Of course, Yanshi City was not recaptured by Wang Shiyun. Li Ke's army was able to successfully capture Yanshi because the defenders in the city were sparse and unprepared. This allowed the Sui army to succeed by luck.

After entering Yanshi City, the Sui army officers and soldiers, who were all counting on the crumbling city walls to resist the Zheng army's counterattack, naturally tried their best to strengthen the city defense. In order to prepare supplies for the city defense, the Sui army officers and soldiers evacuated countless abandoned houses in the city overnight.

All the wood and stones were moved onto the city wall to defend the city. In addition to the 7,000 defenders, it was more than enough to defend a small city of Yanshi.

Finally, Li Niiao's army was completely alone. As long as something happened to the city, no one of the Sui soldiers could survive! With no way to retreat, the Sui soldiers naturally exploded at 120%.

With the combat effectiveness of the Zheng army, the tired soldiers who were forced to attack the city naturally had a hard bone harder than iron to chew on. In three days, they launched large-scale sieges five times, but they were all defeated by the same enemy.

The angry Sui soldiers retreated, suffering heavy casualties and failing to rush into the city. As a result, Wang Shiyun was transferred back to Luoyang City and was slapped and kicked by Wang Shichong, which also forced Wang Shichong to mobilize troops from Luokoucang and Hulao Pass.

, while continuing to attack the city, while protecting the grain and grass passing through Yanshi City, the efficiency of grain transportation was greatly reduced, and it also completely disrupted Wang Shichong's overall decisive battle plan.

It was Wang Xuanying who continued to attack the city. Facing the desperate resistance of the Sui soldiers who had no way to retreat, Wang Xuanying tried every possible means but could not break through Yanshi City. After days of attacking and killing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he still could not enter Yanshi.

In the division city, on the contrary, their morale was severely dampened, which seriously aggravated the army's

Level of exhaustion. As the main force of the Sui army crossed Tongguan and entered Xiaohan Road, getting closer and closer to the battlefield of Dongdu, Wang Shichong gradually panicked. He could only order Wang Xuanying to temporarily abandon the siege and change the siege to a siege to cover the food and grass.

Passing under Yanshi City, they raced against time to transport food to the Eastern Capital City.

It was also when the puppet government tried its best to transport food, and the disgusting aspects of Li Keshi's lone army were fully revealed. The puppet government used relatively convenient and fast boats to transport food, and the ships must go under the south gate of Yanshi.

Passing through or moving against the current is extremely slow. Li Ke's army can cover the entire Luoshui River with bows, arrows and trebuchets without leaving the city.

, you can also send sailors out of the city at any time to scuttle Zheng Jun's grain transport ships. The puppet Zheng court is inland and there are few ships. Li Keshi was so messy that he destroyed more than half of Zheng Jun's ships in just a few times, and the number of waterway grain transports dropped sharply.

Not to mention building ships now, there was simply no time. Not to mention using rafts to transport food, which was a living target for the Sui army's trebuchets and bows and arrows.

If water transport is not enough to meet the demand, the only way to transport food is by land. If you take the land route, new problems arise. The food transport team also has to pass under Yanshi City. Years of war have led to the scarcity of livestock in Henan County and continuous farming.

We couldn't find a few oxen, let alone enough oxen, donkeys, and mules to transport food, and the precious horses had to be ridden by cavalry in battle. There was no choice.

You can use manpower to transport grain. And manpower transporting grain not only increases the road consumption several times, but also requires tens of thousands of people to carry grain and push wheelbarrows to transport grain. So many people are recruited to serve during the spring plowing season.

Naturally, the people's resentment became more boiling, and the risk factor suddenly increased a lot. Wang Shichong was forced to send more troops to monitor and protect the people's food transportation.

Therefore, even if Li Ke's army cannot leave the city to rob grain, it is just entrenched in Yanshi City. The difficulty of Wang Shichong's army transporting grain has increased several times, striving for the established plan of transporting 500,000 shi of grain to Luoyang City in a full-scale decisive battle. It also became an impossible task. The Wang Shichong family hated this and gritted their teeth, but there was nothing they could do.

At this time, a piece of news that made Wang Shichong extremely unexpected suddenly came. Li Mi, who was entrenched in Baima and lingering, actually accepted the title of Wei Wangjue conferred by Dou Jiande, and surrendered to Dou Jiande with more than 20,000 defeated soldiers and a large piece of completely destroyed Central Plains territory. , at the same time, there was accurate news that Li Mi had arrived in Linming to meet Dou Jiande, and he was very sincere in his surrender. Wang Shichong was surprised and couldn't help but feel happy and worried. Of course, he was happy that another old enemy would die without fighting, and he was worried. He and Li Mi had a deep hatred. After Li Mi arrived at Dou Jiande's tent, he would definitely try his best to prevent Dou Jiande from forming an alliance with him and take the opportunity to take revenge.

No matter how unexpected it is, it will always come. On February 18th, the main force of the Sui army successfully crossed Hangu Pass and continued to advance towards Mianchi. There were only more than three days left to the Xin'an battlefield. At the same time, Chen Sangliang was as cunning as ever. He claimed in the memorandum that he would send 80,000 troops. Indeed, he only brought 80,000 troops from Guanzhong. However, with the addition of Liu Heitai, Li Keshi, Qin Qiong's three partial divisions and the Yiyang garrison, the Sui Dynasty The total number of troops that the army invested in the Dongdu battlefield this time actually exceeded 200,000, and the main army was a fresh force that had been rested for five months. Their physical and mental conditions were far better than the tired troops under Wang Shichong. , in terms of military supplies and supplies, it was even more than eight blocks ahead of Wang Shichong.

But in terms of military strength, the Zheng army is not inferior to the Sui army. The three front lines of troops in the east, west and north and the garrison in Luoyang City add up to more than 130,000 people. The total force still has a slight advantage. But Zheng The army of more than 130,000 troops was indeed pieced together. Among them, the truly reliable ones are still the 40,000 or so Dongdu troops before Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi. The rest are all newly surrendered troops, or after Li Mi's defeat. The bandit soldiers and horses who were forced or voluntarily surrendered were similar to franchise stores in modern society. In name, they followed Wang Shichong's orders to fly the Zheng Army flag. In fact, the original commander still had the final say within the army. Wang Shichong had the final say on their actions. Their control was not strong, and they were not really useful at critical moments. And all of this was because Chen Sangliang did not give Wang Shichong a chance to reorganize them.

His own family knew his own affairs, and Wang Shichong was also very aware of the weakness of his own army. Even if he didn't have time to reorganize these armies, he still tried his best to make wishes to Sui Fengguan, the owner of these franchise stores, and married his two nieces to Wagang warrior Shan Shan. Xiongxin and Yang Qing, the former King of Xiu who had the most connections among the franchise stores, tried their best to win over these franchise store owners. But the effect was still not great. Among them, there were many who seemed to be inseparable from Wang Shichong. Especially bad ones, such as Hao Xiaode, even betrayed Zheng Zheng directly. military.

Faced with this situation of disparity in strength, Wang Shichong once planned to go on the defensive with all his strength, but Duan Da, Li Shiying and other knowledgeable confidants pointed out to him that if he persisted with all his strength, it would not only further damage the morale of the army, but also make the army more vulnerable. Those franchise store owners became even more disloyal, and there were defectors like Hao Xiaode who led the army. It was suggested that Wang Shichong take advantage of the fact that Xin'an City was still in his hands to take the tactical initiative, take the initiative to send troops to fight, and use the narrow terrain of Xiaohan Road to compete with the main force of the Sui army, so that even if Even if the war is unfavorable, the losses will not be too great, and if one or two victories can be obtained from Chen Sangliang, it can greatly boost the morale of the army and enhance the cohesion of the army.

He knew very well how good his unfilial son-in-law was at alienating and counter-involving people, and he also knew very well that the internal situation in his own army was that he was most afraid of being alienated and divided. After gritting his teeth over and over again, Wang Shichong finally decided to adopt the suggestions of Duan Da and Li Shiying. He had just received the advice from the Sui Army.

After hearing the news that the main force had left Hangu Pass, he immediately led more than 40,000 troops to Xin'an, rushed to Xin'an to guard the dangerous position, and prepared for a battle with his son-in-law on the narrow Xiaohan Road battlefield.

On February 20, the main force of the Zheng Army successfully arrived at the Xin'an battlefield. Together with the Xin'an garrison Gaobi Division, with a total of more than 56,000 troops, they camped on the road to block the eastward advance of the main Sui Army. The Sui Army had been confronting Gaobi for many days.

big

Liu Heitao, the general, lacked the strength in his hands and was warned by Chen Sangliang that Wang Shichong was difficult to deal with. He decisively retreated deep into the Xiaohan Road and set up camp twenty miles west of Xin'an. At the same time, he sent fast horses to Chen Sangliang.

Report military information.

In the afternoon of the same day, the main force of the Sui army successfully arrived at Mianchi. It was only more than 60 miles away from the Xin'an battlefield. After receiving Liu Heitai's report, Chen Sangliang, who had basically recovered, immediately summoned his staff to discuss the military situation and analyze Wang Shichong's intentions and formulation.

The military advance plan has resulted in abundant achievements in actual combat.

The experienced Yuan Tiangang quickly pointed out: "Wang Shichong is preparing to attack and defend. He wants to use the narrow terrain of Xiaohan Road to confront our army head-on, boost morale and prevent his military morale from wavering. He also wants to use our military strength.

If there are no opportunities, try to win a few battles to boost his morale."

"I think so too." Chen Sangliang nodded in agreement with this analysis, and said fiercely: "Since the enemy wants to rely on a few small victories to boost their morale, we must not let them do so. This time, we must win the first battle!"

"Then how do we fight?" Fang Xuanling asked hurriedly: "Your Highness, you once said that Wang Shichong's military style is tenacious and good at fighting hard and fierce battles. The terrain of Xiaohan Road is narrow and our troops cannot be deployed.

Even if we deploy elite troops and strong generals to fight, there is no way to ensure victory if we don’t have enough troops, right?”

"Have you forgotten that we have artillery?" Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "Wang Shichong is good at fighting hard battles and fierce battles, which is based on his formations. Once the formations are loose, it will be in vain that his army is good at formation battles."

Fang Xuanling came to his senses and hurriedly flattered the king of Tang Dynasty for his wisdom. Chen Sangliang smiled, and then said: "It has been decided, we will use artillery in the first battle, and bring all fifty of our artillery into battle to face Wang Shichong."

The formation blasted fiercely! I don’t believe it. The fifty artillery pieces we spent so much money on casting can’t break through Wang Shichong’s turtle formation!”

"It will definitely break through." Yuan Tiangang said with a smile: "Because of the battle report from General Liu Heitai, there was little rain on the Xin'an battlefield during this period and the land was relatively dry. After our shells fell to the ground, they could bounce as much as they wanted!"

After hearing Yuan Tiangang's words, Chen Sangliang's Chinese army tent suddenly heard a sinister laughter like a night owl, and this sinister laughter also doomed Wang Shichong's army, who dreamed of winning a few battles, to be pitiful.

end.

Wang Shichong, who had only seen pine cannons, did not know that a disaster was coming. After detecting that the main force of the Sui army was advancing eastward to join forces with Liu Heita, due to terrain restrictions, he was forced to extend the camp to more than 20 miles from east to west. Wang Shichong was extremely proud for a time.

, I feel that as long as our army can defend the exit of Xiaohan Road, then over time, the main force of the Sui army, whose company and camp are too long apart, will inevitably be difficult to fight from the beginning to the end.

In response, Wang Shichong revealed a fatal flaw, giving himself a chance to win by surprise and defeat the strong. Then, when he learned that Chen Sangliang had only brought an army of about 16,000 people eastward to fight him due to terrain restrictions, Wang Shichong even more

He laughed out loud and immediately ordered 38,000 troops to fight, setting up a battle array only three miles away from the Xiaohan Road.

According to the old rules, Wang Shichong, who knew how vicious his son-in-law was, had already set up three square formations even if he had an absolute advantage in local forces. One large, two small, and three turtle formations occupied most of the space between Qiangshan and Gushui. At the same time,

More scouts were sent to closely guard the valley rivers and various mountain trails to prevent the unfilial son-in-law from stealing chickens and dogs again.

A surprise attack was launched. The narrow terrain of the Xiaohan Road had a more serious impact on the main force of the Sui army than Wang Shichong expected. The troops were sent out early in the morning, and it was not until close to noon that the Sui army walked out of the Xiaohan Road entrance. They also cautiously immediately approached Wang Shichong's turtle formation at a distance of

A square formation was arranged outside Li Xu, with the infantry in the front and the cavalry on the wings to guard against Wang Shichong's surprise attack.

It was only after the officers of the Sui army were in line that Chen Sangliang's Tang Dynasty flag finally appeared in front of the officers of the Zheng army. Then Chen Sangliang rushed out of the battle and shouted for Wang Shichong to come out and answer. There were still tens of thousands of soldiers of the two armies.

He called his father-in-law by his name in front of him and called him a common man. He made no secret of his lack of education.

Wang Shichong was not polite when he came. He quickly walked out of the turtle formation surrounded by Wang Renze, Shan Xiongxin, Ge Junzhang and other fierce generals. He stood more than two hundred steps away from Chen Sangliang and shouted righteously: "Bold little boy"

You beast! How dare you speak rudely to me and call me by my name? Have you forgotten who I am to you?!"

"Old man, you dug up my ancestral graves and destroyed the bones of my ancestors. Even if I cut you, a regicide and traitor, into pieces with thousands of knives and carcasses and quarters, it would still not be able to eliminate the hatred in my heart! How can I still talk to you about our relationship?

Love for a son-in-law?" Chen Sangliang shouted loudly and confidently.

Secretly cursing Pei Renji for acting privately, Wang Shichong yelled again: "The person who dug up your ancestral grave was Pei Renji, and I didn't instruct him to do this! You are an unscrupulous little thief who insists on putting the crime on me.

Taking the opportunity to start a war and invade my land is simply despicable!"

Of course, Chen Sangliang had already found out that digging up Chen Yingliang's ancestral grave was indeed not what Wang Shichong asked Pei Renji to do, but that Pei Renji's head was filled with water and he was used to cheating on his father. However, Chen Sangliang was naturally reluctant to give up such a convenient excuse to start a war.

He continued to put the blame on Wang Shichong's head and shouted: "Old man, don't stop quibbling! This king and Pei

Renji not only has no enmity with Wu, but also has some old feelings. Without your permission, how could he do such an unjust thing? Stop talking nonsense, I will personally bring troops to come. If you are smart, please dismount your horse and kneel down.

Surrender! Perhaps I can spare your life! Otherwise, with my order, you, an old man, and the ghosts who follow you will all be turned into powder!"

Chen Sangliang's words were really too crazy. Not only Wang Shichong, who was actually Chen Sangliang's elder, couldn't bear it, Wang Renze, Shan Xiongxin and other generals around Wang Shichong were also furious. They all yelled and demanded a three-fight battle with Chen Sangliang.

A hundred rounds. Chen Sangliang recognized Shan Xiongxin, pointed his riding crop at Shan Xiongxin and shouted: "Shan Xiongxin is a traitor! I remember you! Your sister Shan Yingying, where is she now?!"

"Where is she?" Shan Xiong was stunned and replied: "Where is she? What does it have to do with you? Why do you ask?"

"Nothing." Chen Sangliang showed his dirty face again and said with a smile: "I just heard that she has been married for many years and still has no children. I want to help her and help her have a few sons."

When the Sui soldiers laughed loudly, Shan Xiongxin's face turned black with anger, and Tishan roared: "Shameless man! How dare you humiliate my sister! Come here, I will fight you for three hundred rounds!"

"Three hundred rounds of fighting? Just you? You are not worthy of letting me take action!" Chen Sangliang said without shame, and used his riding crop to pull the four Sui generals around him a few times, and said loudly: "Since you like to stand alone in front of the battle,

Pick, then I will also give you a chance. You can choose one of the four generals beside me. As long as you defeat him in battle, I will immediately retreat and return to Guanzhong without saying a word! The opportunity is given to you, choose

Bar!"

"Choose me!" The four generals beside Chen Sangliang, Yuchi Jingde, Luo Shixin, Xue Renguo and Wang Fubao, said in unison. They took a step forward and shouted in unison: "Single Xiongxin is a common man! Do you have the guts to fight me for three hundred rounds?!"

Shan Xiongxin was a little dumbfounded. He never expected that Chen Sangliang would do this to him. Wang Shichong, who was next to him, considered that Chen Sangliang always kept his word. Winning a duel in the battle also greatly boosted morale. Shan Xiongxin also

His skills were indeed reassuring, so he whispered to Shan Xiongxin: "Good nephew-in-law, choose, you must win!"

Shan Xiongxin hesitated again, and then took a closer look at the four generals around Chen Sangliang, and first eliminated the little monster Luo Shixin who had beaten him to pieces in Wagang Village several times before, but Shan Xiongxin quickly

It was discovered that the other three generals around Chen Sangliang seemed to be nothing.

Each of the good-hearted people has sharper eyes and more cruel looks than the last. It is not surprising that he looks like a ruthless character who has crawled out of the dead countless times. Chen Sangliang, who is greedy for life and afraid of death, comes out to scold and fight. Naturally, he will

Bring the most powerful generals with you as bodyguards.

Luo Shixin hooked his little finger at Shan Xiongxin with great contempt. Xue Renguo, the enemy of ten thousand people, and Wang Fubao, the actual chief general of Dou Army, also shouted loudly, asking Shan Xiongxin to choose him. However, Yuchi Jingde was ingenious and put his horse into the arms of the soldiers behind him.

Throwing it away, he raised his hands and shouted: "Shan Xiong trusts me! I will fight you with my bare hands! If I can't take you down with my bare hands, I will kill myself in front of His Highness to apologize!"

When Yuchi Jingde was so crazy, Shan Xiongxin couldn't bear it anymore. He also bullied Yuchi Jingde and threatened to be empty-handed, so he yelled: "Common man, it's you! Take your life!"

Roaring, Shan Xiongxin clapped his horse and rushed straight towards Yuchi Jingde. Yuchi Jingde laughed proudly and actually faced Shan Xiongxin with his bare hands. Chen Sangliang and others, who knew Yuchi Jingde's ability well, rode their horses back and gave way.

At the battlefield, the smiles on their faces were all ferocious. Wang Shichong and others over there also retreated and said in their hearts: "Shan Xiongxin, if you can't even defeat an empty-handed person, then don't come back alive!"

At this time, Yuchi Jingde and Shan Xiongxin were already fighting in the formation. Shan Xiongxin's horse, Po Feng, stabbed and swung at Yuchi Jingde. He was fast, fierce and accurate, but Yuchi Jingde was facing the enemy with his bare hands.

With a smile on his face, Ma Shan took his time and carefully avoided Shan Xiongxin. Soldiers from both armies cheered and cheered together. The scene was very shocking. As a result, Shan Xiongxin’s psychology

Naturally, the pressure was extremely huge. He failed to touch Yuchi Jingde with a dozen consecutive moves. Shan Xiongxin, whose face was restless, was inevitably a little anxious. He yelled and stabbed to expose the flaw. Yuchi Jingde took the opportunity to yell, "Black Hand"

Catching Shan Xiongxin's spear pole like lightning, Shan Xiongxin was shocked and pale, and cheers like a landslide and tsunami suddenly erupted from the Sui army formation.
To be continued...