As soon as Duan Decao returned to the camp, Yin Kaishan chose to retreat as soon as possible. Any infantry of the Tang army, 3,000 people could not resist the impact of 3,000 cavalry, Li Yuan's cavalry was trained according to the way of the Turkic cavalry, plus the Tang army was well-equipped, and its combat effectiveness was even higher than that of the Turkic cavalry. After Yin Kaishan handed over all the cavalry to Duan Decao, he arranged for Lu Shiheng and Jing Junhong to lead 3,000 crossbowmen each to ambush in Huqi Mountain.

The cavalry of the Sixth Han Bakui was entangled by Duan Decao, and Jing Pantuo's two thousand miscellaneous horsemen fell into the ambush circle, and under the rain of arrows, only more than 200 people followed Jing Pantuo out of the ambush circle. However, Liu Yun led 3,000 cavalry to take the opportunity to go around the back of the Tang cavalry, and broke the front and rear attacks of the six Han Bakui, breaking the Tang army; On the way to break through the siege, Duan Decao was destroyed again, and Bai Wei led a thousand cavalry to ambush, and more than half of the 5,000 cavalry were killed or wounded.

Lu Shiheng and Jing Junhong could not retreat when they heard the news, and were pursued by Han Bakui and Liu Yun for hundreds of miles, killing and capturing 5,000 people, Duan Decao and the three collected the remnants of the army, and retreated to Lingshi County, where they had lost 7,000 yuan, and the 30,000 army went to one-third of the battle, and the casualties were twice as many as the other party. More than 1,000 infantry were released back by the Hexi army one after another, and when they learned that the cavalry refused to surrender, they either died of serious injuries or were escorted to labor by the Hexi army, saying that they would be released after a year, and Yin Kaishan and others did not change their color.

Yin Kaishan and others were familiar with the nature of soldiers, and this move of the Hexi Army was to tell the Tang officers and soldiers that as long as they surrendered, they would be alive, and they would be released after a few days of being prisoners, and in the long run, the fighting spirit of the Tang Army would be gradually weakened. Yin Kaishan could not punish the soldiers who were released, he could only warn more than 1,000 people, not allowed to talk nonsense in the barracks, and arrange for others to monitor slowly; Yin Kaishan wrote official letters and letters about the battle situation and his own thoughts, and sent people to Tongguan.

Han Shige knew that Yujuluo's army had crossed the river to meet him, and immediately reorganized his 20,000-strong army to go south and attack Lingshi County; Lingshi County is surrounded by mountains, the mountains overlap, the middle is the Fenhe Valley, the county seat is in the valley, Yin Kaishan camps in the county seat, and the mountain passes are heavily guarded. The Tang army relied on the advantage of the terrain, and Han Shige had cavalry, so he could only rely on Yang Yanshi to fight for each pass, and the effect was not great.

On the night of the third day, when the two sides fought fiercely, the Bird Mouse Valley behind Lingshi County was suddenly attacked, and the 500 officers and soldiers guarding it were killed. The Tang army was caught off guard, and when Duan Decao led people to kill, the enemy army had retreated to the Bird Mouse Valley, and the Tang army put out the fire until dawn, and found that the Tang army had died more than 1,000, the grain and grass were almost burned out, and the surplus grain in the city was less than three days; And in the Bird Mouse Valley, there is a big banner with the word "Zhen" fluttering.

Yin Kaishan was dispatching troops to prepare to recapture the Bird Mouse Valley, and the Qianli Pass in the north of Lingshi County was blown up, and more than 200 Tang troops on the pass were all killed, and the follow-up 300 infantry pounced on it, unable to block the Baidao soldiers, and was captured by the other party. By the time Jing Junhong organized the counterattack of the Tang army, the Hexi army had already arranged crossbow arrows, and there was no need for the city wall at all, so thousands of Tang troops fell on the mountain road.

Duan Decao suggested: "General Yin, there is nothing to do, it is better to withdraw from Han Xinling as soon as possible, and lose Lingshi County, at least you can save the army." ”

Yin Kaishan immediately made a decision, ordered Duan Decao to stop Zhen Zhai'er in the Bird Mouse Valley, Jing Junhong blocked the thousand-mile path, immediately raised a large army, and rushed to Han Xinling by separate routes; By the time Han Shige's cavalry rushed down the Qianli Path, it was already the early morning of the next day, and even Duan Decao and Jing Junhong had run away, only capturing more than 4,000 Tang troops, and all the 700 war horses that were too late to transport to Han Xinling were killed by the Tang army.

Han Shige looked at the Tang Army's camp and said with a smile: "Yes, ruthless enough." Fortunately, we took Lingshi County in one fell swoop and told Yang Yanshi that after the Tang army retreated, we would take Han Xinling, and the battle would be over. ”

Yujuluo received the battle report in Zuoguocheng, and immediately sent Zhu Xieque to lead 3,000 Shatuo cavalry to the south, and cooperated with Wuduaner to attack Xichuan and Yonghe. Hou Mo Chen Biao had already contacted Zhen Zhai'er's old department in Xichuan County, took the opportunity to riot, killed the county guard, and welcomed Wuduan'er's army into the city.

Liang De has long felt that the rear strength is insufficient in Taiyuan, the city of Taiyuan is strong and tall, and the 20,000 defenders left behind are all led by Li Yuan's henchmen, if it were not for Yang Shiluo and Yin Dianming successively changing banners, and thousands of miscellaneous Hu to help, Liang De would have been killed by Li Yuanji long ago. What supports Liang De is a kind of tragedy of exhaustion, the Great Sui will be overthrown, and there will always be someone who has to make sacrifices in the end; Similarly, Liang De's 20,000 patchwork team was also because of dozens of bloody battles with the Tang Army, and there was no idea of making peace with the Tang Army.

Liang De received the battle report from Longquan County, and his heart was full of joy and sorrow, happy that Taiyuan had finally become a lonely city, and Yin Kaishan's 30,000 army was defeated so easily, and he also lost the important Lingshi and Xichuan, and Li Yuanji had only one way to go; Sadly, the combat strength of the Hexi Army is too strong, and its own army of 20,000 is not an opponent at all.

Liang De knew that Yang Shiluo and Yin Dianming were likely to be members of the Hexi Army, and they were just fighting against the Tang Army under their own banner, and these two teams alone had 16,700 people, which was not something he could eat at all. Yujuluo's announcement of the establishment of Shizhou in Zuoguo City was a signal that after the war between the Hexi Army and the Tang Army, they would officially swallow Li Yuan's territory, and Liang De believed that someone would soon come to have a showdown with him.

The captain at the gate ran in to report that Cui Yao of the Boling Cui clan had arrived, and there were thousands of people in a long convoy; Boling Cui is one of the five surnames and seven wangs, Cui Yao has been the daughter-in-law of the Son of Heaven, and her identity is even more special, Liang De hurriedly took a few henchmen out to greet him. When he saw Yang Gongren getting off the third car, Liang De was inexplicably excited; Yang Gongren stepped forward and saluted: "The general fought hard in Taiyuan alone, he is the pillar of optimus of my Great Sui, and I thank the Son of Heaven on behalf of the Holy Son." ”

The state government, county government, and county government of Shangxian County were all decorated with lights, and the officials sounded gongs in the whole city to announce that the Hexi Army had defeated the Tang Army, and Hu Benlang had returned Liang De to obedience, and the situation in Shizhou was very good. In the state council hall, Yang Chong, Yuan Wei and others had gloomy faces, Liang De's submission was too sudden, and as soon as Cui Yao's convoy arrived, Liang De sent an envoy to Zuoguo City to see Yujuluo almost on the same day, and negotiated the appointment of the Xihe County Warden.

Cui Yao's convoy came all the way to the west, refusing the invitations of Yu Juluo, Ling Jing and Yang Hao along the way. Jiang Duo shook his head, the intelligence line in the east did not have any significant news at all, only knew that Cui Yao was from Jiangdu, Dou Jiande escorted all the way through Maling Pass, and arrived in Taiyuan through Leping County, which was still the territory of the Sui army, and there was no conflict with Dou Jiande's army.

Su Dingfang strode in and announced: "Cui Chuzhi, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and Cui Hongsu, the chief shopkeeper of Hexi Commercial Bank, ask to see him. ”

(End of chapter)