Wei Chi Gong and Chen Xu were the first and second of the four roads, their task was not heavy, and Wei Chi Gong was responsible for capturing Zuo Xiaoyou's granary at the foot of the mountain, where there were 500 thieves to guard.

The cavalry captain Cheng Xu is responsible for dismissing the civilians at the foot of the mountain, the important thing is to transfer the food to avoid Zuo Xiaoyou from getting food supplements, this task is only slightly cumbersome, but it is not very difficult, after all, there is no one who is willing to be robbed of his winter and spring rations, even if he is not willing to be dismissed, but the food at home will be hidden.

The most difficult task was the task of Captain Shen Guang, and it was also the most important task in this attack on Squatting Dog Mountain, he led three hundred elite scouts to copy Zuo Xiaoyou's lair from the back mountain path, creating an opportunity for Zhang Xuan, who was attacking head-on.

The woodcutter surnamed Liu, who led the way for Shen Guang, was a middle-aged man about forty years old, who had been cutting firewood and collecting medicine for a living in Squagou Mountain since he was a child, and knew everything about every grass and tree in Squaogou Mountain.

The high slope of the squatting dog mountain is steep, the peak where Zuo Xiaoyou's nest is located is especially difficult to go up the mountain, there is a smooth road in the front mountain, you can directly reach Zuo Xiaoyou's Dazhai, but the back mountain is rocky and steep, the bushes are thick, and it is difficult to walk, but the three hundred scouts picked out by Shen Guang are all vigorous and agile, although the mountain road is steep, they are like walking on flat ground.

It only took a long time for them to reach the mountainside, and the woodcutter who led the way pointed to a forest in front of him and said with a smile: "General, there are actually two paths from the back mountain, although the one you want to walk is relatively easy, but there is a sentry post on it, which is easy to find, why don't I take you around the woods on the left, and you can also reach Zuo Xiaoyou's Dazhai from the side." ”

"Is there a checkpoint on this road?" Shen Guang glanced at the woods and asked.

The woodcutter shook his head, "There is no checkpoint, this road is very hidden, few people know it, but it is difficult to walk, it is more dangerous to climb a cliff, I have only walked a few times because of the collection of medicine, and ordinary people do not want to ask for hardship." ”

Shen Guang looked at the sky, there was still some time before it got dark. He thought for a while, since Zuo Yunshan could draw a path, it meant that everyone knew about this path, and the thief army would definitely build fortifications.

Being discovered by the thieves is secondary. The key is to delay the fighter, the consequences are very serious, Shen Guang did not hesitate to say: "Then take the hidden path you know!" ”

"Everyone, please come with me!"

The woodcutter led them into the woods from the left, a black pine forest covering about twenty acres. It is distributed in a long and narrow shape, and the pine forest floor is covered with a thick layer of pine needles, which are particularly soft to walk on, and a dozen squirrels look at them curiously, and it can be seen that few people come here.

The crowd walked diagonally through the pine forest, and they came to the side of the mountain, and they were faced with a steep cliff, which was more than fifty zhang high, but more than ten miles long, and the whole cliff was gray and white. Like a smooth mirror set on top of the mountain.

The woodcutter pointed to the cliff above his head and smiled, "Let's go up from here, and there is a ridge above." ”

Shen Guang looked up, only to see that the cliff above his head was covered with cracks and vines, and above the cliff was the saddle between the two peaks, he nodded, turned around and ordered: "Bring the rope!" ”

They brought several large bundles of ropes, and Shen Guang climbed in front, and he climbed up like an ape, tying the ropes tightly to the boulders, followed by the woodcutter. kept pointing in the direction of Shen Guang, "General, there is a platform over there, you can rest a little!" ”

Shen Guang jumped onto the platform. After resting for a moment, he continued to climb upward, and in less than a quarter of an hour he was on top of the cliff, and the soldiers below were climbing towards the cliff one by one.

It is indeed much easier for soldiers to have ropes to borrow. With their physical strength, the cliff is not difficult to climb, but the test is the psychological quality, they climb to the top of the mountain on the ninety-degree straight cliff, but there is a bottomless ravine below, a gust of wind blows, the whole body is shaking on the cliff, which makes people feel terrified.

Many soldiers climbed to the top of the mountain and were tired and panting, sitting on the ground with their butts on their butts, their legs were weak for a while, and it took everyone an hour to climb to the top of the mountain, when it was already dark.

"General, you can see Dazhai from above!" The woodcutter whispered as he pointed to a boulder several feet high in front of him.

Shen Guang quickly climbed the boulder, he stood on the boulder and looked ahead, they were still more than two hundred steps away from the top of the mountain at this time, but Zuo Xiaoyou's cottage nest was not on the top of the mountain, there was only a beacon on the top of the mountain, and Dazhai was in the middle of the mountain that was level with them.

Shen Guang's gaze crossed a forest, and in the moonlight, he could clearly see the mud walls of the cottage, and the houses built of rocks and trees, there were hundreds, less than a hundred steps away from them, and he also saw the path through the cottage.

Shen Guang was overjoyed in his heart, took out ten taels of gold and rewarded the woodcutter, sent the woodcutter back, he waved his hand to the three hundred soldiers, "Everyone come with me, be careful, don't make a sound!" ”

Shen Guang led three hundred soldiers and silently touched Zuo Xiaoyou's lair

Jang Hyun was the fourth way, and he led 1,500 soldiers to attack the front of the cottage.

Zuo Xiaoyou left only 3,000 soldiers in Squaogou Mountain, of which 1,000 soldiers had been annihilated by the Sui army while guarding the grain carts, and another 500 soldiers were stationed in the granary at the foot of the mountain, and there were only 1,500 people in the cottage.

From the foot of the mountain to Zuo Xiaoyou's cottage is about seven or eight miles of road, the mountain road spirals up, very flat and spacious, you can even ride a horse uphill, three sentry posts are deployed along the way, all of which were easily pulled out by the Sui army.

At this time, Zhang Xuan led the army to crawl down in the mountain forest about 100 steps away from the gate of the village, you can clearly see the gate and wall of the cottage, the gate of the cottage is made of wood, there is a gatehouse above the gate, several soldiers are stationed, another function of the gatehouse is to open the door, when the personnel enter, the soldiers on the gatehouse will use a winch to open the gate.

But at this time, not only the gate is closed, the gate is also covered with several layers of boulders, even if the gate is opened, it is impossible to enter, but there is no point in blocking the door with a boulder, you can kill it as well as opening the wall, the wall is about one zhang high, and the stone slabs are stacked layer by layer, like a belt to strangle the cottage, the wall is full of thieves, and from time to time blindly release arrows to the mountain forest and the mountain road.

The art of war clouds, 'All those who fight, with the right fit, with the odd victory.' ’

Cao Cao also once said, 'The first to fight together is to win, and the last to be surprised.' ’

Zhang Xuan has a deep understanding of this art of war, they are terrainically disadvantaged, the opponent is condescending, with bows and arrows, boulders and rolling logs is enough to block their attack, if the strong attack can also capture the cottage, but it will inevitably cause serious losses, which is definitely not worth the loss for a small battle like attacking Zuo Xiaoyou's lair.

In Zhang Xuan's opinion, as long as there were more than 50 casualties in this battle, he would be considered a failure.

Therefore, it is necessary to use both positive and strange, attack from the front as the virtual, sneak attack from the back as the real, and combine the virtual and the real, and this cottage can be won at the minimum cost.

The soldiers kept firing arrows into the mountain, and the dense guns clanged on the stones of the wall, and from time to time there were screams.

At this time, a soldier rushed up from the bottom of the mountain and reported to Zhang Xuanyu in a low voice: "General Qiyu, General Wei Chi has transferred the grain from the granary at the foot of the mountain, and he asked the general if he needs to burn the granary?" ”

Zhang Xuan pondered for a while, and then said: "Tell General Wei Chi that you can burn down the granary!" ”

The soldier agreed, and immediately got up and rushed down the mountain, Zhang Xuan looked at the night again, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the moonlight illuminated the mountains and forests like day, and the time came to the end of the day, that is, at seven o'clock in the evening.

In terms of time, Shen Guang's side should be about the same, he turned back to Pei Xingyan and said: "Lead a hundred brothers to attack, and when you hear my order, you will immediately withdraw, and you must not be greedy for war!" ”

"Yes!"

Pei Xingyan waved his hand, "The first team comes with me!" ”

Hundreds of soldiers held a huge shield in their hands and followed Pei Xingyan to the cottage slowly, Pei Xingyan held a single hammer in his hand, and also held a shield in the other hand, just when they just appeared on the mountain road, the cottage immediately drummed loudly, the thieves shouted, dense arrows shot at the Sui army, boulders and rolling logs tumbled down, and smashed towards the Sui soldiers.

"Get down!" Pei Xingyan shouted and lay on the ground, and the soldiers also fell down, shielding their bodies with shields, and boulders and rolling logs tumbled over their heads.

At the moment when the boulder stopped slightly, Pei Xingyan led the soldiers to jump up again, resisting the rain of arrows, and ran towards the mountain, but only ran out of a dozen steps, and another burst of rolling wood and stones fell, and the two soldiers couldn't dodge, and were hit by two rolling logs on their shields, and the two screamed miserably and rolled down the mountain.

This scream boosted the morale of the defenders above, and the thief army immediately cheered, at this time, Zhang Xuan ordered the withdrawal of the army, 'Dang! While! While! When the gong sounded, Pei Xingyan was helpless, so he led the soldiers to retreat quickly, and there was a burst of jubilation on the cottage.

The guard in the cottage is called Duan Xuande, about thirty years old, with a strong and burly figure, a full beard, and two sixty-pound plate axes in his hands, he is Zuo Xiaoyou's henchman, and also Zuo Xiaoyou's brother-in-law, and his eldest sister is Zuo Xiaoyou's wife.

Duan Xuande was also a brigade commander of the Sui army, participated in the first Goguryeo Campaign, and had certain combat experience.

At this time, Xuande was very anxious, he was not only afraid that the cottage would be broken by the Sui army, but also very worried about the granary under the mountain, where there were 10,000 stones of grain, he was very afraid that the Sui army would set fire to the granary, they were located in the relatively poor Donglai County, grain was the basis of their survival, once the grain was destroyed, they would not survive.

At this moment, there were thieves on the sentry tower shouting: "General Duan, the granary under the mountain is on fire!" ”

The granary could be seen from the watchtower, but Duan Xuande also saw the smoke rising from the foot of the mountain, and his heart suddenly cooled half, and what he was most worried about still happened.

At this moment, someone behind him suddenly shouted: "General, our cottage is also on fire!" ”

Duan Xuande turned his head suddenly, only to see the highest Juyi Hall in the cottage blazing into the sky, thick smoke billowing out, and the flames rising several zhang high, he was stunned. (To be continued.) )