The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 726 Xu Shiji's Chance
When Yang Tong took his family on a tour to the west, Dongyang County had been raining for five consecutive days.During the confrontation these days, although the Sui army did not conduct large-scale battles with the coalition forces of Meng Haigong and Feng An, there were frequent small conflicts.There is a difference of [-] to [-] troops between the enemy and us. The Sui army, which is at a disadvantage, has always maintained a defensive posture. Zhang Zhenzhou, Qin Qiong, and Fang Xuanling used the big camp as bait to contain the main force of the coalition forces, and then used cavalry to eat away at the cruising troops. The coalition scouts suppressed the opponent's food supply.Although the coalition army also had horses, they could only be regarded as poor horses compared to the war horses of the Sui army. Moreover, the coalition army was not good at riding and fighting, and their bows and crossbows were not as good as the Sui army.

Early in the morning, the rain finally stopped. When Zhang Zhenzhou took dozens of relatives out of the city to observe the terrain, he accidentally saw a group of people helping the old and the young coming from the official road in front. Zhang Zhenzhou came forward to inquire and found out that there was a village Submerged by the mudslide, there were more than 100 households and more than 500 people in the village, and only more than 50 people escaped.

Zhang Zhenzhou hurriedly ordered the magistrate of Xin'an County to resettle the refugees, and at the same time sent [-] soldiers to excavate the villages submerged in the mudslides, hoping to rescue some survivors. After the unremitting efforts of the soldiers, they really saved a family, and their house was far from collapse. The mountain, and because the house was built relatively firmly, it withstood the power of the mudslide, and it was also because the Sui army rescued it in time, otherwise the family would have suffocated to death.During the comforting chat, the host's inadvertent words touched Zhang Zhenzhou's nerves.

The commoner told Zhang Zhenzhou that flash floods broke out in Xin'an County every summer, and roads and bridges were washed away every year, but it was the first time in his memory that the entire village was flooded. With the current weather, there will be heavy rain in the next few days. Zhang Zhenzhou is advised not to march up and down the mountain to avoid landslides.

The commoner was trying to warn and advise, but Zhang Zhenzhou was so moved that he immediately sent someone to send the survivors of the family back to the county, and then risked the rain to approach the coalition camp, carefully inspecting the mountains on both sides of the official road, and finally Finally, they found a steep mountain seven miles away. Standing on the mountain, they could see the coalition army camp three miles away.

After days of torrential rain, the mountain formed by the loess gravel is not only full of gullies, but also very soft. If the heavy rain comes again, and there is an external force to push it, a large-scale torrent of mud and rocks may erupt.Zhang Zhenzhou stopped hesitating immediately, and after discussing with Qin Qiong and Fang Xuanling, he sent troops to dig embankments to divert the water quietly, guiding the mountain stream to scour the mountains on both sides of the official road.

Their intention is very obvious, that is to create a large-scale man-made flood of mud and rocks, to deal a heavy blow to the coalition army camp three miles away. They don't want the entire army to be annihilated, but only want to injure part of the enemy and destroy the coalition army's supplies and food Once the mud is poured, the food of the coalition forces will be inedible.

But it is not easy to artificially create a mudslide torrent.Although heavy rains fell for three consecutive days after that, the Sui army tried their best to draw streams to scour the mountains, but the expected signs of mudslide torrents did not appear.

In the early morning of the fourth day, the heavy rain stopped suddenly and the wind was sunny.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom."

The rumble of war drums sounded from the camp of the allied forces. This was the sound of the assembled army, which meant that the allied forces would soon send troops to storm the camp of the Sui army. Zuo Tiancheng, who was in charge of the excavation, had no choice but to retreat back to the camp in despair.

"I'm sorry for making the soldiers work hard for a few days in vain." Zhang Zhenzhou said with a bitter face when he heard that the mountains were still standing still, "It seems that we can only fight tough battles."

"That's okay." Fang Xuanling smiled and comforted: "If the artificial mudslide torrent is successful, we will be able to severely injure the enemy without a single soldier, and we will also save a lot of damage in the face-to-face decisive battle. , this victory is nothing compared to the hard work of two thousand soldiers for a few days, it can only be said that the heavens are not beautiful."

"If our army is defending the camp, we can rely on a strong camp to resist, and we can use strong bows and crossbows to inflict heavy losses. However, the mob that the enemy has just put together is just because of the large number of people. It is unbearable to fight for a long time. Therefore, even if they have the advantage, it is useless. It is okay to fight against the wind. Once the attack is unable to attack for a long time and the losses are heavy, the morale will be demoralized. That is the time when our army breaks the army." Qin Qiong in Zhangxu For many years under Tuo's command, he has dealt with anti-thieves like the coalition army almost every day. Every time, he can attack more with less and defeat the strong with the "weak". "

"That's right." Zhang Zhenzhou was not a hypocritical person either, so he stopped being entangled when he heard the words, pondered for a moment, and asked Qin Qiong modestly: "General Qin, how did you fight the Wagang bandits before?"

"General Zhang's style of play is similar to that of the Holy One, and it's also very simple. Either use the elite troops to defeat the enemy's central army in an upright manner; When fighting in the division, there is always, always a feeling of being short, so the bandit army generally needs to boost morale before the battle. As long as our generals go out to call for formation, they will fight [-]% of the time. These two tactics are often used against mobs. " Qin Qiong said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhang Zhenzhou had a plan in mind, he smiled and said: "The bandit army has enough siege equipment, if we let the bandit army attack, our army may suffer a lot of losses, I plan to use the second method, Destroy its siege equipment in the wild. Presumably General Qin is also very skilled?"

Qin Qiong laughed: "I heard that Meng Haigong's younger brother Meng Yigui, Feng An's eldest son Feng Zhijian, and his second son Feng Zhidai are all unstoppable, and they are rare enemies. I also want to see this so-called What level is the enemy of ten thousand people?"

"Fang Shangshu, what do you think?" Zhang Zhenzhou asked.

"As the saying goes, if you defend for a long time, you will lose. It is not our army's style to be passively beaten. If we win a battle in an upright manner, destroy the enemy's equipment, and dampen the enemy's spirit, the next step will be easy." Having said that, Fang Xuanling went on Suggested: "There is a dense forest three miles upstream of Dingyang River. We should deploy a fine cavalry there. The number of people is [-], or we can achieve unexpected results."

Zuo Tiancheng on the side clasped his fists and begged for orders: "General, the last general is willing to lead this army."

Zhang Zhenzhou patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If the enemy army is divided into two, and one team breaks through the defense line to attack the battalion, how can it be done without a fierce general like General Zuo to resist? The periphery is either harassment or chasing after the victory. ; There is no need for a general like General Zuo, an ordinary general will do.”

Zuo Tiancheng was very satisfied with Zhang Zhenzhou's praise, he chuckled and said, "The final general will follow the arrangement of the general!"

Zhang Zhenzhou nodded, and then ordered: "Bring me General Xu!"

After a while, Xu Shiji galloped towards him, cupped his fists and saluted: "The last general Xu Shiji sees General Zhang, General Qin, and Fang Shangshu."

"The thieves are about to attack the camp. I plan to destroy the army head-on, and I need a fine cavalry to wait around." Zhang Zhenzhou smiled slightly: "But the army will not be many, only 3000 people, general Xu willing to lead? "

Since Xu Shiji arrived in the south, he has never had a chance to fight. Of course, this is not because Zhang Zhenzhou looked down on him as a general, but because he needs a period of time to adapt to the tactics and style of the Sui army. Now this task is not important. If Xu Shiji really Yang Tong said in his letter that he was so powerful, it should be a breeze, even if Xu Shiji gained a false name, the [-] Sui troops with the entire army would not suffer major losses.

"The last will obey!"

This was also the opportunity that Xu Shiji had dreamed of since he came down to the Sui Dynasty. He also knew that Zhang Zhenzhou specially gave him the opportunity, and he was very grateful.

"Although your task is light, it is also extremely important, because the purpose of this battle is to defeat the enemy's spirit and destroy the siege equipment of the bandit army. I will give you the right to decide when to send troops. I hope you will not disappoint us." Zhang Zhenzhou solemnly Said.

"Please rest assured, General Zhang, the last general will never disappoint the general." Xu Shiji saluted, took the command arrow from Zhang Zhenzhou's hand respectfully, hurried out to order three thousand fine cavalry, dispatched troops from the back door of the camp, and quietly walked around On the mountain ridge, go straight to the west of the camp, and choose a place to ambush.

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Thanks to the book friend 'I ignore human beings' for the reward. . .

(End of this chapter)