Chapter 1977 Tang Army Withdraws


    Chapter 1975: Tang Army Withdraws


    It is actually normal for Li Shimin to be cowardly. After all, the situation has reversed instantly. If he continues to do so, it would be a slight search for death.


    The Tang army in Wuguan and Tongguan merged and before breaking through Hangu Pass, a total of 150,000 troops led to Sizhou.


    At that time, the Qin army had only 90,000 troops, of which 30,000 were new soldiers.


    Therefore, at the beginning of the Sizhou War, the Tang army had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength.


    But as the war progressed and the casualties intensified, the total strength of the Tang army had dropped to 130,000.


    As for the Qin army, although its military strength is also declining, and the decline is greater than that of the Tang army, the total strength has dropped to 60,000, and nearly one-third of the troops have been lost and injured, it cannot withstand the Qin army''s profound heritage, and any reinforcements start at 200,000.


    Now 200,000 Hebei Qin Army and 30,000 Hetao Qin Army cavalry are about to arrive in Sizhou. Adding to the 60,000 Qin Army local to Sizhou, which means that the total strength of the Qin army in Sizhou is about to reach 290,000.


    You should know that the total strength of the Li Tang country plus the county militia was only barely 300,000. In addition to the troops that were used to guard the various places and guard against the major princes and could not be mobilized, at most, 150,000 troops could only be dispatched to conquer the four directions.


    The main force of the Qin army was still in Hebei. Just using a partial army, he gathered nearly 300,000 troops, which was equivalent to the size of the entire Li Tang, which made Li Shimin very envious.


    In other words, the Tang army is about to face the 290,000 Qin army twice as many as its own, and the other side is on the defensive, and the attacking side is the attacking side.


    How can I fight this battle?


    As one goes up and down, Li Tang must quickly eat up the 60,000 Qin troops in Sizhou and occupy the major cities of Heluo to have the capital to continue to fight against the Qin army. Otherwise, it would be just a mantis arm to get the chariot, and it would never be a rival to the Qin army.


    But the Qin army in Sizhou hid in the city again, and it would never be possible to give up the advantage and go out of the city to fight the Tang army. They wanted to eat it in one bite before the Qin reinforcements arrived? This is almost impossible to accomplish.


    The current situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Tang army, but the one that poses the greatest threat to the Tang army is not the 200,000 Hebei Qin Army, but Zhao Yun''s 30,000 Hetao Iron Cavalry.


    The 30,000 Hetao cavalry led by Zhao Yun was obviously coming to cut off the Tang army''s retreat, but the Tang army had no way to deal with it.


    If you want to stop the Hetao Qin cavalry, which won 100,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry, you must dispatch 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, but Li Tang did not have 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry? It is impossible to divide the troops here.


    The Tang army is now roughly divided into three parts in Sizhou. 30,000 is led by Zhao She to surround Yiyang, 40,000 is led by Li Keyong to siege Absolutely, and the last 60,000 army is led by Li Shimin to attack Luoyang.


    The Tang army''s troops were already scattered enough. If they continued to divide the troops, they would only further weaken their combat power, and the Qin army would find the opportunity to defeat them one by one.


    In general, Zhao Yun''s 30,000 cavalry was a sharp sword hanging above his head for the Tang army.


    Originally, even if the Tang army could not occupy Sizhou, they could still retreat to Guanzhong and defend the dangers of Tongguan. Even if the Qin army had twice the strength of the Tang army, they could only sigh at Guan and could not do anything to the Tang army.


    But Zhao Yun''s 30,000 Hetao cavalry broke this balance.


    If you want to stop Zhao Yun’s cavalry, you must divide the troops, and once the troops are divided, the situation will be even more dangerous.


    But if you don’t stop it, you will definitely be cut off by Zhao Yun’s cavalry. At that time, the 130,000 Tang troops in Sizhou would not be able to retreat even if they wanted to retreat.


    If you really get to that point, the 130,000 Tang army would probably follow the footsteps of the Liangzhou coalition and be eaten completely by the 290,000 Qin army.


    I have to say that this is a dilemma. No matter which one is chosen, for Li Tang, the conquest of Sizhou is doomed to fail. The difference is just a matter of how much military force is lost.


    After a night of deep thought, Li Shimin still divided his troops to stop Zhao Yun. He could not accept the failure of this operation. According to the conclusion that the strong are strong, if Li Tang cannot defeat Sizhou this time, it will be even more impossible for the Qin army to digest Hebei.


    By then, the national strength of Qin and Tang will be completely opened up, and Li Tang will always lose the opportunity to grow. What should be considered is no longer external expansion, but how to avoid being destroyed under the offensive of the defeated Qin army.


    Based on this consideration, Li Shimin decided to fight and give up completely. He would die in Luoyang if he didn''t defeat Luoyang.


    When he learned that Li Shimin decided to burn his boat, Li Kui and other senior executives of Li Tang were shocked. Li Tang was still far from the end of his life. No one could tell the truth about the future. There was no need to fight against Qianjun at this time.


    The unanimous persuasion of Li Tang''s senior executives shook Li Shimin''s determination, but the person who really made him give up was Sima Yi.


    After Sima Yi learned about it, he was shocked by Li Shimin''s boldness and admired his courage.


    He was unwilling to withdraw his troops at this point, which shows the courage and courage of this king. Unfortunately, there are too many heroes in this era, and even a wise monarch like Li Shimin cannot lead the way.


    Sima Yi persuaded Li Shimin for two hours from multiple perspectives such as military, politics, and the general trend of the world, so that Li Shimin gave up the decision to divide the troops and decided to give up all the results of the war and temporarily retreated to Guanzhong.


    In Sima Yi''s opinion, this was the wisest decision, but he had no idea what it means to Li Shimin now.


    This means that in the confrontation with Qin Hao, Li Shimin completely lost, and in the future, he could only lower Qin Hao and rely on Qin Hao''s breath.


    This is undoubtedly an extremely painful decision for Li Shimin, who has always wanted to defeat Qin Hao.


    "Retreat the troops. If you continue to fight, it will only increase casualties. Before the Qin army''s Hebei reinforcements arrived, it is better to retreat to Guanzhong as soon as possible."


    After saying this, Li Shimin seemed to have been exhausted, and his whole body seemed to have been aged a few years.


    The generals of the Tang army breathed a sigh of relief and said in unison: "My wise lord."


    After all, if you withdraw your troops, you won’t have to face the 200,000 Hebei Qin army. They only have 60,000 troops in Luoyang and have no strong city to defend. They cannot be the opponent of the 200,000 Qin army.


    In this way, Li Shimin led a 65,000 army to raid Luoyang, but while the Qin army was in civil strife, it still failed to occupy Luoyang, but instead left 5,000 corpses.


    Li Shimin led 60,000 Tang troops to retreat, and did not retreat from Luoyang, but instead retreated from Sizhou after joining Zhao She and Li Keyong.


    In Luoyang, after learning that the Tang army had withdrawn, the senior executives of the Qin army were in a rage.


    The radical faction led by Qin Prosecutors and the chief advocated to lead the troops out of the city, delaying the Tang army''s retreat speed, and when the reinforcements arrived, swallowing the 60,000 Tang troops in one bite.


    The conservatives led by Qin Ji and Sima Cuo believe that Luoyang''s troops are too weak and they have no qualifications to go out of the city to fight the Tang army, even if it is delayed.


    Once the troops are sent out of the city, Luoyang''s troops will be even thinner, and it is likely to attract the Tang army back then.


    The troops in Luoyang City are still too few, and the risk of sending troops to stop the Tang army is too great, so the conservatives in the end had the upper hand.


    Li Shimin, who was already unwilling to accept it, was looking forward to the Qin army leaving the city to pursue the Tang army. Seeing that Luoyang did not send troops to pursue, he was naturally disappointed and could only dispel the last expectation in his heart.


    At the same time, an elite cavalry of 40,000, led by Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Xiao Yan and other generals, rushed towards Luoyang as quickly as possible.


    ? Guaranteed.


    ??


    ?


    (This chapter ends)