Wang Fubao's loyalty to his post also indirectly helped the Li family brothers who were far away on the Huoyi battlefield. In fact, long before the Li family brothers learned that the main force of the Sui army had formally dispatched troops, the Sui army's Jiangjun garrison under the jurisdiction of Liu Heitai After a while, the news was already sent to Linfen and Huoyi cities with carrier pigeons. Liu Heitai, who was sure that the Li brothers would hurry up and run away, also immediately sent people to closely monitor every move of the main force of the Taiyuan army, and only waited for the main force of the Taiyuan army to retreat. , immediately sent troops to counterattack and hunt down.
In addition, the Yin Kaishan Division of the Taiyuan Army, which was still on the Linfen battlefield at that time, was also regarded by Liu Heitai as the fat on his lips, thinking that even if the main force of the Taiyuan Army could not be hit hard in the counterattack, he could still rely on Linfen With the help of all parties, they attacked back and forth, severely injuring and even annihilating Yin Kaishan's troops.
Wang Fubao's shit-stirring stick completely messed up Liu Heikai's planned plan. He discovered that Wang Fubao was going south to attack Taiping Pass. In order to ensure the unimpeded passage of the main force going north, Uncle Cao and Yin Kaishan just fled with their tails between their legs. The Linfen Sui Army chose to give priority to rescue At Taiping Pass, I was trying to get rid of Wang Fubao who must have had no time to attack the pass first, and then go north to chase Yin Kaishan, no matter what. Who ever thought that Wang Fubao could not do well in the officialdom, but he was a rare master in the battlefield. It took only one night to win the Taiping Pass. Qin Qiong was still one step too late, watching Wang Fubao stationed in Taiping Pass. It lived on the official road where the main force of the Sui army marched northward.
Qin Qiong, who was furious, immediately set about counterattacking Taiping Pass. At the same time, Yin Kaishan also ran back to Huoyi with the partial division of the Taiyuan Army. On the city wall, he saw that the partial division of the Taiyuan Army had a complete formation, and the scouts confirmed that no Sui army was chasing troops , Liu Heita, who was quite familiar with Qin Qiong, was inevitably puzzled, "What happened, where did our pursuers go? How could Qin Qiong miss such a good opportunity to hunt down?"
When Liu Heikai was puzzled, the relieved Li brothers immediately started to retreat back to Queshu Valley. Yin Kaishan, who had marched more than a hundred miles in a hurry, was the first to retreat into Queshu Valley. Li Jiancheng led the main force of the Chinese army. Escorting grain, grass, and military supplies followed closely behind, while Li Er and Duan Lun were in the rear. After evacuating the camp, Liu Heitai led his army out of the city and fought with Li Er and Duan Lun at the intersection of Queshu Valley.
Insufficient in strength, Liu Heitai was naturally unable to completely defeat the rear army led by Li Er. No matter how bravely the soldiers of the Sui army fought, they were still unable to break through the interception formation of Li Er's army, let alone catch up with the main force of the Taiyuan army. Yin Kaishan and Li Jiancheng The Central Army of the former Taiyuan Army took the opportunity to retreat into the depths of the Queshu Valley, and also seized the favorable terrain, condescending to meet the rear army. Li Er and Duan Lun led the rear army and fought while retreating, slowly retreating into the valley. Liu Heita failed to succeed in several surprise attacks, and was afraid of being ambushed by the enemy in the narrow valley road, so he did not dare to take too much risk and advance lightly. After chasing into the valley for more than ten miles, he was forced to slow down his pace, and changed his full-strength attack to slowly advance. He watched Li Er lead the Taiyuan rear army away with a grinning grin, hating his teeth but being helpless.
It was also when the pursuit battle was forced to end that Liu Heikai found out the reason why Qin Qiong failed to send troops northward in time through Kuaima Jibao. Someone sent a letter to Qin Qiong, asking Qin Qiong, who was not his subordinate, to kill Wang Fubao as soon as possible and take back Taiping Pass, so that he could mobilize Linfen troops to go north to help in the battle and destroy the Taiyuan Army's plan to build a defensive position in Queshu Valley.
In fact, Qin Qiong, who hated Wang Fubao so much that he hated Wang Fubao, had already launched a fierce attack on Taiping Pass without Liu Heitai's request. However, Qin Qiong was shocked and helpless. In the case of fortifications, Wang Fubao's army of less than 2,000 people not only repelled the multiple onslaughts of the 6,000 Sui army, but also caused the Sui army to pay a considerable price in casualties.
In the setting sun, the generals and soldiers of the Sui army carrying the simple flying ladder are like waves, one wave higher than the other, one wave after another, beating on the small Taiping Pass one after another. Standing still.
Arrows flew in the sky like locusts, and on the ground, the soldiers of the Sui army, with heads like ants, rushed up to the low Taipingguan city one after another. , under the command of Wang Fubao, calmly faced the battle, using knives, guns, arrows and crossbows, rolling stones and trees, fists, feet and teeth, repelled the attacks of the Sui army soldiers one after another. Everywhere. The tenacity and bravery of the generals of the Dou army made Qin Qiong, who had experienced many battles, secretly terrified, and said more than once: "Fortunately, Wang Fubao has only such a small force under his command, otherwise, I am afraid I would not dare to launch an attack."
When it was completely dark, Qin Qiong, who had always been helpless at Taiping Xiaoguan, was forced to order Mingjin, learned a lesson and dared not underestimate the enemy, and immediately began to prepare a large number of siege weapons. The people were all soldiers from the Taiyuan Army sent by the Li brothers to perfunctory their fathers. At the same time, the statistics of casualties after the war also shocked Qin Qiong again. In the battle of more than two hours, the generals of the Sui Army actually killed nearly 400 people and injured more than 600 people. After regretting, Qin Qiong dared not fight again Taking the risk of attacking the fortress with insufficient preparation, I decided to spend a day building sufficient siege weapons first.
The Sui army suffered heavy casualties, and Wang Fubao's side was not as small as that. In the battle of defending the pass, more than 260 soldiers of the Dou army, who had a small geographical advantage, were killed in battle, and more than 300 were slightly or seriously injured, excluding the seriously wounded who could no longer go to the battlefield. , Coupled with the casualties in the key battle, Wang Fubao, who was also injured, actually had less than 1,400 soldiers in his hands. What's worse, because most of the food, grass and military supplies hadn't had time to be transported into the pass, the soldiers of the Dou army were seriously short of arrows, and more than 40% of the army's feather arrows were used up on the first day.
Regarding this situation, although the generals of the Dou army did not say anything, everyone was worried, knowing that the army would never be able to survive the remaining eight days, but Wang Fubao dragged his wounded body and insisted on patrolling the defense, talking and laughing as usual, Constantly encourage the soldiers under his command to resist bravely, and promise to find a way to let the soldiers of the self army survive as much as possible to go back to reunite with their families.
The next day, on April 25th in the third year of Yining, Qin Qiong's army, who was determined to prepare enough siege weapons to attack the key point, did not launch an attack. While the generals of the Dou army were relieved, Wang Fubao was also quietly relieved, but Wang Fubao was also very upset. It is clear that Qin Qiong's temporary patience must be to prepare for a larger-scale attack. Even if the self-armed army can defend the next offensive and defensive battle, it will definitely be basically defeated, and it will no longer be able to stop the attack from the main force of the Sui army. Therefore, while Wang Fubao told the soldiers under his command to seize the time to rest, he quietly turned his attention to Taiping County in the southeast, wondering if he could launch another surprise attack and take down Taiping County, so as not to have the slightest chance to fight back in front of the main force of the Sui army. force.
The vanguard army of the Sui army who arrived ahead of schedule shattered Wang Fubao's sweet dream. In the afternoon, 10,000 Sui army vanguards led by Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo rushed to Taiping Pass and joined forces with Qin Qiong's army to completely surround Taiping Pass. The soldiers of the Sui army in the south and north of the pass were cheering and roaring endlessly, but the soldiers of the Dou army were pale on the wall and inside the pass. Even a joint attack by the army has become a big problem.
The brave Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo also made the mistake of underestimating the enemy. Knowing that there are not many defenders in Guanzhong, and seeing that the Taiping Pass is low and lacks fortification protection, Xue Renguo, who played for the first time after surrendering, immediately asked for orders to launch an attack. Although Yaojin knew that he was exhausted from the army and needed some time to rest, he couldn't stand Xue Renguo's repeated pleas, and wanted to see for himself what kind of guy Wang Fubao was who had defeated his friend Qin Qiong several times, so he agreed that Xue Renguo would lead an army of three thousand to attack Taiping close.
Xue Renguo, known as the enemy of thousands of people, soon found that he underestimated Wang Fubao. Relying on some flying ladders provided by the original Taiping Pass defenders, Xue Renguo led the Sui army soldiers to successfully rush to Taiping Pass in the first charge. On the top of the wall, before the soldiers of the Sui Army could cheer, the generals of the Dou Army, who deliberately showed weakness, had already launched a full-scale counterattack, smashing with knives, axes and hammers, sweeping all the soldiers of the Sui Army off the wall like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, and at the same time Arrows and crossbows were fired at the wall, and wood and rocks rolled wildly, causing the soldiers of the Sui army below the wall to cry and howl, and the soldiers of the Sui army who were too close to the wall fell to the ground.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Xue Renguo reorganized his formation a little bit, and launched a second attack before sunset, but the result was worse than the first attack. Under the closed wall, they were hit head-on by the stone falling from the horse, and there were fewer soldiers who could rush to the closed wall, and they were still unable to attack the top of the wall after a long period of fierce fighting. Seeing that it was getting dark at last, although Xue Renguo was unwilling to give up, he had already dismounted and prepared to go to the city in person, but Cheng Yaojin personally stopped him and asked Xue Renguo to retreat to let the soldiers rest well, and it would not be too late to take revenge after getting ready.
When Xue Renguo hated to withdraw his troops, a strange thing happened. Although feathered arrows were thrown from the wall immediately to shoot at the soldiers of the Sui army retreating in embarrassment, almost none of the soldiers of the Sui army actually fell to the ground. He was keenly aware of this special situation. When Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo, who were old on the battlefield, were secretly happy, the retreating Sui army soldiers really offered some pole arrows to let Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo know the situation of the Guanzhong defenders.
The pole arrows are feathered arrows made of pole grass shrubs. Although they can barely hurt people after being sharpened and have their own tail feathers, they are cheap and available everywhere, but their power is very pitifully small. Even commoner clothes are difficult to wear, which is the helpless product of the cold weapon army when the ammunition and food are exhausted. So after seeing these pole arrows, Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo immediately concluded that the enemy's feather arrows in the city had been exhausted, and Xue Renguo immediately begged to attack again, Cheng Yaojin nodded in agreement.
Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo soon discovered that they had been fooled by Wang Fubao. When Xue Renguo personally led the army to attack the city, the first arrows shot down on the wall were indeed weak arrows. With another order, hundreds of real feathered arrows densely covered the heads of Xue Renguo's army. Xue Renguo, who took the lead, was hit by the arrow first, and immediately hit three arrows in a row, and almost died on the spot. The soldiers of the Sui army also fell ten times instantly. More than one person, and countless soldiers screamed from the arrows. The ant attack launched by Xue Renguo himself was also easily repelled by Wang Fubao.
When Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo withdrew their troops and returned to the camp dejectedly, the envoys of Qin Qiong's army who had gone down the small road finally came to Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo, and told Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo on behalf of Qin Qiong that although Wang Fubao was an official Idiots, but on the battlefield, they are more slippery than foxes and more ruthless than jackals. I suggest that Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo must not underestimate the enemy and rush to attack. They must be ready before attacking key points, and be careful not to give up in frontal attacks. An opportunity for Wang Fubao to steal and play tricks.
"Then why didn't you say it earlier?" This was Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo's depressed answer, and then Xue Renguo hurriedly asked the military doctor to bandage his wound, while swearing that he would capture Wang Fubao alive, hang him up, pour vinegar into his nose and mouth, Wang Fubao was force-fed to death!
So far, in the face of absolute strength, Wang Fubao's army, which is weak and lacks supplies, can no longer turn up a big storm. On the 26th, Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo, who had learned their lessons, stopped rushing to attack and chose to let the soldiers Resting, Qin Qiong was not in a hurry to attack again while rushing to build various offensive weapons, and waited for Cheng Yaojin's army for a day. It was not until the early morning of the 27th that Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin sent troops together to attack the north and south gates of Taiping Pass at the same time.
Seeing the two Sui armies attacking from the north and south at the same time, Wang Fubao, who had tried his best, also knew that his death was approaching. After quickly arranging the troops on duty at the north and south gates, Wang Fubao stood up and clasped his fists to several of his capable men. , said calmly: "Everyone, our strength has been exhausted. Unless there is a miracle today, we are doomed to be defeated. Thank you for sticking to me over the years, and thank you for being with me for so many years. I have been wronged, Fu Bao has nothing to repay, he can only salute to you and express his heart."
After all, Wang Fubao, whose injuries have not yet healed, knelt down on one knee to the generals, kowtowed his head with difficulty, and Wang Fubao's subordinates present also knelt on the ground, crying everywhere, but Wang Fubao said calmly: "Everyone, although the Chen thief army I don't have the habit of killing prisoners, but we have been defeating the bandit army during this period of time, and we have killed many enemies. The bandit army will inevitably hate us to the bone. Cut off my head and present it in front of the bandit army, if the bandit army is angry, the possibility of killing prisoners will be much smaller."
The cries became louder, and everyone vowed to live and die with Wang Fubao, and some said with tears: "General, we can't hold on today no matter what. Since you know it, why don't you take us to fight with you?" The bandit army surrendered? The bandit general Qin Qiong has come forward to recruit you several times, now you surrender to the bandit army, maybe you can survive?"
Wang Fubao was silent, and it took him a while to reply: "A loyal minister does not matter to two masters. The king treats me with great kindness, and I can't bear him."
"General! You didn't betray the king, it was the king who failed you!" Some subordinates couldn't bear it any longer, crying with tears in their eyes: "Over the years, how much credit have you made for the king, how many cities and lands have you conquered, and how many enemies have you defeated? How did your majesty treat you? He either cut your military power or sent people to monitor him. When did he really confide in you? Cao Dan and Qi Shanxing withheld so many rewards from you. Did your majesty say a word? You did not betray him , He blamed you!"
Everyone agreed, saying that Wang Fubao did not owe Dou Jiande anything, but that Dou Jiande owed Wang Fubao a lot. After hearing this, Wang Fubao was silent, and after a while he said, "The bandit army is coming, let's close the wall."
With a calm face, he led his subordinates who were wiping away their tears to the wall of the south gate of Taiping Pass, where the most enemies had come. The Sui soldiers led by Cheng Yaojin and Xue Renguo had already lined up outside the gate. Hundreds of flying ladders, crashing cars and rushing cars were also lined up in front of the formation. The momentum was like Mount Tai pressing down on the top, making it difficult for the soldiers of Dou Jun who were scarred on the wall to even breathe.
Before the start of the war, Cheng Yaojin sent people to Guanxia with a white flag, promising not to kill the prisoners and asking Wang Fubao to switch to surrender. Wang Fubao replied coldly, "Go back and tell Cheng Yaojin that there is only Wang Fubao who died in battle, and there is no Wang Fubao who surrendered!"
After the Sui Army envoy left with a sneer, the battle drums behind the Sui Army flag formation soon began to beat rhythmically, and a thousand infantry slowly approached Taiping Pass with siege weapons. At the same time, Qin Qiong’s army also came from the north of Taiping Pass. The sound of war drums is obviously already launching an attack on the wall. Seeing this scene, Wang Fubao sighed softly, and said to himself: "Your Majesty, the general will be loyal at last."
Just as Wang Fubao finished speaking, a strange thing suddenly appeared. A group of Sui army cavalry covered in dust and sand suddenly rushed from behind the Sui army formation, rushed to the front of the Sui army formation and shouted loudly, and then the Sui army drums stopped beating soon. At the same time, the generals of the Sui army in the Sui army flag formation rushed to the front of the formation one after another, bowing their heads to one of the group of Sui army cavalrymen. While Wang Fubao and others were surprised, the Sui Army's Central Army suddenly shouted in unison, "Meet Your Highness Tang Wang!"
"His Royal Highness the King of Tang?" Wang Fubao was startled for a moment, then suddenly came back to his senses, and secretly said: "Chen Yingliang has come in person! How is it possible? Considering the distance, his main force should have just crossed the Yellow River?"
The soldiers under Wang Fubao's command were also whispering to each other, and they all felt incredible. How could Chen Sangliang, who was supposed to sit high in the main force, suddenly appear at Taiping Pass? Is it still this embarrassed look
Then, an even more unbelievable thing happened to Wang Fubao and others. The knight who accepted the Sui army's kneeling and worshiping horse came directly towards Taiping Pass, and even trotted directly to the wall of Taiping Pass. The Sui soldier who protected him with a shield showed an ugly young face covered in dust, and shouted at the wall of Taipingguan: "I am Chen Yingliang, king of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, please come out and answer, General Wang Fubao!"
"I'm Wang Fubao." Wang Fubao came out of the crowd, and asked doubtfully to the ugly man in the city: "Are you really Chen Yingliang?"
"That's right." Chen Sangliang nodded, and said loudly, "General Wang, do you know? After I received the news that you were surrounded by our army, I immediately left the main force behind and came to meet you on a fast horse. Hurry up, in a day and two nights, I only rested for less than two hours!"
Looking up and down at Chen Sangliang, who was covered in dust all over his face, Wang Fubao was doubtful, but also extremely curious, and asked even more suspiciously, "You are in such a hurry to go north just to meet me?"
Seeing Chen Sangliang admit it, Wang Fubao couldn't help asking: "Why?"
"Because I don't want you to die, because I want to meet the giant pillar of the Tang Dynasty!" Chen Sangliang replied loudly: "General Wang, you are a pillar, I need your talents and abilities, and I can't bear to let you I died in vain under the swords and guns of our soldiers! That's why I came here in person to tell you how sincere I am in recruiting you!"
Wang Fubao opened his mouth wide, but Chen Sangliang said loudly again: "General Wang, you are a real gentleman, you are Han Xin of Han, and Jizi of Yin! Although Dou Jiande is a decent man, his ears are too soft. A virtuous minister is close to a villain, you are under his command, you are a secret cast of a pearl! Overqualified! Come to my command, there are no shameless villains who are jealous of the virtuous and capable, and there are no despicable rats who frame the loyal, only loyal ministers and righteous men who are utterly daring. Brothers with two ribs! I can guarantee that you can be passed down in the history books under my command, and your name will last forever! Become an unrivaled famous general that the world is vying to pass on!"
Wang Fubao was silent, and after a long time, Wang Fubao asked: "What if I refuse?"
"Seven years ago, when my famous general Kan Leng was surrounded by me, he also asked me this question." Chen Sangliang replied: "At that time, I replied that if he refused, I would let him go. I like Zhongyong. Righteous man, I can let him go once! Then, I gave Kan Leng dry food and medicine! And then, General Kan Leng became my right-hand man!"
"Today, I can answer you in the same way!" Chen Sangliang suddenly raised his voice again, and said loudly: "But General Wang, don't blame me for not reminding you, even if I let you go now, it won't matter if you go back Good end! Those of your colleagues who are sick and jealous, will never miss this opportunity to kill you! Even if you return to Dou Jiande's side, you will still die!"
Wang Fubao lowered his head, and his left and right subordinates didn't say a word, they all silently waited for Wang Fubao's decision. After a long time, Wang Fubao said hoarsely: "Open and close the door, and follow me to surrender to His Royal Highness Tang Wang."