Since the Sui army retreated north, Wang Shichong once again reorganized the soldiers and horses, and recruited troops on a large scale, but Yang Yuanqing only gave him two counties, Henan and Hongnong, and the population was insufficient, coupled with his urgent conscription, which aroused panic among the people, and a large number of people fled to Yingchuan County and Xingyang County.

After nearly two months of busyness, Wang Shichong only recruited 20,000 people, plus his remaining 10,000 troops, and the defenders of Luoyang were only 30,000.

Years of war and food shortages have long made the people of Henan County miserable, and the continuous flight of the people has caused the population under Wang Shichong's command to drop sharply.

In desperation, Wang Shichong had to order all the people of Xingyang and Henan County to live in Luoyang, totaling more than 200,000, while the areas outside Luoyang became thousands of miles of red wilderness and rare people.

In fact, Wang Shichong only has a lonely city left, he doesn't want to see this result, but he has to accept this cruel fact.

Wang Shichong has completely sunk, he threw his government affairs to the prince Wang Yingxuan, handed over the army to his nephew Wang Renze, and he himself was locked in the palace, and a group of palace maids spent all day drinking, drunk and dreaming of life, in his words, to be an emperor for a day, you must enjoy the luxury of an emperor for a day.

But the opportunity presented itself when he was at his most desperate, and the southern invasion of the Turks forced Yang Yuanqing to shrink his defensive line and abandon Xiangcheng, Shuyang, and Yingchuan.

Although Yang Yuanqing did not say it explicitly, Wang Shichong understood what Yang Yuanqing did not express, and he immediately ordered Wang Renze to lead an army of 10,000 to take Yingchuan County, and ordered his second son Wang Yingshu to lead an army of 10,000 to take Xiangcheng County.

Wang Shichong cheered up again, selected 30,000 young men from the people of Luoyang City, forced them to join the army, and he personally trained them every day.

At this time, Wang Shichong's ambitions began to swell rapidly, and Yang Yuanqing now only controlled Xingyang County and Dong County, so he could occupy Liang County, Dongping County, Jiyin County, and Qian County in the east, as well as Huai'an County, Runan County, Nanyang County and Xiyang County in the south.

Wang Shichong never thought that he was talentless and virtuous. He is both civil and military. knows how to suspend the army and support the people, knows how to buy people's hearts, and he has the ability to unify the world. The ambition to establish the foundation of the world.

It's just that he was unlucky, and he controlled Luoyang, the land of four wars, and was surrounded by the three strong enemies of Sui, Tang and Wei. Several years of continuous expeditions have made his troops empty and his foundation collapsed, but as long as he can be given three or five years to fight hard, he will definitely become a great power in the Central Plains.

Just when Wang Shichong was full of spirit and ready to show his strength, a news that made him almost desperate came, the Tang Dynasty sent troops, and 200,000 Tang troops killed Luoyang from Guanzhong and Jingxiang, Wang Shichong looked up to the sky and screamed three times, and hurriedly ordered Wang Renze and Wang Yingshu to withdraw their troops back to Luoyang.

There was chaos in Luoyang City. A large number of people began to take advantage of the opportunity to flee, and Wang Shichong saw that the hearts of the people were leaving, so he set a strict punishment system. A person who fled from his family. All the young and the old are all killed, and fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands and wives allow them to be spared.

and let the five families protect each other. There are people whose whole family defects and their neighbors do not know it, and they kill their neighbors one after another, but the flight is so beneficial that the number of people who go out to pick wood is limited.

Wang Shichong also used the palace as a prison, and all those who expressed dissatisfaction were immediately arrested, and imprisoned in the palace together with their families, without food, and let them live and die, and the army went out to patrol the guards, and the families of the soldiers were also held hostage in the palace.

Wang Shichong also felt that the general trend had gone, and he sank again, embracing beauty in the palace, drunk and dreaming all day long.

Early that morning, a rush of footsteps came from outside the palace, and several guards shouted in panic: "General, you can't go in!" ”

"Get out of here!"

This is Wang Renze's voice, I saw a flash, and Wang Renze, who was in full armor, rushed into Wang Shichong's bedroom, Wang Shichong had already woken up, he slowly opened his eyes, and glanced at Wang Renze coldly, "You broke into the palace with a sword, do you want to kill me?" ”

Wang Ren knelt down on one knee and said nervously: "Your Majesty, the Tang army has been killed, and it is stationed outside the city, and now the army's heart is floating, I implore Your Majesty to go and pacify!" ”

Although Wang Shichong has been forced to remove the emperor's title, in fact, his title is still very confusing, some people call him the prince, some people call him His Majesty, and he doesn't know what he is?

Wang Shichong heard that the Tang army had been killed, so he stood up, but he felt that the sky was spinning for a while, and he almost fell, but Wang Ren hurriedly supported him, "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter!" ”

Wang Shichong stabilized his mind and waved his hand, "It doesn't matter to me, wait for me to go to the city to have a look." ”

The moment when he didn't want to face it finally came, Wang Shichong was helpless, so he had to go to the city to check, he walked up to the head of the west city, leaned over and looked down, and suddenly felt dizzy in front of him.

I saw that the army outside the city was overwhelming, and the flags were like clouds, as if even the heavens and the earth were covered, and the momentum of the 200,000 Tang troops was enough to make everyone in the city have endless despair.

The Tang army was not in a hurry to attack the city, they were constantly changing their formations, as if they were using momentum to intimidate the defenders of the city, and in the distance, dense tents were like mushrooms growing after rain, one after the other, and there was no edge in sight.

Although Wang Shichong has also experienced a hundred battles, his body has been hollowed out by wine in the past two months, and his willpower has been greatly reduced, and the momentum of the Tang army outside the city has made him tremble, his face is pale, his lips are trembling, and he can't say a word.

At this moment, the prince Wang Yingxuan hurriedly ran to the city with a young merchant, "Father! ”

Wang Shichong stared blankly at the 200,000 Tang troops under the city, as if he hadn't heard anything, "Father! Wang Yingxuan ran up and panted: "There is good news!" ”

"Good news?"

Wang Shichong looked back at his son suspiciously, "What's the good news!" ”

At this time, the young businessman stepped forward and bowed, "The lowly Kong Yingsheng is the captain of the Tiger Prison Pass, His Royal Highness the King of Chu has an urgent letter to the prince, sent to the Tiger Prison Pass, I specially rushed to deliver the letter to the prince." ”

Yang Yuanqing unexpectedly had a letter coming, he was in good spirits, and hurriedly asked, "Where is the letter?" ”

The messenger presented a tube of eagle letters with both hands, Wang Shichong took the letter, opened it in a hurry, and saw Yang Yuanqing's autograph at a glance, it was Yang Yuanqing's handwritten letter, Wang Shichong hurriedly read it, and a bright color suddenly flashed in his eyes, and a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart.

Next to him, Wang Renze and Wang Yingxuan were paying attention to Wang Shichong's expression, and when they saw Wang Shichong's sudden spirits, they all asked in unison: "What is the good news?" ”

Confidence gradually recovered in Wang Shichong's heart, he glanced at the two of them, and finally a smile appeared on his face," Yang Yuanqing said. As long as we hold on for five days. He will be able to end the Northern campaign and come to our rescue. ”

Wang Ren and Wang Yingxuan were overjoyed, and Wang Ren couldn't hold back the joy in his heart and said, "Can Yang Yuanqing really catch up?" ”

Wang Shichong nodded. "He won't lie, because he doesn't want the Tang army to occupy Luoyang."

Speaking of this, the fear in Wang Shichong's heart was swept away. He straightened his waist and shouted to the defenders of the city: "Listen to the soldiers of the three armies, all my gold, silver and money will be taken out, and a reward of 50 hangings will be rewarded, and 10 acres of land will be rewarded." ”……

Huining County, the shadow of war looms over this mountain by the Yellow River, a stone mountain that has always been a barren land, once it is discovered that it contains great wealth. This land, which has always been unnoticed, became the focus of attention of the Sui and Tang armies.

Since the outbreak of the silver crisis, the Sui army began to increase its troops in Huining County, but with the southern invasion of the Turks. Yang Yuanqing transferred most of the Sui army back to Taiyuan. There were still 10,000 defenders in Huining County, led by Ma Shao, the governor of Huizhou.

This morning. A Tang army composed of more than 2,000 cavalry rushed towards the mining mountain, led by Ma Shao, the governor of Huizhou, who had just received an order from Yang Yuanqing to abandon Huining County, and the whole army retreated to Lingwu County, assisting Pei Renji, the governor of Fengzhou, to withdraw the military and people to Fengzhou.

Regarding the order given by Yang Yuanqing, Ma Shao never thought why? He just carried it out to the letter, and there was one more in the order that he was required to completely destroy the mining site.

The cavalry galloped all the way through a clearing where tents had been erected, and the tents had been removed, leaving only piles of household garbage left behind by the miners, and the silver mines built by the Sui army a few months earlier had long been empty, and the miners had been transferred to the Red Iron Mountains in the north.

Although Yang Shidao's promise to the Tang Dynasty was to close the silver mines, the closure was not destroyed, the wharves were still there, and dozens of warehouses that took two months to build were still standing in the cold wind, and the warehouses were full of flatbed trucks for transporting ore and many mining equipment.

There are also hundreds of flat-bottomed tugboats moored on the wharf, and there are more than a dozen mines on the mine, from which miners continue to transport large quantities of high-quality silver and copper ore.

Everything must be destroyed, leaving no Tang army behind, Ma Shao glanced at the empty mines, and pointed with a whip, "All destroyed!" ”

The order was given, and 2,000 Sui soldiers moved, and they gathered the ships together, sprayed them with fire oil, and set them on fire, and the docks were burned with thick black smoke, and the docks were destroyed and warehouses were torn down.

All the wood products were not simply burned, but were piled up in the mine and burned with fire, which burned the mine to a blazing heat, and the soldiers immediately poured cold river water into it, and the stones exploded, and the mine collapsed instantly.

In the era when there was no gunpowder, this simple method was generally used to mine, or destroy the rock mass, and after more than an hour, a mine was completely destroyed, and the Sui soldiers got on their horses and rushed to another mine ten miles away......

On the side of the Yellow River in Lingwu County, a large-scale evacuation began two days ago, and more than 200,000 people in Fengzhou, who had evacuated south to avoid the Turkic cavalry, began to return to their hometowns in Fengzhou.

There are also more than 100,000 residents of Lingwu County, a total of nearly 400,000 people retreating, this is an order issued by Yang Yuanqing, the king of Chu, they will all withdraw to Fengzhou.

On the ice of the Yellow River, which is more than ten miles wide, there are tens of thousands of sleds, each of which is filled with a family and their important property, mainly money, grain, sheepskins, tools, weapons and clothing, and livestock is used to pull sleds.

They were in groups of 100 households, escorted by ten cavalrymen, women, and children, and in the midst of loud shouts of men, women, and children, groups of sleds were constantly being dragged by oxen and horses to the north.

The sleigh was slow, and a squad of cavalry followed, and at this time, their enemy was not the Don army, but the wolves that might appear in winter.

On the shore, Bae In-ki, the governor of Toyoshu, gazed at the groups of sleds that had been walking for two days in a row, and there were not many people left.

He can understand the order of the king of Chu, people are the most valuable resource, and the land can be left to the Tang Dynasty, but people must not stay, without people, the Tang army will not be able to hold Lingwu County.

"Chief, do you want to wait for General Ma to come back and leave together?" On the side, Lingwu County Taishou Yu Quanhong, who was quite obese, asked.

Pei Renji shook his head, "Don't wait for him deliberately, I will leave a few scouts to inform him of the news." ”

Pei Renji suddenly understood what Yu Quanhong meant, so he smiled and said: "The person has already gone almost completely, Yu Taishou can also go, I will wait a little longer and leave." ”

Yu Quanhong's face turned red, and he clenched his fists and arched his hand: "Then the lower official will take the first step, General Pei take care!"

Pei Renji smiled slightly, "I wish Yu Taishou a smooth journey!" ”