A day passed in the blink of an eye.
The next day, morning.
Du Qi gathered all the generals and officials under him and announced the decision to attack Shazhou. At the same time, they discussed the strategy of sending troops. Su Dingfang volunteered to be the vanguard and the army set off.
In truth, during this period of time, Du Qi's men had already contacted Wei Shuyu, hoping that he would work for Du Qi. However, Wei Shuyu directly rejected them. The reason was simple. Wei Shuyu was Wei Zheng's son. Even Wei Zheng stayed in the Tang dynasty, so Wei Shuyu could not betray the Tang dynasty. Even if the Wei family and Du Qi were in-laws, Wei Shuyu could not easily submit to Du Qi.
The speed of the army was extremely fast. In less than two days, they had already reached the border of Shazhou. Within Shazhou, due to Li Shimin's defeat, there were not many soldiers left. Even though there were many escaping Tang soldiers who ran towards the Shazhou governing area, Zhangsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, and the others only had fifty thousand soldiers.
This amount of soldiers was insignificant compared to Du Qi's army.
Hence, Zhangsun Wuji and Wei Zheng decided to give up on the various areas within Shazhou and guard Shazhou City to ensure the existence of the Shazhou governing area and not let Shazhou fall.
Hence, when Du Qi's army entered Shazhou, it was a smooth journey.
They did not meet any obstructions.
As Du Qi's army continued to head towards Shazhou, Li Ji's army had already come from the Tang dynasty and entered Longyou Road. They arrived at Shazhou City at this time.
The army arrived and directly entered the city.
The moment Li Ji entered the city, as the commander of the army, he gathered all the officials.
When Zhangsun Wuji saw that it was Li Ji, he was surprised.
Where was Li Xiaogong?
As Zhangsun Wuji did not receive any news from Chang An, he did not know about Li Xiaogong's situation. He took the initiative to ask, "Manager Li, what is Li Xiaogong's situation?"
Li Ji was now the manager of the army.
Hence, Zhangsun Wuji also called him manager Li.
Li Ji said seriously, "Duke Qi, Prince Hejian is sick and his mind is in a daze. Since Commandery Prince Hejian can't command the troops, I will be the commander of this battle. "
Zhangsun Wuji frowned and asked with a puzzled look, "Li Xiaogong was perfectly fine in Chang 'an. Why did he suddenly become absent-minded? Is there something fishy?"
Li Ji smiled and said unhurriedly, "I'm not sure if there's anything fishy going on.
Zhangsun Wuji sighed when he heard that.
On the one hand, he lamented that Li Xiaogong could not come and could not restrain Du Qi. On the other hand, he couldn't use the fact that Li Xiaogong was the commander of the army to scheme against him.
It was just that Zhangsun Wuji's sigh stirred up Li Ji's desire to win.
Li Ji said directly, "Let's talk about Li Xiaogong when we have time. Back to the topic at hand, let's discuss our strategy to deal with Du Qi. If we don't settle on a plan now, once Du Qi's army arrives, they can easily blow up our city gates. "
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Head Steward Li, dealing with Du Qi isn't some easy matter. Du Qi is about to arrive. I think the first thing to consider is the defense of Shazhou City. "
"You have never fought in Guazhou City, so you don't know the power of Du Qi's weapons. Guazhou City's city walls have been repaired and strengthened. They are extremely sturdy and can be said to be impregnable. "
"Normal gunpowder bombing is not a problem."
"But under the bombardment of Du Qi's new weapons, the city gates of Guazhou City collapsed in a moment. Half of the city walls also collapsed. The defensive line that we set up for several days was destroyed in an instant. "
Zhangsun Wuji sighed and said, "Now that we are guarding Shazhou City, the situation is actually the same as when we were in Guazhou. If we can't restrain Du Qi's weapons, Shazhou City will also fall and we won't be able to defend it. "
Li Ji nodded.
He agreed with Zhangsun Wuji's analysis.
Moreover, when Li Shimin summoned Li Ji in Chang 'an, he personally described the situation. Through Li Shimin's personal description, Li Ji knew the specific situation.
Seeing that Li Ji knew, Zhangsun Wuji didn't waste any more words and continued, "Our key now is to defend. First, we have to defend the county city. Only then will we have other chances."
Li Ji shook his head and said, "We will lose if we defend for a long time!"
With one sentence, Zhangsun Wuji's expression became a bit stiff. Because Li Ji was too direct.
Li Ji didn't care about Zhangsun Wuji's expression and continued, "Duke of Qi, the reason why I said that we will lose if we defend for a long time is very simple. Under the situation where we can't break Du Qi's weapons, no matter how we arrange, we won't be able to defend the city. Since we can defend for a short time, there will definitely be problems in the long run. Since we can't defend it, why should we consider defensive strategies? Rather than that, we might as well not make any arrangements. "
After Zhangsun Wuji heard this, he revealed a thoughtful expression.
The expression in his eyes became brighter and brighter.
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
Zhangsun Wuji praised, "Manager Li's analysis is reasonable. Du Qi has a mysterious weapon. With the power of his weapon, we won't be able to defend it at all. Under this premise, we might as well give up on our own defense. Find another way and consider other methods to defeat Du Qi. This way, we can change from being passive to being active. "
Li Ji saw that Zhangsun Wuji agreed, and a smile appeared on his face.
Wei Zheng interrupted, "Manager Li's analysis is indeed out of the ordinary. However, this city is the governing area of Guazhou. Once we lose it, wouldn't it cause an even bigger commotion? "
Li Ji said, "Prime Minister Wei, this is something that can't be helped. We will only have a chance if we save our men and lose our territory. If we are to defend this city to the death, we won't be able to change the situation. "
Wei Zheng also nodded.
He understood this logic, but he couldn't bear to do so.
Wei Zheng continued, "Manager Li, how are we going to resolve this predicament? Or rather, how are we going to turn the situation around when we are about to fight with Du Qi? "
Zhangsun Wuji also looked at Li Ji.
During this period of time, Zhangsun Wuji and Wei Zheng had stayed in Shazhou City and gathered all their military forces. Actually, they were also shrinking their forces. The two of them had discussed countermeasures many times, hoping to find a way to defeat the enemy. Unfortunately, after thinking about it many times, they still couldn't come up with a plan.
Du Qi's weapons were too powerful.
If they were to attack head-on, Du Qi had the elephant soldiers. Once the elephant soldiers entered the battlefield, they could easily destroy the Tang dynasty's formation. If they chose to defend, Du Qi had weapons to bombard the city walls and gates, causing the city walls to collapse.
They couldn't defend, and they couldn't win the battle. Therefore, the situation was very difficult.
They were in a dilemma.
A cold light flashed across Li Ji's eyes as he said, "Duke Qi, Prime Minister Wei, in our battle with Du Qi, my plan is to invite the enemy into the trap. As for the specific plan, I have considered it like this … "
Immediately, Li Ji started to explain.
In fact, Li Ji already had a general idea of this plan when he sent out the troops from Chang 'an.
He was very clear about Du Qi's strengths and weaknesses.
He was also clear about his own strengths and weaknesses.
In a confrontation on the battlefield, one had to display one's own strengths and avoid the enemy's. As long as he understood this point, he could make the arrangements. After Li Ji finished explaining all the plans, he said, "Duke Qi, this is the general plan. Both of you are very intelligent people. Think about whether the plan is feasible and whether there are any flaws. "
Wei Zheng was also very powerful.
He could devise strategies.
Wei Zheng carefully deduced the plan and said, "Manager Li's battle plan is indeed very ingenious and feasible. If we had made the same arrangement in Guazhou City, we might have won. "
Li Ji said, "Prime Minister Wei, you flatter me."
Wei Zheng continued, "It's just that there is a problem with this plan. According to this plan, there will be countless casualties and countless people dying tragically. If so, should we disperse the people in advance? "
"No!"
Li Ji shook his head.
Li Ji gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Once we disperse the people, the news will be easily leaked. Du Qi is very cunning. If we make even the slightest movement, Du Qi will be able to infer the situation. So now, we can't make any arrangements and can only execute the plan. Everything we do is for the Tang dynasty's victory. As long as the Tang dynasty obtains the final victory, these casualties will be worth it. On the contrary, if the Tang dynasty is defeated, the consequences will be unimaginable. "
Zhangsun Wuji had always been unyielding. He immediately agreed, "Prime Minister Wei, I completely agree with Manager Li's analysis. Our primary goal is to obtain victory. As for the rest, we can't care about it now. "
Wei Zheng said, "I understand."
Zhangsun Wuji's eyes turned and fell on Li Ji again. He continued, "Manager Li, Du Qi's army will arrive in Shazhou City soon. At most, they will arrive in two or three days. So now, we need to make arrangements as soon as possible. The earlier we make arrangements, the later we can carry out the plan. "
Li Ji said, "I understand."
Zhangsun Wuji said impatiently, "If so, then start the arrangements. Prime Minister Wei and I will assist you."
"Thank you!"
A smile appeared on Li Ji's face.
Whether it was Zhangsun Wuji or Wei Zheng, their positions in the imperial court were actually much higher than Li Ji's. Li Ji was also worried that the two of them would not cooperate. Now that they were willing to help, it was naturally for the best.
Li Ji immediately made arrangements and broke down the tasks. After everything was arranged, Li Ji changed the topic, "Duke of Qi, Prime Minister Wei, His Majesty has returned to Chang 'an. Are the two of you planning to return after this battle, or when will you return to the court? "
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Let's talk about it after this battle."
Wei Zheng also said, "There's His Majesty and Prime Minister Fang in the imperial court, so there won't be any problems. On the contrary, Duke of Qi and I will stay at the front line. Although we can't go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, we can still help you. "
Li Ji said seriously, "Thank you very much."
Zhangsun Wuji and Wei Zheng shook their heads. The two of them stopped talking to Li Ji and immediately got up to make arrangements. Time was tight. They had to make the best use of it. There was not much time left for them.
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