First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 225
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It's the same today. When the Battle of Baibi entered a fierce stage, Wang Shichong hoarded a large amount of food and grass. He had long expected that the Tang army would go out of Hedong after the annihilation of Liu Wuzhou and attack the Central Plains. He had already made preparations for the war.

Wang Shichong gathered troops from various prefectures and counties to gather in Luoyang. Every section of the city wall was guarded, with one post at three steps and one sentry at five steps. Yingcheng was guarding itself.

Faced with Wang Shichong's stubborn defense of Luoyang, Li Shimin took the advice of veteran Qu Tutong and divided his troops to attack other states and counties. First, wipe out the enemy troops in the outer states and counties, and then attack Luoyang.

Order Yiyang marching chief, Yuan Guogong Shi Wanbao, deputy chief, Ge Guogong Sheng Yanshi to lead the army to occupy Longmen from Yiyang, and block Wang Shichong's road to the south.

Liu Dewei, the general manager of the Luzhou march and the county magistrate of Pengcheng, led his troops from Taihang to the east to encircle Hanoi, cutting off Wang Shichong's way to the north.

General Youwuwei and King Junkuo of Shanggu County led the army to attack Luokou and cut off the grain transportation channel in Luoyang. The task Li Shimin entrusted to Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou and Duke of Dongjun, was to conquer Luocheng.

However, Li Shimin personally led the main force to station troops in Beimang Mountain and advance to Luoyang.

The tasks of other roads are not too difficult. For example, Liu Dewei sent troops out of Taihang to encircle Hanoi. He only needed to block the roads, but the task of Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou, seemed a bit difficult.

Huang Junhan paid homage to the governor of Huaizhou and stationed troops in Heyin, while Luocheng was a subsidiary city of Luoyang City. Like Jinyong City, Wang Shichong sent heavy troops to guard it. If Huang Junhan wanted to conquer Luocheng, he would have to spend a lot of effort.

But Huang Junhan was unusual after all. Huang Junhan was born in the Huang family of Jiangxia. His father was Huang Cha, the former governor of Bianzhou in Sui Dynasty, and his ancestor was Huang Xie, the Chunshen Lord of Chu State.

The Jiangxia Huang family has a long history and produced great talents. The Han Dynasty was extremely glorious. The prime minister Huang Ba and the Taiwei Huang Qiong were all born in the Jiangxia Huang family.

Eight years before the Daye of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang went to Goguryeo, and Huang Junhan enlisted in the army. He was awarded Lixin County Lieutenant for his meritorious service, and was later promoted to Sima of Dongjun.

Zhai Rang was imprisoned for a crime, and he should be executed according to the law. Seeing that his sentence was approaching.

Feeling Zhai Rang's bravery and loyalty, Huang Junhan couldn't bear it, so he opened the prison door in private, and said to Zhai Rang: "Zhai Facao is a hero in this world. Things in this world depend on human effort. How can we wait for death in prison? Zhai Facao quickly go away."

Zhai Rang was inexplicably surprised, and fell to the ground, "A certain person is imprisoned here now, like an animal waiting to be slaughtered. You have received the grace of Huang Sima's rebirth, and you can live. Zhai Rang will remember it in his heart, but Zhai Rang just left. Huang Sima You must be guilty, how about this?"

Hearing this, Huang Junhan said solemnly: "I admire you as a hero, so I risked my life to save you. I only hope that Zhai Facao can do something in the future. Why do you express your gratitude with tears like a son and daughter? You And leave at ease, don't take care of me."

Zhai Rang thanked him again and again, and then left. After Zhai Rang escaped from prison, Huang Junhan abandoned his official position and returned home until Zhai Rang raised troops in Wagang. He was the general manager of Shangzhu Kingdom and Hanoi, and was granted the title of Duke of Fenyin County.

Until Li Mi was defeated and defected to Li Tang, Huang Junhan also descended to Tang.

Facing the steadfast defense of Luocheng, Huang Junhan personally led light cavalry to investigate around the city. Seeing the Xiaoshui River flowing into Luocheng, Huang Junhan had an idea.

Xiaoshui River, also known as Wangxiang River, is the place where Wang Xiang, the Taiwei of the Jin Dynasty, lay on the ice and begged for carp. It is a branch of Luoyang Jianshui and flows through Luocheng.

By the Xiaoshui River, Huang Junhan had a happy expression on his face, but he didn't dare to stay for a long time, lest the enemy army would see the clue. When he returned to the camp, the general Zhang Yeyi asked impatiently: "Boss, look at your happy expression. But do you have a plan to break the city?"

"Those who know me are Ye Yi", Huang Junhan laughed loudly, "Ye Yi...Ye Yi, just in time to attack at night, will surely break the city."

"Night attack?" Zhang Yeyi looked surprised, "Although this Luocheng is small, it is extremely strong. This is such a night attack?"

"I don't know if Ye Yi noticed the Xiaoshui River?" Huang Junhan asked directly.

"Xiaoshui River..." Zhang Yeyi frowned, thinking about what he had just observed by Zhuma River, suddenly Zhang Yeyi slapped his head, "The waterway breaks the city".

Huang Junhan nodded, "Although this Luokou city is strong, the waterway has been neglected. Although the Xiaoshui River is not wide and the water gate is low, thousands of people took advantage of it and filed in. It must be a miracle. achievement".

Zhang Yeyi looked excited, "No wonder the manager paid special attention to the Xiaoshui River just now. I also saw the water gate. Although it is low, it is easy for two people to pass through at once. As long as you point out some brothers with good water skills and touch them overnight, This city of Luo will be destroyed, as for the nature of the water..."

Speaking of which, Zhang Yeyi chuckled, "The last general has more than a thousand people under his command, and no less than eight hundred of them are good at water."

Zhang Yeyi is Huang Junhan's fellow villager, both from Jiangxia, the land of Jiangxia is densely populated with rivers and lakes, most of the local people are proficient in water skills, not to mention swimming across the small Xiaoshui River, but finding the way to cross the Yangtze River People can also be found.

Huang Junhan nodded and said bluntly: "It's not too late. At midnight tonight, you will gather a thousand brothers with good water skills and sneak into the city from the Xiaoshui River. After entering the city, 200 people set fires everywhere, causing riots. You personally led 800 people to seize the city." Door".

"The last general will be ordered," Zhang Yeyi looked excited. The swimming skills he had learned in catching fish and shrimps in the Yangtze River and Han River since he was a child have come into serious use today.
That night, Zhang Yeyi led 1000 people, carrying a horizontal knife and holding a hollow reed in his mouth, and jumped into the Xiaoshui River. After a while, there was no movement on the water surface. , Zhang Yeyi surfaced, motioned to Huang Junhan, and dived into the water.

Outside Luocheng, Huang Junhan led the army in ambush in the dense forest. He stared at Luocheng. He didn't know how long it had passed. He could only see the sky above Luocheng was crimson red. Accompanied by the sound of backbones, Huang Junhan knew that Zhang Yeyi had entered the city and set fire to it.

Not long after, a commotion was heard at the city gate from a distance, and many city leaders and soldiers ran down the city one after another. It must be that Zhang Yeyi was trying to seize the gate, Huang Junhan immediately made a decision, the whole army attacked, and the sound of war drums was especially loud at night. Harsh.

Tang Jun tried his best to create a posture of attacking the city, but Luocheng Zheng Jun was also in a panic when he saw this. Some people rushed to fight the fire, some people surrounded and killed Zhang Yeyi's men who had seized the gate, and some people went to the city To resist, all the troops were restrained.

Zhang Yeyi was very brave, his heart of meritorious service urged him like a living hell, dripping water on his body, slashing left and right with a horizontal knife in his hand, approaching the city gate step by step.

When the defenders of Luo City were in a panic, the troops were divided into groups, causing the troops to disperse. With the joint efforts of the inside and outside, the city gate was opened wide, and Huang Junhan's army entered the city. This small city attached to Luoyang City, Luo City was destroyed.

(End of this chapter)