Just do it, early the next morning, after leaving the second son Xue Renyue to lead part of the troops to guard Zhejia, Changwu and other places, Xue Ju really took more than 50,000 main forces to hurry south to Tingkou, Xue Renguo led 7,000 elite cavalry as the vanguard to go south first, rushing to the battlefield first to not give Chen Fuliang's main force a chance to retreat urgently. At the same time, before leaving, Xue Ju and Hao Ying also issued a warning to Xue Renguo at the same time, "Chen Yingliang is treacherous and resourceful, and more scouts should be sent to investigate the situation on both sides of the road during the march, so be careful of his ambush!" ”

Of course, Xue Ju and Hao Ying were worried in vain, Chen Fuliang sent Du Chuke to lure the main force of Xue Jujun to the decisive battle at Tingkou, and arrange an ambush to defeat the seven thousand forwards of Xue Jujun's army, in case the main force of Xue Jujun was scared away, then wouldn't Chen Fuliang pick sesame seeds and throw watermelons, so that Du Chuke would have a hard trip? Therefore, after finding out that the main force of Xue Ju's army was moving south, Chen Fuliang not only did not make a fuss about the complex terrain north of Tingkou, but also immediately went to order Qin Qiong, the vanguard of the self-army, so that he could prepare for retreat.

The fast-moving Xue Renguo army had indeed approached Qin Qiong's camp in the afternoon, and Qin Qiong immediately abandoned the camp and retreated, and burned the fence fortifications before leaving, not giving Xue Renguo a chance to use waste. And because the terrain in the area of Randian south of Qin Qiong's camp is relatively open, Xue Renguo did not hesitate to order a pursuit, and when Qin Qiong's army was still ** miles away from the army camp, ∑he caught up with Qin Qiong's rear army, and fought with the palace team led by Qin Qiong himself. Triumphantly, he set up camp about fifteen miles away from the main camp of the Sui army.

After Qin Qiong led the army back to the camp, Chen Fuliang immediately summoned him, and the purpose was not to investigate Qin Qiong's responsibility for the loss of military supplies, but to learn from Qin Qiong about the specific combat effectiveness of Xue Jujun's army, and Qin Qiong replied truthfully: "The Longxi cavalry is indeed worthy of its reputation, all of them are tall and strong, skilled in cavalry and archery, and have strong surprise attack capabilities. The last general roughly estimated that on the plain battlefield, in addition to reporting **, it would be difficult for our cavalry to gain the upper hand in a cavalry confrontation of the same strength. ”

Chen Fuliang nodded and said: "Yes, it's almost as I expected, this is also the reason why I don't want to fight Xue Ju in the shallow water plain, his cavalry is really powerful, if we want to break him, in addition to taking advantage of the narrow terrain, we also have to find a way to lure him to take the initiative to attack, and consume his cavalry strength in the camp offensive and defensive battle, and then we can find an opportunity to break the enemy." ”

After that, Chen Fuliang did not hesitate, and immediately ordered to continue to strengthen the camp fortifications, and sent someone to send an order to Li Jing to inform his cousin of the news that the enemy had been lured, and asked Li Jing to send troops from Linggu to the east and rush to the Tingkou battlefield to join the army. It was also at this time that Du Ruhui, who followed Chen Fuliang for the first time, suddenly said: "Prime Minister, about fifteen miles northwest of our army, it is the only way for Li Shangshu and our army to join the division, there is only a low mountain beam between there and Randian, and the main force of Xue Ju must be stationed in the open terrain of Randian when he goes south, and it is also very likely to cross the low mountain beam to intercept the partial division of our army led by Li Shangshu, and it is even possible to garrison there in advance to directly cut off the road between our army and Li Shangshu." ”

"In that case, why don't we set a trap there in turn?" Du Ruhui said: "Deliberately let Xue Ju intercept Li Shangshu, or simply lure Xue Ju's army to set up camp there to intercept it, and then let Li Shangshu deceive and lure the enemy, and lead Xue Ju's army into the narrow road in the western mountains, and then our main force will send troops to the west, and join forces with Li Shangshu to flank Xue Ju's thief army before and after, and we will win a big victory!" ”

"I've thought about this plan for a long time." Chen Fuliang shook his head and said: "In terms of terrain, this tactic is indeed feasible, once it succeeds, our army will win a big victory." But Keming, you forgot to think about it, there is a shortage of water on this road, even if it is now winter and the snow in the mountains is thick, and you can turn snow into water, but it is only enough for our army's partial division to use water along the way, and it is not a haste to lure the enemy west into the mountainous area. ”

"You can let Li Shangshu's army hold on." Du Ruhui did not agree with Chen Fuliang's point of view, and said: "There is a lot of snow in the mountains, and it often snows, as long as Li Shangshu's army tries to save drinking water, it will definitely be able to hold on for a long time." At the same time, if the Xue Ju thief army wants to completely block the snow road of Li Shangshu's army, it must mobilize a large number of troops, so that we have a better chance to break the main force of the thief army in the mountainous area. ”

If it was replaced by Li Er's commander, he would definitely have accepted Du Ruhui's construction with huge risks and benefits without saying a word, but unfortunately Chen Fuliang was a person with a completely opposite style of using soldiers to Li Er, even if he knew that Du Ruhui's construction was reasonable, after thinking for a while, he still shook his head and said: "Let's talk about it, let me think about it again." Du Ruhui also knew that Chen Fuliang didn't like to take risks with soldiers, so he didn't continue to insist, but he felt a little regretful in his heart.

The night passed quickly, and the next day was just in the afternoon, and the main army led by Xue Ju arrived at the area of Randian in the north of Tingkou as scheduled, and joined Xue Renguo. As a result, after carefully exploring the terrain, Xue Ju, who came here for the first time, inevitably frowned, because the area around Tingkou, where the main force of the Sui army was stationed, was really disgusting Xue Jujun, the terrain was open and quite open, and the space for fighting a decisive battle was enough, but it was narrow and a little narrow, and Yan zhòng restricted the interspersed detours of Xue Jujun's ace cavalry, outflanking and running, and even the space for charging and raiding was quite limited, which was a paradise for infantry and a place for cavalry.

No matter how bad the terrain is, it is useless, the main force has already come, and it is impossible for Xue Ju to run back with the main force and toss around, so Xue Ju can only order the main force to camp in the open ground of Randian, which is fifteen miles away from the Sui army camp, while asking Du Chuke to return to the Sui army camp with his own letter to threaten and intimidate Chen Fuliang. At the same time, Xue Ju inevitably had such a thought, "Although the terrain in this area of Randian is not as good as the shallow water plain, it is far wider than the pavilion, which is where my cavalry comes in, if you really want to start a decisive battle, can you find a way to lure the main force of Chen Yingliang's horseman to Randian for a decisive battle?" ”

At the same time, Hao Ming, who personally explored the land for his lover, also quickly discovered the low mountain beam that could threaten Li Jing's march road, and immediately built a detachment of Xue Ju's army to settle the camp there, condescending to look down on Li Jing's march road, so that he could not only grasp the movements of the Sui army's partial division at any time, but also send troops from there to intercept it if necessary, so that the Sui army's partial division could not meet with the main force. Xue Ju immediately ordered the general Liang Hulang to lead an army of 5,000 to set up camp on the low mountain Liang, and also ordered to block the road under the mountain with civil fortifications, so that the Sui army could not sneak over.

It's time to take a look at the situation on Du Chuke's side, and when he learned that Du Chuke had returned safely, Chen Fuliang, who really wanted to appoint this talent, was somewhat relieved, and hurriedly summoned Du Chuke to praise him, and then took Xue Ju's letter to watch. As a result, what made Chen Fuliang laugh dumbly was that Xue Ju's lion opened his mouth very wide, not only putting forward land claims to Chen Fuliang for the three counties of Pingliang, Anding, and Beidi, but also extorting 300,000 stones of grain, 200,000 catties of salt, and 300,000 horses of cloth. Otherwise, Xue Ju will not only have to fight with Chen Fuliang to the end, but also make an alliance with Yu Wenhua and divide the land of Guanzhong equally!

The Sui army who read this letter all laughed wildly, and then asked for battle, but Chen Fuliang still shook his head and said with a smile: "Don't worry, in this situation, whoever starts the attack first between us and Xue Ju will suffer in terms of geographical advantages, I plan to play with Xue Ju again to see if I can lead him to a decisive battle in front of our battalion." ”

"Prime Minister, how about pretending to negotiate peace with him face-to-face?" Qin Qiongjian said: "The last general has long heard that Xue Ju is short-tempered, cruel and easy to kill, such a person must be the most unbearable to provoke and provoke, Prime Minister, you pretended to negotiate with him face-to-face, tricked him into coming to the camp to meet, and then just like you did when you pit Yang Xuangan, scolded him in front of the camp, completely angered him, and then he will definitely send the main force to attack our camp, wouldn't we be able to fight Xue Ju in a decisive battle on favorable terrain?" ”

The generals of the Sui army applauded one after another, and Chen Fuliang also felt that this idea was good, and immediately sent a messenger to Xue Jujun's camp with a book, inviting Xue Ju to negotiate in person outside the military camp the next day. Then on the morning of the next day, Xue Ju personally took three thousand elite horsemen south to the Sui military camp, and after hearing the news, Chen Fu Liang also led Bao and Wei Chi Jingde and others out of the camp, and met with the legendary Western Qin overlord Xue Ju outside the camp gate.

Like the legend, Xue Ju, who is now more than fifty years old, is indeed a tall and strong man, with a burly appearance, his arms are almost as thick as Chen Fuliang's thighs, his voice is like a bronze bell, and he is still loud and strong after hundreds of steps, and he said quite contemptuously: "You are Chen Yingliang Chen Chengxiang?" Isn't it? There is no one in the Central Plains, I can't imagine that a powerless little white face like you can lead the army to fight, and you also claim to have won a hundred battles without defeat, how did your previous opponents lose? Could it be that you learned from Longyang and let them do it, and let them lose when they were tired, right? ”

Before Xue Ju's words fell, the generals next to him, Chi Jingde and Guo Feng were already pale, and they were about to step forward with a knife and a lance, Chen Fuliang stopped them quietly, while secretly wondering why Xue Ju's attitude was so arrogant, he sneered and said loudly: "Xue Dog Bear, don't think that you look as strong as a bear, you are as smart as a bear, and the bear can also go up to the tree to dig honey, just like your bear, I am afraid I don't know what to do if you are on a woman's belly, right?" Go back and take a closer look at your two sons to see if they look like you, and by the way, ask your maid if your wife has ever left the house on a stormy night? This has happened twice? ”

While Wei Chi Jingde and Guo Feng and other generals laughed loudly, several blue-faced and fanged generals around Xue Ju also jumped like thunder, and Xue Ju's face also changed slightly, and then Chen Fuliang was very surprised to stop those subordinates who were about to step forward and say with a smile: "My son, of course, like me, you Chen Yingliang can rest assured, when I break through Daxing and capture your whole family alive, I will keep your woman to give birth to a bunch of sons who are absolutely different from you!" ”

"It's a pity that you Xue Ju don't have a daughter, otherwise, this prime minister can have one more way to make a fortune, and he was escorted to the Daxing Open Green Building, and directly named Xue Julou, it must be like a cloud." Chen Fuliang scolded back not to be outdone, "As for your daughter-in-law and your mother-in-law, forget it, it's too old, I'm afraid there will be no guests for the money." ”

Xue Ju laughed and took over the conversation, and continued to ridicule Chen Fuliang, Chen Fuliang unceremoniously counterattacked and scolded, and Xue Ju went down three ways, one was more vicious and mean than the other, and one was more obscene and dirty than the other, but it was strange to say, Xue Ju, who seemed to be rude, not only did not have these words to provoke, but also seemed to be very interested in it.

It was also at this time that Chen Fuliang finally came back to his senses and said secretly: "No, I underestimate this Xue Dog Bear too much, he is also deliberately provoking me, wanting to lure me to take the initiative to send troops to the north and fight him in Randian, which is wider than Tingkou, so that he has a better chance of winning." ”

Secretly frightened Xue Ju's coarse and fine inside, Chen Fuliang no longer wasted saliva with Xue Ju, and said with a smile: "Xue Ju, that's almost the end of the mutual greetings, it's time to get down to business, this is to make peace talks with you, just to tell you clearly, this prime minister has the intention to stop the sword and soldiers with you, and open a border market to communicate with each other, but he will definitely not accept your extortion, nor will he give you a grain and a pound of salt, if you are smart, you will immediately take your army back to Tianshui!" Otherwise, with a finger of the Prime Minister's command, the Guanzhong army can step you into powder in a moment! ”

"If you have the ability, then you can let the horse come." Xue Ju laughed and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't agree, I can wait." Don't think that I don't know, your eastern front is now threatened by Yu Wenhua, Li Mi and Wang Shichong at the same time, as long as I don't move, I don't worry that you won't kneel down and beg me to let you go. ”

Laughing, Xue Ju pointed at Chen Fuliang again, and said loudly: "Chen Yingliang, don't think that I don't know what you're thinking, you just think that the terrain here in Tingkou is favorable to you, and you want me to personally lead the main force here to fight with you, I can't afford to be fooled!" I clearly tell you that I have already made up my mind yesterday, my army will only be stationed in Randian to confront you, and will never risk coming to this pavilion to fight you in a decisive battle, if you have the ability, you will go north to Randian, and I will accompany you to the end at any time! See who can afford whom! ”

Chen Fuliang smiled and said: "Okay, it seems that you don't need to continue to waste your strength to talk, go back and wash your neck and prepare the coffin, don't think that Benxiang is really afraid of the rabble under your command, wait for our army to come in from the east to the pavilion to meet with the main force of Benxiang, and see how Benxiang sends you back to the west." Let's go! ”

After that, Chen Fuliang really turned his horse's head and walked into the camp, over there Xue Ju also laughed and gave the order to retreat, and when he led the army to withdraw, Xue Ju also laughed and said: "Chen Yingliang, I kindly tell you one more thing, Liang Shidu has already sent someone to ask to conclude an alliance with me, and is ready to send troops to attack Honghua, Shangjun and Feng Yi, and divide the pass with me equally, whether I agree or not depends on whether you are smart or not." ”

Before sending out the troops, he had ordered the general Lin Xingcang to stick to Honghua and prepare to receive the soldiers and horses, and at the same time, the Liang division without strong support was far less powerful than in history, and Chen Fuliang was certainly not afraid of Xue Ju's threat. However, after returning to the big tent of the Chinese army, Chen Fuliang immediately instructed Sun Fujia: "Fujia, write a letter to Li Shangshu for me, write a letter to Keming about the tactic of luring the enemy, ask Li Shangshu what he means, and see if he is willing to risk the lack of water to lure the thief army into the depths of the mountain road, and if he is willing, he will fight according to this plan." ”

"Prime Minister, didn't you say that it would be very risky to do so? Why did you change your mind again? Sun Fujia asked suspiciously.

"I underestimated Xue Ju too much, it's not just a fluke that he can get to where he is today." Chen Fuliang replied: "He is a very clear-headed enemy, and he was lured south by us, and he only believed that Yu Wenhua was really marching on our eastern front, but his tactics were very safe, and the troops of Randian would no longer venture into the army, avoiding the terrain of Tingkou, which was absolutely unfavorable to him. I can see that he is definitely not talking about playing with us to be more patient than he wants to be patient, he really intends to do so, although we are not afraid of spending money with him in terms of food and grass, but the situation on the eastern front is still complicated, the crisis has not been resolved, and for the sake of strategic security, we can only take some risks tactically. ”

"But Li Shangshu is there, can he lure the thief army into the depths of the mountain road?" Sun Fujia asked with some concern: "Xue Ju is more cunning and treacherous than we estimated, if he is not fooled, then wouldn't our partial master work in vain?" ”

"Xue Ju will definitely be fooled!" Du Ruhui next to him interjected, replied categorically, and explained: "Because Xue Ju sent troops south, it was because he believed that Yu Wenhua had threatened our western front, which would force us to succumb to his extortion, and also to fight for the opportunity to inflict heavy damage or even annihilate our main force, he would never allow Li Shangshu to join our main force, so he would definitely send troops to intercept Li Shangshu, and he would also go all out to annihilate our partial division, so that we would give in fear." ”

Chen Fuliang nodded, agreeing with Du Ruhui's analysis, Sun Fujia no longer hesitated, and immediately put pen to paper, but Du Ruhui stopped and said: "Prime Minister, the lower officials think that there is no need to write letters anymore, our army scouts and reporters, Xue Ju's thief army has already preemptively divided troops to occupy the low mountain beam, and built fortifications on the road to intercept it, it is difficult for our messengers to get past their interception, and once the letter is intercepted, then the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

Chen Fu's conscience sank, and then he remembered this important issue, and at the same time began to regret that he was too cautious and missed the great opportunity to contact his cousin in advance to make a plan. Sun Fujia said: "You can let the messenger take the path to the southwest, the local people have introduced that there is a path to the southwest of Tingkou that can lead directly to the Linggu." ”

"No, I've asked carefully about the situation on that path." Du Ruhui shook his head and said: "It's too rugged and difficult to travel, and now it's snowing again, not to mention the danger of the road, even if you can reach Linggu along the way, it will definitely be too late in time." ”

"What then?" Sun Fujia was in a dilemma.

"There's a way." Du Ruhui said lightly: "When Li Shangshu's army arrived at the low mountain beam, we pretended to send troops to respond, and after being intercepted by the thief army, we fled back to the camp by defeat, Li Shangshu will immediately understand the prime minister's tactical purpose, and naturally he will also deceive the enemy and lure the thief army to send troops to pursue westward to win fighters for our main force." ”

"It's ......, it's too risky, isn't it?" Sun Fujia, who had never seen Li Jing, was a little dumbfounded, and said: "If Li Shangshu can't understand the prime minister's intentions, and says that we are really invincible, in order to share the pressure on us, we will go all out to attack the thief army's interception position, then wouldn't it be self-defeating?" ”

"It's not self-defeating." Chen Fuliang finally spoke, and said: "Li Shangshu is my cousin, uncle and nephew, he will understand what I mean, so he will do it." ”

At the same time, Xue Ju also withdrew to the Randian camp with a light cavalry team and entered the big tent of the Chinese army, and the first thing Xue Ju did was to call his eldest son Xue Renguo and order him: "You take 10,000 troops to reinforce Liang Hulang, take him to strictly guard the dangerous road, be sure to cut off the eastward road of Chen Thief's partial division, and never give them a chance to join the division!" Besides, the roads are tightly blocked, not a single bird is allowed to cross your defense area, and Chen Yingliang and Li Jing cannot be contacted, so that they cannot exchange information with each other, so they can only fight on their own, and give us a chance to break them all! "So he will definitely send troops to intercept Li Shangshu, and he will also go all out to annihilate our partial division, so that we will give in to the cold."

Chen Fuliang nodded, agreeing with Du Ruhui's analysis, Sun Fujia no longer hesitated, and immediately put pen to paper, but Du Ruhui stopped and said: "Prime Minister, the lower officials think that there is no need to write letters anymore, our army scouts and reporters, Xue Ju's thief army has already preemptively divided troops to occupy the low mountain beam, and built fortifications on the road to intercept it, it is difficult for our messengers to get past their interception, and once the letter is intercepted, then the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

Chen Fu's conscience sank, and then he remembered this important issue, and at the same time began to regret that he was too cautious and missed the great opportunity to contact his cousin in advance to make a plan. Sun Fujia said: "You can let the messenger take the path to the southwest, the local people have introduced that there is a path to the southwest of Tingkou that can lead directly to the Linggu." ”

"No, I've asked carefully about the situation on that path." Du Ruhui shook his head and said: "It's too rugged and difficult to travel, and now it's snowing again, not to mention the danger of the road, even if you can reach Linggu along the way, it will definitely be too late in time." ”

"What then?" Sun Fujia was in a dilemma.

"There's a way." Du Ruhui said lightly: "When Li Shangshu's army arrived at the low mountain beam, we pretended to send troops to respond, and after being intercepted by the thief army, we fled back to the camp by defeat, Li Shangshu will immediately understand the prime minister's tactical purpose, and naturally he will also deceive the enemy and lure the thief army to send troops to pursue westward to win fighters for our main force." ”

"It's ......, it's too risky, isn't it?" Sun Fujia, who had never seen Li Jing, was a little dumbfounded, and said: "If Li Shangshu can't understand the prime minister's intentions, and says that we are really invincible, in order to share the pressure on us, we will go all out to attack the thief army's interception position, then wouldn't it be self-defeating?" ”

"It's not self-defeating." Chen Fuliang finally spoke, and said: "Li Shangshu is my cousin, uncle and nephew, he will understand what I mean, so he will do it." ”

At the same time, Xue Ju also withdrew to the Randian camp with a light cavalry team and entered the big tent of the Chinese army, and the first thing Xue Ju did was to call his eldest son Xue Renguo and order him: "You take 10,000 troops to reinforce Liang Hulang, take him to strictly guard the dangerous road, be sure to cut off the eastward road of Chen Thief's partial division, and never give them a chance to join the division!" Besides, the roads are tightly blocked, not a single bird is allowed to cross your defense area, and Chen Yingliang and Li Jing cannot be contacted, so that they cannot exchange information with each other, so they can only fight on their own, and give us a chance to break them all! ”