Chapter 963 Forced people's hearts

Xiahou Baichuan is no longer the first time he has led his troops to the battlefield, but his mood this time was the same as Du Dingbeiyi, who led his troops to fight for the first time on the Luoshui shore outside Xinyang City. It was an indescribable excitement and excitement. Because he knew very well what the meaning of this expedition was. If everything was successfully captured, then the Central Plains, a world with a surname of Yang for more than 200 years, would be afraid that it would change its surname.

Even if the old people who have been following Fang Jie are different from those who have just joined the Black Flag Army, their feelings for each other are better than their yearning for a bright future, this does not mean that they have no desires and no desires.

Gyeonggi Province is still far away, but in the impression of the people of the Central Plains, it is actually a major area of ​​Gyeonggi Province within a large range. In order to ensure the stability of Chang'an City, huge granaries are built in all the Jiangbei roads.

The granary located in Liyin City did not have this name before. After Gao Kaitai arrived in Jiangbei, he occupied two of the four major granaries in the north. He changed the southernmost one to Liyin Cang, using the name of Liyin Cang. The Wenshan Cang in Gyeonggi Province, which was originally directly supplied to Chang'an, was renamed Liyang Cang.

Gao Kaitai is a very superstitious person. He thinks changing the name of these two Okura will help his career. One is called Liyin and the other is called Liyang. Yin and Yang can help him to reign as a world.

However, if you can conquer the world by relying on this, then the emperor must be a Feng Shui master.

Perhaps among all the teams today, only Fang Jie's generals are used to using sand tables. After all, the map is not intuitive enough, while the sand tables clearly show the situation and terrain between the enemy and us.

After the Xiahou Baichuan's vanguard army crossed the Yangtze River, it took only four days to capture two county towns and almost no resistance. The proclamation for rebellion written by Yang Qinyan, the eldest princess of the Great Sui Dynasty, has been released throughout the world. Everyone in Jiangbeidao knows that the Black Flag Army is protecting His Highness the Princess to return to Chang'an. People who have not completely lost their respect for the Yang family will inevitably have a tendency. When choosing between Gao Kaitai and the Great Sui Dynasty, most people will be more obedient to the latter.

"There is Liyin City ahead."

Xiahou Baichuan walked around the sand table, then pointed to the warehouse and said, "My lord asked me to be a vanguard general. This is my trust in us. You should all know what it means to be a vanguard army this time! I don't need to say anything else. You should think about the first team to enter Chang'an City in the future!"

This sentence ignited the enthusiasm of his subordinates. Conquering the world, the first team to enter the imperial capital received the most rewards. Now that Xiahou has won the Pioneer General, they all have hope. People who do business always say that interests and risks are proportional. Isn’t this battle the same? The Pioneer Army will do the most difficult things, but what they get will be the richest.

"For the army to go north, it is equivalent to completely solving their worries. The food channels are shortened by at least two-thirds. The brothers behind them will think of our benefits when they eat the food in the Liyin Cang!"

Xiahou Baichuan smiled and said, "We have been waiting and looking forward to the lord changing his mind and competing for the world. In the final analysis, it is because we ourselves are also looking forward to having an extraordinary future. Whether you are from poor families or have good family backgrounds, they are actually the same. Who doesn't expect to be able to return home and shine? The purpose of your joining the Black Flag Army was to not care about the lord, but I know that the fundamental reason is to make the future better. What we are doing now is to make the future better."

"General!"

Xiahou Baichuan's generals all raised their fists and said, "I am willing to fight the first battle!"

"Don't hurry..."

Xiahou Baichuan waved his hand and said, "I have asked you all to see the terrain of Liyin these two days. I have to say that Yan Zeng is a very capable person. Now the city of Liyin is built by him, and it is impossible to beat it with ambition. You all want to beat me, but you must have a detailed plan. You can't make any mistakes when fighting Liyin, because hundreds of thousands of brothers behind us are watching us. Once our progress is unfavorable, it is definitely not a good thing for morale."

"So... we not only want to win this battle, but also win this battle beautifully."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the curtain of the big tent being lifted from outside: "Of course, you have to win this battle beautifully. What is beauty?"

The people in the tent looked out in the voice and saw Fang Jie walking in with a smile on his face.

"Meet the lord!"

Everyone was surprised and quickly got up to salute.

Fang Jie waved his hand and said, "Everyone is wearing armor and there is no need to salute."

He walked to the sand table and stood and looked at it, then smiled and said, "I came here this time and brought the celebration wine directly. If this battle was beautiful enough, I would accompany you to drink it happily. Don't you want me to bring this wine in vain, right?"

...

...

The Yan Zeng, the garrison of Liyin City, came from a famous family. Although the Yan family's status in the Sui Dynasty was not as good as the first-class families like the Cui family, Yu family, and Zhao family, or second-class families like the Zhou family, Sun family, and Jin family. However, the Yan family's status in the Eastern Front was extremely important, and several important generals under Mu Guangling all came from the Yan family. For example, the general Yan Li, who fought side by side with Mu Guangling's only son Mu Xianjun on Penglai Island and fought to the death.

Yan Zeng and Yan Li are still brothers of the same clan, and their relationship is not far from each other. Their fathers are brothers, and they are both direct descendants. However, Yan Li's father is the eldest son, so his status in the family is naturally higher.

The Yan family has emerged in many famous generals, not only the famous generals and talents in the past 200 years of history, but also in the previous dynasty, some people have reached a high position as the Grand Marshal of the Army.

Yan Zeng is the farthest person from the Yan family. He did not stay in Dongjiang like his father and brothers, and worked under the Mu Mansion for generations. Relatively speaking, he always thought that he was far more ambitious than his brothers. He did not wait for arrangements in the Mu Mansion from beginning to end, and he wanted to go to a higher place.

At that time, Emperor Tianyou of the Great Sui Dynasty, Yang Yi, dispatched troops from Dongjiang and Jiangnan, and used a fleet of goods to travel all over the world to quietly transport them to the northwest to prepare for war. The 700,000 army was the first army to go to the northwest, and he was among this team. He thought that it would be the beginning of his bright future, but he never expected that the Sui army would be defeated so completely and easily in the northwest. Seven or eight out of 700,000 troops were dead. After he escaped, he was unable to return to Dongjiang.

He spent a few years wandering in the northwest, and then he looked forward to the imperial army to suppress the rebellion. Emperor Tianyou's personal command gave Yan Zeng a second hope, and he felt that he could turn over. So he devoted himself to the Gaokaitai army. In the Gaokaitai army, his skills began to be shown and were discovered by Gaokaitai, and he was constantly promoted over the years.

But... what Yan Zeng never thought in the past was that his talent was displayed was not in the battle of expanding territory in the Sui Dynasty, or even in the battle of defending the country, but in the rebellion. When Gao Kaitai raised his troops to rebel, it was the darkest time when he felt that his life was darker than the time when he fled on the northwest grassland.

It took him several years to calm down.

Gao Kaitai really attached great importance to him, otherwise he would not have handed over Liyin City to him. The granary was a top priority in wars of any era. Gao Kaitai was equivalent to handing over his back to Yan Zeng. It was precisely because of this trust that Yan Zeng gradually suppressed his intention to escape from this team.

In fact, this is not difficult to understand. A person who originally wanted to shine for the court to fight, became a rebel at the most critical moment, and even pointed his knife directly at the back of the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty... This is also a huge psychological contrast, and it is not so easy to pass.

"What's wrong..."

Yan Zeng cleaned up his thoughts, looked at the place marked with charcoal on the map and shook his head: "The vanguard of the Black Flag Army has arrived at a place less than forty miles from Liyin City, but it stopped. It has been ten days without any movement. This is not right."

His generals said, "General, you built Liyin City so strongly. Even if the person named Fang Jie comes in person, you will feel helpless. I guess they are planning to see if there is any way to break through the iron wall that you built by General."

"No"

Yan Zeng shook his head: "Even a tentative attack will be there, not so quiet. The scout inquired about the news that the Black Flag Army went north this time, at least 500,000 and 600,000 troops. How much food and grass will be consumed every day? Ten days, ten days have passed. Fang Jie will never waste time like this. If something goes wrong, there will be monsters. The Black Flag Army must have planned something else..."

Those who followed Yan Zeng knew that Yan Zeng was a meticulous and insightful person. In recent years, they have become accustomed to obeying Yan Zeng's orders and even are too lazy to think about anything themselves. Now Yan Zeng's solemn expression makes them feel nervous.

"It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Another general said anxiously: "It will take more than ten days for the Black Flag Army to cross the Yangtze River. After the Pioneer Army captured the two county towns, it did not advance. Perhaps it was waiting for the large group of troops to come?"

"No need for that!"

Yan Zeng said: "The vanguard of the Black Flag Army won two cities in four days, and its morale is in full swing. If I were the ones, I would take advantage of the soldiers' fighting spirit to go further. Moreover, the Black Flag Army general named Xiahou Baichuan was quite sharp and he was said to be an impatient person. His morale was as strong as a rainbow and his troops were sufficient. There was no need to wait for the large groups of people behind him to arrive. What's more, this place is only 260 miles away from the Yangtze River, and the Black Flag Army's cavalry can arrive in only three days."

He frowned and pondered, always feeling that he had missed something.

Looking at the map, Yan Zeng suddenly thought of something after a long time of silence, and his face changed drastically.

"Have any special people come outside the city recently?"

Yan Zeng turned his head and asked.

When the troops arrived at the city, Liyin City had already closed the city gate.

"No...even if there is, you may not know that the bridge over the moat has been broken..."

His generals replied.

"not good!"

Yan Zeng shouted, and just as he was about to walk out, he saw someone coming in hurriedly: "General, someone outside the city called the door, saying that he came from Ming'an City, and the moat bridge broke, and he swam over well. He said that Ming'an City had been besieged by the Black Flag Army, so he asked the general to send troops to rescue him!"

Yan Zeng's face changed and he walked out quickly.

...

...

"General..."

The soldier who came to report the news swallowed hard, his face was a little scary. He probably had been whipping over the road and never had a rest. In addition, swimming across the moat consumed a lot of physical strength, so he looked particularly weak.

"It's not just that our Ming'an City was besieged. It is said that Pingcheng, Xiangcheng, and Fangcheng have been successively captured by the Black Flag Army. Now only our Ming'an can still support it. If Ming'an is lost again, Li Yincang will be an isolated city!"

When Yan Zeng heard the words of the soldiers, he felt like a huge rock was blocked.

"It's too late...even if I send troops to rescue Ming'an at this time, it's too late."

He held the wall with his hand and sighed heavily: "Now I'm afraid Ming'an has been lost. The Black Flag Army is going to turn Li Yin into an isolated city... Why didn't I think of it? Why didn't I think of it!"

After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly thought of another thing: "The things that have been lost in the surrounding cities must not be spread out, and the people and defenders in the city cannot know!"

"I……"

The soldier who reported the news opened his mouth and looked frightened: "I shouted outside the city for a long time... I just opened the city gate for me..."

Yan Zeng was stunned and his face was ashamed in an instant.
Chapter completed!