The thirteenth year of the Great Cause was destined to be a turbulent year, the siege of Yanmen further weakened Yang Guang's authority, and Yang Guang's confidence was also unprecedentedly low.

The most rapidly expanding force in Hebei is not Dou Jiande, nor Gao Shida, nor Bohai Society, but the bandit Lu Mingyue.

Because Lu Mingyue stayed in Shanggu County for a long time, competing with Wei Dao'er, Wang Basu and other bandits for limited resources, her power has not been able to develop.

But in the spring of last year, Lu Mingyue colluded with Wei Dao'er's general Song Jingang, used the opportunity of sworn brothers to poison Wei Dao'er, annexed Wei Dao'er's army and food, and expelled Wang Basu's army from Shanggu County, so that he could monopolize Shanggu County.

Lu Mingyue seized Hengshan County, Boling County and Zhao County, Xiangguo County, Wu'an County and other five counties in one go, officials surrendered one after another, and all the grain and grass in the official warehouse were seized by him, with 200,000 troops, after capturing Wei County, Lu Mingyue proclaimed himself the king of Wei and became a veritable king of western Hebei.

Last autumn, Lu Mingyue, who had been resting for several months, was ambitious again, he divided his troops into two routes, and ordered the general Song Jingang to lead an army of 50,000 to hold Wei County, and he himself led an army of 100,000 troops to Huang County, Ji County, and the soldiers were pointed at Liyangcang.

Neihuang County west of Yongji Canal, just located at the junction of Ye County, Ji County and Wuyang County, the strategic location is very important, Ye County is the capital of Lu Mingyue, and Wuyang County is Zhang Xuan's sphere of influence, in addition to the Sui army has 10,000 troops stationed in Liyang Cang, commanded by Huyalang General Wang Wei, Liyang Cang has 500,000 stone of grain, cloth, ordnance, copper coins are countless. has been watched by bandits from all walks of life.

Lu Mingyue's 100,000-strong army was stationed in the wilderness east of Neihuang County, the military camp stretched for more than ten miles, the momentum was huge, a wooden pole as high as more than ten zhang carried a big flag with a yellow background in gold and edge, on the left was a huge 'Wei' character, and on the right was a 'Lu' character. This is Lu Mingyue's royal flag.

In a large tent covering an area of five acres in the middle of the camp, Lu Mingyue stood in front of a map and was distracted, and next to him stood his military advisor Yao Kai, Yao Kai was the staff of Guo Xuan, the governor of Youzhou, Luo Yi After occupying Youzhou, he hated Yao Kai and Guo Xuan had plotted against him, so he wanted to kill Yao Kai, so scared that Yao Kai fled to Shanggu County overnight, and he took refuge in Lu Mingyue in desperation.

Lu Mingyue has known Yao Kai for a long time. Knowing that he was quite talented, he appointed him as his military advisor and gave him advice, and it was at the suggestion of Yao Kai that Lu Mingyue accepted the surrender of Sui Dynasty officials, which made him all the way to a breakthrough, and in less than a year, he occupied half of the land in Hebei.

Like all bandits. Lu Mingyue's biggest problem at present is that the army is expanding too fast, and the grain and grass logistics cannot keep up. As a result, his army invaded the people and seized food from time to time, and his military discipline was sloppy, and he was hated by the powerful and ordinary people in various counties.

Therefore, Yao Kai repeatedly persuaded Lu Mingyue to seize Liyang Cang, rein in military discipline, and in the long run, Lu Mingyue also accepted Yao Kai's persuasion. Soon after the New Year, he began to consider a plan to seize Liyangcang.

"I captured a few soldiers who were once stationed in Liyangcang, and they told me that the walls of Liyang City are three feet five feet high, and the moat around it is twenty zhang wide, and our biggest problem now is that there are no boats. After collecting for a few months, I only got more than a hundred small boats, and if I want to capture Liyangcang, there is no doubt that I am a fool's dream, the key is a thousand stone ship, Mr. Tell me, where can I get a thousand stone ship? ”

Lu Mingyue looked very anxious, once he decided to do something, he would do whatever it took to complete it at all costs and in every possible way, a few months ago he decided to capture Liyang Cang, for which he tried his best to consider all kinds of methods, but he was stuck in the most critical link, he had done a mock siege more than once, on the moat twenty zhang wide, only on a warship with a width of more than a thousand stones could he set up a siege ladder, and now he couldn't get a warship with a thousand stones or more, how could he not be in a hurry.

Yao Kai only rushed to Neihuang County from Wei County yesterday, he also thought about it all night, and he had a little idea in his heart, he smiled slightly: "It's not that there is no way, the king doesn't have to be anxious." ”

Lu Mingyue was suddenly overjoyed, and urged repeatedly, "Sir, say quickly, I'm dying!" ”

"There are only two ways to solve this difficulty, the first way is to get a thousand stone ships, temporary shipbuilding seems unrealistic, only to get ships from elsewhere, as far as I know, there are three places in Hebei with more than a thousand stone ships, one is Liyang Cang, there are hundreds of thousand stone grain ships in its warehouse city, but they hide in the city and refuse to come out, I won't mention it, and then there is Wagang, it is said that they also have more than a dozen thousand stone cargo ships, the king will see if they can borrow them, and then the second is"

"I know the third place, so I don't need to say it, sir."

Lu Mingyue's face was gloomy, of course he knew who Yao Kai was going to say, who could have such a ship besides Zhang Xuan, Lu Mingyue had an inexplicable hatred for Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xuan inadvertently saved his life back then, but at the same time almost let him die.

What's more, Zhang Xuan will be his biggest obstacle to dominating Hebei, although they have not crossed paths yet, but sooner or later they will fight to the death.

Yao Kai smiled awkwardly, he was very aware of Lu Mingyue's taboo, so he stopped mentioning Zhang Xuan, and said, "Then has the king considered cooperating with the Wagang Army to jointly seize Liyangcang." ”

Lu Mingyue pondered for a moment and said, "Let's talk about the second way!" ”

Lu Mingyue obviously didn't want to cooperate with Wagang, he wanted to monopolize the grain, grass and materials in Liyang Cang, how could he share it with the Wagang army, and he was not short of troops.

Yao Kai said slowly: "Since there is no boat to cross the moat, then do the opposite and destroy the moat." ”

"You mean"

Lu Mingyue hesitated and said, "Fill in the moat? ”

"Exactly!"

This idea really surprised Lu Mingyue, he began to get excited in his heart, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands in his hands, why didn't he think of it?

If you can't find a boat, just fill up the moat, you have an army of 100,000, and in half a month at most, he can fill a moat that is enough to attack the city, thinking of this, he clapped his fists and said: "Then do it!" ”

Liyangcang is actually a city, the circumference is about 20 miles, the city wall is three zhang and five feet high, the moat is as wide as 20 zhang, the city wall is wide and strong, it can resist the heavy attack of 10,000 catties, and it is one of the fortified cities contained in the Great Sui.

There are nearly 1,000 large warehouses in the city, mainly to store grain, ordnance and armor, in the peak period, there are millions of stones of grain in Liyang warehouse, nearly one million pieces of ordnance and armor, but after several Goguryeo battles and Yang Xuangan's rebellion, the grain of Liyang warehouse has been greatly reduced, only 450,000 stones of grain remain, tens of thousands of pieces of armor and more than 500,000 copper coins.

Even so, it is still one of the seven major granaries in the world, second only to Luoyang's Huiluocang, Yanshi's Luokou Cang and Guanzhong's Guangtong Cang, and Zhuojun's Lushui Cang is close to the grain storage.

Because Liyangcang is located in Hebei, it is even more watched by bandits from all walks of life, not only the Wagang army has been eyeing the tiger, Zhang Jin said that he had also failed to attack Liyangcang several times before, and Dou Jiande and Gao Shida also closely watched Liyangcang's every move.

At present, there are 10,000 garrisons in Liyangcang, 100 grain ships, commanded by Huyalang General Wang Wei, with the city and moat solid defense, Liyangcang has always stood majestically, not captured by the thief army.

Wang was in his early fifties, a veteran of officialdom, he came from a merchant family, and at the age of 20, his father donated money for him to become an official, and since then he has embarked on a career in official life.

Wang Wei has been in the officialdom for 30 years, and he has long been familiar with all kinds of people in the officialdom.

This time, Lu Mingyue stationed troops in Neihuang County, obviously wanted to attack Liyangcang, Wang Wei had long been aware of this, he wrote to Luoyang several times, asking Yang Tong, the king of Yue who stayed in Luoyang, to send troops to help, but Luoyang's reply was that the defense of Liyangcang was sufficient, but he could stick to the granary and fight according to the city.

This reply disappointed Wang Bian, and he considered transporting the grain away, but the Wagang army was very active on the Yellow River, and the grain transported would only be a meal on the plate of the Wagang army.

In desperation, Wang Wei had to prepare as many rolling logs and stones as possible, arrange bows and arrows, make bed crossbows, actively prepare for battle, and be ready for battle.

That night, dark clouds covered the earth, the stars and the moon obscured, and the darkness of the night covered the land, and the situation outside the city could not be seen from dozens of paces.

There are more than a thousand patrol soldiers patrolling back and forth at the head of the city, vigilantly watching the movement under the city, in the moat, three sentry boats swim back and forth, watching the movement on the shore, at one watch, the shore suddenly appeared black oppressive army, they carry bags of dirt and throw it into the moat, the movement is very large, although the night covers their figures, but the sound they make is immediately discovered by the sentinel boats in the moat.

Immediately, a sentinel ship sailed back and shouted under the city: "Urgent military situation, General Wang is here?" ”

Wang Wei happened to be patrolling the city, and he also noticed movement on the other side of the moat, but he couldn't see it clearly, so he immediately leaned out of the city and asked, "What happened on the other side?" ”

"General Qiyu, the thief army is filling the moat on a large scale!"

Wang Wei was taken aback, and hurriedly ordered: "Pass my military order, and quickly transfer three thousand crossbows to the city!" ”

At this time, a partial general next to him said in a low voice: "If the thief army fills the moat, I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold Liyangcang, general, you must ask for help!" ”

"But Dong Du refuses to send troops, what should I do?" Wang Wei was annoyed.

"Why didn't the general ask for help from Zhang Xuan in Qingzhou? He is a Hebei envoy. ”

Wang Wei didn't speak, his eyes looked deeply outside the city, he had already considered this plan, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while, but now, he seemed to have no choice. (To be continued.) )