Li Yuan's family was astonishingly lucky after tearing up their face and formally pulling up the flag to rebel. Before the main force of Li Yuan's rebel army had time to go south, the Daxing Sui army attacked north. The whole July was rainy and unfavorable for the attack, resulting in 60,000 The Sui army was confined outside the small fortress of Jiahubao, unable to advance an inch, and consumed countless physical strength and food in vain. The Huoyi city defenses for the war were well established. On the first day of August, the rain stopped suddenly, and the weather cleared up, and there were still clear skies for several days in a row.
It is impossible for Li Yuan to live up to the favor of the heavens when such a good thing happened, he ordered the whole army to expose their weapons, armor, clothes and equipment to the sun on the second day of the eighth lunar month, and immediately set about laying out the siege on the third day of the eighth month. Adopting Li Er's strategy of luring the enemy, he sent Li Jiancheng and Li Er brothers to lead hundreds of cavalry as the vanguard, and led the main force of the infantry to follow. After Li Jiancheng and Li Er brothers arrived at the city of Huoyi, they had to greet Pang As the eighteen generations of ancestors of Sui army generals such as Yu Yu and Huo Shiju, Li Er naturally had to mention Pang Yu's embarrassing incident of being captured by Yang Xuangan, and asked Pang Yu to ask Chen Sangliang to rescue him as soon as possible.
The irritable Pang Yu really fell for the trick. After being irritated, he gritted his teeth and led 30,000 Sui troops out of the city from the east gate and north gate to fight. Pang Yu divided the army into two and lined up in the east of the city and the north of the city respectively. He and Duan Zhixuan led the army to face the Sui army at the East Gate.
The formation has just been established. Pang Yu, who had suffered a big loss in the Queshu Valley before, couldn't hold back his anger, and launched an attack first. Li Yuan retreated, luring Pang Yujun to give up the formation and launch a pursuit. Pang Yu fell into the trap again, and his position became loose during the pursuit Li Er and Duan Zhixuan, who were standing in the east of the city, took the opportunity to lead the cavalry to launch an attack, rushing behind Pang Yu, and Li Yuan also took the opportunity to turn around and kill them. After cutting out the gap, he was unstoppable and completely frustrating the Sui army. Seeing that the battlefield was in chaos, Li Yuan ordered the whole army to shout slogans, claiming that his army had captured Pang Yu alive.
It's a very simple scheming. Although Pang Yu's commander-in-chief flag was still flying high on the battlefield, the demoralized Daxing Sui army fell for it. I believe that under the panic of the commander being captured, many Sui army soldiers They broke up and left, which affected the fighting spirit of their comrades, and caused a large number of soldiers to fall into a state of panic like a snowball. He rushed forward, and hurriedly patted his horse away under timidity, and fled to the north gate with his own soldiers. Li Yuan and his son chased and killed them with all their strength, and they would not miss this opportunity to defeat the enemy no matter what.
A large number of defeated Sui soldiers gave the rebels free strikers, suppressing the suspension bridge and unable to raise it, blocking the city gate and unable to close it. Huoyi City, which has been fighting for a long time, is not like Hulaoguan, where there are hanging bridges hanging above the city gate. Yaksha can block the flow of people at critical moments. Huo Shiju yelled at the city and ordered to close the gate quickly, but the city gate soldiers could not stop the crowd. Under the push and push, the city gate officer of the Sui army was unlucky enough to be swept away by the crowd. Being trampled to death by his own defeated soldiers, the gate soldiers were too timid to stop them. Li Yuan's rebels took the opportunity to follow up, first cut off the noose of the suspension bridge, and then rushed into the city following the flow of Sui army's defeated soldiers, and seized the important place of the city gate.
There is no longer any suspense. Although Pang Yu, the chief general of the Sui army, escaped into the city by chance, the low morale of the soldiers of the Sui army could not stop the advance of Li Yuan's rebel army. Fighting to be the first, everyone fought bravely, killing the Sui army in the city in a hurry. There are more and more soldiers in the army, and the area occupied in the city is getting bigger and bigger. Pang Yu and Huo Shiju have no choice but to hastily lead the remnants of the defeated generals and flee from the city. Killing the defeated soldiers of the Sui Army and desperately weakening the combat power of the Sui Army, but Pang Yu and Huo Shiju had a chance to breathe.
After the victory, Li Yuan's rebel army was of course full of jubilation. After Li Yuan ordered the auxiliary soldiers to be given the same rewards as the soldiers, the cheers suddenly increased several times. The rebel auxiliary soldiers, who were mostly numerous but less rewarded, were all beaming with joy. , I am all glad that I have followed the right person, and feel that it is worthwhile to work for the old Li family. The icing on the cake is that at this moment, the rebel army's partial division Zhang Lunbu has quickly captured Lishi County and captured and killed the Lishi prefect Yang Zichong who refused to surrender. The cheers reached their peak all at once, and the cheering slogans of capturing Daxing and supporting the Daiwang resounded throughout the entire army and the city, and the morale of the army was extremely excited.
Seeing such a lively scene, Li Jiancheng, the second brother Li, and the senior generals of the Li Yuan army were of course all rejoiced. They all said that the morale was available, and the self-army won the city of Huoyi in another battle this time, which is enough to prove that the newly formed self-army The army's fighting power is strong, no less than any other army in the world, and it is easy to break through Daxing. However, while being excited and confident, Li Jiancheng, Li Er, Liu Wenjing and other sophisticated people found that Li Yuan, who is the commander-in-chief of the entire army, did not have much joy on his face, and occasionally there were some inconsistencies in his words, which seemed to be on his mind.
Realizing this, Li Jiancheng carefully asked Li Yuan the reason. Li Yuan hesitated, and then said: "There is no need to hide it anymore, let me tell you directly. In fact, I have received the news more than ten days ago. Chen Yingliang has We took back Hulao Pass, and beat Li Mi and Zhai Rang away."
"Chen Yingliang has taken back the Hulao Pass? Beat Li Mizhairang away?" The rebel generals all cried out in shock. The expressions of Li Jiancheng and Li Er also changed, and the surrendered general Yun Dingxing who was also present also had a twinkle in his eyes. There was a flash of light, but there was no sound. And the one with the most intense expression was of course Chai Shao, who had already been named the leader of Li Yuan's rebellion - his knuckles were turning white with his hands clenched!
Li Yuan nodded, with a bitter smile, and said: "At that time we had just entered Queshu Valley and were preparing to fight the officers and soldiers. I was afraid of affecting the morale of the army, so I concealed the news. Zhai asked Li Mi to be flanked by Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong. During the battle between Shilipu and Chen Yingliang, Chen Yingliang was defeated by Chen Yingliang with few victories and many losses. The loss was very heavy, and Wang Shichong also blocked the grain road. In order to preserve his strength, Zhai asked Li Mi to abandon the gate and leave. Hulao Pass has also completely reversed the situation of being passively beaten on the Eastern Capital battlefield."
The generals of the rebel army fell silent, while Li Yuan sighed softly and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, the facts are the facts. Chen Yingliang is really difficult to deal with on the battlefield, and Zhai asked Li Mi to join forces for more than ten years. 50,000, of which there are quite a few elites of hundreds of battles. The overall strength actually exceeds that of our army, and Hulao Pass is a strong pass to defend. They were still beaten by this little man and were forced to abandon the pass and flee for their lives. This little man was on the battlefield It's amazing, once again surpassing the old man's imagination."
"If this is the case, if we want to enter Guanzhong, there will be another stumbling block on the way, Chen Yingliang." Pei Ji said, stroking his beard, "No matter what the next battle will be, as long as our volunteers break through the Yellow River and set foot in Guanzhong, Daxing will be destroyed by then." He will definitely ask for help from the Eastern Capital. Chen Yingliang has withdrawn from the Hulao Pass battlefield, and has a deep hatred with the general (Li Yuan). Ninety-nine percent of the time, he will personally raise troops to fight us. This man is cautious in fighting, uses his troops skillfully and is cunning, There are countless powerful soldiers under your command, and they will definitely become our biggest enemy in winning Daxing."
Except for a few generals who made Chen Sangliang come despite their desperate yelling, most of the rebel generals remained silent. They had all served as cannon fodder for Chen Sangliang on the Yanmen battlefield, and had seen Chen Sangliang's use of troops with their own eyes. Knowing how powerful Chen Sangliang is, they all have a certain fear of confronting Chen Sangliang head-on-this is why Li Yuan deliberately concealed that Chen Sangliang had recovered Hulaoguan before.
Seeing that many generals looked worried, Li Yuan was afraid of affecting morale, so he hurriedly said: "There is no need to worry too much. According to the news that the old man received, the elite of Dongdu also suffered a lot in the Hulao Pass battlefield this time. Nearly half of them were damaged, and most of the rest were wounded. The army was extremely exhausted, and its vitality had been completely damaged. The man who claimed to be Wei Gong Li Mi also sent a secret letter to the old man, introducing the battle at Hulao Pass to the old man, confirming that The Duguan army suffered heavy losses at Hulao Pass this time, and it is difficult to launch a large-scale war in a short period of time."
"Father, Li Mi wrote you a letter? What else did you say?" Li Er hurriedly asked.
"I also said a lot. In fact, if there is no letter from Li Mi, I may have to reconsider my plan to enter Daxing." Li Yuan replied smoothly: "In addition to introducing me to the battle at Hulao Pass, Li Mi also told me about the war. I pointed out the peculiarities of Chen Yingliang's use of troops, and I urged the old man to lead his army straight to Hanoi, join forces with him to take Luoyang, and promised to use the grain from the Liyang warehouse, so that our army does not have to worry about food and grass."
"It's a good idea." Li Er said contemptuously: "Join Hanoi and take Luoyang together? If you want us to charge him and consume the strength of Dongdu, just say it clearly. We don't care much about the grain in Liyang warehouse. The grain in Yongfeng warehouse in Guanzhong is better than that in Liyang warehouse." Much more."
For some unknown reason, Li Yuan glared at Li Er suddenly. Li Er knew that he had made a mistake, so he quickly shut up. Then Li Yuan said: "Anyway, you can rest assured, Mr. Chen Yingliang is indeed difficult to deal with, but his main force has already The vitality is seriously injured, and it will be difficult to fight again in a short period of time. No matter how many recruits and auxiliary soldiers are left, we should not worry about it. We can just go south with peace of mind and how to defeat the enemy. Wait until we meet Chen Yingliang. Our rebel army is in harmony with the sky, and is protected by the gods , Chen Yingliang helps the tyrant to abuse the tyrant, acts as a slave to the tiger, and is angry with the sky, so he must not be our opponent!"
The generals of the rebel army agreed that it was dark now and the army was exhausted from fighting, so Li Yuan said nothing more, and ordered all the generals to disperse to rest, leaving only Li Jiancheng, Li Er and Chai Shao behind. Li Yuan immediately pointed to Li Er and shouted: "Before entering Guanzhong, you are not allowed to mention a word about Yongfeng warehouse! Our army is newly built, and people's hearts are not stable. We must prevent the news from leaking and expose the secret!"
Li Er honestly sang promises, and also admitted that he had slipped his words just now, Li Yuan snorted again, and then asked: "Where is Li Xiaochang, is there any news?"
"Yes." Li Er replied in a low voice: "Li Xiaochang was ordered to test Liu Gang, the guard of Tongguan, for us, and found that although Liu Gang was mediocre and incompetent, greedy and lustful, but loyal to the tyrant, Li Xiaochang mentioned your name, father, in front of Liu Gang. , Liu Gang’s hostility towards you, father, is very obvious. County magistrate Li was afraid of being exposed, so he didn’t dare to try to bribe contact, but Li Xiaochang’s city defense layout in Tongguan has already been drawn into a picture book. We delivered."
"That's good." Li Yuan nodded and said, "Send another secret letter to Li Xiaochang, telling him not to act rashly any more. It's not that it's extremely urgent not to contact us, so as not to be exposed. The Yongfeng warehouse in his hand is related to our entry into the customs. For the future fate of the entire army, he himself must not make any mistakes!"
Li Er agreed, and then asked: "Father, what about Tongguan? Chen Yingliang has withdrawn from Hulao Pass. If we can't take Tongguan before he reinforces Guanzhong, let his Dongdu reinforcements enter Tongguan. The initiative is in his hands."
"Let's talk about it at that time. Fortunately, Liu Gang is just an incompetent generation, and the soldiers under his command have never been on the battlefield. It is not difficult to deal with. If it is impossible, we can attack by force." Li Yuan snorted coldly, and said: "How to deal with this little thief, old man I have already considered it, and when we arrive in Jiangjun, the old man plans to send out a partial division to pretend to attack Hanoi to intimidate Luoyang, to restrain Chen Yingliang's soldiers and horses, and buy time for us."
"Father-in-law, let me go!" Chai Shao said impatiently, "Please send my son-in-law to attack Hanoi and contain the little thief Chen Yingliang."
"You?" Li Yuan glanced at his son-in-law and refused, "Forget it, just because of your quick temper, don't you have already been wiped out by Chen Yingliang's little thief before you approached the Zhi Pass that can threaten the hinterland of Hanoi."
Chai Shao insisted, Li Yuan still refused, and decided on the spot that Duan Zhixuan, who was both brave and resourceful, would take up the job. Chai Shao had no choice but to step back. Why don't you just follow the plan, say that Duan Zhixuan is just a pioneer, and ask Li Mi to send troops to attack Linqing Pass and enter Hanoi, and join us in the county of Hanoi, so as to contain the Dongdu Army and Chen Yingliang even more forcefully."
"Will that old fox Li Mi be fooled?" Li Yuan asked with a smile.
"With Li Mi's treachery, we have not confirmed that our main force will go east to Hanoi, so of course we will not easily dispatch the main force." Li Er said: "But I think that although Li Mi will not dispatch the main force, he will definitely send troops, because he also wants to lure us. Going east to Hanoi and sending troops to attack Linqing Pass according to the agreement is undoubtedly the best way to trick us into going east to share the pressure for him."
Li Yuan nodded, immediately agreed to accept Li Er's suggestion, and immediately discussed the details with his son, but Li Jiancheng, Li Yuan's other son who was present, remained silent and turned his eyes to the direction of Dongdu, muttering in his heart, " My dear brother, I really didn't expect that the next time we meet, it will probably be on the battlefield of life and death, when it really comes to that time, how should we face each other?"
…
It was also a coincidence that on the same day when Li Yuan's rebels captured Huoyi City, Chen Sangliang rarely put aside his busy work and used the excuse of practicing firearms to lead his confidant soldiers northward to Mang Mountain, which is known as the navel of China. In the depths of Mang Mountain surrounded by mountains, on a basin closely guarded by Chen Sangliang's direct army, there are twelve brand new bronze smoothbore artillery waiting for Chen Sangliang.
With the guidance of Chen Sangliang, a traverser, Yuan Tiangang, who was in charge of casting the cannon, of course avoided many detours, and directly cast the cannon body with a thin front and a thick rear, which reduced the risk of bombing, and prepared a tool for scrubbing the remaining sparks in the barrel. Cotton-wrapped cannon rods are installed with a scale for estimating the firing range. At the same time, Yuan Tiangang's expertise in mathematics and astronomy also ensures that these bronze cannons have a fairly high standard accuracy, directly skipping the link in the development of ancient artillery that must be dedicated to cannon shells. The shells are basically universal, which reduces the difficulty of operation and increases the air density, which in turn increases the range and power.
At Chen Yingliang's request, Yuan Tiangang directed his personally trained gunners to conduct a trial firing of each bronze cannon. Chen Sangliang was very satisfied with the results of the test firing. Three of the twelve cannons accurately hit targets two miles away. The rest are not too far off, and according to Yuan Tiangang, these cannons can hit more than 900 paces at the farthest, far exceeding the eight-shot bed crossbow invented by Cui Hongdan, and the speed of loading and firing is far faster than ten times. The power is far superior. The only thing that made Yuan Tiangang regretful was that the eight-pound artillery shell was slightly smaller, and it was useless if it failed to hit the target, and the artillery body was too heavy to carry on mountain roads and small roads.
"The power is not small, but it has not been reflected yet." Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "This is a mountainous area. It was rainy a while ago, and the ground is too soft. When this kind of shell hits the hard ground, it will be more powerful when it jumps up. , Europa used this kind of artillery, the highest record is that one shot killed 32 people."
Yuan Tiangang expressed disbelief, Chen Sangliang smiled and did not explain, but said: "As for the problem of the gun body being too heavy, it can also be solved by other methods. When we solve the problem that the iron cannon is easy to explode, we can cast it Iron-cored wood-shelled cannon, the cannon body is much lighter."
"Stay behind, will the officials continue to organize craftsmen to solve the problem of iron cannons?" Yuan Tiangang asked quickly.
Chen Sangliang shook his head and said: "It's too late, let's pause, and we can talk about it later. Remember, the soldiers must be kept strictly confidential, and no news is allowed to leak. Also, destroy all our cannon molds and clay models, and only keep The drawings and specifications, and the craftsmen who participated in the casting are all registered in the register, and I will take them all away when I go out in the future."
"Why?" Yuan Tiangang asked suspiciously: "The craftsmen who participated in the cannon casting didn't know what they were making. The molds, clay models and shells were all made by different craftsmen. No one knows all the links, so there's no need to keep it secret, right? Besides, if you stay behind and take them to the expedition, you can't make cannons in the camp, can you?"
"Care is the best thing to prevent someone from imitating at any cost, and find craftsmen who know all the links." Chen Sangliang replied casually, and added: "As for why you have to take them away when you go out in the future, you will understand in the future."
Yuan Tiangang agreed blankly, and Chen Sangliang ordered the army to separate the bronze cannons into packages and transport them back to the army for strict surveillance, and then led them back to Luoyang. As a result, as soon as he entered the city and entered his courtyard, the eldest grandson Wuji, who was in charge of confidential affairs for Chen Sangliang, rushed up to greet him and said to Chen Sangliang: "Brother, my sister has arrived in Hong Kong with your two sons. Nong, I saw my uncle, and the person who heard the news said that my uncle's condition has recovered and he can walk on the ground, but I just want my sister and the others to stay in Hongnong for a longer period of time."
Chen Sangliang nodded and said, "Let's stay for a longer period of time. It's not too far away anyway. You can come back anytime. By the way, how is my cousin? Has he arrived smoothly?"
"We're here, and he's already taken office." Changsun Wuji nodded, and then said doubtfully, "Brother, even if Uncle Li was guilty of abandoning his post, there was a reason for it. Why did you ask His Royal Highness King Yue to demote him three ranks in a row and send him to that poor village? Going to be the county magistrate? Is he too wronged?"
"You will know in the future." Chen Sangliang refused to answer or explain, and turned his gaze to the northwest sky, looking at the direction of Li Yuan's rebel army, and murmured in his heart, "Almost ready, Li Yuan, come on .”