Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 676

Shi Wanbao was responsible for taking over from Xuan Zong, so that Xuan Zong could be free to leave Fan County and cross the river into Wuyang County.

Not being able to kill Xiao Mian was one of Yang Xuanzang's worries, but the situation was like this, and he had nothing to do. A bunch of southerners were eager to return home, and they ran faster than a rabbit.

He had been marching in a hurry, but when he arrived he was already exhausted and fell down, so he really had no ability to pursue him anymore.

Zhai Rang's nephew Zhai Mohou only had [-] troops stationed in Guixiang and [-] in the county. The rest were distributed in the surrounding towns and villages, occupying favorable terrain and forming a defensive barrier on the periphery of Guixiang County.

The two armies of Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan were fighting one level after another. The process was extremely difficult. Coupled with the poor logistics, they were now lying down and stationed in two neighboring villages, waiting for reinforcements.

Who are the reinforcements?It was Yang Xuanzang, and Xuanzang also brought some supplies this time. He was reluctant to give them to these rebels, but Li Jing had orders and he had to listen.

After all, the prince had ordered that Li Jing would have the final say in his absence.

In fact, Xu and Wan felt guilty about Xu Zong's arrival. After all, they were rebels who had just surrendered. They were currently sandwiched between Zhai Mohou and Xu Zong, and they were afraid that Xu Zong would sway him.

So privately, he also set up a line of defense behind the army, just to beware of Xuan Zong's insinuations against him.

As a result, what was waiting was Hou Junji's grain and grass team.

"I have been ordered by the Duke of Huainan to temporarily take over from you two and preside over the battle in Guixiang. I hope that you two can cooperate. After the event is completed, you two can go south." After seeing the two of them, Hou Junji said: " The one stationed in Fan County is Shi Wanbao. When you go south, you can replenish military resources from there."

Want to take away my military power?Xu Xuanche suddenly frowned and said: "I don't want to do it. The officers and soldiers under my command are from the same hometown as me. The brigade commanders and captains are all the commanders and lieutenants of my time. The generals in charge cannot control them."

"You misunderstood. I only convey orders to you two, and will not directly command the army," Hou Junji said: "The war in Ji County is tense. We need to win here quickly. There are some military situations that are inconvenient to tell you, so I can only He said that within ten days, Guixiang must be captured."

Wan Zan sighed and said, "We are unwilling to do it. Mr. Li is so kind and generous. The two of us are very grateful. There are really many obstacles in front of us. The other side is waiting for work and refuses to defend everywhere. My main force cannot advance. It is in vain."

Hou Junji said: "General Xu will attack the county at all costs. General Wan and I will cover your flanks. As long as we capture the county, the surrounding defenses will collapse."

"Isn't the price a bit too high?" Wan Zan must be unwilling, because the soldiers under his command are his lifeblood. Once the losses are too heavy, if the court turns against them, it can easily deal with them.

Hou Junji said seriously: "To be fair, this is the Marshal's order. Hou is just a messenger. As for whether you are willing to listen, it depends on you."

"Which marshal?" Xu Xuanche said in surprise.

Hou Junji was stunned and said: "Didn't Mr. Li tell you that the prince has arrived? Of course he is the marshal of the world's troops, His Highness the prince."

The two were stunned.

Yang Ming had already set off from Xingyang. He also took the road to Fan County, then crossed Hebei and passed through Guixiang, passing through Guantao County and entering Qinghe County.

Lai Huer's guess was correct, Yang Ming would be in charge of Qinghe County and preside over the suppression of the rebellion in Hebei.

Therefore, Yang Xuanzang had received an order to capture Guixiang as soon as possible and not to hinder the prince's journey north.

Ji County is like that, and sending more troops will not help. The place is so big, and the armies of both sides surrounding Wei County and Liyangcang are already saturated. Yang Ming will not let all the troops gather there.

That's adding to the chaos.

Just like a football field, it's [-] vs. [-]. If you change it to [-] vs. [-], it will become a mess.

Xu and Wan realized that if they disobeyed this time, the consequences would not be much better. Now that the princes were here, they had no other choice, so they followed Hou Junji's arrangement and invaded Guixiang County at all costs.

In fact, Xuan Zong behind them is equivalent to supervising the battle team. Anyone who runs back from the front line will be killed by him.

This is the family tradition of Lao Yang's family.

Zhai Mohou naturally also sent people to Jijun to ask for help. If Guixiang is lost and Jijun cannot be taken, their Wagang Army will not even have a place to stay.

After Li Jing entered Ji County, he did not choose to support Liyangcang. He knew better than anyone that as long as the rebels besieging Wei County were defeated, the Wagang bandits in the direction of Liyang would be meat on the chopping board.

Zhang Dinghe also arrived.

In other words, Li Jing, Shi Huaiyi, Li Jing, Zhang Ding and the four major generals dealt with Zhai Rang's little-known brother Zhai Hong.

Don't underestimate Li Jing. In fact, among the four, he is the one with the most experience. He quelled Yuchi Jun's Rebellion, participated in the Sui Dynasty's battle to destroy Chen, pacified Gao Zhizhi's Rebellion, fought against the Turks, and participated in the Battle of Liaodong. The father of Li Yuantong, Minister of the Ministry of War, is a bit older.

Then Zhai Hong naturally didn't see enough. He didn't know that Li Jing was coming behind him.

And Li Jing brought the left and right guards of the East Palace, who were elites that he had never seen before.

Zhai Hong died on the spot, and the rebels under his command dispersed. At this point, a net surrounded Zhai Rang tightly.

"Otsuka Zai, surrender?" Wang Bodang had a fight with Xuanting and was completely defeated. It was not because of his inability to lead an army, but because his rebels usually beat the government soldiers very fiercely, but when they encountered the regular army After that, all shortcomings were exposed.

Zhai Rang's face turned pale and he said nothing. Many of his confidants in the camp also looked ashen at this moment.

Surrounded from all sides, there is almost no way out.

You are trying to criticize Li Yangcang, do you think they made a strategic mistake?It cannot be said that no matter what strategy, it must first be based on having food to eat.

Zhai Rang raised troops in Dongjun. After entering Xingyang, he just wanted to attack Xingluocang, but there was Hulao Pass there. He didn't have the ability. He robbed water transportation and was driven out by Xuan Zong. After he moved to Shandong, there were rebels everywhere. , there is no place to grab food.

He chose to enter Hebei out of desperation, so he would naturally have Li Yangcang's idea.

What he was thinking about were all places that the imperial court must guard.

"This is God's death, and it is not a crime of war. You can take my head as a token of surrender," Zhai Rang let out a long sigh with a sense of defeat.

Zuopushe Wang Ruxin sighed and said: "We'd better make a temporary truce and send people to contact the officers and soldiers to discuss surrender. If we continue the fight, there will be no way out except that the entire army will be annihilated."

His words were almost a tacit admission that he wanted to abandon Zhai Rang.

Zhai Rang's two closest confidants, Zhai Hong, are dead, and Zhai Mohou is about to die. Now the army's morale is weakened, and he knows that he can no longer control this army.

At this time, everyone has their own thoughts. The one named Yuan Baobao secretly left the camp yesterday and went to Yang Xuanting.

Once this is started, more and more people will surrender in the future. The casualties in the siege will be too heavy. The forward army no longer wants to fight. It will be exhausted in one breath and will never be raised again.

At Li Yangcang, Tu Wanxu received the order from the prince.

"If the prince has a divine fortune teller, how can he predict accurately? The Wagang bandits have no intention of fighting anymore?" Tu Wanxu said.

Yang Xuanting pouted: "If you ask me, I don't know. I'm used to it."

"In fact, our soldiers don't want to fight," Su Lie looked at the densely piled corpses under the city wall and said, "In this battle, it depends on who can't hold on first. With the blessing of the emperor, we can hold on." Wagang This rebel army had quite good combat effectiveness. More than 2 people were killed in battle without being broken up. On the official side, there were also [-] dead, not counting the injured. This was a real life-and-death fight, and whoever was timid first would be finished.

The civilians in the Sui Dynasty all had military service experience, especially the northerners, who knew how to fight. This time, the equipment did not keep up. If they had also refined their weapons, Li Yangcang would have won it long ago.

"Report! The thieves have been sent to invite the envoy to surrender," the soldiers climbed onto the city wall to report.

Tu Wanxu looked at a team of more than a dozen people holding white flags in the distance, nodded and said: "I see, what do you think, how can we surrender?"

"Zhai Rang must die!" Yang Xuanting said: "Killing the rest will do more harm than good."

"The prince is not here, let Mr. Li make the decision," Su Lie glanced at Xuanting and said.

Tu Wanxu was stunned for a moment, what?I still can’t be the master?

Yang Xuanting also came to his senses and hurriedly said: "The prince has indeed given an explanation. Major military matters are decided by the pharmacist."

Tu Wanxu immediately realized that he was excluded from the princelings. If Li Jing surrendered, this credit would have nothing to do with him.

At that time, everyone will only say that it was Li Jing who destroyed Wagang, not that he vented his thoughts.

But in fact, I was the one who presided over the defense battle of Liyangcang?It's not interesting for the prince to do this.

"The prince didn't explain it like this, right?" Tu Wanxu said with a smile: "In terms of position, the pharmacist and I are both general managers. In terms of title, it should be that the Duke of Guo Guo surrendered, right?"

He is the Duke of Gucheng County, and his title is one level higher than that of Li Jing.

During the Liaodong campaign, he was originally in charge, but later Li Jing took the lead. Now it's Li Jing again, Tu Wanxu fell on a stone twice, and he was already feeling very unhappy.

Although he also knew that Li Jing did have great achievements, he already disliked him in his heart.

Because they are opponents.

"Haha, do I still dare to pretend to pass on the crown prince's decree?" Yang Xuanting sneered. People don't talk about everything because his father is Yang Yue. In ancient times, father-in-law was much more serious than in later generations. This is tradition.

Tu Wanxu snorted coldly, turned around and left the city wall.

Then the group of envoys from outside the city were sent to Li Jing's side.

Li Jing was also a sensible person and knew that it would be too offensive for him to preside over the surrender because he was not of high seniority.

So he handed over his army to the Han Xiaoji brothers and rushed to Liyangcang with Li Jing. He, Li Jing and Tu Wanxu accepted the surrender together.

Li Jing is the eldest, and he and Tu Wanxu are the deputy.

In name, it is called surrendering on behalf of the prince, which means that the credit always goes to the leader.

Tu Wanxu was then satisfied. I came out to work hard at my age. What did I want?Just take credit for this.

Yang Ming marched with a large amount of food. To put it bluntly, it was almost like a food transport team.

After all, the main function of the army around him is to protect him.

The reason why you bring so much military supplies is because you are afraid that there will not be enough on the front line and the weapons will always get damaged, right?Isn't it difficult for you to find the ingredients for horses to eat?You're injured and you need medicine, right?

The coach must have these things in his hands, which is tantamount to a trump card to hold various armies hostage.

Even though everyone who came out this time was Yang Ming's, he learned a lesson from Yang Jian and his wife at a very young age: don't trust anyone.

Normal families would not train their children and grandchildren in this way. Some would even teach their children and grandchildren to be reasonable, work hard and endure hardships, and be kind to others and build good relationships. The royal family is just the opposite.

Only by enduring hardship can one become a master. The word "WE" should be pronounced four times.

When Yang Ming arrived in Fan County, the battle in Guixiang had already ended.

The 2-strong Xiaoguo army suffered heavy losses, with more than 5000 people dead. If Yang Xuanzang hadn't been watching from behind, they would have collapsed.

It was as if someone had a knife on his back, and he had no way to retreat, so he forcibly attacked Guixiang and captured Zhai Mohou alive.

Yang Xuanzang fulfilled his promise and allowed Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan to go south. They led the remaining troops to Yuancheng, which was across the river from Fan County, and then crossed the river with two hundred personal followers to pay homage to the prince.

What the rest of their lives will be like, they are both extremely worried about meeting each other just this time.

"Give wine!"

Yang Ming was in the county government office, and ordered Pei Shuang, the bodyguard, to fill two bowls of wine and handed them to Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan (these two people actually existed in history and were not the fusion of Xue Wanche).

Then, Yang Ming asked Pei Shuang to pour him another bowl:
"I'm not good at drinking, but today I see that you two have found your way back, and I feel really happy. Come and drink this wine."

After that, Yang Ming drank it all.

The value of these two people is very huge. As long as they are loyal to the court, they will have a great dividing effect on Xiao Mian's rebels after they go south.

It will make the generals under Xiao Mian feel that the imperial court will give them a chance, which means there is a way out. First of all, the fight will not be too desperate, and secondly, they might not fight and choose to return to the embrace of the imperial court.

Xu and Wan looked at each other with tears streaming down their faces. They quickly drank all the wine in the bowl and continued to kneel in front of Yang Ming.

Yang Ming naturally stepped forward to help him. There shouldn't be too many scenes like this in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"The defeat of Xiaoguo Grassland was not your fault. It was Gu who failed to take good care of the children of Jianghuai. Fifty thousand dan of food has been prepared for you," Yang Ming helped the two of them up and said earnestly:
"I canonize you as the general manager of Danyang and Liyang, and put you under the control of Duke Wei. You should go south as soon as possible."

Xu Wanche cried bitterly: "My death is not enough to atone for my sins. Please let the prince deal with it."

Wan Zan also cried and said: "I regret that I was deceived by Thief Xiao and made a big mistake. I only hope that after going south, I can repay the prince's great kindness in case anything happens."

"It doesn't have to be like this," Yang Ming said with a smile: "We can correct our mistakes, but we can't do much good. Xiao Mian's fault for Xiao Guo's chaos is only one person's fault. Now that you two have committed crimes and made meritorious deeds, it depends on whether you can be crown princes in the future. "

He is painting cakes for these two people here.

Xu and Wan were from ordinary backgrounds and didn’t have that much in mind. They really believed it.
The main reason is that the aristocratic group has always had a reputation among the people as one that values ​​their promises. In fact, they do not take integrity seriously.

　That’s it for today. Brothers, I took my children for a physical examination in the afternoon. The women and children’s hospital called to remind them that my son hasn’t had a physical examination for more than a year. He told me to go today. I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and a happy National Day. Taking advantage of the holiday, Let's all go travel outside and relax.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)