Qinghai Changyun dark snow mountain, lonely city looking at Yumen Pass.

The yellow sand wears gold armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will not be returned if it is not broken.

In March of the second year of Jiye, a Sui army of 5,000 cavalry was marching southwest on the edge of the vast sand sea, this was the Dunhuang cavalry led by the Sui general Su Dingfang, and their goal was Shanshan City, thousands of miles away.

In the fifth year of the Great Cause, after defeating Tuyuhun, the Sui Dynasty occupied thousands of miles of land, and then established four counties, including Heyuan, Xihai, Jimo, and Shanshan, and sent troops and officials to garrison them.

In the ninth year of the Great Cause, the Yuan family took the lead in rebellion, but it was quickly suppressed, and Yuan Shou committed suicide, but the commander of the army, Yuan Honghe, led 3,000 soldiers to flee all the way west, crossed Xihai County, and fled to Shanshan County, he killed the guards by deception, and successively captured the 2,000 troops guarding Shanshan County and Jimo County.

Yuan Hongsi proclaimed himself the king of Shanshan, based on Shanshan and the last two counties, and waited for the opportunity to return to the Central Plains, but the population in Shanshan was sparse and the food was insufficient, which made it difficult for him to develop, and after four years, his army was only 6,000 people.

At this time, the news of Li Liang's defeat came, the Tang army was confronting the Western Qin army, unable to look west, Yuan Hongji realized that the time had come, his first target was Yiwu County in the north, and at this time winter had arrived, he decided to take Yiwu County after the beginning of spring next year.

But what Yuan Hongsi didn't expect was that in the early winter of this year, a great change occurred in Dunhuang County, a Sui Dynasty army rushed thousands of miles and occupied Dunhuang County, but his Shanshan County became the prey of the Sui army.

The road taken by the Sui army was the Yumen Road, starting from Yangguan, passing through the northern edge of the Sansha Desert to Puchanghai, and then from Puchanghai along the end of the river all the way south to Shanshan City.

They had been marching for more than ten days, and gradually arrived at Puchanghai, which was in the middle of spring, when the wind was strong, and it was noon that day. The army had been walking for nearly three hours, and the soldiers were a little tired.

At this time, a soldier pointed to the south and shouted to Su Dingfang: "General, look, it's getting dark over there!" ”

Su Dingfang stared intently. Suddenly, their faces changed greatly, they had the same encounter a few days ago, it was a sandstorm, which caused more than 20 soldiers to be drowned in the sanddust and died, he whipped his horse and shouted to the soldiers: "Command the three armies, speed up the march!" ”

Without his order, five thousand cavalry whipped their horses. Rushing the boundless desert Gobi, this cavalry of 5,000 people looked incomparably small in front of nature, and more than 20 miles away from them, the sky was as dark as ink, and an earth-shaking sandstorm was rushing towards them...... Puchanghai is today's Lop Nur, in the Sui Dynasty, it was still a large lake with vast water surface and abundant water plants. It is also the most important stopping place on the southern route of the Silk Road, passing through the vast Gobi Desert and the long sea of sand, where tired merchants can see the endless water. Seagulls chirping overhead, green aquatic plants blowing in the wind, all this will wash away the fatigue of business travel, let them refresh their spirits and get back on the road.

After losing more than 100 people, the 5,000 cavalry of the Sui army finally escaped from the sandstorm and arrived at this refreshing blue sea.

The soldiers jumped off their horses and ran towards the lake with shouts, and the horses also cheered up and galloped wildly, the azure of this water of life. It was so strong that it melted down 5,000 soldiers and horses...... The cavalry rested in Puchanghai for two days, and then marched south along the Jimo River, and this section of the road was much lighter, and the Momo River originated in the Kunlun Mountains, flowed through the Jimo County and Shanshan County, and finally flowed into the Puchanghai.

The spring flood has just passed. And at the end of the river is murmuring, the river is very shallow, the deepest part is only the waist of the person, the river water is cold and clear, the water is turbulent, and the two banks are dense poplar forests, stretching for hundreds of miles, they are moistened by the river water, and they grow extraordinarily thick and lush.

After walking for another three days, in the evening of this day, the cavalry stopped to rest in a poplar forest, which was not far from Shanshan City, and there were still more than thirty miles.

Shanshan City is not close to the end of the river, it and the end of the river is also separated by a width of about 30 miles of the Gobi Desert, at this time 5,000 Sui cavalry in the northwest of this Gobi Desert, through the Gobi Desert, can reach Shanshan City.

At the beginning of night, the sky was full of stars, the stars were shining, Su Dingfang stood on a mound, staring into the distance, after nearly twenty days of trekking, he actually knew nothing about the situation in Shanshan City.

He only knew that Yuan Hongji occupied the county of Qimo and Shanshan, and according to the merchants, there were about five or six thousand troops, but as for how the army was stationed, how well it was equipped, how many cavalry and how many infantry, he did not know anything.

Su Dingfang sighed, this was not in line with the Sui army's intelligence-first combat method, but he didn't want to startle the snake, the plan he thought of now was to occupy Shanshan City first, and then respond according to the situation.

"Go get the guide!"

After a while, several soldiers led the guide up, the guide was an old man in his sixties, a native of Gaochang, named Su A, in Su Dingfang's words, they were a family five hundred years ago, the old man Su A used to be a businessman, can speak fluent Chinese, after the age of forty in Puchanghai herding for a living, every year to go to Shanshan City to sell sheep, Shanshan City knows Shanshan City well.

"General Su, it's already dark, are you going to act?" Sua walked up and laughed.

Su Dingfang smiled and nodded, "I want to ask about the city wall of Shanshan City first." ”

"General Su, although Shanshan City is known as the largest city in Monan, in fact, it is really not worth mentioning compared to the cities in the interior of the Sui Dynasty, the city wall is very short, about one zhang high! It is mainly to prevent wolves, and it is an earthen wall, not made of stones, there are a few oases there, the population is relatively widely distributed, but there are not many people in the city, and there are thousands of households, so the city is not big, hundreds of years of history, the city has long been weathered and dilapidated. ”

Su Dingfang listened attentively, and then asked, "Is there a sentry tower or a beacon nearby?" ”

Su Ah smiled: "There are a few beacons, but they are all beacons of the Han Dynasty, and they have long become mounds, and it is rare to think of an enemy attacking here, unless it is the Tuyuhun people, but the Tuyuhun people have never been here since they were disabled by the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, anyway, if it is a night attack, the defenders may treat you as a wolf pack." ”

"How's their armor going?"

"There is no difference between them and the Sui army, they are originally the Sui army, if you fight with you, it is estimated that you can't tell the difference between friend and foe, by the way, it seems that your helmets are a little different."

Su Dingfang pondered for a moment, then arched his hand and said, "Thank you, uncle." ”

At this time, several scouts galloped in from a distance, Su Dingfang was overjoyed, and urged the horse to meet him, "How is it, have you found anything?" ”

"Report to the general, the enemy's army is not completely stationed inside the city, most of them are stationed outside the city, as if they are preparing to leave tomorrow, and a lot of ordnance and materials are bundled."

"What kind of barracks or spears are there outside the barracks?"

"No, it's just a few hundred tents, and there's only a ring of baggage trucks around the camp."

Although Su Dingfang knew that this was because there were not too many spears to make camp thorns, he was still very careful, after all, Yuan Hongsi had served as the governor of Youzhou for many years and had rich experience as a representative, so he couldn't be careless, Su Dingfang looked up at the night sky, turned back to a few pro-soldiers and said: "Go and inform General Li, brothers will rest for a while and then start the army...... The night is getting deeper, and no one has slept in the big tent of the Chinese army, he is pacing back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back, considering the strategy of the next step, capturing Yiwu County is undoubtedly the first step, the second step is to seize Dunhuang County, and then the third and fourth steps.....

Moto Hongji was nearly sixty years old, his hair was half white, and his face had become extremely rough from years of wind and sand, but his burly body was still as straight as a green pine, his eyes were as clear and sharp as an eagle, and his heart was as ambitious as it had been twenty years ago.

There is a map on his handsome case, on which the Hexi region has been completely painted red, that is where his ambition lies, occupy Hexi in two years, and then march to Longyou and Guanzhong, in order to realize the failed plan of the Yuan family, establish a new Wei dynasty, expel Li Tang, exterminate Yang Yuanqing, chase the Central Plains, and restore the glory of the Tuoba clan.

Tomorrow was the day he would start his army, and he had been waiting for this day for a long time, and he was too excited to sleep.

At this time, a soldier's report came from outside the tent, "Lord Qiqi, there seems to be a wolf pack on the Gobi Desert, and some brothers have heard the wolf howl. ”

The appearance of wolves near the barracks is already commonplace, Yuan Hongji has long been used to it, he knows very well that it is the breath of the horses that attracts the wolves, so he waved his hand impatiently, "Drive a dozen horses out!" ”

This is a way to deal with the wolves, using a lone war horse to lure away the wolves, and the wolves will often chase more than a hundred miles away to kill the tired war horse, but it is difficult to come back.

The soldier agreed, turned to leave, and Motohiroji slowly rushed out of his sword, stared at the sharp blade, and slashed towards the east with a sharp wave of his hand...... At this time, the Sui army had already appeared several miles away, and there were soldiers constantly pretending to howl as wild wolves, which was also the method taught by the guide Sua, and at night several miles away, the other party would see them, but it was difficult to distinguish whether it was a pack of horses or a pack of wolves.

At this time, more than a dozen horses rushed out of the camp and galloped towards the south, and Su A smiled at Su Dingfang: "They treat you as wolves, let the horses attract you to chase." ”

Su Dingfang urged the war horse to continue to move closer to the enemy camp, he also has a lot of experience, he will not attack until the enemy alarm bell rings.

The Sui army was getting closer and closer, less than three miles from the enemy camp, and at this moment, the defenders finally discovered an anomaly, not a pack of wolves, but a pack of cavalry.

"When! While! While! ”

The alarm sounded fiercely, and Su Dingfang pulled out his war knife and shouted, "Kill!" ”

"Kill!" The Sui army suddenly launched, and five thousand iron horsemen galloped, wielding swords and spears, and swept towards the enemy camp like a storm......