Xiao Maha didn't come to his senses from the sudden news just now for a while, and muttered, "Go to the Turks? Will the Turks accept us? ”

Wang Fei hurriedly said: "Only by going to the Turks can you be protected, and staying in the territory of the Great Sui can only be a dead end!" General Xiao, don't forget, even during the Kaihuang period, the dynasty and the Turks fought for many years, and there were still some fugitives who fled to the Turks and finally survived. ”

Xiao Maha lowered his head and pondered for a while, raised his head, and said slowly: "Wang joins the army, you can plan more for yourself, Xiao will not accompany you." These jackals on the steppe have always been rude, righteous and shameless, and the current Qimin Khan is friendly with the imperial court, I am afraid that if we go, we will only be sent back by the Turks! Rather than be humiliated again, it is better to face your fate now with dignity, so as not to be scolded by the world. ”

Wang Fei stomped his foot fiercely and said, "General Xiao, you are really pedantic, let's go to the Turks and not go to Qimin, just find a small tribe to settle down first." And it is true that Qimin, a soft egg, is submissive to the court, but I heard that his three sons are all ambitious, and if we go to these three little steppe wolves, we will definitely be able to exert our talents. ”

Xiao Maha sighed: "Wang joins the army, don't forget, now the best relationship between our dynasty and the Turks is Changsun Sheng, this time we killed his eldest son, how can this hatred be resolved?" Even if we go to the Turks, Changsun Sheng will definitely come and take our lives, do you and I have a deeper friendship with the Turks than him? ”

Wang Fei's body shook slightly, Xiao Maha said the one thing he was most worried about, and he barely squeezed out a smile. said: "It was Yang Liang who killed the eldest grandson. We were just being told! Besides. It's a big deal that we fled to the Turks alone, incognito, and didn't let the eldest grandson find him. ”

Xiao Maha smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Xiao is already past his prime, and he doesn't want to live in a foreign country anymore at this age, and now Xiao's only wish is that Shi Lian can leave a life and inherit the incense of my Xiao family, as for Xiao's life, there is really no pity." Wang joined the army. What do you and your son-in-law want to do, Xiao won't stop you, you can do it yourself. ”

After Xiao Maha finished speaking, he no longer looked at Wang Hao, turned over on his horse, and ran forward directly, pulling the reins of the horse with one hand, holding the arrow that Yang Liang had just given him with the other, and shouted in his mouth: "The army listens to the order, and the Flying Tiger Army and the Flying Bear Army stay behind the palace." Under the command of General Ben, the rest of the armies are ready to move forward! ”

Wang Fei stood in place. Looking at Xiao Maha's departing back from a distance, he spat on the ground fiercely, and said hatefully: "Xiao Maha, if you give you a way to live, you won't go, don't blame me for not being righteous!" ”

Wang Fei was scolding Yang Liang's conceit and stupidity all the way, as well as Xiao Maha's unruly appetite, and unconsciously walked into his tent, only to see that there was already a person sitting in the tent, as soon as he saw Wang Hao walk in, he immediately stood up and asked eagerly: "Daddy, what happened?" ”

The man was about thirty years old, seven feet long, with a slightly wide armor, his body bones were not very strong, and there was a bit of evil spirit between his eyebrows and eyes, which was somewhat similar to Wang Hao, and he was a literati at first glance, and it was Wang Qi, the only son of Wang Fei.

Wang Yan shook his head and sighed: "The king has ordered the whole army to return to Jinyang and send Xiao Maha to lead 20,000 troops to the palace. ”

Wang Qi couldn't believe his ears and shouted, "What? Back to Jinyang? Is there something wrong with the king's brain? Everyone knows that along the way, I'm afraid that the soldiers will run out. ”

Wang Fei spread his hands helplessly: "The king is such indecisive, and he doesn't believe in his father and Xiao Maha in his bones, the more we talk, the more he doesn't listen, so there will be such a result." ”

Wang Yan raised his head and stared at his son, and said in a low voice: "Qi'er, what your father says next is very important, you must listen carefully." ”

Wang Qi was slightly stunned, and he had the impression that Wang Wei was rarely so strict, he nodded, his expression became strict, and said, "The child is taught." ”

Wang Wei walked outside the tent, asked a few guards to leave far away, and after confirming that there was no one around, he returned to the tent and said to Wang Qizhengse: "The current battle situation is very bad, the king is afraid of Yang Su, he doesn't dare to fight him here, and he can't let go of his Jinyang City in his heart. ”

Wang Qi echoed hatefully: "Yes, even the child knows that if he goes to Jinyang, the subordinates will be astigmatized, why can't he think of this." ”

Wang Yan shook his head: "It's not that he can't think of it, but he is lucky, here he doesn't dare to fight a decisive battle with Yang Su, and he is afraid that his wife and children in Jinyang City will be captured by Li Zixiong, thinking about it, he still thinks that returning to Jinyang can at least be temporarily avoided." ”

Wang Qi slapped his thigh fiercely and said: "Raising troops is a matter of risking the lives of the whole family, if you want to take care of your wife and children, don't take this road, after embarking on this road, you can no longer count on the kind of life of ordinary people, this simple truth is not understood, Daddy, we are really following the wrong person." ”

Wang Yan shook his head again and sighed: "Now that this is the case, it is useless to say anything more." Next, we can't go back to Jinyang with Yang Liang to wait for death, so let's set off now and take the small road to go to the Turks. ”

Wang Qi was shocked when he heard this, and said, "But now you have to go to the Turks?" Daizhou didn't take it. ”

Wang Hao sneered and said, "The army naturally can't pass, but there should still be hope for the two of us to take the mountain path." Now the main force of the official army is in the south, and Li Zixiong's troops in the north are also approaching Jinyang, Daizhou has experienced a big war there, maybe it has slackened down, we will not leave at this time, and when we return to Jinyang with Yang Liang, we will become a turtle in the urn, and it will be impossible to leave when the time comes. ”

Wang Qi said suspiciously: "Then even if we go to the Turks, can we still mix with the people who are not familiar with the place there?" Daddy, according to the child's view, it is better to sneak back to Jiangnan, where there are our clansmen and the old department, a few years ago, when my uncle destroyed Chen with the army, didn't there still be many old departments to vote? They also helped dig up Chen Baxian's body, crushed the bones and scattered ashes, and avenged the great revenge. ”

Wang Fei waved his hand. Stopped the son from continuing: "That's different. Back then, those old subordinates watched that the Sui army had destroyed Chen. will come out to meet your uncle, and anyone will do the beating of the water dogs, because there is no risk, why not? ”

"But we are traitors now, not to mention whether we can go to Jiangnan on this road, even if we go to Jiangnan and meet acquaintances, there is a chance that we will be arrested. Send it to the government to receive the reward. With Yang Guang's ruthless and resolute temperament, as long as our father and son are in the territory of the Great Sui, it is impossible for us to escape this catastrophe. ”

Wang Qi still had some doubts in his heart, and asked in a low voice: "Then if we go to the Turks, can we be safe?" We don't seem to have any contact with the Turks. ”

Wang Jun said hatefully: "Now that the matter is now, I can't care about that much, let's run away first!" Back then, your grandfather was killed by Chen Baxian, and several of our brothers also fled to the Northern Zhou Dynasty to save their lives, and they stayed in the green mountains, not afraid of running out of firewood! Hum. Even if my Wang family goes to the Turks, sooner or later there will be a comeback. Qi'er. Needless to say, hurry up and prepare, and take advantage of the chaos when the army is about to start, and we will hurry to the road. ”

Wang Qi replied and turned around to leave.

Wang Fei suddenly thought of something, and suddenly stopped his son: "Wait a minute, there is one more thing." Is Xiao Maha's reply to Zhou Rahu's letter to me last time still with you? ”

Wang Qi was stunned for a moment, and then nodded: "Yes, didn't you tell the child when you wrote a letter to the child last time, if there is news that Zhou Luohu is not going to save Xiao Shilian, send the letter to Wang Ping, a cousin in Daxingcheng, and ask them to report the surname Zhou." ”

A cruel smile flashed at the corner of Wang Yan's mouth, and a murderous look appeared in his eyes: "Don't wait, before you leave in a while, you will order someone to deliver the letter to Wang Ping, and ask him to report the surname Zhou to Yang Guang." ”

Wang Qi said: "But as soon as the letter is delivered, won't Xiao Shilian die?" With Yang Guang's character, if General Xiao dares to collude with the surnamed Zhou, he will definitely wipe out both of them. ”

Wang Hao said hatefully: "Now that the matter has come to this, I can't care about so much, Xiao Maha doesn't listen to me, doesn't go with us, and scolds me to my face, what's the use of keeping him?! If your cousin gets this letter to report them, maybe he can rely on this merit to avoid the disaster that we are implicated in this time." Hmph, if my Wang Gong is finished, his Xiao family and Zhou family don't want to live, and everyone will go on the road together. ”

Between Wang Fei's words, the deep nasolabial folds on both sides of the nose kept shaking, making people shudder.

Wang Qi's eyes also flashed with a trace of inexplicable excitement, and he clapped his hands violently and said: "What Daddy said is, hmph, who dares to go against our Wang family, regardless of whether he is the emperor Lao'er or the god of war of the Southern Dynasty, all of them will ruin his family, haha." ”

Wang Hao nodded proudly and said to his son: "Okay, hurry up, remember, you must send a message to someone who is close to your cronies, and don't forget to bring the half of the jade pendant agreed with your cousin." After the work is done, go to the small forest three miles northwest to meet with your father, and remember to bring two sets of cloth clothes for the people! ”

Three days later, in the early morning, the rain continued to fall. Yang Xuangan was leading the black clouds, wearing a hat on his head and a cloak on the outside of his armor, leading 10,000 Xiaoguo cavalry, walking on the muddy road with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and the rain continued to drip down the edge of the hat.

Since the pouring rain began at noon three days ago, Yang Liang's entire army has taken advantage of the cover of thunderstorms and dark clouds to slip away.

Yang Su's entire army has been guarding against the enemy's possible surprise attack in the rain, and he didn't expect the rebels to flee without a fight, and when he found that the opposite person went to the camp, it was already the morning of the next day, so Yang Xuangan began to take the lead in leading the Xiaoguo knights as the vanguard and began to pursue the rebels.

However, on this road, the road was so muddy with the rain that the horses could not run at all, so the knights had to lead the horses on foot.

Xiong Kuohai led the horse and walked to Yang Xuangan's side, he was replaced by the Shangguan Zheng Department on the morning of the second day when Yang Xuangan left Jiezhou City, and just arrived at the camp to catch up with the task of pursuing the rebel rearguard troops, he was excited all the way, especially when he thought of Shangguanzheng's depressed black face, which made his mood even more refreshing.

Xiong Kuohai said to Yang Xuan: "General, I have been chasing for two days, judging from the muddy Cheng Cheng of this road, the enemy army has only been in the past for half a day at most, and it may be about to come out of the sun on this day, is it that our army will go to the side of the road to rest first, and then go to pursue after it is clear?" ”

Yang Xuangan looked at the soldiers in front of him and behind him who were leading their horses and trudging the muddy road, and then raised his eyes to look ahead. It was rain and fog. I couldn't see anything clearly from a hundred paces. He nodded and said, "Kuohai, you are right, this Yang Liang will really pick the opportunity to escape, and our cavalry will not be able to ride horses to chase after it rains, otherwise we will be able to catch up with them yesterday." ”

Xiong Kuohai said with a smile: "In fact, along the way, you can see the clues from the cooking stove of the enemy army, and they were divided into two parts when they set off. One is 80,000 and the other is 20,000, but by this morning, there were only 20,000 and 5,000 respectively. We have captured no less than 3,000 prisoners in the past two days, and all of them confirm the mass exodus of this rebel army, and it seems that their hearts are scattered, and they will run away without us chasing. ”

Yang Xuangan smiled slightly, this was the first time he had seen an army collapse without a fight since the army was fighting. When he had just caught the first batch of enemy soldiers who had changed into civilian cloth the night before, he couldn't believe it. However, along the way, Yang Xuangan saw that the armor and weapons discarded by the rebels were thrown everywhere on the roadside, and the thousands of prisoners he caught, which was enough to prove that the large-scale desertion among the rebels was a sure fact.

Even Yang Su, who has always been a veteran of the army, therefore ordered that the vanguard of Yang Xuangan's department should not chase too hard and too quickly, and just follow behind to contain the deserters of the enemy army.

Xiong Kuohai continued: "Twenty miles to the northwest, there is Qingyuan County outside Jinyang City, where the terrain is flat, if you want to surprise the rebels, it is the most suitable. If I were Yang Liang, I would choose to send a rearguard force there to turn back to fight to cover the main force to flee back to Jinyang. ”

Yang Xuan said: "I heard that the rebels' guard general is Xiao Maha? ”

Xiong Kuohai smiled: "Congratulations to the general." ”

Yang Xuan was surprised: "Why are you happy? ”

Xiong Kuohai put away his smile and said: "Xiao Maha has been famous for many years, he is a famous general on the battlefield, and he is also the most famous person among all his subordinates who followed Yang Liang to rebel this time. If he is captured or killed, in the eyes of the emperor, it will be second only to the capture of Yang Liang in the process of counterinsurgency. ”

Xiong Kuohai glanced at Yang Xuangan and continued: "And as a military general, it is a very honorable thing to compete with such a legendary general on the battlefield, General Yang, it seems that this credit belongs to you." ”

Yang Xuangan shook his head and sighed: "It's not a glorious thing to defeat a veteran who has fallen to Pingyang, if I have the opportunity, I still hope to face Xiao Maha head-on in a fair battle." ”

Xiong Kuohai laughed: "It was Yang Liang's soldiers who ran away by themselves, but it has nothing to do with us, is it possible that we still have to help Yang Liang contain all the deserters, and then return them to him, and then go to fight in a dignified manner?" ”

Yang Xuangan's eyes were cast into the distance, although he still couldn't see anything clearly a hundred steps away, he seemed to be able to see Xiao Maha smiling bitterly in despair, and he said to himself: "Xiao Maha, maybe I should fight you alone and give you a final glorious ending." ”

Xiong Kuohai's face changed, and he was about to speak, but he heard the sound of horses' hooves in front of him, which was particularly harsh when the cavalry was leading his horses and walking, and he saw a scout cavalry who was not even wearing a robe, and his whole body was drenched, and his clothes were full of yellow mud, and from a distance, he looked like a mud monkey.

The scout cavalry rolled down from his horse, fell to his knees in the muddy water at once, and said: "General Qiyu, the enemy army of more than 4,000 people is arranging a formation three miles southwest of Qingyuan County, and the leading general is Xiao Maha. ”

Yang Xuangan asked in a deep voice, "What about Yang Liang's troops?" ”

The scout cavalry replied: "Yang Liang's subordinates ran all the way to Jinyang City, throwing away their armor and abandoning their banners on the way, and regardless of the escape of the soldiers, the mountains and fields were full of deserters, but the military discipline of Xiao Maha's subordinates was quite strict. ”

Yang Xuangan nodded, and said to the scout cavalry: "It's hard work, let's go rest first." ”

Yang Xuangan turned his head to Xiong Kuohai and said: "Order, the whole army will rest for a while on the side of the road, recuperate, have a full meal, and set off in an hour to fight a decisive battle with the rebels." ”

The majestic sea responded to the "order" and hurried away.

Two hours later, the sky has cleared, the rain for three days finally stopped, on the plain outside Qingyuan City, the gateway to the southwest of Jinyang, more than 4,000 rebels lined up in front of more than a mile wide, waiting for the battle, and in front of the battle, riding a jujube red horse, carrying a 147-pound heavy dà knife The black armor and white-bearded veteran is the famous general Xiao Maha, who is known as the fierce Southern Dynasty.

On the opposite side of them, the 80,000 Sui army had just finished arrasing.

As soon as Yang Su heard this information, he immediately convened an emergency military meeting and decided to continue to pursue Yang Liang immediately, if possible, it would be best to intercept Yang Liang before he ran into Jinyang, so that Jinyang could go down without a fight.

So after a rapid march, the army ran head-on into Xiao Maha's blocking force on this plain.

Yang Xuangan is still as a pioneer in leading the Xiaoguo knights to line up the cavalry formation in front, this plain is overgrown with knee-high weeds, not like the yellow mud road on this road is full of mud puddles, the cavalry can gallop back and forth here.

During the formation of the Sui army, the rebels on the opposite side were just watching quietly, their eyes shining with excitement, full of desire to fight. (To be continued......)