On the pretext of admiring the scenery and getting some fresh air, Shan Yingying, now dressed as a young woman, once again boarded the city wall of the west gate of Hulaoguan, looking at the mountains and rivers of Mangshan to the west, Shan Yingying looked very lonely, and her heart was full of loss. She is someone else's wife in honor, but Shan Yingying still can't forget that heartbroken man in white robe and silver armor, she can't forget the days and nights she spent with him, her thoughts are like old wine, the longer it ferments, the more it will become. The more fragrant and intoxicating.
"It's been two months. It's been two months since he came to Luokou Cang. The distance is only 30 miles, and we haven't seen each other. Will I have a chance to see him again in my life? Does he remember me? Remember me? Was it that naughty little girl back then?"
This thought kept turning over and over in her mind, and she was in a complicated mood and didn't know how long she was melancholy. Suddenly, a familiar calling sound came from her ear, and she called it several times. Only then did Shan Yingying follow the sound, but saw her brother, Shan Yingying. Xiongxin and her honorary husband Mulan also boarded the city wall, and they were already close. Shan Xiongxin said in a complaining tone: "Yingying, why are you going up the city wall again? Not only is it dangerous here, but the wind is so strong that you'll catch a cold what to do?"
"I'm so bored in the room, come out to get some air." Shan Yingying managed to squeeze out a smile, and while saluting her brother and her husband, she asked, "Brother, Duke Dongjun summoned you for a meeting. What did you say?"
"What else can I say? It's not about the officer's food team sneaking over the tiger prison last night." Shan Xiongxin was a little sullen, and said: "Brother Xu was only one step away from catching up with the army's grain ship. Wang Shichong dispatched a large number of officers and troops to pick up the food Brother Xu saw that the situation was not good, so he didn’t even dare to rely on the shore, so he withdrew immediately, a large group of people gathered together and scolded Officer Chen Gou for being treacherous, and Duke Dong even threw the table over.”
"Will there be another war?" Shan Yingying asked worriedly.
"It hasn't been decided yet." Mulan replied, "Duke Wei is trying to persuade Lord Dongjun to enter the army as soon as possible to fight Chen Yingliang. Lord Dongjun said he would consider it, but he didn't make up his mind."
Shan Yingying nodded lightly, and after thinking for a while, Shan Yingying suddenly asked: "Brother, why do Duke Dongjun and Duke Wei have to fight Chen Yingliang with their lives? They obviously can't beat Chen Yingliang, and they are beaten by Chen Yingliang again and again." Being a monkey is no match for Chen Yingliang at all, why do you have to fight Chen Yingliang to the end?"
"Isn't it because of the Luokou warehouse? If we don't take the Luokou warehouse, our food will not be guaranteed. The thief Chen Yingliang will not leave the Luokou warehouse. If we don't fight with him, who will we fight with?" Shan Xiongxin replied angrily, He said again: "Besides, how come our Wagang Volunteer Division can't beat Chen Gouguan? When we sent troops to attack, Chen Gouguan dared to fight us head-on? Now he has been unable to win Luokou Cang, all because of that Gouguan Too treacherous, too many tricks, so we have never succeeded."
After that, Shan Xiongxin waved his hand impatiently, and said: "These are not things you should worry about as a woman, go back, Brother Hua Xian, send Yingying back, and accompany her well, I can just worry about the city tour. "
Mulan agreed, and was about to go down the pass with Shan Yingying, but unexpectedly she closed the lookout hand and screamed, "Brother Shan, look quickly, there are people on the mountain in front of you on the right, they are generals of the army."
Brother Shan Xiongxin and Mulan hurriedly looked up, only to see some officers and soldiers riding horses appeared on the top of the earthy mountain in front of the right. When they took a closer look, Shan Xiongxin and Mulan suddenly screamed in unison. , "White horse and white robe? Chen Yingliang! It was Chen Yingliang who came in person!"
"Where? There?" Shan Yingying's joy was nothing small, and after searching hard, Shan Yingying saw a knight with a white horse and white robe among the officers and soldiers. Shan Yingying's heart couldn't help trembling slightly, and she kept thinking to herself. , "It's him, it's him, last time I saw him, he was also wearing a white robe and riding a white horse."
It was indeed the heartless Chen Sangliang who rode a white horse and wore a white robe on the top of the mountain to pretend to be aggressive. He confirmed that the grain transport fleet had successfully arrived at Banzhu, and sent the grain and grass to Wang Shichong's camp to relieve the urgent need of the friendly army. Chen Sangliang was in a good mood After a while, he personally led a team of light cavalry and came to Hulao Pass to investigate the enemy's situation. He had been here for a while, and carefully observed the terrain of Hulao Pass. The morale of the enemy, Chen Sangliang simply boarded the high ground, deliberately let the enemy see him, and took the opportunity to observe the terrain of Hulaoguan again from the high place.
It was also the first time for Chen Sangliang to carefully observe Hulao Pass during a non-combat period. The famous Xiongguan Hulao Pass sandwiched between two mountains, geographically speaking, there is almost no opportunity for opportunism. Although the mountains on both sides are not insurmountable, But it is absolutely not suitable for large groups to march. Even if the narrow and waterless high ground is seized, it cannot be stationed for a long time. It is impossible to expect to take the high ground to threaten the interior of Hulao Pass. The wall of the pass is more than three feet high, and there are wide and deep gates. The protection of the moat and the fortifications of the city defenses are relatively complete. Even if the frontal attack can be won, it will have to pay a heavy price. This also makes Chen Sangliang, who doesn't like frontal attack, give up the idea of a strong attack. But there is nothing to do.
At this time, there was already a commotion among the bandit soldiers on the wall, expecting that the enemy must have discovered him, and Chen Sangliang didn't bother to play hide-and-seek with the Wagang cavalry, so he smiled and ordered to retreat, so when Zhai Rang and Li Mi When people received the news and came to close the wall to check the situation, Chen Sangliang had already gone far. But fortunately, Zhai Rang didn't complain that Shan Xiongxin didn't send cavalry to pursue him immediately. Instead, he praised Shan Xiongxin for being cautious, otherwise he might be ambushed by Chen Sangliang, who killed a thousand knives. Li Mi calmly and nervously analyzed the reason why Chen Sangliang came to visit the city in person, and vaguely guessed a possibility. Chen Sangliang no longer wanted to continue the stalemate at Hulao Pass, and wanted to end the war at Hulao Pass as soon as possible.
Shan Xiongxin accompanied Zhai Rang, Li Mi and others to analyze the enemy's situation, and naturally neglected his younger sister Shan Yingying, but this was something Shan Yingying could not wish for. After quietly pulling Mulan to a remote place, Shan Yingying asked in a low voice: "Sister Mulan , why did he come? Why did he only show up for a short while and then left immediately?"
"If I knew what he was thinking, I would have been promoted a long time ago." Mulan replied with a wry smile, "Didn't you hear your brother and they often call him the number one traitor in the world? How many people can guess his thoughts?"
After finishing her wry smile, Mulan looked at her honorary wife again, and asked in a low voice, "What? Miss him?"
Shan Yingying's face turned red, she nodded, and said in a low voice, "I want to ask him face to face, why did he lie to me in the first place? Sister Mulan, is there a way for me to see him?"
Mulan hesitated for a moment, but still shook her head, seeing the disappointed look on Shan Yingying's pretty face again, Mulan couldn't bear it, so she said in a low voice: "Don't worry, let me think of a way, if there is a chance, I will definitely try I'll let you meet him." Although Shan Yingying didn't have much hope, she still nodded, hoping for such a miracle to happen.
…
As Li Mi guessed, Chen Sangliang really didn't want to continue the stalemate on the Hulaoguan battlefield. Since February, Chen Sangliang had actually been restrained by the Hulaoguan battlefield for four full months. The opportunity to recapture Hulao Pass, but because of Emperor Sui Yang's blind command and refusal to delegate power, Pei Renji's occupation of the latrine and rebellion against the enemy, coupled with the continuous heavy rain and the inability to fight, wasted Chen Sangliang's shameless trick of forcing Li Mi away , finally waited until the rain stopped and Wang Shichong led his army north to reinforce, but Li Mi suddenly reconciled with Zhai Rang, and the Hulaoguan battlefield fell into a stalemate again.
Reality is strikingly similar to history. In history, after Li Mi won the Luokou warehouse, he fought with the Sui army led by Wang Shichong on the Eastern Capital battlefield for more than a year. There were more than a hundred battles, big and small. Flowing like a river, both losers, each other exhausted their vitality, and each other wasted precious time, lost the opportunity to dominate the world, and took advantage of the old Li's family who went straight to the empty land in Guanzhong for nothing. The current period of history has not changed much because of Chen Sangliang's demon moth wings. The old Li family still has troops in Taiyuan. Compared with history, although it has been weakened to a certain extent, it still occupies a favorable position where you can watch the fire from the other side. The Zhai-Li coalition army that failed to take Luokoucang was not as powerful as it was in history, but it was still not an enemy that Chen Sangliang could defeat quickly. If the stalemate continued, the old Li family might still become the final winner.
The reason why Chen Sangliang is worried that the old Li family will continue to be the final winner is not only because of the favorable strategic situation that the old Li family is in, but also because of the new changes on the battlefield in Taiyuan. The new Taiyuan battle report said that after Li Yuan occupied Taiyuan, he immediately cut off the food supply to Yun Dingxing, which caused Yun Dingxing, who was confronting Zhen Dier, to lose his food. Li Jiancheng and Li Er led the army to attack Yunding. Dingxing, Zhu Can simply accepted Li Er's persuasion to surrender, and persuaded Yun Dingxing to surrender for Li Er. Huo Ming also led his army to surrender to Li Er, and Chen Sanghao intentionally asked Yun Dingxing to take the elite Zuo Tunwei to the north, so all of them were surnamed Li. And after Yun Dingxing's entire army surrendered, the Yanmen Sui army Chen Xiaoyi and Wang Zhibian's troops who were fighting Liu Wuzhou were basically doomed to a disastrous defeat—no matter how stupid Li Yuan was, he would never refuse to attack Yanmen with Liu Wuzhou Sui army.
The total collapse of the five counties in Taiyuan is almost a foregone conclusion. No matter how much he trusts Chen Sangliang, Yang Tong is still a little bit impatient, so while sending someone to deliver the battle report to Chen Sangliang, Yang Tong also asks an envoy to report to Chen Sangliang for the first time on his behalf. Liang asked, when will the battle at Hulaoguan be over, and you can return to Dongdu to take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible? Chen Sangliang had no choice but to write a memorial in his own hand, explaining to Yang Tong that his troops were insufficient, the army was too exhausted from successive battles, the enemy was too strong and occupied favorable terrain, and there were so many bandits among the people that it was difficult to end the battle in a short time. During the battle at Hulaoguan, he begged Yang Tong to give him some more time, and at the same time begged Yang Tong to allow him to collect the prisoners caught on the battlefield on the spot.
Chen Sangliang slightly underestimated Yang Tong's independent courage. After receiving Chen Sangliang's memorial, Yang Tong not only immediately agreed to Chen Sangliang's collection of prisoners of war on the spot, but also directly led the army to surrender without asking Emperor Sui Yang for instructions. Chen Sangliang's Liu Heita, Li Shicai, Liu Shishan and others appointed formal official positions and gave them heavy rewards, promising that if any bandit leader led the army to surrender, he would also be rewarded with official posts. At the same time, Yang Tong also issued an edict ordering Chen Sangliang to open the Luokou warehouse again, and took out 500,000 shi of grain as military rations and relief to the people, helping Chen Sangliang buy people's hearts in the Hulaoguan battlefield, and said that he would bear all the consequences.
——After receiving this order, Chen Sangliang was delighted that Yang Tong's decision was wise, but he inevitably had some unconscionable thoughts, "I still underestimated Yang Tong, I didn't expect him to be so young. Courageous and bold, how can I manipulate him when he grows up? Don’t let Boss Cao fail, and become Han Xin and Hu Weiyong in the future, right?”
How to get along with the young and mature Yang Tong in the future is a matter for the future. Anyway, Yang Tong's series of actions helped Chen Sangliang a lot, opening warehouses to help the people one after another, promising to open warehouses after breaking the Luokou warehouse The importance of the Wagang Army who released food in the hearts of the people receiving relief naturally dropped greatly, and fewer and fewer hungry people brought their own dry food to the Wagang Army to report the military situation. After the obtained official rewards were intentionally disseminated, it also caused a big blow to the morale of the Zhai Li coalition army. Even if the big and small thieves like Hao Xiaode hated Sui Yang Emperor, they would inevitably have such thoughts in their hearts. "Damn it, it doesn't seem like a bad thing to surrender to Chen Gouguan."
In addition to Yang Tong's full support, Chen Sangliang also keenly discovered that there seemed to be some people in the Zhai Li coalition army who were helping him - of course not referring to Mulan. After withdrawing from Hulao Pass, he never left the pass to fight the Sui army in the eastern capital. This move was very beneficial to the Sui army sitting in the Luokou warehouse, but it was very unfavorable to the Zhai and Li coalition forces who needed supplies from the Liyang warehouse—after all , Wang Shichong is not a dry meal, no matter how much he likes to preserve his strength, as long as he has the opportunity, he will definitely attack the food of the Zhai Li coalition army.
The question of whether anyone can help will soon be answered. After another two days, there is no movement from the Zhai Li Lianjun. On June 21st, Mulan suddenly passed through Zhang Kai's channel and sent Chen Sangliang He wrote a letter, which not only answered Chen Sangliang's question about Zhai and Li's allied forces standing still, but also sent Chen Sangliang an astonishingly important news!
Mulan's letter is as straightforward as ever, and the full text is as follows: "Zhai Rang is afraid of your cunning and cunning, and the army is good at fighting. Li Mi persuaded him to send troops to fight you several times, but Zhai Rang refused. Zhai Hong and his son felt that it would be futile to continue fighting." Losing strength, I suggested that Zhai Rang and Li Mi give up Hulao Pass and lead the army across the north of the Yellow River to Liyang Cang for food. Li Mi refused, and Zhai Rang did not express his position. Shan Xiongxin believed that Zhai Rang had been shaken. In addition, if there is a chance, I would like to talk to you Let's meet, you try your best to arrange."
Zhai Rang has already given up the idea of giving up Hulao Pass? Seeing this news, even Chen Sangliang found it extremely unbelievable, let alone Yuan Tiangang and Wei Zheng, who didn't know Mulan's identity. Yuan Tiangang immediately exclaimed: "Zhai Rang wants to give up! Hulao Pass? Chen Liushou, we insiders are joking, right? Hulao Pass is such an important strategic location, how could Zhai Rang be willing to give it up? This, isn't this ridiculous?"
"My little brother also finds it unbelievable. How could the traitor Zhai Rang be willing to give up Hulao Pass?" Pei Xingfang also said, "Also, brother, what's the matter with you as an insider? Why do you call you cunning and cunning in letters? How can there be such a thing in the world?" Criticize your boss’s subordinates?”
"It doesn't matter if you scold me or not. It doesn't look like her character if you don't scold me." Chen Sangliang replied ponderously, then squeezed his chin and calculated: "Zhai Rang give up Hulaoguan? Although this plan is unimaginable, it may not be so. There is no such possibility, Li Mi has Liyang Cang in his hand, and the defenders of Liyang Cang as backup, even if Luokou Cang cannot be defeated in the end, as long as Li Yang Cang's food is in hand, Li Mi can escape back to Liyang Cang even if he is alone Immediately make a comeback. Zhai Rang can’t do it, if he can’t win the Luokou warehouse, and if he wants to make a comeback, I’m afraid it won’t be so easy.”
"So, although it is a pity to give up Hulao Pass, for Zhai Rang himself, it is a good way to preserve his strength. After all, among the thirty-six strategies, there is still one that is the best strategy."
"Li Mi doesn't agree to give up Hulao Pass, how much use is it for Zhai to persist alone?" Yuan Tiangang asked, and then said: "Besides, the overall strength of Zhai and Li's bandit army is still higher than ours, even if they can't beat Luokou Cang, at least it can hurt our vitality, Zhai and Li's bandits are strong, how could they be willing to give up such a strategic place as Hulao Pass?"
Chen Sangliang decided not to answer, but Pei Xingfang who was next to him took up the topic and said, "If Wang Shichong is willing to fully cooperate, maybe we still have a little hope of forcing Zhai and Li's bandits away, but we paid a big price to share it with him." The pressure led the main force of Zhai Li's bandit army to the east, and sent him life-saving food. It stands to reason that he should immediately attack the empty rear of Zhai Li's bandit army, but he has already passed for seven full days. There is no movement from him, it is clear that he wants to wait for us to fight Zhai and Li's bandits, and then he will take the credit, how can we force Zhai and Li's bandits to give up Hulao pass with our current strength?"
Chen Sangliang still didn't say a word, and after thinking for a long time, Chen Sangliang finally made up his mind, slapped the table and said: "We have to try anyway, it doesn't matter if Li Mi refuses to give up the pass, Zhai Rang took the elite Wagang bandits away , if we want to win Hulao Pass, it will be much easier! Zhai and Li's bandit army is stronger than us, but we are not powerless to fight back! Both sides will suffer, not to mention that Zhai Rang will definitely not want to fight me all Capital, even if we and Zhai Li's bandit army are both defeated, so what? Behind Zhai Li's bandit army is Wang Shichong, who is also a soldier of the imperial court. As long as he comes to take back Hulao Pass and reverse our strategic passive situation, I can I will give him the credit for freeing up my hands to deal with other changes!"
Speaking of this, Chen Sangliang slapped the table again, and said firmly: "That's it, I believe that the news provided by that little beauty is true, Zhai Rang has indeed wavered on whether to give up Hulaoguan, since With this hope, I will do my best to turn this hope into reality!"
"Little beauty?" Wei Zheng, Yuan Tiangang and the others were dumbfounded, and exclaimed together: "Stay behind, our insider is your friend in Hulao Pass? No wonder she said she wanted to see you, but you kept it from us Bullied that girl?"
Chen Sangliang smiled and didn't answer, but quickly figured out how to go down this road. After a while, Chen Sangliang, who had a rough plan in mind, asked: "Xing Fang, remember the last two times I wrote letters to deliberately provoke Zhai. Li Zejun, the messenger was recommended to me by you, he did a good job twice, what is his name...?"
"Zhang Yongtong." Pei Xingfang replied: "He is General Liu's guard. Brother, you needed a courier with courage and eloquence, because I saw Brother Liu lose his temper every time he got drunk and beat soldiers and whipped him. He came forward to appease Brother Liu and put him to sleep, so he recommended him to you."
"This kid is a talent, call him here, I have a task for him, this task must be him!"
(Zhang Yongtong cried: "Hey, Chen Liushou, I worked hard for you twice before you finally found out that I am a talent. Your vision is too bad, right? Can you be better at history? In history, Wang Shichong used me It was the strategy that inspired the morale of the remnant soldiers and defeated generals in the eastern capital, and launched a decisive battle in Yanshi with all their eggs in one basket. In one battle, Li Mi was beaten back to before liberation. On the flag of Wang Shichong in that decisive battle, my name—Yongtong was written all over it! ")