"If it's really a newborn calf, it's not afraid of tigers!" Yu Wenshi pushed everyone away, pointed to the current location of the army on the map, and then pointed to Liyang, Xingyang and Luoyang, shaking his head and sneering. At this moment, the expression on his face was not so much praise as mockery.

If it had been changed to before, Yu Wenshi would definitely use the words 'the courage of the horseman' to attack Li Xu. Now it seems to be praise and depreciation, which is already saving face for the other party. Liyang City is an important grain town located north of the Yellow River and on the south bank of the Yongji Canal. This city is more than 300 miles away from Luoyang, where the rebels are heavily armed, and it is very convenient to travel by water. In addition, the distance between Han Shixu's rebels, who were currently attacking Xingyang City, and Liyang was only a little more than two hundred miles. The two cities are connected by canals to the south and north. Once the rebels take Xingyang as scheduled, they will definitely be able to reach the Liyang battlefield within three days by taking advantage of the two waterways of Tongji Canal and Yongji Canal.

At present, the location of the Xiongwu camp is the junction of Hejian County and Shanggu County, more than a thousand miles away from Liyang. Li Xuyuan discovered the flaws of the enemy army thousands of miles away, and then delusionally thought that one blow would be fatal. What is this kind of behavior that is not the courage of a horseman? I'm afraid that before everyone arrived at Liyang, the defenders were already ready. And once the Xiongwu battalion ran thousands of miles but was defeated under the fortified city, Han Shicao and Zhou Zhong led the troops to kill them from the waterway, and everyone died without a place to be buried.

The generals shook their heads helplessly, the excited expressions on their faces instantly replaced by disappointment and confusion. Yu Wenshi and his guidance was right, Yang Xuangan was not a fool, he would not abandon the Liyang Cang, which had hoarded a total amount equivalent to the annual harvest of the Great Sui. At present, the reason why he put all his troops and horses south of the Yellow River is because he knows that the speed of the Eastern Expeditionary Army is not so fast. If he can capture Luoyang before the Eastern Expeditionary Army arrives at the crossing of the Yellow River, and detain the relatives of the hundred officials as hostages, then the grain in Liyangcang can be completely dispensed with. And once there were soldiers and horses from the imperial court who threatened Liyangcang before he conquered Luoyang, in order to maintain the morale and morale of the rebels, Yang Xuangan would definitely send a general to fight hard.

"For now, this may be the only way, we don't have much choice!" Changshi Zhao Ziming pondered for a moment, and his opinions began to tilt in the direction of Li Xu. In front of everyone, he put together the sheepskin map of the counties of Henan and Hebei, and clearly marked all the forces of the enemy and us on the map. "If we don't storm Liyang" He used charcoal to point at Wei Wensheng's prescribed position, and then he had to go west again, cross Wangwu Mountain, cross the Yellow River on the west side of Mianchi, and face Yang Xuangan's main force with General Wei Wensheng there! ”

He pursed his lips, not wanting to continue on the pointless topic. But the soldiers were in an uproar and protested one after another. It is better to cooperate with Wei Wensheng than to fight hard with the rebels. General Wei is the best at preserving strength, and the people who cooperate with him often die without knowing who betrayed him.

"Wangwu Mountain is more than 1,000 feet high, let's lead the horse, how to climb it!" Don't find a high-sounding reason for Murong Luo to deny Zhao Ziming's assumptions. With the height of Wangwu Mountain, it was difficult for the infantry to climb this mountain, but the Xiongwu battalion was now full of cavalry.

", we have the ability to climb over Wangwu Mountain, and we won't do it!" Zhang Xiu jumped up and said loudly. The lesson of the west bank of the Liao River last year is clearly in front of him, Li Xu and Yu Wenshi can heal the scars and forget the pain, and the souls of the brothers in the food protection army are unwilling.

Sure enough, as soon as his words fell, Captain Li Mengwei stood up to express his support. He was one of the survivors of the annihilation of the 3,000 heroes on the west bank of Liaoshui, and hated Wei Wensheng very much. Although both sides were working for the Great Sui at the moment, Li Mengyan wished that Wei Wensheng would be killed by Yang Xuangan. In his opinion, at this time, the Xiongwu Battalion did not give the surname Wei a black hand from behind, which was already magnanimous. Climbing mountains and wading through rivers to rush over and fight side by side with each other is simply looking for death!

"Alright, alright, the important thing now is not to complain, but what to do!" Li Xu saw that everyone couldn't make a better suggestion, so he had to interrupt everyone's discussion again.

Everyone's eyes were on him, Lord Lang Jiang's performance tonight was a little restless, according to the previous impression, his temperament was much calmer than today. Perhaps forced by military affairs, the soldiers thought understandingly, and stood up straight one after another.

"I mean, we're still going to sneak up on Liyang!" Li Xu looked at Yu Wenshiji, then at everyone, and said decisively. He didn't have much time to discuss tactics against the enemy. His Majesty the Emperor, who had just given the reward, was waiting for his reward. The eyes of the bigwigs in the DPRK and China are staring at him, a sudden rising general. Among the rebels, there may be his mentor who is planning and deploying.

"The situation that our entire battalion is cavalry, Yang Xuangan definitely doesn't know!" Li Xu paused, and slowly said the reason why he insisted on attacking Liyang, "The official roads near Liyang extend in all directions, even if we can't sneak attack, we can quickly escape." ”

"You just just say it, we can't beat it and run!" Yu Wenshi laughed softly, and there was no longer a hint of sarcasm in his words. That is, a guy like Li Xu from a humble background, who doesn't care so much about the name of a general. If you miss a blow, turn around and flee, this is the usual tactic of the steppe horse thieves, not the proper behavior of the dignified Sui officials and soldiers. But right now, it's a very useful trick.

"First, the rebels can't catch up with us. Second, Yang Xuangan divided troops from Luoyang to protect Liyang, which means that we have contained the enemy army and alleviated its offensive against Luoyang! Li Xu nodded, admitting that his mind was once again guessed by Yu Wenshi. There is nothing to be ashamed of this, Yu Wenshi and his talent are already very smart, and his experience is more than a little deeper than his own.

He smiled and walked back to the manager's seat, raised the arrows, and sent them out one by one. Then in the eyes of encouragement or admiration, it was announced that the new journey would begin tomorrow morning, and that tonight, everyone would have a good night's sleep.

The next day, the Xiongwu battalion suddenly accelerated.

There is a post station next to the official road of the Great Sui every hundred miles or so. The soldiers of the Xiongwu battalion ran wildly along the official road, and stopped to rest once when they encountered a post station. Whenever everyone rested, Yu Wenshi and his own soldiers took their own soldiers to loot the good horses in the post station as Wu Yalang generals. And those war horses that were exhausted and couldn't keep up with the speed of the brigade depending on the situation, were forcibly stuffed to the post guards by Yu Wenshi as collateral.

"This is the Great Sui military horse, feed it well, and hand it over to our defender Murong Bei when he comes up! Rest assured, General Ben will not embezzle your stagecoach! Yu Wenshi smiled and explained to the post guard, "By the way, you can report this matter truthfully, my surname is Yuwen, and I am a benevolent person." There is no need to reveal his identity as a horse commander, and the surname Guang Yuwen makes the post guard dare not disobey his orders. A large number of stagecoaches and horses were requisitioned into the Xiongwu camp, which ensured the speed of the soldiers' march as much as possible.

That night, the group slept for less than three hours, and on the third day, before dawn, they continued to run wildly. Many of the war horses lost their strength in the morning, Li Xu ordered the soldiers who could not keep up with the brigade to change their mounts, and the exhausted war horses were left by him on the side of the road, leaving Murong Luo, who served as the guard, to take refuge.

In the afternoon, some of the frail soldiers could not stand it anymore, their faces were pale, and their bodies shook straight on the saddle. The Guardians and the infirm were allowed to leave the team and gather in the roadside post to wait for the guards to take them in. The rest of the soldiers continued to gallop southwest along the official road.

"Let's compare the speed with Yang Xuangan, see how fast he can beat Luoyang, or how fast we can kill Liyang City!" Changshi Zhao Ziming and Captain Zhang Xiu mobilized the brothers in this way. "The emperor has just rewarded us, and we can't repay the favor. We were the first to rush over and smash Yang Xuangan's rice pot, such a big credit must be seen by the imperial court! ”

"Smash his rice pot!" The soldiers responded with a laugh, mud and sweat running down their faces. No one would have expected them to be so fast, and in the past two days, the other reinforcements had been stretched by the Xiongwu battalion for more than two hundred miles. Yang Xuangan's attention should be all on the main force, and he may not pay attention to this small army that has just been turned into a government soldier.

Even if the rebels noticed the speeding cavalry, it would be difficult for their commander to receive the news in time. Li Mengwei led the scouts to search within five miles of the front of the army, and if they found a guy galloping south on horseback on the official road, whether he was a merchant or a post soldier, they were all taken down to await trial.

The Xiongwu battalion did not allow anyone to overtake their ranks along the official road. The official road under your feet is the best route to the direction of Liyang, if there are people along the way who feel Yang Xuangan and try to warn the rebels, they can only follow behind the army slowly. If the messenger crossed the ridge and copied the path, the time when he arrived near Luoyang must have been after the official army arrived in Liyang.

On the night of the third day, the Xiongwu battalion received an urgent military information transmitted to the north from the front near Luancheng. The Xingyang defender was Han Baohu's old department, and he couldn't bear to start with the son of the old man, and led the whole city to surrender. Han Shixu's soldiers took Xingyang without blood, turned their heads to the north, and joined forces with Gu Jue to attack the Tiger Prison Pass.

"Fifty miles of profit, you will step on the general!" Li Anyuan was a little worried about his brothers. If Han Shixu easily took the Tiger Prison Pass, the Xiongwu Battalion would lose the need to rush to Liyang. In the past two days, the number of soldiers who have fallen behind has approached 700. If the attrition continues, the soldiers and horses that can finally reach the vicinity of Liyang will not exceed 5,000.

The 5,000 tired divisions, no matter in the face of the defenders of Liyang and the rebels led by Han Shixu, were unable to fight.

"We have to rush over, Han Shixu may not be able to return to Liyang in time. Even if he returns to the division in time, the situation of the rebels is as tired as ours. At the critical moment, Xuzi suddenly behaved extremely stubbornly.

He didn't want to give up halfway, whether the opponent was Han Shixu or Yuan Wuben. It's a mule or a horse, and you don't know until you run

"And the rebels have no armor!" Xuzi tried her best to restrain the tiredness and weakness in her heart, and said loudly. At this moment, he found that he was very eager to fight Han Shixu.

Note 1: The text in the previous section about Ma Yuan's invention of the original sand table can be found in the Later Han Shu Ma Yuan Biography

Note 2: Regarding the speed of the Sui army's retreat, historical records record that the Sui army withdrew from Liaodong on June 28, and in early August, Yuwenshu had already defeated Yang Xuangan's main force. Therefore, this book assumes that the cavalry can run more than 150 miles a day along the official road.

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