Chapter 42 forty one

Li Shimin's complexion changed. This news really made him happy. Master Liang is a powerful figure in the north. In recent years, all kinds of rebel forces in the Tang Dynasty have almost been wiped out. Only Master Liang has been unwilling to surrender.This time Li Shimin dispatched almost all the elites of the court, led by Yuchi Jingde and several other generals, and beat Liang Shi all the way to the clouds. After besieging him for more than three months, he was finally put down.However, it is a pity that Sun Da slipped through the net. This person is Li Jiancheng's bodyguard. He escaped from Chang'an after the Xuanwumen Incident and has been against Li Tang.After reading the memorial, Li Shimin asked Cen Wenwen to draft an edict ordering that the guards everywhere must try to capture Sun Da.

After Cen Wenwen left, Li Shimin walked to a map and looked at it carefully.His gaze moved northward from the clouds, and fell towards the direction of Yinshan Mountain, which is Dingxiang where Jielihan's tent is located.It turned out that after the Tang army besieged Liang Shidu, Liang Shidu sent people to ask for help from Jieli. The place where he stopped and did not shoot.Li Shimin originally thought that Xieli was waiting for Tang Jun and Liang Shi to be exhausted, but now that Liang Shi was defeated, he still didn't move at all.Li Shimin said to himself, "Strange, what is Jieli trying to do?"

Not only Li Shimin had this question, but even Jieli's generals were also very confused.One day after Yunzhong was captured by the Tang army, Jieli was patrolling the camp. Zhishi Sili, who was following him, asked, "Khan, the main force of the Tang army is in Yunzhong. They have fought against Liang Shi for three months. We are exhausted from fighting, and it is time for us to reap the benefits, why did you suddenly order to stop advancing?" Jieli glanced at Zhishi Sili and asked, "Have you ever fought in the clouds?" Zhishi Sili Li Li replied: "I followed the old Khan more than ten years ago when he surrounded Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty at Yanmen Pass, and he went to that area." Jieli said: "Since I have been there, I should know the terrain in the cloud. There are everywhere They are all high mountains, connected by passes, and our cavalry is like a dragon in the shallows, and our advantages cannot be brought into play. Since the Tang army has already taken the head of Liang Shidu, why should we compete with them in such a place?"

Zhi Shili asked: "What does the Great Khan mean—" Jie pointed to the west with his whip, "I want to play a big game of chess with Li Shimin there." The direction of Jieli's finger was Suizhou. After more than ten days, more than 30,000 fine horsemen and Zhishi Sili of Ashina's Erhan Tuli, as well as 20,000 horses led by Jieli's son Shi Luodie and others, Suddenly appeared under the city of Suizhou and besieged the city.The guard is Fan Xin who was once appreciated by Li Shimin.Before the enemy encircled him, he dispatched a fast horse to quickly report the enemy's situation to Chang'an.There were not many defenders in Suizhou, only 5,000 men. Fan Xin led these 5,000 men to fight Tuli hard for five days, and suffered heavy losses.Tuli's men and horses also lost a lot, but they were at a loss.

Tuli's general Hua Li'er looked at the countless corpses under the city wall, and said to Tuli with grief and indignation: "Khan, we can't fight like this anymore. After a few days, we have killed two thousand people." Team, he Jieli is obviously going to kill people with a knife! He won't give up until we finish the game. Instead of letting him make such plots, it's better to go back to our tribe. There are 30,000 brothers who will protect you and fight him to the death. In the game, win or lose is a matter of joy, when will such a blunt knife be slaughtered until it hurts so much?"

Tuli looked at the city wall and said: "You're right, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain, pass on my general's order, and the whole army must gather!" Huali'er was delighted: "Khan, you finally figured it out. Just send an order to attack the ferry of the Yellow River, seize the ship from Zhishi Sili and withdraw the troops, and leave Suizhou to Shi Luodie to play by himself." Tuli glanced at Huali'er: "Who said to retreat? I want to Change the style of play, attack with the whole army, see if Fan Xin can catch his breath? Don't cut off a piece of arm and stretch it up again, it's endless!" Hua Li'er knelt down with a plop: "Khan, can it be? Do you want to take all our money?" Tuli pointed at the opposite city wall and said, "There are only a few thousand Tang troops in Suizhou city, so it's easier to deal with this guy than with that man's 200,000 or so cavalry Don't forget, fifteen of the eighteen tribal chiefs have already disappeared, and I don't want to be the sixteenth!"

The setting sun was like blood, and on top of the messy Suizhou wall, a dilapidated battle flag was fluttering in the wind.Under the battle flag, a row of soldiers rested against the crenel. Their tattered clothes and dilapidated battle armor were stained with blood, and everyone looked tired.A soldier without a helmet was playing a piccolo, and the melancholy music filled the air.A bandaged veteran pulled out a tender grass leaf from a gap in the city wall, opened his chapped lips, and chewed it with relish.Suddenly, the sound of Xiaobing's flute stopped, and he lay on the crenel and stared blankly ahead, his eyes widened and froze into a terrifying expression.In front, Hu Jiang Huali'er bared his right arm and held a big knife in his hand. Countless soldiers suddenly let out a burst of earth-shaking shouts and rushed towards him, and a bloody offensive and defensive battle began.

The heavy ladder landed on the crenel of the city wall with a muffled sound, and Tuli's subordinates rushed towards the top of the city one after another.A pair of ladders climbed up the city wall, braved the feathered arrows that flew like locusts, the soldier held up a wooden fork and stretched out from between the two rattan plaques. A Hu Bing followed, a hole was torn open in the city wall, and the defenders fell into chaos.At a critical moment, Fan Xin appeared in the retreating crowd, brandished his sword and shouted: "Don't retreat, stop the opening!" He led his personal squad to fight hard, the morale of the Tang army cheered up, and the attacking Hu soldiers were shot. Retired, and took a few prisoners.An old soldier looked at Fan Xin, who was covered in blood, and said, "In the past ten years, Hu Kou has harassed Suizhou seven times. Everyone can see that, Lord Inspector, you have made up your mind to defend this city wall for us!" Fan Xin said with emotion: "Yes, I assure you, I will never back down, and I will persist until the imperial court's rescuers arrive! "

At this time, there was another deafening shout from under the city wall.The veteran shouted: "My lord, the enemy is about to attack the city again, and there is still a big leader there." Fan Xin quickly lay down on the crenel to observe, and said: "That is the second Turkic Khan Tuli! Tell the whole army that the enemy is not coming well." Be careful!" The soldiers raised their rattan cards, and Fan Xin drew his sword from his waist. The atmosphere in the city was extremely tense, and everyone held their breath, waiting for a thunderous attack. But a surprising thing happened. The enemy's attacking formation had just advanced more than a hundred steps, but suddenly stopped, and after a while, the whole army turned back.Fan Xin kept watch for a while, and seeing that the enemy had no intention of attacking again, he left the crenel with a confused face.Back at the governor's office, he called Suizhou Secretary Cao Canjun Zhao Gongcun for a secret discussion.Although this Zhao Gongcun is only an eighth-rank official, he is one of the few officials in Suizhou City, and he is a local, familiar with side affairs. Fan Xin has always relied on him very much.Fan Xin expressed his doubts to Zhao Gongcun: The enemy has tried to attack the top of the city with a dense formation, and if they come a few more times, the city wall will be taken down by them if the city wall is not neat, but why did they suddenly stop attacking? ?

Zhao Gongcun pondered for a while and replied: "Well, the officials are just guessing. There may be such an explanation for this matter, that is, Hu Kou's raids did not come to capture Suizhou at all." Fan Xin asked: "Why did you come here if you didn't want to fight Suizhou?" Zhao Gongcun said, "I heard that Xieli used to be a famous hunter on the grassland!" Fan Xin was shocked: "You mean, he left this The scented bait is to lure a big prey?" Zhao Gongcun's words suddenly awakened him, and the prisoners who were captured at the top of the city just now had already opened their mouths, and some of them confessed that the imperial court had sent three groups of people totaling 150,000 People came to Suizhou day and night.The enemy slowed down their offensive knowing that the Tang army was rushing to help. This is enough to show that Xieli just wanted to lay a big trap under the city of Suizhou to lure and annihilate the more than 100,000 reinforcements.Fan Xin couldn't sit still anymore, and hurriedly wrote a secret letter, picked ten soldiers with high martial arts skills, and asked them to leave the city with the letter to Chang'an in the middle of the night.