The lush green peaks in front of it seem to have been split in two from the middle, so the locals call it the Gap Valley.

After the Gap Valley, it is the Yongning County of the Datong Army called by the Liao people, and now it has been renamed Yangyuan County by Luning, which has the same name as later generations.

In Yangyuan County, the Sanggan River and several tributary rivers run through the east and west, the land is fertile, and it is also a rare vast plain in Taihang Shanxi, and there are nearly 20,000 people in Dingkou on the register, and it is still the statistics of the Liao people, and there must be a lot of concealment.

Of course, from later definitions, the Yangyuan region is not a plain, but a basin between mountain ranges.

At this time, on the south side of the Gap Valley, thousands of horses rested, but quietly, with only a few occasional snorts.

Although it is the elite of the palace army, the Lianzhu Cavalry and the Tiger Ben Cavalry are only riding two horses.

But more than 4,000 horses are also mighty in this valley, which is terrifying to watch.

The road into Yangquan County in Huokou Valley, few people walk nowadays, this valley south, is a good place to hide horses.

In fact, from Jinning Town to here, just after driving dozens of miles, Lu Ning ordered to rest, first, it was necessary to maintain the physical strength of the war horse to meet the battle at any time; Second, in the large plains ahead, it is natural to send scouts to explore the road to see if there is any trace of the enemy.

After determining that the Yelu Yijia Department was not the vanguard army, Lu Ning led more than 2,100 horsemen from Yulinwei, Huben Cavalry, and Lianzhu Cavalry to leap into Yunzhou.

In any era, two thousand elite cavalry is not a force that cannot be underestimated, this is also the core force that Lu Ning has carefully cultivated for several years, and even many armor weapons are built by him himself, and the core force of the core force he relies on.

Lu Ning even thinks that from a certain point of view, this is almost half of his family background.

After all, no matter how good the gunpowder weapon is, without the cooperation of elite cavalry and brave foot soldiers, it is worthless, not to mention, the defects of all kinds of gunpowder weapons today are obvious.

What is about to be faced may be the most powerful and fierce enemy in today's world, which is a thriving steppe empire.

The upcoming battle will also be the beginning of a real contest between himself and the Khitans.

It is the prelude to the tentative touch between two giants before the collision of the earth and the mountains.

The difference is that the giant on the other side is so terrible that he even listened to the book reviews when he was a child, and he knew something, while the other party didn't know enough about himself.

This is also where his absolute advantage lies in the early days of the war.

"Wang Gui, Zhou Renmei, Xue Chao, Wanyan Nuge, Jing Si, Yang Ye......" Lu Ning took a breath and called the names of more than 20 Yu Linwei, all of whom were sharpshooters, such as Jing Si and Yang Ye, although they were not the masters of the marksmanship team, their archery skills were still more superb than many ordinary members of the marksmanship team.

Obviously, the scout team, the Son of Heaven is going to go out in person.

Although some generals and soldiers felt helpless and ashamed, even the Yulin guards who had followed the Son of Heaven around this Shanxi land for a long time did not have the ability of the Son of Heaven to remember the terrain and landforms.

If you have to wait here for the sake of face, then I am afraid that if you turn around, you will be degraded by the Son of Heaven and return to Beijing, and take the affairs of the military as a child's play.

Hu Dugu and Empress Xiao, looking at the Nanren Emperor, led more than 20 light horses, and even wrapped their horseshoe with cloth, and disappeared silently in the valley.

"You have to do everything, you must be a short-lived ghost......" Empress Xiao muttered quietly.

Hu Dugu was stunned, in his impression, no matter how much he hated the person, Da Kedun had never cursed behind his back, and this was the first time.

Hu Dugu was also the first time, and he didn't know how to echo Da Kedun's words, so he could only be silent.

All around, there were Qi people and horses, and Empress Xiao knew that her words were heard by several burly soldiers in the neighborhood, and they glared at her, but they thought that they were the trophies and playthings of their great emperor, but they didn't dare to be rude to themselves, and soon they didn't dare to look at themselves anymore.

In Empress Xiao's heart, she suddenly felt a little funny, very ironic, what protected her was the identity that brought her a huge sense of shame, and she wanted to laugh out loud, pointing at these military men and scolding them, anyway, they didn't dare to do anything to themselves, but, then, their hearts were sour, and they almost wanted to cry.

……

More than an hour later, Lu Ning and the others turned around, bringing two Khitan captives.

Yu Linwei, who went out with him, was still speechless, and the Son of Heaven seemed to know where the Khitans would be, so he took them and went straight to a high slope more than ten miles away.

Sure enough, on the high slope, there were really two Khitan scout guards.

When they arrived on the high slope, everyone also knew that from here, looking from afar, they were facing the avenue that entered the Yangyuan Basin from the southeast.

But I don't know why the Holy Son of Heaven remembers the terrain so clearly, it is a high slope, and he remembers it all in his heart.

However, after the Son of Heaven caught these two captives, he also sighed, the Khitan military horses really attacked Yunzhou, and in this Yangyuan, there were ambush soldiers.

Yang Ye and Wang Gui have been colleagues for many years, and they are also year-old friends, and the two are the only two old Han generals in Yulin Weizhong, and they often communicate in private to align people's perceptions.

However, nowadays, there are fewer and fewer exchanges between the two, and especially, they will not talk about Qi Tianzi in private.

At this time, the two of them returned to their own teams when they came back, and unconsciously, they became separated.

Maybe it's also because they have already made up their minds to be loyal to the Son of Heaven, so they are afraid that the other party will say something disrespectful, and they don't know how to deal with it, which will affect the friendship of their colleagues for many years.

Lu Ning ordered Brother Wanyan Nu to carry a Khitan soldier to a distance first, and another Khitan soldier to Hu Dugu and said, "Help me ask him, the first question, Yelu Xidi came to attack Yunzhou, how many military horses did he lead?" ”

Hu Dugu talked to the Khitan military man.

The Khitan military man replied with a grunt, and Hu Dugu suddenly widened his eyes, although he didn't know what she said when she raised her voice, but at first glance, she was scaring the other party.

The Khitan soldier was so frightened that his face changed color, and he was justifying something.

"What's going on?" Lu Ning was stunned.

"This stupid cow dares to coax me, saying that the commander of Yelu has led 200,000 military horses." Hu Dugu's face was full of anger, obviously feeling that the other party had insulted his intelligence.

Lu Ning was speechless, Hu Dugu was not a female general after all, although she was fierce and good at fighting, she had always been a maid in the deep palace and didn't know much about war.

A little scout, where does he know the real strength of his army?

I also listened to an approximate number and estimated it.

However, if Yelu Xidi claims to have an army of 200,000, there will be at least 30,000 or 40,000 people who will attack Yunzhou.

Lu Ning waved his hand, "You don't have to pay attention to what he says, no matter what he says, translate it to me, the second question, ask him, whose subordinate is he, how many people will he have, and where is he now?" ”

Hu Dugu answered, and went to ask the Khitan soldiers.

This time, the soldier muttered for a long time.

"He said, he is a scout sent by Xiao Qiugu, Xiao Qigu led seven or eight thousand cavalry, south of what bridge, etc., I will ask the direction again...... "Hu Dugu was a little embarrassed, the military man said what direction the stone bridge was, and she was dizzy, and she wanted to repeat, but she forgot the front.

"No, I know where the stone bridge is." Lu Ning waved his hand and asked Hu Dugu again, "Xiao Qiugu, who is it, do you know?" ”

"Ah, I know him!" Hu Dugu seemed to have finally discovered his value and became excited, "Xiao Qigu is an upstart, very powerful, but when he saw me before, he had to be polite, his grandfather was the Northern Minister, and his uncle is now the Northern Minister, a few years ago, he accused Yelu of rebellion and Yelu Haisi, and the king was happy and married the king's little sister, Princess Pu Jin. ”

Lu Ning nodded slightly, and asked again: "Xiao Qiugu's cavalry, are they all Khitan cavalry?" How many piercing armor are there? "Most of the Khitan cavalry, that is, the grassland herdsmen, mounted as soldiers, mostly lightly armored or unarmoured.

Hu Dugu went to ask the Khitan military man, and the military man muttered again.

"He said, the specifics are not clear, but the relics army on duty in Youdu Mansion are all there." When Hu Dugu said this, his face was full of surprise.

Lu Ning was slightly stunned, the relics army, composed of the children of the nobles of the Liao people, including the children of the nobles such as the Nine Daughters and the Xi Department, according to the secret agents, the relics army on duty in Youzhou remained at about 1,500.

These children of the nobility even maintained the early tradition, with auxiliaries, each relic horse, "one for the regular army, three horses, one for the grass valley, and one for the camp and the shop."

And there is no doubt that the relics cavalry, all heavy cavalry.

Xiao Qiugu, led all the relics army in Youzhou, and matched it with light cavalry, nearly 10,000 cavalry? Among them, there are at least 1,500 heavy armor horsemen, which are to deal a severe blow to the Qi army in Yangyuan to aid Yunzhou.

Among the seven or eight thousand cavalry, the relics cavalry plus the auxiliary soldiers accounted for most of them, although their auxiliary soldiers were all light cavalry, but I also know that the subordinates of these noble children, especially those who came to serve on the southern front, and followed them, must be carefully selected brave men.

Lu Ning frowned slightly, and made another gesture.

Subsequently, Brother Wanyan Nu brought another soldier and took the interrogated soldier far away.

The same question, this military man, the answer is similar.

Empress Xiao watched this scene from afar, and the two clansmen didn't know why they were afraid of the death of the Nanren Emperor, so they didn't dare to look at the Nanren Emperor, as if he was some kind of demon, and answered the question obediently.

Empress Xiao sighed softly in her heart.

However, I heard that not far ahead, there were nearly 10,000 elite horsemen in the clan, and a large number of relics and heavy horses.

Empress Xiao was faintly excited, hoping that the emperor of the southerners would not be able to challenge his own people, as long as he could die, the southerners would be defeated, and he would die here, and he would be blinded.