Zhang Xutuo since the death of his boss Shi Wansui, he has been silent for several years, his military rank is not high, just a general of chariots, because of the rebellion of the barbarians in Nanningzhou, he was awarded Yitong, and he has always been only a middle-level officer in Hanzhong for several years, and his promotion is weak, which makes him depressed.

This time Yang Liang rebelled, he thought it had nothing to do with him, but unexpectedly, he was transferred to Beijing by the Ministry of War, joined Yang Su's counterinsurgency army, and was appointed by Yang Su as the first army general, which made Zhang Xutuo surprised, and only when he saw Yang Su did he know that this was actually the recommendation of his apprentice Yang Yuanqing, which made Zhang Xutuo sad and joyful, and full of emotion.

Ten years ago, he became the master of the five-year-old naughty boy Yang Yuanqing, when he was thirty years old, just a regiment leader in the army, ten years have passed, his apprentice in the border pass Lu Toujiao, repeatedly made military exploits, became the rising star of the Great Sui border generals, and he Zhang Xutuo is already forty years old, people to middle age.

In fact, he only taught Yang Yuanqing for three years, he thought that Yuanqing was just a passerby in his life, Yuanqing's achievements made Zhang Xutuo feel happy, but he was also depressed about his own unwillingness.

But he didn't expect his apprentice to forget him, ten years later, so that he finally got the most critical opportunity in his life, when he learned that it was Yuan Qing's recommendation, his eyes were moist at that moment.

When people reach middle age, Zhang Xutuo particularly cherishes this opportunity, he is the vanguard, when crossing the Yellow River in Pujin Pass, he led 500 scouts to smuggle the Yellow River successfully, with 500 people against 3,000 people, defeated the Pujin Pass guard general Su Dangui, and made the first contribution to Yang Su's army crossing the Yellow River, it is this battle, he won Yang Su's appreciation.

Yang Su's 100,000 army went all the way north, the momentum was like a bamboo, and the guards of the states and counties heard that it was the imperial servant Yang Suqin who led the army to come, and they surrendered without a fight, and in just three days, the army advanced to the north of Huoyi County.

Huoyi County is located in the north of Jinzhou, is the junction of Jin, Lu and Qin, the strategic location is very important, especially the north of Huoyi County is Gaobi Ridge, the mountains are undulating and steep, like a huge barrier blocking the road to the north, and the east of Huoyi County is also a mountain range, Jieshan, Huoshan, Wuling Mountain three large mountain ranges stretch for thousands of miles, and the southern part of Bingzhou is separated into two.

Yang Liang ordered Xiao Mo He to be the main general, and the general Zhao Zikai was the barnyard general, leading the main army of 150,000 to garrison on the Gaobi Ridge, condescending, and the army set up a company camp on the Gaobi Ridge, stretching for 50 miles, and Yang Liang personally led 80,000 troops as a backup, stationed in Lingshi County, less than 20 miles away from the Gaobi Ridge.

After Yang Su's army took Huoyi County, 120,000 troops approached Gaobi Ridge, and the final decisive battle was opened in Gaobi Ridge.

Zhang Xutuo walked quickly through the camp, until he walked to Yang Su's handsome tent, bowed and saluted, "Please report to the commander, the Asian general Zhang Xutuo will see!" ”

The soldiers went in to report, and after a while, they came out and said with a smile: "General Zhang, the marshal, please go in." ”

Zhang Xutuo walked into the handsome tent quickly, only to see Yang Su standing in front of a map, silent for a long time, Zhang Xutuo stepped forward and knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Zhang Xutuo, see the handsome!" ”

"General Zhang oaked."

Yang Su sat down and smiled at him again: "What does General Zhang have about attacking Gaobiling?" ”

Zhang Xutuo has also been thinking about this problem, if there are only a few thousand people on the mountain, then it is okay to take Gaobiling, but there are more than 100,000 troops stationed in the mountain, this is not as simple as capturing the mountain, this is the decisive battle between the two armies, if the Gaobiling is stormed, it will pay a heavy price.

Zhang Xutuo bowed down and said: "The humble duty is to take the strange soldier as the top, and the strong attack as the bottom." ”

Yang Su nodded, he also thought about it like this, and he asked with a smile: "Then what kind of surprise attack method?" ”

"I think that the army can go to the Bird Mouse Valley, bypass the Gaobi Ridge, and directly attack the Han Wang Army in Lingshi County, and the Han Wang Army will inevitably ask for help from the garrison on the Gaobi Ridge, and then ambush a bow and crossbow army behind the Gaobi Ridge Mountain, you can take advantage of its unpreparedness and ambush it halfway, and this battle will be won."

Yang Su stroked his palms and laughed: "Sure enough, it's the same as the hero!" ”

He clapped his hands twice, and several personal soldiers led two Taoist priests into the big tent, the two Taoist priests were wearing black sermon robes and cloth belts around their waists, and they were both around forty years old.

Yang Su pointed to the two of them and introduced to Zhang Xutuo: "These two are the Taoist priests of the Sanqing Palace of Huoshan, they know that there is a secret valley in Huoshan Mountain, and after leading directly to Gaobiling, you can lead 10,000 troops as a surprise soldier, and I will hand over the important task of attacking Gaobiling." ”

Zhang Xutuo generously received the order: "The last general will never disappoint the great commander and Ming Wang!" ”

Zhang Xutuo took Yang Suling's arrow, turned around and left the camp, Yang Su immediately ordered Chang Sun Sheng to lead 30,000 troops to pretend to be the main force to confront the enemy army on Gaobi Ridge, and Yang Su personally led 80,000 troops to pass through the Bird Mouse Valley along the west bank of Fenshui and go straight to Lingshi County.

Huoshan Mountain is steep, the peaks are towering to the sky, the mountains are covered with dense forests, occasionally there will be a large straight cliff, the steep wall is either not a single grass, or crawling with vines, these cliffs are like being cut by a knife, the cliffs are full of various forms of rocks, some are as small as pebbles, some are as big as three-story buildings, and a long and curved mountain road passes through these large and small rocks.

At the beginning of the night, the mountain road was exceptionally silent, there was a rustling sound in the woods and rock crevices on both sides, occasionally a night owl would start from the big tree, making a terrible strange scream, which was terrifying, but soon, the silence on the mountain road was broken by a troop of troops, 10,000 cavalry in a row, walking quickly on the wet but not muddy mountain road, the sound of horses' hooves, the clanging of war knives and the occasional sound of gentle conversation, and from time to time there were a group of birds on the big trees beside the mountain road were also awakened and flew up in a daze.

Zhang Xutuo rode on a war horse, and as he walked, he talked to a Taoist leader, "Chongbi Taoist Chief, you said that this mountain road only appeared at the beginning of the year, what does this mean?" ”

Two Taoist priests, one Chongbi, one called Chongyuan, are locals, their Taoist temple is located in the east of Huoshan Mountain, the two are to go down the mountain to buy goods, I heard that there are rebels blocking the road on Gaobi Ridge, so they took the initiative to find the camp, willing to lead the way for the imperial army, Yang Su after some interrogation, finally believed that they were really willing to serve the imperial court.

Chongbi Taoist priest rode on a donkey, he stroked his beard and smiled: "This valley is called Yong'an Valley, because it has been leading to Yong'an County, in fact, this valley has always existed, but the front is blocked by a huge rock, after the pedestrian reaches the boulder, they must climb the rock, livestock can't walk, so this valley road is not very noticeable, everyone would rather walk from the high cliff ridge, not far, the road is easy to walk, but at the beginning of this year, the boulder suddenly fractured, and a narrow rock road appeared in the middle, as if it was split by a knife, In this way, the cattle could pass through the tunnel, so that the valley road could be truly used, and after passing the boulder, and after walking ten miles, you will reach the back of the high cliff ridge, and another valley leads to the north of the rebel camp.

Speaking of this, Chongbi Taoist pointed ahead, "General, it's that boulder!" ”

Zhang Xutuo also saw, a huge rock Buddha fell from the sky, just inlaid in the middle of the narrow cliff, the whole valley road was blocked tightly, this rock is about eight zhang wide, more than ten zhang high, it is full of vines, there is a stone crack less than one zhang wide in the middle of the rock, just can lead the horse through, the crack is very new, sure enough, as the Taoist priest said, it was cracked at the beginning of this year.

The team began to shrink into a team, holding torches, passing through this stone crack dozens of zhang long one by one, through the stone crack, about ten miles away, two forks appeared in front of it, one led to Yongan County, and the other valley was Gaobi Ridge.

At this time, they had already reached the back of Gaopiling, less than five miles away from the rebel camp? All the torches were extinguished, and the 10,000 Sui troops, guided by two Taoist priests, walked into the dark and damp valley of Yin, and headed towards the rebel camp.

Lingshi County is a small county, the city wall is short and dilapidated, less than two zhang high, basically there is no defensive value, and the city is narrow, there are less than 1,000 households, a stick of incense can go around the city for a week, and it can only accommodate more than 10,000 people at most.

Yang Liang's army of 80,000, only 3,000 guards and he was stationed in the city, and the rest of the army were stationed outside the city.

At this time, it was the fifth watch, the lights in Wenchang Pavilion were still bright, Yang Liang had not slept all night, he had not closed his eyes for three days, the grim situation made him more and more anxious, there were originally nineteen states in response to his troops, but after the defeat of Daizhou, the states and counties that supported him have defected, and he now has only a small piece of territory left, including the southern part of Taiyuan Prefecture, including Taiyuan City, and Luzhou, where Lingshi County is located, only this small place remains.

He began to feel a kind of pain at the end of the road, although he still had more than 200,000 troops, but in fact these armies were weak soldiers in various states, the real elite army was less than 40,000 people, and what was worse was that his army could only support 200,000 troops for ten days, and after ten days, his army would be cut off from food, and the whole line would inevitably collapse.

He was like a death row prisoner who was sentenced to be beheaded after the autumn, waiting day by day for the coming of the day of food shortage, and his mood was extremely depressed......

If he can tolerate Qiao Zhongkui's difficulties, and then send 30,000 troops to support him, he will directly kill Yang Yuanqing at the beginning and protect the Youzhou Dou .......

All the ifs mean that he made mistakes in decision-making one by one, or even only one of them, then the situation would never be as passive as today, but unfortunately everything can no longer be recovered.

Now Yang Liang's ambition to be the emperor has been completely eliminated, he only wants to protect himself now, keep the glory and wealth of the second half of his life, Yang Guang is his own brother, if he surrenders, can his second brother spare him?

"Your Highness, sleep for a while!" An old eunuch next to him whispered to persuade him.

"I can't sleep!"

Yang Liang sighed lowly, and at this moment, someone outside the door exclaimed: "Fire, fire!" ”

Yang Liang was stunned for a moment, the door was slammed open, and a guard shouted: "Your Highness, the fire on the high wall ridge is soaring." ”

Yang Liang was so shocked that his heart was about to jump out, he ran to the courtyard, only to see that the high wall ridge was really full of fire, the fire belt was more than ten miles, it was the company camp on the mountain ridge that was burned, Yang Liang seemed to step on the air, his heart fell straight into the abyss, it was over, he was finished.

He stared blankly at Gaobiling, and at this time, another Shi guard rushed in and said loudly: "Your Highness, the scouts have sent information that they have found that Yang Su's main force is only five miles away from us. ”

Yang Liang jumped up in shock and yelled: "Quick! Ordered the Yu army to rise up and prepare for battle. ”

"Your Highness, Yang Su's army did not attack at night, they have stopped advancing."

Yang Liang's heart was slightly lowered, he walked back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his mind was in a mess, what should he do now?

He didn't count on the army on Gaobi Ridge anymore, even if most of them escaped back, he wouldn't be able to support them, and besides, Yang Su's main force was behind them, so he couldn't escape back at all.

No, he must retreat, withdraw to Taiyuan City, and rely on the strong walls of Taiyuan City for defense, he has been operating in Taiyuan City for nearly ten years, and he should be able to hold it.

He was just about to order the withdrawal of the army, and Wang Mei, who was the adviser to the army, hurriedly rushed into the courtyard, "Your Highness, the opportunity has come." ”

Yang Liang's face sank, and he said in an extremely dissatisfied tone: "Where is the opportunity?" ”

He was very annoyed with Wang Mei, it was this person who persuaded him to give up attacking the capital, which made him lose the most important opportunity, and now he ran to say the opportunity, which made Yang Liang happy.

Wang Juan didn't realize Yang Liang's dissatisfaction, he still said excitedly: "Your Highness, Yang Suqin led the army into the army alone, if His Highness can defeat him, then His Highness can turn defeat into victory, and then recover all the lost territory, and the soldiers will ...... the capital."

"Enough!"

Yang Liang reprimanded angrily, Wang Mei didn't mention that the soldiers pointed to the capital, but when he mentioned the soldiers pointing to the capital, Yang Liang suddenly remembered that he persuaded himself to give up taking the capital, which made Yang Liang angry in his heart.

"I have decided to withdraw my troops back to Taiyuan immediately, whoever dares to persuade me again will be killed!"

Wang Juan was shocked, he fell to his knees, and said with tears: "Your Highness, Yang Su's army marched 200 miles a day, and his army was already exhausted, if His Highness could personally lead the army to attack Yang Su, he would definitely be able to defeat the enemy, and now His Highness is looking at the enemy and retreating, which will make the three armies think that we are cowardly and corrupt the morale of the soldiers, Your Highness, we can't withdraw the army, this is our last chance!" ”

"Someone!"

Yang Liang was furious, pointed at Wang Juan and shouted: "Give me a stick to beat me out." ”

More than a dozen Shi guards carried Wang Juan out with sticks, and he was heard shouting: "Your Highness, this is our last chance!" ”

Yang Liang no longer had any fighting, and he immediately ordered: "Order the three armies to withdraw to Taiyuan City." ”

On the high wall ridge, Zhang Xutuo found that the enemy's defense was negligent, and the mountains and mountains were narrow, the big tents were dense, one by one, and the wind was extremely strong, which was simply to set up camp for fire attack, Zhang Xutuo resolutely adjusted the plan.

According to the original plan..., Yang Su's main force would feint to attack Lingshi County, forcing Yang Liang to ask for help from the army on Gaobi Ridge, and then Zhang Xutuo ambushed to rescue the rebels in Lingshi County, but at this time, he did not need to ambush, and directly set fire to the camp.

The fire burned rapidly, and the raging flames were swept to the west of the mountain range by the wind, and the red flames on the tents flew up, forming a sea of fire for more than ten miles, and the entire Gaobi Ridge seemed to be engulfed by fire.

Outside the camp, 10,000 Sui troops slaughtered out, cutting off the rebels' escape route, killing people's heads rolling, dead bodies piled up, and the air was filled with pungent blood and scorching.

Zhang Xutuo wielded a knife in the enemy group to kill, where the big knife passed, the corpses were piled up, he had killed the rebel barnyard general Zhao Zikai, at this time, he saw Xiao Mohe at a glance, he urged the horse to gallop, the big knife swept in the firelight, straight to Xiao Mohe's neck, Xiao Moding although he was seventy-three years old, but he was a fierce general, he saw Zhang Xutuo's knife is fierce, homeopathic to the back, the blade from the tip of his nose split, but he is old after all, the waist strength is insufficient, the speed of getting up is a step slower, Zhang Xutuo backhand knife, the bright blade from the back of his neck into the "click" Blood burst out, Xiao Mohe's big head flew out more than a foot away, and the blood of the headless corpse spurted like a spring, slowly planting under the horse.

Several pro-soldiers rushed up, picked Xiao Mohe's head on the bamboo pole, and shouted loudly, "Xiao Mohe is dead!" The rebel commander has been seen."

Xiao Mohe was killed, and the thousands of troops who resisted at the end were disheartened and fled in all directions, Zhang Xutuo shouted: "Block the exit, those who do not surrender, kill on the spot!" ”！。