Chapter 33 3. All in one go: create a tiger-like soldier

When Li Yuan was preparing to establish a new dynasty, a team in the north was also thriving at the same time. He was the force established by Liu Wuzhou.Liu Wuzhou, who was originally the captain of the Yingyang Mansion in Mayi, saw the world in chaos and the heroes were competing, so he killed the prefect Wang Rengong and raised troops.He knew that his own strength was not great, so he flattered the Turks in the north and asked for help. After receiving the help of Shibi Khan, he quickly occupied Yanmen, Loufan, Dingxiang and other counties, and quickly developed into a separatist force in the north.Liu Wuzhou also called himself emperor.

The newborn Tang Dynasty was born. It urgently needs to be cared for like a baby, but it is surrounded by powerful enemies.On the surface, Li Yuan seems to have a good idea of ​​how to deal with these enemies, but in fact he is in a very passive position.The first to attack Tang was Xue Ju and his son in the northwest, and Li Yuan asked Li Shimin to lead the army to deal with it.As for the other teams who are eyeing them, they can only appease them first, and never attack them first, so as not to get burned. But the development of things was not as Li Yuan expected. In the second year of Wude (619 AD), Liu Wuzhou in the north continued to attack with troops. This regime established a year earlier than the Tang Dynasty, with the support of the Turks, attacked cities , Within a few months, Tang's territory was occupied in Yuci, Jiezhou, Shizhou and other places.Repeated defeats made Li Yuan worried, but there were still news that he didn't want to hear from the front.

One day in September, Li Yuan was in the palace in Chang'an, unintentionally drinking and admiring chrysanthemums. He was about to summon Pei Ji, Tang Jian and others to discuss the current battle situation, but suddenly someone came to report that Li Yuanji, the king of Qi who guarded Bingzhou, asked to see him.Li Yuan walked quickly to the front of the hall, only to see Li Yuanji lying on the ground in a panic, his elder brother Prince Li Jiancheng stood beside him at a loss.Li Yuan hurriedly asked: "Now the border is in an emergency, Liu Wuzhou is about to advance to Bingzhou, why did you come back suddenly at this time?"

Li Yuanji prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to raise his head, but said in a low voice, "Please forgive me!" Seeing his appearance, Li Yuan was anxious and angry, and said to him: "Get up quickly and explain the matter clearly." Seeing this, Li Jiancheng hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Father, don't be in a hurry. Rong Erchen told me: Liu Wu Zhou's soldiers are strong and brave. When we got the news that he was going to attack Bingzhou, he was already approaching the city. He led a team of Turks. The soldiers besieged Bingzhou and threatened to massacre the city. The fourth brother saw that Bingzhou could no longer hold it, so..."

"So what?" "So, he abandoned the city and returned..." Li Jiancheng narrated the matter hesitantly. Li Yuan felt angry and blood rushed. He picked up Yu Ruyi on the table and was about to smash Li Yuanji: "You unworthy son! The enemy is facing the enemy, and the defenders abandon the city! You have no backbone, you are ashamed." Ancestors of the Li family!" Li Yuanji knew he was in the wrong, so he didn't dare to raise his head, but kept begging for mercy.Li Jiancheng also continued to comfort Li Yuan, but losing Bingzhou so easily not only caused a heavy loss, but more importantly, Li Yuanji's behavior made Li Yuan feel ashamed.He shouted loudly: "Push this abandoned city general to me and behead him, as a warning to others!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and hurriedly knelt down to intercede.Only someone outside the door said loudly: "Father, calm down, keep people under the knife!" It was King Qin Li Shimin who came. Since Xue Ju, Xue Rengao and his son were put down, King Qin's status in the court has been greatly improved. Li Yuan listened to his suggestions and trusted him more than Crown Prince Li Jiancheng.When Li Yuanji saw Li Shimin, it was as if he had grasped for a life-saving straw, and hurriedly shouted: "Second brother, save me!" When Li Shimin visited Li Yuan, he first comforted him not to be angry, then analyzed the current situation, and said to him: "Now Liu Wuzhou is in a state of great momentum, and his troops are in full swing. We had no time to take care of it before, but now Xue Ju in the northwest has been calmed down. Right now, we can use all our strength to deal with him.”

Pei Ji who came over after hearing the news said: "Now our army is losing one after another. Let's not mention Jiezhou and Shizhou before. This time we lost Bingzhou. I'm afraid Jinzhou and Longmen will be lost." Li Yuan rubbed his forehead, frowned and asked Li Yuanji, "How is the battle going now?" Li Yuanji muttered, "I'm afraid that the entire north of Jinzhou has fallen at this time." Hearing this sentence, Li Yuan frowned again.All of this was within his expectation. The defenders who abandoned the city and returned would bring about a collapse in morale, so the soldiers who defended the city everywhere would definitely not be able to protect the city.On the surface, what Li Yuanji gave up was Bingzhou, but in fact he hurt Tang Jun's fighting confidence.Once you lose the confidence to fight, you will be defeated soon.

While everyone was racking their brains and thinking hard, another tip came from ahead. Lu Chongmao, a native of Xia County, killed the county magistrate and raised his troops to rebel in response to Liu Wuzhou. Wang Xingben, the old general of the Sui Dynasty who had been resisting in Puban, suddenly attacked the Tang army. , proposed to join forces with Liu Wuzhou to attack Chang'an.This news is undoubtedly worse.Li Yuan fell down on the dragon chair and sighed: "Could it be that the heavens are going to kill me in Tang Dynasty?!" Li Shimin was startled when he saw the slumped appearance of all civil and military personnel in the hall.He knew that the more it was like this, the more he couldn't lose confidence. Once he believed in his heart that he would lose, even the slightest chance of winning would disappear.He hurriedly asked Li Yuanji: "Which city is still in front of us now?"

Li Yuanji thought about it carefully, and said: "After I retreat, only Hexi is left." Li Shimin asked: "Who is stationed in Hexi?" Pei Ji said, "It's Liu Shan, governor of Haozhou, and Li Zhongwen, head of the army." Hearing this, Li Yuan shook his hands weakly and said, "The enemy is able to stand firm now. These two seem to be loyal and courageous. Now that the situation is over, I don't want them to make any mistakes. Let them withdraw their troops and come back! Others Things can be discussed in the long term." Li Shimin hurriedly stepped forward and said: "You must not! Now that the enemy is approaching, and the enemy is advancing steadily, I am afraid that our army's confidence is running out. Now that Liu Shan and Li Zhongwen are standing firm in the front, it can be said that it is our last one." Barrier. If even they retreat back, I am afraid that the morale of our Tang army will be scattered like a flood that burst a bank!"

Li Yuan frowned and said, "But what can we do in the current situation? Even if we don't give up Hexi, we will be defeated and taken away by Liu Wuzhou sooner or later." Li Shimin thought over and over again, and said: "Please give me 30,000 elite soldiers, father, I am willing to lead the army to march north and stop Liu Wuzhou!" This proposal surprised Li Yuan greatly, and one can imagine the difficulties he faced when he was ordered in danger.Now that Li Shimin is asking for orders, he is undoubtedly pushing himself into the most difficult situation.He said: "Now that the general situation ahead is gone, even if you go, it won't be of much use. It's better to take a step back and practice harder. When Liu Wuzhou attacks, we will stop it again."

But Li Shimin insisted: "The morale of the army is like a flood. Once there is a gap, it will flood. We have been killed everywhere now. If we don't actively remedy it, our morale will definitely be low. At that time, no matter how much we practice, we will lose our morale." The soldiers can't win the battle. Therefore, I ask for orders to take the initiative to meet the front. Maybe it may not be possible to win, but it will definitely be useful for our morale. I want the soldiers to see that the warriors of the Tang Dynasty will not be afraid These thieves! We must not only meet the enemy, but also take the initiative to meet the enemy, even if we cannot win, we must maintain the dignity of the warrior!" What Li Shimin said made all the generals in the hall excited, and made Li Yuanji blush.Li Yuan thought about it carefully for a while, and then said earnestly, "I'm leaving now, I don't ask for military merit, I just hope you can come back safely!" With 30,000 elite soldiers, Li Shimin went straight to Longmen Pass with Yin Kaishan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and Qin Shubao, the general manager. He faced Liu Wuzhou himself. The soldiers were divided into two groups to confront the enemy. After arriving at Longmen Pass, Li Shimin personally inspected the terrain, grasped the enemy's situation, and said to Yin Kaishan and Qin Shubao: "Compared with Liu Wuzhou, our military strength is indeed much weaker. What's more important is that the morale of our army has plummeted. We are in danger. Everyone thinks that we are definitely not Liu Wuzhou's opponent, not to mention that there is also a Sui general Wang Xingben. Therefore, we all believe that we will definitely lose this trip, and we are all trying to retreat for ourselves." Qin Shubao said: "That's right. In the past few days, there have been rumors in the army that the Turkic soldiers under Liu Wuzhou's command were extremely brave. This is a great disadvantage to us." Li Shimin said: "Yes, so the most important thing for us now is not to regain the lost ground, but to rebuild the morale of the army. What do the two generals think should be done?" Yin Kaishan said: "It goes without saying that if you want to rebuild the morale of the army, you only need to win a few battles, and everyone's morale will naturally be high!" Li Shimin nodded and said: "But now we don't have much strength to fight, so we can only send out surprise soldiers." Under the leadership of Li Shimin, Qin Shubao, and Yin Kaishan, the Tang army sent out troops with light cavalry, and a team of 3,000 troops continued to attack and harass the enemy.In Xiaxian County, Meiliangchuan and other places, Liu Wuzhou's subordinates Wei Chigong, Xunxiang, Song Jingang, etc. were constantly attacked by means of ambushes and raids. They won small victories one after another while ensuring that they reduced their losses.The role of these small victories should not be underestimated. The Tang army's low morale gradually recovered, and all the generals asked for orders to meet Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.After the fall of Bingzhou, it was a very remarkable achievement for the Tang army to rebuild its confidence, and it laid a solid foundation for the Tang army's future victories.