A dot of black in the distance gradually approached. After a while, the cavalryman reached the bottom of the slope, turned over and dismounted, and then quickly ran up the slope.

Seven or eight steps away, the man knelt down and reported: "Report to the general, our army has broken through the west gate and captured the defending general. The enemy army has completely collapsed!"

Behind Tantai Xuanye stood seven or eight subordinates, all wearing armor.

Everyone also saw that the west gate was breached and heard that the enemy general had been captured, and they all became excited.

"Go and tell General He, please remember the military orders I issued before." Tantai Xuanye looked calm, and did not show the slightest excitement about breaking the city. He just said calmly: "All soldiers are not allowed to kill.

A common person in the city and the government's property are ordered to be collected and guarded. The common people's property must not be plundered at all, otherwise they will be killed without mercy."

The cavalryman took the order and retreated quickly.

All the generals exclaimed in admiration: "The general used his troops like a god. He defeated Taishan City in less than a day. This is really a prosperous military fortune!"

"It's just that the soldiers are brave." Tantai Xuanye was modest: "Taishan City is weakly defended, and any one of you who leads the army can break through it quickly."

"The general is humbled." Someone said: "The morale of the soldiers is so high, it is all because they serve under your command, the general."

Someone said: "Before the general attacks the city, he issues military orders not to harm the people in the city. This is the style of a famous general. We are the army of the Tang Dynasty, and sending troops is a crusade.

The rebels and soldiers have done no harm to the people, and they will let the people know who is right and who is wrong."

"That's right." Someone followed and said, "Qiu Wuwu is the master of the king."

Tantai Xuanye seemed to have no interest in these nonsense, and said calmly: "General Fang listens to the order!"

"My subordinate is here!" Fang Hui, the general of the Shence Military Department who was following Tantai Xuanye, immediately bowed and handed over his hand.

Tantai Xuanye then turned around and said: "He Taiji personally led the soldiers to attack Taishan City and achieved the first victory. I will not favor one over the other and give you a chance to make a contribution. Do you want to fight Pengcheng?"

Fang Hui immediately said: "My subordinates will definitely capture Pengcheng and ask for credit from the general!"

He Taiji and Fang Hui are the two veteran generals in the Shence Army. These two people now have the highest prestige in the Shence Army and are deeply respected by the officers and men of the Shence Army.

During the Kyoto Incident, General Shence Zuo Xuanji was assassinated, and Zhuang Zhaoyang, one of the three lieutenants, ended up being executed because he followed the Prime Minister Xia Hou Yuanzhen.

After Zuo Xuanji and Zhuang Zhaoyang died, the military power of Shence Army was in the hands of He Taiji and Fang Hui.

Tantai Xuanye had always been the commander of the Dragon Scale Forbidden Army before, and had never personally commanded the Shence Army. Although he had long been famous among the Tang Army, the Shence Army was not actually his direct lineage, and his prestige among the Shence Army was lower than that of the Shence Army.

Not as good as the two veterans.

After taking control of Kyoto, Tantai Xuanye transferred many generals from the border army to the capital and arranged many of his confidants into the Shence Army and the Wuwei Camp. However, Fang Hui and He Taiji had already been won over by Tantai Xuanye before the Kyoto incident.

, so after the Kyoto Incident, He Taiji was directly promoted to the general of the Shence Army, and Fang Hui was also the second-largest figure in the Shence Army after He Taiji.

He Taiji's promotion to the rank of General Shence has broken the precedent of eunuchs being the generals of the Shence Army.

Moreover, after the two people were involved in the Kyoto Incident, Tantai Xuanye granted them the title of earl in the name of the emperor. Naturally, they were rewarded with a lot of gold and silver treasures, as well as a large amount of food. This also imprisoned these two people.

He was firmly under his command.

When attacking Taishan City, Tantai Xuanye only had to watch the battle, while He Taiji personally commanded the Shence Army to attack the city. He destroyed the city in one day and made his first contribution. Naturally, he would not be rewarded if he turned around.

He Taiji and Fang Hui were on the same level before the Kyoto Incident. Just because He Taiji entered the Shence Army two years earlier than Fang Hui, Tantai Xuanye eventually promoted He Taiji to General Shence.

Fang Hui didn't dare to say anything, but he was still somewhat unconvinced in his heart.

Now that He Taiji had conquered the city in one day, Fang Hui was naturally even more anxious. He only hoped that he would have a chance to make meritorious deeds and that He Taiji could not be allowed to do so.

The limelight completely overwhelms itself.

He is now only the second-ranking figure in the Shence Army. If his achievements on the battlefield are not as good as He Taiji's, his prestige in the Shence Army will naturally be suppressed by He Taiji in the future. In this way, his faction will have no influence on the Shence Army.

The power in the country will be greatly weakened.

So Tantai Xuanye asked Fang Hui if he was willing to lead troops to attack Pengcheng, and Fang Hui naturally wanted it.

"Is it enough to give you eight thousand troops to attack Pengcheng?" Tantai Xuanye asked.

Although the Shence Army began to attack Taishan City early in the morning, Tantai Xuanye did not see all the soldiers and horses thrown in, and He Taiji only mobilized 10,000 soldiers and horses to attack the city from all sides, and the remaining troops were used as

The reserve team is ready to be replenished at any time.

Taishan City was captured in just one day, so the reserve team was naturally not needed.

"General, four thousand men are enough for your subordinates." Fang Hui said without hesitation: "I promise to capture Pengcheng within two days!"

Fang Hui saw clearly during today's battle.

Although the defenders of Taishan City cannot be said to be vulnerable, but the city was breached in one day, their combat effectiveness and will to resist are really not worth mentioning.

Moreover, the Shence Army had a disdain for the local state army. Even though it was indeed the local state army that was guarding the city, in Fang Hui's eyes, they were just a bunch of rabble without fighting.

God ??????????????? Cejun had already ascertained the situation in Xuzhou in advance. Fang Hui knew that compared to Taishan City, Pengcheng was smaller in scale and its city defenses were weaker. Not only was there no

The moat and walls are old and dilapidated.

Although both Taishan City and Pengcheng have been reinforcing their city defenses recently, judging from today's battle situation, it seems that the reinforcement of city defenses in Taishan City has not had much effect. In this case, the situation in Pengcheng will only get worse.

Difference.

If you lead eight thousand troops to attack Pengcheng, you will definitely be able to capture them, and there will be no suspense about the outcome.

But in this way, even if you win, it won't be very glorious.

Fang Hui thought that He Taiji commanded ten thousand people to attack the city. If he wanted to stand out, he could only capture Pengcheng with even fewer troops. Four thousand troops were enough to ensure that Pengcheng was captured.

He didn't dare to be too confident. Although he wanted to promise to defeat the city in one day, after thinking carefully, he still left some room for himself and promised to defeat the city in two days.

But in his heart, he was thinking that he would try his best to conquer Pengcheng within one day. Once this happened, his limelight would naturally overshadow He Taiji's, and his prestige in the army would be even greater.

"Four thousand people?" Tantai Xuanye obviously saw Fang Hui's thoughts and said calmly: "General Fang, military affairs cannot be entrusted to large matters. Are you sure that four thousand troops and horses are enough?"

Fang Hui said categorically: "I can issue a military order!"

Seeing Fang Hui's confidence, Tantai Xuanye said with a smile: "Okay. I will allocate four thousand troops and horses for you, and you will use the siege equipment at your disposal. After taking Pengcheng, I will give you a banquet to celebrate your victory."

"General, just wait for the banquet." Fang Hui said with a smile.

Pengcheng is located in the north of Taishan County and southwest of Xuzhou City.

This place is not an important place in terms of economy or military, and because there are many mountains and forests, the transportation is not smooth. Therefore, materials entering and leaving Xuzhou rarely pass through Pengcheng, and most of them choose to shuttle through Taishan County.

Above officialdom.

After Fang Hui led his troops across the Shu River south of Mount Tai, they marched southward.

Tantai Xuanye dispatched four thousand soldiers and horses to Fang Hui to attack Pengcheng, and Fang Hui let Fang Hui choose the generals in the Shence Army.

Fang Hui naturally brought many of his direct subordinates with him. Even these four thousand soldiers and horses were always directly under Fang Hui's command.

His purpose is also very simple, that is, to firmly hold the victory over Pengcheng in his own hands, so he uses almost all his own people.

Taishan City is actually only more than 200 miles away from Pengcheng. They are at the opposite ends of each other. If we march day and night, we can reach it in less than three days.

However, the purpose of this time was to attack the city. The cavalry was almost useless, but siege equipment was indispensable, so Fang Hui mobilized many siege equipment.

Equipment and baggage troops marched slowly, and Fang Hui could not abandon the baggage troops and rush to Pengcheng first. After all, there was no siege equipment, and he could not attack the city when he arrived in Pengcheng.

As a result, the 4,000-man army could not march any faster.

Entering Pengcheng County, because this place is not a wealthy place, even the roads are not as smooth as those on Mount Tai. Most of them are dirt roads in extremely poor condition, and the marching speed is even slower.

Although Fang Hui was eager to capture Pengcheng as soon as possible, he had to be patient in the face of the actual situation.

But he was not in a bad mood.

During the preparations in Yuzhou, Tantai Xuanye sent wave after wave of spies to sneak into Xuzhou to inquire about information. He also learned that almost all the troops under She Yue's command were gathered in Xuzhou City, and Xuzhou City was building city defenses day and night. This was clearly to do

Be prepared to defend Xuzhou City.

Although there are soldiers and horses stationed in Pengcheng and Taishan, after ascertaining the strength of the troops stationed in these two counties, the Shence Army generals knew that She Yue did not intend to start a fierce battle with the Shence Army outside Xuzhou City, let alone defend Xuzhou.

Every inch of land, the strategy is to huddle inside Xuzhou City and defend it.

It can also be proved from this that She Yue knew the gap in strength between the two sides and did not dare to fight the Shence Army head-on.

Reducing the military strength will leave other places in Xuzhou empty.

Fang Hui knew that as long as he removed the two nails of Pengxiang City and Taishan City, the army could directly advance into Xuzhou City, and he was convinced that Xuzhou City would be captured.

Even though there were several state battalions defending Xuzhou City, Fang Hui only felt that those people were really not worth mentioning in front of the Shence Army.

Taking Xuzhou City is only a matter of time.

If they can successfully capture Xuzhou and even capture Sheyue, the military exploits achieved by the Shence Army this time will naturally be considerable, and the leading general is Tantai Xuanye. In this way, the court will naturally not be stingy with rewards after the war.

He even felt that it would not be difficult for the court to grant him a marquis after the battle was over and he returned to Kyoto.

Being able to be granted the title of marquis is of course a matter of honoring one's ancestors.

Since Xuzhou's soldiers and horses are all hunkered down, Xuzhou City is like a meat dumpling waiting for Shence's army to devour it, so there is no need to be too anxious to attack Pengcheng by yourself.

After two days of marching, we were already less than a hundred miles away from Pengcheng.

The sky was getting dark, and Fang Hui didn't want his soldiers to be exhausted when they arrived at Pengcheng. Since there was no rush to attack the city, there was no need to rush on the road and they would camp on the spot to rest when it got dark.

According to marching rules, when camping in the open air, you must not only choose a suitable location, but also build a camp and be prepared for enemy attacks. Otherwise, once the enemy launches a surprise attack without building defenses in advance, and is directly attacked by the enemy, it will definitely cause heavy losses.

s consequence.

Fang Hui is a veteran, so he naturally understands this truth.

But he doesn't think this is a problem now.

During the two-day march, Fang Hui will also send out rangers to explore the surroundings to make sure everything is as safe as possible.

However, the result of the inspection was as he expected. No enemy soldiers were found along the way. Xuzhou's soldiers and horses were all hiding in Xuzhou City like turtles.

When attacking Mount Tai, there were no reinforcements in Xuzhou, so there certainly would be no reinforcements in Pengcheng.

And he understood that as long as the Xuzhou defenders were not stupid, they would definitely not send troops out of the city.

Because for the Shence Army, they would rather see the Xuzhou Army come out of the city to fight. It would be most beneficial to them if the Xuzhou Army stayed in the city.

Cutting down trees to build a camp will take a lot of time, and it takes time and effort to build it, but it will be abandoned after one night. When there is no possibility of enemy troops appearing, it is better to let the soldiers spend physical time and energy to build the camp.

Let everyone take a good rest to recharge and maintain their strength for attacking the city.

So he just ordered the sergeants to set up simple camps, but to be sure, he still sent out rangers to explore around the station.
Chapter completed!