Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 309: His Majesty Li II, who has hidden his merits and fame
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

In Li Ming's study in Pingzhou.

Zhang Sun Wuji was trying hard to persuade His Majesty Li Ming, trying to convince his great nephew to revoke his absurd order.

That is to adopt Li Jing's third plan, which was to retreat completely, return to Qizhou, and give up all the land gained in this war.

That is, the prosperous land of Central Plains on the south bank of the Yellow River was the key that enabled the Ming Dynasty to completely suppress the Tang Dynasty.

You've clearly seen through the other party's strategy, so why are you still slipping into such a downward spiral?

"The Central Plains is the important economic lifeline of the Tang Dynasty. As long as we can occupy it over time, the enemy will collapse without a fight.

"Now the enemy's strategy has been cracked, the location of the main force of the 60,000 Tang troops has been determined, and they are under constant surveillance, leaving no room for surprise attacks.

"Your Majesty, why do you still insist on withdrawing your troops, giving up all the advantages you have accumulated in the early stages, and retreating to the Qizhou front?"

Changsun Wuji's voice sounded almost pleading.

He was not questioning the wise and powerful Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

He was just very confused.

The Qizhou line is basically the border line before the war.

After fighting for a long time and clearly reaching the fountain, why did they suddenly retreat to the first tower?
This uncle-in-law who changed his job late really wanted Li Ming to win, and was more enthusiastic about it than the other 14 core members of the treacherous party who had been there from the beginning to the end.

It was precisely because he was a latecomer that he jumped off the Tang Dynasty's train and boarded the Ming Dynasty's pirate ship.

If the Ming ship ran aground, wouldn't that make him look stupid?

However, Zhangsun Wuji first rebelled against Li Chengqian and then rebelled against the three slave families of the Tang Dynasty. He felt that his historical evaluation could not be any better.

If the Tang Dynasty still wins in the end, Li Chengqian wins.

Then Chang Sun Wuji should not worry about any historical evaluation, because he himself will soon become history.

What is more terrifying than the sharp rise in the price of the stocks he dumped is that the stocks that he abandoned will come to him to seek revenge.

Chang Sun Wuji asked himself, no matter how magnanimous the two emperors Li Shimin and Li Chengqian were, they would certainly not tolerate a traitor like him.

Therefore, for his own sake, Changsun Wuji had no choice more than the other fourteen traitors. He had to do his best to completely crush the Tang Dynasty and help Li Ming take the throne.

This inevitably affected his mentality and made him restless.

"Lord Changsun, calm down. His Majesty has his reasons for making this decision."

Fang Xuanling calmly drank a cup of tea and took every opportunity to poke his old rival.

After receiving a roll of the eyes from the other party, Lao Fang raised his lips slightly and turned to ask Li Ming:
"Then may I ask, Your Majesty, do you have any other concerns? I hope you can help us solve some of these doubts."

Li Ming's eyes still stayed on the map, and he instructed the two people:

"Take the map off the wall for me."

The huge map was spread on the ground like a carpet. Li Ming lay on it and drew a circle west of Zhengzhou with a pen.

"Li Shiji's troops are here. There are 60,000 of them in total. They are all the most elite troops of the Tang Dynasty."

Then he drew another circle in Luozhou.

"This is the garrison of Dongdu, led by Li Daliang. The Tang army used these inferior troops to hold back Li Jing's troops.

"Then further west is Cheng Zhijie's garrison troops on the ancient Xiaoshan Road, guarding Hangu Pass and Tongguan. Then there is the Beiya Imperial Guard camp in the capital, led by Ashina She'er..."

Li Ming circled the Tang army's deployment plans one by one on the map.

These precious military intelligences were collected by the intelligence agencies of Yuchi Xunyu, Lai Junchen, Di Renjie and Zhi Shi Buzhen, who spent tremendous energy and wisdom and risked their lives.

"This basically covers all the generals and major military forces in the current Tang army camp. It is very detailed."

Fang Xuanling nodded admiringly and said:

“But Your Majesty, judging from the deployment map, the Tang army is in a clear defensive posture, and the force that poses the greatest threat to the front line is Li Shiji’s 60,000 elite troops.

"You made the decision to withdraw all troops based on these. Isn't that a bit too cautious?"

“There doesn’t seem to be any threat from the other side. If Your Majesty wants to be cautious, you can retreat a little and give up one or two states.

"Why should I spit out everything I ate all at once?" Changsun Wuji rubbed his chin anxiously.

Now the two mature and steady old men have become radicals, while the childhood emperor who dared to love and hate has become an out-and-out conservative.

This situation was beyond their expectations, and they all expressed their doubts as to why His Majesty wanted to lose power and humiliate the country.

Li Ming shook his head:
“The threat lies not in the enemies we can see, but in the enemies we cannot see.”

"Invisible enemy?" Lao Fang and Chang Sun looked at each other.

"Here." Li Ming pointed to several counties and cities south of the "Ming occupied area".

Because of limited military strength and the need to take into account the manpower and supplies required for attack, defense and maintaining stability at the same time, it was impossible for the Ming army to occupy the entire Central Plains and scatter its limited manpower like scattering sesame seeds.

They occupied the corridor along the south bank of the Yellow River, which was the most central area, with the most fertile land and the easiest cross-river supply.

As for the southern prefectures and counties in the Central Plains that were not near the Yellow River, such as Songzhou, Xuzhou, Chenzhou, etc., the Ming army had no spare energy to interfere.

One is to concentrate the troops, and the other is that those counties are distributed with tributaries of the Huai River, making it more difficult to attack.

It would be fine if the Ming army did not get involved.

However, on the battlefield situation map, there was no trace of the Tang army.

"This is very strange. Logically speaking, since our army has occupied the banks of the Yellow River, the enemy should have immediately reinforced the defenses of these three states.

“But according to our intelligence, the Tang army has placed its main force west of Zhengzhou, leaving all the prefectures and counties in the southern Central Plains to the Huai River defense line empty.

"why is that?"

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji could not answer Li Ming's question.

"Indeed... there is something fishy." Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and glanced at Changsun Wuji.

"Uncle, what do you think?"

Changsun Wuji's face was solemn and he said nothing.

Li Ming punched these places with his little fist:

"I suspect that it's not that the Tang army didn't deploy a large number of troops here. It's that those troops were hidden and didn't reveal their tracks.

"Look, on the Tang army side, is there any commander who can lead troops to fight who has not surfaced and been observed by our spies?"

"Hiss..." The two former top civil servants of the Tang Dynasty went through one name after another in their minds and compared them with the names on the situation map one by one.

"It's my father, Li Shimin."

Li Ming's tone was more serious than ever before.

"His position has not yet been revealed. Where he is, what corps he commands, and what position he is in? We don't know anything."

Fang Xuanling immediately retorted:

"Is it possible that His Majesty the Retired Emperor is old, so he chooses to stay in the capital to make plans instead of leading the army to the front in person?"

Li Ming shook his head decisively:
"My father always leads the troops in battle. He will not hide behind."

In the original world line, Comrade Li Er also chose to personally lead an expedition to Goguryeo in the past few years.

Even to the faraway Goguryeo, he did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to go there.

This ancient battlefield in the Central Plains is so close to Guanzhong and has convenient transportation. There is no reason for him not to help.

Zhang Sun Wuji's expression became increasingly ugly, but he still nodded reluctantly:

"Yes, your Majesty is right. The Emperor...is not someone who can sit idle."

As the elder brother-in-law of Emperor Li II, Changsun Wuji had some understanding of the character of that old master.

Your Majesty's outward appearance may be different from that of the good eldest son Li Ming, but their core is extremely similar -

They all have strong confidence in their civil and military abilities.

War is also an excellent opportunity to comprehensively test one's civil and military skills. When these two extremely confident monarchs were born in the same era, they belonged to two opposing camps.

So if Li Shimin did not have a face-to-face confrontation to test his son's true quality, he would not be Li Shimin.

"So, I think."

Li Ming drew a big circle in the south of the line from Qizhou to Zhengzhou.

"My father, who has nothing to do after retirement and only wants to fight, is probably leading another troop around this area, looking for an opportunity to fight.

"The defense of this area is currently in the charge of Xue Rengui. Given Xiao Xue's strength and the quality of his troops, they may not be a match for my father."

This is not Li Ming bragging about his father.

Although Xue Rengui was a young talent, he was probably still a little bit behind the rare "Bin" Emperor Li Shimin.

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji also agreed with this conclusion.

"If Xue Rengui is defeated and his defense zone is lost..."

This thought made the two old ministers' faces change suddenly.

The loss of the states on the south bank meant that the main force of the Ming army was surrounded on all sides, that the battlefield was compressed into the small Zhengzhou, and that the more than 200,000 people in the encirclement would all have to rely on water transportation across the Yellow River to get food!

This is the Dunkirk evacuation in the seventh century AD!
"The Tang army's navy is concentrated along the line from Luozhou to Zhengzhou. There are only a few ports and rivers. They will definitely hinder the transportation of food and fodder and the evacuation of personnel."

Li Ming's voice was low.

"Once the corridor for retreating to Qizhou in the east is cut off and logistics are blocked, what will happen if the siege lasts for a long time? I don't need to explain anything more to you two, right?"

"The main force of our army was completely wiped out..." Changsun Wuji murmured with a pale face.

"So, I insist on taking the troops back to Qizhou." Li Ming knocked on the blackboard.

"The land of Qi and Lu is different from the Central Plains. It has Mount Tai as its support and a river running from north to south, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

“Besides, the battle line is short, and our troops have been operating there for a longer time.

"Under Li Jing's unified command, it is not difficult to withstand my father's offensive."

Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji nodded, expressing their appreciation for His Majesty's wisdom.

His Majesty Li Ming's explanation was very detailed and reasonable, and the two old men were no longer ignorant. After understanding the principles, they were able to stay calm and composed.

The main task now is not to destroy the Tang Dynasty in one go.

Instead, you should stabilize yourself first and avoid being wiped out by the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop.

"We cannot lose the land of Qi and Lu. We must consolidate it as a bridgehead for us to continue our southward advance in the future.

“We must quickly deliver iron and steel, wood, food, armor, horses and other supplies there, and turn it into a fortress that will deter anyone from entering.”

Li Ming gave orders.

I hope we can retreat in time... he said to himself.

…………

"Supply is not smooth east of Zhengzhou?"

When Hou Junji got the report, he jumped up and couldn't help cursing:

"What does Xue Rengui do for a living?!"

With a big river at its back and a flat land in the prosperous Central Plains, how could they let their soldiers starve?

Can that guy fight?

"What's the purpose of that kid writing to me? Is he trying to steal our food?"

Xue Wanche came over to watch the fun.

Li Dao Zong was calmer than the other two and asked:
"Did he encounter an enemy attack?"

"Yes, I do, but..." Hou Junji's face was full of disdain as he unfolded the battle report sent by Xue Rengui:
"They were all small, insignificant battles, with dozens or hundreds of people participating in a skirmish.

"Just like that, Xue Rengui's supplies were cut off."

Li Dao Zong frowned.

"Whether Xue Rengui is inferior in skills or not, he guarantees the passage between us and Qizhou.

"He's in trouble, and we have to support him."

"Tsk." Xue Wanche did not hide his contempt:

“We clearly asked him to come and support us, but in the end we have to send troops to support him?

"What if Li Shiji attacks us?"

Hou Junji corrected:

“Wan Che, King Jiangxia is right.

"How to deal with Xiao Xue is a later matter. The most urgent task is..."

"The priority is to preserve our own safety."

Li Jing interrupted them and walked into their tent with his hands behind his back, in front of the trio's surprised gazes.

Li Jing is now getting thinner and thinner, and he has almost lost his true appearance. His face is angular and full of hard lines.

He is completely different from the fat and cute old man before.

"Sheep Urine Bubble" was completely deflated by the heavy workload of commanding the army.

"Xue Rengui was constrained in every way and could not find any trace of the enemy. This was not his problem."

Li Jing looked at his three subordinates who were still confused and continued to speak:

"If it were you, you would be in trouble too, considering the opponent he encountered this time."

The three of them were stunned for a while, and Hou Junji was the first to express his dissatisfaction:
"General Manager, what do you mean?"

"Alas... What it means is that we should evacuate Zhengzhou as soon as possible and mobilize the troops immediately." Li Jing sighed.

The three were greatly confused.

"Retreat? Where to?"

Li Jing: "Qizhou!"

Now the three of them are completely unable to do it.

"Why is this happening, Chief Steward?"

"Because we are about to be made into dumplings by the emperor! Once Xue Rengui's defense zone is lost, we will have no way to escape..."

Before he finished speaking, a message came.

"General Manager, there are unusual movements in Li Shiji's army!"

…………

Bianzhou City, east of Zhengzhou, is where Xue Rengui’s main camp is located.

Early in the morning, his troops suffered another active attack from the enemy.

"Again?"

Xue Rengui thought that this was just the same harassment as before. Although he was very annoyed, he did not take it too seriously.

He has started to become desensitized. Being harassed several times a day would make anyone feel numb.

However, he still remained vigilant enough and went to the front battlefield in person.

Then he discovered that this time the enemy's harassment was obviously different from the previous small-scale troop harassment.

(End of this chapter)