Zhao Jiqing, the 25th son, really sold Jinyong City, and suddenly opened the city gate in the dark to welcome the soldiers of the Sui army to enter the city, but who has no loyal ministers? Wang Deren, who is only surnamed Wang but not a relative of Wang Shichong, is more or less worthy of the word loyalty. He still brought some soldiers of the Zheng Army who were loyal to Wang Shichong to resist desperately. The city gate opened by Zhao Jiqing.
However, Wang Deren and a small number of Zheng Jun's loyal and brave soldiers could not turn the whole battle situation around no matter how hard they struggled, and they fought back to the front door, but it was just a flashback. Seeing the facts proved that Zhao Jiqing's dedication to the city was not a fake, and I was somewhat worried beforehand. Liu Heikai, who was trapped by the enemy, no longer had any worries, and immediately led the main force under his command to charge, and soon regained control of the city gate, and quickly advanced towards the inside of the city. It can't stop the Sui army's soldiers from entering the city in an endless stream.
Jinyong City is a conjoined city composed of three small cities. Seeing that the middle city betrayed by Zhao Jiqing was difficult to protect, Wang Deren once planned to withdraw to the west city and continue to hold on. Unfortunately, the Sui army was as familiar with the situation in Jinyong City as he was. Cao Qingzao, the most powerful thug, detoured and blocked Wang Deren's westward retreat early in the morning. It was too late for Wang Deren to turn west and then turn east. Liu Heita's main force had already blocked his retreat and quickly surrounded him. Hundreds of remnant soldiers rushed left and right and couldn't get away. There were fewer and fewer soldiers around. The injured Wang Deren sighed and had no choice but to kill himself to thank Wang Shichong. It fell into the clutches of Chen Sangliang.
On the second night of the successful capture of Jinyong City, good news came from Heyang. After days of hard work, the Hanoi Division of the Sui Army led by Qin Qiong and Fan Wenchao finally captured the isolated city of Heyang and opened up the relationship with the main force of the Sui Army. Through direct contact, the Sui army's grain ships could go straight to Heyang to provide supplies for the Sui army. General Qiu Huaiyi of the Zheng army who was trapped in the isolated city died in battle, and the deputy general led the defeated soldiers to flee south to Luocheng.
Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately ordered Qin Qiong to divide the partial division into two. One would be led by Qin Qiong to cross the south to force back to Luo, and the other would be led by Fan Wenchao to the east to clear the customs to prevent Dou Jiande from attacking Hanoi. Go to attack Huiluo and share the pressure for Qin Qiong's exhausted army. It turned out that Chen Sangliang's arrangement was a waste of energy. Xi Bian led the remnant Heyang army back to Luocheng for a little more than a day's rest, and then fled to Luokou warehouse. The Sui army's forward had just arrived at the city. At that time, the defenders of Huiluo City, who had only a few hundred people left, immediately surrendered, and Qiu Shili and Qin Qiong successfully joined forces under the city.
After successfully joining forces with Qin Qiong's partial division, the Sui army seemed to be more powerful, but it was hard to know that three consecutive battles were fought in a short period of time. Qin Qiong, who was forced to join the battlefield in Hanoi, and Liu Heikai, who had been confronting the main force of Zheng's army before, were even more exhausted. The soldiers were seriously injured, and they needed time to rest and rest. It was difficult to start again in a short time Large-scale warfare.
But it's not bad. The soldiers of the Sui army were seriously exhausted, and the soldiers of the Zheng army were even more serious. The soldiers suffered more injuries and illnesses, and their physical strength decreased. The battlefield advantage was still firmly in the hands of Chen Sangliang. The tactics of hitting the rabbit also determined that the main force of the Sui army did not have to rush to attack the Luoyang imperial city. Therefore, after discussing with a group of accomplices and staff, Chen Sangliang did not rush to launch the Eastern Expedition to attack Luokoucang and Hulaoguan. Build high forts and build fortifications to encircle the Luoyang imperial city, so that Wang Shichong can be effectively trapped to death after the next step of dividing troops into the east.
It is also cruel to enslave the people. Chen Sangliang's method is undoubtedly much more vicious than Wang Shichong. Taking into account the plight of the people in Luoyang who are short of food and salt, Chen Sangliang not only provides food for the people in corvee, but also promises that everyone will be paid after the construction is completed. Half a catty of salt and three hundred cash as wages coaxed the poor people to happily pick up their hoes and do almost free volunteer work for Chen Sangliang. The progress of the project was very fast, and the trenches and walls were built in seven or eight days After it took shape, a fort higher than the city wall was built outside Longguang Gate, so that the artillery of the Sui army could directly penetrate into the palace city at the core of the imperial city.
During this period, the Zheng army in the city did not go out of the city to obstruct the Sui army's construction of the siege fortifications, which disappointed Chen Sangliang, the unfilial son-in-law who was counting on weakening his father-in-law's strength. The envoy of Zheng Jun who sneaked out of the imperial city found a letter written by Wang Shichong to his eldest son Wang Xuanying from his body. To come forward on his behalf, one must beg Dou Jiande to send troops to help, and once it is confirmed that Dou Jiande sent troops, then no matter what method he thinks of, Wang Xuanying must also send the news to Luoyang Imperial City.
It was precisely because of the seizure of this letter that Chen Sangliang immediately ordered to strengthen the blockade of the Luoyang Imperial City, and it was strictly forbidden for Yue Zhang to get in touch with his brother-in-law. However, even Chen Sangliang himself did not expect that this move really worked. When the effect was immediate, on the afternoon of March 27, the Sui army patrol team actually escorted a Zheng army messenger to Chen Sangliang, and presented a letter sealed with wax paint.
At first, Chen Sangliang, who didn't take it seriously, asked with a relaxed expression that Zheng Jun's envoy was sent by his brother-in-law Wang Xuanying to contact Wang Shichong. It froze on his face immediately, and he almost opened his mouth to yell in shock. Fortunately, he woke up in time. In order not to affect the morale of the army, he quickly closed his crow's mouth, waved to the scouts who escorted the prisoners, and said, "You did a good job this time!" , Go down to receive the reward, continue to keep an eye on the big and small roads for this king, and if there are bandit messengers coming, be sure to stop this king, and this king will still have a reward."
The scouts were overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted and left. Then Chen Sangliang ordered the guards to temporarily take Zheng Jun's courier out of the tent to wait for disposal. After Zheng Jun's courier was taken away, he had already seen that Chen Sangliang's expression was wrong. Xuanling, Yuan Tiangang and other accomplices hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"
"Dou Jiande is coming." Chen Sangliang replied with a gloomy face: "As I wish, Dou Jiande has decided to personally lead the army to help Wang Shichong, but what surprised me is that Dou Jiande would decide on this so quickly. Idea, now we are in a hurry."
After all, Chen Sangliang handed the seized letter to Fang Xuanling and others. When Fang Xuanling and others took the letter and read it carefully, they found that the content of the letter was indeed that Wang Xuanying reported to Wang Shichong that Dou Jiande had agreed to send troops, and that Dou Jiande would personally He led the army to rescue Luoyang, but the date of dispatching troops has not been determined yet, and at the same time, he reported that Dou Jiande announced this decision at the court meeting on March 16.
In addition, Wang Xuanying also reported a small matter to Wang Shichong, that is, Dai Zhou, Wang Shichong's former mastermind and minister of the military department, offered advice to Wang Xuanying, suggesting that Wang Xuanying should abandon Luokou Cangcheng when necessary, and concentrate his forces on securing the Hulao pass first. In order to ensure the tactical initiative on the Luoyang battlefield after the arrival of Dou Jiande's reinforcements, although Wang Xuanying felt that Dai Zhou's suggestion was very reasonable, it would be a pity to give up the Luokou warehouse with some food left, so Wang Xuanying did not dare to call the shots. We can only seek Wang Shichong's opinion on this with the letter.
After reading this letter, Fang Xuanling, Yuan Tiangang and other accomplices inevitably looked sad, because the Sui army's siege fortifications have not been fully completed, and it is not guaranteed that some partial divisions can be used to block Wang Shichong's exit from the city. After entering, the troops were empty, and Wang Shichong might have the power to fight back. More importantly, the Sui army has not yet captured Luokoucang and Hulao Pass, which are crucial tactical positions. Once Dou Jiande's army advances to Hulao Pass, the main force of the Sui army will be completely lost on the Luoyang battlefield. Dou Jiande has the final say on the tactical initiative, when and how to fight, but the main force of the Sui army can only be beaten passively, and the situation is extremely disadvantageous.
After pondering for a moment with frowning brows, Chen Sangliang said helplessly: "There is no other way, we can only divide our troops to attack Hulao Pass and Luokou Cang quickly. We have to take down these two ghost places first. Only then can we defeat Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong one by one, otherwise, let alone defeating them one by one, it will be difficult not to be forced by Dou Jiande to retreat."
"But Wang Shichong still has about 18,000 troops in the imperial city. After our main force advances eastward, what if Wang Shichong takes the opportunity to launch a counterattack?" Qu Tutong said worriedly: "Not to mention that we can't stop all the troops. Even if Wang Xuanying's messengers can stop them all, seeing our main force moving eastward, the old fox Wang Shichong will definitely seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack?"
Scratching his head and pondering for a while, Chen Sangliang made up his mind and said: "The main force stays in Luoyang, pretending to be my banner, and I personally lead the partial division to attack Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass."
"Your Highness, I'm afraid it's not safe to do so?" Fang Xuanling hurriedly reminded: "Both Hulao Pass and Luokou Cang are Wang Shichong's lifeblood. If we rely on partial divisions to attack, we may not be sure if we are single and weak. In addition, our gunpowder blasting siege tactics have caused Wang Shichong to suffer two big losses. I'm afraid it will be more difficult if it's important."
Chen Sangliang remained silent, carefully calculating the number of troops and siege tactics in his heart, and suddenly remembered something, he hurriedly greeted Feng Deyi who was holding the letter in his hand: "Feng Neishi, bring the letter, I'll take a closer look."
The sycophant Feng Deyi hurriedly presented the just-captured Wang Xuanying's letter to Chen Sangliang. Chen Sangliang took it and read it carefully again, thinking about all kinds of dirty ideas in his heart, and soon, everything was missing in his stomach. Chen Sangliang's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "There is a way!"
Fang Xuanling and Yuan Tiangang, who knew Chen Sangliang's abilities well, hurriedly asked what could be done, but Chen Sangliang didn't answer, and handed the letter back to Feng Deyi, ordering: "Feng Neishi, Brother Qiao Song, you are all masters of calligraphy, quickly check for me, is there any anti-counterfeit mark in Wang Xuanying's handwriting on this letter?"
Feng Deyi and Fang Xuanling sang promises, quickly took the letter and read it carefully, and soon, Feng Deyi and Fang Xuanling reported: "Your Highness, there are two secret marks in the handwriting. There is also a small ink dot on the corner of the lower corner, which may also be a secret mark."
"Very good!" Chen Sangliang was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Who are you, immediately forge a letter written by Wang Xuanying for me, the handwriting must be exactly the same, but the secret note cannot be imitated, and the small ink dot in the lower right corner cannot be printed on. "
Feng Deyi and Fang Xuanling, who lived on pens, agreed together, and rushed to ask: "Your Highness, what is the content of the letter?"
"There is no need to write any special content." Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "Just copy this letter from Wang Xuanying once, and you don't need to change a single word."
"Why?" Fang Xuanling and Feng Deyi were dumbfounded, and asked in surprise: "I copied Wang Xuanying's letter, and deliberately made it into a false letter that can be seen by the enemy. What is the purpose? I want the enemy to see it. For the same content, wouldn’t it be better to send the original copy?”
"We can't let Wang Shichong see the original, but let him see the original forged letter." Chen Sangliang shook his head like a rattle, and said with a smile: "As for the reason, you can imagine, if you are Wang Shichong, see When this letter is found to be a forgery, what do you think?"
According to Chen Sangliang's instructions, he put himself in his shoes and thought about it carefully. Feng Deyi was the first to come back to his senses, and blurted out: "Trap! This is a trap set by you, Your Highness! The content of the letter must be fake, Your Highness, don't Purposeful!"
"Feng Nei Shi is smart." Chen Sangliang praised Feng Deyi, who is really smart except for his apologies for his character, and said with a smile: "Since Wang Shichong has determined that the content of this letter is forged, we deliberately arranged it for him. His letter, so what will he think when he sees us splitting up and marching westward?"
"Lead the snake out of the hole!" This time it was the turn of Yuan Tiangang, who had been completely led by Chen Sangliang, to come back to his senses first, and said in surprise: "Wang Shichong saw the false letter that Dou Jiande was about to send troops, and saw that we would divide our troops to the west. He would definitely think that We are trying to lure the snake out of the hole and set up a trap to lure him out of the city to annihilate him, but he dare not go out of the city to fight easily. In this way, our troops can take the opportunity to attack Dahulao Pass and Luokou Cang eastward, so we don't have to worry too much Urgent back!"
When all the civil and military personnel of the Sui army suddenly realized, Chen Sangliang quickly shook his head and said, "No, it's much more than that! More importantly, there happened to be a content in this letter that Wang Xuanying asked Wang Shichong whether he could give up the current situation at a critical moment. Hulaoguan is no longer an important warehouse in Luokou, and Hulaoguan should be secured first. After Wang Shichong saw this content, he would definitely think that we wanted to induce him to agree to this proposal, and then take the opportunity to easily take down Luokou warehouse, and then Wang Shichong We will definitely try our best to send orders to Wang Xuanying, asking Wang Xuanying to stick to the Luokou warehouse with all our strength so that we will not take advantage of any loopholes, and if we do this, we will have a better chance!"
"Your Highness, what better chance do we have?" Qu Tutong asked quickly.
"Of course it's going from east to west, attacking Luokou Cang openly, and actually taking Hulao Pass." Chen Sangliang said with a sneer: "Do the opposite, first attack Hulao Pass, close the door and beat the dogs, and then take Luokou Cang!"
It took a lot of time to figure out the real purpose of Chen Sangliang's bluffing. Although it was clear that he would first take Hulaoguan and then Luokoucang without saying anything, but out of respect for Chen Sangliang Sang Liang's absolute trust in cheating and kidnapping, all the accomplices still nodded their heads in praise. Soon, Chen Sangliang first ordered Feng Deyi to forge letters for himself, and then told Fang Xuanling: "Brother Qiao Song, you know the relationship between me and Duan Da, write a letter to Duan Da for me, and persuade him He killed Wang Shichong and surrendered in Kaicheng, his tone was as sincere as possible, and he might as well give a bigger reward."
Fang Xuanling sang promises, and then asked worriedly: "Your Highness, how did you send this surrender letter into the city and hand it over to Duan Da? We can't deliver the letter directly to Duan Da?"
"Who said my letter is for Duan Da to read?" Chen Sangliang asked back with a smile.
"Who is that for?" Fang Xuanling was stunned again, and after seeing the obscene and sinister smile on Chen Sangliang's face, Fang Xuanling quickly came to his senses, slapped his forehead and scolded himself for being stupid, Then he immediately wrote a letter to recruit Duan Da for Chen Sangliang.
…
As a result, what should have happened happened at night. On that night, the envoy Wang Xuanying brought from Luokoucang brought the letter to the west of the Luoyang Imperial City in the dark, and loudly declared his identity requirements. After entering the city, the defenders of the imperial city hung him up in a hanging basket, and the envoy was quickly received by Wang Shichong in person. He told Wang Shichong about his thrilling delivery process, and then immediately presented the so-called Wang Xuanying to Wang Shichong. Handwritten letter.
The next thing is very simple, opened the baby son's letter and read the content and found that there was no anti-counterfeiting secret agreed in advance, Wang Shichong, who was so clear-hearted, didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately ordered the guards to take the unlucky messenger down for interrogation. Before Wang Shichong's guards could do anything, the unlucky emissary, who knew that something was wrong, confessed that he had been captured by the Sui Army soldiers on the road, and was personally received by Chen Sangliang. After Chen Sangliang used his gold and silver official position to bribe and betray him, he came to give the credit meter again.
The unlucky messenger gave a thorough explanation, and even reported to Wang Shichong the details that Chen Sangliang had already opened the letter to read the content. At the same time, he also reported that Wang Xuanying had announced at Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass that Dou Jiande was about to personally raise troops. Good news for help. However, it is a pity that the old and cunning Wang Shichong didn't dare to believe any of his words. He continued to interrogate various details while ordering the guards to search his body carefully. Then, very naturally, Chen Sangliang wrote to Duan Dan that way The surrender letter was logically found from the interlayer of the unlucky messenger's clothes.
Next, the ancestor who didn't accumulate virtue happened to meet Chen Sangliang, the unlucky emissary who was a sinner, even if he had ten thousand mouths, he couldn't speak clearly, and every truth he said immediately became possible. Chen Sangliang Liang instructed nonsense. Therefore, even though the unlucky messenger repeatedly stated that the clothes he was wearing were newly rewarded to him by Chen Sangliang, the suspicious Wang Shichong still refused to believe a single word, except for ordering him to be taken outside the palace to torture and interrogate his confession. Naturally, as Chen Sangliang expected, Wang Shichong picked up the false letter that was actually a real letter and studied it carefully, studying the real purpose of the unfilial son-in-law's move.
It cannot be said that Wang Shichong is stupid, nor can it be said that Chen Sangliang is brilliant. It is entirely due to human nature. Knowing that the letter is forged, the clever Wang Shichong can only ponder and study this letter in reverse. Then, more logically, Wang Shichong quickly concluded that the unfilial son-in-law had taken actions in the near future, and it was very likely that he was showing the enemy to lure the snake out of the hole, and he could not be tricked anyway! And then soon, the judgment that Luokoucang was likely to be in distress in the near future immediately appeared in Wang Shichong's mind.
The effect was better than what Chen Sangliang expected. Wang Shichong quickly called three confidant guards, and asked them to disguise themselves as ordinary people and go out of the city overnight to take a different route to Luokou Warehouse. He gave Wang Xuanying a command: "Priority is to stick to Luokou Warehouse." We can properly deploy some Hulao Pass troops to strengthen the defense of Luokou Cang, and Chen Thief is likely to sneak attack Luokou Cang in the near future!"
The three guards promised to memorize Wang Shichong's edict, and another guard said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the Chen bandits' army is tightly blocked. If the lowly ranks cannot pass the Chen bandits' blockade, can you return to the city immediately?"
"Don't worry." Wang Shichong received with a smile: "Chen's blockade is very strict, but I can be sure that you will break through Chen's blockade smoothly tonight, because Chen wants you to pass the decree to me."
When the three guards promised each of them suspiciously, Wang Shichong prepared a false letter with the same content for each of them, in case the unfilial son-in-law would deliberately let one or two go and arrest one of them, so that the guards could offer letters in exchange for the guards if they were accidentally captured. Survive, look for an opportunity to get away and come back, but after seeing Wang Xuanying, you must explain that you don't need to read this fake letter. Seeing that Wang Shichong had made good arrangements, the three confidant guards left in peace.
"Little thief, you dare to play tricks with the old man, you are still a little tender!" This is what Wang Shichong said in his heart.