On the fifth day of the seventh month, Li Yuan officially took the first step and set up troops to go south.
On the eighth day of the seventh month, Li Yuan arrived in Xihe County to comfort the officials and people of Xihe and give relief to the poor.
Li Yuan showed 30 years of bureaucratic magic of strong signing ability, the commander-in-chief and the head of the organization, to all the heroes who came to join the official position, while asking about the talent and merit of the person who came while awarding the official rank, one day to appoint ** more than 1,000 people, the people who accept the official position do not take the appointment certificate, they each take the official name written by Li Yuan and leave, Li Yuan's official seal is a piece of paper.
Yang Yu, the acting king of Xijing, sent Huyalang to lead 20,000 elite soldiers to resist Huoyi, and Qu Tutong, the general of Zuowuhou, led tens of thousands of Xiaoguo troops to base Hedong City, and ordered the counties east of Linfen to be levied by Song Laosheng and Qu Tutong.
On 14 July, during the continuous heavy rain, the Tang army was tripped up in Jiahu Fort, which was more than 50 miles away from Huoyi.
Then, the autumn rain continued, the heavy rain was endless, the roads were muddy, and they were plagued by the heavy rain, Li Yuan could not march, so he sent Shen Shu'an and others to lead the old and weak soldiers back to Taiyuan to transport a month's worth of grain, ready to fight a protracted war.
In the heavy rain, Li Yuan received Li Mi's alliance letter, and at this time, Li Mi, who was in the limelight in the world, wanted to be the leader of the alliance, and said to Li Yuan: "Although my brother and I have different family branches, we are both surnamed Li, and our roots are the same. I think I am weak, but I am the leader of the alliance for the heroes of the world. I hope to support each other and work together to complete the great cause of cutting down and destroying Qin. ”
Li Mi hoped that Li Yuan could personally go to Hanoi to form an alliance with thousands of foot riders, Li Yuan smiled after getting the book: "Li Mi is arrogant, not a letter can be recruited, I am in Guanzhong is at war, if you ignore him, you will have one more enemy, it is better to hold him up, let him block the road of Chenggao for me, contain the soldiers of the eastern capital, and facilitate our westward expedition, wait for Guanzhong to be pacified, raise troops according to the danger, and watch the battle between the sandpiper and the clam to reap the benefits of the fisherman." ”
Li Yuan asked Wen Daya to reply and said: "Old man, I have passed the age of knowing my fate, I don't have so many ideas, I am honored to support you, this is already climbing the scales and wings, I hope you will fulfill the plan as soon as possible to stabilize the people!" You are the head of the Zongmeng, your 'Xi He Li' is the Mandate of Heaven Li, and I hope that the household registration of my 'Daye Li' can be accommodated. You still seal me in Tang Land, such an honor is enough. I don't dare to say anything about King Wu's war, and I still have to listen to your arrangement as for the destruction of Qin. In the Fenjin area, I still need to appease and manage, and I can't take care of setting a date, so let's push it back. ”
Li Mi was overjoyed to learn that Li Yuan would not only not become the threat of the north, but also bowed his head to him, and he got the most desired political light to help him deter and smooth the huge factions within Wagangzhai, Li Mi showed Li Yuan's letter all over the general: "Tang Gong also recommended me!" The world is not enough! Since then, there has been an incessant exchange of messengers between the two sides.
The Northern Union Turks and the Eastern Stability of Li Mi were Li Yuan's most successful two strategic moves, and they were also the key to his ability to capture Chang'an in one fell swoop, although he later paid a heavy price for the Northern Union Turks.
On 18 July, Li Yuan met with an ambassador sent by Shibi Khan, who said that Liu Wenjing had formally signed a Tang-Turkic non-aggression pact with the Turks, and stipulated in the supplementary contract: "The land of the people of Chang'an shall belong to the Tang Duke, and the golden jade silk shall belong to the Turks." "The dispatch of troops has been approved, and the soldiers have already gone on the road.
On June 26, ten days before the dispatch of troops, Li Yuan sent Liu Wenjing to diplomacy, and more than 20 days later, on July 18, the Turks sent an ambassador who expressed his position to send troops, and Liu Wenjing himself could not personally confirm the authenticity of the Turkic troops, and there began to be messages in the army saying that the Turks and Liu Wuzhou took advantage of the situation to attack Jinyang. In the face of the fluctuating military spirit, Li Yuan called a meeting of the generals.
Pei Lin and the others all said: "Song Laosheng and Qu Tutong have become a corner, and Huo Yi is difficult to overcome for a while. The families of the rebels are all in Jinyang, so it is better to save the roots, and try to do it later. ”
How far have you come at this point? After nine days of marching, I had just walked 120 kilometers, and it had rained heavily for less than a week.
Li Shimin said: "Originally, the rise of righteousness was to save the people, and we should first capture Xianyang and command the world; If you encounter a small enemy army, you will retreat, and I am afraid that the people who follow the uprising will be disbanded for a while. The Hui army guards a city in Taiyuan, this is for the thief, what to take to save my life! ”
Li Jiancheng also thought that Li Shimin's words were right, but Li Yuan did not accept it and urged the order to lead the army to set off.
In the twilight, Li Shimin went to Li Yuan again to reprimand, but Li Yuan had fallen asleep and was gone. Li Shimin cried outside his father's military tent, pay attention, it was crying, Li Yuan summoned Li Shimin for questioning, Li Shimin said: "Now we are raising troops for the sake of righteousness, attacking will be restrained, and returning will be dispersed; How can you not be sad when the army is scattered in front, the enemy army is attacking in the rear, and death is coming in front of you! ”
Li Yuan came to his senses and said, "The army has been dispatched, what can I do?" ”
Li Shimin said: "The right army is fully equipped and has not yet sent, although the left army has set off, it is estimated that it has not gone far, please let me go after them." ”
Li Yuan said with a smile: "My success or failure is all in you, what else do you say when you know?" Do whatever you want. "I had to order the night chase after the left army to return.
Li Shimin's brothers then chased back the troops that had already been deployed.
In fact, in "Datang Entrepreneurship and Living Note", there was no such thing as Li Yuan's withdrawal from the army, and Li Yuan waited at the staff meeting, which was purely a matter of scholars adding drama in order to corrupt Li Yuan and Pei Lian.
At the most basic level, it is impossible for Li Shimin to cry in the army to persuade his father! He broke in and got a knife holder, and his father would not cry outside the barracks to wake up Li Yuan with a knife on his stomach! The commander in the army crying is a taboo for the soldiers! The big-headed soldiers would not know why Li Shimin was crying, if that was the case, the army's morale would have collapsed long ago. Moreover, even if the order to withdraw the troops was ordered and then called back, the morale of the army was still broken.
From the very beginning, you can only wait!
On 28 July, the Taiyuan grain transport team arrived, and the comrades also knew that there was nothing going on in Taiyuan.
On the first day of August, the rain stopped and the sky was clear.
On the second day of the first month of August, Li Yuan ordered the troops to dry their outfits and tidy up their armor.
On the morning of the third day of the eighth lunar month, Li Yuan led his army to walk more than 70 miles on the path at the foot of the mountain, and arrived at Huoyi in the early afternoon.
Li Yuan and several hundred cavalry first went to the east of Huoyi City a few miles to wait for the infantry, sent Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to lead dozens of cavalry to inspect the terrain, and divided the rest of the cavalry into more than ten teams from the southeast to the southwest of the city, raising whips and waving flags as if attacking the city, while sending Yin Kaishan to immediately gather horses, infantry and other rear troops.
Song Laosheng looked at the head of the city and observed, and saw from a distance that the rear army of the Tang army was about to come, so he led troops out of the city from the south gate and the east gate, intending to set up a formation first and fight Li Yuan's unstable foothold.
Li Yuan was worried that Song Laosheng would not fight far away from the city, so he ordered a light horse to run back, Song Laosheng thought that the Tang army was afraid, and led his troops to advance, and lined up more than a mile away from the city.
Soon Yin Kaishan's rear army arrived, and the front army commanded the phalanx, facing Song Laosheng's middle army, and the rear army came one after another.
At the same time, Li Yuan ordered Li Jiancheng to lead the left army to cut off the back road of the east gate of Huoyi, and Li Shimin to lead the right army to cut off the back road of the south gate. Then after Li Yuan started the battle on the main battlefield, when the two sides were fighting fiercely, he sent people to shout "Song Laosheng has been killed", and the Sui army's military formation began to rout, and they fled one after another.
After the Sui army chaos, the Tang army tightly bit the defeated soldiers to pursue, due to the reason that Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng rushed to the city gate, Huoyi City closed the city gate after Song Laosheng sent troops, Song Laosheng also failed to escape back, seeing that Song Laosheng was not dead, the people in the city threw down the rope, Song Laosheng was ready to climb the rope and go up, but he was hacked to death by Lu Junge, the head of the Tang army, after climbing more than a zhang.
Because Huoyi City closed the city gate, the Sui army that had no morale outside the city was completely disrupted by the Tang Army, and after cleaning the battlefield outside the city, the Tang Army took advantage of the victory to attack the city.
After the war, Li Yuan** was rewarded, and the reward was cashed on the same day, and even if he was a meritorious soldier recruited as a slave, he was treated with a good citizen! Who is more noble than whom on the battlefield! I only recognize military merit.
On the fourth day of the eighth month, Li Yuan met with the officials of Huoyi, rewarded them like Xihe County, and selected strong men from Huoyi to join the army. The sergeants in Guanzhong who want to return to their hometowns are awarded the five rank of loose officers and let them go back. Later, he buried Song Laosheng with the rites of his own official, and he did not die in relation to the old bureaucratic system of the Sui Dynasty, after all, our Lao Li is also the person who has served the job of the Sui Dynasty for 30 years, and they are all a family.
Some comrades persuaded Li Yuan that there were too many officials, and Li Yuan said: "The Sui clan was stingy with the reward of the honor, so it lost the hearts of the people. How can I emulate them? Besides, isn't it better to use official positions to win over people than to use soldiers? ”
I came to the south, and I did something that I didn't know today, anyway, I didn't spend my money to make a wish in front of me!
The Battle of Huoyi is like a business card, spreading two gospels to the entire land of Shanxi:
First, the Tang army can fight;
Second, the Tang Army made a big cake in order to share the cake, and it was a collaborator, not a predator.
After this battle, Li Yuan continued to increase his horsepower, as long as it was not attached, all sent condolence groups, whether it was villages and towns or dock forts, as long as he came, Li Yuan would make a wish to give treatment.
Li Yuan even used his eldest cousin as a negative example to promote himself: I don't hesitate to reward the Han family, I am definitely in line with the role model, to promote my Tang Shengde! The benefits of the world are indispensable! The whole world is raising troops to me and defecting to me, isn't it because Sui Shiguang knows that his own pleasure doesn't care about everyone's life or death!