Morale is such a strange thing that cannot be seen or touched. When morale is low, even if the archers defending the spring gate do the most basic bow drawing action, they will lose their balance and fall to the ground because of the force of the waist. It's ridiculous.
But after winning a battle of defending the city, although it was only a small victory in which less than 500 enemies were killed, morale, a mysterious thing, suddenly returned to the defenders of the Eastern Capital. The city team retreated like a tide. Since the construction of Dongdu New City, thunderous cheers erupted on the city wall of Shangchunmen for the first time. Without the orders of senior generals such as Pei Hongce and Xie Zichong, and the command of middle and low-level generals, they were already exhausted. The soldiers of the garrison regained their original status in an instant. They desperately drew their bows and arrows, and threw stone javelins with all their strength. They did not hesitate to expand the results. Still shooting arrows, the strength is strong, as if they have not just experienced a battle of defending the city.
All the defenders in the Eastern Capital were also affected. After learning the news that the defenders at the Shangchun Gate had repelled the rebel attack, the other eleven city gates in the Eastern Capital also erupted with different voices. Cheers, the garrison reserve team gathered in Beishi, from the commander-in-chief Huben Lang, Liu Changgong, down to the ordinary soldiers, all breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for the victory, and also thankful that they didn't have to fight on the city wall.
The news then spread to the imperial city, Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi, who were accompanying and comforting Yang Tong, and other important officials of the Eastern Capital were all smiling, and immediately asked for rewards and rewards for the defenders of Shangchunmen, and Huangfu Wuyi, who was suffering from a long illness, came in person At the Shangchun Gate, it was publicly announced that each soldier in the Shangchun Gate defenders would be rewarded with a consistent amount of money. Huangfu Wuyi's face-to-face verbal reward.
As Pei Hongce's staff secretary, Chen Yingliang, who was not part of You Wuwei's organization, did not receive the reward from Huangfu Wuyi, but Chen Yingliang didn't mind, and just focused on the awarding of the reward. The result was just as Chen Yingliang worried. As an army that only dared to hide on the city wall and shoot arrows and stones, the internal corruption of Youwuwei was really serious. Only half of the five hundred coins were sent to the soldiers!
What made Chen Yingliang even more inconceivable was that after receiving half of the reward that had been withheld, not only did the defenders not make a scene, but they all smiled and thanked their superiors. Chen Yingliang found out after careful inquiry that this time The situation is already considered the best. Previously, only 30% to 40% of the rewards given to soldiers by Youwuwei could be distributed to soldiers. This time, half of the rewards were distributed to Youwuwei soldiers.
After carefully investigating the situation, Chen Yingliang approached Pei Hongce with a try attitude, and suggested that Pei Hongce intervene in this matter, and strive to distribute all the rewards in place, so as to boost the morale of the army so that they can perform better in the next city defense battle. But the result was still the same as what Chen Yingliang was worried about. Pei Hongce said with a wry smile: "Nephew, although you are talented and smart, you still lack some experience and experience. Uncle is a civil servant, not a general of Youwuwei. You have no right to intervene in such matters." , and it’s not easy to intervene.”
Chen Yingliang lowered his head and said: "Uncle, my nephew also knows that this matter is embarrassing for you, but if you ignore this matter, the morale of our army will still be low, and the combat effectiveness will not be improved. We will always be in a passive position." In the position of being beaten, how can an army that even withholds half of its military rewards be invincible and invincible?"
"Nephew, of course uncle understands what you're saying, but uncle really can't help it." Pei Hongce smiled even more wryly, and said, "You think uncle didn't know about these things before? Uncle also holds the position of general supervisor and often directs tens of thousands of people. Even the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who built civil works have long been aware of such things. But what is the use of knowing? Going to impeach generals who embezzled military salaries and deducted rewards? Offend them to death, uncle will think about it later Commanding the army to build civil works, what should these generals do if they deliberately let the army slow down the construction period? Isn’t it because my uncle can’t afford to go around?”
"Also." Pei Hongce pointed in the direction of the Eastern Capital's imperial city again, and said in a low voice, "Nephew, do you think that sick boy Youwuwei General Huangfu Wuyi doesn't know these things? You think Fan Liushou doesn't know these things They know it in their hearts! But why don't these famous and upright officials dare to take care of them? Why don't they take care of them? It's because they still count on these generals to lead their troops to defend the city, and they still count on these generals to fight the enemy, which drove them into a hurry What to do? Apart from turning a blind eye, what choice do they have?"
In fact, Pei Hongce didn't need to tell Chen Yingliang so much. Chen Yingliang, who is not a good bird himself, knows these ways better than Pei Hongce, and the corruption methods that are more than a thousand years ahead are far more sophisticated than Pei Hongce, but as an ambitious traveler Or, Chen Yingliang is willing to correct this shortcoming of himself—at least temporarily, in order to get ahead and become rich. So after a little calculation, Chen Yingliang suddenly knelt down to Pei Hongce, cupped his fists and said, "Uncle, my nephew is bold, I want to ask my uncle to try to let my nephew lead an army to fight for my uncle, put down the rebellion and kill the enemy!"
"Why does my nephew have the idea of commanding the army?" Pei Hongce asked.
"Uncle, my nephew wants to build an invincible and invincible army for you, and help you reverse the current situation of being passively beaten." Chen Yingliang replied in a deep voice: "My nephew carefully observed the battlefield today and found that the defenders of the Eastern Capital In terms of equipment and training, they are actually far superior to Yang Ni's team, but they only lack high morale, the will to win, and the courage to fight to the end! My nephew feels that he has a way to change these, so he begged his uncle Give my nephew a chance to lead an army on his own, and build an invincible and invincible army for your uncle and the Sui court!"
"Ambition is commendable!" Pei Hongce praised, then shook his head and said, "But it's unrealistic! Don't forget, you are only seventeen years old, and you don't even have the qualifications to join the army. , and there is no way for you to command an army."
"Uncle, my nephew found that you have a lot of family members, can you lend me two hundred family members?" Chen Yingliang refused to give up, and said: "My nephew doesn't need to lead a regular army, just a volunteer soldier. Give my little nephew a little time, and my little nephew can turn my uncle's servants into an elite army."
"You kid, you are usually very smart, why do you just say stupid things sometimes?" Pei Hongce smiled bitterly and said, "What time is it now? When the rebellious army was besieging the city, my uncle organized the servants into an army in Dongdu city at this time, and then gave They distributed weapons and armor, and His Royal Highness the King of Yue and Fan Liushou knew about it, why don't they skin my uncle?"
Chen Yingliang thought about it carefully, so he had no choice but to plead guilty and withdrew his plea. Pei Hongce helped Chen Yingliang, patted Chen Yingliang on the shoulder and said, "Nephew, uncle understands your eagerness to serve the country, so uncle I won’t blame you for saying these childish things. Listen to my uncle, be safe and don’t be impatient, and when Yang Ni’s rebellion is put down, my uncle promises to get you a formal official position, and you can choose civil or military positions.”
"Thank you, Uncle." Chen Yingliang agreed to thank him, but he thought to himself: "Should I give up and follow Pei Hongce to fight in Yang Xuangan's rebellion and make some small contributions? No, I can't miss this opportunity. My time is running out. We must do something in this anti-insurgency war to earn money for future development! Way, is there any way for me to lead the army to fight? Show off!"
…
Before Chen Yingliang could think of the way to command the troops, the situation on the battlefield in Luoyang had already changed. At noon the next day, a messenger from Jinyong City rushed into the Eastern Capital City and sent Fan Zigai, Huangfu Wuyi and others to Dongdu. Du Zhongchen brought the second letter of appeal for help from Liu Ziyi, the guard of Jinyong City, saying that the main force of the rebel army had gathered under Jinyong City and launched a fierce attack on the acropolis of Luoyang! What made Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi furious was that none of the scouts sent by Youwuwei found out about this situation, not even the big movement of the main force of the rebel army marching towards Jinyong City!
After slaughtering a few scouts who were greedy for life and fearing death and reporting the military situation, and punished their superiors severely, Fan Zigai sent a messenger to contact Liu Ziyi, asking Liu Ziyi to stick to Jinyong Acropolis. He told Liu Ziyi that the rebels stormed Jinyong City for the purpose of encircling the area and fighting for reinforcements. In order not to give the rebels an opportunity to ambush, he would never send Liu Ziyi one-man reinforcements, and Liu Ziyi could only rely on Liu Ziyi himself.
Luck was on the side of the rebels. What Fan Zigai never imagined in his dreams was that the messenger he sent out of the city was intercepted and attacked by rebel scouts on the way. Liu Ziyi's personal letter naturally fell into the hands of Yang Xuangan and the others.
As an outstanding leader of the rebel army in the future, Li Mi, the military adviser of the rebel army, naturally would not waste this lucky letter, and immediately asked the rebel army to escort the messenger to the city of Jinyong, read this letter from Fan Zigai in public, and tell Jinyongcheng The defenders will not provide reinforcements one by one. If they continue to defend the city, they will die in vain.
One can imagine the reaction of the defenders of Yongjin City when they heard the news. The morale of the defenders of Yongjin City was extremely low when they heard Fan Zigai's decision. With some military talent and resourcefulness, he promptly announced that the letter was forged by the enemy, and declared that Luoyang would have reinforcements arrive before sunset on the third day, and that the desperate Jinyong City defenders might open the city gates and surrender to the rebels on the spot.
That night, Liu Ziyi sent his own captain to sneak out of Jinyong City, came to Dongdu overnight, reported the incident to Fan Zigai, and told Fan Zigai clearly that if the reinforcements were not seen before sunset on the third day , I can no longer control the defenders of Jinyong City, and I can only prepare for martyrdom.
What else can Fan Zigai say? Apart from beating his chest and cursing bad luck and incompetence of the messenger, Fan Zigai could only consult with Huangfu Wuyi overnight, and decided to bite the bullet and send Liu Ziyi a support army to help Liu Ziyi lie and stabilize the guards in Jinyong City. The heart of the army.
Considering that Pei Hongce played well in Shangchunmen the first day, Fan Zigai finally did not force Pei Hongce to lead his troops to rescue Liu Ziyi this time, and chose to let Hu Yalang general Yuan Chaoqun lead an army of three thousand to carry out this order. Gai Huan only gave Yuan Chaoqun a task that couldn't be simpler, which was to let Jinyong City see Luoyang's rescuers! Then it doesn't matter whether Yuan Chaoqun can go to Jinyong City for rescue, whether he can help Jinyong City guard and kill the rebel siege team, as long as Jinyong City can see Luoyang rescuers!
The reason for giving such an easy task is of course because Fan Zigai was completely disappointed in the field combat capabilities of the Youwuwei army, and he dared not place any more hope in them. However, the cruel reality made Fan Zigai completely desperate. The 3,000 troops led by Chao Qun had only been ten miles out of the city, and they were immediately attacked head-on by the rebel troops led by Yang Xuangan himself. Encouraged by the coach, the offensive was like a wave, but the Sui army's team collapsed in an instant. Fleeing, only a small number of troops fled back to Dongdu with Yuan Chaoqun, Yang Xuangan chased all the way to the city of Dongdu, showing off his power under the city wall, while the defenders on the city wall were trembling, not daring to leave the city to fight.
Although Fan Zigai cut off Yuan Chaoqun's head without any hesitation, and preached to all the sects how to correct the army, he couldn't stop the chain reaction caused by it. First of all, nearly half of the three thousand Sui troops brought out of the city by Yuan Chaoqun The rebel team surrendered, and then the defenders of Jinyong City did not see the arrival of reinforcements, and their morale completely collapsed. On the fourth day, Yang Xuangan rebelled and stormed the city again. Opened the city gates and surrendered to the rebels. Seeing that the general situation was over, Liu Ziyi could only lead the part of the defenders who could still be controlled to break through and escape back to the Eastern Capital. The rebels easily captured Jinyong City and obtained a large amount of weapons and supplies hoarded in the city. Yang Xuangan once again personally led the army to hunt down the Eastern Capital.
Liu Ziyi fled back to Anximen, which is adjacent to Shangchunmen, with only a dozen or so riders. Although there were more than a hundred Sui soldiers outside the city who hadn't entered the city in time, because Yang Xuangan had already chased them down to the city, Anxi The gate guards still closed the city gate, and the soldiers of the Sui army who could not enter the city cried loudly under the city wall, pleading bitterly, but they didn't have the courage to take up weapons, and killed the rebel soldiers who were not far behind them. Fight for a way out for yourself with both hands, either kneeling on the ground and crying for surrender, or holding your head and crying, letting the rebel soldiers chop them into pieces.
Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi, the two important ministers of the Eastern Capital, happened to pass by the vicinity and rushed to Anxi Gate to check the situation. They also saw this tragic scene with their own eyes. The massacre did not reach the Sui soldiers who entered the city. They also saw the well-equipped Sui soldiers kneeling on the ground like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, crying and begging horribly. Fan Zigai's heart was twisted like a knife, and the sickly Huangfu Wuyi's face was ashen, but he was helpless at the same time.
Liu Ziyi, who was covered in sweat and dirt, was carried to the Anxi Gate, and came to Fan Zigai crying about the fall of Jinyong City. Fan Zigai did not lose his temper this time. After listening to Liu Ziyi's report carefully, he waved weakly and said : "Jinyong City fell, you are not responsible, go down and rest, the old man will truthfully report the truth to His Royal Highness, and ask him to treat you leniently."
Liu Ziyi thanked him with tears in his eyes, and then retreated to the city with the support of the soldiers. Fan Zigai turned his attention to the rebel army in the distance. Looking back at the defenders who were all wearing iron helmets, he suddenly became angry and roared at the generals and generals beside him: "It's a shame that you still have the face to eat the imperial court's lumi and the imperial court's salary. What kind of soldiers are they brought out? With such excellent equipment, such sufficient rations, and such a long period of training, why can’t they even defeat Yang Ni’s rebel army with a single sword? Are you ashamed?!”
No one dared to say anything, all the defending generals lowered their heads, including the current Youwuwei's boss, Huangfu Wuyi, who had a fever on his face, but more Youwuwei generals didn't even feel hot on their faces.
"Don't forget, you are the generals of the imperial court, the generals of Youwuwei, the Eastern Capital of the Sui Dynasty!" Fan Zigai roared even louder, "You want the soldiers of Youwuwei to fight the enemy bravely and kill thieves for the country , This is the reason why the imperial court gave you high officials and generous salaries, why can't you even do this?"
Still no one dared to say anything, and they all lowered their heads even lower. Fan Zigai was even more furious when he saw this, and shouted angrily, "You all raise your heads up. The old man wants you and the soldiers to raise your heads up, and fight with Yang Ni." The bloody battle of the bandit army to the end! Tell me, what do you have to do so that the soldiers under your command can fight bravely, no longer be defeated at the touch of a finger, and no longer run away?!"
Of course, no one could answer Fan Zigai's question, and many generals were already trembling slightly. Fan Zigai was completely desperate when he realized this situation. Just as he was about to shake his head and sigh, he suddenly heard a loud voice Said: "Give them courage! Give our soldiers courage!"
Fan Zigai suddenly turned his head to follow the sound, and the generals of Youwuwei, headed by Huangfu Wuyi, also turned their heads to follow the sound, but was extremely surprised to see that the person who spoke was actually a man in the uniform of a civil servant. A young man with a childish face, a few of them recognized that this young man was Chen Yingliang, the eldest nephew of Pei Hongce, the important minister of the Eastern Capital.
"Chen Yingliang, why are you here?" Huangfu Wuyi, who knew Chen Yingliang, shouted, "Fan Liushou is admonishing the generals of the Youwu Guards, why are you interrupting? Don't you mind?!"
"Lord Fan, forgive me, General Huangfu." Chen Yingliang pointed at the official document in his hand, and replied: "The villain was ordered by Pei Zanzhi to deliver an official document at Anximen, and just in time I heard Lord Fan ask. , I couldn’t help but answer.”
Huangfu Wuyi was a little angry, and just about to continue scolding Chen Yingliang, Fan Zigai waved his hand to stop him, then strode up to Chen Yingliang, lowered his head slightly and asked Chen Yingliang, "What did you just say?"
"On the battlefield, our soldiers face not only the enemy's swords, guns, swords and halberds, but also our own supervisory team's swords and axes, and the severe punishment of military law. Without the courage to face these, even the best weapons and equipment are useless." Chen Yingliang Without fear, he said loudly: "If we want our soldiers to cheer up and face the enemy with full fighting spirit, we must give them courage! Let them love the Sui Dynasty and be loyal to the Sui Dynasty! Let them be willing to sacrifice for the court and the emperor , willing to sacrifice for the Great Sui Dynasty, and make the soldiers eager to fight, hope to fight, and brave to fight, only in this way can our army in the Eastern Capital defeat the enemy and wipe out the traitor Yang Xuangan!"
Fan Zigai pondered, then suddenly asked: "Then what should we do to make our soldiers desire to fight, hope to fight, and have the courage to fight? Willing to sacrifice for the court, willing to sacrifice for the emperor, willing to sacrifice for the Great Sui?"
"Set an example, set an example army!" Chen Yingliang replied: "The villain believes that we should now have an outstanding army, an elite army that dares to fight, an army that is eager to fight and is not afraid of sacrifice. The number of troops in the battle should not be too many, three to five hundred people are enough, and then let them fight against the rebels and defeat the rebel army time and time again. Our other soldiers will have an example to learn from and an object to imitate , With the backbone on the battlefield, and the courage and hope to defeat the enemy, it will be difficult for us even if we don't want to win!"
"It's all nonsense!" Fan Zigai suddenly became angry, and roared: "I thought you could have some good ideas, it's all nonsense! If there is such an elite team, the old man still uses you to come here to speak wild words?!"
"Master Fan, I dare to ask again, do you want such an army?" Chen Yingliang asked suddenly.
"What do you mean by that?" Fan Zigai was taken aback.
"If the adults want it." Chen Yingliang replied: "Let the villain lead three to five hundred soldiers, and provide some necessary things for the villain. After half a month, or even ten days, I can give the adults such a soldier." army!"
Everyone present opened their mouths wide, and Fan Zigai's eyes widened too. After staring at Chen Yingliang for a while, Fan Zigai said viciously, "Boy, there is no joke in the army!"
"The villain is willing to issue a military order. If you can't do it, beg for beheading!" Chen Yingliang replied: "Should we continue to be beaten passively and let the rebels run rampant outside the city, or build an elite army to frighten the rebels, and when they counterattack Cooperate with the imperial court's return aid army to wipe out the traitors faster and more quickly, please Master Fan make a decision."
After hesitating for a long time, Fan Zigai asked slowly, "What do you need?"
"A military flag, three to five hundred white cloaks, necessary weapons and equipment, and some rewards of money and food are enough." Chen Yingliang replied.
Fan Zigai hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said: "It's not enough for you to issue a military order. If you can't do it, killing your head is a trivial matter, and the money and food you pay is also a trivial matter. The old man's lifelong fame is a major matter."
Chen Yingliang, who was full of expectations, began to be disappointed, but Fan Zigai's next words rekindled Chen Yingliang's hope. Fan Zigai said solemnly: "Well, for the sake of your little work these days, This old man gives you a chance, you tell this old man, how do you plan to create an elite army for this old man, if your words are reasonable, and your method is reliable, this old man can bet on you with your reputation.”