Chapter 12 (Part 1) For Great Sui
On the third day of the defeat of the Sui army in Dongdu, which was also June 14th of the ninth year of Daye of the Great Sui Dynasty, Yang Xuangan personally led the main force of the rebel army to arrive at the city of Dongdu, and camped outside the Chunmen Gate on the east side of the city. The new city of Dongdu, which was built in the first year of Daye eight years ago, also ushered in its first major battle of attack and defense this year.
In fact, including Yang Xuangan himself, no one had expected the advance to be so smooth. Since crossing the Yellow River at Quzhou, all the Sui army troops along the way surrendered without a fight, including the famous Tiger Pass, which was also surrendered. The Luokou Granary, which stored tens of millions of stones of military rations, also surrendered and offered grain, providing Yang Xuangan's troops with enough military rations to squander for several years. The Eastern Capital garrison sent troops to quell the rebellion, but they were easily defeated by Yang Xuangan's two younger brothers, who captured tens of thousands of sets of fine armor and countless war horses and supplies, alleviating the rebels' urgent need for equipment.
What Yang Xuangan was most pleased with was the support of the people for him. The people, who had long been suffering from Emperor Yang of Sui's reckless waste of national strength, were eager to change their situation and flocked to join the rebel army. On the way westward, thousands of people came to join the rebel army every day, and the places where soldiers were recruited were as bustling as markets. On June 3rd, when Li Yang started his uprising in Luoyang, there were only 8,000 troops under Yang Xuangan's command, but just eleven days later, the size of the rebel army had already exceeded 50,000, and was still rapidly increasing!
The army is ready, the military rations are loaded, and the armor, horses, and supplies are all in place. The future seems bright, and with a sense of pride and satisfaction, Yang Xuangan shouted out his famous phrase in front of the Spring Gate, in front of countless soldiers and civilians: "As the pillar of the state, my family has accumulated immense wealth, and I have reached the pinnacle of power and prestige. But now, I am willing to risk everything, not for personal gain, but to alleviate the suffering of the people!"
It turns out that Yang Xuangan's moving speech really had an effect. On the day they arrived at Dongdu, people from outside the city brought cattle, sheep and fine wine to treat the rebel army. Within just one morning, more than 2,000 ordinary people voluntarily joined the rebel army. Yang Xuangan laughed loudly, feeling that his decision to start a rebellion was correct and that he could easily conquer the world. The morale of the entire rebel army was greatly boosted, and they were full of confidence in capturing Dongdu.
In the rebel army, there was only one exception, and that was Li Mi, the military strategist of Yang Xuangan's rebel army. As he gazed at the majestic city walls of Dongdu, Li Mi's heart was still filled with worry. "The city has 22 towers, the wall is 4.5 zhang high and 3 zhang thick, exceeding the height of Daxing by 9 chi and the thickness by 7 chi. The moat is 2 zhang wide and 1.5 zhang deep, with water flowing in from the Luo River! Such a strong city, if we launch a frontal assault, it won't be easy to take down."
After muttering to himself, Li Mi went to look out in the direction of the Eastern Capital's imperial city in the northwest, praying in his heart, "Fan Zigai, Fan the Defender, you must send troops out of the city to battle again. It would be best if you sent all the main forces from within the Eastern Capital. Only then will we have hope of quickly taking the Eastern Capital and giving Yang Xuangan that fool a glimmer of success. If this fool adopts my superior or inferior plan, how good would it be?"
………
Li Mi's prayer had a good chance of success. At the same time, in the eastern capital city, after personally climbing the city wall to observe the enemy situation, it was confirmed that Yang Xuangan did not have an immediate plan to attack the city. Emperor Yang of Sui appointed the defender of the eastern capital, Fan Zigai, to immediately return to the imperial city and ask King Yang Xiang of Yue to ring the Jingyang Bell to convene a meeting with officials. The nine-year-old Yang Xiang listened to Fan Zigai's words and immediately ordered the palace attendants to strike the bell. After hearing the bell, the officials above the fifth rank in the eastern capital did not dare to be slow and rushed to the imperial city on horseback, entering through the Chongguang Gate to participate in the court meeting at the Eastern Palace. This naturally included Chen Yingliang's current master, the Duke of Henan, Pei Hongce.
The so-called morning meeting was actually just a one-man show by Fan Zhen, where he briefly introduced the military situation outside the city and then immediately assigned tasks. He arranged for eleven high-ranking officials from Dongdu to guard the city gates, excluding the Shangchun Gate, and ordered them to stay in the gate towers day and night, not allowing them to leave their posts even a step. If the gate was lost, the entire family would be killed! The Shangchun Gate where Yang Xuangan's army was stationed was entrusted by Fan Zhen to the Right Guard General Huangfu Wu Yi. Despite his poor health, Huangfu Wu Yi did not hesitate and immediately followed the other eleven high-ranking officials to receive their orders.
The city gate guards were arranged, and the garrison troops were assigned. With 10,000 reserve troops still at hand, Fan Zhen suddenly spoke up: "The enemy has come from afar, marching 600 miles in eleven days, and also fought a battle at Linqing Pass. The troops must be extremely exhausted, and having just arrived in Dongdu, they have not yet stabilized their footing. Therefore, I think that Dongdu should send out another army to fight against Yang Xuangan's rebels outside the city of Dongdu, striving to defeat the rebels, and even if it fails, we must win a battle to show off the court's prestige, and also to strike at Yang Xuangan's arrogant momentum, lest more and more people follow the rebels."
When Fan Ziga said this, the conference hall was silent, almost everyone was secretly looking at Pei Hongce, and many people's eyes had some schadenfreude - among the gatekeepers arranged by Fan Zigai, there was no name of Pei Hongce, so even if the civil and military officials present used their toes to analyze, they could guess who Fan Zigai would send out of the city to wear a crime and make meritorious deeds, and fight a decisive battle with Yang Xuangan's rebel army.
To everyone's surprise, Pei Hongzhe, who was currently in a precarious situation, remained extremely calm, as if he hadn't caught the underlying tone of Fan Zigai's words. Fan Zigai didn't mince his words either and quickly turned to Pei Hongzhe, saying: "Pei Gong, among the officials present here, only you and Yang Xuangan have fought against the rebels and have experience to offer, as well as lessons to learn from. This is also your best chance to redeem yourself. The commander-in-chief for the battle outside the city walls should naturally be you. Don't let His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the court down again."
Under the gaze of everyone, Pei Hongce calmly walked out of the class and bowed to Fan Zigai, saying: "I am willing to accept the order."
"What?!" Many of the officials in Dongdu, including Fan Zigai himself, were shocked and exclaimed out loud. Fan Zigai was surprised by Pei Hongce's prompt response, while the other officials were shocked that Pei Hongce had not been intimidated by Yang Xuangan.
Surprise turned to surprise, and after a slight distraction, Fan Ziga still showed a relieved smile, nodding and saying: "Very good, Lord Pei is indeed a loyal and patriotic person, repeatedly defeated but never discouraged, this perseverance is worth our study. When deploying troops, I left 6,000 reserve troops, how about dividing half of them with you? I don't expect you to take down the head of Yang Xuangan's rebel in one battle, just win a victory and make Yang Xuangan's rebel dare not look at Eastern Capital with even half an eye!"
"Fan Liushou, I am willing to lead the troops into battle!" Pei Hongce suddenly raised his voice and said loudly: "However, as a great Sui minister, for the sake of the country and the world, and in order to repay the emperor's boundless grace, this battle can only be lost, absolutely cannot be won!"
"What?!"
As soon as Pei Hongce's words came out, the whole hall was shocked. The old stubborn Fan Zigai almost popped his eyeballs out of their sockets. After he finally regained his composure, Fan Zigai suddenly became furious and roared: "Pei Hongce, what are you saying? You lead the army to battle, can only lose, not win?"
"It is indeed so!" Pei Hongce nodded heavily and said loudly: "General Fan, please calm down and listen to my words. After hearing them, you will understand the painstaking efforts of this humble official and the loyalty to Great Sui! If General Fan thinks that my words are unreasonable and not for the sake of the country's fate, I beg to be beheaded!"
"Pei Hongce, in the great hall, do not speak nonsense!" Fan Zigai said angrily: "If you talk nonsense and argue unreasonably, don't blame me for settling old scores together with new ones!"
Fan Liu Shou felt relieved and said, "I understand now after hearing your humble opinion." Pei Hong Ce spoke loudly without any fear: "Last night when I returned home, I didn't sleep all night, thinking left and right, considering how to defeat the rebel Yang Xuan Gan, not letting him dare to peek at Eastern Capital even with half an eye! However, I suddenly thought of an important question, and only then did I realize that I absolutely cannot drive away Yang Xuan Gan's rebels, but must firmly guard the city walls of Eastern Capital and lure the rebels into attacking!"
At this point, Pei Hongce paused for a moment, looked at Fan Zigai who was gritting his teeth, and then said: "Fan Zhuguo must want to ask, what important question did the official think of that would lead to such thoughts? The official does not dare to deceive the king of Yue, nor does he dare to deceive Fan Zhuguo. The official put himself in Yang Xuangan's shoes and thought about it, assuming the official was Yang Xuangan, how could he usurp the throne of the Great Sui, and what would lead to his own downfall, being easily pacified by the Great Sui army?"
"Suppose you were Yang Xuangan, the rebel leader?" Fan Zigai was shocked again and said: "Your words are indeed novel, actually thinking of a plot to rebel on behalf of Yang Xuangan, the rebel leader."
Fan Liushou, this is called lateral thinking. Pei Hongce said a new term he had just learned last night, and then said: "In my opinion, Yang Xuangan's rebellion has three strategies to choose from in terms of strategy. Now that he is besieging the eastern capital, it is his lower strategy, so we must let him continue to make mistakes and not drive him away, letting him choose the upper or middle strategy, causing more chaos for the Great Sui court. Fan Liushou, do you want to hear Yang Xuangan's rebel upper, middle and lower three strategies? After listening, you will understand."
"Speak up and let's hear it." Fan Zige replied coldly.
"The judge thought that Yang Xuangan's best strategy for rebelling against the usurper would be to rush to Jizhou and seize the Shanhai Pass!"
Pei Hongce's words shocked Fan Zigai to jump up, and the officials of Dongdu also changed their faces. Pei Hongce remained calm and continued to say loudly: "Please think about it, Fan Zigai, if Yang Xuangan rebels and takes over Linshui Pass, what harm will it bring to our Great Sui Empire?! The Emperor is personally leading the army to attack Goguryeo, and has already entered Goguryeo territory. If Linshui Pass is lost, the 300,000-strong army led by the Emperor himself will not only be cut off from its food supply but also face the counterattack of the Goguryeo barbarians and the encirclement of the Khitan and Turks. What would be the consequences? Fan Zigai, do you dare to imagine?! Your Highness, gentlemen, do you dare to imagine?!"
