The end of the war in Hanzhong means that the time for the decisive battle of the Sui and Tang Dynasties is ripe. It is April, with sunny weather and comfortable weather, which is the best time to start a war.

That morning, in the semicircle hall of Ziwei Pavilion, Jinyang Palace, more than 30 senior officials from the Sui Dynasty gathered together to discuss the most important decision in two years, the beginning of the Sui-Tang War.

A tense and exciting atmosphere filled the semicircular hall. This day was a day that all the ministers had been looking forward to. The south had been unified and occupied Hanzhong and cut off the Tang army's retreat to Bashu. Now the Tang army is only left in Guanzhong, forming a trapped beast pattern.

In front of the semicircle hall, there is a wooden frame, and a huge map is hung on the wooden frame, which is a map of Guanzhong and Guan. Yang Yuanqing stood next to the map and explained the situation in front of many senior officials.

"Now the Sui army has 120,000 troops in the northern area of ​​Guannei Road, mainly distributed in Yan'an County in the east, Shangjun and Huining County in the west. In this Sui-Tang battle, I will mobilize another 200,000 troops, plus the 40,000 Sui army in Hanzhong. In fact, our troops will reach 360,000. Looking at the Tang army," he said.

Yang Yuanqing moved the wooden pole to Guanzhong and continued: "At present, the Tang army has about 130,000 troops in Guanzhong, and the distribution is very uneven. There are 80,000 elite troops in Fufeng County, Guanxi. This is Li Shimin's main force, and Chang'an City has 40,000 defenders, but there are only more than 10,000 people in Guandong. They guard Tongguan and Pujin Pass. Guandong's troops are empty. But I heard that Li Shimin has taken over the military power, so I estimate that the Tang army will dispatch 30,000 troops to Guandong. More importantly, the Tang army has been conscripting troops in Guanzhong for many years, which has exhausted the source of troops in this area and has no soldiers to conquer. If you can reach the sky, you can only conquer 20,000 troops. In this way, the Tang army has only 150,000 troops at most. We have an absolute advantage in this battle. We do not seek quick battles and decisive decisiveness. As long as we fight steadily, we can take Chang'an and unify the world within two months."

Yang Yuanqing's military analysis caused a whisper in the semicircle hall, and the ministers were extremely excited. 360,000 to 150,000 were absolute military strength. As long as nothing unexpected happened, it was just around the corner to take down Guanzhong, but everyone knew that trapped beasts were still fighting, and this last battle was not so easy, especially the Sui army dispatched more than 300,000 troops, and the food and food consumed would be very huge.

In fact, this is also the reason why Yang Yuanqing held the military controversy before the war. It requires huge logistical support to launch the Sui and Tang war, including food, civilians and various military supplies. These cannot be solved by the army alone, but must be supported by the court and local governments along the way. It can be said that this Sui and Tang battle was a battle of the whole country, and it took one month to prepare for the war.

At this time, Du Ruhui walked up to the front desk, nodded to Yang Yuanqing, and smiled at everyone, "This battle will be done with all our warehouses again."

His frowning face attracted a sense of laughter. Du Ruhui then said slowly: "There is still 200,000 stones of grain stored in Taiyuan, and the Liyang Cang still has 25 stones of grain stored in Liyang Cang. In addition, there are about 100,000 stones of grain in the granary of governments in various places, which is 550,000 stones in total. Considering that it is time for the time being that the green and yellow cangs are not in line, it is necessary to take out 150,000 stones of grain to help the affected farmers last year, and leave another 100,000 stones to stabilize the price of grain. Then there is no problem with taking out 300,000 stones of military rations. There is also the remaining 3 million sheep, which can also be used as military rations."

Yang Yuanqing next to him smiled and said, "It's already April. In two months, the summer grain will be bumper and the food will be sufficient. Don't be stingy. Even if you take it out with confidence, I still know your true feelings."

A laughter sounded again in the semicircle hall, and Du Ruhui smiled bitterly again, saying, "Actually, it's okay to have food and supplies. The key is manpower. I guess it can mobilize 300,000 people's power. It's a month. Is Your Highness enough?"

Yang Yuanqing pondered and said, "Mobilizing 500,000 people for half a month, just preparing for war requires people's strength. The war in the future only takes 100,000 people. Is there any problem with this?"

Du Ruhui looked at several prime ministers, and everyone nodded together, indicating that it was feasible. Du Ruhui agreed, "Okay! That's it, just one word is determined."

...........

The weather in April is also a changing season. Just after the court made the decision to mobilize the civilians to prepare for war, the entire Hedong, Hebei and the Central Plains entered a continuous spring rain season. However, the combat readiness of the Sui army was not affected and was still launched according to the plan.

On the wide mud-filled official road in Xihe County, grain trucks covered with oil cloth, large trucks containing wheat poles and hay, supplies trucks, and huge flatbed boats, swinging along the Fen River and squeaking forward.

The drizzle drifts in the sky is the rainy season in the Central Plains. The fields and ditches on the roadside are filled with rain. The dense forests in the distance show a blurry outline.

The Sui army stepped on the mud, braved the drizzle, accompanied by shouts and curses, mixed with the crackling sound of whips and the creaking of the axles, and advanced southward. The momentum was huge, like the sea tide.

From time to time, you can see dying animals or animals lying on both sides of the official road, and occasionally a large cart with wheels facing the sky. Sometimes a team of cavalry rushed into the crowd, so the soldiers kept shouting, cursing, and the horses stood up and neighed constantly. A large cart full of food and grass would roll down the slope, and the people on the cart would also roll down.

In front, in the middle of the torrent of vehicles, soldiers lined up in long queues and marched hard on the sticky mud.

The crowd was mixed with carriages carrying light weapons such as knives, guns, bows and crossbows. The escort soldiers were lying in the van, and people kept running out of the team, crawling into the fields, and squatting down.

In front of me is a team of senior officers. The brigade of personal soldiers is holding their generals. From time to time, dozens of medical carriages can be seen slowly heading north, with soldiers suffering from acute illness lying inside.

Tens of thousands of troops rushed south, walking through a dense forest, and rioting began to fight for resting places, and then unleashed the queues and crossed the river. Then new carriages filled with grain and hay from both sides. Occasionally, a small team of scouts and cavalry grabbed the front of the queue.

Further ahead is an abandoned town. Last winter, the town was looted by the Turks who raged into Hedong. More than 400 people in the town were killed and have not recovered yet. All the survivors have been moved to villages two miles away.

The town still presents a scene of a tragic disaster, with a broken gable among the piles of rubble and burnt wood shaking; broken oil lamps and deformed windows swaying in the wind, and several elderly people who came home to visit their hometown, sat side by side in a collapsed cart, looking at the army passing by the town with gloomy and sad eyes.

Two miles away parallel to the official road is the canal. Thousands of civilians are struggling to pull a large ship, emitting low, rhythmic and shocking horns.

The ship was loaded with various heavy siege weapons and armor. Ladders, nest cars, building cars, and there were still a row of huge land on both sides of the ship. There were also grain, forage, and buckets of tiny oil on the ship, which were guarded by heavy troops.

This team was a long journey to Hedong, with about 80,000 new recruits. The main general was Li Jing, who had just returned from the grassland and Pei Xingyan, who had just recovered from his injuries. Their destination was Pujin Ferry, Hedong County, four hundred miles south. The march was extremely slow and the team had been away for four days.

At this time, a cavalry team of hundreds of people rushed past the team, and the horse's hooves stepped through the mud, splashing large scattered sewage. Several soldiers could not hide, and their faces were splashed with sludge.

"**Your mother!"

A soldier's scolding was not over yet, and there was a crisp sound of "bang!", and another blood-red whip mark appeared on his face covered in sludge.

Dozens of horses rushed past him, causing a sound of wind.

"Your Highness, King of Chu!" Someone recognized the Golden Helmet General in the cavalry and screamed in horror.

The cavalry team that was speeding past was Yang Yuanqing, but Yang Yuanqing did not go to Hedong County, but to Wenxi County, Jiang County. Yang Yuanqing received news that Pei Ju was critically ill, so he rushed to meet for the last time, and then turned around and went to the inner road of Guan.

The team ran forward for several miles, and a temporary tent was set up in a forest in front of them, and soldiers were surrounded by patrol soldiers.

The cavalry team rushed over. An officer saw the big red eagle flag on the edge of the golden edge, and turned around and ran towards the tent. After a moment, the commander of the Eastern Army, Li Jing, deputy commander Pei Xingyan, and dozens of civil and military generals came out.

Yang Yuanqing turned over and got off the horse and smiled, "I thought I had missed it with you, and this team was actually fifty miles long."

"The main reason is that there is too much baggage, which has lengthened the team."

Li Jing stepped forward and bowed, and asked with a smile: "Didn't Your Highness go to the inner road? Why did you go south again?"

"Go and see Pei Xiangguo first, he seems to be unable to do it."

Pei Xingyan next to him was shocked. Is the head of the family unable to do it? He knew nothing. Yang Yuanqing glanced at him and said, "People will go with me later! It won't prevent the march from going south."

Pei Xingyan shook his head, "In the current war, I cannot leave my post without permission. When I passed by Wenxi County, I will go to visit the head of my family."

The military discipline was strict, and Yang Yuanqing also understood Pei Xingyan's difficulties, so he stopped forcing him to enter the big tent with them. There was a sand table in the middle of the big tent. Everyone was discussing military information just now.

"Is there any difficulty?" Yang Yuanqing walked to the sand table and asked with a smile.

Everyone looked at each other, and Pei Xingyan scratched his head, "It's just that the marching speed is too slow, and there will be at least three days to reach Hedong City."

Li Jing said again: "Your Highness, we were just saying that there was no shipping supplies this time, and we used a lot of manpower and animal power, so it was a bit inconvenient to march."

Yang Yuanqing smiled helplessly and explained to everyone: "In fact, there are more than 3,000 flat-bottomed boats in Taiyuan. One boat can transport twenty stones of grain. That time, it can only transport sixty thousand stones of grain. It takes at least three round trips, which takes more than one month. It was enough, but I reached a consensus with the court to only prepare for one month, so the time was a little nervous, so mobilized the civilians to transport part of the food with animal power, so that only two trips can be done. I hope to end the battle of Guanzhong before the summer harvest."
Chapter completed!