The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 923

The generals of the Sui Dynasty had different temperaments and different military strengths; apart from the two, in terms of popularity, Cheng Yaojin undoubtedly ranked first, even though his status was lower than many others, even though he had all five poisons, and his broken mouth It's annoying, but everyone likes to hang out with him, feeling relaxed and happy together.Qin Qiong's popularity is not lower than Cheng Yaojin's, but his popularity is different from Cheng Yaojin's. He donates money and is willing to help others. When he was young, he had the reputation of "Like Mengchang and Sai Zhuanzhu".The same thing is that the two are extremely filial to their mothers and are famous filial sons.

Luo Shixin and Niu Jinda, Yu Chigong, Shen Guang and others are not bad in popularity. Their biggest feature is that they can play well with ordinary soldiers, and they are deeply loved and trusted by low-level soldiers.

But Su Dingfang's popularity is not very good, it's not that his character is not good, let alone that he deliberately put on airs, but that he is reserved, not talkative, and not sociable, which always gives people a sense of seriousness; only those who are familiar with him and Only those who are careful will find that he cares for his soldiers more than anyone else. Under the 'indifferent' appearance, there is actually a heart that loves soldiers like a child, just like a trickle, silent and silent. Moisten the earth with no regrets.

However, Yang Tong didn't care about objective factors such as popularity, and treated all generals equally. As long as he made military achievements, he would be rewarded and punished. Shen Guogong.

After that, he didn't have much achievements on the surface, but when he was the commander of the Eighth Army in Mingyue County, he led the Sui Army and the Silk Road Allied Forces to kill the horse bandits and bandits on the "Great Sui-Western Regions" section of the Silk Road. The reputation of high-level officials in the Western Regions is second only to Yang Tong, and the reputation among the military and civilians of the Western Regions is no match for Yang Tong.

In the Central Plains, his most brilliant achievement was in Xiangyang. He led the Beizhen army to defeat Liu Hongji first, then flooded the three armies in Gucheng County, and rushed the army of Li Shimin and Dou Cong into the Han River. Qiu Shang escaped, and Dou Cong and the many rookies of the Li family who worked and studied under him all became the delicacies of Hanshui fish and shrimp.

It's just that the Sui and Tang Dynasties were still in the stage of "truce", which made it inconvenient for Su Dingfang to show up. Therefore, this brilliant achievement that attracted worldwide attention was attributed to Dugu Yanyun, the leader of Beizhen Army.However, no matter whether it was an important official of the imperial court or Dugu Yanyun, everyone was well aware of this brilliant victory.

This is also the case. This group of people who dared to rebel against Li Yuan were obedient to Su Dingfang and accepted all of Su Dingfang's arrangements. Since the Political Commissar of the Department of Military Affairs entered the station, the army built by the Dugu faction has been washed clean and become A loyal warrior of the Sui Dynasty.

During this period of time, they hid in Daba Mountain. In addition to training, they went to exterminate the bandit villages in the mountains from time to time, and obtained supplies from them. They could also play a role in military training, and they could also cut off the cancerous tumors of instability in the local area. It can be said to serve multiple purposes.But they are not an isolated existence. They have always kept in touch with Li Jing and Xue Wanjun. They are a special army sandwiched between the Sixth Army and the Tenth Army.

Before Li Jing launched an attack on Zigui County, he had already notified Su Dingfang first, asking him to take advantage of the fact that Gao Shilian's army was attracted to Zigui County, cut off Gao Shilian's retreat, and make him an army caught between the two armies. the lone army.And their Tenth Army used continuous offensives to provide cover for the Beizhen Army.

When Su Dingfang received the letter from the eagle, he selected [-] elite soldiers from the Beizhen army to go into battle, and they traveled across the mountains and ridges, day and night.After running for thousands of miles, he entered Badong County yesterday, and his goal was the county governor and Fuxian County.

Su Dingfang is very aware of the strategic position of Renfu County. This is not only the logistics center of Badong County and Gao Shilian, but also the western entrance of the Three Gorges Road. If it is successfully captured, the Three Gorges Road will be blocked, and Zigui will also be blocked. The Tang army will return to Bashu At the same time, it also opened the east gate of Bashu, creating favorable conditions for the eastern Sui army to enter Bashu.

As long as it is firmly nailed to this strategic point, the Zigui Tang army without supplies will be shaken and collapsed without a fight.And the Tenth Army can also freely shuttle through the Three Gorges Road, and then attack the suddenly bright Chengdu Plain.

After more than half a month of marching, more than 1 soldiers of the Beizhen Army overcame various difficulties in the mountains.It is less than a hundred miles away from their ultimate goal - Renfu County.But the soldiers were exhausted after a long journey.

At this time, the sky was just dawning, and the moist mist filled the mountains. By the side of a windy and dry river, the soldiers were wrapped in thick marching blankets, still sleeping soundly. River bank.

On a flat boulder by the river, Su Dingfang sat in front of a map, thinking about the strategy for capturing Badong County.

From Dugu Yanyun and Lonely Qingyun, he knew that Badong County was a dangerous city, built on the west foot of Baiyan Mountain on the south bank of the Yangtze River, with cliffs on both sides, and only the mountain path where they were located went straight to the opposite bank of the county.As for the road to Shu from the east, there is only one road on the south bank that can directly reach the Chengdu Plain, and Renfu County is located on this westbound road.

The terrain of this city is dangerous, and it was the frontier position of the confrontation between the Sui Dynasty and the Chen Dynasty. After many years of construction and repair by the military god Yang Su, this city can be said to be one man guarding the gate. It is not easy for the Beizhen army without siege equipment to capture it.

Although Su Dingfang still didn't know anything about the situation of the troops stationed in Badong, since Renfu County was the east gate of the Tang Dynasty and the Tang army's logistics center in Zigui County, there must be a large number of troops stationed. The only problem is the number of troops stationed.

From the map, they are now on the north bank of the Yangtze River, less than a hundred miles away from Badong County.The next road must first cross the Yangtze River from Fengjie Town, ten miles away, and Baiyan Town on the other side.

There are two river-crossing cable bridges connecting the two towns. These two towns and the cable bridge were built when Yang Su was in charge of Padang. They used to be two military forts, and the two cable bridges connecting the two banks are convenient for walking on both sides. , It is also the defense line for attacking ships on the river.

After crossing the river, they traveled westward for [-] miles, first came to Baiyan Town, and then walked another [-] to [-] miles to reach their destination - Renfu County. With such a detour, their journey was by no means smooth sailing, it was only between them and Renfu County Fengjie Town and Baiyan Town in the middle are two obstacles.There are hundreds of garrisons in both towns.

The soldiers now need to recharge their energy and recharge their energy for the following war, so Su Dingfang is not in a hurry to hurry now, and let the soldiers sleep soundly, while he and a few personal soldiers waited silently for the scouts to reply.

At this moment, there was a sound of horseshoes from a distance, and two soldiers on horseback rushed over. Su Dingfang was slightly taken aback, and the scouts who went to investigate Badong County left just before midnight, so why did they come back so soon? ?And they actually got the war horse, which is even more strange.

The scout team was dismounting from their horses, and went forward to salute: "General, we have attacked a group of scouts from the Tang Army, and we have received a very urgent piece of information. The general of the Tang Army, Li Anyuan, is leading 2 soldiers to the east. This is from Berkshire. The reinforcements are in the vanguard; behind is the main force of the Tang army led by Hou Junji, with a strength of about [-] people."

"That is to say, [-] Tang troops are going to support Zigui County?" Su Dingfang was surprised by this news, but also rejoiced. If they were one day later, the situation in Badong County would change drastically.

"Exactly."

"How far is Li Anyuan's army from Baiyan Town, Renfu County? How far is the distance between the two armies?"

"Back to the general, according to the scouts of the Tang army, the vanguard of the Tang army is only about sixty miles away from Baiyan Town, and the main force of the Tang army is still in the area of ​​Yun'an County. It is a recruit, and the marching speed is relatively slow."

Su Dingfang pondered for a while, and then said to the scout team: "Send more scouts to investigate more."

"Here." The scout team saluted, got on their horses, and galloped away.

Su Dingfang ordered to the guards: "Wake up the generals and bring me the guide!"

"Here."

After a while, a personal guard brought a Taoist priest in his fifties to Su Ding. Between Dongxian County, who knew the terrain like the back of his hand, he said in poor official language: "General, what happened?"

Su Dingfang asked: "Master Huang, is there any other shortcut from here to Renfu County?"

Huang Daochang said: "Yes, there is, but there is no cable bridge across the Yangtze River in front of us. There are ferry boats on both sides of the river to communicate. It is not a problem if there are few people. But the general has so many soldiers, relying on those few ferry boats alone. It will take at least two days to get to the other side.”

"I understand. Thank you, Daoist Huang. You can go and rest first."

"Here."

After Huang Daochang left, Su Dingfang pondered for a while, and suddenly a very bold idea popped up in his heart.

. . . . . .

But it is said that the [-] Tang troops headed by Li Anyuan rested for one night, and continued eastward in the early morning.In the afternoon, they were only a dozen miles away from Baiyan Mountain, and they entered Wushan County after passing through the mountain.

This Tang Army soldier is an elite division composed of the Yuan Cong Forbidden Army and the Shu Army's elite soldiers. Among the various armies, they will be used as elite soldiers.

"General." At this time, a brigade commander galloped forward and saluted Li Anyuan.

"What's the matter?" Li Anyuan, who was walking silently, asked
The brigade commander said: "General, it's already past noon, do you want to stop the army to rest?"

Li Anyuan glanced around, and saw that the mountains were high, the forests were dense, and the ground was uneven, so he shook his head and said, "This is not a good place to rest. Not far ahead is the eastern foot of Baiyan Mountain, where the terrain is gentle, and there are There is a clear spring flowing down the mountain, so go there and rest."

"Here."

When the order to rest was issued layer by layer, the soldiers also quickened their pace and rushed away more than ten miles away.

About half an hour later, Tang Jun arrived at the destination, where the terrain is open.From a distance, you can see a gentle hillside more than ten feet high, which is Baiyanyuan.

It has been a full morning since the Tang army marched here in the early morning. Everyone was exhausted. When they saw a small stream flowing down the mountain, they all cheered and ran towards the stream. After a while, it was crowded with people who came to drink water Soldier, at this moment, there was a sound of clappers in the jungle in the mountain, and dense arrows suddenly shot at Tang Jun.

This place belongs to Li Tang's hinterland, and the Tang army was unprepared, and a large area was shot down in an instant, and the screams rang out.

Li Anyuan looked up in surprise, only to see densely packed soldiers appearing on the hillside, holding crossbows in their hands, firing towards this side.

"It's the rebel Beizhen army, prepare for battle!" Li Anyuan saw the opponent's relatively old armor, and immediately shouted hoarsely, turned his horse's head and ran eastward, intending to leave the chaotic battlefield and go to the front to rectify the army. Then launch a counterattack.

At this moment, hundreds of arrows were shot from the woods, and all shot at Li Anyuan. Li Anyuan was caught off guard, and even his horse and man were shot like hedgehogs by hundreds of arrows, and fell to the ground.

The sudden attack made the soldiers of the Tang army into a mess. No one knew how many enemy troops there were. At this moment, it seemed that there were all directions. In the chaos, they all turned around and fled in the same direction, intending to return along the same road. .

At this moment, a menacing army burst out from the woods, and rushed into the soldiers of the Tang army in an instant, cutting off their escape route to the west, killing the soldiers of the Tang army in a state of chaos.

On the creek, [-] crossbowmen continued to shoot arrows, and the arrows rained densely into the enemy group, making it impossible for the soldiers of the Tang army to escape, and the sound of screams came one by one.

On the hillside in the distance, Su Dingfang watched silently the slaughtered soldiers of the Tang army. Dugu Yanyun suddenly suggested: "General, it would be nice if some prisoners were captured, after all, we also need some labor."

Su Dingfang nodded slowly: "The order will go on, those who surrender will not be killed, and anyone who dares to resist will be killed!"

A brigade of soldiers rushed down and shouted: "The general has an order. Those who vote will not be killed; those who resist will be killed."

The desperate soldiers of the Tang Army threw away their helmets and armor one after another, kneeling down and begging to surrender like trapped beasts receiving an amnesty.

Thousands of soldiers fell to their knees and huddled together. At this time, the Beizhen army pressed in from all directions, and surrounded the ambushed vanguard of the Tang army with murderous intent.

Deputy General Gao Yan came forward and reported: "General, none of the soldiers of the Tang army fled to the west."

"That's good." Su Dingfang breathed a sigh of relief, and asked again: "Ask, are there any father and son soldiers here?"

Soon, the soldiers of the Beizhen Army found six pairs of father and son soldiers from the soldiers. Su Dingfang saw a veteran soldier in his forties holding a young soldier in his teens in his arms. Come up."

The soldiers of the Beizhen Army took the father and son with them as promised, and the veteran begged on his knees: "General, if you want to kill or cut me up, I will do as you please. I beg you to let my son go."

Su Dingfang said to the veteran: "Your son's life is in your own hands. Now you send a letter to Renfu County for me. As long as you follow my instructions, I will not only spare your father and son's lives, but I will reward you with a hundred Yanhuang silver coins; if you dare to betray me, your son's life will be lost."

Most of the Beizhen army are from Guanzhong, and their accent is completely different from Yizhou. From the accent of this veteran, it seems that he is from Yizhou. It is far better for him to be a messenger than the Beizhen army.

　'Li Kaiyuan' should be Li Anyuan, which has been changed one by one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)