When Li Shimin saw the beacon fire of Mengjindu in Luoyang City, he immediately realized that the Sui army had carried out strategic deception on the fleet, and the place to cross the river was not Shaanxi County as previously imagined, but Mengjindu.

With the dispatch of the Sui army, the battle situation began to become severe, and the situation became unfavorable to the Tang army, Yang Shanhui landed in Mengjindu, if Yang Dong's more than 100,000 main forces were killed from Yanshi County, the lack of strategic depth The Tang army would be in a dangerous situation of attacking left and right, and if Zhuyang Pass was lost again, the Tang army would definitely lose this battle.

Late at night!

In Ziwei Palace, Li Shimin and his subordinate Wenwu were listening to Zhang Gongjin tell the details of the Mengjin battle, especially when it came to the Sui army's strong bow and crossbow, everyone listened attentively.

"Your Highness, the Sui army's crossbow arrows are so sophisticated that they are really unimaginable, this is still in the center of the river, if the other party relies on the benefits of the city wall, the last general will not dare to imagine how this battle should be fought. When the Qin State dominated the world, it was with a strong bow and crossbow, and it is said that the Qin crossbow could shoot a range of nearly eight hundred steps at the farthest, and now the bow and crossbow of the Sui army have not reached that terrifying level, but even if it is four or five hundred steps, it is by no means comparable to the bow and crossbow of my Tang Dynasty. ”。

"Luo Shixin used grassland tactics and defeated King Zhao with a strong crossbow...... The various types of bows and crossbows of the troops under Yang Tong's command can be used for different purposes, both near and far, and even in close combat, the army under Yang Tong's command is not bad, the strong shield, even the penetrating single-shot crossbow can not be penetrated, and the tactics are also very strong. Li Shimin smiled bitterly and sighed slightly: "It's a pity that we didn't capture the strong crossbow of the Sui army, the Sui Dynasty kept it very secret, and the prince wasted nothing of his strength, we only know that Yang Tong attaches great importance to the research and development of equipment, and all kinds of weapons and equipment emerge in an endless stream, as for the rest, we don't know anything else." Our craftsmen are also doing their best to research, but unfortunately we don't have the time and so many skilled craftsmen, so we have not been able to create a satisfactory weapon and equipment. ”

Li Shimin's words made everyone's mood a little heavy, and Hou Junji asked curiously: "Your Highness, is there no way to restrain the weapons and equipment of the Sui army?" ”

"Not necessarily! The archers of the Sui army are powerful, but everything in the world is always one thing and one thing, there has never been an invincible army, and the Sui army cannot rely on a cavalry archer to sweep the world, as long as we are vigilant, we can minimize the losses. For example, the iron thistle, for example, we can lead the cavalry to a gravel and dusty area, once they enter this kind of area, the advantage of the cavalry will not be brought into play, and Wei Qing's Wugang Formation and Liu Yu's Qiyue Formation are also sharp weapons to restrain the cavalry. ”

"Although Luo Shixin is strong, as far as I know, Luo Shixin is the most important general under Yang Dong, and the army under his command is probably Yang Dong's most elite soldiers and horses, and other soldiers and horses may not be able to compare with Luo Shixin's strong army, so everyone should not be too discouraged." Li Shimin smiled and shook his head, whether this was true or not, but at this time, he couldn't admit it.

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in their hearts, if every one of Yang Tong's soldiers and horses was so strong, then there would be no need to fight this battle.

At this time, a soldier rushed in and made a false announcement: "Your Highness, there is urgent information in Hongnong County!" ”

Li Shimin took the military situation and read it, his face suddenly became solemn, Liu Hongji sent information that Xie Yingdeng led an army of 30,000 to the direction of Hangu Pass, at the same time, the Sui army in Guanzhong sent 20,000 troops to Tong, and Hangu Pass suffered from the enemy, this news made Li Shimin fall into extreme shock, he understood what this meant, the Sui army not only had to cut off his retreat, but also eat away at his vital force step by step, the Yique Pass in the south has been cut off, if even Hongnong County is also cut off, Then the army under his command will face an extremely serious crisis.

He said to the generals: "Xie Yingdeng led the army to Hangu Pass, the Sui army in Guanzhong also sent troops from Tongguan, Hangu Pass suffered from the enemy, Liu Hongji retreated to Hongnong County, if Hongnong and Changyuan counties are lost, our army will fall into the danger of outflanking Sinan. ”

"Your Highness, the last general is willing to lead the army to support Hangu Pass." Hou Junji asked for help on the side.

Li Shimin shook his head and said with a wry smile: "This is meaningless, our strength is not as good as the Sui army, once we divide our troops, we will be in the middle of Yang Tong's plan to divide and annihilate." Xie Yingdeng's troops entered Hangu Pass instead of going straight to Luoyang, isn't this just waiting for us to divide our troops to rescue? ”

Li Shimin was also very embarrassed, Hangu Pass was a defense of the west rather than the east, and precisely because it was aimed at the Guanzhong region, the Sui army could take advantage of the large number of troops and weapons to strike at Liu Hongji's troops without any worries.

"But the consequences of the loss of Hangu Pass are very serious."

"I know that." Li Shimin walked a few steps and said slowly to Liu Wenjing: "Does Liu Xiangguo feel that Luoyang is actually a bait?" ”

Liu Wenjing said: "I don't think it should be, if Yang Tong really has this intention, then it will be a good opportunity when our army has not yet broken through Luoyang, and the north and south will be flanked, and then blockade from Yanshi County, I think it is more advantageous than besieging Luoyang." ”

Li Shimin nodded silently, Liu Wenjing's reminder was very convincing, if Yang Tong really wanted to annihilate himself completely, he would give full play to the advantages of cavalry in the field several times, he nodded and said: "Liu Xiang is right, Yang Tong's intention is still to occupy a complete Luoyang, so after we break through Luoyang, force us to withdraw with great power." ”

"I think so too....."

Li Shimin saw that Liu Wenjing wanted to speak and stopped, so he said, "Liu Xiang, please continue." ”

Liu Wenjing said: "Yang Tong is indeed trying to force our army to withdraw from Luoyang now, and put the battlefield in Hongnong County. ”

"Why?"

"The city of Luoyang is strong, and it is several times more difficult to fight than Hongnong County, and secondly, Yang Tong wants to take a complete Luoyang, after all, Luoyang is the capital of the Sui Dynasty established by Yang Guang with countless manpower, and Yang Tong does not want Luoyang to be destroyed too much."

"Like taking Daxing City peacefully?"

"That's pretty much it."

"What if we don't retreat?" Li Shimin's implication was that if he did not withdraw his troops, would Yang Tong not fight because of Luoyang.

"If we don't retreat, he will also try to surround us in the city, once we fall into Luoyang City, then it will not be as simple as the Central Plains War, it is likely to be a full-scale war."

"What is an all-out war?"

"Your Highness, if I were Yang Tong, I would successfully trap His Highness in Luoyang, and then I would order the Guanzhong army to go south to Xiyang, threaten Xiangyang County, and then order the army of Hanzhong to attack Xicheng County and Fangling County, so as to cut off the Jingshu connection channel, and at the same time order the Hehuang army to enter Shu, so that the Tang army is too anxious to take care of Luoyang, in that case, our army will become a turtle in the urn like Wang Shichong before."

Li Shimin was secretly frightened, Liu Wenjing's analysis was not alarmist, there was indeed this possibility, after a moment of silence, Li Shimin finally gave an order, "Pass my order, the army retreats in the direction of Hongnong!" ”

In order not to be cut off by the Sui army, Li Shimin was forced to order the withdrawal of the army, the Tang army withdrew from Luoyang that night, and evacuated in the direction of Hongnong County, his withdrawal from Luoyang did not mean that he had to give up the Central Plains, as long as he kept the southern part of Hongnong, he could occupy the initiative in Henan County, and a big war between Yang Dong and Li Shimin was about to start in Hongnong.

.........

Due to the main force of the Hebei Sui army into Henan County, so that the Tang army that had just captured Luoyang was in danger of being copied, Li Shimin had to admit defeat after weighing the pros and cons, gave up the plan to occupy Luoyang, and led the whole army to quickly retreat to Hongnong County, but Li Shimin did not completely retreat back to Hongnong, but stationed troops in Xiong'er County, and made Liu Hongji sit in Hongnong County, wait and see the military situation in Luoyang, he still has a glimmer of hope in his heart, if Li Mi in the south changes, maybe he still has hope of picking up the leak.

After Yang Shanhui withdrew from Luoyang, he also led the main force to follow Yiyang County, a hundred miles away from Xiong'er County, and confronted the Tang army from afar, and at the same time ordered a force to enter Luoyang to protect Ziwei Palace.

At noon the next day, Yang Tong had also led his army into Xingtai County, Henan County, to monitor Li Shimin from the north and the south.

Within the county office, Yang Tong stood in front of the model of Luoyang City, pondered for a long time, this wooden model has a zhang in length and width, carved the same as Luoyang City, made to be delicate and lifelike, it is not made by Yang Dong in the army, but the late Ministry of Industry Shangshu Yu Wenkai made, Yang Guang agreed, only to enlarge the scale of the construction of this heavy city, this model has been placed in the palace.

When Yang Tong went north, he took away all the palace items in Ziwei Palace, and this model was among the palace items, and the models of Daxing and Jiangdu were also taken away.

Today, the 50,000 army led by Luo Shixin entered Luoyang, and Yang Tong's mood was more or less uneasy.

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Shengshang, let's go in person!" Weichen came to monitor the Tang army, Luoyang is the capital of the Great Sui after all, and many things must be decided by the saint. ”

Yang Tong said: "Xuan Ling, why don't we take the opportunity to annihilate Li Shimin's army in Luoyang?" Give him a chance to withdraw, and now that I think about it, I seem to have made a mistake. ”

Fang Xuanling smiled slightly: "But the saint didn't think so at the time, I also asked the saint at that time, the saint was worried that Li Shimin and Wang Shichong would form an alliance and fight back, and now the battle between Tang and Zheng has been settled, but the two had the possibility of forming an alliance at that time, and the saint was not too sure at that time, so he endured it and didn't start, but now the saint regrets it because of Li Shimin's withdrawal, isn't it a bear paw and a fish?" Besides, Li Shimin is still waiting, and our army may not have a chance to annihilate him in Hongnong. ”

Yang Tong also laughed, "Yes! At that time, the timing was really not ripe, and I really didn't want Luoyang to suffer too much damage, let alone use the lives of my Great Sui soldiers to attack the fortifications, and now I can take Luoyang by the way, but I lost the opportunity to annihilate Li Shimin, and let them go for the time being, we can take it step by step. ”

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Luoyang can't be without the Holy Lord, Weichen thinks it's too late for you to go over now." ”

Yang Tong also knew that Luoyang was a matter of great importance, and once he took over Luoyang, Luo Shixin would definitely impose full martial law, so as to wait for himself to make a decision, Li Shimin thought that he still had a slight chance to turn the tables, and if he went to deal with Luoyang affairs, he could cut off Li Shimin's last glimmer of hope. Thus moving the battlefield to Hongnong.

Thinking of this, Yang Tong nodded and said, "Okay!" I'll go to Luoyang now, and I'll be tired of Xuan Ling here. ”

Fang Xuanling arched his hand and said: "Rest assured, the Holy Lord, Weichen will act strictly according to the plan." ”

Yang Tong immediately ordered the Xuanjia Army and Shura Wei to clean up, and the husband and wife left the county government under the escort of more than 10,000 elite horsemen and galloped in the direction of Luoyang.

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