Chapter 35 5. The most difficult and dangerous war in Li Shimin's life

When Li Yuan and Li Shimin were actively preparing to build the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong was guarding the eastern capital Luoyang, facing Li Yuan in Chang'an.But they all understand that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and the war between Tang and Zheng is inevitable.After Li Shimin pacified Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi, he sent his troops south, and Wang Shichong felt the oncoming murderous aura. Under the dim light, Wang Shichong unfolded the Luoyang defense map, carefully searching for every advantageous geographical location he could occupy.Adviser Wang Lingzhi held a lamp for him, and reported in a low voice: "According to the investigation, this time the Tang army has 50,000 infantry and cavalry, which is only half of our army."

Wang Shichong looked at the map seriously, and said: "Tang Jun just defeated Liu Wuzhou, so although there are fewer soldiers, they must be able to defeat a hundred, so don't treat them carelessly." He picked up the tortoise shell on the table and frowned. Playing with it carefully, it seems that he wants to find some useful information for this battle from the strange texture of the tortoise shell. Wang Lingzhi didn't speak any more, he knew that Wang Shichong didn't need anyone to give him any advice at this moment, he was waiting for a sign from heaven.As a generation of heroes and anti-kings, Wang Shichong can be said to be a great military talent, but he is unbelievably obsessed with witchcraft.He firmly believes that it is the will of the heavens that he can be the emperor, and he is even more convinced that every action he takes must be guided by the will of the heavens in order to win, otherwise it will be against the will of the heavens, and the result will inevitably be ominous.Now that Li Shimin is coming to attack, although Luoyang City is heavily guarded, he still hopes to get some guidance from the heavens, allowing him to defeat this young enemy.

While he was thinking, Wang Lingzhi's arm holding the candle had started to feel numb, and he couldn't help but want to put down the candle and rest for a while.When he put the candle back on the table, a drop of wax dripped from it, and landed exactly in the direction of Qingcheng Palace in the northwest of Luoyang City.Wang Shichong looked at the drop of wax oil that immediately froze, his eyes suddenly lit up.Ask Wang Lingzhi: "Where is Li Shimin stationed this time?" "The informant said that the Tang army camp is stationed in Qingcheng Palace!" "That's right!" Wang Shichong slapped it on the map happily, pointed to Qingcheng Palace and said, "Li Shimin was stationed here, this drop of wax fell right here, and it solidified immediately. I——Li Shimin must be trapped here!"

Wang Lingzhi let out an "uh", not knowing what he should say.It's just wax oil that accidentally dripped, and it will definitely freeze immediately in the current February weather.But he, who has followed Wang Shichong for many years, knows how superstitious this man is.Seeing that Wang Shichong was so excited, Wang Lingzhi followed him and said, "Since God's will is so, how should we defeat the enemy?" Although Wang Shichong is superstitious, he is unambiguous in his military strategy. "Li Shimin came all the way from Shanxi, all the way to Qingcheng Palace, not to mention trekking across mountains and rivers, and just went through a big battle. We can't give him a chance to breathe!" As he said, he asked Wang Lingzhi: "Do you still remember when we How did you defeat Li Mi?"

"Surprise him?" Wang Lingzhi asked tentatively. "Yes!" Wang Shichong's tone became very firm, and he did not see the shadow of the man who was waiting for God's will to come just now, "We should send someone to attack when he is not ready, and let him accept us when he is not ready. He just arrived in Luoyang, the first battle was to stabilize the morale of the army, as long as we hit it with one blow, it will be much easier in the future!" With that said, Wang Shichong ordered his men to gather his generals and lead three thousand light cavalry to raid Tangying early tomorrow morning.

In the camp where Li Shimin was stationed in Qingcheng Palace, as soon as he got off his horse, Qin Shubao, Luo Shixin and others rode up to catch up.Li Shimin looked at the busy and tired soldiers coming and going, and asked Liu Hongji who had been following him all the time: "Is there any movement in Luoyang now?" Liu Hongji said: "Information reports say that Wang Shichong is very calm. Maybe he doesn't know that our marching speed is so fast, and we have already arrived at Qingcheng Palace tonight." Li Shimin shook his head: "No, he must know. This man is full of tricks. Even if he doesn't know the exact time of our arrival, he will definitely make some preparations. But now he is so calm, it makes people suspicious."

Liu Hongji said: "The soldiers are very tired after marching for days. After we rest for two days, we will definitely beat him to death." Li Shimin looked solemnly at the mountains in the distance and said, "I'm afraid Wang Shichong won't give us time to rest." The two were walking and talking, when they suddenly saw a large pile of weapons piled up in the distance, stacked together in no order, Li Shimin asked: "What's going on?" Qin Shubao said: "The soldiers are too tired, let's repair the weapons after dinner!" When Li Shimin heard this, he said displeasedly: "For those who walk on the battlefield, weapons are our lifelines. Now that they are so littered, if the enemy comes, how can we meet them? Isn't this sending us to death? Is it?" Looking back, the barracks are being set up sparsely, but the camp defense line has not been completed, Li Shimin became even more angry, and said to Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin: "Now I forget to deploy defenses for eating, and when the enemy suddenly rushes in, No matter how much food there is, we probably won’t be able to eat it! Do you still remember how Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong? It was when he was eating that he led an army surprise attack, which caught Li Mi by surprise and lost. Now we are here again Luoyang, do you want this to happen again?"

Seeing that Li Shimin was so angry, Liu Hongji, Qin Shubao, etc. dared not speak, and hurriedly ordered people to stop cooking, and went to build a camp first to defend themselves to avoid surprise attacks by the enemy. Li Shimin's sense of urgency was really useful in critical moments, because what he was thinking about was exactly what Wang Shichong planned.Before dawn the next day, a group of strange soldiers suddenly rushed out of Luoyang City, and arrived at the Tang army camp in Qingcheng Palace with lightning speed.They saw the Tang army's barracks scattered from a distance, thinking that they hadn't packed up to meet the enemy.When he rode his horse to the camp, he realized that Tang Jun had deployed his defenses first, and then built the camp.Therefore, although the attack was menacing, Tang Jun, who had prepared for a rainy day, did not allow them to gain any benefits, and returned dejectedly.

Wang Shichong was furious when he heard this, but he couldn't help admiring in his heart: Although Li Shimin is young, he is so cautious, it seems that this person is not easy to deal with.Just as he was thinking about how to raise funds next, he suddenly heard someone report: Li Shimin led the army to attack!When Wang Shichong heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "This kid surnamed Li is a fast learner! I just failed to attack him, but he immediately counterattacked! That's fine, since he's here, let's give it to him." A lesson for him!" Li Shimin led Qin Shubao, Luo Shixin and other fierce generals, accompanied by only a hundred horses, and came from Wang Shichong's flank facing the enemy, hoping to disrupt the enemy's position.Although Wang Shichong had just used this trick, he believed that: Wang Shichong wanted to use a surprise attack to defeat himself, and he had just failed in a surprise attack, so he must have not been fully prepared.

However, just as Wang Shichong misread Li Shimin, Li Shimin also misread Wang Shichong.Both of them underestimated their opponents.Li Shimin led the army to Wang Shichong's camp, and saw that the camp was neat and fortified. Although the Tang army descended from the sky, they did not disrupt the pace of Zheng's army at all. They were still orderly and quickly counterattacked the raiders under the leadership of the generals. .In the chaos, Li Shimin's light cavalry troops were scattered, arrows rained, and an arrow shot the war horse "Saluzi" who had been fighting with him for many years.

Seeing Li Shimin falling from his horse, Zheng Jun rushed forward, trying to capture King Qin alive.Fortunately, Qiu Xinggong from the entourage arrived and rescued Li Shimin from the siege. This battle was the most dangerous one that Li Shimin had ever experienced. If there was any battle in which he was closest to the death line, it must be in Qingcheng Palace.He led the cavalry to fight hard in the tide-like army. The brave Tang army dispersed Wang Shichong's army four times, and the well-trained Wang Shichong's army gathered again, still forming a uniform attack formation.The battle lasted from morning to dusk. Wang Shichong ordered to retreat to Luoyang. Li Shimin said to Qin Shubao: "The enemy army starts to retreat, and it will inevitably reveal its flaws. When the time comes, you will lead your troops to chase and kill them!" But Wang Shichong once again exceeded his expectations. This army integrated through the Wagang Peasant Rebel Army showed extraordinary military qualities in less than a year.Even when retreating, the formation was neat, making Tang Jun invulnerable. In the fortified city of Luoyang, Wang Shichong began to carefully examine Li Shimin, and Li Shimin also began to redeploy his strategy.The two military experts vigilantly monitored each other's every move, and began a protracted confrontation, neither daring to be negligent.Li Shimin, who has always been proud and arrogant, couldn't help but praise Wang Shichong for his "extraordinary man who manages the army well".Although neither side won the battle at Qingcheng Palace, and no one benefited, this battle still impressed Li Shimin because of its hardships and dangers, and it became an indelible page in his war history.