Zhangshui is a big river parallel to the Yongji Canal, about 30 miles away from the Yongji Canal, but Zhangshui does not pass through Raoyang County, nearly 80 miles away from Raoyang County, because the Sui army grain ships are stationed in the area of Gonggao County, in order to avoid being discovered by the Sui army.

The fleet will dock in Wuqiang County and be transported by animal carts, with a transportation distance of nearly 100 miles.

At this time, the fleet was sailing in Wuyi County, and then entered Wuqiang County after thirty miles to the north.

At this time, a group of more than 100 cavalry rushed towards him, shouting on the bank of the river for the first captain: "Is Steward Liang here?" “

A middle-aged man stepped out of the cabin, stood at the bow of the boat, and said with a smile: "Brothers, are you sent by the Lord?" ”

"Exactly! Boats are requested to dock at the Beipu Wharf, which is forty miles away, and the carts are ready. ”

"Thank you! You've worked hard all the way. ”

The cavalry turned around and galloped north......

At this time, in a forest a mile away, Liu Xinzheng, the commander of the scout brigade, led more than 20 Sui troops to watch the fleet in Zhangshui.

They were all experienced scouts, and they could see that the cargo on board was sacks of grain, and the amount of grain could be inferred from the draft of the ship, which was probably less than 40,000 stones.

This is extremely important information, Liu Xin immediately said to one of his subordinates: "You take a few brothers to rush back to the camp immediately to report, I estimate that the fleet is most likely to unload at the Beipu Wharf where the animal-powered carts are waiting, but there are other possibilities, I will continue to observe." ”

His subordinates nodded, and led several scouts to turn their horses and run northeast, while Liu Xin led the other scouts to continue to follow the fleet.

The camp of the Sui army was very quiet, except for 10,000 soldiers defending on the wall, the rest of the soldiers were hurrying to sleep and rest, and only by maintaining sufficient physical strength could they cope with the big battle.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Zhang Xuanzheng and Fang Xuanling discussed the follow-up trend of the Bohai Navy.

In fact, the delay in a decisive battle with the Bohai Navy is also in line with Zhang Xuan's consistent operational thinking, which is to do everything possible to weaken the enemy's army. Strike decisively when the enemy is at their weakest.

The same is true for dealing with the Bohai Navy, although they are sure to defeat the Bohai Navy, but in order to minimize the casualties of their own troops, they still need to use various means to weaken the Bohai Navy, the most effective of which is to wait patiently for the Bohai Navy to run out of food.

In the battle with Zhang Jincheng back then, Zhang Xuan was able to win more with less. The key is to seize the granary of Zhang Jin's land, which led to Zhang Jin's lack of grain and defeat.

"I feel that Gao Lie is very likely to ask Goguryeo for help." Fang Xuanling smiled slightly.

Zhang Xuan was stunned, "Do you think it's possible?" ”

"I think it's entirely possible, as early as 50 years ago, the Northern Qi and Goguryeo had a close relationship, and the Bohai Society was largely established with the full support of Goguryeo. The Bohai Society set off a large-scale rebellion in Hebei, and Wang Bo, who was still the chief secretary of the Bohai Society at that time, took the lead in attacking Changbai Mountain in Qi County.

It was the turbulent rebellion in the Hebei region of Shandong that effectively contributed to the failure of the Sui army's first attack on Goguryeo, and now that Bohai will face a life-and-death crisis, how could Gao Lie not ask Goguryeo for help? ”

Zhang Xuan nodded silently, and said, "If Goguryeo rescues the Bohai Society, will it send a naval army to attack Qingzhou?" ”

Fang Xuanling laughed, "If the handsome person cares, it's chaotic. There are warships in Beihae County to block the sea, and Goguryeo will not attack the strong with weakness. I think they will take advantage of the civil strife in the Great Sui to attack Liaodong, not only to encircle Wei to save Zhao and help the Bohai Society get out of the crisis, but also to take the opportunity to occupy Liaodong to prepare for their further southward invasion of the Central Plains in the future. ”

"Attack Liaodong?"

Jang Hyun sneered, "Aren't they afraid that I will attack Pyongyang directly from the sea?" ”

"Great. Regardless of whether they really attack Liaodong or not, we must strengthen intelligence investigation in Liaodong and know ourselves and the enemy so that we can deal with them calmly. ”

"The military advisor is right, I will ask Shen Guang to arrange the scouts."

That's when it happened. A soldier reported outside the tent: "Commander, the scout has urgent information to report!" ”

Zhang Xuan and Fang Xuanling glanced at each other, and Zhang Xuan immediately ordered: "Bring him in!" ”

After a while, a scout was brought into the big tent by his own soldiers, and the scout knelt down on one knee to report: "Report to the marshal, we have found the Bohai Navy grain fleet in Wuqiang County, and there are 3,000 troops and animal convoys to meet them. ”

This news stunned Zhang Xuan, and he immediately walked to the small sand table to check, "You tell me first, where did you find the grain fleet?" ”

The scout looked at the sand table and pointed to Zhangshuidao: "The fleet is here, there are a total of forty-five tugboats, carrying about forty thousand stone of grain. ”

Fang Xuanling asked: "Just now you said that there are still 3,000 troops and animal convoys, where are they?" ”

The scout pointed to a pier to the north, "This is the Pakpu Pier, here they are!" ”

Fang Xuanling looked at the distance and said to Zhang Xuan: "If you go north, it will be Gonggao County, they will not enter Gonggao County, they should transfer to the animal cart at this dock and go north, about a hundred miles away from the military camp." ”

Zhang Xuan immediately realized the importance of this batch of grain to the Bohai Navy, and he immediately decided: "Quickly pass my order, and order General Pei to immediately lead the cavalry south to intercept the enemy's grain fleet!" ”

……….

Hejian County has been stationed by Xiongkuohai with 5,000 troops, replacing Pei Xingyan's 10,000 cavalry, at this time Pei Xingyan's cavalry was returning to Raoyang halfway, and got the order of the commander Zhang Xuan, Pei Xingyan immediately led the cavalry to detour to the south.

The 3,000 Bohai Navy escorted more than 500 grain trucks on the official road, which is the official road from Wuqiang County to Raoyang County, not the main road from north to south of the Great Sui, but only a branch road between counties.

The road was bumpy, the grain carts were walking very slowly, and on both sides were endless fields, which were originally wheat fields, but after years of war, the wheat fields were barren and overgrown with barnyard grass, and 3,000 soldiers hurriedly walked on the meadows, guarding the grain carts, and the carts kept sinking into mud puddles, blocking the road, and then attracting a curse.

The main general of the army is named Zhou Shaoxing, who is the general of Song Fu, the commander of the left battalion of the Bohai Navy, and this time he was ordered to lead the army to guard the grain team, and he was also very nervous, lest the Sui army appear, Zhou Shaoxing continued to urge the grain convoy to speed up, at this time, he left Zhangshui for fifty miles, entered the boundary of Raoyang County, and they could reach the camp after walking another fifty miles.

At this moment, there was a rumbling thunder in the sky.

"General, it's going to rain!" There were soldiers shouting from behind.

Zhou Shaoxing also heard the thunder, he looked up at the sky, although it was cloudy, there was no sign of rain, and he was a little confused in his heart.

But the thunder did not stop, but one after another, at this time, Zhou Shaoxing suddenly reacted, he was so anxious that he shouted to the left and right: "Assemble immediately!" ”

Where is the thunder, it is clearly the sound of the hooves of the cavalry of the Sui army, and the dense knocking on the ground forms a muffled thunder.

Before his order could be delivered, a soldier pointed ahead and shouted, "General, look ahead!" ”

I saw a sandstorm-like yellow dust in front of me, rolling southward, and a black line loomed in the yellow dust, several miles wide, which was the tragic scene of the cavalry.

The soldiers were suddenly frightened and panicked, and they all turned around and fled, at this time everyone only thought about their own escape, who could take care of food.

Zhou Shaoxing shouted in a hurry, at this time, he saw that the cart driver also jumped off the cart and fled, he was desperate in his heart, at this time, the cavalry had been killed hundreds of steps away, and the face of the cavalry could already be clearly seen, and the overwhelming momentum swept like a storm.

More than a dozen cavalrymen shouted: "General, run!" There are too many enemy cavalry, and we can't stop them. ”

Zhou Shaoxing had to sigh, turned the horse's head and fled, 3,000 soldiers and more than 1,000 coachmen ran for their lives in the wilderness, the soldiers lost their armor and threw off their weapons, only wishing that their father and mother would give him two more legs.

In the end, the two legs could not outrun the four-legged war horse, and the 10,000 cavalry slowly surrounded the fleeing soldiers and coachmen like a long rope, and finally closed in front of them, and the soldiers and coachmen had nowhere to escape, so frightened that they knelt down and surrendered, begging the cavalry to spare their lives, but Zhou Shaoxing, who fled later, and dozens of cavalrymen were able to escape.

Pei Xingyan ordered to accept the surrender, and he ordered the partial general Zhao Zhiyong to lead a thousand cavalry to the south to chase the fleet that unloaded the grain and returned, which was also Zhang Xuan's order, and all the nests of the Bohai Society that stored grain must be eliminated.

Half an hour later, Pei Xingyan led the cavalry to escort hundreds of animal carts full of grain and 3,000 prisoners of war to the east, gradually disappearing at the end of the field. (To be continued.) )