Chapter 31 Battle of Baibi
[Yong'an King Li Xiaoji was defeated in Xia County. Yu Yun, Dugu Huai'en and others were captured by the enemy generals Xun Xiang and Yuchi Jingde, who planned to take them to Huizhou.

Upon receiving the news, Li Shimin sent Yin Kaishan and Qin Shubao to intercept the enemy at Meiliangchuan and defeated them.

Afterwards, Yuchi Jingde and Xun Xiang secretly led elite cavalry to Puban to rescue Wang Xingben, an old general of the Sui Dynasty. Li Shimin personally led 3,000 infantry and cavalry to Anyi overnight through a small road, intercepted Yuchi Jingde, and defeated the enemy. Yuchi Jingde and others escaped alone, while all his subordinates were captured. Then, they took advantage of the situation to conquer Puban.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin nodded: "In this way, the initiative of the war will gradually fall into the hands of the Tang army." Several interceptions and severe defeats of the enemy army can be said to have gradually disrupted the rhythm of Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, and restored the confidence and morale of the Tang army. It has to be said that Emperor Taizong of Tang's military level is at its peak.

"Is this what Emperor Taizong of Tang predicted?"

"Not entirely. Emperor Taizong of Tang also relied on intelligence, and he often led cavalry to conduct reconnaissance himself." Zhao Kuangyin shook his head. This was indeed effective, but it also made people sigh at Emperor Taizong of Tang's adventurous spirit.

However, his intelligence reconnaissance capabilities are indeed very high, and he can always obtain accurate intelligence.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Ying, who had been silent all the time, finally spoke: "So, with these few steps, Emperor Taizong of Tang has disrupted Liu Wuzhou's rhythm and completely grasped the initiative?" Can such an effect be achieved just by a few ambushes?
Seeing that Liu Bang had no intention of explaining and Lü Zhi did not seem to be planning to speak, Xiao He could only speak: "Your Highness, these actions actually have two effects. First, they disrupted Liu Wuzhou's original deployment plan, which you already know. Second, do you think that the place of Puyang has any value?"

Liu Ying was a little confused. According to the map given by the miracle, the place Puyang was quite close to Baibi, but he really couldn't see any key issues at the moment.

Seeing that he was still silent, Xiao He sighed and asked directly, "Your Highness, do you know how to transport the Tang army's food and grass supplies?"

Liu Ying nodded. He could still infer this. At least he had to pass through Longmen.

Xiao He then said, "What about the location of Puban? If the enemy has a firm grasp on this place, won't they look for opportunities to harass the Tang army's food supplies?" After several interceptions, Li Shimin took advantage of the situation to recapture Puban, which added an extra layer of protection for the Tang army's supply line and also established a line of defense.

[It took only about one and a half months for Li Shimin to regain the initiative of the Tang army on the battlefield, and reversed the situation of the Tang army's previous retreat, from strategic defense to strategic stalemate.

This fully demonstrated his superb ability in marching and fighting. Not only in charging combat, but also in layout and command, he was far superior to others.

Through just a few battles, not only did they hit the enemy's morale and re-unite the Tang army, but they also firmly controlled the Hedong region and forced Song Jingang back to Huizhou, preventing him from moving south again.

During this period of combat, not only was Li Shimin's control over the tempo of the battle demonstrated, but another of his abilities was also revealed: intelligence.

The importance of intelligence to war is self-evident. Intelligence is a name for information, and information is a necessity of life. On the battlefield, a place where lives are constantly consumed, the more intelligence you have, the more chances of survival and victory you will have.

Li Shimin's intelligence system can be regarded as the pinnacle in the entire history. After arriving at Baibi this time, although Baibi is suitable for holding on, it also has a negative impact, that is, it is blocked from the main road. Under such circumstances, Li Shimin was able to catch the actions of Liu Wuzhou's generals and intercept them every time, all thanks to the construction of his intelligence system.

Of course, he likes to go out and gather intelligence by himself, which also reflects his excellent reconnaissance ability and willingness to lead by example, but it is indeed somewhat dangerous. 】

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Li Shimin was looking at the sky happily, but suddenly his smile became stiff.

Before he could comfort himself, he heard the voices of his important ministers: "Your Majesty," "Your Majesty——"...

He looked over and saw that the faces of the important officials were full of disapproval and worry about his personal investigation. Li Shimin suddenly felt a headache. It wasn't that dangerous, was it? He was still here, nothing had gone wrong.

Moreover, the main reason why he personally conducted the investigation was that he was somewhat unsure about the investigation, and of course the sooner the commander knew the intelligence, the better; on the other hand, he had been staying in the central army tent, which was indeed a bit boring...

Of course, these thoughts cannot be spoken out, otherwise he would be waiting for a lot of advice.

He could only say: "I know about your concerns, and I will not go to investigate easily now. Besides, I won't go to the battlefield to fight now..." I don't even have the chance to go to the battlefield!
Everyone present agreed to Li Shimin's statement, but they still had a little doubt in their hearts. Given his majesty's style, would he stay in the army honestly if he really went to the battlefield? They didn't believe it.

Ming Dynasty, Yongle period.

Zhu Di already had a good impression of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. When he saw the several battles fought in the founding of the Tang Dynasty, his favorability towards Li Shimin, an emperor with a fighting style of leading cavalry to charge into battle himself, increased rapidly.

At this time, he was also concerned when he saw the miracle mentioned Li Shimin's intelligence system construction. But what made him more eager was Li Shimin's style of going out to investigate on his own. He wondered if he could do the same and carry it forward.

[After several victories, the morale of the Tang army was high, and there were many calls for war. But Li Shimin still chose to hold on to Baibi.

"The King Kong army has been deployed a thousand miles deep into our territory. The best soldiers and brave generals are all here. Wu Zhou occupied Taiyuan and relied on King Kong to defend it. Although there are many soldiers, they are actually empty inside and intend to fight quickly. We have built a strong camp to accumulate strength to blunt their edge. When they run out of food and have no other options, they will flee."

Song Jingang's army was alone and deep in the enemy's territory, and they were short of food and fodder. The best way was to hold on to Baibi and wear down the enemy. Moreover, Song Jingang's elite soldiers and generals had not been consumed too much at this time, so a frontal attack was not the best strategy.

In addition to defending Baibi, Li Shimin also decided to "divide troops to attack the enemy's core in Fenxi", looking for opportunities to attack Liu Wuzhou's rear, thereby strengthening the power of the Tang army and speeding up the enemy's collapse.

This decision, in addition to his control over the situation, also showed Li Shimin's calm mentality. Unlike the impulsive young generals that are common sometimes, Li Shimin is rational and calm enough. Does he lack the vigor of youth? No, as can be seen from the previous march into Chang'an, he is vigorous enough, but he is also calm enough. 】

(End of this chapter)