In the wounded barracks, Su Ding, who still looked calm and looked a little haggard, only nodded slightly, his eyes still falling on the face of the scout who still had an arrow stuck on his shoulder, "Explain carefully, don't be in a hurry."
"Yes." There were big drops of sweat on the scout's forehead, and his face was pale with pain. "The enemy troops attacking Mayi were about 50,000, but they did not besiege the city. They were stationed ten miles north of Mayi. Since yesterday,
, Qin Wutong, the Sima of Shuozhou, and Zhang Zhongjian, the commander of the army, led the cavalry into battle several times without any defeat."
Su Dingfang took a deep breath. In this way, even if the Turks did not attack as a whole, they were almost reaching their limit. The last time they launched an army of more than 100,000 to attack was during the reign of Khan Bi.
In fact, after knowing that Li Shan could not return to Chang'an for the time being, Su Dingfang had already made some predictions about today's situation, or in other words, he had already thought about today...after all, he had seen too many precedents.
In fact, after hearing the news of the Turkic invasion, Su Dingfang's heart dropped back into his stomach... But the problem was that he did not expect that the Turks would invade in such a large scale.
Although the strength of the troops in Guji Town was unclear, the scouts looked at it from a distance and found that it was at least 70,000 to 80,000. After all, most of the Turks were on horseback, and the smoke and dust were flying, so it was difficult to accurately judge... plus the troops attacking Mayi, it was 100,000.
Up.
The last time Jieli Khan conquered Yanmen Pass, he almost penetrated Hedong Road, but he only brought 50,000 cavalry.
Li Kai on the side pondered for a moment and asked: "Have you met the Duke of Yiyang County or the Duke of Qin?"
This is a key question.
The scout nodded and said, "See the Duke of Yiyang County."
Li Kai and Er Zhu Yichen, who had just arrived, looked at each other, both of them were a little strange. The scouts from the north inquired, and the Turks came to attack with all their troops, and the siege of Guji Town was impenetrable. Today, the scouts reported that they had already bypassed Guji Town and headed towards Yanmen Pass.
But why were the enemy forces attacking Mayi so lax?
The scouts were able to directly contact Liu Shirang in Mayi City, which showed that the enemy was just showing off.
"The scouts reported that the Turkic army bypassed Guji Town and went south, meeting the banners of Jieli Khan and Tuli Khan." Su Dingfang was not surprised by this. "The ones who attacked Mayi should not be the Ashina tribe or Tielejiu.
The surname is Uighur and other tribes.”
Su Dingfang understood the current internal situation in the Turks much better than anyone else. On the one hand, Jieli Khan tried to win over tribal leaders with foreign surnames, but on the other hand, he imposed strict laws and tried to concentrate power, which resulted in dissatisfaction among both his own tribal leaders and foreign tribesmen.
People's hearts gradually disperse.
Under such circumstances, it makes sense for the Tiele, Uighur and other tribes to be unwilling to sacrifice their lives... not to mention that attacking a major military town like Mayi would inevitably result in heavy casualties.
But why was Tuli Khan so obedient and followed Jieli Khan to raise his troops and go south?
This question has been bothering Su Dingfang, but now, he no longer has to think about it. The Turkic army has arrived at Yanmen Pass.
Yanmen Pass is located between two mountains. The east and west mountains are steep, the terrain is dangerous and condescending, and the road is winding and rugged. However, it is not actually a small frontier fortress that can only accommodate hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
However, due to the narrow road out of the fortress, it was difficult for the enemy to quickly deploy their troops and launch an attack on Yanmen Pass. It is not an exaggeration to say that one man can guard the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it.
But outside Yanmen Pass, the black and heavy Turkic cavalry still put great psychological pressure on the defenders. Before Li Shan went to the north to take office, Yanmen Pass was regarded as a private territory for the Turks. Shibi Khan, Chuluo Khan, and Jieli Khan all
He once led his troops to invade Hedong from here.
Su Dingfang and Ma Sanbao had already arranged the specific defense of the city, and had rehearsed it many times in the past two months. Even if Jieli Khan attacked with all his strength, he could still hold on for quite some time.
What's more, as long as the war situation does not fall into a crisis, Bingzhou and even Chang'an's support for Yanmen Pass will not be cut off. After all, on the one hand, Li Shan's relationship is there, on the other hand, Zhang Shigui and Xue Wanche belong to the King of Qin, and the prince's generals are also there.
Su Dingfang was thankful that Li Shan had used clever methods to drive away Li Shenfu, the king of Xiangyi, last year. Otherwise, if this guy was in Bingzhou, he would not have sent a soldier, a meter or an arrow to rescue him.
As for the other trails around Yanmen Pass, Su Dingfang is also well prepared. Although roads such as Xijingkou are barely passable, the mountains are steep. If it is a sneak attack, they may be successful, but if there is a war, the Turks would be better off directly.
Attacking Yanmen Pass.
Su Dingfang stood on the top of the city, repeatedly reviewing the review in his mind to see if there were any flaws, but in fact he was very worried. He was not very worried about the upcoming war, but he was worried about Li Li who was trapped in Guji Town.
good.
Huairen made an impromptu decision to inspect Guji Town. Even he didn't know it. It was impossible for someone to do something to report the Turks in advance... Su Dingfang sighed, it could only be Huairen's bad luck.
At this time, dozens of Turkic cavalry approached slowly, and a man dressed as a Han came to Yanmen Pass alone, holding a letter in his hand and shouting: "My lord is raising troops this time, not for other things, but for...
"
Before he finished speaking, Su Dingfang snatched the big bow from the bodyguard beside him, and the arrow flew like a meteor, piercing the sky and sinking into the man's chest.
The defenders on the city wall cheered in unison. At such a long distance, the target was moving, and such a sharp shot was amazing.
Su Ding was expressionless, but Li Kai, Ma Sanbao, Er Zhu Yichen and others around him changed their expressions. Others might not be able to hear it, but they were all sure that what the messenger didn't finish was "only Li Shan is wanted."
.
Internally, Li Shan climbed up by stepping on Pei Shiju and Li Dewu's backs, but externally, Li Shan climbed up by stepping on Yu Gushe's head!
Although everyone knows that this was Jieli Khan's excuse for joining the invaders, it can indeed be a reason... If it were a few years ago, maybe Li Tang would actually be willing to hand him over.
This was also the reason why Su Dingfang shot the envoy to death with one arrow... It wasn't that he thought Li Tang would hand Li Shan over, but that he couldn't let the Turks find out that Li Shan was trapped in Guji Town, let alone let the morale of the defenders drop.
Su Dingfang raised his right hand to signal silence. After a moment, he suddenly dropped his bow, pulled out his long knife, and struck the iron shield of his bodyguard fiercely. The sound of gold and iron intersecting resounded inside and outside.
"If you want to invade the east of the river, you must destroy Yanmen. Let's see how much better your abilities are than Yugushe?!"
Hearing such shouts, dozens of Turkic cavalry bent their bows and set arrows. Occasionally they heard a few curses before turning their horses' heads and leaving.
A quarter of an hour later, Tuli Khan, who was looking up at Yanmen Pass, had a very ugly face, "It is such a majestic pass, the defenders can't get out, and the road is narrow, so we can only attack the city with infantry and ants, and I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties."
Jieli Khan sneered, "Isn't it possible that Yu Sheshe's revenge will not be avenged?"
"If the Khan wants to avenge Yu Gushe, please send troops to attack the city." Tuli Khan said this without expression. I was forced to lead the troops southward, and even sent troops to attack Guji Town. Now I still
You want me to attack Yanmen Pass. What sweet dreams do you have in broad daylight?
Now Tuli Khan was in a state of confusion. On the one hand, Jieli Khan took advantage of Yu Gushe's death to lead the army and suppressed him to death. On the other hand, he really didn't know how to explain to Li Shan and the Emperor of Tang.
Two months after signing the contract, he broke it... Once the matter was revealed, he didn't know how it would end.
Tuli Khan simply retreated slightly with his troops and watched Jieli Khan mobilize his troops and prepare to tackle the problem. He was now hoping that Li Shan had returned to Chang'an... leaving Jieli Khan with no excuse.
But Tuli Khan also knew his uncle very well. Jieli Khan was by no means such a fool. Several times before he broke through the pass and entered Hedong, either the defenders fled, the Tang army came to surrender, or Yuan Junzhang