Chapter 2236: The proposal to kill prisoners, fighting against Li Shimin
Chapter 2233: The proposal to kill prisoners, fighting against Li Shimin
After using the Tang army to easily defeat Xu Rong''s troops, Huo Qubing personally visited 15,000 iron cavalry and followed them to pursue them. He chased them for hundreds of miles before he stopped the troops, killing and capturing a large number of Tang troops.
While Huo Qubing led his army to pursue him, Gongsun Xuanyuan led his army to collect Fengxian County under the order of Huo Qubing.
Although there are only more than 2,000 defenders in Xian County, many defeated troops fled into the city. In addition, they are already prepared for the Qin army and the Qin army has no siege equipment, so they cannot attack forcefully and can only take advantage of the situation.
Gongsun Xuanyuan asked the Qin army to change into the Tang army''s uniform, disguised as the defeated Tang army, and used the unconscious Changsun Wuji to open the city gate, without abandoning the troops and one soldier to occupy the important land of Fengxian County.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Rong, Gao Siji, Shi Jingtang and other generals seemed to have expected that Dingxian County could not be defended. If they entered the city, they would easily be caught by the Qin army in one go. Therefore, they did not return to Xianxian County, but fled to Huaili City, Youfufeng Prefecture, and surrendered to Li Siyuan.
After the war, the Qin army killed a total of 8,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, 12,000 infantry, 15,000 war horses and 50,000 stagnants of military rations.
Forty thousand elite Tang troops were almost completely destroyed in this battle alone, with only more than 5,000 cavalry left, and fled to Huaili City under the leadership of generals Xu Rong, Gao Siji and other generals.
It is natural that the Qin army won such a great victory, but the damage was not large, and the total casualties were less than 3,000, which was a great victory.
Although Huo Qubing won a big victory, he also lost three thousand elite cavalry. After adding the high-intensity marching, he immediately fought two consecutive battles, and the soldiers were also a little tired, so Huo decided to rest in Wen County and continue his march.
During the rest period, the generals of the Qin army had a heated discussion on whether to kill prisoners.
Within one day, in two major battles, the Qin army defeated the Tang army in succession, and the captured Tang army also accumulated 21,000 people, but the total strength of the Qin army dropped to 35,000 due to casualties.
The Qin army had too few troops and the Tang army captured too many prisoners, which almost accounted for two-thirds of the total Qin army''s strength.
These prisoners were all elite soldiers of the Tang army, with good combat power, and were relatively loyal to Li Shimin, and it was impossible to conquer them in a short period of time.
The killing of prisoners is unknown, but if the prisoners are not killed, a large number of soldiers will be left behind to guard the prisoners of war, which will undoubtedly weaken the combat effectiveness of the Qin army.
"We cannot kill. Since we invaded Guanzhong, our army has lost five thousand iron cavalry in just one day.
Now Li Shimin must have known that Xiao Pass has been broken and Changsun Wuji was defeated and captured. He will definitely mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress our army next.
Even if the Tang army encirclement and suppression factors are removed, our army will still have to attack Wuzhangyuan and Chang''an, but how many troops will our army still consume? ”
Gongsun Xuanyuan was a staunch opposing the prisoner-killing faction. He was shocked when he heard the proposal to kill prisoners, but he also knew that it was not the Qin army''s bloodthirsty killing, but the existence of these prisoners had threatened the Qin army.
Xuanyuan talked about the generals, and opposed their reasons for killing prisoners one by one. After the generals were speechless, he said, "We can completely imitate General Li Jing and drive Tang army prisoners of war to help our army attack the city, so as to reduce the casualties of our army."
After hearing Xuanyuan''s words, many generals were persuaded to give up their plans to kill prisoners.
But Huo Qubing said, "The situation in our army is completely different from that in Li Jing''s side.
Li Jing not only has his back to Sijing and the two states, but also has an army of 140,000. The Tang army''s prisoners of war only have only 30,000. Even if the prisoners of war resist, they can easily suppress them. There is no need to worry about the prisoners of war backfire.
But what about us? The army went deep alone, with neither logistics nor retreat.
Now there are only 35,000 cavalry left, while prisoners of war are nearly two-thirds of the total force. If prisoners of war are provoked and move in chaos, it will only further reduce our army''s strength and make our army''s situation even worse. ”
After hearing Huo Qubing''s words, Xuanyuan fell silent. Their situation was indeed completely different from that of Li Jing, so it is not advisable to imitate Li Jing. Xuanyuan also knew that Huo Qubing''s words were not wrong. Killing these Tang army prisoners of war would be more beneficial than disadvantages for the Western Route Army, but he couldn''t bear it.
These are 20,000 elite soldiers, which means that 20,000 families in Guanzhong are too cruel and a pity to kill them like this.
A trace of firmness flashed in Gongsun Xuanyuan''s eyes, and he looked directly at Huo Qubing''s eyes and said, "General, please hand over these prisoners of war to the future. The general is willing to issue a military order and will reorganize these prisoners of war into a controllable force within ten days."
Huo Qubing was not a bloodthirsty general after all. Xuanyuan''s words made him very moved. After a moment of silence, he said, "Ten days are too long. Even if I am willing to wait, General Xuanyuan thinks that Tang Army will wait for you for ten days?"
"Eight days." Gongsun Xuanyuan gritted his teeth.
"Okay, one word is certain."
Huo Qubing smiled: "General Xuanyuan, there is no joke in the army. I will give you eight days."
Xuanyuan: “…”
Huo Qubing asked Xuanyuan to lead 5,000 troops to guard Wei County and be responsible for reorganizing 21,000 Tang army prisoners of war. Of course, the time was limited, only eight days.
Eight days later, whether successful or not, Xuanyuan must lead the army to join the war. If there is a problem with the reorganized prisoners of war, Xuanyuan will naturally bear the responsibility.
Two days later, Huo Qubing led 25,000 cavalry, left Wuzhangyuan, and headed towards Wuzhangyuan, intending to seize the important road leading to Chang''an first, but Wuzhangyuan had been occupied by a Tang army.
Shortly after Changsun Wuji was defeated, Li Shimin received the news that within one day, Xiaoguan and Wenxian County fell one after another, Changsun Wuji was captured, and 40,000 elite troops were defeated and only 5,000 remaining troops were left.
After learning the news, Li Shimin almost fainted and cursed in anger: Fu Ji (the word Changsun Wuji) was wronged.
After his anger, Li Shimin showed his qualities as an excellent monarch. He quickly calmed down and began to think about how to overcome this difficulty.
The Qin army that attacked Guanzhong was not infantry, but cavalry, and all cavalry.
With the mobility of the Qin cavalry, the Tang army could not catch up with the Tang army unless they took the initiative to fight with the Tang army, but the Qin army could rush and rush around in Guanzhong.
If this Qin cavalry is allowed to do evil in Guanzhong, even if the Qin army is repelled this time, the Tang Kingdom will definitely be greatly damaged.
If the Qin army invades again next time, how should the Tang Kingdom resist?
Therefore, this Qin army cavalry must be dealt with as soon as possible.
Li Shimin is worthy of being a hero of a generation. He could see at a glance that Huo Qubing''s goal was Chang''an, and he could not bypass Wuzhangyuan from the west to Chang''an, so Wuzhangyuan would be an excellent battlefield to solve this Qin army.
In Li Shimin''s view, the Qin cavalry that invaded Guanzhong was only 40,000, and now there are only 35,000 left. As long as the planning is done properly, the strength of the Tang army may not be able to be completely wiped out.
Li Shimin appointed Sima Yi as the garrison of the Yiguan, while he himself returned to Chang''an, preparing to lead the army to encircle and suppress the Qin army. This time he wanted to catch Huo Qubing in a jar.
(This chapter ends)