Emperor Sui Yang

Nowadays, northern Hebei is blooming everywhere, and various wars are taking place one after another.

The collision between dozens of armies made this place very lively, and the shadow of the army could be seen almost everywhere.

In such a chaos, Yang Ming could hardly receive much useful military information. Everyone was fighting. Whether the rangers sent out to report on the war could come back was a question. Northern Hebei was in chaos.

Tu Wanxu's attack on Changle County did not go well. This is not his fault. Changle County is the capital of Xindu County. Xindu County was the capital of Jizhou during the Kaihuang period. Although the city defense is not as good as Jinyang, it is still worse. Not much.

Yang Jian completely destroyed Yecheng, the capital of the Old Qi Dynasty, and burned it to rubble, and then set up the capital of Hebei Province in Xindu. Therefore, Changle County spent a lot of money to build city defenses. The most terrifying thing is that Changle County's defense system , was planned and built by Gao Jiong and Yu Wenkai.

Wei Yuancheng, the father of Yang Rui's good friend Wei Gui, used to be in charge here, and later Yujuluo.

It took [-] troops to attack the city for eleven days before finally consuming the surrounding forts and encircling it from the west, south and east, leaving a gap in the north.

So now, all that's left is to attack the county seat.

Filling the moat and attacking the city wall were the last resort, but Tu Wanxu couldn't be happy because he had been delayed for too long. He had realized that Gao Shida's reinforcements might come back at any time.

Therefore, he ordered his left and right lieutenants, Hong Jing and Chang Xu, to lead 1 men each to line up five miles away from the east and west wings of the central army to guard against attacks on the camp.

"I asked from a bandit leader that the guard general of Changle is not named Han, but Gao, and his name is Gao Shunde. He is the son of Gao Renya, the old king of Anle in Qi," his son Tuwanliao said.

On Tu Wanxu's side, many prisoners were captured and asked about the name of the guard. They all said that their surname was Han. However, Tu Wanxu thought it was impossible because the enemy's defenders were very organized and were definitely not unknown people.

"Gao Renya?" Tu Wanxu looked at the staff beside him in confusion.

Linghu Geng explained: "Because of his hidden illness, this man was not executed after the country was destroyed. He was exempted from moving to Shu together with Gaoping Wang Gao Renying. How many descendants he has is unknown."

Except for Gao Renying and Gao Renya, all the brothers of Gao Wei, the empress of Qi, were killed by Yu Wenyong in Chang'an.

Gao Renya is suffering from a hidden disease. What is a hidden disease?Even if you are unable to speak due to physical defects or diseases, you will be mute. Many dynasties will still take care of the disabled.

As for why Gao Renying did not die, historical records say he was mentally frivolous. This does not mean that he was arrogant or bohemian, but that there was something wrong with his spirit and he could be considered a disabled person.

During the reign of Emperor Kaihuang, in order to win over the people of the world, Yang Guang ordered Gao Renying, Xiao Cong, and Chen Shubao to represent the old Qi, old Liang, and old Chen to build their own sects.

"It turns out that he is from a famous family, no wonder he is so stable," Tu Wanxu sighed: "The Gao family of Bohai should be punished for causing trouble in Hebei."

Linghu Geng sighed: "The official documents urged by the prince are issued three times a day. If we can't win, we may be guilty."

Tu Wanxu smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying nothing.

In fact, he knew very well in his heart that it was necessary for the prince to urge him. Although the prince knew that it was difficult for him and understood him in his heart, he would not understand on the surface.

If he can't be beaten, he will definitely be convicted. Yes, the fault is not mine, but the crime is mine.

My men are all Wagang rebels. Unlike when we fought in Liaodong, they don't have any heavy siege equipment. If the prince hadn't allocated some weapons to them, some of them would still have sticks in their hands.

The only advantage left was that there were more people, but they ran into a remnant of the old Qi who knew how to defend the city.

When the army marches, the food and supplies will only be in one place, and that is behind the main force of the general.

Because food, fodder and military supplies are so important, all generals will firmly control them in his hands, just like Yang Ming. All the military supplies of the army are with him. If there is any shortage, just report the number and he will allocate it as appropriate.

The same goes for Gao Shida. His military supplies are just behind him and are escorted by his own son Gao Shanghui.

Gao Shenghui, formerly known as Gao Hui, does not have the word "Sheng" because their branch is a side branch and cannot join the main branch of others. However, after Gao Shida rebelled, he asked for this power from the clan.

It is equivalent to saying that Gao Shida and Gao Jiong are from the same generation, and their sons Gao Shenghui and Gao Shengdao are from the same generation.

In order to unite, the three main branches of the Gao family rebuilt their genealogy under the auspices of Gao Jiong, and all three branches were changed to the same generation.

Xu Shiji had to find Gao Shida if he wanted to burn the food and fodder of [-] rebels, and Gao Shida's Chinese army must be in the middle, so he needed to break through many obstacles before he could find it.

The 1000-strong light cavalry force had only been marching for four days when they were shot and killed by all kinds of people on the road, resulting in [-] casualties.

I won't talk about the dead ones, and I won't care about the injured Xu Shiji. He will only let them find a way to go back.

The eight hundred warriors stumbled, jumped left and right among the enemy troops, and ran back and forth, taking countless long detours.

Wherever there are villages, there must be rebels. They did not even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. They slept in the open air and marched hard. They lost dozens of people due to disease.

What Xuanting gave him this time, if it weren't for Hedong Qu, these guards would have killed Xu Shiji.

They had already figured out that following General Xu this time was doing an errand with his head tied to his waist.That night, they rested in a ruined temple on a barren mountain. They wanted to light a fire to keep warm, but Xu Shiji stopped them.

"Setting the fire will expose us, so please bear with it."

Pei Sheng suddenly frowned and said: "General, until now, you haven't told the brothers what we are doing here this time? You were also promoted by the prince, and we are the prince's people. What can't you tell us? of?"

When he took the lead, several other brigade commanders also complained.

Xu Shiji smiled and said: "It is inconvenient to inform you of this important military matter. Please forgive me."

If I tell you this is a lifeless job, you will definitely not do it.

Pei Jiu said: "We are His Highness's private army. We are the most elite. We will serve His Highness through fire and water. We can do no matter how hard the job is, but you have to make us aware of it."

He was lying. They were the earliest members of the prince's team. They were a group of tyrants, and they didn't even pay attention to a little-known figure like Xu Shiji.

Are you a general?My last name is Pei.

Xu Shiji was very cautious and would not reveal his true identity. He just smiled and said, "Since everyone is mentally prepared, just follow my general orders. If you don't comply, you will be dealt with according to military law."

Pei Sheng smiled and said: "You don't need to scare us with military laws. You should know that the prince protects his shortcomings. Our relationship with the prince is not comparable to yours."

Xu Shiji said expressionlessly: "You all know how strict the prince is in running the army. Duke Huainan made arrangements for you before leaving and asked you to listen to me, but everyone seems not to have taken this sentence to heart."

"But I didn't ask you to abandon Pao Ze," Pei Sheng said angrily: "Brothers are all His Highness's disciples from Hedong. Your Highness cherishes us as sons. When we come to you, we will not take our lives seriously. I said Xu Shiji, do you believe it?" If you don’t believe me, I’ll kill you.”

Xu Shiji raised his hand and loosened his lapels, and said calmly: "My head is right here. You can just take it, but if you delay the prince's important event, even if we die, we will not be able to atone for our sins."

At this time, Pei Xing, who had been sitting in the corner without speaking, raised his hand and said: "Okay, okay, let's go out together, it's Paoze. Let's calm down and stop fighting among ourselves."

He is the second son of Pei Zhong, the leader of Pei Shuying's personal guard, and the leader of this group of Hedong soldiers.

Xu Shiji couldn't suppress this group of people. The disadvantage of elites was that they were difficult to manage.

"Second brother, something is wrong with us all the way out here. We are running here and there with no goal and no idea of ​​what we are doing. My brother is not afraid of death, but of an unknown death," Pei Sheng looked at Pei Xingdao.

Pei Xing touched the hometown soil hanging on his waist and said: "Since we are carrying this handful of soil, our brothers don't care about life and death. General Xu Jun can talk about it. I can guarantee that no one will Dare to make mistakes."

Xu Shiji knew the origin of the other party. This boy's Pei was given his surname by Pei Ju and was a retainer of the Pei family.

When will these people risk their lives?When protecting the prince, this is called a well-deserved death, but at other times, he may not be willing to sacrifice his life.

Xu Shiji spoke politely to Pei Xing: "Vice General Pei just needs to know that when I come out this time, I will succeed without failure. I don't want my head, but things must be done. I was also promoted by the prince. I was originally An unknown person is treated with courtesy by the prince and allowed to serve the country, even if he dies, he will never be able to repay it."

The others were about to retort, but Pei Xing raised his hand to stop him: "Okay, since you said so, I won't ask further questions. After all, we are our own people. You can tell the brothers how to arrange tomorrow."

Xu Shiji nodded, took out a worn map from his arms, and began to draw.

In fact, he felt guilty and was really afraid that others would kill him.

The prince's people are tough and can do anything. After all, his level and qualifications are too low to restrain these people.

But Xu Shiji has a really strict mouth. In fact, if he says it, Pei Xing and the others will do it. Elites do things that others can't do.

In this way, two days later, there were only more than 600 people left in this group. Their current location was only forty or fifty miles away from Changle County, but they had determined the location of Gao Shida's main force.

"I understand, are you going to burn their luggage?" Pei Xing finally realized.

Pei Sheng snorted coldly: "I thought it was Gao Shida who was assassinated. You covered him up so tightly."

Xu Shiji sat on the horse and said with a smile: "Going east from here, within ten miles, there will be rebels' food, grass and baggage. Brothers have prepared kerosene."

Pei Xing smiled heartily: "Although you look down on our brothers a little, your prudence and prudentness are still admirable. How do you say that? Those who have thunder in their chests and faces as flat as a lake can be worshiped as generals. If this is the case, With success, Xu Jun will surely rise to great heights."

"Then you can come back alive," Xu Shiji said, cupping his hands to everyone: "This time I have overcome all obstacles to get here, and there is only one last battle left. I am willing to fight life and death with you."

Pei Xing raised his horse whip and laughed and said: "Hedong Erlang, let's follow General Xu to attack the camp."

600 people walked along the path and moved toward the army behind Gao Shida Hall at an extremely fast speed.