Chapter 62: The City of Chicken Ribs

After the battle of Xiangyang, the Tang army still had the last fortress left, Xiangyang City was not captured, Xiangyang is the largest city in the Jingxiang area, the city wall is tall and strong, the moat is as wide as three zhang, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In addition, Yang Gongren had a good defense, he not only reasonably arranged the defense of 30,000 troops, but also distributed all the 300,000 horses of silk cloth in the warehouse to the soldiers, which calmed the morale of the army and boosted morale.

More importantly, he did not expel the people to participate in the defense, so that the people in the city were stable, the food supply was sufficient, and the price of food was stable, which was conducive to fighting a long-term defensive war.

Yang Gongren knew very well in his heart that there were 80,000 Sui troops outside the city, including 20,000 cavalry, and if he went out of the city to fight, his 30,000 troops were not the opponents of the Sui army.

But if it is to defend the city, if the 80,000 Sui army wants to break through the strong Xiangyang City, it is by no means so easy, the key is not to let the Sui army cooperate with the outside, Yang Gongren obviously learned the lesson of Jiangling City, all the Xiangyang generals, he does not use them, all the big families in Xiangyang, are not allowed to go out easily, which effectively puts an end to the destruction of some surrenderers.

It's just that Yang Gongren also knows very well that it is impossible for the Tang army to come to aid him again, if he sticks to it like this, there will eventually be a day when the soldiers run out of food, and there is actually no strategic value in defending Xiangyang, except for proving a little integrity, giving the court a little comfort, and Xiangyang will not fall.

Yang Gongren's heart was like a thick layer of haze, so that he could not see the bright future, and he could only watch one day at a time.

The commander of the Sui army outside the city was Xu Shiji, the governor of Henan Province, and Du Fuwei served as the deputy general, and they had besieged Xiangyang for more than 20 days, only at the beginning of the tentative attack on the city twice, losing thousands of people, and then never attacked the city again.

On the one hand, of course, they also understood that 80,000 troops could not capture Xiangyang City, on the other hand, with the end of the Jingxiang Campaign, Xiangyang City had lost its strategic significance, and it was no longer so urgent to capture Xiangyang City, there was no need to lose any more soldiers, just besiege it, and sooner or later Xiangyang City would be broken.

On this morning, in the camp of the Sui army, Xu Shiji was sitting in the tent reading a book, seemingly leisurely, but in fact, he was also anxious in his heart, since the end of the Central Plains, he stayed in the Central Plains.

The battle of Sui and Tu did not have his share, and Luo Shixin in Qingzhou was easily swept away, and he did not catch up with Li Mi, and he did not fight in the Jingxiang War, and it was not his turn to fight Bashu, seeing that the final decisive battle in Guanzhong was about to begin, he was besieging a lonely city.

If he doesn't perform again, then his qualifications on the military merit list will be too thin, and how much benefit will he get in the future when he will be rewarded for meritorious service?

Now he Xu Shiji is only a county duke, I heard that Wang Junkuoruo defeated Bashu, and he was named the Duke of Shu, which made him envious and urgent, he needed an opportunity, and he needed Yang Yuanqing to give him a chance to make meritorious contributions and strive for the qualifications of the reward.

Although he was anxious, Xu Shiji was helpless, if he attacked regardless of the cost, he would lose his troops and lose his generals, I am afraid that he would not be able to get the credit, but it would cause Yang Yuanqing to be angry, he knew very well that Yang Yuanqing regarded the soldiers as more important than anything else at this time, unless it was the goal of the strategy of the Sui and Tu Wars or the Sui and Tang Decisive Battles, he would never easily pay a big price.

At this time, a soldier reported at the door: "Report to the chief, Yang Xiangguo is here." ”

"Who?" Xu Shiji didn't react at once.

"It's Xiao Yang Xiangguo."

There are two Cui Xiangguo and two Yang Xiangguo in the imperial court, among which the little Yang Xiangguo is Yang Shidao, Xu Shiji was immediately overjoyed, he knew that the arrival of Yang Shidao must be related to Yang Gongren in the city.

"Hurry up, please come in!"

After a while, Master Yang walked into the handsome tent with a smile, "Mr. Xu is so leisurely!" ”

Xu Shiji smiled bitterly, and hurriedly stepped forward to give a salute, "The siege is not fighting, and there is nothing to do, so Yang Xiangguo is laughing." ”

"It's a good thing that the siege is not fighting! If we protect a soldier, we will have one more yeoman farmer, and we will give me an extra tax for the Great Sui, but we can't ask for it. ”

The two sat down separately, and Yang Shidao took out a letter and handed it to him, "This is a letter from Your Highness to you, take a look at it yourself!" ”

Xu Shiji suddenly shook his head, opened the letter, and hurriedly read it, in the letter, Yang Yuanqing gave him a big opportunity, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "I'll arrange for Xiangguo to enter the city...... In the four cities of Xiangyang City, the Sui army only surrounded the south and east cities, and there were no troops outside the west and north cities to besiege them, but although there were no garrisons to surround them, the defeated army like Chai Shao could not escape back to the city, so they could only flee west to Hanzhong and return to Chang'an.

Half an hour later, Yang Shidao appeared under the West City Gate alone, and he shouted to the city: "I am Yang Shangshu's family, and I have come to escape from him." ”

A soldier rushed to report to Yang Gongren, and after a while, Yang Gongren appeared on the city, and he recognized the person under the city, it was his brother Yang Shidao, he immediately guessed Yang Shidao's intention, and his heart was very complicated, for a while, he nodded and said: "Let him enter the city!" ”

The drawbridge rumbled down, the city gate opened a crack, Yang Shidao urged the horse into Xiangyang City, just out of the city gate hole, he saw his brother head-on, he immediately turned over and dismounted, walked forward quickly, the two brothers hugged together, although there was no word, but the two sides had the same mind, although it was hostile to the two dynasties, but could not block the blood and family affection between the brothers.

"You come with me!"

Yang Gongren took his brother back to his residence, Yang Gongren temporarily lived in the back house of Xingtai Mansion, he was single, only lived in a small house of three acres of land, it was enough, only two old family members took care of his daily life.

"Did you come directly from Taiyuan?" Yang Gongren poured a cup of tea for his brother and asked with concern.

Yang Shidao took the teacup and nodded, "I went to Luoyang first, and then came over." ”

"Luoyang?"

"His Royal Highness the King of Chu is in Luoyang, I'll go see him first."

Yang Gongren was silent, and after a moment he asked slowly, "You are persuading me to surrender, right?" ”

"When the eldest brother was in Xingyang, I went to look for you, and you told me that I went to Taiyuan and you went to Chang'an, leaving a road for each other, do you remember the eldest brother?"

"I remember." Yang Gongren said lightly.

Yang Shidao sighed, "I won't say anything about the current situation, the eldest brother should also be clear, the general trend of the Tang Dynasty has gone, everyone is looking for a way back, even the Dugu clan and the Dou clan of the Guanlong nobles have secretly looked for Yang Yuanqing, now that the Jingxiang Battle has ended, Xiangyang has become a lonely city, what is the point of the eldest brother guarding it?" ”

Yang Gongren was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Of course I understand this, but Li Yuan refused to use me at the beginning, that is, he doubted that I would surrender to the Sui Dynasty, I already held a breath in my heart, if I surrender now, wouldn't it mean that his guess is correct, but I am caught in injustice, I can't swallow this breath." ”

"Big brother, this is just a breath, in order to gamble on this breath, but lose the future of the eldest brother, is it worth it? Yang Yuanqing asked me to tell my eldest brother that as long as the eldest brother is willing to surrender, he will actually make the eldest brother the head of the household department and the Duke of Xiangguo, and the fifth sister is now the side concubine of the King of Chu, and she will be a noble concubine in the future, and our family will become a relative of the emperor again, eldest brother, you can't ruin your golden opportunity for a little face! ”

Yang Gongren lowered his head, and after a long time, he smiled bitterly and said, "Even if I don't surrender to the Sui Dynasty for the sake of face, then what about your sister-in-law and nephews and nieces?" They're all in Chang'an, it's going to kill them, I can't do that. ”

"Big brother, this problem is easy to solve, Chang'an has the Sui Army Intelligence Hall, which can easily transfer them out, and can also let the Dugu family or the Dou family help protect them, I can guarantee that they are safe and sound."

Yang Gongren walked to the window with his hands behind his back, stared at the courtyard for a long time, and finally sighed: "I have lost my righteousness by trapping 400,000 people in Xiangyang City for the sake of my own face. ”

He turned back and said: "You go back and tell Xu Shiji that I can hand over Xiangyang City to him, but I want to go back to Chang'an, and the soldiers who are willing to return to Chang'an also hope that he will not intercept him, I only have this condition." ”

Yang Shidao didn't expect this result, and after a while, he asked helplessly: "Does the eldest brother really want to go back?" ”

Yang Gongren nodded, "I can't let myself fall into injustice, I have to go back, no matter what Li Yuan does with me, at least I have a clear conscience." ”

Yang Shidao knew that the eldest brother was an extremely stubborn person, and he couldn't persuade him in any way what he had decided, so he had to get up and salute, and had no choice but to leave.

Not long after Yang Shidao left, Gao Shilian hurried over, and he also heard that Yang Shidao was coming, which filled his heart with hope.

"Yang Shangshu, I heard that Shidao is coming, are you still there?" Gao Shilian didn't see Yang Shidao when he entered the house, and he couldn't help but be a little stunned.

Yang Gongren shook his head, "He's gone, Gao Changshi, there's something I want to tell you, I've decided to abandon the city, Xiangyang City has become an isolated city, separated from the Tang Dynasty, and we don't need to defend it anymore." ”

Gao Shilian was silent, since Yang Shidao had come, he knew that it must be this result, which could be said to be within his expectations.

"Has Yang Shangshu decided to surrender?"

"I don't surrender, I just abandon the city, I still go back to Chang'an, there are Jingxiang people among these soldiers, about the Chinese people, I am not reluctant to surrender, those who are willing to return to Chang'an with me, I will take them away, Gao Changshi makes a decision himself!"

"Actually, I wanted to say a long time ago that the overall situation in Jingxiang has been decided, and there is really no point in defending Xiangyang City except for proving a little integrity."

Gao Shilian sighed, "Since Yang Shangshu has made a decision, then the two of us will act separately!" Those who are willing to surrender will open the south gate with me to surrender in the city, and those who are willing to return to Chang'an will go to the north gate with Yang Shangshu. ”

Gao Shilian's statement was a bit unexpected by Yang Gongren, it turned out that Gao Shilian already had the intention of surrendering, but this is understandable, not everyone is like himself, and he has to gamble.

Yang Gongren nodded calmly, "It's decided!" ”

Two hours later, the gate of Xiangyang was opened, and Gao Lilian led more than 20,000 Tang troops from Jingxiang and Bashu to go out of the southern gate and surrender to the Sui army led by Xu Shiji, while Yang Gongren led the 8,000 Chinese Tang army from Guanguan to retreat to Hanzhong in the northwest and return to Chang'an.

Xu Shiji did not stop and led a large army into Xiangyang, and two days later, Xu Shiji led 40,000 Jīng Rui Sui troops to march in the direction of Hanzhong.

This is the task given to him by Yang Yuanqing, once Yang Shidao persuaded Yang Gongren to give up Xiangyang, Du Fuwei guarded Xiangyang, and he Xu Shiji led 40,000 Central Plains Sui troops to attack Hanzhong, cutting off the last contact between Guanzhong and Bashu, so as to complete the strategic encirclement of Guanzhong.

40,000 Sui troops marched to Hanzhong along the Hanshui River Valley, at this time the Tang Dynasty did not have many troops in Hanzhong, only 10,000 troops led by Luo Yi, and thousands of defeated soldiers brought back by Chai Shao before, a total of 15,000 troops...... To be continued. RS()

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