Chapter 328 Faction
Xing is the most severe cut in a mountain, where a mountain range is interrupted.

The Baixing Ancient Road is located between Jin and Yulingchuan. It is named "Baixing" because it passes by the ancient Bailu Mountain.

The pass of Baixing is called "Mengmen Pass" or "Zixia Pass" because the pass is covered with purple stone walls. When the morning light or the setting sun shines on it, it shines brightly, as if there is purple mist, hence the name.

Zixia Pass is located at the turning end of the arc of South Taihang Mountain, with two mountains standing tall and a width of only two meters. The locals figuratively call it "Mei Yagou". It has been one of the important transportation hubs between Shanxi and Henan since ancient times.

Mengmenxing Zixiaguan was an important military stronghold in the Spring and Autumn Period. The record in Zuo Zhuan that "the Duke of Qi attacked Jin, entered Mengmen, and climbed Taihang Mountain" refers to this place.

This road is actually not suitable for large-scale marches. After Murong Sanzang and Huang Junhan led their troops to Zixia Pass, Zhang Shiwu led his troops to retreat.

After Zhang Shiwu's surprise attack on Zixia Pass, he found that there were very few people stationed inside the pass and even fewer food reserves.

He led several thousand infantry and cavalry, and the food stored in Zixia Pass was only enough for them to eat for a few days.

However, his troops did not bring much food with them. As for leading the army to Hanoi to plunder and fight to replenish food, it was only something he could think about. But if he dared to do so, he would die without knowing how.

Chaoge is only a hundred miles away from Zixia Pass, and cavalry can arrive there within a day.

This means that if the Yan cavalry spread out to plunder, the Tang cavalry would definitely catch the Yan army off guard.

Because the troops were dispersed, it would take at least a few days for them to come back. If the Tang cavalry came to block Zixia Pass, the Yan army would be trapped to death.

The task Liu Xuanji gave to Zhang Shiwu was to harass, not to really let him launch a surprise attack on Luoyang.

So after Zhang Shiwu discovered the problem with food and fodder, he immediately led his troops to retreat.

But to his surprise, the Tang army actually gave chase.

So Zhang Shiwu quickly retreated to Shangdang and joined forces with Lou Daiwen.

After receiving the military report, Li Yuanhui immediately issued two military orders, ordering Li Sixing to lead his troops to attack Shangdang from Hedong, and Murong Sanzang to lead more than 10,000 people to support.

At the same time, in order to maintain stability in the rear, Jia Xiong was ordered to lead an army of 5,000 to supervise the transportation of food and fodder and be responsible for protecting the stability of Hanoi.

On the battlefield of Yecheng, both sides still maintained a force of more than 100,000.

Liu Xuanji ordered hundreds of cavalrymen to go out of the camp every day to challenge the enemy, while the main force stayed in the camp to rest.

Upon seeing this, Li Yuanhui dispatched Xue Wanche, a fierce general from the Qi Wang Palace's guards, to lead hundreds of cavalry to fight against the Yan army.

The elite cavalry of both sides fought each other and suffered casualties on both sides.

The desire of the Tang army generals to fight became stronger and stronger. When the Tang Dynasty was first established, Li Yuan was very cautious in conferring titles on these meritorious generals.

The titles and official positions given to them left ample room for advancement.

Li Yuan also privately told several of his sons the purpose of doing this: using people is like using hawks and dogs, they cannot be fed too much, otherwise the hawks will not fly and the dogs will not run when hunting.

Therefore, the current Tang army generals are very eager to improve themselves. Because most generals are basically marquis and county dukes, and there are very few county dukes and state dukes.

The first factor is the desire to make a contribution.

Secondly, the Yan army insulted and challenged them all day long, which made the hot-blooded soldiers unable to suppress the pent-up anger in their hearts.

However, Li Yuanhui has always been cautious and resolute in marching and fighting.

Having formulated a strategy of defending the city and not venting any troops, and having found it to be effective, he refused to change it at will, and issued strict orders to all his troops not to go out into the battle at will, and anyone who disobeyed his orders would be killed immediately.

Then the problems started to arise.

Although Liu Wenhui led two guards with 50,000 men stationed in Luoyang, half of them were from Guanzhong, and the generals were mainly from Guanzhong. These generals all had close relationships with the second brother.

Therefore, he was not very satisfied with Li Yuanhui as the commander-in-chief, but because of Li Yuanhui's reputation and achievements, as well as his status as a prince, he did not dare to openly oppose it. But recently, as the war dragged on for a long time, for several months, Li Yuanhui, in addition to sending a small force to fight, let Liu Wenhui's left and right guards stand in Yecheng to confront Liu Xuanji.

However, his troops were sent to travel a long distance over mountains and ridges to capture Hedong. Now that Hedong was in hand, Li Sixing and others naturally achieved a great success.

After all, the Left and Right Guards led by Liu Wenhui had little dealings with Li Yuanhui. This time, because his direct lineage had made great achievements, while the Tang army in Guanzhong was still confronting the enemy, they were unable to share the credit. Therefore, the soldiers of the Left and Right Guards were not very satisfied with Li Yuanhui.

As for whether this dissatisfaction is fanned by certain people with ulterior motives, the answer is clear without even having to think about it.

But Li Yuanhui had led the army for such a long time, so he naturally understood that Liu Wenhui did not suppress these people without coming forward, and allowed such emotions to spread among the left and right guards. This was a bit problematic. Wasn't it obvious that he was trying to stir up trouble?
It seems as if Li Yuanhui is appointing people based on personal connections and not giving these Guanzhong soldiers a chance. Obviously, isn't this just to mess with his reputation and to undermine his reputation among the Guanzhong soldiers?
He completely ignored the deployment of the various troops at the time, nor did he consider the fact that the Jianghuai soldiers would have to cross mountains and hills to attack Anyi, nor the risks of the battle itself, as if the credit was gained for nothing.

Either the second brother was behind this, or Liu Wenhui acted on his own initiative.

The person behind the scenes might also want to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the left and right guards to encourage Li Yuanhui to go into battle. If the battle goes against him, the court will definitely have to change the commander.

If Li Si is not capable, who should be replaced? Naturally, it is Li Erfeng, who has the most powerful military power!

He knew that Liu Wenhui had a very good relationship with his second brother, but Li Si really had no idea whether his second brother had instructed him to do this.

But he would rather believe that it was not his second brother who was causing trouble.

First of all, the three brothers have expressed their opinions in person, and the third and fourth brothers have clearly stated that they support you, the second brother, to be the crown prince.

It was Li Yuan who decided to let Li Yuanhui lead the troops in this battle after Li San had a big fight with the old man.

To be fair, Li Yuanhui was actually reluctant to come this time, but was just forced to do so. Now if his second brother does something behind the scenes, Li Si will be in a state of panic.

Because he had thought about it, he was holding on here now, consuming and grinding the Yan army's spirit. When the time was right, he would ask his second brother to lead the battle.

Li Si really felt that he was not good enough to face Lao Liu in a battlefield duel with soldiers against generals.

Others may not know Lao Liu's potential, but he knows it very well.

This is the representative of the Liu family who was arranged by God to participate in this peak showdown.

Who knows what other ancestral skills he has that are not being used?
Don’t fight a war and then meteorites start to fall from the sky. Who can withstand that?
After all, his identity as a time traveler was certain, so he was very worried that this identity would trigger some of Liu Xuanji's hidden passive skills.

He used to be skeptical about the concept of destiny, but now he basically believes in it.

He had no choice but to believe it after this experience.

The inertia and contingency of history are both so powerful and terrifying that they simply do not seem to be reversible by human power.

So Li Yuanhui was scared when he was asked to fight on the battlefield with Lao Liu, a guy who seemed to have a destiny in him.

For such a difficult task, let the strongest one in the Li family take on it.

He has good luck, so it should be fine.
But now Li Yuanhui is a little hesitant. If it is really his second brother who is causing trouble, then this should not be the case.

In other words, Li Yuanhui didn't want his second brother to be responsible for this.

Therefore, he wanted to test Liu Wenhui's attitude. From Liu Wenhui's attitude, he could tell whether this was his second brother's intention.

If it wasn't my second brother's idea, it would be easy to handle. Just let them do what they want. Aren't you guys making trouble? Okay, I'll let your left and right guards go to fight. If they win, that's great. If they don't, give them a good beating.

If it was the second brother who was behind the trouble, then it would be even simpler. When the chance of victory appeared, Li Yuanhui would have nine arguments to convince the old man to come and lead the army in person, and then the second and third brothers would have to follow.

What is this "Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle."

By then, all the credit will belong to the old man, and no one else will be able to compete with him.

(End of this chapter)