Chapter 12 (Part 2) For Great Sui

  No one dared to speak, and Fan Ziga's old stubbornness also changed his face, secretly rejoicing that Yang Xuangan had not done so. But after a brief calculation, Fan Zigai loudly said: "This is impossible! Linyu Pass is so far from Dongdu and Liyang, the rebel Yang Xuangan can't take down Linyu Pass!"

  Fan Liushou said, "Nothing is absolute in the world." Pei Hongce sneered and said: "Yang Xuangan's rebel army marched from Luoyang to Dongdu, and his troops had already grown to over 500,000. If Yang Xuangan led his army north from Luoyang and reached Linyu Pass, how many people would follow him? Does Fan Liushou dare to imagine?"

  Moreover, please do not forget, Commander Fan, that the elite troops of Ji and You have all entered Liao, and there is no army that can restrain and block Yang's northern advance like the Dongdu army. The rebels Wang, Sun, Gao, and Dou are also entrenched on the route of Yang Xuangan's northern advance, and have never been exterminated, they are natural allies with Yang. If they unite with Yang, the consequences will be disastrous, can Commander Fan dare to imagine?

  The whole hall was filled with gasps of cold air, and the officials of Dongdu were all stunned, none of them had expected that Yang Xuangan still had this trick up his sleeve to directly kill Emperor Yang of Sui! On Fan Zigai's stubbornly wrinkled old face, his complexion finally changed completely, and he felt a little relieved in his heart, thinking: "Fortunately, fortunately Yang Xuangan didn't think of this point! Otherwise, Your Majesty would be worried!"

  "We can't let Yang Su go north!" The puppet King of Yue, Yang Tong, opened his mouth and shouted in a childish voice: "We can't let Yang Su cut off the Emperor's grain road, those barbarians from Tujue and Goguryeo will kill Grandpa!"

  "Your Majesty, please be at ease." Fan Zigai hastily comforted Yang Tong: "I have already dispatched twelve trusted messengers to rush to Liaodong via four different roads to inform the Emperor of the warning. The Emperor will surely make preparations upon hearing the news. Yang Xuangan's rebel forces have already been lured by us to the outskirts of Dongdu City, and even if they were to turn back to attack Linjin Pass, it would be too late."

  Fan Liu Shou said, "I'm afraid that the situation is not as simple as it seems. Yang Xuan Gan's rebellion may have already turned around, but it's not necessarily too late. The last military report we received from Liaodong was that Your Majesty had led a large army into the territory of Goguryeo and was approaching its capital. We don't know the current situation on the battlefield, and even if Your Majesty receives a warning, there are still risks such as enemy pursuit and harassment. If Yang Xuan Gan's rebellion is still in secret contact with Goguryeo, they may be able to delay Your Majesty's retreat by using their full strength to hold back our army, or even collude with the Turks and Khitans to slow down the withdrawal of our troops. In that case, Yang Xuan Gan's rebellion turning around now would not only be too late but also have plenty of time."

  "If Yang Xuangan dares to rebel, I will surely exterminate his nine clans!" Fan Zigai roared with rage, "No matter the cost, we must pin down Yang Xuangan's rebels under the city of Dongdu, and buy time for Your Majesty's army to turn around and fight back!" Yang Xuan and all the officials in Dongdu nodded in agreement, unanimously recognizing that they had to tie down Yang Xuangan's rebel forces at present.

  "You old thing, you don't dare to force me out of the city to fight a victorious battle now, do you?" Pei Hongce sneered in his heart, then shouted loudly: "Fan Liuzhu, this is Yang Xuangan's treacherous plan to rebel against the upper strategy. Yang also has a middle strategy that will cause great harm to our Great Sui Empire!"

  "What is Yang's middle strategy?" Fan Zigai asked hastily.

  "We'll make a surprise attack on Daxing, occupy Tongguan and defend it. We'll divide the world with the Sui Dynasty!" Pei Hongce said viciously: "The Guanzhong region has the advantages of mountains and rivers, easy to defend but hard to attack. To the north is the Turkic Khanate, to the west is Gaochang. If Yang Xuangan takes advantage of the unpreparedness of our troops in Guanzhong and makes a surprise attack on Tongguan and Daxing, once he succeeds, it will be extremely difficult for our Sui army to retake Guanzhong. Even if we finally retake Guanzhong, who knows how much time, manpower and resources will be wasted?"

  Pei Hongce added, glancing at Fan Zigai and his colleagues on the platform: "Perhaps Mr. Fan and you gentlemen think that the number of defenders in Guanzhong is three times that of Dongdu, and Yang's difficulty in attacking Guanzhong will not be much easier than sneaking into Linjin Pass, but I can tell you now that if you think so, it's a big mistake! In fact, Yang's attack on Guanzhong was ten times easier than taking Dongdu!"

  "Why?" Fan Zige asked hastily.

  "Yang Inverse has deep roots in Guanzhong." Pei Hongce replied, "Yang Xuangan inherited Yang Su's official position and title, and also inherited Yang Su's position as the head of the family. When Yang Su, the Duke of Chu, fought south and north, he often commanded the army in Guanzhong, and there were countless old subordinates in the Guanzhong army. If these people were to defect at a critical moment, the consequences would be unthinkable! Moreover, Yang Xuangan's rebel bandits are attacking Guanzhong, and can also collude with the Turks of Gaochang as external support at any time, making it even more likely that they will capture Guanzhong!"

  Look at the shocked faces of Fan Zigai and others, Pei Hongce said coldly: "Take a step back and say that even if Yang Xuangan's surprise attack on Guanzhong fails, but as long as Yang rebels reach Tongguan, it will make my great Sui Hebei, Shangluo and other two counties and seven counties suffer from the flames of war, and tens of thousands of people will be killed! If Yang rebels enter Tongguan again, various places in Guanzhong will be unguarded, how many counties in Sui will be affected by the flames of war, and how many people in Guanzhong will be poisoned by the bandits, dare you imagine?!"

  After Pei Hongce finished speaking, the hall fell silent again. Everyone was shocked by Pei's bold conjecture and analysis, and no one dared to imagine the consequences of Yang Xuangan's rebel army rushing into Guanzhong. The weak Right Guard General Huangfu stood up and said loudly: "Mr. Pei is right, the Yang family has deep roots in Guanzhong, and there are many old subordinates in the Guanzhong army. We must guard against Yang's rebellion and collude with these old subordinates of Yang Su to cause trouble in Guanzhong!"

  "I think so too." Pei Hongce muttered to himself, then said loudly: "Yang Xuangan's inferior strategy is to attack this Eastern Capital! Yang's sudden rebellion can indeed achieve the effect of striking first, but if he wants to continue to expand, he must use war to nurture war, constantly attacking and expanding his forces! Launching a head-on assault on a solid city like the Eastern Capital at the beginning of the uprising is the worst of the worst strategies!"

  "I ask you, gentlemen, to consider this: if we hold on to the city of Dongdu and pin down Yang's rebel army beneath its walls, what effect will it have?" Pei Hongce continued to persuade, "Firstly, the war will only affect the land of Dongdu and will not spread to harm more counties and civilians!"

  "Secondly, the Eastern Capital is the foot of the world and the first good district. There are no rebels around that can respond to Yang's rebellion, causing Yang to fall into a desperate situation of fighting alone!"

  "Thirdly, Dongdu is the center of the world, where water and land roads converge. As long as we can hold back Yang's rebel forces for a while, troops from all over the country will come to our aid in an endless stream, surrounding Yang's forces heavily, making it impossible for them to escape! At that time, my garrison in Dongdu will join forces with the relief troops and attack the rebels from both inside and outside, defeating them with ease!"

  Look at Fan Zigai and others who have been deceived, Pei Hongce, with a serious expression and a solemn tone, said loudly: "So, I am willing to lead the army out of the city to fight against the rebels, but for the sake of the country and the world, for the sake of the great Sui dynasty's eternal stability, I can only lose this battle, absolutely cannot win! Because once I win, Yang Xuangan, the rebel leader, will think that it is difficult to attack the eastern capital, and may turn his head to go elsewhere, causing even greater harm to our great Sui dynasty!"

  He sighed and said, "Although I don't understand why this rebel Yang Xuangan would make such a foolish move at the beginning of his rebellion, attacking the strong city of Dongdu, for the sake of letting him continue to make mistakes, for not allowing his rebellion to expand further, and for the sake of the great Sui dynasty's country and people, I am willing to sacrifice my own reputation and lose again in front of Yang Xuangan, making him think that Dongdu is easily conquerable and continuing on his mistaken path!"

  With a solemn expression, Pei Hongce finished speaking his heartfelt words and knelt down on one knee in front of Fan Zigai. He clasped his hands together and said: "Governor Fan, please give the order to dispatch troops now. I don't need three thousand soldiers; just give me one thousand old, weak, and disabled soldiers and that will be enough. After all, I am prepared to lose this battle, so sacrificing fewer precious lives of our officers is also a good thing."

  Pei Hongzhe has already said that, would Fan Ziga still force Pei Hongzhe to go out of the city and fight? The officials in Dongdu who had previously opposed going out of the city to fight also advised: "Lord Liushou, Mr. Pei is right, what we should do now is to hold back Yang Xuangan's rebels and not let them escape and cause chaos, so as to gain time for the main army to come and rescue us. It's not worth going out of the city to fight and sacrifice the lives of our soldiers, it's better to defend the city."

  "Lord Fan, please think thrice." The only one who could influence Fan Zige's decision, Huangfu Wuyi, also said: "Director Pei's strategic analysis is reasonable and logical. Our most correct approach now should be to pin down Yang's rebel army, drag them into a protracted siege war, and not engage in a battle outside the city. If we lose, it would be a waste of our soldiers' lives. Even if we win, the consequences would be even more unpredictable."

  After being persuaded by Chen Yingliang again, Fan Zigai lowered his proud white head for the second time, nodded and said: "You are right, we can't go out of the city to fight, we can only defend the city, first hold back Yang's rebel army."

  After finally changing his stubborn mind, Fan Ziga thought for a moment and instructed Pei Hongce: "Lord Pei, you don't have to leave the city. Since General Huangfu is not feeling well, you can replace him in guarding the most important Shangchun Gate. Just remember, as long as there are people, there will be gates; if the gates are lost..."

  "I will take my own life to atone for my crime!" Pei Hongce loudly replied - defending the city is much easier than fighting in the open field.

  Fan Zige nodded and waved his hand, saying: "Go, from now on, you will live and eat at the Upper Spring Gate. Also, in the future, you should express your opinions on military matters more often, your analysis is very reasonable."

  In the admiring eyes of his colleagues, Pei Hongce walked out of the imperial city as if he had won a great victory. As soon as he left the Tuanmen Gate, he saw his new nephew Chen Yingliang waiting outside to greet him. Pei Hongce's face couldn't help but smile even more happily, and he stopped Chen Yingliang from kneeling down to pay respects. Holding his nephew's hand and smiling, he said: "Worthy nephew, you are truly a treasure bestowed upon your uncle by heaven! Come, follow Uncle to the Shangchun Gate. From now on, if you have any good ideas or strategies, be sure to tell Uncle immediately!"