Baling County was conquered by the Sui Navy, and the logistics of the Eastern Expedition was destroyed. Yiling County was raided by the Sui cavalry, killing more than 4,000 people and burning more than 400 warships. These two major news were almost sent to Chang'an at the same time.

The Chang'an government and the country were in an uproar. Not long ago, I heard that Du Fuwei raised his troops again in the Jianghuai River. The Northern Sui Dynasty was in a state of great trouble, which made everyone slapped their high fives to celebrate. But in just a few days, the situation immediately reversed. This made it difficult for the court officials to accept and understand. Everyone was talking about what happened in the south?

The Tang army's Eastern Expedition was always carried out in secret, and only a very small number of important officials knew about it, so many court officials did not understand what it meant to be captured by the Sui army? It was just that failure was frustrating.

But Emperor Li Yuan and his core officials knew what it meant to fall Baling City, and what it meant to be raided by the Sui cavalry?

The Wude side hall was silent. After a long time, Li Yuan said hoarsely: "It's over, and I don't want to hold anyone responsible. I can only say that we are not prepared well. Let's talk about it! What should we do now?"

Li Shimin stepped forward and said, "Father, I don't know if my son should speak or not?"

"Say it, the emperor!"

Li Yuan's tone eased a lot. He knew that he had blamed his second son to some extent, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Li Shimin said: "There is no news about the investigation of Jianghuai until now, but I am very worried that the people we sent to investigate will be detained. Waiting like this is not a solution, and it is very likely to miss the opportunity for war. I suggest that I increase troops to Jiangxia immediately to prevent the Sui army from raiding Jiangxia. Once Jingbei is defeated, we will not be able to gain a foothold in Jingnan, and the entire Jingzhou will not be able to be protected, so we can no longer delay."

At this time, Pei Ji walked out and said, "Your Majesty, let me say a few words."

"Pei Xiangguo, please tell me!"

"Your Majesty, the Sui army's capture of Baling County was an extremely clever acupoint technique, which captured the important logistics area, forcing the Tang army to fail to fight eastward. The burning of Yiling County warships was also to destroy the Tang army's water transportation capabilities, which was the same as the capture of Baling County. However, this does not prove that the Sui army has been planning for a long time. On the contrary, I feel that the Sui army's strength is still a bit bare, so I hit the key point. I think we should not be distracted for the time being, and the Eastern Expedition Army should not rush to withdraw, and should wait and see the situation calmly."

When Li Shimin heard Pei Ji's words and deceived himself, he was furious and immediately refuted Pei Ji: "Why did the words of Pei's prime minister mislead the country? Since thousands of cavalry rushed to Yidao County from a long range, can't he wipe out Du Fuwei's mob? Since Du Fuwei is in Jianghuai, why didn't the main force of the Northern Sui Navy respond in Jianghuai, but ran to attack Baling County? I remember very clearly that when he was said that Du Fuwei was in Jianghuai, the Northern Sui Navy left Pengze County in a hurry to rescue Hefei, then they should confront Du Fuwei in Lujiang County. Why did he appear in Baling County again? Can Pei's prime minister explain it to everyone?"

Pei Ji's face turned red and white, and he was speechless. Seeing that he was a little incapable of being out of power, Li Yuan said to Li Shimin: "Everyone puts national affairs first, and their opinions can be different, but they are not allowed to hurt people. I don't want to hear the 'words that ruin the country' in Wude Hall."

Li Shimin lowered his head and said, "My son is anxious for a moment and uses inappropriate words. Please forgive me for your sins!"

"Forget it, which minister has great opinions?"

At this time, Chen Shuda came out and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister has something to say."

"Please say it to the Prime Minister Chen!"

Chen Shuda said slowly: "Actually, His Highness of Qin's words make sense. Now, I have begun to suspect that Du Fuwei's news in Jianghuai was wrong. All the news was rumored before, but now it has suddenly become quiet. Either the Sui army has controlled the situation in Jianghuai, or it was false news before. I don't know what is true or what is false. But there is a little bit of a gentle minister's attitude that can be clear. Since Baling County was captured and the logistics and food were cut off, the Eastern Expedition should be suspended, and the troops should be returned to the Nanjun and Changsha County, and firmly controlled the passage to withdraw from Bashu. Otherwise, the Sui army would occupy Nanjun, Changsha County and Baling County. Wouldn't our Eastern Expedition Army be alone?"

Li Shimin sighed, "There are no troops stationed in Changsha County and Nanjun, but I am afraid that they have been captured by the Sui army now."

The hall was silent again, and everyone realized that the consequences were very serious. Not only was the eastern expedition unsustainable, but the hard-working Nanjun was abandoned. The loss of a Baling County caused such serious consequences was caused by no one expected.

Li Jiancheng, who had been silent, said slowly: "Father, son and minister want to say a few words."

Li Yuan nodded, "Your son just say it bluntly!"

Li Jiancheng walked out and said to everyone in a heavy tone: "I have been thinking about why Zhang Xuan sent cavalry to attack Yidao County. In fact, as long as he sent a navy army westward, he could also burn all warships, but he did not do this. I think Zhang Xuan is warning us?"

"Why is it a warning?" Li Yuan asked again.

"I don't know if my father has considered it. Our Bashu forces are empty, and the navy is extremely weak. If Zhang Xuan sends the main force of the navy to advance west along the Yangtze River and directly into Bashu, how can our army intercept on the shore? Erchen has already thought of this. Did Zhang Xuan not think of it? Since he sent cavalry to wipe out the defenders of Yidao County and burn all the warships, is it possible for this cavalry to advance west along Qingjiang Road and enter Bashu all the way? If Zhang Xuan did not do this, he would feel glad, but the only explanation is that Zhang Xuan was warning us."

Li Jiancheng's words opened another way of thinking for everyone, and everyone suddenly realized how hasty their plan for the Eastern Expedition was? How full of loopholes were there? They did not have strong troops to stay in the rear, but they talked about the Eastern Expedition was a bit lacking in consideration.

Li Shimin interjected: "The emperor's concerns make sense, but if Zhang Xuan was just warning us, I think this was a bit too much praising his kindness. He was by no means a warning, but his strategic plan did not intend to enter Bashu, so he did not take action. Just like he did not order the Hetao army to attack the Hexi Corridor, he had his own rules. I still insisted that Zhang Xuan's strategic goal was to seize Jingzhou, but it just coincided with our Eastern Expedition, which seemed a little confused. Otherwise, it would not be explained his intention to send tens of thousands of cavalry to hide in Huoshan County."

Liu Wenjing also stood up and expressed his opinion, "Your Majesty, I fully agree with His Highness the Qin King's analysis. I also believe that the Northern Sui army has already been preparing for war, and Du Fuwei will not gain anything in the Jianghuai River, and may have been destroyed long ago. The so-called rumors that Du Fuwei disrupted the Jianghuai River are just a strategic deception by Zhang Xuan. The purpose is to make us safe in carrying out the Eastern Expedition. From the fact that General Li Xiaogong has gained nothing in Pengze County, it can be seen that the Sui army has been prepared for our Eastern Expedition, and the current situation is very unfavorable to us. If Nanjun, Changsha County and Baling County have been lost, then we must protect Jingbei, otherwise the Eastern Expedition army will not be able to withdraw and there will be a danger of the destruction of the entire army."

Although Liu Wenjing's words could only be hindsight, his judgment that the Eastern Expedition Army could not withdraw was aroused by Li Yuan's concern. Li Yuan pondered for a long time and said: "With the intention of Liu Xiangguo, how should we protect Jingbei?"

Li Yuan did not ask Li Shimin. He knew that Li Shimin would still lead to Qu Tutong's topic, and he didn't want to talk about this matter again.

Liu Wenjing said: "The idea of ​​Wei is the same as that of His Highness of Qin, which is to increase troops from Jingbei."

Pei Ji, who was standing beside him, asked: "Liu Xiangguo, how should we increase our troops? Bashu is empty, and it will take at least half a month to send troops from Guanzhong. Does Liu Xiangguo think it is still too late?"

Liu Wenjing said calmly: "There are two plans for increasing troops in Weichen. The first plan is to open up the Nanxiang Road and the army directly enters Xiangyang from Nanyang County. This is the most convenient way. However, in this way, we declared war on Wang Shichong. When fighting with the Sui army, we should not create strong enemies anymore, so this plan can only be considered a worst-case scenario. The second plan is to withdraw the Eastern Expedition Army and retreat directly to Jiujiang County by land to Jiangxia County. However, in this way, we completely lost more than a dozen counties in Jingnan. The cost is too high, so this plan is not perfect and can only be considered a mid-case scenario. As for the best strategy, Weichen has not thought of it."

At this time, King Li Yuanji of Chu, who had no chance to express his opinion, said: "Father, my son has an important information to report first, which is about Wang Shichong."

Because Li Xiaogong's pigeon letter was vague in the words, Li Yuan did not realize that the fundamental reason for the failure of the Eastern Expedition was that there was a problem with the naval army deployment map obtained by Li Yuanji. He thought that the Sui army had withdrawn the food quality of Pengze County first, which led to Li Xiaogong's vain.

So before Li Yuan moved his anger to his fourth son Li Yuanji, he immediately asked, "What important information?"

"Your father, the Northern Sui court sent envoys to Luoyang a few days ago. My son just got the news today that Wang Shichong added 30,000 troops to Nanyang County, plus the 30,000 troops in Xiyang County, and the 30,000 troops in Nanxiang Road have already reached 60,000."

This news made everyone suddenly react. I am afraid that Qin King Li Shimin's judgment was correct, and Zhang Xuan was really going to attack Jiang Xia.

Li Shimin immediately made a decision: "Father, my son is fully aligned with the Central Policy of Prime Minister Liu. Time is too late. We must immediately withdraw the 100,000 Eastern Expedition Army to Jiangxia County. As long as we can protect the seven counties in Jingbei, we still have a chance to retake Jingnan. Otherwise, if Jingbei is lost, we will have no place to establish a foothold in Jingzhou."
Chapter completed!