"The combat effectiveness of Liu Wuzhou's bandit army is higher than what I expected." Li Jing reported to Chen Sangliang: "It seems that Liu Wuzhou's sister and half of his family property were not given to Song Jingang in vain. Song Jingang brought them to Liu Wuzhou's command from Wei Dao'er. The more than 4,000 elite soldiers did have some combat effectiveness. Song Jinjiang himself was as talented as the rumors. He commanded the Dingyang thief army and did not suffer much in the battle against Kan Leng. If the Dingyang thief army had this ability, Li I¡¯m afraid the brothers couldn¡¯t get back Yanmen County from Liu Wuzhou before.¡± Chen Sangliang had also heard about Liu Wuzhou¡¯s use of half of the family property and a sister to win over Song Jinjiang. Naturally, he was not surprised when he heard Li Jing¡¯s report again, so he asked directly. Said: "If Liu Wuzhou did not make the mistake of underestimating the enemy today and launched a surprise attack when our army crossed the river with one or two thousand people, would our soldiers be sure to kill them?" "If our advance team crossing the river is the main force, then there must be a problem Not big." Li Jing replied. "Then continue to fight like this. If the Taiyuan rebels are frightened and the Dingyang rebels are hurt, they should be able to move on their own." Chen Sangliang said. Li Jing and Chen Sangliang, the unscrupulous uncle and nephew, exchanged just a few words, which directly destined the start of another bloody storm. In the early morning of the next day, Li Jing once again led 15,000 Sui troops and ten artillery pieces out of the camp, and for the second time attacked the Dingyang Army's defensive position slightly farther away. The Dingyang Army quickly gathered its troops to prepare for the battle. Li Jiancheng also once again He bit the bullet and sent Li Er and Yin Kaishan to lead their troops out of the camp, always ready to assist Dingyang's army in combat. Of course, the pontoon bridge erected by the Sui army on the first day had been destroyed by Dingyang's army, but it didn't matter. The main force of the Sui army, which was rich and wealthy, did not take the loss of ropes and floating fortresses seriously. As usual, they used long shields to form temporary fortifications to protect their bows and arrows. They fired arrows with their hands to suppress the enemy on the other side, and then the Sui soldiers, who were skilled in water skills, swam across the river to set up pontoon bridges. It didn't take long to set up several temporary pontoon bridges. The Sui army's advance team strode across the river, methodically seized the river stalls, and formed an array. Cover more soldiers from our own army crossing the river. Having learned the lesson from the first day, Liu Wuzhou did not dare to underestimate the enemy again this time. Seeing that the Sui army crossed the river with only 1,200 to 300 men, Liu Wuzhou ordered an attack without hesitation and sent General Xun Xiang to lead a frontal attack of 3,000 troops. Trying to drive the Sui army across the river again. However, the Taiyuan Army remained motionless. Neither Li Er nor Yin Kaishan ordered an attack. The first reason was that the battlefield was so small that the Taiyuan Army would not be able to fight even if they charged forward. The second reason was that Li Er and Yin Kaishan had clearly seen the Sui Army. The banner of the pioneer of crossing the river was too frightened to touch this bad luck. As a result, the poor General Xunxiang suffered a lot. When he led three thousand infantrymen and shouted fiercely to kill him, the fierce general Xunxiang of the Dingyang army not only took the lead and rushed to the front, but also shouted like thunder and kept giving orders, "Charge! Charge!" ! Rushing in and fighting, you can¡¯t give Chen¡¯s army a chance to form a formation and fight!¡± The Sui army did not just defend their position and did not fight back like yesterday. On the contrary, there was an amazingly young Sui army general leading 300 soldiers! He launched a counterattack, charging at the front with two hand-held knives like Xun Xiang's. His face was as young as a half-year-old child, but he was still smiling with excitement, and he was mumbling, "Finally I can have fun, I can finally kill to my heart's content." "When the two charging armies collided head-on, Xunxiang collided with the young Sui general first. He bullied the Sui general because he was young and inexperienced. The young Sui general had already roared like thunder on a sunny day, and then slashed Xun Xiang's head with a knife from his right hand. It was as fast as lightning but with a powerful force. Xun Xiang was shocked and quickly raised his knife to parry, and managed to hold the young Sui Xiang back in a dangerous position. The knife struck him on the head, and Xun Xiang immediately felt a huge force hitting his knife, making a loud bang, and almost knocked the steel knife in his hand flying away on the spot! There was another sound of wind, and the young Sui general's left-hand sword slashed at Xunxiang's head with incredible force. Xunxiang hurriedly went to parry again, and immediately discovered that the young Sui general's left hand power was not at all in his right The shock also made his jaw numb, and he almost lost his sword again. When Xun Xiang was startled again, the young Sui general roared with dissatisfaction. He seemed very unwilling to take off Xun Xiang's head with two swords. With his flaw exposed, Xun Xiang was unable to fight back. Not only was he unable to fight back, he was also killed by the young Sui general and kept retreating. Seeing that Xun Xiang's situation was not good, the Dingyang soldiers beside him rushed up to help, but the young Sui general killed two of them one after another. The Dingyang soldiers screamed in shock, and Xun Xiang's mouth was already red and swollen from the shock. He also quickly retreated and fled back to his own army. His mind was still at a loss, and he thought in a lost heart: "Who is this man? Why is he so powerful?" What made Xun Xiang even more stunned was still behind, he had already fled into his own army to seek help Although he was protected, the young Sui general refused to let him go at all. He slashed and chopped with two swords and pursued him with great strides. As if he was in an uninhabited land, any soldier of the Dingyang Army who dared to step forward to stop him would not be killed by him. To be cut down is to be beatenHe was seriously injured with a knife, and he screamed and ran away in embarrassment. Inspired by the young Sui general, the Sui army officers also marched forward with great momentum. Following him, they rushed left and right in the Dingyang army. They were invincible. Although the Dingyang army had a large number of troops, they were defeated by this small army. The Sui army was killed until ghosts cried and wolves howled, and they could not resist. At the same time, seeing the brave performance of this young Sui general on the battlefield, senior generals of the Dingyang Army such as Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang inevitably opened their mouths and asked who this thief was? Why so ferocious and brutal? Surprised, Liu Wuzhou personally patted his horse in front of Li Er and Yin Kaishan in the west, pointed at the Sui general who was rampaging in his army formation and asked: "Who is that man? Do you know?" "Yes. Li Er nodded and replied with a wry smile: "Luo Shixin, who became famous all over the world at the age of fourteen, was the number one warrior under Zhang Xutuo and is now the number one killer under the traitor Chen Yingliang. He was famous for his invincibility in Lishan." I also suffered a big loss in front of him in the war." "Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" Liu Wu was furious when he heard this on Monday, and shouted: "If you had told me earlier that he was Luo Shixin, who is famous all over the world, I would have asked Xun Xiang to make a surprise attack. Charge and give this man a chance to engage in a close-quarters melee with us? " Li Er's face looked a little ugly. After a while, he swallowed hard and explained: "I thought that my brother also knew Luo Shixin's flag, so he didn't warn him in advance. It was all due to my negligence. "Brother, please forgive me." Liu Wuzhou snorted heavily and returned to his army formation with an unhappy face. After introducing the situation of Luo Shixin to his other brother-in-law Song Jingang, Song Jingang, who had also heard of Luo Shixin's famous name, Then he suddenly realized it. He first said that it was no wonder he was so powerful, and then suggested to Liu Wuzhou: "Brother, it is better to withdraw the army and reorganize it. Let the Taiyuan army entangle Luo Shixin first, and then we will launch an attack." Liu Wuzhou didn't even bat an eyelid. He nodded in agreement with a blink of an eye, immediately ordered the troops to retreat, and asked Xun Xiang, who had been killed by the Sui army, to retreat and reorganize his formation. He also sent someone to contact Li Er, asking the Taiyuan army to launch an attack immediately, and not to allow the Sui army to cross the river in large numbers. opportunity. Li Er and Yin Kaishan heard the words and complained, but they were soft-spoken. The Taiyuan army, which was currently begging Liu Wuzhou, was forced to have no choice. Li Er could only lead his troops to line up and slowly crush the Sui army's advance team across the river. . The result was as expected by Li Er and Yin Kaishan. They had just pushed into the vicinity of the Sui Army's advance team crossing the river. The Sui Army's artillery deployed directly on the west side of the ferry opened fire immediately. Ten shells roared into the Taiyuan Army's queue. In an instant, it took the lives of twenty or thirty Taiyuan Army soldiers. One of the shells hit the leg of Li Er's horse during an irregular jump, causing the horse to neigh and fall to the ground. Li Er also fell on the spot with a messy face. . The artillery of the Sui Army continued to roar, forcing the Taiyuan Army to speed up the pace and engage in a close fight with the Sui Army. The Sui Army was not polite at all when facing the Taiyuan Army. The soldiers of the Taiyuan Army had just rushed forward, and the Sui Army's formation had already taken the lead. Thirty gunpowder bottles were released, and the Taiyuan army was blown up. Luo Shixin, who found a fighter plane, immediately led the warriors to charge, and entered the ranks of the Taiyuan army to engage in close-quarters melee combat that he was best at. No one in the Taiyuan army dared to stop Luo Shixin, the famous god of death. He was charged and killed by the Sui army in an even more embarrassing and chaotic situation. Dissatisfied boos also sounded in the Dingyang army formation again, and the gap between the two armies gradually deepened. In this fierce battle, the Sui army, which was limited by the river's troop input speed, had a difficult time in the early stage. With an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength in some areas, it was very difficult to fight against the second attack launched by the Dingyang army. The enemy could not expand the space if they did not retreat. However, when another Sui army super general Xue Renguo led his army across the Dongwo River and joined the battlefield, the Dingyang army no longer had the chance to drive the Sui army's advance team across the south bank. It was known as an enemy of ten thousand people. Xue Renguo also personally led the warriors to charge into the battle, killing the Dingyang army led by Xun Xiang to a frightened state. He kept exclaiming, "Why are there so many powerful generals under the command of Chen Thief?" Fortunately for the Dingyang Army, when the Sui Army crossed the river and accumulated enough counterattack strength on the north bank, all the counterattack strength was used on the Taiyuan Army. Generals such as Luo Shixin, Xue Renguo, Qiu Shili, and Zhao Yu took turns leading the attack. The Taiyuan Army attacked the Taiyuan Army and killed the Taiyuan Army until they burst into tears and screamed loudly. The cavalry of the Baoguo Army led by Zhao Yu also took advantage of the retreat of Yin Kaishan's army, drove away Yin Kaishan's defeated army and broke through Li Er's array. Li Er's men, who were frightened by the Sui army, fled in all directions. Four hundred reported soldiers rushed left and right in the rebel army, killing many people. They also chased Li Er's flag and refused to release it, forcing Li Er to Maybe they fled back to their own army camp in embarrassment to seek protection. As a result, just after noon, all the Taiyuan troops had already fled back to their own army camp. After Li Er and Yin Kaishan were defeated and fled back to the camp, Li Jiancheng, the commander-in-chief of the Taiyuan Army, said that he did not dare to send any more troops out of the camp to assist in the battle. The fierce generals of the Sui Army singled out the Taiyuan Army for the fight. How dare Li Jiancheng, who was already outnumbered, dare to send more troops? Going out to camp and dying in vain? Li Jing waited for a long time without seeing the Taiyuan army leave the camp. He was secretly happy and immediately ordered the artillery to move their positions and head east to prepare for bombardment.Ding Yang's army, and Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang were not fools. When they saw the Sui army's artillery advancing eastward from a distance, they immediately understood that it was finally their army's turn to be unlucky, so Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang didn't even blink an eyelid and immediately recalled them. After seizing the front line of his own army, he immediately led all the troops back to the camp and guarded behind closed doors, allowing the Sui army, whose strength was inferior to that of his own army, to yell arrogantly outside the camp. When things got to this point, it was no longer possible for the Dingyang Army and the Taiyuan Army to avoid any estrangement or suspicion. Li Jing, who was not ready to attack the camp, originally wanted to give up on the situation, but Li Jing's unscrupulous nephew Chen Sangliang received the battle report from the front. Later, he refused to give up and sent someone to urgently send a trench bridge truck customized for the Dongwo River. He asked Li Jing to transport an artillery across the river and fire several cannons at the Dingyang Army's camp to force the Taiyuan Army to move out. Camp rescue. At the same time, as a precaution, Chen Sangliang also secretly sent Guo Feng and Chen Ci to Li Jing's command to deal with the Liu and Li coalition's desperate struggle. In order to satisfy the bad hobby of his unscrupulous nephew, Li Jing had no choice but to let the soldiers transport an artillery across the north bank of the Dongwo River. Under the protection of the Sui army officers and soldiers, he fired three cannons at the Dingyang army camp, and only One shot blasted open the gate of Dingyang Army's camp, and the other two shot made two big holes in Dingyang Army's camp fence and Juma deer antlers, and then flew into the camp, killing and injuring several people who were unable to dodge. The Dingyang Army was so unlucky that the Dingyang Army, which had full confidence in the camp's fortifications, also screamed in horror, saying that the camp would be destroyed today. When the Dingyang army was in panic, Li Jiancheng in the Taiyuan military camp to the west was also in a dilemma. Li Jiancheng could see that the Sui army had no real intention to attack the Dingyang army camp. There was no need for his own army to send troops to rescue, but if he didn't If he sends troops, Dingyang Army will investigate in the future, and he will have no way to explain to Liu Wuzhou. After all, Liu Wuzhou came to help the Taiyuan Army with good intentions. As a result, after thinking about it, Li Jiancheng, who already had little capital, decided to stand still and prepare to observe the situation again. The Sui army really looked at the Dingyang army in a different light. After three artillery shells knocked the Dingyang army to pieces, Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, who understood that the primitive civil fortifications were vulnerable to the Sui army's artillery, were ready to build flesh and blood fortifications to resist. When the Sui army attacked, the Sui army was extremely surprised and did not fire the fourth artillery piece. Instead, it chose to stand still and wait for the fighter plane to appear. The Dingyang army was confused and did not dare to attack rashly. They held their breath and stayed away from the Sui army. During the confrontation, the battlefield fell into temporary calm. After half of Shenshi, the Taiyuan army was still not seen coming out of the camp to offer help to Ding Yang army. Li Jing then sent an envoy carrying a white flag to the gate of Ding Yang army camp and shouted loudly, "Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, and the soldiers of Mayi, you Do you see clearly? We can attack your camp at any time, but your so-called friendly brothers, the Li family, are standing still and refuse to send any soldiers to help you! Our Highness, the King of Tang, has a bodhisattva heart and compassion, so he decided to do it again! Let me give you one last chance. We will retreat today. You have one night to think about what to do! We will come back tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will never be merciful again!" After saying this, the Sui army's troops Under the personal command of Li Jing, they began to retreat, covering the only artillery across the river and slowly retreating. The Dingyang Army's attack position was stared at by nine Sui Army artillery pieces on the south bank. Neither Liu Wuzhou nor Song Jingang dared to act rashly. The Taiyuan Army, which had to endure a severe beating for its entire camp, did not dare to move. It was all about you looking at me and me looking at you. They stood still and watched the Sui Army officers and soldiers swaggeringly withdrew across the Dongwo River and returned to the Sui Army Camp five miles to the south. Camp rest. Let¡¯s not talk about how the Dingyang Army and the Taiyuan Army, who were trying to preserve each other¡¯s strength after the Sui Army withdrew, argued with each other. Let¡¯s just say that after Li Jing led the Sui Army soldiers to return in triumph, they returned to their own army camp and saw the Sui Army at first sight. The soldiers were busy preparing dry food for torches and other supplies. Although the sun had begun to set at this moment, it was very common to prepare dry food for torches in the military camp. However, the military god Li Jing immediately concluded from the quantity of torches, dry food and horse feed that his unscrupulous nephew was preparing The night battle started. Then he led Luo Shixin, Xue Renguo and other generals into the Chinese army's tent and saw that Chen Sangliang had indeed asked the guards to light a large number of candles in the tent early, and was also gathering with Yuan Tiangang and other civil servants next to the map sand table. They discussed in secret until Sun Fujia saw Li Jing coming in and warned him. Then his unfilial nephew Chen Sangliang stood up to greet his cousin Li Jing. Li Jing asked with a smile: "Your Highness, what? Do you want to fight again today?" "Nothing can be hidden from my uncle's eyes." Chen Sangliang smiled and said, "If nothing else happens, Liu and Li's bandit army should make adjustments overnight tonight. Fighter opportunities are rare, so we must prepare early." "Your Highness is so sure. The bandit army will definitely make adjustments tonight, are you afraid that your hard work will be in vain?" Li Jing asked curiously. "That's for sure." Chen Sangliang replied: "My nephew has some research on psychology and knows very well how selfish a person is. Liu Wuzhou personally led the main force south to help the Taiyuan bandit army in order to covet Taiyuan.The rebels' money, food and land rewards and fear of losing their lives are not to spend all their capital to find an advantage for the Taiyuan rebels. Today, the gap between their two armies has emerged. Our army once again used artillery to prove that the earth and stone fortifications are simply incompetent in front of our army. Attack, uncle, you threatened on behalf of your nephew that you will formally attack the camp of Liu Wu and Zhou's bandits tomorrow. " Having said this, Chen Sangliang paused and continued: "Together with these points, in order to preserve his strength, Liu Wuzhou must make adjustments to avoid the sharp edge of our army. The Taiyuan bandit army, which has been frightened by us, also We definitely don't dare to camp outside the city anymore, so they will definitely make some moves tonight. We have been prepared to send troops as soon as we have the opportunity. We will definitely win a big victory! " "I really admire His Highness's ability to figure out the enemy's thoughts. After listening to His Highness's analysis, I also believe that Liu and Li's bandit army will definitely make some moves tonight. "Li Jing nodded, and in turn complimented the junior Chen Sangliang, and then asked curiously: "In your opinion, how should the rebel army adjust? " "I also have a headache about this problem. Chen Sangliang frowned and replied: "Logically speaking, it is definitely the safest and safest way for Liu and Li's thief's army to withdraw directly to Taiyuan City, but the Li brothers are not fools. What dangers will there be if they invite Liu, Wu and Zhou's thief's army into Taiyuan City?" They cannot fail to see the consequences. Therefore, I suspect that Liu and Li's thieves may take another approach " "The Li family's thief army is guarding Taiyuan, and Liu Wu and Zhou's thief army are guarding Yuci. They each support the city and defend each other, forming horns with each other! "Li Jing quickly finished speaking for Chen Sangliang. Chen Sangliang nodded, indicating that Li Jing's guess was not wrong. Li Jing hurriedly asked: "Then, Your Highness, can you conclude that Liu and Li's thieves will definitely act like this? If it can be determined, then we can divide one of our troops to ambush in the east, cooperate with our pursuing army to attack Liu Wuzhou, and have great hope of determining Liu Wuzhou's battle on Monday! " "I'm just worried because I can't decide. "Chen Sangliang frowned and said: "Although it is most beneficial for the Li brothers to have Liu and Li's bandit armies guard Taiyuan and Yuci respectively, Liu Wuzhou is not a fool either, and will definitely not be willing to go to the small town of Yuci, which is far smaller than Taiyuan. The garrison and the food and fodder for Liu Wuzhou's bandit army are also a big problem, so I'm worried that even if the Li brothers make this request, Liu Wuzhou will not agree. " Li Jing nodded slightly and admitted that Chen Sangliang's analysis was good. It was difficult for Liu Wuzhou to accept this proposal of defending the city at a loss. Feng Deyi said cautiously: "Li Shangshu, I originally suggested that His Highness the King of Tang be on the safe side. He only pursues, not ambush, and does not risk ambush, but His Highness the Prince of Tang is noncommittal " "History of Feng Nei, you still don't understand our His Highness Prince Tang very well. "Li Jing interrupted Feng Deyi with a smile and said with a smile: "Our Royal Highness the King of Tang is a good man in normal times. No matter how much hatred or hatred we have against him, he can forgive us as long as he admits his mistakes and begs for mercy. But on the battlefield, we Your Highness doesn't want to suffer any losses. He just wants to take advantage of it. If he can defeat Liu Wuzhou's main force in a field battle, would he be willing to miss such a good opportunity? " Feng Deyi sneered and shut up. Chen Sangliang smiled bitterly and said: "My cousin knows me best. Yes, I don't want to let go of such a good opportunity, but I am still not sure whether Liu Wuzhou will move his army eastward. , to defend Yuci for the Li family's bandit army. Uncle, what do you think? Do you think Liu Wu and Zhou Pifu will accept Li Jiancheng's proposal? " "Even your Highness, you can't predict the enemy's thoughts, let alone your subordinates. Li Jing shook his head and said seriously: "However, Your Highness, I think you might as well take a gamble and bet that Liu Wuzhou will move his army to Yuci. We will arrange an ambush in advance and use our main force on him!" If he enters Taiyuan City with the Taiyuan bandit army, we will use all our strength to the north! " "gamble? I'm not good at this. "Chen Sangliangtian scratched his head shamelessly, and then said: "But, if I must make a bet, I would be willing to put my chips on Liu Wu and Zhou Xi's march to Yuci " "Why? "Li Jing asked. "Because even if I bet on Liu Wuzhou's move to Taiyuan City, I won't win much even if I win the bet. Chen Sangliang replied: "The camp of Liu and Li's bandits is less than ten miles away from Taiyuan City. It is very convenient to retreat. No matter how fast we pursue, we will not be able to win much victory in the pursuit." But if Liu Wuzhou marched eastward to Yuci, then the distance of more than fifty or sixty miles would create enough space and time for us to pursue and kill the enemy. If we win the bet, we will win a big victory, and we will definitely not win too little. " "Then why doesn't His Highness bet? Li Jing asked: "Since Your Highness knows that we won't win much if we bet on Liu Wu and Zhou going north, why don't we bet on him going east to Yuci?" In this way, if we lose the bet, at most, our ambushes will take some risks and work hard in vain, and we will gain less in the pursuit battle. But if we bet correctly, the gains will be huge. Such a bet is a sure win, Your Highness. Why not go for a big win? Do you still want to consider Xiaojie? ¡± Chen Sangliang was stunned for a moment, and the hesitation on his treacherous and obscene face was immediately wiped away. He nodded vigorously and said, "You should bet big! Not to mention the big win, maybe you can also win that Grab someone, too!" Although Chen Sangliang didn't say clearly who he wanted to grab, Li Jing, Feng Deyi, Yuan Tiangang and Sun Fuga still said in their hearts at the same time: "It must be Liu Wuzhou's beautiful sister. ! Our Prince Tang is really admirable in terms of his lust and restraint.¡±