After Qu Tutong rescued Li Xuanba, the king of Zhao, and broke through to the east, he went all the way south and found Li Xiaogong's department, Li Xuanba was seriously injured and was sent back to Chang'an to recuperate, while Qu Tutong stayed in Yingchuan County after Li Xiaogong's repeated efforts.

Qu Tutong is an old and steady person, he knows very well that the Tang army is full of mountains, in addition to the two major forces of the King of Qin and the crown prince, there are many small forces, such as Li Yuanji's faction, Li Xiaogong's faction, Li Shentong's faction and Chai Shao's faction.

Although Li Xiaogong supported Li Shimin, the king of Qin, it did not mean that Li Xiaogong obeyed Li Shimin's command, so Qu Tutong was very cautious, and he would not participate in Li Xiaogong's military meetings.

However, Qu Tutong was a little nervous today, and he found that strategically, the Tang Army was already in a disadvantageous situation, and he couldn't hold back any longer.

"See Your Highness!"

Qu Tutong entered the tent and saluted Li Xiaogong, Li Xiaogong hurriedly got up and saluted back, "Don't dare to accept the old general's gift, the old general, please sit!" ”

Qu Tutong sat down and said worriedly: "Your Highness, the deployment of the Sui army is not good for us!" ”

Li Xiaogong was taken aback, "What did the old general say?" ”

"Your Highness, now the situation is obvious, the Sui and Tang armies are fighting in the east and west battlefields with the Tiger Pass as the boundary, and the current trend has been seen, whoever can support each other will be able to gain the strategic initiative, and the Sui army has already taken the lead."

Qu Tutong walked to the sand table, picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Xiangcheng County: "Now Xiangcheng County is the key to the whole campaign, Yang Yuanqing has already realized first, and ordered Xu Shiji's 20,000 people to enter Xiangcheng County first, and Xu Shiji's department will become the link between the east and west Sui armies, so that Yang Yuanqing is in the west, Xu Shiji is in the middle, and Li Jing is in the east, and the whole front is alive." ”

Speaking of this, Qu Tutong sighed, "Relatively speaking, the two Tang armies in the east and west are in separate formations. There is no connection, and I am at a strategic disadvantage, Your Highness, I am worried! ”

Li Xiaogong's face turned a little pale, in fact, he also realized that something was wrong, but his consciousness was not clear, Qu Tutong said this, he understood it all of a sudden. He was aware of their disadvantage.

More importantly. With the surrender of Yingchuan County, the Sui army could drive south, posing a huge threat to Runan and Huai'an counties. He had to think about the consequences of this series.

Not only that, but he also has no right to make such a strategic adjustment, and he must report to the Holy Lord for approval before he can implement it. Li Xiaogong sighed helplessly, "I appreciate the old general's suggestion, but it's not realistic. ”

Qu Tutong was stunned, he understood a little, and persuaded again: "Your Highness, it is nothing more than the appointment and dismissal of officials, Your Highness does not need to think about this issue, as long as the Sui army is defeated, Yingchuan County still belongs to the Tang Dynasty." It's never too late to arrange these things in a relaxed manner. ”

"Old general, not only this problem, to make such a major strategic adjustment, I must report to the Holy Lord, and the King of Qin must also report to the Holy Lord, and both sides can only move to Xiangcheng County after receiving the approval of the Holy Lord. I can't do it on my own. ”

"But this will delay the fighter, Your Highness, it will be a big mistake!" Qu Tutong became a little anxious.

Li Xiaogong was very helpless, "If I make my own decisions, I can explain if I win." But if I lose, I really can't afford to take this responsibility. Please understand my distress. ”

Qu Tutong let out a long sigh, "The Tang Dynasty is still a new dynasty, it has become so old and rigid, why fight for the world?" ”

Frustrated, he stood up and sighed.

Li Xiaogong looked at his back and walked away, he also felt heavy in his heart, even an old minister like Qu Tutong was not optimistic about the prospects, how should this battle be fought? ……

In Chenjia Village, Weishi County, a team of Tang Army scouts rushed to the front of the Tang Army camp and reported loudly, "There is an urgent military situation, I want to report to General Mao!" ”

The gate of the barracks opened, several scouts rushed into the camp, ran to the big tent of the Chinese army, and the general who led the 10,000 Tang Army was called Mao Wenli, a native of Shu County, and his father was also a general.

Mao Wenli is about forty years old, of medium stature, with a pair of cunning eyes, is an old soldier, of course, he has a lot of experience in leading troops, but there has been no war in Shu for decades, and there is not much experience in war, Mao Wenli only participated in a battle to besiege Jiangling County

This time into the Central Plains, Mao Wenli was really a little worried, he also knew that the Sui army was elite and sharp, and most of his army were Shu soldiers, although they were well trained, neat and well-equipped, but they lacked combat experience, especially the tragic killing on the opposite side, they could all support it, Mao Wenli was not sure in his heart.

At this moment, a soldier outside the tent reported: "Report to General Mao, the scout has urgent information!" ”

"Say! What happened? ”

"The scouts found a cavalry of about 3,000 Sui troops rushing towards us, only twenty-five miles away from us."

Mao Wenli was shocked, what he was most worried about finally came, and he immediately shouted: "Order the whole army to prepare and go out of the mountains to face the battle!" ”

There was no battlefield in the basin, 10,000 Tang troops came out of Sanlonggang, backed by the hill, and set up a formation, they just put out the formation, only to see dust in the distance, and a row of small black dots appeared at the end of the plain.

As the other party got closer and closer, this row of black spots became wider and wider, there were thousands of people, and the momentum was huge, but the speed gradually slowed down, and it stopped three miles away from the Tang army, and did not immediately attack.

The Tang army of 10,000 people includes 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, Li Xiaogong took into account that the Shu soldiers were not good at riding and shooting, so they also matched part of the Longyou cavalry in the Shu army, and among the 10,000 Tang troops, 2,000 cavalry were from Longyou.

And among the eight thousand infantry, there were three thousand crossbowmen and three thousand spearmen, and the other two thousand were sword and shield men, and they were arranged quite neatly, with a thousand cavalry guards on each wing, three thousand crossbowmen in front, crossbowmen in front and bows behind, three thousand spearmen in the back, and finally two thousand sword and shield men.

Three miles away, the dust gradually returned to the ground, making people's vision clearer, and there was an equally powerful Sui army, only three thousand people, but everyone was burly, the armor was bright, the spears were sharp, and the horses were as strong as dragons, and each cavalry was a warrior who was good at fighting.

Wang Junkuo held the Qinglong Yanyue Knife in his hand, and looked coldly at the Tang army in the distance, judging from the formation, this Tang army was well-trained and had a neat lineup, but they lacked a murderous aura, just like a group of statues, and like a sword that had not been quenched in water, although the appearance was exquisite, but it did not have enough hardness.

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Wang Junkuo's mouth, he looked up at the scorching sun, and did not give the order to attack, but gave an order, "Dismount and rest in place!" ”

The three thousand cavalry dismounted together, sat cross-legged in the shadow of the war horse, and maintained their strength, they were prepared, each brought two water bladders, fed the water bladders to their beloved horses from time to time, and sprinkled water on the war horses to remove the heat from them.

The scorching sun is like fire, scorching the earth, under the exposure of this scorching sun, it is a huge test for all the soldiers, the Tang army crossbowmen put down the bows and arrows and hard crossbows, squatted on the ground, the pikemen also squatted down, wiping the sweat rolling on their foreheads, the infantry did not have water bladders, they were all thirsty, and the hot earth was like a steamer, suffocating to the point of breathlessness.

At this time, the cavalry of the Sui army moved slowly, leading the horse step by step, and the Tang army suddenly stood up, raised their bows and crossbows again, raised their spears, and watched nervously as the Sui army approached, but the Sui army walked a mile away, stopped again, and sat down cross-legged again.

Mao Wenli, the commander of the Tang army, was a little nervous, and he also saw the Sui army's intention, which was obviously to let the Tang army be demoralized under the scorching sun, and use fatigue tactics.

About half an hour, finally a soldier could not support the exposure to the sun, and fainted, both physical strength and morale of the Tang army fell to a low point, at this moment, Wang Junkuo raised a horn, raised his head to the sky and blew vigorously.

"Uhhh

Then a hundred trumpets sounded at the same time, "Woo-"

The low sound of the horn echoed on the plain, which was the signal of the battle, and the three thousand cavalry of the Sui army turned over their horses at the same time, pouring the last clear water on their heads and bodies, so that the war horses could also be bathed in clear water, and they broke out with a loud roar at the same time.

Three thousand cavalry launched at the same time, the fierce sound of horses' hooves knocked on the earth, and the murderous spirit burst out from them, like a long black sand rolled up by a strong wind, sweeping towards the Tang army, and like a stormy wave that broke the embankment, it rushed to the Tang army with the momentum of destroying everything and rushing everything.

The Tang army's bows and crossbows also cheered up, raised their bows and arrows, and aimed at the Sui army that was rushing to kill, but the long-term exposure to the sun made them physically exhausted, and they did not have the fighting spirit to resist tenaciously, and many people were dizzy and exhausted.

The cavalry of the Sui army rushed to a hundred paces away in an instant, the drum sounded, three thousand crossbowmen released arrows at the same time, and the dense arrows shot at the Sui army, and the Sui soldiers raised their shields to meet each other to protect themselves and their horses, and the crackling arrows were shot on the shields.

Horses neighed miserably and fell to the ground, and this kind of arrow array was very lethal to the nomads, but it was not very lethal to the well-trained cavalry of the Central Plains.

Regardless of the bow and crossbow, the arrows are fired at the Sui army, in response to this kind of arrows, the cavalry will raise the shield forward at the angle of the arrow, blocking the soldier's body and horse head, can only threaten the front chest and forelimbs of the horse, but the threat is also weakened a lot.

The arrows could not block the impact of the Sui cavalry, and after meeting another round of bows, the Sui army lost nearly 200 people, but at this time, the Sui army's front line had moved to thirty steps away from the Tang army, and the war horses were galloping, murderous.

The formation of the Tang army also began to change, the archers and crossbows retreated one after another, and three thousand pikemen came out to meet the battle, and at this time the cavalry of the Sui army had already arrived, 'Boom! The ground crashed into the enemy group, and the huge impact force made the Tang army fall down one after another, many soldiers were knocked out, and the war horse rushed into the enemy group, and the horse speed did not decrease, and the knife and spear stabbed all the way, killing a bloody road