The Tang army camp of Chungling was built in the north of Huyang County, south of Bishui, and only needed to march more than 220 miles to the southwest to reach Xiangyang.

Like the government and the opposition, Li Xiaogong and Chai Shao are also paying attention to the war between Yang Tong and the Ertu coalition army, but the question that they are most concerned about now is whether they can bring this army back to Xiangyang and Yizhou completely.

This is not unfounded, but they are not blinded by the confusion of the truce agreement, and they agree that if the Sui army sits back and watches them return safely, and if the Sui army does not take advantage of the opportunity of the Chungling army to withdraw to Xiangyang and lose the protection of the camp to annihilate them, then Yang Dong is incompetent and Yang Shanhui is mediocre and ignorant.

Obviously, Yang Tong and Yang Shanhui are not this kind of people, otherwise they would not have accumulated hundreds of thousands of troops in Xinye.

If the powerful Sui army is their external enemy to transfer Xiangyang, then the interior is also full of unstable factors, among the 120,000 troops, most of them are the army of the Tang Dynasty brought by the kings under Xiao Mill's account, and the Tang army of Bashu and Guanzhong is only 50,000 people, and the other 70,000 are either Xiao Mill's army, or the Nanling people who were forcibly conscripted, and there are many Jingling people and Nanyang people.

When the Sui and Tang Truce agreements were signed, although Li Xiaogong and Chai Shao concealed the news, the news that the Tang Dynasty exchanged the five counties of Jingbei for half a year's truce time had already spread all over the world, and the soldiers usually had to settle fields and contact the people in many places, so they couldn't hide it at all.

In the big tent, Li Xiaogong paced back and forth, and just now, he received an order from Li Jiancheng to return to Xiangyang as soon as possible, so as not to have too many dreams at night.

Giving up and retreating to Xiangyang in the west of Lingling, for Li Xiaogong, it was a matter of one sentence, but what Li Xiaogong was worried about was his army, and the soldiers were now demoralized and could protect stability, and everyone thought that he Li Xiaogong could take everyone back to Xiangyang and accept Li Jiancheng's reward, if the Sui army suddenly attacked, under extreme fear, he was very worried about the collapse of the army.

For them now, the road from Huyang to Xiangyang for more than 200 miles will be a road full of killing and death, and if they are not properly arranged and dealt with effectively, the end of the total annihilation will be repeated.

However, apart from leading their army west to Xiangyang as soon as possible, they did not seem to have a second way to choose.

At this time, Chai Shao, who was also at a loss, said on the side: "Your Highness, the last general feels that the more it drags on, the more unfavorable the situation will be for us, first of all, the low morale of the soldiers is caused by the unknown future, and the top priority is to take everyone to withdraw to Xiangyang, although it will disappoint the soldiers, but also let everyone gain a sense of security, and then we will work with the prince to rectify the army in Xiangyang, and eliminate the unstable soldiers by cutting off the dead branches and leaves and retaining the roots and trunks, and the soldiers left behind will be the elite soldiers loyal to the Tang Dynasty." ”

Lu Zushang, the first general under Li Xiaogong, also said: "What General Chai said is extremely true, the Sui and Tang armies are in a situation where the enemy is dark and we are clear, and Yang Shan will know the root of us, but we don't know how many people there are in the Sui army, nor when they will attack, it is this kind of unknown that causes the whole army to be in a state of confusion and fear. Li Mi's camp is a lesson for us. ”

"General Lu's words are also the things that Humility is most worried about." The warrior Tong stood up and said: "We should move now rather than be still, as long as our army moves, the Sui army will also move, and our army will be in the initiative." ”

Li Xiaogong nodded and said bitterly: "What you said is right, you all said that it is fatal." But we don't know anything about the Sui army, we are too passive, and I am very worried that the other party will intercept us in the area of Tangzi Mountain, which is a wilderness with a flat river, and has a natural advantage over the cavalry. ”

"And what does Your Highness think?" Wu Shitong knew that Li Xiaogong had been annihilated by Luo Shixin once, and now he was deeply wary of the cavalry.

"That's what I thought."

Li Xiaogong looked at everyone, and suddenly showed a smile, "Whether we evacuate to the west or south, it is all expected by the Sui army." It is better for us to do the opposite, kill to the east of Handong County, and then bypass Tongbai Mountain, avoid Yang Shanhui's army, and go all out to fight Huai'an, Yingchuan, and Xingyang, which are empty, and directly burn the war to Henan County, where Luoyang is located. Second, cross Anlu from Handong, take Jiangxia directly, and kill them by surprise, I believe that there will not be too many troops over there, and we can completely support the war with war. ”

"I personally think that the success of going south is greater and safer, because the Sui Dynasty recovered Jianghuai and Jiangnan not long ago, and the local people's sense of belonging to the Sui Dynasty is far less than that of the northerners.

Everyone was stunned for a while, Chai Shao and Lu Zushang glanced at each other, Chai Shao hurriedly said: "Your Highness, the meaning of the Holy Lord and the crown prince is that we will return to Xiangyang, and then sit in Badong to block the westward advance of the Sui army. ”

"But Padang is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack, where is there a need for so many soldiers? I mean that the soldiers are divided into two routes, you take the army to Xiangyang, and the prince goes west, and I bring 10,000 elite soldiers and 30,000 Jingzhou soldiers is enough. When Li Xiaogong said this, he suddenly sighed and said: "After so many years in the army, I really want to fight a battle free and without worries. ”

"As a general, the last general also understands His Royal Highness's mood, and also wants to fight a battle that is not controlled by the imperial court and commanded by Yaoyao, but my Li Tang Dynasty really can't stand the toss, and now Yizhou's internal forces are empty, and all the troops that can be used are pressed to the Sui and Tang borders, but there are also Beizhen Army, Dugu Wudu, and Taihe Army in Yizhou, and even the wingmen are stirred up by Li Yuanji, and my Tang Dynasty is like fire and water. Our 120,000 army can be called the last remaining strength of the Tang Dynasty, which is used to save lives. Glancing at Li Xiaogong, Chai Shao continued: "Even if you don't have these problems, Your Highness ask yourself, are you sure to avoid the Sui army scouts all over Chungling?" ”

"This ......" Li Xiaogong sighed, he is self-aware, don't look at the 120,000 army in Chungling, but the foundation has already made Yang Shanhui feel it clearly, around the barracks, I am afraid that there are Sui army spies everywhere, as long as the army moves slightly, I am afraid that the other party will detect it in half an hour, and they are almost all foot soldiers, the time difference of half an hour, for the Sui cavalry, it is really not difficult to catch up with the distance. Even if he jumped out of the encirclement and captured the entire Jianghuai land as he wished, he would not have enough troops to occupy these territories.

Seeing that Li Xiaogong was not sure, Chai Shao persuaded with a bitter face: "Although His Royal Highness's idea is very risky, it does have the possibility of success, but the prince is still waiting for us to enter Shu together in Xiangyang, where the army is empty, if we act without permission and annoy the Sui Dynasty, I am afraid that Xue Wanjun will immediately lead a large army from Xiyang to the south and gather heavy troops to surround Xiangyang. ”

Li Xiaogong's heart is awe-inspiring, as a high-level bystander of Li Tang, he can see more clearly than the entrants, and see it more thoroughly than ordinary bystanders, the Li Tang Dynasty, which has a unified atmosphere of the world, has been failing since the beginning of the battle of annexing the state, and finally laid the situation that the Sui is strong and the Tang is weak, and the root cause is not how cunning Yang Tong is, how much foundation he has, but the mistakes of high-level decision-making, but the seizure of power by the emperor's father and son, and the seizure of power by the monarch and his ministers affected the decision-making of the militaristic state, and gave the Sui Dynasty the opportunity to break the Tang Dynasty.

If something happens to Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji may immediately start a war for succession, which will be a disaster to destroy the country. He used to think that Li Shimin was a person who took care of the overall situation, but judging from the fact that he led the army away and flew away, Li Shimin was obviously also a person who only had his own interests and didn't care about the life or death of the Tang Dynasty. As for Li Yuanji, let alone talent, if you have no talent, you have no virtue, if this kind of person is on top, it will only accelerate Li Tang's demise.

Thinking of the situation of the Li Tang Dynasty and the consequences of the civil strife, Li Xiaogong's thoughts of the main battle also faded a lot, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

At this time, Lu Zushang and Wu Shi Tong glanced at each other, and Wu Shi Tong hurriedly persuaded him: "Your Highness, what General Chai said is extremely true, I really can't afford to lose in the Tang Dynasty." ”

Li Xiaogong didn't speak, he walked to the door silently, looking at the north from afar.

In the north, which he could not see, was the camp of the Yang Shanhui.

Like a beast of prey, it will tear them to pieces at any moment.

At this time, the voice of the pro-soldier came: "Your Highness, there is information from the Xinye Scout. ”

"Bring it in."

"Whoa." The soldiers quickly walked inside and presented a piece of information to Li Xiaogong.

Li Xiaogong opened it and looked at it, his face changed slightly, there were 130,000 people in the Sui army camp? But the intelligence said that the Sui army camp was replaced by a tall and sturdy barracks with a wall, which also made him a little relieved, just because this kind of camp was more focused on defense, but this may be a strategy of the Sui army, which made them mistakenly think that the Sui army only defended and did not attack, but no matter what, he couldn't afford to drag it out.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaogong walked quickly to the map, according to the intelligence, found the place where the Sui army was stationed, his face became even more ugly, and found that the camp of the Sui army had advanced dozens of miles compared to two days ago, and it was a flat road from the south of the Liangjiang estuary where the camp was established, and the cavalry could kill Xiangyang in only half a day. This is to force him to retreat, otherwise he will directly target Xiangyang.

After thinking for a long time, Li Xiaogong turned around and ordered: "Pass my order, send troops tonight, go south to Chungling County, and then march west along the water and rest in Caiyang." ”