It was also the early morning of the second day of October, yawning, sneakily touching out his sleeping tent, looking at the mountain top reflected by the morning sun, Chen Fuliang first stretched a lazy waist very gracelessly, and then smashed his lips even more gracefully, and said to himself: "Li Jiancheng ran away, Yongfeng Cang took it, Daxing fell, there are many choices next, what should I do?" ”

With the strategic initiative in hand, Chen Fuliang did have a lot of tactical choices in the future, he could directly attack Daxing and fight a decisive battle with the main force of the rebels, he could first kill the rebel division at Pujin Pass and Qu Tutong's division, and then go west to Daxing, or he could use the reputation of the ambassador in Guanzhong to mobilize the Sui army in Pingliang, Fufeng and Honghua to encircle Daxing, and completely annihilate Li Yuan's rebels with superior forces, or even do nothing, hold Tongguan and Yongfengcang, the lifeline of Guanzhong, and wait for Li Yuan's rebels to take the initiative to come up and send them to death. Every choice has advantages, and every choice is certain, the only difference is the difference between the time it takes and the size of the grasp, and the situation is so good that Chen Fuliang is a little embarrassed.

Chen Fuliang was indeed a little embarrassed, remembering someone in Daxing City, and remembering the agreement four years ago, Chen Fuliang actually had a little shy smile, and couldn't help muttering: "Today is exactly four years, Yu'er, I'm sorry, I have to fulfill the agreement a few days late, but don't worry, it's going to be soon, it's going to be soon." ”

No matter how many choices you have, you have to make a choice, and since the main force of the rebel army has fallen, Chen Fuliang, who still has to use the tiger skin of the Great Sui Imperial Court to suppress people, can't be too relaxed and casual, so after breakfast, Chen Fuliang also summoned a group of civil and military henchmen and important generals in the army, and held a meeting in the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss the next plan of action. Before the meeting began, Chen Fuliang also announced the news of the fall of Daxing to everyone with a heavy heart and a sad tone, during which he had to erase a little heroic tears to show his indignation and sadness at the rebellion of the Great Sui to occupy the national capital.

What surprised Chen Fuliang was that after the news of the fall of Daxing was officially announced, except for a small number of Emperor Yang of Sui who were represented by Liu Gang and Zhang Jixun, who showed a shocked gaffe, most of the subordinates were very calm, and even Liu Changgong was a little indifferent, and said: "It's okay, if you lose it, just lose it, just take it back, anyway, Tongguan and Yongfengcang are in our hands, we have an advantage." ”

"General Liu, Daxing is the capital of our Great Sui, how can you say that if you lose it, you will lose it?" Zhang Jixun was a little dissatisfied.

"What else can be said then? Crying? Can Daxing come back? Liu Changgong asked rhetorically, and said with a big grin: "Besides, Daxing is not guarded by us, and even if His Majesty is to blame it in the future, it has nothing to do with us." As long as we do our best to recover Daxing and take the city back, we will repay the grace of His Majesty. ”

Zhang Jixun was speechless, so he could only hurriedly ask Chen Fuliang: "Stay behind, what about His Royal Highness the King?" How is he doing now? ”

"I heard that I escaped from Miyagi under the protection of the Yin Vice, and my whereabouts are unknown." Chen Fuliang replied.

"Fortunately, Your Highness is fine." Zhang Jixun was relieved, and hurriedly urged: "Stay behind, then let's march to Daxing quickly, recover Daxing quickly, and find the whereabouts of His Royal Highness the Acting King by the way." ”

"That's why I've called you to a meeting." Chen Fuliang nodded, and said loudly: "Zhugong, although we have recovered Yongfengcang and mastered the initiative on the battlefield in Tongguan, but Li Yuan's traitor's partial division is still entrenched in Pujin Pass, fifty miles to the north, and the main force of the traitor has already captured Daxing, what should we do next, if Zhugong has any high opinions, just speak out." ”

"Stay behind, I think we should deal with the traitors in Pujin Pass first." Fang Xuanling was inconvenient to call Chen Fuliang a brother and brother on such a formal occasion, so he could only change his name to an official and said: "Pujin Pass is not very far from Yongfengcang and Tongguan, if we don't pull out this nail, the rear grain road is easily threatened." But if we pull out this nail, we will be able to immediately open up direct contact with the old general Qu Tutong, meet our divisions, and replenish our strength, which will be conducive to our next Daxing offensive and defensive battles. ”

"It's certainly a good idea." Chen Fuliang nodded, shook his head again and said: "But it's a bit of a waste of time, and it would be too much of a waste of soldiers to dispatch our main force for this traitor division, so my plan is to simply use a detachment to deal with this traitor division." I personally led the main force westward to Daxing to recover our capital of the Great Sui Kingdom. ”

"Division?" Several generals of the Sui army were all in the same line, and reminded one after another: "Stay behind, our troops are not very sufficient, we must not only march westward to Daxing, but also leave enough troops to hold Yongfengcang and Tongguan, and then divide our troops to occupy the traitor's partial division, I am afraid that it will further weaken our already insufficient troops." ”

"Soldiers are expensive, not much." Chen Fuliang replied: "We don't need to send too many soldiers and horses north to meet the traitor division, we only need to be able to cover Qu Tutong's main force to cross the Yellow River. ”

Seeing that the generals nodded in approval, Chen Fuliang said again: "And I can also conclude that the old thief Li Yuan will definitely not let his partial division stay in Pujin Pass and die in vain, and within a few days, he will order this army to be dispatched westward to Daxing, and then our partial division and Qu Tutong can join forces to launch a pursuit, fight if there is a chance, and defend if there is no chance, dragging down the retreat speed of the traitor's partial division, and at the same time, our main force will also take the opportunity to calmly advance westward, and at the first opportunity, we will attack back and forth and kill the traitor's partial division." ”

"Li Yuan's old thief gave up Pujin Pass?" Ma Sanbao questioned and said: "Stay behind, if the old thief Li Yuan gives up Pujin Pass, then his retreat to Taiyuan will be cut off, this seems unlikely, right?" ”

"Li Yuan's roots are in Guanzhong, between Taiyuan and Guanzhong, he must give priority to Guanzhong." Chen Fuliang replied: "The old thief concentrates the main force in the pass, and there is another layer of benefit that there are more ways to retreat, you all know what the relationship between Xiao Yu and Li Yuan is that Hechi is too guarded, and you also know what the relationship is with me, Xiao Yu will never honestly defend the pass and block the southward road of Li Yuan's old thief." Guanzhong is empty, Shuzhong is more empty than Guanzhong, there is a country of abundance, money and food are abundant, Li Yuan's old thief can kill in Shuzhong to regroup and make a comeback. ”

"There is also Longxi, which is not only Li Yuan's hometown, but also has deep roots." Li Jing added for his nephew: "The soldiers are still stronger than the soldiers of the Central Plains, and it is also a horse-producing land, if Li Yuan can gain a foothold there, it will also be a good place to make a comeback." In contrast, if Li Yuan's old thief retreats to Taiyuan if he can't hold Daxing and gives up Guanzhong, he will definitely be chased and beaten by us, and then the people's hearts will definitely be scattered, the army's spirit will collapse, and even Taiyuan will not be able to reach Taiyuan, and it is possible that he will be completely annihilated by us. ”

The Sui Junzhong Wenwu nodded again, Chen Fuliang also nodded with a smile, and then asked with a smile: "Uncle Cousin, can you help the little nephew with this?" Take 10,000 troops to clean up the traitors in Pujin Pass? ”

Of course Li Jing was willing, but he couldn't help but be modest, and said with a smile: "Virtuous nephew, I am your subordinate, of course it is nothing to listen to your orders, but General Liu Changgong and Liu are your real deputies, and this partial division should be commanded by him." ”

"It's because Brother Liu is my deputy that he can't move lightly." Chen Fuliang paid great attention to cultivating his cronies, and said with a smile: "After the little nephew led the main force west to Daxing, Tongguan and Yongfengcang, the two important places, except for asking him to stay, I really don't worry about other people. ”

"It's okay, Uncle Li, go ahead." Liu Changgong also waved his hand in agreement, and said: "But Brother Yingliang, you have to leave Xingfang and Liu Heimin to me, so that I can guarantee that Tongguan and Yongfeng are safe." ”

Pei Xingfang and Liu Heimin, who were in a hurry to establish meritorious deeds, all had bitter faces, and Chen Fuliang saw that they were unwilling, so he smiled and said: "I will leave Xingfang and He Yanyu to you, the elite of Qi County under Yanyu is very capable of fighting, you can also rest assured." General Liu Heimin is good at reconnoitring the enemy's situation, and he cannot be missing in this western expedition. ”

Liu Changgong wanted to stay with the help of the civil and military forces just so that he could drink with confidence, knowing that the soldiers and horses under He Yanyu's command could fight, he naturally did not refuse, and agreed, although Pei Xingfang was not happy, but he knew that Chen Fuliang did this in order to leave an absolutely reliable person of his own in Yongfengcang and Tongguan, so he could only honestly agree. So Chen Fuliang quickly finalized the troop arrangement, and decided that Liu Changgong would lead 15,000 troops to stay in Tongguan and Yongfengcang, and Li Jing would lead 10,000 troops north to clean up the rebel divisions.

Next, of course, is the arrangement of the time of the expedition, but what makes everyone feel a little strange is that Chen Fuliang actually asked Li Jing to prepare today and cross the river north tomorrow, and the main force of the Sui army will send troops west to Daxing the day after tomorrow. In this regard, all the generals of the Sui army were a little worried, and reminded one after another: "Staying behind, is it too rushed?" We fought two big battles with the traitors in six days, several small battles, and the army was a little tired, should we rest for two more days before marching west? ”

"It is advisable to chase the poor bravely, and not to sell the name of the overlord." Chen Fuliang dropped a sentence of the bookbag and said: "Can't give the traitor a chance to breathe, we are a little tired, but the traitor is more tired, from Taiyuan all the way to Daxing, the traitor army has not had a good rest, more tired than us and need to rest, if the time is delayed for a long time, give the traitor main force a chance to rest and rest, and also give the traitor army a chance to repair the city defense, then this battle will only be more difficult to fight." ”

"But if the time drags on for a long time, the traitor's food and grass will be in a hurry?" Ma Sanbao and other Sui army generals reminded.

"Our army made a detailed report, and on September 27, the old thief Li Yuan suddenly stopped opening warehouses and releasing grain in Daxing, Chang'an Ancient City and Acheng at the same time under the pretext of the needs of the war." Chen Fuliang said quietly: "The old thief has taken precautions and is ready to prevent food shortages, coupled with the grain storage in Daxing Palace, even if the traitor's grain and grass cannot last the next year's summer grain harvest, it should not be a big problem to survive this year." There are still thieves from all walks of life in our rear, and the time has been delayed for a long time, once our rear is in an emergency, Li Yuan's old thief's opportunity will also come. ”

Ma Sanbao and the other generals understood the reason and no longer objected, Chen Fuliang slapped the table and said: "It's so decided, the main force will set off the day after tomorrow, take advantage of the winter has just begun, hit Daxing City within ten days, and within half a month, destroy the main force of the traitors!" ”

"Eliminate the main force of the traitors in half a month?" The Sui army and all the civil and military looked at each other, including Li Jing, who was a little suspicious, not knowing whether this was his nephew's confidence or his nephew's arrogance.

No matter how much doubt there is, it is useless, Chen Fuliang is the commander of the whole army, and the orders issued by the Sui army generals can only be followed, after some intensive preparations, in the early morning of the next day, Li Jing led the partial division to set off first, crossed the Weishui River and went north to Pujin Pass, to find trouble with Li Yuan's brother-in-law Dou Cong. Chen Fuliang went to order Qu Tutong before, and ordered him to cooperate with Li Jing's action in the name of the ambassador of Guanzhong, cross the river to attack the rebels' division, defeat Dou Cong and Li Jing's division, and then join forces to march west to join the main force of the Sui army in the eastern capital.

As mentioned above, Li Yuan, in order to form the outer barrier of Daxing and in order not to let the partial division lose in vain, he had ordered Dou Cong to abandon Pujin Pass and withdraw to Xinfeng on the second day of the first month of October, and after the order was passed on by a fast horse, it happened to arrive at Pujin Pass on the third day of October, and then at the same time probed the news that the Sui army's partial division crossed the river to the north, and Dou Cong and the defeated escape Li Jiancheng suddenly fell into a dilemma.

If Chen Fuliang personally led the main force north to fight Pujin Pass, Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng would not have been so embarrassed - anyway, when they arrived in Xinfeng, it was also to buy time for the main force, Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng took another risk and led the army to defend Pujin Pass or Feng Yicheng next to it, as long as they could contain the main force of the Sui army for a period of time, it would be worth it even if the loss was large. However, Chen Fuliang only sent 10,000 partial divisions, and Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng would waste time whether they were facing or holding on, and they were likely to miss the precious opportunity to withdraw to Xinfeng in advance, allowing the main force of the Sui army to take the lead. And if they abandon the pass and retreat according to the order, once the Sui army's partial division bites their tails, they will not only not be able to retreat quickly, but they are also likely to pay a heavy price in the retreat.

Li Yuan's order can not be disobeyed, at the same time Qu Tutong is also on the other side of the Yellow River, the slightest carelessness may become a lonely division, forced to helpless, Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng after a hurried discussion, can only decide to abandon the pass and retreat according to the order, and at the same time decided to abandon the pass and retreat at night, but also create the illusion of a hasty retreat, take the opportunity to arrange an ambush on the road, lure Li Jing to chase, and then send a wave of troops to hit the Sui army's division and kill this annoying tail.

Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng soon discovered that they underestimated Li Jing too much—in fact, except for Chen Fuliang, everyone in the world underestimated Li Jing. That night, after receiving the news that the rebels had abandoned the pass and retreated, although the Sui scouts clearly reported that the rebels' torches were messy and they retreated in a hurry, Li Jing only smiled and refused to pursue Jian, and ordered the whole army to rest in peace and wait until dawn. At the same time, Li Jing also sent someone to inform Qu Tutong, saying that the rebels retreating late at night must guard against an ambush, and that Qu Tutong did not need to rush to cross the river to pursue, and it was not too late to cross the river at dawn.

Dou Cong and Li Jiancheng's ambush helped Li Jing establish his prestige, and also made Qu Tutong, who was older and weaker and more timid and disgraced, disgraced and dissatisfied, and rested overnight, Qu Tutong, who had lost enough face in the previous war, refused to miss this opportunity to save face, did not listen to Li Jing's construction, and sent Wang Xingben to lead an army of 3,000 to cross the river to pursue, as a result, after Wang Xingben was defeated by the rebel ambush, the Sui army's partial division's complaints about Li Jing suddenly disappeared without a trace, and the old Qu Tu couldn't help beating his chest again.

After dawn the next day, Li Jing finally led the army to launch a pursuit, and before noon, he had already caught up with the rebel division who was not marching fast at night, Dou Cong led the new army to turn back and line up, shouting and fighting, wanting to lure Li Jing to a decisive battle, but Li Jing, who was more shameless than his nephew, turned around and left, not taking Dou Cong's stubble at all. And when Dou Cong scolded and led the army to continue westward, Li Jing followed like a leper dog, and followed the rebels from afar, Dou Cong turned around to meet the battle, and Li Jing turned around and ran away.

In the evening of the same day, when the rebel division retreated to the bank of Jingshui next to Feng Yicheng, Li Jing suddenly approached and ordered the army to build a fence to protect themselves, and confronted the rebel division at a distance of only five miles. At the same time, Qu Tutong also personally led the Hedong Sui army to catch up, but after taking a closer look at the battlefield situation, Qu Tutong not only did not wait to order an attack, but also arched his hand to Li Jing and said with admiration: "The pharmacist is clever, and the old man is satisfied." ”

Although there are ferries on the river, there are also wooden bridges and pontoon bridges, but the number of more than 40,000 rebel divisions does not want to cross all at once in any case, even if the action is almost spent in the middle of the night, everyone wants to cross the river first, and who does not want to cross the river last, if the Sui army launches an attack in the middle of the river, the rebel soldiers who have crossed the river cannot turn back to rescue, and the rebel soldiers who leave behind the palace cannot all cross the river at once, so they can only let the Sui soldiers who attack wantonly slaughter. The rebels looked at each other by the river, while the Sui soldiers hid in the distance to rest and smile, waiting for the good fighters to appear.

After a long time of sorrow for the big eyes and small eyes by the river, Li Jiancheng and Dou Cong couldn't solve this unsolvable problem of the soldiers, so they could only scold together, "It's really worthy of being a relative of Chen Fuliang who has lost his conscience, and he really lost his conscience!" ”

On the morning of the same day, Chen Fuliang also personally led the main force of the Sui army to the west, although including the newly incorporated surrendered army, the strength of the main force of the Sui army was just over 50,000 people, but whether it was from the equipment, or from the military appearance, the momentum of the main force of the Sui army was obviously more than the main force of the rebel army. The people of Guanzhong, who were quite hostile to this army, soon discovered that the military discipline of this army was even stricter than that of Li Yuan's rebels, not only did they never eat fruits and vegetables on the roadside, but occasionally injured the crops in the field, and there were also special people who found the owner of the field to compensate according to the price.

Chen Fuliang's previous release of the thief document also began to play a role on this day, although he did not send people to the city to surrender, when the main force of the Sui army had just arrived under the city of Huayin, the four gates of Huayin had already opened by themselves, and the county king Yongnian held the official seal and household registration list issued by the rebels, and led the county defenders and the third class of officials with a bunch of heads out of the city to kneel and surrender, and just saw Chen Fuliang and cried with a handful of snot and tears............

"Chen Liushou, Ambassador Chen, you are finally here, after the lower official read your list of thieves, he was ordered to disguise Li Yuan as a traitor, waiting for the opportunity to make meritorious service anyway, I have been waiting for you for too long! Li Xiaochang, the traitor, heard that your army was coming, and heard that the traitor army fled in desperation and did not dare to come to Huayin, so he had already thrown down the county town in the morning and ran away with the remnants of the traitors. ”

"What? Ambassador, you asked Xia Guan to take over the Huayin County Decree on the spot, and reward all of Li Xiaochang's family property and fields to Xia Guan? Also give the lower officials a reward of 100 yuan, 10 taels of silver? Ambassador Chen, the lower officials will follow you from now on! If you say a word casually, even if you go up the sword mountain and go down to the sea of fire, the lower officials will not hesitate! The soldiers hid in the distance to rest and smile, waiting for the good fighter plane to appear.

After a long time of sorrow for the big eyes and small eyes by the river, Li Jiancheng and Dou Cong couldn't solve this unsolvable problem of the soldiers, so they could only scold together, "It's really worthy of being a relative of Chen Fuliang who has lost his conscience, and he really lost his conscience!" ”

On the morning of the same day, Chen Fuliang also personally led the main force of the Sui army to the west, although including the newly incorporated surrendered army, the strength of the main force of the Sui army was just over 50,000 people, but whether it was from the equipment, or from the military appearance, the momentum of the main force of the Sui army was obviously more than the main force of the rebel army. The people of Guanzhong, who were quite hostile to this army, soon discovered that the military discipline of this army was even stricter than that of Li Yuan's rebels, not only did they never eat fruits and vegetables on the roadside, but occasionally injured the crops in the field, and there were also special people who found the owner of the field to compensate according to the price.

Chen Fuliang's previous release of the thief document also began to play a role on this day, although he did not send people to the city to surrender, when the main force of the Sui army had just arrived under the city of Huayin, the four gates of Huayin had already opened by themselves, and the county king Yongnian held the official seal and household registration list issued by the rebels, and led the county defenders and the third class of officials with a bunch of heads out of the city to kneel and surrender, and just saw Chen Fuliang and cried with a handful of snot and tears............

"Chen Liushou, Ambassador Chen, you are finally here, after the lower official read your list of thieves, he was ordered to disguise Li Yuan as a traitor, waiting for the opportunity to make meritorious service anyway, I have been waiting for you for too long! Li Xiaochang, the traitor, heard that your army was coming, and heard that the traitor army fled in desperation and did not dare to come to Huayin, so he had already thrown down the county town in the morning and ran away with the remnants of the traitors. ”

"What? Ambassador, you asked Xia Guan to take over the Huayin County Decree on the spot, and reward all of Li Xiaochang's family property and fields to Xia Guan? Also give the lower officials a reward of 100 yuan, 10 taels of silver? Ambassador Chen, the lower officials will follow you from now on! If you say a word casually, even if you go up the sword mountain and go down to the sea of fire, the lower officials will not hesitate! ”