It didn't take long for Li Jiancheng to lead a large army to Changle City and join Li Yuanji.

After receiving the news, Liu Heimin ordered his brother Liu Shishan to guard the Xu River, and he personally led the army south to meet Li Jiancheng.

The Tang army and the Han Eastern army camped in Changle City and entered a confrontation situation.

The two armies confronted each other, and Liu Heimin took the lead in sending cavalry to shout and curse in front of the Tang army's camp and provoke the Tang army.

"It's too arrogant, I'm going to give this group of traitors a disgrace today."

Hearing those unbearable words, Li Jiancheng was very angry, and immediately said that he would send troops to teach the Handong army a lesson.

Wei Zheng persuaded: "Your Highness, you can't, Han Dongjun is doing this just to provoke you and make you make a wrong decision......"

"In your eyes, I'm so stupid?" Li Jiancheng rudely interrupted Wei Zheng's words.

Wei Zheng hurriedly pleaded guilty: "The minister didn't mean this, His Highness was angry." ”

Li Jiancheng snorted coldly, and gave an order without doubt: "Su Dingfang, Shan Xiongxin, Chang He, the three of you lead a thousand cavalry to meet the battle, and you must eliminate Liu Heimin's vanguard cavalry." ”

"Yes, Your Highness." The three of them went to order troops in high spirits.

Before arriving at the battle, Su Dingfang didn't say a word, and rushed directly to the Handong army single-handedly.

He hadn't been on the battlefield for many years, and he missed the days when he was charging into battle.

Not to be outdone, Shan Xiongxin also rushed out, while Chang He led the cavalry to follow.

Cao Zhan, who had been scolding, saw Su Dingfang and rode his horse to meet him: "Su Dingfang, you traitor, I will kill you today to sacrifice the spirit of King Xia." ”

Many of the Handong troops behind were the old subordinates of King Xia, and when they saw Su Dingfang, they were as angry as Cao Zhan, and they were all full of strength to kill Su Dingfang.

Su Dingfang's hands kept moving, and he said in his mouth: "Those who know the times are Junjie, I advise you to lay down your arms and surrender immediately, so as not to die here and be ashamed of your wife and children." ”

"Hmph, I'm not ashamed." Cao Zhan shouted: "Brothers, kill me!" ”

"Kill!"

The war was about to break out, and the soldiers on both sides attacked the enemy like beasts of prey.

The two armies fought for more than an hour, and there were countless corpses on the ground.

Li Yuanji took the telescope to observe the battle situation, and suddenly shouted: "Eldest brother is not right, it seems that we have sacrificed more people than the rebels." ”

Hearing this, Li Jiancheng took out his binoculars and looked at the battlefield, and found that the battle situation was indeed as Li Yuanji said, and it seemed to be evenly matched, but the Tang army sacrificed more soldiers than the Handong army.

So, Li Jiancheng ordered: "Mingjin withdraws the troops." ”

Su Dingfang and the three of them heard the order to collect their troops and led the remnants to retreat to the camp.

Cao Zhan did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, because there was a large camp of the Tang army in front, and his people also sacrificed a lot, so it can only be said that in this battle, the Handong army narrowly won.

Although it was a narrow victory, Liu Heimin was still very happy and praised Cao Zhan in public.

But Li Jiancheng was not happy, although the rebels also sacrificed a lot, but on the whole, the Tang army was defeated.

Not to mention Ma Wei, the momentum of King Qi's victory has weakened a lot.

"Your Highness is angry, please give us another chance, give us more soldiers, we will definitely be able to defeat the rebels." Shan Xiongxin knelt down and said.

In the battle just now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only gave them 1,000 men, while the rebels sent 2,000 men, and the reason why they lost was because there were too few soldiers.

The anger on Li Jiancheng's face froze, the reason why he only sent a thousand cavalry was to deter the rebels and highlight the strength of the Tang army.

The result backfired, and instead demoralized the army.

"Get up, all of you."

"Your Highness." The three of them got up.

Li Yuanji shouted: "We have more soldiers than Liu Heimin, so simply attack the whole army and concentrate our forces to attack Liu Heimin, and we will definitely be able to capture him alive." ”

"King Qi, don't be impulsive." Wang Qi advised: "The rebels are fierce, we should not take it lightly, and we should think long-term." ”

"What are you talking about? I see, it's just you civil officials chirping crookedly, cowardly and cowardly. ”

Li Yuanji's words made Wang Qi and other civil officials of the East Palace angry, and wanted to reason with him, but he proposed to Li Jiancheng in a grand manner: "Eldest brother, I see that these people know all day long that they can't come up with any methods.

"And they can only chant poems against each other, they don't know martial arts, they don't know how to fight, staying here is purely a waste of military food, it's better to send them back to Chang'an."

Wang Jue: "......"

Civil Officials: "......"

Li Jiancheng glanced at Li Yuanji with a complicated expression, and his tone was light: "They naturally have their use for coming." ”

Hearing this, the civil officials breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, the minister has a plan." Wei Zheng stepped forward.

Although Li Jiancheng doesn't value Wei Zheng very much, after all, he asked for it from his father, and it doesn't hurt to listen to his opinions.

"What ploy? Let's hear it. ”

Wei Zheng said: "After the pacification of Dou Jiande, although His Majesty announced an amnesty decree and recruited Dou Jiande's old subordinates into the court, after they surrendered, they were executed, and even their wives and children were imprisoned.

Later, the King of Qin pacified Liu Heimin, and His Majesty did the same with the prisoners of war in Hebei, so after the King of Qi announced the amnesty not long ago, the soldiers and civilians of Hebei couldn't believe it, thinking that it was a trap.

"It is precisely because the imperial court treats Hebei prisoners of war in this way that it leads to the Hebei army and civilians to fight against our army with all their might.

"If we want to completely pacify Hebei, we should adopt a policy of leniency, release all Hebei prisoners of war, and let them return to their hometowns.

Moreover, half of the soldiers in Liu Heimin's current army are from Shandong, and they have left their hometown and followed Liu Heimin to fight in Hebei, and they have long been homesick.

"If we adopt a policy of leniency, the rebels will definitely be scattered, and in this way, the rebels will be defeated."

After hearing this, Xu Shimo objected: "The idea sounds good, but how can you guarantee that the Han Dongjun will betray Liu Heimin in the end?" ”

"I have been in Hebei, and I know very well about the people here, but if I say that I promise that this plan can help His Highness completely pacify Hebei, you will definitely not believe it."

Speaking of this, Wei Zheng turned to Li Jiancheng with a solemn expression: "Your Highness, the minister hopes that you can adopt the minister's opinion, and this is a good opportunity for us."

"As the saying goes, the opportunity cannot be lost, and it will not come again, as long as His Highness implements it according to the minister's strategy, he will definitely succeed.

"If it can't succeed, this plan won't have any adverse impact on Your Highness and our army, but it will be delayed for some more time.

"Please also ask Your Highness to seriously consider the minister's strategy."

Li Jiancheng was thoughtful, Wei Zheng was right, this plan does not cost soldiers, it just takes more time.

If you can win in the end, it doesn't take some time, the most important thing is the result......

After much thought, Li Jiancheng decided to adopt Wei Zheng's strategy.

Therefore, Li Jiancheng ordered the release of all Hebei prisoners of war, prepared coils for them, and sent troops to escort them back to their hometowns.

Next, Liu Heimin continued to send troops to the Tang Army camp to provoke.

Li Jiancheng followed Wei Zheng's strategy and asked generals such as Su Dingfang and Shan Xiongxin to line up on the battlefield, seemingly to fight a decisive battle with the Handong army.

But before the Handong army attacked, Li Jiancheng ordered the troops to be withdrawn.

The formation soon withdrew its troops, which made Liu Heimin puzzled......