A sentry was brought to Wang Bodang, he was the first to ring the alarm bell, and it is said that what did he see?

"What exactly did you see, tell me in detail!"

Wang Bodang stared at the sentry sharply, he really couldn't figure it out in his heart, his precautions were extremely strict, no soldier was allowed to bring fire into the camp, and he was not allowed to light the lamp when he slept, even the fire head soldier cooked in Xiguguan, and then sent to the camp, how could it catch fire, and it was still the inner camp on fire, so that Wang Bodang was puzzled.

The sentry whispered: "At that time, I saw three fires falling from the sky, it should have fallen along the cliff, and one of the fire balls also bounced on the cliff and then dispersed, and the lowly saw it clearly. ”

Wang Bodang couldn't help but look up at the jade mountain that was red by the firelight, there was a cliff in the middle, and there were dense woods on it, but wasn't there no way to go above? Who can climb up?

"General, could it be a ghost fire?"

A lieutenant said in a low voice: "I often see clouds of yin fire in the cemetery, and our hometown is called ghost fire. ”

"No way, that kind of fire doesn't burn the tent, it must be someone deliberately set it on fire."

Although Wang Bodang believed that someone deliberately set the fire, he really couldn't determine the identity of the arsonist, whether it was a scout of the Sui army, or a local native, or a soldier of the Tang army who held a grudge and vented his anger. ”

The general had to rush to make arrangements, Wang Bodang looked at the grain camp that was completely engulfed by the fire, his face became more and more pale, he really didn't know how to explain to the prince?

Zhang Xuan attacked Youzhou and mobilized 80,000 elite Sui troops, in fact, these 80,000 elite troops were not only to attack Youzhou, but also to deal with the Tang army of the Eastern Expedition. Now there are not only 80,000 troops, but also 20,000 surrendered Youzhou troops, which are also an elite army that is good at fighting, but they need to be reorganized a little and can't immediately enter the battle, so Zhang Xuan handed over the reorganization to Wei Chigong. At the same time, he let him lead 20,000 troops to defend Zhuo County, and let Li Jing and Zhao Liang continue to lead 10,000 troops to defend Lushuicang, and Zhang Xuan personally led 60,000 troops to meet the Tang army of the Eastern Expedition.

Zhang Xuan's camp is located on a high ground ten miles north of Xianyu County, Boling County, hundreds of steps away is the official road to Youzhou in the east, here is the way for the Tang army to go east, the scout has given Zhang Xuan the exact information, a total of 70,000 Tang troops to the east.

Among them, the front army had 30,000 people, led by Li Yuan's younger brother Li Shuliang, and the vanguard of 5,000 people was commanded by the general Zhang Rubin. They marched extremely fast, and had already entered Boling County, and the vanguard army would arrive in Xianyu County by this evening or so at the latest.

In the big tent, Zhang Xuanzheng discussed with Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui about the strategy of fighting, and it was their consensus to concentrate their forces to annihilate the enemy army, and the key was to first attack Tumen Pass and cut off the retreat of Li Shuliang's army, or directly attack Li Shuliang's army. Opinions are not unanimous, Fang Xuanling suggested that the soil gate should be closed first. Not only cut off Li Shuliang's retreat, but also cut off Li Jiancheng's backup army, but Du Ruhui advocated directly attacking Li Shuliang's army, concentrating forces to annihilate Li Shuliang's army, and then attacking Li Jiancheng's army, which was completely too late in time.

Jang Hyun pondered for a long time. said to Fang Xuanling: "If Shen Guang's side succeeds, it will contain Li Jiancheng's army, and Li Jiancheng's army may not come out of the well, which is actually equivalent to Li Shuliang's army, and Qu Tutong's army is even more difficult to fight." I was worried that Tumen Pass would not be able to fight for a long time, and gave Li Shuliang a chance to withdraw his troops, so I also felt that it was better to directly fight Li Shuliang's army, and I could use cavalry to cut off their retreat, what do the military advisors think? ”

Fang Xuanling nodded and smiled: "Actually, both plans are fine, and I also have a clever plan to kill Li Shuliang's vanguard without much effort." ”

Zhang Xuan and Du Ruhui glanced at each other, and the two suddenly understood Fang Xuanling's plan, Zhang Xuan smiled and said: "It's indeed a good plan, you can give it a try!" ”

When night was about to fall, Li Shuliang's vanguard, the general Zhang Rubin led 5,000 troops to Xianyu County, although Xianyu County is the county of Boling County, but the county seat is not large, the circumference is less than 20 miles, the population is tens of thousands, Zhang Rubin's army just arrived in the city, the county commander Zhao Encai greeted him, he bowed down immediately in Zhang Rubin to salute, "Welcome the arrival of the Tang Dynasty's army, please be merciful to the general, do not hurt the people." ”

"We have come all the way to autumn without committing any crimes, can there be food in the official warehouse?" Zhang Rubin asked.

"It's only about a thousand stones."

"A thousand stones is enough, prepare first, we will take it tomorrow, and there can be an empty garrison in the county."

"There is a military camp in the north of the county, but it is a little old, if the general does not dislike it, he can probably garrison four or five thousand people, which was originally built by Luo Dudu."

"Oh! I see, then let's live in a barracks! I'll send someone to carry the food later. ”

"Don't bother the general, I'll immediately ask the officials to send grain, and then let the big families in the city gather a few pigs and sheep to serve the army."

Zhang Rubin knew that they were afraid that their soldiers would take the opportunity to loot, so he laughed and said: "Since this is the case, there is a Lao County order, we will stay for one night and leave, and we will not disturb the people." ”

Zhang Rubin ordered the army to enter the city and go directly to the Beicheng military camp to stay, and asked the soldiers not to disturb the people.

The 5,000 Tang troops entered the city in a mighty way, the city was dark, the doors were closed, even the windows were closed tightly, there was not a single pedestrian on the street, and the 5,000 Tang troops did not disturb the people, and directly entered the military camp in front of the north city.

The county magistrate brought dozens of officials and more than 100 young men to drive a cart to send hundreds of stones of grain to the army, and in addition, several large families gathered more than 30 pigs and sheep and dozens of barrels of wine to send to the army.

Zhang Rubin saw that the county order was quite interesting and thoughtful, and he was very happy in his heart, so he asked: "What is the situation in Youzhou?" Does Zhao County Ling know? ”

"I only heard that there is also a war on the Zhuojun side, and the details are not clear, and no businessmen have come over recently."

Zhang Rubin nodded, and at this time, he suddenly found that a few of the young men who delivered the grain were wearing poor leather armor, and his heart moved, so he asked, "Are there any county soldiers in Boling County?" ”

Zhao Xian Ling said with a smile: "Xianyu County is a county rule, of course there are a little county soldiers, there are five hundred county soldiers in the county, and they were originally stationed in the barracks, because the general arrived, so they let it out." ”

Speaking of this, he said in a low voice: "Actually, it's the Cui family's private army. ”

Of course, Zhang Rubin knows that many counties have county soldiers, but they are only nominal county soldiers, in fact, they are the private armies of major families, in the name of county soldiers, and the family pays for food, since this is the old nest of the Boling Cui clan, it is strange that there are no county soldiers.

Zhang Rubin saw that these county soldiers were poorly equipped, and they were not even as good as thieves, all of them were clumsy and clumsy, and they were timid, so he didn't take them to heart, and immediately instructed the county order: "They can maintain order in the county at night, but the city walls and gates are controlled by my army, and we will return them to you tomorrow after we leave." ”

"It's up to the general to decide!"

Tang Jun cooked rice and ate meat, after being busy for more than an hour, he gradually quieted down, and went back to the barracks to sleep, there were 100 guards at the north and south gates, and there were 300 people patrolling the city wall.

The whole county fell into silence, and there were occasional groups of county soldiers wearing leather armor in the streets and alleys, and the soldiers defending the city did not take them to heart and kept their duties.

About one watch, the soldiers guarding the north gate of the city accidentally found that dozens of jars of good wine were stored in the hut in the city cave, and everyone was suddenly surprised, although they all ate meat today, but the wine sent by the big families was not distributed to the soldiers, Zhang Rubin did not allow the soldiers to drink, and all of them were sealed.

Unexpectedly, good wine was found in the city gate, the wine tasted mellow and fragrant, all the soldiers were hooked up with alcohol, more than a dozen old drunkards were even anxious to stretch out their hands in their throats, they couldn't wait to open the wine jar, and drank heartily, and the soldiers defending the city joined in the drinking, maybe the wine was too mellow, and soon some people were drunk like mud, lying under the city wall and falling asleep.

Outside the north city gate, Zhang Xuan led 10,000 soldiers to wait patiently for the city gate to open, and in the temple in the west of the city, 3,000 elite soldiers gathered from all over the city, led by the general Su Dingfang.

At this time, two county soldiers came running to report: "General Qiyu, most of the defenders of the North City Gate have fallen drunk, and several soldiers who have not drunk have also been controlled by our brothers, and the North Gate has fallen into our hands. ”

Su Dingfang sneered and asked, "What time is it now?" ”

"About two o'clock!"

Su Dingfang nodded and ordered: "You can open the city gate!" ”

The two county soldiers rushed away, and Su Dingfang immediately waved his hand and ordered the three thousand soldiers: "Follow me to the barracks!" ”

He led 3,000 soldiers to the military camp north of the city. (To be continued.) )