Everything is ready and well planned, and there is a long pre-war deployment. In July of the third year of Wude (620), Li Shimin, the king of Qin, personally led 100,000 Tang troops to officially lead the army to the east, attacking Luoyang on a large scale. The "Battle of Luoyang", which decided the great cause of the unification of the Tang Dynasty, officially opened the curtain of war!

It can be seen that Li Shimin is full of confidence in taking Luoyang City and is determined to win. Because of the addition of Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Luo Shixin, Wei Chi Jingde and others, for a time, in the Tang army camp, fierce generals were like clouds; In addition, not long ago, the Tang Dynasty had just achieved the "Great Victory in Hedong", eliminating Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, and morale was greatly boosted. Therefore, the Tang army was full of iron-blooded pride of "swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger", and the soldiers pointed directly at Luoyang.

However, although Wang Shichong was already in decline at this time, his interior was rotten. However, hundred-legged insects are dead but not stiff, and the emaciated camel is larger than the horse. After all, Wang Shichong has been operating in Luoyang for many years and occupies Henan, and his strength should not be underestimated. What's more, Luoyang is impregnable, easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the face of the pressure of the Tang army, Wang Shichong naturally would not sit still, and planned to rely on Luoyang's geographical advantages to fight the Tang army. In this way, there will be an unprecedented fierce battle under the city of Luoyang.

So, how did the Tang and Zheng armies compete under Luoyang City? How did Li Shimin use all his resources to launch an offensive against Luoyang? In the process of attacking Luoyang, in front of the two armies, what little-known Jin Ge iron horse and battlefield games took place?

The Tang army, led by Li Shimin, left Tongguan in the east and advanced towards Luoyang, launching an attack on Wang Shichong's Zheng regime. The eastward expedition to Luoyang marked that the Li Tang Dynasty had entered the stage of strategic offensive and taken an important step towards unifying the world. The previous unification wars of the Tang Dynasty, whether it was with Xue Ju, Xue Rengao and his son, or with Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, were all active invasions of the Tang Dynasty by heroes from all over the world, and the Tang Dynasty was forced to defend and win in danger.

However, this time was different, the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to attack Wang Shichong's regime and approached the city of Luoyang, opening the prelude to the shift from strategic defense to strategic counteroffensive. Therefore, the goal of Li Shimin and 100,000 Tang Army soldiers in this Eastern Expedition is very clear, that is, to capture Luoyang and unify the Central Plains.

Realistically speaking, the Battle of Luoyang was the most difficult battle encountered by the Tang Dynasty in the ten-year unification war in the early Tang Dynasty. This war, which lasted for ten months from July of the third year of Wude (620) to May of the fourth year of Wude (621), lasted for ten months and was protracted. Li Shimin tried his best, once had nothing to do, and the army was under the fortified city, and in the end, the soldiers made dangerous moves to defeat Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the two strong enemies.

If you want to understand the before and after of the Battle of Luoyang, you have to start with the vast journey of Li Shimin leading the army east out of Tongguan and marching towards Luoyang.

In July of the third year of Wude (620), Tang Gaozu Li Yuan issued an edict appointing Li Shimin, the king of Qin, as the commander of the Eastern Expedition, commanding the generals of the Tang Army (seven generals and twenty-five generals), totaling nearly 100,000 elite Tang troops, who went east out of Tongguan and launched an expedition to Luoyang. So, Li Shimin led the main force of the Tang Army, pulled out from Chang'an, and marched out of Tongguan to Luoyang.

At that time, from Guanzhong to the hinterland of Henan, a thousand miles of marching, the road was long. Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty had two important military strongholds east of Tongguan: Xiongzhou and Guzhou. At the same time, 100,000 Li Tang's army of the Eastern Expedition took Weishui and the Yellow River as the main supply routes, and set up water and land grain road hubs in the six prefectures of Yu, Qi, Ding, Shaanxi, Yu, and Han to ensure that the army's grain and grass were guaranteed and that there were no logistical worries about the Eastern Expedition. Therefore, after Li Shimin led the army out of the pass, with the cooperation of the defenders of Xiong and Guerzhou, the main force marched very fast, and quickly arrived at Xin'an, west of Luoyang, like a sharp sword, straight into the heart of Henan.

The Tang army reached Xin'an and gradually approached Luoyang, and the situation became extremely tense. Wang Shichong felt that something was wrong, it seemed that this time, the Tang army was prepared, not simply to conquer a few cities, but to capture Luoyang and win the Central Plains. Therefore, in order to resist the Tang army, Wang Shichong made detailed arrangements. According to the records of the "Zizhi Tongjian", Wang Shichong mobilized all the troops and divided the troops to guard Luoyang and its surrounding areas.

First of all, Wang Shichong sent his own family and almost all the children of the Wang family. For example, Wang Shichong sent Wang Honglie, the king of Wei, to guard Xiangyang; King Jing Wang Xingben guarded the tiger prison; Wang Tai, the king of the Song Dynasty, guarded Huaizhou; King Qi Wang Shiyun inspected Luoyang South City; Wang Shiwei, the king of Chu, guarded Luoyang Baocheng; Prince Wang Xuanying guarded the eastern city of Luoyang; King Xuanshu of the Han Dynasty guarded Hanjia City; King Lu Wang Dao guarded Yaoyi City.

Then, Wang Shichong personally led the soldiers, as well as the cavalry of the 28th Prefecture of Zuo Longxiang under the jurisdiction of Yang Gongqing, the general of the left auxiliary, the infantry of the 28th Prefecture of the Internal Army of the right guerrilla general Guo Shancai, and the infantry of the 28th Prefecture of the Foreign Army under the command of the Left Guerrilla General Baye Gang, a total of 30,000 soldiers and horses, as a new force to resist the Tang army.

The armies of Tang and Zheng were already tense, and a big war was about to break out. Li Shimin led the Tang army and advanced to Luoyang step by step; And Wang Shichong is also mobilizing troops and horses from all walks of life to prepare for war with the Tang army. Soon, the first battle of the Battle of Luoyang began. However, Wang Shichong didn't expect that as soon as Li Shimin made a move, he was extraordinary, gave him a dismount, and beat Wang Shichong so much that he couldn't find the north.

On Li Shimin's march to Luoyang, he had already ordered his general Luo Shixin to lead the forward soldiers and horses to besiege Cijian. Before Li Shimin's expedition to Luoyang, in April of the third year of Wude (620), Luo Shixin led an army to besiege Cijian. That time, Wang Shichong appointed the crown prince Wang Xuanying to rescue Cijian. Unexpectedly, during the battle, Wang Xuanying was stabbed under the horse by Luo Shixin, only to be spared, and almost lost his life.

This time, Luo Shixin once again besieged Cijian, and Wang Shichong decided to personally go out and lead 30,000 soldiers and horses to rescue Cijian and resist the Tang army. Wang Shichong came, and Li Shimin also arrived. On 28 July, Li Shimin personally led a group of light cavalry to Cijian to reconnoiter the enemy situation in front.

As mentioned more than once above, Li Shimin has a characteristic of fighting wars: he takes the lead. Every time there was a big war, before the war, Li Shimin always took a small number of personal guards to the front line to inquire about the military situation. It is precisely because of this that Li Shimin was in danger on the battlefield several times, and even his life hung by a thread.

Therefore, Li Shimin went to Cijian this time, and the number of light cavalry led by Li Shimin is estimated to be no more than 1,000 people, and there are only hundreds of cavalry. As a result, Li Shimin personally led hundreds of Tang troops to ride lightly, and as soon as he arrived at Cijian, he met Wang Shichong's 30,000 Zheng troops head-on. A fierce battle, inevitable.

If it had been someone else, he would have fled in fright. However, Li Shimin is Li Shimin after all, and even heroes like Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, and Song Jingang are not his opponents, and Li Shimin does not pay attention to the 30,000 Zheng army at all. When the brave meet on the narrow road, Li Shimin is not afraid of danger, and challenges Wang Shichong's 30,000 elite soldiers with hundreds of light horses. In the "Old Tang Book: Taizong Benji", this encounter with a huge disparity in strength is recorded in detail:

In July, he led the army to attack Wang Shichong in Luoyi, and the division was in Guzhou. Shichong led 30,000 elite soldiers in Cijian, and Taizong picked it up with light horses. Outnumbered, besieged, and fearful left and right. Taizong ordered the left and right to return first, leaving the apse alone. Shichong Xiao forced Shan Xiongxin to ride hundreds of roads, and Taizong was almost defeated. Taizong shot left and right, and all of them fell down, and his general Yan Qi was captured. Shichong is the town of Bacijian and returns to the eastern capital.

At first, Wang Shichong still looked down on Li Shimin. In his opinion, even the mighty Wagang Army was completely annihilated by himself. Li Shimin, a doll in his early twenties, what is so scary! Moreover, Wang Shichong had 30,000 soldiers and horses, Li Shimin only brought hundreds of light horses, and 30,000 people fought hundreds of people, which was not just like playing.

Therefore, Wang Shichong led 30,000 Zheng troops and rushed straight towards Li Shimin's hundreds of light cavalry. Originally, Li Shimin came out this time to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, and he didn't want to entangle with Wang Shichong too much. Moreover, Li Shimin also knew that Wang Shichong had 30,000 horses, and it was impossible to wipe out the other party with only a few hundred cavalry. Therefore, the top priority, for Li Shimin, breaking out is the most important thing.

At that time, all the 30,000 Zheng troops were pressed, and Li Shimin was so scared that he couldn't do it. Only Li Shimin, as the commander-in-chief, was calm and quiet, commanding his light cavalry to counterattack and break through. Li Shimin ordered most of the men and horses to retreat first, and he himself led a small number of cavalry to block the Zheng army.

At this moment, one of Wang Shichong's subordinates, Shan Xiongxin (formerly the general of the Wagang Army), led hundreds of cavalry to attack. Due to the outnumbered enemy, Li Shimin and his own soldiers were surrounded by Zheng's army. At the critical moment, Li Shimin took out his housekeeping skills: archery skills in 100 steps.

I saw that Li Shimin drew out his feather arrows, opened his bow left and right, and when the bowstring sounded, the arrows were not missing, and the enemy soldiers were all hit by arrows and fell from their horses. At the same time, Li Shimin took the lead and captured Yan Qi, one of the enemy's generals. Wang Shichong saw that Li Shimin was so difficult to deal with, and he had nothing to do for a while, so he had to lead the army back to Luoyang from Cijian. Seeing Zheng Jun retreating, Li Shimin seized the opportunity and led his own soldiers around him to successfully retreat.

Although Li Shimin broke out of the encirclement of Zheng Jun, he also fought very hard in this encounter. According to historical records, when Li Shimin broke out of the encirclement and returned to the Tang army camp, he was very embarrassed, and he was almost treated as an enemy army, and he couldn't even enter the camp:

The people of the world returned to the camp, the dust covered their faces, the army did not know each other, and they wanted to reject it, but the people of the world were exempt from talking to themselves, but they were allowed to enter. (Information Governance Guide)

Because of the fierce battle, when Li Shimin broke through and returned to the camp, his whole body was covered with dust and blood. Therefore, the Tang soldiers stationed in the big camp did not know that this was Li Shimin and refused to let him in. There was no way, Li Shimin had to take off his armor, and when the army saw that it was the King of Qin, he immediately opened the camp gate, and Li Shimin was able to return to the camp.

After a fierce battle at Cijian, Li Shimin repelled Wang Shichong's 30,000 Zheng troops with hundreds of light horsemen, breaking out of the encirclement. Wang Shichong was forced to return to Luoyang, and the infant city was entrenched. Subsequently, Li Shimin personally commanded the main force of 50,000 Tang troops, marched to Cijian with his army, and approached the periphery of Luoyang.

Cijian won the first battle, repelling Wang Shichong's 30,000 Zheng army, but did not let Li Shimin be carried away by the temporary victory. The Battle of Cijian was actually a local battle, not even a battle. Although Wang Shichong led his troops to retreat, the main force did not suffer heavy losses, and the Tang army did not achieve the desired results.

Li Shimin was an outstanding military commander, he calmly analyzed the situation, Luoyang city defense is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Wang Shichong has been in business for many years and has strong troops. Therefore, the Tang army cannot rashly attack Luoyang, even if Luoyang is really defeated in the end, the Tang army will pay a huge price, that can only kill a thousand enemies, and lose 800 themselves, the tragedy of Li Mi and the Wagang army is a lesson from the past.

Since he can't attack by force, how should Li Shimin use his troops? Four words: surround Luoyang. In view of the complex enemy situation in Luoyang, the tactics adopted by Li Shimin were actually very simple, that is, to divide troops to cut off Wang Shichong's rescue road from the north to the south and form an encirclement posture against Luoyang City.

After commanding 50,000 foot cavalry and advancing into Cijian, Li Shimin immediately dispatched troops and began to arrange troops. How to arrange the troops? Li Shimin ordered Shi Wanbao, the commander of the marching army, to lead the army from Yiyang to the south to Longmen; General Liu Dewei marched out of the east of Taihang Mountain and besieged Hanoi; Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou, sent troops from Heyin and attacked back to Los Angeles; King Junkuo, the prince of Shanggu, attacked Luokou and cut off Wang Shichong's food supply line. As for Li Shimin himself, he personally led the main force of the Tang Army, stationed troops in Beibi Mountain, and forced him with a battalion.

In this way, Li Shimin deployed the Tang Army to form a natural "pocket array" against Luoyang, surrounded Luoyang with heavy troops, and gradually encroached on the towns, prefectures and counties on the periphery of Luoyang. Sure enough, Li Shimin's encroachment strategy has indeed had a good effect. At that time, most of the counties south of the Yellow River surrendered to the Tang army. Luoyang's subordinate governors of Weizhou and Dengzhou, and the local heroes, successively surrendered the city to the Tang Dynasty:

The Yellow River has been south, and the castle has come and gone. ("Old Tang Dynasty Book: Taizong Benji")

Seeing that the Tang army was so aggressive and invincible, Wang Shichong could no longer retreat into the city, so he decided to take the initiative to go out of the city and meet Li Shimin for a while. At this time, Wang Shichong was whimsical, hoping to move Li Shimin to withdraw his troops. In August of the third year of Wude (620), Wang Shichong poured out of the nest, Chen soldiers were in Qingcheng Palace, and Li Shimin was also in Luoyang at this time. The two armies confronted each other across the stream, and Wang Shichong took the lead in shouting to Li Shimin on the other side, like a local warlord:

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world collapsed, Chang'an and Luoyang, each with its own land, Shichong only wanted to defend itself, and did not dare to invade the west. Ji Xiong and Gu Erzhou are not far apart, if you want to take them, isn't it within the degree? It's a good neighbor, so it's not. Wang Naisheng invaded each other, far into my land, the way of Sankun, thousands of miles of food, so that he could go out of the teacher, but he did not see it. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Shichong)

Wang Shichong's original intention was to hope that Li Shimin would withdraw from the army as soon as possible and that the two sides would be safe. However, Li Shimin's expedition to the east this time is determined to win Luoyang, and the goal is very clear, if Luoyang is not broken, he will not withdraw his troops, where will he lead the troops to retreat because of Wang Shichong's words. Therefore, as soon as he heard Wang Shichong say this, Li Shimin was very disdainful, and immediately refuted Wang Shichong with the tone of a king who reigned over the world and calmed the four seas:

Within the four seas, all of them are Zhengshuo, only the public is obsessed, and the voice is obsessed. Dongdu Shishu, urgently invite Wang Shi, Guanzhong is brave and brave, and is grateful and dedicated. Respect against the wishes of the people, there is a hanging. If the disaster is turned around, the wealth can be guaranteed; If you want to fight, there is no false statement. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Shichong)

Having said that, Wang Shichong's illusion of wanting to make the Tang army retreat was completely shattered. At present, there is only one battle to the end, either you die or I die. As a result, Li Shimin and Wang Shichong each withdrew their troops. The two sides are fiercely fighting, and in the near future, there will be a bloody battle under the city of Luoyang.

In fact, Li Shimin had long known how to attack Luoyang. His tactics, summed up, can be summed up in eight words - heavy encirclement and gradual encroachment. Li Shi's militia came to Luoyang, but they did not rush to attack the city, but gathered superior forces to surround Luoyang. At the same time, Li Shimin was also deploying troops to clear the military strongholds on the outskirts of Luoyang. The purpose of such a use of troops was to force Wang Shichong to shrink the front, retreat to Luoyang, and trap Wang Shichong alive in Luoyang City.

In this way, the Tang army began to carry out targeted killings of military strongholds on the periphery of Luoyang, gradually compressing Wang Shichong's living space. At the beginning, when Li Shimin advanced into Luoyang, he arranged a four-way army to form a four-way encirclement of Luoyang. Now, these four Tang armies have resolutely implemented Li Shimin's encroachment tactics, and have successively launched offensives against military strongholds and prefecture towns on the periphery of Luoyang.

The first to attack was the Tang army under Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou. Li Shimin set the time for the siege of Luoyang, and assigned four generals, each leading the Tang army all the way, attacking from all sides to attack the periphery of Luoyang. Huang Junhan's department is one of the four routes of the army.

Huang Junhan's combat mission was very clear, he sent troops from Heyin, attacked and recaptured Los Angeles, and recaptured the military fortress of Los Angeles from the Zheng army. Why do you want to attack back to Los Angeles? Li Shimin was well thought out, Huiluocheng is not only a military fortress, but more importantly, it also has a grain base here - "Huiluocang". There are many granaries near Luoyang, and Huiluocang is one of them.

The occupation of Huiluocang can not only provide a large amount of food supplies for the Tang army, but also gradually disintegrate Wang Shichong's fighting spirit, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, Li Shimin entrusted the task of recapturing Los Angeles to the general Huang Junhan. Facts have proved that Huang Junhan did not disappoint Li Shimin and completed this task brilliantly.

In August of the third year of Wude (620), Huang Junhan sent the school captain Zhang Yasha to lead an elite sailor to raid back to Los Angeles. Zheng Jun, who was stationed back in Los Angeles, was defenseless and was caught off guard. As a result, the Tang army successfully conquered Huiluo City and captured the enemy general Da Xi Shanding.

After conquering and returning to Los Angeles, Huang Junhan still did not take it lightly. In order to prevent the Zheng army from counterattacking at any time, Huang Junhan ordered the army to destroy the pontoon bridge south of Heyang. After that, Huang Junhan led the Tang army of the department, returned to the station, attacked the fort all the way, and even took more than 20 castles.

Huiluo City was captured by the Tang army, and the blow to Wang Shichong was fatal. Losing Huiluocheng means losing Huiluocang, and the food crisis in Luoyang is even worse. Therefore, no matter what, Wang Shichong also wants to recapture Los Angeles. Soon, Wang Shichong ordered the crown prince Wang Xuanying to lead the general Yang Gongqing and his cavalry to counterattack back to Los Angeles. Unexpectedly, the Tang army had already taken precautions, and Wang Xuanying and others failed in the siege, so they had to build a moon city west of Huiluo City to confront the Tang army.

At this point, Huang Junhan led the Tang army under his jurisdiction to level most of the areas around Huiluocheng and successfully conquered Huiluocheng. The capture of Los Angeles opened up a good situation for the Tang army's military operations on the outskirts of Luoyang, as well as the encroachment plan formulated by Li Shimin. Soon after Huang Junhan captured Luocheng, the remaining three Tang army troops also achieved different military victories one after another, gradually forcing Wang Shichong to shrink the defensive line.

In late August, Liu Dewei, the Tang general who was responsible for leading troops to besiege Hanoi, waved his army to Huaizhou, and attacked the city of Huaizhou in one fell swoop. At the same time, Dewei Lau took advantage of the victory and swept all the way to several castles around Lianke. In September, Shi Wanbao, the head of the march, led his troops to march to Ganquan Palace, which was like a bamboo.

Seeing the successive victories of the three-way army, Li Shimin was very satisfied. At this time, when the army was victorious and its morale was strong, Li Shimin immediately decided to strike while the iron was hot, expand the results of the battle, and completely crush Wang Shichong's elite military strength on the periphery of Luoyang. Therefore, Li Shimin sent Wang Junkuo, the general of the Right Military Guard, to lead the army to attack Yuyuan.

Wang Junkuo and his people, in the early years, once fell into the grass for Kou, and later joined the Wagang Army, after returning to the Tang Dynasty, he was named Shangzhu State, moved to the right Wuwei general, entered the Duke of Peng Guo, and became a general under Li Shimin's account. Therefore, among the generals of the Tang Army, Wang Junkuo is a battlefield general who can conquer and fight.

This time, on the order of Li Shimin, Wang Junkuo led his troops to attack Yuyuan. As expected, Wang Junkuo didn't make much effort and easily captured Yuyuan. Of course, Wang Shichong was unwilling to fail, and immediately ordered his general Wei Yin and others to lead the army to attack Wang Junkuo's department. Wang Junkuo is worthy of being a good general, he can see that the Zheng army is menacing, and if he fights hard, he will inevitably suffer huge casualties. Therefore, Wang Junkuo avoided the enemy's edge and lured the enemy deeper.

After confronting Wei Yin, within a few rounds, Wang Junkuo feigned defeat and set up an ambush halfway to lure Zheng Jun into the encirclement. Wei Yin didn't know about the deception, thinking that the Tang army was really defeated, so he ordered a pursuit. In this way, Zheng Jun unknowingly entered the "pocket" under Wang Junkuo's cloth.

When all the Zheng army entered the encirclement, Wang Junkuo gave an order, and the Tang army ambushed in all directions, and at the same time attacked and encircled, killing the Zheng army to a great defeat, and won a lot, breaking the elite of the Zheng army in a battle. After defeating the Zheng army, Wang Junkuo took advantage of the victory and sent troops to attack and march all the way to the east, conquering many cities, until he attacked Guancheng, and then led his army back.

In fact, this ambush of Wang Shichong and Zheng Jun was not Wang Junkuo's battlefield debut. Previously, Wang Shichong sent generals Guo Shiheng and Xu Luohan to attack the Tang Realm, and Wang Junkuo led the army to counterattack, winning more with less and repelling the enemy army. This time, Wang Junkuo once again outnumbered the crowd, skillfully set up an ambush, and killed countless Zheng troops. Therefore, for Wang Junkuo's outstanding military exploits, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan specially issued an edict to commend him:

Qing broke 10,000 thieves with thirteen people, and since ancient times, he has controlled the public with a small number of people, and there is no such thing. (Information Governance Guide)

So far, the four-way army arranged by Li Shimin has successively completed their respective combat missions. Most of the military strongholds on the periphery of Luoyang were uprooted by the Tang army one by one. Under the thunderous offensive of the Tang army, the Wang Shichong Zheng regime, which originally occupied Henan, quickly shrank its sphere of influence to only a corner of Luoyang. Wang Shichong's regime, which dominated the Central Plains, was like an isolated island at this time, surrounded by nearly 100,000 Li Tang troops.

It can be said that Li Shimin's elaborate encroachment plan has achieved initial results at this time. At that time, some important strongholds on the periphery of Luoyang were captured by the Tang army. Such an astonishing record has deeply stimulated the governors of many states, counties, and military towns around Luoyang, and they are also planning for their own future. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is only a matter of time before the Tang Army takes Luoyang, and there is only a dead end with Wang Shichong.

Therefore, while the Tang army achieved a series of military victories, many prefectures and counties around Luoyang broke away from Wang Shichong's camp and surrendered to the Tang army. For example, in September of the third year of Wude (620), Tian Zhan, the governor of Xianzhou under Wang Shichong, led the 25 prefectures under his rule to surrender to the Tang army. Since then, the area of Xiangyang under the control of Wang Shichong has been cut off from Luoyang, and invisibly, it has broken away from Wang Shichong's rule.

In the same month, not long after Wang Junkuo set up an ambush to break the Zheng army, the Weizhou of Wang Shichong's regime assassinated Shi Shi Derui, and led the seven prefectures of Qi, Xia, Chen, Sui, Xu, Ying, and Wei to surrender to Li Tang. For the people from the seven states who came to Guishun, Li Shimin's resettlement was still very appropriate, "ordering the county officials of the prefecture and county at a cheap cost and signing according to the world, and nothing changed." In addition, Li Shimin renamed Weizhou as Nanbianzhou. As a result, many prefectures and counties in Henan have attached themselves to the Tang Dynasty.

Along with the military strongholds on the periphery of Luoyang, one after another were captured and swept away by the Tang army, and the prefectures, counties, and towns in Henan were surrendered to the Tang army one after another. The military situation faced by Wang Shichong was obviously extremely severe, and all parts of Henan were either lost or surrendered, while the Tang army was pressing on the border step by step. At this time, Wang Shichong was trapped in the dangerous city of Luoyang, struggling to support, and he could be attacked by the Tang army at any time.

In contrast, the situation in the Tang Army is very clear. Under the tactical command of Li Shimin, who fought steadily and encroached step by step, the Tang armies from all walks of life won successive battles, rushed and killed everywhere, as if entering a no-man's land, and achieved impressive results. Until this time, the Tang army basically completed the military operation to sweep the periphery of Luoyang, formed a situation of encirclement of Luoyang, and could wave the army at any time to launch a large-scale attack on Luoyang City.

The so-called good things come in pairs. Li Shimin led the main force of the Tang Army, approaching Luoyang step by step, and was about to officially launch an attack. Before that, the Tang Army ushered in two more victories that lifted the morale of the army. These two victories were undoubtedly a huge divine help for the Tang army to attack Luoyang. At the same time, it also made Wang Shichong's situation even more precarious.

First, let's take a look at the first victory, the Battle of Fort Chin. This battle took place in October of the third year of Wude (620), which was the early stage of the Tang army's large-scale attack on Luoyang. The main general who won this battle for the Tang Army was the famous young brave general in the Tang Army: Luo Shixin.

At this time, Luo Shixin was only twenty-one years old, young and vigorous. In the past, Luo Shixin has always been an invincible young hero who bravely crowned the three armies. However, this battle of Qianjin Fort unearthed a wise and brave Luo Shixin.

As mentioned above, in July of the second year of Wude (619), Luo Shixin broke away from Wang Shichong's surveillance, led his troops to join the Tang Dynasty, and officially became a member of the Tang army, and was directly under the command of Li Shimin, the king of Qin. Since returning to the Tang Dynasty, Luo Shixin has been brave and loyal, galloping on the battlefield for the Tang Dynasty, and has made countless military exploits. For example, when leading the army to besiege Cijian, Luo Shixin once almost took the life of Wang Xuanying, the crown prince of Zheng State.

It turned out that Luo Shixin was indeed an excellent general. If it is just a strong martial artist and brave and good at fighting, then it can only be a martial artist, which is insignificant. According to historical records, Luo Shixin not only fought bravely and took the lead, but more importantly, he was also sympathetic to his subordinates and shared weal and woe with his soldiers, which made his subordinates very convinced of him:

Shi Xin Xing is the vanguard, on the contrary, the palace, there is something to gain, all the meritorious people under the play, or undressed and undressed horses, and the soldiers use their lives. However, the law is strict, and there is no less loan for the old relatives, and it is not very attached to it. (The New Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Luo Shixin)

The meaning of this account is that every time Luo Shixin led his troops to fight, he rushed to the front of the team; When the army was withdrawn, he also personally left the queen of the palace. In addition to fighting bravely and not dying in battle, Luo Shixin also has a very harmonious relationship with his soldiers, just like siblings.

Luo Shixin is sympathetic to his subordinates, loves soldiers like sons, and shares honor and disgrace with his soldiers. Every time he went out to fight, Luo Shixin did not take a penny of the booty captured from the enemy, and gave all the money to his subordinates; There are even times when he "strips off his horse and undresses his horse" and rewards the soldiers. It is precisely because of Luo Shixin's style that his subordinates are convinced of him and are willing to die for him, which is the so-called soldier's life.

Since returning to the Tang Dynasty and joining the Tang Army, although Luo Shixin is invincible, he has made outstanding achievements. However, what really made him famous in the first battle was the battle of outwitting Qianjin Fort during the attack on Luoyang. Outwitting Qianjin Fort is a highlight of Luo Shixin's military career, and it is also a classic example of avoiding the real and attacking the false in China's military history.

On October 15, the third year of Wude (620), Luo Shixin led the troops and horses of the department, drove straight in, and attacked the Kip Stone Fort in one fell swoop. Then, Luo Shixin's troops swept forward, pointed directly at Qianjin Fort, and the army besieged it. Wang Shichong, who was stationed here, guarded the army and guarded the general, and the infant city was firmly defended, closing the city gate, and planning to confront the Tang army for a long time.

When Luo Shixin led his army to the city of Qianjin Fort, he found that he was heavily guarded and wanted to set up a big battle. Not only that, but Zheng Jun in the city spoke ill of Luo Shixin and scolded him. Luo Shixin was strong-blooded, so he was naturally furious, furious, and decided to capture Qianjin Fort.

However, don't think that Luo Shixin is an impulsive, irritable, brave and reckless man. The years of war that licked the blood from the knife edge made Luo Shixin learn to fight with wit. This time in the attack on Qianjin Fort, Luo Shixin skillfully used a suspicious tactic to lure Zheng Jun out of the city and wipe it out of the city.

So, how did Luo Shixin carry out the tactics of doubtful soldiers? He was clever enough to select more than a hundred elites from the army and pretend to be fleeing refugees. In order to play more realistically, these 100 or so people are holding dozens of babies in their arms. I don't know where Luo Shixin got so many babies, it is estimated that they are family members of the army. In short, more than 100 people with their children in their arms swaggered to the foot of Qianjinbao City.

When they arrived at Qianjin Fort, the enemy troops in the city heard a baby crying, and when they looked down, they saw a group of people in Wuyang, and heard someone in the team shouting: "Return to the chief of Luo from the eastern capital." So, Zheng Jun judged that this was a refugee from Luoyang. Immediately afterwards, the group of people below pretended to go to the wrong place and shouted: "This Qianjin Fort is also a mistake." Then, pretending to run away.

This kind of operation made Zheng Jun in the city even more convinced that Luo Shixin had led his troops to retreat, and that there was nothing more than a group of refugees in exile. In order to stabilize the situation, the defenders decided that they had to kill this group of so-called "refugees". Unsuspected, the defenders of Fort Qianjin opened the gates and poured out, ready to kill the wandering "refugees". Little did they know that they were falling into a trap step by step.

Zheng Jun went out of the city to pursue, which was exactly what Luo Shixin wanted to see. At this time, Luo Shixin had already laid an ambush on both sides of the road outside the city, just waiting for the Zheng army to come, rushing from all sides and killing him completely. Sure enough, the Zheng army had just left the city, and the Tang army, which had been ambushed in advance, rushed up and covered out from all directions. After the First World War, nearly 10,000 Zheng troops were almost slaughtered and slaughtered. After that, the Tang army took advantage of the victory to seize the city gate and broke into the city in one fell swoop, and Qianjin Fort was conquered by the Tang army:

And the army to Luoyang, Shixin besieged the world with soldiers to fill the golden fort. There were those who scolded, Shi Xin was angry, and sent more than 100 people to dozens of babies to the castle at night, and lied that "from the eastern capital to the chief of Luo". Because of the noise of the baby, he feigned surprise and said: "This golden castle, my generation is wrong!" "Suddenly. In the fort, it was said that the people who fled from the eastern capital sent troops to chase them. Shixin ambushed the soldiers on the road, opened the door, fought hard to break it, and killed everything. (Old Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Luo Shixin)

Outwitting the battle of Qianjin Fort, Luo Shixin used a little trick and skillfully set up suspicious soldiers, not only successfully captured Qianjin Fort, but also wiped out thousands of Zheng troops by the way, which dealt a heavy blow to Wang Shichong's military morale. It should be said that the Battle of Qianjinbao was a significant military victory before the Tang Army was about to launch the Luoyang Offensive Campaign.

In fact, a month before the Battle of Qianjinbao, the Tang Army, under the command of Li Shimin, had already won a victory, which was the Battle of Beipi. If it is said that the battle of Qianjinbao was an ambush battle carefully planned by the Tang army; The Battle of Beipi, then, was an unexpected encounter. Moreover, this encounter almost cost Li Shimin his life, which shows the danger of this battle.

However, Li Shimin is often able to create miracles. Even in such an unfavorable situation, this god of war from the Tang Dynasty turned a encounter battle with a huge disparity in strength and a line of life and death into a counterattack battle. In this battle of Beipi, Li Shimin not only succeeded in turning the danger into a disaster, but also achieved great results, causing Wang Shichong to lose his armor and flee in embarrassment, almost annihilating the entire army.

As we all know, Li Shimin has been on a horse for half his life, has had countless adventures, and has brushed shoulders with death many times. For example, in the last Battle of Cijian, Li Shimin almost died in the chaos, but fortunately he relied on his superb archery skills and martial arts to break out of the encirclement. Therefore, this battle of Beipi is also the most thrilling one in Li Shimin's military career, which can be described as nine deaths and a life of death, crawling out of the pile of dead people.

On September 21, the third year of Wude (620), on this day, Li Shimin personally led 500 cavalry to the battlefield in front of Beibi Mountain, and boarded the mausoleum of Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty to investigate the enemy. The Mausoleum of Emperor Xuanwu of Wei is a typical commanding height, which is conducive to condescending and observing the situation of the enemy camp on the spot.

However, after all, Li Shimin only had 500 cavalry around him, and there were not many men and horses. Therefore, when Li Shimin and his entourage boarded the mausoleum of Emperor Xuanwu of Wei, the spies in the direction of Luoyang got the news and immediately reported it to Wang Shichong. When Wang Shichong heard this, he was overjoyed, the last time he met Li Shimin on a narrow road, he was defenseless for a while, and let Li Shimin escape. Now, Li Shimin took the initiative to send it to the door, how could Wang Shichong let it go?

Therefore, after getting the news, Wang Shichong ordered all his troops and horses, personally led more than 10,000 cavalry elite soldiers, and set off from Luoyang with great momentum, and rushed straight to the mausoleum of Emperor Xuanwu of Wei in the north, and surrounded Li Shimin and his 500 cavalry. Wang Shichong is out of the way, and this time he must capture or kill Li Shimin alive. As long as Li Shimin has an accident, the 100,000 Tang army will inevitably be leaderless. When the time comes, Wang Shichong will mobilize a large army to counterattack, and he will definitely be able to defeat the Tang army.

Danger is quietly approaching, and Li Shimin's life hangs by a thread. 10,000 against 500, Wang Shichong is obviously determined to win, and wants to put Li Shimin to death. At this moment, Li Shimin and the 500 cavalry of the Tang Army were deeply surrounded by Wang Shichong's 10,000 elite soldiers and were in danger. So, how will Li Shimin fight his way out of the encirclement?

After Wang Shichong led his army to Beibi Mountain, the two armies immediately fought fiercely with each other. Five hundred cavalry of the Tang Army fought hard, launched a counterattack against Wang Shichong's encirclement, desperately protected Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and fought their way out of the encirclement. At the same time, Wang Shichong's more than 10,000 soldiers and horses also behaved very bravely. They knew that as long as they took Li Shimin's life, they would be able to get twice the result with half the effort, so the 10,000 Zheng troops were also rushing to kill.

At that time, the vanguard general of Zheng Jun was none other than the famous Wagang general-Shan Xiongxin. Previously, during the Battle of Cijian, Shan Xiongxin had led an army and besieged Li Shimin. Now, he will meet him on the battlefield again, and the road is really narrow.

Shan Xiongxin was a strong general in the end, and I saw him holding a long lance, riding his horse from a high position, and went straight to Li Shimin to kill him. You must know that when he was in the Wagang Army, Shan Xiongxin was one of the best tiger generals, and he was as famous as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Li Shixian, and Luo Shixin, and he was by no means a waste of fame.

Although Li Shimin is strong in martial arts and brave in the world, after all, the incident happened suddenly, and he was unprepared for a while, so he was too late to react. It is estimated that at that time, Li Shimin didn't even have time to draw his sword. Therefore, in this case, Li Shimin could only watch as Shan Xiongxin's lance slowly stabbed at him. Seeing that Li Shimin was about to die on the spot, at the critical moment, a general in the Tang Army stepped forward and saved Li Shimin's life, who is it? Fierce General Chi Jingde.

As mentioned above, in the decisive battle of Jiexiu, Li Shimin led the army to defeat the main force of Song Jingang, and Wei Chi Jingde gathered the remnants of the army and occupied Jiexiu, and the trapped beasts were still fighting. In the end, Li Shimin persuaded him to surrender in turn, so that Wei Chi Jingde dedicated the two cities of Jiexiu and Yong'an to the Tang Dynasty and led his troops to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. After Wei Chi Jingde surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin regarded him as a confidant and loved general, and he continued to command the 8,000 old departments. This expedition to Luoyang, just returned to the Tang Dynasty, and Wei Chi Jingde, who had not made great achievements, naturally also went out with the army.

However, during the Eastern Expedition to Luoyang, an unexpected change occurred within the Tang Army. It turned out that in September of that year, the general Xun Xiang, who had defected to Tang with Wei Chi Jingde, and some of Liu Wuzhou's old troops, suddenly defected en masse, causing a lot of commotion in the army.

Soon, the generals of the Tang Army instantly cast their suspicious eyes on Wei Chi Jingde. As a result, the generals of the Tang Army made the first move, and privately imprisoned Captain Chi Jingde in the army. Then, a group of founding generals such as Qu Tutong and Yin Kaishan suggested that Li Shimin kill Wei Chi Jingde and put an end to hidden dangers.

Fortunately, Li Shimin and his own person have a unique personal charm, and he is unsuspicious in employing people, and he is trying his best to overcome public opinion, and under the pressure of the whole army, he released Wei Chi Jingde and saved Wei Chi Jingde's life from under the knife. Moreover, since then, Li Shimin has relied on and trusted him incomparably, and has no suspicions.

To be honest, Li Shimin's personal charm completely influenced Wei Chi Jingde. In his opinion, being loyal to such a lord is worth it even if he dies. Therefore, since that incident, Wei Chi Jingde has been looking for an opportunity to repay King Qin for his grace of not killing. This time Beibei investigated the enemy's situation, and Wei Chi Jingde also followed Li Shimin closely, but he ran into Wang Shichong's army. The opportunity for Wei Chi Jingde to repay the King of Qin also followed.

Shan Xiongxin held a long lance and rode his horse to kill Li Shimin, and the tip of the lance was about to pierce Li Shimin's body. At the last moment, Wei Chi Jingde stepped forward. At that time, the battle situation was chaotic, and the generals of the Tang Army were fighting on their own, and they could not rescue the King of Qin for a while. Only Yu Chi Jingde was alone, and he saw Shan Xiongxin rushing towards King Qin from a distance, and he immediately rushed to the crown angrily. He was trying to find someone to vent to, but Shan Xiongxin came out to be this budding bird, so he simply used this guy to practice.

It's too late, it's too soon. Just when Shan Xiongxin was about to rush in front of Li Shimin, Wei Chi Jingde suddenly shouted, waved a big lance in his palm, jumped on the horse, killed from the oblique stab, and stabbed Shan Xiongxin under the horse. Shan Xiongxin was stabbed down by Wei Chi Jingde, injured and fell from his horse.

Due to the relatively hard armor worn by Shan Xiongxin, the lance did not hurt his life, but he was also wounded in battle. This Wagang general, who once swept thousands of armies, could only flee in disgrace at this time. With his outstanding martial arts, Wei Chi Jingde successfully rescued Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

Regarding the assassination of Shan Xiongxin by Yu Chi Jingde and the rescue of Li Shimin, folk storytelling, romance, and opera works, whenever they talk about this, they always like big books and special books,—— "Zaoyuan seizes the lance, and the savior is whipped alone". is all about this incident, which shows that Wei Chi Jingde is brave and loyal.

Looking at it again, after Wei Chi Jingde killed and retreated Shan Xiongxin and rescued Li Shimin, he rode on a horse, sheltered himself with his body, covered Li Shimin, fought and retreated, and fought and retreated. Wei Chi Jingde forgot about life and death, coupled with Li Shimin's strong martial arts, under the joint efforts of the two, they quickly broke out of the encirclement and jumped out of Wang Shichong's encirclement.

After breaking out of the encirclement, Li Shimin also came to his senses. Just now, his own troops were too small, so he was surrounded by Wang Shichong's heavy troops. But now, he has successfully escaped from danger, of course, he can't miss this excellent fighter, and now, he should take the opportunity to integrate the peripheral forces and attack Wang Shichong's 10,000 soldiers and horses.

When the interruption continues, it is chaotic. Li Shimin immediately made a decision and launched a counterattack against Wang Shichong's army on the mountain. Since you want to hit the enemy army hard, you must use a "killer weapon". This "killer weapon" is a trump card in Li Shimin's hand, a brave and invincible pro-soldier force - "Xuanjia Army".

As introduced in the previous chapter, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin specially selected thousands of elite cavalry from the Tang Army, and after careful training, formed a special force with sharp edges and strong combat power - "Xuanjia Army". After the formation of the Xuanjia Army, Li Shimin divided these thousands of elites into two teams, left and right, with Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Wei Chi Jingde, and Zhai Changsun each leading one unit.

Therefore, after Li Shimin and Wei Chi Jingde broke through the encirclement, they quickly gathered 8,000 cavalry of the Xuanjia Army, turned back to the heights of Beibi Mountain, rushed into the enemy formation, and fought fiercely with Wang Shichong's 10,000 soldiers and horses. Eight thousand Xuanjia iron cavalry, against 10,000 enemy elite soldiers, only Li Shimin has this kind of courage.

As soon as the two sides fought, Wang Shichong couldn't help but be surprised, the combat effectiveness of the Xuanjia Army was beyond his imagination. I saw that the 8,000 Xuanjia Army was like a black whirlwind, galloping in the enemy formation, coming and going freely, and even killed 10,000 Zheng troops without the power to fight back, and Wang Shichong gradually fell into the disadvantage.

Soon, the veteran Qu Tutong, led the main force of the Tang Army, and rushed to reinforcements in time. Seeing the arrival of reinforcements, Li Shimin suddenly became more confident, and immediately led 8,000 Xuanjia troops to join forces with Qu Tutong's main force to attack Wang Shichong. Under the combined siege of Li Shimin and Qu Tutong, the 10,000 Zheng army collapsed.

In this battle, Wang Shichong was defeated very badly, how miserable was it? According to historical records, Wang Shichong was only spared and fled back to Luoyang alone. The Tang army won a complete victory, breaking 10,000 Zheng troops, beheading more than 3,000 ranks, capturing the enemy general Chen Zhiluo, and capturing 6,000 platoons of enemy soldiers. It can be said that Wang Shichong brought out Luoyang to encircle and suppress Li Shimin's 10,000 elite soldiers, and basically the entire army was wiped out, either annihilated by the Tang army, or became a prisoner of war of the Tang army:

Xin Si, the people of the world rode to the battlefield with 500 and climbed the Xuanwu Mausoleum of Wei. Wang Shichong rode more than 10,000 horses and surrounded him. Shan Xiongxin led the lance straight to the people of the world, Jingde jumped on the horse and shouted, stabbed Xiongxin and fell off the horse, the world was full of soldiers, and the people of Jingde were out of the siege. Shimin and Jingde are more handsome cavalry to fight, enter and exit the world, and there is no obstacle to going back and forth. Qu Tutong led the soldiers to follow, and the Shichong soldiers were defeated, only to be spared. captured its champion general Chen Zhiluo, beheaded more than 1,000 ranks, and won 6,000 platoon soldiers. (Information Governance Guide)

In this great victory in the north, the Tang army relied on 8,000 iron cavalry to wipe out more than 10,000 elite soldiers of Wang Shichong, and Wei Chi Jingde made great contributions. If it hadn't been for Wei Chi Jingde's timely appearance and stabbing Shan Xiongxin under the horse, I'm afraid that Li Shimin would have lost his life. It was still Wei Chi Jingde, desperately protecting Li Shimin to fight his way out of the encirclement, so that Li Shimin could gather the Xuanjia Army, take advantage of the situation to counterattack, wait for the main force to come to help, and break the Zheng army in one fell swoop. It can be said that the victory of this battle was the first credit of Wei Chi Jingde.

Therefore, Li Shimin returned to the camp in victory and immediately convened a post-war "summary meeting" to discuss meritorious deeds. In front of the generals, Li Shimin vigorously commended Wei Chi Jingde and did not hesitate to praise him:

Than everyone will rebel against the public, the sky tempts me, the only one protects the clear, the blessing is good, and the speed of retribution! ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Wei Chi Jingde")

Not only that, Li Shimin ordered someone to carry out a box of gold and silver as a reward and presented it to Wei Chi Jingde. Since then, Li Shimin has great trust in Wei Chi Jingde and regards him as his right-hand man. Similarly, Wei Chi Jingde was also loyal, following Li Shimin before and after the saddle, fighting in the south and the north, and every time he fought in a big battle, he was the pioneer of the Tang Army.

It is especially worth mentioning that Wei Chi Jingde is brave and good at fighting, and his martial arts are outstanding, and among the generals of the Tang Army, he is the number one fierce general. Regarding Wei Chi Jingde's outstanding martial arts, there are records in the history books. For example, in the "Old Tang Book: The Biography of Wei Chi Jingde", it is recorded that one of Wei Chi Jingde's unique skills:

Jingde is good at avoiding the lance, every time he rides into the thief's array, the thief can not hurt in the end, and he can seize the thief's lance and stab it.

Wei Chi Jingde was born brave and good at using horse lances. In addition, Yu Chi Jingde also has a stunt called "Solving the Lance". The so-called "unraveling the lance" means that every time the enemy charges into battle, the enemy's lance stabs, and Wei Chi Jingde can always easily seize the opponent's lance, and he can also backstab the enemy general.

Moreover, Wei Chi Jingde often rushed into the enemy position on his own and was surrounded by enemy regiments, but he could not hurt a single bit. In the past fierce battles and chaotic armies, Wei Chi Jingde often relied on a long lance to fight his way out of the encirclement, and he could always stab the enemy generals and gallop through the enemy formation, as if entering a no-man's land, and went back and forth freely.

Having said that, in the first battle of Beipi, Wang Shichong mobilized a large army, and originally planned to have a dignified "beheading operation", hoping to kill Li Shimin and force the Tang army to defeat itself without a fight. I never thought that it would be self-defeating, but I was beaten by Li Shimin, not to mention the loss of more than 10,000 elite soldiers, and even Wang Shichong himself almost died on the battlefield and fled back to Luoyang in a hurry. For Wang Shichong, this battle in the north is a typical loss of money and no profit.

It can be said that the battles of Beibi and Qianjinbao were two major victories won by the Tang army after uprooting the outlying strongholds of Luoyang. Wang Shichong experienced these two major defeats, his military strength suffered heavy losses, his morale was greatly frustrated, and his living space was gradually shrinking. On the other hand, the Tang army, after these two big victories, further tightened the military encirclement of Luoyang. The situation on the battlefield is developing in a direction favorable to the Tang Army.

At that time, not long after the Great War in Beibei, Yang Qing, the governor of Yunzhou under Wang Shichong, sent an envoy to ask for surrender. In order to show his attention, Li Shimin specially appointed the famous general Li Shiyun to lead his division out of the road, responsible for receiving the surrender of Yang Qing's subordinates and pacifying his people. Soon after, in October of the third year of Wude (620), Wang Shichong ruled the land of Xing, Bian, Wei, and Henan Kyushu, and successively descended to the Tang Dynasty.

A month later, the Tang Dynasty appeased the ambassador Li Daliang and captured Wang Shichong and Hua Erzhou. In December, eleven states, including Xu and Bo, asked for surrender one after another. Soon, Wang Shichong's Suizhou governor Xu Yi also raised the whole state to surrender to the Tang army. Until the end of the third year of Wude (620), most of the important military strongholds on the periphery of Luoyang were all attacked by the Tang army. The prefectures and counties in Henan either surrendered voluntarily or were attacked by the Tang army.

After a bloody battle in the first six months, Li Shimin commanded the Tang Army and basically completed the first phase of the Eastern Expedition to Luoyang. The tactics of heavy siege and gradual encroachment caused Wang Shichong's territory to shrink day by day, leaving only Luoyang as a lonely city. It should be said that at this moment, the Tang army is in the direction of the troops, surrounding Luoyang like an iron barrel, and the soldiers are approaching the city. Next, the Tang army was about to launch a siege on Luoyang City.

So, in the face of the pressure of the Tang army's soldiers, what kind of dying struggle will Wang Shichong, who is trapped in the lonely city, carry out, and how should he resist the attack of the Tang army? Under the city of Luoyang, how will Li Shimin deploy the main force of the Tang Army to attack Luoyang? What kind of swords and swords did this young military commander of the Tang Dynasty experience, as well as the dangers of bloody wind and rain?