First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 87

85. Xue Rengao was dumbfounded

At this moment, Chu Liang came in a hurry and almost collided with the panic-stricken personal guard.

"Your Majesty is in trouble."

"I know, Li Gui, I have sent Zong Luohu to deal with it." Xue Ju was upset, and impatient when he saw this, he waved his hands and said, "Master Chu, don't panic."

Chu Liang was startled when he heard the words, "Li Gui? But Li Gui, the Sima of Wuwei County? What's wrong with him?"

Xue Ju and his son looked at each other when they heard the words.

"Just now there is news that Li Gui has caused rebellion and has seized Wuwei, Dunhuang, and Xiping counties, and is heading for Jincheng and Fanghan." Xue Rengao said bluntly, "What did Minister Chu say?"

Chu Liang's face turned pale when he heard the words, and cold sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead, "What should I do if I am attacked by enemies?"

Hearing Chu Liang's words, Xue Ju and his son all understood.

Xue Ju stood up, cheered up, high-spirited, and changed his drunken attitude, "But the Tang army has come to help, how many people, and who is the general?"

Chu Liang nodded hastily, "News came from Chang'an that Li Yuan's second son, Li Shimin, led an army of [-] and arrived in Fufeng in a short time."

"Li Shimin?" Xue Ju raised his gray brows, and then laughed loudly, "If old man Li Yuan came by himself, I would think highly of him. Li Shimin is just a young child, and he can be wiped out with a single hand."

Xue Rengao also smiled disdainfully and said: "The horse in my hand is absolutely invincible among my peers, so Li Shimin can't go ten rounds under my hands."

Chu Liang couldn't help sweating profusely. An army of hundreds of thousands fought, and his personal bravery was so insignificant. Li Shimin had long been praised as "the posture of a dragon and a phoenix, the watch of the sun". It's very strategic, I'm going to fight you when I'm dizzy.

Xue Ju twirled his doped beard and pondered for a while, then said: "Since the Tang army has come, it is useless to keep Yong County. My son will immediately lead an army of [-] to conquer Yong County, garrison the city, and join me in Qiyang County." The palace formed a cornering situation, and the Tang army must come and never return."

Xue Rengao accepted the order happily, and then hesitated a bit before asking: "Then how should Dou Jin deal with it?"

Xue Rengao subconsciously took it for granted that Yong County was easily captured, and never thought about whether there was a problem that he might not be able to attack.

"I think he has paid tribute several times, and he still has a heart, let's leave a whole body," Xue Ju said with a cold snort, waving his hands.

Chu Liang hesitated to speak when he heard the words, but Xue Ju seemed to know what Chu Liang was thinking, "Then Dou Jing is from the Dou family, and Li Yuan is relatives. There is absolutely no reason to surrender me sincerely, and it is useless to keep it."

Chu Liang could only sigh secretly, and said nothing more.

It has to be said that although Xue Ju is cruel and heartless, he must have his ability to rule Longxi and make Hao Yuan, Chu Liang, Zhai Changsun, Zong Luohu and a large number of civil servants and generals work.

In addition to his personal bravery, Xue Ju is also very knowledgeable about soldiers, and has a heroic personality. Even the Qiang tribe in the depths of the Minshan Mountains are also actively attached to him, which is enough to show Xue Ju's ability.

It is extremely safe for Xue Rengao to capture Yong County and form a corner with Qiyang Palace.

Both Yong County and Qiyang Palace are easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Li Shimin wants to regain the Fufeng counties, he must take the initiative to attack. Xue Ju can take advantage of this location to consume the strength of the Tang army.

There is nothing wrong with Xue Ju's strategy, but the problem is that Xue Ju has been greedy for enjoyment these few days and has let Dou Jin ignore him, and during this period of time, Dou Jin dare not be idle.

As Xue Ju said, Dou Jing is a direct descendant of the Dou family, and is the brother of Li Yuan's wife Dou's natal family. Now that Li Yuan has become popular in Guanzhong, it is impossible for Dou Jing to abandon Li Yuan, a brother-in-law, and go to Xue Ju, who has never had any contact with him. .

Although Dou Jing doesn't have much knowledge in the military, but the first is loyalty, the second is witty, and the third is honest. Combining these three things together, Dou Jing has racked his brains these days to defend Yong County for his brother-in-law Li Yuan .

Dou Jing has a good temper and is obsessed with carpentry on weekdays. However, Yongxian was able to hold on for several years, and was beaten again and again by Tang Bi without losing. In addition to Tang Bi's own strength, it is more because Dou Jing has a good helper. That is Pang Qingyun.

Pang Qingyun was born in the general family. His grandfather Pang Xing was the governor of Chenliu County in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and his father Pang Mao was the governor of Beihai County. He was a strong man with a rough appearance. He was a fierce man at first glance.

Dou Jin doesn't know how to fight, but his character is doomed that he is not a person who fights for power and profit. In his eyes, maybe this is not as attractive as playing with wood and building gardens, so he never interferes with Pang Qingyun's military deployment. Pang Qing Yun, the prefect of the county, has no constraints, and the two complement each other well.

When Xue Ju was playing music and dancing in Qiyang Palace, Dou Jing sent beauties and wine to please Xue Ju, and on the other hand, gave Pang Qingyun full responsibility for the defense of Yong County.

At the same time, he also made use of his proficiency in civil technology to build a gate knife car according to the size of the city gate of Yongxian County, and set up sharp weapons such as maces and yakshas on each city wall to arm Yongxian County to the teeth. Generals like Pang Qingyun feel cold in their hearts.

When Xue Rengao led [-] troops to attack Yong County, he didn't take it seriously at first, but after a round of attack, Xue Rengao was stunned. This Yong County has been managed like an iron bucket by Dou and Pang.

Xue Rengao hadn't seen the saber cart inside the city gate yet, but the mace and yaksha on the city wall confused him.

The plug gate knife car is a chariot of suitable size according to the size of the city gate, which is equal to the width and height of the city gate. The front part of the chariot is covered with iron sheet, and a number of sharp knives are fixed. Once the gate is broken, the plug gate is immediately fixed. The knife cart, because there are sharp knives in front of the knife cart, it is difficult for enemy soldiers to approach.

At the same time, pike soldiers were arranged behind the knife cart. When the enemy soldiers came, they would stab them out with long spears. The enemy soldiers were killed and wounded immediately. They were really powerful and could be used as the second city gate.

The wolf-tooth rackets and Yakshas on the city wall are even more tragic. The wolf-tooth rackets are nailed with wolf-tooth-shaped iron nails on a composite wooden board. Once the enemy soldiers attacked the city, they would pull the rope up and down and slap the enemy soldiers.

The same is true for Yasha Lei. Densely packed iron nails are nailed to the hard elm about one foot long and one foot thick. The two ends of the elm are tied with iron cables and connected to the winch at the top of the city. , let go of the iron chain and throw it into the enemy group, immediately overwhelmed a large area, and then twisted the winch to pull back the wood, and crushed it again, it was really tragic.

The point is that this kind of sharp weapon is really difficult to break. The spike is pressed from the top of the head, and the Yaksha is covered with thorns, and it is bound by iron chains. You have to die on the spot.

Most of Xue Rengao's soldiers and horses came from horse thieves and bandits in the west of Longxi, and some of them were Qiang people from Minshan. He had seen such a weapon for defending the city before, and after one round, he was terrified when he saw his comrades who died tragically at the foot of the city.

(End of this chapter)