The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 653 Up and down the city, making waves
In the thick night, the mighty Sui fleet went north along Bingou, aiming at Jiangyang Cangcheng. From the ship, you can see the city wall of Jiangyang Cangcheng, and the torches of the Sui army encircling Cangcheng look like Fireflies are average.

At this moment, Yang Tong, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others on the bow of the boat unexpectedly discovered five streams of thick smoke rising into the sky from the mountains near Jiangyang Cangcheng. Unexpectedly, Wei Jun's warning beacon was set up on the mountain.

"Man is not as good as God, and Jiangyang Cangcheng's warning beacon is actually set up outside the city." Fang Xuanling shook his head and sighed: "The beacon is lit here, and it won't be long before the whole county can see it. The plan to capture Jiangdu City by surprise Unable to execute."

As Fang Xuanling expected, just as he finished speaking, thick smoke appeared in Jiangyang County and the nearby mountains. Beacons were lit one after another, and thick smoke billowed in Hailing County in the southeast. Looking in the direction of Jiangdu City in the distance with the help of binoculars, in the dark night, I can clearly see five bright lights beating.

"Does Xuanling think this beacon is meaningful?" Du Ruhui who was at the side suddenly asked.

Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "It doesn't make sense."

Yang Tong laughed: "If Shan Xiongxin didn't lose his troops, these beacon fires would indeed bring us trouble, but he can't take care of himself, how can any soldiers come back to help? Shan Xiongxin sees the beacon smoke, Du Fuwei can also see it, we don't need to inform him .”

Everyone laughed.

With the fall of Cangcheng in Jiangyang, how could the 13 defenders in Jiangdu City play any role?Although Shan Xiongxin assembled an army from here and there, it was far inferior to the Sui army in terms of number and combat power. As long as a cavalry was sent westward, he could be stabbed in the back. At least there are more than [-] Sui troops, even if Li Mi rushed back from Huainan, it would not have the slightest effect.

"General Xue!"

"The last general is here." Xue Wanche hastily stepped forward to obey.

"When we disembark, you quickly gather [-] Xiaoguo and attack Quanjiao at dawn. If Shan Xiongxin sends his troops to help, you will wipe him out on the way; if he is as stable as Mount Tai, you will cooperate with General Du to take down Quanjiao County. , Open up the connection between Liyang and Jiangdu. All in all, no matter what, the Wei army led by Shan Xiongxin must be wiped out in Jiangdu. If Shan Xiongxin is willing to surrender, or can be easily captured alive, he will be brought before me. If he is stubborn Don't give up, fight to the end, and kill without mercy."

It is true that Yang Tong likes famous generals, but raising tigers is not his style. He is definitely not like Cao Cao, who let Guan Yu and Zhao Yun leave safely because he loves famous generals.If Shan Xiongxin is determined not to follow, Yang Tong will definitely not let him leave easily. Although a famous general is good, since you can't be used by me, what's the use of keeping you?

"The general will obey!" Xue Wanche bowed and obeyed.

While speaking, the Kirin ship slowly docked at the Jiangyang Cangcheng Wharf, where the flames were soaring, and the Xiaoguo army who had returned from annihilating the enemy was under martial law at every level.When Yang Tong set foot on the ground, three generals, Yin Mingyue, Su Dingfang, and Niu Jinda, stepped forward and bowed to plead guilty: "The last general did not find the beacon, and failed to extinguish the beacon in time, which exposed the whereabouts of our army. Please punish me."

"Li Mi regards Jiangyang Cangcheng as his lifeblood, and carefully placed the beacon on the mountain outside the city. It's normal if he didn't find it. You don't have to blame yourself." Yang Tong helped the three of them one by one, looking at Yinmingyue who made the first contribution , smiled and said: "This time we have completely captured Jiangyang Cangcheng, and our army will have no food worries. You have made a great contribution, and I will reward you."

"I... thank you, Your Majesty." Yin Mingyue lowered her long eyelashes, and a sense of coyness floated on her pretty face under the firelight.After Yin Mingyue finished speaking, she stood behind Yang Tong. This was her duty, and everyone took it for granted.

Apart from people in Luoyang, only Yang Qinfang knows about their current relationship, and this is what Yang Tong did deliberately for the sake of Yin Mingyue's reputation.

Yang Tong asked Xiang Niu Jinda: "Old Niu, how is the battle in Cangcheng?"

Niu Jinda chuckled, "Your Majesty, the battle inside is over. It must be that Li Mi is very concerned about Cangcheng. The defenders are full of loyalists. They resisted stubbornly, and none of them surrendered. The last general and others had no choice but to wipe them all out. Our army came prepared and had the strength of a powerful crossbow, but it only cost more than a hundred casualties."

"What about you?"

"There is no army in Jiangyang County. As soon as the city gate was opened, the last general entered. There were no casualties." Su Dingfang said with a smile.

"Not bad." Tonight's record made Yang Tong quite satisfied.

Niu Jinda cupped his hands and said, "Does Your Majesty want to inspect the city?"

Yang Tong nodded and said, "Let's go in and have a look."

Everyone readily agreed, and Fang Xuanling smiled: "Jiangyang Cangcheng is closely related to our army's battle plan. After reading it once, I also know it in my heart."

Li Xianjian has also disembarked, and he walked to Yang Tong's side, and Yang Tong jumped on the horse.Take the civil and military expedition to Cangcheng.

Cangcheng is an important logistics area with troops but no civilians. Now it has been completely killed. The soldiers of the Sui Army are cleaning up the battlefield and clearing up dead spots. Li Mi's lifeblood has completely fallen into the hands of Yang Tong.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Jiangdu, also known as Yangzhou, is located to the west of Bingou and north of the Yangtze River. It played an extremely important role in the Great Sui Dynasty, which ended hundreds of years of confrontation between the North and the South. It is a strategic hub that connects people from north to south.After Yang Guang destroyed Chen, he was ordered by Emperor Wen to explore the south and lived here for ten years, and Jiangdu also ushered in the most important period of development in history because of the attention of two generations of emperors.Because he lived in Jiangdu for too long, Yang Guang regarded it as his second hometown. When Guanzhong, where he was born, became unreliable, he turned to Jiangdu, which haunted his dreams.

The distance between Jiangdu City and Jiangyang Cang is only more than 20 miles, and they are connected in two directions by more than [-] beacons. The beacon smoke beside Jiangyang Cang City was lit for less than a moment, and Jiangdu City knew that something happened in Cangcheng.

After dawn, the gates of Jiangdu City were closed tightly, and all the [-] troops left behind went up to defend the city. Zhang Tongren mobilized civilian men overnight to move the rolling logs, stones, kerosene and other supplies to the top of the city.Overnight, all kinds of news spread in the city, and the whole city fell into a state of panic. Every household closed their doors, and all the shops did not open for business. The straight streets were deserted, and there was not a single pedestrian in sight. .

On the tower of the Nancheng City, Zhang Tongren frowned and watched the direction of Jiangyang to the southwest with anxiety. The lighting of the beacon meant that the Jiangyang warehouse was attacked by hostile forces at night.However, since Jiangyang County was under martial law by the Sui army, there has been no news so far. Zhang Tongren, who lost the source of information, immediately became blind. He didn't know who attacked Jiangyang Cang, let alone whether Jiangyang Cang fell.

After thinking about it, Zhang Tongren felt that the Sui army was most suspected: Shan Xiongxin sent an urgent report not long ago, saying that Du Fuwei's army sailed eastward overnight and went around to the back to give him a fatal blow. A disastrous defeat, and a limited navy was dispatched to fortify day and night.

Du Fuwei, who is approaching Quanjiao, now has an army of [-] to [-]. He has an absolute advantage in strength, and the possibility of repeating the old trick is extremely high.

At this moment, a soldier pointed at Bingou in the distance and shouted tremblingly: "General Zhang, a fleet is coming!"

Zhang Tongren looked towards the prestige, and couldn't help but gasped.

A mighty fleet was sailing on the south of the Yangtze River. As the fleet approached, the soldiers on Jiangdu City became terrified.

This is a fleet of more than a thousand large ships. This huge fleet covers the river, with no end in sight. The masts of the ships are as dense as forests, and the sails are as dense as clouds in the sky. .

The big ships that appeared in front of Wei Jun were not merchant ships, but warships like hills. The giant ship at the head was more than ten feet high and about two to thirty feet long. In front of it, the four-foot-tall Jiangdu city wall looked like a baby.

Witnessing this shocking scene, the hearts of countless Wei army officers and soldiers were cold.

"It's the banner of the Sui army!" Someone suddenly shouted.

In fact, there is no need to remind, almost everyone has seen a huge red flag waving in the wind on the big boat that leads the race of thousands of boats.

Zhang Tongren only felt that his eyes were going black for a while, his legs were weak, and his two legs were fighting.With his sharp eyes, he could see more clearly, the banner embroidered with the golden dragon with its teeth and claws was the Great Sui King's Banner, and its appearance also meant that Yang Tong was on board.

This mighty fleet moored slowly on the canal three or four miles away. As soon as the ship's planks reached the shore, groups of soldiers lined up from large ships, and some of them walked to the shore with their horses.From a distance, nearly a thousand soldiers and horses form a long team like an ant colony, forming a most spectacular scene.

The city of Jiangdu fell into a dead silence. The soldiers of the Wei army were watching the Sui army gather outside the city in a grand manner. Countless troops gathered like a trickle, gradually converging into ten huge phalanxes of ten thousand people. It was quiet. The ground lined up outside Jiangdu City.

At the front of the team stood a two-foot-tall golden dragon flag. The blood-red battle flag looked very gorgeous, but the hearts of the soldiers of the Wei army seemed to have sunk into the abyss of hell.

Because they know that a phalanx of ten thousand people is an army of one hundred thousand.

In Jiangdu City, there are only [-] defenders.

Suddenly, the ten phalanxes suddenly changed into formations, and they were neatly assembled together, forming an incomparably huge phalanx in one team and one column at a time.

During the whole process, the [-] troops did not make a single abnormal sound, nor did they make any noise. Row after row, they were straight lines.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Three passionate drums sounded on the ship.

"kill!"

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers roared in unison, the earth-shattering voice was full of murderous aura, but its power was enough to make people unable to compete with it.

Then there was the sound of "choking" swords being drawn, and the swords pointed directly at Jiangdu City. Under the blue sky and broad daylight, the forest of swords reflected a cold light.

The morale of every Wei soldier on the top of the city was taken away, immersed in fear and horror.As the soldiers of the Sui army suddenly slashed down, the cowardly people on the city couldn't help but backed up a few steps in fright, collided with the people behind them and fell to the ground.

"Prepare for battle and mobilize civilians to defend the city."

The dazed Zhang Tongren suddenly let out a hysterical cry.

……

Bing Yuanzhen in the barracks, as usual, handles the military accounts slowly. He used to be in charge of the food, clothing, food, drink and salarity of tens of thousands of people, but now he only handles the affairs of tens of thousands of defenders. Naturally, he is handy and extremely relaxed. .

Shi Hao told him the news of the Sui army's arrival as early as yesterday, and Bing Yuan was really excited. He knew that this was a godsend opportunity for him to show his face in front of Emperor Shengwu.If he can't show irreplaceable value, he, Bing Yuanzhen, will probably only perish with the grass and trees in his life.Bing Yuan really thought about it all night, and he had a rough plan in his mind.

"The last general will see the Grand Master." At this time, a general in his thirties came in. This general was tall and handsome, with an extraordinary bearing.

His name is Fan Qin, and he is the grandson of Fan Zigai. He used to serve as an unknown school lieutenant under Yang Yichen's command. After the Jiangdu Rebellion, in order to avenge Yang Guang and Yang Yichen, he sneaked into Yuwenhua and his subordinates along with Yang Yichen's other guards. Because of his bravery in battle, he became Yu Wenhuaji's personal guard. When the Yuwen brothers had internal strife, Li Mi took the opportunity to send troops, and Yu Wenhuaji was defeated and escaped. After Wenhuaji Lingchi was executed and his body was mutilated into thousands of pieces, he wanted to join Yang Tong in Yecheng, but was stopped by Li Mi's army. Li Mi's officer.

When Li Mi ascended the throne as emperor at the beginning of the year, he was named a hero, and Fan Qin also won the titles of General Zuotun and Duke of Wukang County.It’s just that like most people, he has a high official position and little real power, and usually only two hundred soldiers are under his control. Li Mi led the army to the west this time, so he ordered him to lead two regiments of soldiers (one regiment of 200 people) to guard the official office in the city.

When he heard the news of the Sui army's invasion, he hurried to the barracks to take orders. Unexpectedly, Zhang Tongren, who was in charge of Jiangdu's city defense, was not there, and only Bing Yuan, who was down and out, was dealing with military affairs alone.

When Bing Yuanzhen saw Fan Qin, his rough plan was completed immediately, and he said in a low voice, "Jiangyangcang has fallen into the hands of Yang Tong, and 10,000+ Sui troops are approaching the city. Does General Fan have any other ideas?"

Fan Qin's face changed slightly, he stared at Bing Yuanzhen sharply, and said in a deep voice, "If the general has any ideas, he will naturally live and die with Jiangdu."

Bing Yuanzhen took a look at him, and said lightly: "Jian'an Hou (Fan Zigai) was a clean official and strict in running the army. When he died of illness, Emperor Wu of the Sui Dynasty ordered civil and military officials to go to the mansion to mourn him, and the soldiers who went to funeral for him There are more than 1 people, and it can be said that they were born with honor and died with honor. As the only descendant of the Marquis of Jian'an, does General Fan want to be buried with Li Mi?"

"The last general doesn't know what the grand master said." After Fan Qin finished speaking, he turned around and wanted to leave.

"General Fan is the son of a general. He is brave and good at fighting, and his resourcefulness is extraordinary. Zhang Tongren and his like are far inferior to generals, but you have never shown yourself, obviously because you don't want to contribute to Li Mi. The object of allegiance in your heart is always the Great Sui Dynasty. Besides, you brought Zhuo Yuwenhuaji's head went north along the coast, obviously intending to defect to the Sui Dynasty. If he hadn't been blocked, he would not have surrendered to the Wei army. So you can deceive Li Mi, but you can't hide it from me. The Sui army is here again, presumably The general is plotting to dedicate the city, right?"

Fan Qin's heart sank, holding the handle of the knife, his eyes were full of murderous intent.

Bing Yuan really knew it well, and he was afraid that the other party would cut him with a knife. It would be too uneconomical if he became Li Mi's funeral object in a daze, so he quickly explained: "To be honest, I have already surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and I have been working with the city's secret agents all the time. There is a connection, otherwise, how would I know that Jiangyang Cangcheng fell into the hands of the Sui army?"

The murderous intent in Fan Qin's eyes gradually faded away. Just as Bing Yuanzhen said, he really never forgot Sui. The regiment of soldiers belonging to him was under his absolute control. Although there are pitifully few soldiers, there are also not many Wei troops in the city. Once the offensive and defensive battles have reached a critical moment, he can fully play a role.

"General Fan, please take a look." In order to make Fan Qin completely believe in himself, Bing Yuanzhen handed over Yang Tong's amnesty order.

When Fan Qin saw the seal of Yuxi, he believed it completely, returned the letter, and sighed: "It's a pity that I only have four hundred soldiers."

Seeing that he expressed his intentions, Bing Yuanzhen finally realized what he wanted, and said with a smile: "The Sui army also has a lot of meticulous work in the city, plus the general's 400 people, plus me, an old man from Wagang, cooperating with the general, why not Worried about the big thing?"

"Okay, I'll listen to the grand master." Fan Qin showed a smile on his face. Although Bing Yuanzhen was neglected, he was the pioneer of Wagang Foundation after all, and he was also a supporter of Li Mi's annexation of various small hilltop forces. He has great influence in the army, and it is much stronger than him to contact him.

(End of this chapter)