After five days of rapid march, on that night, Qin Qiong's third cavalry team arrived in Huoyi County. The night was shrouded in the boundless wilderness. In the distance, there was the blurry mountain shadow of Han Xinling. It was extremely quiet around it, one was two miles away.
The small village was also asleep, and there was no trace of light.
Five thousand cavalrymen were like a long black dragon, entering a forest covering an area of about a hundred acres. The woods were very dark and extremely quiet. When the cavalry entered the woods, a large area of flying flew away.
The river passes through the woods and flows into the Fen River several miles away.
The army entered the woods, and the river suddenly became lively. The soldiers washed their faces and drank water. The war horses stretched their necks to share the sweet river water with the soldiers. Several reckless soldiers took off their clothes and jumped into the river, which attracted the soldiers' low curses.
Several officers rushed over and forced them out of the river with their spears, and the curse turned into laughter.
The soldiers began to look for their own places, lying tiredly on the ground, slowly eating meat pastry, and began to think about how to get promoted and marry a palace maid. Their beloved horse stood quietly by the side chewing hay, and sympathized with each other.
Take a look at their masters.
"Talented brother, why don't you let us sign up for a palace maid?" A short soldier asked in a low voice, a half-envious and half-regretful look in his flashing eyes.
"So many monks and only a few nuns, how do you think you choose?"
The soldier lying on the ground glanced at him disdainfully, but was accidentally bitten by the war horse's mouth and the bread in his hand. He slapped the horse's face in annoyance, "Go! Eat your hay."
He turned over and took out a beef scallion pie from the horse bag on the pillow, rolled it up and nibbled it slowly, narrowing his eyes into slits, enjoying the deliciousness of beef scallion stuffing. Marrying a palace maid is too far away for him. It is still beef
In fact, in the Central Plains, beef is a delicious food that ordinary people cannot eat.
The short and strong soldier sighed melancholy and said to himself: "Talented brother, when did you say the general manager can enter Luoyang?"
"Okay! Stop dreaming."
The soldier next to him took out a piece of dried meat and stuffed it to him, "Eat! After eating, go to make meritorious contributions. If you make meritorious contributions, you can be promoted. If you try to be promoted to the commander of the brigade, you can marry a palace maid."
"That's true!" The short and strong soldier muttered and found a place to sleep.
A small tent has been set up deep in the woods. This is a special marching tent, made of thick wool, which is not transparent. The tent is dim and the lights are so dark that you can barely see the map of the table. Qin Qiong is standing in front of the map with all concentration.
, researching the method of seizing Huoyi County.
One of the tasks that Qin Qiong accepted this time was to use blitzkrieg to capture Huoyi County for Li Jing's Northern Army. Qin Qiong came to Huo County many years ago. He still had some impression of this county town. The city walls were tall and sturdy, and the terrain was dangerous. On one side
On one side is a cliff. Under the cliff is the surging Fen River, this city blocks the necessary official road to the south.
"Jinda, I want to send someone to investigate the reality of the defenders first. What do you think?"
This time, Qin Qiong's deputy general is no longer Cheng Yaojin, while his old friend Niu Jinda, the two have worked together for many years..... They cooperated with each other and didn't talk much, but he was more thorough in his understanding of the problem and could get ideas.
"I think the general manager asked our cavalry to seize Huoyi County, not to let us attack the city at all. He wanted to use the speed of the cavalry to let us defeat Huoyi County."
"I understand what you mean. The defenders never dreamed that we would come so quickly and they had no idea of being prepared for it."
Qin Qiong pondered for a moment and suddenly laughed, "I have a way!"
"What's the solution?"
"When we came just now, didn't we see a wealthy family in a village? You said that the courtyard wall was built like a city wall."
Niu Jinda understood what Qin Qiong meant, "Then I'll go!"
"No! You guard the army, I'll go."
...........
The village Qin Qiong mentioned is Luozhao Village, which is a large village in Huoyi County. There were originally more than 300 villagers, which was very close to the county town. Once bandits were in trouble, the villagers hid in the county town, but last year's thief commander was not in charge.
The rebellion caused Luozhao Village to be devastated. The villagers fled and died, leaving only fifty or sixty families.
There is a wealthy family in the village, whose owner is Luo Youpu. He was once the prefect of Linfen County and was also considered an official family. When Wu Duaner occupied Huoyi County, he became the chief minister of Wu Duaner and saved his house and family.
Later, he surrendered to Li Yuan. Because he was old, he did not take office again and stayed at home to take care of his old age.
As the saying goes, the forest is quiet and the wind is not stopped. His mansion is close to Huoyi County, a strategic important place that must be fought for by military strategists, which is destined to be in peace.
Amid the barking of dogs, a team of more than 300 cavalrymen entered the village and quickly surrounded Luo Mansion. Dozens of people outside the village guarded the road and no one was allowed to leave.
Qin Qiong turned over and dismounted, slapped the door knocker in front, "We are the subordinates of Duke Qi, come to deliver the letter!"
There were dozens of servants standing inside the door, holding sticks, swords and guns, as if facing a great enemy. A fat housekeeper was lying on the door and looking through the crack of the door. There were a large group of officers and soldiers outside. Most people couldn't tell the difference between the Tang army and the Sui army.
The difference does not seem to be murderous.
The fat housekeeper ran to the steps and said to an elderly man: "Master, he is a team of cavalrymen, not like a bandit."
At this time, Qin Qiong's soft voice came from outside, "We are the subordinates of Duke Qi, come to deliver the letter!"
Perhaps because he could not have imagined that there would be any rioters nearby, the old man nodded and said, "Open the door!"
The gate opened rattle, and a large group of soldiers in armor walked into the yard, scaring the servants backed up repeatedly. Qin Qiong bowed and smiled, "I'm here from Taiyuan, and I'm here to send a letter under the order of Duke Qi.
Is it the head of the Luo family?"
"I'm that!"
The old man stood up and was quite surprised. He and Duke Li Yuanji of Qi never knew him, so what letter would he send to him?
"Where is the letter?"
Qin Qiong took out a letter and handed it in front. Just as Luo Youpu was about to receive the letter, Qin Qiong suddenly activated it. He punched and kicked the two strong servants behind him, and a knife was crossed over Luo Youpu's.
He said coldly, "It's better to call your servant."
The sudden change made the servants stunned. They then yelled and wanted to rush over. Luo Youpu shouted: "Don't move around!"
The situation was obvious, and the other party's more than a hundred soldiers did not launch. If they really fought, none of them could survive. It was obvious that the other party had no intention of killing them.
Luo Youpu was an old official, so he guessed the other party’s intention. I’m afraid the other party would ask for help if he had something to do.
"Who are you?"
"Get into the room and say!"
Qin Qiong pulled Luo Youpu into the room. He gave the soldiers a look. The soldiers handed over all the at a loss of equipment. More than 300 cavalrymen entered the courtyard and closed the gate.
In the room, Luo Youpu sat down. He glanced at Qin Qiong and said slowly, "Tell me! Who are you? What's the matter with me?"
"We are the Sui army in Fengzhou and want to capture Huoyi County, so we come and ask for your help." Qin Qiong's face was filled with a sincere smile.
Luo Youpu was stunned. After a while, four words burst out from his mouth: "Fengzhou Sui Army?"
The Sui army in Fengzhou was too far away from him. He didn't know that Yang Yuanqing had led his army to destroy Liu Wuzhou. He was still thinking about Fengzhou. It was the land of Hetao, thousands of miles away.
"What are you doing to Huoyi County?" His mind was confused.
"You don't have to worry about this. If you are still a citizen of the Sui Dynasty, you will help us seize the city. There will be a thank you later."
Luo Youpu shook his head repeatedly, "I am just an ordinary old man, and there are only more than a hundred servants in the family. How can I help you?"
At this time, a lieutenant walked in and said, "Report to General Qin. From the steward, we have already asked about the situation in Huoyi County. He said that there were about a thousand garrisons in Huoyi County, their master, the garrison and the county magistrate.
The relationship is very good."
"Damn softie!" Luo Youpu cursed in a low voice.
Qin Qiong sneered, "If you know the current affairs, please help us, otherwise, no one in your mansion can survive. You should know what killing means to silence!"
.........
The next morning, Huoyi County opened the city gate as usual, and people were sent into the city and out of the city. Teams of merchants rushed into the city gate with donkeys loaded with goods. There were hundreds of soldiers standing in front of the city gate, wearing armor and holding hands.
The spear and shield had a cold look, without a smile. In the troubled times, every soldier had a tense string and had an instinctive jingle.
Especially in Huoyi County, a strategic location that must be fought for by military strategists, Li Yuan sent a thousand wise soldiers to guard the guard. The guard was named Duan Li, who was the nephew of Duan Zhixuan, the general under Li Shimin, and a young brave general with high martial arts skills.
Duan Li was like usual, patrolling the city wall. He was very dedicated and staying at the city wall for three hours every day. He had received a briefing. The Tang army was preparing to fight for the Hedong area of Fengzhou. As a strategic location, Huoyi County was very famous.
It is particularly important, and Duan Li is also more careful.
However, Duan Li did not expect that the Sui army had already arrived. The war in Taiyuan City had not yet begun, so it should still be the rear. Although Duan Li was very cautious, he was still far from entering a state of war readiness.
At this moment, he suddenly saw a large group of people coming from a distance, carrying tables, carrying loads, driving ox carts, and carrying dung forks. There were as many as three or four hundred people walking towards the city gate.
Duan Li immediately shouted to the soldiers: "Go and have a look!"
Several soldiers ran away and came back one after another to report: "It was Mr. Luo from Luozhao Village who celebrated his 70th birthday and went to the city to hold a banquet."
At this time, Luo Youpu's butler bowed and smiled and said, "General Duan, please make some convenience!"
Duan Li knew him, and he felt a little strange. Mr. Luo had a 70th birthday, but he didn't know. At this time, he saw Luo Youpu's second son Luo Xian again. Everyone was very familiar with him, so Duan Li didn't.
He made things difficult for them and shouted to the soldiers: "Let them enter the city!"
Three or four hundred people walked into the city in a mighty manner. At this moment, a sound of thunder came from a distance. I saw dust flying in the north, and a large group of cavalry suddenly appeared several miles away, with murderous aura soaring into the sky, and the war horses galloping like big chaos.
Duan Li was shocked when he swept towards the city gate, and he shouted repeatedly: "Hurry up! Close the city gate!"
The city gate could not be closed, and 350 Sui soldiers launched an attack. They pulled out their knives and slashed the soldiers and pressed the city gate with iron sticks. The soldiers guarding the city were caught off guard and were chopped over by more than a dozen people. The rest of the soldiers were killed.
The festival retreated.
Niu Jinda held a table as a shield in his hand, waved a three-stranded sky-supporting fork with one hand, which was extremely ferocious and stabbed seven or eight people in a moment.
"Come with me!"
He waved his iron fork and rushed to the city entrance from the corridor. Dozens of arrows came to them on the city entrance. Several subordinates screamed and were knocked down. Niu Jinda was furious and jumped over the city entrance and smashed several people with a table.
The iron fork waving like flying, and in a moment, five or six more people died under his fork.
Seeing that he was extremely fierce, the other soldiers shouted and fled in scattered ways. Niu Jinda roared and rushed to intercept Duan Li, fighting with him. Niu Jinda was fighting in an infantry battle, and the other party was riding a horse, but he was not showing any weakness.
The two of them danced with guns and forks, killing each other into a ball.
At this time, Niu Jinda's men grabbed the suspension bridge winch and put down the suspension bridge that had just risen halfway. Qin Qiong led 5,000 cavalrymen and rushed into the city in an instant.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Duan Li flew away with a fiddle, turned his horse's head and ran away. He had just escaped for more than ten steps, but he heard a shout from behind: "Go to die!"
A steel fork flew to the ground, Duan Li couldn't dodge, and the steel fork pierced through his back. Duan Li screamed and was nailed to the ground.
Niu Jinda spat a mouthful of bloody saliva, his arms were pressing against each other, lifting Duan Li's body high, and shouting: "Brothers, this is the chief general of the enemy!"
There was cheering under the city and swarming into the city. Huoyi County was occupied by the Sui army in Fengzhou. Except for the chief general Duan Li and some of the defenders, all the remaining soldiers surrendered.