The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 962 Lure the Enemy Deep, Dingyi North (seeking tickets)
At noon, Liu Hongji's rear army had arrived at Fangwei County, Pingwu County. It was less than two hundred miles away from the battlefield where Liu Gang wiped out Li Xuandao. Thirty thousand troops marched south along Baishui, and Hanoi was filled with hundreds of merchant ships.

Liu Hongji stared at Xu Xing's fleet solemnly, feeling extremely anxious. According to reports from scouts, the main force of the Sui army behind them was only two days away. The Sui army, as ferocious as a tiger, as cunning as a fox, and as tenacious as a wolf, would not let them go. They were not far from being wiped out.

Seeing the worried look of the general, Yu Zhining rode forward and said, "General Manager, I think the best way is to let the soldiers be the trackers and drag the fleet to Yicheng, where the Baishui and Xihan waters meet. After Chang County, there is the main stream of the Western Han River with a flat riverbed, large water volume, and fierce water flow, where boats can sail day and night, and the speed is at least three times faster than now."

Liu Hongji also felt that this was a good way, but if he really wanted to do it, there would be new problems. He hesitated and said: "The way is good, but soldiers marching is hard work, if all the manpower is wasted on the boat Team, how do we face the Sui army that suddenly attacked?"

Yu Zhining said: "The trackers mentioned by the humble job are the common people on both sides of the strait, and the soldiers still mainly fight."

Liu Hongji looked back at him, then slowly shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't work."

Yu Zhining was taken aback, and quickly asked, "What does the chief executive think is wrong?"

"Pingwu is a lower county belonging to the Sui Dynasty. How can there be a civil servant for us? Even if we go to arrest Ding, it will be too late." Liu Hongji shook his head and said.

Yu Zhining asked a little puzzled: "Is the chief executive worried about the Sui army behind?"

"This is one of the reasons." Liu Hongji sighed with a frown, "But I am more worried about the unknown enemy army than this army that knows everything about it."

"Unknown enemy army?" Yu Zhining asked again: "Other enemy troops in the territory that the general manager refers to?"

"Yes!" Liu Hongji nodded, and said, "The Sui army has a strong national strength to rely on, and they like to fight unreasonable battles. I can't breathe, and then send a few powerful soldiers to cruise outside. Once they are calmly deployed, they will be very domineering and brutal to tear the enemy army to pieces. This is what the Sui army is best at and the most vicious , The most rogue style of play is also the most incomprehensible and helpless tactic.”

Speaking of this, Liu Hongji glanced at Yu Zhining, who was full of headaches, and said with a worried smile: "I don't think the Sui army will give up this barbaric tactic, and I am very worried about the surprise soldiers who have not shown up for a long time."

"I'm starting to worry too." Yu Zhining smiled wryly.

Just when Liu Hongji was about to say something, a scout flew over to report: "Report to the Chief Commander, the scouts from the former army came to report that a Sui army stormed Jinggu City, the forward station of our army last night, and Deputy Chief Li died in battle." , the situation of our army is in jeopardy!"

Liu Hongji's eyes widened suddenly, and the surprise soldier he was most worried about finally appeared in an unacceptable way. He suddenly yelled, spurted out a mouthful of blood, fell off his horse on his back, and fainted on the spot.

"Chief Manager, Chief Manager!" The surrounding soldiers hurriedly rescued Liu Hongji. After a while, Liu Hongji woke up leisurely. He couldn't help but sigh, "I'm the one who hurt Xuandao!"

He immediately asked the messenger scout: "Who is in charge of the former army?"

The scout hurriedly said: "Report to the chief executive, General Gao Zengsheng has taken over the army."

Hearing this, Liu Hongji felt a little relieved. Gao Zengsheng was brave in battle and had the ability to adapt to the situation. He is a good general with rich experience in combat. With his command, the former army should be able to last for a while. He asked again: "Sui Army How many people are there, is there any siege equipment, and how is the battle situation in Jinggu City?"

The scout replied: "The Sui army only has more than [-] people, not as strong as ours, and they don't have large siege equipment, but the city walls of Jinggu City are low. They use powerful arrow arrays with extremely long range to suppress our army's crossbowmen The other soldiers attacked the city violently under the cover of the arrow array. The situation is very unfavorable to our army."

"I see, continue to inquire."

"Here." The scout saluted and retreated in a hurry.

"Boss, this style of attack is exactly the same as Yu Chigong's attack on Shunzheng City. Our army's forwards are lightly armed and don't have any weapons to defend the city. If this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long." Yu Zhining asked anxiously: " What should we do now?"

"What else can I do? Immediately send troops to rescue, and send more scouts to investigate carefully along the way, so as not to be ambushed by the enemy." Liu Hongji now has no choice but to send troops to rescue. He also put himself in a dangerous situation of being attacked by the enemy. Instead of this, it is better to join forces with the former army to annihilate the Sui army that besieged Jinggu City, and use violence and bloody methods to create a smooth road that suddenly becomes clear.

"I'll arrange scouts right away!" Yu Zhining rushed away.

Not long after, the [-] Tang troops didn't even need the fleet, they just brought simple bags and dry food and quickly marched towards Jinggu, Yicheng.

The scout of the Sui Army who was watching from a distance with a telescope said excitedly to the soldiers under his command: "General Liu Gang must have killed Jinggu City. Liu Hongji must not leave his luggage behind and go to support with light clothes."

"Boss, should we add fire to Liu Hongji?" A scout asked excitedly.

"How to add?"

"Boss, I remember there were several bridges ahead, and we simply tore them down."

"Do you think demolishing the bridge will cause trouble for Tang Jun?" Scout Shi said in a long way, saying that if the other party built a pontoon bridge, they could cross the river.

The little soldier said with a smile: "The main purpose is to make Liu Hongji think that General Liu's strength is insufficient, and he is afraid of being caught in an outflank, so he uses the method of demolishing bridges to slow down his marching speed, so that he can safely and boldly rush to Jinggu City."

The chief scout felt that it was reasonable, so he decided: "Good way, let's do it like this, and at the same time inform the general Niu in front."

"Of course."

Having made a decision, the scouts got busy, and soon an eagle soared into the sky, flew over the mighty Tang army at a very fast speed, and flew to the south, to be the leader of the massacre. Tiger's Niu Jinda sent the news that the Tang army was going south.

. . . . . . . . .

After more than two hours, Liu Hongji's army arrived at Qingchuanshui, the boundary river between Pingwu and Yicheng.

Qingchuan Water is a small river flowing from west to east originating from Daba Mountain, flowing through Fangwei County of Pingwu, Jinggu County of Yicheng County, and finally pouring into Baishui.

This is the upper reaches of the Qingchuan River, where Daba Mountain transitions to the south. Although it is no longer a high mountain, it is still undulating and hilly. This area is sparsely populated and there is no farmland. The mountains and hills are covered by large forests.

If they cross the Qingchuan River, it means that they have entered Jinggu County. Liu Hongji also considered the Sui army's strategy of besieging the city and fighting for aid.Therefore, he dispatched a large number of scouts along the way to investigate, and any place that could be used as an ambush must not be let go, so as to ensure that the army can go south smoothly without any danger.

Liu Hongji looked at the sky, made a quick calculation in his mind, and walked seventy or eighty miles forward. If he marched forcefully, he could probably arrive tomorrow. Forcing the army to march is tantamount to bringing a plate of sumptuous dishes to the Sui army.Therefore, although Liu Hongji was very anxious, he did not dare to overdraw the physical strength of the soldiers.

Just when he was considering whether to take a rest, he suddenly found that the army in front of him had stopped slowly. His heart tightened, and he ordered to the soldiers around him: "Go and see, what happened in front of you?"

"Follow orders." A bodyguard team was about to lead the team away, when a scout in front flew over to report: "Report to the Chief Officer, the bridge across the river has been demolished by Sui army scouts."

Liu Hongji asked: "Have you ever found a large Sui army on the other side of the Qingchuan River?"

"Going back to the general manager, the scouts in front said that no Sui army was found within ten miles of the other side, but all the bridges in front of them were demolished. What's more, the Sui army either piled up big stones on the official road more than ten miles ahead, or It is to cut down a big tree from the mountain to block the road."

"Is it like this ten miles ahead?"

"That's right, but the stones and stones are getting less and less as we go to the back. The scouts in front said that a group of Sui army scouts did it. There was no battle between the two. The other party withdrew after discovering our soldiers, which seemed more hasty." .” The scout told him everything he knew.

"Continue to investigate."

"Here." The scout saluted and retreated.

Liu Hongji pondered for a while, drew out a command arrow, and ordered: "Order three thousand soldiers to build a bridge ahead to clear the way."

"Here." The messenger took the order and left.

"Boss, good news." Yu Zhining beside him said with a smile: "The scouts of the former army said that there were only more than 1 Sui troops besieging Jinggu City, and their strength was not as large as ours. If not, they will gather heavy troops to wipe out the Tang army in the city first, then turn around and cut off our army's way forward, creating opportunities for Yu Chigong and the others."

"What Yu Sima said is very true." Su Shichang, who was next to him, agreed: "It must be that the Sui army will not be able to take Jinggu City for a while, and I heard that we rushed to help with light clothes. Our army arrived at Jinggu City so that they could concentrate on dealing with the Tang army in the city. In other words, the offensive and defensive battle has entered the most dangerous and cruel stage at this time. But as long as the Tang army in the city survives this stage, the Sui army will have insufficient stamina. It also gave us a chance to defeat the enemy, the so-called 'one effort, then decline, and three times' is just like that."

"Let the soldiers in front hurry up to repair the bridges and roads, and the army will march another [-] miles!" The words of the two Sima were actually what Liu Hongji thought. If he seized this opportunity, he would be able to cooperate with the soldiers in Jinggu City and eat them together. Once the wish of this siege Sui army is fulfilled, it also means that a big threat will be eliminated on the way to the south. When the other Sui army reacts, they have at least passed Yicheng and entered Brazil County smoothly.

This huge temptation made Liu Hongji willing to take risks and force the march. In fact, the situation where the front army was trapped and the rear army abandoned their supplies also left them no choice. How could they miss out on a chance?

Liu Hongji, Yu Zhining, and Su Shichang were of course also worried that this was a strategy of the Sui army to lure the enemy deep, but luring the enemy deep is a conspiracy, which is characterized by surprise and unpreparedness. As long as the truth is revealed, it is not worth talking about. The other party doesn't know the weakness that he has exposed, so he will do whatever he can.

Knowing this, Liu Hongji strictly required the scouts to investigate and investigate carefully during the next march. Sure enough, many small groups of Sui troops with few numbers were found in some dangerous places. The superiority of the enemy's openness and our darkness caused the Tang army's scouts to die a lot, but for Liu Hongji, who had an army of 200, the death of less than [-] people was negligible.And after repeated small-scale fights, Liu Hongji and others firmly believed in the previous speculation-Jinggu's Sui army was in a dilemma, and the donkeys were at the end of their skills!

While the scouts on both sides were constantly fighting, the main force of the Tang army was also marching rapidly along the edge of the forest. The official road was a large dense forest.

When the sun set and night covered the land, the team walked for more than ten miles and entered the gentle area with rolling hills and continuous mountains. The army withdrew from the Jinggu battle and withdrew in the direction of Trojan Horse Mountain.

Liu Hongji was overjoyed, thinking that the Sui army could not bear it anymore, and was worried about being attacked by the enemy, so he planned to withdraw to Muma Mountain, and then fight against himself based on the terrain. Knowing this, Liu Hongji wished that everyone would have wings and fly to Jinggu City to take this song The Sui army at both ends of the mouse was wiped out. When he heard that there was a vast field ahead, he was more at ease and ordered to speed up again. It seemed that he had forgotten that he had started to rush at noon, and he did not see that his soldiers were all sweating. It rained and panted like a cow.

The [-]-strong army was marching rapidly in the boundless fields, and occasionally saw low hills and patches of woods in the distance. If they hurried for about five miles, they would soon leave a small river behind.

Liu Hongji immediately ordered that the whole army rest on the spot.

Thirty thousand soldiers sat on both sides of the official road, drank water to rest, took out dry food by the way, and settled lunch and dinner together.

Crisis usually comes when one is unprepared. Just three miles northeast of Liu Hongji's army, a black army of Sui cavalry has already lined up. The [-] cavalry led by Niu Jinda and Liu Gang are waiting for their prey to come. Waited here for nearly three hours.

After Niu Jinda defeated Wei Xiaojie's army in Dangchang, he split up with Wang Fubao and captured Changsong County, the capital of Wudu, where veteran Pang Yu was located, with lightning speed. Seeing that the situation is not good, Liu Hongji immediately made the decision to make a big transfer.Since Yu Chigong, Wang Fubao, and Yao Junsu were far away from Liu Hongji, they entrusted the task of blocking the enemy to Niu Jinda and Liu Gang who were closest to the Tang army.

After some communication between Niu Jinda and Liu Gang, Liu Gang drove into Yicheng from Pingwu. Before the Tang army entered Pingwu, he went to the front to break the Tang army's path, while Niu Jinda quickly moved from Changsong, the capital of Wudu, to Pingwu. Wu, take the middle or rear of the Tang army.After such an exchange, Liu Gang ran in front of Li Xuandao, and Niu Jinda ran in front of Liu Hongji.

At noon, Niu Jinda got the exact news that the soldiers headed by Liu Gang had already defeated the Tang army in Jinggu City at Maoshi, and they were rushing here to help him completely annihilate Liu Hongji. In order to buy Liu Gang time to march and rest, He accepted the suggestion of the front scouts and asked them to destroy bridges and roads and assassinate the scouts of the Tang army who were investigating and controlling them. In the end, he achieved the purpose of slowing down the speed of the Tang army and luring the enemy to go deep. In order to further confuse Liu Hongji, he led the army into the ambush circle.The two ordered two thousand Sui troops to escort the Tang army prisoners to Muma Mountain, making an emergency evacuation and emergency construction of fortifications.

The [-] cavalry of Niu Jinda and Liu Gang were divided into two, and each hid behind the vast woods in the north and south of the official road, so that Liu Hongji did not notice their existence.

The [-] soldiers of the Ninth Army led by Niu Jinda were the main force in this battle, while the main task of Liu Gang's [-] soldiers was to fortify and arrest people, so as to prevent Liu Hongji, Yu Zhining, Su Shichang and other Li Shimin's civil and military descendants from fleeing.

The task Yang Tong gave them was to kill these people, because these people had already served Li Tang's cause of rebellion before Jinyang raised troops.

They don't die, who dies?
Seeing that Tang Jun had almost eaten, many people were lying on the ground to rest. Niu Jinda knew that Tang Jun, who was in a relaxed state, had reduced his combat effectiveness to the lowest level; , At this time, I can't even climb up.

The time is ripe to attack.

A cruel smile appeared on the corner of Niu Jinda's mouth, Mo Dao drew an arc, pointed straight ahead, and said loudly: "Blow the horn, kill the enemy."

"Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." The sound of the horn suddenly sounded, and the sound of the horn resounded through the wilderness.

The [-] cavalrymen of the Ninth Army suddenly burst into earth-shattering shouts, venting their accumulated courage to the fullest, and charged at the Tang army in the formation of long snakes in a wild goose formation like a tsunami, rumbling horseshoes The sound was like thunder on the flat ground, making the ground tremble, and swept towards Liu Hongji's army overwhelmingly.

Liu Hongji's army had already discovered the ambush when the horn sounded, and the team that was stumbling around after eating was in chaos. They are now a marching team, stretching for four or five miles, and it is almost impossible to form a combat formation before the arrival of the cavalry. The Sui army swept in from the side, and the Tang army was almost attacked in the first place. At this time, the more organized it will be, the more chaotic it will be.

Shocked into a cold sweat, Liu Hongji suddenly slapped himself hard. He suddenly remembered a piece of information he had forgotten: Niu Jinda defeated Pang Yu in Wudu Changsong County, which forced him to retreat. After he retreated, Niu Jinda, who is closest to him, actually has no combat missions.

Liu Hongji hated himself for ignoring this fatal information, but it was too late to regret. He had to organize a large and stable formation before the arrival of the Sui cavalry, and act as the mainstay of the torrent of cavalry, attracting scattered soldiers to join, otherwise , his army could not escape the fate of being divided and cannibalized by the Sui army.

Shouted to the cavalry general Zhang Baoxiang: "General Zhang, you lead [-] cavalry to hold the enemy back and buy time for me!"

The Tang Dynasty did not have its own source of horses, and the war horses were purchased from Tubo and Tuyuhun. In the north, the Tang army also raised horses on the Ruoergai Prairie in Tongchang County. Li Shimin managed to gather more than 1 war horses before the defeat of Tubo and Tuyuhun. It was far from enough, so the most elite soldiers were given priority in equipment, that is to say, these five thousand cavalry were Liu Hongji's high-strength combat troops, and they were always by his side during the march.But the crossbowmen and pikemen were not around, and it was too late for them to line up, so the five thousand cavalry had to be deployed in front.Give him time to gather his forces and deploy 'fighting against cavalry'.

"The last general obeys!" Zhang Baoxiang immediately let someone blow the horn, which was an order for the cavalry to attack, and [-] cavalry immediately followed him to meet the Sui army one mile away.

The [-] Sui army cavalry rushed closer and closer, and finally collided with Liu Hongji's cavalry. The [-] cavalry were like a boulder in the torrent, unable to block the impact of the Sui army six times their size, and were crushed by the mighty cavalry in less than a moment. The Sui Army cavalry engulfed it.When the frontal enemy was wiped out, the [-] Sui cavalry continued to run around the sides of the enemy, and once again fought in a scuffle with the sword and shield soldiers who intercepted them.

General Zhou Shao led [-] cavalry to charge south, aiming directly at the rear of the Tang army headed by Xiao Jing, where there were [-] crossbowmen and [-] pikemen.

The rear army of the Tang army was three miles away from the central army, so it was impossible to get in touch with the central army for a while, and seeing the surging Sui army coming, Xiao Jing had no choice but to line up on the spot. The [-] crossbowmen in formation shot at the roaring Sui cavalry with their crossbows. A large number of arrows shot up into the sky, and the arrows rained down on the Sui army. The Sui cavalry raised their shields to meet them. However, in the dense arrow rain, hundreds of people were still shot down, and the cavalry rolled and fell to the ground, screaming continuously.

The Tang army only shot one round of arrows, and the Sui army swept in. Five thousand crossbowmen turned around and fled, but collided with the spear array behind them. Although the crossbowmen running in front saw the bright light ahead of them The forest of spears, but the people behind them didn't know it, and pushed them hard into the forest of spears, and were pierced by the spears stretching forward one after another. As these people fell, the people behind them were shot by those behind them The people pushed forward, and the two cavalry units were all in a mess, and the sharpest long spear array was broken.

At this time, the cavalry of the Sui army had already come from behind, rushing into the chaotic group of crossbowmen like a storm. Zhou Shao, who was in the lead, roared and swung his sword to kill a general.

He was originally the general of the first army in Tongchang County. Because Niu Jinda lacked generals, Mai Zhongcai kept him before the first army went south. The massacre broke out in the crowd, the sword flew left and right, and the dead body rolled on his blade. The cavalry of the Sui army followed closely behind, and carried out a bloody killing among the chaotic group of crossbowmen and pikemen of the Tang army.

This was a one-sided killing without any suspense. Once the crossbowmen and spearmen were in chaos and without the protection of cavalry and sword and shield soldiers, they were like sheep without the guard of shepherds and hounds. They could only let the ferocious wolves run wild. devour.

The Sui iron cavalry didn't care about the enemy's wailing and begging for mercy. They used the speed advantage of the cavalry to encircle and kill with the advantage of collision.

Seeing that the crossbowmen and pikemen had collapsed and were bloody slaughtered by the Sui cavalry, Xiao Jing, the general of the rear army, shouted anxiously, "Sword and shield soldiers go up!"

The sword and shield soldiers were useless. They had been in a hurry for a long time. One or two of their hands were sore and soft. Their strength and reaction speed were unbearable in high-intensity warfare. They were terrified, but under the urging of generals at all levels, they had to bite the bullet and fight.

In fact, the sword and shield soldiers at this time could not cause the slightest harm to the Sui army. Their only role in pressing up was to help the Sui army cavalry block the escape seeds of their own soldiers, and gave them the opportunity to kill as much as they wanted.When the cavalry of the Sui army wiped out the crossbowmen and pikemen, what greeted them was the ruthless killing of the cavalry.

The battle was especially fierce in the Chinese army. In the cavalry melee, the Sui army was invincible, killing the Tang army's corpses all over the field, and the field was stained red with blood.

……

The Sui army waited for work with leisure and had enough time to prepare, while Liu Hongji's army was tired and rushed to fight, and could not exert the best combat effectiveness of infantry at all. Although Liu Hongji's main force fought tenaciously, it was always at a disadvantage.

Niu Jinda was the overall commander and did not participate in the battle. If he personally went to battle to kill the enemy, the entire Sui army would lose its soul. Two thousand cavalry stood in command near the battlefield.

At this time, Niu Jinda received a report from the peripheral scouts that there was a loophole in Liu Hongji's army, that is, the enemy's central army had no guards to the south.

This is the most critical opportunity to win. Naturally, Niu Jinda wanted to seize this opportunity, and immediately ordered: "Order Liu Gang's left army to attack the south side of the central army!"

"Dong dong dong..." The sound of war drums suddenly rang loudly. After receiving the order, Liu Gang personally led [-] cavalry in full formation to the south of Liu Hongji's personal guards. There were originally [-] elite soldiers here, but Liu Hongji was on the front Unable to stop the situation, he also dispatched his last strength, thus creating a huge defensive gap behind him.

The sudden killing of Liu Gang's soldiers caused chaos in Liu Hongji's personal guards. The chief and deputy commanders of the personal guards were Liu Hongji's son Liu Renshi and nephew Liu Renjing. , was shot and killed by the dense rain of arrows fired by Liu Gangjun.

Desperate Liu Hongji finally couldn't help crying when he saw his nephew being hunted by the enemy with a rain of arrows.

The generals of this Sui army knew very well where their weak points were. They didn't stop after hunting down his last defensive force with a continuous crossbow, and directly attacked them, who were the center of the army.

"Steady your ground, everyone form an formation to fight!" Liu Hongji wiped away his tears, and shouted in despair. He longed for a miracle to happen, and hoped that the few people who died would fight hard to resist, but the miracle he was expecting did not happen. The frontal enemy is already the limit that the soldiers can bear, and Liu Gang's army is undoubtedly the last straw that crushes the camel's camel. When they kill, it completely collapses the Tang army, and disperses in extreme panic. How can they care about the military orders?

"Surround the enemy army, and those who surrender will not die!" Seeing that the Chinese army had collapsed, Niu Jinda immediately shouted loudly, and the drums for the encirclement sounded.

The drums of "dong dong dong" sounded in all directions, and the remaining [-] Liu Gang troops cooperated with the troops on the battlefield to intercept the fleeing Tang army soldiers from the outside to the inside. Those who resist will not die; those who resist in the corner will be killed without mercy."

Soldiers of the Tang army, as if waking up from a dream, abandoned their weapons and surrendered one after another, and the sound of begging for surrender resounded through the battlefield.

At the same time that the Tang army collapsed, Liu Hongji, Yu Zhining, Su Shichang, Linghu Defen and more than a hundred cavalry escorted and fled eastward, but after running less than [-] steps, Niu Jinda personally led [-] soldiers to stop them.

"Shoot the arrows and kill them all." Niu Jinda didn't bother to talk nonsense, so he dealt with Liu Hongji and others to kill them all.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." the soldiers of the Sui army pulled their crossbows to prepare for the enemy troops to charge head-on, and the arrows rushed forward like a storm, including Liu Hongji, Yu Zhining, Su Shichang, Ling More than a hundred people, including Hu Defen, were shot into hedgehogs, and both people and horses screamed and fell to the ground.

……

With the death of Liu Hongji and other enemy chiefs, it also meant that the remnants of the Tang Dynasty in northern Yizhou were wiped out, and the Sui Dynasty army won the final victory in this decisive battle.Successfully regained the land of Yibei.

(End of this chapter)