Fifty miles south of Suizhou, a team in front of Yangping Feng is also rushing in the dust, this is a military horse of two hundred people, fresh clothes and angry horses, armor is distinct, with a bow and a knife, the saddle hangs a red shield, majestic, murderous, from the thick layer of dust accumulated on their armor, they should have traveled a long way, not only that, look at the saddle bridles on the backs of their accompanying horses, they are in a hurry, they have been riding on different horses,

The commander of Yangping Feng was chatting with a few sentry horses, and suddenly saw the yellow dust rolling in the south, and the panicked people got on their horses one after another, and saw that the highest military rank among the comers was a captain, and they didn't dare to be careless for a while, so they stepped forward and asked: "I am the commander of Yangping Feng in the Suizhou Patrol Battalion, and those who come can be named." ”

The person who came showed the military card of the Shence Army and shouted: "Hugh is long-winded, lead the way, lead me to your general, miss our errand, and cut off your head." ”

In a word, the heart of the lord is cold, how dare you be careless, these generals of the Shence Army from the capital have always been arrogant, don't say that you are a little lord, that is, the assassin and general in the city, and he is not often trained by a captain of his school, and his old face is lost.

"God bless you for meeting the Khitans tomorrow morning." The lord of war cursed secretly in his heart, but the man nimbly turned the horse's head and led the way.

He guessed right, when Wu Cao, the assassin of Suizhou, saw the comer, he was so frightened that his face turned pale, his hands and feet trembled, you see him hunched his waist and controlled his back, and he couldn't wait to lower his head to the crotch of his pants, so that the old brother hated and pity, Wu Cao let the people in the assassination mansion in the future, and ordered his sworn brother Li Xiuyuan to lead the guards to wear armor and guards, without his orders, no one was allowed to approach the Assassin's Mansion, looking at his appearance of hunched waist and waiting carefully, the lord of the war secretly rejoiced in his heart, but also couldn't help but have some contempt: You are a four-grade assassin history, Is it necessary to do this to him as a lieutenant from the sixth grade, he is a human being, and my border army is not a human being, just let you run rampant for two days, the Khitans will come soon, and then try to say two pounds,

When the time comes, if you pretend to be a grandson, see that Lao Tzu doesn't have a big mouthful of phlegm and looks at you in the face,

Suizhou is an important town in Xia Sui, the assassin Wu Cao is only thirty years old, gentle and elegant like a scholar, most of the border town assassins have led soldiers, this Wu Cao is no exception, not long ago he also served as a defense envoy, commanding Suizhou 8,000 soldiers, the legend says that he is a prestigious Confucian general, it is said that he has been on the battlefield for a long time, not only brave and powerful, but also has a rare benefit of general military generals: proficient in documents, reading almost to the point of not letting go of the volume, he reads the most is the "Han Book", followed by the book of soldiers, the book reads a lot, and fine, learn to apply, and there is no trace of scholarly pedantry,

When Liu Pan went south, Zhang Bozhong repeatedly told him to pay attention to this Wu Cao, and he must not act rashly when facing the enemy, Liu Pan said to Zhang Bozhong that we know the severity, we want to fight Kyushu, how can the first battle frustrate their own spirit, Zhang Bozhong said I know you are a thick and fine person, but ...... Seeing that he looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, Liu Pan was anxious, swept around with the corner of his eye, and ordered the attendants to withdraw, then he lowered his voice and asked: If the military advisor has something to say, he might as well say it directly, great kindness, Liu Pan will never dare to forget,

Zhang Bozhong sighed and said: It's not that I'm playing tricks, it's really that I don't know the bottom of my heart, from the information I have at hand, Wen Shimao, the general of the Shence Army, may have arrived in Suizhou, Yu Cheng and Wu Baiai were born in the ironclad army, and they are Qiu Shiliang's confidants, Wen Shimao can be said to have taken over the defense of Suining and Dunfang without much effort, this arrangement makes me worry, there must be something strange in this, especially Suizhou, which is the first place for you to go south, how can you not be a little precautionary,

Liu Pan's eyes were deep, and after thinking for a long time, he thanked Zhang Bozhong and said: "The kindness of the military advisor, Liu Pan is unforgettable. After saying that, he solemnly bowed to Zhang Bozhong, Zhang Bozhong supported him with both hands, and said: "Maybe I'm too worried, haha, the commander is precisely because he values your roughness and finesse, so he entrusts you with this important task, I hope the general will not slack off." ”

During the period of prudence, Liu Pan sent three groups of people to Xiazhou, Yinzhou, Suizhou to investigate, and the information obtained was that Xiazhou and Yinzhou each had a garrison of 3,000 people, and the defenders of Suizhou City were only 1,800 people, and the guards of Suide and Chengping outside the city totaled 1,040 people, and the three cities stood on their feet, each other was horns, this Liu Pan was not worried, he had already found out that Suide Town would He Mochi and Wu Cao face and heart disagreement, He Mochi is a local family, and his family has been holding the local government of Suizhou for many years. It is said that the two of them had fought for a singer's head, and a big fight, He Mochi instructed the slave to beat Wu Cao into a serious injury, discarded in the latrine, slept for three days and two nights, at that time Wu Cao was poor but had a reputation, and temporarily alarmed the Xia Suijie to make Pei Ye, He Mochi was dismissed to the post of Suizhou Division, and the good future was ruined, and Wu Cao made a career to become the lord of Suizhou, He Mochi left Suizhou City in a rage, led the soldiers to occupy Suide, and proclaimed himself Suide Ling, named a subordinate, in fact, he was self-reliant,

After Gu Shentong succeeded Pei Ye as the envoy of Xia Suijie, he was very dissatisfied with Wu Cao's arrogance, and secretly supported He Mochi to contain him, He and Wu were not in harmony, and He Mochi relied on his personal friendship with Gu Shentong to not put Wu Cao, the top boss, in his eyes, Liu Pan judged that if Suizhou was besieged, He Mochi would be happy to watch from the wall, and what he was most worried about now was Yinzhou City blocking the way south, Yinzhou guard Li Xiuyuan was Wu Cao's sworn brother, and he was a brother-in-law, Li Xiuyuan was brave and brave. It turned out to be a famous big horse in the northwest, and his brother Li Changlin used to be the commander of the Xining Army's Breaking Wave Battalion, but he left his post because of suspicion.

Li Changlin later returned to Wen Shimao, once served as the Yinzhou soldier and horse envoy, and was later promoted to the Hezhou regiment training envoy, Li Changlin was the Yinzhou guard, recruited Li Xiuyuan for the imperial court, and Li Changlin went to Hezhou, the department was led by Li Xiuyuan, Wen Shimao pacified the Fengzhou rebellion, withdrew the army to the south, and raised Wu Cao as the Suizhou assassin history, relying on many soldiers, wanting to map Yinzhou, and Li Xiuyuan fought viciously repeatedly, Wu Cao had three times into Yinzhou, and took Li Xiuyuan's mother as a hostage, Li Xiuyuan also earned the city gate of Suizhou, deceived Wu Cao and favored Ji Thirteen Niang, the two were entangled for two years, Suddenly, one day, they shook hands with each other and made peace, put down their swords and guns, rubbed the soil into incense, and bowed on the battlefield.

Li Xiuyuan was thus willing to live under Wu Cao, and did his best to defend the north gate of Suizhou for Wu Cao, Wu Cao reciprocated Li, not only gave up the favor of Ji Thirteen Niang, but also supplied 10,000 stone of military food to Yinzhou every year, and supported the military salary of 30,000 taels.

The Uighur country is broken, the grassland is in chaos, dragons, snakes, fish and crabs have gone south, saying that they are taking refuge, but they are not waiting for the opportunity to seize the territory, especially the Khitan Wukui Department, under the pretext of chasing and suppressing the old enemy Ah Ge, fishing in troubled waters and going south, has occupied more than a dozen border cities in the Tang Dynasty, Qiu Shiliang took the opportunity to increase troops to Suizhou in the name of helping defense, and forced Gu Shentong to promote He Mochi to the defense envoy of Suizhou, and pulled out a posture to replace Wu Cao, how can this make Wu Cao not vigilant, in case of emergency, Wu Cao instructed Li Xiuyuan to secretly recruit troops and expand his power, It's a pity that Yinzhou is a small city, the people are few and the wealth is poor, Li Xiuyuan spent a lot of effort, but only raised more than 2,000 people, the good and the bad are uneven, it is really not worth a show.

On this day, he came to Suizhou for the matter of asking for food, who knew that he was arrested by his brother-in-law without talking a word, and he was stubborn and stubborn, acting as a guard of the door, Wu Cao and the mysterious person who came kept talking about it dark, and the pedestrian hurriedly had dinner, and disappeared out of the city into the night, until this time, Li Xiuyuan could not care about talking to Wu Cao,

Wu Cao looked in good spirits, with a relaxed look, he greeted Li Xiuyuan with a smile and said, "Ah, take off the armor, let's have a good drink tonight." ”

The wine and food were ready, Li Xiuyuan also took off his armor, and after washing, he asked while sitting at the table: "Who is here, what a big official." Wu Cao was pouring him wine, and when he heard the sound, he smiled disapprovingly and said: "The Son of Heaven is close to the ministers, he has always regarded us as grass mustard, how can he not be upright." Li Xiuyuan ate two mouthfuls of food before he said: "Although these guys have a big shelf, they are also diligent, and they don't stop and leave." ”

His words were intended to be tempting, but Wu Cao pretended not to know, and said vaguely: "The emperor's order is here, how dare they slack off, come on, our brothers haven't drunk together for a long time, and they won't return home if they don't get drunk tonight." Li Xiuyuan said: "I don't care if you want to get drunk, I can't get drunk, it's easy to come back." ”

Because of the difficult environment in Yinzhou City, Li Xiuyuan's wife and children all live in Suizhou City, and it is rare for husband and wife to reunite once. After three rounds of drinking, Li Xiuyuan was a little drunk, so he poured himself a bowl of wine and said to Wu Cao: "This is the last glass, I will leave after drinking, and I will return to Yinzhou tomorrow morning, and I will not come to leave." After drinking it all, he stood up,

Wu Cao sent him to the door and said: "The Khitan people have rested in Youzhou and Yulin for half a month, and they have been visiting the posts frequently recently, but I am afraid that they will have to make a move, and Gu Shentong is useless on the side of Xiazhou, I heard that he has moved his family to Suining, and pulled out the posture that the enemy will run away as soon as he comes, if Xiazhou is lost, the Khitans will inevitably go south, and Lieutenant Qiu has an excuse to increase troops in Suizhou." ”

Li Xiuyuan said: "This is not a good person, I heard that the Khitan Galgudu is the original Fengzhou Yang Hao, what is his intention in making a comeback, whether to knock on the border and loot, or to point directly at Shangdu." Wu Cao sneered: "They are playing chess, a big game of chess, but it's a pity that the immortals play chess, you and I don't even have the qualifications to be spectators, we can only act as their chess pieces, at the mercy of others, and survive in the cracks." Li Xiuyuan said with red eyes: "Do you want me to bring the brothers back, let's defend Suizhou City to the death, don't help both sides, let them go." ”

Wu Cao waved his hand and said categorically: "On the contrary, you have to hold Yinzhou City, the stronger Yinzhou City is, the safer I am here, I am stable here, you can stand up there, and our brothers can be invincible, you remember, there is no letter from me in the future, and anyone who transfers you, you don't pay attention to him." ”

Li Xiuyuan grinned and said: "That's natural, let's only look forward to the eldest brother." ”

Li Xiuyuan's every move in Yinzhou City, Liu Pan saw it in his eyes, Zhang Bozhong sent him several soldiers to join the army are very effective, and Yang Hao recommended him to recommend the military advisor Yang Hongyang is the dragon and phoenix among the people, this young man in his early twenties, extremely smart, full of wisdom, so that Liu Pan couldn't help but call him "Little Zhuge ", Xiao Zhuge made a big sand table for Liu Pan, with Suizhou as the center, Xia Sui, Suining, Dunfang, the entire situation of the mountains and rivers in the city is in sight, and the troops of Xia Sui, Suining, and Dunfang are well versed in the deployment of troops in the three towns of Xiasui, Suining, and Dunfang.

"Suizhou garrison 8,800 people, divided into three departments, Wu Cao Department is the strongest, there are 4,600 soldiers, including 800 horse troops, He Mochi Department has 1,900 soldiers, mainly infantry troops, only less than 100 small cavalry, in addition to Chengping Fort guard Li Cheng's 2,300 clan soldiers, the Li family is the Suizhou Wang clan, holding Suizhou mules and horses for hundreds of years, Chengping Fort lives in the Li clan about 10,000 people, but the Li family is not in harmony, intrigue with each other, it is difficult to twist into a rope, although Li Cheng's power is large, but the prestige in the clan is not high, It is difficult to command the clansmen. ”

Liu Pan nodded again and again when he heard this, his eyes fell on Yinzhou City and said, "I heard that Li Xiuyuan is a tiger general. ”

Yang carried forward and said: "Brave and brave, a pair of iron and iron shovels are invincible all over Hexi, but this person is deeply righteous and difficult to become an atmosphere." Speaking of this, Yang Hongyang added: "Li Xiuyuan privately recruited troops and horses in Yinzhou City to expand his troops, which has caused Gu Shentong's great dissatisfaction, and many of the soldiers he recruited were simply spies sent by Gu Shentong. ”

When Liu Pan heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Then have you sent nails over?" ”

Yang Hongyang replied affirmatively: "Yes, there are our eyes and ears in Yinzhou City. ”

Liu Pan laughed, patted Yang Yang on the shoulder with his big hand, and said with a smile: "With Xiao Zhuge here, why is it difficult for me to be Liu Bei." After saying this, he suddenly felt that it was inappropriate, so he changed his words: "I think that Guan Yu is arrogant and arrogant, and Zhuge is not in harmony, and after all, he will be defeated in Maicheng, and his reputation will be ruined, and he will laugh for the world. ”

Yang carried forward and said: "The general can be compared to Guan Yu, how dare his subordinates compare with Zhuge ." ”

Liu Pan waved his hand and grinned: "Zhuge is also a human, what are you worse than him." ”

Yang Hongyang didn't want to dwell on this issue, so he turned his gaze back to the sand table and continued: "Li Xiuyuan originally had 1,000 troops and 6 troops, half of the horses, after expanding the soldiers and horses, Yinzhou City had 3,000 troops, the soldiers lacked training, the ordnance was uneven, the morale was not high, the city was more than enough, and the field ability was insufficient, the existing strength of Balibao in the northwest of Yinzhou City was 800, and the guard general He Guo'er was a distant relative of He Mochi, the Suizhou wang clan, two years ago Wu Cao occupied Suizhou and killed He Guo'er's father, and there were many inhibitions on the He family's forces.

After Gu Shentong presided over Xia Sui, he supported He Mochi to fight against Wu Cao, and Wu Cao turned to support He Guo'er, in order to split the He family's forces, but this He Guo'er is also a bloody man, he did not forget the revenge of his father's killing, and Wu Cao was Yang Feng Yin, taking money and not doing anything, Wu Cao and Li Xiuyuan were pulling and guarding against him, he was very isolated in Suizhou, and he was only close to the general Dugu Weiwei, this Dugu Weiwen could not be literate, Wu could not be martial, with a good hand of tune, was favored by the original Xia Suijie Du Lian Yong, Pai acted as his eyes and ears in Suizhou. ”

Liu Pan praised: "Very good, knowing yourself and knowing that the other side can survive a hundred battles, the mess of Suizhou City was taken care of by you in a few words, it's not simple, it's not simple." ”

The generals have praised, only the deputy general Shao Nantong is not convinced, although he is only nineteen years old, but has been fighting with Liu Pan for many years, although the boy and the girl are both wise and brave, very familiar with the marching formation, listen to a sheep carry forward said that the head is the way, there is a heart to be embarrassed for him, so he asked the sheep with a cold face:

"I don't know how high and thick the walls of Yinzhou City are."

"The city is square, three miles long from north to south, two miles wide from east to west, four zhang high in the city, one zhang seven in width at the base, rammed earth slabs are built, the city gate and the four corners are covered with bricks, there is a battlement every fifty zhang on the city, and thirty soldiers can be hidden."

Shaonantong heard this, speechless, Liu Panshu looked at him, eyebrows smiled, in Shaonantong looked at the smile but like a knife to cut meat, cut him uncomfortable, he swallowed saliva and said: "This city is so high, it is not easy to fight without equipment, if you want to drag the equipment, the road will not go fast, a blow will not hit, the reinforcements are four, I am afraid that I will be passive." ”

This sentence is said to the hearts of the generals, the four-zhang high rammed earth city wall, need to carry siege equipment, and it is not easy to break, which makes Liu Pan quite hesitant, if you carry siege equipment, it will inevitably affect the speed of the march, and the worst thing is that you don't have a few decent siege equipment in your hands, mainly in the field on the grassland, pay attention to field maneuvers, the original siege equipment made under the big stone city has long been thrown out of the clouds, and later in Hexi because of the siege, temporarily built some siege equipment, one is tight time, Second, there is a lack of craftsmen, and the most important thing is that they are attacking small towns and towns, and they don't need too sophisticated siege equipment, so they don't have a few decent siege equipment in their hands.

After experiencing the baptism of Dashicheng, Liu Pan knew very well in his heart that it was impossible to attack the fortified city defended by heavy troops with the courage to see death as home, and the flesh and blood of people could not wade through the wall of death made of arrow rain and rolling stones.

Maybe you can wait for Zheng Huatai to come, he always has no shortage of strange siege equipment, but thinking of a great credit in his hand to give it to others, Liu Pan's heart is quite unpleasant, and the main thing is that if Zheng Huatai drags his heavy siege equipment to come, he will be taken by surprise, and the strategy of sweeping the three towns and Kyushu will be completely defeated, if so, he will not only lose his face, but also the future of the army under his command,

"There is no weakness in this city." Liu Pan held on to the hope of what happened,

"Yes." Yang Hongyang replied affirmatively, his eyes were shining, he took out a map from his arms and put it on the table, and the map drew all the cities, towns, walls, and forts within a hundred miles around Yinzhou, especially the most detailed map of the troops of Yinzhou City, which made Liu Pan sigh greatly, and deepened his good impression of Yang Hongyang.

"The walls were all made of slabs, but they were built in stages." The meaning of this sentence Liu Pan naturally understands that once the slab earthen wall is dried, it is no less hard than stone, but this kind of earthen wall also has disadvantages, that is, there must be a gap in the connection of the earthen wall built in different periods, and this gap is the most vulnerable part of the city wall.

"Here, here, and here, there are all joints, and they are easy to break with a ramshell."

"Oh, still with siege engines." Liu Pan sighed, slightly disappointed,

"If the general thinks it's too troublesome to bring siege equipment, there is another way." Yang Hongyang's words broke Liu Pan's thoughts, which surprised him quite a bit, but he was quickly attracted by his next sentence,

"What's the solution, say it quickly."

"The name of this river is Zhangshui, and the name of this area is Zhangquan Palace, which is the old palace of Emperor Yang of the former Sui Dynasty, which has been abandoned for many years and is now a forage field." Yang Hongyang pointed to the northwest corner of Yinzhou City and said, Zhang Shui flows from west to east, passes through the wall from the west wall of Yinzhou City, flows into the city, hits a bay and flows out from the north city wall, this corner is just in the forage field,

"You mean going with the flow."

"Not bad." Yang Hongyang admired Liu Pan for being able to understand his intentions so quickly,

"But isn't there a fence on the water gate?"

"Yes, and it's cast iron." Yang Hongyang replied affirmatively, he saw that Liu Pan's face was a little unsightly, and immediately changed his words, "But the pig iron has rotted, and the strong man can break it with a hammer, and his subordinates sent someone down to try it, and they went in and out of two pence." ”

Liu Pan shook his head, suddenly smashed the sheep and punched him, and said with a straight face: "Talk to me in the future, don't pant for breath." After saying that, he laughed, and took the sheep in his arms, and patted and pinched.

Yang Hongyang kept smiling reservedly, and Shao Nantong snorted unconvinced: "A few people can enter a waterway, aren't you afraid of delaying the fighter plane if you are so dangerous?" Liu Pan shouted: "What do you know, this is called a soldier's trickery." He said to the people, "If I were ten years younger, I would personally lead my troops into the city and take away the first prize." ”

The generals asked for battle: "The last general is willing to go." ”

Liu Pan didn't answer, and looked at Shaonantong with a smile, Shaonandao: "The last general is willing to fight for this work." ”

Liu Pan nodded with satisfaction, his fingers left Yinzhou and traveled south, Suizhou, Yanzhou, and Yanzhou, and finally stopped in Fangzhou, and then returned to Yinzhou, jumped over Balibao, and drew an arc and pressed on Suizhou City,

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Yang Hongyang still reminded him:

"After eating Suizhou, we will directly face the two towns of Suining and Dunfang, and directly face the Shence Army in Guanzhong, doesn't the general feel that the gains outweigh the losses."

"It doesn't matter." Liu Pan said excitedly, and the knuckle smashed heavily on Yinzhou City, "First hit Yinzhou City, then Suizhou, take Suizhou, and half of the big thing will be done." ”

As Yang Hongyang calculated in advance, the attack on Yinzhou City was very smooth, Li Xiuyuan was brave and aggressive, he learned that the Khitan army suddenly appeared in the east of the city and climbed the city tower to watch, there were only two battalions under the city, more than 500 people, but there was a faint flag fluttering in the woods on the hillside not far away, Li Xiuyuan judged that there was an ambush on the hillside, so he laughed and said: "Liu Pan'er wants to earn me, I am not fooled." After saying that, the deputy general Jiang Xun exclaimed: "The general has already seen through his tricks, why do you want to go out of the city." Li Xiuyuan said with a smile: "He wants to earn me, if I go to war, he will be defeated, I will plan it, defeat him for a while, frustrate his spirit, and raise the prestige of our army." Jiang Xun said with a smile: "The general is really smart, and the last general wishes the general success." "Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed, draped out of the city,

As early as before sunrise, Shaonantong took fifty strong soldiers to swim into the forage field, hiding in the haystack, seeing that the appointed hour had arrived, he ran to the west gate along the city wall, there is Zhang Shui outside the west city, the moat is dug deep and wide, there is a canal to connect Zhang Shui, after the suspension bridge in front of the door is raised, Li Xiuyuan thinks that he can sit back and relax, so he only leaves hundreds of old and weak soldiers to guard,

At the end of the day, the guards of the city suddenly found that someone was quietly crossing Zhangshui, the number of hundreds of people, hurriedly beat the gong and drum, was about to light the wolf smoke, Shaonantong roared into the enemy formation, slashed and killed a few stubborn guards, the rest of the people surrendered, Shaonantong opened the gate to welcome the Yangwei army into the city,

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