August 18, the third year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty.

At the invitation of Yu Culture and the invitation, Li Chongjiu announced that he would send troops to attack Liu Heita.

Li Chongjiu appointed Yuchi Gong and Xue Wanjun as the chief and deputy generals of the Western Route Army, and ordered the two to lead 10,000 troops from Taiyuan County to send troops.

Guo Xiaoke suddenly became the chief and deputy general of the Eastern Army, leading 10,000 soldiers from the troops of Dingling, and 5,000 Han troops attacked Bohai County and sent troops to cut off the right wing of the Xia army.

Xu Shiji was the vanguard and the general of the Central Army. He led 10,000 prefecture troops and 10,000 village troops to send troops from Boling County to attack Gaoyang City, Hejian County.

The three armies led the first wave of troops, while Li Chongjiu led 30,000 elite Zhao troops, as well as Ying Hefu, and the 50,000 grassland cavalry led by him to advance in turn. More than 100,000 troops spread from east to west, from north to south, and then spread out in turn. The entire Hebei land was full of flags covering the sun and gongs and drums.

Since Emperor Yang of Sui attacked Liaodong, there has been no such great war in Hebei.

Near Gaoyang City, Hejian County, war horses galloped on the road with compact loess.

The Yima used by the Xia army as the preacher was panting, and the horses were immediately beaten by the messenger, trying to make the Yima run faster.

The war horse was foaming from its mouth, and it was exhausted. From this, it can be seen how urgent the letter sent by the messenger had reached.

When he arrived in front of a hill, he suddenly rode his horse, but from the woods beside the hill, the sound of a string of bows and crossbows, the messenger and his horse were shot to the ground by arrows flying out of the woods. The messenger's right chest was penetrated by arrows, and he fell to the ground and his mouth was twitching with blood.

Several people in the woods walked out with crossbows on their backs. One of them, the messenger, shot into the vital point and obviously couldn't survive. He immediately pulled out the dagger and stabbed it, and ended the other party.

Then the message tube behind the messenger fell into the hands of the burly man led by these people. The man took out the message tube and looked at it, and sneered, "Gao Yaxian wants to ask for help from Mingzhou, but unfortunately it's too late."

After saying that, several people immediately treated the messenger and Yima's corpses, buried the blood in sand, and it seemed that nothing had happened on the earth path.

The city entrance of Gaoyang City.

Gao Yaxian asked Su Dingfang: "Have you gone to the messenger who asked Mingzhou for help?"

"Yes, I have already gone to the third wave, and they are all taken differently."

Gao Yaxian nodded and said, "Very good."

After saying that, Gao Yaxian looked down at the city. The flying flag of Zhao army was written on the flag with the word Xu.

Gao Yaxian knew that the opponent was Xu Shiji, the general of Zhao army who gave the Xia army a fatal blow during the Battle of Yishui.

Su Dingfang stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, saying, "Li Chongjiu's main army is probably just leaving Youjing. Xu Shiji has only 20,000 troops. The child wants to go down and fight, which will slash Xu's spirit."

Gao Yaxian glanced at Su Dingfang and said affirmatively: "Yes, Xu Shiji is a famous general, so he expected that our army would trap the lonely city because of his concern for his momentum. The most silence of defending the city is the most silenced. You go down and kill for a while, and then smash the Zhao army's spirit. It's also good."

"Get orders!"

Su Dingfang laughed and immediately led 300 confidant cavalry to the urn city and waited patiently.

Suddenly, the city gate in the urn city opened, and Su Dingfang led 300 cavalry out of the war horses. The sound of gongs came from the Zhao army camp. Several teams of light cavalry responsible for the guards retreated to the guards who were repairing the camp to guard.

Su Dingfang waved an iron spear. The cavalry under his command raised their bows and arrows and shot a rain of arrows at the Zhao army camp.

The soldiers of the Zhao army ran away and avoided each other, and there was some chaos in the camp. When the crossbowmen attacked, Su Dingfang had already led the light cavalry to escape.

On the hill next to Gaoyang City, the Xu-character flag fluttered suddenly.

Xu Shiji looked at the city silently and suddenly asked to his left and right: "Who is this enemy general?"

All the generals didn't know that, but they saw this light cavalry rushing left and right outside their camp. The cavalry guarded by the Zhao army wanted to expel them, but they were always avoided or defeated by counterattacks.

Xu Shiji said, "Beat the drum and ordered the soldiers to retreat to Zuohou Camp."

The generals on both sides were in an uproar when they heard this and said, "Our army is about to retreat when they first arrive. Isn't it a sign of weakness to the enemy?"

Xu Shiji glanced at him and said, "Do as I said!"

The generals dared not to disobey and said immediately: "Promise."

Soon Su Dingfang won the victory and returned to the city. The city walls on the city and the Xia soldiers inside the sheep and horse walls outside the city cheered and celebrated, and raised their spears to pay tribute.

Su Dingfang came to the top of the city and clasped his fists at Gao Yaxian and said, "Father, you didn't embarrass you!"

Gao Yaxian nodded and said calmly: "I had two thousand ambushed in Dongcheng just now. If Xu Shiji stayed in the camp and fought to the death, I would order a robbery. I did not expect that he would abandon the camp. His use of troops was really hard to understand."

Su Ding Yan said: "Anyway, we will win the battle first."

Gao Yaxian said, "Let's wait and see. Gaoyang is the gateway to the north of our Xia Kingdom. As long as we hold under the city for half a month, why can Li Chongjiu go south hundreds of miles to capture Mingzhou?"

Wei County, Lin Lushan, Tang Army Camp.

Shandong Dao Pacification Ambassador Li Shentong, Deputy Envoy Cui Mingan, and two Li Yuan personally sent reinforcements, Li Daozong, Li Shenfu, Li Shenfu, and Xiangzhou Governor Wang Deren, were having dinner together. Because Li Shentong liked brocade clothes and delicious food, even when he was in the army, he brought his chef team in Chang'an, cooked dishes with the army, and cooked his favorite tastes.

Therefore, the five people enjoyed a very sumptuous lunch.

But then, a military newspaper destroyed Li Shentong's mood for dining.

Zhao army generals Yuchi Gong and Xue Wanjun led 10,000 troops from Jingxing to cross Taihang Mountain and appeared in Hengshan County. It was obvious that they wanted to go directly to Xindu, the hinterland of Xia State. But it would be fine if Yuchi Gong and Xue Wanjun attacked the Xia army, but they just went along the way to send troops to break the Gucheng of Zhao County in Li Tang, and wiped out all the two thousand troops stationed by the Tang army in Gucheng.

This is equivalent to stepping on Li Shentong's face that was left in Hebei.

"It's too presumptuous. Li Chongjiu didn't take me Li Shentong seriously. Aren't he afraid of fighting on both sides?" Li Shentong was furious.

What kind of behavior is this? Li Chongjiu dispatched a large army to attack Liu Heita. When the Xia army was fighting to the decisive battle, he was not afraid of making enemies with Li Tang, so he captured Li Tang's important town along the way. The Shandong Tang army led by Li Shentong almost became a soft persimmon, and everyone could come up to grab it.

"It's so presumptuous," Li Shenfu, the younger brother of Li Shentong, made a name for himself and said, "Brother, Li Chongjiu is determined to be a tyrant. He has gotten into trouble with us, Li Tang. Instead of doing this, it's better not to attack Yu Wenji, and simply raise an army north to fight alongside Liu Heita."

When Li Shentong heard this, hesitated and asked back, "Where has Li Chongjiu's grassland cavalry been?"

Cui Min Gan Yan said, "It must be a follow-up. This time, Li Chongjiu even dispatched Yuchi Gong and Xue Wanjun, who were guarding Taiyuan, and he was determined. I think with the grassland cavalry, the Zhao army would have more than 100,000 people going south."

"There are more than 100,000 people," said Wang Deren, the governor of Xiangzhou, and changed his color when he heard this. "I heard that Li Chongjiu was on the grassland last time, in order to suppress the rebellious tribe, he even did not hesitate to offend the Turks and fought a battle. Now, all the heroes in the world dare to turn against the Turks, and only Li Chongjiu is the only one."

Seeing Wang Deren showing a timid look, Li Shentong showed disdain. In his eyes, Wang Deren was a speculator. When this man killed Fang Yanzao, the ambassador of Li Mi, and detested Li Mi, he surrendered to Tang with Yuan Zigan, the commander of Wu'an County. Later, Liu Heita conquered Mingzhou, Yuan Zigan surrendered, and Wang Deren was a little swaying. If the Li Tang army had not come this time, this man would have surrendered Liu Heita long ago.

Wang Deren said, "If Li Chongjiu had more than 100,000 troops behind him, I am afraid that with our Li Tang's troops in Hanoi, we would have no way to deal with it. We need to ask Chang'an for reinforcements."

"Daozong, what do you think?" Li Shentong asked Li Daozong, who had been silent.

Li Daozong was very young and was a rising star among the royal family that Li Yuan also relied very much on. Li Zongdao was always calm and sophisticated and said, "Although Li Chongjiu was invincible this time, he had to fight to decide Hebei and defeat Liu Heita. I don't think it's that fast."

"How do you say it?" Li Shen informed his nephew that he had always said something lightly, but he would definitely hit it. Since he would say that, he would be sure to say it.

Li Daozong said, "First of all, Liu Heita is a famous general in Hebei, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command to defend Mingzhou. It is not easy for Li Chongjiu to defeat Mingzhou. Second, Li Chongjiu wants to go south to defeat Mingzhou, so he cannot avoid Gaoyang City, the gateway to Hebei. Gaoyang City is in the hands of the Xia army one day, and Li Chongjiu is like a thorn in his throat. The one who stationed Gaoyang City is Gao Yaxian and Su Dingfang's 10,000 troops. As long as Gao Yaxian does not surrender, Li Chongjiu suddenly wants to capture Gaoyang City. It is not easy. You must know that in the last battle of Yishui, more than a dozen troops of Xia army were defeated. Li Chongjiu intends to take advantage of the situation to sweep Hebei. As a result, Liu Heita is under Gaoyang City for half a month, and Li Chongjiu has to withdraw his troops."

When everyone heard Li Daozong say this, he suddenly realized it.

Li Shentong smiled and said, "It's right. Regardless of whether Gaoyang City is broken or not, Gaoyang Jiancheng is enough to destroy the spirit of the Zhao army. Liu Heita can calmly go north from Mingzhou to clear the siege of Xindu, or defeat Li Chongjiu's army on the east road of Bohai County. Then the strategy of splitting and attacking promoted by the Zhao army is just a joke."

Li Daozong said: "When it comes to power, Liu Heita is enough to fight against Li Chongjiu, but I am not worried about anything else. The only thing I worry about is how many generals in each city of the Xia army can be instigated by Li Chongjiu?"

While the generals were discussing, a messenger suddenly entered the room and said to Li Shentong: "Hebei urgently reported that Liu Heita has sent troops!"

No one expected that Li Daozong would hit the point and suddenly rose up. Li Shentong threw his cloak back and kicked the table and asked, "How many troops are sent? Where are we going?"

"Liu Heita led 20,000 elite Mingzhou to send troops to Xindu."

All the generals walked to the map together.
Chapter completed!