The morning was clear, the sun had not yet risen, and there was still a chill in the air, and there were layers of faint mist floating in the fields and in the canals, and the trees were so dark that it was difficult to see through the mist -- the woods inside and outside.

But from the woods, he could clearly see the fleet on the river, Pei Xingyan's expression was solemn, and there was a kind of pressure in his eyes that could not be concealed, he was very aware of the role of fire oil in war, especially the sharp weapon against heavy infantry and heavy cavalry.

It is precisely because of this that the chief manager attaches great importance to it and sends him to carry out this task, otherwise it will be enough to send an ordinary eagle general.

The canal is wide, although the crossbow arrows can barely hit the boats, but it is of little significance, as long as the channel of the enemy ships is slightly eastward, their mission will fail, Xiao Yannian said in a low voice beside him: "General, we can use water ghosts to dive under the water to scuttle the shipwreck." ”

Pei Xingyan shook his head, "Although this plan is possible, it is time-consuming and laborious, and once it is discovered by the enemy, it is easy to lead to the failure of the entire mission, which is not the best strategy." ”

Zhang Ju, a scout next to him, said, "Or, let's release the boat from upstream and set it on fire when we get close to the enemy ship." ”

Pei Xingyan thought about it, but still denied it, "Arson is a good way, but our ships may not be able to get close to the enemy ships, and this plan is not too appropriate." ”

Xiao Yannian wanted to say more, but Pei Xingyan smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "No need to say more, I already have a way, you take a dozen brothers to patrol the front, if Dou Jiande sends troops to pick up the boat, you notify me immediately." ”

Xiao Yannian nodded, got up and took a dozen brothers to ride along the path and run north.

Pei Xingyan stared at the fleet, and it wasn't until the fleet disappeared from his field of vision that he turned back and said to the soldiers: "Rest for half an hour, and then set off!" ”

……

Pei Xingyan was not in a hurry to catch up with the fleet, but led the army to follow from afar, never entering the line of sight of the fleet, the Ermen of Yongji Canal was too wide, which was not conducive to his attack, if the attack was alerted by the other party, the other party only needed to stop the boat on the opposite bank, and he would have nothing to do.

Raids are like wild beasts hunting their prey, they require patience to find the best opportunity and then hit them.

As night fell, the fleet entered the territory of Yinggao County, which was still five or six miles away from the county seat, but the fleet was about to turn around at the place called Sanli Bridge, and would leave the Yongji Canal and enter the branch canal.

This branch canal was dug by Dou Jiande last year, called the Yinle Canal, which is about 50 miles long, and crosses the Zhangshui River during the period to reach Leshou County, and the branch canal is about 10 zhang wide, and has completely covered the range of arrows.

On both sides of the canal are endless plains, with farmland and villages, and from which countless irrigation ditches are drawn, and huge bucket groove waterwheels stand on the side of the canal, driven by the wind, slowly turning, directing the water of the canal into the irrigation ditch and moistening the fertile land on both sides.

The soldiers on the flotilla all showed tired expressions, and after two days and two nights of sailing, the flotilla will arrive in Leshou County tomorrow morning, and they can sleep well.

However, many people's hearts are full of worries: A big war is about to break out in Leshou County, will they be able to escape this catastrophe?

There are also many people who look up at the starry sky and look for their Pleiades in the lonely and boring night, to see if it is bright and whether it has become dim.

At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves was heard in the distance, as if a series of thunderbolts were constantly exploding, which was caused by the galloping of thousands of war horses.

The slender men on the shore stopped and looked south in horror, their sluggish and numb feet still palpably feeling the shaking of the earth.

The soldiers on the ship also stood up, drew their swords, and nervously searched around, they did not know whether it was their own cavalry or the enemy who was sneaking up at night.

In the south, dense black spots appeared in the woods, and in the misty fields, it looked like a group of wandering elves or spirits.

But they were not elves, nor spirits, but hordes of murderous cavalry, rushing at lightning speed, getting closer and closer, and the sound of horses' hooves shattered the silence of the night.

"When! While! When "a shrill siren sounded from the bow of the ship, and the soldiers on board were in a panic, and many of them even jumped into the water and swam to the opposite shore, the slender men were already so frightened that they ran for their lives, and the fleet lost power and anchored in the canal.

In the darkness of the night, the flotilla of arrows was fired at the flotilla, and the cavalry came and went as swift as a black wind, and the soldiers of the flotilla also raised their fire back, but the three-mile flotilla seriously distracted the defenders of the ship from fighting back, and their bows and arrows did not pose a threat to the cavalry on the shore.

At this moment, the situation changed, and the arrows fired by the Sui cavalry turned into rockets, and clusters of fire were shot from the shore, so dense that they flew into the sky like bursting smoke.

Ships were set on fire one after another, and large ships burned in the canals, and among them, the boats suddenly burst into flames, pouring a large amount of fire oil out of the boats, turning the entire surface of the water into a sea of fire, instantly engulfing dozens of soldiers who had no time to escape.

The other ship also burst into flames, and most of the soldiers guarding the ship did not know what they were chasing, and this terrible fire frightened everyone into the water, and they jumped into the water to flee for their lives.

On the south bank, there were still countless rockets fired at the ships, and almost all of them were ignited, at this time, Xiao Yannian rushed over and shouted: "General Pei, the enemy's 20,000 reinforcements are already ten miles away." ”

Pei Xingyan's eyes were cold, as if he hadn't heard anything, and kept ordering the soldiers to shoot the boats, until all the boats were ignited, he gave the order in a loud voice: "Evacuate!" ”

The three thousand cavalry quickly turned their horses and ran into the darkness, and in a moment they ran away without a trace.

A quarter of an hour later, a receiving army of 8,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry, led by the general Cao Zhan, finally arrived, but what they saw was a sea of fire on the river, and the fleet of ships about three miles long had turned into a fiery dragon, which stunned everyone.

……

……

As soon as dawn came, the news that 100 warships had been attacked and burned by the Sui army reached Dou Jiande's camp, and this news made Dou Jiande very angry, and ordered the lieutenant in charge of escorting the ships to be pushed out and beheaded, and all the soldiers who had escaped back were each beaten with 100 sticks, and Cao Zhan, who was slow to respond, was also given 30 lashes and demoted.

-- One morning, Dou Jiande's heart was extremely irritable, -- he might not be so annoyed about the military resources of 100 ships, the key was that 2,000 barrels of oil were destroyed, which made his heart ache greatly, and this was the military funds that Li Mi promised to give him after he repeatedly negotiated with Li Mi, and he was going to use them to deal with the heavy armored cavalry of the Sui army, but they were unexpectedly destroyed in Dan.

The disastrous defeat at Zhuoxian -- the loss of Qilipo and the destruction of military resources -- a series of defeats made Dou Jiande's confidence begin to waver, and he felt that it was difficult for him to win this battle, and he began to realize that he had made a major strategic mistake, and he should not have placed the battlefield in Leshou County, but should have retreated south to Bohai County, or entered Douzigang, and used the complicated swampy terrain of Douzigang to confront the Sui army.

However, at that time, he wanted to fight for Hebei, and did not want to give up the territory, he wanted to concentrate 300,000 troops to defeat the Sui army, and he thought very well, but the cruel reality told him that even if he concentrated 300,000 troops, he would still not be the opponent of the Sui army.

Dou Jiande was pacing back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back, and at this time, the voice of the mastermind Kong Deshao came from the ear of the tent, "Lord Wang, can you come in?" ”

"Come in!"

Dou Jiande's heart rose with a line of hope, maybe Kong Deshao could give a good suggestion, the curtain was lifted, and Kong Deshao walked in.

"Lord, are you still annoyed by the burning of the ship?"

Dou Jiande sighed, "I'm not annoyed that the ship was burned, I'm frustrated by the successive defeats, to be honest, I'm almost out of confidence." ”

Kong Deshao smiled and hugged him and said, "Lord Wang, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, in the past, Chu and Han fought for hegemony, Liu Bang lost consecutive battles, and finally succeeded in the battle, not to mention that the real defeat of the prince is only twice, the main force is still there, and the war has not yet started to be frustrated, this is not the character of the prince!" ”

In fact, Dou Jiande's character is tenacious and tenacious, and he did not give up despite repeated setbacks, so that he finally unified Hebei and became the final winner among the heroes of Hebei.

However, this time he lost confidence out of deep fear of Yang Yuanqing and the Sui army, including the fact that Yang Yuanqing shot him with an arrow by the Yongji Canal, which also left a shadow on his heart.

Dou Jiande slowly walked to the sand table and looked at the city of Leshou County in a daze, and he planted a flag behind Qilipo and Qilipo, indicating that it was where the Sui army was.

He suddenly turned around and asked, "May I ask sir, if I withdraw the battlefield south now, is it feasible?" ”

Kong Deshao shook his head, "I understand the prince's mood of wanting to retreat the battlefield south, but this is not realistic, the 300,000 army is not so easy to retreat, even if the army retreats, what about the hundreds of thousands of stone grain?" Without food, how long can the army be supported? And the main force of the Sui army is so close to us, will they not pursue? ”

Kong Deshao -- A series of questions hit Dou Jiande's vital point, and he also knew that it was too late to withdraw the troops, unless he fled overnight and escaped the Yellow River, he sighed, squatted down and hugged his head, and the anxiety in his heart was about to force him to go crazy.

Kong Deshao pondered and said: "Lord Wang, why can't we send an army to bypass the main force of the Sui army, directly attack Shanggu County, destroy the Sui army's backup materials, and then enter Hedong from Feihu Cheng to encircle Wei and save Zhao's strategy, and directly attack the nest of the Sui army!" ”

Dou Jiande's eyes slowly lit up, the main force of the Sui army is in Hebei, and Hedong must be empty, even if he can't take Taiyuan City, he can be greatly harassed in Hedong and force Yang Yuanqing to withdraw his troops, thinking of this, he stood up suddenly, "Sir, this plan is wonderful, how could I not think of it?" ”

Kong Deshao smiled slightly, "It's not that the prince didn't expect it, but we have too few cavalry, only 30,000 cavalry, and cavalry is necessary to carry out this task, at least 20,000 cavalry, does the prince dare to make this bet?" ”

Dou Jiande pondered for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "I can't bear the child to catch the wolf, 30,000 cavalry, I bet on this bet." ”

"Come on, order Gao Yaxian to come to see me!"