In fact, there was no need for Li Yuan to issue a holy decree, Li Xiaogong found that after the Northern Sui internal guard army went north, he immediately realized that something was wrong, he sent it to report to Li Shimin on the one hand, and on the other hand led a large army to chase north, but was intercepted by the Sui army under Wuguan City. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Wuguan has two defenses, for a time the Dongwu Guan River in front of the pass, the river water drop is larger, the water flow is very turbulent, and it is early summer, so that the water flow becomes more urgent and dangerous, and it is very difficult to cross the river.

Originally, there was a wooden bridge over the Dongwuguan River, and the merchants and troops came and went from the wooden bridge, and it was not affected by the river, but after the Sui army occupied Wuguan, the wooden bridge was completely dismantled, so that Li Xiaogong's army, which rushed to support, first faced the first danger.

The Dongwuguan River is about 20 zhang wide, the bank is about 3 zhang deep, the river is full of large and small stones, the Tang army has gone down to the river to test, to see if they can wade across the river, but the eight soldiers who participated in the test were all washed away by the water, two were seriously injured, and the whereabouts of the other six people are unknown, which made Li Xiaogong completely dead and directly crossed the river.

Not only was the water turbulent, but there were also hundreds of Sui soldiers on the other side of the river with bows and crossbows waiting to shoot the soldiers crossing the river at any time.

In the afternoon, Li Xiaogong stood on the bank of the river, staring at the turbulent river under his feet, and felt really worried in his heart, they could not fly over with wings, knowing that they would cross the river, but whether they used a boat or swam directly in the water, they must have a support, this support is a thick rope, or an iron chain, connecting the two sides of the river, how can they send a soldier over? This is another thing that makes Li Xiaogong extremely nerve-wracking.

At this time, Lu Zushang, the general next to him, said in a low voice: "Your Highness, there is a plan to cross the river. ”

"What a plan, you say!"

"Although the river is turbulent, the water is not deep, so it is not possible to cut off the river upstream and dry up the riverbed.......

Li Xiaogong pondered and said: "This method is not bad, but it is also risky, and the slightest carelessness will make us face a catastrophe." ”

"It shouldn't be a big problem in a short time, and it doesn't have to dry up completely, as long as it is halfway blocked, the water flow will become smaller, and the impact will not be greater, then you can directly wade across the river, what does Your Highness think?"

Lu Zushang's plan was feasible, and Li Xiaogong immediately decided: "You immediately lead 10,000 troops upstream to find a place where the flow is broken, and it is best to divert the river water, I hope to complete this task before dawn tomorrow." ”

"Ignorance, understood!"

Lu Zushang immediately led 10,000 troops along the river bank to the west, in fact, Lu Zushang also hoped to find a place to cross the river, even if the flow could not be broken, he could lead the army to cross the river.

As soon as Lu Zushang left, a group of messengers rushed to the front, and the cavalry led shouted: "Your Highness, the holy decree has arrived!" ”

Li Xiaogong was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward, and a soldier who sent the decree turned over and dismounted, knelt down on one knee, and presented the holy decree to Li Xiaogong, "This is the Son of Heaven's eight-hundred-mile urgent holy decree, sent to His Royal Highness the King of Qin, and His Royal Highness the King of Qin ordered us to send it again." ”

Li Xiaogong hurriedly opened the holy decree and read it, and the holy decree ordered him to lead an army of 35,000 to withdraw to Shangluo County, and cooperate with the Tang army in Guanzhong to encircle and suppress the Sui army in Shangluo County.

Li Xiaogong frowned, he himself withdrew to Shangluo County in the north, which coincided with the Holy Decree, but the Holy Decree required him to lead 35,000 troops to the north, and he only commanded 20,000 troops, and there were still 15,000 troops in the hands of the Warrior Tong, and he didn't know where the Warrior Tong was now, what should he do?

Li Xiaogong's heart suddenly moved, since it was sent to the King of Qin first, then the King of Qin should have a dispatch, he hurriedly asked the messenger: "Where is the army of the Governor of Wudu now, do you know?" ”

"Your Highness, the Governor of Wudu has led the army north, and it is not far from here, and it is estimated that he will be able to arrive tomorrow morning."

Li Xiaogong felt a little lost in his heart, if all the troops were sent north, what would happen to Xiyang County?

"Is this an order from His Royal Highness King Qin?" Li Xiaogong asked again.

"Exactly!"

Li Xiaogong sighed secretly, it seems that the situation is much more serious than he imagined, how could the king of Qin not know the consequences of all the troops going north, since the people of the world have made a decision, they just accept the order.

Li Xiaogong no longer thought about Xiyang County, and only thought about how to recapture Wuguan was the top priority.

.......

Li Xiaogong almost didn't sleep all night, anxiously waiting for Lu Zushang's news, before dawn, Li Xiaogong, who was sitting in the big tent napping, was suddenly awakened by a rush of footsteps, only to hear someone outside shouting: "Your Highness, the river has dried up!" ”

Li Xiaogong sat up vigorously, and his sleepiness was suddenly driven away without a trace, Li Xiaogong strode out of the camp, only to see two personal soldiers reprimanding the soldier who had just reported the news, and his voice was too loud.

"Has the river dried up?" Li Xiaogong's voice was louder, and he asked in a hoarse voice.

The soldier hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Highness, the river has gradually decreased from half an hour ago, and it has completely dried up just now. ”

"Did the army cross the river?"

Li Xiaogong hurriedly asked, he knew that it was impossible for the upstream to block the water for too long, otherwise it would bring ruin to the downstream army, so he made an appointment with Lu Zushang that the water would only be cut off for a quarter of an hour at most, and he was most afraid that he would cross the river after reporting to himself, and the time would be delayed.

"General Shi Huaiyi has crossed the river with 3,000 soldiers, and the Sui army on the other side has withdrawn to Guancheng."

Li Xiaogong suddenly breathed a long sigh of relief, as long as his army crossed the Wuguan River, then they could build a chain bridge in mid-air.

On the morning of the same day, the Tang army built two chain bridges over the Dongwuguan River, and the army began to cross the river on a large scale and assemble in front of the Wuguan, and at this time, Wu Shitong led an army of 15,000 to Wuguan.

This is Li Shimin's helplessness and compromise, he also knows that the Sui cavalry that entered Shangluo County must be the most elite internal guard army of the Sui army, 10,000 cavalry of the internal guard army is enough to compete with 50,000 Tang army, only Li Xiaogong's 20,000 people cannot defeat 10,000 Sui cavalry, it is very likely that the whole army will be wiped out, and at the critical moment, he cannot expect the second uncle Li Shentong to lead the army to come and kill the enemy bravely.

As for Xiyang County, Li Shimin was of course unwilling to give up, but in the face of the strong Xiangyang Sui army, he had no choice.

The 35,000 Tang troops quickly lined up under Wuguan and prepared to attack Wuguan in a big way, and the main general who defended Wuguan was Li Keshi, who led 1,000 cavalry to properly intercept the Tang army from entering Shangluo County.

Li Keshi stood at the head of the city, coldly staring at the Tang soldiers who were assembling hundreds of paces away, Wuguan is located on a high ground, condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack, even if it can't hold Wuguan in the end, it will inflict heavy losses on the enemy.

However, the fundamental purpose of the Sui army's attack on Shangluo County was not to occupy Shangluo County, but to force Li Shimin to abandon Xiyang County, that is, to introduce Li Xiaogong and Wu Shitong's army into Shangluo County, so Li Keshi did not really intend to intercept the Tang army outside Wuguan, on the contrary, they wanted to create conditions for the Tang army to enter Shangluo County.

The reason why Li Keshi did not retreat was because he was waiting for news from the commander Liu Lancheng, and the two armies needed to move together after converging.

Seeing that the Tang army had been assembled outside Wuguan, at this moment, a soldier rushed over, knelt down on one knee and reported, "General Qiyu, General Liu has sent a brother." ”

Sure enough, it came in time, and Li Keshi smiled: "Where are the people?" ”

In a moment, a lieutenant walked up quickly, gave a military salute and said, "See General Li!" ”

"Where is General Liu now?"

The lieutenant took out a map and handed it to Li Keshi, "The map is clearly marked, and the lowly will also lead the way." ”

Li Keshi looked at the map, nodded and said, "I know, let's go immediately!" ”

He then gave the order: "Assemble the whole army and prepare to go!" ”

Not long after, Li Keshi led a thousand cavalry to quickly leave Wuguan, and galloped towards the hiding place of Liu Lancheng's army in the north.

The Tang army soon discovered the abnormality on the city, just now the city was full of Sui soldiers, but in the blink of an eye, no one could see the city, and even the flag disappeared, which really surprised Li Xiaogong, the Sui army couldn't just abandon the pass and leave! But what does it mean if you don't abandon it? Is it to empty the city's plan?

At this time, the general Shi Huaiyi said: "Your Highness, lead a team of brothers to take a look!" ”

Li Xiaogong nodded, "You have to be careful and take precautions!" ”

Shi Huaiyi waved his hand, "Follow me!" ”

He led a hundred soldiers and carried a siege ladder to the city wall, and in a moment he ran to the bottom of the city. The sound of the city was clasped at the head of the city, and the hearts of all the Tang soldiers were hanging, and they held their breath, watching for any change in the city, lest the Sui army suddenly kill and shoot arrows in unison. (To be continued.) )