The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 964 Huge Pressure, Dilemma
At dusk, the rapid sound of horseshoes broke the restless din of Chengdu. The guards at the east gate saw that at the end of the official road, a group of cavalrymen in a state of distress and incomplete armor were rushing towards this side. The cracked white flag was covered with stains. The dried and blackened blood stains vaguely read the word "Dou".

The captain of the gate guard was stunned, Dou was a common surname in the Tang Dynasty, although he had lost elite children such as Dou Kang, Dou Cong, Dou Jing, Dou Fengjie, etc. over the years, Dou Gui was still one of the seven prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty It's just that the adult children of the Dou family are all fighting on the front line. Could it be that a certain Dou surnamed general came back from a defeated battle?

The captain was thinking about these things, but he saw that the other party had already rushed close. From a closer look, there were only more than 30 people in this team, and everyone had signs of fighting on their bodies. When he saw clearly that the leading general When he saw the appearance, his face changed drastically, and he exclaimed: "General Dou Lun, aren't you in Luo County? Could it be..."

"Stop talking nonsense, Luo County has fallen, you send people to closely monitor within ten miles, and if you find the enemy, report back to the city immediately."

Dou Lun instructed the school captain, and without waiting for the other party's response, he rode his horse to Jiafumen, the main south gate of the East Palace of Taiji Palace, in a hurry.

"General Dou, this is..." The gate guard of the East Palace was also startled when he saw Dou Lun.

"I have something very urgent to report. Is His Royal Highness in the East Palace?" Dou Lun got off his horse and asked loudly.

"Yes, the crown prince just came back from the imperial city, so I'm going to pass it on..." the guard said hastily.

"I can't wait." Dou Lun said this, and broke in unceremoniously.

Li Shimin had just returned from the imperial city, and when he heard someone outside saying that Dou Lun had barged in on horseback, a heavy haze immediately enveloped his heart.

Since the Sui army surrounded Luoxian County three days ago, the court has completely cut off contact with the Luoxian defenders led by Dou Gui. Although Li Shimin also tried to order the Tang army to open a communication channel in Xingle City, he was violently attacked by the cavalry of the Sui Dynasty. The attack couldn't get close to Luo County at all, and it cost a lot of casualties in vain, so they had to give up in the end.

It's just that there was no news of the defeat, which finally gave Li Shimin a glimmer of hope in his heart. After all, no matter what Dou Gui and Changsun Shunde say, there are nearly [-] troops.
But now, when Dou Lun, who was supposed to be in Luo County, barged in in such an impolite way, Li Shimin felt a sharp pain in his head, and his body couldn't help shaking.You don't need to guess, you can know that Luo County is over.He quickly took a deep breath and hurried outside, just in time to see Dou Lun dismounting outside, "Dou Lun, why are you back?"

"Your Highness, Your Highness, Luo County is lost... General Xiangguo and General Changsun were all killed in battle, and our entire army was wiped out..." The moment Dou Lun turned his head, he suddenly fell to his knees with a thud. Be a child.

"What?" Although Li Shimin was already mentally prepared, when he heard Dou Lun confirming this moment, he was still struck by lightning. He stepped forward a few steps, picked up Dou Lun, and roared: "Tell me , what is going on?"

Dou Lun burst into tears and said: "Your Highness, we are surrounded by more than [-] Sui army regiments, and the small walls of Luoxian County are too short to withstand the simultaneous attacks of the Sui army from the sky and the earth, so we can only be beaten passively. It was barely able to defend. However, Niang Shangnang disobeyed Prime Minister Dou and General Changsun’s orders yesterday. When the Sui army retreated, she was good at opening the city gate and led [-] Tubo cavalry out of the city to make an assault. As a result, the Sui army’s arrow formation killed one Not even the horses were left. All the soldiers of our army witnessed the scene of thousands of arrows being fired. The whole army was in a state of confusion, and everyone was afraid of the Sui Dynasty like a tiger. However, the Sui army took advantage of yesterday's prestige and attacked Luoxian County this morning. Launched a fierce offensive. Coupled with the exhaustion of rolling logs and stones, Xiangguo and General Changsun personally led troops to the city, but were attacked by Sui army slaves. General Changsun died at the hands of Pei Xingyan first, and the surrounded Xiangguo committed suicide and died in the city. The last general disguised himself as a dead body and escaped in the chaos, and the rest were probably captured alive by the Sui army..."

At this point, Li Shimin staggered a few steps, and was supported by Li Xuansu who came after him.As for Dou Lun's next words, he couldn't hear a word.

After a long time, Li Shimin came back to his senses and told the guards: "This matter must not be rumored, you go and invite all the ministers to come here to discuss the matter."

"Here." The guard answered and scattered around.

The well-arranged Li Shimin seemed to have aged more than ten years at this moment. He shook his head vigorously and said to Dou Lun, "Follow me in and wait."

"Here." Dou Lun followed Li Shimin into the hall.

Soon, Chen Shuda, Xiao Yu, Dou Lukuan, Zhao Cijing, Yuwen Shiji, and Yin Kaishan came to the Chongjiao Hall one after another.When they saw Dou Lun, their faces changed in horror. The six of them, like Li Shimin before, had guessed that the most terrible thing had happened. After they sat down, Li Shimin asked Dou Lun to recount what happened in Luo County. over again.

After listening to all the relatives, they were all silent.

After a moment of silence, Chen Shuda asked: "General Dou, after hearing what you said, the old man thinks that Yang Tong is capable and strong enough to end the battle. If he really wants to take Luo County, even if Niang Shangnang didn't go out to fight, in fact you You can't hold on, can you?"

"What Chen Xiangguo said is the truth." Dou Lun's face turned red all of a sudden. Although it was embarrassing to say it, if he knew what Chen Shuda was proving, he nodded bitterly: "If Yang Yu really wanted to seize the city, they would When the big lantern was used for the first time, Luo County could actually be taken down. No, no, no, it should be said that after they defeated General Zhang Changxun, they could take down Luo County, which was seriously understrength.”

"But Yang Tong dragged on for half a month." Chen Shuda's face became more solemn, and he said to Li Shimin: "Your Highness, do you still remember that the day when Yang Tong's soldiers surrounded Luo County, Xue Wanjun attacked Li Zhongwen in Brazil County?" , Li Gaoqian, and at the same time, Li Jing suppressed Hou Junji in Ziyang, Su Dingfang attacked Zhang Shigui in Suining, our eyes were all attracted to these places at that time.”

"Chen Xiangguo is right." Li Shimin seemed to have thought of something, and his expression became even uglier.

Yin Kaishan suddenly had an idea, and said in a voiceless voice: "Chen Xiangguo is saying that Yang Tong's real purpose is to build the plank road and secretly hide Chen Cang, and his real purpose is General Liu Hongji and the others?"

"Yang Tong's real intention before was not to be in the south of Shu County, but in Yibei; as long as he defeated General Liu Hongji, he would have no worries, and he could even transfer more Sui troops to Shu County continuously. Now Yang Tong is suddenly in the If Luo County shows its power, I'm afraid that General Liu Hongji will be defeated and Yibei will change hands." Chen Shuda said in a deep voice, "As for Brazil, Xincheng, and Suining, it can't be said to be incidental, but in terms of strategy, Yang Tong is obviously based on Liu Da. The generals come first, and then the middle of Shu. That is to say, the various Sui armies led by Yang Yu will soon launch the most violent attack on the armies."

At this stage of analysis, in fact, even if Chen Shuda didn't say anything, everyone knew that Yang Tong wanted to smash the Li and Tang Dynasty in one go and end the troubled times.And this situation is a matter of life and death for everyone present.

A series of unfavorable events made Li Shimin's head dizzy, and he knew very well that since Yang Tong had launched an attack, it meant that the war in the north had subsided, and the Sui army must have defeated Liu Hongji.He suddenly laughed at himself: "The Sui army is mighty, but Yang Tong is advancing every step of the way. He really thinks highly of us! Shouldn't we be proud?"

After hearing this, everyone was speechless.

The fact that the strength of the Sui and Tang dynasties differed greatly is not only a well-known fact, but also not something that happened within a year or two.If Yang Tong was willing to take risks, he would have ruled the world long ago, so why wait until today?But Yang Tong did not do this. In order to obtain an absolute victory, he let the armies of all walks of life fight steadily and advance step by step. This is certainly a great thing for the Sui Dynasty. For the Li and Tang dynasties, they also lost even a little opportunity to take advantage of it. They could only fight according to the established routine of the Sui Dynasty, but a head-on confrontation was a price that the Tang Dynasty could not afford.

At this time, Dou Lun reminded: "Your Highness, the tactics of the Sui Dynasty are very similar to those of the Qin Dynasty. Whenever they attack a city, they use crossbow arrays to suppress them first, so that people will have the inability to defend themselves, so as to suppress the morale of the enemy. Wait until the end of the war, and then use the cavalry to attack. It can be said that the crossbowmen and cavalry are the two most powerful armies of the Sui army."

Li Shimin nodded, and said: "Yang Tong has always asked skilled craftsmen to improve crossbows, and encouraged craftsmen to innovate with wealth, military achievements, and titles. As far as I know, the Sui army now has powerful and long-range hand-held crossbows. The cellular crossbow for action, the crossbow for breaking the city for attacking the city, and the crossbow for breaking the army. These four crossbows constitute the most sharp arrow array of the Sui army. But these four crossbows, except for the crossbow protected by the carriage, the rest Once the three crossbows are on rainy days, they cannot be fired. In other words, if we fight the Sui army on rainy days, we have more chances of winning than sunny days.”

Everyone glanced at each other, Yuwen Shiji asked: "Is Your Highness planning to fight the Sui army?"

"Not bad." Li Shimin nodded.

If there is no decisive battle, the Tang army will be wiped out one by one by the Sui army just like it is now. When they hit the city of Chengdu, the Tang army will be completely wiped out. What else will they use as an enemy?Instead of this, it would be better to gather the troops together and fight a decisive battle as Zhang Shigui suggested at the beginning.If they waited a while longer, they might face more Sui troops and greater pressure.

Chen Shuda said: "If that's the case, Your Highness has two things to prepare, one is to keep an eye on the weather, and the other is to find a suitable place for a decisive battle."

"What is a suitable place for a decisive battle?" Xiao Yu asked.

Chen Shuda said: "It is the terrain that is not conducive to cavalry and crossbowmen, such as curved mountain roads or hills that are not conducive to direct crossbow arrows, and swamps that are not conducive to cavalry galloping."

"But is there such a terrain in the suburbs of Chengdu?" Xiao Yu smiled wryly when he heard the words. Not only must the decisive battle be able to offset the advantages of the Sui army's cavalry and arrow formations, but it must also rain heavily during the battle; first of all, this must be met. With three conditions, Tang Jun has a glimmer of hope of winning. Such conditions are extremely harsh and difficult to find, and Sui Jun is not a fool, how could Tang Jun lead him by the nose?Don't they come to Chengdu with a clear goal?

"No, we have to create it." Li Shimin made a decision on the spot, and told Zhao Cijing: "Zhao Xiangguo, before the Sui army arrives, find out this kind of terrain in the south and north of Chengdu. If there is no one, then divert water to irrigate the fields. Use this as the outer line of defense in the defense of Chengdu."

"Here." Zhao Cijing bowed his hands and obeyed.

Li Shimin asked again: "Is there anything else that needs to be added?"

Dou Lukuan said: "Your Highness, Chengdu is no better than Xiongguan Fortress. It is a big city that can accommodate a million people. There are too many places to defend. Even if the existing troops do not go out of the city to fight, they will spread out defenses in the city. It is impossible to form a combat force at all. And the Sui army not only has siege weapons, but also can attack the city from the sky, eliminating the benefits of the city. Once the soldiers are under the city, the Sui army in the sky and the ground only need to fight in all directions of the city at the same time, and we will not be able to defend the city of Chengdu. "

Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "Then according to the opinions of all the ministers, what should we do now?"

Dou Lukuan bowed and answered: "Your Highness, I believe that all the young and strong in the city should be recruited immediately for emergency training to assist the army in defending the city."

"This proposal is very good, but I am afraid there are not many young men in the city who can be requisitioned..." Li Shimin thought for a while, and then said: "Just trouble Doulu Xiangguo to be responsible for recruiting young men, and also serve as the chief of the city defense. I will let Lujiang Wang Li Yuan assists from the side."

"My minister takes orders!" Dou Lukuan stood up and bowed.

Yuwen Shiji also said: "With Yang Tong's current situation, it may be difficult for our army to fight against him alone... In my opinion, His Highness still needs to make appropriate adjustments to the existing armies, especially King Jing Li Xiaogong. , we must let him put down all the affairs of Nanzhao, and dare not delay for a moment."

"Pass my order, ordering Li Xiaogong to return to aid quickly, and attack Meishan Shen Guang's army from Yuexie County. If you dare to evade and delay, you will be severely punished." At this point, Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said: "Order Hou Junji and Zhang Shigui to abandon Ziyang County , with Hou Junji sitting in Pingquan County, Shu County, and Zhai Changsun in Longshan to defend the southern Sui army, Zhang Shigui led the troops back to Chengdu."

"Here."

……

In Anju County, Ziyang, the offensive and defensive battle that took place before the Sui army camp had lasted until the third day. In this battle, Zhang Shigui was the one who took the initiative to attack. He successfully contained the Su Ding Fang Department in the north.So he took advantage of the heavy rain and the Sui army's arrow array could not show its power, and took the initiative to launch a fierce attack on Xue Wanjun.

After two consecutive days of large-scale attacks, today's offensive and defensive battles finally stopped. The Sui army's camp was full of bones, lying on the ground in disorder, and the wreckage of damaged catapults, ladders, and nest carts were also scattered outside the camp. Despite Zhang Shigui's efforts A huge price was paid, but the Sui Army camp still failed to capture.

Although the downpour made it impossible for the Sui army's arrow formations to show their power, the open space in front of the camp where the army was constantly running was already full of muddy, slippery silt, which caused great trouble for the Tang army attacking the camp. Using wooden boards to pave the road on the silt, all dragged by manpower, but the target became very clear and conspicuous. After the catapults in the battalion were easily aimed at, the stone rain slammed in the direction of the boards, which made the Tang army's attack fall into extremes. Big disadvantage.

The Tang army's big camp was ten miles west of the camp, and the dense tents stretched for several miles. At this time, the Chinese army's big tent was inside.

"The move of the Sui army going south to Brazil shows that the war in the north has subsided. It must be that the Sui army defeated General Liu Hongji, and Yang Tong broke Luo County again. The situation of our Tang Dynasty will become more dangerous." Zhang Shigui frowned. sighed.

The reason why the Tang army stopped attacking today was that they received a series of unfavorable intelligence. First, the scouts discovered that a large-scale Sui army cavalry was rapidly heading south from Brazil in the direction of Shu County and Ziyang.

Immediately afterwards, the spies discovered that Su Dingfang was marching into Jinyuan. Master Yuan Ren suspected that Yang Tong was going to attack Luo County, so he asked Su Dingfang to cover and restrain the Tang army in Jinyuan. As a result, he received an urgent letter from Li Shimin early in the morning, ordering them to return immediately. Army, rescue Chengdu City.

Master Yuan Ren said to Zhang Shigui worriedly: "General Manager, all our troops are fighting outside this time, and the troops in Shu County are empty. I am worried that the Sui army will conquer Luo County and then approach Chengdu. It looks like a feint attack, but if he really occupies Luo County, it will cause serious consequences."

"Chengdu is the imperial capital of my Tang Dynasty, so I will definitely go back to defense." Zhang Shigui gave an accurate answer, and then expressed his worries: "But we have already fought with Xue Wanjun on the current problem, so let's talk about withdrawing troops. Easy, but if we retreat, he is likely to follow us like a wolf and attack us at any time."

"What the chief executive said is very true." Master Yuan Ren fully agreed with Zhang Shigui's worries. Although Xue Wanjun has been hiding in the camp for the past few days and can't hold out, if the Tang army retreats on its own initiative, it will be another matter. He quickly suggested Said: "General Manager, why don't we take advantage of the slippery road and retreat back to Shu County under the cover of each other."

"Based on today's road conditions, we can indeed return to Shu County completely without any worries, but if we do this simply; Xue Wanjun is very likely to lead the Sui army to enter Ziyang County and cut off Hou Junji's northward road. Similarly, Hou Junji, who is under the enemy's front and back, will undoubtedly be defeated." Zhang Shigui shook his head, thought hard for a while, and said to Master Yuan Ren: "First, you take the luggage and return to Puci City, and I will take the main force. After Hou Junji retreats to Ziyang County, let’s go back to Shu County together.”

"The humble staff immediately withdrew the luggage and returned to Puci, and the camp will be handed over to the general manager." Master Yuan Ren nodded. This is the safest and safest strategy, and it is the only way to do it at present.

"Beware of cavalry!" Zhang Shigui confessed, and then said: "In addition, send more scouts to contact Hou Junji and ask him to return to Ziyang County as soon as possible."

"Let's make arrangements for the humble job." Master Yuan Ren retreated in response.

(End of this chapter)