Chapter 23

Take Huo Yi's wisdom

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 particularly quiet around. A small village two miles away was also sleeping, 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 flew away. A small river passed through the woods and merged 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, and 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 a low curse from the soldiers. Several officers rushed up and forced them out of the river with their spears. 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 the hay, and looked at their master sympathetically from time to time.

"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 in the horse bag on the pillow, rolled it up and nibbled it slowly, narrowing his eyes into a slit, enjoying the deliciousness of beef scallion stuffing. Marrying a palace maid was too far away for him, and it was still a beef patty. 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 it! After eating, you will make meritorious contributions. If you make meritorious contributions, you will be promoted. If you try to be promoted to the brigade commander, you will be able to 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. It is a special marching tent. It is made of thick wool and is not transparent. The tent is dim and the map on the table can be seen clearly. Qin Qiong is standing in front of the map with all concentration, studying the way to seize 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 had some impression of this county town. The walls were tall and strong, and the terrain was dangerous. On one side were high mountains and cliffs, and under the cliffs were surging Fen River. This city blocked 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, and his old friend Niu Jinda, the two have worked together for many years and have a tacit understanding. Niu Jinda doesn't talk much, but he is more thorough in his view of the problem and can tell the point.

"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 would hide in the county town. However, last year's thief Wu Duaner rebelled, causing Luozhao Village to suffer a catastrophe. 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 also considered an official family. When Wu Duaner occupied Huoyi County, he became the chief minister of Wu Duaner, saved his house and family, and later surrendered to Li Yuan. Because of his age, he did not take office again and stayed at home to meditate and support his old age.

As the saying goes, the forest wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop. His mansion is close to Huoyi County, a strategic important place that must be fought for by military strategists, 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, stepped forward and patted the door knocker, "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 butler was lying on the door and looking through the crack in 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, and they didn't look murderous.

The fat housekeeper ran up 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 quackly, 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 on the order of Duke Qi to send a letter. Which is 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 over. 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 straddled Luo Youpu's neck and said coldly: "It's better to call your servants."

The sudden change made the servants stunned. They then yelled and wanted to rush up. Luo Youpu shouted: "Don't move around!"

The situation was obvious. None of the other side's more than a hundred soldiers were launched. If they really fought, none of them could survive. It was obvious that the other side 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?"

"Let's talk in the room!"

Qin Qiong pulled Luo Youpu into the room. He winked the soldiers. The soldiers took away all the at a loss. 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 had a sincere smile on his face.

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, which 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. You will thank you very much afterwards."

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 came in and said, "Report to General Qin, we have asked about the situation in Huoyi County from the steward. He said that there are about a thousand garrisons in Huoyi County, and their master and the magistrate have a good relationship."

"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 someone is to silence!"

The next morning, Huoyi County opened the city gate as usual, and people were sent into 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, holding spears and shields, with cold eyes and no smile. In the troubled times, each soldier tightened his strings and had an instinctive vigilance.

Especially in Huoyi County, a strategic location that must be fought for by military strategists, Li Yuan sent a thousand elite 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 back and forth at the city wall. He was very dedicated and staying at the city wall for three hours every day. He had received a quick report. The Tang army was preparing to fight for Yang Yuanqing in Fengzhou for Hedong. As a strategic location, Huoyi County was particularly important, and Duan Li was also more vigilant.

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 vigilant, 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 up and take a look!"

Several soldiers ran up and came back one after another to report: "It's 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 stepped forward and smiled and said, "General Duan, please make a difference!"

Duan Li knew him, and he felt a little strange. He didn't know that Mr. Luo had celebrated his 70th birthday. At this time, he saw Luo Youpu's second son Luo Xian again. Everyone was very familiar with him. Duan Li did not make 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. The dust in the north was flying, and a large group of cavalry suddenly appeared several miles away, with murderous aura soaring into the sky, and the war horses galloping like a tide, sweeping towards the city gate. Duan Li was stunned and he shouted repeatedly: "Hurry up! Close the city gate!"

The city gate was no longer closed, and 350 Sui soldiers launched an attack. They pulled out their knives and slashed the soldiers and pressed them against the city gate with iron sticks. The soldiers guarding the city were caught off guard and were chopped down more than a dozen people. The rest of the soldiers were killed and retreated step by step.

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 shot at them on the city entrance. Several subordinates screamed and were shot down. Niu Jinda was furious and jumped onto the city entrance and smashed several people with a table. The iron fork was swung like flying. 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 forward to intercept Duan Li, fighting with him. Niu Jinda was fighting in an infantry battle, while the other party was riding a horse, but he was not showing any weakness. The two of them danced with guns and forked and killed them 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 over, 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 on 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.
Chapter completed!