The news of the loss of Huoyi and Yin Land reached Taiyuan the next morning. It was accompanied by a letter of help from Jiexiu County.

This news surprised Pei Lin and Li Shenfu.

Inside the barracks.

Li Shenfu stood in front of the map worriedly, he saw more deeply and thoroughly than Pei Lian, he had already understood the strategic intention of the Sui army, if he completely lost the Bird Mouse Valley, it meant that Taiyuan City would become an isolated city.

At this time, a soldier reported at the door, "Chief Qiyu, Pei Xiangguo is here." ”

Li Shenfu smiled coldly: "Please let him in!" ”

It is not an open secret that Taiyuan will fall out of harmony, and since the breakup, the two have almost stopped communicating with each other.

Pei Lin strode over and said in a deep voice: "Does the general know that something happened to the Bird Mouse Valley?" ”

Li Shenfu said coldly: "Not only do I know that Huo Yi and Yin Land have been lost, but I also know that Pei Yang, a disciple of the Pei family, gave it to the Sui army!" ”

Pei Lin saw Li Shenfu's sarcasm and dissatisfaction, but he asked for help, so he couldn't help but say: "I will bear the responsibility that I should bear!" Now is not the time for infighting, and the general is asked to focus on the overall situation. ”

Li Shenfu glanced at him in surprise, it was the first time he saw Pei Lin breathing in a low voice, so he said slowly: "Please speak!" ”

"Xihe, Longquan, and Linfen are empty, and the defenders of Shangdang and Changping want to fight against the rival Sui army, and they have no skills, and the enemy army will definitely sweep through the counties of Jinnan in the next step! The Bird Mouse Valley is easy to defend and difficult to attack, if the whole line is lost, even if I have a million elite soldiers in Dayuan, I will not be able to rescue! At that time, the enemy only needs to use the strategy of exhausting troops to consume the life and death of the isolated city of Taiyuan, so we must recapture the Bird Mouse Valley at all costs and reopen the north-south artery. Pei Lin thought of going with Li Shenfu.

Li Shenfu smiled bitterly: "Of course I know the consequences of the loss of the Sparrow Mouse Valley, and I also think that we must keep Jiexiu County, and at the same time use this foundation to recapture the Sparrow Mouse Valley!" But you must know that the road from Taiyuan to Jiexiu is a road of death, which is very, very difficult to walk. ”

Of course, Pei Lin also saw this.

The entire territory of Lou Fu and Lishi County was lost, and the northern, eastern, and southern parts of Taiyuan County also became the sphere of influence of the Great Sui, and Li Jing's army has been cruising in Taiyuan, playing the role of containing the Taiyuan defenders!

It's just that Pei Lian's main task is to drag the Sui army in Taiyuan, so as to buy time for the Guanzhong army, so he adopted the passive defense tactic of holding on and waiting for reinforcements, except for strengthening scout exploration, he has not fought a big battle with the Sui army, and this is also the fundamental reason why he strongly opposes Li Shenfu's battle. However, the unexpected loss of the Bird Mouse Valley made his plan to hold on to Taiyuan completely bankrupt.

Now, he finally knew that the Sui army did not plan to fight a tough battle in Taiyuan City at all, but adopted the strategy of encroaching on the entire territory of the state and finally consuming Taiyuan.

Whether or not the tide of the battle can be changed now depends on whether or not the Sparrow Mouse Valley can be recaptured.

But as Li Shenfu said, it is at least more than 400 miles to walk from Taiyuan to Jiexiu County, during which the jungle is dense and the mountains are vertical and horizontal, not to mention that you have to bypass Wu Ze within a radius of hundreds of miles, and it is not wrong to say that this section of the road is the road of death. Because Li Jing, who acted as a spectator, would never let them calmly rescue Jiexiu.

At present, in Taiyuan City, the only general who can be qualified for the rescue mission is Li Shenfu, but this is a thankless and life-and-death task, and Pei Lian, who is fully responsible, is embarrassed to say no matter how thick-skinned he is.

In this regard, Li Shenfu had another opinion, and he said in a deep voice without hurry: "The Sparrow Mouse Valley was lost from the south to the north, so it can be seen that this is the work of another Sui army, and the number of troops will not be too much!" Until now, Li Jing and Li Jing may not know about the changes in the Bird Mouse Valley. If we set off first, then this road will become the road of death for the Sui army. ”

Pei Lian's eyes lit up, and he said, "Is the general planning to eat Li Jing and Li Jingbu on this road?" ”

"Exactly!" Li Shenfu said with a smile: "This is the important task of eating Li Jingbu, as well as rescuing Jiexiu and recapturing the Sparrow Mouse Valley, naturally I am the only one." ”

Pei Lian thought about it for a while, and also felt that this was a game-breaking fighter in a dangerous situation: "I wish the general a victory!" ”

"Taiyuan City is handed over to you!"

Li Shenfu beat the drum to gather the generals and issued a combat order to rescue Jiexiu. First with 3,000 light cavalry as the vanguard, and then personally led an army of 30,000 to aid Jiexiu County.

……

In the southwest of Taiyuan, on an abandoned official road in Wenshui County, an army of about 20,000 people is resting eight miles away from the official road. The army's armor is distinct, silent, showing good training quality, and the head of the general is Li Jing, the secretary of the military department.

Li Jing knew that as long as there was movement in the Bird Mouse Valley, Pei Lin and Li Shenfu would not sit idly by, and would definitely go south to rescue. In the case that Taigu fell into the hands of Yang Shanhui and Su Dingfang, the only way for the Tang army to go south was Wenshui County! Therefore, as early as when he suggested that Yang Dong send strange soldiers to fly to capture the Bird Mouse Valley, Li Jing was already ready to annihilate the southbound reinforcements from Taiyuan.

He asked Hengshan County Guards Li Jing and Xue Wanche to use his banner to lead an army of 40,000 to continue to confuse the Tang Army in Taiyuan, and he personally led 30,000 troops to secretly enter Lishi County, and then sneaked into Wenshui County in Taiyuan from Lishi County.

According to Li Shenfu's analysis, he really didn't get in touch with Shen Guang, but he kept sending scouts to keep an eye on Taiyuan City.

As soon as the Taiyuan army was dispatched, he already knew that the Bird Mouse Valley had fallen into the hands of the Sui army, so he immediately led the army into the selected ambush point.

Before this, he also instructed Yang Shanhui and Su Dingfang of Taigu County to prepare to eat Qi County in Taiyuan, because Wenshui is not far from Qi County, and once there is a change here, the defenders of Qi County will definitely not care.

At this time, a cavalry scout rushed over, clasped his fists and saluted Li Jing: "General Qiyu, Yang Taishou and General Su are ready, and they have completed the deployment north of Wu Ze in the south of Qi County. ”

"General! General Pei Xingyan's 10,000 cavalry army is ready! Another scout, Pegasus Urgent.

Li Jing smiled slightly, and said to Xue Wanche: "According to the scout report of Fang Cai, Li Shenfu will arrive in another hour, immediately enter the ambush point, and prepare for the battle." ”

The two immediately gave the battle order, and the Sui army, who was resting, got up and prepared, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

……

Noon!

Li Shenfu's main force of 30,000 Tang troops has already entered the territory of Wenshui, they are still about 300 miles away from Jiexiu County, it is said that Li Jing has transferred 20,000 troops to the south urgently, and he must rush to Wu Ze as soon as possible to set up an ambush. Therefore, crossing the city without entering, the pressure of the march was unusually high, and the Tang army tried to minimize rest time along the way.

Although it was a rapid march, Li Shenfu cautiously sent several scout teams to investigate along the way, and kept in touch with the vanguard army at all times to prevent being ambushed by the enemy.

Generally speaking, marching scouts only explore within ten miles along the way, that is, five miles on each side of the official road, so as to ensure that the army will not enter the ambush circle, as for the enemy troops five miles away, do not worry too much, once discovered, the army still has time to respond, and has time to assemble to meet the battle.

At this moment, a wolf smoke rose from the front, which meant that the scouts had discovered the enemy's situation, Li Shenfu was taken aback, and immediately raised his hand and shouted: "Stop the march and assemble immediately!" ”

The 30,000 Tang troops lined up for six miles on the official road began to rapidly shorten and assemble, and there was a faint thunderous sound in the sky, and the dust covered the sky in the distance, and the earth began to tremble.

The soldiers of the Tang Army looked at each other, and everyone showed fear in their eyes, they all had experience, this was the cavalry killing.

"General, it's cavalry!" The soldiers shouted in horror.

Li Shenfu's face changed greatly, if it was really a cavalry, then the situation would be terrible, at this time, more than a dozen scout cavalry rushed back and shouted: "There are 10,000 cavalry killed." ”

Li Shenfu's face was as shocked as earth, and he shouted in a trembling voice: "Retreat, retreat quickly!" ”

He knew in his heart that 10,000 cavalry against 30,000 infantry, the infantry only had the fate of being slaughtered, and there was a forest more than ten miles away to the north.

The Tang army was frightened, and without the urging of the commander, they turned around and ran northward, although the soldiers were exhausted, but with the support of the belief in escape, the Tang army still burst out with great potential and rushed to the north.

At this time, the 10,000 cavalry led by Pei Xingyan had appeared two miles away, their soldiers were divided into two roads, chasing along both sides of the official road, gradually, they had caught up with the slower part of the Tang army, in an instant, the last Tang army fell into the hell of death, the cavalry rode spears and stabbed, the soldiers screamed and rolled on the ground, the Tang army was so frightened that they fell to their knees and surrendered.

The Tang army led by Li Shenfu was not optimistic, they ran less than ten miles, and suddenly a Sui army of about 20,000 appeared in front, lined up in a strict three-layer arrow array, and 20,000 cold hand crossbows aimed at them.

There was an ambush in front and a chasing soldier in the back, and the Tang army was cornered.

Li Shenrune's eyes were red, and he brandished his iron spear and roared, "Fight your way out!" Rush out! ”

He raised his shield and took the lead in rushing towards the Sui army's arrow array two miles away, and the Tang army ran with him, roaring together to charge at the intercepting Sui army

Li Jing looked coldly at the Tang army that was getting closer and closer, and the thousands of people led by him had already rushed into a hundred steps, and the large army behind was surging towards this side.

"Shoot!" Li Jing gave the order.

The Sui army fired thousands of arrows together, the crossbow arrows shot towards the oncoming Tang army like a storm, the powerful arrow rain was indestructible, Li Shenrune's shield was smashed by random arrows, he let out a long scream, and the men and horses were shot like hedgehogs by hundreds of arrows, and the Tang army was shot down in pieces!

Three rounds of volleys, the Sui army formed a formation and launched a bloody massacre, Mo Dao was invincible, the blades danced wildly, the human head flew over, the torso was torn apart, and the corpses on the ground were piled up, and there was no complete corpse, which was miserable.

This is a fierce army that the Tang army has never seen, they march forward like an iron wall, violent as mowing grass, sweeping away all the enemies who stand in their way.

At this moment, Pei Xingyan's 10,000 cavalry were like raging waves, smashing into the chaotic Tang army from behind.

Li Jing said: "Pass my order, those who surrender will not die, and those who resist will not be killed!" ”

The war became such a point, the fighting spirit of the Tang army in the chaos collapsed, and they surrendered on their knees, hundreds of soldiers who broke through to the south were surrounded by cavalry, and all were killed, so far, Li Shenfu's 30,000 troops except for a few people who successfully broke through, surrendered more than 23,000 people, and 30,000 elite soldiers were all wiped out.

Subsequently, Pei Xingyan led the elite cavalry to the north, and took Qingyuan County in one go, and built in the Jinyang Palace on Longshan, the material personnel have already been moved by Pei Lin into the outside of Taiyuan City, at this time it has become an empty city, after the bloodless occupation of the Sui army, based on the strategically important Longshan, the road to the south of the Tang army in Taiyuan City was broken.

When they were about to return to the city, they found that the city had changed to the banner of the word "Sui", so they had no choice but to flee north to Taiyuan.

With just one battle, Taiyuan City completely became an isolated city.

Early the next morning

Pei Lin received an urgent report that Li Shenfu and 30,000 reinforcements were all wiped out, and soon after, the news of the surrender of the Jiexiu defenders was delivered to him.

Pei Lin sat for an hour, and he suddenly found that the Battle of Bingzhou seemed to be over before it began.

It was also discovered that the key to the Battle of Bingzhou was not Taiyuan City, but the Bird Mouse Valley.

After a long time, Pei Lin sighed and gave an order to strictly guard Taiyuan City.

The fall of the entire line of the Bird Mouse Valley means that Taiyuan has become an isolated city, and even if the Tang army in Guanzhong wants to come to the rescue, it is impossible.

Do you want to go out of town to fight?

That's looking for death.

The only thing Pei Lin can do now is to stick to Taiyuan City and pin his hopes on Li Shentong of Hedong County, hoping that he will break through the predicament.