Qin Qiong's popularity value is also very high, second only to Cheng Yaojin. He is righteous, willing to help others, and extremely filial to his mother. He is said to be like Meng Chang and Sai Zhuan Zhu.
However, General Wang Junkuo's popularity was not good, not because he was born into a Taihang bandit. For example, Cheng Yaojin said all day long that he was born into a Wagang bandit, but no one took it seriously.
The key is that Wang Junkuo is a rather sinister person and has a deep city. He rarely communicates with others. No one knows what he is thinking. When you are with him, his dark eyes will always make people shudder.
In addition, he is ruthless and cruel, and he is very concerned about fame and fortune. It can be said that he will do whatever it takes to achieve fame. Although everyone admits that he is strong in martial arts and has a brain, no one likes him. Many people intentionally or unintentionally keep in touch with him.
A kind of distance.
However, Yang Yuanqing didn't care much about Wang Junkuo's character and popularity. He was aloof and treated everyone equally. He judged success or failure based on military achievements and had clear rewards and punishments. Wang Junkuo also made meritorious service many times and was named General Youwu Houwei.
Qiu County Duke.
This also made Wang Junkuo feel grateful and loyal to Yang Yuanqing. He also bet his future and destiny on the new Sui Dynasty.
This time Yang Yuanqing went south to conquer the south of the Yangtze River, and only brought Xie Yingdeng and Wang Junkuo with him, which shows that he attached great importance to Wang Junkuo.
Wang Junkuo led 10,000 cavalry in the morning and evening. After traveling thousands of miles, they entered Yiling County yesterday. His goal was Yichang County.
Wang Junkuo is also a man who knows the art of war and is good at strategy. He is very aware of the importance of capturing Yichang County, which is related to the impact of the Jingxiang War on the entire war situation.
Cutting off the Yiling Road also cut off the Jingxiang Tang Army's westward retreat to Bashu, and at the same time opened the east gate of Bashu, creating favorable conditions for the next step into Bashu.
At this time, the 10,000 Sui army cavalry had overcome various difficulties after marching for more than half a month. They were less than a hundred miles away from their ultimate goal, Yichang County.
But the soldiers of the Sui Army were also a little exhausted. It was just dawn. The morning dawn broke, and the moist mist filled the mountains and basins. By a windy and dry river, 10,000 Sui soldiers were still sleeping deeply.
, they were wrapped in thick military blankets and lay in a mess along the river bank that was several miles long.
The war horses slowly gnawed the fresh green grass on the grassland by the river. Horse feed has always been a big problem for this cavalry. Along the way, they thought of various ways to solve the problem of food for the war horses, including looting villages and seizing bean cakes. Although
Even so, hundreds of war horses still died on the road for various reasons.
However, as long as they capture Yiling County, a fleet full of grain and fodder will soon come to support them.
On a flat rock by the river, Wang Junkuo was sitting in front of a map, thinking about the strategy for capturing Yichang County.
From the guide, he learned that Yichang County is a dangerous city. It is built on the western foot of Huangniu Mountain on the south bank of the Yangtze River. There are cliffs on both sides. There is no way to go on the north bank. There is only a road on the south bank through Huangniu Mountain to continue westward. Yichang County is convenient
Located on this westbound road.
The terrain of the city is difficult, and it can be said that one man can guard the gate. It is inaccessible to ten thousand men. If there is a garrison, it will not be easy to capture it.
Although he still knew nothing about the garrison situation in Yichang, he knew that since Yichang County was a strategic location for the Tang army, there would be garrison troops. It was just a matter of how many garrison troops there were.
Judging from the map, they are still about a hundred miles away from Yichang County. They are now on the north bank of the Yangtze River. They must first cross the Yangtze River from Qiting, which is ten miles away. On the other side is Anshu City. There is a cable bridge across the river between the two cities.
It was built by the Northern Zhou Army.
After crossing the river, they went west, walking thirty miles to Yiling County, and then walking about sixty miles to Yichang County. The journey was not smooth sailing, and just crossing the river would take them a day.
At this time, Wang Junkuo was no longer in a hurry. He was patiently waiting for the scout's reply, and at the same time, he wanted to give the soldiers enough rest.
At this moment, the sound of horse hoofbeats came from a distance, and two cavalrymen rushed over. Wang Junkuo was slightly startled. The scouts who went to explore Yichang County were back, but they left in the middle of the night and came back so soon.
Really? Yichang County is nearly a hundred miles away from here!
The scout team turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and knelt down on one knee and said: "General, we intercepted a Tang Army messenger who was delivering a message on the way, and received urgent information that a Tang Army of about 5,000 people was with us.
About fifty miles away in the northwest, heading towards the Yangtze River, they are coming from the direction of Yuan'an County."
This news surprised Wang Junkuo. There were five thousand Tang troops, and then he felt lucky again. This was simply God's favor to them. If they were one day late, the situation in Yiling County would have changed drastically. He immediately turned around and ordered
Said: "Find the guide!"
After a while, an old man in his fifties was brought to Wang Junkuo. The old man's surname was Liu. He was a herb collector. He traveled between Yiling County and Yichang County all year round. He knew the terrain of this area well. He stepped forward.
He bowed and asked in poor official dialect: "Is the general looking for me?"
"Let me ask you, is there another way from Yuan'an County to Qiting?"
The old guide shook his head, "Three miles further south on our road, there is a double fork called Langshou Slope. From there you can see a road going north, which is to Yuan'an County. If there is an army coming from the north,
The only way to come here is to take that road. The two roads meet at Langshoupo. Go straight south for another seven or eight miles and you will reach Qiting. There is a rope bridge to cross the river over there."
Wang Junkuo lowered his head and fell into deep thought. A bold idea came to his mind. This was also an opportunity given to him by God. Let's see if he could seize it.
...
After resting for the night, the five thousand Tang troops continued southward in the early morning. At noon, they were only ten miles away from Langshou Slope, and within twenty miles further they reached Qiting, from where they could cross the Yangtze River.
The five thousand Tang army consisted mainly of infantry. The soldiers were all southerners, mainly from Bashu and Jingxiang. The general was named Wang Yi. He was originally a partial general in the Liang Dynasty. After surrendering to the Tang army, he was named a general, which made him feel quite honored.
Wang Yi himself is from Yiling. It is precisely because of this that Li Xiaogong ordered him to lead his army to support Yiling County and serve as the general of Yiling. The thing Wang Yi longs for most now is to lead his army into Yiling County and let his hometown
Father, look at how he returns in glory.
He seemed to see himself riding a horse through the streets. He was wearing armor and riding on a tall horse. The villagers around him pointed at him, "Isn't this the Wang Erpazi back then? He actually became a general, and he was so glorious."
ah!"
E Niang would also secretly regret marrying Zhang Tofu! Haha... The more Wang Yi thought about it, the more beautiful she became. His eyes narrowed into slits with smiles. Meng, he turned around and glared viciously, "What's the matter?"
The general was startled, and quickly bowed and said: "It's already noon, do you want to..."
Wang Yi raised his head and looked around. There were high mountains on both sides, dense woods, and rugged ground. He shook his head, "This is not a place to rest. Not far ahead is the Black Wolf River. Rest by the river!"
When the soldiers heard that they could rest by the river ahead, they all quickened their pace and rushed towards the river several miles away.
A quarter of an hour later, five thousand Tang troops arrived at Langshui. The terrain here is open. You can see a dirt slope more than ten feet high in the distance, which is Langshou Slope. It is said that a white wolf once looked back on the slope and got its name.
The water goes around and goes eastward, and there is another eastward road on the other side. You can go directly southward by crossing the river from Langshoupo.
After walking all morning, the Tang army was exhausted. They finally saw the river, and they all cheered and ran towards the north of the river. The riverside was crowded with soldiers drinking water. At this moment, a bang was heard from the woods opposite.
A dense rain of arrows suddenly shot at the Tang army from the woods on the other side.
The Tang army had no defense at all, and was shot down in a large area in an instant. The screams were loud, and Wang Yi was shocked. Only then did he realize that there were dense soldiers in the woods opposite, holding bows and arrows, shooting in this direction.
"It's the Sui army!"
Wang Yi yelled at the top of his lungs, turned his horse's head and ran away. At this moment, hundreds of arrows were fired from the woods on the left, and they were all shot at Wang Yi. Wang Yi was caught off guard, and hundreds of arrows killed him and him.
The war horse turned into a hedgehog and fell down suddenly.
The sudden attack threw the Tang army into chaos. No one knew where the Sui army was. There seemed to be troops from all directions. In the chaos, they turned around and fled towards the road. At this moment, a Sui army came out from the woods on both sides.
The cavalry and galloping horses rushed into the group of Tang soldiers in an instant, cutting off their escape north, and mercilessly killed the Tang soldiers in the chaos.
On the opposite side of the river, three thousand crossbowmen continued to fire arrows, flying arrows like rain, densely shooting into the enemy group, leaving the Tang army soldiers with nowhere to hide, and screams could be heard one after another.
At this time, on the Langshou slope not far away, Wang Junkuo led a thousand cavalry and appeared. He stared coldly at the massacred Tang soldiers without any mercy in his eyes. At this time, the deputy general Zhou Wencong next to him finally couldn't help but said:
"General, it would be good to surrender some prisoners, we also need labor."
Wang Junkuo nodded slowly and said, "Give me the order. Those who surrender will not be killed. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed by me!"
Several Sui army cavalry rushed up and shouted: "The general has an order, those who surrender will not be killed, and those who resist will not be killed!"
The Tang army soldiers who suffered heavy casualties and were desperate were finally amnesty. Countless people abandoned their helmets and armor and knelt down to surrender. Thousands of Tang army soldiers knelt on the ground and huddled together. At this time, 10,000 Sui army cavalry surrounded them from all directions, murderous.
Tengteng surrounded the ambushed Tang army.
Wang Junkuo urged his horse forward, and Lieutenant General Zhou Wencong stepped forward to report: "General Qi, we captured a total of 3,400 Tang soldiers and killed more than 1,000 of them. Basically no one escaped."
Wang Junkuo nodded and asked, "Are there any father-son soldiers inside?"
Soon, the soldiers of the Sui Army pulled out three pairs of father and son soldiers from the surrendered soldiers. Wang Junkuo saw a veteran in his forties holding his ten-year-old son tightly in his arms. He pointed his riding whip and said, "That's him, bring him up."
!”
The soldiers of the Sui Army took the father and son away. The veteran knelt on the ground and begged: "General, I am responsible for everything. Please let my son go!"
"very good!"
Wang Junkuo sneered, lowered his head and said to the veteran: "Your son's life is in your hands. Send a letter to Yichang County for me. I will spare your father and son's lives and reward you with a hundred taels of silver. If you dare to betray me,
, I will use your son’s heart and liver to drink wine.”
Wang Junkuo's men are all northerners with wrong accents. This veteran's accent seems to be that of a local. It would be best for him to be the messenger.