In 616 AD, it was the eighth day of the first month of the first year of the Great Sui Republic.

Chen Kefu agreed with the Chinese Wu of the DPRK to personally lead the army south and enter Taiyuan from Jingxi. It was decided to take advantage of the fact that Li Tang's main force was going south to confront Yang Yun and others, take the lead in taking Taiyuan, continue to plot to seize Hedong, in order to obtain the right wing of Hebei Hedong, and then unify the north and seize the world.

The sky is bright, in front of the Chengtian Gate in Beijing, the imperial court sends off hundreds of civil and military officials in Beijing.

The Sui word flag, the Chen word generalissimo Daxu, the general manager of the word flag, the pioneer general school word flag, the team word flag, one by one the flags are rolling like ocean waves.

Accompanying Chen Kefu to the south, the Imperial Forest Guards, the elite students of the Yulin Guard, the Jinwu Guard, and the Broken Army Lecture Hall, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, and the soldiers of one team after another lined up neatly, and their armor was shiny.

The spears in the hands of the soldiers were like a forest in their hands, and they were strictly slaughtered.

The knights under the yellow helmets are the Imperial Forest Iron Guard, the Bronze Guard, the Silver Guard, and the Golden Guard, which are the most elite troops in the entire Liaodong Army, few in number, but strong in battle. is not only brave, but also has another name in private, the Praetorian Officer Corps Battalion. Every soldier who joins the Imperial Guard, after completing his service, will be promoted one or two levels to the unit and promoted to a substantive officer. Join the Imperial Guard and make the helmet on top of your head turn yellow, this is the voice of every ordinary soldier.

On both sides of the central yellow tassel array, there are red tassels, black tassels, and white tassels.

Under the red helmet, the neat phalanx soldiers were all Jin Wuwei and Yu Linwei, the two internal army guards and horses. Under normal circumstances, they would not leave the capital, let alone go out to fight. However, if Chen Kefu personally recruited the army, the Red Silk Guards would have the duty to immediately dispatch most of the troops and horses to escort the army south.

The troops with black helmets are ordinary guards and horses, that is, the largest number of foreign troops in the Liaodong Army. These soldiers and horses fought in the south and the north, strong and strong, they were uniformly dressed in black bright light armor of the same color as helmets, the black of a water, and tens of thousands of black-armored soldiers gathered in one place, like a dense dark cloud that could not be dissolved.

Yellow tassel, red tassel, black tassel. In addition to these three colors, there is also a relatively small number of white-tasseled soldiers and horses, who will also accompany the army to the west this time. They are the students who have not yet graduated from the Lecture Hall of the Broken Army in the capital today, and every time there is a large-scale war, the General Staff Headquarters will transfer a group of elite students from the Lecture Hall as trainee officers and transfer them to the battlefield troops.

Under the golden Chen Zida, Chen Kefu immediately stepped on, and under the yellow tassel helmet, Chen Kefu, who had been in battle for a long time, did not have the slightest nervousness before the expedition. He swept over the soldiers behind him, his gaze like lightning.

One hundred and eight golden horns whined. The voice is melodious.

"Knock knock!"

Huge cowhide war drums were also beaten one after another, crescendo to the point of inspiringness.

A familiar feeling came to his face, and Chen Kefu smiled slightly.

Situ Maoxi, one of the three princes, took the lead, and Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Gao Shilian, Lu Guangli, Wei Zheng, Chen Jie, and Li Benlei in Beijing in the Nine Phases stepped forward together.

Mao Xi took the wine poured by Chen Jie and saluted it in front of Chen Kefu, "Your Highness, the Liaodong Army has been raising troops for several years, and there are still disputes in the world. Sweep the world in one fell swoop! ”

Chen Kefu took the Zhuangxing wine and drank it all, "Everyone, please rest assured, you just sit in the central government and act as a prisoner of the country." It won't take long for the imperial court to recover Hebei and Hedong. Then pacify the north. Unify the Central Plains! ”

Mao Xi and the others nodded, "The ministers are waiting for His Highness's good news in Beijing!" ”

The 30,000 soldiers who went out drank all the wine in the bowl, and they were full of pride.

"Victory! Win! Win! ”

The roar of tens of thousands of soldiers shook the sky with bitter thunder. The spears of Rulin were raised in unison, and the edges shone brightly.

Chen Kefu took out the sword given by the Son of Heaven on his waist and leaned on the long sword of the sky, and roared, the war horse man stood up, and the long sword pointed westward, "Go on the expedition!" ”

On the Chengtian Gate. Empress Xiao and the eldest princess of Nanyang accompanied the eldest princess of Izumo, Yang Ji'er, to stand quietly on the tower of Chengtian Gate, looking into the distance. …,

On the other side, the eldest grandson Wujian was also guarded by a team of imperial guards, draped in a big hat, watching the army wrapped in smoke and dust, and gradually moving away. "Chen Lang, I hope you can return victoriously as soon as possible. Personally watched the birth of his son. ”

Chen Kefu's 30,000 soldiers and horses went south along the canal, and along the way, he continued to gather soldiers and horses from all over the country and went straight to Hengshan County.

The vast land east of the river is still covered with heavy snow. Soldiers sent to observe the Fen River every day. He was loudly reporting to Li Shimin about the freezing condition of the Fen River.

"The ice on the Fen River was already passable for the army two days ago. In the past two days, the temperature has dropped sharply, and the ice on the Fen River has been completely solidified, and there is no danger for the army to cross the ice and cross the river. ”

Hearing the news, Li Shimin nodded. Put on his cloak and immediately rushed towards his father's Chinese army tent.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Yuanzheng and Pei Lian, Tang Jian, Li Jiancheng and other subordinates looked at the large animal skin map spread on the ground in the center of the tent. Civilian clerks and military generals were constantly marching into the big tent to report on various military affairs.

Li Yuan's face was full of excitement, and he had long since lost the worry of the month. He stood on top of the map of animal skins in his socks, and held a command staff on it.

"Recently, there has been good news, Erlang led the right army to raid Wang Shichong's Huainan army in Jishan, and recaptured Jishan in one fell swoop. Xiaogong attacked it again, led 20,000 soldiers and horses from Huoyi to the south along the Fen River, hit Wang Xuanying by surprise, and successfully recaptured Taiping Pass. Orr, Erlang and Xiaogong attacked from the north and south, and the two joint troops of 40,000 attacked Zhengping City and recovered Zhengping in one fell swoop. Once again, the passage between our army and Taiyuan in the rear was opened, and Xiaogong also brought 100,000 stones of grain and grass, which can ensure that we have no worries about grain and grass within two months. ”

Seeing his son Shimin come in, Li Yuan happily took his hand and said, "This time, Erlang and Xiaogong have to make a great contribution, and this battle is beautiful." It not only opened up the passage in the rear, but also solved our food shortage crisis in one fell swoop, and defeated the careerist Wang Xingman. Now that damn Wang Shichong has retreated to Jiangxian County, although he is still in Hedong, it does not pose a mortal threat to us for the time being. ”

Li Shimin modestly said, "This time, I joined forces with Xiaogong to attack Wang Shichong's army, and the battle was easy for us all to be a little surprised. After the war, according to the interrogation of the prisoners, it was learned that Wang Shichong hurried back to Luoyang after conquering the Taiping Pass, and it was reported that Chen Pojun had recently frequently mobilized his troops and horses in Shandong. Moreover, I heard that this time even the water division was transferred to the Yellow River, and Li Jing, who was stationed in Shandong, had also returned to the Yellow River, and the soldiers and horses were very close to Luoyang. And just a few days ago, Chen Pojun transferred 10,000 soldiers and horses to raid Jijun, attacked and captured Liyang Cang, and took away nearly one million stones, grains and grass in the warehouse. Chen Pojun's recent moves are all directly approaching Luoyang in the Central Plains, which has caused Luoyang's Li Mi and Wang Shichong to be on great alert. ”

Pei Lin laughed a few times, "In this way, we still have to thank Chen Pojun, if he hadn't forced the Central Plains, how could Wang Shichong, an old fox, easily leave Hedong and run back to Luoyang." If Wang Shichong is in Jiangxian County, I am afraid that we will not be able to open up the first-line passage of the Fen River for a while, and the grain and grass crisis will not be solved for a while. ”

"Father, today has reached the seven-day period set by my father, and the water surface of the Fen River is completely frozen, and the ice is completely thick enough for the army to cross the Fen River safely to fight Yang Jin. Father, I wonder if we will cross the river immediately to fight Yang Xuan? ”

When Li Jiancheng heard this, he immediately supported Li Shimin, "Father, the second brother is reasonable. Now that Wang Shichong has returned to Luoyang, his subordinates have cut off the roads behind the attack on our army. Now that we don't have to worry about it, the Fen River has also become a smooth road, will we take this opportunity to kill the Fen River in one fell swoop and defeat Yang Yong? ”

Li Yuan stared at the map, and after a long time, he finally seemed to have made up his mind.

"Well, our time has indeed come. Let me tell you another great news, there is news from Liu Wenjing's side. ”…,

Everyone was moved when they heard this, Liu Wenjing had been on the grassland for a long time, even if it was far away, but there should have been news back a long time ago. However, when everyone looked at Li Yuan's appearance, they all understood that good news must have come back.

"What's the good news?"

Li Yuan laughed, "It is indeed good news, Liu Wenjing sent someone to send a message back from Yumen, saying that he had met Chen Pojun's envoy in the Khanting Tooth Tent of the Western Turks. In addition, he also met with the envoys of Xue Ju in Hexi, Li Rail, Zhang Changxun in Longshang, and Liu Wuzhou in Hedong. But fortunately, the Great Khan seems to be a little jealous of Chen Pojun, so he doesn't plan to ally with them. With Liu Wenjing's efforts, the Great Khan has signed an alliance with Liu Wenjing. The Great Khan will give full support to our Li Tang, and he has decided to immediately send 3,000 cavalry from Longshang into Guanzhong to support our army. At that time, we will be able to win Guanzhong in one fell swoop. ”

Pei Lin also smiled, "Three thousand light rides, it's really a lot, this is a big help." ”

Li Yuan stroked his beard and smiled, "I don't care about the three thousand Turkic cavalry yet, what really makes this king happy is that with these three thousand Turkic cavalry, it is equivalent to announcing to all the heroes in the world that our Li Tang has the support of the powerful Western Turks." Borrowing the Turkic momentum can help us a lot. ”

"Father, are we going to attack Yang Jun immediately?"

Li Yuan carried his baton and pointed at the Fenhe River on the map, "The king of this book ordered the army to make food in advance, and at the third watch tonight, he led 20,000 headquarters as the vanguard, and broke through the Fenshui to attack Yang Xuan's camp." The king led the middle army, built the left army, and then arrived. Shimin led 20,000 soldiers and horses of his right army to bypass Yang Xuan's camp, go straight south, and seize Pusaka City first. This battle, a battle and a draw! ”

"Fight and draw!" The tent Chinese Wu shouted loudly.

The generals dispersed to prepare, and Li Yuan left Li Shimin alone.

Li Yuan took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to him, "This is a letter from my father to Jin Xiaomo, after you lead your troops to take Puhan City, immediately send this letter to Jin Xiaomo, and then he will offer Pujin, Zhongjun, Xiguancheng and other three levels to attach." You must not delay all the way, go south quickly tonight, cross the Yellow River first, and immediately occupy the three passes in Guanzhong opposite the Yellow River. ”

Li Shimin held the letter, as if it weighed a thousand catties, and nodded heavily, "Father, please rest assured, the sons are waiting for their father to win and meet in Guanzhong." (To be continued.) )