While the various partial divisions achieved great success, the 50,000 elite infantry and cavalry of the Central Army, representing the counter-insurgency commander, also won repeated battles and were unstoppable. The entire army, led by Yang Su, the marching commander of Bingzhou Road and Hebei's pacification ambassador, entered Hedong from Guanzhong.
Yang Liang listened to Wang Kun's suggestion and changed his strategy of seizing Guanzhong by lightning to defend the west and march eastward. He ordered He Dangui to burn down the Yellow River Bridge. He also appointed Wang Dan as the governor of Puzhou and led tens of thousands of people to join forces with He Dangui to defend Puzhou.
In order to recapture Puzhou, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, Yang Su personally led five thousand Qingqi to attack Puzhou. He first hid his army in Weikou, quietly led his army across the river at night, and launched a fierce attack on Puban, which was defended by the generals Ruru Tianbao and He Dangui at dawn. Ruru Tianbao was killed and defeated, and he led the remaining soldiers The defeated general fled in embarrassment to Jiangzhou in the north. Wang Dan, who was in Puzhou City, was just like Qiu He. He had no idea that Puban had been lost and was killed by another small-scale elite division. However, compared to Qiu He, he was killed in the city guard's mansion. Wang Dan is obviously much more unlucky.
This lightning assault led by Yang Su not only regained Puzhou, a battleground for military strategists, for the imperial court, but also opened the southern gate to the north and merged with the state, providing a crucial foothold for the subsequent army.
In this crucial battle, Qu Tutong, the governor of Qizhou, played the most critical role.
When Yang Jian Bintian was in Renshou Palace, Yang Guang hoped to peacefully resolve the issue of annexing the state. After the military coup, he blocked the news of Yang Jian Bintian and his ascension to the throne. At the same time, he sent Qu Tutong to Jinyang with an imperial edict to conquer Han King Yang. Liang entered the court, but when Qu Tutong arrived, he already knew everything, so Qu Tutong returned without success.
Qu Tutong originally thought that Yang Liang's rebellion had nothing to do with him, but unexpectedly he was transferred to Yang Su's counter-rebellion army with an ultimatum from the Ministry of War, and was appointed by Yang Su as the commander of the cavalry battalion. Only when he met Yang Su did he know It was actually recommended by his old boss Yang Ji, which made him surprised, happy, and incredible.
At the beginning of last year, Yang Ji was appointed as the general manager and governor of Liangzhou, and the commander-in-chief of all the military affairs in Jiuzhou. And he, Qu Tutong, was the general manager of Ganzhou among the nine states. Because he was dissatisfied with Yang Ji, a young man, he gave him power and went on an expedition. Yiwu tried every means to make things difficult for him, and finally angered Yang Ji, who was driven to raise horses by the angry Yang Ji.
After that, a series of wars broke out in Liangzhou, and Qu Tutong not only had no chance to participate in the war and perform meritorious service, but he seemed to be famous for raising horses. Later, he was transferred to Beijing by the imperial court and served as the Shaoqing of Taipu Temple who was responsible for horse herding. On the other hand, Yin Shishi, Zhang Xutuo, Li Jing, Liu Quan, Zhang Dinghe, Xue Shixiong, Wang Wei, Yao Junsu and others all made great achievements and became famous after the war because they obeyed Yang Ji's orders. Received a reward from the imperial court.
Faced with this huge gap, Qu Tutong said that he had no regrets. It was a lie. Although he was appointed as the governor of Qizhou afterwards, it was a temporary inspection of the governor. If the court had a suitable candidate, he would be removed from the position of governor at any time. After being blasted down, he thought this would be the end of his life.
But what he never expected was that when Yang Ji followed Yang Guang's order and led Liangzhou soldiers into the pass, he would block him again. But this time, for the sake of the overall situation, he let more than 10,000 Liangzhou troops enter the pass when Yang Ji gave him the steps. I especially remember that Yang Ji said to him, "You will definitely be in trouble because of what happened today." Feel blessed with the decision.”
Qu Tutong just smiled and didn't take it to heart. However, Yang Ji immediately recommended himself to Yang Su after just over a month.
Yang Ji may have just said an ordinary and simple word to Yang Su at that time; but for Qu Tutong, this ordinary and simple sentence was a precious opportunity that could change his destiny. So when he knew that it was Yang Ji who recommended him, he almost shed tears.
Qu Tutong was forty-seven years old. He had wasted half his life and cherished the hard-won opportunity. When Yang Su captured Puzhou, he volunteered to be the vanguard of the army and personally led 300 dead soldiers to sneak across the Yellow River in a small boat. He fought with 300 dead soldiers against 5,000 enemy troops, and killed the guard general He Shangui in the chaos, making the first contribution to the army's crossing of the Yellow River.
It was this battle that made Yang Su, who was strict in running the army and clear about rewards and punishments, look at Qu Tutong with new eyes. He no longer regarded him as a shameful relation, and said directly, "The king of Wei is very interesting. I will give him Li Jing, and the king of Wei will give me one in return." Qu Tu Tong.”
Qu Tutong knew that Yang Su's appreciation was earned by his own life, but without Yang Ji's recommendation, he would not even be qualified to risk his life. If Yang Su hadn't sold Yang Ji's face and given him the opportunity against everyone else's objections, this credit would definitely belong to Tu Wanxu, Yang Ji's number one general, and not to him, Qu Tutong.
Therefore, Qu Tutong felt Yang Ji's kindness deeply in his heart.
Yang Su led an army of 50,000 people all the way north from Puzhou. The prefectures and counties along the way were already frightened by the great victories of Daizhou and Jizhou. They also heard that the victorious military god Yang Su personally led an army to suppress the rebellion, and he was so frightened that he refused to fight. The surrender allowed the Central Route Army to push to the north of Huoyi County in just three days.
Huoyi County is located in the northern part of Jinzhou, at the junction of the four states of Jin, Jie, Xi and Lu.
If Xinkou is the northern gate of Bingzhou (Taiyuan), then Huoyi County is the southern gate of Bingzhou. One can imagine the importance of its strategic location. In particular, the Gaobiling Mountains in the north of Huoyi County are steep and steep, acting like a natural barrier blocking the road to the north, while the Jieshan, Huoshan, and Wuling mountains in the east stretch for thousands of miles, dividing the southern part of Bingzhou into two.
When Yang Liang heard that Puzhou had been lost, he urgently appointed General Zhao Zikai as the commander-in-chief of the southern battlefield and asked him to command an army of 150,000 to defend the southern gate. Zhao Zikai was ordered to do so in the face of danger. He occupied all the roads heading north and stationed troops on Gaobi Ridge. The army's company camps stretched for fifty miles, and their power was overwhelming. Yang Liang himself led an army of 80,000 troops as the rear army, stationed in Lingshi County, Jiezhou, more than 20 miles north of Gaobi Ridge.
In fact, for Yang Liang, Bingzhou (Taiyuan County) is actually more dangerous, because Xinkou, the north gate of Bingzhou, has been lost, and the Youshuo Dai coalition forces are about to march south to Bingzhou; and Li Zixiong stormed Jingxing Pass, the east gate of Bingzhou, from Jingxing. Logically speaking, , Yang Liang should have deployed more troops in Bingzhou, but he also deployed 230,000 troops while occupying dangerous fortresses in the south.
This also shows that Yang Liang has a deep and extreme fear of Yang Su. As for Yang Ji, Yang Yichen, Li Jing, and Li Zixiong who are about to enter Bingzhou, in his mind, they are probably tied together, and they are not as threatening as Yang Su alone. Otherwise, he would not have made such an exaggerated deployment.
After Yang Ji captured Huoyi County in Jinzhou, he only rested for one night before taking his army to the foot of Gaobi Ridge and setting up camp far away.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, Yang Su was discussing the military situation with a group of generals. When he finished reading the enemy information that the scouts had discovered, he couldn't help but laugh and cry. He raised the military information in his hand and joked to the generals with a smile: "Our King of Han is really Look up to me! He left those young people in the north to bully me, and actually deployed 230,000 troops in Jiezhou. Doesn’t he know that I am very afraid of failure and of losing my security at the end of the year? What?"
Yang Su has been in the army for decades, what kind of battle has he not seen? He said the words "fear", but his tone, tone, and demeanor were extremely relaxed and leisurely.
The generals originally felt a little nervous because of Yang Liang's deployment, fearing that they would not be able to complete the combat mission as scheduled, but now when they heard the coach's words, the nervousness disappeared without a trace, and they all laughed.
This was exactly what Yang Su wanted. He felt much more relaxed when he saw the generals, and was about to discuss the next war. Unexpectedly, the fourth son Yang Jishan, who was the commander of the personal guards, stepped in and said to his father with a solemn expression. A ceremony: "To report to the Chief Manager, Deputy General Manager Zhou Luohu was shot by a stray arrow while attacking Jichang City in Luzhou this morning and has died."
"What?" As soon as Yang Jishan said this, the whole room was in an uproar. Even Yang Su changed his face and stood up in shock after hearing this.
Yang Su undoubtedly knows the most about Zhou Luohu's background and abilities among everyone present. Zhou Luohu initially served in Nanchen, and during the battle with Northern Qi, he galloped forward without hesitation. Xiao Mohe, who was the general of Nanchen at that time, therefore made him his deputy general, and followed him to win countless battles. Once the Southern Chen Dynasty attacked Xuzhou and fought against the Northern Zhou Dynasty in Pengcheng. The commander-in-chief Xiao Mohe fell from his horse on the battlefield. Zhou Luohu single-handedly rescued the commander-in-chief from the siege. Like Zhao Zilong in the novel, he killed seven in and seven out of the ten thousand troops, winning the title of bravery. Three armies.
When the Sui Dynasty launched the war to destroy Chen, Zhou Luohu, the governor of Yuzhang, and other military forces from ten counties blocked Qin Wang Yang Jun among the three marshals who attacked Chen for several months; until Yang Guang defeated Jiankang and asked Chen Shubao to give him After writing a letter of persuasion to surrender, he gave up resistance and surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. After entering the Sui Dynasty, he continued to conquer the east and west, and all achieved success.
During the Liaodong Campaign in the 18th year, Yang Jian appointed Zhou Luohu as the navy commander and led the navy to attack Goguryeo. He set out to sea from Donglai and went straight to Pyongyang City. On the way, he encountered a big storm and many ships were sunk, which ultimately made the war in vain. Return the result.
In the second year, Zhou Luohu was Yang Su's deputy general in the Turkic expedition. He fought against the Turkic cavalry and personally led 3,000 heavy cavalry to defeat the Turkic army. And this time to counter the rebellion, he became Yang Su's deputy general again, conducting the military affairs of Jiang, Jin, and Lu three states. It can be said that he was once again cooperating with his old partner.
It was because Zhou Luohu, who was the vanguard of the army, captured Jiang and Jin states in the front that Yang Su's Chinese army arrived in Huoyi County so quickly. Yang Su originally thought that Zhou Luohu could easily capture Luzhou, which had only four counties. Unexpectedly, What awaited was the sad news that the old man had been shot and killed by an arrow.
Although Yang Su was heartbroken by the death of his old man, he was a soldier who was used to life and death after all. He quickly came out of his grief. After calming down and thinking about it seriously, he knew why Zhou Luohu went to attack the city in person. The reason was Their troops were originally small, but now they have been divided into two. However, the enemy Yang Liang has an army of 230,000. Therefore, Zhou Luohu was worried that Yang Su could not defeat the enemy. In order to conquer Luzhou as soon as possible, he came to join them in time. This is the mistake of rushing for quick success.
Yang Su couldn't help sighing when he thought that his old friend had fought thousands of times in his life, but finally died in the small Luzhou. He slowly said to the generals sitting down: "The shroud in horse leather is the most glorious destination for our soldiers. General Zhou deserved his death." , there is nothing to be sad about.”
He quickly regained his composure and continued: "Although Luzhou is small, it borders the Yellow River to the west, Xizhou to the north, Jinzhou to the east, Jiangzhou to the east, and Puzhou to the south. This moment is particularly important for our counterinsurgency army. If it cannot be captured, the safety of our army's food routes will not be guaranteed, and there is a risk of our retreat being cut off, so we must capture it as soon as possible. Now, who is willing to go to Luzhou to take over the army, restore its morale, and complete the unfinished business of General Zhou? Have you done your best?"
"General Manager, Cui Zhongfang is willing to take the humble position!" As soon as Yang Su finished speaking, a Confucian general stood up and asked for orders. The person who spoke was Cui Zhongfang, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Cui Zhongfang was the advocate and promoter of the "Book Banning Order", but during the court discussion, his, Zheng Shanyuan, and Wang Long's arguments could not be established, and they could not argue with Yang Ji at all. This book was nothing more. However, the three of them encountered pig teammates. Zhang Jin, that guy saw that the three of them were unable to fight civilly, so he directly threatened them militarily. Yang Jian, who was angered, not only failed to pass the banning order, but instead dismissed the four of them from their official positions. Then, Yang Ji made public the children of the Boling Cui family who had committed crimes within a year. The huge number of Cui family officials caused the good reputation that the Boling Cui family had worked hard for nearly a thousand years and been proud of for generations to collapse. It would not lead to being criticized verbally and written by the whole world, but it also made the high-ranking Gaodi family become the object of ridicule by the scholars. Later, with the help of other high-ranking families, the Bolingcui family became even more infamous, falling from the first high-ranking family in Shandong to Fifth, the first one was replaced by Lu.
However, a high-ranking official like Cui Zhongfang, who is the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has strong connections in the court, and with the Cui family behind him, it is too easy to make a comeback. Besides, he is not only talented, Moreover, he was one of the main force in Yang Jian's founding of the country and one of the founders of the Five Provinces and Six Ministries. Therefore, not long after the storm of the book ban passed, he was appointed as the Weiwei Shaoqing by Yang Jian, and his trust remained as before.
He also obtained the opportunity to go on the expedition through his connections this time, hoping to gain military merit in this war, reinstate his position as an official, and further accumulate merit and popularity. Seeing that he had something easier to do, he stood up and asked for help without hesitation.
"Forget it, I hope Cui Shaoqing can conquer Luzhou as soon as possible and come to join us as soon as possible." Yang Su pondered for a while and then agreed to Cui Zhongfang's request. Although this person came from the Boling Cui family, he was famous for governing the place and making suggestions, but in reality His military exploits are not small.
"The humble position will definitely live up to the high expectations of the general manager." Cui Zhongfang was overjoyed and his face was radiant for a while.
Yang Su frowned slightly and then ordered: "We must collect the bones of General Zhou as soon as possible and have his coffin be returned to the capital."
"I obey my orders!" Cui Zhongfang knew that Yang Su was a straightforward and decisive person. Seeing that he had no other orders, he immediately left.
. . . . . . . . .
"Okay, now let's talk about the battle in front of us!" Yang Su waved his son Yang Jishan to stand down, stood up and walked to the map.
At the moment when he was looking at the map, Yang Su regained the unique calmness and coldness of a famous commander. He put his deceased old friend behind him. While looking at Gaobiling on the map, he turned his back to the generals and said: "Gaobiling The enemy camp stretches for fifty miles, and this is our real first battle. If you have any good ideas, just say it."
Yang Su's rigorous military management, strict law enforcement, and clear rewards and punishments gave the soldiers the illusion of being willful. In fact, Yang Su was both bold and cautious in using troops. As long as the opinions of his generals were reasonable, he would adopt them one by one. However, when using troops In front of the god-like and ever-victorious Yang Su, who has the nerve to express a different opinion?
Over time, Yang Su's reputation as a headstrong and self-righteous person resounded throughout the army, making it even more difficult for him to hear different opinions and voices.
Over time, there were only a few people who could talk to him. The reason why Zhou Luohu, his former mortal enemy, was introduced as a confidant by him was because they were at the same level and had similar views on problems. , deeply touched my heart.
However, how many Zhou Luohus were there in the Sui Dynasty?
"I have an idea." Just when Yang Su thought there was silence again, Qu Tutong stood up and spoke.
When he was ordered to summon Yang Liang back to the capital, Yang Liang always talked about him. In order to persuade Yang Liang, he waited in Jinyang for nearly half a month, and finally returned without success. Seeing the frequent mobilization of troops from various states and counties, they had a vague feeling that Yang Liang was going to rebel. So when he passed the natural danger of Gaobiling, he subconsciously considered the issue of offense and defense from a military perspective. If there are only ten thousand people on the ridge, then there is no harm in conquering Gaobiling by force. However, there are 150,000 enemy troops on the ridge and 80,000 reinforcements in the rear. This is not a simple capture of the mountain, but an upright battle between the two. In a military duel, if the imperial army stormed the commanding Gaobi Ridge, their 50,000 lives would not be enough.
"Speak!" Yang Su suddenly looked back and stared at Qu Tutong with sharp eyes.
Qu Tutong bowed and said: "In my humble position, I believe that surprise and right should be combined with each other, and surprise attacks should be the main method and strong attacks as a supplement."
"How to do it specifically?" Yang Su actually thought about it this way, but at this time he finally met someone who used the same tactic, so he wanted to hear the different methods of this tactic, so as to provide a variety of complete methods for this tactic. Nutrients, the reason why he did not express his opinion was because he was worried that the "aura" of his own "military god" would scare off Qu Tutong, who was willing to speak and dared to speak.
"The King of Han and the rebel commander know our army very well, and the distance between the two armies is less than thirty miles. This distance between the front and rear armies has always been a blind spot for scout patrols, so our army can take advantage of it." Seeing Yang Su nodding silently, Qu Tutong continued: "In view of the characteristics of the enemy's army, the way I thought of was to use the main force to disguise the strong enemy in front, attract the attention of the enemy's main force, and then send another team of surprise troops to sneak in. Huoshan, take a small path to bypass the enemy company camp, and come from behind to burn the company camp."
"The heroes see the same thing! But that's not enough." Yang Su narrowed his eyes slightly, as if cold murderous intent had condensed into substance and filled the tent.
The death of his old friend has completely angered the tiger.
Although he just said flatly that Zhou Luohu died well-deserved, in fact, Yang Su not only did not think so in his heart, but felt that Zhou Luohu's death was worthless, because Zhou Luohu did not die in the huge national war in the 19th year of the founding of the Emperor. He died during the battle, not in the impending war, but at the hands of an unknown junior.
Since his old friend died in obscurity and without dignity this morning, Yang Su will be buried with his old friend tonight at the cost of tens or hundreds of thousands of rebel lives.
"Please make it clear, Chief Manager." Qu Tutong and the generals looked at Yang Su in shock. Yang Su was obviously skinny, but at this moment, he gave people the feeling of being very tall and burly.
Yang Su said to Qu Tutong: "I have found two mountain people. They know that there is a sheep intestine trail in Huoshan Mountain that leads directly to Gaobiling. I originally planned to lead 10,000 troops as a surprise force to sneak into Huoshan Mountain and reach the rebels' lair. But since you also have With this in mind, I will leave the important task of surprise attack on the Gaobiling company camp to you now. I don’t care what method you use, in short, I must burn the company camp tonight, otherwise, military law will be engaged."
"My humble position will never let down the high expectations of the chief executive!" Qu Tutong took the command arrow from Yang Su's hand and stepped aside to listen.
Yang Su glanced at the generals and said in a deep voice: "Shi Wansui, Tu Wanxu, after dark, you and I will lead the main force to bypass the Gaobiling and attack the King of Han's army in Lingshi County from Queshu Valley."
The generals were shocked when they heard this! Even Shi Wansui was startled. His tiger eyes widened and he asked quickly: "General manager, if the whole army goes north, what should we do if the rebels go south and occupy Huoyi County?"
"I know this King of Han very well. Although he is ambitious, he is actually a man with great ambitions and little talent. He is destined to fail to achieve great things." Yang Su smiled coldly and said proudly: "If he has the courage and courage to attack me, he will not Hui Hui abandoned the north gate and east gate of Bingzhou and hastily mobilized more than 200,000 troops to go south to Jiezhou. So what General Shi is worried about will never happen!"
He stood up and directly ordered: "This matter has been settled, there is no need to discuss it further. Let's get ready!"
"I will obey my orders."
