The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 427 Wang Shichong's confusion
On the official road to the east of Yecheng, a group of cavalry was galloping towards Yecheng. The leading generals were Pei Xingyan, general of the Third Army of the Sui Dynasty, and deputy generals Jia Wuben and Gao Yaxian.

They received the news of marching into the Central Plains in Bohai, and were ordered to come to Yecheng to discuss the military situation.This order means that after more than a year of precipitation, the Great Sui Dynasty finally decided to compete in the Central Plains. This is the first step to unify the world, which makes the three generals very excited. They dislike the slow waterway and simply run around day and night with two horses , although they all ran away in a hurry, but their faces were happy and their spirits were high.

"Three generals, Ye City has arrived." A personal guard pointed to the huge city in the distance and shouted.

Pei Xingyan ordered: "Change horses, speed up."

"Here!"

The group of people quickly changed their mounts and accelerated, the horseshoes stirred up billows of dust, and galloped towards Yecheng.

……

In the military aircraft room of Chaoyang Palace, more than [-] civil and military officials gathered together. The second army commander Qin Qiong, deputy Wang Bian and Zuo Tiancheng;

In the middle of everyone's seats is a sunken rectangle. A huge sand table is placed in the hollow. The topographical map of the Central Plains is vividly presented in front of everyone's eyes. Even if they are sitting on the seats, they can see it clearly.

The situation has changed again. Heibingtai’s Xiangyang Department sent urgent information, and all 18 Tang troops and a large amount of supplies were transported to Waiwuguan. The commander has confirmed that the false Tang and Jin king Li Shimin, Liu Wenjing and Xiao Yu are the military advisers. Gao Shilian, Yuwen Shiji, Duan Zhixuan, and Gao Shilian are the marching commanders, and the generals accompanying the army include Chai Shao, Duan Zhixuan, Liu Hongji, Hou Junji, Wang Junkuo, Li Xizhi, Qiu Xinggong, Zhang Gongjin, and Li Gaoqian. It can be said that the lineup is huge. This news was verified by Daxing.

Yang Tong immediately realized that the Tang army was most likely to deceive Wang Shichong strategically. After all, except for the gathering of troops on the side of Xiyang, the Tang army had adopted mild defensive measures in all other border counties. In the east, he still strictly ordered Xue Wanche of the Sixth Army and Yu Chi Gong of the Seventh Army to be on alert, and at the same time let Liu Gang, the chief general of Tongguan, enter a wartime state.

"My lord, it's almost time, can we start?" Du Ruhui, the servant of the Ministry of War, asked in a low voice.

Yang Tong shook his head: "General Pei and the others have already entered the city, and they will be there soon. Wait for them."

As soon as the words fell, there was a rush of footsteps outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, General Pei, General Jia, and General Gao have arrived." A guard reported loudly.

Immediately afterwards, Pei Xingyan walked into the military aircraft room and said apologetically, "I'm late, and I'm really sorry for making everyone wait so long."

The three of them saluted Yang Tong together and said, "The final general will see the Holy One."

"The three generals have worked hard!" Yang Tong looked at the three generals with ashen eyebrows, pointed to the water basin and food that had been prepared, and said with a smile, "Wipe your face and eat something."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The three generals felt warm in their hearts, and quickly thanked them, and washed them aside without hesitation, then grabbed the pastries and ate them.

Yang Tong was not in a hurry, he waited for them to catch their breath and regained their composure before saying, "Let's get started."

"Here!"

Everyone gathered around the sand table, and Yang Tong said to everyone: "Everyone, after repeated discussions, we decided to take advantage of the time when the puppet Tang soldiers entered Luoyang to compete in the Central Plains. Our first step is to establish a foothold in the Central Plains, big and small. It doesn't matter, the key is to allow me to maneuver freely in the Sui Dynasty, advance and retreat freely, so where to advance is very important."

He took an iron rod as thick as a thumb and pointed at the sand table and said: "Among the three major powers in the Central Plains, Li Mi is the strongest in the middle. Even if we win against him, we will be sunk in the encirclement of the three enemies, unable to move. Therefore, Li Mi is not desirable; the weakest Dou Jiande is now divided into three, and it is not difficult to annihilate him, but Qingzhou is alone, even if we recover it, it will not be of great significance, and it will not affect the Central Plains. When we hit Luoyang, I'm afraid this place already belongs to the false Tang Dynasty, so Dou Jiande can't beat him either."

"In this way, only Wang Shichong is the only one left. If we take Luoyang, we can not only return the capital to Luoyang, but also integrate with Guanzhong to avoid the enemy from many sides. More importantly, from a strategic point of view, if we take Luoyang, we can Cut off the claws of the puppet Tang plotting the Central Plains, making it difficult for it to develop eastward."

Pei Xingyan, who had just arrived, thought for a while and expressed his opinion: "My lord, if we take Luoyang, we will be between Li Yuan and Li Mi. If the two form an alliance, we are very likely to be attacked by the second power. The strength of the joint force is not weak."

Yang Tong smiled and said: "General Pei's idea is very correct. In order to contain Er Li, we have sent envoys to discuss with Xiao Xian and Du Fuwei, and asked them to contain Er Li from the south and disperse their forces. In this way, we To win Luoyang, it is impossible for the two to attack with all their strength. Moreover, the most unreliable ally in the world is the most unreliable ally. After forming an alliance, the two Lis seem to be strong, but in fact they have their own ghosts. They are on guard against each other and restrain each other. , but also afraid of the plot from the allies."

"Even if Xiao Xian and Du Fuwei can't do it, I'm not worried. We can let Yu Chigong go eastward along the Han River, threatening Xiangyang, the capital of the puppet Tang Dynasty, and at the same time let Wang Fubao and Xue Wanche march into Bashu. I don't believe that the puppet Tang Dynasty dares to let go of the rear in spite of."

"Since that's the case, then there will be no difference." Pei Xingyan asked with a smile: "But I don't know what task the general and others have?"

Jia Wuben and Gao Yaxian immediately looked at Yang Tong, this is quite crucial.

"The task of the third army is quite heavy and dangerous. In the early stage, we cooperated with the navy and set up a posture to attack Qingzhou in the Bohai Sea to cover up the march into Luoyang. As soon as my order comes, you will break through Qingzhou with a thunderous force, and then garrison troops Rule Linyi County in Langye County, and at the same time deter the Puppet Wei's Pengcheng, Xiapi, and Donghai counties."

When Pei Xingyan, Jia Wuben, and Gao Yaxian heard this, they were immediately in high spirits and refreshed, and asked, "My lord, is the third army's supplies to be confiscated?"

"After you captured Linyi County, you immediately marched into Ju County, and used prisoners of war and local people to open up docks. The navy will provide you with supplies from the sea. Therefore, you don't need any place, but Ju County must not be lost."

"I will understand at the end."

"This task is not only important, but also quite dangerous. Do you three have confidence?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry, the last general and others promise to complete the task." Pei Xingyan said proudly.

Yang Tong smiled and nodded, "I trust you, be careful."

"Here." The three generals responded loudly.

Seeing that Yang Tong had arranged the mission for the third army, Kong Yingda cupped his hands and asked, "Your Majesty, we still have an alliance with Wang Shichong. If we attack him, what will people in the world think?"

"Covenant?"

Yang Tong sneered disdainfully and said: "We have never had an alliance with Wang Shichong. In the past, we only reached a verbal agreement with him in order to deal with the puppet Tang. To be clear, we only have a win-win business relationship with him. More importantly What’s more, I have reasons to go to war with him.”

Kong Yingda understood Yang Yu's point, and suddenly said: "The Holy One means that Wang Shichong is a traitor?"

Yang Tong nodded, and proudly said: "My Great Sui is the orthodox world, and the rest are all rebellious officials and thieves of my Great Sui. We can fight whatever we want. As for Xiao Mian and Du Fuwei, they are just for mutual benefit and reciprocity. There is no such thing as an alliance, and it would be too cheap to be an alliance with them."

……

If a year ago, Li Yuan and Li Mi were regarded as the greatest enemies in this life by Wang Shichong, then it is undoubtedly Yang Tong now. The emergence of various new policies in the Sui Dynasty, and the spies of the Sui Dynasty spared no effort to publicize externally. A large number of Hongnong people migrated across the mountains and ridges to Guanzhong. Whenever the Yellow River froze, the people of Xingyang and Henan counties would set foot on the ice to the north. Vote for the Sui Dynasty.

The people of these three counties know that in the troubled times, the Central Plains has been a battleground in the world since ancient times. Once the Central Plains War breaks out, Luoyang will definitely bear the brunt.For the common people, the majestic and majestic Sui Dynasty was much stronger than Wang Shichong, who was on the sidelines. They had no confidence in Wang Shichong, so they were unwilling to die with Wang Shichong.

Even though Wang Shichong managed a good business, many people have left one after another in the past few years, especially the people of Xingyang, who were severely exploited by the aristocratic family. For Xingyang of the Yellow River, over the past few years, at least [-]% of them have been lost.

Wang Shichong didn't know what other places bordered Yang Tong, but it must have been bad.

Wang Shichong was able to achieve today's prosperity, but he borrowed a lot from Yang Tong's methods. Although he completely broke with the family, the fields controlled by the government were directly distributed to the people. Without the exploitation of the family, not only Wang Shichong was rich, but also It also helped him attract many people from the Jingxiang area, which is why he has the momentum he has today.

But no matter how good the momentum is, it can't change the fact that Wang Shichong's territory is small. The five counties he controls, Henan, Hongnong, Xingyang, Xiangcheng, and Fuyang, are strategically important places in the Central Plains. No matter who wants to rule the Central Plains, they must Start here first, and many insightful people are no longer optimistic about Wang Shichong, because they feel that Wang Shichong is not only unable to develop, but also difficult to protect himself.

With the frequent actions of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Wang Shichong encountered big trouble here.

On the one hand, many officials were unwilling to die for Wang Shichong, so they hung up their seals one after another, leaving many vacancies in the court officials. His fourth brother Wang Shiyun alone was ready to serve more than a dozen concurrently. A learned military officer entered the court as an official.

Secondly, the aristocratic families in the two counties of Xiangcheng and Fuyang are not optimistic about him, and Li Yuan, who is more secure and has a wider territory, is somewhat dissatisfied with his rule. Wang Shichong had no choice but to let the prince Wang Xuanying go to appease him, but the effect was Not obvious.

The third thing is that the evil results of taking in the cannibal king Zhu Can finally broke out. The people in Hongnong, Xiangcheng, and Fuyang, which were once deeply poisoned by Zhu Can, strongly demanded that Wang Shichong kill Zhu Can to thank the world. Wang Shichong became furious. Zhu Can was directly sent to lead the army to suppress, but Zhu Can failed and returned, and the conflict was further aroused. Under the instigation of some interested people, some local heroes organized a rebel army, governed the city for self-government, and unceremoniously drove out the officials appointed by Wang Shichong.

All of this gave Wang Shichong an illusion——

Before the enemy knew who it was, he had already lost.

(End of this chapter)