Walk more than 100 miles west along the Purple River, the mountains will come to an end, and there will be no more mountains for more than 200 miles to the west, and the Yellow River will flow down from it, forming a huge strategic pass.

Passing through this pass all the way to the south is a horse Pingchuan, forming a great threat to the Central Plains, the great cause of three years, Yang Guang ordered the mobilization of Loufu, Mayi, Yanmen, Dingxiang, Yulin five counties of nearly one million people to build the Great Wall.

This section of the Great Wall starts from Yulin in the west to the end of the mountain of the Purple River in the east, which is about 200 miles long, blocking this strategic pass, and in the easternmost part of this Great Wall, close to the end of the mountain, is the Purple River Fort.

To be precise, Purple River Fort was a military city, with a circumference of less than three miles at the earliest, and the Purple River passed through the city here, leaving a half-moon-shaped water hole in the city wall.

After Yang Yuanqing annihilated Liu Wuzhou, he ordered to expand and strengthen the military city, so that the circumference of the military city reached eight li, becoming a small county-like city, with 2,000 troops stationed all year round.

This time, Li Jing served as the governor of Daizhou, and considering that the Turkic army was about to move south, he ordered the Zihe Fort to increase the number of troops to 5,000, and the 5,000 defenders of Zihe Fort were responsible for the defense of the entire western part of Mayi County.

The guard of Zihe Fort is called Xue Shao, the nephew of Xue Shixiong, the general of the Sui Dynasty, and the younger brother of the Xue brothers.

Early that morning, when the bright sun had just shone on Zihe Fort, a patrol team brought news that a Utu cavalry was coming towards Zihe Fort.

This news put the entire defenders of Purple River Fort on alert, and they rushed to the top of the city, spears and crossbows in hand, and looked slightly nervously to the northeast.

The gaze of the main general Xue Shao was as solemn as that of a soldier, he knew what was going to happen recently, and before he came to Zihe Fort, the chief steward Li Jing told him repeatedly. A major war is on the verge of breaking out in the near future. The Turks may be like steppe locusts that will flood the Purple River Fort.

Although it was only possible, Xue Shao knew that Li Jing's intention to increase the number of troops to Zihe Fort by 3,000 was not impossible. Now that the Utu have fled in defeat, what will be behind them? A group of Turkic people taking a leisurely stroll?

Soon, there was a thunderous sound of horses' hooves in the distance. A scattered group of Turks, about two or three thousand men, appeared, carrying the white wolf-headed banner, which was the banner of the Utu tribe.

The deserters are getting closer and closer to Zihe Fort, they are panicked like lost dogs, throwing away their armor and throwing foam at the white foam of their horses, they are like the end of a strong crossbow, and they are about to be unable to support it.

Miles behind them. Another black line appeared, it was the overwhelming Turkic cavalry, the hooves of the horses beating against the steppe. The earth began to shake slightly. The defenders of the city changed color in shock, and the sound of whimpering trumpets continued to blow at the top of the city.

Seeing that the soldiers of the Utu Department were getting deeper and deeper. Less than a hundred steps away from Zihe Fort, they desperately beckoned, begging the castle defenders to let them into the city, and a Lang general rushed to Xue Shao and nervously asked Xue Shao for instructions, "General Xue, what should I do, do you want to open the door?" ”

Xue Shao's heart was very difficult, although he knew that the Utu Department had a good relationship with the Sui Dynasty, and they were here to attach themselves to the Sui Dynasty, but he didn't know what was going on over there in Qifubo? What if this was a trick of the Turks? Under the banner of the Utu tribe, in fact, it is a Turkic disguise.

Xue Shao's eyes were firmly fixed on the thousands of defeated soldiers, and at this time, he suddenly recognized the leader of the general, it was the general of the Utu Department, Amutu, who accompanied the chief Anuli to meet the newly appointed governor Li Jing last month, Xue Shao was also present at that time, Amutu's face was pale at this time, and there were two arrows stuck in his back, and he couldn't support it.

"Quickly open the city and let them in!" Xue Shao hurriedly ordered.

The city gate of Zihe Fort slowly opened, and thousands of Utu defeated soldiers rushed into the city with their last strength, the city gate slowly closed again, the drawbridge was pulled up, and the five thousand defenders stood by with bows and arrows, waiting for the Turkic army that was quickly killing in the distance.

Several Sui soldiers in armor walked briskly to the top of the city carrying a stretcher, on which lay the dying Amutu, who escaped several times but was eventually shot by enemy arrows as he was about to reach Zihe Fort.

Xue Shao hurriedly rushed forward, squatted down and held his hand, "General Amutu, what happened?" ”

Amutu smiled miserably, his pale face showed an extremely painful expression, "The Utu department is over, the Turkic army of more than 200,000 people has caught up with us, the men have been killed, the women have been snatched, and my wife and daughter have also been snatched away by them. ”

"What about Chief Anuri?"

She took ...... Thousands of women and children have gone out of the Valley of Darkness, and we ...... Diverted the Turkic pursuers. Amutu said with difficulty.

Xue Shao knew that the dark valley he was talking about was the Purple River Valley, and he shook Amutu's hand, "You won't die, and you can't die, His Royal Highness the King of Chu wants to see you, so you can recuperate in Zihe Fort with peace of mind." ”

He stood up and ordered, "Order the military doctor to heal his wounds!" ”

The Sui soldiers carried the stretcher down, and at this time, the earth began to shake again, as if there had been an earthquake, and 20,000 Turkic cavalry roared and killed, galloping dozens of steps away to open their bows and arrows, and the overwhelming arrows were angrily shot at the head of the city......

The 20,000 Turkic cavalry had no siege weapons, and in the face of the towering and strong walls, they had no choice but to shoot the head of the city with their arrows in a monstrous rage.

After tossing for more than an hour, the Turkic commander Haji saw that it was irretrievable, so he had to order the withdrawal of the army back to the main camp of Qifubo, and the 20,000 Turkic cavalry retreated like a tide.

But just as the Turkic cavalry had withdrawn, several Sui scouts rode out of a forest in the east, and they rushed to the city and shouted: "Where is General Xue?" ”

A sergeant ran to report to Xue Shao, Xue Shao hurriedly walked up to the city, and asked, "Where are you from?" ”

"We are under the orders of General Manager Li, and General Li has an order to hand it over to General Xue."

Xue Shao heard that it was sent by Li Jing, and hurriedly ordered someone to open the city to let them in, and after a while, a soldier led the scout to the city, and the scout took out a letter, knelt down on one knee and presented it, "This is the warrant of Chief Manager Li, please accept it from the general!" ”

Xue Shao opened the warrant and looked at it, his eyes suddenly showed a look of surprise, and then he became excited, he put the warrant away, turned around and shouted: "Order the whole army to line up and prepare to attack!" ”……

It was about two hundred miles and sixty miles from Zihe Fort to Wuzhou Pass, and the Turkic cavalry also rushed to Zihebao after a day and a night's galloping, but when they returned. They're a lot slower. The main thing is that the horses are tired, and they don't have the pressure of the task.

The commander who led the 20,000-strong army was called Haji, who was about 20 years old. His skin was dark and rough, and he looked like he was in his thirties, and he was six feet five tall. Weighing more than 200 pounds, he is as strong as a black bear, he is a famous Turkic warrior, able to fight tigers and leopards empty-handed, although he has developed limbs, but his mind is not simple, he is even very careful.

He led the army to pursue to the end, and gradually caught up with the Utu tribe, but found that there were obviously fewer people. Obviously, tens of thousands of people fled, but in the end, there were only two or three thousand people left, and all of them were young and strong soldiers. Where did Anuri go. Where are the women and children?

He already knew in his heart that he must have fallen for the lure of soldiers. Anuri and thousands of women and children fled from the other way, but he couldn't figure out which way they had fled, and Haji was unfamiliar with the terrain.

But at this time, he was very worried about how to explain when he went back? The Khan ordered him to lead 20,000 cavalry to chase down the fleeing Anuri, and to be sure to kill all the Utu tribes, leaving no trouble, but he did not catch anyone, not even a woman and a child.

Going back empty-handed like this is not only a matter of being ridiculed, but the key is how can he explain to the Khan? Could it be that his 20,000 cavalry could not outrun a few thousand women and children?

Haji was extremely anxious in his heart, and then an elderly commander stepped forward and said, "General, could it be that Princess Anuri and they have escaped from the Valley of Darkness?" ”

'Valley of Darkness? ’

Haji was stunned, "Where?" ”

"It is the valley where the Purple River passes through the mountains, the Sui Dynasty people call it the Purple River Valley, sixty miles ahead, I have followed the Qimin Khan to walk, through the valley to the hinterland of the Sui Dynasty, there are many villages."

Haji's heart moved, and he hurriedly asked, "Can I go around Purple River Fort?" ”

"Absolutely!"

Haji's heart suddenly warmed up, the thousands of Utu soldiers they were pursuing would definitely not stay for long after entering the Purple River Fort, and after a little rest, they would continue to move south to join Anuri.

Maybe Anuri will lead the women and children to wait for them on the way, and kill them to the south first, even if they can't catch Anuri, they can intercept thousands of Utu soldiers and kill them all, and he can also give orders to the khan with his head.

Thinking of this, Haji immediately commanded the commander, "You will lead the way, and the army will immediately pass through the valley to the south." ”

Haji gave an order, and 20,000 Turkic cavalry sped up and rushed along the Purple River towards the mouth of the river valley.

In the afternoon, 20,000 Turkic cavalry reached the bend in the valley, and they turned south and headed deeper into the hills, where they soon found clues, dense horseshoe prints on the soil, indicating that a large group of men and horses had passed here, and some lost sheepskins.

Getting more excited, Haji led 20,000 cavalry into the depths of the valley, and soon entered the dark valley of the Turkic legend.

About half an hour after the Turkic army entered the valley, Xue Shao led 4,000 Sui cavalry to chase to the mouth of the valley, where twenty Sui scouts were already waiting, and they were Li Jing's pick-up here.

A captain urged him to step forward and salute: "General Xue, the Turkic army has entered the valley for half an hour as expected. ”

Xue Shao nodded, turned around and ordered: "Half of the people go up the mountain, and the other half go in with me!" ”

The Sui army divided its troops into two routes, one followed Xue Shao into the valley, and the other carried more than a thousand barrels of oil up the mountain, climbing along the edge of the mountain stream to the top of the mountain......

The valley is about 30 miles long, because the river water condenses into ice, the road in the valley is quite flat, it only takes more than a time to get out of the valley, 20,000 Turkic troops march in the valley, stretching for several miles, the valley is very dark, the head is a line of sky, about ten miles away, the soldiers in front suddenly shouted loudly, a noise.

"What's going on?" Haji asked as soon as he hurried forward.

"General, the road ahead is blocked by boulders, and we can't get through!"

Haji was stunned for a moment, urging the horse to run forward, and sure enough, he saw that the narrow place in front of him was blocked by dozens of boulders, each boulder weighed thousands of catties or even tens of thousands of catties, more than a zhang high, and the road was sealed tightly, and people could find a way to climb over, but the war horse could not pass no matter what.

Haji suddenly felt an extremely ominous feeling in his heart, as if he realized something, he immediately shouted: "Go back quickly, go back quickly!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud rumbling sound overhead, and when they looked up, they saw a dense mass of stones falling from the sky and smashing against their heads