Xiahou Baichuan was no longer a rookie who led troops on the battlefield for the first time, but his mood this time was exactly the same as that of Du Dingbei who led troops for the first time on the bank of Luoshui outside Xinyang City. Unspeakable excitement and excitement. Because he knew very well what the significance of this expedition was. If everything goes well and the city of Chang'an is captured, then the Central Plains, where the surname Yang has existed for more than two hundred years, may have to change his surname.
Even if the old people who have been following Fang Jie are different from those who have just joined the Black Banner Army, their affection for Fang Jie is greater than their yearning for a bright future, but this does not mean that they have no desires.
Gyeonggi-do is still far away, but in the impression of the people in the Central Plains, after crossing the Yangtze River, it is an important place in Gyeonggi on a large scale. In order to ensure the stability of Chang'an City, huge granaries were built in various roads in Jiangbei.
The granary in Liyin City was not called this name before. After Gao Kaitai arrived in Jiangbei, he occupied two of the four major granaries in the north, and renamed the southernmost granary to Liyin City, using the name of Liyin City. The Wenshan Warehouse in Gyeonggi-do, which was originally directly supplied to Chang'an, was renamed Liyang Warehouse.
Gao Kaitai is a very superstitious person, he thinks that changing the names of these two large warehouses will help his career. One is called Liyin, and the other is called Liyang. The combination of yin and yang will determine the world.
However, if this is all you need to conquer the world, then the emperor must be a Feng Shui master.
Perhaps among all the teams in the world today, only Fang Jie's generals are used to using the sand table. After all, the map is not intuitive enough, but the sand table shows the situation and terrain of the enemy and us more clearly.
After Xiahou Baichuan's vanguard crossed the Yangtze River, it took only four days to take down two counties with little resistance. The appeal against rebellion written by the eldest princess Yang Qinyan of the Great Sui Dynasty has been published all over the world. Everyone in Jiangbei Province knows that the Black Banner Army is protecting the eldest princess and is about to return to Chang'an. There is a tendency to choose between Gao Kaitai and the Great Sui Princess, and most people will be more obedient to the latter.
"In front is Liyin City."
Xiahou Baichuan walked around the sand table, then pointed to the warehouse and said, "My lord asked me to be the vanguard general. This is my trust in us. You should all know what it means to be a vanguard this time! No Need me to say something else, think about the status of the first team to enter Chang'an City in the future!"
This sentence ignited the enthusiasm of his subordinates. It is obvious that the first team to enter the imperial capital will receive the heaviest rewards. Now that Xiahou has won the Vanguard General, they all have hope. People in business always say that benefits are directly proportional to risks. Isn't it the same this time? The vanguard will do the hardest things, but the rewards will be the most lucrative.
"Taking the Liyin warehouse is equivalent to completely solving the worries for the army going north. The food road has been shortened by at least two-thirds, and the brothers in the back will think of our benefits when they eat the food in the Liyin warehouse!"
Xiahou Baichuan smiled and said: "We have been waiting and hoping, hoping that the Lord will change his mind and fight for the world. In the final analysis, it is because we ourselves are looking forward to a great future. Whether you are from a poor family or A good family background is actually the same. Who doesn’t look forward to a glorious return home? What was the purpose of your joining the Black Banner Army? I don’t care, I don’t care, but I know that the bottom line is for a better future. Now we What we are doing is to make the future better.”
"General!"
Xiahou Baichuan's generals all opened their fists together and said: "Subordinates are willing to fight the first battle!"
"Don't rush..."
Xiahou Baichuan waved his hands and said, "I asked you all to see the topography of Liyin in the past two days, and I have to say that Yan Zeng is very capable. Today's Liyin City was built by him like an iron barrel, with only Ambition cannot be defeated. You all want to fight me, but you must have a thorough plan. There must be no mistakes in fighting Liyin, because hundreds of thousands of brothers behind us are watching us. Once our side is not going well, it will affect morale It’s never a good thing.”
"So... we not only want to win this battle, but also win this battle beautifully."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the curtain of the big tent being lifted from the outside: "Of course we must win this battle beautifully. What is beautiful?"
The people in the big tent looked out following the voice, and saw Fang Jie walking in with a smile on his face.
"Meet the lord!"
Everyone was surprised and quickly got up to salute.
Fang Jie waved his hands and said, "They all wear armour, so there is no need to salute."
He walked to the sand table and stopped for a look, then said with a smile: "I'm here this time with a celebration wine, if the battle is good enough, I'll accompany you to have a drink to your heart's content. Wish I had brought this wine for free?"
…
…
Yan Zeng, the guard of Liyin City, was born in a famous family. Although the status of the Yan family in the Sui Dynasty was not comparable to that of the first-rate families such as the Cui family, Yu family, and Zhao family, it was also inferior to the second-rate families such as the Zhou family, Sun family, and Jin family. But the Yan family's status in Eastern Xinjiang is extremely important, several important generals under Mu Guangling are all from the Yan family. For example, on Penglai Island, he fought side by side with Mu Guangling's only son Mu Xianjun, the desperate general Yan Li.
Yan Zeng and Yan Li are still brothers of the same clan, and their relationship is not far away. The fathers of the two are brothers, and they are both direct descendants. It's just that Yan Li's father is the eldest son, so his status in the family is naturally higher.
The famous generals of the Yan family came out in large numbers, not only in the more than two hundred years of history of the Sui Dynasty, there were famous generals in the world, but also in the previous dynasty, some people had achieved such a high position as the Generalissimo of Soldiers and Horses.
Yan Zeng was the person farthest away from the Yan family. He did not stay in Dongjiang like his father and brothers did, and worked under the Mu family for generations. Relatively speaking, he always thought that he was far more ambitious than his brothers. He doesn't want to be at Mu's house from start to finish like his parents and grandparents, he wants to go to a higher place.
At the beginning of the Great Sui Dynasty, Emperor Tianyou Yang Yi dispatched troops from the eastern border and the south of the Yangtze River, and secretly transported them to the northwest with a fleet of goods going all over the world to prepare for the war. The 700,000 troops were the first batch of troops to go to the northwest, and he was in this team among. He thought that it would be the beginning of his bright future, but he never thought that the Sui army would be defeated so thoroughly and easily in the northwest. Seventy-eight out of ten of the 700,000 troops died. After he escaped by chance, he could not go back to the east. Territory.
He spent a few years wandering in the northwest, and then looked forward to the arrival of the imperial court's army to suppress the rebellion. Emperor Tianyou's imperial conquest gave Yan Zeng a second hope, and he felt that he could stand up. So he joined Gao Kaitai's army. In Gao Kaitai's army, his ability began to show and was discovered by Gao Kaitai, and he was continuously promoted for several years.
But... What Yan Zeng never thought of before was that the place where his talent was displayed was not in the battle of the Sui Dynasty to expand the territory, or even in the battle of defending the country, but... in the rebellion. When Gao Kaitai rebelled, it was the darkest time in his life, even darker than the days when he fled on the northwest grassland.
It took him several years to calm down his heart.
Gao Kaitai really attached great importance to him, otherwise he would not have given Li Yincheng to him. The granary is the top priority in any era of war. Gao Kaitai was equivalent to handing over his back to Yan Zeng, and it was precisely because of this trust that Yan Zeng gradually suppressed his desire to escape from this team.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand. A person who originally wanted to fight for the court and shine in the family turned into a rebel at the most critical moment, and even once pointed the knife directly at the back of the Sui Emperor... This is also a huge psychological contrast. It is not so easy to pass.
"Something's wrong..."
Yan Zeng collected his thoughts, looked at the place marked with charcoal on the map and shook his head: "The vanguard of the Black Banner Army has arrived at a place less than forty miles away from Liyin City, but stopped. There has been no movement for ten days, it's not right."
His general said: "General, you have built Liyin City so solidly, even if Fang Xie came here in person, he would feel helpless. They must be plotting, let's see if there is any way to defeat you, General." I built this iron wall with my own hands."
"No."
Yan Zeng shook his head: "Even if it's a tentative attack, it's not so quiet. The news from the scouts said that this time the Black Banner Army has at least 500,000 or 600,000 troops going north. How much is the consumption of food and grass per day? Ten days, ten days already. Fang Jie would never waste time like this, there must be demons when things go wrong, and the Black Banner Army must be plotting something else... "
Those who followed Yan Zeng knew that Yan Zeng was meticulous and insightful. They have been used to obeying Yan Zeng's orders in the past few years, and they don't even bother to think about it by themselves. Now Yan Zeng's solemn expression makes them feel nervous.
"Should be all right?"
Another general said anxiously: "It will take more than ten days for the Black Banner Army's brigade to cross the Yangtze River. The Vanguard Army didn't march after they captured the two county towns. Perhaps they are waiting for all the brigade to come over?"
"That's not necessary!"
Yan Zeng said: "The vanguard army of the Black Banner Army won two cities in four days, and their morale is high. If it were me, I would take advantage of the high morale of the soldiers to go further. Besides, the general of the Black Banner Army named Xiahou Baichuan is quite aggressive in leading the army. Sharp, it is said that he is impatient. His morale is like a rainbow, and his troops are sufficient. There is no need to wait for the troops behind to arrive. What's more, this place is only 260 miles away from the Yangtze River, and the cavalry of the Black Banner Army can arrive in only three days .”
He frowned and thought, always feeling like he missed something.
Looking at the map, Yan Zeng suddenly thought of something after being silent for a long time, and his face changed drastically.
"Is there any special person from outside the city recently?"
Yan Zeng turned his head and asked.
As soldiers approached the city, Li Yin City had already closed its gates.
"No... Even if there is, I don't necessarily know. The bridge over the moat has been broken..."
His general replied.
"not good!"
Yan Zeng yelled, and just as he was about to go out, he saw someone rushing in from outside: "General, someone called the door outside the city, saying that he came from Ming'an City. The bridge on the moat was broken, and he swam here with good water quality. I have been besieged by the Black Banner Army, I beg the general to send troops to rescue!"
Yan Zeng's expression changed, and he walked out quickly.
…
…
"The general..."
The soldier who came to report the letter swallowed hard, his face was pale and frightening, presumably because he had traveled so fast and never rested at all, and because he spent a lot of energy swimming up the moat, he looked extraordinarily weak.
"It's not just our Ming'an city that was besieged. It is said that Pingcheng, Xiangcheng, Fangcheng and other places have been breached successively by the Black Banner Army. Now only we Ming'an can survive. If Ming'an is lost again, Li Yincang It's a lonely city!"
Hearing what the soldiers reported, Yan Zeng felt as if a boulder was blocked in his heart.
"It's too late... Even if I send troops to rescue Ming An at this time, it's too late."
Holding his hand on the wall, he sighed heavily: "I'm afraid that Ming'an is already lost, and the Black Banner Army is going to turn Liyin into a lonely city... Why didn't I think of it? Why didn't I think of it!"
After being stunned for a moment, he suddenly thought of another thing: "The things that have been lost in the surrounding cities must not be spread, and the people and defenders in the city will not know!"
"I… "
The soldier who reported the message opened his mouth, his face frightened: "I shouted outside the city for a long time... only... the city gate was opened for me..."
Yan Zeng was startled, and his face instantly turned ashen.