Hebei has been in chaos, Liu Heimin's army is like a strong wind, blowing across the plains and highlands, and people who support Yang Chong and Dou Jiande have come out one after another, just like the plague infection, and there are more and more people; In front of Heyang Cang, Li Shimin learned what an elite division is, no matter how the Tang army set off a frenzy, the city full of grain is still in the hands of the Hubu battalion, and the loss of the siege plus the camp along the river, the casualties have reached 20,000.

Song Jingang's cavalry is also a headache, 15,000 cavalry, sweeping the desert is enough, but Song Jingang is used to harass the Tang army, it can be said that it comes and goes like the wind, and one or two thousand Tang army infantry is almost a lamb to be slaughtered. The three thousand Xuanjia heavy cavalry attacked several times, but in the end, the speed of the heavy cavalry could not keep up, and they were all escaped by Song Jingang; On one occasion, they were even lured to a valley and were blown up by flying airships, and the Xuanjia cavalry lost a full 600 men.

Li Xiaoji, who was guarding Beiping, sent news that after discussing with Liu Zhenghui, Changsun Wuji and others, he had killed Dou Jiande and sent troops to fight against Liu Heimin; Li Shimin looked at Du Ruhui and said: "Ruhui, I now have a feeling when I was in Taiyuan, and the Hexi Army is consuming our time little by little. ”

Du Ruhui's body was not as good as before, and he coughed and said: "King Qin, Yang Chong still has 50,000 troops on the other side, so he doesn't care very much about the gains and losses of Heyang Cang, even if it is lost in the end, as long as we consume a large number of troops, it will be a matter of rowing." But there are many people in Hebei who are suitable for being soldiers, and this month, we have consumed 20,000 horses, and we have also recruited another 20,000 people. As for Shandong, don't do it. ”

Li Shimin smiled indifferently, his bronzed skin set off the delicate edges and corners of his face; Li Shimin added tea to Du Ruhui and said: "Luo Shixin, like me, is a figure who was valued by Yang Chong just after the age of ten, relying on thousands of cavalry to pick out all our allies in Shandong. To be honest, sometimes I wonder if Yang Chong is a demon or a human, how can anything be seen accurately. ”

Du Ruhui understood Li Shimin's subtext, since Yang Chong saw things so accurately, I am afraid that the battle of Heyangcang had already been decided, so every move of Xu Shiji from Liyang's retreat to the present must have meaning; Du Ruhui was the person in charge of prisoners of war, and knew that Xu Shiji's Zuo Imperial Guard had withdrawn to Henan as many as 20,000 people, and that what was lost in Liyang was only tens of thousands of miscellaneous troops commanded by Xu Shiji, and that the Tang Army had captured tens of thousands of Hexi Army, and that Zuo Yuwei's people were less than 300 people.

Du Ruhui said solemnly: "I preached in the army that Xu Shiji deliberately abandoned an unimportant army, which would definitely hit the morale of Xu Shiji's army, but it was useless to Song Jingang, Luo Shixin, and Yang Yanshi. They are all descendants cultivated by Yang Chong, and the trust in Yang Chong is not under the trust of the soldiers in you, according to my estimate, Yang Chong has confidence in Liu Heimin, this person has always been looked at differently by Yang Chong. King Qin, the key is that you can't be affected by Yang Chong's deterrent power. ”

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, studied Buddhism freely, and naturally knew what was going on with the demons in his heart, stood up with a smile and said: "Ruhui, you are not in good health, take a good rest, I will go to the camp to have a look." ”

Li Shimin inspected the Dazhai of the whole army and was about to return to his tent, when two officers hurriedly ran to the gate of the back village, bringing an incredible news, Liu Heimin defeated Li Xiaoji and Luo Yi, the governor of Youzhou, in Gaoyang County with 15,000 people, captured Yingzhou on the same day, and captured Lu Shirui. Li Shimin summoned Du Ruhui and others to discuss all night, and sent a fast horse back to deliver the order, and the eldest grandson Wuji replaced Li Xiaoji in command.

However, the situation still did not improve, and in less than 20 days, Liu Heimin's army successively captured Guanzhou, Dingzhou, and Qizhou, killing Li Xuantong, the governor of Dingzhou, and Wang Xiaoju, the assassin of Qizhou. The eldest grandson Wuji mobilized 20,000 troops to fight, was defeated in Songzhou, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche brothers were captured, and the eldest grandson Wuji fled back to Beiping; Liu Heimin's troops were in great power, and they captured Jizhou, Xingzhou, Weizhou, and Xinzhou all the way, and the Tang Army's Jizhou governor Lu Ling and Weizhou governor Pan Daoyi were killed.

Li Shimin had to withdraw his troops from the front line of the Yellow River and return to his division to crusade against Liu Heimin, and it was almost a miracle that Heyangcang fought hard for more than two months, and it was still in the hands of the Hexi Army. Li Shimin and Liu Heimin encountered in Weizhou, Liu Heimin fought hard several times, but did not reach the Tang army, had no choice but to withdraw the army, and wanted to attack the county town of Lishui, but Li Shimin had sent the governor Guo Xiaoke to lead 10,000 troops into the city to defend.

Because Dong Kangmai and Cao Zhan stayed in the north to prevent the eldest grandson Wuji from going south, there were only more than 20,000 people left in the combined army of Liu Heimin and Fan Yuan. The army was on the way to set up a village, Liu Heimin, Fan Yuan, and Gao Yaxian were discussing what to do in the camp, and the little colonel at the door suddenly came in with a happy face and said, "The general has sent someone." ”

Liu Heimin was overjoyed and hurriedly invited in, but saw Tianqi walking in with a smile; Liu Heimin hurriedly introduced to Fan Yuan and Gao Yaxian, the two knew that Tianqi was Yang Chong's cronies, and they came to give the order in person, there must be another mystery. It turned out that Tianqi was in order to spy on Dou Jiande's news, and set up a team in Luoshui County, and tomorrow he was going to seize the north gate to meet Liu Heimin's army, Liu Heimin stopped Tianqi from going on, and categorically decided: "With you, there is no objection, I will rush to Lishui for a day and a night to attack the county seat." ”

Tianqi handed over the order issued by Song Jingang, and said with relief: "Hei Min, the prime minister still has a backhand, and he will send troops to meet your men and horses on the northern front." After capturing Chaozhou, Li Shimin will definitely cut off your connection with the army in the north, and you must send generals overnight to inform the generals who remain in the north to move west and join the Hexi army. ”

After reading the orders, Liu Heimin complied with them one by one, and sent Zhang Junli to Xingzhou to deliver the message; After dark, the Hexi army had a full meal, Liu Heimin and Tian Qiqin led 5,000 soldiers of the right Xiaowei in front, Fan Yuan led 10,000 troops to meet and secretly set up a village, and Gao Yaxian guarded the village as a suspicious soldier. The Hexi army rushed to the mountains outside the city of Zhushui County to lay an ambush, and carefully survived a day, and the soldiers took turns to sleep and rest to recover their strength.

At night, when the moon is bright in the sky, the stars are twinkling, the water is flowing endlessly, making a low flowing sound, and the officers and men of the Hexi Army leave the mountains and quietly approach the north gate of the county seat; At the time of the first watch, there was a sound of fighting in the city tower, and after a while, the drawbridge fell, the city gate was opened, two fireworks were in the air, and the fireworks were released at will, and the city was immediately on fire everywhere.

The sky and the city were as bright as day, and you could see the soldiers in armor and the waving battle flags on the towers; Only then did Liu Heimin understand that there was more than one group in the city, and the fire and fireworks in the city were a signal to verify that the city gate had been seized.

(End of chapter)