Su Dingfang pressed the handle of Tianxiong's knife in his hand, held binoculars in one hand, stood on a mountain beam with a wide field of vision and watched, the surrounding mountains and roads were in full view, Liu Hongji's soldiers and horses must pass through here, when they come, they can be seen at any time.

"The Tang Army is here." After a while, Su Dingfang said.

Dugu Yanyun and the others looked puzzled in the direction that Su Dingfang was staring at, but they couldn't see anything, and they all looked at Su Dingfang suspiciously.

"Look at it with this." Su Dingfang handed the iron binoculars to Dugu Yanyun.

Dugu Yanyun learned from Su Dingfang's example, looked ahead, and finally saw an army with a white flag marching towards this direction at a corner.

"It's fast enough, but I don't know how much combat power I have when I get here." After Dugu Yanyun put down the binoculars, he found that the distant scene disappeared all at once, and when he looked at it with the binoculars, the flag of the Tang Army was clearly visible again, and he was greatly surprised.

Yu Qinming, who was on the side, took the telescope, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but say in amazement: "This thing is really wonderful!" ”

Da Xi'an took it curiously and watched, and couldn't help but praise: "With this thing, it is almost impossible for the enemy army to sneak attack us." ”

The generals played around and let out exclamations.

Su Dingfang said with a smile: "At night, the telescope won't be of much use, unless the enemy is holding torches." ”

"It turns out that the name of this artifact is telescope, and it really lives up to its name." Dugu Yanyun said.

"Where does General Dugu think Liu Hongji will go down?" Liu Hongji's Tang army looked as if it was already very close, but it was twenty miles away to get here, and Su Dingfang still had enough time to prepare.

Dugu Yanyun took the telescope again, and after watching it for a while, he pointed to the front and said: "There is surrounded by water and mountains, which is very suitable for Xiazhai, even if we send troops from Gucheng, they can also line up according to the mountains, with the help of the vast Han River, they can resist more than twice as many soldiers and horses." ”

Su Dingfang, who was watching with Luo Shixin's telescope, nodded and praised: "I have also seen the place you said, it is indeed suitable for setting up a village, and it is not close to Gucheng, which can just monitor the movement of our army." ”

"We don't have twice as many troops to storm the Tang army." Luo Shixin said with a smile.

"If we occupy that narrow strip of land first, Liu Hongji will not be able to set up a position even if he has a million soldiers, and in the end he will still fight one by one. After a day of marching, they were already sleepy and tired, and the remaining three achievements of ten percent of their combat strength were very good. Su Dingfang estimated, looked at the generals and said: "It's a guest from afar, I want to face the battle from the front and give the other party a big surprise, what do you generals think?" ”

"The last general is going to fight!" When Dugu Yanyun and others heard this, they all asked for war.

Su Dingfang said: "Luo Shixin, Gao Yan listen to the order!" ”

"The last general!"

"It is suitable for the northern part of the village, which is densely forested, and you two will each lead a thousand cavalry to ambush there; Luo Shixin's task was to create a huge momentum, but when he saw that the battle was raging in front of him, he attacked from behind, giving the Tang army a momentum of galloping horses and helping the frontal foot soldiers; Gao Yan, your task is to intercept and kill them along the way when they are defeated and fleeing! In order not to alarm the Tang army on the border, Su Dingfang gave Li Yuan the illusion that the Beizhen Army was fighting alone, so he could only take 2,000 Xiaoguo troops to secretly cross the river, which also made him feel uncomfortable that the cavalry was not enough.

"Whoa!" Luo Shixin and Gao Yan were ordered to go down the mountain.

"Tian Jin, Yi Xian, Xin Han, Helian Chu, and several dynasties."

"The end will be."

"Each of you led the soldiers of the Fourth Division and one guard to lay dry firewood, dead leaves, sulfur, fire and other flammable materials in the middle of the fortified point, and then laid ambushes on both sides. Remember, the main purpose of this fire is to cause a riot in the Tang army, and the enemy will be injured in the second, so you don't lay too much, so as not to be seen through by the Tang army, and then set fire to it when the frontal battle happens! ”

"Whoa."

"Dugu Yanyun, Da Xi'an, Cheng Biting Jin, Kan Leng"

"The end will be."

"General Dugu led the first division and General Daxi led the second division to challenge from the front. Cheng Yanjin and Kan Ling assisted the two generals respectively. ”

"Whoa."

"Han Rong, you lead the third division to serve as the rear army with me, and Yu Sima assists you."

"Whoa."

"Generals who have not been named, your task is to perform their duties in their respective divisions and guards, and you must do your best."

"Whoa."

"This is the first battle, and it is also a crucial battle, whether you can avenge your loved ones or not, it depends on everyone." Su Dingfang said solemnly.

"Don't worry, general, we are willing to fight to the death."

Hearing Su Dingfang mention his relatives who died in the hands of Li Yuanji, the eyes of the generals of the Beizhen Army were red, and they all blushed and roared hysterically.

The gaze and momentum full of destruction finally made Su Dingfang completely relieved. This battle is not to say that it will be won, but a group of mourning soldiers are unintentionally calculated, and they are still sure of success.

At that moment, everyone went down the mountain together, each acting according to the order, and marched towards the north, they were all children of military families, since they knew the location of the Tang army, they could naturally estimate the location of the Tang army and make arrangements in advance.

。。。。。。。。。。。。

At this time, Liu Hongji led the 40,000 Tang army to march quickly in the direction of Gucheng, like a black and oppressive dark cloud swept south from afar, making the heaven and earth change color, the huge sound of horses' hooves seemed to be a muffled thunder in the dark clouds, making the earth tremble, the momentum created by the 40,000 Tang army gave people a feeling of destroying everything.

Li Shimin's task to Liu Hongji was to contain the Beizhen army in Gucheng, and when he and Dou Cong were in place, they would trap the Beizhen army in Gucheng.

Liu Hongji understood that Li Shimin wanted to take this rebel army for his own use, so he issued this order.

In their opinion, the Beizhen Army is formed by the entanglement of dozens of family private armies, and the main general Dugu Yanyun itself does not have much prestige, thanks to the strength of the Dugu clan to be pushed as the leader, this kind of general is not high in the constraints of the army, if the Beizhen Army is in a desperate situation, surrounded for ten days and eight days, Dugu Yanyun, who lacks prestige, will definitely be attacked by the generals, accusing him of poor deployment and ability, causing the Beizhen Army to fall into chaos, at that time, as long as coercion, lure and harassment, this seemingly brave army will be divided.

In the face of breaking up the Beizhen army at any time, Li Shimin certainly didn't want to waste too many troops on them, and the Tang Dynasty was in an extremely dangerous situation.

This time, the 40,000 troops led by Liu Hongji were the elite of the Tang army, 5,000 cavalry, and 35,000 infantry, because his task was to defend the well-armed Sui army, so the equipment of this Tang army was not bad, all the soldiers were wearing armor, equipped with spears and horizontal knives, in addition, each soldier carried a bow and arrow and a round shield.

Most of the cavalry's war horses are Hequ horses from Tuyuhun and Dangxiang, but due to the small number of people in the two countries, the Tang Dynasty did not get many war horses through them, and now the party has been divided between Tuyuhun and Tubo, and Tuyuhun was beaten and subdued by the Sui Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty can no longer get war horses from Tuyuhun, and turns to contact Tubo.

Liu Hongji often travels back and forth between Xiangyang and Yincheng, is very familiar with the terrain of this area, and knows that the Hanshui River is surrounded by mountains five miles in front of him, the middle is wide, the two ends are narrow, and it is very suitable for the lower village, the key is that it is less than ten miles away from the valley city, not only can deter the enemy, but also can use the cavalry to contain the Beizhen army in the valley city, with the current sky and marching speed, set up the camp, and it will be dark for about half an hour, but everything is an exception, can not be generalized, in order to avoid darkness can not build a complete camp, While sending people to investigate, he ordered the army to speed up the march forward.

About three miles away, a partial general stepped forward and arched his hand towards Liu Hongji: "General, the scouts sent by our army have not responded so far!" ”

When Liu Hongji heard this, his face showed a thoughtful look, the scouts they sent out did not come back, that is, they were cleared by the enemy.

"Send a detachment of men in and investigate!" Liu Hongji carefully observed the terrain, although the area here is vast, even if it is a little hidden, there are not many soldiers and horses to hide.

And although the Beizhen Army has an army of 30,000, they have always maintained a cautious attitude since they started their troops, and they have been rerouted from Yongqing County to capture Gucheng County, which is also for the needs of food, and there is no superfluous action after that, so it can be seen that the other party also knows that there are enemies on all sides, so they live a life of walking on thin ice, not seeking merit, but seeking no fault, even if they send troops out of the city, it is estimated that there are more scouts.

But reality soon slapped Liu Hongji in the face, and just when the general wanted to answer, he saw two cavalrymen covered in blood rushing back, it was the scouts he sent out, they were intercepted by the scouts of the Beizhen Army, and only two escaped.

Immediately, the knight reported loudly: "General, the main force of the rebels has been found five miles ahead." ”

Liu Hongji asked in a deep voice, "What formation are they?" How many troops are there? ”

"Back to the generals, they have about 15,000 men, just a single infantry."

"What did you say?"

Liu Hongji was stunned, he couldn't even believe his ears, "Fifteen thousand? ”

"Yes! We can see it clearly. ”

"It's not good, they want to occupy the narrow pass in front, so that our army has no place to stand, the army is speeding up, and we must occupy the narrow pass first. Otherwise, our army will have no place to eat and lodging tonight, and can only retreat forty miles. ”

With Liu Hongji's order, the 40,000 Tang army went straight to the south.

Before, in order to conserve physical strength, the Tang army had been marching normally, but now it suddenly accelerated its march, and it didn't take a moment to reach a narrow pass two miles away. This also included cutting off the scouts of the Beizhen Army, which constantly appeared sporadically, wasting a lot of time, and the Tang Army's march was not unfast.

But what appeared in front of them at this moment was more than 10,000 soldiers who were ready for battle, with high morale and full of spirit.

Looking at the murderous military formation, Liu Hongji and his subordinate generals couldn't help but look at each other: the actions of the Beizhen Army were completely beyond their expectations.

They originally thought that our enemy was strong and weak, and that the other side should retreat to the southern end of the narrow pass, and use the narrow strip of nearly three miles to make it impossible for the Tang army to display its formation, so as to achieve a one-on-one strategic goal. And their Tang army used the power of 40,000 troops to press on the heart of the Beizhen Army, and then the general was divided into four divisions, using the method of wheel warfare, fighting in turns, and the other three divisions were able to defeat more than 10,000 Beizhen troops who had been fighting hard for a long time with absolute superiority.

However, Liu Hongji never expected that the gap in strength had reached such a point, and Dugu Yanyun would actually have to use a small number of troops to meet the 40,000 Tang army from the front.

The soldiers of the Tang Army ran for a full day, and now they are facing such a situation. To fight or not to fight?

Fight, he is facing the army of recuperation with a tired soldier, and he will definitely suffer!

If you don't fight, you will still suffer.

The reason is that the Tang army is sleepy and lacks horses and horses does not have a camp, this camp is not only to provide food and lodging, but also the most important fortification of an army, if there is no camp protection, the Tang army will either use a large number of troops to keep vigil in turn, and suffer from the endless harassment of the other side, but by tomorrow, how much combat power will be left of the 40,000 army, only God knows. Either it is to retreat, but as soon as the Tang army retreats, the Beizhen army will follow, the Tang army has run for a day, and if it runs again, the combat effectiveness will be worse, although the other party will also be tired, but the physical strength between the two is based on the premise of the difference in one day's journey, which is fundamentally different.

Liu Hongji gritted his teeth with hatred, and couldn't help but scold: "Cunning, Dugu Yanyun is really cunning." ”

"General, to fight or not to fight?" The adjutant asked with a wry smile.

"Fight, why don't you fight?" Seeing that the generals and colonels were waiting for his order, Liu Hongji said: "We have 40,000 elite divisions, and if we are afraid, we will not even dare to fight more than 15,000 rebels." Don't let the world laugh off their big teeth? When the time comes, what will the Tang Dynasty say, they will say that our upright imperial army is not even as good as the sparsely numbered rebels, and no longer believe that we have the ability and courage to fight against the fierce Sui army, and the hearts of the Tang Dynasty army and the people will be lost. In order to unite the morale of the Tang army and the people, even if the rebels in front of us are iron, we have to chew it. ”

As a general, Liu Hongji knows the significance of this battle, and he has gone beyond himself, not only to fight, but also to win. He raised his whip and pointed to the terrain and said: "Although the position of our army is flat, the narrow mouth where the rebels are located is just between the mountains and the Han River, and our army can not fight at the same time no matter how many troops there are, and can only put 10,000 soldiers at a time to fight with them, but our army is better than the enemy, and they are all elite, and the troops can be divided into four parts, one to attack, two to rest, and the remaining one to set up tents behind, and wait until the rebels are defeated, and then set up a fence in the narrow mouth." ”

After all, he was a person with rich combat experience, and Liu Hongji quickly thought of a way to deal with it.

"The general is clever in this method, and our army is on wheels. Even if the rebels are a strong force, they cannot withstand such attrition. ”

"Although the enemy has few troops, he is well prepared, and we must not be careless... Especially the first-round soldiers, be careful. ”

"Whoa." The generals arranged according to Liu Hongji's combat intentions.

Liu Hongji looked at the other party's column of sword and shield soldiers, and sneered in his heart: On the surface, although you occupy the right time and place, you are limited by the strength of your troops, and you dare not come in to fight, and the location is lost; I have the strength of the army, this is the people, the three soldiers take turns, I, Liu Hongji, want to see how long you can hold on.