The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 110 Death Journey
The news of the fall of Huoyi and Yindi reached Taiyuan the next morning.Accompanying it was a letter from Jiexiu County asking for help.

This news surprised Pei Ji and Li Shenfu.

Inside the military camp.

Li Shenfu stood in front of the map worriedly. He had seen more deeply and thoroughly than Pei Ji. He had already understood the strategic intention of the Sui Army. If Queshu Valley was completely lost, it would mean that Taiyuan City would become an isolated city.

At this time, a soldier reported at the door, "Report to Chief, Pei Xiangguo is here."

Li Shenfu smiled coldly: "Please come in!"

It is not an open secret that Taiyuan generals are at odds with each other. Since the breakup, the two have hardly communicated with each other.

Pei Ji came striding forward, and said in a deep voice, "Does the general know that something happened in Queshugu?"

Li Shenfu said coldly: "Not only do I know that Huo Yi and Yindi were lost, but I also know that Pei Yang, a son of the Pei family, gave them to the Sui army!"

Pei Ji saw the sarcasm and dissatisfaction of Li Shenfu, but he had something to ask for, so he said with restraint: "I will take the responsibility that should be borne by me! Now is not the time for internal strife, please put the overall situation first."

Li Shenfu glanced at him in surprise, it was the first time he saw Pei Ji humming, so he said slowly: "Please speak!"

"Xihe, Longquan, and Linfen are empty of troops, and the defenders of Shangdang and Changping want to fight against the opposing Sui army. They have no way to separate themselves. The enemy's next step will sweep the counties in southern Shanxi! Queshu Valley is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If the entire front If we lose our defense, even if we have millions of elite soldiers in Dayuan, we will not be able to rescue it! At that time, the enemy will only need to use exhausted troops to consume the isolated city of Taiyuan. Therefore, we must retake the Queshu Valley at all costs and reopen the north-south fortress. Dao." Pei Ji and Li Shenfu thought of going together.

Li Shenfu smiled bitterly: "Of course I know the consequences of the fall of Queshu Valley. I also think that we must keep Jiexiu County, and at the same time use this foundation to regain Queshu Valley! But you must know that the road from Taiyuan to Jiexiu It's a road to death, very, very difficult."

Of course Pei Ji also saw this.

The entire territory of Loufan and Lishi counties fell, and the northern, eastern, and southern Taiyuan counties also became the sphere of influence of the Sui Dynasty. Li Jing's army has been roaming around Taiyuan, playing the role of containing the Taiyuan defenders!
It's just that Pei Ji's main task is to drag the Sui army to Taiyuan, so as to buy time for the Guanzhong army. Therefore, he adopted the passive defense tactics of standing still and waiting for help. This is also the fundamental reason why he strongly opposes Li Shenfu's participation in the battle.However, the unexpected fall of Queshu Valley completely bankrupted his plan to stick to Taiyuan.

Now, he also finally knew that the Sui army had no intention of fighting a fortified battle in Taiyuan City, but adopted the strategy of encroaching on the entire territory of Bingzhou and finally consuming Taiyuan to death.

Whether or not the situation can be changed now depends on whether or not the Valley of the Rats can be regained.

But just as Li Shenfu said, it takes at least 400 miles to travel from Taiyuan to Jiexiu County, not to mention dense forests and mountains, and Wu Ze, which has a radius of hundreds of miles, is said to be death. The way, half right.Because Li Jing, who was acting as a spectator, would never let them rescue Jiexiu calmly.

Currently in Taiyuan City, the only general capable of rescue missions is Li Shenfu, but this is a thankless and narrowly escaped mission, and Pei Ji, who has to take full responsibility, is ashamed to say no matter how thick-skinned he is.

Regarding this, Li Shenfu had a different opinion. He said in a calm voice, "The Queshu Valley was lost from south to north, so it can be seen that this was done by another Sui army, and there were not too many troops." Up to now, Li Jing and Li Jing probably don’t know what happened in Queshu Valley. If we set out first, then this road will become the death road for the Sui army.”

Pei Ji's eyes lit up, and he said, "The general intends to eat Li Jing and Li Jingbu on this road?"

"That's right!" Li Shenfu laughed and said, "The task of eating up Li Jing's department, rescuing Jiexiu, and taking back Queshu Valley is naturally my responsibility."

After thinking about it for a while, Pei Ji felt that this was a chance to break the situation: "I wish the general victory!"

"Taiyuan City is handed over to you!"

Li Shenfu gathered the generals by beating drums, and issued an order to rescue Jiexiu.First with [-] Qingqi as the vanguard, and then personally led [-] troops to rescue Jiexiu County.

……

In the southwest of Taiyuan, on an abandoned official road in Wenshui County, an army of about 2 people is resting eight miles away from the official road.The army's armor is bright and silent, showing good training quality. The leading general is Li Jing, Minister of the Ministry of War.

Li Jing knew that as long as there was any movement in Queshu Valley, neither Pei Ji nor Li Shenfu would sit idly by and would definitely go south to rescue.With Taigu falling into the hands of Yang Shanhui and Su Dingfang, the only way for the Tang army to go south is Wenshui County!So as early as when he suggested to Yang Tong to send strange soldiers to capture the Queshu Valley, Li Jing was already ready to wipe out Taiyuan's southward reinforcements.

He asked Li Jing and Xue Wanche, the governors of Hengshan County, to use his banner to lead an army of [-] to continue to confuse the Tang army in Taiyuan. He personally led an army of [-] to secretly enter Lishi County, and then sneaked into Wenshui County, Taiyuan from Lishi County.

Like Li Shenfu's analysis, he did not get in touch with Shen Guang, but he kept sending scouts to watch Taiyuan City.

As soon as the Taiyuan army was dispatched, he already knew that Queshu Valley had fallen into the hands of the Sui army, so he immediately led the army into the selected ambush point.

Before that, he also ordered Yang Shanhui and Su Dingfang of Taigu County to prepare to eat Qi County, Taiyuan, because Wenshui is not far from Qi County, and if there is any change here, the defenders of Qi County will never ignore it.

At this time, a cavalry scout rushed over and saluted Li Jing, "General Qi, Taishou Yang and General Su are ready to deploy to the north of Wu Ze in the south of Qi County. After they eat the reinforcements, they will Take the opportunity to take down Qi County, General Li, just go ahead and fight."

"General! General Pei Xingyan's [-] cavalry is ready!" Another scout Pegasus reported urgently.

Li Jing smiled slightly, and said to Xue Wanche: "According to the report from the scouts just now, the Li talisman will arrive in another hour. Enter the pre-arrival point immediately and get ready for the battle."

The two immediately issued a battle order, and the resting Sui army got up to prepare one after another, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

……

noon!

The main force of Li Shenfu's [-] Tang army has entered Wenshui territory, and they are about [-] miles away from Jiexiu County. It is said that Li Jing has dispatched [-] troops to the south urgently, and he must rush to Wu Ze as soon as possible to set up an ambush.Therefore, crossing the city without entering, the marching pressure was extremely high, and Tang Jun tried to minimize rest time along the way.

Although it was a hasty march, Li Shenfu still cautiously sent several scout teams to scout along the way, and kept in touch with the vanguard army at all times to prevent being ambushed by the enemy.

Generally speaking, the marching scouts only search within ten miles along the route, that is, five miles on both sides of the official road, so as to ensure that the army will not enter the ambush circle. As for the enemy troops five miles away, don't worry too much. The army still has time to respond, and there is time to assemble for the battle.

At this moment, a burst of smoke rose in front, which meant that the scouts had discovered the enemy. Li Shenfu was taken aback, and immediately raised his hand and shouted: "Stop marching, gather immediately!"

The [-] Tang troops lined up on the official road for six miles began to shorten and gather quickly. There was a muffled thunder-like sound in the sky, and the dust in the distance covered the sky and the sun, and the ground began to tremble.

The soldiers of the Tang army looked at each other in blank dismay, everyone's eyes showed fear, they all had experience, it was the cavalry who came to kill them.

"General, it's cavalry!" The soldiers shouted in horror.

Li Shenfu's face changed drastically. If it was really a cavalry, then the situation would be dire. At this moment, a dozen or so scout cavalry rushed back and shouted: "Ten thousand cavalry are here."

Li Shenfu's face was ashen-colored in shock, and he shouted in a trembling voice: "Retreat, retreat quickly!"

He knew in his heart that if [-] cavalry were to fight against [-] infantry, the infantry could only be slaughtered. There happened to be a forest more than ten miles to the north, and if they retreated into the forest, they might be able to escape.

Tang Jun was terrified, turned around and ran northward without the coach's urging, although the soldiers were exhausted, but with the support of the belief in escape, Tang Jun still burst out with great potential, scrambling to be the first to flee north.

At this time, the [-] cavalry led by Pei Xingyan had appeared two miles away. They split into two groups and chased along the sides of the official road. Gradually, they had caught up with the slower part of the Tang army. In an instant, finally Facing Tang Jun falling into the hell of death, the cavalry stabbed with spears, and the soldiers screamed and rolled on the ground. Tang Jun was so frightened that he knelt down and surrendered.

The Tang army led by Li Shenfu was not optimistic either. They hadn't run ten li when a Sui army of about [-] suddenly appeared in front of them. They were lined up with three layers of arrows, and [-] pointed cold hand crossbows at them. .

There was an ambush before and there were pursuers after that, and the Tang army was desperate.

Li Shenfu's eyes were red, he waved his iron gun and roared, "Break out of the encirclement! Get out!"

He held up his shield high, and rushed to the Sui army's arrow array two miles away. The Tang army ran after him, roaring and charging towards the intercepting Sui army.
Li Jing looked coldly at Tang Jun who was getting closer and closer. Thousands of people had rushed within a hundred steps, and the large troops behind were rushing towards this side.

"Shoot!" Li Jing gave the order.

Tens of thousands of arrows from the Sui army were fired, and the crossbow arrows shot at the oncoming Tang army like a storm. The powerful rain of arrows was invincible, and the shield of the Li Shenfu was shattered by random arrows. Arrows shot like hedgehogs, and Tang Jun was shot down in pieces!
With three salvos, the Sui army formed a formation and carried out a bloody massacre. Mo Dao was invincible, with sharp knives dancing wildly, heads flying, torsos torn apart, and corpses piled up on the ground without a single complete corpse, which was appalling.

This is a ferocious army that the Tang army has never seen before. They lined up like an iron wall, and they were as violent as mowing grass, sweeping away all enemies that stood in their way.

At this moment, Pei Xingyan's [-] cavalry rushed into the chaotic Tang army from behind like a huge wave.

Li Jing said: "Pass my order, those who surrender will not die, and those who resist will not be spared!"

The war turned into such a situation. The fighting spirit of the Tang army in the chaos collapsed, and they knelt down and surrendered. Hundreds of soldiers who broke out to the south were surrounded by cavalry and were all killed. So far, except for a few of Li Shenfu's [-] troops who succeeded in breaking through, There were more than [-] people who surrendered, and the entire army of [-] elite soldiers was wiped out.

Afterwards, Pei Xingyan led the fine cavalry to go northward, and took down Qingyuan County in one go. The Jinyang Palace built on Longshan Mountain had already been moved by Pei Ji to the outside of Taiyuan City. At this time, it had become an empty city. After the occupation, based on the strategically important Longshan Mountain, the Tang army's southward route in Taiyuan City was cut off.

When the Qixian defenders heard the news of the rescue, they were eaten clean by Su Dingfang. When they were about to return to the city, they found that the banner with the word "Sui" had been changed on the top of the city. They had no choice but to flee north to Taiyuan.

With this battle alone, Taiyuan City has completely become an isolated city.

next morning
Pei Ji got the urgent report that Li Shenfu and the [-] reinforcements were wiped out. Not long after, the news of Jiexiu's defenders surrendering the city was delivered to him.

Pei Ji sat there for an entire hour, when he suddenly realized that the Battle of Bingzhou seemed to have ended before it even started.

Only then did I discover that the key to the Battle of Bingzhou was not Taiyuan City, but Queshu Valley.

After a long time, Pei Ji sighed and gave the order to strictly guard Taiyuan City.

The fall of the whole line of Queshu Valley means that Taiyuan has become an isolated city, even if the Guanzhong Tang army wants to come to rescue, it is impossible.

Out of town to fight?
That is courting death.

The only thing Pei Ji can do now is to stick to Taiyuan City, pin his hopes on Li Shentong of Hedong County, and hope that he can break through the predicament.

(End of this chapter)