Chapter 1067 Ambush at Qinshui

Yining City is located between the long and narrow Qinshui River Valley. There is a city on each side of the Qinshui River. Because this section of the river is still relatively narrow, the two cities look like one from a distance.

Previously, Jinzhou City was attacked, and Jinzhou Governor Wei Can ordered the city gates to be closed and the city to retreat and defend. Although this ensured the safety of Baima City, some soldiers and civilians in the surrounding areas of Pingyang who did not have time to enter the city were unlucky. Because they could no longer enter the city, they could only go east over the Black Water Ridge and come to Yining City to seek refuge.

As the largest city in the upper reaches of Qinshui River, Yining City is not as convenient as Jinzhou City, but its various supporting facilities are relatively intact. The two cities in the east and west can accommodate tens of thousands of people to settle and distribute, and are also important material storage and transfer centers in the Qinshui River Valley.

However, as the number of enemy troops arriving in Pingyang increased, Han Zunian, the prefect of Yining who was stationed in this city, also knew that although the two sides were still hundreds of miles apart and there was a Black Water Ridge between them, this city might not be absolutely safe.

Moreover, once the reinforcements from the east arrived, Yining City would also become the base for the army to advance. So when the people from the west came here to surrender, he evacuated them to the Shangdang area in the east, leaving only those who could participate in the defense of the city in the city.

Facts have proved that Han Zunian was also quite foresighted, because soon after, the order of Duan Shao, the King of Pingyuan, came from the east, ordering him to evacuate the families of the soldiers in the Qinshui River Valley to the Shangdang area, and to gather supplies in Yining City and prepare to receive the arrival of the army.

In order to ensure the safety of Yining City, Duan Shao first drew 5,000 soldiers from his few troops to quickly rush to Yining to assist in defending the city before the Heyang army retreated in large numbers, which also made Yining's available troops exceed 10,000.

Because there was no incompetent boss Wei Can in the city to hinder him, Han Zunian was able to give full play to his wisdom and strategy. Although Yining was not the main attack direction of the enemy, he knew that he could not relax.

Fearing that the enemy would suddenly attack the city and make it difficult to defend the city alone, he did not concentrate all his forces in the two cities of Yining, but deployed a certain number of troops along the upstream and downstream. Once the enemy suddenly attacked here, if the invading force was not large, it could be attacked from both inside and outside. If the number of the invading enemy troops was large, while the city was defending and waiting for reinforcements, the ambushes outside the city could also pretend to be a large army coming from Shangdang to scare off the enemy.

Regardless of whether Han Zunian's arrangement was clever, at least at the moment, because of his premeditated plan, the Wei army scouts misjudged his force, and there was an astonishing gap of one-third between them. If such a misunderstanding could be maintained until the Wei army officially attacked the city, it would be a great benefit to the defenders of Yining.

Li Tai led his personal troops across the Black Water Ridge and entered the Qinshui River Valley. After walking north for several miles, he saw Yining City. After a brief look, he frowned.

The location of this city is quite tricky, located just north of the Black Water Ridge. The terrain below is quite narrow and long due to the limitation of the gully ridge. The river valley is only a few miles wide at the widest point, and only a dozen feet at the nearest point, and then there are undulating hills.

In such a terrain, it is quite difficult for a large group of troops to enter the river valley, let alone capture the fortified city. When he saw the dense pine and cypress vegetation on both sides of the river valley, the word "burning the camp" suddenly appeared in Li Tai's mind!

Li Tai kept climbing up and looking at the nearby mountains around the city, but he didn't form a clear idea in his mind for a while. When his eyes swept across the guards behind him, he couldn't help but think about it and said, "What is the terrain near the thief city? You all have your own views. What are your opinions on the siege and fighting? You can speak freely!"

When he inspected Queshu Valley before, He Ruobi's response left a deep impression on him. Originally, he thought that these three guards were still young and impatient, inexperienced, and not old enough to be really useful. They were just sent as personal soldiers to serve as attendants.

But after this incident, he realized that these young people had a strong family learning atmosphere, and each of them was quite talented. They did not need to wait until a certain age to suddenly realize. The lively and unrestrained ideas and views of young people can often give people great inspiration, sometimes even better than the old minds that are used but also somewhat rigid.

For example, after Li Tai looked at the Yining City in front of him, he first looked for past battle examples worth learning from his past achievements. His mind was mainly used to focus on the differences and similarities between different battles, but he did not come up with any effective ideas based on the current battlefield environment.

After hearing Tang Gong's question, all the young people were refreshed, and then they opened their eyes wide and started thinking. Including He Ruobi, who was recruited to join the Three Guards not long ago, his thoughts were racing and he wanted to show off again.

"My Lord, the river valley in front of Yining City is narrow and the city is divided into left and right. If we attack from the front, it will be difficult for strong soldiers and heavy weapons to do anything. From what I have seen, although the ravines and ridges on both sides of this city are rugged, they are not extremely dangerous. We can send 2,000 elite soldiers to cross the mountains behind this city, take out the rear garrisons, cut off their assistance, and make the city isolated and in danger..."

Because of his successful experience of following his father through a thousand-mile path and attacking Jiexiu City, He Ruobi soon thought of a similar battle idea. At the same time, he did not forget to fight for himself and said, "If the Lord thinks this plan is feasible, I will also follow the army to attack. Now my army has invaded the enemy's land with a huge force. The Eastern enemy soldiers are all defending the city. The soldiers and civilians in the territory are shocked and suspicious. Once they bypass the border city walls and attack the interior directly, the crowd will be scared and no one dares to fight. It is better than a crazy battle!"

Li Tai didn't know what style He Ruobi used in history, but when he heard that this kid's head was full of dangerous strategies to attack the enemy's rear, he couldn't help but sigh at the great impact of the first time in life. He tasted a sweet taste in his ignorance, and he would have endless aftertastes for the rest of his life. Whenever he encountered a suitable opportunity, he wanted to repeat it again.

"The rear of Yining City is connected to the enemy's Rongzhou, Wusu and other important places, and there are also Shangdang cities, which are not easy to capture. The enemy's Fukou must be heavily armed. If they know that our division has invaded Shangdang, they will definitely move westward in large numbers. The stronger the enemy is, the more difficult it will be to defeat them."

Li Tai said here, and gave everyone some hints: "Although I am asking for advice on how to attack the city, you don't have to focus on one city or one place. Why do our army need to capture this city, and why do the enemy have to defend it, and even why this war started and how it will end. Those who don't plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region. Seeing a fallen leaf can tell that the year is about to end. The vision is limited, and the pattern needs to be big."

After hearing this, everyone thought more carefully. After a while, Gao Jiong hesitated and said: "I have thought about it and gained a little, which may not be accurate. I sincerely ask the Lord to correct me."

"Speak boldly!"

After hearing this, Li Tai smiled and encouraged.

"Yining City is located in a truly magnificent terrain. If the soldiers defending the city are determined to hold on, our army will never be able to capture the city in a hurry. Since things are difficult to decide quickly, it is better to take things slowly and calmly. The current military situation is that I am anxious to stabilize the enemy. The Lord is leading the army eastward to expand the results of the battle, and the enemy is coming west to save the city that is doomed to perish. Since we have encountered this strong city, why should we rush to the city to surrender to the enemy? It is better to stand still and wait for the enemy to leave the city to surrender to me."

After being encouraged, Gao Jiong also bravely explained his thoughts in detail: "The river valley here is narrow and it is difficult for a large army to enter. If we force ourselves to enter, there will be many hidden dangers. In order to escape from danger as soon as possible, we must attack the city by force. If we do so, it will be exactly what the stubborn enemy in the city wants.

But in fact, the large army There is no need to rush. The enemy can set up a strong city to guard Qinshui, so why can't I? We can let the troops enter in different ways, build a city along the Qinshui River, and confront the enemy by the river. I can't enter Shangdang, but the enemy will lose Pingyang! Moreover, Lord Anlu has already moved eastward to Jianzhou, where the enemy lives. After Jianzhou is conquered, our division will block the enemy's way out to the west. The main force will go south to fight in Changping, attack Shangdang, or plunder Henei and swallow Heluo. How can the enemy stop it? "

Li Tai listened with interest at first, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He was sure that he had not revealed the core strategic plan to these three guards, but Gao Jiong's mouth was chattering, and he almost shook out all his sinister thoughts!

However, Gao Jiong's idea was a bit too optimistic and underestimated the enemy's reaction intensity. Although the Northern Qi was in a passive state strategically, it did not mean that its monarchs, ministers and soldiers had completely lost their subjective initiative. Not long ago, Hulugu attacked the rear of Hedong.

But this idea is also worthy of affirmation, especially that I will not go to the thieves but let the thieves come to me. Since you are more anxious, then you should move more.

After listening to the two people's suggestions, Li Tai couldn't help but sigh that the children of the poor have grown up early. Although He Ruobi's ideas were more radical and Gao Jiong's ideas were a bit conservative, they all had one thing in common, that is, since the city in front of them could not be knocked down head-on, then I would not knock it down first, and put aside the plan of strong attack, and choose other methods to control you!

Appropriate detours and giving up are a kind of wisdom. Many people have experienced countless lessons and have been hit and bleeding, but they may not understand this truth. If you only know how to act recklessly, then you will be a waste of blood. However, if a general does not know how to be practical and adapt to local conditions, the price will be much greater.

"Then there is no need to rush to attack the city. First, choose a place downstream to build a city, so that the division and the enemy can hold off by the river!"

The main purpose of Li Tai's leading the army eastward at this time was to control the Qinshui River Valley, so that Yang Zhong could focus on attacking Jianzhou. Yining City was only a fortress upstream of Qinshui River. Restricting its troops to the north of Heishui Ridge and not going south would not affect the Wei army's occupation and control of the Qinshui River Valley downstream.

After returning to the temporary camp on the west side of Heishui Ridge, Li Tai arranged for his soldiers to go to the Qinshui River Valley below Yining City to choose a place to build a city. However, the appropriate location had not been selected yet, and the team that went to investigate reported that a considerable number of enemy troops were found downstream of Qinshui River!

Li Tai was shocked when he learned about this. Could it be that the enemy had already seen through his strategic plan and was just pretending to lure Yang Zhong's troops eastward and then ambush them in the Qinshui River Valley to cut off their retreat?

For a moment, he did not have time to weigh the pros and cons and hurriedly sent thousands of elite soldiers from the mountains on the south side of the Black Water Ridge into the Qinshui River Valley and charged towards the direction where the enemy was found. Otherwise, the enemy might cut off the Qinshui River and tens of thousands of divisions and brigades would be lost in Jianzhou!