Xuan Ting scattered scouts, some people smoothly returned to Zhangye along the Yuan River, Zhangye County, the seat of Zhangye County, just at the confluence of the weak water and the upper reaches of the Yuan River.

After Pei Ju got the news, he immediately summoned the hussar general Wang Shuo and others.

Wang Shuo was born in the right guard, and he was the cousin of Wang Yue who killed himself in front of Yang Ming back then.

Xuan Ting went south to plunder, only took away 4,000 horsemen, leaving 9,400 people, respectively led by Wang Shuo, Yang Wenke, Wu Jinglong, Wang Lian, of which the cavalry was originally only 2,000, but during this time Xuan Ting plundered more than 2,000 horses, after the selection, there were 1,000 temporarily allocated as war horses.

That is to say, Xuan Ting stayed in the rest of Zhangye, with 3,000 cavalry and 6,000 infantry troops.

Pei Ju instructed: "You must take Qilian City as soon as possible to contain the chasing soldiers behind Xuan Ting, remember, after taking this city, you must not give my order, you are not allowed to abandon the city, understand?" ”

After Wang Shuo learned that Xuan Ting took the risk to save Gao Yin, he was still moved in his heart, because Gao Yin, like him, was the old department of He Ruobi, the Duke of Song State, and said solemnly when he heard this:

"Pei Gong rest assured, the last general will defend Qilian to the death, waiting for your order."

In Pei Ju's view, Yang Xuanting's army cannot afford to lose, since the two sides have already done it, let's do it, and Qilian City is located in the lower reaches of the Yuanchuan River, between Zhangye, across the Qilian Mountains, and it is also the best passage for Zhangye to go south, this place must be taken no matter what.

On the same day, Wang Shuo coordinated all the departments, and the army was marched, carrying some grain and grass baggage, plus some siege equipment, and went south along the Yuan River, directly attacking Qilian City.

After passing the Qilian Mountains, the Yuanchuan River will be divided into east and west, 600 li long in the west and 300 li in the east, and Qilian City is on the south bank of the east tributary.

Therefore, before attacking the city, they had to cross the river first, covering the Yuanchuan River is not a big river, there are many shallow rivers, some places are not knee-deep, but often convenient to cross the river, there are tribes inhabited.

Therefore, Wang Shuo's movements were quickly grasped by Qiliancheng's side, and a thousand cavalry troops were sent to harass along the coast.

Nothing goes smoothly on the march and fighting, and the shoals suitable for crossing the river are not available everywhere, so Wang Shuo was ruthless and forced to cross.

The infantry, shield-on, stepped into the knee-deep river, and the archers behind threw at the opposite bank.

On the opposite side, Tugu waited for work, so he stood on the shore and fought with the infantry who had hastily landed on the shore.

The military system of the Great Sui Dynasty has a minimum establishment of ten people and one fire, and a fire commander, that is, it is a minimum formation of ten people to fight together.

The most traditional way of infantry to cavalry is to attack two or three cavalry with five people, and the other five people to contain them from the side, so as to ensure that after the smooth killing, they will disperse and continue to deploy the formation.

The first infantry to land on the shore was more miserable, because they could not line up, so they were slaughtered, but fortunately, after more than a hundred or so people died, the rear brigade followed, and the formation gradually extended, forcing the cavalry out.

In the end, it was the cavalry and the baggage that crossed the river, and the total of these 3,000 horsemen must not be lost when crossing the river, and the cavalry army that was responsible for harassing the river crossing the river was also withdrawn at the moment when the Great Sui cavalry crossed the river.

The landing point of Wang Shuo's department, fifty miles to the south, is Qilian City, so Wang Shuo ordered that the army was not allowed to rest after crossing the river, and went directly south to attack the city.

The siege was at nightfall.

Qilian City is an earthen city, irregular square, the overall city defense should refer to the style of the Central Plains, the earthen wall and the pier platform protruding from the outside, the pier platform is set up to take care of the dead corner area of the city wall, and it can also increase the shooting coverage of the besieging enemy.

Generally, the piers are set up with earthen city walls, because the city walls will not be very high and easy to climb, so the piers that protrude from the city walls and set up a large number of crossbowmen can take care of the two wings and reduce the pressure on the city defense.

Wang Shuo had fire oil here, so he first threw a round of rockets, hoping to ignite some flammable materials in the city and facilitate our army's vision at night.

Not much, but somewhat effective.

Attacking the city at night was very disadvantageous to the attacking side, and during the day they harassed Wang Shuo's cavalry on the riverbank, the purpose of which was to drag them into the night.

The city wall is dark, and you can't see anything, but Wang Shuo doesn't have a torch here, how can he climb the wall?

So the current situation is that the city wall is clear from the outside, and Wang Shuo's eyes are black.

Whatever, siege the city.

There is no tactic in the siege, that is, to climb the city wall as much as possible, of course, the combination of troops must be very rigorous.

Climb the ladder and stick to the wall quickly, once pasted, immediately have to get on the person, there are more people will not be pulled down the ladder, the first to climb the wall must take a shield, hang a knife on the waist on the line, as long as there can be a hundred or so people to climb up smoothly, it is basically stable.

Under the city wall, crossbowmen should also be arranged to shoot at the battlements of the city wall to cover those who climb the wall, and the cavalry is running around the entire city, forming psychological pressure on the other party, and at the same time, the cavalry in the city dare not come out to harass the siege troops.

Wang Shuo has experience in attacking cities, he followed He Ruobi back then, and fought the old Chen capital Jiankang, but unfortunately he finally got in, and found that Han Baohu had already entered from the other side, so the first work was snatched away by Han Baohu, and He Ruobi almost died of anger on the spot.

Jiankang and Qiliancheng, these two city defenses are two concepts, and Tuguhun has no experience in defending the city at all, and their experience is also learned from some Han people in the city.

Therefore, the siege of the city was even smoother than Wang Shuo imagined.

That's why Pei Ju's arrangement for him did not mention how to attack the city at all, but directly said that he was not allowed to abandon the city after taking it.

With the city wall being occupied, the army began to sweep the city, and the cavalry in the city did not have any advantage, and it was completely hung and beaten, so the famous king of Qilian City could only lead more than 2,000 people in his headquarters, open the west gate, and prepare to flee to the west, and then collect people from the tribes along the river, and then take Qilian City back.

Wang Shuo's 3,000 horsemen had been waiting for him for a long time, led by Yang Yue's doorman Wu Jinglong, and after deliberately releasing people, he was surrounded by two wings, and chased and killed all the way in the wilderness outside the city gate.

In the end, more than 1,300 enemies were killed, and the rest were let flee.

If you want to annihilate the cavalry, unless you have an absolute advantage in strength and can complete the encirclement, otherwise everyone is under the ass with horses, why can you catch up with me? You're not a vindictive horse.

Wang Shuo, who successfully entered the city, began to kill, not taking prisoners, as long as the Tugu Hun people wearing military uniforms were not left.

Don't expect the generals on the battlefield to be kind and benevolent, few people who have fought have taken human lives seriously, especially foreigners, Wang Shuo followed to destroy Chen back then, and the Han people did not kill less.

In this instant, more than 2,000 people were killed in the city.

The mansion of the famous king was also occupied, and the family scrolls did not have time to escape, and they were all seized by Wang Shuo's people, these people could not be killed for the time being, and they could be used as bargaining chips if they were kept.

After taking over the entire Qilian City, Wang Shuo sent rangers to report the battle situation to Pei Ju, and then began to look for food from house to house.

After the grain was collected, Wang Shuo would redistribute it uniformly, not to starve the people in the city, but to use the grain to control them.

Each family received one for two days, and the food they received was only enough for them to barely live for two days, so that the hungry people would not make trouble, and Wang Shuo held all the food in his hands, which was also a guarantee for the army.

Moreover, he drove five hundred civilians out of Qilian City, and let them walk around the news that Qilian City had been occupied by the Sui army, if the Qilian City headquarters cavalry that pursued Yang Xuanting could receive the news, they would definitely return to the division to rescue.

The danger of Xuan Ting is self-solved.

......

When Yang Ming arrived in Jincheng County in early April, he contacted Pei Nansheng sent by Pei Ju.

At the moment, they don't know what happened in Qilian City.

"Xuan Ting is in the north, the eldest grandson Chengmai iron rod is in the south, our army goes straight out in the middle, it seems to be a decisive battle, Murong Fuyun will definitely not give up Fu Qi City, so our army is in the middle of the road, will encounter the strongest resistance of the enemy, Gao Gong's plan coincides with Pei Gong," Pei Nansheng pointed to the map and said:

"If the main force of our Chinese army wants to march smoothly, Xuan Ting and Changsun Cheng must contain most of the main force of the enemy, pull north and south, and give our Chinese army a direct passage, otherwise the Chinese army will be blocked, and the plan to take the royal city will be frustrated."

Pei Shinan's original surname was Zhao, and he was later changed to Pei Ju's surname Pei, and he was Pei Ju's absolute confidant.

Gao Gong nodded on the side and said: "Therefore, the main force of Shi Wansui's infantry army needs to clean up Xiping County first, in case the few tribes stationed in the country leak the timing of our army going west, and we can only move after the north and south are successfully contained." ”

"Yes," Pei Shinan nodded: "Although the Xuanting Department is a little weak, but fortunately, there can be Zhangye supplies in the rear, and it can be used to deal with the enemy along the line of Qilian Mountain, and Murong Fuyun's headquarters has about 50,000 elites, so it is mainly dependent on General Changsun to contain them." ”

Yang Ming nodded, didn't speak, just listened.

At this time, Fang Xuanling pointed to the location of Mantou City on the map and said:

"This city is located at the source of the Yellow River, within a radius of hundreds of miles, it is the largest pasture in Tuguhun, it is the place that must be saved, after General Changsun successfully takes it, I am afraid there will be a big war."

Gao Gong said: "That's why the king of Qin instructed the eldest grandson, if you don't see the main force of the enemy army, you must attract the enemy army to Jishi Town in the south, as long as you get to Jishi Town, our Chinese army can be dispatched, but there is another premise, that is, here." ”

As he spoke, Gao Gong pointed to the location of Qilian City on the map and said:

"We now need to allocate a team of elite cavalry, go west along the Haoqian River, quickly capture this city, and then use this as a base point with Xuanting's department to form a tie in the north, if Murong Fuyun does not save him, let Xuanting go south to clear the passage of my army, and respond as the main force."

Yang Ming's eyes narrowed and looked at Shi Wanbao: "Did you hear it?" ”

"I hear you," said Swanbour.

Yang Ming said: "Give you 5,000 horses, do what Gao Gong wants, be sure to coordinate with Xuan Ting, and don't fight separately." ”

"Humble command," Shi Wanbao saluted.

Next, Gao Gong pulled the other party to him, and told him to carry enough military rations, and he could loot supplies along the road, but he must send more scouts to keep in touch with the King of Qin in the rear, and if he encounters special circumstances, he can respond immediately.

But there is one thing that cannot be changed, except for the vicinity of Qilian Mountain, no place can fight a decisive battle with the enemy.