After five days of rapid marching, on this night, Qin Qiong's Third Cavalry Corps retreated into Huoyi County, the night shrouded the boundless wilderness, in the distance was the vague mountain shadow of Han Xinling, the surroundings were exceptionally quiet, and a small village two miles away was also asleep, and there was no light to be seen.

The five thousand cavalry, like a long black dragon, entered a forest covering an area of about 100 acres, and the woods were very dim and unusually quiet, and the birds flew a large area when the cavalry entered the woods, and a small trickle of water passed through the woods and joined the Fenshui several miles away.

The army entered the woods, and the small river suddenly became lively, the soldiers washed their faces and drank water, and the war horses also stretched their necks to enjoy the luscious river water with the soldiers, and a few reckless soldiers stripped naked and jumped into the river, which caused the soldiers to curse in a low voice, and several officers rushed up and forced them out of the river with spears, and the curse turned into laughter.

The soldiers began to look for their own places, lying on the ground tiredly, slowly nibbling on the meat pies, and their minds began to think about how they could be promoted to marry the ladies of the court, while their beloved horses stood quietly munching on the hay, and occasionally glanced sympathetically at their masters.

"Talented brother, why don't you say the manager won't let us sign up to marry the palace maid?" A stocky soldier whispered, his twinkling eyes revealing a look of half-envy and half-regret.

"There are so many monks, only a few nuns, how do you choose?"

The soldier lying on the ground glanced at him disdainfully, but he was not aware that the war horse stretched out his mouth and bit the bread in his hand, and he slapped the horse's face in annoyance, "Go!" Eat your hay.

, He turned over and took out a beef and shallots pie in the horse bag on the pillow, rolled it up and gnawed it slowly, his eyes narrowed into a slit, enjoying the deliciousness of the beef and onion filling, marrying a palace maid was too far away for him, or the beef patty was real, in the Central Plains, beef was a delicacy that ordinary people could not eat.

The sturdy soldier sighed wistfully and said to himself: "Talented brother, when do you say the chief will be able to enter Luoyang?" ”

"That's it! Stop dreaming. ”

The soldier next to him took out a piece of jerky and stuffed it for him, "Eat!" If you are full and make meritorious service, you can be promoted if you make meritorious service, and if you strive to be promoted to the brigade commander, you can marry a palace maid. ”

"That's just as well!" The stout soldier muttered to find a place to sleep.

A small tent had been set up in the depths of the woods, which was made of thick wool woven from a special marching tent, which was impermeable to light, and the light in the tent was dim, and he could barely see the map on the table, Qin Qiong was standing in front of the map with all his attention, studying the method of seizing Huoyi County.

This time, Qin Qiong accepted a task, which was to use a blitzkrieg to seize Huoyi County for Li Jing's northern army, Qin Qiong had a Huo County many years ago, and he still had a little impression of this county, the city wall was tall and strong, and the terrain was dangerous, with high ridges on one side and cliffs on the other, and under the cliffs was the surging Fenshui, and this city choked the official road that must be passed through to the south.

"Jinda, I want to send someone to investigate the reality of the defenders first, what do you think?"

This time, Qin Qiong's deputy general is no longer Cheng Yanjin, and his old buddy Niu Jinda has cooperated with the two for many years, and they have a tacit understanding, Niu Jinda doesn't talk much, but he sees the problem more thoroughly and can get to the point.

"I think the governor asked our cavalry to seize Huoyi County, not to let us attack the city at all, he wanted to use the speed of the cavalry to let us outwit Huoyi County."

"I see what you mean! The defenders never dreamed that we would come so quickly, and they had no idea of being prepared now. ”

Qin Qiong pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "I have a way!" ”

"What's the solution?"

"When we came just now, didn't we see a big family in a village? You also said that the walls of the courtyard were built like city walls. ”

Niu Jinda understood what Qin Qiong meant, "Then I'll go!" ”

"Nope! You guard the army, I'll go. ”

The village that Qin Qiong said is called Luozhao Village, which is a big village in Huoyi County, there were originally more than 300 villagers, and it was very close to the county seat.

There is a big family in the village, the owner is called Luo Youpu, who once served as the Taishou of Linfen County, and is also considered an official eunuch, when Wuduan occupied Huoyi County, he made a long history of Wuduaner, kept the house and family, and later surrendered to Li Yuan, because of old age, he did not go out again, and stayed at home to care for the elderly.

The so-called Lin wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop, and his mansion is close to Huoyi County, a strategic place where soldiers must fight, which is destined to make Luo Youpu unpeaceful.

Amid the barking of dogs, a cavalry of more than 300 people entered the village and soon surrounded Luofu, and dozens of people outside the village guarded the road and did not allow anyone to leave.

Qin Qiong turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and patted the door knocker, "We are Qi Gong's subordinates, come to deliver the letter!" ”

Inside the door was full of dozens of family members, holding sticks, knives and guns, as if facing a great enemy, a fat housekeeper was lying on the door and peeking through the crack in the door, outside was a large group of officers and soldiers, ordinary people could not distinguish the difference between the Tang army and the Sui army, and it did not look murderous.

The fat butler ran up the steps and said to an old man, "Master, it's a group of cavalry, not like bandits. ”

At this time, Qin Qiong's soft voice came from outside, "We are Qi Gong's subordinates, come to deliver the letter!" ”

Perhaps because he couldn't think of any bandits nearby, the old man nodded, "Open the door!" ”

The gate rattled open, and a large group of soldiers in full armor walked into the courtyard, frightening the family members to retreat again and again, Qin Qiong arched his hand and smiled, "I came from Taiyuan below, and I came to deliver a letter on the order of Duke Qi, which one is the head of the Luo family?" ”

"The old man is!"

The old man stood up, quite suspicious in his heart, he and Li Yuanji, the Duke of Qi, had never known each other, what letter would he send to him?

"Where is the faith?"

Qin Qiong took out a letter and stepped forward to hand it over, just at the moment when Luo Youpu was about to receive the letter, Qin Qiong suddenly launched, he knocked over the two sturdy families behind him with a punch and a kick, and a knife was across Luo Youyi's neck, and said coldly! "It's better to call your house."

The sudden change stunned the family, and they immediately shouted to rush up, and Luo Youpu shouted: "Don't move!" ”

The situation is obvious, the other party's more than 100 soldiers have not started, if the fight really starts, none of them will survive, it can be seen that the other party has no intention of killing them.

Luo Youpu is an old officialdom, so he guessed a little bit of the other party's intentions, and I am afraid that the other party has something to ask for his help.

"Who are you?"

"Let's go into the room and talk about it!"

Qin Qiong pulled Luo Youpu into the room, he gave the soldiers a look, the soldiers disarmed a group of overwhelmed family members, more than 300 cavalry entered the compound one after another, and the gate was closed.

In the room, Luo Youpu sat down, he glanced at Qin Qiong, and said unhurriedly: "Say it!" Who are you, and what are you looking for me? ”

"We are the Sui army of Fengzhou, and we want to capture Huoyi County, so we have come to ask for your help." Qin Qiong had a sincere smile on her face.

Luo Youpu was stunned, and after a while, four words burst out of his mouth with difficulty: 'Fengzhou Sui Army? , Fengzhou Sui Army was too far away from him, he didn't know that Yang Yuanqing had led the army to destroy Liu Wuzhou, and he still thought about Fengzhou in his mind, which was the land of Hetao, thousands of miles away.

"What are you doing with Huoyi County?" His mind was at a loss.

"You don't have to worry about this, if you are still a citizen of the Great Sui, help us take the city, and there will be heavy thanks afterwards."

Luo Youpu shook his head again and again, "I'm just an ordinary old man, and there are only more than a hundred family members at home, how can I help you?" ”

At this time, a lieutenant walked in, and Shi Li said: "Report to General Qin, we have asked about the situation in Huoyi County from the mouthkeeper, and he said that there are about 1,000 garrisons in Huoyi County, and their lord has a good relationship with the guards and the county commander. ”

"Damn softie!" Luo Youpu said in a low voice.

Qin Qiong sneered, "If you know the current affairs, help us, otherwise, no one in your mansion will survive, you should know what it means to kill people and kill people!" ”

Early the next morning, Huoyi County opened the city gate as usual, let people enter and leave the city, a team of merchants drove a donkey full of goods into the city gate, in front of the city gate stood a hundred soldiers, wearing armor, holding spears and shields, eyes cold, without a trace of smile, in the troubled times, every soldier is tense, there is a kind of instinctive vigilance.

Especially in Huoyi County, a strategic place where soldiers must fight, Li Yuan sent a thousand elite soldiers to guard it, and the guard general was named Duan Li, who was the nephew of Duan Zhixuan, a general under Li Shimin, and was also a young brave general with high martial arts.

Duan Li, as usual, patrolled back and forth in the city, he was very dedicated, he had to stay in the city for three hours every day, he had already received the express report, the Tang army was ready to Fengzhou Yang Yuanqing to fight for Hedong, as a strategic place, Huoyi County was particularly important, and Duan Li was therefore doubly vigilant.

However, Duan Li really didn't expect that the Sui army had already been killed, Taiyuan City had not yet started the war, and this should still be the rear, although Duan Li was very vigilant, he was far from being in a state of combat readiness.

At this time, he suddenly saw a large group of people coming in the distance, carrying tables, carrying burdens, driving ox carts, carrying dung forks, as many as three or four hundred people, walking towards the city gate, Duan Li immediately shouted to the soldiers: "Go up and see!" ”

Several soldiers rushed up, and one of them came back after a while to report: "It is the old man Luo from Luozhao Village who celebrates his seventieth birthday and enters the city to set up a banquet." ”

At this time, Luo Youpu's housekeeper stepped forward and said with a smile: "General Duan, please make it convenient!" ”

Duan Li knew him, he was a little strange in his heart, Old Man Luo had a seventieth birthday, he didn't know, at this time, he saw Luo Xian, the second son of Luo Youpu, everyone is a very familiar person, Duan Li didn't embarrass them, and shouted to the soldiers: "Let them go into the city!" ”

Three or four hundred people marched into the city, at this moment, there was a muffled thunderous sound in the distance, only to see the dust in the north, a large group of cavalry suddenly appeared several miles away, murderous, war horses galloping like a tide, swept towards the city gate, Duan Li was stunned, he shouted repeatedly: "Quick!" Close the gates! ”

The city gate could not be closed, 350 Sui soldiers launched an attack, they drew their knives and slashed the soldiers, and used iron rods against the city gate, the city defenders were caught off guard, and more than a dozen people were cut down, and the rest of the soldiers were killed and retreated.

Niu Jinda held a table as a shield, and waved a three-strand fork with one hand, which was extremely ferocious, and stabbed down seven or eight people in a moment.

"Follow me!"

He swung his iron fork from the fungus path to the city, and dozens of arrows came at them, and several of his men screamed and were shot down, and Niu Jinda was furious, jumped up to the city, and smashed several people with the table, and the iron fork waved like a fly, and in a moment, five or six more people died under his fork.

The rest of the soldiers saw that he was fierce and abnormal, they all shouted and fled in all directions, Niu Jinda roared, rushed up to intercept Duan Li, and fought with him, Niu Jinda was fighting on foot, and the other party was riding a horse, but he did not show weakness, and the two of them flew and danced, killing together.

At this time, Niu Jinda's subordinates grabbed the drawbridge winch, squeaked and lowered the half-raised drawbridge, and Qin Qiong led five thousand cavalry to rush into the city in an instant.

Duan Li saw that the general trend was gone, shook a shot, turned the horse's head and fled, just escaped a dozen steps, only to hear a shout from behind: "Go die!" ”

A steel fork roared and flew in, Duan Li couldn't dodge, the steel fork stabbed into his back, Duan You screamed, and was nailed to the ground alive.

Niu Jinda spat out a mouthful of bloody spit, fought with his arms, lifted the corpse of the dagger high, and shouted: "Brothers, this is the main general of the enemy army!" ”

Huoyi County was occupied by the Sui army of Fengzhou, and the 1,000 defenders were killed except for the main general Duan Li and some of the defenders, and the rest of the soldiers surrendered.