The heavy rain made the main force of Zhao's army marching westward to Chang'an encountered difficulties in marching.
The carriage was traveling slowly on the mountain road, and there was a steep cliff on the side. The soldiers did not dare to neglect to push the carriage forward step by step.
It was raining heavily outside, but inside the carriage, Li Chongjiu, Zhang Xuansu, Ji Chuan, and Yu Shinan were discussing military affairs.
Under an oil lamp, a simple sheepskin map was spread out in the car, and four people sat around it.
"Duan Zhixuan was captured, and all the Jiangzhou defenders surrendered. I didn't expect Jiangzhou to be captured so easily." In the carriage, Li Chongjiu looked at the victory report sent from the front. After the initial surprise, he frowned.
Zhang Xuansu said: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is indeed a great victory."
Li Chongjiu asked: "It is understandable that Duan Zhixuan was captured and the Tang army lost courage. However, the Tang army collapsed so quickly. It is obvious that they did not have enough confidence to defend Jiangzhou City. This Jiangzhou City is the base camp of Li Tanghe's eastern army. So if Jiangzhou is captured Is this equivalent to annihilating the entire Hedong Army?"
&No&wrong&
"Is it that the Tang army is vulnerable, or that our army is too brave and good at fighting?"
Zhang Xuansu reported back: "Your Majesty, after reports from several generals of the surrendered Tang Army, it turns out that when King Xiangwu Li Chen was the general manager of Jiangzhou, the Hedong Army numbered 30,000. When Duan Zhixuan took over as the general manager, the troops and horses were transferred away by Li Shimin. At present, the Hedong Army only has more than 10,000 troops left, and they are not as elite as before, with insufficient equipment, insufficient daily supplies, and low morale among the soldiers."
When Li Chongjiu heard this, he nodded and said: "I understand. Leaving so many people to guard Jiangzhou seems that Li Shimin really has the intention to abandon Jiangzhou and fight me decisively in Hedong. Then it is certain that Li Shimin's current elite main force will No longer in Hedong. Zhang Qing, where are you looking?"
Zhang Xuansu thought for a while and said: "It's hard to judge. It may be in Tongguan, or it may be in Chang'an. It is more likely to be in Hexi. From the perspective of Wei Chen, Li Shimin is not a person who just sits and waits for death. It may not be big in Chang'an, so either he will go west Go to Hexi and have a decisive battle with Wang Junkuo's West Route Army, defeating the main force of our army in advance. Or they know that Luoyang is empty, so the army marches east from Tongguan and goes straight to Luoyang to reverse the current unfavorable situation."
Hearing Zhang Xuansu¡¯s analysis, Li Chongjiu thought deeply: ¡°Then when the temple was doing its calculations, could this situation have been taken into account?¡±
Zhang Xuansu reported: "Your Majesty, we have considered it all. Whether Li Shimin leads the main force of the Tang army to the west or east, Chang'an will inevitably be empty, so our army only needs to capture Chang'an. Chang'an is the heart of Guanzhong. If there is no Chang'an, The Guanlong clan will no longer support Li Shimin."
"That's not necessarily the case!" Ji Chuan objected, "I heard that in the Tang Dynasty, there were several discussions to move the capital due to exhaustion in Guanzhong. I think if Li Shimin abandoned Chang'an and left an empty city, he deliberately led us to attack , and lead the main force to capture Luoyang. Or defeat Wang Junkuo's Western Route Army."
Seeing that Li Chongjiu was noncommittal about his suggestion, Ji Chuan also said: "I heard that Li Shimin is also planning to move the queen and prince to Sichuan and Shu. It seems that he plans to separate the king in Sichuan and Shu."
Li Chongjiu heard what Ji Chuan said and asked: "Zhang Aiqing. Yu Aiqing, do you think Shilang Ji's analysis is reasonable? Will Li Shimin move the capital to avoid the edge of our army?"
Zhang Xuansu said very cautiously: "Weichen believes that this is indeed possible. I dare not make any judgments."
Yu Shinan said: "Wei Chen thinks it is impossible. It is impossible for Li Shimin to abandon Chang'an. If this is true, Li Tang's foundation will be shaken."
Li Chongjiu said: "Yes, I also think it is impossible. Based on my understanding, if Li Shimin really retreated without fighting and moved the capital to Sichuan and Shu for a while, he would not be Li Shimin. But what about the movements of the Tang army? When our army attacks Chang'an, You can find out when you go to the city."
After finishing speaking, Li Chongjiu opened the car window. Heavy rain fell outside, and a smell of wet air rolled up inside the car.
"Where did the car go?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it's almost time to hear the news."
Li Chongjiu said: "Send the order and the army speeds up. In addition, we order Wei Chigong, Su Dingfang, and Luo Shixin to attack Pujin Pass. The forwards must cross the Yellow River in three days to build a pontoon bridge for the army."
"No!"
Heavy rain fell, hitting the waves of the Yellow River flowing eastward.
In the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the waves are turbid. Hundreds of warships were heading down the river.
In the past, Li Yuanji, the king of Qi in the Li Tang Dynasty, and Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang, were sitting on a battleship together, going down the Yellow River. Fifteen thousand Zhao troops were sailing down the river in warships.
It was Li Yuanji¡¯s suggestion to Li Chongjiu to build ships from the upper reaches of the Yellow River to attack the Tang Dynasty, and it was adopted. Li Yuanji's original plan was to build a fleet of naval forces where the Fen River enters the Yellow River, and then move along the Yellow River.The river flows straight down, directly to Chang'an City via the Wei River or Guangtong Canal.
This water transport route was used by the Qin State during the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, the Jin State was suffering from famine and food shortage and asked the Qin State to borrow grain. Later, Qin Mugong, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, agreed and sent grain ships from Yongcheng, the capital of Qin, to transport tens of thousands of grains along the Weishui River to the Yellow River and then to the Fen River. Transported by water to Jiangcheng, the capital of Jin. White sails transporting grain from the capital of Qin to the capital of Jin, covering eight hundred miles by water and land, connected end to end, were an endless stream. History books call this a boating campaign.
Therefore, Li Yuanji's suggestion is very insightful and very useful for the Zhao army, which always uses waterways to transport troops and food. If the food is transported by boat, this time the Tang Dynasty will save 200,000 civilians from running on the road to transport food for the army. Thank you for your hard work. When Li Chongjiu heard about it, he couldn't even believe that it was Li Yuanji who came up with the plan.
Li Chongjiu took Li Yuanji¡¯s suggestion to the Central Secretariat of China for discussion to see if it was feasible. But in the end Zhongshu Province rejected Li Yuanji's plan.
Because the Weihe River now is no longer as good as the Weihe River back then. The river channel was seriously silted up and was not enough for large ships to pass. Later, the Guangtong Canal opened by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty by Yang Jian was too far away and had to be detoured from Tongguan. Therefore, it was considered unfeasible to send a large army by boat from the upper reaches of the Yellow River to attack Chang'an.
But later Zhang Xuansu was inspired by Li Yuanji's plan after seeing it, and proposed an alternative plan. He believed that ships could be built in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Pujin Pass could be attacked by land and water instead. After capturing Pujin Pass, warships were used to build pontoon bridges on the Yellow River to allow the army to cross the Yellow River.
This plan was appreciated by Li Chongjiu and considered feasible. So last year, under Li Chongjiu's instructions, Yuchi Gong captured the three counties of Hedong and captured the entrance to Fenhe River. Then Li Yuanji and Li Yuan moved here to build ships.
Now Li Yuanji and Li Yuan led 10,000 soldiers and horses adapted from the Tang army's surrender, as well as Xue Wanjun's 5,000 Xiao guards, and went down by boat to approach Pujing Pass. On the other hand, the three generals Wei Chigong, Luo Shixin, and Su Dingfang took advantage of the situation and captured Jiangzhou. They also led 30,000 troops and horses to approach Pujin Pass by land.
Zhang Xuansu's original strategic concept of a land and water attack has been achieved.
But for Cheng Yaojin, the guard general of the Tang Army, this was not good news. (To be continued)