It was also the morning of the second day of October, yawning, sneaking out of his bed tent, looking at the mountain top illuminated by the rising sun, Chen Sangliang first stretched his waist in a very unmannered manner, Then he smashed his lips even less gracefully, and said to himself: "Li Jiancheng has been beaten away, Yongfeng warehouse has been taken down, Daxing has fallen, and there are many choices next, what should I do?"
With the strategic initiative in his hands, Chen Sangliang has a lot of tactical options for the next step. He can go straight to Daxing to fight the main force of the rebels. In the reputation of arresting the ambassador in Guanzhong, we can mobilize Sui troops from Pingliang, Fufeng, Honghua and other places to encircle Daxing, wipe out Li Yuan's rebels with superior forces, or even do nothing and hold on to Tongguan and Yongfeng warehouse, the lifeline of Guanzhong, etc. Li Yuan's rebels took the initiative to come up to die. Every choice has advantages, and every choice has certainty. The only difference is the difference between the length of time and the size of the grasp. The situation is so good that Chen Sangliang is a little embarrassed.
Chen Sangliang was indeed a little embarrassed, thinking of someone in Daxing City, and remembering the agreement made four years ago, Chen Sangliang still had a shy smile on his face, and couldn't help muttering: "Today happens to be four years ago. Nianzheng, Yu'er, I'm sorry, I will be a few days late to fulfill the agreement, but don't worry, it will be soon, it will be soon."
No matter how many choices there are, you have to make a choice. At the same time, since the main force of the rebel army has fallen, you still have to borrow the tiger-skinned Chen Sangliang of the Sui Dynasty. You can't be too casual, so after breakfast, Chen Sangliang Sang Liang also called together a group of civil and military confidantes and important generals in the army, and held a meeting in the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss the next action plan. Before the meeting started, Chen Sangliang announced the news that Daxing had fallen to everyone with a sad mood and a sad tone. During this period, he had to wipe away a little heroic tears to show his indignation and sadness at the rebellious occupation of the Sui Dynasty.
To Chen Sangliang's surprise, after the news of the fall of Daxing was officially announced, except for a small number of diehard loyalists of Emperor Sui Yang represented by Liu Gang and Zhang Jixun who showed shock and gaffes, most of the civil servants under his command behaved very well. Calm, even Liu Changgong was so indifferent, said: "It doesn't matter, just lose it if you lose it, and just get it back. Anyway, Tongguan and Yongfeng warehouse are in our hands, and we have an advantage."
"General Liu, Daxing is the capital of our Great Sui Dynasty, how can we just lose it if we lose it?" Zhang Jixun was a little dissatisfied.
"What else can I say? Crying? Can Daxing come back?" Liu Changgong asked back, and said carelessly: "Besides, Daxing is not guarded by us. Even if His Majesty blames it in the future, it has nothing to do with us. We just Restoring Daxing as soon as possible and taking the city back is considered to be repaying His Majesty's kindness."
Zhang Jixun was speechless, and could only quickly ask Chen Sangliang: "Stay behind, what about His Royal Highness? How is he doing now?"
"I heard that he escaped from Miyagi under the protection of Deputy Yin, and his whereabouts are unknown." Chen Sangliang replied.
"Fortunately, fortunately His Highness is fine." Zhang Jixun was relieved, and hurriedly urged: "Stay behind, then let's march to Daxing, recover Daxing as soon as possible, and also look for the whereabouts of His Royal Highness Dai Wang."
"That's why I called you to a meeting." Chen Sangliang nodded, and said in a clear voice: "My lords, although we have recovered Yongfeng warehouse and controlled the throat of Tongguan to control the initiative on the battlefield in Guanzhong, Li Yuan's traitor's partial division is still there. Fifty miles to the north at Pujin Pass, the main force of the rebels has captured Daxing again, what should I do next, if you have any ideas, feel free to speak up.”
"Stay behind, I think the traitors at Pujin Pass should be dealt with first." Fang Xuanling couldn't call Chen Sangliang brothers and sisters on such a formal occasion, so he could only call him an official taboo, saying: "Pujin Pass is far away from Yongfeng Cang and Tongguan. It's not very far away. If we don't pull out this nail, the rear grain road will be easily threatened. But if we pull out this nail, we can immediately establish direct contact with old general Qu Tutong, join forces, and add Strength is beneficial to our next Daxing offensive and defensive battle."
"Of course it's a good idea." Chen Sangliang nodded, then shook his head and said, "But it's a bit of a waste of time. It would be too much of a waste of soldiers' physical strength to dispatch our main force for this rebel army, so my plan is, simply Use a partial army to deal with this traitor partial army. I personally lead the main force westward to Daxing, and recover our capital of the Sui Dynasty."
"Divide the troops?" Several generals of the Sui Army were stunned, and reminded one after another: "Stay behind, our strength is not very sufficient. We need to march to the west and leave enough troops to defend Yongfengcang and Tongguan. Dividing up our troops to occupy the rebels' partial divisions, I'm afraid it will further weaken our already insufficient troops."
"Soldiers are expensive, not expensive." Chen Sangliang replied: "We don't need to send too many troops to the north to fight against the rebels, we just need to be able to cover Qu Tutong's main force to cross the Yellow River. Right now we are in Tongguan Winning battles with Yongfengcang is also a great encouragement to Qu Tutong's army, with his help, it is enough to deal with the rebels at Pujin Pass."
Seeing that the generals nodded in approval, Chen Sangliang said again: "And I can also conclude that the old thief Li Yuan will definitely not let his partial army stay in Pujin Pass to die in vain, and will order to dispatch this army to the west in a few days. Entering Daxing, when the time comes, our partial division and Qu Tutong can join forces to launch a pursuit, fight if there is a chance, and defend if there is no chance, so as to slow down the retreat of the rebel partial division. At the same time, our main force will also take the opportunity to calmly advance westward. Just attack back and forth, and kill the traitors."
"Old thief Li Yuan gave up on Pujin Pass?" Ma Sanbao questioned, saying: "Stay behind, if old thief Li Yuan abandons Pujin Pass, then his escape route back to Taiyuan will be cut off. This seems unlikely, right?"
"Li Yuan's root is in Guanzhong. Between Taiyuan and Guanzhong, he must choose Guanzhong first." Chen Sangliang replied: "The old thief concentrates his main force in Guanzhong. Another advantage is that there are more retreats. Hechi prefect Xiao Yu and You all know what is the relationship between Li Yuan and you also know what is the relationship with me. Xiao Yu will never stick to Sanguan obediently and block the way of the old thief Li Yuan going south. Guanzhong is empty, Shuzhong is more empty than Guanzhong, There is also a land of abundance, where money and food are plentiful, and the old thief Li Yuan can go to Sichuan to regroup and make a comeback if there is no other way."
"There is also Longxi, which is not only Li Yuan's hometown, but also has a deep foundation." Li Jing added for his nephew: "The quality of the soldiers is better than that of the soldiers in the Central Plains, and it is also a horse-producing area. If Li Yuan can gain a firm foothold there, it will be a comeback. In contrast, if the old thief Li Yuan is unable to defend Daxing and abandons Guanzhong and retreats to Taiyuan, he will definitely be chased and beaten by us. At that time, the hearts of the people will be scattered, the morale of the army will collapse, and it is possible that they will not even reach Taiyuan Completely annihilated by us."
The civil and military members of the Sui army nodded again, and Chen Sangliang also nodded with a smile, and then asked with a smile: "Cousin, can you help my nephew? Take ten thousand troops to deal with the traitors at Pujin Pass?"
Of course Li Jing was happy, but he had to be modest, and said with a smile: "Nephew, I am your subordinate, of course it's okay to obey your orders, but Liu Changgong and General Liu are your real deputy, and this partial teacher should be led by him." right."
"Brother Liu is my deputy, so he can't move lightly." Chen Sangliang paid great attention to cultivating his trusted party members, and said with a smile: "After my nephew led the main force westward to Daxing, Tongguan and Yongfeng warehouse two In an important place, except for asking him to stay behind, I am really worried about the others."
"It's okay, Uncle Li, you can go." Liu Changgong also waved his hand in agreement, and said, "But Brother Yingliang, you have to leave Xingfang and Liu Heitai to me, so that I can guarantee that Tongguan and Yongfeng warehouse will be safe."
Pei Xingfang and Liu Heitai, who were anxious to make meritorious deeds, all had bitter faces. Chen Sangliang saw that they were unwilling, so he smiled and said: "I will leave Xingfang and He Yanyu to you. The elites of Qi County under Yanyu's command are very capable of fighting You can also rest assured. General Liu Heita is good at reconnaissance of the enemy's situation, and this western expedition cannot do without him."
Liu Changgong wanted to keep capable civil and military help just so that he could drink with peace of mind. Knowing that the soldiers and horses under He Yanyu's command could fight, he naturally didn't refuse. Tongguan left an absolutely reliable member of his own family, and he could only honestly agree. So Chen Sangliang quickly finalized the deployment of troops, and decided that Liu Changgong would lead 15,000 troops to stay in Tongguan and Yongfengcang, and Li Jing would lead 10,000 troops to the north to clean up the rebel forces. The arrangement was given to Li Jing, and the Yu Le team of the national army was assigned to Li Jing's command, so that my cousin could have elite soldiers available on the battlefield.
The next step was of course the schedule of the expedition, but what made everyone feel a little strange was that Chen Sangliang actually asked Li Jing to prepare today and cross Hebei tomorrow, while the main force of the Sui army would send troops westward to Daxing the day after tomorrow. All the generals of the Sui army were a little worried about this, and reminded them one after another: "Is it too hasty to stay behind? We fought two big battles with the rebels in six days, and several small battles. The army is a little tired. Are you too busy?" Rest for two days before heading west?"
"It is advisable to chase the poor with the remaining courage, and not to be known as the overlord." Chen Sangliang dropped a sentence in his book bag and said, "We can't give the rebels a chance to breathe. We are a little tired, but the rebels are even more tired. They have entered all the way from Taiyuan In Daxing, the rebel army has never had a good rest. They are more tired than us and need to rest. The battle will only get harder."
"But if time drags on for a long time, the rebels will run out of food and grass?" Ma Sanbao and other Sui army generals reminded.
"Our army made a detailed investigation report. On September 27th, the old thief Li Yuan suddenly stopped opening granaries in Daxing, Chang'an Old City and Acheng at the same time under the pretext of war needs." Chen Sangliang said calmly: " The old thief is planning ahead, and he has already made preparations to prevent food shortages. Coupled with the food stored in Daxing Miyagi, even if the rebels’ food and grass can’t last the next year’s summer harvest, it shouldn’t be a big problem to survive this year. There are still roads behind us The rebellious thieves look at the delay, time has been delayed for a long time, once we are in a hurry in the rear, Li Yuan's opportunity will come."
Only then did Ma Sanbao and the other generals understand the reason and stopped objecting, while Chen Sangliang slapped the table and said, "That's it, the main force will set off the day after tomorrow. Taking advantage of the beginning of winter, we will reach the city of Daxing within ten days, half a month." Inside, destroy the main force of the traitors!"
"Eliminate the main force of the rebels within half a month?" All the civil and military soldiers of the Sui army looked at each other, including Li Jing, who was a little suspicious, not sure whether it was his nephew's confidence or his arrogance.
It is useless to have any doubts. Chen Sangliang is the commander-in-chief of the entire army, and all the generals of the Sui army can only obey the orders issued. After intensive preparations, Li Jing led a partial division to set off first in the early morning of the next day, crossing the Weishui River and heading north to Pujin Pass. , to trouble Li Yuan’s uncle, Dou Cong. Chen Sangliang went to order Qu Tutong before, and ordered him to cooperate with Li Jing in Guanzhong's honor of arresting the ambassador, crossing the river to attack the rebel army, driving away Dou Cong and Li Jing, and then joining forces with the main forces of the Sui army in the eastern capital. .
Chen Sangliang's move happened to hit the most uncomfortable rhythm of the rebel army's partial division. As mentioned earlier, Li Yuan ordered Dou Cong to abandon Pujin on the second day of October in order to form the outer barrier of Daxing and in order not to let the partial division lose in vain. Guan withdrew to Xinfeng, and after the order was delivered by a fast horse, it happened to arrive at Pujin Pass on the third day of October. At the same time, news of the Sui army's crossing to Hebei was found. Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng were in a dilemma when they fled. situation.
If Chen Sangliang personally led the main force to go north to fight Pujin Pass, neither Dou Cong nor Li Jiancheng would have been in such a difficult situation. Anyway, they arrived in Xinfeng to buy time for the main force. Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng took another risk and led the army to defend to the death As long as Pujin Pass or Feng Yicheng next to it can contain the main force of the Sui army for a period of time, even if the loss is greater, it will be worth it. However, Chen Sangliang only sent 10,000 partial troops. Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng would waste time no matter whether they fought or stood firm. And if they abandon the pass and retreat according to the order, once the Sui army's partial division bites their tails, not only will they not be able to retreat quickly, but they may also pay a heavy price in the retreat.
Li Yuan's order cannot be disobeyed. At the same time, Qu Tutong is also on the other side of the Yellow River. Retreat, at the same time decided to abandon the pass and retreat at night, and also created the illusion of a hasty retreat, took the opportunity to set up an ambush on the road to lure Li Jing to chase, and then launched an ambush to severely injure the Sui army's partial division and kill this annoying tail.
Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng soon found out that they underestimated Li Jing too much—in fact, everyone in the world underestimated Li Jing except Chen Sangliang. That night, after receiving the news of the rebels abandoning the pass and retreating, even though the Sui Army scouts clearly reported that the rebels' torches were messy and they retreated in a hurry, Li Jing just smiled and rejected all suggestions for pursuit, and ordered the whole army to rest in peace and wait until Let's talk after dawn. At the same time, Li Jing also sent someone to inform Qu Tutong that the rebels must guard against ambush when they retreat late at night, and suggested that Qu Tutong should not rush across the river to pursue them, and that it would not be too late to cross the river at dawn.
The ambush by Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng helped Li Jing build up his prestige, and made Qu Tutong, who was getting older and weaker and more timid, feel ashamed once again. The soldiers of the Sui Army's partial division rested for the night full of dissatisfaction. Qu Tu had already lost enough face in the previous battle. Tong, however, refused to miss this opportunity to save face, and instead of listening to Li Jing's suggestion, he dispatched general Wang Xingben to lead an army of 3,000 across the river in pursuit. As a result, after Wang Xingben was defeated by the rebel army, the Sui army's partial division's complaints against Li Jing disappeared without a trace. Without a trace, Old Qu Tu couldn't help but beat his chest again.
After dawn the next day, Li Jing finally led his troops in pursuit. Before noon, he had already caught up with the rebels who were marching slowly at night. Dou Cong led the new force back to line up, clamoring for a fight, trying to lure Li Jing to a decisive battle. Li Jing, who was even more shameless than his nephew, turned around and left, not taking Dou Cong's fault at all. But when Dou Cong led the army to continue westward while cursing, Li Jing followed up like a mangy dog, and followed the rebel army far behind. Dou Cong turned back to fight, and Li Jing turned around and ran away again.
If you think that Li Jing did this just to delay time for Chen Sangliang, you would be very wrong. That evening, when the rebel army retreated to the bank of the Jingshui River next to Fengyi City, Li Jing suddenly approached and ordered the army to build Build a fence, defend yourself with a strong wall, and confront the rebel army at a distance of only five miles. At the same time, Qu Tutong personally led the Sui army from Hedong to catch up. However, after a careful look at the situation on the battlefield, Qu Tutong not only did not rush to order an attack, but also raised his hand to Li Jing, admiringly said: "The medicine master is brilliant!" , the old man is convinced."
Although there are ferries and wooden bridges and pontoons on the river, the rebel army with more than 40,000 people can't even think about crossing it all at once. Even if they do it, it will take half a night. Cross the river first, and no one wants to be the last to cross the river. If the Sui army launches an attack halfway across the river, the rebel soldiers who have crossed the river cannot turn back to rescue, and the rebel soldiers who are left behind cannot all cross the river at once. Let the soldiers of the Sui army attack with all their strength wantonly massacre. The rebels looked at each other by the river, while the soldiers of the Sui army hid in the distance, rested and grinned, waiting for the best fighter opportunity that could be met but not sought after.
For a long time, the big-eyed and small-eyed worries by the river, neither Li Jiancheng nor Dou Cong could solve this unsolvable military problem. It's devoid of conscience!"
In the morning of the same day, Chen Sangliang also personally led the main force of the Sui army to march westward. Although the strength of the main force of the Sui army was just over 50,000, including the newly recruited surrendered army, the strength of the main force of the Sui army was just over 50,000. On the battlefield, the momentum of the main force of the Sui army was obviously more than that of the main force of the rebel army. The patriotic army with fluttering white robes acted as the pioneer, and the flags fluttered with horseshoes. Serve the country faithfully", the military song is loud and clear, and spread far and wide. The people in Guanzhong, who were hostile to this army, soon discovered that the military discipline of this army was even stricter than that of Li Yuan's rebels. A special person finds the owner of the field to compensate according to the price.
Chen Sangliang's previous call for thieves also began to play a role on this day. Although no one was sent to the city to surrender, when the main force of the Sui army had just arrived at the Huayin city, the four gates of Huayin had already opened by themselves, and the county magistrate Wang Yongnian Holding the official seal and household registration list issued by the rebels, he led the county defenders and three classes of government officials who held a bunch of heads out of the city to kneel and surrender. When they saw Chen Sangliang, they cried out with snot and tears...
"Chen Liushou, Ambassador Chen, you are finally here. After reading your list of thieves, I was ordered to pretend to be Li Yuan's traitor and wait for the opportunity to make meritorious service. Anyway, I have been waiting for you for too long! That traitor Li Xiaochang heard When your army arrived, I heard that the rebel army fled on the lookout and did not dare to come to Huayin. In the morning, they left the county town and followed the remnants of the rebels. A rebellious villain who refuses to do anything, hereby present their heads, please look at the ambassador!"
"What? Ambassador, let me take over as the county magistrate of Huayin on the spot, and give me all of Li Xiaochang's property and fields? Give me a hundred guan and ten taels of silver? Ambassador Chen, I will follow you from now on. Yes! If you say a word casually, even if you go up the mountain of swords and down into the sea of fire, the subordinate officials will not hesitate!"