The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 937 Flying Shenzhou Crashed
After occupying Baishui Pass, Jiameng Pass, and Zitong Pass, Yang Tong breathed a sigh of relief. The passing of these three dangerous passes represented that this wedge had successfully entered Yizhou and cut off the puppet Tang Dynasty.As the news of the fall of Sanguan and Yang Tong's personal conquest spread throughout the territory, the five counties of Jinshan, Yicheng, Pu'an, Qinghua, and Brazil, which were already empty of troops and faced enemies on many sides, offered their cities and surrendered one after another. Liu Deyu, the guard of Jianmen Gate, surrendered to the Sui Dynasty even without Li Xizhi's presence.

Yang Tong ordered Liu Gang, who followed closely, to gather soldiers and food from various cities.As for the officials appointed by the puppet Tang Dynasty, Yang Tong has not moved for the time being. After all, the five counties surrendered this time include 45 counties. He will not be able to find so many people to replace them for a while, and the place is in the critical period of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. , Governance cannot be done without officials, as long as the military power is firmly in the hands of the court, these people will not be able to cause much trouble.What's more, Yang Tong quickly transferred the preparatory officials from Daxing to familiarize themselves with the local customs and customs, and gradually took over the main positions. In order to make the five counties transition smoothly, he also specially asked Du Ruhui to handle the government affairs of these five counties. , will definitely be able to control these five counties in the shortest possible time and operate them in the rear of the army, so Yang Tong is not worried about these places rebelling again.You can safely lead your army to conquer other places.

On this day, a Flying Shenzhou took off flutteringly, preparing to go to Zitong Pass, but just after taking off, the Flying Shenzhou suddenly fell apart under the astonished eyes of the local soldiers, and a large black smoke gushed out like a dark cloud. Floating in the air, the flying Shenzhou quickly fell to the ground.

"Crack..."

With a toothache cracking sound, the Flying Shenzhou crashed into the city wall of Jiameng Pass, and the cabin carrying the soldiers fell from the sky with the soldiers, rolled over several times, and then fell silent.The soot inside fell like black clouds, staining the surrounding ground black.

A soldier stepped forward to check, and found that the soldier inside had fallen unconscious. Fortunately, he had just taken off, otherwise he would have died if he fell from a high altitude.

Of course, this is also because the flight was too low, and the parachute could not be opened. If it was higher, the soldiers could have escaped by parachuting.

Yang Tong got the news, brought people to check, and ordered the soldiers to be taken to the hospital for treatment, and asked Wang Xiongdan next to him, "How many safety accidents has this happened?"

"My lord, since the establishment of the Flying Army, 54 Flying Shenzhous have been destroyed by themselves." Wang Xiongdan's face was very ugly.

Yang Tong quickly asked people to call the accompanying craftsmen, and then asked people to collect the wreckage of the flying Shenzhou and study it.

Soon, a group of craftsmen ran over, and the leading craftsman was He Chou's second son, He Ming, who was currently working in the Shaofu Supervisor. He inherited his father He Chou's talent in craftsmanship. But he was also a rare craftsman in the Sui Dynasty.

He carefully looked at the wreckage of the Flying Shenzhou, bowed his hands to Yang Tong, and said bitterly: "My lord, it's not because the low-ranking people are not doing their best. It's because the Flying Shenzhou is good, but there are several aspects that we are currently unable to do." Great problem to overcome."

Yang Tong nodded and asked, "Is it still not good enough in terms of materials?"

"Exactly!" He Ming sighed helplessly: "Because the skin bag of the Flying Shenzhou needs to collect the smoke before it can be lifted into the air. Therefore, the stitching of the animal skin needs to be very tight, so that the thread ends should not be too thin; It takes three layers to ensure that the smoke will not leak out, and the suture thread must not be too thick, otherwise too many needle holes will be left. Special silk thread. In addition, the dust in the smoke will also deposit on the skin of the Feitian Shenzhou along with the smoke, and after a long time, a thick layer of smoke will accumulate inside the skin, thus increasing the weight of the lantern above."

In fact, craftsmen have also expressed their own opinions. There are many problems, but there are only three main reasons. One is the sewing problem of the airbag, the other is that a lot of dust will accumulate over time, and the third is that the material of the bracket has no way to cure it. Made of bamboo and rattan, it is a bit lighter, but after a long time, it will be dried and brittle by the smoke and heat, and it will break if it encounters strong winds or if it is used for a long time.

"Is there any way to solve these problems?" Although Yang Tong came up with the Flying Shenzhou, this thing is a product of thousands of years ago. With the current materials and technology, there is no way to solve the safety problem, so he has no idea about these three points. What is the way to overcome it.But Yang Tong would be very unwilling to give up such a powerful weapon to defeat the enemy, but if he falls like this again, the Flying Army will probably lose his mind.

"Yes, there is." A tailor bowed to Yang Tong and said, "People of low rank and others have carried out reverse technology according to the method of the Holy One, and found that the flying Shenzhou can generally fly thousands of miles, but because of the large gap in craftsman's craftsmanship, it is difficult to make it. Flying Shenzhou also has different advantages and disadvantages. To ensure the safety of the flying Shenzhou, the lantern needs to be replaced every [-] miles or so. It must be discarded, or the internal dust should be cleaned and then re-sewed. It’s just that it is very wasteful. , cannot be cast on a large scale at all.”

Yang Tong frowned after hearing this.Five hundred miles seems to be a long way, but in reality, it is just a flight from Luoyang to Daxing. He asked, "Is there no real way other than changing the lanterns?"

"Please forgive me for my humble and incompetent position, unless every flying divine boat is like the one we built for the Holy Majesty; otherwise, there is no other way." Several craftsmen looked at each other with wry smiles, and He Ming continued, " The Holy Majesty's ship is huge, and the material is naturally the best, and it is much safer than ordinary flying Shenzhou, at least it can fly thousands of miles before needing to replace the lantern."

"Five hundred miles is five hundred miles!" Yang Tong sighed helplessly. The cost of the Flying Shenzhou was already high, and now it seems that its maintenance cost is not low.However, although it cannot be produced on a large scale, and the flight time is not long, it is better than nothing. Even if it only has a life span of [-] miles, it can still play a great role at critical moments. Compared with the cost of conventional battles, it is actually not expensive. It's too expensive, after all, manpower is priceless.

No matter how expensive the Flying Shenzhou is, it is not as expensive as the soldiers of the Flying Army. This is the first batch of air force in history. Now more than a hundred of them have been damaged for no reason, which has made Yang Tong feel pained for a long time. How is the morale of the army, and how to recruit new flying soldiers in the future?No matter how good something is, if no one dares to operate it, it is a waste.

Fortunately, we have made a good start. As long as we continue to conduct in-depth research and increase investment in the future, the craftsmen of the Sui Dynasty will sooner or later be able to make a better, safer, and more heavy-duty flying Shenzhou.

"Hurry up and replace the current ones. I don't want to hear the news that the flying Shenzhou self-destructed and the soldiers fell to death." After Yang Tong finished speaking, he comforted him: "I'm not afraid that you will spend a lot of money. You just need to build on the existing foundation." Continue to study, if you have any new ideas, just use them to test, in short, I fully support the unprecedented project of Feitian Shenzhou."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your support." Many craftsmen breathed a sigh of relief, they were very worried that Yang Tong would stop the great creation of the Flying Shenzhou.

"carry on."

"Here."

After dealing with the Flying Shenzhou, Yang Tong looked at the crowd and said, "The three barriers have been broken one by one now, but since Duan Yuanzhe led his army northward, I think this is not an isolated army. I doubt that Li Shimin will have a follow-up army northward. Great army, we must push the battlefield to the Chengdu Plain as soon as possible, and strive to march to the plain to fight the Tang army one day earlier, so that our cavalry advantages can be brought into play. Xie Yingdeng, Cheng Yaojin, Huang Junhan."

"The last general is here." The three generals saluted in response.

"The three of you are divided into three groups. Xie Yingdeng led an army of [-] troops to Wan'an County, Jinshan County, Cheng Yaojin led an army of [-] troops to Fucheng County, Jinshan County, and Huang Junhan led an army of [-] troops to station Zitong Pass. , Xincheng goes north, if the Tang army arrives, the three of you should stick to your defense first, and then make plans after finding out the enemy's actual situation!"

"The general will follow orders." Xie Yingdeng, Cheng Yaojin, and Huang Junhan quickly accepted the order.

"I will lead [-] soldiers of the Fifth Army, Xuanjia Army, Shura Army, and Feitian Army as Huang Junhan's back-up. We will join hands with Xue Wanjun to take Xincheng County and Suining County, and further reduce the strategic depth of the puppet Tang Dynasty." , Yang Tong said to Ling Jing, who was in charge of intelligence and communication matters: "At the same time, Xue Wanjun was ordered to dispatch an army to march into Nanchong County, Brazil, to threaten the southern part of Xincheng County and the northern part of Suining County, and support our military operations."

Ling Jing saluted and said, "Here."

Yang Tong thought for a while, and then ordered: "Order Pei Xingyan to lead his troops to attack Gansongling and join our army in Wenshan County; at the same time, let Yu Chigong attack Pingwu County to coordinate Pei Xingyan's actions in Wenshan County. Once the victory joins forces, Pei Xingyan will lead the First Army to attack Shu County in the south, Yu Chigong will attack Wudu County in the north, and attack Liu Hongji's troops from north to south with Lintao Ninth Army and Hanyang Yaojun."

"Here."

"Your Majesty, the last general should also go and arrange manpower." When everyone retreated, Wang Xiongdan pleaded in a somewhat depressed mood. He has been sailing on the water all year round, not only can he maintain his balance and stability on the bumpy boat, but he can also hold himself He passed on his boating experience to others, and after his teaching, the officers and soldiers of the Flying Army who boarded the Flying Shenzhou would not experience "airsickness", so he was appointed by Yang Tong as the chief general of the Flying Army.He originally thought that the Flying Army could flex its muscles on the battlefield and make unrivaled feats, but he never expected that there would be so many security problems after only one battle.Now all the lanterns of the Flying Shenzhou have to be replaced. Judging from this posture, his Flying Army wants to show off its power in the battle of unification, and I am afraid that it will not be able to do it in a short time.

"Go ahead and appease the soldiers of the Feitian Army." Yang Tong understood his feelings, but he couldn't comfort him. After all, there was a hidden danger in the safety of the Feitian Shenzhou. Flying Shenzhou is afraid, which affects the subsequent development of the Feitian Army, so it must be replaced uniformly now to ensure that the Feitian Army will no longer experience non-combat attrition.

"Here." Wang Xiongdan bowed his hands and said goodbye.

"My lord, when will the general contact the generals of the Tang army to respond to the army's actions?" Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu asked Yang Tong with a bow.

"Let's not be busy for now. After we consolidate the existing territory, if General Li and General Liu contact the old people at that time, it will be much easier to convince them." Yang Tong was actually a little worried about Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu, Although it is said that there is no doubt about employing people, and there is no need for doubting people, but when it comes to issues related to the unification war, it is better not to overestimate the integrity of these surrendered generals. Yang Tong does not deny that there are real people of integrity in this era, but these two Obviously, people haven't reached the point where Yang Tong can rest assured.

Especially the army around Yang Tong can't be said to be sufficient now. If Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu rebelled against the Sui Dynasty and lured him into a trap at a critical period, even if he couldn't be killed, it would still cause a certain amount of trouble , so for now, we can't trust them too much for the time being.

As long as he joins forces with Xue Wanjun's [-] troops, even if he is betrayed by them, Yang Tong will not be afraid at all, and even wish they would draw Li Shimin to a decisive battle.

……

However, what happened next made Yang Tong feel very surprised and weird. When he led his army to Zitong Pass, it was already a month after the raid on the Three Passes. Other than that, no enemy traces were found.

"That's very interesting." After reading the information that Li Daliang had inquired during this period, Yang Tong felt very abnormal.

Fortunately, what made him feel ridiculous was that Shu County sent Li Daliang food and grass. Although the quantity was not much, it was the same as usual, but Li Daliang had no reason not to refuse the free things.However, the performance of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty was intriguing. It gave people the feeling that they were unaware of the actions of the Sui army, and Duan Yuanzhe seemed to act spontaneously.

Yang Tong handed the information in his hands to Fang Xuanling, and said very puzzled, "Li Shimin doesn't think that with Duan Yuanzhe's [-] soldiers, he can beat us back?"

It has been so long since Yang Tong's series of actions, Li Shimin has no reason not to know, otherwise he would not have stationed so many troops at each checkpoint. The pass is Baishuiguan, and he has arranged [-] soldiers, which shows that he was aware of it beforehand. Considering the importance of the three major dangers, according to normal principles, he should attach great importance to these three major dangers and have a close connection with these three dangers.But in fact, Li Shimin seemed to have forgotten it.

This is so wrong.

"It's impossible for Li Shimin to be so unwise, but if someone wants Duan Yuanzhe to be defeated, it's another matter." Fang Xuanling asked Li Xizhi beside him, "What does General Li think?"

"Fang Shangshu forgives the crime, and the final general is really unpredictable." Li Xizhi reviewed it carefully for a moment, and then said: "Li Shimin's new decision has not been passed to Baishui Pass, and the three passes have been broken. Jiang Bian lost contact with Chengdu. He really doesn't know Li Shimin's real intentions, let alone who is leading the military in these counties. However, although Xia Houxun, Duan Yuanzhe, Feng Ce and others are Li Shimin's confidantes, they In the past, he was only a mid-level military officer under Li Shimin's command, and he didn't have too many ties or personal grievances with others. Duan Yuanzhe is just a small person, and it is impossible for someone to take tens of thousands of Tang army soldiers to be buried with Duan Yuanzhe in the face of national crisis. Simply put, Duan Yuanzhe is not as good as this qualifications."

"General Li and General Liu may think about it. If Duan Yuanzhe is dead, what will benefit?" Fang Xuanling continued to ask.

"Duan Yuanzhe will definitely have conflicts of interest with some people. I don't know who it is." Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu both understood Fang Xuanling's meaning, but they have been leading the army outside. One is not the central figure of the Tang Dynasty, and the other is not The generals of Li Shimin's direct line are therefore not very clear about the interests of Li Tangchaotang today.

Seeing that Li Xizhi couldn't explain why, Yang Tong asked, "Xuanling, what do you think?"

"Although I don't dare to make a statement, the general of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Route Army, probably has a lot of status in the Puppet Tang Dynasty, and he looks down on the Puppet Tang Dynasty, and even hopes that the Puppet Tang Dynasty will perish sooner."

Fang Xuanling's implication is very clear. Although Duan Yuanzhe is a small person, once the [-] soldiers of the Tang army under his command are assigned to the third pass, they can cause great trouble to the Sui army, and the pseudo-Tang court came to meet the Sui army. The chief general wanted to kill the Tang army headed by Duan Yuanzhe, and then accelerate the demise of the Tang Dynasty, so he stood still and waited for Duan Yuanzhe to be defeated.

Although Yang Tong didn't know whether Fang Xuanling's conjecture was true, but if there was such a person who was passive and sabotage in the Puppet Tang Dynasty, it would do no harm to Sui Baili. He asked Li Daliang beside him: "Everyone Fang lied about the personnel and got something?"

"Reporting to the Holy Majesty, the last general sent people to search a radius of [-] miles, but they did not find any traces of the Tang army." Li Daliang said: "We asked some generals who surrendered, but they were also vague, and they didn't even know whether the Tang army had a main force. "

"It means that everyone thinks Duan Yuanzhe is a lone army?"

"exactly."

Yang Tong pondered for a while, walked to a huge map behind him, looked it over carefully, and asked Liu Deyu, who had been working in Yizhou, "General Liu, if you were the commander of the Tang Army's middle army, where would you station your troops?"

"Report to Your Majesty." Liu Deyu bowed respectfully, and replied: "If the last general leads troops, he should be stationed in Langnei County, Brazil County!"

"Langnei County?" Yang Tong looked at the map again and asked, "If it's Langnei County, isn't it too far away from the battlefield?"

Zitong County is located in the northwest of Langnei County, Brazil County, with a straight-line distance of more than 200 li. In the case of using Feitian Shenzhou for transportation, it may take more than 400 miles, or even more.

"My lord, Langnei County is surrounded by mountains and three rivers. If you station troops here, it will be very convenient for you to march." Liu Deyu said: "If you send troops from Langnei County, you can go straight to Jiameng Pass by water instead of passing through Zitong Pass. , the waterway is only about two hundred miles, and there are mountains and rivers along the way, and there are desolate jungles everywhere, it is difficult for people to notice, the waterway can travel tens of miles a day, and if you travel overnight, you can reach Jiameng Pass in three days."

"Is there still a navy in the puppet Tang Dynasty?" Fang Xuanling wondered.

"Naturally there are naval divisions." Liu Deyu said: "The Tang Dynasty didn't pay attention to naval divisions at first, but later seized a large number of warships built by Xiao Mian, and Yang Su also left some unfinished warships in Yong'an. It can be used after being repaired. However, due to the heavy losses in Jingzhou, and it was burned down when it entered Shu, the Li and Tang Dynasties do not have any large warships now, but there are many people in Brazil County and other places who rely on this river for their livelihood. Therefore, as long as the army recruits civilian ships and some merchant ships from the local government, the army can be brought to Jiameng Pass!"

Yang Tong looked at the map for a while, then turned to Li Daliang and said, "General Li, quickly send people to investigate in detail in the three counties of Langnei, Cangxi, and Fengguo; Mengguan, sit here to avoid being attacked by the Tang army!"

"Here!" Wang Xiongdan also knew that the situation was urgent, so he didn't delay any longer, he left the camp after receiving the military amulet, and rushed back to Jiameng Pass to set up defenses in the flying Shenzhou.And Li Daliang also sent people to the three counties of Brazil to check the news.

Yang Tong took a deep look at Liu Deyu. If he hadn't asked himself, he obviously wouldn't have given such important information. It seems that although Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu surrendered, they obviously didn't want to participate in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the battle.This kind of behavior of not betraying the old master immediately is indeed a measure of a person's character and deserves praise; but when this kind of thing happened to him, Yang Tong still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

He also ordered the generals: "Generals, go down and rest. Luo Shi believes you to be in charge of the [-] soldiers of the Fifth Army. Xin Liaoer, Cheng Chumo, and Yuchi Baolin will assist you; Xue Wanbei, you are the general of the Xuanjia Army; if you are a spy or It is the spies who found out about the movements of the Tang army and immediately prepared to send troops."

"The last general obeys orders." All the generals bowed and saluted.

After arranging some follow-up trivial matters, Yang Tong ordered everyone to go back to the camp to rest.I continued to discuss with Fang Xuanling and Ling Jing: "Our army has occupied the third pass for more than a month, and the news will inevitably leak out. If Zhang Lu knows, it will be really difficult for our army to take the opportunity to break through Brazil County."

"How does His Majesty plan to deal with Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu?" Fang Xuanling asked instead of answering Yang Tong's question.

"Disposition?" Yang Tong was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly said: "To be honest, I'm really uncomfortable because they didn't take the initiative to explain the situation, but they really want to say it, but I don't dare to use it in the future. I treat them as if they don't exist. When the time came, the haze in my heart disappeared. What's more, they didn't harm us, if I deal with them, it would be too unreasonable."

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "The Holy Majesty is broad-minded, I admire you!"

"You don't have to praise me." Yang Tong laughed and said, "If I don't even have this kind of tolerance, I won't have this foundation."

"However, thanks to the Holy Majesty's early detection of this matter, if the Tang army is allowed to attack Jiameng Pass and cut off our army's way back, all the more than 3 soldiers will be lost here!" Fang Xuanling also had lingering fears.

"I hope Wang Xiongdan can catch up in time, and I hope that what we expected doesn't happen." Yang Tong asked here, "Xuan Ling played Bashu in his early years, do you know anything about this Brazilian county?"

Fang Xuanling said: "The situation in Langnei County, Brazil County is not much different from what Liu Deyu said. If Jiamengguan is worry-free, it can lure the Tang army to attack, and our army can take advantage of the situation to capture the entire territory of Brazil. Not only can we cut off the Tang army If we retreat, we can gain the entire territory of Brazil, and our army can join forces with General Xue Wanjun in victory."

Yang Tong nodded, the matter has not yet been decided, it is too early to make a decision, but if there is a disagreement between the generals of the Li Tang Dynasty, this army can be taken away, which will provide a lot for the annihilation of the Li Tang Dynasty. convenient.

……

After three days, the spies who went to investigate the three counties in Brazil finally got information back.

"Your Majesty, our army's scouts have confirmed that there is indeed a large number of troops stationed in Langnei County, Brazil County. The main general is Li Zhongwen. It's just that our army can't approach rashly to investigate." Li Daliang bowed.

"That's enough." Yang Tong laughed. Wang Xiongdan had already sent an eagle letter, saying that Jiamengguan was worry-free, and he set up beacon towers along the route. out of response.There is no worry in the rear, and the next military operation is naturally considered.

"Your Majesty, our army has two choices right now." Fang Xuanling said in a deep voice, "The first is to send troops to attack Brazil, annihilate this Tang army, and then go to Tushu County; the second is to ignore Brazil, after all, there are kings. General Xiongdan is at Jiameng Pass, with the support of troops from the Hanzhong direction. According to the danger of Jiameng Pass, it is more than enough to defend against the enemy. We can lead the army to attack Mianzhu Pass, attack Shu County directly, and defeat Li Shimin in Chengdu City in one fell swoop. As long as the puppet Tang clan is wiped out by us, many places will be destroyed without attacking."

This time, Yang Tong did not ask the generals to participate in the military meeting. Although he understood the attitude of Li Xizhi and Liu Deyu, he could not tell all the secrets in the army. After all, one of their thoughts is enough to influence a war. direction.

Li Zhongwen garrisoned troops in Brazil County, which had great freedom of autonomy, but also exposed the Tang army to the attack of the Sui army. Compared with Brazil County's unique geographical advantages, Shu County was more suitable for large-scale operations. , the Puppet Tang’s mobile forces were running out, and most of the troops that could be mobilized were brought out by Li Zhongwen. This was undoubtedly the weakest time in Chengdu City, and it also provided great convenience for Yang Tong’s beheading operation.

Yang Tong thought for a while before making a decision: "I don't want to spend too much time on Puppet Tang. If Li Zhongwen is solved, then we will attack Puppet Tang step by step. It will take a lot of time to fight each city. It's been a long time. Since that's the case, it's better to attack Shu County directly, as long as Chengdu City is captured, the armies of Liu Hongji, Li Zhongwen, Hou Junji, and Zhang Shigui will be destroyed without attack!"

"The Holy One is wise!" Fang Xuanling also prefers the second option. After all, no matter how many troops Li Zhongwen has, he is only a courtier of the Li Tang Dynasty. His value is far less than that of taking down the Li clan. There may be chaos for a while, but they are all in a situation without a leader, and the Great Sui Dynasty can solve all problems by defeating each of them.

"Li Zhi led [-] soldiers to stay at Zitong Pass to ensure that the rear is not lost. Luo Shixin counted the rest of the soldiers and horses, and followed me to attack Mianzhu Pass directly!"

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)