On the night that Qu Tutong was captured, Xu Shiji sent 500 cavalry to send the captured Qu Tutong to the Sui army camp in Yiyang County at the fastest speed.

This Central Plains Campaign has been going on for more than a month, and the battle is like an axis, and the rotation of the axis involves all aspects of the current situation.

The two sides have appeared in diplomacy, intelligence, internal affairs, and power struggles, but with the deepening of the fierce confrontation in the big chess game of the Central Plains Campaign, the game between the two sides has reached the last and most intense moment.

At this time, Yang Yuanqing received information from Taiyuan, and the internal contradictions in Qingzhou also intensified, and a civil war broke out, with Dou Jiande leading the army and Song Jingang's army fighting fiercely in Beihai County.

This is a victory in an intelligence war, a move carefully laid out by Yang Yuanqing, and a key step in the Central Plains war, and the Qingzhou Civil War also means that Dou Jiande is unable to invade Hebei, so that Qin Qiong's army has no worries.

Yang Yuanqing immediately issued an order, ordering Qin Qiong's 20,000 troops to quickly advance from Dongjun to Yingchuan County and become Li Jing's right flank.

If Xu Shiji's 20,000 troops are added, then Li Jing's army will increase to 80,000, which has surpassed Li Xiaogong's Xiangyang Tang army, and the balance of war is already tilting in favor of the Sui army.

As the time enters July, the weather is no longer too hot, there is a little coolness in the morning and evening, and the number of people going out is gradually increasing.

Although the war has not yet ended, the people of the Central Plains have already experienced the baptism of war for many years, and they are no longer afraid of war, and they still live in their own way.

Yiyang County is the westernmost county of Henan County, only fifty miles away from Changyuan County, and it is the only way to go west to Hongnong County.

The good geographical location makes the business in this area more prosperous, and the merchants on the official road come and go, and there is an endless stream.

At this time, a group of about 500 Sui cavalry rushed from the south, and the soldiers in front shouted: "The people in front of you are waiting to dodge!" ”

The people on the official road were so frightened that they left the official road one after another, making way for a road, and the Sui cavalry rushed through at a rapid pace, rushing towards the Sui army camp in Yiyang County. The camp was miles away, and it was already faintly visible.

The Sui army camp is in the north of Yiyang County, is a barrier-type camp covering an area of about 800 acres, which is the main camp of the Sui army in the entire Central Plains Campaign, and also the command center of the entire campaign.

In the middle of the camp is a large school field of about 200 acres, at this time the school field shouted like thunder, dozens of soldiers were in the horse archery competition, and tens of thousands of soldiers were sitting around the school field. Cheer for your battalion generals.

This is a tradition of the Sui army. As early as in Fengzhou, there was this kind of mounted archery competition, and all the soldiers regardless of military rank, up to the chief Yang Yuanqing. Even ordinary soldiers can sign up for the competition, and after layers of competition elimination and screening, the last 20 people enter the general competition.

It was a form of entertainment for the soldiers. Almost everyone was involved in the competition, so everyone was very concerned about who would end up with the winner.

However, now is not the official competition of the Sui army, without the participation of the Sui army of the East Road and the Sui army of Taiyuan, it is just an entertainment game of the Sui army of the west road, despite this, it still aroused the interest of 50,000 soldiers of the Sui army, and they rushed to the colonel to shout and cheer.

The horses galloped in the prescribed area, the riders drew their bows like a full moon, and their arrows shot like shooting stars. Shoot at a target a hundred paces away.

The competition implements a cruel elimination system, first the straw man 80 steps away, the person who can't shoot the straw man throat is eliminated, followed by the wooden pole, and the person who can't shoot the wooden pole 100 steps away is eliminated.

After two rounds, there were only seven or eight people left, and among these seven or eight people. All the soldiers turned their attention to the two of them, one was the second general Xie Yingdeng, who was known as the second arrow of the Sui army, and the other was the new archer, the young lieutenant Xiao Yannian.

In the Sui army, in addition to Yang Yuanqing, the first arrow in the world, there are also many other archery masters. Such as Su Dingfang, Pei Xingyan, Xie Yingdeng, Wang Junkuo, Qin Qiong and so on.

Among them, Xie Yingdeng's archery skills are the most brilliant, and he can penetrate Yang in 100 steps. It is known as the second arrow of the Sui army, that is, second only to Yang Yuanqing.

This time, other strong archery generals were not in the camp, and everyone thought that Xie Yingdeng would win the battle, but unexpectedly, a young captain Xiao Yannian was killed halfway, and his archery skills were no less than Xie Yingdeng, which aroused the strong interest of tens of thousands of Sui soldiers.

Cinderella's story is often more interesting, except for a few people, no one knows that Xiao Yannian is the son of Yuwen Chengdu.

Yang Yuanqing also sat in the stands with more than a dozen civilian officers, and he found that Xiao Yannian's archery skills were more refined than the last time, so he smiled and said to Yang Wei next to him: "Fat Sanlang, how about we bet?" ”

Yang Wei scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "Didn't the manager give a ban on gambling?" ”

"Huh! My bet has nothing to do with the gambling ban, who do you think Xiao Yannian or Xie Yingdeng will win? ”

Yang Wei thought for a while and said: "Although Xiao Yannian's archery skills look very clever, no less than Xie Yingdeng, he is still slightly inferior in experience and momentum, I still think Xie Yingdeng wins." ”

"Oh well! I'll bet on Xiao Yannian to win, and if I win, the gold wire enamel bottle that your father-in-law gave you will belong to me. ”

Yang Wei's father-in-law is Kangbas, he went back to Samarkand two years ago, Yang Wei's gambling is also very heavy, he has been gambling since he was a child, he suddenly became excited, "Okay! If I win, give me one of your two bottles of the best Dali peach wine. ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "Then we will make a decision!" ”

The two of them made a bet on it, and there was already thunder of joy on the school field, and the horse archery competition had been carried out to the left and right bows, and two wrist-thick wooden stakes were erected a hundred paces away on the left and right, and two arrows must be fired from the left and right within seven drums.

Xie Yingdeng took the lead, and as soon as he entered the shooting area, the drum beat rapidly, 'Boom! Boom! Knock ......' The drum beat rapidly, Xie Yingdeng took out two arrows early, put them on his fingers, and shot an arrow on the left, the arrow was strong.

But he could not wait for the result, so he turned and drew his bow and arrow, and shot one arrow at a rapid run, and shot two arrows in quick succession before the last drum sounded, and rushed out of the shooting zone.

The cheers on both sides were like thunder, and both arrows hit the wooden pole accurately, Xie Yingdeng swept back from the corner of his eye, he wanted to see how Xiao Yannian was.

Xiao Yannian bit his lip tightly, a little nervous in his heart, he took a deep breath, rode out, and the moment he crossed the firing line, the rapid drum also sounded, he also drew two arrows early, one arrow was bitten with his teeth, and when the third drum sounded, he opened his bow and shot the first arrow.

Then he exchanged his hands, turned his body to the left, drew his bow and arrow, and when the sixth drum sounded, another arrow was fired, and the movement was skillful and dashing, as if it were flowing water, and it also shot the two wooden poles with the same accuracy.

The soldiers on both sides suddenly burst into thunder, and even Xie Yingdeng couldn't help but cheer, "Beautiful!" ”

Yang Wei sighed, "The current descendants are much stronger than we were back then, this Xiao Yannian has the style of his father Yuwen Chengdu, and Qin Qiong's son Huaiyu is also a general, only fifteen years old, but he is strong in martial arts, no less than his father, even I was defeated in his hands." ”

Qin Qiong's eldest son Qin Huaiyu has a true inheritance from his father, strong in martial arts, is fifteen years old this year, and has been bent on joining the army with his father since last year.

But Yang Yuanqing has already revised the law, and he is allowed to join the army at the age of sixteen, and now he is studying the art of war in the Chongwen Museum in Taiyuan, and he is also a young general with both civil and military skills.

Yang Yuanqing smiled proudly, "There is one last item to shoot the golden bell, if Xiao Yannian and Xie Yingdeng fight to a draw, but Xiao Yannian is only seventeen years old, and Xie Yingdeng is twenty-eight years old, in this case, it should be Xiao Yannian who wins, so your golden wire enamel bottle will belong to me." ”

Yang Wei reacted at this time, and only after half a ring did he hate and said: "Anyway, you are the one who makes the rules, even if Xie Yingdeng wins, you will temporarily add a rule, not counting the captains and above, then Xiao Yannian will win, bet with you, I really took a big advantage." ”

Yang Yuanqing laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "I'm not such a scoundrel yet." ”

At this time, a soldier rushed over and whispered a few words in Yang Yuanqing's ear, Yang Yuanqing was stunned, and there was a look of surprise in his eyes, "Where are the people?" ”

"The person is already in the deputy account of the Chinese army."

Yang Yuanqing couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart, and he didn't want to watch the cavalry and archery competition anymore, so he got up and walked briskly towards the deputy tent of the Chinese army.

Xie Sili next to him didn't know what was going on, he saw Yang Yuanqing's expression was different, and hurriedly got up and followed.

"Your Highness, what happened?"

"Xu Shiji made a great contribution to me, annihilating 20,000 people in Xiangcheng County and capturing Qu Tutong."

Xie Sili was taken aback, and also became extremely excited, "Then in this way, the time is ripe for a decisive battle on the Eastern Front." ”

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Now wait for Qin Qiong's army to be in place." ”

The two of them said as they walked briskly towards the big tent......

In the deputy tent of the Chinese army, more than a dozen guards stared coldly at Qu Tutong sitting on the couch, and the ropes on Qu Tutong's feet had been untied.

But his hands were still tied behind his back, his eyes were covered with a black cloth, and he was slowly moving his bound numb feet.

At this time, his heart was already very calm, he knew where he was, he was neither afraid nor worried, he had taken life and death lightly, he was more than sixty years old, even if he died, it would be considered the end of his life.

At this time, there was a rush of footsteps outside the tent, the curtain was opened, and more than a dozen guards surrounded Yang Yuanqing and walked in from outside.

Yang Yuanqing saw Qu Tutong sitting on the couch at a glance, he and Qu Tutong were very familiar, when the rebellion of the Han King was quelled, his grandfather Yang Su was the commander, and Qu Tutong was the general.

Later, after he established himself in Fengzhou, Yang Guang sent Qu Tutong to lead 50,000 elite soldiers into Guanbei to contain him.

Yang Yuanqing silently looked at Qu Tutong for a long time, and ordered left and right, "Untie his rope and the blindfold." ”

Several guards stepped forward, untied the rope on Qu Tutong's hand, and removed the black cloth from his eyes, Qu Tutong's eyes were slightly closed, and he moved his wrist gently, without looking at Yang Yuanqing, without saying a word.

"Qu Tugong, let's be okay?" Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly.

Qu Tutong slowly opened his eyes, adapted to the light, stabbed Yang Yuanqing with a sharp gaze, and sneered, "It turned out to be Manager Yang, we really haven't seen each other for many years." ”

Yang Yuanqing didn't avoid his gaze, and only said lightly: "Now that Qu Tugong is a prisoner of my ranks, what are you going to do?" ”

"Kill if you want to, kill if you want, I won't frown."

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said, "Okay! I'll give you two paths, you choose. ”