Chapter 168: Pulling the snake out of the hole

In the northwest of Guazhou, there is a narrow canyon, about twenty miles long, and less than one mile at the narrowest point. This canyon is the famous Xingxing Gorge, the junction of Beiting and Hexi. After passing Xingxing Gorge, it is the boundary of Beiting.

Xingxing Gorge is about 400 miles away from Yumen Pass, and it is nearly three days away to ride fast horses. Ten days after the Beiting Brigade entered Yumen Pass, an army of 2,000 people rushed from the northwest, passed through Xingxing Gorge, and ran towards Yumen Pass. This army was the Yiwu Army among the three Beiting armies, stationed in Yizhou. After receiving the order from Li Qing'an, the military commander Yang Zaicheng led his army to help Yumen Pass.

Just one day after the Yiwu army passed through Xingxing Gorge, the Beiting Army scout at Yumen Pass finally discovered an abnormal situation, and a cavalry appeared near the Daze.

In the evening, Li Qing'an stood on the wall of Yumen Pass and looked into the distance. The sun had set, and the afterglow dyed the western sky red. A group of geese flew slowly from the south in a herringbone shape, flying towards a bright color in the northwest. There was the famous Daze Lake in the Hexi Corridor, which was only slightly smaller than Qinghai. It was composed of the infusion and collection of dark water formed by the melting water of the Qilian Mountains.

"Qilang, do you think those horse bandits will appear tonight?"

Li Fei Yuanli slowly walked to Li Qing'an's side. After more than a month of recuperation on the road, his injuries had basically healed and his health had completely recovered. Except for the lack of two fingers on his left hand, he was no different from before, and his temper and temperament had not changed.

Li Qingan smiled and said, "It should appear. If they don't show up, there will be no chance. They are determined to attack us on the road, but I will not give them a chance and force them to attack the city."

"Then how are you going to deal with them? I mean you should be ready!"

Li Fei Yuanli's old face was a little red. This was a kind of spring expression that only a young man would have. It actually appeared on his orange-like old face.

During this period, Li Fei Yuanli had no intention of inquire about major military affairs. He fell in love. He fell in love with a thirty-year-old female guard and fell in love with the woman who gave him twice. He regarded her as part of his life. The sky was sympathetic. Shi Sanniang finally agreed to his 20th or 30th marriage proposal last night. He was immersed in happiness. It was not until this morning that he learned from a soldier that a horse bandit was coming to attack them.

He was like he had done something big wrong and secretly came to Li Qingan to ask about war preparations. He was very guilty, afraid that Li Qingan would become passionate after seeing through him, which would make him very embarrassed.

Fortunately, Li Qingan didn't seem to notice his ignorance. Li Qingan looked at the gradually darkening sky, his eyes became extremely bright. He smiled and said, "Do you think I will take this group of horse bandits to heart? How do you need to deal with them?"

"But they have three thousand people, and their origins are unknown, and they are far more than ours, oh! Maybe they are a mob, but how can you underestimate the enemy?"

"Li Fei Yuanli's voice was very loud. He seemed to be trying his best to show that he was still very familiar with military information, and he specially bit the 'Three Thousand People' very heavy.

"The chaotic people?" Li Qing'an glanced at him and smiled, "I'm afraid no one except you will think they are chaotic people. You are a little absent-minded recently. Are you planning to marry Shi Sanniang?"

Li Qing'an's question was like stepping on Li Fei Yuanli's tail. He jumped up and shouted: "Nonsense, when did I say I want to marry her? I'm just, I'm just?"

He said two 'I'm just' in a row, and finally his voice finally softened, "Okay! I admit that I'm going to marry Sanniang."

He sat on the battlement, his nose as if he had caught a cold, and his voice became sad. "Since she carried me out of the place where death was inevitable on Chiling twice, I knew that what I owe her for the last life and I had to compensate her for the rest of my life. Do you know? She was so petite, she actually climbed up the ridge with my old li on her back. Oh my god! I really don't know why she has such great courage. When he lie on her back, I want to cry. I want to tell her that I will treat her well in the future."

Speaking of this, he twitched heavily, rubbed his snot and tears on his sleeves, his eyes as if he had eye disease. At this time, Li Qingan suddenly noticed another change in him. He became a little sentimental, so he patted his shoulder and smiled: "After arriving in Beiting, he held more than a dozen banquets and married her, this is your fate."

"I will, I swear! I will not marry any woman except her."

Li Fei Yuanli suddenly remembered something and asked Li Qing'an: "Where are you? Qilang, do you like Qinxian or Mingyue? You guy seems a little bit magnificent!"

"I like both women."

"How come you kid like two at the same time?" Li Fei Yuanli was very surprised. He shook his head and said, "I feel satisfied if I have Sanniang alone. I can no longer tolerate another woman. Don't look at me astonished by Qinxian, but now I really have the chance to marry her, I don't think about it. In my heart, Sanniang is the most beautiful woman."

"Marrying you is a blessing for Sanniang, but unfortunately I am not you!"

Li Qing'an held the battlements and looked at the endless wilderness in the north from afar. The night wind blew his face, his heart became extremely open, and he laughed loudly: "Dance in the bright moon, two women are equally important to me."

When he turned around, he saw Li Fei Yuanli with a look of contempt and couldn't help laughing to the sky.

In the tent, several scouts brought two Shatu leaders, headed by a middle-aged man with a wide face, medium figure and strong body. He stepped forward and half-kneeled to Li Qing'an and said, "Shatuo's bone protection is the Duzhi, please see Li Envoy."

Li Qingan quickly helped him up, "General Ye Hu doesn't have to be too polite, please sit down!"

He asked Gu Duzhi to sit down, and ordered his personal soldiers to serve tea. Then he asked with a smile: "How could Ye Hu come to Yumen Pass?"

Gu Duzhi bowed slightly and said, "I came to Yumen Pass this time to talk about the grazing of the Qiang chief. The two years ago, the tragedy was caused by the ownership of fifty sheep. In order to prevent the tragedy from happening again this year, I came to negotiate with the Qiang chief. Unexpectedly, I happened to hear that the envoy was actually at Yumen Pass, so I came to pay a visit."

"It's a coincidence that we are suspending Yumen Pass. We may be going to Beiting tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We are also trying to talk to you. I wonder how many Shatu people in Beiting are distributed where they are?"

"Reporting to the envoy, we Shatuo people are mainly distributed south of Jinshan and north of Zheluoman Mountain. There are a total of 12,000 tents and more than 60,000 people, who make a living by grazing."

Li Qingan picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea, and asked lightly: "There are rumors that Shatuo people robbed past business travelers. Is this really the case?"

Gu Duzhi was stunned, "Who did you hear me say that I, Shatuo people, robbed the business travelers? We have moved to Beiting for decades and have never robbed a team of business travelers. On the contrary, if the business travelers are in trouble, we will do our best to help, and sir should not listen to people's instigation."

Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "I think so. Marshal An probably misunderstood the Shatuo people. In Liangzhou, he repeatedly reminded me to be careful that the Shatuo people dressed up as horse bandits to attack my team. I wonder how is this possible? Shatuo dares to attack the Beiting Jiedushi's convoy. Don't they want to be in Beiting?"

Anger flashed across Gu Duzhi's face, and he stood up and bowed to Li Qing'an and said, "Thank you for your trust. An Sishun asked the Shatuo people to move to Hexi several times, but I never agreed. Unexpectedly, he sowed the disagreement and wanted the envoy to force me to move eastward. It was a villain's behavior."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden sound of rapid footsteps came from the door of the tent. A personal soldier rushed to the tent and reported urgently: "General, there is an emergency military situation!"

"explain!"

The personal soldiers glanced at Gu Duzhi and could only say, "A scout has discovered that about 30,000 cavalrymen are coming from east of Daze Lake to Yumen Pass, less than fifty miles away from Yumen Pass."

Gu Duzhi was shocked and stammered and asked, "Eunuch, what's going on?"

Li Qingan snorted, "This is what An Sishun said that Shatu people are going to attack my convoy."

Gu Duzhi was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, saying, "But the three thousand children I brought were all west of Daze Lake. Without my orders, they would not dare to approach."

He thought about it and suddenly understood, "Is it because An Sishun wants to frame us Shatu people?"

Seeing that he was quick to react, Li Qingan couldn't help but nod and praise him secretly. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Can your three thousand children fight?"

"Report to the envoy, I am afraid that the Qiang people will take the opportunity to attack, and all the soldiers brought by Shatuo are Shatuo, and they are all warriors, and they are willing to serve the envoy!"

"Okay! Then you can follow my arrangement."

Under the moonlight, a cavalry team composed of three thousand Qiang and Hu was like a pack of wolves, rushing towards Yumen Pass. This is a Qiang and Hu tribe living in Ganzhou and Suzhou, and an important Qiang and Hu people in the Hexi Corridor. The Health Army of Ganzhou and the Yumen Army of Suzhou both have children from this tribe. The tribe leader has a very good relationship with An Sishun. This time, An Sishun entrusts them to draw 3,000 children to form cavalry to attack Li Qing'an's Beiting convoy, which is located in Shatuo, Qiang and Hu and the Yumen area of ​​Guazhou where the Uighurs often meet.

The leader of the cavalry team was Jin De, who was seven feet tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, but he was a famous Han general. He was a brave general under An Sishun's tent. He was highly valued by An Sishun. He was not only good at fighting, but also as cunning as a wolf. He knew that Li Qing'an's brigade was hiding in Yumen Pass and could not attack, so he endured it and waited for him to set off on the road. Li Qing'an stayed in Yumen Pass for ten days, and he endured it for ten days. It was not until the news of Beiting reinforcements coming from Xingxing Gorge that he finally decided to attack Yumen Pass at night.

Unfortunately, he met Li Qing'an, who was from the scout camp. They entered a hundred miles from Yumen Pass and were discovered by the scouts of the Beiting Army.

In the second update, everything was silent. The Qiang and Hu cavalry were less than twenty miles away from Yumen Pass. The vast Gobi Desert had a clear view. Under the bright moonlight, the dark city walls of Yumen Pass were already seen from afar.

Jin De hesitated in front of Yumen Pass. A soldier's sensitivity made him realize that the Beiting Army was most likely prepared, but An Sishun's order made him have no choice. He pulled out his horizontal knife, pointed at Yumen Pass and yelled, "Kill!"

Just two miles away, the three thousand elite cavalry of Shatuo were ready to wait. The Shatuo people were a branch of the Turkic people, originating from the Chuyue tribe of the Western Turkic people. In the second year of Chang'an in Wuzhou, Shatuo Jinshan was awarded the governor of Jin Manzhou for his contribution to the expedition of Tiele. Later, due to the force of Tubo, the son of Jinshan, Fuguo, led his troops to move to Beiting and scattered north of Zheluoman Mountain and south of Jinshan. After the death of Fuguo, his son Guduzhi became Shatuo Yehu, and attached to Beiting, and survived between the two powerful Tang and Uighurs.

The Shatuo man has always been brave and good at fighting. He was a sharp cavalry. He was a cavalryman with the Abus tribe in Shuofang. However, due to their small population and backward economy, it was difficult to achieve great development. Until the chaos in the late Tang Dynasty, the Shatuo talents who had moved to Hedong rose to prominence. Li Keyong and Li Cunxu and his son established the Later Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty, Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin Dynasty, and Shatuo people rampant in the Central Plains, which brought serious disasters to the Han people.

But the cute method of ambition also needs to be created by external environment. At this time, the leader of Shatuo, Gu Duzhi, never dreamed that his descendants would become the lord of the Central Plains one day. At this time, it was the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The Shatuo people lived in the shadow of the powerful Tang Dynasty. It was the only choice for the Shatuo people to serve the Tang Dynasty in exchange for survival.

Gu Duzhi's eyes were sharp. He stared at Qianghu who was rushing from afar, his eyes full of anger. The Qianghu people were all wearing white cloaks, obviously pretending to be their Shatu people. He turned around and whispered: "Pick off the cloak and prepare to fight!"

The Shatuo cavalry neatly took off their cloaks and unsheathed their swords. Their eyes were filled with the desire to kill. They were eagerly waiting for the final blow of the wolf hunting.

Three thousand Qianghu swept towards Yumen Pass like mercury. The sound of horse hooves and screams, the long swords were waving, the bows and arrows were swaying, and the murderous aura soared into the sky. Under the moonlight, they were wearing the white cloaks unique to Shatu people, as if hungry white wolves were rushing towards Yumen Pass. An abnormality was also found on the city tower. The defenders shouted loudly, and the harsh bells were heard. The soldiers on the night were running back and forth, frightened and uneasy. In an instant, the Qianghu team roared, with arrows as dense as raindrops, and ding dangdang

At the head of the city, there were one or two screams mixed with. Someone was shot by arrows. After a dense rain of arrows, the Qiang and Hu cavalry separated to both sides. Dozens of cavalry dragged a huge bumper wood and slowly approached the city gate. At this moment, a bell rang on the top of the city, and black soldiers appeared in the battlements. They opened their bows and shot the Qiang and Hu cavalry who were waiting to hit the city. The Qiang and Hu cavalry were caught off guard, and screamed loudly under the city, and more than 200 Qiang and Hu were caught off guard.

The sudden attack caused chaos in the Qiang and Hu. They turned around and ran towards the distance to avoid the range of bows and arrows. The cavalry fled and rushed to the ground, and the Han people cursed from the Qiang and Hu team: "Bastard!" Then the curses turned into Qiang words: "Keep the queue in order, don't be messy, use shields to defend bows and arrows!"

But his shouts were instantly drowned by the Qiang and Hu people's screams. No one listened to his orders. The cavalry team retreated five hundred steps away. The city suddenly became quiet. Only those who were not killed in the arrow rolled on the ground, making waves of painful shouts.

On the city wall, Yan Zhuang sat on a couch, and four soldiers carried him. He shook a feather fan lightly, which was quite the legacy of Kong Ming. He pointed to the wounded under the city and smiled at Li Qing'an: "General, if you see, wise people will make mistakes. An Sishun made many mistakes, but he didn't expect that it would eventually become an attack on the city. A group of wounded soldiers exposed his lie that pretended to be Shatu."

Li Qing'an frowned, and the scars on his forehead were thorned into a 's' shape. Although the Qiang and Hu were not experienced in siege, their fierce momentum was still beyond his expectations. These Qiang and Hu cavalry had extremely strong fighting ability. Can their own army fight against each other?

A drumbeat, a thousand Qianghu dismounted and turned into infantry soldiers, rushing towards the city gate like a tide. Everyone raised their shields in their hands, mixed with five or six huge wooden bumpers. Behind them, two thousand cavalry rushed left and right, waiting to rush into the city impatiently. The Beiting army on the top of the city unexpectedly stopped shooting arrows, and they seemed to have made a huge mistake. The suspension bridge at the city gate was not pulled up, which brought great convenience to the Qianghu and the Hu people's attack.

Yumen Pass’s captain Jiu Sanwei’s eyes were red in anger. He jumped on the side of the city wall and shouted: “Yumen Pass has been disrepaired for so many years and cannot withstand a few impacts. Just pull up the suspension bridge!”

But no one paid attention to him. The suspension bridge and the city gate were controlled by Li Qing'an, who was visiting. Li Qing'an was motionless like a stone sculpture, and his eyes were filled with cold smiles. Since An Sisun was unsuccessful, don't blame him for being ruthless.

"Prepare the gunpowder pack!" With his order, more than a dozen personal guards skillfully took out five packs of gunpowder. After the bloodbath of the Battle of Chiling, they had a deep understanding of the performance of gunpowder and were extremely skilled in using gunpowder packs. After a moment, the five gunpowder packs were mounted on small trenchers, waiting for the final command.

"Boom!" There was a loud noise from the ground, and the huge hitting wood hit the city gate. The entire city tower shook. The Qiang and Hu people were extremely excited. The food, money, and women were about to belong to them. More than a hundred Qiang people holding the hitting wood were screaming and retreating quickly, preparing to make a second impact. The general Jin De behind was extremely surprised. The suspension bridge at Yumen Pass was not pulled up. What's going on? Could it be that the Beiting Army was using a trick? At this moment, he suddenly heard a tower on the city tower.

With the sound of drums, a few white-clothed witch gods were dancing wildly. In the middle, an old witch god raised his hands and raised his head to murmur and begged for something to the sky? Not only him, but all the Qianghu people saw it. The Qianghu people were inexplicably frightened when praying for rain. They couldn't help but look up at the sky. The pale moon was walking through several gray clouds. This was the most common night scene in the Hexi Corridor, but at this time, it became a little strange in their hearts.

"Boom!" Another loud noise, the city gate shook violently again, and the disrepaired city gate was creaking and cracked open. Although he was surprised, the surprise of about to break open made Jinde forget all his worries. He waved his knife and shouted, "Cabinets pressed up!" The cavalry started and rushed towards the suspension bridge. The third loud noise in the ground was 'boom!', and the city gate finally couldn't resist the impact and opened loudly.

The Qiang and Hu were overjoyed and shouted wildly toward the city gate. The cavalry fought bravely, waving long swords and yelled at each other. The infantry rushed into the city gate first, but as soon as they reached the city gate, they saw rows of crossbows with sharp arrows aimed at them coldly. The hundred people in front were scared and turned around and fled. A clapper sounded, thousands of arrows in the city were fired at the same time, and the arrows were strong and fast. There were screams in the city gate. Large areas of Qiang and Hu were shot down, and corpses were everywhere. They piled up into the city gate. The people in front ran back, and the people behind rushed forward, and a mess.

The cavalry had rushed less than a hundred steps away from the city gate. At this moment, a shrill cry suddenly came from the top of the city. Everyone looked up at the city. The old wizard trembled all over and pointed to the sky and shouted: "Thunder God! Thunder God is here!" He was shouting Qiang Yu, and everyone was panicked in their hearts. A black cloud covered the moon, and the sky suddenly became dark.

Suddenly, five gray packages flew out from the city, and above the heads of the Qiang and Hu cavalry, the crowd exploded. The earth-shaking explosion echoed under Yumen Pass. Nearly a hundred people were blown up and flesh and blood. The huge air waves threw away the broken limbs and bodies high. Several thick smoke rose up and gathered into a huge black cloud of smoke. Amid the explosion, the Qiang and Hu war horses were in chaos, neighing desperately, running around in horror. The Qiang and Hu cavalry also shouted hysterically: "Thunder God! Thunder God is coming to the realm!" The Qiang and Hu cavalry turned around and ran away, and everyone was scared to death.

The psychological shock brought by the five gunpowder packs far exceeded that of the explosion itself. With the cooperation of the witch god, it brought great panic to the Qiang people who were superstitious about witchcraft. Everyone believed that it was the arrival of Thunder God. They had only one thought in their mind, "Escape!"

The Qiang and Hu soldiers were defeated as if they were falling down, and the cavalry fled in front, and infantry ran behind. A Tang cavalry rushed out of the city gate hole. Nan Jiyun waved his iron spear, and his power was like a tiger going down the mountain, and like a golden snake dancing wildly. The guns and guns were bloody. In a moment, dozens of Qiang and Hu infantrymen were overturned. Next to him was the giant spirit Lei Wanchun. He held two large iron hammers weighing fifty kilograms each. The hammer technique was superb and fierce as a bear. Wherever he passed, the Qiang soldiers burst into pieces and died miserably.

"Not bad! I am worthy of being my second tiger in Beiting."

Li Qingan smiled slightly. He took the fire bow and put a rocket on the bowstring. He pulled the bow like a full moon. The strings were pine. A rocket rose into the air. The bright flames were particularly clear in the night sky. As the rocket soared, the horse's hooves suddenly came from the northwest direction. A real Shatu cavalry came, covering the sky and overwhelmingly, like a mountain collapse and tsunami. Gu Duzhi was holding his strength in front of the new Beiting Jieduo. This was related to the survival of their Shatuo people. He waved his sword and roared wildly: "Kill up and kill all the Qianghu who pretended to be my Shatuo!"

The sound of withdrawing troops came from the Yumen Pass. The Beiting army ordered the troops to stop when they came out. They immediately withdrew their troops back to the city without missing a single person. The suspension bridge was pulled high and the city gate was closed, restoring the calm before the war. The fierce fighting outside the city had just begun. The Shatu people lost in the battle for the ranch two years ago. More than 100 shepherds were killed. They were full of hatred for the Qiang people. At this time, new and old hatred broke out on their swords. The three thousand Shatu troops were divided into three teams, like three sharp blades inserted into the Qiang Hu defeated army, which instantly pulled the Qiang Hu army into pieces. They rode their horses like flying, swinging swords like lightning. Wherever the war horses passed, the heads rolled down, their limbs flew, and blood flowed into a river. In this battle, the three thousand Qiang Hu people were killed and almost wiped out. Less than a hundred cavalry fled back. Even the main general Jin De was dismembered by the Shatu people, and their bodies were gone.
Chapter completed!