Li Shimin also received the news that Luo Shixin had broken through Li Xiaogong and occupied Xiangcheng and Shuyang, and looked at the urgent report sent by Li Xiaogong before his defeat, and his heart was heavy.

In the three or four years of the Sui and Tang Dynasty disputes, the Tang Dynasty has been at a disadvantage, no, it should be said that it has been a fiasco, the Sui Dynasty may now be unable to destroy the Tang Dynasty because of the eastern Central Plains, but what about Yang Tong's recovery of the Central Plains? With the passage of time, the Sui Dynasty will become stronger and stronger, but the Tang Dynasty, which has been pressed and beaten, has been weak and weak, and the army that has been finally formed has lost more than 100,000 yuan, and if its more than 100,000 troops are lost in Luoyang, it will become quite easy for the Sui Dynasty to destroy the Tang Dynasty.

This time, for the sake of Luoyang and the vast Central Plains, Li Tang used the family wealth accumulated in more than a year to send more than 300,000 troops in one fell swoop, which is huge, but now? Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong's 100,000 troops were all wiped out, Li Daozong and Wang Junkuo fell, and less than 4,000 of the men and horses under his command fled to their own territory. If this continues, I am afraid that armies like Nanyang and Xiyang will definitely not be able to keep Nanyang and Xiyang, and those county soldiers will definitely not be the opponents of the Sui army. Once these two counties are lost, the next thing is the Sui army coming to Xiangyang. And even if he captured Luoyang, he would eventually fall into a desperate situation.

This is where Li Shimin's heart is heavy, and he believes that the Tang Dynasty has reached an extremely dangerous situation.

"Your Highness!" Liu Wenjing, the accompanying military division, looked at Li Shimin and said in a deep voice: "Now that our army is contained by the Sui army, it is difficult to move an inch. ”

"How do I not know?" Li Shimin said bitterly

"For today's plan, the only way to break through Luoyang as soon as possible and destroy Wang Shichong!" Qiu Xinggong said in a deep voice.

"Broken?" Li Shimin smiled bitterly: "Wang Shichong has the heart to fight my Tang Dynasty to the death, how easy is it to break through Luoyang in a short period of time?" Even if we break through Luoyang, we will be like Wang Shichong, becoming the turtle in the urn. ”

Liu Wenjing sighed and said: "You can't care about the gains and losses of one city and one place in a war, but about destroying the enemy's vitality and preserving your own army, as long as our army is still there, there will be anything in the future, and if you only know how to attack the city and plunder the land but fight all the people, there will be nothing left in the end." Your Highness, retire your troops. If you don't retreat, it's too late. ”

Although Yang Tong has not moved troops now, he has decided the initiative of the war when the whole army is riding, and he can fight and leave when he wants. And Li Shimin has a large number of foot soldiers in his hands, even if you want to find a chance to fight, people will not work hard with you. The most important place is too suitable for cavalry galloping, if you can safely retreat to the Hongnong area, where the terrain is more complicated, there are mountains, rivers, dense forests, the advantage of cavalry will be greatly limited, with superior forces, it is enough to deal with Yang Tong. However, the distance of hundreds of miles, really running down, is enough for Yang Tong's Sui army to calmly drag this elite down, Li Xiaogong's fate is their tomorrow, so it is the wisest choice to retreat to Hongnong before the Sui army has made any moves.

When Li Shimin heard this, he suddenly fell silent.

It's not that he doesn't understand what Liu Wenjing means, and it's not that he doesn't know the necessity of withdrawing troops, but he still has to think about himself. Because long before the Luoyang Battle was launched, he had a fierce quarrel with his eldest brother Li Jiancheng.

The strategy of the eldest brother Li Jiancheng is biased towards the development of the south, the development of internal affairs, and the enhancement of his own strength, he opposes the provocation of the Tang Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, opposes the expansion to the north, and opposes the annihilation of Wang Shichong, a buffer force.

But what about Li Shimin himself? He felt that Li Jiancheng's thinking was too conservative, and thought that the current Tang Dynasty could still suppress Yang Dong one or two, and in a few years, Yang Tong did not know what it would become, and the Tang Dynasty was afraid that there would be no chance of victory, so he advocated taking Luoyang, and then isolating the Sui army with Hangu Pass and Tiger Prison Pass, and expanding the strategic depth of Xiangbei. It just so happened that his father, Li Yuan, also had this meaning, so the Battle of Luoyang happened.

The father and son believed that the Tang Dynasty had accumulated for a year, and there were many elite generals, who might not be able to capture Luoyang in a short time, and in order to achieve the strategic goal of a quick victory, they did not hesitate to deceive Wang Shichong on the grounds of forming an alliance. However, the Battle of Luoyang became a war of attrition, not to mention Luoyang, and also folded the 100,000-strong army of Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong, and if he lost his troops and returned without any achievements, not only could he not explain to the Chinese military forces of the DPRK, but even affected his status in the eyes of his father and emperor. After all, the Battle of Luoyang was facilitated by himself, so he had to carry this pot.

But if he breaks Luoyang and retreats, at least it means that he has broken through Luoyang, and when the time comes, it will really be investigated, and it is also Li Xiaogong's responsibility, and if you want to blame him, he will be blamed for losing too quickly, otherwise, his strategy of attacking Luoyang and plotting the Central Plains will not fail.

Based on the issue of personal interests, Li Shimin knew that the Sui army was pillowing on Godandan, and was squatting on the side, and still stormed Luoyang City day and night.

Li Shimin's intentions can be hidden from others, but he can't hide from Liu Wenjing, he is quite dissatisfied with Li Shimin's selfishness: the Li Tang Dynasty has reached such a dangerous point, Li Shimin is still gambling on the throne with the safety of the country, if the Tang Dynasty is destroyed, what will Li Jiancheng get if he wins? Therefore, he has been advising Li Shimin to preserve his vitality and withdraw from Luoyang.

But Li Shimin is the main general, and Liu Wenjing has no choice but to be anxious in his heart. Seeing that Li Shimin was silent again, he left the Chinese army's tent angrily.

Soon after Liu Wenjing left, a soldier outside the door hurriedly reported: "Your Highness, Xiangyang will send another order to withdraw the army." ”

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and Gao Shilian looked at each other, from the day before yesterday to now, this is already the tenth withdrawal order from Li Yuan, Li Shimin sighed and said, "Take it in!" ”

A personal soldier walked into the big tent and presented an urgent letter with both hands, Li Shimin took it and looked at it, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

"Urging His Highness to withdraw again?" Gao Shilian asked.

Li Shimin nodded and handed the letter to him, "Father and Emperor personally wrote an edict, saying that Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong's soldiers entered Nanyang and ordered me to return to help immediately. ”

Gao Shilian glanced at it and persuaded: "Your Highness, this is already the tenth imperial pen edict, if Your Highness ignores it again, it will inevitably cause suspicion from the saints, and the gains outweigh the losses." ”

"But I have sent 20,000 troops back to Nanyang, and Xiaogong has 100,000 troops, does Mr. think this force is still small?" Li Shimin frowned.

Gao Shilian sighed, "Please forgive me, the Holy Lord has been frightened by Luo Shixin now, and the Holy Lord will definitely not feel safe because of this 100,000 army." And this involves the attitude of His Highness, if His Highness does not go back, even if he sends 50,000, it will be the same as disobeying the holy order. ”

Li Shimin frowned, and his father ordered him to immediately withdraw his troops back, first, his father had no confidence in Li Xiaogong's 100,000 army, and second, he was worried that he would smash these troops in Luoyang.

"If we withdraw our troops immediately according to the will of my father, it proves that our Luoyang campaign ended in failure."

Li Shimin's eyes showed unwillingness and worry that could not be concealed, this war was promoted by him with all his might, and even yelled at his eldest brother in front of his father, which made his father faint.

During the Battle of Guanzhong, because he led the elite of the Tang Dynasty to kill himself, he could not enter Guanzhong, resulting in the loss of Guanzhong, and if he returned without success this time, it would definitely affect his military power.

Gao Shilian understood Li Shimin's helplessness, but after weighing the pros and cons, he still felt that Liu Wenjing was right, Xiangyang and the army were important, and nothing else mattered, and it also involved Li Shimin's attitude, which was extremely important to Li Shimin's future.

"Your Highness, if you can't defeat Luoyang, at most you can't get through it, but if Your Highness doesn't withdraw the army in time and the whole army is wiped out, or Nanyang is lost, it won't be as simple as suspicion. His Royal Highness should understand very well which of the two is more important, we must not only prevent the prince from using this matter to make a fuss, but also consider the interests of the Tang Dynasty. Speaking of this, Gao Shilian said solemnly: "Once Nanyang and Xiyang are lost, our army will be reduced to a lonely army, not to mention, even Xiangyang will be lost because of the lack of soldiers, if Jingxiang is lost, what is left of Datang?" Even if His Royal Highness won the crown prince in the end, what is the point? ”

Li Shimin's immature performance of ignoring the country's righteousness for his own selfish interests made Gao Shilian a little disappointed, in this regard, Li Jiancheng did a good job, and in the conflict between personal interests and national interests, Li Jiancheng did not hesitate to abandon personal interests, which is the wisdom and bearing that politicians should have.

Li Shimin met Gao Shilian's disappointed gaze, and his heart was also shocked, knowing that his stubbornness had aroused Gao Shilian's dissatisfaction, if he was regarded by everyone as a lone husband who regarded the interests of the country as a mustard, his subordinates would leave in disappointment sooner or later.

He walked to the tent door, and couldn't help but glance outside the tent, Luoyang City was clearly visible in the distance, so he couldn't help but sigh, was silent for a moment, and finally gave the order, "Pass my order......!" ”

Before Li Shimin finished speaking, the voice of a personal soldier came from outside the door: "Your Highness! General Hou has an urgent matter to see. ”

"Come in."

After a while, Hou Junji walked in quickly, followed by a person, Li Shimin glanced at the person next to Hou Junji, his eyes lit up, his face showed a surprised expression, and he said enthusiastically: "It turned out to be Brother Shitai!" ”

The person who came was Yun Dingxing's son Yun Shitai, and he respectfully saluted Cao Cao: "Yun Shiduan is seeing His Highness." ”

"You may be seated!" After Li Shimin waited for Yun Shitai to take a seat, he smiled and said, "Brother Shitai ventured out of Luoyang, is there anything important?" ”

Yun Shitai glanced around, and saw Li Shimin nodding slightly, knowing that this was Li Shimin's henchmen, he smiled slightly: "I came to help His Highness take Luoyang on my father's order." ”

"Oh?" Li Shimin's spirits perked up, and he hurriedly asked, "What can General Yun do?" ”

Yun Shitai took out two letters from his arms and handed them to Li Shimin: "This is a letter from my father and General Yin, Your Highness will know it at a glance." ”

Li Shimin took the letter and read it again, his eyes slowly lit up, and he said happily: "But really? ”

Yun Shitai nodded: "The Zheng soldiers in Luoyang City have launched several rebellions, although they have all been extinguished by Wang Shichong, but they have also made the people in the city panic. In order to prevent the soldiers from surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong imprisoned the families of military attachés above the rank of lieutenant in the palace as hostages, but Wang Shichong only gave these people one meal a day, and many people died of illness and starvation in the palace. ”

This news made Li Shimin excited, which also meant that he still had a chance to break the city, he saw that Yin Kaishan's handwriting and code were matched, but he knew that Yun Dingxing was an old fox, it was really difficult for people to believe it, Li Shimin asked quietly: "Wang Shichong is so well defended, how did Brother Shitai get out of the city?" ”

Yun Shitai realized that Li Shimin did not trust him very much, and hurriedly explained: "My father quelled several rebellions for Wang Shichong, and won Wang Shichong's trust, and now he leads two thousand soldiers and horses to be responsible for the defense of Luoshui in Luoyang City, and he will sacrifice the city tonight, and I ask His Royal Highness to cooperate." ”

Li Shimin nodded, "I'll arrange it, and I'll talk to you in detail when I get back." ”

Li Shimin ordered someone to send Yun Shitai down to rest, and then he turned around and asked Gao Shilian, who was smiling, "Mr. thinks it's true or false?" ”

Gao Shilian smiled slightly, "Yun Dingxing's father and son are on the list of Yang Tong's must-kill, once Luoyang is broken by the Sui Dynasty, the Yun family will be executed on the basis of guilt, except to sacrifice the city to the Tang Dynasty, Yun Dingxing actually has no choice, so he hopes that the Tang Dynasty will break through Luoyang more than we do, so as to escape from Luoyang!" ”

Gao Shilian's words made Li Shimin suddenly realize, and his eyes couldn't help but be excited, tonight is when Luoyang City is broken, he has been waiting for a long time at this moment, cut off Wang Shichong's head, and then calmly return to Xiangyang, that is also a great achievement.

He could afford one night.

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