In the first battle of the main force, only a small part of the elite force was used, and the geographically important small town of Yueyang was successfully captured, and the reinforcements sent by Dou Jiande were severely damaged and driven away. After the victory, the Sui army camp naturally burst into cheers, and more and more sycophants in the Sui army once again flocked to Chen Sangliang to flatter and flatter him, saying that the Sui army was so sharp, His Royal Highness His leadership is so wise, it is definitely easier to take down Queshu Valley and break through Taiyuan City to destroy the Li family brothers than to eat and drink. Master Yining, bathed in the radiance of His Highness the Tang Dynasty, will always be invincible and invincible gram.
It's a pity that all the sycophants of the Sui Army slapped their ass on the horse's legs this time. Chen Sangliang not only didn't appreciate it, but also waved his hand to interrupt the flattery of all the sycophants. The small town and the surrounding terrain are not dangerous enough, so it is of course very easy to break through and take it. But Quemogu Valley is different, there is the real difficulty, and our real test is just the beginning."
The sycophants of the Sui army who were gagged once thought that Chen Sangliang deliberately put a cold butt against their hot faces, but two days later, when Chen Sangliang brought them and the main force of the Sui army to Huoyi, they came to Que At the entrance of the Rat Valley, these Sui soldiers who had never been to the Rat Valley realized that Chen Sangliang's words were by no means modest, and that the real test of the Sui Army's main force was indeed just the beginning. I finally understood why Liu Heikai, the former commander of the Sui Army's partial division, fought a tug-of-war with the Taiyuan Army in the Queshu Valley with huge casualties, and refused to give the Taiyuan Army a chance to build fortifications in the Queshu Valley. Why, after suffering so many seemingly unnecessary casualties, not only did Chen Sangliang not feel dissatisfied with him at all, on the contrary, he trusted and loved him even more.
The reason is that the terrain of Queshu Valley is too steep. It is surrounded by two mountains, Taiyue and Luliang. The cliffs are as high as tens of feet. Even if hundreds of enemies seize the high ground on both sides and block the road condescendingly, it will be enough to block the advance of the 70,000 main force of the Sui army. It can definitely be said that a fortress guards the pass, and no one can open it. The Sui army does not know how much it will cost to take down the blocking position of the Taiyuan army.
When it was time to actually enter the Queshu Valley, the further you went to the depths of the Queshu Valley, the more civil and military soldiers of the Sui Army who came here for the first time realized how difficult and painful Liu Heitai's fight was before, and the more grateful he was to the Sui Army in Hedong The sacrifices and efforts made by the soldiers to contain the Taiyuan Army before were even more fortunate that the Sui Army's vanguard was able to win Lingshi City and control most of the Queshu Valley first. Otherwise, even the most optimistic Sui Army civil and military officials would not dare to guarantee their own army How much time would it take to break through the Queshu Valley heavily guarded by the Taiyuan Army, and I dare not guarantee that the main force of our own army will be able to break through the Queshu Valley.
Having walked back and forth in Queshu Valley once, Chen Sangliang certainly knows how important the hard work of Liu Heitai, Cheng Yaojin and others is, and he is also more grateful for the miracles they created before for the opportunity won by the army. So after leading the main force to the Lingshi Basin, the only suitable place to station the main force in Queshu Valley, when Cheng Yaojin, Liu Heitai, and Wang Fubao, who was lying on a stretcher, came up to meet Chen Sangliang, Chen Sangliang was the first to greet Chen Sangliang. They clasped their fists and bowed, and said sincerely, "Everyone, I have worked hard for you."
Liu Heitai, Cheng Yaojin, Xue Renguo and others were frightened by Chen Sangliang's actions and quickly knelt down on one knee to return the salute. Wang Fubao, who was carried in front of Chen Sangliang, was also struggling to return the salute. Chen Sangliang hurriedly held him down. , patted his hand to let him lie down, and helped Liu Heita, Cheng Yaojin, and Xue Renguo one by one, and loudly conferred Cheng Yaojin, Xue Renguo, and Wang Fubao as county magistrates, and Liu Heita As the Duke of the county, he gave Wang Fubao iron coupons to save him from death twice except for treason. Cheng Yaojin, Liu Heitai, and Xue Renguo hurriedly thanked them respectfully, but Wang Fubao, who was not good at being a man, carefully reminded: "Your Highness, there are soldiers under the command of the last general, they work harder."
"It's no wonder that this guy is so hated under Dou Jiande's command, and he really can't be a human being."
While all the civil and military men of the Sui Army were muttering quietly, Chen Sangliang smiled slightly and said: "Of course, how can I forget the hard work of all the soldiers? According to the decree of Wang Jun, Cheng Zhijie and Xue Renguo's soldiers who have made meritorious service will be given double rewards and pensions." , Liu Heitai and Wang Fubao's meritorious service officers and men will be doubled in rewards and pensions! Those who deserve official rewards will be awarded a higher rank!"
Only then did Wang Fubao thank you respectfully. The soldiers of the Sui Army who worked so hard to contain the Taiyuan Army and captured Lingshi City were also cheering like thunder. They kowtowed to Chen Sangliang and thanked Chen Sangliang. , You don’t need to thank this king, you deserve it!” The soldiers of the Sui army kowtowed again, but they still thanked Chen Sangliang again.
The act of buying the hearts of the soldiers was over, and at the same time that he carefully set up camp on the Dusuoyuan Highlands, Chen Sangliang held a military meeting in the big tent of the Chinese Army. Yao Jin and the others learned about the recent situation of the Taiyuan Army, and they also discussed how to break through the northern section of Queshu Valley and enter the hinterland of Xihe County.
After the meeting started, Liu Heitai and Cheng Yaojin jointly presented Chen Sangliang with the latest deployment map of the Taiyuan Army, so that Chen Sangliang and the main generals of the Sui Army could understand the general deployment of the Taiyuan Army's troops. The others explained: "Your Highness, Li Jiancheng, the commander-in-chief of the thief, led the retreat to Jiexiu long before the Lingshi battle started, and he kept repairing and strengthening various fortifications day and night. He built three fortifications within fifteen miles south of Lengquan Pass. There are four fortresses, all of which are located on dangerous cliffs, with more than two hundred soldiers per school, and a large number of rolling stones and fallen trees are prepared, so they can attack our army from a high position at any time, and it is extremely difficult to break through."
"In addition, Li Jiancheng also spent a lot of effort to strengthen the Lengquan Pass at the exit of the valley road." Liu Heita continued: "The wall of the Lengquan Pass has been thickened by more than seven feet. At present, it is at least one and a half feet thick. It is about five feet taller, and currently it is two feet three feet tall. Eight archery towers were built behind the wall, and the towers are three feet high, which can cover our roads for attacking key points, and can also accurately shoot our soldiers climbing the city during the ants-attached battle. The threat of our ant-attached warfare is very great. The guard trench was dug to a depth of one and a half feet and a width of two feet, and a wall of sheep and horses was built behind the ditch, with dense antlers, making it extremely difficult to break through."
"There are also winch crossbows (bed crossbows) and trebuchets." Cheng Yaojin added on the side: "Our scouts ventured up to the high ground to peek inside the pass, and found that the bandits had prepared a large number of winch crossbows on the pass wall, about two in number. There are ten trebuchets, and there are more than thirty trebuchets on the highlands on both sides of the pass and outside the pass.”
Lengquanguan is the northern exit of Queshu Valley, and its importance is still higher than Jiexiu City, where the Taiyuan army garrisoned grain. Li Jiancheng will definitely build Lengquanguan into a copper wall and iron wall, which was already expected by Chen Sangliang. The reports of Hei Kai, Cheng Yaojin and others were naturally not surprising. After nodding, Chen Sangliang asked again: "How is the situation in Jiexiu City?"
Liu Heikai and Cheng Yaojin looked a little embarrassed, and they hurriedly pleaded guilty to Chen Sangliang: "Your Highness, forgive me, the Taiyuan bandits have sealed off the cold spring pass and the surrounding roads, and our scouts have no way to cross the cold spring. Guan inspected the situation in Jiexiu, so the general and others knew very little about the situation in Jiexiu, only that the rebel army recruited a large number of civilians to strengthen the city defenses, and also built a large camp in the northeast of Jiexiu City to garrison the main force."
"It's okay. It's a normal reaction for the bandits to block roads, big and small. It's not surprising that you can't find out the specific situation." Chen Sangliang waved his hand without hesitation, and said confidently: "When we break through the Cold Spring Pass, the soldiers will enter Jiexiu. Under the castle, what... huh? Wait."
Speaking of this, Chen Sangliang suddenly noticed something strange, and quickly pointed to a place on the map presented by Liu Heitai and Cheng Yaojin and asked: "Is this marked wrong? What is the main force of the Taiyuan bandit army?" Set up a camp in the northeast corner of Jiexiu City?"
Cheng Yaojin and Liu Heita looked at the map carefully, and quickly replied: "Your Highness, we marked it wrong. Our scouts saw it from a distance when they climbed to the high ground, and confirmed that the main camp of the bandit army is in the northeast of Jiexiu City."
"Strange? Why did Li Jiancheng place the main camp in this position?" Chen Sangliang recalled, "If I remember correctly, that area is not suitable for the main camp? If nothing else, at least it should be easy to get water. Trouble, you have to go across Jiexiu City to get water from Fen River in the west? How could he not consider this with his abilities?"
"It's very strange." Li Jing also said: "Although Jiexiu City is only eight miles away from Lengquanguan, this distance is enough to accommodate his main army, which is less than 30,000, yet Li Jiancheng stationed the army in the north of Jiexiu. , It is a bit unreasonable to lengthen the distance of troops by oneself. Generally speaking, military strategists will not make such mistakes unless they have other purposes."
When he found something suspicious, Chen Sangliang couldn't think of the purpose of Li Jiancheng's arrangement for a while, and while he was racking his brains, Yuan Tiangang volunteered and said: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will go to survey the terrain for you in person. Make a sand table to let you know the direction of the mountains and water flow in the northern part of the Queshu Valley. Then His Highness will surely understand the purpose of the bandit army's abnormal camp. In addition, the lower officer will also observe and measure the situation of the bandit army's blocking fortress to see if it can be used The artillery attacked the bandit fortress."
Everyone knows how much Yuan Tiangang has in this area. Chen Sangliang would naturally not refuse after hearing this, and immediately arranged for Qiu Xinggong to lead an army to protect Yuan Tiangang to go to the north to explore the road terrain in person, and also told Yuan Tiangang to pay attention to finding an army to tackle key problems for him. Yuan Tiangang promised to build the camp, and Chen Sangliang also commanded the whole army to step up the camp without mentioning it.
The distance from Lingshi to Lengquanguan is about 60 miles, and from Jiexiu to Jiexiu is about 70 miles. The survey is quite time-consuming, so after Yuan Tiangang set off in the early morning of the next day, he did not return to Lingshi until the evening of the third day. After the meeting, Yuan Tiangang still looked a little downcast, and said to Chen Sangliang: "Your Highness, the bandit army is also a master of geography. I have carefully surveyed the terrain and found that among the three fortresses of the bandit army, except for the second one, it is possible to be destroyed by us." The army artillery hit the outside, and the rest of the first and third forts were too high to be hit by our artillery. In addition, the bandits blocked the northern section of the Queshu Valley tightly. The army found out and was forced to retreat, and failed to climb up to explore the situation in Jiexiu."
"It's okay, take your time, anyway, we still have plenty of time." Chen Sangliang comforted Yuan Tiangang, and then asked Qiu Xinggong who was protecting Yuan Tiangang from exploring the terrain: "Xinggong, you are good at fighting in the mountains, in your opinion , Is it possible for our army to attack and take down the three fortresses outside the bandit army?"
"Your Highness, it's possible, but the cost is definitely not small, and the time-consuming will inevitably continue." Qiu Xinggong replied truthfully: "Although the three forts of the bandit army are located on high ground, they are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but after all, there are not many troops. If there is no rescue and replenishment, as long as our army makes a forcible attack at any cost, we can still take it with confidence."
"Then how about entrusting this task to you?" Chen Sangliang asked again, and said, "You go to the camp and select 1,000 soldiers who are proficient in mountain warfare to take charge of these three fortresses, and I will let Liu Shishan lead 5,000 troops to cover them." how are you?"
Qiu Xinggong accepted the order without hesitation. Chen Sangliang was overjoyed, and immediately ordered Qiu Xinggong and Liu Shishan to lead the army to fight, and specially equipped Qiu Xinggong with 120 catties of gunpowder and 200 gunpowder bottles, so that he could fight against the difficulties. Sufficient firearms are available at all times. However, the progress of Qiu Xinggong and Liu Shishan's joint attack on the fortress was slower than Chen Sangliang expected. It took two full days before Qiu Xinggong sent someone to send a good news, saying that he had finally broken the Taiyuan The first fort on the outskirts of the Sui army, but the soldiers of the Sui army killed more than 200 people in the battle to attack the fort, and the loss was not small.
Chen Sangliang, who knew well that tough battles were difficult, was considerate of Qiu Xinggong and Liu Shishan's difficulties, and gave them time with full patience. However, the Taiyuan Army also learned the lesson of the fall of the first fort, and the Sui army went to attack the second fort. During the fort, the soldiers of the Sui Army not only encountered more fierce resistance, but the Taiyuan Army also sent reinforcements to harass and destroy the fort. They fought fiercely with the covering army led by Liu Shishan in the narrow valley road twice, and helped the second fort twice. After repelling Qiu Xinggong's strong attack, Qiu Xinggong personally led fifty warriors at night to climb to the top from the steep mountain, and took the second fort of the Taiyuan Army after hard work. At the same time, Qiu Xinggong himself was seriously injured in the fierce battle, and was forced to replace Liu Shishan in charge of attacking the third fort of the Taiyuan Army.
The further you go, the more difficult it is. The third fort of the Taiyuan Army is only five miles away from Lengquanguan. Every time the Sui army attacks, they have to guard against the Taiyuan Army's assistance, and they have to face more dangerous terrain and more vigilant Taiyuan Army soldiers. Four times They failed to win by force and sneak attack. On the contrary, more than 350 people were lost—all of them were elite soldiers. In the end, relying on Liu Shishan's quick wit, he saw the small weakness of the Taiyuan Army's third fort on the top of the mountain, cut down a large amount of wood and lit a fire under the cliff, covering the enemy's fort with thick smoke for a whole day and two nights. The Taiyuan army, who could not bear the smog and fire, abandoned the forts and fled. However, the three forts were knocked down one by one. The Sui army paid the price of more than 1,600 soldiers sacrificed, and it took nine days.
There are only three guards in a small fort with more than 200 people. Liu Shishan and Qiu Xinggong led 6,000 troops, but it took so long to pay such a high price. In the end, all the defenders of the third fort escaped. The army's battle can definitely be said to be very embarrassing and failed. But in the face of such a result, Chen Sangliang did not criticize Liu Shishan and Qiu Xinggong in a single word, and none of the civil and military personnel of the Sui Army complained about the ineffectiveness of the second general Liu Qiu. Wang Fubao's surprise attack was successful, otherwise, the main force of the Sui army might not even be able to see Lingshi City.
The real test of the Sui army is just the beginning. After the three small highland forts are captured, there will be the more difficult and difficult cold spring pass. The main force of the Sui army went northward, but there was no place to set up a camp, so Chen Sangliang could only continue to lead the main force to station in the Lingshi Basin, and sent another general to lead an army northward to attack Lengquanguan. But fortunately, Chen Sangliang also has a cousin Li Jing who is more reliable than him in fighting. Li Jing, who is good at fighting tough battles, also wants to use the heavily fortified Lengquan Pass of the Taiyuan Army as a stepping stone, and volunteers to lead an army of 15,000 Qianbei went up to take charge of attacking Lengquan Pass, Chen Sangliang agreed, and also sent Yuan Tiangang and the Artillery Team to help Li Jing.
In the evening of the next day, Li Jing led his army to the vicinity of Lengquanguan and joined Liu Shishan's army who had come here first. Due to the terrain, he was forced to divide the army into two and set up camps in two open places. The Taiyuan army also knew that the battle of Lengquanguan was coming. The two high grounds at Guanqiang and Lengquanguan were brightly lit with bonfires, and the patrols under Guanxia kept going back and forth with torches, and there were so many bright and dark sentries that there was no chance for the Sui army to take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Li Jing, who really had this plan, saw that the enemy was prepared, so he gave up this plan with great regret.
In the morning of the next day, while ordering the troops to set up camp, Li Jing and Yuan Tiangang, with the help of the ropes of the Sui soldiers, both climbed to the commanding heights on the east side of the camp. Jiexiu city situation. However, looking towards the direction of Jiexiu in the north, the faces of Li Jing, the chief soldier of the world, and Yuan Tiangang, the chief geography expert of the time, changed at the same time, and then carefully looked at the situation of the main camp of the Taiyuan Army, which was vaguely visible. Li Jing and Yuan Tiangang They looked at each other first, and then said in unison: "No wonder Li Jiancheng wants to station troops in the northeast of Jiexiu, away from the water intake point, there is a high ground! He is also planning to attack with water!"
"It's okay!" Yuan Tiangang patted his chest happily again, and said: "The flood season in Fenshui is July, and today is May 25th. There is still a full month before the flood season, and we still have time. But... , but isn’t it right?”
Talking to himself that he was lucky to be here, Yuan Tiangang suddenly remembered an important event, and hurriedly said: "No! Back then, when I followed His Highness to King Qin of Yanmen, I walked through this road and came out of the Queshu Valley along the Fenshui River. Going north is not far from Zehu Lake, and the terrain has become flat, and there is no terrain or space for building a dam to store water in Fenshui, so the Taiyuan bandits can't flood our army with Fenshui no matter what!"
"Wenshui (Wenyu River)!" Li Jing said firmly: "There is no flood storage land in the upper reaches of Queshu Valley, but Wenshui does! Although Wenshui's water volume is not as high as Fenshui's, as long as it stores enough water, it can at least destroy floodwaters." The way we marched made it difficult to transport our food and grass, and slowed down our marching speed. In the flood season of July, Wenshui is far more likely to flood than Fenshui. If the Taiyuan bandits are a little bit lucky, they will flood our army The main force is not hopeless!"
"That's right, there are more records of Wenshui flooding in the "Shui Zhu Jing" than Fenshui." Yuan Tiangang nodded in agreement, and said: "This matter must be reported to His Highness immediately, and he should be prepared .”
Li Jing nodded, and replied: "We must report this matter to His Highness immediately, and we must take Lengquan Pass as soon as possible, and go to the upper reaches of Wenshui to prevent the bandits from storing water. But how can we take Lengquan Pass quickly?"
How Li Jing quickly took down Lengquan and Guan Man said, just to say that after receiving Li Jing and Yuan Tiangang's Pegasus report, Chen Sangliang was also so angry that he threw the table up and kicked the case in front of him into the air. Chen Sangliang roared like thunder again: "Li Jiancheng! Idiot! I can't bear to flood you as soon as I hit Taiyuan, but you still want to drown me first! Since you are unkind first, don't blame me for being unrighteous." Finally! When I get to Taiyuan, let's see how I can build Fenhe Park in advance!"
"Fortunately, Li Shangshu and Yuan Shangshu detected the treacherous plot of the bandit army in time, otherwise our army would be in danger!" Feng Deyi, a famous sycophant who had recently joined Chen Sangliang's command, also patted his chest thankfully, and then hurriedly said: "Your Highness, since the bandit army survived If there is a water attack plan, should our army move the camp to a higher place, just in case?"
"That's unnecessary." Chen Sangliang shook his head, and said casually: "The Dusuo where our army set up camp was originally a highland, but there is no need to worry about the sudden flood of Wenshui that needs to be injected into the Fenshui River. Even if the army releases water suddenly, at most it will only wet the low-lying roads in the Queshu Valley, making it more difficult for our food and grass to be transported, and it will not threaten the safety of our army."
"That's good." Feng Deyi breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, since we don't have to worry about the water attack of the bandit army for the time being, then we should quickly take down the Cold Spring Pass and break through the Cold Spring Pass. Send troops to the upper reaches of Wenshui River to stop the bandits from building dams, and you don’t have to worry about the danger of mountain torrents when the flood season comes.”
"Lengquanguan is not that easy to take." Chen Sangliang shook his head, pointing to Li Jing and Yuan Tiangang who had been kicked to the ground by him, and said: "In the pond newspaper my cousin gave me, in addition to reminding me to beware of thieves In addition to the attack, he also attached a map of the fortifications of the bandit army at Lengquan Pass, but he did not mention how he attacked Lengquan Pass, which is enough to show that Lengquan Pass is strong and difficult to attack, and he was not sure that he would capture Lengquan Pass within the time limit. I am not good at tough battles, he is not sure, and I am even less sure."
Feng Deyi, a sycophant who is ranked number one in the world, quickly objected, saying that Chen Sangliang was too modest, and that His Royal Highness the King of Tang was invincible in all battles, and he had gone through hundreds of battles without losing a single one. How could he not be good at fighting? Tough battle? Chen Sangliang, who was in a bad mood, didn't bother to pay attention to Feng Deyi's flattery. He just continued to grit his teeth, and said very decisively: "This must be Li Erlang's plan! Li Jiancheng and I are close friends. He is kind-hearted, it is impossible Will come up with such a vicious scheme! Only Li Erlang, only Li Erlang has such a vicious heart!"
(Li Er: "..., why is it my turn to be more wronged than Dou E?!")
Of course, Chen Sangliang didn't know that he wronged Emperor Li Er this time. Under the secret hatred, Chen Sangliang suddenly had such a vicious idea in his head full of bad water, and secretly said: "The bandit army strictly sealed off the big and small roads, basically It can be guaranteed that the scouts of our army will not be able to find out that they are building a dam in the upper reaches of Wenshui River, and we will never expect that we can guess that they are going to attack with water based on the location of their camp! Can this point be used?"
The triangular eyes turned around and calculated for a moment, then Chen Sangliang said in a deep voice, "Voga, pick up the pen and write the book for me."
Sun Fujia promised, immediately laid out the letter paper and picked up the pen, and when he asked what to write, Chen Sangliang changed his mind, shook his head and said to himself: "No, I can't come forward in person. My reputation is a bit stinky, once my letter reaches the enemy's hands, the enemy will immediately understand that this is my strategy."
Sun Fujia and Feng Deyi rolled their eyes a little, and they all said that His Royal Highness Tang Wang, you are still a little bit self-aware, and your reputation in cheating, deceitful, and enemies is not only a bit stinky? It's just like wind and stink!
Feng Deyi was muttering quietly, but Chen Sangliang turned his gaze to him again, and said with a smile: "Feng Neishi, if I remember correctly, you have always had a good relationship with Li Yuan's family, how is it? Can you do me a favor? You can help me get in touch with Li Erlang?"