The terrain of Mayi County is deep, about thousands of miles long, and the terrain is very different from north to south, the north is an endless grassland, and the middle is the Wuzhou Mountain and the Suzhen Mountain that belong to the remaining veins of the Taihang Mountain, blocking the waist of Mayi County, and the reckless mountains have been extending to the west to the Yellow River, almost forming a perfect mountain encirclement, geographically separating the Central Plains and the grassland.

However, there are countless passages running through the north and south in the reckless mountains, less than one mile narrow and dozens of miles wide, and it is these passages that have become a shortcut for the northern nomads to kill the south.

At this time, the Sui army had deployed more than 20,000 people on the northern border, commanded by Li Jing, the governor of Daizhou, Li Jing divided more than 20,000 people into three armies, and about 5,000 people in the west guarded the area of the Purple River.

The other army, also 5,000 people, defended Yanmen County, mainly to defend the military capital and strictly prevent the Turkic army from entering Hebei.

Li Jing personally led 10,000 troops to garrison Yunnei County, which was the Datong of later generations, was in a huge basin, dominated by hills and Pingchuan, and the north was dominated by Wuzhou Mountain and Fuzhen Mountain as natural barriers, blocking the cold wind from the north and the south.

The unique geographical environment makes Yunnei County have a humid climate, dense vegetation, fertile land, and dozens of rivers crisscrossing it, which is a rare agricultural area in the central part of Mayi County.

It is precisely because of this that Yunnei County was also the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty hundreds of years ago, and still retains tall and strong city walls, exquisite palaces and ancient buildings and countless Buddhist temple statues.

Although the mountains in the north of Yunnei County block the invasion of the cold current, there is a natural passage about dozens of miles wide between Wuzhou Mountain and Suzhen Mountain, so that the mountain barrier in the north can not stop Hu Qi from going south, and the Baishan Mountain in the north of Yunnei County more than 20 miles away is the place where the Xiongnu army besieged Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty.

More than ten years ago, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty sent hundreds of thousands of people to rebuild the Great Wall. But the Great Wall still could not stop the Turkic army from moving south. During the siege of Yanmen that year, hundreds of thousands of Turkic troops entered from the passes of the Great Wall, and the Turks had mastered the simple art of siege. The Great Wall gradually lost its defensive role.

At the head of Yunnei County, Li Jing stared at the north with heavy eyes, although the Utu Department had already sent people for help three times. But he still did not move, he only had 10,000 troops in his hands, and he could not fight with hundreds of thousands of Turkic cavalry on the steppe, and could only be annihilated.

If his army is defeated, then the Turkic army will no longer have any resistance, and will drive straight in, and the people of Mayi County will be wiped out, Li Jing judged the situation, he knew that his task at this time was to drag the Turkic army south. Buy time for the people of Mayi County to retreat south.

At this time, the deputy general next to him, Li Haihai, said in a low voice: "Chief, could it be that the Turkic army is just to exterminate the Utu Division." Then they withdrew to the steppe. After all, it's winter, and it can snow at any time. Will they really go south? ”

Li Jing shook his head, "If it is just to exterminate the Utu Division, it will not send more than 200,000 troops, 30,000 troops are enough, and just to destroy a small Utu remnant, it will not be able to show the military merits of Jieli Khan, the Turkic army was defeated in Fengzhou, only to split and sink, they want to regain their strength, or to defeat the Sui army, at least to enter the Central Plains and loot, so that the prestige of Jieli Khan can be re-established." ”

As soon as Li Jing finished speaking, several cavalry appeared in the distance, rushing towards this side, stirring up rolling dust, this is the scout of the Sui army has returned, Li Jing hurriedly ordered: "Bring them up quickly!" ”

After a while, several scouts entered the city and were taken to the city tower, and the scout captain led by him knelt down on one knee and reported: "Governor Qiyu, the Utu tribe was caught up by the Turkic vanguard south of Qifubo, and the casualties were extremely heavy, and less than 10,000 people escaped, and fled to the area of the Purple River. ”

This news shocked Li Jing, there were more than 40,000 people in the Utu Department, and there were less than 10,000 escapers, so the casualties were so heavy? He hurriedly asked again: "What about the army of the Utu tribe?" Where did their 10,000 troops go? ”

The Scout Lieutenant shook his head. "I only heard that I went north to resist the Turkic army, but there was no more news, and it is estimated that the whole army has been wiped out."

Li Jing sighed slightly, things have come to this point, the Utu Ministry is completely finished, and Yang Yuanqing still wants to support the Utu Department just like he did when he supported the Qimin Ministry.

But the Turks have learned the lessons of that year, and annihilated the Utu tribe in time, leaving no future troubles, and more importantly, the Turkic army has obtained the livestock of the Utu tribe, has solved the problem of military rations, and can even spend the winter in begging for the winter.

Thinking of this, Li Jing asked again: "Then where is the Turkic army now?" Already headed south? ”

"The Turks divided an army of about 20,000 people to go to Zihe to pursue the last Utu department, and the rest of the army camped in the area of Wuzhou Pass, about thirty miles away from Wuzhou City.

Wuzhou City is a military fort held at the pass of Wuzhou Mountain, with a circumference of six miles, a garrison of 1,000 people, commanded by the partial general Yu Tao, its role is mainly to prevent a small number of Turkic troops from invading Yunnei, but to deal with hundreds of thousands of Turkic troops, it is obviously meaningless.

From the fiasco of Utu, Li Jing realized the tactics of the Turks, that is, to divide a part of the army to deal with the blocking forces, and the main force continued to move south, which was the case for the Utu department, then it would be the same for the Sui army, only a small part of the army was used to deal with the city, and then the army continued to move south, and the Turkic army would never attack Yunnei City day and night.

If this is the case, it is actually meaningless for him to hold on to Yunnei City, and he cannot stop the Turkic army from going south, but will be blocked by the Turkic army in the city......

The crushing defeat of the Utu tribe was due to their misjudgment, believing that their army would be able to withstand the southward movement of a large Turkic army and buy them time to retreat south, so they were loaded with belongings, drove cattle and sheep south, and walked slowly.

Unexpectedly, he sent 50,000 men to surround the 10,000 troops of Amutu, and he himself led an army of 200,000 to chase after him quickly, and finally caught up with the Utu tribe in the south of the steppe, which was about 80 miles away from Qifubo.

After two hours of bloody looting and killing, nearly 20,000 young men and old people were killed, women and property were looted, and blood stained the grassland, only Anuri and a small number of clansmen who were walking in front of the team escaped.

Despite this, Jieli Khan still had to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots. Send the commander Haji to lead 20,000 elite Turkic cavalry to pursue and kill the remnants of Utu.

The night was already deep. The Turkic army did not immediately move south, they needed to pack up and enjoy the possession, so they set up camp on the north bank of the Qinghe River, about thirty miles north of Wuzhou Mountain.

Piles of bonfires were lit in the Turkic camp. Cattle and sheep were roasted on the fire, and the millions of cattle and sheep and a large amount of hay seized from the Utu tribe became the best supply of military rations for the Turkic army, so that they no longer had to worry about the shortage of food and grass.

Turkic soldiers gathered around the bonfire. Drinking and laughing and munching on barbecued meat, groups of captured Utu women were forced to dance in front of the campfire, and many drunken Turkic soldiers would swoop down on them with a lewd smile and pin one of them to the ground, causing the surrounding soldiers to laugh.

It was also very lively in the Turkic king's tent, with small tables lined with thick and soft sheepskins behind them, and mare's milk wine, dried fruits, and plates of roasted mutton on the table. In the center of the tent sat the young Turkic Great Khan, and on either side sat dozens of chiefs and high-ranking generals of various tribes.

In the middle of the tent, fifty young and beautiful Utu girls were divided into two teams. Dance to the sound of drums and fiery strumming.

Peisa, the Great Chief of the Hui Tribe, raised the golden cup and saluted the Jieli Khan. He smiled heartily: "Today, the Great Khan completely annihilated the Utu Department and established an immortal feat. The steppe will surely sing the great achievements of the Khan everywhere, and the Tiele tribes will return to the Turks, and I will toast the Khan with fine wine on behalf of the Hui Ministry, and I hope that the Khan can unify the steppe as soon as possible. ”

The Hui were not a Tiele tribe, but an alliance of several Tiele tribes, including the four great tribes of Wei Su, Fugu, Tongluo and Bayegu, who formed an alliance against the Turks in the first year of the Great Cause, collectively known as the Hui.

This time, the Turks sent troops south, in addition to the Turks' own 170,000 troops, there were also Hui and Xue Yantuo sent 40,000 troops each, of which the 40,000 troops of the Hui were sent by the four tribes of Wei Su, Fugu, Tongluo and Bayegu each sent 10,000 troops, led by the great chief Pesa.

He smiled indifferently, he understood the implication of the Hui chieftain's praise, that is, to let him collect his troops and return to the north, not to attack the Sui Dynasty again, he sneered in his heart, but his face was silent, and he bowed slightly and said: "Thank you for the good words of the big chief, but although the wine is mellow, how can it be compared to the intoxicating military exploits, the wolves go on the expedition, how can you eat with only a few lean sheep?" The warriors' southern crusade is not over, and we will continue to move south in search of more abundant prey. ”

After speaking, he raised his wine glass and drank all the wine in the cup, and a whisper suddenly sounded in the big tent, and the chief of Hui Peisa sat down a little unhappily and said nothing.

In the Battle of Fengzhou the year before last, 30,000 of their Hui Alliance disciples were killed in the battle, and the Turks have not expressed any position so far.

Although Jieli Khan promised to compensate them, how? When will it be compensated, but it is not mentioned at all, today I got so much property from the Utu Ministry, is there no way to return it?

Pesa was not actually opposed to attacking the Sui Dynasty, but he hoped to agree on the distribution plan of the spoils of war in advance before the battle, and he and the Tongluo Department and the Servant Bone Department had discussed it, and if the Jieli Khan did not set the distribution plan in advance, they would no longer follow the south.

The dancing maidens retreated, and the atmosphere in the tent became a little colder, and no one spoke, each drinking and thinking about his thoughts, and the Khan understood their thoughts, and he had to say something.

He picked up his wine glass and stood up and said, "Of course there is a distribution plan, I have already thought about it, so let's tell you about it!" Whether it is the extermination of the Utu Department this time, or the population and property plundered from the Sui Dynasty in the future, after replenishing the necessary consumption of the army, the remaining population and property are divided into three parts, the first part accounts for 20%, which is distributed according to the number of troops sent by each department, the second part is more important, accounting for 60%, and is distributed according to the military merits of each department, and the third part is distributed to the fallen soldiers of each department, which also accounts for 20%, what do you think? ”

There was still silence in the big tent, and then Peisa spoke: "I have no opinion on the first and third parts, but the second one is a little confused, who will decide the level of this military merit?" Will it be up to the Khan to decide, or will everyone sit down and deliberate together? ”

Jieli Khan understood what he meant, and it should have been up to him to decide, but since he took it out to talk about things, it meant that everyone wanted to discuss military merits.

However, Jieli Khan was unwilling to use the method of deliberation to determine military merits, which would be tantamount to depriving him of his supreme power as a Turkic khan, which was contrary to his original intention of sending troops south.

Jieli Khan glanced at the Khan Yi Nan of Xue Yantuo's department, meaning to let him make a statement