Hekou City is located in the east of the fork of the Yellow River in the north and south, close to the South Yellow River, it is the first city to enter Fengzhou from Lingzhou Chi Road, and it is also the intersection of Fengzhou North and South Chi Road, it has an extremely important strategic position, take Hekou City, the Turkic army will have no obstacles, can go straight to Lingwu County, it can be said that it is also the last shield of Lingwu County.

Hekou City is a new city built in the fifth year of the Great Cause, with a circumference of fifteen miles, the city is tall and strong, and the food and various military supplies are well stocked, and it is guarded by the veteran generals Pei Renji and Pei Xingyan.

According to the initial deployment of troops, Dali City had 30,000 Sui troops and 10,000 militia groups; Yongfeng City has 10,000 Sui troops and 5,000 militias; Jiuyuan City has 15,000 Sui troops and 5,000 militias; Hekou City had 10,000 troops, 10,000 militias, and Li Jing led 5,000 cavalry as peripheral support.

However, with the destruction of Yongfeng City, the situation in Hekou City became severe, and Yang Yuanqing ordered to abandon Jiuyuan City and concentrate his troops in Hekou City, which increased the strength of Hekou City to more than 30,000 people, and the militia increased to 15,000.

And the Turkic army also invested 90,000 troops to attack the estuary city, day and night to attack the city, 20 days of tug-of-war offensive and defensive battles were extremely tragic, the head of the city was captured by the Turks several times, and was recaptured by the Sui army several times, the Sui army paid the price of more than 20,000 dead and wounded, and the Turkic army also suffered nearly 40,000 casualties, both sides suffered heavy losses, but the red flag of the Great Sui still stood at the head of the city.

The sky has just dawned, the morning glow will dye the estuary city with a layer of dazzling blood red, the morning wind can not disperse the bloody air in the air, and the red flag of the Great Sui that was shot by arrows is hunting and fluttering on the city tower.

At the head of the city, the exhausted Sui soldiers were huddled together and asleep, so tired that the steamed buns and broth brought up by the militia soldiers could not wake them up from their slumber.

The veteran Pei Renji rode a horse to patrol the city, Pei Xingyan followed behind him, Pei Renji's snow-white hair poked out of his helmet, fluttering in the wind, it was his decades of experience in leading the army and steady combat style, so that the city of Hekou has always stood firm in the stormy attack of the Turkic army. At the critical moment, this battle-hardened veteran played the role of a needle in the sea.

Pei Xingyan looked at the exhausted soldiers, and he cautiously suggested, "Father, should we divide the soldiers into two armies." Rotate rest and defense, and the manager said that the city of Dali also defends like this. ”

Pei Renji smiled and said: "The governor just told us that Dali City was defended like this, but he didn't ask us to do the same, it was clearly written in his order, and I was solely responsible for everything, because he knew that the city defense situation in each place was different." Dali City has three defensive cities, while Estuary City has only one defensive city, and it will not be able to hold it if the army is halved, and it is possible to hold the city only if all the troops are invested. ”

Pei Xingyan sighed and said worriedly: "I'm just afraid that the soldiers won't be able to hold on, after all, it's been twenty days." ”

Pei Renji shook his head and smiled: "You! It's just not thoughtful enough, and we can't hold on. Could it be that the Turkic soldiers were beaten with iron? They can't hold on either, and it's up to them to see who can survive to the end, and I know in my heart. We still have 20,000 troops and 5,000 militias, and the ratio of troops has reached two to one, and as long as there is no major mistake in defense, they will definitely not be able to capture the estuary in the end. ”

At this moment, an eagle circled down from the sky, chirped twice in the sky, and landed on the shoulder of the eagle slave, who took the letter from under its feet, rushed forward, and presented the letter to Pei Renji.

Bae Renji glanced at the letterbox. It was the manager Yang Yuanqing who wrote it to him, and he immediately took out the yarn silk from the letterbox, looked at it carefully, and the corners of his mouth slowly showed a knowing smile.

"Father, what's wrong?" Pei Xingyan asked impatiently.

"See for yourself!"

Pei Renji handed him the letter, and Pei Xingyan took the letter and read it. Yang Yuanqing asked them to hold off the Turkic army attacking Hekou City as much as possible, and reinforcements from Lingwu County were about to arrive.

"You get the idea! The Turkic superiority in forces is no longer large, and the time for our counteroffensive is coming. ”

Pei Xingyan looked back at the city, three miles away, the Turkic army assembled again, he couldn't help laughing, "It's too short, and it's too long to attack the enemy, this may be a portrayal of the Turkic army, such a strong cavalry army is not needed, but it came to attack Jiancheng." ”

"They also have no way, in the Central Plains there will always be Sui traitors and cowards to give up the city, but there is no in Fengzhou, Fengzhou is strong and clear, they can only attack the city, in fact, Shibi Khan does not want to fight siege warfare, he wants to lead the governor out of Dali City, there is only one way, capture the estuary city, the Turkic army goes south, the governor can only go out of the city to pursue, but now it is different, the Turkic army has been killed and wounded more than thirty percent, if there is no result, he may not be able to sit down in the position of Khan."

As soon as Pei Renji's words fell, the drums of the Turkic army suddenly sounded, 'Knock! Boom! Boom! Drums thundered, Turkic soldiers poured in like a tidal wave, and the 50,000 Turkic army once again launched a frenzied attack on the city of the estuary.

Twenty huge body ladders in thousands of horses pulled, slowly towards the city wall, ladders are a kind of large siege ladders, divided into base and ladders, the base is two zhang wide, three zhang long, there are six wooden wheels, and the ladder is one zhang five feet wide, four zhang to five zhang long, is made of twenty giant wood rivets side by side, and then buckles together with a huge hinge and the ground seat, covered with thick cowhide.

When the base is close to the city wall, hundreds of Turkic soldiers pull the iron chain back, and the ladder will be pulled up and tilted on the city wall, and the huge iron hook behind will hook the battlement of the city wall, and the Turkic soldiers will rush to the city head along the ladder in groups.

This ladder was a killer weapon for the Turkic siege, but it was expensive, and the Turkic army did not have many of them, and it was not used in Dali City, but it was used for the third time in Estuary City.

The hundred heavy trebuchets at the head of the estuary were all completely damaged, unable to bombard the approach of the ladder with boulders, only a few dozen stone cannons and some bed crossbows, but the stone cannons and bed crossbows could not cope with this huge siege machine, and could only watch as they approached the city walls.

Pei Xingyan rushed to the top of the city and shouted: "Fire oil ready!" ”

Barrels of fire oil were carried up to the city by the militia soldiers, and now only the fire oil is an effective means to deal with the ladder, 20,000 Sui soldiers and 5,000 militia troops all went to the city to fight, of which 10,000 soldiers fired arrows down at the head of the city, while the other 15,000 people stood in line at the head of the city with long contradictory cards.

The oil was only effective against the besieging Turkic army, but could not damage the ladders covered with thick cowhide.

Arrows at the head of the city are like rain, rolling wood and stones are like hail down, tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers hold shields in their hands, push the ladder to come slowly, a piece of Turkic soldiers were shot down and knocked over, heavy casualties, the Turkic archers under the city also began to counterattack on a large scale, there are constantly Sui soldiers screaming and falling from the city, death for the Turkic soldiers, has been numb, the same is true for the Sui soldiers, they all have only one belief, capture the city, or hold the city.

The ladder rushed through the filled moat, slowly stopped, and hundreds of Turkic soldiers pulled the iron chains, fell on the base, and the ladder rose like a dragon, and fell on the city wall, smashing the city head into rubble, and then slowly retreated, allowing the big iron hook to hook the city head.

Countless Turkic soldiers with shields and swords in their hands climbed the ladder, frantically charged to the city, barrels of fire oil poured from the city, black viscous fire oil flowed down the ladder, and then the tongue of fire rose into the air, a sea of fire on the ladder, hundreds of Turkic soldiers who rushed in front were burned and howled and rolled down, but there were still countless Turks who braved the flames and rushed to the city to start a bloody fight with the Sui army.

More and more Turkic troops rushed to the city, and the two armies fought bloody battles at the city

Surrounded by hundreds of guards, Ashina, the commander of the Turkic army attacking Hekou City, stood on horseback on a mound, watching the fierce battle at the head of the city with anxious eyes.

His heart was full of helplessness and worry, he once persuaded the Khan that the Turkic army could abandon Fengzhou, abandon Lingwu County, no longer consider the logistical burden, sweep through Guannei, Longyou and Guanzhong, and feed the war with war, can plunder a lot of wealth and children, and can also avoid Fengzhou when returning, this Turkic army can gain huge benefits without any losses.

But his brother did not listen to his own advice, and was bent on annihilating Yang Yuanqing and completely destroying Yang Yuanqing's forces, and did not hesitate to give up the powerful cavalry of the Turkic army, and launched a siege war with the Sui army in Fengzhou, which the Turkic army was not good at.

Of course, Ashina also understands his brother's strategic intentions, when the entire Great Sui is in chaos and has gradually become a fish on the Turkic case, only Yang Yuanqing of Fengzhou is still a hard bone, a thorn in the belly of the Turks, if he is not eradicated, the Turks will not be able to enjoy the incomparably delicious fat of the Great Sui.

Just like he suggested giving up Fengzhou and Lingwu County and sweeping Guannei, Longyou and Guanzhong, but his brother's answer made some sense, "If you don't care about Fengzhou going south, Yang Yuanqing will definitely send heavy troops to sweep the Turks, and kill them bloodily." ’

Ashina sighed aggressively, such a vicious battle with Yang Yuanqing regardless of casualties would greatly weaken the strength of the Turks, and how would they deal with the increasingly powerful Western Turks and Utu at that time?

In the final analysis, it was the wrong time for the eldest brother to launch the Battle of Fengzhou, and they should wait for Yang Yuanqing to participate in the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains and the troops were pinned down in the Central Plains, and then attack Fengzhou, then they would not be as embarrassed as they are now, they would not suffer heavy losses like this, and they would still be able to return with a full load.

At this moment, a soldier pointed to the camp behind him and shouted in horror: "Teller, look! ”

Two miles away, the fire in the empty Turkic camp was blazing, thousands of Sui cavalry galloped and set fire in the camp, cutting cattle and sheep in the sheep and horse pen, and the thousands of Turkic soldiers who remained in the camp were fighting with the enemy, and they could not stop the attack of the Sui army.

A centurion rushed to report, "Report to Teller, the cavalry of the Sui army suddenly killed from behind, about 10,000 people, the camp is empty, we can't resist it." ”

Ashina was so angry that he almost fainted, and he yelled, "Collect the troops!" ”

'When! While! While! The bell rang to collect the troops, and the Turkic soldiers who were fighting with the Sui army on the ladder rushed down the city, but the thousands of people who boarded the city were difficult to withdraw, and all were killed by the Sui army.

The Sui army at the head of the city cheered, Pei Renji smiled, this is the reinforcements from Lingwu County led by Li Jing arrived.