A thought suddenly appeared in Li Shimin's mind. The entire general movement was within Du Qi's expectations. Then, it was all Du Qi's arrangements. That was why Du Qi was able to obtain victory so quickly.
Li Shimin said, "Fu Ji, do you think that Du Qi had already predicted our military arrangements? Therefore, Du Qi had long set up an ambush at Mulberry Hill. After obtaining victory at the front line of Mulberry Hill, Du Qi immediately left and went south to assist another Xia Xia's army to defeat Duan Zhixuan's army. "
Zhangsun Wuji said, "That's possible."
At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji was carefully reviewing and thinking quickly. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was so. Zhangsun Wuji said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, perhaps Du Qi has already reached Rouyuan County. Then, when we failed to attack Rouyuan County, Du Qi had already predicted our strategy in advance. He predicted that we would fail to attack Rouyuan County and would attack from the front line of Mulberry Hill. Then, he waited for our troops to walk into the trap. Therefore, we planned step by step, but in reality, we jumped into Du Qi's trap. "
Li Shimin's face twitched.
Du Qi really had this ability.
To be able to make such a prediction.
Li Shimin said in a deep voice, "Fu Ji, Li Jing was defeated and captured. Now, he has fallen into Du Qi's hands. And Duan Zhixuan is dead. We have lost so many troops. Now, what can we do? "
Zhangsun Wuji said, "It's definitely impossible to continue attacking Du Qi now. After all, Du Qi is no longer at the front line of Mulberry Hill. This is especially true for our current military strength, which has been greatly weakened. I think that it's already quite difficult to attack Du Qi now. Especially since Du Qi is already here, I suggest that we withdraw our troops. "
Li Shimin immediately frowned.
Withdraw the troops!
He was unwilling to withdraw his troops.
One had to know that this time, Li Shimin had gathered the military forces of various countries and gathered all their forces together in order to take down the Xia Kingdom in one fell swoop and then seize Du Qi's power in the Western Region. But Li Shimin did not expect that the final result would actually evolve to this step, with countless losses.
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Your Majesty, I can deduce that Du Qi is definitely charging over with a large army. Especially now that Duke Wei was in Du Qi's hands. Once Du Qi came, and Duke Wei was in Du Qi's hands, the consequences would be unimaginable. In particular, our military strength has been weakened. Against Du Qi's army, especially with that mysterious weapon in Du Qi's army, we really don't have the advantage. "
Li Shimin frowned.
He knew that Zhangsun Wuji's words were reasonable. Although the Tang dynasty now had gunpowder, compared to Xia Xia's weapon, it was far from enough. It was far from comparable, which led to the lack of combat strength.
Li Shimin knew that he was no match for Du Qi, but he also knew that if he did not withdraw, the Tang army would be in trouble when the real battle with Du Qi began. If it was not for Xia Xia's mysterious weapon, Li Shimin would not be afraid and would dare to fight. The problem was that the weapon was too powerful.
"Order, withdraw the troops!"
Li Shimin finally gave the order after thinking for a while.
When Zhangsun Wuji heard this, he immediately went to pass down the order. As the order was passed down, everyone in the army was a little surprised. However, they quickly packed up their luggage and retreated at top speed.
The army withdrew and left quickly.
The news of the entire army's departure quickly spread into the city and was discovered by Xiao Yuanqi.
Xiao Yuanqi knew about the battle on the front line of Mulberry Mountain, and he also knew that Du Qi had sent troops to the rear to attack Duan Zhixuan with Ma Yuan. Especially before the Tang army withdrew, Xiao Yuanqi also received the news from Du Qi that Du Qi had met with Ma Yuan and destroyed the army led by Duan Zhixuan.
However, although Xiao Yuanqi received the news of the Tang army's withdrawal, he did not give the order to launch a surprise attack. He just arranged sentries to keep a close eye on the news, so that he could judge the situation of the Tang dynasty at any time.
Xiao Yuanqi's plan was very simple.
In this battle, if he directly sent troops to launch a surprise attack, in case the Tang army came back, his army might be overturned, and then the whole war would be affected.
Xiao Yuanqi gave up this plan.
He chose to stay and defend.
Xiao Yuanqi stayed in the same place. When it was almost dawn, the army led by Du Qi arrived at the county seat of Rouyuan County. The army directly entered the city and stationed in the city. Du Qi took his men and went straight to the gate tower.
Xiao Yuanqi came to Du Qi's side and saluted, "Your Majesty!"
Du Qi said, "What's the situation now?"
Xiao Yuanqi replied, "Your Majesty, Li Shimin led the army to retreat. Right now, Li Shimin's army has left Rouyuan County and returned to Guazhou. I guess Li Shimin got the smile on the front line of Mulberry Mountain and the news of Duan Zhixuan's defeat. But at that time, I was worried that if Li Shimin counterattacked, it would easily affect the situation. So I didn't chase after him and just sent people to keep an eye on him. "
Du Qi nodded.
He did not blame Xiao Yuanqi because Xiao Yuanqi was more cautious. Moreover, Xiao Yuanqi had 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, which was not enough to deal with Li Shimin's army.
It was easy to be counterattacked.
Du Qi took Xiao Yuanqi, Li Jing, Ma Yuan, Xue Rengui, and the cabinet to the room on the gate tower.
Everyone took their seats.
Du Qi also told them about Li Jing's current situation.
Hearing this, Xiao Yuanqi was also astonished, because Li Jing was a banner in the Great Tang. Now that Li Jing had surrendered to the Tang dynasty, Xia Xia's strength had greatly increased and Li Shimin's strength had weakened.
Du Qi continued, "Although Li Shimin has retreated, I, Xia Xia, am not a weak person. I am not a person who will pretend to know nothing when he is bullied. We will definitely take revenge in this battle. What do you think we should do now? Let's talk about the next step. "
Xue Rengui said directly, "Your Majesty, I suggest we continue to attack the Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty has repeatedly attacked me, Xia Xia. They have gone too far. Now that the Tang dynasty has declared war, if I, Xia Xia, don't go to war, it will seem that I am afraid of the Tang dynasty. So now that Li Shimin has retreated to Guazhou, we will send troops there. "
Du Qi nodded but did not say anything.
It was a good idea to go there.
But it was not the best choice.
Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty, I also think we can take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack. Why do I say so? Because we still have more than 20,000 captives. With this batch of captives, we have the confidence to deal with Li Shimin. So tomorrow, we will continue to send troops into Guazhou. This time, we will not leave it unsettled like before. We will really ask Li Shimin to cede his land. "
As soon as he said that, all the generals echoed.
Because for the generals in the army, they thought it was the best choice to send troops to fight.
Du Qi still did not say anything.
Because at present, he was going to attack the Tang dynasty. But this opportunity to attack the Tang dynasty, how to attack the Tang dynasty, and how to make Li Shimin suffer the most were the most important.
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