Chapter 62: The City of Bare Risk

After the Battle of Xiangyang, the Tang army had the last fortress left, and Xiangyang City was not captured. Xiangyang was the largest city in the Jingxiang area. The walls were tall and strong, and the moat was three meters wide, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In addition, Yang Gongren has a good defense. Not only did he arrange the defense of 30,000 troops reasonably, he also sent all 300,000 pieces of silk cloth in the warehouse to the soldiers, soothing the morale of the army and boosting morale.

More importantly, he did not expel the people to participate in defense, so that the people in the city were at peace, sufficient food supply, and stable food prices, which was conducive to long-term defensive wars.

Yang Gongren knew very well that there were 80,000 Sui troops outside the city, including 20,000 cavalry. If he went out of the city to fight, his 30,000 troops would not be the opponent of the Sui army.

But if it is to defend the city, it is definitely not easy for the 80,000 Sui troops to break through the strong Xiangyang City. The key is that the Sui army cannot cooperate inside and outside. Yang Gongren obviously learned the lessons of Jiangling City. He did not use any Xiangyang generals, and all the Xiangyang majors were not allowed to go out easily, which effectively eliminated the destruction of some surrenders.

However, Yang Gongren also knew very well that the Tang army would not come to help him again. If he persisted like this, he would eventually have a day when the troops were exhausted and food was exhausted. In fact, there was no strategic value to defend Xiangyang. In addition to proving a little integrity, he would give the court some comfort and Xiangyang would not surrender.

Yang Gongren's heart seemed to be covered with a thick layer of haze, which made him unable to see a bright future, and he could only keep a one-day basis.

The chief general of the Sui army outside the city was Xu Shiji, the general manager of Henan Road, and Du Fuwei served as deputy general. They had been besieging Xiangyang for more than 20 days. They only attacked the city twice at the beginning, losing thousands of people, and never attacked the city again since then.

On the one hand, they also understood that 80,000 troops could not capture Xiangyang City. On the other hand, with the end of the Jingxiang Battle, Xiangyang City had lost its strategic significance, and it was no longer so urgent to capture Xiangyang City. There was no need to lose soldiers anymore. Just besiege, and Xiangyang City would sooner or later be destroyed.

That morning, in the Sui Army camp, Xu Shiji was sitting in the commander's tent reading, which seemed leisurely, but in fact he was also anxious and uneasy. Since the end of the Central Plains, he has stayed in the Central Plains.

The Sui Tu battle was not his share. The battle of Luo Shixin in Qingzhou was easily wiped out. He did not catch up with the destruction of Li Mi. He had not fought the battle of Jingxiang so far, and it was not his turn to fight Bashu. Seeing that the final decisive battle in Guanzhong was about to begin, he was besieging an isolated city.

If he does not perform again, then his qualifications on the military merit list will appear too weak. How much benefit can he get in terms of merit rewards in the future?

Now he is Xu Shiji, who is just a county duke. When he heard that if Wang Junkuo conquered Bashu, he would be named Duke of Shu. This made him envious and urgent. He needed opportunities and needed Yang Yuanqing to give him the opportunity to make meritorious contributions and obtain the qualifications for rewards.

Although he was anxious, Xu Shiji had no choice but to attack at all costs and lose his troops, he might not be able to get the credit, which would cause Yang Yuanqing to be furious. He knew very well that Yang Yuanqing regarded soldiers more important than anything at this time, and would never pay a big price easily unless it was a strategic goal of the Sui Dynasty's Battle or the Sui Dynasty's Decisive Battle.

At this time, a soldier reported at the door: "Report to the General Manager, Prime Minister Yang is here."

"Who?" Xu Shiji didn't react at once.

"It's Xiao Yang's prime minister."

There were two prime ministers in the court, two prime ministers in Yang, among which the little prime minister Yang was Yang Shidao. Xu Shiji was immediately overjoyed. He knew that Yang Shidao's arrival must be related to Yang Gongren in the city.

"Please come in quickly!"

Soon, Master Yang smiled and walked into the coach's tent, "Mr. Xu is so leisurely!"

Xu Shiji smiled bitterly and hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "If you don't fight in the siege, you will do nothing, which will make Yang Xiangguo laugh at him."

"It's a good thing not to fight the city! We can save a soldier and give me a little more tax on the Sui Dynasty."

The two of them took a seat with the guest and the host. Yang Shidao took out a letter and handed it to him, "This is your letter to you, please take a look at it yourself!"

Xu Shiji was immediately excited, opened the letter and hurriedly read it. In the letter, Yang Yuanqing gave him a big opportunity. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and hurriedly said, "I'll arrange for the Prime Minister to enter the city."

.........

Among the four cities on Xiangyang City, the Sui army only surrounded the South City and the East City, and there were no troops outside the West City and the North City. However, although there were no troops surrounding the troops, Chai Shao's defeated army could not escape back to the city, so they could only flee westward and return to Chang'an.

Half an hour later, Yang Shidao appeared under the Xicheng Gate, and he shouted to the top of the city: "I am Yang Shangshu's family, so I'm here to escape to him."

A soldier had already rushed to report to Yang Gongren. After a moment, Yang Gongren appeared on the top of the city. He recognized the person under the city. It was his brother Yang Shidao. He immediately guessed the purpose of Yang Shidao. He was very complicated in his heart. After a while, he nodded and said, "Let him go into the city!"

The suspension bridge rumbled down, and a crack was opened in the city gate. Master Yang urged his horse to enter Xiangyang City. As soon as he left the gate, he saw his brother facing him. He immediately turned over and got off the horse and walked forward quickly. The two brothers hugged each other. Although they had nothing to say, they were in the same mind. Although they were hostile dynasties, they could not stop the blood and family ties between the brothers.

"Come with me!"

Yang Gongren took his brother back to his residence. Yang Gongren temporarily lived in the back house of Xingtai Mansion. He was single and lived in a small house of three acres, which was enough. Only two old people took care of his daily life.

"Did you come directly from Taiyuan?" Yang Gongren poured a cup of tea for his brother and asked with concern.

Yang Shidao took the teacup and nodded, "I went to Luoyang first, and then came over."

"Luoyang?"

"His Royal Highness of Chu is in Luoyang, I will go to see him first."

Yang Gongren was silent, and for a moment he asked slowly: "You are urging me to surrender, right!"

"When my elder brother was in Xingyang, I went to find you. Tell me, I went to Taiyuan, you went to Chang'an, and each left a way for each other. Do you still remember it?"

"I remember." Yang Gongren said lightly.

Master Yang sighed, "I won't talk about the current situation, my brother should also know that the Tang Dynasty is out of the blue and everyone is looking for a way out. Even the Dugu family and Dou family of Guanlong nobles have secretly looked for Yang Yuanqing. Now that the Jingxiang Battle has ended, Xiangyang has become an isolated city. What's the point of defending me?"

Yang Gongren was silent for a while and sighed: "Of course I understand these things. But Li Yuan refused to use me at the beginning, but he suspected that I would surrender to the Sui Dynasty. I had already held my breath. If I surrender now, wouldn't it mean that his guess was correct? I was injustice. I couldn't swallow this tone."

"Brother, this is just one breath. Is it cost-effective to lose my future in order to bet on this breath? Yang Yuanqing asked me to tell my elder brother that as long as the elder brother is willing to surrender, he will actually grant my elder brother the Minister of Revenue and Duke Xiangguo. Moreover, the fifth sister is now the concubine of the King of Chu. She will be the imperial concubine in the future. Our family will become a royal relative. Brother, you cannot ruin your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a little face!"

Yang Gongren lowered his head. After a long time, he smiled bitterly: "Even if I surrender to the Sui Dynasty for my sake, what should you do if your sister-in-law and nieces? They are all in Chang'an, which will kill them. I can't do this."

"Brother, this problem is easy to solve. There is a Sui Army Intelligence Hall in Chang'an, which can easily transfer them out. And it can also help the Dugu family or Dou family to protect them. I can ensure that they are safe and sound."

Yang Gongren walked to the window with his hands behind his back and stared outside the yard for a long time. He finally sighed: "I have lost the righteousness of 400,000 people in Xiangyang City for my own face."

He turned around and said, "You go back and tell Xu Shiji that I can hand over Xiangyang City to him, but I want to go back to Chang'an, and the soldiers who are willing to go back to Chang'an also hope that he will not intercept him. I have this condition."

Mr. Yang didn't expect that this would be the result. After a while, he asked helplessly: "Does your brother really want to go back?"

Yang Gongren nodded, "I can't let myself fall into injustice. I have to go back. No matter how Li Yuan deals with me, at least I have a clear conscience."

Master Yang knew that his elder brother was an extremely stubborn person. He had decided that he could not persuade him no matter what. He had to get up and bow, and he had no choice but to say goodbye and leave.

Shortly after Yang Shidao left, Gao Shilian hurried over. He also heard that Yang Shidao was coming, which made him full of hope.

"Shangshu Yang, I heard that the teacher is here, are you still there?" Gao Shilian entered the house and did not see the teacher Yang, and he was shocked.

Yang Gongren shook his head, "He has left, Gao Changshi, there is something I want to tell you. I have decided to abandon the city. Xiangyang City has become an isolated city, separated from the Tang Dynasty, so we have no need to guard it anymore."

Gao Shilian was speechless. Since Master Yang had come, he knew that this must be the result, which could be said to be within his expectations.

"Has Shangshu Yang decided to surrender?"

"I will not surrender, but I will abandon the city. I will return to Chang'an. Among these soldiers, there are Jingxiang people and relevant people. I will not force those who are willing to surrender. Those who are willing to return to Chang'an with me will take them away. Gao Changshi will make a decision by himself!"

"Actually, I have wanted to say that the overall situation in Jingxiang has been decided. It is really meaningless to defend Xiangyang City except to prove a little integrity."

Gao Shilian sighed, "Since Yang Shangshu made the decision, let us act separately! Those who are willing to surrender, open the southern city gate with me and surrender out of the city, and those who are willing to return to Chang'an, go to the northern gate with Yang Shangshu."

Gao Shilian's statement was a bit beyond Yang Gongren's expectations. It turned out that Gao Shilian was already surrendering, but this is understandable. Not everyone is like himself and wants to gamble.

Yang Gongren nodded calmly, "That's what it's decided!"

Two hours later, the city gate of Xiangyang was wide open. Gao Lilian led more than 20,000 Jingxiang and Bashu Tang troops out of the southern city gate and surrendered to the Sui army led by Xu Shiji. Yang Gongren led 8,000 Guanzhong Tang troops out of the north gate, retreated to Hanzhong in the northwest, and returned to Chang'an.

Xu Shiji did not stop him and led a large army to Xiangyang. Two days later, Xu Shiji led 40,000 elite Sui army to march towards Hanzhong.

This is the task assigned to him by Yang Yuanqing. Once Yang Shidao persuaded Yang Gongren to give up Xiangyang, Du Fuwei would defend Xiangyang, and Xu Shiji led 40,000 Central Plains Sui army to attack Hanzhong, cut off the final connection between Guanzhong and Bashu, and thus complete the strategic encirclement of Guanzhong.

Forty thousand Sui troops marched towards Hanzhong along the Han River Valley. At this time, the Tang Dynasty did not have much force in Hanzhong, only the 10,000 troops led by Luo Yi and the thousands of defeated soldiers brought back by Chai Shao before, with a total of 15,000 troops.

...To be continued.

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Chapter completed!