The strength of the Sui army in the area of Huoyi is not very strong, the previous garrison is only about 10,000 people, this time to pave the way for the Northern Expedition, but only to add 2,000 people, although the strength is one of the main forces of the Hedong Military Region, but it is never strong enough, in front of the Taiyuan Army South Route Army, which is not too strong, there is more than enough self-preservation, but it is far from enough to take the entire Sparrow Mouse Valley alone.

The deployment of troops in the Hedong Military Region was originally arranged by Liu Heimin himself, and of course he knew this, so even if he secretly came to the Huoyi battlefield to command, Liu Heimin did not dare to hope that he could take the Bird Mouse Valley before the main force went north, and the plan was just to take advantage of Li Er's character weakness of liking to take risks, and take the opportunity to severely damage Li Er's line in the field battle, make a good start for the army's Northern Expedition, and also strive to kill Li Er, a dangerous and strong enemy that even Chen Fuliang was deeply afraid of.

On the second day of smuggling artillery to the north, which was also the day of February 28 in the third year of Yining, a whole day passed, and the Li Second Army stationed in Lingshi did not move, except for continuing to build the fortifications of the Bird Mouse Valley, there was no superfluous action, and at the same time, there was no sign of the Taiyuan Army Duan Lun stationed in Jiexiu going south. In this regard, Wang Xingben and Cao Qing, who didn't believe that Li Er dared to take risks, inevitably doubted Liu Heimin's analysis and judgment of the enemy's situation, but Liu Heimin didn't care, and smiled This is normal, if Duan Lun and Li Er are determined to go out of the valley to fight, only if they are stupid will they expose the signs of gathering troops to Lingshi, so Liu Heimin not only ordered the whole army to tighten guard at night, but also asked the scouts to closely monitor Lingshi, so as to prevent Duan Lun's army from quietly going south to increase Lingshi at night.

What happened next made Liu Heimin a little surprised, around four watches that night, when he was sleeping soundly in the military tent, his love general Cao Qing, who had been pulled up from the army, suddenly came to the tent to ask for a meeting, and the soldiers hesitated whether to wake up Liu Heimin in the middle of the night, but Liu Heimin, who had been awakened, thought that something big had happened, and hurriedly ordered to summon him, but Liu Heimin got up in his clothes, Cao Qing had already rushed to Liu Heimin's bedside, and whispered to Liu Heimin: "Yu Dashuai, Lingshi County Commander Zhang Dezheng, He sent his brother-in-law Tang Jin as an envoy to the south overnight to ask General Wang Xingben, the commander of our army, saying that he had something important to report to General Wang. The last general is on duty tonight, and has sent someone to inform General Wang, and has come to report to you again. ”

"Lingshi County ordered Zhang Dezheng to send an envoy to ask for a meeting?" Liu Heimin was stunned at first, and then hurriedly asked, "Did you have any contact with this Zhang Dezheng before?" Do you know anything about this person? ”

"There is some understanding." Cao Qing nodded and replied: "Zhang Dezheng is a native of Pingyao, Xihe County, his family has been doing business for generations, and he has been recommended by Li Yuan's henchman Wu Shi Tong to join the office, and the administration attaches great importance to business, in order to make the trade route unblocked, Wu Shi Tong took the initiative to contact Wu Cong, the commander of Huoyi County, and bought goods in exchange for Wu County's order to persuade the last general to reopen the trade route, and Wu County's order told the last general and others the truth, because our army needs timber, fur, cattle and sheep in the north, and also in order to facilitate spying on the enemy's military situation, the last general and others have reopened trade with your consent before buying money, Wu County Ling also had some private contact with Zhang Dezheng with the secret permission of the last general, so that he could use it later. ”

"Do a good job, know yourself and know your opponent to win a hundred battles." After Liu Heimin praised him, Wang Xingben, the honorary commander of the Huoyi Sui army, also hurried to Liu Heimin's sleeping tent to ask for an order, Liu Heimin thought about it a little more, and ordered: "You don't have to bring him to see me, and don't let him know that I have come to Huoyi in person, you go to see him together to see what he means, and if he makes any requests...... ”

"We said that we would discuss, and then come back and ask you for advice." Cao Qing hurriedly replied.

"No, promise him!" Liu Heimin waved his hand resolutely and said, "No matter what request he makes, you can agree to him on the spot, stabilize him for the time being, and then come back and report to me." ”

Wang Xingben and Cao Qing promised, and then immediately went to the big tent of the Chinese army to meet Zhang Dezheng's envoy, Liu Heimin was completely sleepy, sat down on the bookcase and waited, and sneered: "Sure enough, I want to see what tricks you Li Erlang can play!" ”

Liu Heimin may have misunderstood this time, after a period of time, Wang Xingben and Cao Qing both rushed into Liu Heimin's bedroom with happy faces, Wang Xingben presented a letter to Liu Heimin in front of him, and couldn't wait to say: "Handsome, happy!" Zhang Dezheng came to ask for the surrender of the city, and also gave us the thief army's Bird Mouse Valley defense map and many thieves' secrets, as long as we send troops to Lingshi City, he will open the city gate to welcome us into the city! ”

"Please surrender the city? Really? ”

Liu Heimin was full of doubts, and hurriedly read the letter with the help of the oil lamp, but what surprised Liu Heimin was that Zhang Dezheng, the commander of Lingshi County, in addition to taking the initiative to surrender and expressing his willingness to sacrifice the city, really reported three very important military information to the army, the first is that the Taiyuan army has indeed discovered that the Sui army secretly sent artillery to Huoyi, and the second is that after Li Er heard that the Sui army's artillery arrived in Huoyi, he immediately went north overnight to report to Duan Lun for help, wanting to pull Duan Lun to highlight the surprise soldiers, and first attack the Sui army camp to seize the artillery.

The third military situation is even more important, Duan Lun not only categorically rejected Li Er's request to venture into battle, but also secretly ordered Zhang Dezheng to secretly monitor Li Er's family's every move, and once he found that Li Er's army had signs of venturing south, he should immediately report to Duan Lun! And Zhang Dezheng knew that the Sui army's artillery had arrived in Huoyi, and the small city of Lingshi was difficult to defend, and he saw that the Li family's brothers and uncles were still unwilling to work together when the enemy was present, and they still had to fight for power and profit and intrigue, so he made up his mind to surrender to the Sui army when the leading party surrendered, and was unwilling to bury the Li family in Taiyuan, who was doomed to defeat.

Not to mention, Liu Heimin really couldn't tell whether Zhang Dezheng's surrender was true or false this time, and he couldn't see through whether he wanted to lure the snake out of the hole and lure the enemy deep for Li Er, or if he was really determined to surrender to the self-army because he knew that the old Li family was running out. Wang Xingben over there couldn't help but unfold the enemy defense map sent by Zhang Dezheng on his own initiative, and said: "Marshal, Zhang Dezheng's surrender should be true, he secretly drew a map of the thief army dedicated to us, which is not only the same as that of our army scouts, but also marks two thief army bunkers that our scouts have not found so far, as well as the mountain paths leading to these two secret forts. ”

"Also, Zhang Dezheng's brother-in-law Tang Jin also took the initiative to say that he is willing to stay in our army as a hostage." Cao Qing added: "If Zhang Dezheng did not open the city gate to welcome our army into the city when my army was under Lingshi City, Tang Jin was willing to accept any punishment from our army!" ”

Carefully looking at the Taiyuan army defense map sent by Zhang Dezheng on his own initiative, as well as looking at Zhang Dezheng's handwritten letter over and over again, Liu Heimin didn't say a word for a long time, Cao Qing and Wang Xingben were a little anxious, Cao Qing hurriedly said: "The last general also suspected that this was the enemy's trick to lure the enemy, but this risk is worth taking, Zhang Dezheng's sincerity in asking for surrender is almost impossible to fake, as long as we take Lingshi City, it is equivalent to taking most of the Bird Mouse Valley, and when our main force goes north to attack Taiyuan, it will be much easier." ”

"Dashuai, we should take this risk." Wang Xingben also said: "And the danger of entering the Lingshi is actually not great, our army has been stationed here for almost half a year, and the scouts have long been familiar with the terrain of the Sparrow and Mouse Valley south of the Lingshi, as long as more scouts are sent to explore the possible ambushes on the highlands on both sides, and advance cautiously, even if there are ambushes, they can easily deal with it." But if we don't seize this opportunity, seize the time and hurry up to take Lingshi City, and wait until the main force of the thief army goes south to deploy defenses, and the construction of the thief army fortifications is completed, and then we want to take the spirit stone and break through the Bird Mouse Valley, we don't know how much price we will have to pay. ”

Here we must introduce the situation of the Lingshi, the Lingshi is located in the middle of the Bird Mouse Valley, is the only mountain basin in the lofty mountains and mountains in the Bird Mouse Valley, the basin area is about 7,000 acres, suitable for the soldiers to settle grain, but also the Sui Army's Northern Expedition to Taiyuan is the only way, the strategic location is very important, since ancient times it is a place where soldiers must fight, if the Sui Army can take the Lingshi City, it is not only equivalent to controlling most of the Bird Mouse Valley, the Taiyuan Army relies on the Bird Mouse Valley is only one Jiexiu City to defend, The main force of the Sui army quickly broke through the defense line of the Taiyuan Army's Bird Mouse Valley, which was beneficial and harmless. Therefore, after seeing the opportunity to take Lingshi City in advance, Wang Xingben and Cao Qing were so excited and eager.

Therefore, in the case that it is basically impossible to distinguish the sincerity of Zhang Dezheng's request, Zhiyong Shuangquan is as good as Liu Heimin, and it is inevitable that he will be greatly moved, and after thinking about it for a long time, Liu Heimin can't help but decide to give it a try, and said: "Okay, then give it a try, tomorrow I will prepare to attack north, and the day after tomorrow, Cao Qing will serve as the vanguard, and lead 3,000 infantry to set off north first, attacking the fortifications of the thief army south of Lingshi." Wang Xingben led 3,000 troops as the rear army, kept a distance of ten miles from Cao Qing, and went north carefully. I'll stay in Huoyi and wait for your news, if you can really take the spirit stone smoothly, I will immediately strengthen your troops. ”

When Cao Qing and Wang Xingben heard the joy, they hurriedly sang the promise together, and then Cao Qing asked again: "Dashuai, what about those artillery?" ”

After thinking about it for a long time, Liu Heimin replied: "Stay in the camp for the time being." ”

In this way, after a day of intense preparations, in the early morning of the first day of the first month of March, the Huoyi Sui army marched north according to the order, Cao Qing led 3,000 infantry as the vanguard, and the honorary Huoyi Sui army commander Wang Xingben led 4,000 troops to follow, Liu Heimin still did not show his commander's banner, and the Huoyi Sui army camp was still displayed under the banner of Liang Naizhu, another deputy of Wang Xingben.

The Sui army's advance is enough to make people happy, the Taiyuan army fortifications that have not yet been built play a very small role in the face of the impact of the Sui army's soldiers, the three roadblocks and fences The Sui army only used four charges to completely destroy them, and at the same time used Zhang Dezheng's map, it was very easy to pull out the two hidden forts that the Taiyuan army was under construction, and the Taiyuan soldiers who were still desperately digging holes were either killed or captured, and the captured Taiyuan soldiers asked very strangely, "How do you know that we are hiding here?" We don't release arrows and don't show flags, you can't see us on the road? ”

In the evening, Cao Qing's front army arrived at the outskirts of Lingshi City, and Wang Xingben's rear army, which came from a careful sentry all the way, did not find that the Taiyuan army had arranged an ambush, and rushed to Lingshi before it was dark, and Cao Qing joined hands to set up camp on the high wall, and at the same time Cao Qing and Wang Xingben were very happy, Li Erjun not only did not send troops to fight with them, but also took the initiative to withdraw to Lingshi City to protect themselves, as a result, although it increased the difficulty of the Sui army's siege, but it greatly limited the speed of Li Erjun's attack, Even if Cao Qing and Wang Xingben were unfavorable in the next battle, they could calmly retreat from the way they came, and the possibility of being dumped by the enemy was almost non-existent.

After all, he is a veteran of the battlefield who eats by fighting, although it is advantageous, Wang Xingben and Cao Qing are still very cautious to divide their troops to the north, blocking the road leading to Jiexiu with earth, stone and trees, and can set fire to the road at any time, so that even if Duan Lun of Jiexiu suddenly sends troops to fight, it is impossible to take it by surprise and kill the Sui army by surprise. Although Li Erjun clearly saw Sui Jun's move, he did not make any action to stop it.

Late that night, Lingshi County ordered Zhang Dezheng to send people out of the city again, and sent a secret letter to Wang Xingben, which truthfully reported the reason why Li Er did not fight to the death outside the city and collect troops and return to the city, saying that Li Er had an awkward quarrel with Duan Lun, and refused to ask Duan Lun for help, and decided to stick to the Lingshi City, resist the attack of the Sui army alone, and withdraw the army back to the city just to preserve strength, and Li Er also threatened that he had a way to deal with the Sui artillery, but most of Li Er's soldiers did not believe it, and he was still afraid of the Sui artillery, morale is very affected.

In the end, there was not very good news, Zhang Dezheng reported to Wang Xingben that Li Erjun had fully taken over the city defense after returning to the city, and directly controlled the gates of Lingshi City, and his own strength was insufficient to open the city gate directly, and he had to wait for the Sui army to launch an attack before he could hope to open the city gate in chaos, so Zhang Dezheng asked Wang Xingben to do his best to launch an attack on the city, so as not to leak the news or Duan Lun to send troops to help.

It is also thanks to Wang Xingben and Cao Qing that they are a little undecided on this matter - the key is that the strength is insufficient, and they sent a fast horse to send Zhang Dezheng's second letter back to Huoyi to report the matter to Liu Heimin, but after seeing this letter, Liu Heimin, who had already begun to waver, suddenly realized, and scolded: "Li Erlang is a husband!" Sure enough, treacherous! What a vicious deception plan! If it weren't for the mistake, if it weren't for the fact that the commander came to Huoyi to take command, our army would have to be defeated! ”

"Dashuai, is this Li Erlang's trick? Is Zhang Dezheng a fraud? Liang Naizhu, the general of the Wang Xing headquarters on the side, asked in surprise.

"Of course it's a swindle!" Liu Heimin replied categorically, and said with a sneer: "Zhang Dezheng is either determined to accompany the Li family to the funeral, or he was coerced and persecuted, so he sent his brother-in-law to offer a book and keep him as a hostage, I am sure that his brother-in-law Tang Jin definitely thought that his brother-in-law was really ready to surrender, and he didn't know that he came to ask for a glory and wealth, even if we beat him to death with a horsewhip, he can't tell the truth!" ”

"But our front army is not in danger, is it?" Liang Naizhu was even more confused, and said: "Li Erlang's thief army took the initiative to withdraw to Lingshi City, and Duan Lun's thief army can't immediately form a mortal threat to our front army, as long as our front army finds that the situation is wrong, it can immediately withdraw from the Bird Mouse Valley, and it is impossible for the Taiyuan thief army to hit us hard?" ”

"That's why Ben Shuai wants to come to Huoyi in person, you are indeed not Li Erlang's opponent." Liu Heimin sighed, and then explained: "Li Erlang's purpose is not to lure our army into the valley in a big way, let alone to set up this trap in order to inflict heavy damage on our Huoyi army, his real target is our artillery. Don't you see that Zhang Dezheng's puppet, all kinds of hints in and out of his words, are all to lure us to send artillery to attack the city, as long as we transport a cannon into the Bird Mouse Valley and under the Lingshi City, Li Erlang will achieve his goal. ”

Liang Naizhu is also quite smart, after listening to Liu Heimin's words, he thought about it carefully, and soon exclaimed: "Understood! The artillery is heavy and difficult to walk, whether our front army carries artillery, the thief army can see at a glance, if we really transport the artillery to Lingshi City, the thief army will immediately counterattack, as long as our front army can not parry, it will not be too late to take away the artillery, and Li Er's thief army can also take the opportunity to get the artillery they are most afraid of! ”

"You think that's the end of it?" Liu Heimin smiled, and said: "Li Erlang must have a back move, in order to ensure that he wins in Lingshi, in addition to launching a counterattack from the front, he must also highlight the surprise soldiers, sneak attack on the Huoyi camp that we have completely emptied, let us be embarrassed, and even more doomed, maybe there will be a big defeat together with the front army and the rear camp, and the losses will be heavy!" ”

"Marshal, then hurry up and let General Wang and them retreat." Liang Naizhu hurriedly said: "Taking advantage of the fact that the thief army has not yet made a counterattack, we withdrew the army and were given a chance to the thief army." ”

Liu Heimin laughed again when he heard this, raised his hand and gave Liang Naizhu a head, and said with a smile: "Silly boy, no wonder you are still just a partial general, you can't move your head to fight, how can you raise your tiger teeth to be a tiger general?" With such a good opportunity to break the enemy, only you are willing to persuade me to withdraw from the army. ”

"Dashuai, do you want to do it?" Liang Naizhu asked hurriedly.

"Of course." Liu Heimin smiled very happily, and said quite proudly: "Li Erlang is indeed very smart, and his strategy is almost seamless, and even if he fails, he doesn't have much loss, but he made a fundamental mistake this time, he believed that the artillery we shipped was a real artillery, and he wanted to use the trick to seize the artillery, which revealed the flaw, let me see through this is his trap." Since he likes those broken pig iron barrels so much, then Ben Shuai will give him a good one, but he has to exchange his life for it! ”

After saying it proudly, he thought about the map sand table for a long time, Liu Heimin immediately picked up the pen and made a book, wrote orders to Wang Xingben and others, and ordered Liang Naizhu by the way: "You go and prepare for the expedition, in addition to the defenders in Huoyi City, there are 4,000 troops in the battalion, you take 2,000 escort artillery to the north, bring the old and weak soldiers, and leave the elite soldiers to me." And then....... ”

In this way, at noon on the second day of the first month of March, Liang Naizhu, who stayed in the Huoyi camp, led 2,000 troops to escort the artillery north to the Bird Mouse Valley, and swaggered to the middle of the heavy artillery. At the same time, the Huoyi camp of the Sui army, which covers a huge area, has not only become more empty, but also Wang Xingben outside Lingshi City, after receiving Liu Heimin's order, immediately began to build siege equipment, and put on a posture of preparing to storm Lingshi City.

With such a big move by the various departments of the Sui army, it was naturally impossible to hide the eyes of the Taiyuan army scouts, and after the Taiyuan army scouts sent these news to Li Er, Li Er's little white face, which was more handsome than Chen Fuliang, quickly showed a more cordial and gentle smile than Chen Fuliang, and said proudly: "My Taiyuan army can finally have artillery available." ”R1148