Li Xiaogong's decision to camp in Wazigang was very simple, he knew that he had been targeted by the Sui army, and felt that instead of turning the army tired, it was better to stop and fight the Sui army in a full state. This decision happened to avoid the battle plan formulated by Yang Shanhui at the beginning, and the plan of the Sui army's pocket formation under the Shizi River was completely frustrated.

Fortunately, not all situations are depressing, first of all, Wazigang is overgrown with alfalfa, which not only solves the problem of forage for nearly 10,000 war horses and more than 1,000 donkeys in the whole army, but also provides food for the army.

Secondly, all along, when the Tang army faced the Sui army, the biggest problem was not the cavalry, but that as long as the Sui army had room for maneuver, it would never fight hand-to-hand with the Tang army, but to distance the two armies, and then use the bow to strafe, and the Sui army's crossbow arrows were quite frightening in terms of range and penetration, and ordinary wooden shields were either pierced by strong arrow power or broken, if they were replaced with hard wood, they were so heavy that people could not carry them, and even if they could carry them, they would seriously hinder the speed of the march.

The high-level of the Tang army had a great headache about the crossbow of the Sui army, and they didn't know what to do, but the more complicated the problem, in many cases, was often solved by the people living at the bottom with the simplest way, and the same was true for crossbow arrows.

Li Xiaogong had to climb mountains and mountains on this march, and he could not bring all the heavy weapons, and the big shield belonged to the ranks of those who were abandoned. A few days ago, when Li Xiaogong was inspecting the barracks, he accidentally found that some soldiers picked old mountain rattan to weave shields, thinking that the rattan shield with a gap was not good, but the soldiers told Li Xiaogong that once the rattan shield was dried, it was not only lighter than the wooden shield, but also stronger than the wooden shield, and ordinary swords and bows and arrows could not be broken at all. After seeing the effect of blocking arrows, Li Xiaogong asked people to erect the dry rattan shield on the ground? Hack with a sword? At most, the outer circles are broken, not like a cork shield to the end. So Li Xiaogong asked Lu Zushang to take a group of soldiers to make double-layer rattan shields these days? In order to block the power of the Sui army's bow and crossbow.

Another piece of news moved the generals of the Tang Army led by Li Xiaogong? Is it that Li Jiancheng, who is in Xiangyang, did not follow their advice and stick to Xiangyang? But Li Jiancheng ignored the safety of Xiangyang and persevered to open up the grain road? This is undoubtedly very heartwarming. In the big picture? Everyone thinks that Li Jiancheng is very irrational, but Li Jiancheng's irrational behavior of not giving up has made those who are in a desperate situation very moved and have a sense of belonging.

But when Li Xiaogong heard the news that Cai Yang was conquered by Luo Shixin today, he couldn't calm down anymore.

Cai Yang's loss means that their retreat is cut off? If the Sui army moved in large numbers? Then they will completely cut off Xiangyang, and from the Sui army's move, Li Xiaogong can see that the Sui army does not want to storm the camp, but decides to wait for the Tang army's food to collapse.

This is the most vicious and shameless conspiracy that Sui Jun is best at, can he see it? But it can't be broken, unless it can be broken by force? But is it possible?

Just when he was thinking about the way out, a cadre of generals was invited to the big tent by his own soldiers? Chai Shao arched his hand and said, "Your Highness, I heard that Cai Yang has been lost?" ”

"Exactly." Li Xiaogong nodded and said, "I came to everyone for this matter." ”

Chai Shao said: "Your Highness? The Sui army obviously doesn't give us a chance to fight on our backs? We can't wait? It is necessary to break through as soon as possible. ”

"That's what I thought too." Li Xiaogong nodded, looked at Lu Zushang, who was silent, and asked, "General Lu, how many rattan shields have you made these days?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, more than 20,000 double-layered rattan shields have been made." Lu Zushang replied.

"How effective is the defense against the ballista bolts?" Li Xiaogong hurriedly asked again.

"Your Highness." Lu Zushang said excitedly: "The last general tried with our army's crossbow, a single-layer rattan shield can block a crossbow of two hundred steps, if it is within two hundred steps, the rattan shield cannot be blocked; However, the double-layered rattan shield with two layers of bamboo in the middle has an amazing defensive effect, and when the last general uses an ordinary spear to pierce it, it uses all his strength to pierce it. ”

Everyone's eyes lit up, although Lu Zushang was not a fierce general, he was also a fierce general, and he couldn't even pierce the rattan shield, no matter how he said it, he could block the light hand crossbow.

"Thank you for your hard work, General Lu." Li Xiaogong praised him, and then said: "In order for Yang Shanhui to attack our offensive and defensive military camp, we even sent a fine work to Luoyang to spread the news, saying that Yang Shanhui will support the army and respect himself, sell his reputation and reputation, favor the Tang Dynasty, and have the intention of rebellion." However, we still underestimated Yang Tong's trust in Yang Shanhui, and turned a blind eye; And Yang Shanhui is also very good, even if the rumors in Luoyang are unfavorable to him, he still abides by the mission of a coach, and does not forcibly attack our camp, proving his innocence. Judging from his current reaction, he will not fight a tough battle with us. Although the prince has been defeated repeatedly, but he has not many troops in his hands, if it continues, his army will soon be exhausted, and the Sui army will be lost as long as the troops come to Xiangyang under the city, and at that time we will completely lose the road to Shu, so we can't go on like this, we must try to break the deadlock. ”

"Your Highness's words are extremely true, if it weren't for the soldiers to save food and supplement it with alfalfa, our food would have been unable to support it for a long time, and it would not have been able to drag on no matter what." Chai Shao said: "Does Your Highness have any ideas? ”

"Although the morale of our army is not high, it is emotionally stable, and now there is a rattan shield to block the power of the Sui army's bow and crossbow, rather than sitting and waiting to be killed, it is better to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle." Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong continued: "I have repeatedly sent people to secretly investigate and control, and found that the northern battalion under the command of Du Fuwei has fewer troops, and its main force is the 11th Army of the Sui Dynasty compiled from the Jianghuai Army, and its combat strength is far inferior to the other ten major army corps, so I decided to attack Du Fuwei's northern battalion tonight, as long as his military camp is broken, then we will not only get food, but also jump out of the encirclement of the Sui army." ”

Chai Shao pondered for a long time and said: "Your Highness's idea is good, but Du Fuwei is a fierce general who started as a thief, has rich combat experience, and in the battle with Li Zitong for Jianghuai, he showed an amazing military level, how can such a person not prevent our army from attacking at night?" ”

"I know that Du Fuwei will definitely prevent our army from attacking at night, but he can prevent it once, what about the second time? Can he prevent it? Li Xiaogong smiled.

"The second time?" The generals were surprised.

"That's right, none of you expected it, and Duvowe probably didn't expect it either."

Chai Shao frowned and thought for a while, then muttered, "I seem to remember that someone used this method and it was very successful, but I couldn't think of who it was for a while." ”

Li Xiaogong said hesitantly: "Zhang Xiu once defeated Cao Cao in this way. ”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Chai Shao's eyes lit up, "I remember, Zhang Xiu attacked Cao Cao at night for the first time and was killed miserably, but I didn't expect him to fight again later, and he almost killed Cao Cao." Does Your Highness want to paint a cat and a tiger? ”

"This story is what I saw from the wild history when I was a child. I want to paint a tiger like a cat, how about Si Chang? Li Xiaogong smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

"After so many days of confrontation, Du Fuwei really has the possibility of relaxing his precautions." Chai Shao pondered for a moment before he said. "The important thing is that the battle of Wancheng is not widely spread, and Du Fuwei, who has a bad background, probably doesn't even know about Zhang Xiu, and it is not impossible for His Highness to paint cats and tigers."

The historical facts of Cao Cao's battle against Zhang Xiu were written by the Cao family, and the Spring and Autumn penmanship records are already good. Moreover, before the mass promotion of cheap paper, books were collected as heirlooms by the family, and how could Duvowe, who came from the poor class, have access to precious books?

Since the scope of circulation is narrow and the age is too long, there are naturally very few people who know now, so there are conditions for painting cats and tigers.

"That's what I thought too." Li Xiaogong asked the generals, "Do you know about this incident?" ”

Lu Zushang, who was thinking hard, shook his head again and again: "I don't know if I've heard of it." ”

"I haven't heard of it." Samurai Tong also said.

"I don't know." Others also said they had not heard of it.

Hear the same thing from all the generals.

Finally seeing the hope of victory, the generals suddenly became excited and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do now?" ”

Li Xiaogong said: "At the third watch, General Lu led 10,000 elite soldiers to attack Du Fuwei at night, and I brought another 10,000 people as the second night attack. ”

"Your Highness is the commander of our army, how can you move lightly? I'll go for it. Chai Shao said.

"Si Chang, your talent is far superior to mine, but you have almost no chance to lead the troops alone, and your combat experience is too little, if something goes wrong, I am worried that you will not be able to make the right decision for a while." Li Xiaogong said with a straight face: "And the camp can't be left unattended, you are responsible for guarding the camp." ”

"This ......" Chai Shao hesitated for a moment and asked, "What His Highness said is that Yang Shanhui is likely to come to us to surround Wei to save Zhao?" ”

"Yes, I am worried that during the first night attack, the enemy army will take the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao against our army, and storm our army's camp, so I have to guard against it. Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Du Fuwei has no defense, so that our army broke his barracks in the first night attack, but whether it is the first time or the second time, as long as we win the victory, we will burn the camp with fire, as long as you see the fire rising, immediately abandon this camp, and go to join us, so you are not only to prevent the enemy from encircling Wei to save Zhao, but also to prepare for a quick evacuation. ”

Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong told again: "This is a godsend for us to jump out of the encirclement, once we miss it, there will be no second time, so when you see the fire burning the camp, you must come to the meeting as fast as possible." ”

"I see." Chai Shao said solemnly.

"But Your Highness, if the Du Fuwei military camp can't be attacked, and our army's camp is attacked again, what will General Chai do?" Samurai said worriedly.

"This has to be a risky move, but General Wu, we must take this risk." Li Xiaogong sighed and said, "If I can't capture the Sui camp, I will quickly retreat; If the war is intertwined here, and I have succeeded in burning the enemy camp, then I will abandon the former army and men, and bring as many people as I can to join us. ”

The crowd understood.

Li Xiaogong: This is a strong man with a broken wrist.

"How much more rations do we have?" Li Xiaogong asked the samurai Tong in charge of logistics again.

"Back to Your Highness, the food is in the hands of each soldier, and it is really difficult to verify how much it is, but the soldiers know how much to save, and some soldiers even eat alfalfa for two days, dry food for one day, and they should be able to hold on for four days." The warrior said bitterly: "It's just that the soldiers have no oil, water, and no meat for nearly a month, and they can't recover their physical strength at all." It's not that he wants to hurt his morale, but he is really worried that when the soldiers are fighting, if they let out this first breath, I am afraid that they will not be able to fight for a long time with this physical strength. ”

Li Xiaogong thought for a moment and said, "Kill all the war horses and donkeys, and let the soldiers have a good meal." ”

Wu Shi Tong hesitated: "Your Highness, the donkey can be killed, this war horse will not wait for a few days?" Wait for the end..."

Li Xiaogong shook his head, "How thin do you look?" Wait? Wait a few more days, there will only be bones, and you will not be able to ride or eat without meat. It's better to kill them now. ”

"Let's arrange it." The samurai bowed and hurried away.

"Let's all go and prepare." Li Xiaogong waved his hand, and all the generals present got up one after another, saluted Li Xiaogong, and then left.

Li Xiaogong was the only one left in the tent, and he was silent for a long time on the map on the case, because there was no one around, his figure seemed to be a little rickety, and the spotted white hair that should not have been there at this age looked particularly dazzling in the faint light.

The precarious Tang Dynasty and the unfavorable situation of the army all overwhelmed the first general of the Li Tang clan, and he seemed to have spent more than ten years in the past month.