The simplest sentence in the book of war is called 'know oneself and know one's opponent, and win all battles', although this sentence is simple, it contains an extremely profound truth.

Confidant is to have self-knowledge, know your own pounds, don't provoke strong enemies, but many people don't have self-knowledge, either to save face, or to get used to it.

It is difficult to know oneself, and it is even more difficult to know the other, and knowing the other side is also divided into levels, knowing how much military rations the other side has, how many troops, and what kind of equipment it is, that is just a low-level knowledge of the other, and multiple scouts can know it.

Understanding the background, experience, and combat habits of the opposing generals, whether they like sneak attacks or robbing grain roads, is only a kind of medium-level knowledge of the enemy, which requires homework in advance, and it is necessary to send intelligence personnel to investigate in advance, which is slightly more difficult.

Knowing the other party's situation, understanding the other party's mind, and judging the decisions that the other party may take according to the other party's situation and mind is a kind of high-level knowledge of the other, of course, this kind of knowledge of the other party is very risky, and it takes a certain amount of courage to make it, but the risk and return are also very high.

Li Jing's attack is undoubtedly a high-level confidant and enemy, he knows his own strength, he only brought 8,000 cavalry, plus the army of Zihe Fort is only 13,000 people, and the other party is 20,000 people, although the armor of the Sui army is stronger than the opponent's leather armor, but it is inferior to the other party in horsemanship, and the difference between the bows and arrows and spears of the two sides is not big.

Moreover, the other party walked on the grassland on the north bank of the Purple River, there was no hiding place for ambushes, no city walls to rely on, no available terrain or rivers, so he could only fight hard with the other party, even if the Sui army's formation was advanced, and finally defeated the other party with the weak and the strong.

But if you kill 3,000 enemies and lose 800 yourself, the Sui army will have to pay at least 4,000 or 5,000 dead. Therefore, Li Jing never thought about fighting the enemy army from the beginning.

In the case of a confidant. He also seized on one of the greatest weaknesses of the attack, and the Turks failed in their pursuit of the Utu tribe, and their lord would not be able to return to the mission.

In this case. The main general will inevitably find a way to find a fighter, then he will discover the secret of the escape of the women and children of the Utu tribe from the Purple River Valley, then will he think of crossing the Purple River Valley. Go to the south to intercept the retreat of the Uttu fighters?

Li Jing undoubtedly made a big bet at risk, because there was an opportunity hidden in the Purple River Valley, and he was betting that the other party would seize this opportunity, so Li Jing resolutely laid a net in the Purple River Valley and waited for the Turkic army to enter the urn.

Overhead, the Turkic army was thrown into confusion by falling stones, and the soldiers were smashed to the point that their heads were bleeding, and their horses neighed and fell to the ground. Screams rang out one after another, and the soldiers raised their shields to defend themselves, or ran to the bottom of the cliff to stand close to the rock wall.

There are not so many rocks on the top of the mountain. Stones alone could not annihilate 20,000 Turkic troops. However, the psychological impact of being ambushed by the Sui army caused extreme chaos in the valley.

20,000 Turkic cavalry turned their horses and fled north. This is human instinct, and in times of crisis, people will always run in the direction of their own home.

But there was no room for thousands of horses galloping in the narrow valley, and the instinct for panic and survival caused the Turkic cavalry to rush north for their lives, trampling each other, trampling on the bodies of their comrades and the corpses of their horses, and screaming and crying resounded through the valley.

The main general, Haji, led the way with more than 10,000 Turkic cavalry to the north mouth of the valley, and when he was still a few miles from the mouth of the valley, he suddenly grabbed the reins of his horse in horror, and he found that the ground was all black with oil, and there was a pungent and unpleasant smell in the air.

This discovery made him scattered, and he whipped his horse and galloped towards the valley mouth, when a dozen large fireballs suddenly rolled down above his head and smashed into the dense crowd.

The soldiers were terrified, screaming and screaming, desperately trying to avoid the fireball overhead, but the fireball was only the key to open the gates of hell, and in an instant, a fire raged in the valley.

The blazing flames engulfed the Turkic soldiers, and the wails resounded through the valley, and barrels of fire oil fell overhead, and the black oil flowed everywhere, and the flames rose into the air wherever they passed, like a fire demon licking its poisonous tongue, and the thick and pungent poisonous smoke filled the entire valley.

The main general Haji led more than 2,000 people to flee desperately to the mouth of the valley, the valley road is getting wider and wider, it has been wide to a hundred paces, this is about to reach the mouth of the valley, they have seen the light in the distance, smell the fresh cold wind.

But at this moment, a bang sounded, and a dense stream of arrows came like a storm, and Haji was defenseless, and in an instant, he was shot like a hedgehog, and without even shouting a scream, he fell to the ground with his men and horses.

There was an ambush of arrows from the Sui army in front, and the fire was raging and poisonous smoke was everywhere behind, and more than 2,000 Turkic cavalry had no choice but to raise their shields and rush desperately towards the valley mouth.

Groups of Turkic cavalry died tragically under the dense rain of arrows, but the strong desire to survive still caused hundreds of cavalry to rush out of the valley and run desperately towards the distant steppe.

More than an hour later, the fire was gradually extinguished by the melting river, the smoke gradually dissipated, and the entire Zihe valley almost became the hell of Shura, more than 20,000 Turkic cavalry, except for more than 400 people who rushed out of the valley to escape the catastrophe, the rest of the cavalry almost all died tragically in the valley.

Huge stones rained down, trampled on each other, burned with fire, poisonous smoke, strong bows and arrows, all kinds of cruel means were exhausted, and groups of Sui soldiers entered the river valley with sharp blades in their hands, killing all the Turkic soldiers who were wounded and not yet dead, leaving no trouble.

Since then, the Purple River Valley has been called the 'Ghost Valley' by the locals, and the sharp howl of the wind blowing through the Ghost Valley at night is like the wailing of the unjust souls, and until many years later, no one dares to pass through the Purple River Valley at night.

Early the next morning, Jieli Khan, who had led more than 200,000 troops to Yunnei County, received the news that 20,000 Turkic troops had been completely annihilated in the Zihe Valley, which shocked him and made him realize that the Sui army had begun to counterattack.

Three days later, in mid-November, Yang Yuanqing led the main force of 80,000 Sui troops to arrive in Shanyang County, Mayi County......

At this time, Shanyang County has become the base camp of the Sui army's northern resistance to the Turks, due to the full preparation in advance, the city has been stockpiled a large number of military supplies, food, forage, ordnance, oil, tents, war drums, as well as bed crossbows, trebuchets, thunderbolts and other thousands of various defensive heavy weapons.

Tens of thousands of residents in Shanyang County have also been evacuated, and only 10,000 strong men from all over the city are responsible for carrying supplies. Yang Yuanqing's command military office is also the former Mayi County government office. After the demolition of the palace built by Liu Wuzhou, this county government became the largest official office in the city.

In the morning, a troop of cavalry galloped outside the city of Shanyang. The leader of the general was none other than Li Jing, the governor of Daizhou, whose army had withdrawn south, and at this time he received an order from Yang Yuanqing. rushed to Shanyang City to report on work.

The cavalry galloped to the city, and a cavalryman stepped forward and shouted: "Chief Manager Li has rushed to report on his work by the order of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, and the city is open!" ”

The officers defending the city knew Li Jing and urgently ordered the city gate to be opened, and the cavalry urged the war horses to run towards the city.

In the military council hall, Yang Yuanqing was standing alone in front of the huge sand table and pondering this battle, he had a wealth of experience in fighting the Turks, and he knew that it was relatively easy to fight with the Turks. Unlike the attack on Li Tang, which requires various tactical intelligence analysis, there is no battle for the city, and only the right time is needed to launch a big battle. can decide the outcome of the war.

But even if you start a big war, there is a lot of exquisiteness. Like the battles of the Turkic army, it is necessary to take into account the time, place, and people.

It's the weather, and it's mid-November. The coldest winter solstice is approaching, and the possibility of snow is increasing, and once it does, it will be a fatal blow to the morale of the Turks.

The geographical advantage is the combat terrain, in the flat steppe, the Turks have an advantage, but when they reach the hinterland of the Central Plains with complex terrain and ruggedness, the advantage of the Turkic cavalry will be reduced, and the use of terrain to fight is what the Central Plains army is good at.

And harmony can be explained as morale, Jieli Khan has just ascended the throne, his internal control is not strong, if the Turkic army is like a bamboo, smooth sailing, internal contradictions can not be shown, but if the Turkic army suffers a blow, or when the gains outweigh the losses, all kinds of contradictions will appear, and even cause internal division within the Turks.

Yang Yuanqing considered more from the overall situation, he did not want to fight with the Turks at the beginning, in order to suppress the southern invasion of the Turks, he did not hesitate to consider using the Western Turks to contain them, but this will also produce great risks, the Western Turks are likely to advance eastward strongly, becoming a new threat to the Central Plains.

And now that the Turks have invaded the south, it is debatable whether it is necessary to introduce the Western Turks again, if this war can weaken the strength of the Turks again, then the steppe will inevitably be divided, and even a civil war will break out.

At that time, there would be no need for the Western Turks, and he would also be able to eliminate the threat of the steppes, and when he unified the world, he would completely destroy the Turks.

Just as he was thinking, a pro-soldier reported in the hall: "Your Highness, Chief Manager Li is here." ”

Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed, this was Li Jing coming, and he hurriedly ordered: "Let him come in quickly!" ”

After a while, Li Jing walked up the steps quickly and entered the council hall, he stepped forward and gave a deep salute, "See Your Highness!" ”

Yang Yuanqing had already received a report from Li Jing that he had annihilated 20,000 Turkic cavalry, and this timely victory held the iron hooves of the Turks moving southward, bought time for the final evacuation of the people, and also won a key opportunity for the Sui army to move north to Shanyang County.

It can be said that it is a battle that is fought in the eyes of the bones, of course, Yang Yuanqing also understands in his heart that Li Jing's battle is also a bit too risky.

"Mr. Li has worked hard!"

Yang Yuanqing did not hesitate to approve: "The battle of Purple River Valley is the most critical battle to save the entire battle situation, keep Shanyang County, and win the initiative for the Sui army. ”

Li Jing was moved in his heart, and hurriedly said modestly: "It is very lucky to win this battle of lowly duties, just win in the thought of the enemy general, it is really risky, it is not worth advocating, and lowly positions dare not be rewarded by His Highness." ”

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "There is one thing you need to understand, you are the commander, how to fight is up to you, I don't ask, I only care about the final result, if you win, you will be rewarded, if you lose, you will also be punished, so I hope that the next time you make a decision, you must consider the consequences and responsibilities first." ”

Li Jing nodded silently, he understood what Yang Yuanqing meant, not exactly to reward him, but also with a hint of implicit warning, when the Turkic army was moving south, the most important thing he should do was to keep Shanyang County, not to risk going to Zihe Fort.

"The lowly position understands, and the next time the lowly position considers the decision, the overall situation should be the priority."

Yang Yuanqing saw that he understood what he meant, so he stopped mentioning the matter, and changed the topic: "Regarding this Turkic war, I want to hear your thoughts. ”