A few flowers bloomed, each showing a branch. Just as our conscienceless Chen Sangliang led the main force back to Daxing, our brazen old general Yun Ding Xingyun finally broke with his good nephew Yu Wenhuaji. Face-skinned, turned against each other.
Of course, the reason for tearing up the face and turning against each other is because of General Yun. During the battle of Jin Yongcheng, in fact, as long as General Yun made a timely move, the Xiaoguo Army could win the decisive battle. Even if the Wang Li coalition army retreated, as long as General Yun was willing , can also help the Xiaoguo army take advantage of the momentum to take down the Li Mi army camp, and completely destroy the main force of Li Mi army, but our old general Yun chose not to go to that straw that broke the camel's camel, not only has been hiding in the battlefield more than ten miles away, standing still , Before Hua Jixiong asked him for help, he ran away with an army that could determine the outcome of the battlefield, and let Huajixiong's envoy meet him for help without giving him a chance.
Things have come to this point, not to mention that the treacherous and treacherous Li Mi and Wang Shichong have already understood Chen Sangliang's real plan, even our Brother Hua Ji has become suspicious, and began to suspect that Old General Yun just didn't want him to lose, and at the same time he didn't want him to lose at all. Don't want him to win. But our brother Huaji still had a glimmer of hope, so he sent Feng Deyi to the west to ask for help from General Yun, and asked General Yun to help him attack Li Mi, who was already seriously injured, but Feng Deyi not only did not ask for help. The old general Laiyun's reinforcements took advantage of the momentum and stayed in Xin'an City, and asked his followers to bring a resignation letter to Brother Hua, expressing his resignation from all positions in Brother Hua's army, and to change his family to Chen Sangliang. Opened a new imperial court to make a living.
The truth was completely revealed to the world. Brother Hua Ji, who had been played like a monkey for many days, suddenly realized that he was completely furious, and ordered an attack on Xin'an, swearing to kill Old General Yun and the shameless General Yun who had deceived his pure heart. Feng Deyi, who had betrayed him, was captured together, put into a sack and trampled to death with 3,000 horses!
However, this order has not been implemented at all. The Xiaoguo Army, which was already suffering from severe cold and injuries, suffered heavy casualties in the battle of Jinyongcheng, and now only wants to take a rest as soon as possible. What interest is there in that? Then attack the Sui army camp that was built stronger than the iron turtle by old general Yun? Therefore, Sima Dekan, Chen Zhilue and other generals of the Xiaoguo Army refused to carry out the order, and directly told Brother Hua that even if their troops were sent to the battlefield, they would never be able to defeat the long-stalled Sui Army in Guanzhong , On the contrary, it is sure to suffer a big defeat and a disastrous defeat.
In fact, Hua Jixiong also has a fresh army of Jinyongcheng defenders available, but this army not only has to guard Jinyongcheng where it is based, but also has to guard the civil and military officials and dignitaries brought by Huajixiong from Jiangdu. At the same time, Wang Shichong and The two mortal enemies of Li Mi are still watching the delay, Brother Huaji dare not use this last reserve team no matter what, so when all the generals of the Xiaoguo army refuse to fight, Brother Huaji hates Lao Yun The general hated him to the bone, but he was still helpless, not knowing how to avenge his hatred.
The old general Yun hiding in the tortoise shell cannot be destroyed, nor can Wang Shichong and Li Mi who have joined hands to form an alliance. Jin Yongcheng is far away from the Liyang warehouse. It is difficult to transport grain and grass. Tighten up. In desperation, brother Hua Ji came up with a genius idea, and decided to lead the army to temporarily withdraw to Hanoi County, shorten the distance of food and grass supplies and let the army rest for the winter, and wait for the weather to warm up before revenge.
From a tactical point of view, Hua Jixiong's move to take a step back is actually quite correct and impeccable, but as far as the morale of the army is concerned, Hua Jixiong's decision is undoubtedly digging his own grave. There was little hope of returning home, but Hua Jixiong asked them to go back and stay away from their hometown again. Naturally, the Guanzhong soldiers were blown up immediately! The generals of the Xiaoguo Army, including Sima Dekan and Zhao Xingshu, couldn't bear it anymore, and finally decided to launch a mutiny, kill Brother Hua and stand on their own!
However, it is a pity that Sima Dekan and others did not have the luck to succeed in the Jiangdu Mutiny this time. They accidentally leaked the news and were informed. He and Zhao Xingshu and others tricked into Jin Yongcheng and hacked Sima Dekan and a dozen of his accomplices to death, and then immediately ordered to retreat northward to Hanoi County, so as not to give Li Mi and Wang Shichong a chance to loot.
Of course, Brother Hua seriously underestimated Wang Shichong and Li Mi, two heroes in troubled times, so the Xiaoguo Army was forced to withdraw to Heyang Bridge. At the same time, Brother Hua also seriously underestimated the patience and tolerance of the soldiers of the Xiaoguo Army. Chen Zhilue and Fan Wenchao, who were ordered to be the queen, both rebelled. The soldiers and horses and many homesick Guanzhong soldiers went west directly to join the soldiers and horses under the command of his father's favorite disciple Chen Sangliang-of course, for Fan Wenchao, this was undoubtedly his best choice.
The melee started again, coveting the superior equipment and powerful combat power of the Xiaoguo Army. Wang Shichong and Li Mi both blocked and chased Fan Wenchao's troops, trying to force Fan Wenchao to surrender to his own army. Old General Yun, who knew that the Xiaoguo Army could be of great use, did not hesitate, and immediately led his troops to respond, and fought a battle with Wang Li's coalition forces in the area of Cijian. Xiaoguo's elite soldiers also rescued Fan Wenchao, who was born to face the Guanzhong Sui Army, and officially opened the curtain for the war between the Guanzhong Sui Army and the Wang Li Lianjun.
The same is true here in Heyang. The Xiaoguo army, who did not want to turn back, surrendered to the Wang Li coalition army, some surrendered to Li Mi, and some surrendered to Wang Shichong. A large amount of military supplies were also captured by the Wang Li coalition army. He was forced to cut down the Heyang Bridge to avoid the pursuit of the coalition forces of Wang and Li and prevent the soldiers from fleeing and surrendering. In the end, only 23,000 of the more than 90,000 troops that Hua Jixiong brought to the battlefield in Dongdu escaped from the Yellow River with Huajixiong. , fled into Hanoi for temporary shelter.
Fortunately for Brother Hua, his reserve team went ahead and crossed the Yellow River first, and saved the army of the direct line, as well as the civil and military officials and the six concubines of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. After the army and food, Brother Huaji still has a little bit of capital to turn around. At the same time, there are Meng Haigong and his wife under Li Mi in Hanoi County who can be a punching bag for Brother Huaji. Brother Huaji who has the natural danger of the Yellow River can be defended as long as he manages well and implements strategies properly. , There is still hope of a comeback. —Of course, this point is quite difficult for Hua Jixiong.
The scuffle in the Eastern Capital did not come to an end because Hua Jixiong fled north to Hanoi. On the contrary, it was just a new beginning. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Wang Li's allied forces chasing and killing Huaji brother, the long-prepared Sui army sided with Li Ke's division. Immediately went south, shamelessly attacking another important military area at the intersection of Xiong'er Mountain, which is also Yiyang County where Chen Sangliang's ancestral home is, Li Wanji, the magistrate of Yiyang County who had been secretly colluding with the Sui Army in Guanzhong for a long time, did not After hesitating, he immediately opened the city gate to welcome Li Ke's army into the city. When Wang Shichong, who controlled Yiyang County in reputation, received the news, Li Ke's army had already deepened and raised Yiyang's moat by half a foot.
By the way, when Li Bird Bandit arrived in Yiyang County, he did a very clever thing in a hurry - he immediately sent Mr. Feng Shui to survey the terrain of Chen Sangliang's ancestral grave, and he found out that Chen Sangliang's ancestral grave was buried in the dragon's veins The above conclusion was widely publicized among the people—although Yuan Tiangang, a feng shui master under Chen Sangliang, came to survey the terrain later and found that the place where Chen Sangliang’s ancestral grave was buried did not look like a dragon’s vein, but Yuan Tiangang Naturally, it will not be announced. This is a later story, and I will not mention it here.
Finally, he completely tore his face with his unscrupulous son-in-law. In his anger, Wang Shichong not only prepared to start a war with his son-in-law, but also sent people to General Yun to question him, and demanded that General Yun go back to Guanzhong. , returned to Xin'an and Yiyang counties, and prepared to gain the moral upper hand before fighting with his son-in-law. Unfortunately, Wang Shichong's envoy not only saw General Yun's precious nephew Yun Fu in Xin'an, but also saw a defected soldier from Wang Shichong's army. He also scolded Wang Shichong's emissary bloody and expelled him from the city.
Once again, he realized that he had seriously underestimated Wang Shichong and became angry from embarrassment. He once wanted to dispatch the main force to attack Xin'an to kill General Yun. Wang Shichong was so shocked that he didn't dare to act rashly, he could only change his mind and invite Li Mi to meet, and was going to discuss with Li Mi face to face the next plan to jointly resist Chen Sangliang's attack, and also asked Li Mi to promise to give him half of the Luokou warehouse food.
Li Mi happily accepted Wang Shichong's invitation. The two each led twenty guards and met at the Luoshui River to start negotiations. However, as the negotiations officially started, Wang Shichong immediately discovered that there was a reason why Li Mi was so happy, because Li Mi said, "Dr. Zheng, both your army and our army suffered a lot in the battle of Jinyongcheng, and we urgently need time to rest and recover." Fortunately, the main force of Chen Yingliang's traitor has just returned from the northern expedition, and the soldiers need time to rest when they are tired. Therefore, it is best for us to attack immediately and take back Xin'an and Yiyang, strangling the dangerous places of Weihan Road and Xiong'er Mountain. In order to resist the large-scale attacks of Chen Yingliang's traitors in the future."
After that, Li Mi suggested with a smile: "Since this is the case, Mr. Zheng, do you think this is feasible? The defenders on the left and right Xin'an and Yiyang are almost the same. You should send troops to attack Xin'an, and I will send troops to attack Yiyang. We will advance and retreat together." How about not withdrawing troops until we take these two cities?"
Of course, Li Mi's suggestion only seemed fair, but in fact, it led Wang Shichong to his grandma's house. The army will not feel too distressed, as long as the path is blocked, it will still have a defensive effect, and at most it will only lose a chance to surprise soldiers. So in this way, if Li Mi's proposal is really sent out to attack the city, then Li Mi's resistance will definitely be much smaller, but Wang Shichong will definitely be stubbornly resisted by the Sui army. It may be very big that Chen Sangliang sent troops to reinforce Xin'an.
"Traitor!" After secretly cursing Li Mi's treachery, Wang Shichong calculated again, and then asked tentatively, "Duke Wei, can you send troops to Xin'an, and I send troops to Yiyang?"
"Duke Zheng, is it convenient for you to send troops to Xin'an?" Li Mi immediately cried out hypocritically, and said, "When I send troops to Xin'an, I must pass through your defense area. Food, grass, military supplies and troop transfers must pass through the east capital city. Guatian Li, the soldiers under your command and I have some misunderstandings and conflicts. Wouldn't it immediately hurt the alliance between you and me, and give Chen Yingliang, Yu Wenhua and our common enemies a chance to sow discord? Your son-in-law is here How good at this, Mr. Zheng, you don’t know, do you?”
Wang Shichong wanted to punch Li Mi's nose very much, but out of various considerations, Wang Shichong finally held back his breath and changed his words: "What Wei Gong said is very true, it should be more convenient for me to send troops to Xin'an, but I am now The horses are exhausted, the soldiers are tired of fighting, and we can't send troops to Xin'an for the time being. How about this, both your army and our army stand still for the time being, and let him, old man Yun Dingxing, have fun for a while, and when the opportunity is ripe in the future, how about you and I discuss how to enter the army?"
Li Mi, who had Wang Shi as a human shield, smiled and immediately agreed that there was no problem. Wang Shichong took the opportunity to raise the issue of military rations. Li Mi laughed again and said, "Duke Zheng, the covenant you and I made seems to be an agreement to join forces. After defeating Yu Wenhuaji, I will give you half of the food again? Now Yu Wenhuaji is just beaten away by us, it seems that he has not been completely defeated, right?"
Hearing this, Wang Shichong's forehead was immediately throbbing with blue veins, and his hands were subconsciously clenched into fists. Although Li Mi was not afraid of this, Li Mi changed his mind again when he thought about it, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zheng!" Li Mi is not a person who does not keep his word. Although Yu Wenhua and the rebels have not been completely eradicated, they are still entrenched in Hanoi County, which borders you and me, but I also know that Zheng Gong is currently short of food and grass, and urgently needs to be supplemented. .Do you see if this works? I will give you 10% of the grain in Luokou Cang now. After you and I work together to destroy Yu Wenhua and the remnants, take off the heads of Yu Wenhua and the common people, and then give you the remaining 40% how?"
Only then did Wang Shichong's expression slow down. After a little calculation, Wang Shichong said: "Thirty percent! You have to give me thirty percent of the grain in Luokou Cang first! No matter who breaks Yuwenhuaji in the future, as long as Yuwenhuaji dies, you You must give me the remaining 20%!"
It was Li Mi's turn to make calculations. After a while, Li Mi said: "Twenty percent, you send someone to Luokou warehouse to transport the grain yourself, and you will bear the cost of the journey. Besides, you have to give me 30,000 bolts of cloth!"
"I can give you 30,000 pieces of cloth, but you have to exchange 30,000 shi of grain." Wang Shichong replied calmly.
"make a deal!"
Li Mi readily agreed, and Wang Shichong turned his anger into joy. He hurriedly negotiated with Li Mi on details such as the exchange date and grain storage statistics. At the same time, he also agreed to return to Luocheng as the boundary and divide the territory of Henan County. After a lot of concessions, he reached an agreement with Wang Shichong, and at the same time very generously agreed that the self-armed army would be responsible for stationing Heyangdu to prevent Hua and his brother from going south again, and successfully completed the post-war negotiations that almost turned their faces into war. However, when the two parties bid farewell to each other, Li Mi added casually, saying: "Duke Zheng, Chen Yingliang is your son-in-law. If he sends an envoy to reconcile the old relationship with you, or someone under your subordinates proposes to reconcile the old relationship with Chen Yingliang, I don't know you." Will you accept it?"
"No wonder you promised to give me 20% of the food. It turned out that you were afraid that I would be completely driven to Chen Yingliang's side." Wang Shichong suddenly realized, and said with a smile: "Of course not. Don't worry, Duke Wei. If you keep your word, this old man will not go back on his word." Repent."
"That's good." Li Mi nodded in satisfaction, then smiled and said: "Dong Zheng, don't blame me for not reminding you, Chen Yingliang embraces the dangers of mountains and rivers, and has the ambition of the world. If you are willing to live under others, Mr. Zheng, you may still be friendly with him." But Zheng Gong, if you want to become a rival with him, I am afraid that your son-in-law will never tolerate you. Regarding this, please don’t forget Zheng Gong.”
"Of course, Wei Gong pointed out, I will never forget." Wang Shichong thanked with a smile, but he thought in his heart: "Get the food first, and when the food arrives, I will immediately send someone Chen Yingliang to contact, as long as he Promise to break ground with the old man and see how the old man deal with you!"
After Li Mi returned to Daying, his decision was naturally strongly opposed by his confidants, who felt that Li Mi should not agree to give Wang Shichong 20% of the grain first, but should use the excuse that Yu Wenhuaji had not been completely wiped out and not give Wang Shichong a single grain. Li Mi replied helplessly: "Of course I don't want to give Wang Shichong a grain or horse grass, but I can't help it. If I don't give out 20% of the grain to stabilize Wang Shichong, this man will definitely fall to Chen Yingliang's traitor immediately, and Chen Yingliang's traitor will also fall in love with him." He will definitely send troops and supplies to help him attack us immediately, how can we resist when we are already seriously injured?"
"But we gave the food to Wang Shichong, what should we do if that shameless man turned to Chen Yingliang?" Chai Xiaohe reminded: "Wang Shichong can definitely do such a thing!"
"I believe he can do it, but he and the traitor Chen Yingliang are not fools." Li Mi replied: "The little thief Chen Yingliang will definitely drive away tigers and eat wolves, and deliberately support Wang Shichong to attack us. Wang Shichong must also weigh it and fight us. As a result of losing both sides, even if we make false claims with the traitor Chen Yingliang, he will definitely not really fight us hard. In this way, we will buy crucial time."
"Wei Gong, what are we buying time for?" Yu Wenwen asked curiously.
"Of course it is to reorganize the army and expand the army." Li Mi replied with a smile: "Our rear is the Central China Plain, with a vast land and many counties and counties. The source of 100,000 troops, replenishment and expansion of the army are quite easy, as long as we give us a little time, it will be easy to rebuild an army of 200,000 to 300,000. Does Wang Shichong have this advantage of ours?"
"No." Chai Xiaohe came to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Wang Shichong is surrounded by enemies on all sides. There is only one city in the east, and the source of troops is quite limited. One soldier dies and one less. If the stalemate continues, he is destined to be no match for us. Wei Gong Sacrifice 20% of the grain to temporarily stabilize him and prevent him from jumping over the wall. With Chen Yingliang's support, we will fight with us, and then we will take the opportunity to expand our army and prepare for war. Don't say that Wang Shichong is not destined to be our opponent. hope!"
Only then did the civil and military members of Li Mi's army suddenly understand, and they all praised Li Mi for his foresight and foresight, for his strategic planning and decisive victory thousands of miles away. Li Mi shook his head with self-knowledge, and said with a wry smile: "Masters, there is no need to flatter me. I was forced to do this because I had no choice. And I can be sure that I can see this, and the traitor Chen Yingliang can also see it." Up to this point, whether he can give us time and opportunity to make a comeback is still a matter of opinion.”
After a bitter smile, Li Mi ordered casually: "Go and bring the envoy Ren Yu who took the initiative to defect to our Li family in Taiyuan. I want to discuss with him the important matter of forming an alliance with the Li family in Taiyuan."
"Wei Gong, why did you conclude an alliance with the Li family in Taiyuan?" Xuance, the king of the Confidential Record Office, rarely asked, and asked doubtfully: "The brothers of the Li family were beaten by Chen Yingliang and have already gone to Taiyuan to live on their last days. They are thousands of miles away from us. Signing a covenant with them is useless, isn't it?"
"Who says it's useless?" Li Mi said with a smile: "Take advantage of the opportunity of signing a covenant with the Li family brothers, and take the opportunity to lure Chen Yingliang's traitors to send troops to Taiyuan first to conquer the Li family brothers. Then wouldn't we be able to buy time to make a comeback without worrying about Chen Yingliang's traitors? Send out the main force to attack us first?"