(Many thanks to ‘Mingyue 2 Qingquan’ for their generous support.)
"All the scouts dispersed and continued to search for other secret passages. The others, in teams of a hundred, took turns clearing the rubble in the mountain stream to see if they could open this secret passage." Pei Yuanqing ordered.
The scouts quickly disappeared into the dense forest. Some of the army took a rest, while others began to clear the mountain stream passage.
Half a day later, all the scouts came back, and no one found the second secret passage.
Pei Yuanqing was extremely anxious. He knew how difficult it was to attack Shuiquan Pass from the front. When he recalled what the Governor said when he sent him to find the secret passage yesterday, he knew that the Governor must be extremely anxious at this time.
But it's useless to be anxious. Maybe there is a secret passage to the north of Shuiquan Pass, but a few miles further there is a bottomless canyon that is more than a hundred miles long from east to west. You have to go through this mountain range and then bypass that canyon.
It would take at least ten days and a half to reach the north of Shuiquan Pass, which would probably be too late. However, if Shuiquan Pass cannot be conquered for half a month... Pei Yuanqing was very confused at this time.
What Pei Yuanqing didn't know was that Wang Junlin had already started looking for the secret passage in the north, but he hadn't found it yet.
Just when Yu Juluo was preparing to attack Shuiquan Pass with five thousand dead men, Wang Junlin led five thousand people to climb a high mountain twenty miles northwest of Shuiquan Pass.
Looking at Shuiquan Pass from a distance, Wang Junlin could imagine the brutal attack and defense on the south side of Shuiquan Pass. He had not thought of cooperating with Yu Juluo to attack Shuiquan Pass from the north, but in the end he was rejected. First, they had too few troops, and second, Shuiquan Pass was too small.
The north is easier to defend and harder to attack than the south.
After frowning and thinking for a while, Wang Junlin felt the strong wind blowing from the northwest. His heart moved. He suddenly thought of a way, a way to kill the 40,000 Turkic army in Shuiquan Pass. However, this method was too cruel, so he hesitated.
.
Wang Junlin recalled the cruelty of war during World War II after the creation of artillery, missiles, and aircraft in later generations. In order to stop the heavenly army, Chiang Kai-shek directly caused the Yellow River to burst its banks, causing millions of people to suffer. As a result, they drowned, starved to death, and suffered from plague.
Millions of people died. Especially when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, it was even more cruel and indescribable.
"War is inherently all-consuming. As long as it achieves the goal of victory, it doesn't matter if it burns down a mountain forest. What does it matter if it burns thousands of animals to death?"
"It can be said that the wildfire cannot be burned out, but the spring breeze blows it again."
The thoughts in Wang Junlin's mind turned into a flash of determination and ruthlessness in the end.
"Go down with the order, and each person collects a bundle of dry firewood and secretly piles the dry firewood on the hillside two miles northwest of Shuiquan Pass. This thing takes half a day to complete. Afterwards, Zhou Hu led the scout team to stay while the others went down the mountain.
Ambush on both sides of the valley entrance to the north of Shuiquan Pass.
…
…
"Is there no news about Pei Yuanqing yet?" South of Shuiquan Pass, at the Sui army camp, Yu Juluo asked in a deep voice with an ugly face.
"Reporting to the Governor, Pei Yuanqing just sent someone to send news that they found a secret passage, but the Turks had already taken precautions and blocked the secret passage with stones and sent troops to defend it. Pei Yuanqing is trying to find a way to open the secret passage.
Look for other secret passages at the same time." Yuwen Hanfeng said quickly.
Yu Juluo sighed, said nothing, and walked towards the five thousand dead men. He toasted the five thousand dead men with the wine of life and death, and promised that their wives, children, children, and children at home would be properly arranged by the court. Then with some impassioned words, the five thousand dead men were
The desire to fight for death was completely aroused.
However, just as the five thousand dead soldiers were shouting killing voices and rushing towards Shuiquan Pass with resolute and solemn expressions, suddenly a thick smoke appeared from the northwest of Shuiquan Pass, and the smoke became bigger and bigger, and soon the Shuiquan Pass was covered.
They were all shrouded in it. The panicked shouts of the Turkic soldiers at the head of Shuiquanguan City came from afar, and Yujuluo decisively ordered five thousand dead soldiers to stand by.
A fire suddenly broke out on the hilltop two miles northwest of Shuiquan Pass. The weather in the northwest is dry in summer, and winds are constant all year round, mostly from the northwest. The fire took advantage of the wind, and the fire burned quickly. By the time the nearly 40,000 Turkic troops at Shuiquan Pass reacted,
, the raging flames were blown by the wind, and all the mountains and forests next to Shuiquan Pass burned quickly. Most of the houses above and below the city tower were made of wood, and were soon engulfed by the flames. The red flames of the barracks and buildings were flying, and the entire Shuiquan Pass turned into a piece of fire.
Sea of fire.
Inside Shuiquan Pass, nearly 40,000 Turkic troops cried for their fathers and mothers. In the raging fire, they trampled each other, screamed and scrambled for their lives. To the south of Shuiquan Pass, the five thousand dead soldiers who were more than 300 steps away from the city wall felt the scorching heat and were horrified and delighted.
Then quickly retreated.
There are only three ways out of Shuiquan Pass, two of which are the north and south city gates. The other is the secret passage that Pei Yuanqing once found. Under the fire, the Turkic soldiers panicked and had no choice. There was originally a group of people stationed under the south city gate.
Fifteen thousand people, forced by the fire, opened the south city gate and fled outside the city gate where the Sui army was stationed.
Yuguluo was overjoyed and ordered the army to intercept and kill without letting anyone go. The Turkic soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy. However, the Sui army suffered heavy losses in attacking Shuiquan Pass these days. They had long been filled with deep hatred and boundless murderous intent. Although the three imperial soldiers
Shi Jianjun shouted not to kill the surrendered soldiers, but no one in the entire army, including Yu Juluo, listened to them. All fifteen thousand people who ran out from here were killed by the Sui army.
There were only 5,000 people stationed at the North City Gate. After hundreds of people were burned to death, they escaped from the nearby North City Gate. However, when they escaped, they were sparse, many of them were not riding, and they did not have time to bring weapons.
Wang Junlin led more than 4,000 elite cavalry who had been lying in wait for a long time to charge in several rounds, killing them all and not a single one escaped.
There were originally nearly 20,000 people at the top of the city, but the way they went down to the city gates on both sides had been blocked by fire. The only way to survive was from the top of the city to a secret passage on the cliff next to it. This secret passage was also exactly the same.
It was the sealed secret passage that Pei Yuanqing found.
More than half of the 20,000 people were burned to death, and the remaining nearly 10,000 people all escaped through the secret passage.
Five miles away, at the other end of the mountain stream, Pei Yuanqing led five thousand Sui troops who were desperately trying to move the blocked entrance to the mountain stream. Suddenly, soldiers shouted that Shuiquanguan was on fire. Just as everyone was stunned, they heard the sound of the blocked mountain stream.
There were panicked shouts and running sounds from behind the dead stone.
Pei Yuanqing pondered for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he said: "Hide on both sides, wait until the Turkic soldiers come out and follow my orders before taking action."
The military order was passed down, and soon five thousand Sui troops hid. At this time, Pei Yuanqing saw smoke starting to come out from the stone gap that was blocked at the entrance of the mountain stream, and someone inside was coughing desperately. He knew that this was not a fire inside the mountain stream, but
It was the fireworks at Shuiquanguan on the other side of the mountain stream that were so big that they flowed down the mountain stream. Pei Yuanqing suddenly had an idea. If he had people block the mouth of the mountain stream, would the Sui army inside be choked to death in it?
However, he changed his mind and thought, even if these people were released, they would have no power to resist. They would kill them, and the merit of decapitation was not there. Otherwise, they would all be choked to death, and the merit of the battle could only be attributed to those who set the fire.
Not long after, the stone at the exit of the mountain stream was moved away from the inside. A man who looked like a Turkic general whose face was blackened by fireworks came out of it with a look of embarrassment. He crawled to the side and started squatting and coughing.
, tears flowed out, and behind him were the same people as him, doing the same actions after coming out.
Soon, thousands of people rushed out. Pei Yuanqing saw that the Turkic soldiers who rushed out first were about to recover, and shouted: "Shoot!"
A hail of arrows enveloped these unprepared Turkic soldiers, whose combat strength was less than one-third of the usual strength. Most of them were shot to death on the spot, and all the remaining ones were shot to death in the second round. The screams frightened the Turkic soldiers in the mountain stream.
Dare to come out again, but this state did not last long, the remaining Turks finally ran out, because if they did not come out, they would be choked to death by the smoke inside.
Pei Yuanqing shouted sternly: "Block the exit. Anyone who doesn't surrender will be killed on the spot!"
Half an hour later, one-third of the nearly 10,000 Turkic soldiers were killed, one-third were choked to death, and the remaining two thousand people became Pei Yuanqing's prisoners.
An hour later, the raging fire had completely engulfed the entire Shuiquan Pass. Those who had not had time to escape were all burned to death inside, or killed each other in order to escape from the exit first.
The fire burned for a full half day. When the fire stopped, the entire water spring was closed and dead bodies were piled up. The smell was pungent, just like a hell. This fire war also became the cause of this great cause. In the summer of the eleventh year, there were casualties in the war between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks.
The most brutal battle.
Because Wang Junlin led more than 4,000 fine cavalry to seal the line between Shuiquan Pass and Jincheng, the Turkic Chuluo Khan did not receive any news about the burning of Shuiquan Pass.
…
"Khan! Give me another chance. I will go into battle in person. If I can't take Jincheng, I will bring the heads to the Khan!" Wu Tu was tied up by Wu Hua Da, and several of Khan's guards pushed him to the ground. Three days have passed.
However, Jincheng was still not captured. Chuluo Khan became furious and ordered Wu Tu to be beheaded.
Wu Tu's eyes were red and he begged desperately: "Great Khan, for the sake of Wu Tu who has been fighting for you for more than ten years, please let me die on the battlefield!"
"Okay, I'll give you one last chance to attack. If you still can't take Jincheng, you can cut off your own head!"
Chuluo Khan was extremely anxious. He had just received information that King Bodo not only failed to bring King Bailan's remaining army of more than 20,000 to Jincheng, but King Bailan directly led an army of more than 20,000 to return with the food, property and women they had stolen.
He left his hometown of Fulochuan and Fuqi City.
However, the king of Bo Wang disappeared unexpectedly, which made Chuluo Khan vaguely feel that he had been abandoned by God. Therefore, Chuluo Khan had already begun to intend to retreat, but even if he wanted to withdraw his troops now, he had to grab enough food and grass.
Okay, otherwise there is still thousands of miles to go back to the Western Turkic territory from Jincheng. What will the people and horses eat along the way? How can the latter be unprepared if they rob Tuyuhun? I'm afraid that by the time they arrive, they will have already taken their cattle, sheep, and food to hide.