Dunhuang City has been baptized by the fire of the two Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties and hundreds of years of resistance to foreign invasions, the city has been repeatedly destroyed and built, and it has gradually become a strong city with a circumference of 20 miles and a city wall of two zhang high.

It was a severe winter, the sky was cold and frozen, the Sui army splashed buckets of water on the city wall, after a night of freezing, Dunhuang City has become an ice city, the ice layer thick up to two inches wraps the city wall, as if wearing an ice armor, snow white and crystalline, shining in the sun with a magnificent ice blue color, like a dreamlike castle.

In winter warfare, defending the city is undoubtedly an advantage, Su Dingfang is not a fierce general who blindly attacks and kills, he studied under Li Jing, learned to take advantage of the time and place, and use all the favorable conditions around him to fight, which is also an important reason why Yang Yuanqing sent him to the west after repeated considerations.

The biggest feature of Dunhuang County is that it is located in the depths of the Gobi, the population is deserted, the vegetation is sparse, there are only three poplar forests around Dunhuang City, all of which were cut down by Su Dingfang, and many red willows that grow along the river are not suitable for siege weapons and survive.

Surrounded by dozens of personal soldiers, Su Dingfang immediately stood on a sand dune and watched hundreds of soldiers cut down a poplar forest, which covers an area of more than ten acres, growing tall and stout, dense and lush, although it is not easy for trees to grow in Dunhuang, this poplar forest has a history of at least hundreds of years, but Su Dingfang still did not hesitate to order it to be cut down.

The soldiers dragged into the city, and the head of the Suo family, Suo Li, was extremely distressed to see that this poplar forest was his family's private property, which was one hundred and fifty years old, and was now cut down.

Every time the big tree fell, the flesh on Soli's face shook violently, his heart was like a knife, he finally couldn't bear the torment in his heart, and stepped forward to beg Su Dingfang, "General Su, leave the trees behind!" Don't cut it anymore. ”

Su Dingfang shook his head and said coldly: "Master Suo, I understand your feelings, but if I don't cut these trees, the Tang army will cut them down and can't keep them." ”

"Then leave me one! This is my family's fireworks, leave a tree for them to grow again! ”

Su Dingfang glanced at him, and when he saw that his face was full of pleading, he pointed his horsewhip to a thin tree by the river, which was a new seedling that only grew last year, "That little tree can be left to you." ”

Although the tree was very young, it was better than cutting it all down, and when Soli saw a soldier walking towards the tree with an axe, he ran up and shouted, "That tree was left to me by General Su, you can't cut it anymore." ”

Su Dingfang shook his head, in this cold season, Tang Jun needs to burn a fire to keep warm, is it possible for this little tree to stay?

At this moment, a scout rushed from a distance, and rushed to Su Ding's side for a moment, and the scout glared at him on the horse: "General Qiyu has discovered the Tang army, about 15,000 people, and has arrived in Yumen County. ”

"Who will the Lord be?"

"General Hui seems to be Li Xiaogong, the king of Huai'an!"

", it's him!"

Su Dingfang muttered to himself, he quickly estimated in his heart that it was about two hundred miles from Yumen County to Dunhuang County, and if he marched day and night, he would probably arrive in Dunhuang County tomorrow afternoon, and there was still a little time, so he immediately ordered: "Speed up the logging time, if it can't be completed before noon tomorrow, burn down the woods." ”

After giving the order, Su Dingfang immediately turned his horse's head and ran towards the city.

The Tang army did not march day and night, but arrived at Dunhuang City at noon on the third day, 15,000 Tang troops were mighty, waving flags, the momentum was magnificent, under a handsome flag, Li Xiaogong was fully armored, his eyes were gloomy and staring at the empty and desolate Gobi Desert, where he entered, there were only endless rocks and sand dunes, and occasionally a few bushes swaying in the wind appeared, but not a single tree could be seen.

At this time, Li Xiaogong was attracted by a former poplar forest, all the big trees were cut down, only the stumps were cut messily, the ground was full of tree debris, and there was a lonely small tree left by the river in the distance, only the thickness of an arm, shivering in the cold wind, Li Xiaogong couldn't help but sigh, the wall was clear, and the Sui army did not leave them any chance.

Since the Tongguan incident more than two months ago, Li Xiaogong has been very low-key, and he understands in his heart that the saint is very dissatisfied with him, and this dissatisfaction lies in the fact that he made a big deal about the incident of Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and did not take care of the saint's face.

But Li Xiaogong did not regret it, if he was not severely punished, Li Yuanji would have ruined the entire Tang army, Jingluo Hexi was originally in charge of Li Shentong, after Li Shentong was transferred to negotiate with the Northern Sui, the army in Hexi was temporarily led by him, perhaps after a Hongnong fiasco, Li Xiaogong is now very cautious, he must not be careless, so that he will suffer another defeat.

At this time, a scout chased after him from behind, "His Royal Highness! ”

Li Xiaogong reined in his war horse, this was the scout he sent to Yiwu County to investigate intelligence, and he immediately asked, "What is the gathering in Yiwu County?" ”

"General Huiyu, the defenders of Yiwu County have surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and there are more than 2,000 garrisons, but our army can't get through!"

"Why is that?"

"The Sui army held the most dangerous place in Xingxing Gorge, there are 3,000 Sui troops stationed, there are easy to defend and difficult to attack, we can only pass by pretending to be merchants, and our army needs at least 30,000 people to capture."

Li Xiaogong let out a long breath, in fact, he didn't want to attack Yiwu County, but he couldn't find an excuse, this is the best, the Sui army held the Xingxing Gorge, and his troops were insufficient, this was the best excuse.

Li Xiaogong was extremely reluctant to fight with the Sui army, and now that the morale of the Tang army was gradually recovering, if he was severely damaged by the Sui army, this would form a phobia of Sui in the Tang army's heart, which would be extremely unfavorable to the future battle with the Sui army.

Since the beginning of the army in Taiyuan, only in the process of going south and occupying Guanzhong, the Tang army has been like a bamboo, maintaining a record of repeated victories, and that is because Yang Yuanqing's army was pinned down by the Turks in Fengzhou, they were so successful.

But since the Sui army's eastward crusade, the battle of Taiyuan, the battle of Jiangjun, the battle of Hongnong, the Tang army has been defeated repeatedly, and the Sui army annihilated 100,000 troops, especially the internal strife of the Tongguan incident, which made the Tang army turbulent and demoralized, and it is precisely for this reason that the Tang army won and lost half of the battle with the Western Qin army that was inferior to its own equipment and logistics, if it were not for Li Shimin's personal command in Longxi, if it were not for the internal strife of the Western Qin army, I am afraid that the Tang army would have been defeated in successive battles, and even the entire Longyou would be completely lost, This is the concrete manifestation of the crisis that the Tang army is beginning to face, and under the cover of elite equipment, the morale of the army is weakened and morale is low.

Li Xiaogong's heart is like a mirror, the Sui army does not know the reality of the Tang army for the time being, if once the details of the Tang army are discovered, I am afraid that even his own life will be lost in Dunhuang.

"Your Highness, look, Dunhuang City has arrived!" A soldier pointed ahead and shouted.

Li Xiaogong stared into the distance, only to see a few miles away in the distance, an ice-crystal-like city standing in the wilderness, shining with a magnificent luster in the sun, Li Xiaogong's face showed a trace of bitterness that was difficult to hide, the Sui army had wrapped the entire Dunhuang City in ice, how could he attack the city?

"Pass my order, the army is stationed three miles away from the city!"

The Tang army began to camp three miles away, they did not bring camp fences and other baggage, so they could only use the way of camping in the battlefield, using a large number of spears to insert into the city thorn forest to protect the camp tents, one by one large tents stood up, and groups of soldiers ran to the river to dig ice and get water.

Li Xiaogong personally deployed and set up camp, he attached great importance to food security, they went north this time to grab time, light troops and simple travel, the food they brought was not much, it could only last less than half a month, and the rest had to rely on logistics and grain transportation to support them and the Sui army confrontation.

A group of cavalry made a round of inspections and came back to report: "Your Highness, all the woods around Dunhuang County have been cut down by the Sui army, and there are some red willows in the south, but there is not a single tree suitable for a siege ladder. ”

"Got it, let's go find out!"

Li Xiaogong was very annoyed in his heart, they didn't bring siege weapons, and the Sui army was fortified and cleared, so they couldn't find a tree suitable for siege weapons, did they still have to let them go to Zhangye County to carry siege weapons?

At this time, the deputy general Shi Wanbao walked up to Li Xiaogong and whispered: "Your Royal Highness, this battle is very unfavorable to us!" ”

Shi Wanbao is the general of Li Shentong's faction, originally Chang'an Haoqiang, because of assisting Li Shentong to capture Guanzhong meritorious and was named the former prince of the country by Li Yuan, is an extremely shrewd and cunning person, he found that the Sui army did not have the intention of fighting with them, and it was impossible to fight quickly, which made him very worried in his heart, their army was Li Shentong's subordinates, if he was defeated in Dunhuang County, he could not explain to Li Shentong when he went back.

We are short of food, the grain route is too long, once the enemy cut off our grain route, this battle will collapse without a fight, and the wind and sand are very strong, the climate is extremely low at night, the soldiers are very complaining, it is better to withdraw the army and go back! Just tell the saint that the Sui army has taken Dunhuang County, we can't win, and it is the best policy to maintain our strength. ”

Li Xiaogong sighed, "I just came here today and withdrew, I can't explain to the saint, and I will be laughed at by the Sui army, hold on for a few days, if the situation is really bad and then consider withdrawing the army, you go to appease the army first, and tell them that the Sui army has little food and few soldiers, and they can't support it for a few days." ”

Shi Wanbao had no choice but to go to appease the soldiers, knowing that it was a lie, he could only deceive the soldiers and alleviate the fear in their hearts.

At the head of the city, Su Dingfang watched the Tang army camp, the other party actually did not bring a camp fence, don't they know the wind and sand at night in Dunhuang? A cold smile appeared on the corner of Su Dingfang's mouth.

In the night, the wind is raging, the sand and dust are all over the sky, the whistling sound of the cold northwest wind is like the earth is crying, it is terrifying, the front is gray, the west gate of Dunhuang can not be seen clearly more than a dozen steps away, Li Shatuo led more than 100 scout cavalry from the city to rush out, and disappeared in the boundless wind and sand in a moment.