A few days later, Li Jiancheng arrived. Sure enough, as Pei Lin expected in advance, he changed the previous strategy of "attacking with a high base and shallowly, and Xu Tu approached slowly", reorganized his troops and horses, and prepared to win or lose in a battle with Liu Wu.

Although he disdains the inaction of his predecessor, the prince of the Tang Dynasty is not a reckless person. Before the battle, he made all the preparations very thoroughly. The soldiers were well rested, and the armaments, baggage, grain and grass were also very well prepared. In order to understand the opponent in more detail and know himself and the enemy, he also gathered all the civil and military officials left by Pei Lin and consulted them about the reality of the enemy army in person.

Cheng Mingzhen is the minion that Emperor Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty deliberately left to his son, and naturally he is also within the scope of being summoned. Li Jiancheng first summoned him with everyone. Later, he and Wang Junkuo were left behind to discuss the enemy's strategy alone.

Except for what Pei Lin left for himself to write on the yellow silk, Cheng Mingzhen has very limited understanding of Liu Wu and Zhou Jun. In addition, he himself is a character who is unwilling to be in the limelight, so he speaks very carefully. Either it's honestly unclear, or it's vague. In contrast, Wang Junkuo was much more eager, not only knowing everything about Li Jiancheng's inquiries, but also saying everything. And I am also full of anticipation for the upcoming war.

Li Jiancheng admired Wang Junkuo's honesty very much, and ordered people to pile up the terrain around Taiyuan and Yuci with corn, and pointed to several key points above and asked: "If our army crosses the cave vortex water and advances from east to west, Wei Chi Jingde will meet him with an army of 50,000." The two sides fought in a formation in Puluyuan, and the general thought how I should break it? ”

"Wei Chigong is a good person, I'm afraid I won't allow our army to cross the river easily!" The first time he talked to someone of such a high status, Wang Junkuo was so nervous that the tip of his nose was covered with beads of sweat. But the words that came out of his mouth were still very insightful, "The last general feels that as soon as the army leaves Taigu, Liu Wuzhou's soldiers and horses will catch up." If we wait for our army to pull to the vicinity of Yuci and then fight, Wei Chi Jingde will have to attack from a low place to a high place, and before he can fight, he has already lost three points! ”

"Oh!" Li Jiancheng's brows furrowed and he groaned in a low voice. Regarding the entire battle, he had already made detailed plans for several of his henchmen in advance, and he thought that the certainty of victory was not ten percent but seventy percent. Unexpectedly, as soon as Wang Junkuo came up, he completely rejected the previous plan.

"The last general, the last general hasn't read much of the military book. It's just nonsense, nonsense! Seeing that Li Jiancheng seemed to have an unhappy look on his face, Wang Junkuo felt more and more nervous, and explained with the back of his head.

"Might as well!" Li Jiancheng waved his hand generously. "It was Lone who told you to say it. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. You don't care if Wei Chi Jingde fights or not, if, just if, the two armies engage in battle in Puluyuan, how to break it? ”

Or the same question? Wang Jun froze, and his gaze involuntarily turned to Cheng Mingzhen. I saw Cheng Mingzhen's brows tightly locked, listening attentively, and he had no time to care about his request for help. In desperation, he had to nod his head and respond in a low voice, "That piece of terrain is obviously low in the west and high in the east. Our army can first form a stronghold and then choose to fight early in the morning. With cavalry, he smashed Wei Chi Gong's Chinese army. At that time, the sun had just risen, and Liu Wu and Zhou Jun were so shaken that they couldn't open their eyes. The cavalry took advantage of the terrain to rush straight down, and even if Wei Chi Jingde was an iron man, he was trampled on it, and he couldn't stop our army at all! ”

As he spoke, he took a few steps forward, came to the rice chip, and laid out a few piles of corn grains. "The last general is dull and will not fight skillfully. In this case, my favorite thing to do is to go straight to the Chinese army. If you are afraid that this hand will not work, you will go through it in three ways from here, here and here, and the brigadier general Chi Gongjun will be poked to pieces! ”

"As it should be!" Li Jiancheng nodded frequently. The reason why he insisted on letting Wang Junkuo continue on the same topic just now was not out of stubbornness, but because he wanted to test whether Wang Junkuo had any real skills. If Wang Junkuo still can't exert his full strength on the battlefield he has set, then there is no need to believe his inferences about the enemy's movements. If Wang Junkuo showed the corresponding strength, then his words should be given due attention.

Obviously, Wang Junkuo handed over a very qualified answer sheet. Li Jiancheng was very happy. In addition to being relieved, he began to be annoyed by his previous poor planning, sighed, and continued: "If Wei Chi Jingde refuses to let our army cross the river, you see, where is the two sides most likely to meet?" ”

"Well, that's not so easy to say." Wang Junkuo lowered his helmet again and grinned in response. "If the last general is Wei Chi Jingde, he will definitely pick up the places you can't think of and shoot. As soon as it hits, it will beat the Tang army to the end and can't care about each other! ”

This is a bit too direct. The left and right guards were so angry that they rolled their eyes at Wang Junkuo. Prince Li Jiancheng didn't care much about the other party's collision, smiled, and said in a low voice: "Then I have to be careful, lest I be intercepted and killed by you halfway." Let's try the two of you, I will be the commander of the Tang Army with a black flag, and you will hold the red flag instead of Wei Chi Jingde, what will be the result? ”

"This ......" Wang Junkuo hesitated. He is not a wise general who is good at strategizing, but he has fought a lot of battles and has more experience.

"What are you afraid of, you don't want your color head?" Li Jiancheng thought that Wang Junkuo couldn't let go of his hands and feet, so he smiled and encouraged in a low voice.

"That's, that's good. The last general needs to ask General Cheng to make a long history! Wang Junkuo's temperament was the most unprovoked, and he immediately became bold and responded in a low voice.

"Help, please?" Li Jiancheng turned his head sideways and glanced at Cheng Mingzhen. Through the conversation just now, the taciturn Cheng Mingzhen left a far less impressive impression on him than Wang Junkuo. I really don't know what Wang Junkuo thinks, he actually wants to invite a guy who cherishes his words like gold to make a long history?

"Hey, hey! General Cheng is a famous nine-tailed fox! Wang Junkuo smiled at his head, and when he spoke, he was full of naivety.

"Accurate!" Li Jiancheng waved his hand generously and agreed to Wang Junkuo's request. "Come on, change the big wooden plate map, and put the rice chip in the middle of the military tent. Bring three more stools! ”

"Yes!" With a sound of promise left and right, he quickly placed the rice chip wooden diagram for deducing the war neatly. Li Jiancheng ordered Wang Junkuo and Cheng Mingzhen to take their seats, and then waved his hand again, "Get some wine, Gu is going to cook wine with Wang and Cheng today!" ”

I said yes left and right, and hurriedly went out to prepare. Wang Junkuo was flattered, glanced at the large map on the wooden plate, and then looked at Li Jiancheng, who was full of confidence, arched his hand, and said with a chuckle: "Your Highness also find a long history to help the staff officer, otherwise, I am afraid that the last general will be offended!" ”

"Oh?" Li Jiancheng replied with a deep groan. It was the first time since the Battle of the Great Wall that he had seen people so indifferent to themselves. After thinking about it, he turned his head and ordered outside, "Go to a few more people and find Xue Wanche and Feng Li for Gu." Let Feng Li make a long history for Lonely. Xue Wanche does arbitration! ”

The guards outside the tent agreed, looked at each other and smiled. I secretly said in my heart: Where did two people who didn't know the height of the earth dare to stretch out their hands with His Royal Highness the Prince. Later, we will see how they lose, so that we can talk to the brethren.

With such an idea, the guards not only called Xue Wanche and Feng Li, but also alarmed the other generals, all of whom found excuses to make up for the Chinese army's tent. The crown prince has always been generous to his subordinates, and guessed the thoughts of everyone watching the excitement, smiled, and ordered loudly, "Pour a glass of wine and stand on the side." It is only allowed to see, and it is not allowed to give advice to both sides. Whoever could not control his mouth went out and received twenty sticks. ”

The generals who gathered around responded violently, poured their wines, and stood in a half-circle near Mutu Mi Chip with wine cups. Seeing that the people were almost there, Li Jiancheng picked up a glass of wine, moistened his throat, and explained the rules in a low voice: "I saw these pottery retorts next to the wooden map, there were no puppets, the one with the pattern was Tang Jun, and the one without the pattern was Liu Wu Zhoujun." A large pottery retort represents 10,000 soldiers and horses, a medium one represents 5,000, and a small one thousand 200. A puppet represents a regiment, three hundred armor soldiers. Puppets are only used as odd soldiers, not as regular soldiers. In this battle, Liu Wu and Zhou's army were able to mobilize about 50,000 horses, including 17,000 horses and 33,000 foot soldiers. There are also a number of people who transport baggage, which are not counted in the combat power. My Datang sent 20,000 troops and 50,000 foot soldiers. The soldiers on both sides are equal in one-on-one combat power. Our army has the advantage in total strength, but Liu's army has won many times, and its morale is slightly higher than that of our army......."

Wang Junkuo and Cheng Mingzhen nodded slightly, and then put forward a few rules for the conversion of supplementary troops, asking His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to consider it. Li Jiancheng thought about it for a while and agreed. The two sides agreed on various rules and algorithms, piled rice on the wooden map for mountains, sprinkled sawdust for rivers, and set up a formation to kill the generals.

Regarding how to attack the enemy unprepared, Li Jiancheng had already discussed it with his staff in advance, so he had the opportunity to fight when he got started. But Wang Junkuo was born in the green forest, and he never made conventional moves with soldiers. and Cheng Mingzhen, the nine-headed fox who likes to use strange soldiers the most, quickly disrupted the offensive sequence of the Tang Army. seized the opportunity and swallowed the 5,000 soldiers and horses in front of the flank, forcing the Tang army to rein in formation and slowly move closer to the Chinese army.

Feng Li saw that the momentum was not good, so he hurriedly attached himself to Li Jiancheng's ear and whispered a few words. Li Jiancheng nodded, changed the direction of the attack, turned his head to the east, and tried to echo Wang Deren and Chen Liangcheng, who were out of Leping. Wang Junkuo entangled with the Tang army with a large army, and personally raised 5,000 cavalry to Wang Deren and Chen Liangcheng's troops and horses. first concentrated all his forces to defeat Wang Deren, and then rushed towards Chen Liangcheng's troops with a stick.

According to the pre-agreed rules of calculation, the combat effectiveness of one cavalry is equivalent to three foot soldiers. And Wang Deren's department and Chen Liangcheng's department, their respective soldiers are less than 10,000. was rushed back and forth by Wang Junkuo, and immediately turned into a waste and wiped off the wooden map. Wang Junkuo's 5,000 cavalry was converted into 1,000, turned around and came back into his own camp, and still had the strength to fight again.

Since then, the strength of the enemy and our forces has been basically equal. Feng Li was full of scheming and strange soldiers. Wang Junkuo didn't care, desperately let the Tang army cavalry* disturb the outside of Taiyuan City, and also concentrated the main force to meet the Chinese army under Li Jiancheng. The two sides set up positions on the south bank of the Dongwu River and fought a "bloody battle" again. Xue Wanche, the Duke of Wu'an County of the Tang Dynasty, and Feng Li, the general of the cavalry, defeated the two wings of the "Liu Wu Zhou Army" on the left and the right. However, the resistance of Li Jiancheng's Chinese army was too great to keep pace with the two wings, so it was moved back to the battle by "Wei Chi Jingde". When the war was in full swing, Liu Wuzhou's important minister "Song Jingang" led a support army to come in the starry night, straight to the back of the Tang army. The red pottery retort fell to the ground on the wooden map, and there were only 1,200 people, but the situation was clear.

"That's not fair!" Li Jiancheng's henchman Li Zhi'an shouted loudly. "The rangers have all been killed outside Taiyuan City, how do you know if it is the main force of our army? Even if you bet that he is not the main force, the grain near Taiyuan was burned by the rangers, what will the people outside the city eat in the coming year? Could it be that Liu Wuzhou still starved them to death? ”

"Zhi'an, don't make a noise!" Li Jiancheng turned his head and glared at the unhappy person fiercely. "Liu Wuzhou is a jackal, of course, he can be open-minded. Our previous arrangement was wishful thinking, and it really needs to be carefully considered! ”

Li Zhian gritted his teeth and retreated to the side with a snort. Li Jiancheng let out a long sigh, put down the pottery retort in his hand, and said in a low voice, "If Wei Chigong uses soldiers like the two of you, Gu will definitely lose." It's just that this king doesn't understand a little, can you really bear to see the outside of Taiyuan City turn into ruins? ”

"The Tang army burned the hearts of its own people, what happened to Liu Wuzhou?" Wang Junkuo smiled and responded proudly. "Taiyuan City is so strong, without more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, it can't be defeated at all. As for the people outside the city, they are all the families of the children of the Tang Dynasty, can the prince really bear to rob them all and starve to death? ”

Li Jiancheng was speechless. But in his heart, he knew that he would not dare to use such a desperate plan no matter what. In case the ** reaches that point, not only will he not be able to explain to his father, but the soldiers under his command will inevitably complain, and there is no need to fight again, and the result will be clear. But this northward strategy was decided after repeated discussions with his henchmen Wang Gui, Ma Qi and others, is it really useless?

Thinking of this, he put away his eagerness and said with a smile: "This deduction, Lone has already lost, and there is no need to continue." But there are still many omissions in them, and General Wang is willing to accompany Gu to re-enact! ”

"As His Highness wishes!" Wang Junkuo's confidence was greatly increased, he arched his hand, and agreed with a smile. This time, it was Wang Gui who stepped forward and replaced Feng Li, assisting the prince to build a superintendent and march north. Wang Gui is a civil official, and his temperament is calmer than Feng Li's, and he does not seek victory but does not reveal flaws. The left, center, and right armies were separated by less than five miles, echoing each other, advancing towards Taiyuan inch by inch. The two reinforcements were led by Wang Deren on one side, and Chen Liangcheng on the other side, leaving Heshun and Pingcheng, and approaching their main forces before they had contact with the enemy.

Wang Junkuo had no way to speak, so he had to see the move. The two sides tumbled and rolled from Taigu to Qingyuan, seeing that the main force of the Tang army was about to cross the Dongwu River, and the troops came to Taiyuan City. Cheng Mingzhen suddenly whispered a few words to Wang Junkuo. Wang Junkuo's eyes lit up, and he immediately retreated in great strides, forming a formation on the other side of the river, waiting for the Tang army to cross the river and attack.

Wang Gui tried his best, he was a false soldier and a suspicious soldier, Wang Junkuo was not fooled at all, and once again stared at the Chinese army under Li Jiancheng's department. In the end, both sides had nothing to do, so it had to be considered a tie.

The surrounding generals looked at it with fire in their eyes, if it weren't for Li Jiancheng's words first, they would have rushed up to compete with Wang Junkuo. Seeing that the two sides shook hands and made peace, they opened their mouths to sum up the lessons learned. Li Jiancheng was silent for a long time, sat up straight, and asked, "If the facts are as speculated by General Wang, is it difficult for our army to win this battle?" ”

"The last general will not dare!" Wang Junkuo hurriedly sat up straight and responded loudly, "The last general just feels that this battle is very important, and he has to be careful. If the prince takes Wang as his general, Wang is willing to lead his brothers to take the lead and explore the way for the army! ”

Hearing this, Li Jiancheng's mood was much more comfortable. He smiled and asked in a low voice, "If I entrust the whole army to you, do you have a good plan to break the enemy?" ”

"Nope!" Wang Junkuo nodded very matter-of-factly. But the last general thought that either he would not fight, but he would fight, and as soon as he came up, he would do his best to catch Chi Jingde off guard. In this way, his square inch will be messed up next, and it will be easier for our army to perform! ”

After that, he took the initiative to walk to Li Jiancheng's side and pointed at the wooden map. The strategy he thought of was very simple, since the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be to the Tang army, so it was better to treat the first battle as a decisive battle. No one should be left behind, and the result will be pulled down. Anyway, the Tang Dynasty is ten times stronger than Liu Wuzhou, and even if it is defeated, it will soon be able to make a comeback.

This strategy cannot be said to be bad, but it is definitely not something that Li Jiancheng can adopt. Outsiders like Wang Junkuo don't know that his status as the crown prince has long been targeted, but he himself is already unwilling. Nodding and praising Wang Fubao a few words, Li Jiancheng turned his gaze to Cheng Mingzhen and asked with a smile: "What about General Cheng, if you come to command the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses, how should this battle be fought?" ”

Cheng Mingzhen thought for a while and responded in a low voice, "The last general thinks that His Royal Highness the Prince's previous plan is a good strategy. It's just that how to transfer Liu Wu and Zhou's army to the battlefield that our Tang army expects still needs some consideration! ”

"Well, that's true. Gu originally hoped that the Youzhou Army and the Boling Army would be able to move westward and attract the attention of Liu Wuzhou and Wei Chigong! Li Jiancheng nodded and generously admitted. But here is far away from Youzhou and Zhuo County, and it is difficult to know what the specific actions are and when they will move! ”

Thousands of miles away, how easy is it to coordinate the three routes of soldiers and horses? Cheng Mingzhen did not doubt whether Li Jiancheng had the ability to mobilize the Youzhou Army and the Boling Army to cooperate with him, and only thought of the distance between the two sides, so he gave up his extravagant hopes for these two reinforcements. If Wei Chigong's attention could not be diverted from the south, the battle would be very difficult to fight. This person is extremely brave and has a very keen grasp of fighters. Back then, Pei Lin also led superior forces, but he was defeated under his hands without any suspense. Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been replaced as the main general, he may not be able to command better than the scheming Pei Lian.

Thinking of the old servant's shooting Pei Lin and his entrustment before parting, Cheng Mingzhen gently bowed his hand to Li Jiancheng, "His Royal Highness the Prince, there will be a reluctant request in the end, I wonder if His Highness can agree?" ”