Qu Tutong asked urgently, "When did you find out?" ”

"I just found out tonight!"

"Check it out!"

Qu Tutong took a hat and a cloak from his own soldiers, put them on, and hurriedly walked to the east of the camp.

Several large tents in the northeast corner have been isolated by soldiers, and there are several generals and more than a dozen military doctors standing by the tents.

"How's it going?" Qu Tutong asked nervously.

"Very bad!"

The military doctor shook his head and said worriedly: "The situation is very bad, more than fifty soldiers are all in the same condition, vomiting and diarrhea, high fever, three people have died, I am afraid that there are more than a dozen people who will not survive tonight." ”

"Is it the plague?"

"I don't know for the time being, but it should be similar to the epidemic, what we are worried about now is the spread of the disease, this disease can't be seen for a while, but it will be sick in a few days, and now we don't know how serious the situation will be, but please be mentally prepared."

Qu Tutong sighed for a long time, and then he said to the deputy general Sang Xian: "Pass my order, keep the news tight, and build another big camp three miles away, so all the sick soldiers will be sent to the new battalion." ”

Many things do not change according to people's will, although Qu Tutong ordered to block the news, but the news of the outbreak of the epidemic in the army quickly spread throughout the barracks, and the soldiers began to panic, especially in the next two or three days, the Sui army epidemic began to break out, in just two days, the infected soldiers exceeded 1,000, nearly 100 died, almost no one could be cured, and all the infected soldiers had only one way to die.

The evil result of the blockade of the news was that the epidemic situation was exaggerated, and rumors were spread in the military camps that five or six thousand people had been infected with the epidemic. More than 3,000 people have died, and in extreme panic, the soldiers of the Sui army began to flee on a large scale, and at this time, the rain gradually decreased, making the wind of the soldiers fleeing more rapidly. Qu Tutong killed dozens of deserters in a row to deter the whole army, and the wave of fleeing was still difficult to suppress.

In a forest, more than a dozen fugitive soldiers were huddled together to roast a hunted deer, because the trees were too wet, puffs of green smoke floated in the woods, and Liu Hongji, a general under Li Shimin, who was patrolling nearby, found the green smoke, and he immediately led the patrol soldiers to surround from all sides.

More than a dozen deserters were eating happily when they suddenly shouted. Hundreds of soldiers came out and surrounded more than a dozen deserters, and a dozen of them were so frightened that they knelt down and surrendered, shouting for mercy.

Liu Hongji saw that these soldiers were clearly Sui soldiers, but they were not wearing armor, and they did not look like scouts, so he shouted: "Tell me quickly, who are you?" ”

The soldiers trembled with fear and said, "We are under General Qu. We escaped because of an outbreak of disease in the barracks. I beg the general to spare his life! ”

Liu Hongji asked a few more questions, and he immediately realized that the military situation was important and he had to go back immediately to report it.

"They're all back to the camp!"

More than 100 patrol soldiers escorted a dozen deserters out of the woods and towards the camp.

At this time, the rain had already subsided a lot, and the heavy rain for several days had turned into a drizzling rain, and the number of scouts operating outside the camp had also increased significantly. However, the low-lying areas are still heavily waterlogged, and they can only be patrolled and deployed at high places.

Liu Hongji came to the camp with the captured deserters, and met Li Shimin who was patrolling the periphery, Liu Hongji hurriedly stepped forward to report the situation, and Li Shimin frowned. He pondered for a moment and ordered: "Interrogate these thirteen deserters separately, then confess and interrogate them further if they find any inconsistencies." ”

Liu Hongji had to admire Li Shimin's wisdom, this is indeed a good strategy to distinguish the enemy's strategy, although it is impossible to use a dozen people to make a plan, but it is still necessary to be cautious, Liu Hongji immediately agreed, "I will go to interrogation if I am lowly!" ”

Li Shimin also turned his horse's head and ran towards the camp first.

Regardless of whether these deserters are true or not, once this matter is confirmed, it will be a rare fighter for them in a century, especially if the opponent is Qu Tutong, if it is not for the epidemic, it will be difficult for them to defeat this person.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Yuan was discussing with Pei Lin about going to nearby counties to get grain, and they also knew that the stock of official grain in Linfen, Jiang, and Changping counties alone was at least about 300,000 stones, but Li Yuan pretended to be high-profile in order to entrap the local government, and now their military rations can only support less than ten days, and they must take government grain.

Li Yuan finally got the news of Taiyuan yesterday, because tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry entered Taiyuan County, so that the gate of Taiyuan City was closed, and it was impossible to send messengers out of the city to contact this side, and at present, the Turkic army has withdrawn north, causing a lot of losses to the counties of Taiyuan County, and losing countless wealth and population.

Li Yuan knew that this was because he was unwilling to give in to the Turks, so the Turks began to take revenge on him, although he was unwilling, but in order to keep the rear from losing, Li Yuan also had to send Liu Wenjing north to negotiate with the Turks, willing to be a vassal to the Turks.

At this time, the soldiers reported at the gate of the big tent: "The governor of Zuo has an urgent military situation to see!" ”

The governor of Zuo Du is Li Shimin, Pei Lin smiled and said: "Erlang patrol will have a harvest!" ”

Li Yuan nodded, "Let him in!" ”

Li Shimin hurriedly walked into the big tent, bowed down and said: "Father, the child has just received the news that the epidemic has broken out in the Qu Tutong army, and the soldiers have begun to flee. ”

Li Yuan stood up and asked in surprise, "Is this news true?" ”

"General Liu is making the final confirmation, but it should be ninety percent true!"

Li Yuan was so excited that he slapped his forehead again and again, if this news was true, then it was really God who favored him Li Yuan.

"How did you get the news?" Li Yuan asked again about the source of the news.

Li Shimin told Liu Hongji about catching more than a dozen deserters, Li Yuan and Pei Lin glanced at each other, and they both understood in their hearts that this was very likely to be true, and it was unlikely to be a fake.

At this time, Liu Hongji appeared at the door of the tent, bowed down and said: "General Qiyu, Governor of Qiyu, Qiyu Changshi, interrogated more than a dozen deserters separately, there is no problem, there is indeed an outbreak of epidemic in Qu Tutong's army, and the soldiers fled three or four out of ten, and the morale of the army is very chaotic and morale is low." ”

Li Yuan realized that the fighter plane was coming, and immediately ordered someone to find Li Jiancheng, and after a while, Li Jiancheng hurriedly came to the big tent, and Li Yuan told him what had happened.

Although Li Shimin showed a high military talent and became an early success, Li Yuan always felt that the second son was still too young and had too little training, relatively speaking, the eldest son Li Jiancheng relied on Li Yuan even more, Li Jiancheng did not speak much, but every sentence was said on the key point, last time he suggested killing the rumor-spreading soldiers, Li Yuan complied, and the military heart immediately stabilized.

"What do you think?" Li Yuan looked at his eldest son expectantly.

Li Jiancheng glanced at his brother and asked with a smile: "I want to ask Shimin's opinion." ”

Li Shimin had already had a case, and hurriedly said: "I think the troops should be divided into two routes, one is ambushed outside Hedong City, and the other road is a large-scale attack on Qu Tutong, I think Qu Tutong will definitely ask Song Laosheng for help, and when Song Laosheng goes out of the city to rescue, it will be the time when we will fully break the enemy." ”

"Wonderful!"

Pei Lin clapped his hands on the side and praised: "The plan of the people of the world is really wonderful. ”

Li Yuan also secretly praised it, it was really a good plan, but he still wanted to ask Li Jiancheng's opinion, he looked at his eldest son again, Li Jiancheng understood what his father meant, and said with a faint smile: "I think we should send someone to send herbal medicine to Qu Tutong, and suggest that the two sides work together to control the epidemic, I believe that when the epidemic is extinguished, it will be the day Qu Tutong surrenders." ”

Li Yuan was stunned, and Pei Lin hurriedly said: "I'm afraid Qu Tutong is not such an easy person to surrender." ”

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "One mountain never tolerates two tigers, acting on behalf of the king Yang Yu sent Qu Tutong and Song Laosheng to guard Hedong together, regardless of priority, hidden dangers have been buried, heavy rain has fallen in the sky for several days, Song Laosheng's army has sufficient food in Hedong City, and the barracks are superior, and Qu Tutong's garrison is in the wilderness, the conditions are bad, there is a lack of food and few doctors, but Song Laosheng never sends a helping hand, I know that there is not harmony between the two."

Chang'an Yang Yu is young, mainly listen to the words of General Zuo Yiwei Yin Shishi and Jun Cheng Guyi, I admit that these two are very capable officials, but as long as they are officials, there will be officialdom standing, Yin Shishi and Song Laosheng were both Zhang Jin's generals, the two have a deep friendship, and Guyi is Yu Shiji's person, Yu Shiji and Qu Tutong have always been at odds, so as long as we use countermeasures in Chang'an, Yin Shishi and Guyi will naturally be biased towards Song Laosheng, and then Qu Tutong is in a dilemma, and his father repairs a book again, and his words are sincere, why worry about Qu Tutong not surrendering? As long as Qu Tutong surrenders, Hedong City will not have to worry. ”

"What if Qu Tutong's army retreats to Guanzhong?" Pei Lin asked again.

Li Jiancheng smiled slightly, "Of course he wants to retreat, but how could the superior of Chang'an allow a sick army to retreat to Guanzhong?" That's why I said that Qu Tutong is in a dilemma. ”

Li Yuan praised that this is a clever method.

Li Shimin nodded silently, and he had to admit that his brother was more worried than himself.

Li Yuan immediately acted according to the plan, and he sent the medical officer Zhang Fang to lead 20 military doctors and dozens of truckloads of herbs to the Qu Tutong camp to participate in the rescue and prevention of the epidemic.

Li Yuan wrote another letter to Dou Wei, and sent his son-in-law Chai Shao to Chang'an to secretly rush to Chang'an to implement the counter-plan

(To be continued.) )