Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Cheng Yaojin grumbled in his heart, then strode up to Du He and asked with a serious expression.

"Du He, how do you think we should fight our next battle?"

"According to our current marching speed, it will take at least five days to reach Mizhou. Do you think the King of Wei will go to Sishui Road in advance?"

Laizhou has the largest port in the current imperial court, where hundreds of large seagoing ships are docked.

Once Li Tai led his soldiers on a large ship to Sishui Road, they would end up with nothing.

By then, it would take another two or three months to suppress the rebellion of the remaining forces of King Wei.

Du He also knew the seriousness of the matter. He frowned and began to think seriously.

After a while.

Du said in a deep voice: "General Cheng, the plan now is to let Xue Rengui lead thousands of cavalrymen to go ahead and guard the warships docked in Laizhou."

"If all else fails, burn these warships and completely cut off the King of Wei's chance of escape."

"Without the warships to escape, the King of Wei and the remaining rebels will be lambs to be slaughtered."

this...

Cheng Yaojin's face paused.

He shook his head and said, "Du He, building these warships has cost the court a lot of manpower and material resources. If we rashly destroy them without reporting to His Majesty, I'm afraid we will be punished by His Majesty when we return to the court."

Then he turned to look at Xue Rengui and asked him.

"General Xue, the King of Wei still has at least 7 elite infantry and cavalry under his command!"

"Do you have the confidence to lead 4 cavalrymen and defend these large ships for 5 days against the charge of tens of thousands of infantrymen led by the King of Wei?"

A moment of silence.

Xue Rengui gritted his teeth and said, "General Cheng, I have the confidence to hold out for five days, but the price may be that only one tenth of my cavalry will survive!"

"After all, the advantage of cavalry is that they are as fast as the wind and can move freely. If we station warships and fight positional battles, we will lose the biggest advantage of cavalry!"

In the last raid on the 2 elite rebels led by Zhang Liang, 5 of his 315 cavalrymen were killed and 689 were injured.

Now that the cavalry was stationed on the warships and had to face the siege of tens of thousands of elite rebels, Xue Rengui had no confidence that he could hold out until the arrival of the main force of the imperial court.

After hearing Xue Rengui's words, Cheng Yaojin was once again in a dilemma.

He could not afford to lose thousands of elite cavalry and Xue Rengui, a young and promising general!

There was silence for a long time.

Du He suggested: "General Xue, you should wait for the right opportunity in this battle. It would be best if you can attack the King of Wei's base camp and capture him alive."

"If there is no chance, you will lead the cavalry to harass the rebels and delay their escape on the large ships."

"You must remember the sixteen-character formula of guerrilla warfare: when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue!"

boom!

Cheng Yaojin, Xue Rengui, Guo Daquan and others were greatly shocked when they heard the sixteen-character formula spoken by Du He.

Especially Cheng Yaojin and Guo Daquan, both of them have been through hundreds of battles, so they have a deep understanding of the sixteen words that Du He said.

Xue Rengui immediately clasped his fists and said, "I obey your command! Thank you, General Du, for your guidance!"

Cheng Yaojin then gave Xue Rengui some instructions, and asked him to make preparations immediately and lead the cavalry to set off in the afternoon.

After Xue Rengui left the lobby, Cheng Yaojin continued to speak to Guo Daquan.

"Guo Daquan, you lead 8 brothers to guard the prisoners."

"As you command!" Guo Daquan responded, and then asked curiously: "General, now Xiangzhou and Weizhou are empty, why don't you send soldiers to recapture them?"

Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said, "The King of Wei and his main rebel forces have already fled. There are not many rebels in Xiangzhou and Weizhou now."

"Li Ji has sent Wu Heita to lead 1 soldiers to quell the remaining rebel forces in Xiangzhou, Weizhou, and Mingzhou."

Guo Daquan nodded and didn't say anything more.

Cheng Yaojin then turned to Du He and said, "Du He, let's go to Mizhou together."

"it is good!"

Du He responded in a deep voice.

In the afternoon.

Xue Rengui led 4 cavalrymen to leave first. Less than half an hour later, Cheng Yaojin and Du He also led 1 infantrymen out of the city.

...

Two days later.

Changan.

Inside the Liangyi Hall.

After Li Shimin read the battle report sent back by Li Ji, he angrily threw it on the imperial platform.

"absurd!"

"We also agreed to wait until the five armies complete their missions before attacking Xiangzhou together. Do you really think this rebellion is a joke?"

"Now the King of Wei is leading the remaining main force to flee, missing the opportunity to quickly quell the rebellion!"

Li Shimin had not been so angry with his capable generals for many years, and this time, Li Ji, Cheng Yaojin, Xue Wanche and others really disappointed him.

In particular, Cheng Yaojin and Du He quickly wiped out the 2 elite rebels led by Zhang Liang, and forced the 3 rebels in Jizhou to surrender.

They missed such a good opportunity to pacify Xiangzhou and stayed in Weizhou for half a month!

Now that the King of Wei has fled to Laizhou and Mizhou, the army has to spend a lot of effort to quell the rebellion.

It would be even more troublesome if the King of Wei took a big ship to Sishui Road in advance!

On the left side of the main hall.

Fang Xuanling consoled him, saying, "Your Majesty, the King of Wei led the remaining troops to flee, and their subsequent supply of troops and food and fodder was completely cut off."

"Even if they run to Laizhou now, they won't be able to cause any trouble."

"I believe that the next battle will end the rebellion once and for all!"

Zhangsun Wuji, Ma Zhou, Liu Li, Gao Shilian and others also spoke out in agreement.

In fact, the rebellion has been suppressed very well, especially by Cheng Yaojin's army, which has annihilated and captured 8 rebels.

Nearly half of the rebels were pacified by them.

Li Shimin nodded slowly, then waved his hand to let the ministers go back.

A moment of silence.

Li Shimin ordered the eunuchs, "Bring the commander of the Hundred Cavalry Division, Niu Jinda, to Liangyi Palace."

"promise!"

The eunuch standing by responded and quickly left in a hurry.

Just after the eunuch left, Li Shimin suddenly sighed.

In fact, he was angry but also a little happy about the news that King Wei had escaped.

If the King of Wei runs away, he can live a few more days.

Li Shimin loved his legitimate son more than any other prince. Even if his son rebelled, he did not want to kill his beloved son with his own hands.

Half a quarter of an hour passed.

Niu Jinda, a tall and burly man, strode in.

He came five steps in front of Li Shimin and bowed respectfully.

"See Your Majesty."

"I wonder what important matter your majesty wants me to come here for?"

Li Shimin, who was distracted, came back to his senses instantly after hearing Niu Jinda's words.

He frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Niu Jinda, how is the investigation going on for the matter I asked you to investigate?"

Niu Jinda quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the remnant of the Yin family, Yin Yushan, has a close personal relationship with Minister Du, and is now being placed in the Duke of Lai's mansion by Minister Du."

"Yin Yushan surrendered to Minister Du, probably just to escape from following the King of Wei in the rebellion, in order to save her life."