In the evening, it began to drizzle, and the forests and mountains in the distance seemed to be shrouded in a thin veil. In the big tent of the Sui army at the southern foot of Zou Mountain, there is a sand table with a length of five zhang and a width of three zhang, and the terrain, cities, mountains and rivers of the whole south of the Yangtze River are all complete, and the workmanship is very exquisite.

Yang Gongren silently watched Teng County, Pengcheng County, Pei Xingyan lived up to his expectations, easily occupied Songcheng in Liang County, and forced Yucheng, Zhecheng and other counties without blood, Gao Yaxian led 20,000 cavalry to advance in the direction of Dangshan County, and the other part was led by Pei Xingyan to sit in Zhecheng County.

Dangshan County is located in Jiyin, Liang County, Pengcheng, Qian County four counties junction, the geographical location is very important, Pei Xingyan garrison here, on the one hand, you can attack Pengcheng from the west, echo your own army, defeat Xu Shiji, on the other hand, you can enter Qian County, deter Huaiyang's Li Mi army, at the same time, can also along the official road to the west, directly from Zhecheng County into Huaiyang Luyi County, it can be said that Pei Xingyan hoarded the army in these two counties, is a very tricky decision, like two daggers, respectively against Li Mi's head and Xu Shiji's heart, so that the two of them can not sleep, but he is not without flaws, that is, he himself only has 40,000 troops, and this division of troops, there are only 20,000 people in each county, Xu Shiji has his own watch, it doesn't matter, but what about Li Mi? Can Xie Yingden stand it? I don't know when Li Jing's old boy will arrive in Yingchuan, if he can't arrive in time, Li Mi is very likely to preemptively launch a fierce offensive against Gao Yaxian, once Liang County is lost, then Li Mi and Xu Shiji can join forces in Liang County, and then fight back to Dongjun and Dongping County, and occupy 800 liwa Gangzhai and 800 li Juyeze (Liangshanbo).

In particular, Wagang is located on the southeast bank of the Yellow River, bordering the Baima Ferry of the Yellow River in the north and the Tongji Canal in the south; The west side of the Yellow River is only 100 miles away from the Yongji Canal, and Wagang is outside the horn mouth of the North-South Grand Canal. The north-south canal was the main traffic artery of the Sui Dynasty, and Wagang was a military strategic location. However, as far as Wagang is concerned, it is a remote place in the territory of East County. Because the Yellow River has flooded many times, the soil ridge is undulating, the trees are thick, the ditches and rivers are vertical and horizontal, and the reeds are all over the field, this environment is not only convenient for the garrison troops, but also convenient for attacking. This is also the reason why Zhai Rang chose Wagang as the place to rebel, and the reason why Zhai Rang grew from small to large and from weak to strong was mainly due to the control of this important place.

If they regain their foothold in this place where it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they can hide in the mountains and rivers as soon as the imperial army arrives, and when the imperial army retreats, they can cause trouble in the countryside. Compared with the terrible consequences, Yang Gongren suddenly felt that the troops in Pei Xingyan's hands were really less.

For the sake of today's plan, he can only annihilate Xu Shiji's troops as soon as possible, and then trap Li Mi to death in Huaiyang with the momentum of an iron bucket.

Even if it is a strong attack, it will not hesitate.

Deputy Marshal Zuo Tiancheng, Fan Ze, and Mai Mengcai saw that he was silent and did not disturb, and they each looked at the sand table and the delicate and small camp in front of them.

"Enlightened handsome." At that moment, a soldier reported at the tent door: "The scout has urgent information to report. ”

"Let him in." Yang Gongren said.

After a while, a scout walked into the tent, "See the commander, the lieutenants. ”

"There is no need to be polite at the critical moment, tell me, what did you find on your inspection?"

"Back to the marshal, the last general and others used clairvoyance mirrors to look at the Wei army camp from a distance on the tree, and found that the Wei army moved frequently, and their baggage soldiers retreated to the south camp with heavy horses, leaving a lot of ruts on the ground, covered with oilcloth, and it was impossible to see what it was, but judging from the shape, it should be grain and some disassembled siege equipment."

"Do you have any details?"

"There are about 20,000 heavy soldiers and civilians, and there are 10,000 soldiers talking about something." The scout replied without hesitation.

"Are you sure?"

"It's true."

"Send a few more scouts, keep an eye on the Wei army's camp, and get favorable information and report back immediately."

"Whoa." The scout responded.

"Dashuai." Zuo Tiancheng arched his hand and said: "According to the last general's opinion, Xu Shiji plans to escape. ”

"How so?"

"Liang County is lost, and the north of Bianshui in Pengcheng County is surrounded by our army from many sides, and our army can outflank Xu Shiji from Liang County, Jiyin, Lu County, Langxie, and Xiapi. If Xu Shiji was not a wasted person, he would definitely retreat to the south of Bianshui before the formation of our army's encirclement, with Qian County as the western barrier, he only needed to guard in three directions. Zuo Tiancheng said: "Otherwise, he will not be trapped to death, but also starved to death, if you add the strategy of exhausting soldiers, his 60,000 army will collapse without a fight, and there is even a danger of annihilation." Therefore, withdrawing troops is the wisest choice, and if you change to the last general, you will also choose to withdraw. ”

"What General Zuo said is extremely true." Yang Gongren nodded and said, "Make a decision immediately and without delay, Xu Shiji is a character." ”

"Dashuai, this is a godsend." Fan said.

"No hurry, no hurry." Yang Gongren said with a smile: "Let's wait for the scouts to bring more accurate information before making a decision." ”

After speaking, Yang Gongren redirected his gaze to the sand table.

This area is densely covered with water networks, swamps, fertile land, and a large population in peacetime, and is an important grain producing area of the Great Sui.

In the endless wilderness, there are large patches of forest, and crystal clear rivers flow through the forest, winding like a jade belt over the plain. The Sui army camp in this area of the terrain is flat, there are not many rivers, very suitable for cavalry combat, and because the Sui army seized this plain, so Xu Shiji can only bite the bullet in this field that is not conducive to his own combat camping confrontation, if not, the Sui army will take advantage of the situation to go south, but he also sent people to dig a ravine, leading the water of Dushan Lake as a 'camp river', which caused some trouble to the Sui army, but the water is gentle, if you really want to fill it, you can't waste much time.

"Is the handsome [man] planning to attack at night?" A young general next to him asked softly, he is Wei Chi Baolin, the eldest son of Wei Chi Gong, he and Cheng Yanjin's eldest son Cheng Chumo have been trained in the army, and the two of them are also the oldest among the children of military generals.

Yang Gongren glanced at him.

Yu Chi Baolin immediately laughed self-deprecatingly: "The last general understands. Night fighting is our army's advantage, so naturally we must make full use of it. ”

"Not bad." Yang Gongren nodded with a smile and said: "Xu Shiji led these 60,000 people, including 40,000 elite Wei troops, they fought with Wang Shichong and Yu Wenhua in the Central Plains, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they have experienced a hundred battles, and their combat effectiveness is not weak. Our soldiers have also been fighting all these years, and it is very hard, and they should be allowed to return to their hometowns as soon as possible. As commanders and generals, we should play to our strengths and minimize casualties on the battlefield. ”

Wei Chi Baolin understood that Yang Gongren was telling him to cherish the soldiers, and hurriedly said, "The last general remembers." ”

"Just remember."

Cheng Chu silently saw that Yang Gongren was in a high position, but he was better at talking than his old man who scolded his mother when he was happy and rewarded a few slaps when he was unhappy, and said: "Dashuai, there will be something to ask for advice in the end." ”

"Just ask." Yang Gongren already had a rough plan in his heart, and he needed the information of the scout to finally confirm it, and he was idle and idle, so he chatted with the two juniors.

"For generals to love soldiers like sons, then General Xue killed more than 100,000 slaves under Xiangwu City, isn't he like a soldier?"

Yang Gongren laughed and said, "He loves soldiers like sons, so he doesn't let my soldiers of the Great Sui go to attack the city, but let those alien slaves go to ......"

"Interracial slaves aren't people?"

"Of course not." Yang Gongren taught: "When slaves are fighting, they are humanoid siege machines, and when they are idle, they are humanoid hoes, humanoid shovels, and humanoid iron drills for building roads and canals. ”

Everyone laughed.

At this time, another scout came to report: "Great marshal, the Wei army is escorted south by 10,000 soldiers, and another 20,000 are headed south." ”

"Got it, let's find out."

"Whoa."

Yang Gongren looked at several deputy marshals and said slowly: "In this way, Xu Shiji did withdraw his troops overnight. What do you think about this? ”

"Marshal, the last general feels that this is a very good opportunity, our army should enter the army, and do not let Xu Shiji successfully retreat to the south bank of Bianshui."

Zuo Tiancheng first expressed his opinion, and then talked about his own proposition: "The last general thinks that the troops should be divided into two places, one is to drag the 30,000 Wei troops in the Wei army camp, if the Wei army in the camp does not move, then there is no need to pay attention; If they leave the camp, they will gather heavy troops and annihilate them, trapping these 30,000 troops here. The other cavalry attacked their grain baggage, this is the territory of my Great Sui Land, only one army needs to be left to garrison the camp, and there is no need to worry about the grain route being cut off. We have the absolute advantage. When the cavalry returned, the Wei army camp was self-defeating. ”

Yang Gongren nodded and secretly praised, if Zuo Tiancheng's style of play, it is not difficult to break the Wei army, the only flaw is that it is difficult to win, and the intelligence said that the Wei army still has 20,000 troops to follow the baggage soldiers, the fate of this army is definitely to cover the rear army, protect the food baggage, and it is possible to attack halfway, if this army is not annihilated, the cavalry has a great risk. So, it's still a risky plan.

Zuo Tiancheng looked at Yang Gongren and said solemnly: "It's just that this method is quite dangerous, if this army accidentally allows the Wei army to break through, and the army left behind in the camp fails to annihilate it in time, the cavalry that directly attacks the baggage will become a lone army all the way." ”

"Marshal, the army after the break is definitely the main force of the Wei army, it is better to cut off one of its fingers, the last general thinks that we have gathered superior forces, broke the Wei army camp with thunder, and then went to pursue the other two teams. The main divisions have been defeated, and I think those two armies will be terrified, and it will not be difficult to break them. Fan gave a salute, and then came up with the shortcomings of this strategy: "The last general's method is relatively stable, you don't need to consider ambushing soldiers halfway, and you don't have to worry about being attacked by the enemy from behind; But it's also easy to miss the other two teams. ”

"Marshal, General Fan's tactics are good, and the last general seconded it." Mai Mengcai nodded in agreement.

"Your suggestions are good, but you're missing a crucial point." Seeing everyone's eyes, Yang Gongren said: "I'm referring to the Wei army camp. ”

Speaking of this, he pointed to the model of the Wei army camp and said: "This is a death formation, with a slight change, it is a murderous killing array, and no matter how many people go in, there is no return." ”

"Did the Holy Lord encounter the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array?"

Mai Zhongcai swallowed his saliva, but he knew that thousands of rebels of the Xiaoguo Army entered the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array, but none of them came back alive, but the Wei army did not have a single casualty, which was really terrifying.

"This is called the Liuhe Array, which is very similar to the Liuhua Array founded by Li Jing, except that the two are similar in appearance, and they must be different on the inside." Yang Gongren said: "In the ninth year of the Great Cause, Yang Xuangan rebelled, and the first emperor asked me to be in charge of the conquest. I defeated the rebels in Poling with more than 10,000 county soldiers, relying on the Liuhe Array. ”

"The result?" Yu Chi Baolin couldn't help but ask.

"I lured the rebels into the camp and burned them clean, but my camp was relatively small, and I only burned 50,000 or 60,000 rebels."

"So Xu Shiji is planning to lure our army into the camp, and then everyone will burn us clean?" Mai Zhongcai asked.

"But we set the fire first, and the result will be different."

"Dashuai is saying that we ignited the fire first?"

"Of course, since Xu Shiji has set up a barbecue feast, what are we polite." Yang Gongren's voice revealed a sense of momentum, he didn't want to be so ruthless, but when he thought of the safety of tens of thousands of Sui troops, his mentality was different.

"It's just that it's raining this day, and the fire can burn?"

"It didn't rain much, so it was no problem at all."

As soon as Yang Gongren's voice fell, a scout came to report again: "Marshal Qiqi, the soldiers of the Wei army are laying things in the camp and the tent, which looks like a flammable thing from a distance. ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but mourn silently for Xu Shiji.

This Xu Shiji is really unlucky.

I actually met someone who played a fire attack and killing array.

"It's a credit to the clairvoyant." Zuo Tiancheng said with deep emotion: "With this thing, it is almost impossible for anyone who wants to sneak attack our army, and it can make the scouts observe the enemy camp in more detail." ”

"There are no absolutes." Yang Gongren shook his head and said: "The role of the clairvoyant mirror is indeed not small, but it would be an exaggeration to say that it is invincible and invincible with this, after all, there are still many terrains that the clairvoyant mirror cannot see the whole picture." The clairvoyant mirror is as simple as the Three Treasures of the Cavalry, and it is easy for people to learn. Now the enemy doesn't know that we have such a weapon, otherwise they can make it. ”

Mai Zhongcai humbly asked for advice at this time: "Dashuai, what should we pay attention to when we set fire?" ”

Yang Gongren seems to be an expert in playing with fire, and answers without thinking as soon as the question comes out: "First of all, fire, and then flammable." ”

Yang Gongren is right, if there is little fire, it will be easily extinguished, and all successful fire attack strategies in history have sufficient fire. There are so many fires that the enemy can't extinguish them in order to succeed, and of course, easy things are also the key.

Zuo Tiancheng groaned: "We don't know how many flammable materials the Wei army has laid, and we can't let our soldiers enter the camp to send them to death, and the Wei army's camp is huge, and sending troops to release rockets can't burn the camp in a short time." It is better for us to follow the plan of the Holy Lord to burn the Tongluo people, and get hundreds of horses at the east, north, and west gates of the Wei army camp, as long as the horses are covered with thatch, there is fire everywhere they go, and it will not be long before the Wei army camp will definitely fall into a sea of fire. ”

"General Zuo can do this way, and that's how to set fire." Yang Gongren said with a smile: "In this case, things will be easy to do." Since the Wei army wants to lure our army into the camp and set it on fire, it must not be able to fight with us for a long time. We simply combined the two strategies and left the south gate as their retreat. It is an army that drags the Wei army in the camp, and a cavalry pretends to go south, and then turns around and comes back to clean up the deserters in the camp, first break the camp together, and then go to chase and kill the other two Wei armies, with the speed of our cavalry, it is very easy to catch up with them. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Gongren stood up and shouted, "The generals will listen to the order." ”

All the generals in the tent stood up, and the nail leaves slammed into each other, making a loud noise.

"General Mai, you have always followed the Holy Lord's side, and you have participated in many raids on the alien races; In terms of riding experience, you are the leader in the tent, and you take 20,000 cavalry to the south, ambush five miles away from the Wei army's camp, and wait until the rout arrives to attack immediately. If you meet Xu Shiji, try to capture him alive. ”

The Second Legion of the Great Sui is also a legion that is good at cavalry warfare, so it did not go to Jiangxia with Qin Qiong, but was led by Yang Gongren, so Yang Gongren did not have a main battle army.

"The last will obey." Mai Zhongcai bowed down to answer the order.

Yang Gongren looked at Fan Ze and said with a smile: "General Fan Ze, you order 10,000 slave soldiers to stand by, and when we break the Wei army camp, let these 5,000 slave soldiers go south, the task is to lure out the 20,000 ambush soldiers of the Wei army, and then be supported by General Mai's Sui army soldiers." Just remember, don't get yourself into it. ”

"The last will obey." Fan Ze couldn't help but smile and responded.

"General Zuo, you are in charge of attacking the camp. Remember, if you attack the camp, let the slaves go up. ”

"......" the generals sighed speechlessly.

Slaves are really not human, and they are not distressed to use.

Yang Gongren said solemnly: "The generals perform their duties and must not slack off. ”

"The last general obeys!" The generals were ordered.

。。。。。。。。。。

In the big tent of the Wei army, Xu Shiji was in a daze at a map, he was still thinking about the Sui army opposite, if all his troops could reach the designated place victoriously, then Pengcheng still had 100,000 troops, and in danger, more than 40,000 baggage soldiers could also stand up for a while, but once the Sui army attacked in a big way, could Pengcheng be able to hold it?

However, Pengcheng City is a county with a circumference of thirty miles, the city is tall and strong, and the defense ability is extremely strong, so many troops hold the city, coupled with their own command ability, if the Sui army wants to break through Pengcheng City, it must have at least 150,000 troops and a lot of heavy siege weapons, otherwise it is difficult to be breached, and his army can grow up in the battle.

Xu Shiji thought of Li Mi of Huaiyang County again, if he could also hold on to it with himself for a year and a half, the morale of the Sui army would be hit hard, and the Tang Dynasty would definitely not sit back and watch the Wei State perish when he saw that the Wei State was so tenacious, even if Li Yuan could not see the value of the existence of the Wei State, the Tang Dynasty court should also have a long-term vision to persuade him, if he sat and watched the defeat of the Wei State, the pressure on the Tang Dynasty would double, and it would not be far from death. If the Tang army wins on the Jingxiang battlefield, then the Tang army can take advantage of the situation to develop southward and sweep the entire Jingxiang and Jianghuai.

In this way, the Sui army will also be forced to abandon the offensive, instead shrink the front, consolidate various important areas, and the war will also temporarily cease to dwell, and the Great Wei will have a chance to breathe, and it is very likely to occupy Qingzhou and Xuzhou, forming a trend of deterring Luoyang from the east, which is the best result.

Xu Shiji sighed slightly, judging from the situation of the Sui army's multi-way troops, he Xu Shiji has become the first target of the Sui army, if he can hold on, there is still a possibility for Qian County to hold on, if he fails, Pengcheng and Qian County will inevitably fall into the hands of the Sui army, there is only one Huaiyang Shengshang, how can he be the opponent of the Sui army? All the hopes of Wei are now on his shoulders, can he support it?

Hard, hard, hard.

The country is so powerful, how small is the power of one person? If he really had a strategy to turn things around, he would not risk retreating, let alone setting up such a cruel killing situation.

At this point, there was a sudden sound of rushing running outside, and the hurried footsteps made Xu Shiji's heart hang all of a sudden.

"Report to the general, the scout has found an anomaly!" A pro-soldier hurriedly reported.

Xu Shiji walked out of the big tent quickly and asked, "What is abnormal?" ”

"The scouts found that about 20,000 Sui cavalry were dispatched and were approaching the eastern camp of our army."

"East Daying?"

"Exactly."

Xu Shiji's mind turned, and suddenly understood, the Sui army found out about the movement of his own army, and sent 20,000 cavalry to chase and kill the soldiers who had gone south, which was also expected by him, but the other party found out much earlier than himself, if he didn't care about it, the Second Route Army led by Le Botong was probably chased by the other party before he arrived at the preset location, and what ambush and response were, and he shouted at the moment: "Send the scout south, immediately tell General Le the news, and let him choose a place to ambush." ”

"Whoa." The scout retreated.

"Ring the alarm bell and order the whole army to fight!" Xu Shiji was resourceful, knowing that the Sui army would not ignore that cavalry, at least he had to send someone to drag him down, so that the cavalry would not be attacked on its back.

'When, when, when......'

The crisp and rapid alarm bell echoed in the Wei army camp, the whole camp seemed to come to life, the Wei soldiers were sleeping with the armor, as soon as they heard the bell, they rushed out of the big tent, these 30,000 people were the elite division of the battle-hardened battle, and they were notified in advance, and there was no chaos, under the leadership of officers at all levels, they were in place.

At this time, another scout rushed to report, "General Qiyu, the Sui army has made a big move, the number is about 70,000, they are slowly killing the big battalion, it seems that they should be planning to fight overnight." ”

"I see." After getting this news, Xu Shiji was greatly relieved, at least the Sui army didn't know his layout in the camp.

Seventy thousand, it's a pity.

However, there has never been mercy in war.

Xu Shiji thought for a while, and suddenly ordered: "Except for the soldiers who set the fire, all the rest will be evacuated to Nanying, and the other three gates will open the camp gates and light up the lights." ”

Hearing this order, all the generals and colonels were stunned.

"General, is this Shu Zhan's trick?" A biased general asked.

Shu Zhan's trick is the famous 'empty city plan'.

The empty city strategy is actually a psychological tactic. When you are unable to defend the city, you deliberately expose the emptiness of our city to the enemy, which is the so-called "void of the void". The enemy suspected that there was an ambush in the city, and they were afraid of falling into the ambush circle. But this is a risky strategy that hangs in the balance. The key to using this tactic is to understand and master the character traits of the enemy general.

In 666 BC, Yuan Hao, the prince of Chu, attacked Zheng in a mighty manner. All the way to Zheng Guoguo's capital. Zheng Guo's strength was weak, and the capital was empty, so it was impossible to resist the attack of the Chu army.

Zheng Guo is in danger, some people advocate paying money and asking for peace, some advocate fighting to the death, and some advocate sticking to and waiting for help. However, none of these propositions can solve the danger of the country's demise.

At this time, Zheng Guo's secretary Shu Zhan came up with a plan and ordered all the soldiers to ambush in the city, so that the enemy would not see a single soldier. The shops in the city were opened as usual, and the people came and went as usual, without showing a trace of panic. Then the gates of the city were opened wide and put on an undefended appearance.

Gongzi Yuan of Chu State thought that there was fraud and should not attack rashly. The advanced city listened to the truth and the truth, so it did not move. At this time, Qi received Zheng Guo's request for help, and had united Lu and Song to send troops to rescue Zheng. Gongzi Yuan heard the news that the soldiers of the Three Kingdoms had arrived, and the Chu army would not be able to win. It is better to retreat, he is worried that the enemy will pursue him when he retreats, so he withdrew overnight, all the camps were not demolished, and the flags were still fluttering, and in turn he successfully deceived Shu Zhan with an empty city plan, and was able to withdraw from the border of Zheng State safely.

This is the first successful use of the empty city strategy in history, and it is ironic that both the enemy and the enemy used it, and all of them succeeded.

"That's right, Uncle Zhan Qiji." Xu Shiji said without thinking: "We originally planned to give up the camp, instead of increasing the number of casualties, it is better to let the Sui army be suspicious for a while, so that we can give General Le and them a little more time." ”

In terms of troops, the Sui army now has an absolute advantage, if another 10,000 or 20,000 cavalry are sent south, Lebotong and Wenren Sui'an will be finished.

If the empty city plan can successfully stop the Sui army, or lead all the Sui army into the camp, Lebotong and Wenren Sui'an can successfully retreat to Pengcheng City.

Xu Shiji looked at the sky-high fire in the distance, his lips were biting and bleeding, his palms were also sweating, and his heart was beating wildly, what he was worried about now was that the Sui army would confront him in front of the camp, and then send a cavalry to the south. And he let the soldiers retreat into the southern camp, which was also a foreshadowing for this worry, but in the wilderness, how could the foot soldiers fight the cavalry?