Chapter 342 Boomerang

The Battle of Jinyang, as both sides continued to escalate their efforts, finally became a war even larger in scale than the Battle of Yingchuan.

The Tang army mobilized eight of the twelve guards, as well as troops from Yanzhou, Northern Yuzhou, Yongzhou, and Qinzhou, with a total force of more than 200,000.

Among them, the most elite were the guards based on Guanlong and Jianghuai. The Jianghuai army had about 60,000 people, while the Guanlong army was even larger, with more than 100,000 people, but the elite troops were probably around 60,000.

As for the Northern Yan army, its components were even more complicated. There were a total of 220,000 troops, of which the most capable were naturally Liu Xuanji's Youzhou headquarters of more than 50,000 infantry and cavalry. After successfully annexing Jizhou, most of Jizhou's elite troops, which were originally trained by Zhao Da, fell into his hands, with more than 20,000 people.

The troops of various powerful people in Youzhou and Jizhou totaled more than 50,000 people. After defeating Wang Xuba Liu Huzhi, they selected the young and strong from the more than 100,000 surrendered soldiers. The best ones were named "Guide Army", the lower ones were all auxiliary troops, and the old and weak were sent to farm.

The tribal army headed by the Tuoba family of Daibei had about 30,000 people. The tribal troops of the Turks, Khitans, Xianbei and others who came from outside the Great Wall to join Liu Xuanji had a total of more than 10,000 people, plus the 20,000 new troops recruited later.

Liu Xuanji's deployment in Jinyang was to station about 100,000 troops from his own Youzhou army, the best fighters among the powerful, and the Guide army in the south of Jinyang to confront the Tang army. A large number of defensive fortifications were built between Qi County and Jinyang.

The rest of the troops besieged Jinyang and continued to implement the plan to besiege the city.

As for generals, the Three Kings of the Tang Dynasty had been reduced to two, the King of Jin and the King of Qi.

Others include Liu Zongxun, Dou Cong, Xue Renmei, Zhang Jin, Li Gaoqian, Zhang Pinggao, Yang Xianguo, Qin Bogui, Qin Zhongyu, Murong Sanzang, Cheng Zhijie, Shan Xiongxin, Zhai Sixun, Chang Yanheng, Zhu Deyu, Zhang Zhen'e, Xu Qiande, Huang Junhan, Lou Jun, Li Huaizhen, Li Xiaocha, Li Xiaojie, Li Xuandao, Dou Xianjun, Dou Fengjie, Yu Zhongheng, Yuchi Jingde, Gao Ang, Luo Shixiang, Xue Wanche, Xue Wanjun
The generals are brilliant. Although they belong to different factions and have very different backgrounds, it can be called an all-star lineup.

This does not include several outstanding staff members in Li Yuanhui's military office, such as Li Yaoshi, who is currently serving as the Sima of the Zhenjun Mansion.
There was also a talented general named Xu Maogong who was in Shangdang keeping an eye on Wei Xiaoju and others in Huguan.

As for the Northern Yan army, it seems much bleaker, but they are also the most valiant and skilled generals in the northern country.

Liu Xuanji is the commander-in-chief, and his subordinates include Tian Hongsi, Lou Daiwen, Dongfang Di, Han Gui, Xue Guyan, Su Dingbian, Liu Zuyin, Hulu Mingyue, and Wuji.
Most of them are generals and fierce commanders who are not well-known, but are either brave and good at fighting or have good command of troops.

However, compared with the generals of the Tang Dynasty, almost all the generals under Liu Xuanji were from the border army or local tyrants.

Although there were some generals of the Tang army who came from humble backgrounds, a large number of them had been officials for generations, especially those headed by the Guanlong faction, almost all of whom came from prominent families.

The Jianghuai faction, which was composed of generals under the command of Li Yuanhui, the Prince of Qi, had more generals of humble origins.

After the Tang army had assembled and rested for a while, the war officially began.

First, Li Xuanqing ordered Dou Cong and Liu Zongxun to lead the 30,000 infantry and cavalry of the Guanlong Left and Right Guards, who had been resting for a long time, to attack on the west bank of the Fen River. At the same time, he ordered Cheng Zhijie, Shan Xiongxin, Qin Bogui, and Qin Zhongyu to lead hundreds of elite cavalry each to attack the Yan army's food supply route from behind.

The Yan army's grain was mainly transported from the central Hebei province to the vicinity of Jinyang through Jingxing Pass.

From Taiyuan County, through the Jingxing Pass, you can enter the central part of Hebei, which is the border between Youzhou and Jizhou. Therefore, controlling Jingxing is extremely important for the situation in Taihang Mountain. Liu Xuanji even sent his general Tian Hongsi to attack Jingxing Pass under the control of Tuoba Jun when his troops had just arrived in Jinyang and had not yet established a firm foothold. Then he used Jingxing Pass to transport grain from central Hebei to Bingzhou, which greatly shortened the distance of grain transportation and the loss of grain.

Liu Xuanji, who was experienced in military operations, naturally paid great attention to the protection of the grain route. He sent his own brother Liu Changmin to supervise the transportation of grain and grass, and told him all the methods of protecting the grain route that he had learned from Li Yuanhui, and ordered him to act accordingly.

Liu Changmin really learned all the tricks and built a large number of military stations and beacon towers between Jingxing Pass and Jinyang, transported troops in sections, and dispatched a large number of cavalry to patrol along the way.

Therefore, when the four brave generals of the Tang army led the elite cavalry to carry out the mission, they found that the food supply route of the Yan army was like a hedgehog, making it difficult to attack.

The few raids launched barely caused very limited damage to the Yan army.

After the four of them gathered together to discuss, Cheng Zhijie had an idea and proposed that one of them would raid and burn the food, while the other three would be responsible for blocking and intercepting. After discussing it, they thought it was worth a try.

So Cheng Zhijie was asked to lead the attack and burn the food supplies, while the other three divisions were responsible for blocking the Yan army's cavalry and patrol soldiers.

As a result, Cheng Zhijie and his troops succeeded in burning the grain, burning nearly 1,000 shi of grain and grass for the Yan army, but his own troops suffered heavy losses, including the loss of 500 elite cavalry.

As for the troops of Shan Xiongxin, Qin Bogui, and Qin Zhongyu, they also suffered varying degrees of losses, all of which were around a hundred cavalry. After the battle, when they reunited, they calculated the losses and found that this was not worth the effort.

So he had no choice but to retreat back to the camp in Jiexiu and report the battle situation to the two commanders, the King of Jin and the King of Qi.

In the big tent, Cheng Zhijie vividly described the battle situation of this trip. The main idea was probably: Two great leaders, it's not that we didn't work hard, it's really that Lao Liu managed the logistics supply channel like an iron barrel. We tried our best to burn more than a thousand stones of grain on the other side. Maybe the other side will have less food tonight. But we brothers suffered casualties in order to burn this little grain. This job is too difficult.
There was a lot of blah blah, and Li Yuanhui just listened to it as a talk show. However, Li Xuanqing frowned more and more as he listened, and then looked at Li Si.

"Silang, I remember that during the Yingchuan battle, you had arranged this in the Ruying area of ​​Yuzhou in order to protect the smooth flow of food supply, right? So much so that the two veteran generals Duan Yihong and Lou Jushi sighed in despair at our army's food supply. Could it be that Liu Xuanji learned this method from you?"

Li Silang was stunned when he heard this. Did this boomerang hit him on the head? Then he recalled that he had really said these things to him when they worked together before. Isn't his memory too good?
Then he sighed and said, "It was indeed my own doing. When we worked together in the early years, I told the generals how to arrange beacons, build corridors, military stations, and build cities for transportation along the grain routes."

Cheng was stunned. The case was solved. The enemy's military advisor was in our central army tent.
Li Sanlang asked: "Is there any way to break it?"

Li Silang thought for a moment after hearing this, "Of course there are, but seeing is believing. I have to see with my own eyes how Liu Xuanji arranges the grain route. If he only uses beacons as orders, transports troops at stations, and patrols with cavalry, it is still possible to break it. If he garrisons heavily, builds a big city for transportation, and has a large group of cavalry guards, then I have no choice but to attack with heavy troops."

Li Sanlang sighed and said, "Then Silang, be careful and do your best. I'm sure Liu Xuanji won't leave us too many opportunities to cut off his food supply."

Li Silang also nodded in agreement. The attack on the enemy's food supply route can only be a surprise attack. Once too many people are mobilized, it will naturally be impossible to hide from the enemy's eyes and ears. Once the enemy is prepared, the attack will become a frontal attack.

(End of this chapter)