The vast majority of county towns in the Sui Dynasty were built on water, and almost every county town had one or two rivers running through the city, so every county town would have a water gate, large or small, with different shapes.

Gangneung City is no exception, Gangneung City has a total of two water gates, a north water gate, a south water gate, the south water gate is one zhang eight feet high, one zhang five feet wide, can accommodate the cargo ship of 500 stones to enter and exit, there are secret passages on both sides of the door hole, can go straight to the city.

Like all water gates, the South Water Gate is open up and down, and the arm-thick iron fence is slowly lowered from the head of the city with hinges, and the bottom of the fence is a spearhead, which is very sharp and reaches the bottom of the river.

But unlike other ordinary county seats, the water gate of Gangneung City is a double gate, that is, two fence gates inside and outside, and it is extremely well defended.

Despite this, compared to the other gates of Jiangling City, the Water Gate was still slightly weak, especially since the Sui warships could sail to the city and rush directly from the bow to the city wall, which was a hole in the defense.

Therefore, the defense of Shuicheng was also extremely tight, and a thousand soldiers were deployed in the Shuicheng Gate, and in addition, several houses near the Shuicheng Gate were requisitioned to stock up on the Tang army's fire oil.

Once the Sui army attacked the Water Gate, the Tang army would throw fire oil into the water and burn the warships outside the city.

In the night, Chai Shao came to inspect the South Water Gate surrounded by hundreds of personal soldiers, the South Water Gate was guarded by the partial general Yu Shouren, and the 1,000 soldiers were divided into three shifts, defending day and night, and changing shifts every four hours.

"Where is General Yu?" Chai Shao inspected a circle, and didn't see the partial general Yu Shouren coming to pay a visit, so he couldn't help frowning.

A captain stepped forward and saluted, "General Qiqi." General Yu kept watch all night last night, and today he kept watch for another day, but he couldn't support it, so everyone persuaded him to go down and rest. ”

Chai Shao nodded, this answer made him more satisfied, and at this time, an officer came from afar. "General, you are here!"

The officer rushed to the head of the city, it was Yu Shouren, the guard of the Water Gate. He knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See the General!" ”

Chai Shao saw that he looked haggard, and he couldn't help but be a little moved in his heart. Hurriedly helped him up, "General Yu has worked hard to defend the city." ”

"This is a lowly matter, and I dare not speak bitterly."

Chai Shao patted him on the shoulder approvingly, "Yes, this is the way to general!" ”

He walked to the city wall, stared out of the city, and saw that after the Jingshui flowed out of the city, it meandered into the Yangtze River in the distance in the shape of a bow and arc, and the starlight reflected the river, a sparkling wave.

"General Yu. Do you think there are any holes in the Watergate defenses? Chai Shao turned around and asked.

"Back to the general, two days ago, General Liu was worried that the big ship of the Sui army would reach the city, and the Sui army would go directly to the city from the bow of the ship, but he thought that this was impossible."

Chai Shao is also worried about this issue. He perked up and hurriedly asked, "Why is this?" ”

"This is because the river outside Gangneung City is narrow, and it can only accommodate ships of 500 koku at most, and the ships of 500 koku are actually only 1 zhang and 3 feet tall, which is still some distance from the city gate, let alone going up to the city. Although the big ships of ten thousand stones were level with the head of the city, they could not sail into Jingshui. “

Chai Shao is a northerner and is not very familiar with ships, Yu Shouren's explanation made him suddenly realize, and his heart suddenly let go.

"I understand, thank you General Yu for your doubts."

Chai Shao was in a better mood, and he encouraged the soldiers a few more words, and then left the Shuicheng Gate and went to inspect other places.

Yu Shouren watched Chai Shao walk away, couldn't help but sneer, beckoned the captain on duty to step forward, and whispered a few words to him.

The lieutenant nodded, and led a few of his men to the gate winch, several soldiers pushed the winch hard, and in a slight creak, the inner and outer iron gates slowly lifted up two feet.

Everything fell silent again, and the South Water Gate fell silent again.

About a quarter of an hour later, about a few hundred steps away from the South Water Gate, a man in black dressed in tight water leaning dived into the water silently, swimming in the direction of the water gate like a fish.

When he dived out of the water again to breathe, the man was already outside the city, and he swam forward with all his might, and soon disappeared into the dark night......

At this time, the cavalry of the Sui army had returned to the Jiangling camp, and the garrison of the camp had changed from 50,000 to 100,000, and 50,000 prisoners of war had been added, which brought great pressure to the food supply of the Sui army.

"Your Highness, there are still more than 20,000 stones of grain in the camp at present, each soldier can be divided into two buckets, and it can last for about ten days, the fleet has returned to Jiangxia yesterday to transport grain, if the journey goes well, it should be able to return in ten days, however, the food supply is still a little tight."

Yang Yuanqing nodded and asked, "How much forage is there?" ”

"The forage can last for about half a month."

Yang Yuanqing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, ten days was enough for him, he pondered for a moment, and then said to Wei Yunqi: "Among the 50,000 prisoners of war this time, the Jingxiang prisoners of war can be released to return to their hometowns and return to the fields, and the Guanlong prisoners of war will be left to be reorganized into the Sui army, giving them a promise that they will be released to the fields after the world is pacified." ”

"The subordinates understand, in addition, how to deal with the prisoners of war from Xiangyang and Jiangling?"

"If it is a prisoner of war in Xiangyang and Jiangling City, it can be temporarily detained, and the prisoners of war whose families are in the suburbs are okay and will be released together."

Wei Yunqi quickly calculated it and said with a smile: "If this is calculated, some food can be saved after the released prisoners of war, then our food can be supported for half a month, and there should be no problem." ”

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "The released prisoners of war will also be given two buckets of rations, and each person will be given two hangings of money as a repatriation fee, don't treat them as prisoners of war, you should treat them as yeoman farmers, and take a long-term view." ”

Wei Yunqi understood what Yang Yuanqing meant, and he was really a little ashamed in his heart, "My subordinates understand what His Highness means, and they will try their best to arrange it so that His Highness will not be disappointed." ”

At this time, a personal soldier appeared at the door of the tent, and when he saw Yang Yuanqing talking to Wei Yunqi, he couldn't help but stop talking, Yang Yuanqing glanced at him and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, there is a person from outside the camp, saying that the Xiao family sent a letter with a token."

The soldiers presented half of the jade pendant, Yang Yuanqing took the jade pendant and looked at it, and took out the other half of the jade pendant from the box, this is a token given to him by the Xiao family, and the jade pendant in his hand is just a complete piece, Yang Yuanqing nodded and smiled: "Bring him in!" ”

After a while, the soldiers brought in the black-clothed man wearing a tight body of water, and it turned out to be a young woman, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with slightly dark skin, but she looked very healthy and full of vitality, which made Yang Yuanqing frown slightly, how could the Xiao family send a woman to deliver the letter?

The woman saluted, "Xiao Yu see His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" ”

Yang Yuanqing sat down and saw that she was covered in water, so he ordered a personal soldier, "Get her a robe!" ”

A personal soldier handed over a civilian military robe, and the woman put on the outer robe and thanked him: "Thank you, Your Highness!" ”

"What letter does the Xiao family have for me?"

The young woman took a black bracelet from her wrist, broke it open, pulled out a roll of silk yarn from it, and presented it: "This is a letter from the head of the house." ”

Yang Yuanqing took the letter, his eyes lifted, and he couldn't help but glance at the woman in front of him again, he still couldn't figure it out, why did the Xiao family send a woman to deliver the letter?

The young woman's face flushed, she understood the meaning of the doubt in Yang Yuanqing's eyes, so she explained: "The reason why the Xiao family sent the little girl to deliver the letter is because I have the best water nature, I can dive a hundred steps underwater, and no one in the Xiao family can be on my right. ”

"I see!"

Yang Yuanqing heard that she could actually dive for a hundred steps, this ability is not simple, and asked with a smile: "Then how do you pass through the iron fence of the water gate, it is said that the iron fence enters the water to the end, and it is only half an inch wide from the bottom of the river, how did you do it?" ”

"Back to His Royal Highness, the head of the family and General Yu, who guards the water gate, have an explanation, and General Yu specially raised the water barrier by two feet, so that I can dive through."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, I see, it seems that the Xiao family has a tacit understanding with the generals who defend the city, he opened the letter and read it, the content of the letter made him happy, Liu Fangzhi, the deputy general of Jiangling City, is willing to surrender the city, and the time is set for the evening after tomorrow.

Since each city gate is under the control of Chai Shao's henchmen, only the South Water Gate is controlled by Liu Fangzhi's henchmen, and Liu Fangzhi can only open the South Water Gate to let the Sui army enter the city.

Although it was only Watergate, it still made Yang Yuanqing feel extremely relieved, and he had been looking forward to this news for a long time......

From the very beginning of the decision to attack Jiangling City, Yang Yuanqing never thought of capturing Jiangling City by hard attack, on the one hand, he did not have many siege heavy equipment.

On the other hand, Gangneung City is tall and strong, and there are 60,000 troops defending the city, it is difficult to conquer the city with only his 50,000 or 60,000 people, and even if Gangneung City is captured, it will definitely pay a heavy price.

'The first army is to fight, the second is to fight, the second is to attack, and then the army is attacked, and the city is besieged; The siege of the city is a last resort. ’

After many years of war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the population of the world has been sharply reduced by more than half, and the troops are all young and strong people, which is especially valuable after the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

A 5,000-stone sea ship moored at the mouth of the Jingshui River, on the big ship, Yang Yuanqing stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the Jiangling City in the distance, under the starlight, he could clearly see the water gate in the distance.

Yang Yuanqing watched from afar as a black shadow descended into the water about two miles away from the water gate, and silently dived into the jingshui.

At this time, Xie Ying boarded the front and reported: "Your Highness, the day before yesterday, I specially inspected Jingshui, although the mouth of the river is very wide, but the higher it goes, the narrower it becomes, and only a warship of five hundred stones can pass. ”

This is also what Yang Yuanqing is worried about, their fleet has gone to Jiangxia to transport grain, and there are only three big ships left in the river, how can he enter the city through the water gate, and after a while, he asked again: "Are there more than 100 sentinel boats in Gong'an County?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, the ship is still moored in Gong'an County."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, and immediately ordered: "Quickly send a letter to the public security county, ordering them to sail to Jiangling City by tomorrow night at the latest." ”…… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )

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