Knowing that Fang Jie was coming back, Sun Kaidao and his generals were waiting at the gate of Fangu City. When they saw Fang Jie's general flag appearing from a distance, Sun Kaidao immediately led his men to greet him. When he was still far away, he knelt down on one knee to salute, and all the generals behind him immediately knelt down.
"My subordinates congratulate the general on his victory and his promotion to marquis."
Sun Kaidao said solemnly.
Fang Jie jumped off the horse, stretched out his hand to help him up and said with a smile: "Get up, everyone. The people who came back to report the news are also talkative, so they announced it early. Don't let it go in advance. Nothing happened at home these days, right? "
"without"
Sun Kaidao smiled and said: "But as expected by the general, Bai Huo's ten thousand wolf cavalry were stationed dozens of miles away a while ago. They probably saw that our troops were strong and they did not dare to attack directly. After all, they are all cavalry, Fan Gu The city is also strong. On the other side of the canyon, Lu Fenghou and his men built two stone walls more than two feet high. The barbarian probably didn't expect that the back road had been blocked and did not dare to act rashly. He was waiting for Kuoketai Meng Lie to take Idea. If those 200,000 wolf cavalry don't come back in one day, Bai Huo won't have the guts to start a war without permission. His 10,000 people are really not worth it."
Fang Jie snorted: "Transport more grain and grass to Qingxia. Once a war breaks out, the soldiers guarding Qingxia will be attacked from both sides. It won't happen in a short while. If the imperial reinforcements don't arrive, our battle will take some time. Brother Meng I won¡¯t be willing to leave more than 200,000 wolf knights in the northwest. No matter how powerful Meng Yuan is, this is not a small number, and it will break the bones.¡±
Sun Kaidao nodded: "My subordinates have transported a large amount of grain and grass to Qingxia, and divided the troops into three groups. Ten thousand people will guard Fan Gu, fifteen thousand people will guard the mountain stronghold, and the rest of the troops will be in Qingxia. According to the general's instructions, Chen moved the mountains to guard Fan Gu, Xiahou Baichuan and Lu Fenghou guarded Qingxia, and their subordinates led troops to support them at the mountain stronghold. "
Fang Jie hummed, this arrangement was quite satisfactory. Although the troops were slightly scattered, they were in a Z-shaped formation, acting as horns for each other, supporting each other back and forth. The men and horses on the mountain village were regarded as a mobile rescue team. Fan Gu and Qingxia could immediately respond to any emergency situation. Support, harass the enemy from the rear.
"Very good. In addition, it is particularly good at distributing food to the people."
Fang Jie said as he walked: "But I have to tell the people that there will be a fierce battle in a few days. Let them avoid it after planting food. This land in the northwest depends on the sky for food. If you plant food, you can only wait for God to rain and water it." , they have nothing to do, it¡¯s better to avoid them in advance so as not to lose their lives in vain.¡±
"My subordinates have already sent people to tell the people when food is distributed."
Sun Kaidao glanced to the west and said: "The scouts have been conducting reconnaissance on the west side of Langru Mountain. Mengge Kuoketai has indeed mobilized troops to respond to Meng Yuan's movements. Meng Yuan's rangers have been appearing on the Mandu Banner grassland these days. It's just that they didn't expect us to block the canyon. Our advantage now is that the enemy forces on both sides don't know whether the other side has arrived, so they don't dare to attack easily. "
Fang Jie nodded: "While we have a rare free time during this period, let the soldiers rest and go into the city. I will go to the canyon to have a look later."
Everyone followed Fang Jie into the city. Because the canyon was the top priority for defense, Fang Jie ordered all the feather arrows and armor brought back from the Sui army camp to be sent there. In the battle to defend the city, the consumption of feather arrows heaviest. The emperor must have thought of this, so he allocated most of the baggage feather arrows, a total of 150,000.
After Fang Jie entered Fangu, he first inspected the city defenses. It could be seen that Sun Kaidao had not been idle during these days. The defense facilities on the city wall had been reinforced, and sacks were filled with soil in key places. The roofs of the houses of the common people in the city were covered with a layer of earth to prevent the enemy from attacking with arrows and fire.
The density of the spikes is staggering. This defensive weapon can easily kill the siege soldiers when put down, and it can be used multiple times until the spikes are broken. Fang Jie saw large vats placed at regular intervals on the city wall, filled with kerosene. If the enemy attacked fiercely, pour the kerosene and any spark would burn it to pieces. Although the northwest is barren, this kind of kerosene is found in many places near Langru Mountain. You don't even have to dig for it. Walking on it is like walking on a sponge mat. If you accidentally get stuck in it, you will be unable to extricate yourself.
People in this era don¡¯t know much about kerosene, they only know that it can burn. Fang Jie once lamented when he was working as a scout in Fan Gu. If this place had been rich in oil in his previous life, it would have become prosperous. The people in the northwest are not so poor, but extremely wealthy.
Looking out from the city wall, there is an open area to the east of Fan Gu. It has an advantage for the wolf cavalry. The cavalry will definitely not be able to stop them when they arrive in an instant. Therefore, Fang Jie had no intention of letting the Black Flag Army and the wolf cavalry fight from the beginning. Riding in the field, the Sui army's advantage lies in its absolutely abundant defensive resources.Experience, while Wolf Cavalry is still a student when it comes to sieges.
Using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses, the Sui army had nothing to fear.
Looking into the city, we can see that the place where the grain and grass were stored was the original Biejiang Mansion. The courtyard walls have been heightened and the roofs have been paved with soil. It seems that everything is ready.
The advantage of having a capable subordinate is that basically everything has been arranged even in your absence.
"My subordinates asked people to block the other city gate."
When he said this, Sun Kaidao had a look of determination on his face.
He knew that this time was different from the time when he had to surrender to the rebels. At that time, he would most likely die if he did not surrender. At this time, as long as he could withstand the attack of the Meng Yuan barbarians, he would have a good future. Even before The matter of surrendering to the rebels can be ignored. The most real thing he sees now is that the better he performs, the more Fang Jie will be reluctant to let him go. If the court investigates the past in the future, Fang Jie will excuse him.
"very good"
Fang Jie admired, and couldn't help but struggle in his heart when he remembered what Hou Wenji said to him. If he left for the prairie at this time, going back and forth for several months would definitely delay the war. Moreover, Hou Wenji only told the general whereabouts of Prince Zhong, and it would not be a matter of time to find him.
"correct"
At this time, Sun Kaidao remembered something: "A friend of Lord Hou came here a while ago. He was a fat Taoist priest who had only been out of the canyon for a few days."
Fang Jie was immediately overjoyed: "Let the scouts inquire about the news and see if they can find him!"
¡¡
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Canyon
Fang Jie stood on the stone wall and looked down. Lu Fenghou stood beside him and giggled.
¡°Well done¡±
Fang Jie smiled: "From now on, you will be a veritable fifth-rank general. Your Majesty allows me this right, and I can be appointed and removed from official positions below the fourth rank."
"Thank you, Lord Marquis!"
Lu Fenghou smiled stupidly and bowed.
This is also a special case during wartime. According to the rules, even a general of the third rank does not have the right to appoint and remove officials of the fourth rank at will. Fang Jie is only a fourth rank now, and he does not have this qualification. The emperor knew that this battle was important, so he gave Fang Jie this privilege to boost morale.
"Xiahou Baichuan"
"The subordinates are here"
"You were already a fifth-rank general promoted by the prince, and now I am promoting you to a fourth-rank general."
"Subordinate thank you, Lord Marquis, for your promotion!"
Xiahou Baichuan quickly knelt down.
"Everyone, get up. You all know in your heart that you don't need to be too happy no matter how high your promotion is. It's only after you survive this battle that you'll be happy. Your Majesty will give you more than this. The only way to serve the country is to join the army. Do your best, Your Majesty is a wise monarch and will not bury your merits. In times of peace and prosperity, many people say that soldiers are useless. Let those who say soldiers are useless also see who keeps them safe at critical times."
"My subordinates will be at your command!"
Fang Jie hummed: "Tell the soldiers, this battle will not be easy What you are stopping are not just the fierce Menglang Riders, they are also a group of people who are eager to go home. The latter's identity It is far more important than the former. If it were the barbarians who blocked our way home, you can imagine how ferocious the enemy will be this time."
Fang Jie finished checking the defenses on this side of the canyon and then went to the west to check. Between the two stone walls is the entire canyon, which is the living space for nearly 20,000 soldiers. The entire canyon was blocked from both ends. There was still a door in the stone wall on the east side, but the west side was completely blocked. Standing on the stone wall to the west and looking out, you can see the vast expanse of prairie without clairvoyance.
A few years ago, 700,000 elite soldiers and millions of people of the Sui Dynasty walked out of here. How high-spirited were they at that time? But who could have imagined that they would be defeated and killed in just a few months. I don¡¯t know if there are any remaining Han people on the grassland at this time. Are they still hiding, or are they captured by the barbarians and made into slaves, suffering torture every day.
The development of things never seems to meet everyone's expectations. Fate first stabbed Sui, and now it's time to stab Meng Yuan.
Fang Jie stood on the stone wall and looked at the grassland covered with green grass. All he was thinking about was Prince Zhong Yang Qi and Luo Yao.
In fact, even now, things are still weird.
Logically speaking, if Meng Ge Kuoketai threw hundreds of thousands of troops into the Sui Dynasty, the escape route must be arranged properly. However, Lu Fenghou and his people spent two months building stone walls in the canyon, but there was no movement at all from the Meng Yuan side. if notIt's because Brother Meng of Kuoketai is an idiot, so it only means that something happened to Meng Yuan's side, leaving Brother Meng with no spare time to take care of this side.
As the Great Khan of the most powerful empire in the world, what could bind this emperor to the point of being tied up in the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties?
Does it have anything to do with Prince Hezhong¡¯s journey to the west and Xiao Yijiu¡¯s journey to the west? And two Tianzuns ran away one after another. What was hidden behind this? Very little is known about Meng Yuan.
Fang Jie shook his head, not thinking that the former was very likely. Even if Prince Zhong and Xiao Yijiu's cultivation was strong, they were not so strong that they could stumble the entire empire on their own.
When thinking of this, Fang Jie couldn't help but think of Kuoketai Menglie leading his army to attack the left avant-garde. What kind of interests drove the Meng Yuan Khan and the Sui Emperor to reach an agreement on this matter? There is no doubt that both Yang Yi and Meng Ge's goals are Luo Yao. Why is Meng Ge so afraid of a general of the Great Sui Dynasty that he even did not hesitate to stand with the emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty for a short time?
Didn't Brother Meng know at that time that even if the emperor of the Sui Dynasty had any agreement with him, he would definitely not easily release the two hundred thousand wolf riders back to the prairie. If Brother Meng could think of this, why didn't he send troops in advance? Occupy the canyon support? This is not what a talented and strategic monarch should do, and no one can see through it.
Looking at the grassland, Fang Jie couldn't help but think of the man named Luo Yao.
What kind of secrets does a man who aroused the hostility and even murderous intentions of two powerful empires, Sui Dynasty and Meng Yuan Dynasty, hide? If he was just a Sui general with strong soldiers and horses, there would be no need for Meng Ge to dispatch more than 200,000 people to try to kill him.
Fang Jie even firmly believed that in order to kill Luo Yao, the Meng Yuan army must bring a large number of masters. Since these people were confident that they could kill Luo Yao, why didn't they just assassinate the emperor of the Sui Dynasty? This shows that Luo Yao actually has a more important position in the mind of Kuoketai Meng than the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty!
So much so that the two emperors needed to join forces for him.
Fang Jie let out a long sigh of relief, but the doubts in his eyes did not dissipate.