The suspicious messenger Li Menglong is indeed the person sent by Shibi Khan to contact Li Yuan and Ambassador Li, originally Shibi Khan also knew that it was a bit risky to do so, and the consequences would be unimaginable if there was an accident, but there was no way, Li Yuan never sent someone to establish a stable and reliable communication channel, and the traitor who betrayed the Turkic army's sneak attack plan was also like a fish in his throat, if he didn't quickly find out this damn traitor and kill him, Shibi Khan didn't say that he would kill the Sui army and break through Yanmen City, even if he slept in the camp, he didn't dare to close his eyes at ease, So there was no way, Shibi Khan could only take the initiative to send someone to contact Li Yuan and ask Li Yuan to help investigate this Turkic traitor who deserved death.

Of course, while taking the initiative to send people to contact Li Yuan, Shibi Khan and Ashina's family inevitably had some resentment towards Ambassador Li - Chen Fuliang set a trap to ambush the Turkic sneak attack army, if Ambassador Li had reported the news in advance, why would the Turkic army suffer so heavy casualties? How can Ashina Fertility rate fall to the ground? Therefore, while hoping for Ambassador Li's help, Shibi Khan and Ashina's family were not very relieved about Li Yuan, and secretly decided that even if they received Li Yuan's tip, they would carefully investigate the truth before taking action, so as not to fall for the tricks of the Sui army and wrongfully accuse the innocent and cause civil strife.

The messengers were dispatched, and the casualties of the sneak attack were counted, and to the annoyance of Shibi Khan and Ashina's family, less than 40,000 of the 60,000 troops who attacked the south fled back to the camp, and the heavy losses made the thin Turkic tribes extremely painful. At the same time, the siege camp that was attacked by the Yanmen defenders' death squad also suffered a lot of losses, because of the surprise, more than 1,400 Turkic soldiers died tragically under the knife of the Yanmen death squad, but more than half of the 500 Sui army death squads fled back to the city.

What made Shibi Khan and Ashina's family angry was not only these, but also the appearance of the Tuoba Hu soldiers on the battlefield of the Sui army's camp also made Shibi Khan and Ashina's family angry-the Turkic defeated soldiers truthfully reported to Shibi Khan, saying that after being ambushed by the Sui army of King Qin, the Tuoba Hu soldiers frantically waved their butcher knives at the Turkic soldiers in order to flee for their lives, killing the Turkic soldiers to be more ruthless than the Sui army soldiers, and deliberately trampled on the Turkic soldiers, deliberately pushed the Turkic soldiers into the sea of fire and burned them alive, and deliberately pushed the Turkic soldiers into the trench, He even deliberately cut the Turkic soldiers into the trenches to open the way, and slashed the Turkic soldiers all the way out of the ambush circle, causing the Turkic army to kill each other and completely chaotic, all kinds of crimes, simply every Tuoba Hu soldier deserves 10,000 deaths, and every Tuoba Hu soldier should be put into a sack and trampled to death with a thousand war horses!

No matter how popular these Tuanhu soldiers can't do it, as mentioned earlier, the Turkic army is composed of three parts: Attachment, Control String and Tuoqi, Attachment is the personal soldiers of Shibi Khan and Ashina's family, loyal and elite, but limited by the small number of productive forces, they are basically used as guards and personal soldiers; Although the Turkic herdsmen are all born knight archers, the organization and discipline are worse after all, the formal military training is relatively small, the combat effectiveness is uneven, and the equipment is also good and bad.

In this way, the importance of Tukahu soldiers in the Turkic army is extraordinary, these mercenaries from Central Asia are not only tall and large, proficient in hand-to-hand combat and running cavalry, but also cruel and tyrannical by nature, not only are they not afraid of seeing blood but also like to see blood, they are the most ideal charging dead soldiers in the era of cold weapons, although the price of employment is higher, the discipline is also so-called poor, and the character is too insatiable and capricious, but it can just make up for the weakness of the lack of elite soldiers in the Turkic army, even if it is Shibi Khan and members of the Ashina family, You also have to maintain some politeness and respect for these Tuoba Hu soldiers, and you can't kill them like you say to ordinary Turkic soldiers, so no matter how popular Shibi Khan and Ashina's family are, these Tukuo Hu soldiers can only feign ignorance of what they have done and will not be held accountable.

In view of the fact that the Turkic army has suffered three defeats in a row, and at the same time, the Qin Wang Sui army has also shown a strong combat effectiveness that cannot be ignored, and it is obviously impossible for the Turkic army to fight on two fronts, so Ashina and his family agreed not to attack Yanmen City for the time being, and concentrate the main forces to deal with the Qin Wang Sui army. However, on the issue of how to deal with the Sui army of King Qin, there was a huge disagreement among the Ashina family, and three completely different operational opinions appeared.

The three different operational opinions are separated, one is to stand on the defend, stick to the camp while waiting for the opportunity to attack, find the flaws and weaknesses of the Qin Wang Sui army, and then launch a fierce attack on the flaws and weaknesses of the Sui army; The second opinion is a comprehensive decisive battle, taking advantage of the fact that the overall strength of the Turkic army is still stronger than that of the Sui army, and launch a comprehensive decisive battle as much as possible, and win by crushing it strongly; The third tactical suggestion was put forward by the Turkic general Ashina Simo, who sent a group of light cavalry southward and detoured back to the rear of the Sui army to destroy and cut off the grain and grass supply routes of the Sui army, so that the Sui army of King Qin lost the grain and grass supply without a fight, and Ashina Simo also volunteered to take on this grain and grass supply task.

If it is replaced by the Central Plains army, the second of the three tactical opinions is undoubtedly the most suitable, to crush the enemy with force, give full play to the manpower advantage of many soldiers and generals, and first grasp the initiative on the battlefield and then consider winning by surprise; However, unlike the Turks, weak productivity and sparse population were the fatal wounds of the Turkic army, and a head-on decisive battle with the Qin Wang Sui army, which had strong combat capabilities, would result in heavy casualties even if it was won, and even the gains outweighed the losses. Therefore, the competent Shibi Khan first abandoned this plan, concentrated on the first and third tactical opinions, and once asked Ashina Simo: "Simo, if I give you a light cavalry to make a detour south, how sure are you that you will cut off the grain route of the barbarian army?" ”

"The Khan's forgiveness of sins is not guaranteed." Ashina Simo has a realistic personality and replied truthfully: "Because the last general still doesn't know the size of the barbarian's grain team, how many troops escort him, and those famous barbarian generals lead the army to protect him, the last general can only make a detour back to the rear of the barbarian to see the opportunity, and he can't give you a guarantee right now." But one thing that the last general can guarantee is that the last general will definitely try his best to prevent the barbarian army from transporting grain to the front, even if it cannot be completely cut off, it will definitely make it extremely difficult for the barbarian army to supply food and grass, and it will not be able to fight with peace of mind. ”

The factual answer in exchange for Shibi Khan's worry and dissatisfaction, made Shibi Khan shake his head and said: "Since you are not sure, then it is better not to take risks, our army has to surround Yang Guang tyrant while facing the barbarian reinforcements, it is already an enemy on both sides, you divide your troops to the south, it is of course best to cut off the barbarian grain route, if you encounter any more accidents, we just can't do it if we want to support, our previous losses are already big enough, and we can't risk expanding anymore." ”

"Khan, but if we don't do this, then it will be difficult for us to kill the barbarian reinforcements?" Ashina Simo insisted: "Otherwise, you let the last general only take five thousand light horsemen south, so that even if there is any accident, there will not be too many casualties, but if the last general succeeds, we will win." ”

Shibi Khan was a little moved, but the Cha Kill Ashina Yu Shot over there said: "Khan, there is no need to risk dividing the troops, in my opinion, we only need to fight against the wall to win, Khan don't forget, the barbarian official Xiao Yu we withheld once said that Chen Yingliang's barbarian gave Yang Guang grain and grass, which is only enough to use for five days at most, and now two days have passed, we only need to besiege Yanmen for three days, Yang Guang will run out of food again, and then Chen Yingliang's barbarian son will definitely launch an attack at any cost in order to rescue Yang Guang as soon as possible, We can not only fight easily, but also have the opportunity to seize the flaws exposed by Chen Yingliang's desperate attack to launch a counterattack, so that the certainty of victory is greater. ”

Ashina Yu Shot mentioned the problem of grain and grass for the Yanmen defenders, Shibi Khan realized that he almost forgot the important issue that Yang Guang was about to run out of food, and saw that everyone in Ashina's family agreed with Ashina Yu Shot's opinion, Shibi Khan thought about it a little more, then nodded and said: "Good idea, just do it, continue to besiege the city, force Chen Yingliang's barbarians to attack us, we hold the camp and find an opportunity to counterattack, we will definitely win." ”

Ashina's family praised them one after another, but Ashina Simo sighed quietly and said secretly: "The terrain in this area of Yanmen is relatively narrow, which is not conducive to the battle of our Turkic army, and the Great Khan even took the initiative to give up the only opportunity to fight in mobile combat, isn't this taking advantage of our shortcomings to fight hard with the strengths of the barbarian army?" ”

Sigh to sigh, because the bloodline is not pure enough to be killed, Ashina Simo people are soft-spoken, and they dare not continue to insist on their opinions, who knows that the Shibi Khan over there sighed again, and said: "It's a pity that Duke Tang has not completely attached himself to us, otherwise, it would be too easy for us to defeat the barbarian army." By the way, after we sent someone to contact Duke Tang today, did Duke Tang have any reply? ”

Ashina's family shook their heads, and also advised Shibi Khan to continue to wait patiently, because no matter how bold Li Yuan was, he didn't dare to openly send envoys north to contact the Turkic army in broad daylight, so even if Li Yuan had any reply, he would definitely send someone to send a letter to contact him at night, Shibi Khan felt justified when he heard it, so he nodded and said: "Okay, then arrange some more scouts outside the camp that night, tell them, if you find someone going north, don't rush to kill, ask first about the intention, if the Duke of Tang sends someone to contact me, no matter how late it is, Bring them to me right away. ”

Everyone agreed, and quickly made arrangements, Shibi Khan then ordered the tent to be dispersed, so that a group of blood relatives went back to rest, Shibi Khan also returned to his bed, hugged the two snatched Central Plains girls to vent their bestiality, and tossed until the middle of the night before falling asleep, Ashina family is mostly like this, only Ashina Simo routinely led the army to patrol the camp in the third watch, and loyally undertook the night patrol task for Shibi Khan.

Not to mention, at about four o'clock that night, Shibi Khan was really woken up once by the soldiers who attached his relatives, and Shibi Khan, who had confessed before, was also overjoyed for a while, and opened his mouth to ask if it was Li Yuan's envoy coming? The soldiers attached to the detachment replied truthfully: "Qiyu Khan, it is not the envoy of the Duke of Tang who has arrived, but some of the Tuoqi who fled into the mountains last night have returned, there are about 30 people, and they have checked their identities correctly, and they asked to return to the camp and return to the team, and the camp gate officer did not dare to call the shots, so he came to ask you for instructions." ”

"Nine surnamed Hu Dog!" Shibi Khan scolded a dirty word, and casually ordered these tuoli to return to the camp and return to the team, and then got into the quilt again, biting the **** girl in the quilt and falling asleep again, regardless of the fact that the girl in her arms was already scarred all over her body and couldn't cry.

The night finally passed, and the next morning, the first thing Shibi Khan said when he woke up was still that there was any news from Duke Tang's side? After getting a negative answer, Shibi Khan was disappointed, so he had to get up with a scolding, and then asked casually: "Did all those Tuoli return to the camp last night?" How are they doing? ”

"They're all back to camp." The soldiers who attached them replied truthfully: "Their condition is fine, the weapons and armor are still there, but the war horses are lost, so I ask the Khan to assign them war horses." ”

"Nine surnamed Hu Gou, after losing the battle, he still has the face to ask me for a war horse."

Shi Bi scolded again, and just as he wanted to say something more, there was a report attached to the tent outside the tent, saying: "Qiqi Khan, our patrol scouts caught a man in civilian clothes outside the camp, who claimed to be a messenger sent by Li Yuan, Duke of Tang, and asked to see you. ”

"It's finally here!" Shibi Khan was so happy that he jumped three feet high, and before he even put on his clothes, he couldn't wait to rush out, and while striding towards the golden wolf sweat tent, he shouted: "Bring him to the sweat tent to meet me, prepare to interpret, and then blow the trumpet to raise the tent, and gather all the Ashina generals to enter the tent to discuss the matter." ”

The horn whined, and the Ashina family also hurried to the sweat tent to wait for their orders, and it was also a coincidence that the Ashina family had just arrived, and a young man dressed as a common man was escorted into the golden wolf sweat tent, and when he saw Shibi Khan sitting in the middle, the young man hurriedly bowed and said: "Mao Fugui, the guard under the command of Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang of the Great Sui, came to meet the Turkic Shibi Khan, Khan Jin'an, on the order of the Duke of Tang Guo. ”

After that, Mao Fugui hurriedly showed his waist card again, held it with both hands and said: "This is the villain's identity token, please take a look at the Khan." ”

The interpreter quickly translated Mao Fugui's words, and without waiting for Shibi Khan's orders, there were already attached to the soldiers who stepped forward to take Mao Fugui's waist card, and handed it to Shibi's front with both hands, Shibi Khan took it and took a closer look, and found that it was exactly the same as the Hou Junji waist card that he had caught, and his heart was even more joyful, and the interpreter next to him also translated the waist card text, proving that Mao Fugui was indeed Li Yuan's guard, Shibi was more happy in his heart, but he didn't dare to believe Mao Fugui immediately, so he hummed and asked: "Are you Duke Tang's guard?" Ben Khan is now at war with the Duke of Tang, what did he send you for? ”

Interpreting and passing the word, Mao Fugui was stunned, and then he understood that Shibi Khan was testing himself, so he said respectfully: "Khan, of course Tang Guogong sent me to work for you, you sent Hou Junji to contact Tang Guogong before, because Chen Yingliang and Chen Dashuai have already made contact with Yanmen City, Chen Yingliang sent to Yanmen City to meet His Majesty the Emperor Xià people know Hou Junji again, Tang Guogong was afraid that Hou Junji's identity would be exposed, so he let him go back to Taiyuan to hide temporarily, and sent villains to visit the Khan to serve the Khan. ”

After listening to the words translated by the general interpreter, Shibi Khan remembered that Hou Junji had indeed said that he had met with Chen Yingliang's envoy Qian Xiangmin, and Chen Yingliang had sent someone to Yanmen City to deliver food, and he must have also seen Qian Xiangmin, Hou Junji's identity could indeed be exposed, Shibi Khan suddenly realized, and secretly admired Li Yuan's meticulous care, but also changed his kind face, and said with a smile: "Duke Tang sent you here, what letters did you bring?" ”

"Qiyu Khan, Tang Guogong didn't dare to let the villain come with a letter for the sake of prudence, so that even if the villain was discovered by Chen Yingliang's people on the road, he could be excused to say that he was a scout sentry disguised as a common man, and he didn't need to be afraid of being searched for letters." Mao Fugui replied respectfully: "Tang Guogong only asked the villain to give you three messages, and said that you can understand it as soon as you hear it." ”

"Those three messages?" Shibi Khan hurriedly asked.

"Yu Khan, Tang Guogong's first message is that he hasn't made up his mind before." Mao Fugui replied in a deep voice: "But now, Tang Guogong has made up his mind, determined to help the Khan defeat his enemy Chen Yingliang. ”

"Duke Tang, why did he make up his mind now?" Shibi Khan hurriedly asked again.

"The night before yesterday, Chen Yingliang once again humiliated Tang Guogong in public." Mao Fugui replied: "In order to boost morale, Chen Yingliang once again mentioned the matter of the son-in-law of Tang Guogong forcing him to withdraw from the marriage in front of everyone, and encouraged the officers and men in the army to learn from him, fight hard, make meritorious contributions and become famous, and make all enemies regret it." Although he did this to boost morale, our Ambassador Li still felt that he had been greatly humiliated, so he made up his mind to get rid of Chen Yingliang, and only then did he deliberately release the Khan and your generals in the chaos and let them come back to report to the Khan and you to warn. ”

After listening to Mao Fugui's introduction, Shibi Khan suddenly realized again, and at the same time that the Ashina family next to him also woke up, someone also asked Mao Fugui: "Then why didn't Duke Tang immediately send someone to warn us, so that we wouldn't step into the trap?" Lost so badly? ”

Shibi Khan also asked this question, and Mao Fugui replied helplessly: "Khan, it was too late at that time, your army had already begun to reach the edge of the camp, and our Ambassador Li was by Chen Yingliang's side at that time, so it was too late to report to you and warn you, and secretly release your general, and it was only after our Ambassador Li personally led the army to participate in the war that we found the opportunity, so Ambassador Li also asked the villain to make amends to you, and promised that such a thing would never happen again." ”

"Son of a, how good it would have been to make up your mind earlier?" Shibi Khan scolded secretly, choosing to believe Mao Fugui's explanation for the time being, and then Shibi Khan hurriedly asked: "Who is the traitor that Chen Yingliang has planted with us, and Duke Tang will find out for me?" ”

"Yu Khan, this is also the second message that Ambassador Li asked the villain to bring you." Mao Fugui replied: "Ambassador Li said that Marshal Chen Yingliang is very cunning and has never published the name of this traitor, so it will take him some time to find out." However, Chen Yingliang once said in the account of the commander of the Chinese army that he knew the reason why the traitor betrayed you, and he believed very much that the information provided by the traitor was true, so we Ambassador Li suspected that this traitor was probably the Khan's close person, who could know your tactical plan in advance, and for some reason, he wanted to betray you very much. ”

"Being able to know my tactical plan in advance? And for some reason, you really want to betray me? ”

Shibi Khan began to ponder in his heart, and Ashina's family also calculated and analyzed in their hearts, and one or two immediately noticed Ashina Simo who stood at the end without saying a word - after all, among Ashina's family, Ashina Simo is definitely the most outstanding one, but because of the lack of purity of bloodline and Turkic ancestral teachings, he can't get the trust of Shibi Khan anyway.

Again, Shibi Khan only has limited trust in Li Yuan at present, even if Shibi Khan also has doubts about Ashina Simo, but he doesn't dare to believe Li Yuan's envoy immediately, so Shibi Khan can only put this matter aside for the time being, and asked Mao Fugui: "What is the third message that Duke Tang asked you to bring me?" ”

"Qiyu Khan, our third message from Ambassador Li." Mao Fugui replied respectfully: "It was yesterday evening, some generals of our army who are familiar with your situation proposed a Jianyi to Chen Yingliang, Jian Yiliang Chen Yingliang bought the Tuan Hu soldiers captured on the battlefield the night before, and then released them, and encouraged your Tuan Hu soldiers to rebel and rebel, and cooperate with Chen Yingliang to attack you in exchange for a heavy reward. ”

"Those generals also said that the Tuan Hu soldiers are the most greedy, and they have no loyalty at all, as long as Chen Yingliang is willing to pay the price, these Tuan Hu soldiers will definitely give up your life for Chen Yingliang. Chen Yingliang felt that it made sense, so he decided to give it a try, so we Ambassador Li asked the Khan to be careful ....... ”

Before Mao Fugui finished the message, and the interpreter hadn't finished translating Mao Fugui's words, Shibi Khan's face had already changed, and he immediately jumped up and shouted: "Quick, go and arrest all those Tuo Qian who came back last night, they must be spies sent by Chen Yingliang's barbarians!" "Police."

After listening to Mao Fugui's introduction, Shibi Khan suddenly realized again, and at the same time that the Ashina family next to him also woke up, someone also asked Mao Fugui: "Then why didn't Duke Tang immediately send someone to warn us, so that we wouldn't step into the trap?" Lost so badly? ”

Shibi Khan also asked this question, and Mao Fugui replied helplessly: "Khan, it was too late at that time, your army had already begun to reach the edge of the camp, and our Ambassador Li was by Chen Yingliang's side at that time, so it was too late to report to you and warn you, and secretly release your general, and it was only after our Ambassador Li personally led the army to participate in the war that we found the opportunity, so Ambassador Li also asked the villain to make amends to you, and promised that such a thing would never happen again." ”

"Son of a, how good it would have been to make up your mind earlier?" Shibi Khan scolded secretly, choosing to believe Mao Fugui's explanation for the time being, and then Shibi Khan hurriedly asked: "Who is the traitor that Chen Yingliang has planted with us, and Duke Tang will find out for me?" ”

"Yu Khan, this is also the second message that Ambassador Li asked the villain to bring you." Mao Fugui replied: "Ambassador Li said that Marshal Chen Yingliang is very cunning and has never published the name of this traitor, so it will take him some time to find out." However, Chen Yingliang once said in the account of the commander of the Chinese army that he knew the reason why the traitor betrayed you, and he believed very much that the information provided by the traitor was true, so we Ambassador Li suspected that this traitor was probably the Khan's close person, who could know your tactical plan in advance, and for some reason, he wanted to betray you very much. ”

"Being able to know my tactical plan in advance? And for some reason, you really want to betray me? ”

Shibi Khan began to ponder in his heart, and Ashina's family also calculated and analyzed in their hearts, and one or two immediately noticed Ashina Simo who stood at the end without saying a word - after all, among Ashina's family, Ashina Simo is definitely the most outstanding one, but because of the lack of purity of bloodline and Turkic ancestral teachings, he can't get the trust of Shibi Khan anyway.

Again, Shibi Khan only has limited trust in Li Yuan at present, even if Shibi Khan also has doubts about Ashina Simo, but he doesn't dare to believe Li Yuan's envoy immediately, so Shibi Khan can only put this matter aside for the time being, and asked Mao Fugui: "What is the third message that Duke Tang asked you to bring me?" ”

"Qiyu Khan, our third message from Ambassador Li." Mao Fugui replied respectfully: "It was yesterday evening, some generals of our army who are familiar with your situation proposed a Jianyi to Chen Yingliang, Jian Yiliang Chen Yingliang bought the Tuan Hu soldiers captured on the battlefield the night before, and then released them, and encouraged your Tuan Hu soldiers to rebel and rebel, and cooperate with Chen Yingliang to attack you in exchange for a heavy reward. ”

"Those generals also said that the Tuan Hu soldiers are the most greedy, and they have no loyalty at all, as long as Chen Yingliang is willing to pay the price, these Tuan Hu soldiers will definitely give up your life for Chen Yingliang. Chen Yingliang felt that it made sense, so he decided to give it a try, so we Ambassador Li asked the Khan to be careful ....... ”

Before Mao Fugui finished the message, and the interpreter hadn't finished translating Mao Fugui's words, Shibi Khan's face had already changed, and he immediately jumped up and shouted: "Quick, go and arrest all those Tuo Qian who came back last night, they must be spies sent by Chen Yingliang's barbarians!" ”