On the southern bank of Hunshui, about 250 miles east of Pyongyang City, there is a famous mountain called Hesan, which is famous because it is the largest iron mine in Goguryeo.

Five years ago, Goguryeo used the pig iron produced here to exchange 5,000 war horses for the Khitan and formed the Goguryeo cavalry.

After the defeat of the first Goguryeo campaign two years ago, nearly 80,000 Sui prisoners of war were escorted to the Heshan Iron Mine, where they were forced to undergo heavy hard labor, mining ore and smelting pig iron, and a 10,000-strong Goguryeo army was responsible for guarding these 80,000 Sui prisoners of war.

The poor diet, the heavy labor day after day, and the desperate future made the Sui prisoners of war unbearable and oppressed, and there were two riots, both of which were brutally suppressed, and thousands were killed.

In order to save their lives and wait for the rescue of the Great Sui Dynasty, 80,000 Sui prisoners of war silently endured cruel oppression, working in the mines for 20 miles every day.

Although the Goguryeo army tried their best to block the news, the paper could not contain the fire after all, the news of the landing of the Sui army at Hunshui Bay still reached the mines, and tens of thousands of Sui prisoners of war were all excited, everyone was looking forward to the day when they returned home, and the long-dormant prisoner of war officer organization also began to secretly transfer.

However, not long ago, 5,000 Goguryeo troops were transferred back to Pyongyang due to insufficient troops, and only 5,000 Goguryeo troops were left in the mines, which made the Sui prisoners of war even more hopeful.

That afternoon, while the POWs were eating and resting, several POW laborers led a young man, also dressed as a laborer, into a dilapidated shed.

"General, people have brought!"

There were five or six captured Sui generals sitting in the shed, and the leader was a veteran of about sixty years old. He is Cui Hongsheng, the former Taishou of Zhuojun and the general of Zuo Wuwei.

In the Eastern Crusade two years ago, Cui Hongsheng was captured because of an arrow in the leg, becoming the highest-ranking Sui general captured by Goguryeo, but in the battle report counted by Yuwen Shu afterwards, he had already been killed by an arrow wound.

Cui Hongsheng is also currently the leader of the Sui army in the prisoner of war camp. It was under his orders that the Sui prisoners of war temporarily stopped rioting, stopped making senseless sacrifices, and waited for the rescue of the imperial court.

Cui Hongsheng's beard is white, his back is slightly rickety, and his eyes are quite sharp and clear. He glanced at the young man behind him and asked coldly, "Are you the messenger sent by Laihu'er?" ”

The young man hurriedly knelt down on one knee, hugged his fists high and said: "The general doesn't know that General Cui is here, and the lowly position is Chen Xu, the captain of the general Zhang Xuan, under the command of General Lang." I came to contact the general. ”

After speaking, Chen Xu took out a note from his unkempt hair and presented it to Cui Hongsheng, Cui Hongsheng opened the note and read it, his face eased a lot, nodded and said, "Captain Chen, please get up!" ”

Cui Hongsheng is the core figure of the Boling Cui family, his brother Cui Hongdu is the former head of the family, and Cui Hongsheng has a high prestige among the Shandong scholars.

It is precisely for this reason that the Goguryeo people did not embarrass him. He was once invited to settle in Pyongyang, but he refused, and he insisted on living in a prisoner of war camp. With the prisoners of war, because of this, his prestige in the hearts of the prisoners of war is extremely high.

Cui Hongsheng is a high-ranking person, and the concept of factions is very heavy, he has always looked down on the generals of the southern faction, and Lai Hu'er is one of them. When he heard that he had come to escort the soldiers this time, he was a little unhappy.

But in Jang Hyun's letter to him. The attitude was sincere and humble, satisfying his self-esteem, which had become unusually sensitive due to his capture.

Cui Hongsheng asked again: "May I ask Captain Chen." Where will you Zhang Lang be from, and how come I have never heard of him? ”

"General Hui, our Lang General's ancestral home is Chang'an, he grew up in Hanoi, he was originally a guard of His Royal Highness King Yan, recommended by His Royal Highness King Yan, and was named a martial arts general by the Holy Emperor."

Cui Hongsheng suddenly realized that he was from King Yan, and he smiled a little: "I understand, so where is he now?" How many troops are there, and how do I relate to him? ”

These are the core issues, Zhang Xuan did not write them on paper, for fear that Chen Xu would leak the secret after being caught, but Chen Xu dictated it.

Chen Xu hugged his fists and said: "Zhang Lang will lead a thousand soldiers to hide ten miles west of the mine, and we will attack and guard the Goguryeo army at the fourth watch tonight, hoping that the general can stabilize the brothers, don't panic." ”

Cui Hongsheng was a little suspicious in his heart, but the guards had 5,000 troops, but Zhang Xuan only had 1,000 people, but he didn't say anything, he nodded and said: "I know, please tell General Zhang, tonight's fourth watch, we will cooperate with his arrival!" ”

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Li Jing's strategy was to use Sui prisoners of war to increase his troops, which was also a secret that Quan Wenshou leaked in order to survive, and he told Li Jing that he could exchange him for Sui prisoners of war in the mines, so that Li Jing knew that there was such a secret force hidden in Goguryeo in the Great Sui.

The plan provided by Li Jing was very thorough, sending two armies to cross the river and go south, one army to liberate the Sui prisoners of war, and organize the fighting Sui prisoners of war into an army to participate in the decisive battle of Pyongyang, while the other army went to attack Seoul and seize the ordnance and materials stored in Seoul to arm the Sui army of prisoners of war.

On the one hand, he postponed the date of the decisive battle with the Goguryeo army, and on the other hand, he sent the general Yuwen Chengdu with 3,000 men to cross the river south to attack Seoul, while Zhang Xuan, who had repeatedly performed miraculous achievements, led 1,000 men to the mines to rescue the prisoners of war.

At this time, Zhang Xuan led an army of 1,000 to hide on a hill opposite the camp of prisoners of war in the mines, and the Heshan Mountain was deserted within a radius of 100 miles, and the north was blocked by the muddy water, even if a few prisoners of war escaped, it was difficult to escape back to Liaodong.

At the foot of the mountain is a valley five or six miles wide, in which three large camps for prisoners of war are built side by side, and high barracks are built around the camps, and there is a guard tower every thirty paces to closely monitor the movements of the prisoners of war.

To the west of the prisoner of war camp is the military camp, where 5,000 Goguryeo soldiers are stationed, due to the recent war winds, ore mining has stopped, most of the prisoner of war miners did not go to work, but stayed in the prisoner of war camp, only 10,000 people continue to work and smelt iron every day, the Goguryeo army is actively preparing for war, and a large amount of pig iron is needed.

Several watchtowers were also built on the mountains on both sides to observe the escape of prisoners of war, and Jang Xuan had already removed one of the watchtowers, from which he learned a lot of important information, and also learned the general situation of the entire military camp.

The time has reached dusk, Zhang Xuan stood in front of a big rock and looked at the prisoner of war camp under the mountain, thinking about the battle at the fourth watch tonight, after two sneak attacks in a row, Zhang Xuan and his team have accumulated rich experience in sneak attack operations, which is also the fundamental reason why Laihu'er decided to send him.

At this time, a soldier rushed over to report, "General, Captain Chen is back." ”

Jang Xuan turned around and ordered, "Let him come and see me!" ”

After a while, Chen Xu hurriedly walked over and knelt down on one knee to report: "See the general!" ”

"How's it going, are you connected?"

Chen Xu nodded, "I met General Cui, he is looking forward to it, and he is willing to cooperate with the general's actions tonight, but he asked me to tell the general that the Goguryeo army has now strengthened the supervision of prisoners of war, and every night there will be a thousand Goguryeo soldiers participating in patrols to monitor prisoners of war. ”

Zhang Xuan smiled, Cui Hongsheng was afraid that he would retreat from the battle, but he could understand the feelings of the prisoners of war of the Sui army, the despair of never seeing their relatives, and finally saw a glimmer of hope, and they were afraid that hope would suddenly disappear.

Zhang Xuan immediately ordered the soldiers next to him: "Go and let all the officers above the brigade commander come to me to discuss the details of tonight's operation!" ”

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Time gradually came to a watch, in a large tent in the Sui army prisoner of war camp, dozens of middle and high-level Sui army generals gathered together, discussing how to cooperate with tonight's Sui army action, the big tent was not lit, but everyone's eyes were extraordinarily bright, full of excitement and expectation.

"I would like to remind everyone first that Laihu'er sent an army to rescue us, most likely hoping that we would join the war against the Goguryeo."

Cui Hongsheng's voice was very low, and what he said was like a basin of cold water, which extinguished the excitement in everyone's minds, and after a while, someone asked in a low voice: "General Cui thinks we shouldn't go to war?" ”

Cui Hongsheng's sharp eyes glanced at the speaker in the dark, and said coldly: "Whether to participate in the war or not is a personal decision, don't ask me, but if you win the war, maybe you can wash away the shame of the prisoners of war, in short, it is to save your life, or to win glory and wash away the shame, everyone decides for themselves, from tomorrow, I will no longer be the leader of everyone." ”

"Why did the general say such a thing?" One of the generals asked, puzzled.

Cui Hongsheng sighed, "I'm already old, if I can spare my life, I will return to my ancestral land to recuperate, and I won't ask about the court again, but you are still young, don't be as decadent as me." ”

Everyone was silent, Cui Hongsheng smiled again: "Let's not talk about this, let's talk about tonight's action, I'm a little worried that the Sui army is not strong enough to defeat the Goguryeo army, we must take action, just follow the plan we drew up last time, just change the time to tonight's fourth watch, Chunsheng, as long as there is a change in the barracks, you will immediately lead 3,000 people to kill, understand?" ”

A burly general immediately agreed: "Humble duty understands!" ”

Cui Hongsheng said sharply to everyone again: "Tonight is the key to whether we can regain the light of day, everyone must participate, let these defenders repay the humiliation we have suffered in the past two years!" ”

The generals are gearing up, looking forward to the arrival of the fourth watch

(To be continued)