Emperor Sui Yang

15 people attacked Xingyang City. They suffered more than 1 losses and more than 1 people fled. Shuai Rentai, Huo Xiaohan and Wu Hailiu were almost completely wiped out. Those who survived were all gone. Once they were separated from the army, they would freeze to death. Starvation is imminent.

In other words, the rebels in Shandong should still have 10 people anyway, but after a huge defeat, the fragile alliance relationship disappeared, and everyone went their separate ways and broke up.

Among them, Zuo Xiaoyou and Xu Yuanlang thought that it would be better to go back to Shandong directly. Luoyang is the eastern capital after all, and it is definitely not easy to fight here. We need food, and so do other officers and soldiers.

Looking for food is not just about hitting the steel plate.

This belongs to smart people.

But Li Deyi didn't want to return to Shandong in such a dejected manner. As the commander-in-chief recommended by all the heroes in Shandong, if he went back like this, his prestige in Shandong would be greatly damaged.

Moreover, the main force of 3 men under his command was still there, so he withdrew to the three counties of Xucheng, Lingchang and Fengqiu in Dongjun.

These three counties are the only way for Shandong to enter Guanzhong. The rebels have already swept through the surrounding counties on the way here. However, Li Deyi feels that my sweep is not thorough. I should sift through it again like a grate. It will definitely still be possible. Get some food out.

After all, they had never entered the county town before, and this time, they would definitely have to capture the county town and defend it in order to withstand the pursuers behind them.

His pause was equivalent to giving the other rebels a backseat.

Many wall-climbing ladders prepared for the attack on Xingyang were used on these three counties. Li Deyi's three adopted sons served as the main generals of the three-pronged siege and attacked the three counties crazily.

Rebels and thieves all like to recognize adopted sons, because loyalty and filial piety are the most important things in the hearts of the ancients. You are my subordinate, so you must be loyal. I recognize you as my adopted son, and you must be filial. Isn't this all about loyalty and filial piety?

It’s not just a blind competition to identify a adopted son. Either you have a team or you can fight. In other words, you have to be useful.

They had no food left. They were defeated too quickly and had no time to take away the remaining food. If they could not capture these three counties, they would starve.

The three counties are easy to fight. After all, they have already been beaten by that dog thief Zhai Zhai, and the officials have changed.

In the Sui Dynasty system, if there was a war in the local area and the chief officer died in battle, the chief official would be promoted to the top. If the prime minister died, he would be a lieutenant, and if he came down, he would be a military officer. If they all died, the alternate officials in the city would take their place.

After the imperial examination began, many scholars became candidates. Those who did not become candidates were candidates. Jinshi can directly enter the official position, but as a candidate, the position is limited and it is not your turn.

Those who don’t have a strong relationship will be on the waiting list for the rest of their lives.

The current person in charge of Fengqiu County is a candidate. He took the scientific examination three years ago. He is Yuan Zheng from the Yuan family of Dongjun County.

Their branch is not the Yuan clan in Henan, but a branch of the Xianbei clan. Their territory is limited to one or two counties in Dongjun and is dependent on the Yuan family.

When Zhai Rang attacked here, he brought great disaster to Yuan Zheng's family. His father and grandfather were both dead, and now only he, his two uncles and three younger brothers were left to hold on to the city.

The local wealthy families are very powerful. It can be said that they can do things that officials cannot do.

Under the leadership of Yuan Zheng, almost all the strong men in Fengqiu City climbed up the earth city wall, and children aged thirteen or fourteen also came up. Almost all the people were soldiers.

"This group of thieves have retreated from Xingyang. They are at the end of the road. There must be imperial troops behind them. We only need to hold on until reinforcements arrive. This problem will be solved by ourselves." Yuan Zheng, wearing military armor and carrying a horizontal sword at his waist, stood on the city wall. He is only 24 years old.

Uncle Yuan Wei said: "The enemy has formed a formation and will attack the city at any time. These bandits look decent. We are short of weapons here and it is difficult to defend."

"A moment of defense counts," Yuan Zheng's second brother Yuan Jun said: "Before them, a large number of bandits had already bypassed Fengqiu and headed for Shandong. They didn't leave, so it turns out that they ran out of food and grass and wanted to get supplies from us. "

Yuan Zheng nodded: "That's probably the case."

At this time, the trumpet sounded outside the city, and the rebels attacked the city.

Yuan Zheng fiercely drew his sword, raised it high and said: "If thieves enter the city, they will kill my parents, humiliate my wife and children, seize my corn, and occupy my house. Anyone who steps back will be killed!"

An offensive and defensive battle began.

Yang Xuanting and Xu Shiji were still resting in Xingyang City. They were cavalry. Although they were powerful, they had a useful life. As for Yang Xuanzang's [-] elite troops, they were more embarrassed. When they arrived at the battlefield, the enemy army had been defeated.

So should we pursue it, or not?
Go ahead, I don’t have enough rations, and I’m afraid I’ll run out of food if I go too deep, so don’t go after it, because if you miss such a good situation, you may not have another chance in the future.

Xingyang used to be Dongjun. That place was the former base camp of the Wagang Army. It was already in a mess. It's hard to say whether our army had food in the past.

After thinking for a long time, Xuanzang decided to take 6000 people and head east first, leaving the rest to Hou Junji, who would be responsible for borrowing grain and grass from Xingyang, and then follow them to ensure military supplies.

Xu Shiji and Hou Junji were greeted by the prince and should be put to good use. These two people followed Li Jing through the Turks, and their combat qualities have been recognized by Li Jing.

Xingyang doesn't have much food left, but behind it is Xingluo Cang, so Qu Tutong can allocate some and then replenish it from Xingluo Cang.

The line from Luoyang to Xingyang is now stable. Although there are still many rebel deserters scattered, they no longer dare to challenge the government and the army. At most, they run to the countryside and harm the people.

Halfway through the march, Yang Xuanzang received news that the county magistrate of Xucheng was killed in the battle. Huang Junhan, the Sima of the East County who stayed in the city, had already started fighting with the rebels, and the destruction of Xucheng was imminent.Huang Junhan was the one who let Zhai Rang go. Historically, he defected to Wagang Village, but in this life, Zhai Rang failed to achieve success.

Historically, they surrendered after Li Mi surrendered to Wagang, occupied Xingyang, and forced the eastern capital. Now it is obvious that the Wagang army is still a group of bandits.

"Give me my order to speed up the march and attack Xucheng directly," Yang Xuanzang ordered decisively.

If the rebels were allowed to attack the county, it would be disadvantageous for Xuanzang, because at that time, he would be the one to attack the city.

There is a saying in the art of war: the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, and then the second is to attack the city. The method of attacking a city is a last resort.

Therefore, it is best not to attack the city if you can.

The one who besieged Xucheng was Li Deyi's adopted son, Zhao Quanfa. He was a bandit leader in Dongping County, Shandong Province. He had his own team. After joining Li Deyi, he fought several good battles in Shandong and was recognized as his adopted son, nicknamed Tianfu. General.

Therefore, General Li Shimin's talent doesn't sound very bluffing sometimes.

After receiving the news that officers and soldiers had arrived, Zhao Quanfa immediately allocated 3000 men to form a formation ten miles back to block the pursuing troops and provide him with an opportunity to capture the county seat.

The three thousand rebels walked back like this, and five or six hundred escaped halfway.

At this juncture, no one wanted to go west, because they all knew that there were officers and soldiers over there.

Either way, once morale is lost, it will be very difficult to pick it up again. The two thousand rebels at the rear almost collapsed at the first touch. Yang Xuanzang did not fight at all, and the opposite side fell into pieces.

As we all know, it is difficult to catch up with a score of 0:3 on the football field because morale is gone. After all, there are only a few people who can survive. But once such a small number of situations happen, it is a turning point.

Xuanzang and Zhao Quanfa's rebels started a decisive battle outside the city. One side had brave soldiers and the other side had a defeated army. There was no suspense about the outcome.

What's more, Xuan Zong still has a military advantage.

The ground was densely covered with corpses, and the wails of the injured rebels were disappearing little by little, because they were being killed one by one by the officers and soldiers who were clearing the battlefield.

This job may seem easy, but it is actually quite dangerous, because some soldiers who are injured and unable to move are still quite threatening if they hold a crossbow in their hands, so those who do the last hit must be in full armor, just beware of hidden arrows.

It was learned from the prisoners that rebels were also attacking Fengqiu City in the south and Lingchang City in the north, among which Li Deyi was in the direction of Lingchang.

Huang Junhan, who came out of the city to meet Xuan Zong, was already covered in blood and said: "There are still more than 1000 troops stationed in Lingchang, but Fengqiu has none. I think I should save Fengqiu first."

He is the Sima of Dongjun, a county-level official, and he is very clear about the city defense of the three counties.

But he can't control the county magistrate. Although after Yang Ming's restructuring, the power to appoint subordinate officials at the county and county levels is gradually being returned to the central government, after all, according to the old system, county magistrates are appointed by the county governor, but county magistrates are appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. It’s clear who is older and who is younger.

Yang Xuanzang frowned and said: "It's only thirty miles to Lingchang to the north, and it's still where the bandit chief is. It's sixty miles to Fengqiu to the south, and I'm afraid we won't be able to save him. To capture the thieves first, we should capture the king. Lingchang should be our priority."

There is nothing wrong with his idea. When fighting fires, we should first rescue those close to us. Fengqiu is a bit far away after all.

"Is there any food in the city? Can you prepare a thousand catties of Hu cakes?" Yang Xuanzang asked.

Huang Junhan nodded: "In such a difficult situation, hungry people can come together."

"Then do it quickly!" Yang Xuanzang led the army into the city to rest temporarily.

Human physical strength is limited. After a lot of exercise, you have to replenish your energy and forcefully march. It is also the twelfth lunar month, which will do more harm than good.

Within a day, baskets of hot Hu biscuits were delivered to the army, two for each person, and there were really no more.

In fact, Xuan Zong's marching rations had not been eaten up yet, but they were already frozen to the bone. After a lot of physical exertion, he still had to eat something fresh and hot so that he could recover quickly.

After resting for a night, Xuan Zong led the army in the early morning of the next day and headed towards Lingchang County.

At the same time, in the direction of the Yellow River, Shi Huaiyi also successfully landed and stationed directly in Liyangcang, fifteen miles away from the river bank, and sent a message to Li Jing to reassure him.

At this point, a passage from Luoyang to Hebei has been opened.

Along the way, as many as 6000 of Shi Huaiyi's [-] people froze to death. The war was so cruel.

In the great chaos of the late Sui Dynasty in history, more than 3000 million people died, 80.00% of them died of hunger and cold. After all, only a few people actually died on the battlefield.

Once a war begins, food is always the most important, and gold, silver, and coins are just accessories.

The five grains are the master of all things.