The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 822
Li Xiaogong's decision to camp in Wazigang was very simple. He knew that he had been targeted by the Sui army, and felt that instead of exhausting the army, it would be better to stop and fight the Sui army in a full state.This decision just avoided the battle plan formulated by Yang Shanhui at the beginning, and completely failed the plan of the Sui army's pocket formation in Shizihe.

Fortunately, not all situations are depressing. First of all, Wazigang is covered with alfalfa, which not only solves the problem of fodder for nearly [-] horses and more than [-] donkeys in the entire army, but also provides food for the army. If it were not for this The horse feed and army rations have long since run out of alfalfa, which is in full bloom and extremely enchanting.

Secondly, for a long time, when the Tang army faced the Sui army, the biggest problem was not the cavalry, but that the Sui army would never fight the Tang army hand-to-hand as long as there was room for maneuver. However, the crossbows of the Sui Army were quite terrifying in terms of range and penetration. Ordinary wooden shields were either pierced by strong arrows or shattered. If they were replaced with hard wood, they would be too heavy to carry. Being able to bear it also seriously hinders the marching speed.

Tang Jun’s high-level officials were very troubled by the Sui Jun’s crossbows, and they didn’t know what to do, but the more complex problems, in many cases, were often solved by the people living at the bottom with the simplest solution, and the same was true for crossbows.

Because Li Xiaogong had to climb mountains and ridges this time, he couldn't carry all the heavy weapons, and the big shield belonged to the ranks of being abandoned.A few days ago, when Li Xiaogong was inspecting the barracks, he accidentally found some soldiers picking old mountain vines to weave shields. They thought that the rattan shields with gaps would not work, but the soldiers told Li Xiaogong that once the rattan shields were dried, they were not only lighter than wooden shields , is stronger than wooden shields, ordinary swords, bows and arrows can't be broken at all, so Li Xiaogong asked someone to try the dry rattan shield, and the bow and arrow really couldn't pierce it. That's even worse, even if the arrow passes through the gaps in the rattan shield, it can't pierce people. After seeing the effect of blocking arrows, Li Xiaogong asked people to erect the dry rattan shield on the ground, and chopped it with a sword. Circle, not like a cork shield like a knife to the end.So Li Xiaogong asked Lu Zushang to lead a group of soldiers to make double-layer rattan shields these days, in order to block the power of the Sui army's bow and crossbow.

Another news is that the generals of the Tang army headed by Li Xiaogong were very moved. Although Li Jiancheng in Xiangyang did not follow their advice and defend Xiangyang to the death, Li Jiancheng disregarded the safety of Xiangyang and persevered in opening up the grain road. Heartwarming.From the overall situation, everyone thinks that Li Jiancheng is very irrational, but Li Jiancheng's irrational behavior of not giving up makes them, who are in desperate situations, very moved and have a sense of belonging.

But when Li Xiaogong heard the news that Cai Yang was captured by Luo Shixin today, he couldn't calm down anymore.

The fall of Caiyang meant that their retreat was cut off. If the Sui army moved in large numbers, then they would be completely cut off from Xiangyang. From this move of the Sui army, Li Xiaogong could see that the Sui army did not want to attack the camp by force, but decided to Sit and wait for Tang Junliang to collapse.

This is the most vicious and shameless conspiracy that Sui Jun is best at. He can see it, but he can't break it, unless he can break it with force, but is it possible?
Just as he was thinking about the way out, a group of generals were invited to the big tent by his own soldiers, and Chai Shao cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I heard that Cai Yang has fallen?"

"Exactly." Li Xiaogong nodded and said, "I'm here for this purpose."

Chai Shao said: "Your Highness, the Sui army obviously does not give us a chance to fight back. We can't wait any longer and must break through as soon as possible."

"I think so too." Li Xiaogong nodded, looked at the silent Lu Zushang, and asked, "General Lu, how many rattan shields have you made these days?"

"Your Highness, more than 2 double-layer rattan shields have been made." Lu Zushang answered with cupped hands.

"How effective is the defensive crossbow?" Li Xiaogong asked again hastily.

"Your Highness." Lu Zushang said excitedly: "The last general has tried it with our army's hand crossbow. A single-layer rattan shield can block a crossbow of [-] steps. If it is within [-] steps, the rattan shield can't stop it; The double-layered rattan shield sandwiched between two layers of bamboo weaves has amazing defensive effects, and when the general stabbed with an ordinary spear, it took all his strength to pierce through."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Although Lu Zushang was not a powerful general, he was also a mighty general. The rattan shield he couldn't pierce could block a light hand crossbow no matter what.

"Thank you, General Lu." Li Xiaogong praised, and then said: "In order to make Yang Shanhui attack our military camp with both offensive and defensive capabilities, we even sent agents to Luoyang to spread the news, saying that Yang Shanhui would support his troops, gain fame, favor the Tang Dynasty, and conspire against us. However, we still underestimated Yang Tong's trust in Yang Shanhui, and turned a blind eye to it; and Yang Shanhui is also amazing, even if there are rumors that are not good for him in Luoyang, he still sticks to his mission as a coach and does not care about him. Forcibly attacking my camp, he proved his innocence. Judging from his current reaction, he will not fight a tough battle with us. Although the prince has been defeated repeatedly, he has not many troops in his hands. If he continues, his army will be very weak. It’s almost gone, and the Sui army only needs to approach the city and Xiangyang will fall, and we will completely lose our way to enter Shu at that time, so we can’t go on like this, we must try to break the deadlock.”

"Your Highness said that if the soldiers hadn't saved food and supplemented it with alfalfa, our food would have been unable to support us, and we would not be able to drag it on anyway." Chai Shao said: "Does Your Highness have any ideas?" gone?"

"Although the morale of our army is not high, our mood is stable. Now we have rattan shields to block the power of the Sui army's bow and crossbow. Rather than just sit and wait for death, it is better to draw from the bottom of the pot." At this point, Li Xiaogong continued: "I have repeatedly sent people to investigate and control the Sui army secretly. , I found that the northern battalion in charge of Du Fuwei has fewer troops, and its main force is the No.11 Army of the Sui Dynasty compiled from the Jianghuai Army. camp, as long as his barracks are broken, we will not only get food, but also escape the encirclement of the Sui army."

Chai Shao pondered for a while, and said: "Your Highness has a good idea, but Du Fuwei is a warrior who started from a bandit and has rich combat experience. Can you prevent our army from attacking at night?"

"I know that Du Fuwei will certainly prevent our army from attacking at night, but he was able to prevent it once, what about the second time? Can he prevent it?" Li Xiaogong laughed.

"The second time?" The generals were very surprised.

"That's right, none of you thought of it, and Du Fuwei probably didn't think of it either."

Chai Shao frowned and thought for a while, then pondered, "I seem to remember that someone has used this method with great success, but I can't think of who it is for a while."

Li Xiaogong giggled and said: "Zhang Xiu once defeated Cao Cao with this method."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Chai Shao's eyes lit up, "I remembered that Zhang Xiu attacked Cao Cao at night for the first time and was killed miserably, but I didn't expect that he went to fight again later and almost killed Cao Cao. Old life. Is Your Highness trying to imitate a cat or a tiger?"

"I read this story from wild history when I was a child. I want to draw cats and tigers, what does Si Chang think?" Li Xiaogong smiled and nodded in admission.

"After so many days of confrontation, it is indeed possible for Du Fuwei to relax his guard." Chai Shao thought for a moment before saying. "The important thing is that the battle of Wancheng is not widely spread. Du Fuwei, who has a bad background, probably doesn't even know about Zhang Xiu. It's not impossible for His Highness to take pictures of cats and tigers."

The history of Cao Cao's battle with Zhang Xiu was actually written by the Cao family, and the records of the Spring and Autumn Period are already good. How can Zhang Xiu defeat Cao Cao in a big book?Moreover, before the mass promotion of cheap paper, books were collected as heirlooms by aristocratic families. How could Du Fuwei, who came from the poor class, have access to precious books?
Since the scope of the spread is narrow and the age is too long, there are naturally very few people who know it now, so there are conditions to follow the cat and draw the tiger.

"I think so too." Li Xiaogong asked the generals, "Do you know about this incident?"

Lu Zushang, who was thinking hard, shook his head again and again: "I don't know if I've heard of it before."

"I've never heard of it." Samurai Xun also said.

"I don't know the end." Others also expressed that they had never heard of it.

Hear all the generals say so.

Finally seeing the hope of victory, all the generals immediately became excited, and asked one after another: "Your Highness, what should we do now?"

Li Xiaogong said: "At the third watch, General Lu led 2 elite soldiers to attack Du Fuwei at night, and I brought [-] troops for the second night attack."

"Your Highness is the commander of our army, how can you move lightly? Let me go." Chai Shao said.

"Sichang, your talent is far superior to mine, but you hardly have the opportunity to lead the army alone, and your combat experience is too little. If there is a mistake, I am worried that you will not be able to make a correct decision for a while." Li Xiaogong said seriously: "And the big camp can't be left unattended, you are responsible for guarding the camp."

"This..." Chai Shao hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Your Highness said that Yang Shanhui might come to us to encircle Wei and save Zhao?"

"That's right. I'm worried that during the first night attack, the enemy will take the strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao, and storm our camp, so I have to defend. Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Du Fuwei Without defense, our army broke through his barracks in the first night attack, but whether it was the first time or the second time, as long as we won, we would burn the camp with fire. Abandon this battalion and go to join us, so you are not only preventing the enemy from besieging Wei and saving Zhao, but also preparing for a quick evacuation."

Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong warned again: "This is a god-given opportunity for us to jump out of the encirclement, once we miss it, there will be no second time, so when you see the burning camp, you must use the fastest speed to join us .”

"I understand." Chai Shao said solemnly.

"But Your Highness, if Du Fuwei's camp cannot be attacked and our camp is attacked again, what will General Chai do?" the warrior Xun said worriedly.

"This is indeed a risky move, but General Wu, we have to take this risk." Li Xiaogong sighed and said, "If I can't attack the Sui camp, I will quickly withdraw; if there are intertwined battles here, and I have successfully burned it The enemy camp, then give up the former soldiers and bring as many people as you can."

Everyone understood.

Li Xiaogong is a strong man who cuts his wrist.

"How much rations do we have left?" Li Xiaogong asked the samurai Xun who was in charge of logistics.

"Returning to Your Highness, the food is in the hands of each soldier. It is really difficult to verify how much it is, but the soldiers know how to save money. Some soldiers even eat alfalfa for two days and dry food for one day. They should be able to last for four days." Warrior Xun Bitterly said: "It's just that the soldiers have no oil, water, or meat to eat for nearly a month, and they can't recover their physical strength at all. It's not that the humble post wants to hit their morale, but I'm really worried that if the soldiers let go of their first breath when they are fighting, they will lose their strength with this Physical strength is probably not able to fight for a long time."

Li Xiaogong thought for a while, and said: "Kill all the horses and donkeys, and let the soldiers have a good meal."

The warrior Xun hesitated and said: "Your Highness, the donkey can be killed. How about waiting for a few more days for this horse? Wait until the end..."

Li Xiaogong shook his head, "How thin do you think you are? Wait a minute? After a few more days, there will be only bones, no riding, and no meat to eat. It's better to kill them now."

"I'll make arrangements for the humble job." The warrior Xun saluted and left in a hurry.

"Everyone go get ready." Li Xiaogong waved his hand, and all the generals present got up one after another, saluted Li Xiaogong, and then left.

Li Xiaogong was the only one left in the tent, staring at the map on the table in silence for a long time, because there was no one around, his figure seemed to be a bit stooped, and the grizzled white hair that shouldn't be there at this age looked particularly special in the dim light dazzling.

The precarious Tang Dynasty and the unfavorable situation of the army all weighed down the first general of Li Tang's clan. For more than a month, he seemed to have spent ten years.

(End of this chapter)