Chapter 74 Three Days and Three Nights
That's right. Since we can't do anything to Li Yuanji and don't want to be disturbed by Li Yuanji, we might as well transfer Li Yuanji away.
"Where do you think it would be appropriate to transfer to?"
Li Shimin made a decision in an instant and stared at Changsun Wuji and asked.
Zhang Sun Wuji thought for a moment and said, "The Turks are trying to break through the defenses of Prince Huai'an and Li Shiji. How about letting Prince Qi go to Shizhou?"
Li Shimin frowned, "With his limited ability, he may not be able to play a role in Shizhou."
It's not that Li Shimin looked down on Li Yuanji, but Li Yuanji's past military achievements were too "brilliant", so Li Shimin did not dare to entrust Li Yuanji with too important tasks.
Zhang Sun Wuji pondered for a moment, and then said, "How about letting Prince Qi go to Weize Pass? With him guarding Weize Pass, Your Highness the Princess will be free to help Prince Huai'an and Li Shiji."
Li Shimin frowned even more tightly, "My father doesn't seem to want to see my third sister leave Weize Pass..."
Zhang Sun Wuji knew why Li Yuan did not allow Li Xiuning to leave Weize Pass, and he said with a wry smile: "The saint is simply worried that Her Royal Highness Princess will make new achievements and suppress the men of our Tang Dynasty.
But now the Turks are aggressive and have the tendency to break through the defenses of the Tang Dynasty and go south to herd horses.
Now Liu Heita has not been pacified yet. Once the Turks break through the defenses of our Tang Dynasty, I am afraid that the Shaanxi East Road and Hebei Road of our Tang Dynasty will become horse pastures for the Turks.
At this moment, I have no time to care about the reputation of the men of the Tang Dynasty."
Although Li Shimin was suppressing Liu Heita in Mingzhou, the crisis of the Tang Dynasty was not resolved.
Liu Heita was just a chronic disease of the Tang Dynasty , while the Turks were the real threat to the Tang Dynasty.
As long as the Turks do not retreat, the crisis of the Tang Dynasty will not be resolved.
Li Shimin sighed deeply, "At this point, this is the only way."
The Turks have mobilized a total of 200,000 troops this time. Once they break through the Tang Dynasty's defenses and appear within its territory, they will cause considerable damage to the Tang Dynasty.
The reason why Li Shentong and Li Shiji were able to resist the Turks with more than 20,000 soldiers and horses was that the Turks did not gather the 200,000 soldiers and horses in one place, but divided them into three groups, attacking Shizhou, Taiyuan and Youzhou respectively.
The purpose of the Turks' march south this time was to support Liu Heita and plunge the Tang Dynasty into greater chaos.
Once Liu Heita fell into a trend of defeat, the Turks would most likely gather their forces and launch a surprise attack.
The Shizhou line defended by Li Shentong and Li Shiji had the longest defense line and was most suitable for Turkic raids.
So arrangements must be made early.
"After the battle in Mingshui City is over, let Yuanji go to Weize Pass."
Li Shimin rubbed his eyebrows and said with a headache.
Before he could get over the hurdle of Li Yuanji burning down the granary in Luoyang, Li Yuanji added a new hurdle for him.
If he lets Li Yuanji continue to stay by his side, he will sooner or later be driven crazy by Li Yuanji.
Chang Sun Wuji asked in confusion: "Why do we have to wait until the battle in Mingshui City is over?"
Since Li Yuanji is going to be transferred away, why not do it as soon as possible?
If Li Yuanji could be transferred away earlier, Li Shimin would have less worries.
Li Shimin glanced at Zhangsun Wuji and said helplessly, "We have to let him gain some benefits from the battle in Mingshui City. If we don't let him gain any benefits, who knows if he will do something else."
Changsun Wuji was at a loss for words and didn't know what to say.
…
Just when Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji were discussing transferring Li Yuanji, Li Yuanji, wrapped in a cloak, walked into the cave that had just been dug by the guards.
The cave is ten feet wide, ten feet deep, and eight feet high, and the deepest part is covered with thick leather.
Li Yuanji wrapped himself in a cloak and lay down on the thick leather, and fell into a deep sleep.
After not sleeping for a whole day and night and running around all night, Li Yuanji was also tired.
Li Yuanji did not invite the guards to share the cave with him.
A small cave cannot accommodate 500 people.
If you invite one or two of them, the others will definitely feel resentful.
No one was invited and everyone was treated equally, but they didn't have any complaints at all.
After Li Yuanji fell asleep, the guards started digging the cave again.
It was not until evening that the guards had dug enough caves for the five hundred men.
Without Li Yuanji's instructions, the guards would arrange the tasks of visible sentry, secret sentry, and rotation on their own.
Li Yuanji slept until the evening, and when he woke up he found that the snow had stopped.
The snow was three feet high, and people couldn't even move their legs in it.
Li Yuanji had a simple meal when he heard shouting and killing coming from the direction of Mingshui City.
Liu Heita officially launched an attack on the city.
Li Yuanji, along with several guards, cleared the snow and headed for the high tomb.
Half an hour later, Li Yuanji appeared on the high tomb and watched the battle situation in Mingshui City.
The way Liu Heita attacked Mingshui City was completely different from the ancient battlefields shown in later film and television dramas. There were simply few enemy soldiers carrying ladders and rushing down the city walls.
Most of the enemy soldiers climbed up to the same height as the city wall of Mingshui City through the corridor, used wooden planks as a bridge, and charged towards the top of the city wall.
Another part of the enemy soldiers pushed huge tower carts and parked them not far from the wall of Mingshui City. They passed through the interior of the tower carts and reached the top of the tower carts. They lowered the wooden boards wrapped in iron sheets from the top of the tower carts and started fighting with the Tang Dynasty soldiers on the top of the city wall.
The enemy soldiers on the tower were not huddled together in a mess, but were arranged in a very organized manner.
The shield soldiers were in front, the spear soldiers were in the back, and the archers stood on the inside of the tower, continuously shooting arrows.
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty also had a similar formation.
But there are not only shield soldiers but also armored soldiers in the front.
More than two thousand armored men stood on the top of the city wall, forming a human wall.
If the enemy soldiers cannot break through the iron armor, they will have no chance of climbing to the top of the city wall of Mingshui City.
Because he was too far away, Li Yuanji couldn't see clearly who was leading the fight, nor who was the bravest.
We can only roughly see that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty have always had the upper hand.
Some soldiers went crazy and rushed into the enemy's tower, while others rushed into the enemy's corridor.
With the fierce fighting of the Tang Dynasty soldiers, Liu Heita's first wave of attack was blocked.
But Liu Heita did not give up. He quickly formed a second wave of offensive and headed towards Mingshui City again.
Liu Heita also had many brave men under his command. Shortly after the second wave of offensive was launched, some brave warriors broke through the defense line of the Tang Dynasty soldiers and rushed to the top of Mingshui City.
But they were soon defeated again.
This went on until the moon rose, when both sides called off their battles.
Li Yuanji looked at it for a long time, but didn't understand much and didn't realize anything from it.
The only feeling I have is that human life is a little worthless on the battlefield.
Although he couldn't see clearly who died in the battle and who was alive, he could vaguely see some people falling from the top of the city wall and some broken limbs flying up.
With touched feelings, Li Yuanji descended from the high tomb and returned to the cave, but he was not sleepy at all.
I sleep too much during the day and have trouble sleeping at night.
Li Yuanji wandered around the cave where the guards slept like a wandering soul, and showed concern for the guards. It was already three o'clock in the morning.
At three o'clock in the morning.
Several flashes of fire suddenly appeared in a corner of Mingshui City, followed by a continuous rain of fire.
Li Yuanji led his men to quickly climb up the high tomb and observed carefully, only to find that it was not a rain of fire but huge fireballs.
The fireball was thrown into Mingshui City through a catapult, fell to the ground, and smashed into the snow, but it still did not go out. It was probably soaked in oil.
Along with the falling fireballs, there was also a rain of arrows.
The rain of arrows was overwhelming, and when the fireball passed by, you could clearly see a large and dense area.
The shouts and cries of killing appeared again on the city wall of Mingshui City.
Once it appeared, it never stopped.
Relying on his large numbers, Liu Heita sent out soldiers and horses to attack Mingshui City in turns and attacked it for three days.
Except for sleeping, Li Yuanji was watching the battle on the high tomb.
He didn't know how many soldiers and horses Liu Heita had lost, but he could roughly estimate how many soldiers and horses had been lost in Mingshui City.
The number of troops in Mingshui City was reduced by half.
Because the troops deployed on the city walls were half as many as on the first day.
Under the attack of tens of thousands of troops led by Liu Heita, there was no possibility of rotation for the Tang Dynasty soldiers in Mingshui City.
Li Yuanji's heart was bleeding, because this meant that half of the guards he had sent out, the soldiers of the Zuo Ertong Military Office, and the troops of Shanzhou were gone.
“Your Highness…”
"Don't call me, I'm annoyed."
In the cave, Li Yuanji was upset. A guard hurried into the cave and called him softly.
The guard heard what Li Yuanji said and said with a wry smile: "Your Highness, the scouts reported that His Highness the Prince of Qin's troops have arrived."
Li Yuanji stood up and asked, "My second brother is finally here?"
The guard nodded quickly.
Li Yuanji stared and said, "Let's go and collect the debt from him!"
In order to rescue Li Shimin, half of the troops on hand were lost, and they had to seek compensation from Li Shimin no matter what.
The guard stood in front of Li Yuanji and said with a smile: "Your Highness, His Highness the Prince of Qin sent someone to tell him that he will not see you. He asked you to lead me and others to bypass the south of Mingshui City and prepare to raid Liu Heita's tunnel."
Luo Shixin held Liu Heita's troops tightly in Mingshui City. When Li Shimin arrived with his troops, he would naturally not watch Liu Heita retreat. He had to give Liu Heita a severe blow, and it would be best if he could completely wipe out Liu Heita's troops.
Li Yuanji gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll go back and ask him for the debt!"
Li Shimin asked him to lead the troops to raid the tunnel, and he knew very well what the purpose was.
This is to let him get the credit.
The achievement is of no use to him, but it is useful to his subordinates, so he has to go.
"Go and tell the brothers to get ready. We are going to raid the tunnel."
Li Yuanji gave instructions to the guards.
The guard agreed happily and ran out quickly to pass on the message.
The guard had been with Li Yuanji for a long time and had made several contributions. He knew what Li Shimin meant when he told Li Yuanji these words at this time.
…
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[PS: ① Li Xiuning is Li Shimin's sister. Although there is no record of Li Xiuning's age in history, the age of Li Xiuning's husband Chai Shao can more or less provide some evidence of Li Xiuning's age.
Chai Shao was one year older than Li Jiancheng and eleven years older than Li Shimin. If Li Xiuning was younger than Li Shimin, then he would be one generation younger than Chai Shao.
When Chai Shao was 24, Li Xiuning was only 12?
Given Chai Shao’s family background , how could he wait until he was 24 to marry a wife?
As Li Xiuning's legitimate daughter, could Li Yuan marry her to a man one year older than her to let her suffer injustice?】
