Luoyang City in the fourth year of Wude (621) was filled with the pungent smell of war smoke. The stench of blood and gore is intertwined, enveloping the once prosperous eastern capital of the Great Sui. Under the city of Luoyang, Li Shimin personally braved the arrows and stones, took the lead, led 100,000 Tang troops, and stormed Luoyang, which could not be attacked for a long time; In Luoyang City, Wang Shichong resisted stubbornly and struggled to support. Tang and Zheng started a tug-of-war with unpredictable results.

Just when Li Shimin and Wang Shichong were holding each other in Luoyang and were fighting each other, a news suddenly came that shocked everyone, Dou Jiande, the king of Xia in Hebei, led more than 100,000 troops to Luoyang to support Wang Shichong. The battle situation in Luoyang immediately underwent a great change.

Dou Jiande's reinforcement was tantamount to a bolt from the sky to Li Shimin and the Tang army who were besieging the city. Because, it is very likely that the Tang army will fall into the encirclement of the Zheng and Xia armies and fall short. However, for Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande's assistance is simply his last straw, and he must hold on tightly.

So, why did Dou Jiande travel thousands of miles to rescue Wang Shichong? Behind this, what kind of little-known inside story is hidden? At the same time, in the face of the sudden Dou Jiande's army, how will Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who is like a god, display his military talents, and use the military strength of Li and Tang to meet the more than 100,000 combined forces of Zheng and Xia, and win the final victory for the Tang Dynasty to capture Luoyang and unify the Central Plains?

Why did Dou Jiande travel thousands of miles to rescue Wang Shichong in Luoyang? On this issue, the ins and outs are very complicated. There is both Wang Shichong's helplessness and Dou Jiande's consideration of his own interests. All in all, this is the inevitable result of the political and military wrestling between the three major powers of Tang, Zheng, and Xia.

As mentioned above, in April of the third year of Wude (620), the Tang Dynasty eliminated the regime of Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi in one fell swoop, consolidating the position of the lord of Guanzhong. At this point, the sphere of influence of the Li Tang Dynasty spanned northern China, connecting Guanzhong, Hedong, Longyou, Hexi, Bashu and other places, and its strength became stronger and stronger.

At that time, there were three main military armed groups with the strongest strength in the world: the Tang Dynasty established by Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, the Zheng State established by Wang Shichong, and the Xia State established by Dou Jiande. These three regimes are evenly matched and comparable. Li Tang encompassed Guanzhong and Hedong, and unified the northwest and Bashu, Wang Shichong occupied Henan, and Dou Jiande dominated Hebei, forming a three-legged trend of Tang, Zheng and Xia.

At the same time, the triumvirate of Tang, Zheng, and Xia also contributed to a balance of national strength to a certain extent. The three kingdoms have their own advantages and fight each other, but neither of them can eat each other in the short term. This balance is both delicate and important, and it can at least control the trend of the situation in the Central Plains for a period of time.

However, if anyone wants to command the world and sweep away the heroes, they must take the lead in breaking this balance and changing the three-legged pattern. Such an approach requires a certain amount of courage, and it may unify the Central Plains in one fell swoop and achieve a great cause, or it may become the target of public criticism and provoke the other two countries to attack it en masse.

Soon, one of the three countries broke this balance, who would? Li Tang. In July of the third year of Wude (620), Li Shimin led 100,000 Tang troops to the east to conquer Luoyang, officially opening the prelude to the unification of the Central Plains by the Li Tang Dynasty. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty waved its army to the east and attacked Luoyang, which also indirectly knocked Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande. This crusade made Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande feel uneasy.

First of all, the most uneasy, of course, is Wang Shichong. In this large-scale eastward expedition, the Tang army pointed directly at Luoyang and quickly swept the entire Henan. Once Luoyang is broken by the Tang army, Wang Shichong's Zheng State will also disappear. Therefore, no matter what, Wang Shichong will definitely defend Luoyang.

Secondly, even if the Tang army really captured Luoyang and collected all the land in Henan, would it really be able to satisfy the devouring of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan? Definitely not. After destroying the Zheng State, the next target of the Li Tang Dynasty was Dou Jiande's Xia regime, which was bound to take Hebei directly. Therefore, Li Tang's expedition to Luoyang and the war with Wang Shichong's regime will inevitably make Dou Jiande uneasy, and he has a sense of crisis.

It must be mentioned that in the battle for Luoyang between Tang and Zheng, the position of the Dou Jiande regime in Hebei Province was particularly important. It can even be said that Dou Jiande's final choice is directly related to the victory or defeat of the Battle of Luoyang and affects the development of the overall battle situation in the Central Plains.

The battle of Luoyang between Li Tang and Zheng Guo lasted for nearly half a year, and it fell into a long-term tug-of-war and stalemate. Although Wang Shichong lost his troops and his vitality was greatly damaged, he was still trapped in Luoyang. Although the Tang army won successive battles, it was unable to quickly conquer Luoyang. The reason for this is that the two countries have a balance of strength and are indistinguishable. In this case, Dou Jiande's Xia Guo became the object of Tang and Zheng's efforts.

To use an image metaphor, Tang and Zheng Erguo at this time are like the two ends of the scale; And Dou Jiande is an important weight. As long as Dou Jiande supports which side, which side will have a greater chance of winning, and the balance of victory will tilt towards which side. Li Yuan and Wang Shichong are extremely smart people, of course they know the importance of Dou Jiande, so they naturally spare no effort to win over Dou Jiande and win the support of third-party forces.

At the beginning of the war, it was the Li Tang Dynasty that was the first to win over Dou Jiande. In August of the third year of Wude (620), Li Shimin led 100,000 Tang troops, who had just entered Henan and drove to the front line of Luoyang, and the Li Tang court took the initiative to throw an olive branch to Dou Jiande. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan sent an envoy to Hebei and proposed to form an alliance with Dou Jiande. If Dou Jiande agrees to form an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, then the Tang army's eastward expedition to Luoyang will be much smoother.

Why did Li Yuan form an alliance with Dou Jiande? He had two things in mind. First, Tang Gaozu certainly hoped that he could form an alliance with Xia to jointly crusade against Zheng and capture Luoyang as soon as possible. Second, taking a step back, even if Dou Jiande does not agree to form an alliance with Tang, he should not form an alliance with Zheng, and at least he should remain neutral.

In the face of Li Tang's initiative to ask for an alliance, how would Dou Jiande react? The attitude of this Xia King is very ambiguous and ambiguous. Dou Jiande neither promised an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, nor did he explicitly refuse. At the same time, in order to show the exchange of courtesy, Dou Jiande also released Tang Gaozu's sister Princess Tong'an, who had previously attacked Liyang and was captured. This time, Dou Jiande asked her to return to Chang'an with the Tang envoy.

So, why does Dou Jiande have such a strange attitude? Quite simply, he was sitting on a mountain watching the tiger fight. Because at this time, the battle of Luoyang had just begun, Tang and Zheng were evenly matched, and it was not yet known who would win and who would lose. Dou Jiande did not know whether the Tang army could gain the upper hand.

In addition, Dou Jiande also has the ambition to dominate the world. Aligned with the Tang Dynasty to deal with Wang Shichong, he was worried that he was seeking skin with the tiger and making wedding clothes for others. Once the Tang army captured Luoyang and the war ended, the Xia State would also be greatly damaged. At that time, if the Tang army wants to destroy Xia in one fell swoop, wouldn't it be easy? Therefore, after some psychological struggle, Dou Jiande politely declined the Tang Dynasty's request for an alliance.

The Tang Dynasty failed to form an alliance with Dou Jiande, but Wang Shichong did. In the end, Dou Jiande personally led a large army to support Wang Shichong and got involved in the Luoyang war. What was the reason why Dou Jiande abandoned Li Tang and chose Wang Shichong instead? In fact, at the beginning, Dou Jiande didn't want to rescue Wang Shichong, for no reason, who would want to care about such a thing. What's more, Zheng and Xia have long been at odds with each other and have deep grievances:

At the beginning, Wang Shichong invaded Jiande Liyang, and Jiande attacked Yinzhou to retaliate. Since the two countries are at odds with each other, the messengers are incompatible. and the Tang soldiers forced Luoyang, and Shichong sent an envoy to ask for help from Jiande. (Information Governance Guide)

At first, in order to fight against Li Tang, Dou Jiande took the initiative to unite with Luoyang. At that time, it was still the reign of Yang Tong, the emperor of Taitai. Therefore, Dou Jiande presented himself to the Emperor Tai, and the Emperor Tai was canonized as the King of Xia. However, the good times were short-lived. Soon, Wang Shichong usurped the throne and established himself, deposed the emperor and established the state of Zheng. Due to Wang Shichong's proclamation as emperor, the so-called alliance between Dou Jiande and Luoyang has undergone subtle changes.

In Dou Jiande's view, he is a vassal to the emperor, not to his Wang Shichong. Therefore, now that Wang Shichong is usurping the throne and becoming emperor, this nominal alliance has become a dead letter. So, Dou Jiande decided to separate his family and go it alone, build the banner of Tianzi, go out to the police, write an edict, and officially part ways with Luoyang. In this way, the competition between Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande is inevitable.

Sure enough, after Wang Shichong became emperor, there were constant conflicts between Zheng and Xia, and border frictions often occurred. For example, Dou Jiande previously invaded the east of Tongguan in the Tang Dynasty and captured the important military town of Liyang. However, Wang Shichong also set his sights on Liyang, the "fat meat", and soon after claiming that the emperor was the emperor, he sent troops and horses to invade Liyang, intending to capture Liyang.

Dou Jiande is not a vegetarian, since Wang Shichong took the initiative to provoke, he can't show weakness. Immediately, Dou Jiande ordered troops and horses to attack Yinzhou under Zheng Guo's rule in one fell swoop, as a retaliation for Wang Shichong's invasion of Liyang. From then on, Zheng and Xia officially became enemies, and even messengers stopped talking.

Until July of the third year of Wude (620), Li Tang's 100,000 army marched eastward, forcing Luoyang, and Zheng's army was defeated and retreated, trapped in a lonely city. At this time, Wang Shichong had nothing to do, and he was not Li Shimin's opponent at all. In desperation, he could only look for foreign aid, and he thought of Dou Jiande in Hebei. So, Wang Shichong sent a special envoy to Hebei overnight to ask Dou Jiande for help, hoping that Dou Jiande could send troops to help.

After receiving Wang Shichong's letter for help, Dou Jiande was still hesitating whether to rescue Wang Shichong, after all, the two countries had deep grievances. Just when Dou Jiande was not sure of his idea, a person's words made Dou Jiande's blood boil, and he made up his mind to send troops to aid Zheng. Who is this powerful person? Liu Bin, a scholar from the middle school. He offered Dou Jiande a strategy that was enough to dominate the world:

Today, the Tang Dynasty is related, Zheng has Henan, Xia lives in Hebei, and this is a strong momentum. Hearing that the Tang soldiers attacked Zheng, in the first and last two years, Zheng was getting worse and the Tang soldiers were puzzled. Tang is strong and Zheng is weak, and he is bound to break Zheng, and Zheng Po will have the worry of cold teeth in summer. For the king's plan, if you save Zheng, Zheng saves it, Xia attacks it, and it must be broken. If Tang Quanzheng is concerned, this will always maintain a three-point trend. If the Tang army is broken and Zheng Ketu is destroyed, the total number of the two countries, taking advantage of the defeat of the Tang army, will drive westward, and the Beijing division can be obtained, and the foundation of this peace is also. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Dou Jiande")

First of all, Liu Bin is analyzing the situation for Dou Jiande. Today, Li Tang sits in Guanzhong, Hedong and other places, Zheng Guo occupies Henan, Xia Guo looks at Hebei, and the Three Kingdoms are standing on their feet. At present, it is only a matter of time before Li Tang concentrates the elite forces of the whole country, conquers Luoyang in the east, and destroys the Zheng State. If Zheng Guo is destroyed and his lips are cold and his teeth are cold, Li Tang's next move is definitely to send troops to destroy Xia. At that time, the Xia Kingdom was in jeopardy.

Then, Liu Bin put forward his own suggestions to Dou Jiande. For the sake of today's plan, the king should go all out to save Zheng and fight off the Tang army together. In this way, there are two advantages, retreat can split the soil, and advance can take over the world. Don't talk about preserving the territory, even if you dominate the world, it's not a problem.

Join forces with Zheng to repel the Tang army, at least be able to continue to maintain a three-legged situation. Moreover, after the defeat of the Tang army, Zheng Guo was bound to be greatly injured and exhausted. When the time came, the Xia army took Luoyang and destroyed Zheng Guo without much effort. After that, King Xia was able to gather the forces of the two countries, march all the way west, break through Tongguan, and attack Chang'an. At that time, Tang and Zheng will be in the bag of King Xia, and domination of the world is just around the corner!

After listening to Liu Bin's analysis, Dou Jiande's heart was overjoyed, isn't this exactly the unification plan he has in mind! Therefore, Dou Jiande was very happy and praised again and again: "This is a good plan." At this time, Wang Shichong sent an envoy to Xia and begged Dou Jiande to send troops. Just when I wanted to doze off, someone came to bring a pillow. So, Dou Jiande immediately agreed, and sent a messenger to Luoyang to inform Wang Shichong that he would soon lead the army to relieve the siege of Luoyang.

At the same time as informing Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande sent an envoy to meet Li Shimin, hoping that Li Shimin could withdraw his troops from Luoyang. Of course, Li Shimin will not agree, but he can't openly tear his face with Dou Jiande. Therefore, Li Shimin left Dou Jiande's envoy in the army and did not reply.

However, with Li Shimin's wisdom, he also judged that Dou Jiande had colluded with Wang Shichong and got on Wang Shichong's thief ship, so he must quickly capture Luoyang before Dou Jiande's army arrived. Because of this, Li Shimin stepped up his attack on Luoyang City, risking arrows and stones, day and night, to force Wang Shichong into a desperate situation.

Although Dou Jiande agreed to send troops to aid Zheng, sending troops is not a simple matter and cannot be achieved overnight. Before officially sending troops, Dou Jiande also needed to make some preparations, such as gathering the army, raising grain and grass, and distributing generals.

On the other hand, before leading the army to Luoyang, Dou Jiande had to do a more important thing, that is, to clear the hidden dangers in the rear and relieve his worries for the rescue of Luoyang. As a result, Dou Jiande began to use troops on a large scale to sweep away the surrounding separatist forces that threatened the Xia Kingdom.

Since the rise of Dou Jiande, almost all the heroes of Hebei have been conquered by Dou Jiande. There are only some small forces, located between the elbows and armpits of the Xia Kingdom, and the two forces are the most typical: Youzhou Luo Yi and Caozhou Meng Haigong. Although these two forces are far inferior to Dou Jiande, they can be regarded as having guns and guns, people and territory, and they are more or less a threat to the Xia Kingdom in Hebei.

On the side of the couch, you will not allow others to snore. Dou Jiande naturally couldn't tolerate it, and he was determined to pacify these two forces. However, what Dou Jiande never expected was that these two forces were the two strongest opponents he had encountered since he became the dominant force in Hebei, especially Luo Yi in Youzhou.

Luo Yi occupies a strategic place in Youzhou, recruits troops, and has a strong army. Dou Jiande has besieged Youzhou several times, and even once gathered an army of 200,000 to try to defeat Youzhou and destroy Luo Yi. Unexpectedly, it backfired. Youzhou has been attacking for a long time, not to mention, but has lost troops and generals, and the progress is not smooth. After several battles, Dou Jiande also understood that Youzhou was difficult to conquer for a while, so he could only temporarily give up the plan to attack Luo Yi.

Unable to capture Youzhou and destroy Luo Yi, for Dou Jiande, it was a helpless thing. However, for Meng Haigong of Caozhou, Dou Jiande was not so polite. Meng Haigong is no better than Luo Yi, there are few soldiers and sparse land, and it is much easier to fight him than to attack Luo Yi.

Meng Haigong, a native of Jiyin in Caozhou, was also one of the local warlords in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. His sphere of influence, including Cao and Dai Erzhou, occupied Zhouqiao City, conquered Henan, and once had 30,000 elite soldiers. Meng Haigong's strength is not strong, but it is still a potential hidden danger for Dou Jiande's Xia regime. Therefore, this nail must be pulled out, and only if it is completely settled.

In November of the third year of Wude (620), Dou Jiande personally led a large army, crossed the Yellow River, attacked Caozhou, and conquered Meng Haigong. In the second year, in February of the fourth year of Wude (621), Dou Jiande conquered Zhouqiao, occupied Caozhou, and captured Meng Haigong. In this way, Dou Jiande swept away Cao and Dai Erzhou. After Meng Haigong was captured, Dou Jiande did not kill him, but also surrendered his original old department, preparing to take them to rescue Luoyang together.

After the pacification of Meng Haigong, the rear of the Xia State basically stabilized, and Dou Jiande's military strength was further expanded. At this time, the soldiers, horses, grain and grass have been raised, and everything is ready. So, Dou Jiande decided to personally lead the army to relieve the siege of Luoyang and flank the Tang army.

In March of the fourth year of Wude (621), Dou Jiande ordered the general Fan Yuan to stay in Caozhou, and he personally led all the elite main forces of the Xia State, as well as the newly surrendered Meng Haigong and Xu Yuanlang's troops, a total of more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, known as 300,000 troops, from Hebei, mighty and mighty, to the west to rescue Luoyang.

Dou Jiande personally led more than 100,000 Xia troops to Luoyang, attacking the city all the way, and the momentum was like a bamboo. First of all, the Xia army went to Huazhou, and Zheng Guoxing, who was stationed in Huazhou, shot Han Hong, and when he saw that it was Dou Jiande's army, he immediately opened the city gate to meet the Xia army. Therefore, the Xia army was temporarily stationed in sour jujubes.

Soon, Dou Jiande continued to wave his army westward, Liankeguanzhou, Xingyang, Yangzhai and other places, advancing by land and water, transporting grain by ship, tracing the Yellow River to the west, and the momentum was particularly huge. Dou Jiande made such a big fanfare and sent troops in a high-profile manner, for two purposes, first, to tell Wang Shichong that he had led the army to arrive; Second, it is also to deter the Tang army.

After Wang Shichong learned the news of Dou Jiande's coming to help, he was overjoyed, looking forward to the stars and the moon, and finally looked forward to Dou Jiande. Therefore, Wang Shichong's younger brother Xuzhou Xingtai Wang Shibi sent his general Guo Shiheng to lead thousands of soldiers and horses to meet Dou Jiande's troops. After the rendezvous, Dou Jiande's department was stationed in Chenggao Dongyuan, and built a palace in Banzhu. Immediately afterwards, Dou Jiande sent an envoy to exchange news with Wang Shichong, hoping to attack the Tang army from east to west.

The two powerful enemies of the Tang Dynasty's eastward expedition to the Central Plains finally united together and gathered in Luoyang. What the Li Tang Dynasty feared the most still happened. The armies of the three kingdoms of Tang, Zheng and Xia are about to start a great war for the ages under the city of Luoyang, which is also a great war that determines the direction of the world.

Let's take a look at the situation on Dou Jiande's side.

It stands to reason that Dou Jiande led more than 100,000 troops and arrived in Luoyang, and he should immediately flank the Tang army with Wang Shichong. However, Dou Jiande did not do the thing perfectly, he still left a little leeway for both sides, and decided to salute first and then soldier. On the one hand, Dou Jiande sent troops to rescue Luoyang; On the other hand, he kept in touch with the Don Army.

As soon as the garrison came down, Dou Jiande wrote a personal letter to Li Shimin. In the letter, Dou Jiande hoped that Li Shimin could lead his troops back to Tongguan and return the land of Zheng that he had occupied, and the two sides would call off the army and make peace and rebuild the old good. It can be seen that Dou Jiande is betting on both ends, no matter who wins Tang and Zheng in the end, Dou Jiande can get more choices and will not fall into a dilemma.

It's a pity that Dou Jiande's wishful thinking was wrong, and his opponent was Li Shimin. In this Eastern Crusade, Li Shimin personally led 100,000 Tang troops to Luoyang City, which was to capture Luoyang, destroy Wang Shichong, and unify the Central Plains. Therefore, Li Shimin naturally would not lead his troops to retreat because of Dou Jiande's words. Dou Jiande was a little whimsical, he thought that Li Shimin would be frightened, but this trick did not work for Li Shimin at all.

Then again, Dou Jiande's rescue of Luoyang also gave Li Shimin a problem. The war has developed to the present, which has been protracted, and Li Shimin has encountered the same problem as Li Mi back then: fighting on two fronts. Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande joined together, forming a huge pressure on the Tang army.

Originally, Li Shimin led the Tang army, and after nearly half a year of bloody fighting, it had eliminated a large number of Wang Shichong's living forces and forced him to retreat into Luoyang City. Everything went according to plan, and the victory should have been in hand. However, the alliance between Zheng and Xia has changed the situation dramatically. Therefore, Li Shimin must take advantage of the arrival of the Xia army to capture Luoyang. However, Luoyang City has never been able to conquer it, which makes things complicated.

Luoyang was overwhelmed for a long time, Wang Shichong defended the lonely city, and the Tang army was under the fortified city; Dou Jiande's army rushed to reinforcements and joined forces with Wang Shichong. In case Wang Shichong and Dou Jiandri should join forces and attack from front to back, the 100,000 Tang army will face the danger of defeat at any time.

At this important juncture in history, Li Shimin was once again faced with a choice. To be honest, the choice Li Shimin had to make this time was the most difficult in his many years of military career, and it was a hundred times more difficult than the pacification of Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, and Song Jingang. If you are not careful, not only will you not be able to defeat Luoyang, but you will fail and cause the Tang Dynasty to lose a good opportunity to unify the Central Plains. As the commander of the Tang Army, Li Shimin must be responsible for the lives of 100,000 soldiers.

Therefore, after receiving Dou Jiande's handwritten letter requesting the withdrawal of the army, Li Shimin did not dare to be good at it, and immediately convened the civil and military generals to discuss, brainstorm, and discuss how to deal with the sudden Dou Jiande army. Unexpectedly, within the Tang Army, there were serious disagreements on this matter.

Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande alliance, the situation was very unfavorable to the Tang army. In this case, the disagreement between the generals of the Tang Army also appeared. Represented by Wenchen and Wu Jiang, some people advocated temporarily avoiding the enemy's troops, withdrawing from Luoyang, and returning to Guanzhong; There are also some people who resolutely oppose the withdrawal of troops and strongly advocate fighting with Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande to the end. The two opinions are in dispute, and each has its own reason.

For example, one of the generals in the Tang Army was the first to express his opinion, who? Songzhou Thorn History Guo Xiaoke. Guo Xiaoke is this person, he was mentioned earlier. Guo Xiaoke served in the Wagang Army in his early years, and has always been the right-hand man of the famous general Li Shixian, guarding Liyang with Li Shixian, jointly opposing Dou Jiande's camp, and operating east of Wujiao. It can be seen that Guo Xiaoke is a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty who is very strategic.

Li Shimin convened the generals to discuss, and Guo Xiaoke was the first to express his opinion. He was a typical representative of the main battle faction in the Tang Army, resolutely opposed the withdrawal of troops from Luoyang, and advocated fighting Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande to the end. Moreover, Guo Xiaoke specially offered a strategy to Li Shimin:

The world is full of days and months, and the exhaustion of all efforts is exhausted, and the head is tied to the face, and the feet are waiting. Jiande came from afar to help the abuse, and the grain transportation was blocked, and this was the time of mourning. Please solidify the army, stay in the water, and adapt to the situation, it is easy to be defeated. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Guo Xiaoke")

Guo Xiaoke accurately analyzed the enemy situation in Luoyang, and in his opinion, Wang Shichong was already exhausted and no longer had the strength to fight. As long as the siege of Luoyang continues, Wang Shichong has nothing to fear. Therefore, the only enemy that the Tang army is currently facing is Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 Xia army.

Don't look at the momentum of the Xia army, but Guo Xiaoke believes that Dou Jiande came from afar, the soldiers are tired, and the food and grass are insufficient, which is just conducive to the Tang army to avoid the real and attack the weak, and win by surprise. Therefore, Guo Xiaoke put forward a strategy, which should send elite troops to stick to the dangerous place of Tiger Prison, station troops in Bishui, intercept Dou Jiande's army, and confront it; Then, gradually consume the Xia army's military strength, and then look for fighters to defeat the Xia army in one fell swoop.

Speaking realistically, Guo Xiaoke is worthy of being a famous general and is familiar with the way of using troops, and his suggestion of "please strengthen the military and keep the army in the water" is a clever plan. Soon, after Guo Xiaoke, another person put forward the same point of view as Guo Xiaoke,—— Xue Shu.

Xue Shui was an important aide to Li Shimin, and the son of Xue Daoheng, a famous poet and writer in the Sui Dynasty, and later one of the famous "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion". Although this person is a civilian official, he has unique views on military affairs. The battle in Luoyang was stalemate, and Dou Jiande's army came to help, and many people suggested withdrawing troops from Luoyang. Xue Shui did not approve of the withdrawal of troops, and he also made a statement to Li Shimin, but his analysis was more thorough than Guo Xiaoke:

Shichong Bao is based on the eastern capital, the treasury is full, and the soldiers of the generals are all Jiang and Huai elites, and they are in trouble today, but there is a lack of food. Because of this, it is held by me, and it is difficult to fight for a long time. Jiande personally commanded the public, and came to help from afar, but he should also be extremely elite, and he died to me. If the two Kou join forces and turn to the Su of Hebei to feed Luoyang, then the war will begin, and the soldiers will have no day, and the period of mixing will not have an end. Now it is advisable to divide troops to defend Luoyang, deep ditch and high base, the world is full of troops, be careful not to fight, the prince is handsome and sharp, first according to Cheng Gao, strong soldiers and soldiers, to wait for it, to wait for it, to wait for work, and definitely to overcome it. Jiande is broken, and the world is full of bottom, but in twenty years, the two masters are bound. (Information Governance Guide)

Previously, Guo Xiaoke's strategy of sticking to the Tiger Pass and garrisoning the army was only from a tactical point of view; Xue Shui's suggestion is to consider the problem from the overall situation, from a strategic vantage point, and have unique insights. It can be said that Xue Shui analyzed the enemy's situation step by step, and then put forward a specific plan.

First of all, Xue Shui believes that Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande must not be allowed to unite together. The Tang army besieged Luoyang for several months, Wang Shichong lost his troops, the food in the city was almost exhausted, and the city was just around the corner. If Zheng and Xia are united, Dou Jiande will continue to transport grain from Hebei to Luoyang. As long as there is a food supply, Wang Shichong will make up his mind to defend Luoyang. In that case, the Tang army's capture of Luoyang will increase a lot of difficulty.

How can the alliance between Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande be destroyed? Xue Shui proposed a plan that would be taken in two steps. First, leave the main force behind and continue to deal with Wang Shichong and besiege Luoyang; Second, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, personally led the elite to make a long-distance attack, enter Chenggao, and block Dou Jiande's army. Destroying Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 Xia troops is equivalent to completely destroying Wang Shichong's last hope. At that time, Luoyang will definitely be able to break itself, and it can also defeat Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, two strong enemies, in one net, and come to a pot.

All in all, whether it is Guo Xiaoke or Xue Shui, they are actively fighting the main battle, and it is recommended that the troops be divided into two routes, while continuing to besiege Luoyang and dragging Wang Shichong; On the other side, the surprise soldiers were highlighted, and they occupied the area of Chenggao and Hujiaoguan, and ambushed more than 100,000 elite soldiers of Dou Jiande. Obviously, Li Shimin agrees with this plan. However, within the Tang Army, there was also another different voice: advocating the withdrawal of troops.

The faction that suggested the withdrawal of the army was mainly represented by Xiao Yu, Qu Tutong, Feng Deyi and other veteran ministers and veterans, who had always advocated steady and steady progress and opposed rash advances. Therefore, Xiao Yu, Qu Tutong, and Feng Deyi agreed that Luoyang could not be attacked for a long time, and Dou Jiande united with Wang Shichong, and the situation was extremely unfavorable to the Tang army. At this moment, the Tang army should retire to Xin'an, temporarily avoid the enemy, and after recuperating in strength, it is convenient to fight again:

My soldiers are tired and old, the world is full of defending the city, it is not easy to pull out, and the building virtue is victorious, and the edge is vigorous; I suffer from the enemy on my belly and back, and it is not a complete strategy, so it is better to surrender to Xin'an to bear its disadvantages. (Information Governance Guide)

The two opinions, on the one hand, advocated the division of troops into two routes, and on the other hand, advocated the withdrawal from Luoyang, which were placed in front of Li Shimin for him to choose. Responsibly speaking, both of these views are good policies. The point of view of the main battle is a dangerous move to win by surprise; The proposal to surrender Xin'an is also a prudent policy step by step. Next, it depends on how Li Shimin chooses, whether to continue to fight, or to lead troops to withdraw from Luoyang.

In other words, after all, Li Shimin has been on the battlefield for a long time and is an outstanding military commander, and his thinking is different from ordinary people. After thinking about it, Li Shimin finally decided to adopt the opinions of Guo Xiaoke, Xue Shui and other main battle factions, refuse to withdraw troops from Luoyang, and continue to fight this battle.

Li Shimin believes that the troops must not be withdrawn at this time, and once the troops are withdrawn, the previous achievements will inevitably be wasted, and the reunification of the Central Plains by the Tang Dynasty will also be far away. Dividing troops to ambush Dou Jiande, although it seems to be very risky, it is also a strategy to win in danger. As long as you can defeat the enemy army and capture Luoyang, this risk is still worth taking. Therefore, Li Shimin decided to divide the troops. In addition, Li Shimin explained his combat intentions to the generals in detail:

The world is full of soldiers, centrifugal up and down, not bothered to attack, you can sit and fight. Jiande newly broke the sea duke, will be arrogant and lazy, I will be strong, and strangle his throat. If he takes the risk of fighting, it will be easy for me to take it. If the fox is suspicious and does not fight, between the ten months and the moon, the world will collapse by itself. The city is strong, the momentum is doubled, and two grams in one fell swoop, and it is here to go. If you don't advance quickly, the thieves will enter the military prison, and the cities will be newly attached, and they will not be able to defend them; The two thieves are combined, and they are bound to be strong, so what are the disadvantages? I'm decided! (Information Governance Guide)

This passage fully demonstrates Li Shimin's military thinking. As the commander of the First Army, Li Shimin has the vision of coordinating the overall situation and controlling the situation vertically and horizontally, and he can see through the battle situation at a glance. Years of career in the horse have allowed Li Shimin to keep a cool head and make correct judgments all the time.

In Li Shimin's view, Wang Shichong's current main force is damaged, the food is exhausted, and he is trapped in the lonely city of Luoyang, so there is no need to worry. As long as the Tang army continued to besiege Luoyang without attacking, Wang Shichong could be trapped to death. Therefore, Wang Shichong's only hope now is Dou Jiande's army of more than 100,000.

As for Dou Jiande, Li Shimin analyzed it more thoroughly. Don't look at Dou Jiande, who led more than 100,000 troops this time, attacking the city all the way, and the momentum was huge. In fact, Dou Jiande is also at the end of the crossbow. Prior to this, Dou Jiande had just led the army and defeated the Menghai Gongsuo, and the entire army would inevitably have the mood of underestimating the enemy. Moreover, Dou Jiande rescued Luoyang and marched thousands of miles, and the soldiers must be very tired.

More than 100,000 Xia troops, arrogant and tired, just created a fighter for Li Shimin to destroy the enemy. What made Li Shimin feel even more fortunate was that Dou Jiande led more than 100,000 troops to aid Luoyang, stationed troops in Chenggao, and did not send troops to attack the Tiger Pass. Previously, the Tang Army had already captured the Tiger Prison Pass from Wang Shichong. That's because Li Shimin knows the importance of the Tiger Prison Pass. However, when Dou Jiande first arrived in Luoyang, he did not attack the Tiger Pass, which undoubtedly helped Li Shimin a lot.

It was precisely because of Dou Jiande's negligence that Li Shimin came up with a clever plan to deal with Dou Jiande. What's the solution? drove Dou Jiande in front, led the elite troops, seized the Tiger Prison Pass, choked his throat, and ambushed Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 troops. If this opportunity is missed, Dou Jiande breaks through the Tiger Prison Pass, joins forces with Wang Shichong, and flanks the 100,000 Tang army, the consequences will be unimaginable.

In other words, as long as an ambush is set up in advance at the Tiger Prison Pass and Dou Jiande's reinforcements are destroyed, it is equivalent to cutting off Wang Shichong's last thoughts. At that time, there would be no soldiers to fight in Luoyang, and there would be no rescue army outside, so Wang Shichong would only have one way out of surrender. In this way, Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the two strong enemies, can be eliminated in one fell swoop. Henan and Hebei can also be fully in Li Tang's bag, and the unification of the Central Plains will also become a reality.

After some serious consideration, Li Shimin finally decided to divide the troops into two routes, leaving most of the main force of the Tang Army, continuing to besiege Luoyang and suppressing Wang Shichong in the city; Then, Li Shimin personally led an elite army to seize the Tiger Prison Pass at the fastest speed and meet Dou Jiande's army of more than 100,000.

However, Qu Tutong and other veterans in the army still felt that this move was too risky, and it was better to be safe. Therefore, they still made suggestions to Li Shimin, suggesting that the army should be temporarily withdrawn from Luoyang, relieve the siege, and wait and see what happens. To put it bluntly, it's still the same cliché: withdrawing troops. Of course, Li Shimin couldn't agree, he didn't think about it, and directly vetoed the suggestion of Qu Tutong and others. What he decides, he doesn't change easily.

After making up his mind, Li Shimin immediately began to dispatch troops and generals, deployed various units of the Tang Army, and ordered "the subordinates to be divided into subordinates." In order to better complete the combat mission of breaking Zheng and destroying Xia, Li Shimin divided the Tang army into two parts, one by the veteran Qu Tutong to assist Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and led the main force of the Tang army to continue to besiege Luoyang City; In the other part, Li Shimin personally led the elite of 3,500 Xuanjia troops to the east of the Tiger Prison Pass and intercepted Dou Jiande's army.

Previously, in the second year of Wude (619), Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, fled without a fight due to his poor defense of the city, resulting in the loss of Taiyuan and the east of the river fell into a war. The loss of Taiyuan made Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, lose his reputation in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, since the loss of Taiyuan, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan has not let Li Yuanji lead the troops again. Therefore, in this attack on Luoyang, Li Yuanji followed his second brother Li Shimin and went out together, which was actually to follow Li Shimin's side to do chores.

Although Li Yuanji also participated in the Battle of Luoyang, Li Shimin's heart is like a mirror, and his younger brother has a few catties and taels. Therefore, although Li Shimin ordered him to besiege Luoyang, it was impossible for him to act arbitrarily, leaving the experienced veteran Qu Tutong as his deputy to assist the King of Qi. In fact, how to use troops and how to besiege Luoyang, Li Yuanji didn't understand at all, and everything could only rely on Qu Tutong.

Leaving Li Yuanji and Qu Tutong to lead the main force to besiege Luoyang, its main purpose was to contain Wang Shichong and prevent him from sending troops from Luoyang to join Dou Jiande. As long as Wang Shichong is not allowed to lead his troops out of the city, the task of besieging the city by the main force of the Tang army can be regarded as completed. At the same time, Li Shimin's task was also extremely arduous, he had to personally lead 3,500 Xuanjia troops to set up an ambush at Tiger Prison Pass and intercept Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 troops.

From this point of view, the two Tang armies have their own division of labor, and they cooperate with each other. Li Yuanji and Qu Tutong besieged Luoyang, and Li Shimin rushed to attack the Tiger Pass, which were interlocking and cause and effect of each other. The main force of the Tang army besieged Luoyang and prevented Wang Shichong from sending troops out of the city, so as to fight for Li Shimin in the Tiger Prison Pass and strive for a greater chance of victory; Similarly, Li Shimin's interception of the Xia army at Tiger Prison Pass is directly related to whether Luoyang can be taken.

This time, Li Shimin chose the location of the ambush of the Xia army in Luoyang, a dangerous place - Tiger Prison Pass. Tiger Prison Pass, since ancient times, has been known as a place where soldiers must fight. According to the record of "The Biography of Mu Tianzi", according to legend, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Mu of Zhou once raised the tiger in captivity here, so it was called "Tiger Prison Pass":

The Son of Heaven hunted in Zheng, there was a tiger in the Jia, and the seven elites captured it to dedicate it, and the life was stored in the east, because it was called the tiger prison.

Tiger Prison Pass is one of the so-called "Luoyang Eight Passes", located in Bishui Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province, and is an important gateway and pass to the east of Luoyang. Moreover, the tiger prison is here, connecting Songyue in the south, bordering the Yellow River in the north, and the mountains are staggered. Therefore, Li Shimin chose the location of the ambush of the Xia army in the Heavenly Danger Tiger Prison, hoping to block Dou Jiande's army by virtue of the natural danger advantage here.

What's more, Dou Jiande's army of more than 100,000 was stationed in Chenggao Dongyuan at this time, close to the Tiger Prison Pass. Once Dou Jiande reacted and led the army to capture the Tiger Pass, in that case, all Li Shimin's plans would be in vain. Therefore, Li Shimin must speed up, rush ahead of Dou Jiande, quickly seize the Tiger Prison Pass, disrupt Dou Jiande's deployment, and seize the opportunity for the ambush battle at the Tiger Prison Pass.

At that time, Li Shimin led 3,500 Xuanjia troops, and it was at noon that they sent troops to march towards the Tiger Prison Pass. According to the record of "Zizhi Tongjian", the movement of the Tang army was very noisy, "Shi Zhengday, sent troops, traveled to the north, arrived at Heyang, and went to Gong." Li Shimin and his 3,500 elite Xuanjia army, mighty, through the Beibi Mountain, straight to Heyang, all the way, smoke and dust rolling, thousands of horses galloping.

Coincidentally, Wang Shichong happened to be standing at the head of Luoyang City, looking down the city, and found that the Tang army seemed to have moved. If Wang Shichong seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and sent troops to attack the Tang army, history might be rewritten. However, since the battle of Qingcheng Palace, Wang Shichong was frightened by Li Shimin, he was worried that this was Li Shimin's plan to lure the enemy, deliberately lured himself out of the city, surrounded and annihilated. Therefore, under suspicion, Wang Shichong chose to stand still and watched the Tang army leave.

If Wang Shichong had the foresight to discover the intentions of the Tang army and predicted that Li Shimin would go to the Tiger Prison Pass to intercept the Xia army, how could he have let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? It's a pity that history has no ifs, and one misstep will become a thousand hatreds. In the end, the Battle of Tiger Pass became a crucial battle that decided the Battle of Luoyang, and also became the cemetery of Zheng and Xia, which destroyed their respective armies and regimes, and the show had just begun.

Under the circumstance that Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande formed an alliance, and the Xia State had more than 100,000 troops approaching Luoyang, and Chen soldiers formed a flanking attack on the Tang army, Li Shimin judged the situation and calmly judged, and formulated a set of strategies to break up the alliance between Zheng and Xia: besieging Luoyang on the one hand, and setting up an ambush tiger prison on the other.

However, this two-pronged approach also comes with a lot of risks. First of all, in case Li Yuanji and Qu Tutong failed in the siege of Luoyang and were exploited by Wang Shichong, even if Li Shimin fought well in the Tiger Prison Pass, it would be in vain. In addition, Li Shimin went to Tiger Prison Pass this time, and the troops he brought with him were really less, only 3,500 Xuanjia troops, not even 10,000 people. On the other hand, Dou Jiande has an army of more than 100,000 people, which is not half a star.

Although Li Shimin's personal soldier Xuanjia Army was the most elite force in the Tang Army, it was invincible, and even Wang Shichong's main force of Jianghuai was killed by this army. However, although the Xuanjia Army had strong combat strength, after all, the number was too small, and it was necessary to fight against Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 Xia troops with 3,500 people. The comparison of forces, that is not an ordinary disparity. Therefore, the danger facing Li Shimin is still unknown, and it is very likely that the entire army will be wiped out.

Therefore, the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, naturally, became the focus of attention of Tang, Zheng, and Xia in the later stage of the Luoyang Campaign. So, in the upcoming battle of Tiger Pass, in the face of Dou Jiande's army, which is several times his size, how did Li Shimin display his military talent and deal with more than 100,000 Xia troops? The battle of Tiger Prison Pass is full of thrilling battlefield battles, as well as Jinge Iron Horse?