The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 780 The First Signs of Crisis
As dawn broke, the natural barrier to the east of Tongguan demonstrated its formidable defensive capabilities. Despite having only a few hundred men, it held off 20,000 Sui soldiers on the narrow mountain path.

The Sui army suffered heavy casualties but was unable to advance an inch. Helpless, Zhang Xutuo had no choice but to order his troops to temporarily halt the attack.

Because the western forces were also attacking Tongguan, the emperor gave Zhang Xutuo a casualty target of one thousand men. If the casualties did not exceed one thousand, he would be considered to have made a great contribution by capturing Tongguan. If the casualties exceeded one thousand, then it would be completely unnecessary, and Zhang Xutuo would not only have no merit but would also have made a mistake.

With nearly 700 casualties already, Zhang Xutuo realized that he could take Tongguan, but at the cost of at least 5,000 to 6,000 lives, a price he could not afford.

Within Guanzhong, an army of 40,000 men stood in formation two miles from Tongguan, their banners waving and their killing intent palpable.

Pei Xingyan, mounted on his warhorse, coldly gazed at the camp two miles away. It was exactly the same as the intelligence he had received—a board-style military camp. He brandished his sword and shouted, "Charging Thunder Army, advance! Giant Shield Soldiers, provide cover!"

Three thousand giant shield soldiers stepped forward, each carrying a shield five feet high and four feet wide, with a sword on their back. They were not the sword and shield soldiers who would fight on the front lines, but rather an auxiliary force, a new type of army specifically designed to cover the arrow and grenade throwers. This force had only just begun to appear, and Pei Xingyan's army was among the first to be equipped with these giant shields.

These giant shields are woven from thin rattan that has been repeatedly soaked in oil and dried. It takes more than three years to make one shield. They weigh only half as much as ordinary shields, but they are as hard as steel and can withstand the shots of ordinary crossbow bolts, but they cannot withstand heavy crossbow bolts.

Another advantage of this giant shield is its great toughness. Arrows will not stick to the shield surface but will bounce off, unlike ordinary shields, which are so heavy that they cannot be lifted if dozens of arrows are stuck in one shield.

Behind the three giant shields were two arrow and lightning bolt operators. The crossbows they used required both men to lie down to cock, and their arrows and lightning bolts had a range of up to three hundred paces.

Five thousand cavalry followed behind them to prevent the enemy from attacking.

The shield-bearers and arrow-wielding soldiers gradually approached the military camp. Above the camp, a barrage of arrows rained down on them, a dense mass of arrows filling the sky like a dark cloud.

Three hundred paces away, three thousand giant shields formed an impenetrable shield net, blocking all the enemy's crossbow bolts, while the arrows could not travel that far, and most of them fell to the ground prematurely.

Just as the defenders' arrow rain stopped, the Sui army's counterattack began. 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' The drums sounded, and three thousand shields were lowered simultaneously, revealing a thousand crossbow bolts behind them. Soldiers nearby lit the fuses, and in just a very short moment, a thousand crossbow bolts were fired, their target the high walls of the enemy camp.

Sparks flew, followed by a series of explosions, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Smoke filled the air as almost all of the thousand arrows and grenades exploded on the wall, causing sections of the high wall to collapse like tattered rags, and large sections of the wooden frame behind it were also shaken and collapsed.

As the smoke cleared, a gap of two miles appeared in the enemy's high-lying formation, and the camp was in chaos.

Pei Xingyan brandished his sword, "Cavalry, charge!"

"Woo--Woo--"

Fifteen thousand cavalrymen, led by Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji, surged out and charged toward the gap in the enemy camp. At the same time, the Sui army fired a second volley of arrows and grenades. The violent explosion of the arrows and grenades completely shattered the enemy's attempt to rebuild their defensive system. The defenders almost collapsed and could not fire another arrow.

The Sui army currently has three cavalry units: Su Dingfang and Luo Cheng under Li Jing, the Xue brothers under Luo Shixin, and Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji under Pei Xingyan. Hou Junji was recommended by Pei Xingyan. Although Hou Junji's martial arts skills were average, he was indeed very capable as a cavalry commander. Under Pei Xingyan's strong recommendation, Xiao Xia appointed Hou Junji as a third-level general of the cavalry.

Hou Junji did not disappoint Pei Xingyan's recommendation. He made outstanding contributions in the battle to destroy Liu Heita, leading 5,000 cavalry to defeat Liu Heita's 30,000 infantry. Xiao Xia promoted him to General of the Cloud Banner and granted him the title of Marquis of Wancheng County.

Fifteen thousand cavalrymen charged into the breach in the Tongguan camp as soon as the smoke cleared.

In just half an hour, the Battle of Tongguan ended and Tongguan fell to the enemy. At the last moment, Zhang Shilong ordered the entire army to lay down their weapons and surrender, thus avoiding a one-sided massacre of infantry by cavalry.

An hour later, with the change of flags at Tongguan, Zhang Xutuo's 25,000-strong army finally entered Tongguan. Sun Lei's army also entered Guanzhong, and the three armies joined forces. The Sui army had more than 100,000 troops stationed in Fengyi County, while the Tang army lost 30,000 men, and Fengyi County fell.

At the same time, Li Jing and Luo Shixin's 150,000-strong army also turned around and pressed on Tianshui and Longxi counties, putting enormous pressure on Li Xiaogong's 50,000-strong army.

Apart from Li Xiaogong's 50,000 troops, Li Yuan only had 20,000 troops left to defend Chang'an, commanded by Li Shentong.

At this time, Chang'an was in chaos. Grain prices skyrocketed, with wheat prices soaring from 70 wen per dou to 200 wen per dou. Prices of other commodities also surged. Conversely, land prices plummeted. Land prices along Zhuque Street in Chang'an had fallen below 500 guan per mu. It should be noted that in the second year of Renshou, the land price here was 5,000 guan per mu.

A five-acre house could be bought for two thousand strings of cash if one was truly interested and bargained. But even so, no one dared to buy it. Merchants were too afraid to buy it. According to the laws of the Sui Dynasty, a merchant's house could not exceed three acres, and the merchant had to have a contribution value of level six or higher. Currently, there was only one merchant who had reached level six: Shen Kun, a major merchant of medicinal herbs from Sichuan and Chongqing. He transported more than 100,000 catties of the strategic medicinal herb Panax notoginseng from Yunnan and Sichuan and provided it to the Sui army at a fair price. Xiao Xia awarded him the title of Yitong Xun Guan and set his contribution value at level six.

The wealthy merchants of Chang'an were aware of this regulation, and no matter how cheap the houses were, no one dared to buy them. Their only option was to have more sons, then divide the family property, with each family buying a house on one mu of land. Another option was to support the Sui army and earn contribution points, but they dared not do that, as they would be punished by Li Yuan.

At this time, the Tang Prince's mansion was also in chaos. Officials left one after another without saying goodbye, and the number of officials was reduced from more than two hundred to less than one hundred. Various crises followed one after another.

The army was in crisis and the people were fearful, but the most critical problem was the food crisis. When the Sui army occupied Guangtong Granary, the officials suddenly realized that their Chang'an Granary only had 100,000 shi of grain left. If the army's grain in Fengxiang Granary was added, there would only be 300,000 shi left.

Each of the 70,000 soldiers could receive four shi of grain, but what about the common people? The Jingzhao Prefecture and Fufeng County had nearly a million people!
Pei Ji, the chief secretary of the Tang Prince's Palace, had no choice but to report to Li Yuan.

"what!"

Li Yuan's eyes widened. "There are only 100,000 shi of grain left in the Chang'an granary?"

He immediately became anxious, "How can there be only such a small amount? I remember there was supposed to be 500,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)?"

"Your Highness, we originally had 500,000 shi of grain. We urgently transferred 250,000 shi to the Fengxiang military granary, and another 50,000 shi to Tongguan and Wuguan respectively. We also released another 50,000 shi into the market, so we only have 100,000 shi left."

"Then why not replenish it from Guangtong Warehouse in a timely manner?"

Pei Ji sighed inwardly. What was the use of saying all this now? Who would have known that the Sui army would suddenly launch an attack, occupy Shangluo County and Fengyi County, and Guanzhong would be completely lost?

"We need to ask the major Guanzhong nobles for grain. I know they all have grain reserves, and at this time, they must bring them all out!"

Pei Ji said helplessly, "This humble servant can go to them, but Your Highness should not have too high hopes."

"why would you say so?"

“Your Highness, three days before the Sui army launched its offensive, large quantities of grain were suddenly dumped in the Chang’an market. These must have been the Guanlong nobles.”

Li Yuan's eyes narrowed immediately; these guys knew the Sui army was about to launch an offensive.

(End of this chapter)