Chapter 343 Encirclement and reinforcements
The news that hundreds of tons of grain and fodder had been burned was soon learned by Liu Xuanji.

For an army of 200,000, the daily consumption of grain and grass is about 4,000 dan, so the Yan army stored grain and grass in Shouyang, Leping County, and guarded it with heavy troops. The grain and grass transported from Jingxing to Bingzhou would eventually gather here.

After Liu Xuanji learned that the grain route was attacked, his first reaction was not to find someone responsible, but to immediately send someone to inform Liu Changmin.

Let him prepare to build a fortress on the main road for transporting grain.

In addition, more than 10,000 reinforcements were sent to guard the grain transportation channels and the safety of the important grain storage area in Shouyang.

Liu Changmin is Liu Xuanji's clan brother. He doesn't have any great abilities. He has two weaknesses: one is being cautious, and the other is being obedient.

This is also the reason why Liu Xuanji did not select anyone from among the many powerful generals to be appointed, but instead let this unknown cousin be responsible for the security of the grain route.

Because it is trustworthy and you can rest assured that they can do things with you.

He would definitely implement all the things Liu Xuanji told him to do. This would make people feel more at ease than any powerful general.

After personally leading the cavalry to Le'an County for reconnaissance, Li Yuanhui knew that the plan of attacking the food supply route of the Yan army and cutting off the enemy's food supply would be difficult. It turned out that those who had followed him before attached the same importance to the security of food and grass as he did.

Every time Li Yuanhui went to war, he would put a lot of effort into transporting food and setting up camp.

This of course also affected the combat style and way of doing things of generals at all levels of the entire Jianghuai Army.

A few days later, Li Yuanhui returned to Jiexiu and met with his third brother. He told him what he had seen and heard. After listening, Li Xuanqing said helplessly, "Since we can't cut off the food supply, we can only fight them head-on. Now Jinyang City is still holding on. Even if the Yan army dug the Fen River, the city still didn't give up. In order to maintain the siege of Jinyang, the Yan army must reserve at least half of its troops for the siege. So if our army takes the initiative to attack now, we will definitely have an advantage in numbers. Liu Zongxun, Dou Cong and others have already captured Zhongyang and Pingtao, and are now confronting the Yan army on the west bank of the Fen River across the Wen River. Perhaps we should also make some moves on the east bank of the Fen River."

Li Xuanqing pointed at the map and said.

Li Yuanhui heard this and said, "Okay, in that case, I will order Zhu Deyu and Murong Sanzang to lead the army to attack."

The elite troops of Guanzhong on the west bank of the Fen River captured several cities in succession, so the elite troops of Jianghuai were naturally needed to go into battle on the east bank.

After Li Yuanhui came out of the central military tent, he immediately returned to his own tent, summoned all the generals, and made arrangements.

Zhu Deyu led the Left Xiaowei, and Murong Sanzang and Huang Junhan led the Left Wei, a total of 40,000 troops, marched north from Qi County and attacked Yangyi.

Yangyi is an important fulcrum of Jinyang City on the east bank of Fen River. Its importance is second only to Yuci, which is across the river from Jinyang. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the fief of Yang Chufu, a Jin official.

Before Yangyi, there was a small city called Jicheng. Zuo Zhuan: In the 33rd year of Duke Xi of Lu, Jin defeated Di at Ji. Du Yu's notes also mentioned: There is Jicheng in the south of Yangyi County, Taiyuan. This refers to Jizi's fiefdom, Jicheng.

The Yan army deployed troops here by stationing them in Yangyi and Jicheng respectively, with more than 3,000 troops stationed in Jicheng and 5,000 troops stationed in Yangyi behind them.

Li Yuanhui ordered Chang Yanheng to lead 5,000 cavalry as support, and Zhu Deyu to lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry as the main attack, with the target being Jicheng. Murong Sanzang led 10,000 people as a sniper force to intercept the reinforcements from Yuci, and Huang Junhan led 10,000 people to monitor the Yan army in Yangyi.

Li Yuanhui himself led his own 6,000 guards from the Prince of Qi's Palace, 4,000 personal troops under his command, and the Beiwei cavalry as a strategic reserve, and personally supervised the battle.

In addition, King Jin Li Xuanqing also led a large army and paid close attention to the situation in Yangyi.

After Li Yuanhui sent out his troops, the Yan army knew the direction of the Tang army's advance. Liu Xuanji and his staff quickly analyzed that the Tang army's goal was Yangyi, and ordered General Tian Hongsi to lead more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry from the Youzhou army headquarters, and cooperate with more than 10,000 Daibei cavalry led by Tuoba Tianbao, a total of 20,000 troops and horses to rescue Yangyi, while he led the army to support from behind. Zhu Deyu, who was in charge of the main attack, gathered several governors of the Zuo Xiaowei, Hu Kuohai, Tang He, and Xu Qiande, and ordered the infantry led by the three to break the city as soon as possible.

The Yan army garrison commander in Jicheng was named Zhang En, Zhang Shiwu's cousin. He was known for his bravery and led 5,000 Youzhou soldiers, of which more than 1,000 were his own troops, and another 4,000 were selected from the surrendered soldiers of Liu Huzhi and Wang Xuba. His combat effectiveness was quite good among the Yan army. Therefore, when he learned that the Tang army was coming to seize the city, he was very contemptuous after knowing the other side's origins.

"We are the Han king's fellow countrymen. We have been in battle for a long time and are the elite of the northern country. Do these people from Huainan dare to attack my city?"

Zhang En really looked down on these Jianghuai elite troops under Li Yuanhui. After all, when it comes to fighting skills, we Youzhou people are famous all over the world.

However, after seeing the appearance of these Tang troops on the battlefield with his own eyes, he completely shut his mouth.

The Tang army climbed the walls of Jicheng one after another using ladders that had been prepared long ago, rushed to the top of the city, and engaged in close combat with someone.

It should be said here that the defense facilities of Jicheng were not very complete and it was not considered a strong city, but Zuo Xiaowei's Jianghuai elite troops were extremely brave and the battle went unexpectedly smoothly.

Half a day, it only took half a day. Jicheng in front of Yangyi was breached by the Tang army. More than a thousand defenders in the city were killed in the battle, and the rest were all captured. The defending general Zhang En was beheaded in battle.

Kang Yanxiao, a Yan army general in Yangyi City, was originally planning to organize a team to rescue Boji City, but just after leaving the city, he engaged in battle with Murong Sanzang's Zuowei Guard. The two sides fought fiercely, but Kang Yanxiao soon learned that the Tang army had already conquered Ji City. He could not help but sigh that this man was a waste, so he could only lead his army to fight and retreat, and returned to Yangyi City.

The Tang army took advantage of the situation and surrounded Yangyi.

At this time, the army led by Tian Hongsi and Tuoba Tianbao also crossed the Dongguo River and fought with the troops of the Zuowei Guard led by Huang Junhan, a Tang army general who was responsible for blocking the enemy.

The Zuowei Guard led by Huang Junhan was a veteran of the Wagang Army. Although they were brave and good at fighting, they were mainly composed of infantry. Although they could withstand the impact of the Yan cavalry if they formed a battle formation in advance, they could not stop the Yan Army from separating its general troops to rescue Yangyi and attack the Tang Army.

However, the 5,000 cavalry led by Chang Yanheng arrived in time and surrounded the Daibei cavalry of the Yan army.

The two sides fought fiercely in the north of Yangyi. Liu Xuanji even led the Tuqi to watch the battle on the north bank of Dongguo River. He wanted to cross the river several times to lead his troops to the battlefield, but was dissuaded by Li Yuanzhong and Wang Sizheng.

Li Yuanzhong said: "The King of Han is brave and famous throughout the world, but this battle concerns the whole world, so we should not take risks lightly."

The meaning is very clear. You are the head coach and everyone knows that you can play. That is why you have to be more cautious. It is not time for you to leave the field.

After hearing this, Liu Xuanji remained silent and did not make any plans to do it himself.

However, Tian Hongsi and Tuoba Tianbao were unable to break through Chang Yanheng's blockade and could not reach Yangyi City directly.

But the Tang army did not continue to attack Yangyi at this time. Because the city defense of Yangyi and Jicheng were two completely different things, there was no comparison at all. Therefore, after capturing Jicheng and capturing thousands of Yan soldiers, Li Yuanhui did not choose to continue the attack, but besieged Yangyi.

At the same time, camps were built outside Yangyi and a defense line was established.

Seeing this, Liu Xuanji immediately understood Li Yuanhui's intention.

"We are going to surround the point and attack the reinforcements."

(End of this chapter)