Going south from Taiyuan Prefecture is blocked by continuous high mountains. To the west is the Luliang Mountains, to the middle is the Taiyue Mountains, and to the west is the Taihang Mountains. You can only travel through high mountain canyons. Fenshui Grand Canyon is the famous southbound passage.
Fenshui flows south between Luliang Mountain and Taiyue, forming a grand canyon about three hundred miles long and dozens of miles wide.
The most dangerous part of this grand canyon is called Shuque Valley. It starts from Jiexiu County in Fenzhou in the north and Huoyi County in Jinzhou in the south. It is more than 80 miles long. There is only a narrow mountain road to pass through. Occasionally, dangerous passes will be built in open areas.
Among the important passes, the three cities in Jiexiu County, Lingshi County and Huoyi County are the most dangerous. There are also some dangerous passes, such as Yindi Pass, Jiahu Fort, Gaobiling, etc.
Among these passes, the largest one is Huoyi County. The Sui Dynasty general Song Laosheng led an army of 20,000 in Huoyi to defend Li Yuan and his son from going south. The city of Huoyi County is tall and solid, and the terrain is dangerous. It is impossible to move outside the city.
Large-scale battlefields can only carry out small-scale operations involving thousands of people.
A few miles to the west of the county town is Fenshui River, and ships on low and gentle terrain can dock directly without going to the county town pier.
At this time, Li Huaiguang had just sent an additional 10,000 troops to Jiexiu County, bringing the total strength of Jiexiu County to 15,000, while the strength of Lingshi County was 2,000, and the garrison of Huoyi County was 3,000.
This was already the limit of Li Huaiguang's deployment of troops. He deployed 10,000 troops in Puzhou to defend Zhu Si's army. In addition, there were 15,000 troops stationed in Shangdang County, his hometown.
That afternoon, a fleet loaded with cargo came from the north. The Hexi Army had not yet left Taiyuan and was heading south. It was still actively preparing for war. The atmosphere of war had not risen. Even Jiexiu County had not entered a state of war, let alone
Let’s talk about Huoyi County, which is three hundred miles away.
Several thousand-stone cargo ships docked at the pier, and two merchants took a few porters off the ship. They pushed a wheelbarrow filled with silk and satin, and followed the two merchants toward the gate of Huoyi County.
"stop!"
The soldiers guarding the city gate stopped them from afar, and a businessman quickly stepped forward and said with a smile: "We are coming from Wenshui County to deliver some goods to Yuantai Silk Shop."
He speaks with a Wenshui accent, and only locals can hear the slightest difference.
"Do you have a tax bill?"
"Yes! Yes!" The businessman quickly took out a tax bill issued by the Wenshui Tax Department and presented it to the soldier.
The soldier did not answer, but glanced at it and said: "There are regulations above. A caravan can only enter the city with a maximum of three people. There are five of you here, which is exceeded!"
"Brother, please help! There is nothing we can do."
"You can also help. It's two hundred coins for each person. You can pay the amount and let you enter the city!"
The merchant took a long time to take out one tael of silver and said with a grimace: "Our profit from this trip is only three taels of silver."
"There's so much nonsense!"
The soldier grabbed the silver, weighed it, and said to them: "You divide into two caravans and go in one after the other!"
The five people had to separate. After a strict search and interrogation, they entered Huoyi County one after another. Huoyi County is a large county with a city circumference of 30 miles and a population of more than 100,000. It is the only way for Jinzhong Business Road to pass.
, commerce is very developed, and shops of all sizes can be seen everywhere. Although the war is approaching, the merchants still do not feel the danger and still open their doors for business.
The five people did not go further into the city and stayed directly at the old Gaosheng store closest to the North City Gate. The waiter took them into the backyard and said, "Fortunately you don't have any livestock. The barn in the store is full. Several businessmen brought them before."
More than a dozen mules came down from Lingshi County. They brought weapons and were taken away directly by the army for interrogation. Now the weapons inspection is very strict, and they can't even have daggers on their bodies."
The two businessmen looked at each other, and they knew very well that fortunately they did not carry any weapons, otherwise it would have been really troublesome, so you had the foresight to ambush the people early.
Needless to say, these two businessmen and three porters were naturally dressed as scouts of the Hexi Army. However, the businessman headed by them was a civilian official, the scout camp judge Shao Jianzhi. He looked older and looked to be in his forties.
, so the soldiers guarding the city had no doubts about him.
In fact, not only them, but also dozens of Hexi Army scouts have sneaked into the city at different times and using different methods.
As night fell, two businessmen and three porters came to Yuantai Silk and Satin Shop in the east of the city and found the leader of the scout army.
The leader of the Hexi scout army is a school captain named Wang Bo, who is a native of Huoyi. He came to Huoyi County as early as November last year and bought a silk and satin shop here as his base. The backyard of the silk and satin shop is close to
On the east city wall.
At this time, the silk and satin shop had closed, and everyone entered through the small door on the side. The lobby was brightly lit, and more than fifty young and strong men were gathered together. There were both clerks from the silk and satin shop, and some who came to Huoyi County at the end of the year.
Huoyi County had no precautions at that time, and a large number of people came in and out every day. It was not until five days ago that inspections were stepped up, and it was stipulated that caravans entering the city could not exceed three people.
Then there are the five people who came today. When Wang Bo saw Shao Jianzhi coming in, he smiled and said: "Judge Shao is here!"
Shao Jianzhi was the only civil servant in the scout camp, and everyone knew him. When they met in Huoyi County, everyone felt very cordial.
Shao Jianzhi waved his hand and smiled at everyone: "More than fifty people have come in. The generals who defend the city know about it and will have nightmares!"
Everyone laughed, and Shao Jianzhi said again: "Let's make a long story short. We will attack the city at three o'clock tonight. We will cooperate internally and externally to support the troops entering the city."
Speaking of this, he asked the captain Wang Bodao: "How are the weapons prepared?"
"Already prepared!"
Wang Bo ordered his assistant, who immediately went to the back room and brought in a large number of soldiers and armor. Wang Bo said with a smile: "These are all bought on the black market. There are sixty sets in total. They are exactly the same as those of the defenders in the city.
Shao Jianzhi stepped forward and took a closer look. There were spears, swords, bows and arrows, and armor. He picked up a pair of armor and asked, "Why is it leather armor?"
"They are all leather armor. Li Huaiguang only has 15,000 troops around him with Mingguang armor, and the rest of the soldiers are leather armor. How can he afford to buy iron armor?"
Shao Jianzhi nodded and said to everyone: "I will tell you the specific combat plan next!"
...........
More than a hundred cargo ships passed through Huoyi County and continued southward, but they docked a dozen miles away. About one o'clock in the morning, a bang was heard, and a large number of Hexi Army soldiers suddenly poured out of the cabin. It turned out that a hundred
Many cargo ships were not transporting cargo, but instead carried 2,300 Hexi Army soldiers and more than a hundred iron fire mines.
Two thousand soldiers quickly gathered on the shore. They left a hundred soldiers to guard the cargo ship, while the remaining soldiers, led by the commander Ma Weijiang, rushed to Huoyi County, more than ten miles away to the north.
A few miles to the east of Huoyi County, there are continuous mountains. There is only a narrow official road that goes around the county town from the east. Not far away are low hills and woods.
Two thousand Hexi Army soldiers were hiding in the woods, waiting for the third watch to arrive.
As the time gradually approached the third watch, three pairs of rope ladders were hung on the wall in the backyard of the silk and satin shop, and more than fifty scouts climbed up the rope ladders.
The main reason why the Hexi Army chose Dongcheng was that there were few defenders. A large number of defenders were concentrated in the North City at night, and there were also some in the South City. Both West City and East City deployed a small amount of troops symbolically.
The so-called symbolic deployment is that there are only one hundred soldiers, basically concentrated above and below the city gate, while five hundred soldiers are deployed in the north city, and three hundred soldiers are deployed in the south city.
This was because a war was approaching and the security was temporarily increased. Last year, there would have been only twenty or thirty people guarding the gate on the city.
Fifty-four soldiers climbed up to the top of the city and quickly lined up and rushed to the east city. Most of the soldiers on the east city were sleeping. Almost no one came in from the east city. They usually went through the south and north cities.
Two soldiers were sleeping leaning on a pillar. Wang Bo waved his hand, and two Hexi Army scouts quickly came behind them, covered their mouths, and with a swipe of a sharp dagger, the two soldiers met the King of Hell.
Everyone followed suit and killed eight soldiers who were sleeping outside in one row. The other soldiers were inside the tower. A dozen scouts ducked into the tower. They moved very quickly. Many soldiers were still sleeping and were pierced through the heart with a knife.
After being killed, Wang Bo led his scouts down the city wall again. In less than a cup of tea, all the hundreds of defenders guarding the east city were killed, cleanly and without disturbing any enemy troops.
The city gate finally opened slowly, the suspension bridge was lowered, and two thousand Hexi troops immediately ran out from the woods hundreds of steps away. They ran quickly and shot a sharp arrow into the city.
Not long after, shouts of death rang out in the city. The people were so frightened that they closed their doors and hid in their homes, not daring to go out. The shouts of death lasted for about half an hour, then gradually disappeared, and the city became completely calm again.
The battle was over. The military camp in the city was attacked by the Hexi Army at night. More than 300 people were killed, and all the remaining soldiers surrendered.
As the sky gradually dawned, more than 300 cargo ships came from the north. The cargo ships were still filled with Hexi Army soldiers. Five thousand Hexi Army soldiers arrived as reinforcements, bringing the total number of Hexi Army soldiers in Huoyi County to 7,000.
The occupation of Huoyi County not only cut off the retreat route of the northern defenders, but also cut off their logistical supplies.
The Hexi Army did not stop there. Two thousand elite Hexi Army troops marched toward Lingshi County, twenty miles away.
Once Lingshi County is captured, the northernmost Jiexiu County will become an isolated city, and the 15,000 defenders will become a turtle in a urn without supplies or rescue.