The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 457

In the early morning, the rapid sound of horseshoes broke the dullness of Xiangyang City. As soon as the soldiers opened the city gate, they saw a troop of cavalry galloping towards the end at the end. On the broken flag, one could vaguely recognize 'Li' word.

The lieutenant's expression was startled. The surname Li was a common surname in Li Tang, and the Li clan was even more powerful. Among them, Li Shimin, Li Yuanji, Li Xiaogong, Li Daozong, Li Shentong, Li Deliang, Li Xiaoji, Li Xizhi and others were all soldiers. Among the generals, apart from Li Yuanji and Li Shimin fighting Wang Shichong in Luoyang, Li Xizhi stationed troops at Zhuyangguan, Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong stationed troops in Xiangcheng, and the rest also have important tasks. Clan heir?
When the captain was thinking about these things, the other party had already arrived in front of the city gate. There were about 300 people, each with an unspeakably tired look on their bodies.

"King Zhaojun!" When the school lieutenant saw clearly the appearance of the leading general, his complexion changed suddenly, and he almost blurted out.

Li Xiaogong just gave the captain a weary look, without saying anything, he led his troops into the city and headed straight for the palace.

"Your Highness, this is..." The imperial guard couldn't help being stunned when he saw Li Xiaogong covered in dried blood.

"Announce, I want to see the Holy Majesty."

"I'm humbled to go to the pass, and please enter the palace to wait, but these soldiers..." The commander of the imperial guards looked at the troops brought by Li Xiaogong in embarrassment. Li Xiaogong didn't even need to report, but these soldiers could not do it.

"You are waiting at the return home." Li Xiaogong turned his head and glanced at the attendants, his voice hoarse.

"Here!" All the soldiers left straight away.

Li Yuan had just woken up not long ago, and when he heard the news of Li Xiaogong's return, his heart sank. Ever since he received Li Xiaogong's evacuation from Yangdi, Li Yuan was worried that he would not be the match of Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong, but Li Yuan still had some doubts in his heart. With a little hope, after all, Li Xiaogong has made great achievements and is the number one general of the clan. After all, it is impossible to say that there is no such thing as Jingxiang's [-] troops, right?
It's just that when he heard Li Xiaogong appearing here, Li Yuan felt a pain in his head and his body swayed, and he stabilized himself with the support of Concubine Yin De.

"My lord, what's the matter?" Concubine Yin De looked at Li Yuan worriedly.

"I'm fine." Li Yuan took a deep breath, waved his hands, and signaled Concubine Yin De not to care, waved back to report to the eunuch, and hurried to the Ganlu Palace.

Outside the hall, Li Xiaogong stood outside the door like a door panel. When he saw Li Yuan, Li Xiaogong fell to his knees with a thud. The man was crying like a child at this moment: "The minister has a heavy entrustment from the sage, and the army is gone. , Xiangcheng and Fuyang are lost!"

Although he was mentally prepared, when he heard Li Xiaogong's confirmation, Li Yuan still felt his mind went blank, and he didn't listen to a word of Li Yuan's next words.

"Come here." After a long time, Li Yuan came back to his senses, stretched out his hand to support Li Xiaogong, and said to the guards who came in: "Cancel the morning court, go and invite the crown prince and several Xiangguo to discuss matters in the imperial study."

"Throw it away."

After the confession, Li Yuan looked at Li Xiaogong, only to see that his hair was disheveled, and his armor was covered with dried purple-black blood stains, exuding a strong bloody smell. He knew that he must have gone through countless bloody battles to live here. For a moment, Li Yuan seemed to be old Quite a few, shook their heads and said, "Follow me in first."

Soon, Li Jiancheng, Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Duguzheng, and Dou Wei came to the imperial study from the previous dynasty. When they saw Li Xiaogong, the hearts of the six sank, and they already guessed what happened.

After each sat down, Li Yuan asked Li Xiaogong to explain the matter again, and took out the Liannu used by the Sui army.

"This crossbow can fire ten arrows in a row. It is amazingly powerful. The range is about [-] steps, which is nearly a hundred steps beyond ours. All the soldiers and horses under Luo Shixin are equipped with this crossbow, with two in each hand, while slaves of foreign races use bows and arrows. Although our soldiers help I broke Luo Shixin's defense and snatched some crossbows, but I was defeated in the end. I brought back only this one. The Sui army is not only very proficient in the use of crossbows, but also has amazing riding skills. Our cavalry has always lagged behind our crossbows. Within a short time, they can’t get close at all, and then they will be shot and killed, and in the end, they can only lead a few hundred people to break out.”

In the defeat outside Runan County, although thousands of cavalry survived, under the crushing force of Luo Shixin's overwhelming army, Li Xiaogong had no time to reorganize the defense. In addition, Qin Qiong followed closely to occupy the county, and a large area of ​​the city changed hands. Suddenly, he became a street mouse, and under the pursuit of Luo Shixin's army, he hid in Tibet and swam over at night in the water to find a place where the current was not rushing.

Li Yuan sat on the main seat, playing with the crossbow that Li Xiaogong handed over, and remained silent. In the hall, Dugu frowned and looked at Li Yuan and said: "The Sui army's tactics are very similar to those of the pre-Qin period. Use the bow and arrow to suppress the opponent first, to suppress the opponent's morale."

Li Jiancheng glanced at the exquisite crossbow in Li Yuan's hand and said, "Since Yang Tong took control of Jizhou, he has organized craftsmen to continuously innovate equipment, and even set up a Kaitian Academy specializing in the development of advanced equipment, using titles and wealth to stimulate craftsmen to innovate. As far as I know, this crossbow was only equipped by the Xuanjia Army around Yang Tong four years ago, and now even Luo Shixin's soldiers have two soldiers. fear."

Li Xiaogong nodded and said: "The Sui army's continuous crossbow has a long range and fast loading speed. In the future, it may be more difficult to fight against the Sui army's cavalry. In addition, the Sui army also has a large bed crossbow that can shoot spears. And a lot of powerful siege equipment, Yang Tong conquered Pingyao City in one day, it is said that he got the advantage of the siege equipment."

Hearing this, Li Yuan felt even more disturbed, and turned to look at Xiao Yu who had been silent all the time: "Xiao Qing, what do you think?"

Xiao Yu looked at Li Xiaogong: "According to what His Highness said, Luo Shixin actually has enough ability to end the battle in a short time?"

Li Xiaogong's face turned red, and finally he nodded bitterly and said: "Xiangguo is right, Luo Shixin seems to be playing, if he really wants to wipe out our army, I'm afraid none of us will be able to leave."

"But Luo Shixin didn't." Xiao Yu's face turned serious, and he turned to look at Li Yuan and said, "Your Majesty, you still remember that the day Yique Pass was broken was the day when King Huai'an led an army of [-] to leave Xiangyang. All eyes are drawn to Luoyang area."

"Not bad." Li Yuan seemed to have thought of something, and his face became even uglier.

A thought suddenly popped up in Li Jiancheng's mind, he looked at Xiao Yu and said, "Annihilate our army one by one?"

"I'm afraid it's as King Zhao expected. Yang Yu's real intention is not Luoyang, but my Tang Dynasty. As long as we wipe out all the elite troops in a wide area, it will open the door to the west." Xiao Yu nodded and said in a deep voice. road.

As for Luoyang, it can't be said to be incidental, but Yang Tong's strategy is to wipe out the elite forces of the Tang army before attacking Luoyang. After all, Li Mi has already gone south, so Luoyang is not a burden to Yang Tong.And if Li Tang defeats Li Shimin and Li Shentong's army again, he will be like a tiger whose teeth have been pulled out. It will not have much deterrent power against the Sui Dynasty, and it will be the day of Li Tang's demise.

"If our army is defeated, the Sui army can go south from Guanzhong and Hanchuan to raid Jingzhou and Bashu. There will be no happy land in the entire Tang Dynasty! At the same time, Pei Xingyan and Shen Guang will cooperate with the Sui Dynasty navy. Attack the land of Qingxu and Jianghuai."

Li Yuan's complexion also became ugly, Yang Tong wanted to annex the world in one go and end the rhythm of the troubled times.

"That may not be the case. The road to Shu is very difficult. Yang Tong's strong bow and crossbow are restricted in Bashu, and the Bashu family will not let Yang Tong take control of Bashu. Therefore, if Yang Tong wants to occupy Bashu, he must at least It will take five years."

Xiao Yu shook his head. The road to Shu is very difficult, and there will be great restrictions on where the crossbow arrows can go. After all, the mountain roads there are not straight. , Yang Tong's bow and arrow advantage can't be used at all, but even so, Yang Tong already has all the conditions to capture Bashu.

Li Yuan looked at the crossbow in his hand, raised his head after a long time, looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Majesty, our army is using this crossbow as a blueprint, how many can we build in the near future with all our efforts?"

"Father, I don't have many craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty. I can only say that I will try my best to supervise and recruit craftsmen. As for how many Liannu can be built, it's hard to say." Li Jiancheng bowed.

While the war brought disasters, it also brought about many changes in consciousness. For example, over the years, stimulated by Yang Tong, the princes of all walks of life began to realize the importance of craftsmen. status, but no matter who the princes are, they will consciously absorb craftsmen, and the improvement of the status of craftsmen will indirectly bring about many technological innovations. Of course, there are many things that have sprouted before this, but if there is no such troubled times. It's just a bud.

If someone observes and thinks carefully, they will find that with the rise and growth of Yang Tong, some inherent and unbreakable hierarchical concepts are loosening a little bit. unable.

"Do your best." Li Yuan also understood this truth, and couldn't help but sigh. He wanted to elevate the status of practical talents, but he couldn't, and couldn't bear the price of collective resistance from the aristocratic family. That's a humiliating thing, but in fact, who doesn't do business?The Dugu family is Li Tang's largest grain merchant, and Li Tang's largest iron merchant is the Dou family.

After a while, Li Yuan asked again: "How many crossbows are there in the inner treasury?"

"There are about [-] hand crossbows and [-] bed crossbows." Li Jiancheng responded.

Li Yuan nodded, narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Li Xiaogong and said: "Xiaogong, I appointed you as the commander of the Nanyang Road Marching, to take over the 2 troops from Huai'an King, and take charge of the defense of Nanyang and Xiyang. Have you seen it before?" For Yang Tong's crossbow cavalry tactics, you can select strong and good cavalry soldiers from the army, form a [-] crossbow cavalry army in Nanyang, and train them. The law was compiled into a book and passed on to the border troops of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, so that they could find suitable places to fortify according to Yang Tong's tactics."

What is suitable for defending crossbow cavalry is some terrain that is not conducive to the performance of crossbow cavalry, such as curved and narrow mountain roads.

"The last general takes the order!" Li Xiaogong accepted the order with great emotion.

Li Jiancheng and others looked at each other, bowed and asked, "Father, are you going to defend against Yang Tong's invasion?"

"That's right!" Li Yuan nodded. If there was a field battle, even a million troops would not be enough for the Sui army.The Sui army took advantage of the equipment, and it was a wise choice to stick to it before thinking of a way to restrain it.

"Where is Tuyuhun's army?" Li Yuan asked with narrowed eyes.

Tuyuhun's life was quite difficult. Last year, he was attacked by Su Dingfang's peacekeeping army and Duan Decao. He was killed and defeated. The forces had already withdrawn from the territory of the Sui Dynasty. Murong Fuyun didn't dare to take him in. Murong Fuyun had nowhere to go, so he asked Li Yuan for help. In view of the existence of slave soldiers in the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan made a request to Tuyuhun. To join the army and accept Li Tang's rule, all the horses must be handed in. Although Murong Fuyun was unwilling in every possible way, but under the suppression of the peacekeeping army, if he did not surrender, he would die. Therefore, he agreed to all the conditions of Li Tang and unified the whole clan. , there are also about [-] young and strong, although the number is far inferior to the slave soldiers of the Sui Dynasty, but Li Yuan also intends to use poison to fight poison. It is naturally good to win the Sui Dynasty. If this army is wiped out by Yang Tong, at least it can be defeated. Consuming some of the troops of the Sui Dynasty, Tuyuhun would also be assimilated due to the death of the young and strong, but it is a pity that the young and strong in Tuyuhun are actually a little less.

"Yesterday it was said that we arrived in Brazil County." Li Jiancheng replied.

"Hurry up."

"Here!"

"My lord!" Xiao Yu stood up, bowed and said, "Since we intend to adopt a defensive policy, then King Jin should be allowed to withdraw from Luoyang in time, so as not to have long nights and dreams."

"Good." Li Yuan nodded. The Sui army's crossbow cavalry were so powerful that his only ambition for Luoyang was extinguished. At present, the main thing is to protect the army.

(End of this chapter)