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Chapter 741: The Decisive Battle (2)

On the plain, which has just experienced a bloody battle, the traces of the war can still be vaguely seen. Wherever the horse's hooves stepped on it were remnants of grass, and it was not known whether there would be stumps and broken arms under the remnants of grass. The battlefield has been cleaned up, the corpses have been transported and buried on the banks of the Hanshui River, and in the early spring of next year, the weeds on both sides of the Hanshui River bank will be extraordinarily lush.

The earth was washed in blood, taking on a disgusting grayish-black color. Pick up a handful of sand and put it under your nose to smell the blood, you don't need to look too closely to smell the blood.

In late autumn, it is windy almost every day. Although it does not have the grandeur of the yellow sand, it blows the scenery day by day and becomes more and more depressed.

Listened to the advice of Tian Wenjing, the secretary of the military department, and Zhou Fangwu, the general of the garrison. Emperor Xiao of Liang ordered to hold on to Xiangyang City, in order to show his determination to survive with the city. Xiao Mo ordered all the remaining equipment and materials in the treasury of the military department to be distributed, and everyone in the city who could afford to hold a knife and gun received a weapon and a leather armor. The bed crossbow that was intended to be kept for replacement was also pushed onto the city wall, and now, there is no need for Xiao Mo to feel sorry for these things.

If there is really a day when the city is destroyed and the country falls, even if these things are kept, they are just cheaper for others.

Standing on the ruined city wall, Xiao Mo looked at the busy soldiers and Minzhuang, and his eyes were a little wandering.

"Zhou Fangwu"

"The Minister"

Xiao Mo pondered for a while and asked, "If you give everyone a dry meal and a porridge a day, how long will the grain and grass in the city last?" ”

"Half a month ......"

Zhou Fangwu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, it's better to be like this, when there is no war, everyone has a porridge every day, and when there is a war, add a dry meal, so that the time to last can be more than doubled." If Li Shimin does not withdraw his troops within a month, and the men of Li Xian, the king of Yan, do not arrive...... The minister is willing to lead the troops out of Xiangyang City and kill a bloody road for His Majesty. ”

Xiao Miao's heart warmed, and he nodded and said, "If there is really that day, I will go out of the city side by side with you to fight." ”

Zhou Fangwu was just about to speak, when he suddenly saw a cloud of dust and smoke rising from the northwest direction. It looked as if a hurricane was rolling towards Xiangyang City against the ground. Zhou Fangwu, who had been fighting for many years, naturally knew that it was definitely not a hurricane, so his face froze for a moment, and then became ecstatic: "It's here!" ”

"What's coming?"

Xiao Mo was stunned, and looked in the direction of Zhou Fangwu's finger, his expression also stiffened first, and then the brilliance in his eyes suddenly became bright.

"Could it be the Yan King Li Xian's people?"

Xiao Mo asked eagerly.

"At this time, the people who come can only be King Yan's people......

As soon as he said this, Zhou Fangwu's face suddenly became ugly again. He suddenly remembered something, and immediately felt a bitterness in his throat: "Maybe it's ...... Li Xiaogong of Wudang Mountain. ”

Hearing these three words, Xiao Miao's expression also froze.

"Heaven is dead to my beam?"

Xiao Mo let out a long sigh, his eyes full of sadness.

The defenders on the city wall also looked in that direction, and everyone's expressions were complicated. There is weariness, haggardness, fear, restlessness, and determination and determination. In fact, each of them knew very well in their hearts that Xiangyang City would be attacked sooner or later. The more they hold out, the more the enemies outside the city will hate them. But whenever they wanted to give up, they would think of what His Majesty the Emperor had said not long ago.

"You are standing on the walls of Xiangyang City, and behind you are your fathers and fellow villagers...... If you run away, then disaster will befall them. ”

This sentence echoes in everyone's heart from time to time. They had been holding out for nearly two months, and if the enemy outside the city hated them, it would have been deep in their bones.

In the distance, where the dust and smoke rise.

The Tang army with a black banner surged in the direction of Xiangyang City like a tide. This is a pure cavalry force, and the number is no less than 50,000! In this place, it is rare to see cavalry of this size. This is not the vast and boundless grassland of Saibei, and the infantry has always been king in the Central Plains. A cavalry of this magnitude is enough to make people shudder.

These 50,000 cavalry were pieced together by cavalry from all walks of life in the Tang Dynasty. Among them were the forbidden army, the city defense army, as well as the defenders of various states and counties, as well as the Tang army in Hedong, which were successively assigned to Li Xiaogong by Li Yuanjia. At that time, the purpose of forming such a huge cavalry was to catch up with Li Shimin.

After a year, Lee Hyo-kung finally came.

After Li Xian entered Chang'an, the battle flag of the Tang army was also changed from black to the fiery red of the Yanyun army. But Li Xiaogong's men and horses have never returned to Chang'an City, so they still fly the black flag.

About thirty miles from Xiangyang City, the mighty cavalry team stopped. The team stopped, and the thick dust and smoke continued to swing forward with the wind. When the dust and smoke cleared, the silhouette of tens of thousands of elite riders from a distance became clearer.

"The rear team is encamped, divided into two camps to stand guard, assign ranger scouts, and the others rest on the spot!"

The sound of orders was conveyed one after another, and the cavalry in the rear immediately began to get busy. More than half of the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty are in the hands of Li Xiaogong, which is the glory of Li Xiaogong, he is the first general to command cavalry of this scale after the founding of the Tang Dynasty. This is also Li Xiaogong's weight, but now, he must do something with this huge cavalry.

Although he didn't think that King Yan would really use troops against him, after all, the combat power of these 50,000 elite horsemen was strong enough. If you want to swallow 50,000 elite horsemen in one go, even Yan Yunjun, who is known for his good fighting, may not be able to do it easily. But Li Xiaogong himself knew that it was time for him to make a decision.

On the Hebei side, the Yanyun army has won victories and has conquered dozens of cities, Luo Yi led troops to seal Yuyang County, Dou Jiande's strategy of trying to contact the Goguryeo people was broken, the Koreans were defeated in three battles, and Luo Yi was killed back to the east of Liaoshui, and he no longer dared to look west easily for a while. The situation in the world has become clear, where does Li Xiaogong have time to look around?

"The Great General"

Cui Huanran glanced at Li Xiaogong, who had a solemn face, lowered his voice and asked, "Do you really want to fight?" ”

"Hit"

Li Xiaogong nodded and said, "I don't think that King Yan will have any clan affection." ”

Hearing this, Cui Huanran suddenly remembered, King Yan ...... It should be regarded as the general's brother. But what does that mean? Li Shimin is still the younger brother of King Yan! When Li Shimin killed Li Jiancheng, did he think of flesh and blood affection? Not to mention the same race, what about the closest relatives?

……

……

Just when Li Xiaogong jumped down from his war horse and sat on the ground to rest, less than two hundred miles behind his people, the 80,000 elite Yanyun army also slowly stopped, chose the terrain, and the soldiers began to build camp tents. It was only half a night later than Li Xiaogong's cavalry, and there were more than half of the foot soldiers, but it was obvious that Li Xiaogong's men and horses did not throw Yan Yunjun far behind.

On the side of the camp that was being built, Li Xian, who was on a stone, listened to Ye Huaixi's question quietly.

"Sir, in the hinterland of the Central Plains, it is not good at cavalry combat. Why didn't Mr. send someone to ask Lee Hyo-kung to stop? Once the army is united, the forces will be stronger. Why did you let Li Xiaogong go first? If he was bent on fighting, he was defeated by Li Shimin...... Didn't Li Shimin get a lot of cavalry for nothing? ”

Li Xian nodded with a smile and said, "It's rare that you can think of this layer after listening to the words of the eldest grandson Wuji." But it's still too superficial...... Auxiliary, you come and tell him why Li Xiaogong is in a hurry to fight. ”

"I can think of it."

Ye Huaixi shook his head and said, "He blamed you, sir, so he rushed to make meritorious contributions." But in the art of war, it is said that if you run for a thousand miles, you will pluck the general, where does Li Xiaogong have a 100% chance of winning if he does this? ”

The eldest grandson Wuji glanced at Li Xian, and said with a smile: "Li Xiaogong's battle, with 50,000 cavalry against Li Shimin's army of no less than 200,000, it seems that there is really no chance of victory, especially his cavalry is running thousands of miles and is exhausted. But Li Xiaogong is not a fool, how could he kill the whole army in one go when he arrived in Xiangyang? ”

"What does Mr. Changsun mean that Li Xiaogong will only fight and will not give his best?"

"It's not too small, but it's never too big."

Eldest Sun Wuji nodded and said, "He ran to make a show." ”

"I see."

Ye Huaixi nodded: "The minds of the Central Plains people are too complicated. If you are on the grassland, if you don't have so many ideas, you will fight, and whoever is strong will win. Whoever loses is a slave. ”

Li Xian seemed to be in a good mood, and smiled: "The grassland people are straightforward, so wars are often more direct and tragic. Fighting every battle as a decisive battle, this kind of character is very appreciated. But the steppe people are not without a little strategy, have you forgotten how you Turks defeated the powerful cavalry of the Tiele people back then? ”

"I didn't forget!"

Ye Huaixi proudly puffed up his chest and said: "The great Han Ashina Kuiba personally led 60,000 wolf horsemen and defeated the 240,000 army of the Tiele people!" And the tactics of encirclement were used, which will always be the pride of our Turks. ”

"That battle is worth pondering."

Li Xian nodded, his eyes flashing with a charming brilliance. Ye Huaixi didn't know much about Li Xian, but Ye Huaisleeve, Jia'er and others all knew that when Li Xian's eyes showed this kind of look, it often meant that he already had a way in his heart, and it was definitely the most correct way.

"60,000 surrounds 240,000, who will believe this kind of thing?"

Eldest Sun Wuji sighed and said, "But in fact, that's exactly the case. ”

"How?"

Jia'er asked puzzled.

"A big river, ......"

Li Xian said half a sentence, but the rest did not continue to speak.

"There is also a big river outside the city of Xiangyang."

He said.

"yes...... There is also a large river. ”

Eldest Sun Wuji nodded, and his eyes brightened.

……

……

On the official road three hundred and seventy miles away from Xiangyang City, more than a dozen tall war horses galloped all the way through the dust and smoke. These dozen people were all dressed in black robes, wearing official hats, covering their faces with black scarves, and only a pair of eyes were exposed. The horses they sat on were all good horses of the grassland, and their speed was amazing.

Pedestrians on the official road have avoided it, and the danger is full of dangers. But the dozen or so knights were all very good at riding, and none of them were injured.

The black-robed knight at the head was visibly fatter than the others, so the horse he sat on suffered far more than his companions. But his mount is a famous grassland breed Bo Ta Wu, and his endurance and explosiveness are far from being comparable to ordinary war horses. This horse was specially rewarded to him by His Royal Highness King Yan for his merits.

Seeing that it was almost dark, the knight at the head strangled the war horse, and the pain of both legs being worn out made him almost unbearable, and his ass was not much better.

"Stall, do you want to take a break?"

The people around him asked panting.

"Rest?"

The leader ripped off the black scarf, revealing a fat and round face: "The lord strictly ordered that he must rush to Xiangyang before noon the day after tomorrow, and now there are still nearly four hundred miles away, where can I have time to rest?" Go to the village ahead and buy some food and ask for some water. With our stomachs full, let's continue on our way. ”

"I have a clue about the affairs of Nanya, and the lord hurriedly transferred you to Xiangyang...... Isn't something big going on? ”

"Maybe it's just in case."

The fat man shook his head, poured a large mouthful of water into it, and said with a painful face: "No matter what kind of fucking horse you ride, it's a sin after a long time...... The egg hurts! ”