The heavy rain caused the main force of the Zhao army, who was advancing westward to Chang'an, to suffer difficulties in marching.

The carriage was slowly moving on the mountain road, and there was a steep cliff next to it. The soldiers did not dare to neglect the carriage and pushed it forward step by step.

It was raining heavily outside, and Li Chongjiu, Zhang Xuansu, Ji Chuan and Yu Shinan were discussing military affairs in the carriage.

Under an oil lamp, a simple sheepskin map was spread out in the car, and four people sat around.

"Duan Zhixuan was captured, and all the defenders of Jiangzhou surrendered. They did not expect to capture Jiangzhou so easily." Li Chongjiu looked at the good news sent in front of him, and after the initial surprise, he frowned instead.

Zhang Xuansu said: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is indeed a great victory."

Li Chongjiu asked: "It is understandable that Duan Zhixuan was captured and the Tang army lost its courage, but the Tang army collapsed so quickly, obviously they did not have enough confidence to defend Jiangzhou City. This Jiangzhou City is the base camp of the Li Tang Hedong Army. So is the capture of Jiangzhou equivalent to annihilation of the entire Hedong Army?"

&No&Wrong&

"Is the Tang army vulnerable, or is our army too brave and good at fighting?"

Zhang Xuansu replied: "Your Majesty, after surrendering to several generals of the Tang army, it turned out that when King Xiangwu Li Chen was the chief general of Jiangzhou, there were 30,000 Hedong Army. When Duan Zhixuan took over as chief general, his troops were transferred away by Li Shimin. At present, the Hedong Army had only more than 10,000 troops left, and none of them were elite troops at the time. They were insufficient equipment, and they were not well-fed on weekdays, and the morale of the soldiers was not high."

When Li Chongjiu heard this, he nodded and said, "I understand. If you leave so many people to guard Jiangzhou, it seems that Li Shimin really has the intention to give up Jiangzhou and fight me in Hedong. Then it is certain that Li Shimin's current elite main force is not in Hedong. Zhang Qing, where are you looking?"

Zhang Xuansu thought for a while and said, "This is not easy to judge. It may be in Tongguan, it may still be in Chang'an, and it may be in Hexi. In terms of the humble ministers, Li Shimin is not a person who is waiting to die. It may not be big in Chang'an, so either he went west to Hexi to fight with Wang Junguo's Western Army and defeated our army's main force in advance. Or he learned that our Luoyang was empty, so the army advanced east from Tongguan and took Luoyang straight to reverse the current unfavorable situation."

Listening to Zhang Xuansu's analysis, Li Chongjiu thought deeply: "So when the temple was calculated, did this situation be considered?"

Zhang Xuansu reported: "Your Majesty, we have all considered it. Whether Li Shimin led the main force of the Tang army to the west or advance east, Chang'an will inevitably be empty, so our army can only seize Chang'an. Chang'an is the heart of Guanzhong. If there was no Chang'an, the Guanlong family would not support Li Shimin."

"This may not be necessary!" Ji Chuan objected, "I heard that in the Li Tang court, due to the fatigue of Guanzhong, there had been several proposals to move the capital. I think if Li Shimin gave up Chang'an, left an empty city, deliberately led us to attack, and led the main force to capture Luoyang, or defeated Wang Jungu's Western Route Army."

Seeing that Li Chongjiu did not comment on his suggestion, Ji Chuan also said, "I heard that Li Shimin also prepared to move the queen and prince to Sichuan, and seemed to have plans to separatist the king in Sichuan and Sichuan."

Li Chongjiu heard Ji Chuan say this and asked, "Zhang Aiqing and Yu Aiqing, do you think Ji Shilang's analysis is reasonable? Will Li Shimin move the capital to avoid the edge of our army?"

Zhang Xuansu said cautiously: "Weichen believes that there is indeed a possibility. He dare not make a judgment."

Yu Shinan said: "I think it is impossible, and Li Shimin will not give up Chang'an. If this is true, Li Tang's foundation will be shaken."

Li Chongjiu said: "Yes, I think it's impossible. Based on my understanding, if Li Shimin really retreats without fighting and moves the capital to Sichuan and Sichuan for a while, he will not be Li Shimin. But what is the trend of the Tang army? When our army attacks the city of Chang'an, we will know."

After saying that, Li Chongjiu opened the car window and it rained heavily outside, and a stream of fishy and wet air rolled up inside the car.

"Where did the car go?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it's almost time to hear the joy."

Li Chongjiu said: "If you pass the order, the army will accelerate its advance. In addition, Yuchi Gong, Su Dingfang, and Luo Shixin will attack Pujin Pass. The vanguard must cross the Yellow River in three days and build a floating bridge for the army."

"promise!"

Heavy rain fell, hitting the waves that rolled eastward in the Yellow River.

In the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the waves were turbid. Hundreds of ships were descending along the river.

The two kings of Qi, Li Yuanji, and the king of Lujiang, Li Yuan, were on warships together and down the Yellow River. The 15,000 Zhao army was sitting on warships and down the river.

Build ships from the upper reaches of the Yellow River to defeat the Tang Dynasty was a suggestion made by Li Yuanji to Li Chongji, and it was adopted. At the beginning, Li Yuanji's plan was to build a fleet navy where the Fen River entered the Yellow River, and then go straight down the Yellow River, directly through the Wei River or Guangtong Canal to reach the city of Chang'an.

This water transport route was used by Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, Jin State was famine-free and shortage of grain from Qin State. Later, Qin Mugong, one of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, agreed and sent grain ships to Yongcheng, Qin Capital, to transport 10,000 hu of grain, along the Wei River to the Yellow River, and then changed to the Fen River to Jiangcheng, Jin Capital. The white sails transported the grain from Qin Capital to Jin Capital, with a water and land of 800 miles, connected from head to tail, and endlessly. Historical books call this a boating battle.

Therefore, Li Yuanji's suggestion is very insightful and is very useful for the Zhao army, who has always used water to transport troops and grain. If he transports grain by boat, this time he will eliminate the hard work of 200,000 people running on the road to transport grain for the army. When Li Chongji began to hear it, he couldn't even believe that it was the plan proposed by Li Yuanji.

Li Chongji suggested to take Li Yuanji to the Secretariat to discuss whether it was feasible. But in the end, the Secretariat rejected Li Yuanji's plan.

Because the Wei River is no longer comparable to that of the Wei River at the time, the river channel was severely silted, which was not enough for the large ship to pass by. Later, the Guangtong Canal opened by Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian was too far away and had to take a detour from Tongguan. Therefore, it was considered unfeasible to send a large army to take a boat from the upper reaches of the Yellow River to attack Chang'an.

However, after seeing Li Yuanji's plan, Zhang Xuansu was inspired and proposed a substitute plan, believing that ships could be built in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and instead attack Pujin Pass by water and land. After capturing Pujin Pass, he used warships to build a floating bridge on the Yellow River so that the army could cross the Yellow River.

This plan was appreciated by Li Chongjiu and thought it was feasible. So last year, under the instruction of Li Chongjiu, Yuchi Gong captured the three counties of Hedong and seized the entrance of the Fen River. Then Li Yuanji and Li Yuan moved to the place to build a ship.

Now Li Yuanji and Li Yuan led 10,000 troops and horses adapted from the Tang army surrendered troops, as well as Xue Wanjun and 5,000 guards, and went down on a boat and headed straight to Pujin Pass. On the other hand, the three generals of Yuchi Gong, Luo Shixin and Su Dingfang were in charge of Jiangzhou, and led 30,000 troops and horses to approach Pujin Pass by land.

Zhang Xuansu's strategic concept of land and water attack was achieved.

But for the Tang Army guard Cheng Yaojin, this is not good news. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!