The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 277 Where is the road
There are only two counties in Xiping County, Hualong and Huangshui. Hualong County is located on the north bank of the Yellow River. The circumference of the county seat is about [-] miles. As a result of the serious consequences, the Hehuang area was ravaged by war. Ten houses were empty and the society was desolate. A large number of people fled to Guanzhong and Yongbei.

Due to the catastrophe, the Yellow River was almost cut off, which facilitated the Tang army's strong attack. With more than [-] reinforcements from Liang Luoren, the morale of the Liang army who didn't know that the Liang division had fled was greatly boosted!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!.

The attack drums sounded outside the city, and the Tang army who launched several rounds of boulders rushed towards Hualong City with siege ladders. Arrows weaved into arrow nets in the air. Tang Jun held the shield and climbed the siege ladder frantically.

There were dead bodies all over the city, and nearly [-] Liang soldiers were still desperately resisting. After three days of bloody fighting, they had gradually found a way to deal with the Tang army.

The Tang army took turns to attack to maintain their strength, and the Liang army also took turns to defend to maintain their strength; when the Tang army invested [-] troops in the attack, they invested [-] troops in defense.The rain of arrows from the Tang army made it impossible for them to approach the city wall to fight back, so they left their bows and threw them downwards. Although the Tang army had a large number of arrows, they had no other siege equipment except siege ladders and those catapults that were not accurate enough. Ladder, Liang Jun also found a solution...

"Boom!" There was a loud noise, a huge siege ladder was put on the top of the city, and the thick iron hooks hooked the city wall, and hundreds of Tang soldiers climbed up frantically.

Liang Jun raised the logs and stones and threw them down. Tang Jun screamed and rolled down along with the logs and boulders.

Two burly Liang Jun swung their sledgehammers and smashed at both sides of the siege ladder. As the siege ladder widened, the wedges on the upper rungs fell off from the ladder frame. Unable to ascend the city, under Liang Jun's fierce counterattack, Tang Jun rolled down the city ladder one after another.

But Tang Jun quickly came up with a countermeasure. They used pig iron to fix the rungs of the ladder, so that Liang Jun's hammering method was ineffective, but Liang Jun came up with a big fork. , Dozens of people worked together to push the ladder outwards with a big fork, and the ladder fell away from the top of the city and fell outwards.

The offensive and defensive battles between the two sides were carried out in the non-stop use of various siege methods and various countermeasures.

Surrounded by hundreds of generals, Li Shimin was watching the battle from a distance in front of the Tang army camp. His eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger. Hualong City, which could have been breached in one day, unexpectedly came with reinforcements. For him it was a fiasco.Because the Sui army has changed and assembled in Honghua County.Although he has not attacked Guanzhong yet, he knows that this is just the rhythm before the rainstorm. If he cannot conquer Hualong in a short time, it is very likely that he will transfer his army back to the court and sit in Guanzhong when he is about to win.

For the ministers of military affairs of the DPRK, Xiping County is insignificant. For the sake of Guanzhong, not to mention Xiping County, even the Hexi counties outside the Great Earthquake Pass can be given up. They don't know the value of Hexi, the source of horses, to Li Tang. , or in other words, they don't care at all, because as long as their own interests are protected, those Guanlong nobles are satisfied!As for Li Tang's interests and life and death, they didn't care at all.

"Master Liang actually bet all his final capital." Liu Hongji who was beside Li Shimin said slowly, looking at Liang Luoren commanding the Liang army from afar.

"Master Liang is just a counterattack before he dies!" Behind Li Shimin is a ginger complexion.Tall and thin, with long hands and feet, a young man with a square face.

"How do you know?" Li Shimin asked.

This person's name is Hou Junji, and he is one of Li Shimin's highly valued talents. Since he was accepted, he has taken a fancy to his amazing military talent.Keep it with you all the time.Hou Junji also lived up to Li Shimin's respect, and his various abilities have improved significantly, and he has become an outstanding figure with both civil and military skills.Wen Ke became a member of Li Shimin's advisers, able to lead troops in battle and charge into battle.

Hou Junji said: "The division of Liang has less than [-] to [-] soldiers, and its land is only one county in Xiping. Since the Xue brothers fled to Xihai, he has become a lone army with insufficient supplies. He has no other choice but to fight back to the death. There are options."

Liu Hongqi frowned and said, "Then Liang Shidu didn't join the army before?"

"It's very simple!" Hou Junji said confidently, "Master Liang probably knew the news of Yang Tong's return in victory, and thought that the Sui army would launch an attack on our Tang Dynasty. Hold on until the Sui army invades our Tang Dynasty, and he will win."

Li Shimin nodded silently. This is what he thought. As for how Liang Shidu knew that Yang Tong had won, it didn't matter, because he always suspected that Liang Shidu was secretly funding Liang Shidu. He also supported Xue Ju to fight Li Tang in the same way before, borrowing the enemy's enemy It's not just Li Tang who knows how to consume the enemy's power.

Hou Junji added: "However, this also gives us a chance to wipe them all out."

"Oh? How to wipe them all out?" Li Shimin asked with great interest.

"The bombardment with catapults day and night has demoralized them and the army has no fighting spirit."

"If there are a large number of catapults, do we need to use human lives to fill them?" Li Shimin looked at Hou Junji speechlessly and shook his head. In Li Shimin's impression, Hou Junji should be the commander of the party that expanded the territory.But Hou Junji's progress was not as satisfactory.

Still a little too tender and needs to be sharpened.

……

In the bloody offensive and defensive battle, one day passed quickly, and when night came, Liang Luoren, Li Zhengbao, Zhao Feiyang, Niu Tong and others would gather in the county government office to discuss matters.

Everyone looked at Liang Luoren who was sitting on the first seat, but they didn't speak, and the atmosphere was a bit depressed.Only with their encouragement did the soldiers fight bravely and desperately.But no one could encourage them. There were only a few thousand soldiers left in Huangshui City, and there were no more soldiers, not even reinforcements.Under the attack of Li Tang's army day and night, everyone who knew that they would die hesitated.

Liang Luoren sighed with a gloomy complexion, and said word by word: "Before I lead the army to come, Your Majesty is already ready to defect!"

"what?"

Everyone trembled suddenly, everyone's face was pale, and their heads were dizzy for a while. They were killing their lives at this time, and the object of their allegiance actually escaped?

After being silent for a while, Li Zhengbao suddenly said: "General, we are defeated, we can't fight anymore! Then Li Shimin's soldiers have many generals, and they lead troops so well, we are no match at all. If we continue to fight, all our brothers will be gone."

Liang Luoren smiled wryly, and said: "Your Majesty fled to Pipa Gorge, and was ambushed by the Sui army. All five thousand troops surrendered, and Your Majesty was executed."

Everyone was silent for a while when they heard the words, although Liang Shidu's act of abandoning the army and fleeing was very shameful, but he was actually kind to the generals, and when they heard that he died at the hands of the Sui army, they all showed a little sadness.

"I don't want to fight anymore. We have reached this point of internal and external troubles. If we continue to fight, we will die. Whether we should surrender to the Sui Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, we need a unified view." Liang Luoren asked, looking at the crowd.

"Let's descend to Sui!"

Li Zhengbao stood up and said: "Li Tang has been fighting with us for so long, and we have already forged a grudge. Even if we survive to surrender to Tang, I am afraid that we will have no chance to make meritorious service; and the reunification of the Sui Dynasty is the general trend, and Li Tang will not exist for long. Instead of being a family slave of the three surnames who lives under the fence and begs for mercy, it is better to dedicate the city to the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty only used talents, and we can take advantage of the Sui and Tang Dynasties to clear our charges with loyalty and strength and make contributions."

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

The generals expressed their opinions one after another.

"It seems that everyone's opinions are unified." Liang Luoren nodded slowly, and then ordered outside: "Mr. Liu is welcome."

After a while, a well-mannered scholar came in and saluted everyone: "Shi Liumin, the governor of Wuwei County in the Great Sui Dynasty, has seen all the generals."

All the generals were taken aback, as if they did not expect Liang Luoren to have contact with the Sui Dynasty.

Liang Luoren understood everyone's thoughts, and said with a wry smile: "Yesterday, Liu Changshi got in touch with me. The reason why I kept it a secret until now is to hope that everyone will delay for the king. After all, the king treated me well before he was alive! But who would want... ..."

All the generals sighed when they heard the words.

Liu Min smiled and said: "Generals, after today, we will be a family. As long as you make military exploits in the future, it will be no problem to be a general or a minister."

"Liu Changshi, forgive me." Glancing at Liu Min, Li Zhengbao stood up and said, "His Royal Highness the King of Qin has slaughtered foreigners, and he hates traitors the most, and we have made trouble with the Turks in Yongzhou! His Royal Highness is willing to forgive Us?"

The other people also looked at Liu Min, which was also what everyone was worried about, so this kind of family life must be made clear first.

"Master Liang is already dead, and it doesn't matter after the past!" Seeing that everyone's expression softened, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he said with a smile, "Everyone should know the governor of Pingliang County, Fubao, right?"

"I know!" The generals nodded

"What everyone doesn't know is that General Wang was Dou Jiande's No. [-] general. He was captured alive by General Qin Qiong in the battle. After he surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, he was promoted to the county guard because of his meritorious service."

"I'm willing to pay off my merits."

The generals couldn't help being overjoyed when they heard the words.

"Everyone can rest assured that the Great Sui Dynasty is the only one who can be employed. Now is the time for employing people. You generals don't have to worry about not having the opportunity to make meritorious service."

"The next time I come here, in addition to letting everyone join me! I will also give everyone a chance to pay off their merits and crimes. I hope everyone will do their best to drag Li Shimin's army to Hualong City!" Liu Min looked at everyone and said: "Everyone! If the general has no objection, please go back and continue mobilizing soldiers to defend the city in the name of Liang Jun. As long as you hold off for half a month, it will be a great achievement. Don't worry everyone, our army will give us great support."

"I'll obey!" The generals knew that Tai Sui was going to use troops against Li Tang, and after bowing and agreeing, they left refreshed

Until everyone left, Liang Luoren smiled wryly and said, "Liu Changshi, the criminal has lived up to his entrustment this time, and I hope he can keep his promise."

"General Liang, don't worry! Governor Li will definitely report to His Highness and plead for the general." Liu Min smiled.

"I hope." Liang Luoren thought of the domineering Prince Yingwu, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"His Royal Highness is the most important military merit, and Liang Shidu, the villainous leader, has already been executed, so the general will not be implicated. There is no need to worry." Liu Min said: "Hualong City still needs to be defended by the general, as long as the mission is completed, it will be the first merit. Let’s get ready, the general too! Don’t worry about the defense equipment, General Duan will secretly transport it from the rear.”

"Here." Liang Luoren nodded, and followed Liu Min out.

(End of this chapter)