The Yong army was defeated and retreated, blocking the river with iron cables, blocking the Northern Han naval army, the mountain was dangerous, difficult to attack and difficult to defend, and the two armies fought for the valley mouth for two days, regardless of victory or defeat.

On the first day of the first month of April, Long Tingfei ordered the general Duan under his command to sink the river with black oil, burning it, and the Yong army was defeated and retreated, with casualties one after another. After 30 years, there is no grass in the mountains, and the next year, the water is clear.

―― "Zizhi Tongjian-Yongji III"

In the early morning of March 30, Li Xian walked out of the military tent, although it was already spring, but the temperature in the early morning was still very low, the river breeze was cold, the fog was foggy, the water was cold and condensed, Li Xian pondered, this valley can hide nearly 10,000 soldiers, it is the nearest military camp from the mouth of the Qinshui Valley of the Northern Han Army, last night, the Yongjun army camped in more than a dozen such valleys along the Qinshui, from today onwards, it will be retreated with the support of the infantry, this valley is not a good place to resist the enemy, although it is very cost-effective to defend the Northern Han cavalry with the infantry army, But Li Xian never liked this kind of sacrifice that had no possibility of victory, so retreating was the only choice, and who knew what way the Northern Han army would come up with to attack, after all, such a valley was also a kind of constraint on the Yongjun Iron Cavalry, and the most important point was that if you want to win, you can't defend here, but the timing of the retreat should be skillful, and you can't let the Northern Han Army see that it has no intention of defending the valley at all, and of course the losses should be as small as possible. While thinking carefully about how to deal with the current battle situation, Li Xian walked to the camp tent not far away, which was Xuansong's camp tent, Li Xian thought angrily, he was too busy yesterday, I only heard that Jiang Zhe left first, and he must ask Xuansong clearly, how did this guy escape.

Approaching Xuansong's tent, the tent was empty, presumably he went out to arrange defense, Li Xian didn't care, and walked in. As a general, Xuan Song's camp tent is naturally quite comfortable, separated by a curtain inside and outside, with marching beds inside, tables and chairs outside, and thick felt on the ground. Li Xian sat on the chair, thinking about how to retreat cleanly, at this time, he heard footsteps outside, one was not in a hurry, the footsteps were clear, and the other was walking with a tiger, mighty and heavy. Li Xian heard that these two people were walking side by side, and he thought that it was Xuan Song and Jing Chi who came together, and he suddenly felt a move in his heart, these two people are the emperor's confidants, and they have been colleagues for many years, so there must be a lot of confidants to say, why don't you listen to what they say in private?

Li Xian's mind was certain, so he opened the curtain and walked into the inner tent, his figure just disappeared behind the curtain, the door of the military tent was opened by Jing Chi, he strode in, sat down on the side of the bookcase, poured a large cup of tea from the teapot on the bookcase, and drank it in one gulp. Xuan Song followed behind, and when he saw this scene, he shook his head and said: "The general still likes this kind of cow drink, it's a pity that this high-grade tribute tea, this is the good tea that the overseer lost to me in chess a few days ago." ”

As soon as Jing Chi heard the words "Lord Supervisor", a sip of tea immediately squirted out, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be a chess win, then it was very easy, who in Tiance Mansion didn't know that although Mr. Jiang's talent was peerless, but his chess skills were mediocre, and he once lost miserably, so he chanted a song of seven absolute thanks, although I am old and coarse, I still remember." The poem goes like this, 'Everything in life is always about love, and Jasher is in a quandary. It's not that he's afraid of difficulties, but he thinks he's too black and white. ’”

Li Xian almost laughed out loud behind the tent, but he knew about it, and even he knew that the reason why Jing Chi remembered it so clearly was because Jing Chi was with him that day, and couldn't help but laugh at Jiang Zhe a few words, Jiang Zhe punished him for copying this poem a hundred times, although the Yongwang Mansion was tightly guarded in the past, but Fengyimen still had some spies in the Yongwang Mansion, these things were what Li Xian saw from Qin Zheng, but later the Yongwang Mansion became more and more strict, and in the end, it was difficult to get any useful information.

Xuan Song naturally didn't know this secret, but sighed: "Chu Xianghou has an easy-going temperament, indifferent to fame and fortune, but he is loyal to the king, and he does his best, in the past, I heard that Lord Jiang was almost seriously ill because of fatigue, Song originally just heard about it, and I didn't think that I saw the color yesterday, when Lord Jiang left yesterday, he could hardly get into the car in person, presumably he was extremely tired, and I can only do my best to complete the plan set by Lord Jiang, otherwise I will lose the emperor's grace and the hard work of Lord Jiang." ”

Li Xian's body trembled when he heard this, of course, the change of the hunting palace, he saw it with his own eyes, on the Xiaoshuang Palace, Jiang Zhe was in shape, his bones were broken, his temples were scattered, and his temples were almost dying, and when he saw Jiang Zhe again in the East China Sea, although Jiang Zhe had recovered his health, but the gray hair and the slight frost on his temples still made Li Xian's heart gloomy, these days, although Jiang Zhe was lax on the surface, Li Xian knew that Jiang Zhe often read all kinds of information until late at night, and he personally arranged many seemingly inexplicable things, However, Li Xian knew Jiang Zhe's ability to lay out, so he naturally wouldn't think that Jiang Zhe was lazy. Yesterday, when he heard that Jiang Zhe retreated first, Li Xian was only a little resentful, after all, he also knew that Jiang Zhe's body might not be able to withstand the route, so he was not really angry, but when he heard that Jiang Zhe was so weak when he left, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

His mind was confused, his breath immediately became heavy, Jing Chi outside heard that Jiang Zhe's physical condition was a little bad, and he was originally worried, but when he heard a sound inside, he was shocked, and stretched out his hand to hold down the handle of the knife and said, "Who is inside, why are you eavesdropping here?" ”

Xuan Song was originally a Confucian general, his martial arts were mediocre, he heard Jing Chi's shout, and immediately got up and moved to the tent door, if there was really an assassin or a secret spy, then he naturally didn't want to drag Jing Chi down, but when he saw the curtain of the inner tent jump, Li Xian, the king of Qi, walked out, with a cold expression on his face, and said lightly: "General Xuan, immediately order our army to straighten out and start retreating according to the plan, this king is not in the mood to consume with the Northern Han people." ”

Xuan Song and Jing Chi were stunned, but when they saw King Qi's unhappy expression, and said that the difference between the top and bottom was there, they couldn't blame this prince for listening to the corner, and hurriedly agreed, going down to arrange military affairs, the original plan was to stay here for two or three days, and then withdraw the army on a large scale, but since King Qi wanted to change the plan, Xuan Song felt that it had little impact, so he did not admonish.

At this time, the sun was already high, and the Northern Han army had begun to challenge at the valley mouth in front, in order not to let the Yong army be suspicious, the Northern Han army fought repeatedly at the valley mouth, and the attack equipment was made outside, without revealing a trace of flaws. If it was normal, Li Xian might personally go into battle to confront the enemy, but after he heard that Jiang Zhe was sick, he was depressed and didn't bother to go into battle, so he only let Jing Chi lead the army out to fight the enemy.

On the formation of the Northern Han army, Long Tingfei and Lin Bi stood side by side, looking at the two armies facing each other at the mouth of the valley, their expressions were a little lost, and after a long time, Long Tingfei said gloomily: "The Yongjun army was defeated yesterday, but it was only one night, and the decadent atmosphere can no longer be seen. ”

Lin Bi also felt the same way in his heart, and said: "Dayong now has a Ming monarch, a good general, and a soldier who is willing to die with his life, but it's a pity that my Northern Han is condescending to a corner, although I am united, but I can't do it." ”

Long Tingfei said with a smile: "Bi Mei doesn't have to be like this, as long as we capture and kill Li Xian this time, Dayong will suffer heavy losses, don't think about entering Qinzhou within a few years, when the time comes, we will use the strategy of cooperation and longitudinal to ally with Nanchu and Dongchuan, and when the time comes, Dayong will no longer have the power it has today." ”

Lin Bi smiled slightly, she knew that Long Tingfei was just to comfort her, how could Dayong collapse so easily, she had deeper worries in her heart, this time Daizhou sent troops she promised her father and brother, she must rush back to Daizhou before April 20, the barbarians are ready to move, there are only 10,000 cavalry in Daizhou, although the soldiers and civilians of Daizhou have been sleeping night and night, but the eldest brother and the second brother are fierce generals, not generals, and my father is sick in bed, how can I rest assured.

The battle between the two armies of Tanikou was in full swing, and a young general under Jing Chi was the most courageous, rushing into the Northern Han army formation several times, forgetting his life and death, and returning to the Yongjun army was loud to cheer him on, Long Tingfei frowned, and was about to order someone to send someone to behead the enemy's partial general, Xiao Tong hurried over and said in a low voice: "General, let the Lu brothers go into battle, that partial general is our person, he must have an urgent message to spread." ”

Long Tingfei's expression moved, and he said loudly: "Bo Yan, Zhong Tian, and Shu Han, you lead the army up, and you must capture and kill this partial general for me." The three brothers of the Lu family were already eager to try, and hurriedly agreed in unison, Xiao Tong had already stepped aside, and said a few words of instructions beside Lu Shuhan, Lu Shuhan's eyes flashed coldly, and he followed the two brothers out of battle.

Soon the three of them rushed to the front, Lu Boyan and Lu Zhongtian personally met Jing Chi who led the army to kill, Lu Shuhan intentionally or unintentionally led the army to block the partial general, the enemy and our army both said that this was the Northern Han Army's mighty move, and did not feel anything strange, the partial general raised the horse lance and rushed over, people borrowed the horse momentum, it was also unstoppable, Lu Shuhan was no less than the pioneer general Su Dingluan, the fierce general, smiled coldly, the horse lance picked, the partial general screamed, the blade in his hand was taken off, Lu Shuhan shouted loudly, the horse lance swept, just hit the general's waist ribs and swept him off the horse, but the general refused to admit defeat, and the person jumped up when he fell off the horse, but Lu Shuhan raised the horse lance and stabbed downward, seeing that he was about to pierce the throat of the general. The general flipped in the air, the horse lance grazed his cheek, pierced into the dirt, the general also couldn't stand, fell to the ground, but the general raised his hand, a frost blade flying knife shot like a meteor lightning towards the door of Lu Shuhan, Lu Shuhan couldn't dodge, but opened his mouth to bite and intercept the flying knife. At this moment, the general had been rescued by the Yongjun who had rushed up.

The two armies are fighting, and there are fights everywhere, but the clean and neat confrontation between the two still makes everyone see it, both armies are iron-blooded men, and they respect warriors the most, not to mention that Lu Shuhan attacked fiercely, and the partial general was also as agile as a spirit fox, although he was defeated, he did not lose much face, so both the Yongjun army and the Northern Han army cheered in unison. At this time, the Northern Han army had also saved face, and the two armies had been fighting for a long time.

Returning to the camp of the Northern Han Army and retiring the generals, Lu Shuhan handed the flying knife to Xiao Tong, Xiao Tong gently rotated the handle, but the handle was hollow, and there was a scroll of paper stuffed inside, on which were written slow small characters.

"It is rumored in the army that the old illness of the Marquis of Chu Township has relapsed and he has returned to Zezhou, and the King of Qi is determined to withdraw his troops ahead of schedule, starting this afternoon."

After reading the above information, Long Tingfei's expression was mixed with joy and sorrow, he silently handed the paper scroll to Lin Bi, his fingers lightly tapped the bookcase, as if he was in deep thought.

After a long time, Lin Bi raised his head and said: "If it is true that the Marquis of Chu is ill, then this is the best opportunity, Emperor Yong and the King of Qi rely on this person to buffer and reconcile, the Marquis of Chu Township is sick, and the King of Qi must be uneasy at this moment, so he will accelerate the retreat, so that the Yongjun army will inevitably be restless and impatient, and it will be much easier for our army to win if it wants to win." ”

Long Tingfei frowned and said: "But it is difficult to judge whether this matter is true or false, and the Yongjun army is accelerating its retreat, and our fire attack strategy will inevitably be much less effective, Xiao Tong, can you say that this information is true?" ”

Xiao Tong said respectfully: "This person is a disciple of my Demon Sect, he is a native of the Northern Han Dynasty, his parents and relatives are in Jinyang, two years ago, when our army looted Zezhou, a village was washed in blood, and his subordinates ordered it to replace the identity of one of the villagers who was killed, and he has never used this secret son for two years, so his subordinates believe that this person's identity has never been revealed." And the information he risked back was very important, but it was simple and sloppy, and it was also in line with his identity, Jing Chi only met with Yongjun yesterday, it is absolutely impossible for this person to know these things in detail, this person is smart and resolute, if it is difficult to distinguish between fiction and reality, he will never take such a risk. ”

Long Tingfei and Lin Bi both nodded silently, the two looked at each other, both of them had made up their minds, Long Tingfei got up and said: "The herald is invincible, although the black oil has not yet been delivered, but I can't take care of it, tonight we will start the fire attack, and then when we pursue the Yongjun, we might as well spread some rumors, just say that the Marquis of Chu Xianghou deliberately framed the King of Qi and was defeated, and now he is fleeing from the battle, then the Yongjun army will be in turmoil, maybe Li Xian will think the same." ”

In the dead of night, above the Qinshui, more than a thousand Northern Han soldiers wore dark night clothes, lightly poured barrels of black oil into the Qinshui, the night was deep, the stars and the moon were dark, and the deep Qinshui was covered with a thick layer of black oil, and the black oil flowed downstream, without attracting the attention of the Yongjun in the valley. Long Tingfei and Lin Bi stood on the shore, both of them looked solemn, according to their estimates, in one day, the Yong army had withdrawn at least a third, if it was unfortunate that the Yong army patrolling the night found out about the black oil in Hanoi, then the chance of victory would be even smaller.

Duan Wushu approached the two of them and said in a low voice: "According to the speed of the water, it can cover about thirty miles of rivers in about four watches, princess, general, we need to light the fire at that time." ”

Lin Bi nodded lightly and sighed slightly, although she was also decisive in Daizhou, most of them were bloody blades, but this kind of method of burning water attack was almost never used, and she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive in her heart, after all, Daizhou Yingjie likes to fight on the battlefield the most. Long Tingfei looked calm and said, "Okay, I hope this fire can burn the courage and confidence of the Yongjun." ”

In the valley, the big tent of the Yongjun army was brightly lit, and today at the insistence of Li Xian, 20,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalry were withdrawn, and Li Xian, Jing Chi and Xuansong were discussing how to withdraw their troops all night, so they still did not rest until late at night. I didn't know that the killing machine in the water was hidden, the water was turbulent, the wind was down the river tonight, and the black oil was treated, so there was no pungent smell, so no one noticed this potential crisis.

On the third watch, the Dayong military camp was almost silent, except for the defenders who defended the valley mouth and feared that the Northern Han army would sneak attack at night, everyone was sleeping, at this time, two people came out of a small tent, both of them were wearing cyan armor, but under the reflection of the fire next to the camp tent, it was seen that these two people were delicate, but they were two women. These two people are Su Qing and her cronies Ruyue.

Su Qing has been born and died for many years, and can take risks, although most of them rely on martial arts and resourcefulness, but there is another advantage that is difficult for people to reach, that is, sensitivity to danger, although some things have not happened yet, and even the clues have not yet been revealed, Su Qing can often be alert, although it is often only uneasy or even palpitations, but it is almost a miracle, which is also the key to her being able to dominate the Northern Han Dynasty with the body of a woman. Tonight she was awakened by a nightmare in the middle of the night, and when she got up, she found that she was covered in cold sweat, so she immediately woke up Ruyue, put on her armor, and walked out of the camp.

She walked slowly in the barracks, and the sergeants on patrol bowed and saluted when they saw her, Su Qing returned the salute one by one, but her mind was not knowing where to fly, she looked around intently, hoping to find the traces that made her heart alarmed. But all she could feel was solemnity and calmness, and a trace of anxiety gradually surged in her heart, Su Qing turned around and walked towards Qinshui, sitting by the river at night and listening to the whimper of the water, it should be the best way to cleanse her heart of troubles. Walking to the river, Su Qing took a deep breath, the cold air inhaled into her lungs, Su Qing suddenly frowned, there was a faint familiar smell in the air, pungent and spicy, her eyes immediately showed a cold light, her eyes flashed, and gradually fell to the surface of the river, Su Qing's face suddenly changed miserably, and she turned around and walked towards the big tent without thinking, she couldn't be frightened, she couldn't alarm the whole camp, otherwise there would be a danger of bombing the camp in the night.

The lights of King Qi's big tent had been extinguished, Su Qing walked outside the tent, and saw that it was Zhuang Jun, the guard of King Qi's henchmen, who was keeping vigil outside, she hurriedly stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Where is Your Highness, there will be an urgent military report at the end." ”

A trace of surprise flashed in Zhuang Jun's eyes, and he didn't understand why Su Qing's expression was so solemn, but he knew that Su Qing was a good scout, so he hurriedly rushed into the camp, and after a while, the King of Qi put on his battle robe and walked out, and the light of the torch shone on Su Qing's face, and his beautiful face was as pale as snow. After listening to Su Qing's military situation, a blazing flame flashed in Li Xian's eyes, and he immediately ordered all the Yong troops to withdraw immediately. They didn't know when the Northern Han army would be launched, but Su Qing said very clearly that the smoke from the burning of this black oil was poisonous, and it was difficult to escape the danger even if it avoided the valleys on both sides, and when the Northern Han army attacked, I was afraid that it would be a turtle in the urn and die in a Jedi, so no matter what, there was only one word to escape.

Fortunately, the Yongjun army has not disarmed and the horse has not unsaddled in the past two days, so in less than half a shift, the whole army has been ready, and the fastest group has already hit the road. Li Xian looked at the infantry with confused expressions, it was difficult for them to retreat in time, originally they were left for better defense, and also to prevent the Northern Han Army from discovering the inner intention of withdrawing, but these good men were going to die here in humiliation, although I don't know when the Northern Han Army will start, but before dawn, it is difficult for these people to escape from the valley, the road, it is too narrow. However, Li Xian knew that he couldn't explain the truth now, and if he knew that these soldiers were in a desperate situation, I was afraid that there would be a chaos, and when the time came, he would alarm the Northern Han army, and he was afraid that no one would be able to escape. Li Xian's heart was crossed, and he said: "Xuansong, send someone to lead them to wait at the mouth of the valley, and say that when it is dawn to attack the Northern Han military camp, if the fire starts, take them to rush out of the valley and attack the Northern Han army, you pick one who is willing to die." ”

Xuan Song felt a pain in his heart, but he knew that it had to be like this, so he stepped forward and saluted: "Your Highness, these sergeants and generals have been in command for many days, it is better for the last general to personally lead them to attack, so as not to choose the wrong time and die in vain." ”

Li Xian said angrily: "Nonsense, you are a general in the army, and this king is about to rely on it, how can you die for this." ”

Xuan Song said: "His Royal Highness relies on the last general, but in order to intercept the Northern Han chasing soldiers, His Royal Highness was also good at defeating and retreating in the past, the last general is not a necessary existence, but in order to fight with the Northern Han chasing soldiers, a military general like General Jing is needed, and now if there is no general, I am only afraid that the army's heart will change, and the last general is the most suitable candidate, not to mention this mistake, the last general did not perceive the enemy's conspiracy, and the last general should stay guilty and make meritorious contributions." ”

After Li Xian heard this, he only felt unbearable heartache, but he knew that if there was no general like Xuan Song, the army would indeed be confused, and a look of regret flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice: "It's okay, Jing Chi, let's go." After saying that, he got on the war horse, and he couldn't ride the horse away, Jing Chi hesitated slightly, and had to follow. Only the king of Qi and a few generals knew about the enemy's desire to attack with fire, so the Yong army did not have the slightest confusion, but the king of Qi decided to withdraw the army overnight. After riding his horse for a while, Li Xian suddenly turned around and ran back, pointed at Xuan Song and said: "General Xuan, the matter here is up to you to act cheaply, don't say that you will be martyred. Xuan Song's body was shocked, knowing that the King of Qi hinted that he could surrender in a hurry to save his life, although this was not something he could do, but he still bowed down and said, "The last general will obey." There was a hint of sadness in his tone.

When the figure of King Qi disappeared into the night, Xuan Song regained his calm face and said, "Prepare to attack the camp at dawn, and now give the order to go down, and the three armies will be deployed." At this time, the night was still deep, Xuan Song ordered the three military ranks, and then asked everyone to wrap their mouths and noses with a towel soaked in the clear spring water in the valley, and let the henchmen and guards walk by the river, plus the light was dim, and no one found the mystery in the river. Although some clever people have already noticed that something is wrong, but the military order is like a mountain, if it is publicized at this moment, it will inevitably become a ghost under the knife immediately, and they can only act silently and follow the army. Not long after, the Yongjun army had arrived at the mouth of the valley, Xuan Song ordered his henchmen and guards to go out to investigate, and the guards came back with a blank face, and said in a low voice: "General, the enemy camp is not far from here, and I saw many figures by the river." "This guard already knows the truth, so he naturally knows the danger.

At this moment, suddenly there was a fire outside the valley, and in an instant, the Qin water around him was already a raging flame, and the poisonous black smoke poured towards the shore, and the black smoke in the valley was filled, and it was difficult to see a human figure on the opposite side. Xuansong makes people beat the drum, the drum is heavy, like being in a desperate situation The beast howls, at this moment there is no military order of Xuansong, in the face of death behind him, there is only one way to go, the Yongjun army rushed out of the valley according to the military order, but the valley is narrow, can only run out, even at this moment, the Yongjun army is still quite orderly, not crowded with each other, it can be seen that the training is well-trained. Not long after, there were exclamations and the sound of blades colliding in front, and tears flashed in Xuan Song's eyes, this was a suicide, and the 20,000 Yongjun infantry faced the 100,000 Northern Han Iron Cavalry and the Daizhou Army, which was certain death. He said in a low voice: "Chu Xianghou, the last general has lived up to your expectations, and has not seen through the enemy's conspiracy to burn Qinshui, if the last general had found out earlier, no matter how there is a way to deal with it, now it can only be atonement for his sins with death, I hope your plan will succeed, and avenge this deep revenge for my Dayong man." Raising his head, pulling out the long sword at his waist, he rushed forward under the protection of his personal guards, and ran to the place of death in front of him, even if he died, he hoped to die in the formation of the Northern Han army. Behind him, the fire above the water was still spreading rapidly for miles, the cold water below, the flames above, the black smoke billowing out, the poisonous gas was hazy, the grass and trees on both sides were burned by the fire, the fire was even more ferocious, the rocks were blackened by black smoke, if anyone was here, there was no hope of survival, the thirty miles of mountains and rivers became the Shura field, and the fire swallowed all life.

The Northern Han army burned Qinshui, in addition to the more than 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry who withdrew first, there were still 30,000 cavalry under the command of King Qi and Jing Chi, and only more than 1,000 people escaped and were swallowed by the sea of fire. So far, the Yongjun Northern Expeditionary Army has 130,000 foot cavalry, only half of the remnants of the army remain, although the main cavalry remains, but the Northern Han Army has occupied an absolute advantage.