Duan Zhixuan was about 30 years old, tall and burly, with outstanding martial arts skills, and both civil and military. He once served as Li Yuan's personal military captain. After the rebellion in Taiyuan, he has been with Li Shimin. He made great achievements in the process of the Tang army's southern expedition and founding of foundation. He was named General of the Right Guard and was deeply trusted by Li Yuan.

Originally, Li Yuan appointed him as the chief general for the attack on Hedong County this time, but Li Shentong insisted that Duan Zhixuan was more brave and had a slightly inferior strategy, and was probably not a match for the Zhou army. He could not withstand Li Shentong's repeated persuasion, and Li Yuan finally changed his decision. However, he did not let Li Shentong be the chief general, but instead gave the second son Li Shimin as the chief general and Duan Zhixuan as the deputy general.

From the perspective of factional struggle, this is a great victory for Li Shimin. Not only is the leader of Taiyuan Qu Tutong, who is the man of Li Shimin, but Li Shimin is also the battlefield in Hedong County. No wonder Li Shentong and Li Yuanji were extremely uncomfortable. Li Yuanji even secretly released rumors in Chang'an that it is inevitable that the Tang Dynasty will compete for the throne.

Duan Zhixuan pointed to Jinkou in the distance and said to Li Yuan: "Report to Your Majesty, there were 5,000 troops in Jinkou before, but Beizhi was worried that Jinkou would be in trouble, so he added another 20,000 troops, and was personally in charge of Beizhi. Because Your Majesty was coming today, Beizhi came from Jinkou in the morning."

Li Yuan nodded, stared at Jinkou for a moment and asked again: "Where is the enemy stationed now?"

"Report to Your Majesty, Wei Wentong's stationed in Hedong City, and Su Dingfang's reinforcements are currently stationed in Anyi County."

Li Yuan was stunned, "Are you just stationed in these two cities?"

“That’s the case now.”

Li Yuan's face suddenly became gloomy and he glared at Duan Zhixuan and said, "Since the enemy has only occupied two cities, and there are dozens of cities left there, and there are even strategic cities like Yuxiang and Yishi, why don't the Tang army occupy it?"

Duan Zhixuan was so scared that he took two steps back and lowered his head and said, "When Huye received the information, His Majesty had appointed His Highness the King of Qin as the chief general, so Huye must wait for the decision of the King of Qin to come down. Huye did not dare to make decisions without authorization."

"Don't dare to make a decision without authorization, and you will throw away the opportunity in vain?" Li Yuan still rebuked angrily.

Duan Zhixuan lowered his head and said nothing. At this time, Li Shimin stepped forward and said, "Father, please calm down. My son-in-law thinks that General Duan is not in a hurry to send troops. After all, the Zhou army was twice as big as us before. If the number of troops was rushing to send troops, it was not worth the loss. In fact, the other party also took up only two cities for the sake of this, and it was also for the purpose of concentrating troops."

Li Shimin's explanation made sense. Li Yuan's face was a little gentler and asked Duan Zhixuan again: "Is this the reason?"

Duan Zhixuan was grateful for Li Shimin's timely rescue and nodded silently. Li Yuan then said: "Although that being said, the division of troops on two lines and the horns is conducive to combat cooperation. General Duan can lead 20,000 troops to Yuxiang County, while Shimin led 40,000 troops to Jinkou to confront the enemy in Hedong City. I will give you all the right to fight during this period. In short, it is just a word that Hedong County must be recaptured."

Before Li Shimin could speak, Li Yuan waved his hand, "I haven't finished speaking yet!"

Everyone held their breath and listened carefully. Li Yuan continued: "Regaining Hedong County is only the first step. The second step is to regain the Queshi Valley and connect Taiyuan. The third step is to regain the three northern counties and Shangdang and Changping counties. I do not specify a time. It can be completed in two or three years, but it must be effective and successful step by step. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Shimin smiled bitterly in his heart. It was not so easy. It was a blessing to regain Hedong County. However, he also understood Taiyuan's position in his father's heart and hurriedly said, "Please rest assured, my son will do his best."

"Very good. I will give you all the power to the affairs of Hedong County. I hope the good news will be heard soon."

"My son understand!"

At this time, a general hurried forward and whispered to Duan Zhixuan. Duan Zhixuan hesitated for a moment and said to Li Yuan: "Report to Your Majesty, Taiyuan has urgent information sent to you, and it is submitted to Your Majesty."

“Support it!”

The general submitted a piece of information with both hands. Li Yuan took the information and looked at it with a look of surprise in his eyes. He raised the information in his hand and said to everyone: "It's really unexpected that Zhang Xuan appeared in Shouyang County yesterday."

This news made everyone a little nervous. Is Zhang Xuan going to be in charge of the army again this time?

At this time, Chen Shuda, the prime minister who accompanied Li Yuan to inspect Pujin Pass, said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xuan should go to the front line like Your Majesty to boost morale. It would not be the imperial commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's personal commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official commander's official

Li Shentong, who had never seized the opportunity to speak, quickly interjected: "Chen Xiangguo is right. Zhang Xuan is sure to win Taiyuan. If it weren't for a sudden blizzard last year, Taiyuan City would have been lost long ago, including Jinkou on the other side of our shore, which also caused a sudden blizzard. The Zhou army had to retreat back to Hedong City so that we could save Jinkou. As soon as the spring began, Zhang Xuan arrived in Taiyuan County, which shows that Bingzhou this year would be a fierce battle."

Li Shentong's words were not nutritious. When Li Yuan saw that his second son Li Shimin was pondering, he asked, "What do you think about Shimin?"

"Father, I have been dealing with Zhang Xuan for so many years, and Erchen found that he has never been one-on-one, two-on-two, but is good at learning from one example. If he inspects Bingzhou, Erchen is worried that his real goal is not Bingzhou, just like he attacks Jiangxia, his real goal is Luoyang."

"The emperor's nephew is so bad!"

Li Shentong disagreed and said: "Luoyang is not Zhang Xuan's original goal. His goal is to take Jingzhou. It's just that we have created conditions for him that he will gain a better position and then seize Luoyang. Bingzhou was the one he had to take last year. As a result, due to the influence of the snowstorm, he had to postpone it until now. How can Your Highness say that his goal is not Bingzhou? Is it just a joke to send more than 200,000 troops?"

Li Shimin held back his heart and said angrily: "The emperor's uncle misunderstood his nephew's meaning. The nephew said that Zhang Xuan not only wanted to seize Bingzhou, but also had more far-reaching goals, such as Longyou and Hexi. He restrained our main force in Bingzhou, which created conditions for him to be in Longyou and Hexi."

Li Shentong sneered and said, "I can understand the concerns of the emperor's nephew. When attacking Luoyang, the emperor's nephew was worried that Zhang Xuan would attack Longyou and Hexi, and that everyone gave up Luoyang. Is there any reason for the emperor's nephew to give up Bingzhou?"

Li Shentong was extremely sharp, which reminded Li Yuan of the shame of losing Luoyang. Zhang Xuan only threatened a few words, and Shimin led his army to retreat westward and handed over Luoyang and Nanyang counties to Zhang Xuan. This was also Li Yuan's dissatisfaction with Li Shimin. He did not dare to fight and always seek compromise by giving in. Without waiting for Li Shimin to refute, Li Yuan waved his hand and said, "Shimin Don't argue, your emperor uncle is right. No matter what strategy or plan Zhang Xuan has, we must steadily take back Bingzhou and not be led by Zhang Xuan."

At this time, Chen Shuda also said to Li Shimin earnestly: "Your Highness, the emperor has also considered the threat of Hetao. Therefore, when he decided to increase his troops in Hedong County, he did not draw the army from Longyou, but instead called the army of Chengdu and Hanzhong. As long as your emperor considers how to retake Hedong County and give Guanzhong a strategic buffer, that is the greatest contribution. Let the emperor consider other matters."

Li Shimin was speechless and had to nodded depressedly, "I will remember the teachings of my father and I will remember them in my heart."

Jingzhou Yiling County, which has always been controlled by the Tang army, was the springboard for the Tang army to attack Jingzhou. However, in the final Jingzhou negotiations, in order to get back the 10 million kilograms of pig iron from Jiangxia warehouse, the Tang Dynasty had to give up Yiling County and Qingjiang County. At that time, a navy army from the Northern Sui Dynasty entered Yiling County, and another army of 3,000 people entered Qingjiang County.

Last winter, although there was a blizzard in the north, the south was not affected by the blizzard. Since October last year, the navy has continuously transported military rations from Baling County to Yiling County. In just one month, all 300,000 military rations and a large amount of military supplies from Baling County were transported to Yiling County. The warships in Yiling County have reached 500, with 30,000 naval troops stationed.

But this was just the action of the navy. While the north was hit by a blizzard, the Zhou army from all over the country were also quickly mobilizing and gathering. From Xuzhou, Jingzhou and Jiangdong, they secretly mobilized 50,000 troops to gather in Yiling County. Xu Shiji and Du Ruhui also arrived in Yiling County one after another. Due to the addition of 50,000 new Zhou army was stationed in more than a dozen military camps in the county, and the news was tightly blocked, even the people of Yiling County did not know that 80,000 troops had already gathered in the county.

That morning, the 10,000 inner guards who came from Liang County finally arrived in Yiling County after ten days of march. This was the third time that the inner guards had arrived in this county town. This time they also accepted special tasks.

The inner guards were directly under the military aircraft and were all cavalry, and were well-equipped. They were the most elite army in the Great Zhou Empire.

Liu Lancheng asked Li Keshi to arrange the army to enter the naval camp to rest, but he himself rushed to the central army tent. After meeting Xu Shiji and Du Ruhui, the three of them sat down.

"General Liu has worked hard all the way!" Du Ruhui said with a smile.

Liu Lancheng bowed and smiled and said, "Bizhi came on order. Please ask General Xu and Du Shenjun to explain the tasks first, so that Beizhi can have a clear idea in his heart."
Chapter completed!