Chapter 71 A Real Man Should Recreate the Achievements of Huo Dou in the Past
Qu Tutong volunteered.
What Li Yuanji had said before in Feixiang Posthouse came true.
The heavy snow did block the roads, and it was impossible for Li Shimin to send troops to Mingshui City in time to rescue Luo Shixin.
The few troops in Luo Shixin's hands were no match for the attack led by Liu Heita's tens of thousands of men.
Even if they wanted to break out of the dense forest, kill Liu Heita by surprise and create an opportunity for Luo Shixin to break out, it would be difficult to do.
Snow more than a foot high would hinder the soldiers' progress.
The soldiers waded through thick snow to carry out the assault, and their speed was probably not as fast as their normal walking speed.
Liu Heita had the help of a corridor, which allowed him to command his soldiers from a high position with bows and crossbows.
The soldiers would most likely be shot into pieces and would not be able to get close to the tunnel.
Therefore, they could only use the method Li Yuanji originally proposed, leading the troops and breaking into Mingshui City before Liu Heita had completely built the tunnel, to help Luo Shixin defend Mingshui City.
Qu Tutong would never let Li Yuanji go for such a thing, so he volunteered.
Li Yuanji pondered and said nothing.
Su Dingfang, who was lying on a stretcher, suddenly spoke up, "Your Highness, are you going to lead the army into Mingshui City to help the people in the city defend Mingshui City, or are you going to raid Liu Heita to share some of the pressure for the people in the city?"
Li Yuanji looked at Su Dingfang, and Qu Tutong also looked at Su Dingfang in surprise.
Li Yuanji said frankly: "I want to raid Liu Heita to relieve some of the pressure on the people in the city, and by the way, create an opportunity for them to break out when they are in the most dangerous time."
Li Yuanji said this, looked at Su Dingfang and asked: "Do you have a solution?"
Su Dingfang pondered for a moment and said, "The road is blocked by heavy snow, and Liu Heita is guarding the tunnel. If we rush out rashly, we will only become Liu Heita's target."
At this point, Su Dingfang looked at Li Yuanji and asked, "Your Highness, do you know about the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao?"
Li Yuanji nodded without hesitation.
Qu Tutong looked at Su Dingfang thoughtfully.
Su Dingfang continued, "Liu Heita's grain and grass camp is not far behind him at Hu Jinkou. Since we have no way to raid Liu Heita, why not lead our army to raid Liu Heita's grain and grass camp?"
There were no corridors inside or outside Liu Heita's grain and forage camp.
There were only about 8,000 soldiers guarding the grain camp.
Among them, there were only more than 500 armored soldiers.
Our military strength is sufficient to handle it."
Qu Tutong looked at Su Dingfang with surprise. He finally understood why Li Yuanji valued Su Dingfang.
In such a short period of time, Su Dingfang was able to come up with such a way to help Mingshui City get out of siege. It was indeed a strategic move.
More importantly, Su Dingfang was extremely courageous.
Hu Jinkou, where Liu Heita stored grain and fodder, is located in the northeast corner of Mingshui City.
If they wanted to launch a surprise attack on Liu Heita's food and forage camp, they would have to go around Liu Heita's rear.
If the sneak attack is successful, they will be hunted down by Liu Heita's tens of thousands of troops.
If the sneak attack fails, they will be hunted down by Liu Heita's tens of thousands of troops.
If you are not careful, you might be made a fool of by Liu Heita.
"If General Qu Tu leads the army and I assist him, there is a 90% chance that we can burn all of Liu Heita's food and fodder."
Su Dingfang stared at Li Yuanji with burning eyes.
Liu Heita did not have a stable rear base to provide him with food and fodder, and the food he had was very limited.
Part of it was contributed by Li Shiji, and the other part was obtained through heavy taxes and levies along the way.
Once Liu Heita's food and grass are burned, the morale of Liu Heita's army will be in chaos.
Once the army's morale was in chaos, Liu Heita could no longer concentrate on attacking Mingshui City.
The pressure on Mingshui City was naturally greatly reduced.
More importantly, Liu Heita's army was in chaos, so it became easier for the Tang Dynasty to deal with Liu Heita.
The reason why Su Dingfang proposed this strategy was obviously that he wanted to make a contribution, wanted Li Yuanji to see his value, and wanted Li Yuanji to understand that he was worthy of Li Yuanji's kindness.
He was also smart. When he proposed this strategy, he did not drag Li Yuanji into it.
If he dragged Li Yuanji into the water and asked Li Yuanji to go to Liu Heita's rear to take risks, Qu Tutong would definitely be unwilling, and the other soldiers would also have opinions about him.
After listening to Su Dingfang's strategy, Qu Tutong said without hesitation, "This is feasible."
Su Dingfang came from Liu Heita's army and knew the location of Liu Heita's grain camp clearly. If he led his soldiers to attack Liu Heita's grain camp, they could easily find the location of Liu Heita's grain camp, saving a lot of effort and taking fewer detours.
If Su Dingfang's strategy succeeded, it would not only ease the pressure on Mingshui City, but also help the Tang Dynasty disrupt Liu Heita's military morale.
Even if it fails, he and Su Dingfang can lead the troops deep into Liu Heita's rear area, disrupt Liu Heita's rear area and achieve the same effect.
However, he can express his opinion on this matter, but he cannot make a decision.
Because the decision-making power lies in Li Yuanji's hands.
If Li Yuanji doesn't agree, it will be useless even if there are huge benefits.
Li Yuanji's eyes fell on Qu Tutong and then on Su Dingfang.
He understood the benefits of this, but Qu Tutong and Su Dingfang did not seem suitable to launch a surprise attack on Liu Heita's food and fodder camp.
Qu Tutong was in his sixties and could not withstand long journeys.
If they wanted to avoid Liu Heita's eyes and ears and launch a surprise attack on Liu Heita's grain camp, they would have to make a big circle outside Mingshui City.
If it were an ordinary day, Qu Tutong might be able to handle it.
But now the road is blocked by heavy snow, and the trip is much more difficult than usual.
Qu Tutong may not be able to withstand it.
Although Su Dingfang was young and strong, he had injuries on his body. The wounds had just been bandaged. If he did any strenuous exercise, the wounds would bleed. If he traveled a long distance, he might lose his life on the road.
He finally managed to recruit a talent like Su Dingfang, but immediately sent Su Dingfang out to die. So what did he recruit?
Recruiting a lonely person?
"You should lead your men to break into Mingshui City and help Luo Shixin."
Li Yuanji weighed the pros and cons again and again, and finally decided to be conservative.
It is enough for Qu Tutong and Su Dingfang to save their lives and rescue Luo Shixin. As for dealing with Liu Heita, let Li Shimin do it.
Anyway, Li Shimin came to Hebei this time just to do this.
If he helped Li Shimin weaken Liu Heita, Li Shimin might not be happy about it.
After all, Li Shimin led a large group of people and attacked from Chang'an City with great momentum, but Liu Heita was weakened by him to the point where he could not withstand the battle.
Where would Li Shimin and the group of people under him put their face?
Su Dingfang was anxious, "Your Highness, this opportunity is too good to be missed!"
Qu Tutong also advised, "Your Highness, this move is very beneficial to our Tang Dynasty. If it succeeds, our Tang Dynasty will surely be able to easily crush Liu Heita."
Li Yuanji looked at Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong and asked, "So what? One of you is over 60 years old, and you have been running around with me all night. Now you have to go around in a big circle and run behind Liu Heita. Can you hold on?
Although the other one was strong, he had eight wounds on his body, one of which was more than an inch deep. If he moved a little too much, the wound would bleed. What if he died from the fatigue of the journey before he even arrived at the destination after traveling a long distance to attack Liu Heita's food and grass camp? "
Li Yuanji was not polite at all and his words were very harsh.
Qu Tutong stared , panting and saying, "Your Highness, you underestimate me, don't you?"
As he said this, he was about to undress so that Li Yuanji could see that although he, Qu Tutong, was an old Lian Po, he was still in good health.
Su Dingfang also climbed up from the stretcher and wanted to show Li Yuanji his bravery.
Li Yuanji held Su Dingfang firmly on the stretcher with one hand, and stopped Qu Tutong from undressing with the other hand, and said unhappily, "That's enough, stop messing around.
I don't mean to humiliate you.
I'm just afraid that you will die on the way, leaving me alone."
Although Qu Tutong was restrained by Li Yuanji, he still stiffened his neck and said, "If Your Highness is worried that Su Dingfang is in danger, then I will go alone. Your Highness only needs to ask Su Dingfang to tell me the location of Liu Heita's grain camp."
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes at Qu Tutong and said, "So in your heart, I am a heartless and ungrateful person who only cares about who is useful to me and who is useless?
You and I have been together for almost two months during this expedition, right?
Is there no friendship at all?"
Qu Tutong's face changed, and he was a little embarrassed. "Your Majesty... Your Majesty just said the wrong thing in a moment of anxiety. The attack on Liu Heita's grain camp is too important to our Tang Dynasty.
Your Highness cannot give up on this matter just because you feel pity for me.
We, the warriors, have committed our lives to the battlefield from the moment we go out to fight.
The lifelong wish of warriors like me is to emulate Ma Yuan of the Han Dynasty and return home wrapped in his horse’s hide.”
Qu Tutong became a little excited at the end of his speech.
Clearly, he meant what he said.
Su Dingfang kept nodding while lying on the stretcher, agreeing very much with what Qu Tutong said.
The honor of a general is to be credited with all his achievements and to return home wrapped in his horse's hide.
Li Yuanji glared at Qu Tutong fiercely, "You only remember that Ma Yuan died on the battlefield in the Han Dynasty, but do you remember that Guanjun Hou was granted the title of Langjuxu and Dou Guojiu was awarded the title of Yanran?
Our Tang Dynasty has more than one enemy: there are also the Turks in the north, the Tuyuhun in the west, and so on.
You will have many more enemies to deal with in the future.
Your goal should be to conquer the north and the west, not to die for Liu Heita."
When Qu Tutong and Su Dingfang heard this, they were stunned for a moment.
After coming back to his senses, Qu Tutong looked a little gloomy, while Su Dingfang's eyes gradually brightened.
The reason why Qu Tutong looked gloomy was that he was old and his chances of going to the battlefield could be counted on one's fingers.
What Li Yuanji said about riding a horse across the north and traveling across the western regions was basically impossible for him.
The reason why Su Dingfang's eyes gradually brightened was that Li Yuanji mentioned the Turks and Tuyuhun, which showed that Li Yuanji had the intention to deal with the Turks and Tuyuhun. Since he followed Li Yuanji, he naturally had the opportunity to participate in it, and there were plenty of merits waiting for him to gain.
Fenglangjuxu and Yanran Stone Inscription were accomplished by Huo Qubing and Dou Xian, and he could also...do half of it.
He didn't dare to seal the Wolf's Lair.
Those with seals are the authority of the emperor. Unless the emperor favors you and tacitly allows you to do such things, you will be beheaded if you do it.
