Chapter 3491 The bloody battle with Xuanwu Gate (Part 1)
During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, "brothers shall succeed to their younger brothers" as a legal principle for the inheritance of the throne.
Pan Geng had two younger brothers. After his death, the throne was passed to his younger brother Xiao Xin. After Xiao Xin's death, his throne was passed to his younger brother Xiao Yi. After Xiao Yi's death, the throne was passed to his son Wu Ding instead of Pan Geng. The son of Geng and Xiao Xin, this was the throne inheritance system of the Shang Dynasty.
There are countless such old examples in history books.
Therefore, if His Majesty Li Er really dies, and the legitimate son of Emperor Gaozu is already dead, it would make sense at least legally to be succeeded by Li Yuanjing, the eldest among the concubines.
Moreover, he will control the Taiji Palace by then, and he will be able to win the support of a large number of courtiers after ascending the throne as emperor.
Of course, being able to defend the palace and defeat the Guanlong clan is another matter...
Moreover, although Li Yuanjing has a clan status, he is not very powerful. Once he ascends the throne, he will rely more on his own support. Compared with the need to fight for power with the Guanlong clan after taking refuge in Changsun Wuji, the situation is obviously clearer.
After careful consideration, Chai Zhewei finally made up his mind and asked, "I wonder how many soldiers and horses the prince has brought with him this time?"
Li Yuanjing was overjoyed when he heard this, knowing that Chai Zhewei was determined to stand on his side, and said hurriedly: "This time, several princes and princes have assisted, and more than 10,000 guards, troops, and serfs from the imperial village have been mobilized. They are all elites and fully equipped with armor. Great things will surely happen!”
With the help of Chai Zhewei, we will immediately become more powerful and great things can be expected!
Chai Zhewei curled his lips, what use is a miscellaneous army of more than 10,000 people? However, he also knew that the biggest advantage of Li Yuanjing and the princes and princes behind him was not the army, but the right to speak and the direction of the Li Tang royal family. As long as these people stood behind Li Yuanjing, they would be far better than a hundred thousand troops.
He looked at the sky outside the window. It was still dark, and heavy snow like goose feathers was falling. He couldn't tell the time at all, so he asked You Wenzhi: "What time is it now?"
You Wenzhi said: "It's already midnight. It's snowing heavily today, so it's dark. It's not expected to get bright for another hour."
Chai Zhewei nodded and ordered: "Order the entire army to assemble and make as little noise as possible. Don't attract the ideas of the Youtun Guards and the Beiya Forbidden Army, and then launch a sudden attack to capture Xuanwu Gate in one go!"
Although he is proficient in military strategies, he also understands some basic military knowledge. He knows that before dawn is the time when the human body is at its lowest alert. No army, no matter how well-trained, can resist this sleepiness and exhaustion from the body.
Therefore, throughout the ages, most wars have broken out before dawn.
"Here!"
You Wenzhi was excited when he saw that Chai Zhewei had finally made up his mind to join Li Yuanjing, but he did not communicate too much with Li Yuanjing. Instead, he asked: "Youtun Guards are separated from our army by a wall. If they interfere with our army's attack on Xuanwu Gate, there will be trouble. Should we first concentrate our forces to defeat the Youtun Guards, then reorganize our troops and concentrate our firepower before attacking Xuanwu Gate?”
Chai Zhewei nodded and said: "That's exactly what it should be!"
Li Yuanjing on the side reminded: "This is the Zuo Tun Guard Army. I shouldn't say much, but I would like to ask Duke Qiao to be more careful. After all, the Right Tun Guard followed Fang Jun's troops to the White Road and overthrew Xue Yantuo. Although there is only half of the powerful army left outside the Xuanwu Gate at the moment, it cannot be underestimated. When we concentrate our strength to strike with thunder, we must not ignore it lightly."
In order to win over Chai Zhewei, he did not hesitate to come here in person, and he was absolutely unwilling to be misunderstood by Chai Zhewei that he wanted to get involved in military affairs. But after all, at a critical moment, we must not suffer setbacks because of carelessness and underestimation of the enemy, otherwise it is very likely to shake the morale of the military.
In short, he didn't quite trust Chai Zhewei's military qualities...
Chai Zhewei didn't think so much, but smiled in his heart. They said that His Highness King Jing "does great things without sacrificing his own life", and now it seems that it is indeed true. The Right Tun Guard is indeed considered the strongest army in the world. Among the Sixteen Guards, it ranks first in terms of combat power, above the Zuo Tun Guard. But half of the Right Guards in front of them had their elites removed due to Fang Jun's Western Expedition. How could the remaining less than 20,000 men withstand the sudden onslaught of the Left Guards?
I believe it will be completely defeated in less than half an hour.
On the contrary, he was quite afraid of the Bei Ya Imperial Army on Xuanwu Gate. Although this army only numbered about three thousand, each soldier was carefully selected and could be called the elite among the elite. Each one was worth ten, and they occupied Xuanwu Gate. The gate is so advantageous that it can be said that one man can't open it. If you want to capture Xuanwu Gate, you can only completely annihilate it. There is no chance.
That is a head-to-head battle...
However, at this time, I will naturally not refute Li Yuanjing's face, and cannot let him have any dissatisfied thoughts in his heart, otherwise there will be endless troubles.
Then he said with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry, how can the general be a reckless person?"
He turned to You Wenzhi and said: "Go out and order the troops to assemble. Call all the generals here to discuss combat matters."
"Here!"
When You Wenzhi went out, Chai Zhewei led Li Yuanjing to the wall.
Looking at the map near Xuanwu Gate hanging on the wall, the nearby terrain and the topography of the palace are like looking at the palm of a hand. Within the area of the Zhuque Gate in the south and the Weishui River in the north, even a hillock, a river, or a palace are carefully observed. Detailed, nothing is left out, Li Yuanjing exclaimed: "Can this map be drawn by Duke Qiao? It is really meticulous! I also saw maps in the army back then, but they were crudely made things, which are completely different from the map in front of me."
Chai Zhewei's lips twitched and he said speechlessly: "These maps were issued by the Ministry of War and were not made by the generals. In fact, it is strictly forbidden for the army to make private maps. Once discovered, military law will be followed."
Li Yuanjing: "..."
It's a little embarrassing.
The Ministry of War was Fang Jun's territory, which meant that the map was drawn by Fang Jun. I wanted to praise Chai Zhewei, which made the relationship between the two parties more harmonious, but it was self-defeating.
In fact, although he was in the army in his early years, he only took on some clerical work to join the army. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, he stayed away from the military and never paid attention to the changes in the military over the years. He was not aware of the fact that Fang Jun spent a lot of manpower and material resources to map the world.
Fortunately, Chai Zhewei pointed at the map and explained to him the strategy and tactics of attacking Xuanwu Gate. This was a strategy that he had conceived for a long time. It was considered very thorough. Even though there were some flaws, he still knew nothing about military affairs. What Li Yuanjing couldn’t see through...
Seeing Chai Zhewei confident and talking eloquently, Li Yuanjing's confidence doubled. Chai Zhewei's reputation was denigrated by both the government and the public, and almost no one had anything good to say about him. Especially because he was afraid of fighting and refused to go out to control Hexi due to illness, which further caused Chai Zhewei's reputation to plummet. But at this moment, it seems to Li Yuanjing that it is better to meet him than to be famous. Maybe Chai Zhewei has some problems with his character and his character, but the origins of this school are not false at all.
At the moment, when I hire people, I only value their ability and not their character. So what if they are a treacherous person? As long as it can help you achieve great things!
After a while, the Zuotunwei generals came one after another to gather together.
Chai Zhewei stood in front of the map, distributing tasks and issuing orders in detail.
"I have received news that rebels have invaded Yeting Palace from Anfumen. Although the Sixth Army of the East Palace is still resisting, they will be defeated soon. The rebels will occupy Yeting Palace and approach Taiji Palace. We are here As a soldier of the empire, you should protect the country even if you die. Swinging heels! But now that Youtunwei has defected to the rebels and intends to attack our army, how can we just sit and wait for death? Besides, if we want to enter Taiji Palace from Xuanwu Gate and defeat the rebels, we must first deal with Youtunwei? ! ”
Chai Zhewei pointed at the map with an excited expression.
He certainly cannot say that the purpose of raising troops this time is to capture Xuanwu Gate. The purpose of the existence of the left and right guards is to guard Xuanwu Gate. Now that the right guards are "guarding and stealing", isn't it clear that I am telling everyone that I want to rebel?
That is absolutely not possible.
The Tang Dynasty has been established for a long time, and the respect for His Majesty Li Er among the military is at its peak. Under this situation, it is impossible for anyone to rebel. If Chai Zhewei dared to shout a "rebellion" slogan at this moment, the whole army would definitely collapse in the next moment.
No one will rebel against His Majesty Li Er!
These words immediately ignited the morale of General Zuotunwei! The competition between the left and right tunwei has been around for a long time, and it reached its peak after Fang Jun succeeded the right tunwei as the general. Before, Gao Kan forced the left tunwei to release Cui Dunli, which completely ignited this conflict. The struggle between the two sides On the verge of breaking out!
Under such circumstances, even if Chai Zhewei just shouted "Destroy the right guard", let alone entering the Tai Chi Palace to protect him, the left guard would be filled with murderous intent and their morale would skyrocket!
(End of chapter)