The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 949
The military defeat of Basil County brought almost a devastating blow to Li Tang, because the annihilation of Li Zhongwen's entire army not only affected the fall of Basil County, but also affected the Tang Army of Zhang Shigui and Hou Junji in the south. It is a triangular relationship of interdependence, but now a corner is missing, making Zhang Shigui face the threat of Xue Wanjun's Sixth Army. If something happens to Hou Junji, he will be powerless to support him.As for the Sui army, also because of Li Zhongwen's disastrous defeat, Yang Tong had a smooth retreat and joined Xue Wanjun in the southeast, forming a loose encirclement circle for Shu County, Xincheng, and Suining. The county Tang army, Xue Wanjun's troops going south can further compress Zhang Shigui's strategic depth. If they go west, they can attack Chengdu City with Xie Yingdeng's surprise army and Cheng Yaojin's troops from Xuanwu County in Shu County, making Li Tang Emperor unable to move.

But compared to this, the turmoil in the government and the public and the panic brought about by the military failure made Li Shimin even more devastated. However, the matter is far from over.

Just when Li Shimin had just squeezed out his troops to support Luo County, and the entire land of Yizhou was in danger, the news from the north made Li Shimin feel worse.

Jiangyuan County is the most northern county of Wenshan County. The county seat is adjacent to Gansong Mountain in the west and Minjiang River in the east. The strategic location of Tongchang County going south is the strategic hub of central Yizhou. Since the Northern Zhou Dynasty, there have been troops stationed here, and the Sui and Tang dynasties were no exception. Now that Yicheng, Pingwu and other counties have fallen, If Jiangyuan County is occupied by the Sui army again, the Li and Tang dynasties will really be reduced to two irrelevant northern and southern divisions.

Since Li Shimin became self-reliant and pointed out by Pei Xingbing, this important transit area that was prosperous because of the Silk Road has withered. In addition, this place has included 'Dangxiang', 'Bailanqiang', 'Tuyuhun' and part of the territory of Tubo. Jiangyuan County is bordered by small groups of Sui troops from the west from time to time. The people here either moved their families eastward to Jiaochuan County on the other side of the Minjiang River, or were bewitched by the policies of the Sui Dynasty to directly invest in Jiangyuan County. In short, In the past, this commercial county, which was comparable to Dunhuang and Yiwu, has lost all its prosperity, leaving only desolation.

In the afternoon of this day, a dark cloud swept along the official road from the north, changing the color of the sky and the earth. The sound of rumbling horseshoes seemed to be continuous and exciting thunder, and the earth trembled. Tens of thousands of Sui cavalrymen Created an aura that seemed to be enough to destroy everything.

Standing on the three-foot-high city wall of Jiangyuan County, looking at the dense army rushing down the city like an ant swarm, Han Wei, the commander of the Wenshan War, looked pale. Although it is an important border town, Jiangyuan County and even Wenshan County However, the total number of soldiers and horses was only about 2, and 7000% of them were urgently dispatched to Wenshan County and Beichuan County in the south to prevent the Sui army under Yang Tong from going north.The total number of defenders and county soldiers in Jiangyuan County today is less than [-]. Facing the sudden attack of the Sui Dynasty army, Han Wei only felt scalp numb.

What made him even more worried was that after the Sui army occupied Pingwu, Jinshan, and the northern part of Shu County, the only way out for Wenshan County was to go north, which caused instability in the city. Both petty officials and ordinary people are in panic, and this sign of anxiety has also affected the soldiers defending the city. The only thing that makes him happy is that since the Sui Dynasty established Jiangyuan County in the west, this strategic hub that communicates east, west, north, and south has been strengthened. It also made the tall and heavy city walls his only support.

At this moment, wisps of wolf smoke have already risen into the sky, but Han Wei's knuckles holding the sword on his waist turned pale because of the force, and his heart was cold: just because there are less than [-] defenders in the city, he is really not sure. Persisting until reinforcements arrived, what made him even more desperate was that the Tang Dynasty had almost exhausted all the troops it could send. Even if there were reinforcements, where would they come from?
"Look, general, what are the Sui troops doing?" The lieutenant beside Han Wei suddenly pointed at the Sui troops outside the city and shouted in surprise.

"Huh?" Han Wei followed the lieutenant general's instructions, and saw that the Sui army neither attacked the city immediately nor brought out the siege equipment, but built a camp wall beyond the three arrows.

Those soldiers seemed to have all become hard-working peasants at once. Some dug ditches on the spot, some used the narrow riverbed of the Minjiang River to drag down a lot of wood, and silently built wooden camp walls. A very strange sentry tower, these people seem to have been specially trained, in less than an hour, arrow towers stood outside the city.

According to reports from soldiers, the Sui Army in Dongcheng City did not seem to have any intention of attacking the city. They were also building camp walls and arrow towers to encircle the eastern and northern parts of Jiangyuan City. The camp wall in front opened a distance of more than ten feet.

Han Wei's complexion suddenly became quite gloomy and ugly. Judging from this undisguised behavior, the Sui army obviously planned to besiege Jiangyuan City first, and then sniped the reinforcements.The battalion walls and arrow towers built were nothing more than to defend the army in the city and ensure the safety of the south, so as to concentrate superior forces to annihilate the reinforcements.

"Hurry up, hurry up, stop the wolf smoke for me immediately!" Han Wei, who came to his senses, immediately ordered loudly.

"Why?" The lieutenant asked a little puzzled.

"Jiangyuan County is an important border defense town. Once the smoke of the attack spreads to the governor of Tongchang and the king of Yi'an County, General Li Xiaochang, he will not sit idly by, but the actions of the Sui army outside the city are obviously aimed at the reinforcements of Governor Li. And we are just a bait, so we must not do what the Sui army wishes." Although Han Wei is not a famous general, he is not an idiot either, after explaining clearly, he hastily ordered: "Quickly put out the smoke."

"The last general obeys the order." The deputy general obeyed the order and left in a hurry.

……

"General, the Tang army put out the smoke!" The heroic Liu Rengui came to Pei Xingyan's side at the barracks under the city and said with a bow.

When Yang Tong went on an expedition to the Allied Forces of Ertu, Liu Rengui was appointed as the magistrate of Kunlun County (Doma area) in Heyuan County, and Laiji was appointed as the county magistrate. The former was responsible for supervising the construction of Kunlun Pass and Luntai City in the north and south of Duoma Valley by the captives. , Kunlun City, the latter assisting Du Chuke in handling one party's government affairs.After the incident, the two escorted the prisoners to build the city and roads in Jiangyuan County; and as Jiangyuan's various affairs got on the right track, and the county guard Li Shimo relied on the power of the great victory of the Sui Dynasty and the Ten Banners Army who "helped the tyrant to abuse" The tribes of Tubo, Tuyuhun, and Zhuqiang suffered so much that Liu Rengui and Laiji were transferred back to the First Army to serve as Pei Xingyan's staff.

"They are off, so let's follow their warning method and add a few more places. Anyway, the stupid Tang Jun can't tell the difference." Pei Xingyan said nonchalantly.

They were actually restless during this time, because Liu Hongji knew that Tongchang County to the west of Baishui was a flat prairie, and he was intimidated by the sharp cavalry of the Sui Dynasty. This Tongchang handed over to Pei Xingyan, gathered the western troops to the east of Baishui, and used the natural moat of Baishui to confront the Sui army. Pei Xingyan, who was dominated by cavalry, could not cross Baishui, and the Tang army dared not cross the river to attack.

Just when Pei Xingyan was trying to enter Dangchang County and open the door for the Ninth Army of Lintao from the south, he received a new combat mission. Yang Tong ordered him to occupy Wenshan County and fight against Pingwu, Jinshan, Pu'an, and Yicheng. Together, it can not only divide the Tang Dynasty into two parts, the north and the south, but also ensure the safety of Yang Tong's West Road, and allow Yang Tong to continuously obtain grain, grass and war horses from Jiangyuan County, as well as those who stayed in Yongzhi City, Jiangyuan. Thousands of honeycomb bed crossbows.

After Pei Xingyan received the order, he assigned Zhou Shaoze, Laiji, and Yang Feng to sit in Tongchang County to ensure that the four counties of Changfen, Fengde, Jiachuan, and Jinya were not lost. He himself led the army to occupy the Jiacheng County, so far, five of the eight counties of Tongchang have been recovered by the Sui army, and Li Xiaochang, the governor of Tongchang, only has three counties left, but he has a lot of troops. Pei Xingyan can't beat the other side of Baishui because of Li Xiaochang's deployment Of course, if Pei Xingyan crossed the river at all costs, Li Xiaochang might not be able to keep it for long, but the price he paid might not be small.

"Let everyone move faster, each arrow tower must have a broken army crossbow, a row crossbow and five continuous crossbows." Pei Xingyan glanced at Jiangyuan City, and said loudly to the soldiers around him: "Brothers, Your Majesty We are fighting with the Fifth Army, Xuanjia Army, and Shurawei generals in Shu County, and the lingering puppet Tang Dynasty is the only enemy within our Great Sui. As long as we annihilate them, the Great Sui Dynasty will be formally unified. Remember me, everyone. As long as there are still stubborn enemies in front of us, don't be stingy with arrows, and be sure to go to the Holy Majesty's side before the city of Chengdu is destroyed. How could this far-reaching battle lose our first army? Anyone who wants to make meritorious service is given I'll work harder."

"Ho Ho Ho..." A group of soldiers waved their weapons excitedly, and what Pei Xingyan said touched everyone's hearts.

During this period of time, the fifth, sixth, seventh, and tenth armies have made breakthroughs one after another, but as the first army of Yang Tong's direct line, in addition to taking over Liu Hongji and giving up the territory, sending small units to harass On the other side of the white water, there is training and training day after day. Now that Pei Xingyan has let them fight freely, this group of brave men can't wait any longer. They wish they could give birth to wings and go to the south to join their great commander-in-chief earlier. .

"Light up all the smoke for me, and let the mob in Li Xiaochang's hands come and die quickly!" Not to mention these soldiers, the general Pei Xingyan was also suffocated. Although he was General Zuo Xiaowei and Cai Guogong, as the first follower The "veteran" generals beside Yang Tong watched the "rookies" such as Su Dingfang, Xue's Five Tigers, Li Jing, Shen Guang, and Du Fuwei continue to rise. The sense of crisis of being surpassed made the stubborn Pei Xingyan under great pressure. Even though his titles and real positions have already come to an end, he doesn't want people to say that he is gnawing at his roots, and urgently needs a big victory to consolidate the prestige of the "veteran" so that the people of the Sui Dynasty know that he, Pei Xingyan, still looks down on the world "The enemy of ten thousand people" is no worse than Qin Qiong, the number one commander in the army.

As the Sui army split up, thick smoke rose up outside the city one after another, giving people the feeling that Jiangyuan City was at stake.

Han Weiqi in the city turned pale, and pointed at Pei Xingyan, who was leisurely and leisurely inspiring the morale of the Sui army outside the two-shot field, and yelled: "Son Pei Xingyan, come and attack the city if you have the ability! Those who act despicable and shameless and have lost their morality Little trick, what kind of bullshit is 'the enemy of ten thousand people'?"

Hearing this, Pei Xingyan couldn't help scoffing, what is war?It is to use conspiracy to win the opponent. If you can’t win, even if there are 1 reasons, it’s useless; it’s the same today. no good.Jiangyuan City is now the sheep he has fenced up, and when Li Xiaochang's army is wiped out, it will never be too late to clean it up.

Even though he thought so, he responded unforgivingly: "You have the advantage of the city, how dare you, have the face to say that I don't talk about martial arts? Your ability to reverse black and white is first-rate, and you are all fake Tang It's no wonder that this kind of boastful people are reduced to the predicament of huddled in a corner, if you are not convinced, you can come out and challenge me..."

As soon as this remark came out, the city was quiet, the busy soldiers of the Sui army stopped their work, and the soldiers of the Tang army looked at Han Wei one after another.

In the era of cold weapons, there has never been a shortage of brave generals of the three armies. In wars, such generals can often rely on unimaginable personal force to inspire a defeated army to come back to life, and their courage soars, thus achieving a desperate situation. The amazing reversal of counterattack and turning defeat into victory is also the charm and value of a titan.Ordinary soldiers worship such titans far more than military strategists who play tricks.

Because of this, heads-up and fighting generals are loved and welcomed by soldiers who make a living by killing, but if one's own titans die in battle, it will be a fatal blow to morale.Therefore, fighting generals is actually a double-edged sword, hurting others can also hurt oneself, if it is not [-]% sure, generally Yang Tong does not respect it, and will not allow it.

At this moment, Han Wei, the person involved, was in a dilemma. Those eyes full of expectation made his face burn with pain.

The news that Yang Tong decided to set up a temple to protect the country and let people from all over the world choose 36 celestial gangs was published in "Half Moon Talk", which aroused heated discussions all over the world.According to martial arts and single-challenge performances, the people with good deeds will rank the world's top ten tiger generals from the world's fierce generals, titanic generals, and famous generals. Qin Qiong ranks first, Yang Tong ranks second, Luo Shixin Wei Chigong ranks third, Pei Xingyan ranks fourth, and Xue Wanche ranks fifth , Du Fuwei is sixth, Niu Jinda is seventh, Xie Yingdeng is eighth, Su Dingfang is ninth, and Yinmingyue at a point in the green bushes is tenth.

Although this is the order of the people in the Sui Dynasty, it is a consensus reached after many disputes, so it has already been spread all over the world. Of course, this is only in terms of force. Yang Tong's is undoubtedly the first.

Of course, although the generals who entered the list are very proud, everyone dare not take it seriously, otherwise the unlucky one will definitely be themselves.Because they all know that martial arts cannot be calculated in this way. For example, Yinmingyue, who is ranked last, has her martial power magnified countless times. Defeated, but Yin Mingyue won the true biography of Hong Fu Nu, especially good at assassin skills. If she made up her mind to assassinate Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, and Yu Chigong, everyone would be terrified and hard to guard against; Xie Yingdeng, who ranked eighth His archery skills are hundreds of steps, and when the bow and arrow are in his hands, he can play all kinds of amazing tricks. If he shoots cold arrows at others, few people can avoid it; as for Du Fuwei, he is like a dragon in the water. On the boat and under the water, who dares to say that he can beat him?

But no matter what, although Han Wei claims to be extraordinary in martial arts, he still has self-knowledge in the face of Pei Xingyan, who is known as the sixth in the world and kills Tubo. , and responded with airs: "Only ordinary people can single out. I will hold an important position, how can I fight you?"

Even the soldiers of the Tang army didn't believe it. No matter how good you Han Wei is, you're just a doorman. Is Pei Xingyan noble if you win?If you are afraid, you are afraid, so why call yourself so noble?

But Han Wei is his own general after all, they dare not say anything, they can only mutter in their hearts.But the Sui army under the city didn't care about this, they laughed loudly and violently attacked the city with various accents.

The soldiers of the Tang army lost face, and their morale plummeted again and again.

Pei Xingyan didn't expect the opponent to come out to fight alone, but he saw that the effect was good, and he didn't forbid his soldiers to scold and fight. He told the generals around him: "Send scouts to scout around, closely monitor Li Xiaochang's movements, and also send people to closely observe the Minjiang River. The water level must be reported every hour of the day."

Li Shimin suffered from this aspect, and his entire army was wiped out in Xiangyang Valley City. This defeat caused the Tang Dynasty to fall into the dilemma of having no soldiers to use.Therefore, he must keep abreast of the water level and regime of the Minjiang River, so as not to repeat Li Shimin's mistakes.

Han Wei in the city was angry and helpless when he saw the Sui army scolding and continued to build fortifications.

"General." Lieutenant General Wei De pleaded in a low voice: "The Sui army has just arrived, and they don't know much about the terrain of Jiangyuan County. Why don't the last general lead people to attack the camp tonight?"

"Night raid on the Sui camp?"

"Exactly."

Han Wei pondered for a while, and said with some hesitation: "Pei Xingyan served under Zhang Xutuo's command in the early years, fought against various anti-king grass bandits for nearly ten years, and has a deep knowledge of sneak attack routines. Can you not have a little defense?"

"Look, general!" Wei De pointed to the Sui army camp that was slowly forming, and said in a deep voice: "Although the strength of the Sui army far exceeds our army, it is estimated that it is only more than [-] soldiers. Naturally, we have no way to attack. However, Pei Xingyan scattered his soldiers and horses around the city. We only need to gather elite soldiers and storm a certain section of the camp wall. Considering the enemy's widely spread camp, the force cannot be gathered quickly! The last general night attack The purpose is not to focus on annihilating the enemy, but to break the myth that the Sui army is invincible, to boost the morale of our army, and to strengthen our army's determination to win. As long as the success is successful, or the Sui army responds quickly, the last general will retreat. If so, the next battle to defend the city will be much easier."

Hearing this, Han Wei was very moved for a while. Judging from the performance of the Sui army, everyone under Pei Xingyan was arrogant and conceited. Their focus was also to use Jiangyuan City as a bait to lure Li Xiaochang to rush to help from Tongchang County. To achieve its strategic purpose of besieging and fighting for aid, since the Sui army looked down on the soldiers in the city, they would never have expected the Tang army in the city to attack the camp at night.

"Then it's settled!" Han Wei nodded approvingly, and said to Wei De: "I'll give you two thousand, no, I'll give you three thousand elite soldiers, and you will go out of the city to attack the Sui army's camp tonight! You Now let's go down and prepare, let the soldiers eat and drink enough, and recharge their batteries, and Pei Xingyan will definitely pay a heavy price tonight."

"The general will obey." Wei De bowed his hands and retreated, and went to gather the soldiers to prepare for the night attack.

. . . . . . .

As time went by, the fortifications of the Sui army were also being improved at a speed that could be seen. As the enemy general, Han Wei marveled at the perfection of the fortifications of the Sui army. After the efforts of the Sui army and auxiliary arms, the camp wall reached In the end, it was connected as one, and even wooden boards were built on the top to defend against the arrow rain. It is just puzzling that the Sui army would hang a large mirror every dozens of steps, and then put it on the mirror. Tie a pair of big scissors on the top, which is very similar to the evil spirits of ordinary people, which makes Han Wei feel very strange. The army kills people for a living. Could it be that a famous general like Pei Xingyan is afraid of ghosts and avoids evil things?If you really want to do this, it will be easy to handle.

Han Wei knew that the Shu people's face-changing and illusion techniques were mysterious and unpredictable, and the performance was amazing. If people didn't know it, they would think they had encountered a fairy.So he sent people to look for talents in this field among the army and the people, so that they could be used as surprise soldiers.

Night finally fell on the land, and the busy Sui army started to make fire and cook food. However, due to the high camp wall blocking the view, the soldiers of the Tang army could not see the internal situation at all except for the rising smoke from the city.

When it was late at night, the north gate of Jiangyuan City was quietly opened. Wei De led three thousand Tang army elites to touch the Sui army camp wall like ghosts. Although Han Wei standing on the city could not see anything, his eyes were fixed on the gloomy The success or failure of every battle is related to the survival of the Tang Dynasty, so he cannot help but be nervous and cautious.

There was a crisp sound of "Dang Clang", which was extremely loud in the quiet night, and Han Wei could clearly hear it even if it was far away.

"Not good." Just as Han Wei's complexion changed drastically and he yelled that it was not good, dozens of torches suddenly lit up on the wall of the dark Sui army camp opposite. The yellow light reflected by the mirror at the same time made the range of dozens of steps in front of the camp as bright as dusk. The three thousand Tang soldiers who were about to attack the Sui camp at night looked like young girls who had been stripped naked by violence under the light of the mirror. Terrified.

Han Wei was so shocked that he couldn't hold his tongue. Only now did he understand the magical function of the big bronze mirror. Fortunately, he also said that Pei Xingyan was afraid of ghosts and used it to ward off evil spirits.

But if he admits that Tang Jun is an evil heretic, it is not wrong to say that it is used to ward off evil spirits.

"咻咻咻~" Before the startled attacking soldiers could react, bursts of rapid buzzing exploded. Han Wei couldn't see the arrows, but the fallen soldiers of the Tang Army explained everything.

Wei De, who took the lead, was shot into a hedgehog. Seeing that the situation was not going well, the Tang army behind turned around and ran away. However, at this moment, the horn of the Sui army came from the camp of the Sui army. Suddenly a gate appeared, and a group of black men and horses rushed out of it, chasing and killing the soldiers of the Tang army who were running away with their heads in their hands.

The shrill screams and howls that tore through the silence of the night lasted less than a moment, and then slowly faded away until the stench was inaudible.

If it weren't for the corpses and dense arrows in the light range, and the strong smell of blood in the air, no one would have thought that there was a tragic and short-lived massacre a moment ago.

The shocking scene in front of them made Han Wei and even the soldiers on the top of the wall jump with fear and feel their scalps go numb.Drenched in cold sweat, they watched the returning enemy soldiers methodically collect corpses and arrow clusters, and finally poured kerosene on the mountain of corpses and burned them directly on the spot. However, this group of Sui soldiers did not speak from the beginning to the end.

However, it is this coldness and silence that ignores life and death, which is far more depressing than the earth-shattering noise.When the battle damage was counted one by one and sent to the city, the soldiers of the Tang army in the city began to tremble with teeth and legs.The [-] elite soldiers they originally sent couldn't even survive a wave of attacks; in the end, the soldiers who escaped by chance couldn't even make up [-] soldiers.

In an instant.

Pessimistic negative emotions such as powerlessness, fear, despair, etc. also flooded the hearts of all Tang soldiers: The Sui army is so strong, how could they win?What is the difference between being an enemy and fighting the devil?
How can we fight this battle?

How can this city survive?

If the Sui army launched an attack tomorrow, Jiangyuan County would probably end up with nothing.

Everyone has this heart, and it also makes the few remaining morale disappear in the bloody wind.

(End of this chapter)