The situation began to be tense suddenly, and in the dark night, a Sui cavalry was rushing towards the garrison of the army, and there were still five hundred steps away from the camp, and a patrol cavalry rushed out of the oblique thorn, blocking the way of the cavalry, "Who is it?" ”

The messenger cavalry raised a waist card and shouted: "I am the scout captain of the third battalion, and I have urgent and important information to report to the saint." ”

The patrol team immediately accompanied him to the barracks, the general on duty tonight was Yuwen Chengdu, currently Yuwen Chengdu was the general of the left guard, this time he also led the army to escort the Son of Heaven to the north, he heard the sound of horses' hooves running, so he urged the horse to block the way in front of the camp gate, "What's the matter?" ”

The captain of the newspaper recognized Yuwen Chengdu, and hurriedly stepped forward to report with his fists in his fist, "General Qiyu, the Turkic Khan's army has withdrawn north!" ”

"What!"

Yuwen Chengdu was taken aback and asked anxiously, "When is it?" ”

"Just an hour and a half ago, the Turkic army retreated very quickly, as if it were a war withdrawing."

Yuwen Chengdu immediately realized that something was wrong, and in three days it was the time of the official alliance, and the Turkic Khan suddenly retreated at this time, throwing the Great Sui Emperor in Fu Qibo, which was the precursor to war.

He grabbed the scout lieutenant by the neck and asked, "Is the information true?" ”

"I saw the retreat of the Turks with my own eyes, and I am willing to guarantee it with military law!"

Yuwen Chengdu pushed him away, immediately turned his horse's head and ran towards the imperial tent, he turned over and dismounted in front of the wooden platform of the imperial tent, and walked quickly towards the wooden platform, several Qianniu guards hurriedly stopped him, "General Yuwen, the saint has already slept." ”

"There is an emergency, 100,000 urgent, please wake up the Holy One immediately."

These guards all knew that Yuwen was a cautious person, he was so anxious, something big must have happened, and several guards glanced at each other. One of the leaders turned around and entered the big tent, and after a while, a eunuch came out and said, "General Yuwen, the saint has woken up, let you in!" ”

Yuwen Chengdu walked quickly towards the big tent, and the old eunuch stopped him again and whispered: "The saint is not in good health these days. Be careful when you speak. ”

Yuwen Chengdu silently pressed his head, and then walked into the big tent, the candlelight in the tent was dim, Yang Guang put on a fox fur, and paced in the tent with a tired face, looking very tired.

Yuwen Chengdu hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "Disturb Your Majesty's rest late at night, Weichen"

Without waiting for him to finish, Yang Guang waved his hand. "Just say what's going on!"

"Your Majesty, the Turkic Khan has withdrawn his troops."

"What!"

Yang Guang was also taken aback, "What does this mean, what does it mean to withdraw troops?" ”

"Your Majesty, just over an hour ago, the Turkic Khan and his army all withdrew northward, and they left in a very hurry."

Yang Guang was stunned, the Turkic Khan actually left. What about the Alliance? It will be held in three days, and the two sides have not yet had time to communicate and prepare. And he withdrew, what is this called?

Yuwen Chengdu felt that the Son of Heaven had not yet understood the seriousness of the problem, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the enemy army will be evacuated from the battle, generally to avoid the big battle, Your Majesty." The Turkic cavalry is likely to be killed. ”

Yang Guang only felt a buzz in his brain, and suddenly turned blank, and after a long while, he panicked, and the teacup in his hand also fell to the floor, "How is this good?" ”

"Your Majesty. Immediately give the order to retreat south! Or it's too late. Yuwen Chengdu said word by word.

Yang Guang calmed down for a moment, walked out of the big tent and ordered the guards: "Spread my will, and announce that a few Xiangguo will come to see me immediately!" ”

Yuwen Chengdu asked the Son of Heaven to withdraw south out of military security considerations, but Yang Guang is the Son of Heaven after all, he has to consider it from many aspects, and a hasty withdrawal to the south will have a great impact politically, and he must at least reach an agreement with the ministers.

At dawn, Yang Guang and his ministers made a unanimous decision to withdraw south to Shanyang County, and then negotiate with the Turks, and if the Turkic Khans did retreat north, they would retreat to Taiyuan until finally Luoyang.

Tens of thousands of Sui troops immediately packed up and evacuated in the direction of Shanyang County.

…………

Shanyang County still maintains a lively and calm atmosphere, the life in the county is bustling, people work at sunrise and rest at sunset, there is no tension before the war, and I don't know that the building trouble pass hundreds of miles away has undergone a sudden change.

There is a large-scale inn at the north gate of the county, called the Saibei Inn, which is full of merchants who came from the Central Plains, although the spring is in full bloom, and there is no longer an ice and snow hindrance in the north, but the alliance between the Emperor of the Great Sui and the Turkic Khan temporarily blocked the trade route, and the merchants were not allowed to go north, which made these merchants who waited for a winter complain.

Complaining is complaining, the merchants have no choice but to continue to wait patiently, they are bored to gather together to wait for news from the government, but in the westernmost courtyard live more than a dozen businessmen from Jiangdu, all of them are sturdy young men in their twenties, but their real identities are scouts sent by Zhang Xuan.

The leader of this scout team was the brigade commander Liu Xin, and after he sent a letter to Pei Ju, he went directly north to Mayi County to find out the news from the Turks.

On this morning, two of his subordinates walked into the inn at the same time, hurried to the west courtyard, and shouted impatiently as soon as they entered the door: "Head, something is wrong!" ”

"Silence!"

Liu Xin glared at them fiercely, and the two were so frightened that they didn't dare to say anything, so they hurriedly closed the courtyard door and walked into the inner room.

The two scouts did not come back from the same place, and one of the scouts hurriedly said: "Commander Qiyu, the news is accurate, the Loufu Pass has been closed, and the defenders are no longer Sui troops, they have been replaced by an unfamiliar army, most likely a Turkic army." ”

This news is really shocking, Lou Fu Pass is blocked, which means that the Son of Heaven team can not return to the Central Plains, and the army in the south cannot pass through the pass to rescue, Liu Xin's heart is in chaos, he didn't expect that the Sui army would give up the pass, there is only one possibility, there are spies within the Sui army, and the Turks should be together.

He tried his best to calm himself down and asked the other scout, "How's it going up north?" ”

Another scout hurriedly bowed down and reported, "Brigade Marshal Qiyu, the army of the Son of Heaven is on its way to retreat south, and it seems that there is a problem in the north, but I don't know the specific situation. ”

Liu Xin nodded, which was expected by him, he lowered his head and pondered for a moment before ordering: "Find all the brothers in the inn!" ”

Three of Liu Xin's ten subordinates were still outside to investigate intelligence, and there were only seven people in the inn, and they all came to the room and gathered together, Liu Xin briefly told everyone about the situation, and said: "Now the situation is critical, the Turks occupy Loufu Pass, which means that their army is about to be killed, but the defenders in the city are still at a loss, we must inform them." ”

"But Brigade Commander, what if the army doubts our identity?"

Liu Xindao: "I will go and tell the innkeeper, let the innkeeper inform the army, and you will spread the news in the city, so that the army and the people can understand the situation in front of us, we will withdraw from Shanyang County before noon, find other brothers, and then enter Taihang Mountain to avoid the war, remember to buy more dry food!" ”

Everyone agreed, and they went one after another, Liu Xin stopped the eagle soldier again, and said to him: "Send an eagle letter to inform Luoyang immediately, let Luoyang transfer the news here to Jiangdu, the time is urgent, do it immediately!" ”

"Yes!"

The eagle soldier turned around and ran to send the letter, and Liu Xin also hurried to find the innkeeper.

A few goshawks soared into the air and flew south with their wings spread.

Soon, the news of the occupation of Loufu Pass by Turkic troops quickly spread throughout the city, and the residents and merchants of Shanyang County began to panic.

Due to the location of Mayi County on the frontier, the residents here often have escape experience in the face of Turkic invasions, and they are very vigilant, they will act immediately at the slightest disturbance, and they know how to avoid the killing and looting of the Turks, the weakness of the Turkic cavalry is in the forest and mountainous areas, there are not many forests in Mayi County, and only by entering the mountains can they escape.

Shanyang immediately became chaotic, the residents packed up their valuables and fled outside the city, the price of food skyrocketed instantly, there was a rush to buy in various shops, the streets were full of voices calling for wives and children, people rode donkeys and mules, pulled carts, with the elderly, women and children and meager property to flee out of the city, the soldiers defending the city could not stop the flood of fleeing army, so they had to let the people out of the city.

At present, in addition to the 3,000 county soldiers in Shanyang County, there are 20,000 Xiaoguo troops led by Qu Tutong, at this time Qu Tutong also got the news that the army of the Son of Heaven went south, but what shocked him was the rumor circulating in the county that Lou Fu Pass had been captured by the Turks, and the Turkic army was about to be killed.

In the big tent of the military camp, Qu Tutong stood in front of the map and pondered, and the deputy general Sang Xian said in a low voice: "General, the loss of Lou Fu Pass is just a rumor in the city, and it may not be taken seriously. ”

Qu Tutong shook his head, "If the army of the Son of Heaven does not go south, I may think it is a rumor, but if the Son of Heaven goes south, it means that there is a problem with the Alliance, so seizing the Loufu Pass and cutting off the return of the Son of Heaven to the south must be an important strategy of the Turks, and I think it is very likely to be true." ”

Sang Xian was puzzled: "There are 3,000 troops guarding Loufu Pass, even if tens of thousands of people can't attack it, how can it be easily lost?" ”

Qu Tutong sneered, "I'm afraid that someone wants something to happen to the Son of Heaven." ”

Sang Xian was silent, he knew who the main general was referring to, wasn't Ma Xunwu, the guard of Lou Fu, this person pulling it out?

At this moment, a soldier outside the tent hurriedly reported: "General Qiyu, there is an urgent military situation!" ”

Qu Tutong was taken aback, and hurriedly ordered: "Come in and report!" ”

A soldier walked in quickly, knelt down on one knee and presented a roll of pigeon letters, Qu Tutong hurriedly unfolded the pigeon letters, his face turned pale in an instant, and his hands began to tremble, Sang Xian suddenly felt bad, and asked in a low voice: "General, what happened?" (To be continued.) )