From Taiyuan Province to the south is blocked by continuous high mountains, the west is the Luliang Mountains, the central is the Taiyue Mountains, the west is the Taihang Mountains, can only pass through the mountains and valleys, the Fenshui Grand Canyon is the famous southward passage.

Fenshui flows south between Luliang Mountain and Taiyue, forming a large canyon about 300 miles long and dozens of miles wide.

The most dangerous place of this Grand Canyon is called the Mouse Bird Valley, from Jiexiu County of Fenzhou in the north, to Huoyi County of Jinzhou in the south, it is more than 80 miles long, there is only a narrow mountain road to pass, occasionally there is an open place to build a dangerous pass, among which Jiexiu County, Lingshi County and Huoyi County are the most dangerous three cities, and there are also some dangerous passes, such as Yindi Pass, Jiahu Fort and Gaobiling and so on.

In these passes, the largest gate is Huoyi County, when the Sui Dynasty general Song Laosheng was in Huoyi led 20,000 troops to defend Li Yuan and his son to the south, Huoyi County is tall and strong, the terrain is dangerous, there is no large-scale battlefield outside the city, and only a small-scale battle of thousands of people can be carried out.

A few miles west of the county seat is Fenshui, where ships can dock directly at the low terrain without going to the county wharf.

At this time, Li Huaiguang had just added 10,000 troops to Jiexiu County, bringing the total strength of Jiexiu County to 15,000 people, while the strength of Lingshi County was 2,000 people, and the garrison of Huoyi County was 3,000 people.

In the afternoon of that day, a fleet full of goods sailed from the north, and the Hexi Army had not yet left Taiyuan to go south, and was still actively preparing for war, and the atmosphere of war did not rise, and even Jiexiu County had not entered a state of war, let alone Huoyi County, which was 300 miles away.

Several thousand-stone cargo ships docked at the dock, and two merchants disembarked with several porters, who pushed wheelbarrows, loaded with silk, and followed the two merchants towards the gate of Huoyi County.

"Stop!"

The soldiers guarding the city gate shouted to them from afar, and a businessman hurriedly stepped forward to laugh and said: "We are from Wenshui County to send some goods to the Yuantai silk shop." ”

The words spoken are in a Wenshui accent, and only locals can hear the slightest difference.

"Do you have a tax bill?"

"Yes! Yes! The merchant hurriedly took out a tax bill issued by the Wenshui Tax Office from his bosom and presented it to the soldier.

The soldier didn't answer, only glanced at it and said, "There is a rule above, the caravan can only enter the city for a maximum of three people, and there are five of you here, over!" ”

"Big brother help! We can't help it. ”

"It's okay to help, it's two hundred dollars per person, you pay the same amount of money, and let you go into the city!"

The merchant took out a tael of silver for a long time, and said with a bitter face: "The profit of our trip is only three taels of silver." ”

"How can there be so much nonsense!"

The soldier snatched the money, shook it, and said to them, "Divide into two caravans, one in front and one in the other." ”

The five people had to be separated, after a strict search and inventory, they entered Huoyi County one after the other, Huoyi County is a large county, the circumference of the city is thirty miles, the population has more than 100,000 people, here is the only way to pass through the Jinzhong trade road, the business is very developed, large and small shops can be seen everywhere, although the war is imminent, but the merchants do not feel the danger of the atmosphere, still open for business.

The five people did not continue to go deep into the city, and stayed directly in the Gaosheng old store closest to the north city gate, and the man took them into the backyard and said: "Fortunately, you have no livestock, the livestock shed of the small shop is full, there were a few merchants with more than a dozen mules from Lingshi County before, they brought weapons, and they were directly taken away by the army for interrogation. ”

The two merchants glanced at each other, they knew very well, fortunately they did not carry any weapons, otherwise it would be really troublesome, but it was still the foresight of the king, and he ambushed people early.

Needless to say, these two merchants and three porters are naturally the scout clothes of the Hexi Army, but the businessman at the head of them is a civilian official, Shao Jianzhi, the judge of the scout battalion, he looks relatively old and looks like he is over forty years old, so the soldiers defending the city have no suspicion of him.

In fact, not only them, but also dozens of Hexi Army scouts have already infiltrated the city at different times and by different means.

At the beginning of nightfall, two merchants and three porters went to the Yuantai Silk Shop in the east of the city and found the leader of the scouts.

The leader of the Hexi Scout Army was a school captain named Wang Bo, a native of Huoyi, who came to Huoyi County as early as November last year, and set up a silk shop here as a base, and the backyard of the silk shop was close to the east city wall.

At this time, the silk shop has closed the door, everyone enters through the side door, the lobby is brightly lit, more than 50 young and sturdy men gather together, there are both the guys of the silk shop, and there are also coolies who came to Huoyi County at the end of the year to find work, at that time Huoyi County was not guarded, a large number of people entered and exited every day, until five days ago, the inventory was intensified, and it was stipulated that the caravan entering the city could not exceed three people.

Then there are the five people who came over today, Wang Bo saw Shao Jianzhi coming in, so he smiled and said, "Judge Shao is here!" ”

Shao Jianzhi is the only civil official in the scout camp, everyone knows him, and when they meet in Huoyi County at this time, everyone feels very cordial.

Shao Jianzhi waved his hand and smiled at everyone: "We actually came in more than 50 people, and the generals guarding the city know about it, so we have to have a nightmare!" ”

Everyone laughed, and Shao Jianzhi said: "Let's make a long story short, tonight at the third watch to attack the city, we should cooperate with the outside and receive the army into the city." ”

Speaking of this, he asked Captain Wang Bo again: "How are the weapons prepared?" ”

"It's already ready!"

Wang Bo ordered the man, and the man immediately went to the back room and brought a large number of armor, Wang Bo smiled and said: "These are all bought on the black market, a total of sixty sets, exactly the same as the defenders in the city."

Shao Jianzhi stepped forward to take a closer look, there were spears, war knives, bows and arrows and armor, he picked up a pair of armor and asked, "How is it leather armor?" ”

"It's all leather armor, Li Huaiguang only has 15,000 troops around him who are Mingguang armor, and the rest of the soldiers are leather armor, how can he have the capital to buy iron armor?"

Shao Jianzhi nodded, and said to everyone: "Next, I will tell you about the specific combat plan!" ”

..........

More than 100 cargo ships passed through Huoyi County and continued southward, but they docked more than a dozen miles away, and at about one watch, a bang sounded, and suddenly a large number of Hexi Army soldiers poured out of the cabin, and it turned out that more than 100 cargo ships were not carrying goods, but carrying 2,300 Hexi Army soldiers and more than 100 iron fire mines.

Two thousand soldiers quickly assembled on the shore, leaving 100 soldiers to guard the cargo ship, while the rest of the soldiers rushed to Huoyi County, more than ten miles to the north, under the leadership of the commander Ma Weijiang.

A few miles to the east of Huoyi County, there are continuous mountains, and only a narrow official road runs around the county from the east, and not far away are gentle hills and woods.

Two thousand soldiers of the Hexi Army hid in the woods, waiting for the third watch to come.

The time gradually approached the third watch, and three sets of rope ladders were hung on the wall in the backyard of the silk shop, and more than 50 scouts climbed the rope ladders to climb up.

The main reason why the Hexi Army chose the east city is that there are few defenders, a large number of defenders are concentrated in the north city at night, and there are also some in the south city, and the west city and the east city are symbolic deployment of a little force.

The so-called symbolic deployment is only 100 soldiers, basically concentrated above and below the city gates, while 500 soldiers are deployed in the north city and 300 soldiers are deployed in the south city.

This was because of the imminent war, and the temporary increase in vigilance, if last year, there would have been only twenty or thirty men at most guarding the gates of the city.

Fifty-four soldiers climbed to the top of the city, and then quickly lined up and ran towards the head of the east city, where the soldiers were basically sleeping, and almost no one came in from the east city, usually going through the south and north cities.

The two soldiers leaned on the pillar to sleep, Wang Bo waved his hand, and the two Hexi army scouts quickly copied behind them, covered their mouths, and with a touch of a sharp dagger, the two soldiers met the king of Hades.

Everyone concocted the same method, a company killed eight soldiers who were sleeping outside, the other soldiers were in the city tower, more than a dozen scouts flashed into the city tower, they moved quickly, many soldiers were still asleep, they were pierced through the heart by a knife, and they were killed, Wang Bo led the scouts down the city wall again, less than a tea time, the hundred defenders guarding the east city were all killed, clean and neat, did not alarm any enemy troops.

The city gate finally opened slowly, the drawbridge was lowered, and the 2,000 Hexi troops immediately rushed out of the woods hundreds of paces away, and they ran quickly and shot a sharp arrow into the city.

After a while, the sound of shouting and killing sounded in the city, and the people were so frightened that they closed their doors one after another, hiding in their homes and not daring to go out, and the shouting and killing continued for about half an hour, and gradually disappeared, and the city was completely calm.

The battle was over, and the military camp in the city was attacked by the Hexi army at night, killing more than 300 people, and the rest of the soldiers all surrendered.

As the day gradually dawned, more than 300 cargo ships sailed from the north, and the cargo ships were still filled with soldiers of the Hexi Army, and 5,000 soldiers of the Hexi Army arrived as reinforcements, bringing the total number of Hexi Army in Huoyi County to 7,000.

The occupation of Huoyi County not only cut off the retreat of the northern defenders, but also cut off their logistical supplies.

The Hexi Army did not stop there, and the elite of the two thousand Hexi Army marched towards Lingshi County, twenty miles away.

Once Lingshi County is taken, Jiexiu County, the northernmost county, will become an isolated city, and the 15,000 defenders will become turtles in the urn, with no supplies and no rescue.