To the north of Xinping County, in the boundless wilderness, the main force of the 80,000 Sui army was slowly moving. Just as Li Shimin put the most elite 50,000 Tang troops beside him, the 80,000 troops brought by Yang Yuanqing were also the most elite Sui army, including 6,000 Modao heavy armored infantry and 5,000 heavy armored cavalry.

The Tang army camp stood on a slightly raised high ground, about ten miles in a radius, and a small river flowed through Zuoying. The camp was built in a wall-like shape, about two meters high. The soldiers patroled and watched the walls.

On the high wall, King Zhao Li Xuanba and General Yuchi Gong were watching the Sui army camp five miles away. Under the clear sky, they could see it clearly that the Sui army soldiers were busy building the wall, but they had not completed the construction of the camp.

"Why don't you rush up and beat them up?"

Li Xuanba pointed at the Sui army camp with a whip. His tone was extremely dissatisfied. Since the last time he was injured in Hulao Pass, he had no chance to go to the battlefield. The news of the Tang army's repeated defeats forced him to go crazy. He wanted to lead an army to Taiyuan and kill Yang Yuanqing and all the Sui officials to relieve his hatred.

But after Li Xiaogong was killed, Li Xuanba became silent as if he had become a different person. He often flashed the fierce light of hatred in his eyes. Hatred accumulates in his heart day by day. He was waiting, waiting for the moment of revenge.

At this moment, he saw the Sui army camp, and the fire of revenge began to burn in his heart and could no longer be suppressed. He turned around and ran into the camp. Yuchi Gong was afraid that he would make a mistake, so he followed him.

In the camp, Li Shimin was pondering in front of the sand table. He received scout information. The Sui army had only 80,000 people. There were obviously 150,000 troops, so where did the other 70,000 people go? He felt a bad feeling in his heart. Although there was a Sui army on the Tongguan Road, with flags covering the sky, Li Shimin believed that this was the Sui army bluffing, with only 10,000 or 20,000 people at most.

Could it be...Li Shimin knew the weakness of the Tang army in Guanzhong. What he was most worried about was the weak defense of Guandong, and there were only 30,000 troops on the front line of Tongguan and Pujinguan. If the Sui army really went south from the Luoshui Road to Fengyi County and seized the rear route of the eastern line, the situation in Guandong would be worrying.

Fang Xuanling next to him saw that Li Shimin had been staring at Fengyi County. He understood his concerns, "Your Highness, Bei Zhi is also worried about the Eastern Front."

Li Shimin turned around suddenly and stared at Fang Xuanling, "Do you also think Yang Yuanqing will divide his troops south to Fengyi County?"

Fang Xuanling nodded, "The key is that the current commander of the Sui army is Yang Yuanqing, not Qin Qiong. Qin Qiong will not divide troops into the Eastern Front, and the Eastern Front is not his war zone, but Yang Yuanqing is different. He is considering the overall situation. If he finds that the Eastern Front is weak, he will definitely consider it, and now his troops have significantly reduced..."

Fang Xuanling didn't continue, but the meaning was very obvious. Yang Yuanqing must have sent troops to the Eastern Front. Li Shimin's eyes showed an unconcealed anxiety. If the Eastern Front was broken and the Sui army drove straight into Guanzhong and headed straight to Chang'an, then what's the point of his stay here?

It's like a bucket. No matter how strong the other place is, as long as there is a problem in one of them, the water in the bucket will also flow.

"Sir, what should we do?" Li Shimin was a little confused. He didn't know what to do.

Fang Xuanling sighed slightly. "There are not many choices now. If you have to make a choice, then I can list three strategies."

"Sir, please say it!"

"The best strategy is that Your Highness will fight quickly with the Sui army, defeat Yang Yuanqing's troops as soon as possible, and then quickly rescue the Eastern Front. The middle strategy is that the Chang'an defenders will attack and send 50,000 troops to reinforce the Eastern Front, so that the Eastern Front will increase the strength of the Eastern Front to 80,000, which may be able to withstand the Sui army's attack on the Eastern Front. The worst strategy is that the Tang army will give up Guanzhong on the entire front, withdraw back to Chang'an, and defend Chang'an City."

Li Shimin shook his head, "The worst strategy is not to be considered first. Although the middle line is the best, the prince is willing to give in. Besides, the father is in charge of elbows. I estimate that at most 30,000 troops will be divided into 10,000 troops to guard the bronze official road. Then, at most 50,000 troops will be defended on the eastern line. Can we persist?"

"Your Highness means that you can only choose the best strategy?" Fang Xuanling understood Li Shimin's meaning.

A bitter expression appeared on Li Shimin's face, "It should be said that only the best strategy is to be in my hands, but..."

Li Shimin slowly walked to the gate of the big tent and stared at the Sui army camp in the northeast, as if he was talking to himself, "The decisive battle between the two armies should focus on stability. If the battle is rushed, it will be less than the loss and ultimately lead to failure. Where should I go?"

At this moment, he suddenly saw his third brother Xuan Ba ​​running towards the big tent like a gust of wind. The people on both sides could not stop him, and Yuchi Gong was followed behind him. Li Shimin frowned. What happened?

"Don't stop him, let him come in directly!" Li Shimin immediately ordered his personal soldiers.

After a moment, Li Xuanba rushed into the central army's tent and shouted: "Second brother, the Sui army is building a large camp. If you don't take this opportunity to attack the Sui army, when will you wait?"

"Don't yell like that!"

Li Shimin was extremely unhappy and said, "I know whether to attack or not, and I don't want you to teach me."

"Your Highness!"

Fang Xuanling next to him whispered: "We should understand King Zhao's anxious mood."

He was actually hinting that King Zhao was not annoyed, so he should not anger him. Li Shimin nodded and said to Li Xuan: "Wait for a moment, I will lead the troops to take a look with you."

At this time, Yuchi Gong also entered the camp, and Li Shimin immediately ordered him, "Order 15,000 horse and infantry troops and go out to plunder."

The crisis of the situation on the Eastern Front made it impossible for Li Shimin to confront the Sui army for a long time, but he did not want to fight hastily, so he decided to fight a tentative battle with the Sui army first.

The civil war drums of the Tang army camp rumbled and the camp gate opened. The cavalry and infantry rushed out of the camp quickly, with flags waving and overwhelming. They quickly sorted out the camp and began to line up to head towards the Sui army camp.

Although the Sui army camp was still under construction, its defense was very tight. There were 6,000 cavalry specifically to defend against the Tang army's sneak attacks. Yang Wei was commanded. When the civil war drums of the Tang army camp sounded, the Sui army sentries immediately blew the horn to the sky.

‘Woo--’

With the sound of horns, six thousand cavalrymen rushed out of the camp. Under Yang Wei's leadership, they lined up to defend in front of the camp. Six thousand spears were blowing the ground and the murderous aura was boiling. Immediately afterwards, four thousand heavy crossbow troops also rushed out of the camp, raised a giant crossbow in front of the cavalry, and aimed at the slowly approaching Tang army.

Yang Yuanqing had already received a report, and he immediately led 10,000 horse infantry out of the camp to fight. In contrast to the Tang army, Yang Yuanqing was not in a hurry to fight the Tang army. He was waiting for the change in the battle situation on the eastern front.

The Sui army had 150,000 troops on the Eastern Front. Li Jing, Qin Qiong and Pei Xingyan were all the main generals, but the opponent's main general was Li Shentong, with only 30,000 troops. Even if the troops were increased, it would have a maximum of 50,000 or 60,000 troops. It was far from confronting the Sui army. It was only a matter of time to break through the Eastern Front.

As long as the Sui army entered Guanzhong from the east, Li Shimin would not be able to defend it and would inevitably retreat to Chang'an. At this time, it was a good opportunity for the Sui army to launch a large-scale attack. Even if Li Shimin was resourceful, the situation was hopeless and he would not be able to make the situation come true.

In this case, Yang Yuanqing did not necessarily use any surprise weapons, nor did he need to attack or fight at night. As long as he takes every step and defends without any leakage, Li Shimin will undoubtedly be defeated in this battle.

"Your Highness, the Tang army seems to have realized the crisis on the Eastern Front."

Luo Shixin next to him smiled and said, "He is coming to fight so soon."

Yang Yuanqing watched Tang Jun approaching slowly, shook his head, "The other party has only ten thousand troops, obviously it's just a test, don't fight them."

He immediately ordered: "Retract the cavalry and transfer three thousand crossbowmen to the formation!"

Yang Yuanqing's army was as orderly as mountains. Although Yang Wei was eager to fight the Tang army, he did not dare to resist the order and led 6,000 cavalry to slowly retreat back to the camp. At the same time, three thousand crossbowmen came out from the camp, deployed behind the giant crossbowmen and aimed at the Tang army.

At this time, the Tang army had already arrived two miles away, consisting of five thousand cavalry and five thousand infantrymen. Li Shimin was wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, holding a wolf-toothed spear in his hand. He was also famous generals on both sides of him, including Li Xuanba, Yuchi Gong, Li Junxian, Lu Zushang, Hou Junji, Liu Hongji, etc.

In contrast, Yang Yuanqing has not many famous generals around him, only Luo Shixin, Yang Wei, Niu Jinda, Xue Wanche, etc., but this also shows that Yang Yuanqing's famous generals have been distributed all over the country. Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Pei Xingyan is on the eastern front, Xu Shiji is on the southern front, Wang Junke is on the Bashu, and Xie Yingdeng is on the Jingxiang.

Li Shimin stared at the Sui army from afar and it was obvious that the Sui army deployed a large number of crossbow troops in the front, but did not want to fight with him. This further confirmed his speculation. The Sui army's center of gravity had already been placed on the eastern front, and this side became the main focus of guarding.

"Second brother, let me attack the Sui army formation!" Li Xuanba held two sledgehammers in his hand, and was anxious and screamed to ask for a fight.

"Are you a stubborn person?"

Li Shimin finally couldn't bear it anymore and angrily scolded this stupid brother, "There are seven or eight thousand crossbows in the Sui army. Can you avoid it? Shoot you into a hornet's nest, and you won't scream."

Li Xuanba was scolded and bowed his head. Yuchi Gong couldn't bear it and stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, if you withdraw your troops back to the camp like this, it will inevitably affect your morale. It is better to lead a army to attack the Sui army from the south, disperse the defenses of the Sui army, and then we will attack from the front."

Li Shimin stared at the Sui army for a long time and finally sighed, "So what can we do when the attack is? We only have 10,000 troops. Can we still defeat the Sui army? If the troops are not favorable, it will shake the morale of the army even more."

He immediately ordered: "Get out the troops and return to the camp!"

The Tang army retreated and slowly retreated. At this time, Li Shimin waved and called Liu Hongji, and whispered to him: "The main business of the Sui army is in Luojiao County. The grain and grass transportation line is long. You can lead 5,000 cavalry to send troops tonight to attack the Sui army's grain and grass transportation line. If possible, burn me the main business of the Sui army's logistics."

At this point, Li Shimin could only use surprise troops to deal with the Sui army. Cutting off the Sui army's food and grass logistics may be a solution.

......
Chapter completed!