The military capital is actually the Sanggan River Valley, the Sanggan River originates in the south of Mayi County, winds and flows for thousands of miles, enters Zhuo County through Mayi County and Yanmen County, the forests on both sides of the Sanggan River Valley are dense, the mountains are steep, it is the dry period of August at this time, the Sanggan water becomes a trickle, a large area of the riverbed is bare, and the riverbed is full of pebbles.

In the afternoon of this day, an army of 15,000 people swept across both sides of the river valley, waving flags, swords and spears like a forest, and the mighty army could not see the end at a glance, this is Luo Yi's Youzhou army, although Luo Yi and Li Yuan have not reached an agreement, but at this time his army has walked out of the Youzhou boundary and entered Yanmen County.

At the front of the team are hundreds of cavalry, they are surrounded by a general, this person is six feet four, with big shoulders and a round waist, a burly figure, wearing iron armor and silver helmets, cold eyes, and a very majestic appearance, this person is Xue Wanjun, a famous general of the Youzhou army, and the son of Xue Shixiong, the former governor of Youzhou.

Xue Wanjun was ordered by Luo Yi to send troops to Yanmen County, but Luo Yi was not ready to attack Yanmen County, what he was doing now was still defense, but he wanted to push the defense line from Zhuo County to Yanmen County.

In the distance, a castle was already faintly visible, and a captain pointed to the castle in the distance and said, "General, that is Hengjun Fort!" ”

Hengjun Fort is the nearest garrison fort in Yanmen County near Zhuo County, there are more than 300 garrison soldiers, it is located in the upper reaches of Sangganshui, it is the only way to enter Yanmen County from the military capital.

Xue Wanjun took out an arrow and handed it to the captain, "Give this arrow to the castle defenders, and give them half an hour to abandon the castle and leave, otherwise my army is coming, and none of them will survive." ”

"Obey!" The lieutenant galloped away with his arrow.

A partial general in the back whispered: "General, why don't you just capture the castle?" And let them go?"

Xue Wanjun shook his head, "Leave them alive now, Yang Yuanqing may spare our lives in the future, we must be a man with a little heart, don't do things desperately." ”

．．．．．．．

There were 300 garrisons in the castle, all of them Yang Wei's subordinates, led by a lieutenant surnamed Song, who had received a report from the sentinels that an army of about 15,000 men was coming towards the castle, to the horror of all the soldiers.

At this time, an enemy general rushed to the city, shot an arrow into the city tower, and shouted: "My general orders you to abandon the city and retreat within half an hour, otherwise you will all be beheaded, and not a single one will be left!" ”

He shouted three times, turned his horse's head and went back, the defenders of the city looked at each other, and looked at the captain together, Captain Song stood for a long time, and finally ordered: "Release the eagle and retreat!" ”

A letter eagle circled in the sky and flew in the direction of Shanyang County, and soon, a group of cavalry left Hengjun Fort and ran south.

．．．．．．．．

Two days later, the news that Luo Yi's 15,000 troops had taken the Hengjun Fort in Yanmen County reached the main camp of the Fengzhou Army south of Linfen County.

At this time, the Fengzhou military camp was also busy, a large tent was being dismantled and loaded, and a team of heavily armed soldiers were running in the camp, looking for their main generals to concentrate, Fengzhou also got information that Li Shimin's army was speeding north, only fifty miles away from them.

But the big tent of the Chinese army has not been demolished, inside the big tent, Yang Yuanqing stood in front of the sand table and pondered for a long time, and Li Jing next to him said in a low voice: "If we fight this battle, if we command well and give full play to our advantages, we may not lose." ”

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "But we also have to admit that if we really fight, we only have forty percent of the chance to win, we are good at commanding, the enemy army is also good at commanding, we have cavalry, the other side also has cavalry, both sides have the same equipment, we are weaker than them in combat effectiveness, the number of troops is less than theirs, the only advantage is the four thousand Mo sword army, but this advantage is not enough to defeat the enemy, more importantly, if the other party wins, it will completely reverse the situation, and we can win without fighting, they are eager to fight this battle, why should I fight?" ”

Yang Yuanqing is very clear about his strength, he only brought 30,000 troops from Fengzhou really have combat effectiveness, and 10,000 of these 30,000 troops are led by Xu Shiji, and there are only 20,000 people around him, and among the other armies, Liu Wuzhou's training time is too short and the combat effectiveness is weak, while although the captured Tang army has combat effectiveness, the reorganization time is too short, and the degree of loyalty is not high, he is not at ease.

In terms of troops, he only has 60,000 troops, and Li Shimin has 90,000 people, including more than 30,000 cavalry, and there are famous generals like Qu Tutong.

Yang Yuanqing said to Li Jing again: "In the past, the reason why Li Shimin was reluctant to fight against me was because Xu Shiji's 20,000 troops were on the flank, so that Li Shimin did not dare to act rashly, and now that the threat of the flank has disappeared, he can concentrate his forces to duel us, and the reason why he dares to challenge us with all his might is because he knows that he has a greater chance of winning, and I would rather avoid fighting than fighting." ”

Li Jing nodded, "The chief manager is very right, avoiding without fighting is the best strategy, and when the morale of the Tang army collapses, we will win without a fight." ”

At this time, a soldier reported in front of the tent, "Chief Qiqi, urgent information from Mayi County!" ”

Yang Yuanqing and Li Jing glanced at each other, both of them thought of Luo Yi at the same time, at this time, what happened in the north, either Wei Dao'er took advantage of the chaos to loot, or Luo Yi contained them from behind.

After a while, a personal soldier came in and presented the eagle letter to Yang Yuanqing, Yang Yuanqing unfolded it and read it, sure enough, it was Luo Yi, and handed the letter to Li Jing.

After reading the letter, Li Jing frowned slightly, "Luo Yi seems to have stopped at Hengjun Fort." ”

Yang Yuanqing sneered and said: "This is Luo Yi's cunning, if we are defeated by Li Shimin, he will take advantage of the fire to rob and send troops to Yanmen County, if we defeat Li Shimin, then he will retract his claws again, but he will defend the military capital, and we will not be allowed to enter Zhuo County from the military capital, and he is also showing goodwill to Li Yuan in doing so, he has already sent troops to contain me." ”

"Do you want to send troops to confront him?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "Don't ignore him and act according to the original plan." ”

．．．．．．．．

An hour later, the 60,000 Fengzhou army withdrew in the direction of Huoyi County, and that night, the Fengzhou army withdrew to Huoyi County, and the pace of the Tang army's march gradually slowed down, and Yang Yuanqing's avoidance of fighting caused Li Shimin's army to encounter an unprecedented crisis.

Night gradually fell, there was silence in the Tang army camp, the soldiers had already fallen asleep, and thousands of patrols were deployed around the camp to prevent the Fengzhou army from attacking the camp at night.

In the big tent, Li Shimin was worried, pacing back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back, he had received his father's order to return to Guanzhong, but now the way back to Guanzhong has been cut off, he can't go back, he wants to fight with Yang Yuanqing, but Yang Yuanqing avoided fighting, making him in a dilemma.

Now, the news that the retreat route has been cut off has spread, and morale has begun to be affected, if it is delayed for a day, morale will drop by one point, and if it drags on for half a month, morale will disappear completely, and his army will be defeated without a fight, Li Shimin knows very well that there will be such consequences, what should he do now?

In fact, Li Shimin also has a plan, one plan is to occupy the southern part of Hedong Road, hold on for three months, wait for the Yellow River to freeze in winter, and then he can return to Guanzhong smoothly.

Another plan is to recapture the Hejin ferry and let Guanzhong help find the means to cross the river, either by boat or sheepskin raft, but Yang Yuanqing has already burned the ferries on both sides of the Yellow River, and for a while, he may not be able to get together so many boats.

Another plan is to cross the river from Fenglingjin to the other side, and enter the pass from Tongguan, where there should be a ferry.

The problem now is that if the army goes south, it will definitely be followed by Yang Yuanqing, and if he takes advantage of his army to cross the river to attack, then he will definitely be defeated.

At this moment, the soldiers reported at the door: "Duke Qin, General Qu Tu asks to see!" ”

Li Shimin's spirits perked up, Qu Tutong came to see him at this time, there must be a way out of the predicament, he hurriedly said: "Invite him in quickly!" ”

After a while, Qu Tutong hurriedly walked into the camp, knelt down on one knee and saluted: "See Duke Qin!" ”

"General Qu Tu doesn't have to be polite, please get up quickly!"

Qu Tutong stood up and said with a smile: "Duke Qin is worried about the inability to withdraw his troops back to Guanzhong!" ”

Li Shimin sighed, "That's true, the retreat was intercepted, which made the army's heart unstable, I wanted to fight a decisive battle with Yang Yuanqing, but he avoided it and didn't fight, I don't know what to do now?" General Qu Tu has a good plan. ”

"Gong Qin doesn't have to worry too much, although the retreat is broken, as long as we grasp Yang Yuanqing's weakness, we still have a chance."

Li Shimin sat down slowly, he had always regarded himself as a military genius, good at strategy and courageous, but this battle of Hedong made him finally realize his lack of experience, and when he met the more powerful Yang Yuanqing, he seemed passive everywhere, almost led by Yang Yuanqing.

At this time, experience is particularly important, he has no experience, but Qu Tutong is an extremely experienced veteran, Li Shimin realized his conceit and stupidity, and there is no need for a good general.

He waved his hand, took a deep breath, and said, "General Qu Tu, please take a seat." ”

Qu Tutong sat down and said with a slight smile: "The reason why Yang Yuanqing avoided fighting was not that he wanted to drag us down, but that most of his troops were soldiers, according to my experience, if you want to turn your soldiers into your own elite army, it will take at least three months to half a year, and his time is only more than a month, not to mention that many of his soldiers are Tang Army, and it takes time to reorganize, Yang Yuanqing himself knows this, so he avoids without fighting." ”

Li Shimin's face showed a look of chagrin, he didn't take this into account, he knew that he could fight Yang Yuanqing in a decisive battle.

Qu Tutong seemed to know his thoughts, shook his head and smiled: "Not before, his flank is very powerful, if we give up Linfen City and fight him at that time, then his flank will attack us from behind in a roundabout way, and attack back and forth, our chance of victory is very small, and now his flank is gone, so he can only retreat north to avoid." ”

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and asked, "What does General Qu Tu think we should do now?" ”

Qu Tu Channel: "Although Qin Gong can also occupy the southern part of Hedong Road and confront him, but in the long run, we still can't keep Hedong Road, I still suggest withdrawing troops back to Guanzhong, if Qin Gong is willing to listen to my strategy, I can at least guarantee that 80,000 troops will withdraw to Guanzhong safely." ”

Li Shimin was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "General Qu Tu, please speak, I will definitely obey." ”

．．．．．．

That night, 3,000 Tang cavalry galloped towards Fenglingjin, and Li Shimin's army also began to retreat south overnight.