan's 20,000 Holy Guard Army and Liu Chongjun's 30,000 Qing Huai Army. However, judging from the news from the defeated soldiers that 15,000 Guangzhou troops were ambushed in Jueshui, and Liu Renzhan's quick rescue of Shouzhou, the situation in Shouzhou must be critical, and the rebel forces were strong enough to divide their forces to attack.
Therefore, the key to the problem lies in whether the 30,000 Qing Huai troops were defeated by the rebels, or whether they followed and rebelled...
Li Yuan suddenly trembled in his heart. If even the Qing Huai Army belonged to Li Jinquan, not only Liu Renzhan's troops would be in danger, but he would also die in vain for the mere thousand Qingqi in his hands.
So after thinking for a moment, he quickly ordered people to summon all the defeated troops outside Ezhou City, and did a little inventory. After excluding the seriously and lightly injured, there were roughly more than 4,000 people. The combat effectiveness of the state soldiers can be imagined, but at least they There are weapons in their hands, and most of them are still wearing complete or incomplete armor.
Li Yuan immediately ordered the defeated troops to be gathered into formation, and then ordered Lin Sichang to take out most of the money and food he had brought with him on the wedding trip and distribute them. Sure enough, regardless of whether they had the fighting spirit at this time, these people devoured the food and got the reward, and they all shouted that they were willing to follow Marshal Li.
At this moment, another violent commotion was heard in Ezhou City. The Wuchang military envoy Zhou Tinggou, who was concerned about the safety of his coach Liu Renzhan, finally led his three thousand cavalry to come to support. After all, this man was Liu Renzhan's brother-in-law, and could be regarded as Liu Chongjian's elder. After a brief stalemate, the defenders opened the city gate, but they still did not dare to stop him.
The arrival of Zhou Tinggou with his troops undoubtedly doubled Li Yuan's confidence, and the army quickly assembled and set off immediately. When heading north to Shouzhou, Li Yuan first faced the choice of path.
You must know that nowadays, if you take the official road, you must pass through Guangzhou and Luzhou. Regardless of whether these places have fallen into the hands of the rebels, it will take at least seven or eight days in terms of time and effort. After taking the portable map and looking at it carefully, Li Yuan was anxious and at the same time accidentally saw two familiar place names, "Dabie Mountain" and "Bagong Mountain".
Dabie Mountain is a place that will be familiar to future generations, a place that can produce miracles. As for Bagong Mountain, if nothing else, it is famous all over the world because of the allusions of "throwing a whip to cut off the flow" and "every tree and grass are soldiers" in the Battle of Feishui.
Therefore, Li Yuan immediately ordered to go north along the Jushui River for eighty miles, then avoid the official road and turn across the Dabie Mountains. And just as Li Yuan expected, the Dabie Mountains in this era were like barren mountains. The mountain roads were narrow and difficult to navigate, densely covered with thorns, and accompanied by bursts of roaring wild beasts. This natural environment was much worse than that of later generations. Because the mountains were high and the roads were deep, , starting from dusk, you have to light a torch before you can move forward.
But these newly recruited soldiers greatly exceeded Li Yuan's expectations. Almost all of them were from Guangzhou, which was at the western pass of the Dabie Mountains. Most of them were familiar with the routes. Therefore, when marching in the Dabie Mountains, climbing over the mountains was a common occurrence. Generally speaking, he appears extremely calm and at ease.
With the Guangzhou soldiers as their guides, Li Yuan and Zhou Tinggou led their troops and horses to explore the Dabie Mountains for two days and two nights. Finally, they followed the remaining veins of the mountains to the northeast and quickly saw an open plain in front of them. zone, which also significantly exceeded previous estimates. It turned out that the so-called 800-mile journey was calculated by taking a detour along the official road. In fact, it crossed the valley. If everything goes well, the schedule can be shortened by at least half.
After arriving at Shaopi, Li Yuan decided to let the entire army take a short rest because they were about to enter the ground of Shouzhou and a war might break out at any time.
Because Li Yuan had previously specifically asked Lin Sichang to select dozens of tall and round veterans among these Guangzhou soldiers, grant them temporary military positions, reward them with money, and supervise the march. This move indeed achieved great results. After a high-intensity march, these Guangzhou soldiers still maintained strict discipline when setting up camp and resting. They did not dare to be lax or slack at all, and the military orders issued by Li Yuan were also executed in an orderly manner.
The sergeants quickly ate their rations, gave their horses water, and immediately sat down to rest. However, Li Yuan had no time to rest. He summoned Zhou Tinggou, Lin Sichang and the commanders of each battalion in a simple military tent to discuss military affairs.
Li Yuan ordered his people to spread out the map and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, if we go further north, we will enter the Shouzhou area. Our army has not encountered any resistance from the rebels since it left the Dabie Mountains and went north. This shows that Most of the main force of the rebels has been reduced to Shouzhou, and Marshal Liu's troops had previously encountered Guangzhou's defeated troops in Jueshui. Jueshui was west of Shouzhou, and to the north was the Huaihe River with no way to go.
Therefore, Marshal Liu's troops can only advance eastward. According to my inference, they must be under Shouzhou City at this time, and the place to camp can only be in the west or south of the city. "
The seven or eight generals stared at the map for a moment and then nodded. Lin Sichang said eagerly at this time: "Commander, in this case, where should we march from?"
Li Yuan replied calmly: "The situation of the war is unknown now. We only have 8,000 troops on this trip. Including the 20,000 garrison troops brought by Marshal Liu from Haozhou, there are only less than 30,000 troops. It is difficult to estimate the strength of the rebels." .”
At this time, the generals also began to think about themselves. Zhou Tinggou then said: "Commander Li, the Holy Guard Army in Li Jinquan's hands is only more than 20,000, and the war has been going on for several days. The general estimated that 30,000 troops are enough, not to mention Shouzhou There are also the Qing-Huai army of Liu Jieshi in the city..."
The words stopped suddenly, Zhou Tinggou suddenly thought of something, and then exclaimed: "Could it be that the Qing Huai Army——"
Li Yuan suddenly sighed and said: "If the 30,000 Qing Huai army could attack with all their strength, Li Jinquan would have been defeated long ago! Something must have happened to the Qing Huai army and Shouzhou City was lost, so Marshal Liu had no choice but to lead his troops there. Order people to go to Ezhou to ask for help!"
After listening, Zhou Tinggou still had an expression of disbelief and kept mumbling: "How could this be? Liu Jieshi is the nephew of the commander-in-chief! The Liu family has been loyal for generations, how could he do anything rebellious? Could it be that Liu Jieshi The envoy encountered an unexpected incident..."
Li Yuan gently patted Zhou Tinggou's slightly trembling shoulder and said in a deep voice: "General Zhou, don't think too much! No matter what the truth is, don't forget the purpose of our army's trip. Shouzhou is the gateway to the north of the Tang Dynasty and cannot be tolerated. There is no room for loss, and Marshal Liu is my loyal friend of the Tang Dynasty, so there is no room for loss! The situation is urgent, and we should determine the marching path as soon as possible!"
Zhou Tinggou came back to his senses, nodded hastily and said: "Commander, please give me instructions!"
"Everyone, please look, this is where the Fei River and the Huai River intersect, Bagong Mountain." Li Yuan waved his hand to stop everyone's whispers, and tapped his fingers together gently on the map.
"Bagong Mountain is opposite the east gate of Shouzhou City. The mountains are densely forested and grassy, the terrain is flat, and there are water sources. It is very suitable for hiding the army. And marching northeast from Shaopi, it happens to be Bagong Mountain! Our army As long as we seize the hilltop and quickly build a camp, we can support each other with Marshal Liu. If the war fails, we can still leave an escape route and retreat eastward from Bagong Mountain to Haozhou."
The generals nodded as if they were disappointed. At this time, a bearded general asked: "Commander, since Bagong Mountain is so dangerous and is the only way to Haozhou, if the rebels have occupied the top of the mountain, we will wait. What should I do?”
Li Yuan shook his head and replied: "Now all my troops from the Northern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty have not returned from fighting in the Zhou Kingdom, and Marshal Liu's troops have come from Haozhou, and there are no elite troops available in the north of the Yangtze River. Li Jinquan is cunning, and chose this right time to rebel. , I certainly don’t want to delay the situation. If the news reaches Jinling, His Majesty will definitely order the Northern Expedition army to rush back, or order the imperial troops from the two capitals to come.
Previously, I deduced that Marshal Liu's troops must be camping in the south or west of the city. They have attracted the attention of the rebels. Therefore, the rebels just want to concentrate their forces and make a quick decision. They certainly did not expect that a large army will appear in the east of Shouzhou in the short term. . Even if there are rebels on Bagong Mountain, their strength will definitely not be large! "
The bearded general suddenly understood and replied with a respectful look on his face: "The commander-in-chief has thought carefully! Then let's catch him off guard!"
So Li Yuan issued orders to Zhou Tinggou and the generals one by one, and immediately summoned the army to set off overnight.
This source of luggage separated the infantry and cavalry. All four thousand cavalry acted as vanguards and rode straight to Bagong Mountain at night to clear the way. They each performed their duties to detect the enemy's situation on the mountain and take charge of warning. As expected, the cavalry quickly searched and found no trace of the rebels on the mountain.
Then Lin Sichang led 4,000 Guangzhou infantry closely behind. After arriving at Bagong Mountain, they began to follow Li Yuan's military orders to collect local materials. Taking advantage of the lush vegetation on the mountain to cover the weak firelight, the sergeants began to build a building secretly in the dense forest. Kuanzhai deliberately set up several more camps than its own troops, and erected countless Tang army flags all over the mountain.
The next day, as the sun just rose, Li Yuan immediately ordered all the sergeants to prepare for battle, and sent several groups of light cavalry to the south and west of Shouzhou City to inquire about the movements of Liu Renzhan's troops.
The sun gradually parted the mist, and Li Yuan looked westward from Bagong Mountain. The tall and solid towers of Shouzhou City were faintly visible. After taking a deep breath of the freshness of the mountains in the morning, he couldn't help but feel anxious in his heart. Whether he was going to live or die today. , let's see how this "every tree and grass are all soldiers" drama goes...
