"Report!"
At this moment, another scout came to Li Shimin's side.
Li Shimin asked, "What's the matter?"
The scout reported, "Your Majesty, the people we arranged in Guazhou City instigated a rebellion and attacked the city gate, but they were ambushed by Du Qi's army. Thousands of people were all slaughtered. "
Li Shimin's face twitched.
He didn't expect his plan to fail again. In fact, this plan was proposed by Zhangsun Wuji last. At that time, Li Shimin, Li Jing, and the others had already discussed the strategy to deal with Du Qi. In the end, Zhangsun Wuji found Li Shimin alone and thought that they could still attack from Guazhou City.
Therefore, Li Shimin arranged for the people lurking in Guazhou City to instigate the big clans in Guazhou City to gather thousands of people to rebel. They intended to break the defense of Guazhou City so that they could close the city gate and block Du Qi and his men outside the city.
Zhangsun Wuji's strategy wasn't to attack the provisions, but to seize the city. Unfortunately, the private soldiers of these big clans were all slaughtered when they encountered the people guarding the city. Not a single one survived.
Li Shimin asked the scout to leave and looked at Zhangsun Wuji, "Wuji, it seems that Du Qi has made sufficient preparations this time. It's impossible to attack from Guazhou City. This battle will be a tough one. "
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Even if the plan in the city fails, it won't affect the overall situation. Because this battle is ultimately a head-on fight. Especially now that we and Du Qi are expending our forces, when Duan Zhixuan's army comes back to encircle us, this battle will be over. Du Qi has left Guazhou City now. Even if he wants to retreat, it'll be hard for him to do so even if we chase after him. "
Zhangsun Wuji was actually very confident in this battle.
He believed that the Tang dynasty could win.
The Tang dynasty would definitely defeat Du Qi.
Li Shimin nodded and didn't say anything else, quietly watching the battle continue. Time passed little by little, and when it was close to nine in the evening, the sky had already turned dark.
The weather in the Western Region was long days and short nights. At this moment, the thirty thousand troops under Li Shimin's command were already showing signs of defeat, and they started to retreat.
Li Shimin looked at Li Jing. At this moment, Li Jing ordered, "Pass the order, withdraw the troops."
Clang! Clang! "
The gong sounded, and the Tang army began to withdraw.
While Li Jing gave the order to retreat, he arranged for the cavalry to be on standby. Once Xia Xia's army chased after them, the cavalry under his command would charge forward to stop this group of Xia Xia's army and even give them a head-on blow.
Du Qi noticed the retreating Tang army and looked at Xue Rengui. While the Tang army was retreating, Xue Rengui did not advance rashly and also gave the order to retreat.
After fighting for an entire day, they needed to rest.
Because fighting like this was extremely exhausting, the soldiers were already exhausted and needed to rest to adjust their condition. The army retreated and temporarily did not return. They set up camp outside the city.
The army got into formation.
The soldiers in the army had already started cooking. At the same time, Xue Rengui and the others had already started counting their losses. By the time all the losses from this battle were accounted for, it was already nine in the morning. Xue Rengui came to Du Qi's tent and reported, "My king, in today's battle, we lost ten thousand men, but we also killed many. Among our soldiers, two thousand are heavily injured, and seven thousand are lightly injured. Of the thirty thousand soldiers who participated in this battle, we still lost a lot. Because they did not clean up the battlefield, it was estimated that the Tang army had lost at least 15 thousand people in this battle, and there were even more heavily injured on the other side. Overall, we won the battle during the day. "
Du Qi's eyes were solemn, "In the battle during the day, we lost a lot! Although such a battle was to be expected, it was still within their expectations. But in reality, it made my heart ache. "
Xue Rengui said, "This is a battle on the battlefield. Casualties are unavoidable."
Du Qi said, "I know that casualties are inevitable on the battlefield, but such a battle of strength is not worth it. Especially the layout of the Tang army. They obviously know the strength of our grenades and other weapons, so they did not defend and directly attacked, making us unable to use our grenades and other weapons. This was the brilliance of Li Shimin, or the strength of Li Jing as a commander. I think that we can't keep fighting a war of attrition, as it is not good for us. "
Xue Rengui said, "How is my king going to adjust?"
Du Qi ordered, "Invite Shangguan Yi, Lai Ji, and Su Dingfang into the tent. Let Ma Yuan join too. We will discuss our next strategy. In this battle, we have to use our strengths. If we use our weaknesses to attack their strengths, it will be really bad for us. "
"Yes!"
Xue Rengui immediately went to pass down the order.
Not long later, everyone gathered. After bowing to Du Qi, they sat down.
Du Qi looked around at everyone, "You all saw the situation of today's battle. Under the planning of the Tang army, it is hard for us to use the advantage of our weapons. Even if our soldiers' blades are sharper, the Tang army is also a battle-hardened army. Their fighting strength is extremely strong and tough, and it is not easy to defeat them. "
"Even if we had the upper hand during the day, from start to finish, we did not form a crushing situation. If we continue to fight a war of attrition, even if we win in the end, it will be considered a loss. So now, we have to change our strategy and use our strengths to win this battle. "
Du Qi said, "Since Li Shimin split up the troops, we have been mobilized and are on the passive side. What we need to do now is to take the initiative. The rhythm must be under our control. Let's talk about our thoughts and speak freely. "
When everyone heard this, they all became silent.
The situation was not optimistic.
Ma Yuan suddenly said, "My king, to use our strengths, I think we can use the night battle tonight. We can bombard the Tang army camp with cannon fire and then we can charge in. "
"It is useless!"
Du Qi shook his head and said, "During the day, I observed the situation of the Tang army camp from a distance. Because I was standing on high ground, I could see the Tang army camp clearly. The opponent's arrangement is very exquisite. "
"Almost all of the positions in the front camp have been vacated. It's completely empty. Even if we use the tactic of bombing, it will not be of much use. In the past, the enemy wanted to resist us, so the army was gathered in the front camp, so the bombing was effective. "
"Now the front camp of the Tang army is empty, with only a few soldiers guarding it. It is clear that they are avoiding our gunpowder. So the gunpowder attack is ineffective. Once we force our way into the camp, the Tang army will engage in hand-to-hand combat with us. Under this situation, we will once again fall into the war of attrition during the day. The rhythm of the battle is still not under our control. "
Du Qi said, "So the night attack is useless."
Shangguan Yi said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I have a plan."
Du Qi said, "What plan?"
Shangguan Yi said in a deep voice, "At present, we are using Guazhou City as the rear, and then go out of the city to attack Li Shimin. As Your Majesty said, we are being led by the nose by Li Shimin. If we want to change the situation and adjust our strategy, then we have to completely change it. We will no longer attack Li Shimin, but attack the army in the Xia Xia. "
"As long as we destroy this army, it will be easy for us to turn our forces to attack Li Shimin. As for Guazhou City, the army has consumed a lot of soldiers during this period, and we have opened the granary to give food to the people. Now, there is not much food left. Tell the soldiers to bring food. Take all the food that can be taken away. "
"At present, the army of the Tang dynasty has not yet returned to Niulan Mountain and has not fought with our army there. We will bypass Li Shimin's camp, rush to Niulan Mountain, and annihilate them west of Niulan Mountain. "
"As for the Tang dynasty, if Li Shimin wants to lead his army to help, we can just block his reinforcements."
"If we block them, we can use the terrain to counterattack."
"We can play to the advantage of our weapons."
Shangguan Yi's eyes flashed with a sharp look, "And when the time comes, we can switch from offense to defense and focus on the other Tang army. Our advantage is defense. Only by switching from offense to defense can we consume the Tang army's strength to the maximum. "
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