Chapter 336 The generals are at odds with each other

Chapter 336 The generals are at odds with each other

Chapter 336 The generals are at odds with each other
Wei Xuan was really disgusted by Yang Jun's aggressiveness. Compared with another prince he was familiar with, Xiao Xia, although both were grandsons of the emperor, they were worlds apart.

Wei Xuan suppressed his disgust and patiently explained, "Your Highness, I have explained to Your Majesty before that the King of Han's rebellion was not justified, and many soldiers were deceived and followed him in his rebellion. But as long as we give them some time, these deceived soldiers will slowly wake up, and then our advance will be smoother. The emperor also agreed with my plan, and Your Highness knows it."

Yang Jun said coldly: "Father never told me any plan, nor did he tell me to follow your arrangements. Now I ask you, am I the commander-in-chief, or are you the commander-in-chief?"

"Of course, Your Highness is the Commander!"

"In that case, follow my orders, march out with all your might, and attack Hedong County with all your might. Take down Hedong City at all costs!"

Wei Xuan sighed deeply in his heart, bowed and said: "I obey your order!"

Wei Xuan immediately gave the order to launch an all-out attack on Hedong County!

Thirty thousand soldiers began to attack Hedong City on the opposite bank along the Yellow River chain bridge day and night. The twenty thousand defenders shot arrows like rain. Batches of Sui soldiers were constantly hit and fell into the surging Yellow River. The battle between the two sides was fierce. In just half a day, the Sui army suffered more than three thousand casualties, but still failed to capture the dock on the opposite bank.

Yuwen Shu stood on the top of Hedong City. He sneered and said to the general beside him: "Wei Xuan was originally defending tightly, but now he suddenly changed his tune and started to attack. This must be the order of their commander, which means that they disagree with each other. This is our chance to win. Pass on my order, the army will evacuate Hedong County and evacuate to the north. Let them enter Hedong!"

The Han army quickly evacuated Hedong County and began to retreat northward. Yang Jun was overjoyed and ordered the entire army to charge into Hedong. Except for the 10,000 troops guarding Tongguan, the rest of the army all charged into Hedong County. It was useless for Wei Xuan to persuade Yang Jun.

The Sui army was unstoppable and successively captured Hedong County and Jiang County, and the army entered Linfen County.

That afternoon, more than 100,000 Sui troops were stationed in Linfen County. A dozen soldiers captured a man who looked like a businessman and brought him to the central army tent. They said to Qi Wang Yang Yun: "We captured a man and found dozens of pearls and a letter in his waist."

The soldier spread out the cloth bag and found dozens of pearls as big as longans, each one round and plump and very valuable.

There was another letter inside. Yang Jun took the letter and looked at it carefully. His eyes narrowed into slits immediately. It turned out to be a handwritten letter from Han King Yang Liang to Wei Xuan.

The content of the letter made Yang Jun furious, "You and I both think that the cause of the late emperor's death is unknown?" and "I'm sorry that I didn't reply to the previous letter in time!"

It turns out that Wei Xuan had been exchanging letters with Yang Liang, otherwise what does it mean to "not be able to reply to the previous letter in time?"

Yang Jun was furious and ordered, "Go find Wei Xuan for me!"

At this time, the staff member Huang Quan whispered to Yang Jun: "Your Highness, this is an opportunity to capture Wei Xuan. Poison him on the way and tell the emperor that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Anyway, we have evidence of his collusion with the enemy!"

Yang Jun nodded. Huang Quan's suggestion hit the nail on the head.

Soon, Wei Xuan came over quickly, bowed and said, "Greetings, Commander!"

Yang Jun waved his hand and shouted, "Catch him!"

Dozens of personal guards rushed forward, pinned Wei Xuan down and tied him up.

Wei Xuan shouted: "I am innocent!"

"Old man, do you dare to say that you are innocent?"

Yang Jun waved the letter in his hand and cursed: "You colluded with Yang Liang and tried to put my army to death. Here is the evidence, a handwritten letter from Yang Liang to you."

Wei Xuan shouted, "I did not write a letter to Yang Liang. Your Highness is slandering me!"

Yang Jun was too lazy to pay attention to him and ordered: "Dismiss him from his military post, put him in a prisoner cart and send him to Chang'an!"

Wei Xuan was quickly stripped of his armor and pushed into a prison cart.

Yang Jun also ordered the arrest of all of Wei Xuan's hundred personal soldiers to prevent them from kidnapping Wei Xuan along the way.

It took less than half an hour from the time Wei Xuan was stripped of his military power to the time when five hundred soldiers escorted him to Chang'an. Wei Xuan felt like he was dreaming. When the prison cart left the camp gate, he could not help but sigh to the sky, "With such a scoundrel, the country cannot be saved!"

Yang Jun captured Wei Xuan and appointed his trusted general He Ruodong as his deputy general.

He Ruodong is the younger brother of He Ruobi. He is also a veteran general and has the title of Duke of Wanrong. He is obedient and follows the orders of his superiors. He will follow them to the letter even if he knows they are wrong. Therefore, he is highly appreciated by Yang Jun. Xiong Kuohai is also with Yang Liang. He is an excellent bodyguard or assassin, but he is not good at leading troops in battle. Although Yang Jun trusts him, he cannot use him.

At night, a soldier came to Huang Quan's tent and said to him, "Please tell Mr. Huang that his cousin Huang Yuan wants to see you!"

Huang Quan was writing a memorial for Yang Yun in his tent. When he heard that his nephew Huang Yuan had arrived, he was surprised and walked out of the tent and asked, "Yuan'er, why are you in the army?"

"Uncle San, my nephew has just joined the army."

Huang Quan was from Wenshui County, Taiyuan Prefecture. When he heard that his nephew had just joined the army, he felt a little uneasy and said quickly, "Let's talk about it later!"

Huang Yuan walked into the tent, and Huang Quan asked in a low voice: "Tell me, which army did you join?"

"Uncle San, I am a soldier from Taiyuan Prefecture!"

"Then why are you here?"

Huang Yuan said nothing, took out a cloth bag and a letter from his arms and handed them to Huang Quan.

Huang Quan took a look at the letter and was shocked. It turned out to be a handwritten letter from Han King Yang Liang to him.

"What is this?"

Huang Quan did not rush to read the letter, but opened the cloth bag. His eyes suddenly widened. There were another hundred pearls inside, exactly the same as the ones given to Wei Xuan. Each one was round and full, with bright color. Each one was worth at least several hundred strings of money.

Today, the hundred pearls belonged to Yang Jun, which made Huang Quan envious for a long time. He did not expect that he also had them. Huang Quan's eyes suddenly showed greed.

There seemed to be an envelope in the bag. He opened the envelope and found a check for 20,000 silver coins and half a jade pendant for withdrawing money.

Huang Quan was extremely greedy for money, and was completely bribed by twenty thousand taels of silver and a hundred pearls.

Huang Quan then read the letter. In the letter, Yang Liang promised him a position, Taifu Jianling, which was the department specifically in charge of the national treasury.

He nodded slowly and said to his nephew, "I'll take you out, and you tell the other party that I will follow the advice in the letter!"

Huang Quan sent his nephew out of the military camp.

He pondered for a long time and then found Yang Jun. Huang Quan knew Yang Jun's weaknesses too well and knew how to persuade him to follow his advice.

Huang Quan advised: "Your Highness, Wei Xuan is right. The soldiers may not be loyal to Yang Liang. They will not work hard for him. Yang Liang really relies on the 80,000 recruited soldiers. These 80,000 soldiers were recruited only two or three months ago. They have not been trained for a long time. What kind of combat effectiveness can they have? How can they compare with our hundreds of thousands of elite troops? We should look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the enemy. If the enemy is unwilling to fight, we will keep forcing them to the city of Taiyuan."

As Huang Quan spoke, he observed Yang Jun's expression. Seeing that he was moved, he took out his trump card.

Huang Quan sighed again and said, “The prince has not yet appointed a crown prince. If Yang Yu defeats the King of Qin first, I’m afraid it will not be helpful for Your Highness to fight for the position of crown prince!”

The eldest prince Yang Yan had one hand cut off, making it impossible for him to become the crown prince. Once the eldest son could no longer become the crown prince, any of the next sons could be made the crown prince.

In fact, everyone knows that the crown prince was chosen between the second son Yang Yu and the third son Yang Jun, so the two brothers fought like black-eyed chickens.

Yang Jun was struck by what he had been thinking. He nodded and said, "Sir, you are right. Speed ​​is of the essence in war. We must try our best to reach Taiyuan."

Huang Quan said quickly: "I will personally arrange the logistics for Your Highness!"

Yang Jun immediately gave the order, "Tomorrow at 5 a.m., we will mobilize the troops and set out at 11 a.m.!"

The fifth watch is four o'clock in the middle of the night, and the first hour of the morning is five o'clock in the morning.

Before dawn the next day, with the sound of a low horn, the Eastern Route Marshal Yang Jun personally led an army of more than 100,000 and marched northward. Huang Quan took the initiative to serve as the rear guard, escorting thousands of carts loaded with grain.

(End of this chapter)