Chapter 339: Fighting Northward

Liu Xuanji naturally had his own sources of intelligence, and he was clear about the two-pronged deployment of the Tang army.

However, the response from Northern Yan was somewhat unexpected. General Wei Xiaoju was put into use.

As a close confidant of the puppet Emperor Murong Yang of Northern Yan, Wei Xiaoju was actually granted troops and was ordered to guard the strategic Didang.

This time, the main attack direction of the Tang army was Shangdang.

Liu Xuanji's arrangement for Shangdang was that Wei Xiaoju would lead 3,000 troops to garrison Huguan, Cui Cunhui, a general from the Qinghe Cui family, would lead 4,000 people to garrison Changzi, and his confidant Zhang Shiwu would lead 3,000 troops to garrison Tunliu.

Liu Xuanji deployed a total of 10,000 elite soldiers, as well as sufficient food and weapons in the three most core areas of Shangdang, and bluntly stated that there might be no reinforcements for several months.

Although Liu Xuanji himself rushed to Yecheng, he only brought more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. Together with the 20,000 soldiers who had been left behind in Yecheng, he had no more than 30,000 soldiers and horses.

Li Yuanhui led his army northward and recaptured Dangyin with almost no effort. Afterwards, the Tang army, knowing the strength of the Yan army, continued northward and approached Yecheng.

Both sides have some experience in intelligence work and have put in a lot of effort.

Li Yuanhui didn't know what Liu Xuanji was planning, but now that the Tang army had gained a strength advantage on the Jizhou battlefield, they had to show their momentum and reduce the pressure on Shangdang.

King Li Xuanqing of Jin led his army across the river from Hedong, and then led the army directly to Shangdang, following the same route that the Qin army took in the Battle of Changping.

The Shangdang area is high and steep, like a fortress, overlooking Hebei and the Central Plains. Among them, important towns such as Changzi and Huguan are easy to defend but difficult to attack.

From here, the passage to the east of Taihang Mountain and into Hebei is mainly the river valley lowlands cut by the Zhuozhang River and other rivers. The important pass is the fourth pass of Taihang Mountain, which is Fukou Pass. There is Tianjing Pass to the south of Henei, which was called Taihang Road in the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Hebei holds the Taihang Mountains as its western barrier, and Jizhou in the south is gathered under the overlooking of the Shangdang Basin.

In another time and space, Wang Meng attacked Yan by first breaking through Huguan, pacifying Shangdang, and then marching straight into Ye.

Erzhu Rong of the Northern Wei Dynasty sent troops from Jinyang to suppress Ge Rong, and also took the Fukou Pass and defeated Ge Rong outside Yecheng.

The Northern Zhou attacked Beijing, first conquering Pingyang and then Jinyang, and then went east from Fukou to Taihang and conquered the Qi capital Yecheng.

No matter how the situation changes, one party takes over another, and the flags on the city walls change, but there is one thing that always changes very slowly.

That's geography.

The vast majority of experiences can be used as reference, and there are only a few that cannot be copied due to geographical changes.

For example, the Tianchi Lake that was destroyed by the earthquake made it extremely difficult for Shu Han to transport grain, which was something that affected the country's destiny.

But in general, the topography of the Taihang area has not changed much since the beginning of records. Therefore, there is not much room for later generations to play strategically. The path to occupying the regime in Guanzhong and unifying the world is traceable. As long as you copy the homework clearly, there will be no big problems.

Therefore, the Tang army was determined to capture Shangdang.

However, the Yan army's defense deployment against Shangdang still caused the Tang army to suffer a lot.

Li Sanlang's style of using troops is somewhat different from that of his two brothers.

Li Er's style can be described as "fast as the wind, aggressive as fire". He would make long-distance raids with his cavalry and use his superior mobile forces to strike the enemy with precision. Of course, he could also be steady when he needed to be.

As for Li Si, he was as quiet as a forest and as immovable as a mountain. Li Si was best at enduring. Every time he used his troops, he was always in a long-term confrontation, looking for opportunities to win. And every time he fought, he never ran out of food or grass. The logistics were always fully supplied, and the camps were always set up very properly, and it was difficult to find loopholes.

As for Li San, he is probably as unpredictable as the shadow, but as powerful as thunder. He is very cunning in his use of troops and is good at using deception to deceive his opponents.

In the Battle of Weibei, he used a trick to lure Yuwen She to send troops, which resulted in heavy casualties and the morale of the army never recovered.

But this battle was not friendly to Li San's style. Because in a siege, there was almost no room for clever strategies. He could only use superior forces, build siege equipment, and use the most direct method to attack the city.

Li Sanlang focused on Huguan, because if Huguan was taken, Changzi and Tunliu would be trapped like a turtle in a jar, and would be dead sooner or later. At the same time, he could also attack Luxian, the core area of ​​Shangdang.

Even so, Li San still ordered General Wang Yi of the Left Guard and General Duan Xiong of the Right Guard to lead an army of 10,000 each to monitor Tunliu and Changzi.

He led his army to attack Huguan.

On the Yan army side, the one stationed at Huguan was an old acquaintance of Li San, Wei Xiaoju.

No one knows why Wei Xiaoju was appointed, since he was clearly a close confidant of the puppet emperor.

But Liu Xuanji still used him and stationed him at the extremely important Huguan.

Although the number of troops is small, only 3,000, the trust they represent is very important.

Because Huguan is a dangerous pass, it is difficult to break through it head-on as long as there is enough food.

Li Sanlang besieged Huguan for more than a month but was unable to break through.

Similarly, Li Silang also confronted the enemy under Yecheng for more than a month.

Neither the Eastern nor the Western armies gained anything.

Li Yuan, who was in Luoyang, became restless, and even Li San and Li Si realized that something was wrong.

"The Yan army in Shangdang should have more than 10,000 people, and there are tens of thousands of people in Yecheng. The Qinghe and Pingyuan directions are also defending the city. Where is the main force of the Yan army?"

Inside the Luoyang Palace, Li Yuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of a huge map, with a worried look on his face.

The current situation is by no means good for the Tang Dynasty. It is already July, the hottest summer day, and the hot weather makes people feel upset.

"Could it be Jinyang?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself, with a bad feeling in his heart.

At this time, Li Sanlang, who was in Shangdang besieging Huguan, received a letter asking for help from Jinyang.

With 200,000 Yan troops at the gate of the city, Tuoba Jun urgently asked for help.

Li Sanlang, who was sitting in the big tent, put his hand on the table and smashed it into pieces.

"What a calculation, Liu Xuanji!"

Li Sanlang stood up, and everyone in the big tent was silent. Once Liu Xuanji captured Jinyang and marched south, the situation would be dangerous for the Tang army.

Xu Maogong immediately suggested: "Your Highness, Prince of Jin, you should retreat to Hedong immediately to prevent being attacked from both sides."

Cui Xiaotong, the military officer of King Jin, also suggested: "Your Highness, our army has been in Shangdang for almost two months, and we are still unable to break through Huguan. There are also thousands of Yan troops in Changzi and Tunliu. If the Yan army takes Jinyang first, our army will not be able to retreat to Hedong. The Taihang Road is steep and difficult to travel. If there are pursuers behind us, it will be extremely dangerous for a hundred thousand troops to go to Henei."

Almost everyone spoke in unison, advising Li Sanlang to give up attacking Shangdang and retreat to Hedong or Hanoi instead.

But Li Sanlang said nothing. He turned his head and stared at the map of Bingzhou that was originally hanging behind him, his eyes fixed on the location of "Jinyang", the core of Bingzhou.

But a question emerged in my mind: if my second brother were here, what would he do?
retreat?
Or do the opposite?
Since Liu Xuanji dared to attack Jinyang, did he think I would retreat?
Then I, Li Sanlang, just want to join in the fun.

(End of this chapter)