Guoxian County is a truly tiny place. If it weren't for the fact that it became one of the only two remaining unconquered cities in Yanmen County during the invasion of foreign enemies, most people would not notice it.
Name. The city walls here are not high, and the defense facilities are very crude. There is not even an urn inside the dilapidated wooden city gate. But the Sui soldiers carried on for more than 20 days behind this low earth wall.
This greatly alleviated the pressure of the Turks on Yanmen Pass.
The nominal commander of the city defense was King Yang Jian of Qi, but the actual commander of the army was Dugu Lin. This guy who was born with a golden seal has been on a meteoric rise since he was recalled from Qi County by His Majesty the Emperor last year. Now he is a third-rank official and is awarded the title of auxiliary to the country.
General, in charge of the rear army of the Emperor's Sixth Army, with a total of nearly 20,000 troops. His position was so high that Luo Shixin and others were "jealous" and clamored for him to show off.
In front of his former companions, Dugu Lin did not look very proud. On the contrary, inadvertently, Xu Zi could even see a hint of helplessness and disappointment in his eyes. This imperial relative who was about the same age as Luo Shixin was far younger.
He was as carefree as when he was in Qijun in the past, as if he had a lot of sorrow buried in his heart, and he was depressed. However, he did not want to mention what changes he had experienced after being separated from everyone.
The behavior of King Yang Jian of Qi was also very strange. When he learned that the Turks who besieged the city had been defeated, he just came out to express his condolences to Li Xu, Li Shimin and other generals, and then retreated into the county government and refused to show his face again.
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This cold attitude made Luo Shixin very dissatisfied. As soon as the footsteps of the palace guards were far away, he immediately grabbed Dugu Lin and complained loudly: "It seems that I shouldn't have come to take the credit. If I persist for a few more days, His Highness Prince Qi will do it himself."
Can defeat the Turks!"
"Hush, this place is no better than Qi County!" Dugu Lin frowned tightly and stopped.
"Don't let anyone talk anymore. If you don't want us to come, you know, our Qijun brothers are the teacher!" Luo Shixin was very unconvinced and continued to yell.
"Shixin, keep your voice down. Don't try to cause trouble for everyone by yourself!" Qin Shubao, who had just applied the medicine, also raised his eyes. He is Luo Shixin's nemesis, and as long as he speaks, he will be effective. Sure enough, after listening to Qin Shubao's words,
Luo Shixin immediately closed his mouth in despair. But he was still dissatisfied. He looked around with a pair of tiger eyes, trying to find an ally in the crowd.
"Brother Shixin must not know that many important officials of the imperial court who are on the northern tour with His Majesty are also waiting in Nao County at the moment! His Highness King Qi has seen us and others, and he will definitely rush to inform the adults about the battle situation and discuss the next step.
.He is really busy with his official duties, and he didn't mean to be lazy!" Seeing Luo Shixin's eyes sweeping towards him, Li Shimin smiled and patiently explained to him.
He liked Luo Shixin's straightforwardness, so he warned him to be careful about being impeached. Many officials in the DPRK were not very good at doing serious things, but they were good at finding faults and making things difficult for others. People like Luo Shixin, who had never been impeached, were very good at it.
People who have experienced the dangers of officialdom can easily be caught by them.
"Them?" Luo Shixin made a "chi" sound from his nostrils, with a very disdainful expression on his face. 'If those people had some real ability, they wouldn't have encouraged His Majesty the Emperor to go on tour!' He understood in his heart, but kept his words.
Politely, "So, Luo is being reckless, please don't blame me, General Dugu!"
"Brother Shixin, you don't have to be polite!" Dugu Lin couldn't stand Luo Shixin's attitude towards him. He bowed his head and added with a smile: "At noon, I will hold a banquet for His Highness King Qi to cleanse everyone. As for the injured brother, I will also
Someone will be arranged to take care of you."
"There's no need to wash the dust. If Chongmu has time, why not talk about the situation near Yanmen Pass!" Li Xu saw that the atmosphere in the room was a bit awkward, so he smiled and changed the topic to business. "After all, I have come all the way, and I don't know what the situation of the war is.
At what point? General Yun Dingxing will arrive with a large group of soldiers and horses in the afternoon. After everyone rests for the night, we can march to Yanmen Pass tomorrow morning!"
"Yes, rescuing troops is like putting out fires. Let's talk about the banquet later!" Changsun Wuji also supported Li Xu's suggestion and agreed with a smile. He was familiar with the internal strife in the imperial court and understood very well the indifference of Qi Wang Yang Jian to everyone. His behavior has fallen out of favor.
As a prince, the more closely he interacts with military generals, the more likely he is to be jealous of the emperor. Unless he wants to kill his father, drinking and talking with brave generals like Li Xu and Dugu Lin who have heavy troops will sooner or later lead to anger.
"Then I'd rather be respectful than obey your orders!" Dugu Lin cast a grateful glance at Li Xu and Changsun Wuji and said with a smile. "But I don't know much about the situation here. The Turks besieged the city for nearly a month.
News from the outside world is almost cut off!”
Several staff members brought a map of the situation in Yanmen County and spread it out in front of everyone. Duguxue pointed to the mountains and rivers on the map and introduced the situation he knew one by one. What he could provide was basically a
The military information from many months ago shows the specific strength of the defenders of Yanmen and Guoxian counties. "Although the armor and equipment of the Emperor's Sixth Army are sophisticated, they rarely participate in actual combat. This time they were caught off guard by the Turks, so they suffered heavy losses!"
Except for the inner army and the rear army, the other four armies have basically collapsed."
When it came to military affairs, Dugu Lin's eyes became lively again, and he was no longer as bitter as before. Especially when he mentioned that the people in the city would rather tear down their own beams to make rolling logs than to have their homes destroyed at the hands of foreign invaders.
His expression became even more excited. "It is thanks to the people in the city that we have been able to defend Yanmen and Naoxian until now! His Highness King Qi has already sent an order that he will bear all the losses suffered by the people alone. After the traitors retreat, that is,
Send money and food here from the capital!"
'I'm afraid it's just words but not reality!' Changsun Wuji, who had never believed in the Yang family's promises, muttered secretly in his stomach. He turned to look at Luo Shixin, and found the same suspicion on his face.
"The Turks came almost in full force, including Shibi Khan, Gutuolu Khan, and the Khitan, Xi, and Shiwei tribes in Fortress, totaling nearly 400,000!"
"With so many people, what do they eat every day?" Qin Shubao endured the pain in his legs and asked the same question again.
"I don't know either. After careful calculation, they should have eaten almost all the food they grabbed, but there is no sign of retreating on their own initiative!" Dugu Lin thought for a while and replied.
The counties on the fortress are vast and sparsely populated. Although there is food in the homes of the people, it is not enough to supply the consumption of the 400,000-strong army. This situation in which the coalition forces on the fortress can neither penetrate deeply into the Central Plains nor retreat is very serious in the eyes of military leaders such as Qin Shubao.
Weird, that means someone is continuously providing them with military supplies. As far as everyone knows, the grassland people only grow a kind of crop called millet, and the yield is pitifully low. With the grain reserves in the hands of the Turks, it is impossible to
Support long-term operations.
"It's impossible for them to only eat meat every day!" Li Xu thought of something, but he took the initiative to reject it. "Unless...?" Suddenly, a very shocking idea emerged from the bottom of his heart. He shook his head vigorously,
He put this thought behind him. "Forget it, no matter who provides them with food and grass. Now that we are here, we must have a fight with them!"
"There are still five thousand cavalry in the rear army who can fight alongside the others!" Dugu Lin nodded and agreed with Li Xu's suggestion.
"My Flying Tiger Army lost less than 400 people last night, and there are still more than 1,500 people who can fight!" Li Shimin also reported his strength. After last night's observation and study, the strength of the Flying Tiger Army was at least another
He has improved to a higher level. So he very much hopes to learn some knowledge from Li Xu that he has not mastered in the next battle.
Except for the tiger general Qin Shubao who was temporarily unable to go to the battlefield, the losses of the Qijun soldiers were not too great. During the robbery of the camp last night, they encountered almost no decent resistance. Later, they collided with Ashina Gutuolu, and also
It's just a quick touch and it's over, with basically no injuries.
Coupled with the soldiers selected from the border troops under Xu Zi, the cavalry that can be dispatched in Gu County has reached nearly 15,000. If they work hand in hand with the two veteran generals Qu Tutong and Yao Junsu, they should be able to give the Turks
People caused certain troubles. Through last night's battle, everyone found that the combat effectiveness of the Allied Forces was not strong. The physique of an individual herdsman may be stronger than that of an ordinary soldier in the Sui army, but the cooperation between them and the coordination of the team were not.
There is a big difference, and it is even more different from the elite soldiers of the Sui army selected by Xuzi.
"Besides, we also robbed the Turks' sacred objects!" Qin Shubao pointed at Gan Luo lying at Xu Zi's feet and emphasized with a smile. Although he received a big bite on his leg, he did not intend to argue with a wolf. Turkic shepherd
He had witnessed the awe of Bai Lang with his own eyes. If Gan Luo and Li Xu could lead the battle together, almost no one in the enemy army would dare to step forward to stop him.
"Yes, this guy just made atonement for his sins!" After hearing Qin Shubao mention the wolf, several generals under Dugu Lin also said with a smile. They were still brooding about the past when their brothers were injured by the wolf, but seeing that the other party had already
For the sake of standing on the same front, he reluctantly accepted Li Xu's apology.
Sensing the attention from all around, Gan Luo climbed up alertly and straightened his limbs. Its body was much larger than that of an ordinary wild wolf. After its four legs were straightened, its backbone was already as high as Xu Zi's waist. It was relatively thin like Changsun Wuji.
The general, Gan Luo, basically didn't have to jump up to lick his throat with his tongue. And the two pale golden gazes in his eyes were even more sharp. No matter who he was staring at, he could make the other person's heart suddenly tremble.
"This guy is enough to defeat a tiger general!" Luo Shixin smiled and stretched out his hand, trying to touch Gan Luo's forehead. The latter refused to accept his approach and quickly turned his head away, then raised his ears and exposed his white fangs.
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"This guy!" Luo Shixin was startled by the sudden hostility. He quickly retracted his arm and put his fingers behind his back. The funny action made the generals present laugh, and their eyes were filled with anticipation.
"Maybe I'm not the only one who can order Gan Luo!" Faced with countless expectant looks, Xuzi confessed in a low voice. (To be continued)
