Li Chun was stunned, "How can it be Khitan?" ”

"Yes! We consider the enemy to be Goguryeo, but we never imagined that the Khitan would intervene sideways. "Yang Shanhui was very worried in his eyes, he was worried that Goguryeo and Khitan would jointly attack Liaodong, and Liucheng would really not be able to hold it."

"How many troops are there in the Khitan, and where are they now?" Li Chun asked again.

"I got the news from Yancheng, there are about forty or fifty thousand people, it is said that their chief personally led the army south, they have broken through Yancheng, looted the city, and now they should be on the way to our Liucheng."

Although most of the soldiers and civilians in Yancheng have moved into Liucheng, there are still thousands of old and weak people and three hundred troops who have not had time to migrate, and it is estimated that they have been slaughtered, Yang Shanhui's heart is very heavy, and he said to Li Chun: "In terms of distance, the Khitan iron cavalry should be killed in Liucheng at noon today, and I am about to close the city gate, please Li Shilang go south immediately, otherwise it will be too late." ”

Li Chun shook his head, "Yang Taishou may not know about my order!" I was ordered to assist in the defense of Liucheng, which includes wartime defense, and I am responsible for it, so I can't obey my orders! ”

"The big war is together, the stray arrows have no eyes, no one can guarantee that they will survive in the war, Li Shilang has done too much for Liucheng, please go back with peace of mind, I will explain to His Royal Highness the King of Qi."

Li Chun laughed, "I've been here for half a year, and I've put a lot of effort into every grass and tree in the city, so many craftsmen get along with me day and night, does Yang Taishou think I'll leave them?" ”

Yang Shanhui looked at Li Chun silently for a moment, and finally nodded, "Since the waiter has made up his mind, then let's help each other in the same boat!" ”

After speaking, Yang Shanhui turned around and went down to the city, only to hear him order loudly: "Install the iron gate, and no one will be allowed to enter or leave the city from now on!" ”

Liaodong entered a state of combat readiness in October last year, before the heavy snow closed the road, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians of Yan County all moved to Liucheng and Beiping County, according to Zhang Xuan's order, more than 100,000 old, weak and young children of Yan County and Liucheng County moved into Beiping County, leaving only about 30,000 young men and women and 10,000 troops stationed in Liucheng, and 10,000 garrisons in Youzhou also blocked the passages of Liaodong into Hebei.

Although Zhang Xuan did not say it explicitly, the generals and officials guarding Liucheng understood that their task was to contain the Goguryeo army attacking Liaodong and create an opportunity for the Sui army to attack Goguryeo.

The day gradually dawned, and the inside of Liucheng began to get nervous, although they had had two similar drills before, but this time it was a real big battle, there were 10,000 troops in the city, including 3,000 defenders of Yan County, unified by the general Duan Xianda, and 20,000 militias, and the militia was commanded by Lu Chifeng, the county leader.

There were also 10,000 young women, who were responsible for cooking and transporting supplies for the defense of the city, and all the houses near the city walls were demolished to prevent them from being burned down by fire.

10,000 troops and 20,000 militia regiments have gone to the city, and this time the defense of Liucheng has also been fully prepared, the city can hold on to food for five months, there is a large amount of mutton in the ice cellar, and all kinds of armor, bows and arrows and rolling wood and stones are piled up in the warehouse.

Thanks to Li Chun's various designs, there are 240 heavy trebuchets, 180 stone cannons, and 400 bed crossbows on the city wall.

The moat was also dug three zhang wide and one zhang deep, and Li Chun changed it into a dry ditch, which was filled with sharp stakes, and the army also sprinkled a large number of thistle thorns in the field outside the city to deal with the cavalry.

In the afternoon, there were bursts of low horns in the field, and the Khitan army finally came

Ten miles away in the field, a team of cavalry galloped back and forth, raised their heads and blew the antlers, the low trumpet continued to echo in the field, not far behind them, the murderous Khitan cavalry boundless lineup, at the front of the team, twelve gods, twelve flags, twelve giant drums in turn, especially the twelve gods, that is, twelve thick spears, with the wolf's tail as the tassel, this is the Khitan chieftain's guard of honor, going out, sacrifices, and the great court meeting will appear.

After the guard of honor, it was the Khitan chieftain who grew up in Heluluo, who was about forty-seven or eight years old, with a medium stature, a wide face, heavy eyebrows and deep eyes, and a dignified appearance, he served as the Khitan chief for 20 years, descending to the Turks in the north, and Goguryeo in the east, so that he was left and right, and the Khitan gradually became stronger under his governance, with more than 100,000 people with armor, and became a powerful tribe in the eastern Liaodong region.

This attack on Liaodong was instigated by the Goguryeo Moli Zhiyuan Taizuo, of course, it was also the result of the expansion of Daga Daluo's ambitions, the Sui Dynasty was in chaos, everyone in Liaodong could get it, and how could the Khitan be left behind?

Dahe Luofa sent 50,000 elite soldiers, plus 20,000 subordinate Xi soldiers, and 5,000 people from Gao Kaidao, a total of 75,000 troops, they attacked Yanjun first, and after finding that Yancheng was empty, they immediately turned west and swooped towards Liucheng.

Oga Tara was followed by his youngest son, Oga You, his most beloved son, only sixteen years old, who would take him with him wherever he went.

In addition, there is Su Zhi, the chief general of the Xi people, who is also the young chief of the Xi people, about 20 years old, holding a big sword, burly and strong in martial arts.

On the other side are the left and right governors of the Khitan, the left Sun Ao Cao and the right governor An Lu, as well as the Liaodong thief Shou Gao Kaidao.

Although Gao Kaidao was a distant royal family of Goguryeo, he was actually Yuan Taizuo's person, and this time Yuan Taizuo asked Gao Kaidao to persuade Dahe Duluo to send troops to Liaodong and disrupt the deployment of Gao Yuan, the king of Yingyang.

Dahe Duluo saw Liucheng from a distance, he waved his hand, the army stopped, he stared at Liucheng for a moment, and couldn't help snorting coldly, "A small city with a big nose, dare to stop my Khitan iron horse, or slaughter this city to give the Central Plains Liwei!" ”

He turned around and ordered, "General Anlu, shoot it first with an arrow array!" ”

"Obey!"

The right governor An Lu got the order, and he immediately turned around and waved his flag, "Follow me!" ”

Five thousand iron horsemen followed the general An Lu to Liucheng, ten miles away, the cavalry was huge, five thousand iron horsemen were like a rolling torrent to kill the city, the huge sound of horses' hooves echoed on the grassland like a muffled thunder, and the overwhelming dust covered the sky.

This is the Khitan's consistent combat method, whether it is a siege or a field battle, first use the iron cavalry to create a huge momentum to deter the opponent, and then cooperate with the cavalry shooting, no one can survive under the powerful and dense arrow array.

The Khitan cavalry wore hair and faces, wore leather armor, held bows and arrows, and looked fierce and vicious, and 5,000 such fierce and evil people rushed wildly, which would also cause a great psychological impact on the enemy.

The five thousand iron horsemen were getting closer and closer to the city, and there was a ridge about two miles from the city, less than three feet high, which seemed to be a ridge, and there was a shallow ditch on the periphery, but for the cavalry, this kind of obstruction was hardly a concern, and the hundreds of cavalry who were in the front jumped over one after another, and continued to run forward.

Just after they ran dozens of steps, an accident happened suddenly, and several war horses running in front suddenly neighed and fell forward, and the fallen war horses mixed with the dozens of war horses behind, and the war horses and cavalry fell one after another.

But the accident was not accidental, hundreds of cavalry on the other side fell down three times in a row, and the later large group of iron cavalry could not stop, and the galloping war horses trampled on the fallen cavalry, and the soldiers were suddenly blurred with blood and flesh, and the screams were loud, and the cavalry behind were so frightened that they turned their horses' heads and ran northward, not daring to continue to march in the direction of the city.

The sudden change took Oga Tara by surprise, and everyone looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.

At this time, Gao Kaidao suddenly said: "There must be thistles on the ground." ”

Daga Duluo suddenly realized that trapping horses and thistle thorns are all effective means of dealing with war horses, it must be like this, a moment, a cavalryman galloped back and handed a thistle thorn to Daga Duluo, "Khan, this is it!" ”

Dahe Duluo took the thistle thorn, the tribulus terrestris thorn was about the size of a pine cone, covered with short thorns, but what really threatened the war horse was four long thorns, the thistle terrestris fell to the ground, there was always a long thorn upward, each thorn was about two inches long, extremely sharp, such an iron pierced into the hoof, no war horse could bear it.

"Bastard!"

He gritted his teeth with hatred, he hated this vicious method the most, and if he was allowed to enter the city, he swore to cut off the head of every man, and let the war horse trample to pieces, so as to relieve the hatred in his heart.

But the reality is here, the Sui army doesn't know how many thistles have been sprinkled, how can his cavalry advance?

At this time, Gao Kaidao persuaded: "It's better to camp first, and attack the city together when the baggage comes." ”

Dahe Duluo nodded, "General Gao and the Sui army have been at war for many years, and they should know how to sweep away the thistle thorns, and this task will be handed over to you." ”

He didn't care whether Gao Kaidao agreed or not, he immediately turned around and ordered: "Set up camp five miles away!" ”

(To be continued.) )