No one knows an unfilial son-in-law better than the father-in-law. As the old fox Wang Shichong expected, the treacherous father-in-law will definitely send a messenger out of the city to Luokou Cang to contact Wang Xuanying. He also deliberately did not stop him, and deliberately let Zheng Jun's messenger touch the Sui Army's blockade line, and slipped to the east in a rolling and crawling manner.
After confirming that there were indeed messengers leaving the city overnight, Chen Sang made up his mind and immediately set about arranging the plan for the eastward expedition. He decided to personally lead an army of 35,000 to attack Hulao Pass and Luokou Cang, so that Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tu could pass the battle. He led the rear army to continue to besiege the imperial city of Luoyang, and continued to build the unfinished fortifications of the siege. He also explained that once the enemy came out of the city to counterattack, he must not send troops to fight, but only closed the camp to protect himself.
Both Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tutong advised Chen Sangliang to bring more troops to the Eastern Front, because Zheng Jun not only had nearly 40,000 troops on the Eastern Front, but also had a strong city to defend. In terms of use, it is a bit stretched. At the same time, even though the main force of the Sui army suffered certain losses in the three battles, it added two partial divisions, Liu Heita and Qin Qiong, with a total force of more than 90,000. Even if Chen Sangliang went further east Tens of thousands of troops were sent to the front line, and the strength of the rear army was still enough to trap Wang Shichong to death in the imperial city.
Chen Sangliang declined the kindness of accomplices such as Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tutong, because Liu Heita and Qin Qiong, the two partial divisions, fought one after another, and the soldiers were exhausted and seriously injured, and their combat effectiveness was greatly affected. It's not in the best condition now. While always guarding against Wang Shichong's dog jumping over the wall, he has to take on the important tasks of detaining food, guarding the camp, and urging the people to surrender and build fortifications. The pressure is no less than that of attacking Hulao Pass and Luokou Warehouse. Therefore, Chen Sangliang insisted on leaving most of the army to surround Luoyang, and also left the two exhausted troops Liu Heita and Qin Qiong on the Luoyang battlefield, allowing them to take on the relatively easy task of guarding the camp and giving the exhausted soldiers under their command Take a break.
As for the generals on the expedition, of course the rebellious Luo Shixin and Chen Sangliang must take him with him before he can rest assured—otherwise Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tutong really won't accept him, and Wang Fubao, who is good at assault warfare, must also be brought along. , Yuchi Jingde, Mulan, Qiu Xinggong, Shi Wanbao, Yin Kaishan and generals of the Baoguo Army also accompanied the army, supplemented by civil officials such as Feng Deyi and Sun Fujia. In addition, Chen Sangliang also unexpectedly brought the new general Xu Shiji to the army by name, and specially selected more than 500 new Zheng soldiers from the prisoners of war to accompany them, and handed over these new soldiers to the army. Xu Shiji led.
In addition, there is also a banner issue. Originally, Chen Sangliang planned to let Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tutong use their own banner to intimidate the enemy, and he himself used Qu Tutong's banner to go to the Eastern Front to bluff and deceive. No matter how he did it, he would definitely be suspicious. Chen Sangliang simply came here to respond to all changes without change, swaggeringly branded his banner of the king of Tang with his teeth and claws to launch the Eastern Expedition, and the rear army only established the banners of Yuan Tiangang and Qu Tutong. , The real is the real, the false is also the false, let the cunning old man be suspicious.
Not to mention, Chen Sangliang's move really made the puppet Zheng court spend a lot of thinking. On the city wall, I saw the Sui army's partial division marching westward under the banner of Chen Sangliang, let alone the treacherous Wang Shichong. Even many civil and military officials of the puppet Zheng court were full of suspicion, doubting whether Chen Sangliang had led his army to leave the Luoyang battlefield-no way, Chen Sangliang's reputation in this regard was too bad. Therefore, when reckless men such as Wang Renze, Zhang Tong'er, and Dong Rui suggested taking the opportunity to go out of the city to fight back, not only were they reprimanded by Wang Shichong, but their colleagues also warned: "Generals, don't be reckless. It is very suspicious that he personally led the army away from the main battlefield, our army must not attack easily, once it is tricked, it will be too late to regret it!"
The enemy's situation was unknown, and Zheng Jun in Luoyang did not dare to launch a counterattack easily, but Chen Sangliang, the stupefied young man, did not care about his head and his tail, and led more than 30,000 Sui soldiers all the way in a hurry. It only took one day to arrive in Yanshi. He met Li Keshi, the uncle of the bird thief who he had only seen a few times. After meeting each other and discussing the gifts of uncle, nephew and minister, Chen Sangliang immediately asked Mr. Li about the latest situation of Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass. After finding out the news, just this morning, the bandit king's army of about 5,000 people suddenly moved from Hulao Pass to Cangcheng, Luokou."
"Wang Xuanying dispatched troops from Hulao Pass to help Luokou Cangcheng?" Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly asked, "Why? Have you found out the reason?"
"No." Master Li shook his head, and said very puzzled: "The last general is also wondering about this, for no reason, how could Wang Xuanying make such an adjustment? If he found His Highness, you personally led the army to march east News, the troops were dispatched to strengthen the defense of Luokou Cang in a hurry, and it was too late? Your Highness, you only sent troops early this morning, how could he react this morning?"
"The old fox Wang Shichong was really fooled, and that boy Wang Xuanying is exactly the same as before. He obeyed his father's words and dared not disobey." Chen Sangliang was secretly happy, and he was not in a hurry to explain the reason to his uncle, but asked quickly Find out the enemy's current deployment of troops at Hulao Pass and Luokou Cang.
Li Keshi replied truthfully, saying that Wang Xuanying, the eldest son of Wang Shichong, is currently stationed in the Luokou Cang, and the reinforcements have received the remnants of Zheng Jun Xibian who fled from Huiluo. Including about 4,000 cavalry, the main generals are Chen Zhilue, Xi Bian, Guo Shizhu, and Ge Yanzhang; Hulao Pass is stationed by Yang Gongqing, Wang Xuanying's deputy, with a force of about 12,000 to 3,000. Among them, the number of cavalry is also very small, and the main civil and military personnel are Dai Zhou, Shen Yue, Wang Xingben, Pei Xiaoda, and Zhang Sheng. General Yang Gongqing served as the chief general of Hulao Pass.
The defenders at Hulao Pass, the primary target, were less than half of those at Luokou Cang, the secondary target. Of course, this made Chen Sangliang even more happy, but the fortified city of Hulao Pass was placed there after all. It's not that easy to deal with, and at the same time, the 12,300 defenders are also a force that cannot be ignored. Therefore, Chen Sangliang still didn't dare to be negligent, and decided to draw 4,000 troops from the Yanshi garrison to go east to join the battle to reinforce his own insufficient troops. Hao Xiaode will not be mentioned.
After everything was arranged, the Sui army's side division with only ten days of food and grass crossed Luoshui and marched towards Luokou Cang the next day. Zheng Jun's scouts reported the situation to Wang Xuanying. Immediately ordered martial law throughout the city, closed the four gates to prepare for battle, and deployed the four gate guards and responsible generals early. Then in the afternoon, the Sui Army team arrived at the Luokoucang City, and Wang Xuanying hurriedly climbed up the city wall to observe the situation of the Sui Army's camp.
Wang Xuanying did not see the Sui army setting up their camp. On the contrary, he saw that the Sui army soldiers had just arrived at the Shizi River and immediately started to build multiple pontoon bridges on the river, as if preparing to cross the Shizi River immediately. When Wang Xuanying saw Daqi, he was surprised and said, "It's almost halfway through the application time. Why didn't Thief Chen seize the time to build a camp? Why is he still building a pontoon bridge? Could it be that he wants to build his camp on the east bank of the Shizi River, so he can attack Luokou Cang?" Wouldn't it be inconvenient?"
"Is the thief Chen's target really Luokoucang?" Guo Shizhu also said suspiciously: "If he wants to attack Luokoucang, he must set up his camp to the west of the Shizi River. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like you are preparing to attack Luokoucang?"
"Could the Tang thief's real target be Hulao Pass?" Chen Zhilue, a member of Chen Sangliang's family who likes to talk about words, saw the way, and said: "Do the opposite, bypass Luokou Cang and take Hulao Pass first. After succeeding, it will form a momentum of closing the door and attacking the tiger, and then turn around and attack Luokoucang?"
Hearing Chen Zhilue's words, Wang Xuanying was a little bit shaken, but after thinking about it carefully, he shook his head and said: "No, our army has made careful reports, and the Chen bandit army did not bring a lot of supplies and vehicles this time. If he goes directly to Attacking Hulao Pass, once the battle fails for a long time, he will be in a hurry. With us nailed to his throat, it will be difficult for him to supply food and grass. Besides, Father, he has already found out that Chen Thief's real target this time is Luokou Cang, it can't be Hulao Pass, Father will not be wrong."
After discussing for a long time, they couldn't figure out Chen Sangliang's real intentions, so Wang Xuanying simply came up with the idea of staying the same and watching the Sui army build a bridge to cross the river, waiting for his brother-in-law to make new moves before deciding how to deal with it. As a result, the Sui army actually crossed the Shizi River on the same day. In the evening, they set up a temporary camp ten miles east of the Shizi River for the night. Then some generals of the Zheng army proposed to rob the camp at night, but Wang Xuanying remembered that his father was sticking to Luoyang. Koucang's order, and fearing that it was a trick of the treacherous brother-in-law to lure the enemy, flatly refused.
Wang Xuanying regretted his decision the next day. In the early morning of the next day, nearly 40,000 Sui troops under the leadership of Chen Sangliang continued to march towards Hulao Pass, and arrived at Hulao Pass within a short distance. Set up camp only five miles away from the gate. The scouts reported the news to Wang Xuanying. Wang Xuanying was stunned, but he was caught in a dilemma. Attack. This will give the treacherous brother-in-law a chance to fight in the field, but also violate his father's order that he can only defend the city and not fight. Don't attack. Hulao Pass Once it falls, Luokoucang is completely isolated and helpless, and the reinforcements that Dou Jiande is about to send will no longer be able to directly arrive at Luoyang City to relieve the siege. In a dilemma, Wang Xuan, whose own talents are very average, should be regarded as completely at a loss what to do.
When Wang Xuanying was in a dilemma, Chen Sangliang couldn't wait to come to Hulao Pass to spy on the enemy's situation, and found that Hulao Pass really took some precautions against the gunpowder blasting tactics of his own army, and built a sheep and horse wall under the city. Prevent the pointed wooden donkey from approaching the city wall, and at the same time deepen the moat, install Yasha and build a large number of horse-repelling antlers, and try every means to prevent the Sui army's siege weapons from approaching the city wall. The defense is very tight. If you attack from the front, Chen Sangliang, who didn't carry heavy artillery this time, was still as uncertain as last time.
Frowning at the solid fortifications of Hulao Pass, Chen Sangliang called Xu Shiji who accompanied him by name, and asked him: "General Xu, I remember that Li Mi used tunnels to take down Hulao Pass. How many times did he dig?" A real way?"
"As far as the general knows, there is one." Xu Shiji replied truthfully: "But that tunnel leads to the east gate of Hulao Pass. After he succeeded, Li Mi ordered that tunnel be filled again to prevent it from being reused by the enemy."
Although he basically had no hope for this, Chen Sangliang was still extremely disappointed after receiving this unfeeling answer. On the other side, Xu Shiji looked around quietly, and asked Chen Sangliang in a low voice: "Your Highness, I would like to ask you, do you want the general to lead these new soldiers into Hulao Pass?" Fake surrender? If so, when will it be done?"
"Smart, I really misjudged you." Smiling and praising Xu Shiji, Chen Sangliang admitted frankly that he did have this plan, and then said: "But this matter can't be rushed, the enemy is not a fool, our army just arrived If you run to surrender under the city, anyone will suspect that you are a false surrender. Not only will your life be in danger, even if the enemy believes you for a while, they will definitely disarm you and temporarily detain you. If you want to succeed in your false surrender, you have to wait The opportunity presented itself."
Xu Shiji agreed, and then quickly backed away from Mulan's tiger's gaze, keeping a certain distance from Chen Sangliang to avoid the melon fields and plums. Not far away, I can withdraw to Yanshi to replenish food and grass. I only have six days at most to take down Hulao Pass. If I miss this opportunity, the enemy will definitely reinforce Hulao Pass again. My time is precious. Now My advantage is that I am not afraid of field battles, and the enemy should still doubt my real target, and they will definitely doubt that I can break through the city quickly, what should I... ? "
While thinking quickly in his mind, shouts suddenly came from the west gate of Hulao Pass. When Chen Sangliang looked up, he saw several Zheng Junwen and Wu in luxurious clothes appeared on the city, and at the same time, soldiers flew to report that Wang Xingben had come forward Invite yourself to come over and answer. Chen Sangliang originally wanted to agree, but as soon as he rode his horse, Chen Sangliang changed his mind and said to himself: "I can't go, I have another advantage that the enemy must still doubt whether I have come to the tiger prison in person. Shut it off, my appearance at this time will only let the enemy confirm this doubt, and it can only make them continue to be suspicious."
Thinking of this, Chen Sangliang reined in his horse, and after a little calculation, he ordered Xu Shiji to come forward, declaring that he didn't want to deal with Wang Xingben, and by the way, let Wang Xingben wash his neck and wait for death. Within seven days, he would definitely take off Wang Xingben's head Take revenge for your ancestral grave! Xu Shiji stepped forward to answer according to the order, and as a result, there were insults on Hulaoguan City soon, and some people drew bows and arrows to shoot the traitor Xu Shiji, but fortunately Xu Shiji reacted quickly and escaped back early.
After fleeing back to Chen Sangliang in embarrassment, Xu Shiji wiped the sweat from his face and said to Chen Sangliang: "Your Highness, the last general forgot a very important person before, and he suddenly remembered after seeing him just now. If you are in Hulaoguan City, it may be very difficult for the general to feign surrender."
"Who is so powerful?" Chen Sanghao asked curiously.
"Wang Shichong's Minister of War, Dai Zhou." Xu Shiji replied truthfully: "This man is very cunning, he can be regarded as resourceful and scheming. In Wang Shichong's defeat of Li Mi, many victories were actually due to his counseling and counseling. Li Mi is a bit afraid of him as the chief counselor."
Chen Sangliang had heard of the name Dai Zhou more than once, but because he hadn't appeared on TV, Chen Sangliang hadn't really paid much attention to this person. After listening to Xu Shiji's introduction, he was certainly interested. Da Qi, and hurriedly asked about the details, only then did he know that Dai Zhou was a counselor who gradually rose under Wang Shichong's command after he entered Guanzhong. Hold on tight. But even so, after Wang Shichong became emperor, he still gave Dai Zhou the important post of Minister of the Ministry of War, which can also be regarded as Dai Zhou's weight in Zheng Jun.
After listening to Xu Shiji's introduction, Chen Sangliang seemed to see a direction suddenly in a cloud of fog, but how to determine this direction Chen Sangliang would not be able to do it for a while, and he didn't want to stay in the city for too long to be identified by the enemy At that time, Chen Sangliang simply ordered to withdraw to the camp, and after returning to the camp, he carefully considered how to break the city. But what Chen Sangliang really didn't expect was that his unintentional move created an opportunity for him...
On the city wall, he saw the white-robed knight suspected of Chen Sangliang return to his horse and leave. Wang Xingben, whose eyes were sore, gave up helplessly. Rubbing his painful eyes, he said, "It's too far away, so I can't tell if it's the traitor or not." It's a bit similar, but it's a bit different, did Thief Chen come to Hulao Pass in person?"
"There is no doubt, it must be Chen thief." Dai Zhou said confidently: "The design diverts the tiger away from the mountain, tricks our army into weakening Hulao Pass and strengthening Luokou Cang, and then unexpectedly arrives at Hulao Pass, killing us by surprise. Chen Yingliang's treacherous military style. Refusing to meet with His Royal Highness King Jing is just to pretend to be a ghost, so that we can't figure out his reality."
Dai Zhou had this self-confidence, but Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben did not dare to have such confidence. With the garrison at Hulao Pass being weakened by itself and the garrison at Luokoucang not daring to attack easily, finding out the real situation of the enemy naturally became the top priority. heavy. Therefore, Wang Xingben and Yang Gongqing still discussed in low voices, and Shen Yue, the ordnance management officer, also suggested: "Your Highness, General Yang, if you want to find out whether Chen Yingliang's traitor has come to this Hulao in person, there is no way, just send A person who knew Thief Chen sneaked out of the city and went to the camp of the bandits to pretend that he was going to sacrifice the city to surrender on behalf of someone in Guanzhong. Then Thief Chen would definitely meet him in person, and then escaped and returned. Got it?"
"No need!" Dai Zhou immediately objected, saying: "It doesn't matter whether Chen thief comes to Hulao pass in person, what is important is to guard Hulao pass and keep the way for Dou Jiande's reinforcements to advance! Chen's army marches nearly 70 days a day. Marching in, the army must be short of food and grass, and the Luokou warehouse has strangled his food throat. It is bound to not last long. We only need to hold on to the city, and within ten days, the bandit army will retreat on its own! "
"Dai Shilang, I think it's very important." Shen Yue, who was under Dai Zhou, insisted, and said plausibly: "If we can confirm that Chen Thief came here in person, then we only need to send the news to Luoyang City, and His Majesty will come here immediately." We can launch a counterattack and attack the rear of the bandit army. If the rear of the bandit army is in a hurry, the bandit Chen will surely retreat, and we will take advantage of the momentum to cover up and kill, and we will win a big victory!"
"Easy to say! If Thief Chen can be defeated so easily, why wait for you?"
Dai Zhou sneered and continued to object, but Shen Yue didn't pay attention to Dai Zhou, a superior who had fallen out of favor, and said to Wang Xingben and Yang Gongqing: "His Royal Highness King Jing, General Yang, Your Majesty is trapped in Luoyang City. What you have been thinking about day and night must be how to fight back and destroy the enemy. If you can find this opportunity for Your Majesty, Your Majesty will be delighted, and the crisis in Luoyang can be resolved immediately. And if we do this, even if we fail, we will only lose a mere envoy, a huge profit, Why not do it?"
Shen Yue's words hit the heart of Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben. After discussing in low voices in order to be more favored in front of Wang Shichong, Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben decided to take a gamble to spy on the Sui army's true and false. Failure is at most nothing more than the loss of an envoy, and no one will feel distressed except for the family of the unlucky envoy. However, after agreeing to this proposal despite Dai Zhou's firm objection, Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben said in a dilemma: "Then who will be sent as this envoy? It seems that there is no one under our command who is particularly familiar with Chen Yingliang's traitor?"
"This matter is easy to handle." Shen Yue said very easily: "The two family members brought by Xiaguan from Luoyang often accompanied Xiaguan to participate in the early court during the previous court, and they often saw Thief Chen outside the gate of the imperial city. Thieves Chen is very familiar with them, so just send any of them there. Among them is Shen Jian, who is quite clever and has a bit of a tongue, so he should be qualified for this position."
"Well, let Shen Sibing's family work hard." Wang Xingben was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Hurry up, we still have some time, so let's figure it out quickly, how can we deceive that treacherous little thief Chen Yingliang."