Chapter 81: The Great War of the Sui and Tang Dynasties (11)

The 10,000 reinforcements of the Tang army were recruited only a few days ago, and Li Shimin's original intention was to let these newly recruited soldiers defend the city and replace the trained soldiers to support Tongguandao and the Eastern Front, but Li Yuanji persuaded his father to take away the 40,000 defenders of the city.

In desperation, Li Jiancheng had to send recruits to support the two places, although he also knew that there was no point in supporting recruits, but it made him feel a little comforted psychologically.

The 10,000 recruits ran all the way from Chang'an, and they were already exhausted, and most of them couldn't run anymore when they saw Tongguan County, and many of them even lay on the ground and refused to get up again.

The march of this recruit was very slow, and it took two days to reach Tongguan Road, which happened to pass by the retreating Yin Kaishan Mountain.

The commander of the Tang army who led this army of 10,000 people was Li Xiaoji, the king of Yong'an, who was defeated in Bashu, fled back to Chang'an disguised as a businessman, and was scolded by Li Yuan, dismissed him as the king of Yong'an, and demoted to General Zuo Xiaowei.

Li Xiaoji was in a bad mood and had an extremely short temper, yelling at the recruits along the way, ordering the soldiers to whip them away.

"You useless waste, you are going to war, not to enjoy the flowers, get up!"

Li Xiaoji scolded while whipping a few soldiers who were lying on the ground and refused to get up, at this time, one of his own soldiers rode a horse and galloped over, "Lord Wang! ”

The soldiers were a little frightened and said: "We found that there seems to be a Sui army in Tongguan County. ”

"What?"

Li Xiaoji was taken aback, he looked at Tongguan County a few miles away, and did not see anything unusual.

At this moment, I only heard the war drums around me suddenly sound, the drums sounded like thunder, and suddenly overwhelming flags appeared, and the shouts of killing in all directions shook the sky.

Li Xiaoji was so shocked that the whip fell to the ground, this momentum was at least tens of thousands of troops, only to see the dust in front of him, and a cavalry of thousands of people swept towards this side.

The Tang soldiers were terrified and retreated, and Li Xiaoji waved his sword and shouted: "Hold on, go up to battle!" ”

The 5,000 cavalry of the Sui army was like thunder, like a sharp war knife slashing head-on at the Tang soldiers, the battlefield was full of dust, and many Tang soldiers had not yet reacted, and they wanted to fight or flee, but the Sui cavalry had already killed into the Tang army soldiers.

Suddenly the screams arose, and these exhausted recruits were frightened, many of them were farmers a few days ago, ploughing the land with hoes, or small merchants, walking the streets and alleys to sell goods, and when they first arrived in Chang'an, they were issued with heavy armor, and many of them couldn't even tie the straps of the armor, let alone have any training.

When the tragic slaughter on the battlefield suddenly came, these Tang army recruits collapsed instantly, and 10,000 Tang soldiers turned around and fled, although they were exhausted, but when their lives were threatened, the potential in their bodies was stimulated, they ran desperately, scrambling, trampling on each other, screams and cries resounded through the field.

"Hold your ground, don't panic!"

Lee Hyo-gi shouted loudly, but no one paid any more attention to him, his voice drowned out in the cries of terror.

"Lord Wang, the army is over, withdraw quickly!" Several pro-soldiers anxiously persuaded Lee Hyo-gi.

Li Xiaoji couldn't help but sigh when he saw the defeat of the army, and he said that the recruits could not go into battle, but the prince didn't listen......

Li Xiaoji turned his horse's head and fled, and more than 100 personal soldiers surrounded him and ran to the south desperately.

Cheng Yanjin has never experienced such a battle, and he was defeated in a battle, which was worse than the Central Plains bandits back then, and he couldn't help laughing: "Damn, is this still a soldier?" It's not as good as a sāo girl.,As soon as you touch your body, you're paralyzed.。 ”

A general next to him suggested in a low voice: "General, didn't Your Highness say that it is better to kill than to capture?" Capture these 10,000 people as prisoners of war, perhaps the reward is even higher. ”

One sentence reminded Cheng Yanjin, right! How did he forget. Cheng Yanjin hurriedly shouted: "Capture the prisoners of war alive!" ”

The formation changed by the cavalry of the Sui army and turned into two long snakes, stretching into the distance on the left and right of the defeated army, like spreading a huge pocket, surrounding the 10,000 fleeing Tang soldiers.

"Surrender or kill!"

Thousands of Sui troops shouted loudly, the defeated soldiers of the Tang army were cornered, and they surrendered on their knees.

He immediately ordered 1,000 troops to be left to guard the prisoners of war, and he himself led 9,000 cavalry to the hinterland of Guanzhong.

This is the first Sui army to enter the hinterland of Guanzhong, Cheng Biting Jin conquered Huayuan County and Sanyuan County in a row, and Guanzhong was shaken......

At this time, the eastern line of the Guandong also became precarious, the main Tang army responsible for defending the eastern line of the Guandong was Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, who led 30,000 troops to guard Tongguan and Pujin Pass, at this time Li Shentong was also under great pressure, 100,000 Sui soldiers pressed the eastern front, of which 20,000 attacked Tongguan and 80,000 attacked Pujin Pass.

The chain bridge outside Pujin Pass had been demolished, but Li Chūn, the secretary of the Sui Dynasty's Ministry of Works, led 3,000 craftsmen to build a strong pontoon bridge in just three days, so that the Sui army could cross the Yellow River smoothly and crush the Pujin Pass.

Li Shentong hadn't slept for two days, and he knew better than anyone else that the Tang Dynasty had reached the most critical moment, or that the big event had gone, and his 30,000 troops couldn't stop the attack of the 100,000 army no matter what, so where should he go?

Li Shentong paced in circles around the room with his hands behind his back, anxious in his heart, this was his henchman Shi Wanbao walked in, "Lord Wang, I have a few words to say." ”

Li Shentong nodded, "Come in and talk about it!" ”

Shi Wanbao was originally a hero of Chang'an, pulled an army to rebel in Guanzhong, before Li Yuan entered Guanzhong, he surrendered Li Shentong, and used his prestige to persuade several other rebels in Guanzhong to surrender, leaving a great contribution for Li Yuan to quickly sweep Guanzhong, and was named the former Duke of Guo.

At this time, he knew the situation better than anyone else, and the Tang Dynasty saw that the general trend had gone, how could he not find a way back for himself? Is it absolutely impossible for him Shi Wanbao to be martyred for Li Tang.

However, Shi Wanbao also knew that Li Shentong was from the Li Tang clan, and it was impossible for him to surrender to the Sui army, so he could only use tricks to transfer him away.

"Lord Wang, we are thinking about our humble duties, why can't we just stick to the pass and can't find a way back for ourselves?"

Li Shentong glanced at him, he knew that this man had a lot of crooked ideas, maybe he really had something to do, so he asked, "What do you want to say?" ”

"Humble in consideration, the Tang army should open up a passage from Guanzhong to Longyou, if Guanzhong can't be kept, just ask xìng to retreat to Longyou, if possible, then occupy Hexi, use Longyou and Hexi as the foundation, and then develop westward, the western region is vast, maybe the Western Tang Dynasty can be rebuilt."

Li Shentong sighed, "I'm afraid the Holy Lord doesn't want to leave Guanzhong." ”

"Then the prince can go! Take the Luoshui Road to the north of Guannei Road, take advantage of the emptiness of the Sui army in Fengzhou and Lingwu County, occupy these two places in one fell swoop, seize the grain, and then kill into Hexi, the prince, the Sui Dynasty raised the army of the country to besiege Guanzhong, and many other places must be empty, it is an opportunity to take advantage of it! ”

Li Shentong bowed his head and was silent, he felt that this was too risky, he hesitated for a long time and said, "I'm afraid the soldiers won't take risks with me." ”

Shi Wanbao sighed secretly in his heart, this Li Shentong really can't do big things, and he doesn't have any courage, "But Lord Wang, now Guanzhong is in danger, and 100,000 Sui Army Chen soldiers are outside, if we don't find a way to break the situation, we will be trapped and die in Pujin Pass, Lord Wang, the situation is critical!" ”

"I also know this, I'm waiting for news from the imperial court, there will definitely be reinforcements on the prince's side, he has promised me that reinforcements will arrive soon, let's wait a little longer."

Shi Wanbao sneered in his heart, he didn't want to wait any longer, at this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "Lord Qiqi, the big thing is not good, Sui General Qin Qiong led 50,000 troops to kill from Luoshui Road." ”

The sudden news surprised Li Shentong, he was in a panic, he couldn't care about his identity, and hurriedly asked Shi Wanbao, "General Shi, what should we do now?" ”

Shi Wanbao secretly wondered in his heart, if he doesn't leave now, when will he stay? He immediately said: "Lord, Pujin Pass can be defended on both sides, but Tongguan is not good, there are only 5,000 troops guarding there, once the Sui army is killed in Tongguan, Tongguan will be over, and he is willing to lead 10,000 troops to reinforce Tongguan, please hurry up and urge the imperial court to reinforce the army, success or failure is in this move." ”

Li Shentong was in a hurry in his heart, and he had no time to distinguish Shi Wanbao's true intentions, but 10,000 troops was still a little too much, he thought about it and said, "It's okay, you can lead 5,000 troops to reinforce Tongguan, Tongguan will be your main general, Shao Zhong will be the deputy general, and I will urge the reinforcements from the imperial court." ”

Li Shentong immediately allocated 5,000 troops to Shi Wanbao and ordered him to guard Tongguan, Shi Wanbao set off at night and led the army to Tongguan, and at dawn, Shi Wanbao led 5,000 troops to Tongguan.

The Tongguan guard is also a confidant of Li Shentong, named Shao Zhong, he heard that Shi Wanbao came to take over the Tongguan garrison, and immediately went out of the city to meet him, Shao Zhong knelt down on one knee in front of Shi Wanbao, "See General Shi for his humble position!" ”

Swanba snapped his finger, "Take it for me!" ”

A group of soldiers pounced on Shao Zhong and pressed Shao Zhong to the ground, Shao Zhong shouted: "General Shi, you are not guilty of despicable duties!" ”

Shi Wanbao sneered, ignored him, and ordered someone to arrest all Shao Zhong's personal soldiers, he led the army to Tongguan, and immediately summoned dozens of generals to give a lecture.

Above the lobby, Shi Wanbao sat down with his sword pressed, looking coldly at more than 20 partial generals and Lang generals, and around the lobby, hundreds of school swordsmen stood with swords, making more than 20 generals nervous.

"Generals, let me tell you a piece of news first, Qin Qiong has led 50,000 Sui troops to kill from Luoshui Road, and has been killed behind us, at the latest tomorrow, 50,000 Sui troops will arrive at the back of Tongguan, and we will suffer from the enemy on our backs, everyone said, everyone said what should we do now?"

The lobby suddenly exclaimed, more than 20 generals showed frightened expressions, everyone whispered, Shi Wanbao coughed heavily, interrupted the generals' discussion, and said sharply: "I ask again, what should we do now?" ”

The generals suddenly understood what Shi Wanbao meant, and knelt down on one knee together and said, "I wish to listen to General Shi to call the shots!" ”

Shi Wanbao smirked, stood up and said, "Good! Generals, the general trend of the Tang army has gone, those who know the times are junjie, and we must consider our own future, so I decided to open Tongguan and surrender to the Sui army. ”

"We are willing to surrender with General Shi!" All the generals unanimously expressed their willingness to surrender.

Shi Wanbao's eyes swept around everyone, and seeing that everyone was willing to surrender, he nodded, "Pass my order, open Tongguan City and surrender to the Sui army." ”

The Tang army's defense on the eastern front finally collapsed, and with the surrender of Shi Wanbao, the defender of Tongguan, Pei Xingyan's 20,000 Sui troops entered Tongguan, plus Qin Qiong's 50,000 troops, and 150,000 troops besieged Pujin Pass.

On the night of the siege of Pujin Pass, there was infighting in the Tang army camp in Pujin Pass, thousands of Tang troops were unwilling to serve the Tang Dynasty anymore, killed the generals and rebelled, Kaesong surrendered to the Sui army, the Sui army entered Pujin Pass, and Li Shentong committed suicide in despair.

The death of Li Shentong meant that the Tang army was lost on the entire eastern line of Guanzhong, and 150,000 Sui troops entered Guanzhong...... (To be continued.)

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