Colorful flags covered the mountains and rivers, and brown dust and smoke filled the sky and the earth. Under the dust and smoke, Dou Jiande's army, with a total strength of more than 110,000, was divided into three teams along the post road, and the cavalry on tall horses led the way. Two roads no less solid than post roads were stepped on the wasteland grassland, and the vehicles transporting food, grass and military equipment were densely packed in the rear, stretching for several miles. In the middle was Dou Jiande's Chinese army with the most distinctive armor, and in the middle of the Chinese army, It is Dou Jiande's imperial chariot and his bodyguard team, as well as the civil and military officials of the Great Xia court.
Wearing a golden helmet and armor and sitting on an exquisite imperial chariot with eight white horses, commanding such a large-scale army, the high-spirited Dou Jiande certainly felt that he wanted to be as beautiful as he was, and as proud as he was, He also suddenly laughed loudly on the imperial chariot for no reason, and was very happy. When curiously asked about Dou Jiande's happiness, Dou Jiande replied: "I am laughing at the traitor Chen Yingliang. I don’t know how panicked I will be when I raise an army of 300,000 to march south against him.”
"At least pee your pants. I heard that the traitor's health is not very good, maybe he might faint from fright on the spot!" Dou Jiande's subordinates also have flatterers, and some sycophants immediately echoed loudly. Hearing this, Dou Jiande laughed out loud, Xia Ting's civil and military officials also laughed out loud, even Li Mi, who never liked participating in such things, laughed more happily than anyone else.
Of course, Li Mi was not laughing at his arch-enemy Chen Sangliang, but his current master, Emperor Dou Jiande of the Great Xia on the golden chariot. Even Li Mi, who had seen it before, could see at a glance the real reason why Dou Jiande laughed for no reason—the muddy legs of generations of farmers My son, without any good education, became the overlord of one party in just a few years by chance and luck, and recently ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and suddenly broke out like this. He did not follow the example of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty when he used yellow sand to pave roads and wrap trees with colored silk when he went on tour. This is already the last sobriety left in Dou Jiande's mind.
"It's really a bit like the old me."
After laughing, Li Mi couldn't help muttering softly in his heart, because Li Mi regretted it afterwards, and found that he had been complacent when he was in his prime. , This gave Wang Shichong the opportunity to create a comeback miracle. At the same time, Li Mi admired his arch-rival Chen Sangliang very much in this aspect. He was also born in abject poverty. No matter what time, Chen Sangliang always kept a calm head, lustful but not greedy, greedy and not abusing power. Keep humble, good at accepting the direct advice and advice of your subordinates, never underestimate the enemy and never get hotheaded!
So Li Mi has made up his mind more than once, if he can really make a comeback in the future and regain the glory of his heyday, then he must learn from Chen Sangliang and stop being the former self and the current Dou Jiande!
Dou Jiande dispatched soldiers on March 28th. In order to avenge the Linfen War, and to take advantage of the momentum to annex the desperate remnants of Wang Shichong and the Central Plains territory, Dou Jiande almost moved all his family assets. Come out, the main force of infantry and cavalry is 110,000, plus the newly attached Li Mi's remnants of more than 20,000 people, the total strength of Xia Chaoting's deployment in the Central Plains this time is almost 140,000. He decided to call the size of the army 300,000, and the number of troops on the book became more than three times the strength of the Sui Army, which was only known as 80,000. Therefore, it also took advantage of some verbal advantages in publicity.
After the head of Song Zhengben who opposed Dou Jiande's direct sending of troops to Luoyang fell to the ground, there was no voice in the Xia court against Dou Jiande's army going directly south via Weijun Jijun. The local people in Ende also burned incense and worshiped, carrying pots of water to wish Dou Jiande the victory of the flag opening, and to calm down this chaotic world where human life is as cheap as pigs and dogs. Therefore, the advance speed of Dou's army was also very fast. It took only a little more than three days for the 110,000 army to advance to the city of Ye County, Weijun, and there were only three or four days left to the Yellow River.
However, at this moment, the envoy sent by Wang Xuanying to ask for help also brought news that the Sui army's soldiers had arrived at Hulaoguan City. Send a troop to help the Hulao Pass defenders resist the Sui army's attack. Li Mi, generals Fan Yuan and Hu Dayen of the Dou army also suggested sending a cavalry to the south to join the battle at Hulao Pass, in order to boost the morale of the Hulao Pass defenders and ensure the unimpeded road to march. However, after Dou Jiande asked that the Sui army in the Ming Dynasty was only about 30,000 people, he said: "There is no need to send partial troops to the south first. Our army can reach the Yellow River in four days at most, and cross the river in another day, and then we can do it in one fell swoop." Annihilate all Chen bandits."
Hearing Dou Jiande's words, Li Mi, who had already figured out Dou Jiande's character and temper, immediately shut his mouth and stopped saying a word, but Fan Yuan, Hu Dayen and others refused to give up, and insisted on asking Dou Jiande to divide up quickly. It's a pity that Dou Jiande's eyes bulged, and he shouted: "What's the rush? Could it be that the Hulao Guan can't hold out for five or six days? Now immediately separate the cavalry to go south. The Chen bandit saw the flag of our army and retreated ahead of schedule. Wouldn't it be much more difficult to wipe out the partial divisions and the main force of Chen's army? Haven't you heard of the tactics of defeating each other?"
Fan Yuan and other generals had no choice but to shut up, and they all said depressedly in their hearts: "It would be great if Song Zhengben and Wang Fubao were still there. One of them dares to speak out and dare to speak out, and the other is good at running and attacking. The most suitable pioneer candidate at the moment."
Li Mi refused to say a word in front of Dou Jiande, but after returning to Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance's confidantes, Li Mi sneered and said: "In the past, Xiang Yu abandoned Guanzhong and returned to Pengcheng. Han Sheng laughed at him for washing monkeys. And Guan, like a macaque with only a hat on, today this sentence is used to describe Dou Jiande is not bad at all - annihilating Chen Bandit's partial division in one fell swoop, thanks to him, Dou Jiande, who can say this sentence! Since Chen Bandit's partial division dares Bypassing Luokou Cang and going straight to Hulao Pass, it shows that this division must be composed of strong generals and elite soldiers, with strong combat power and no fear of fighting on two fronts. In a frontal battle, it is still unknown whether Dou Jiande's hundreds of thousands of mobs can win It's ridiculous to dare to utter wild words to annihilate this Chen bandit army in one fell swoop!"
"Master, since you know very well that this Chen bandit is not to be underestimated, why don't you urge Dou Jiande to send cavalry to reinforce Hulao Pass first?" Wang Bodang asked doubtfully, "The terrain of Hulao Pass is important. Dou Jiande's reinforcements can directly arrive at the city of Luoyang and cause the biggest trouble for our mortal enemy Chen Yingliang's traitor?"
"Do you want your teacher to be boiled to death by Dou Jiande like Han Sheng?" Li Mi asked with a wry smile, and then sighed: "Dou Jiande, a small country bumpkin, can no longer listen to any harsh advice, even though he is a teacher. Only by ensuring that Hulao is in hand, can Chen Thief be weakened more by Dou Jiande's hand, but there is no way, Dou Jiande will not listen to persuasion, so he can only let him go, and he can only pray for Hulao. If you can hold on until Dou Jiande arrives, don't be attacked by Chen Thief's partial division ahead of time."
After that, Li Mi sneered again: "But it doesn't matter. Anyway, Dou Jiande's ability to rescue Wang Shichong has nothing to do with us. He was blocked by the Hulao Gate and couldn't go straight to Luoyang. I will volunteer to go to the counties of the Central Plains to organize the old troops for him. Maybe The chances of success are greater.”
Facts have proved that if Dou Jiande immediately sent cavalry south to reinforce Hulao Pass, the Xia-Zheng coalition forces should have a good chance of keeping Hulao Pass. Dou Jiande received news of the attack on Hulao Pass on the afternoon of the second day of April. The Sui army did not enter Hulao Pass with help from inside until the early morning of the fourth day of the fourth day, and did not take the whole city of Hulao Pass until near noon on the fourth day of the new year. Therefore, if Dou Jiande could send cavalry southward first, the Xia army cavalry would rush forward regardless of the distance. Both time and time are fully hopeful to rush to Hulao Pass first and destroy Chen Sangliang's plan to seize the pass.
However, it is a pity that God blesses the evil and does not bless the good. Dou Jiande just underestimated the enemy a little, and immediately gave Chen Sangliang an opportunity. On the fifth day of April, the news that Hulao Pass had fallen was sent to the In front of Dou Jiande. Dou Jiande was stunned and almost regretted it, but there is no medicine for regret in this world. In desperation, Dou Jiande could only hastily summon all the civil and military officials to the royal chariot carved with dragons and phoenixes to discuss with everyone The next opportunity to advance.
During the discussion, some people proposed to continue to go south, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Sui army's unstable foothold to quickly recapture Hulao Pass, and reopen the road to enter Luoyang; Yang threatened the main force of the Sui army on the north line, forced the main force of the Sui army to divide up to resist, and also waited for an opportunity to enter the east of the river through Zhiguan. Dou Jiande, who already regretted that he underestimated the enemy, hesitated for a while and wanted to go to Linqingguan, but Wang Wan, Changsun Anshi and others kowtowed in front of him and cried endlessly, begging him to continue to enter the Hulaoguan, first to rescue those who had been closed and beaten. Wang Xuanying and Zheng Jun ordered Luokou Cang, their root son, to save Luoyang and then to shake Dou Jiande again.
At the critical moment, Li Mi once again proved with facts that his magnanimity and repaying grievances with virtue are not under the hypocrisy and hypocrisy Chen Sangliang. Going straight to Hulao Pass has three advantages. The first is great confidence. At present, the more than 20,000 troops of Prince Zheng Wang Xuanying are still holding out in Luokou Cang. The chances of quickly recapturing Hulao Pass are far greater than those of Linqing Pass.”
"The second is to ensure the supply of food and grass from the Luokou warehouse to the army, reduce the burden of money and food for the people of Daxia, and defeat the bandit army one by one! Your Majesty has said before that if we can wipe out the Chen bandit from the east, it will be extremely beneficial to us. The army broke the main force of the Chen bandits again. Although the Chen bandits were lucky enough to take down the Hulao Pass, we still have the hope of defeating the Chen bandits' army one by one. Moreover, the Zheng Guo army has not yet confirmed whether the Chen bandits are in the Eastern Expedition Army. In the middle, if Chen Bandit is really at Hulao Pass, then His Majesty can not only defeat Chen Bandit's army one by one, but also have great hope to capture the bandit first, capture the king, and capture the traitor Chen Yingliang himself first!"
"There's a third one!" Li Mi paused after talking endlessly, bowed his hands to Dou Jiande, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, forgive me for saying an unlucky word, even if our army can't take back the tiger prison in the end." It is still more beneficial for our army to directly enter the Hulao Pass, because after His Majesty stationed troops under the Hulao Pass, he could immediately block the Chen thief army's way out of the Guandong and prevent the Chen thief from taking the opportunity to expand. Then His Majesty only needs to assign a few partial divisions to annex the land of the twelve counties and counties in the south of the Yellow River in one fell swoop, drink horses from the Yangtze River, continue to capture Jingchu from the west, and trap the Chen thieves to death in the hinterland of the Central Plains. Wouldn't it be wonderful for Chen Thief to divide the world equally?"
Li Mi has already talked sweet words to this point, is there any possibility of Dou Jiande continuing to hesitate? After slapping the dragon chair heavily, Dou Jiande yelled in a dignified manner: "The words of Aiqing are exactly what I want! Send an order to the whole army, continue to march south, cross the Yellow River and take Hulao Pass directly, and don't give Chen's army any respite. machine!"
In this way, Dou Jiande's army still marched towards Hulao Pass when the road to advance was already choked by the Sui army. Wang Wan, Changsun Anshi and other envoys of the Zheng army were very grateful for this, and once again came to Li Mi with a heavy gift to thank him for repaying kindness with grievances, and begged Li Mi to continue persuading Dou Jiande to take back Hulao Pass and save the dying Luo Li Mi readily agreed to open the warehouse and reinforce Luoyang City, and for the first time accepted a gift from Wang Shichong, who was also his mortal enemy.
Seeing that Li Mi finally accepted the precious gift from the army, Wang Wan and his eldest grandson Anshi were overjoyed together, and said that they would be more confident in asking Li Mi for help in the future. Wang Bodang, Wang Xuance and other Li Mi's confidants were puzzled by this, and they had just sent Wang Wan and Wang Wan away, and immediately asked Li Mi together: "Wei Gong, didn't you never accept gifts from Wang Shichong before? Breaking this rule today?"
"We are leaving soon, and we may not be able to go back to Baima to meet Yang Jishan first. We are short of travel expenses and even military expenses, so we can only accept it." Li Mi replied calmly.
"We are leaving soon? When?" Uncle Wang was taken aback.
Li Mi nodded, and said very relaxedly: "In just two or three days, after crossing the Yellow River, I will go to see Dou Jiande and ask him to allow me to go to Liang Chenqiao Peng to recruit the old troops to help in the battle, take the opportunity to escape, and never return. Dou Jiande is under the account."
"Wei Gong, are you in such a hurry?" Wang Xuance asked in extreme surprise.
"It has to be so urgent." Li Mi replied with a sneer, "If I don't hurry up, I might be in danger."
Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance were even more surprised when they heard this, and when they hurriedly asked the reason, Li Mi smiled and said: "Today I urged Dou Jiande to continue to enter the Hulao Pass. If I don't come back, if I can't attack Dou Jiande for a long time, I will definitely take it out on me, and I will definitely send my direct descendant in Baima to join the battle. Not only will I be in danger, but my last direct descendant team will also suffer heavy casualties. Therefore, I can only get out as soon as possible , cannot continue to stand under the dangerous wall.”
Wang Xuance, who really wanted to give Li Mi's head to Chen Sangliang as a reunion gift, refused to give up, and asked again: "Duke Wei, do you think Dou Jiande won't be able to get back to Hulao Pass?"
"Of course I can't get it back." Li Mi said with a smile: "What is the terrain of Hulao Pass, don't you know? Chen's army can easily block Dou Jiande's army with only a small amount of strength, and take the opportunity to free up their hands to clean up Luokou. Cang Wang Xuanying, if Luokou Cang is breached again, Dou Jiande will have no chance to win Hulao Pass. Moreover, Thief Chen has another choice, which is to only guard Hulao Pass and ignore Luokou Cang. Dou Jiande will inevitably force Wang Xuanying to send troops in order to break the city. Attack Luokoucang, when Thieves Chen wants to kill Wang Xuanying in the field, it will be even easier."
"Mentor Gaoming, we can't wait to die in Hulao Pass, we must get out as soon as possible." Wang Bodang nodded quickly, and then asked worriedly: "Mentor, but what if Dou Jiande refuses to agree?"
"Judging from Dou Jiande's recent attitude towards me, there should be great hopes." Li Mi replied confidently, and then said with a smile: "And we have another way, Wang Wan's men have gold, silver and jewels in their hands, and they are anxious to save Wang Shichong. Well, as long as I explain clearly to them that it is beneficial for them to recruit the old army to join the war, they will definitely spend money and effort to buy the gang of bumpkins under Dou Jiande's command to speak for me. With the help of these bumpkins, with Dou Jiande's soft ears, I don't want to agree It's all difficult."
Wang Bodang was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly praised his mentor for his wisdom. Wang Xuance remained silent, not knowing what he was planning in his mind. Li Mi also said that Wang Xuance was afraid, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, I am sure of this." , you are loyal to me, and after I make a comeback, I will definitely not treat you badly."
After all, Li Mi also selected some of the most valuable pieces from the gold, silver and jewelry sent by Wang Wan and others, and divided them into two as rewards to Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance. Wang Xuance suddenly had an astonishing idea in his mind, and quickly gritted his teeth and made up his mind...
It was night, and Dou Jiande's army was stationed in the northern suburb of Wei County for the night. Wang Xuance found an excuse to leave Li Mi's camp, and pretended to wander around the camp. The identity begged to see Dou Jiande, of course the guards of the imperial camp refused to inform the humble Wang Xuance. However, Wang Xuance quickly took out the jewelry that Li Mi gave him during the day, stuffed it into the hands of the gate officer at the back door, and said respectfully: "General, please be sure to report to Your Majesty, and say that I have a very urgent confidential matter to report to him. If Your Majesty No, the villain turned around and left immediately, if His Majesty thinks that the villain has offended his Tianwei, and wants to behead the villain for public display, the villain will never blame you."
For the sake of precious jewels, and hearing Wang Xuance's words so solemnly, the gate officer of the rear camp still dubiously made a report, but Dou Jiande, who was about to fall asleep, was really angry at first, saying how could I see everyone? However, after hearing clearly that it was Li Mi's confidential secretary Wang Xuance who asked for an interview, Dou Jiande was still suspicious, and immediately issued an order to summon him—in troubled times, if Dou Jiande didn't even have such a little vigilance, he wouldn't be able to live today. It's come to this point.
Soon, Wang Xuance was led to Dou Jiande's dormitory. After meeting, Dou Jiande asked Wang Xuance what he wanted to see. Wang Xuance didn't answer, but just looked around. Dou Jiande understood, and said: "Speak, here are my confidant guards No one will leak the news."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Xuance thanked you respectfully, and said very seriously: "Your Majesty, before I report a confidential matter to you, please promise me that I will behead you immediately after listening to my report!"
"Why?" Dou Jiande was extremely confused.
"Because a humble official wants to do unrighteous things!" Wang Xuance kowtowed and said, "If a humble official does not report to His Majesty what the humble official is about to say, it will be disloyal, but a humble official will report this matter to Your Majesty, which is also unrighteous. Loyalty and righteousness are hard to have both! However, a lowly position is a lowered official. With His Majesty’s grace to save his life and enjoy His Majesty’s salary, clothing and food, he should be loyal to His Majesty, so there is nothing a lowly position can do. We can only be loyal to His Majesty first, and then ask His Majesty to execute the lowly position. To punish the unrighteous crimes of the humble!"
The expression on Dou Jiande's face became serious, and he paused for a while before he said: "Speak up, just say your words of loyalty, let me decide whether you should punish your unjust crimes, or forgive and pardon you .”