Not long after the advance patrol of the Khitans, a Khitan army composed of thousands of people spread out from the north, which was an elite army selected from tens of thousands of Khitan troops, with 5,000 people, and was personally commanded by the Khitan chief Li Qianzhong.

This is the trap carefully deployed by Li Quanzhong, luring the main force of the Tang army to the north, and then attacking the Tang army's logistics baggage, the army of 100,000 people has no food and grass supplies, and it can't support it for three days, especially the logistics baggage is attacked, the Tang army will be disorganized, which creates a good opportunity for the Khitan iron cavalry to attack the Tang army.

Li Qianzhong saw that it was getting late, so he ordered: "Order the army to rest on the spot."

Five thousand Khitan soldiers sat down on the spot to rest, some drank water, some ate mutton, and Li Qianzhong stood in front of a big stone and looked at the map he had simply drawn, this is the middle section of the White Wolf Valley, about 30 miles away from the official road in the east, blocked by a big mountain, and then go forward for more than ten miles on a narrow stone valley secret road, which can cross the mountain in the east and lead directly to the official road.

If they want to attack the logistics of the Tang army, they can only pass through the secret road of the stone valley that is about ten miles long, and the key issue now is to know the whereabouts of the Tang army, and only by effectively grasping every move of the Tang army can he successfully attack the logistics of the Tang army.

Li Qianzhong only pondered, but did not find that on a mountain beam hundreds of steps away, five Tang army scouts were watching their every move, Yang Honglie whispered to the two subordinates: "I continue to stare at them, you two immediately go back to report to the general, be careful on the way, don't be caught by the other party's patrol." ”

The two subordinates agreed, quickly got up and left, Yang Honglie continued to stare at Li Qianzhong, not daring to slack off at all.

Just when several scout teams of the Tang Army were heading north first, Li Zhen's 5,000 troops had gradually arrived in the White Wolf Valley, and were currently temporarily stationed in the valley mouth area in the south.

This time, the army led by Li Zhen made a detour to the north, and the 5,000 soldiers marched day and night, not taking the official road, but picking up the remote path, and only two days later, the army arrived in a mountain col thirty miles south of the mouth of the White Wolf Valley.

This area is a hilly area, the valley is deep and there are many holes, the forest is dense, the nearest official road is also twenty miles away, the location is very remote, but not far from them, there is actually a small village of more than a dozen families, it is called the White Wolf Village, and the people in the village mainly make a living by collecting medicine and hunting.

At this time, it was almost dawn, Li Zhen ordered the 5,000 troops to be stationed on the spot, and sent dozens of patrols to investigate everywhere, this place is relatively close to the main force of the Tang army, once Wu Youyi learns that he is going north, he is likely to find trouble for himself.

In the marching tent, Li Zhen sat in front of the map, carefully studying the route of the march, and this action plan was completely proposed by him and supported by Di Renjie.

After receiving the Khitan army's request for peace, Li Zhen carefully studied Li Qianzhong and Sun Wanrong from several Tang soldiers who had been dealing with the Khitan for a long time

But Li Zhen paid more attention to their weaknesses, and their weaknesses were also obvious, as nomads, they were good at cavalry combat, and basically had little experience in mountain warfare and positional warfare.

Secondly, Li Quanzhong is more conceited, he has always looked down on the generals of the Liaodong border pass, Wang Xiaojie had his birthday the year before last, and almost everyone went to congratulate him, but this Li Quanzhong sent one of his subordinates to socialize, which was extremely rude.

looks down on Wang Xiaojie, an experienced general, Li Quanzhong, not to mention himself who has just debuted for a year, this is Li Quanzhong's weakness, he will definitely not take himself to heart, this opportunity must be seized.

At this time, the scouts should have received some news, and Li Guangbi waited patiently for the scouts to return, and at this time, several soldiers brought in the village chief of White Wolf Village.

The village chief's surname is Chen, he is about fifty years old, very honest and honest, he knelt down when he came in and said: "Xiaomin Chen Sanlang knocks on the general." ”

"Village Chief Chen, please get up"

Li Zhen helped him up with a smile and said, "Village chief, please rest assured, our Tang Army has always been strict in military discipline and will never harm the people." ”

"The small people believe that the army is stationed near the village, but they have not committed any offense to us. ”

Li Zhen smiled and asked, "Then how do you make a living, do outsiders often come?"

"General Huiyu, we are called the White Wolf Valley here, the valley is deep and dense, rich in medicinal materials, there are many wild beasts, the people in our village all rely on collecting medicine and hunting for a living, every ten days will go to Yingzhou to sell medicine and fur, by the way to buy some daily necessities, ordinary outsiders rarely come to us, only occasionally there are medicine merchants and merchants. ”

"Have the Tang Army and the Khitan Army ever come?" Li Guangbi asked again.

"The Tang army has not been here for several years, and the Khitan army just left last month, but they are not going south either, and it was the first time I saw them last month. ”

Li Zhen nodded, he pondered for a moment, and then asked, "From here to Yingzhou, how do you go?"

The village chief said: "We generally go south to the official road, along the official road to Yingzhou, although around a little, but the official road is flat, but fast, at most three or four days to arrive, if you don't want to go south to take the official road, you can also take the front of the path, but the road is very difficult to walk, and it is not very safe." ”

When Li Zhen heard that there was a path, he realized something in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "Can the trail connect to the official road?"

"Of course, I mean to go from the trail to the official road, just through a narrow valley of nearly ten miles. ”

Li Zhen thought about it again and said to the village chief: "The village chief can find us a guide who is familiar with the trail, and we also plan to take the valley trail to the official road, and I will reward you heavily afterwards." ”

"No problem, my son often takes a small road to Yingzhou, and asks him to take the general there. ”

Five thousand Tang troops rested in White Wolf Village for a day, and when it was almost dawn, the Tang army, under the leadership of the guide, quickly set off towards the White Wolf Valley.

It was an early autumn night, the sky was covered with dark purple clouds, but there was no rain, the ground was slightly damp, but not muddy either, and five thousand soldiers marched silently through the valley, only to hear the faint clanging of spears against swords.

The soldiers were not allowed to talk to each other, they were not allowed to leave the team for a small break, and they tried not to let the horses of the army neigh, and the more secret the march was, the more hope of victory.

About twenty miles from the mouth of the valley to the secret road that Li Zhen wanted to go, the 5,000 Tang troops took a forest path, almost marching through the dense forest, passing through large swamps from time to time, and they had to lead their horses carefully through the swamps.

In the distance, the dark shadows were mountains, and from time to time hidden beasts howled low at them in the distance, and they looked particularly frightened in the gloomy woods.

The Tang army did not stay in the forest for too long, but increased its speed, the sun shone through the woods, the light brightened for a while, and then disappeared into the darkness, and the five thousand soldiers like iron dragons made the animals peeking quietly in the distance feel a burst of fear and fled far away.

When they were still about ten miles away from the secret passage of the valley, they entered a hill, the widest area of the White Wolf Valley here, the two sides were fifteen or sixteen miles wide, and the woods were more lush, which was extremely conducive to concealment, at this time the Tang army slowly slowed down the pace of the march.

Li Zhen urged his horse to rush up a small hill, from where he could see the valley beyond, and he saw dozens of huge steep mountains standing on the mountain range in the distance, as if dozens of giant soldiers were lining up on the high mountain to stand by.

Li Zhen's gaze moved to the west of the mountain, which was the goal of his trip, a secret passage in the valley that could lead to the official road, only to see that the secret passage was pitch black, not illuminated by the sun, and it looked a little gloomy.

Li Zhen quickly estimated the current position of the 100,000 main force of the Tang Army, at this time the clouds in the morning had dissipated, the blue sky was 10,000 miles, the weather was exceptionally clear, and it was suitable for the march, with the marching speed of the 100,000 army, it should have passed the position of the White Wolf Valley by now, and the rear army was not far from here.

If the Khitan army was ambushed on the official road, it would still be discovered by the sentinels, and even if Wu Youyi was incompetent, his army could still organize a hasty resistance.

In other words, if the Khitan army wants to make a move against the Tang army, they should be in the area of the White Wolf Valley, using the terrain to cover, and Li Zhen's eyes are once again on the dark valley.

At this time, Li Zhen saw two figures rushing towards him from the north, and he knew that this should be the scout he had sent, so he immediately ordered: "Bring the scouts here."

After a while, the scout team was being brought to Li Zhen's side, and he bowed and saluted, "See the general"

"Tell me, what did you find?"

"Returning to General Yu, we found a Khitan army, about 5,000 men, less than thirty miles ahead, temporarily stationed to rest. ”

Five thousand people is the best number of people to attack the logistics of the Tang army, this must be the elite of the Khitans, Li Zhen asked again: "Can they find you?"

Team Yang was leading the four of them to sneak to the other side's 300 paces to observe, and found that the enemy army was unprepared, and the Khitans did not seem to realize that we were coming. ”

"How many cavalry does the other side have? Also, does the other side have patrol soldiers patrolling nearby?"

"General Huiyu, all of them are infantry, no cavalry, equipped with knives and spears, wearing the Mingguang armor of the Tang Army, but the helmet is a wolf's head, and the equipment is very well-equipped, as for the Khitan soldiers on patrol, we also found out, but they mainly patrol within ten miles, and do not come to the south. ”

Li Zhen nodded, his sharp eyes looked at the long black mountain crack in the distance, under the sunlight, the entrance of the valley could be seen very clearly, as he expected, the Khitans were going to break through the valley and attack the logistics of the Tang army.

And this valley will become the key to his attack on the Khitan this time, he pondered for a moment, if the Khitan army can be blocked in this valley, this is the best result, but in fact it is difficult for the Tang army to do it, if he enters the valley first, it will inevitably alarm the Khitan army.

But if he sent someone to deliver a letter to the Tang Army's baggage team on the other side, the other party might not believe it, and I was afraid that it would be too late.

However, you can try it, Li Zhen immediately sent the two scouts who had just reported the news over the mountain to deliver a message to the Tang Army's logistics army on the other side of the White Wolf Valley.

Looking at the two scouts running away, Li Zhen slowly ordered: "Pass my order, the whole army is hidden in the forest, and no voice is allowed to be exposed." ”

With Li Zhen's order, the 5,000 army began to silently turn into the gloomy forest, and soon disappeared from the White Wolf Valley.

The hundred spies sent by Li Qianzhong have already entered the valley crack first, this valley crack can be called a masterpiece of the devil's axe, the valley is only seven or eight zhang wide, and there are cliffs on both sides, as if the cracks split by a giant axe, steep and straight, growing all kinds of vines, and there are many reptiles living in the dark and damp environment

The valley is only fourteen or fifteen miles long, and after passing through the valley, you will enter a lush forest about several miles wide, and on the other side of the forest is the official road of the Liaoxi Corridor.

At this time, the Tang Army's logistics baggage team had gradually arrived near the rift in the White Wolf Valley, where there was just a flat land of more than 1,000 acres, and the Tang Army's logistics baggage team set up a large camp on the flat land.

A three-zhang high guard tower was built on each of the four towers of the main camp, and two sentries looked into the distance from the guard tower.

The sentinels mainly regard the eyes as the main ones, and the distance between the eyes can reach ten miles during the day, and at night, if the moon is good, there is also a distance of three miles, which is the most advantageous auxiliary for the defense of the large battalion.

Therefore, it is not so easy for the Khitan army to sneak attack the Tang army camp, unless the sky is beautiful, there is no moonlight and starlight, or there is another sandstorm, otherwise the sneak attack army will not be able to escape the alarm of the sentry post in the first place.