Jundu Xing is actually the Sanggans River Valley. The Sanggans River originates in the southern part of Ganmayi County and winds for thousands of miles. Through Mayi County, Yanmen County enters Zhuo County. The Sanggans River Valley is densely forested and the mountains are steep. It is the dry season in August. The Sanggans River has turned into a trickle, with large areas of riverbed exposed, and the riverbed is full of pebbles.

That afternoon, an army of 15,000 people rushed across the banks of the river valley, with flags waving, swords and spears waving, and the huge army could not see the end at a glance. This was Luo Yi's Youzhou army. Although Luo Yi and Li Yuan had not reached an agreement, his army had already walked out of the boundaries of Youzhou and entered Yanmen County.

At the front of the team were hundreds of cavalrymen, surrounded by a general. He was six feet four in height, big and round waist, burly, wearing iron armor and silver helmet, with a cold look and a very majestic appearance. This person was Xue Wanjun, a famous general of Youzhou Army, and the son of Xue Shixiong, the former general of Youzhou.

Xue Wanjun was ordered by Luo Yi to send troops to Yanmen County, but Luo Yi was not prepared to attack Yanmen County. What he is doing now is still defense, but he wants to push the defense line from Zhuo County to Yanmen County.

In the distance, a castle was vaguely visible. A captain pointed to the castle in the distance and said, "General, there is Hengjun Fortress!"

Hengjun Fort is the closest military garrison fort in Yanmen County to Zhuo County. It has more than 300 soldiers stationed. It is located in the Sanggan River and is the only way to enter Yanmen County from Jundu Xing.

Xue Wanjun took out an arrow and handed it to the captain, "Take this arrow to the castle guards, and give up the castle within half an hour, otherwise our army will arrive and no one will survive."

"Abide by the order!" The captain rushed away with an arrow.

A side general behind asked in a low voice: "General, why didn't you attack the castle directly? And let them go?"

Xue Wanjun shook his head, "Now they have their lives, Yang Yuanqing may have our lives in the future. In life, we must keep our hearts at heart and not do anything wrong.

There were 300 troops stationed in the castle, all of which were Yang Wei's subordinates, led by a captain named Song. They had received reports from sentries that an army of about 15,000 people was coming to the castle, which made all the soldiers frightened.

At this time, an enemy general rushed over, shot an arrow up the city tower, shouting: "My general ordered you to abandon the city within half an hour, otherwise you would behead all of them, and no one would be left!"

He shouted three times, turned his horse back, and the defenders on the city looked at each other and looked at the captain together. Captain Song stood there for a while, and finally ordered: "Release the eagle and retreat!"

A letter eagle hovered in the sky and flew towards Shanyang County. Soon a team of cavalry left Hengjun Fort and ran south.

Two days later, news that Luo Yi's 15,000 troops seized the Hengjun Fort in Yanmen County reached the main camp of Fengzhou Army south of Linfen County.

At this time, the Fengzhou Army camp was also busy. Large tents were being demolished and loaded. Teams of fully armed soldiers were running in the camp, looking for their chief generals to concentrate. Fengzhou also received information. Li Shimin's army was moving north quickly only fifty miles away from them.

But the central army's tent has not been demolished yet. In the tent, Yang Yuanqing stood in front of the sand table and pondered for a long time. Li Jing whispered: "If we fight this battle, if we command well and give full play to our advantages, we may not lose."

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "But we must also admit that if we really fight, we will only have 40% of the winning chances. We are good at commanding, and the enemy is also good at commanding. We have cavalry and the other side also have cavalry. Both sides have the same equipment, and we are weaker than them in combat power. The number of troops is less than them. The only advantage is 4,000 Modao Army, but this advantage is not enough to defeat the enemy. More importantly, if the opponent wins, it will completely turn the situation around, and we will win if we don't fight. They are eager to fight in this battle, so why should I fight?"

Yang Yuanqing was very clear about his strength. Only the 30,000 troops he brought from Fengzhou was truly combat-effective. Among these 30,000 troops, 10,000 were led by Xu Shiji, and there were only 20,000 people around him. Among other troops, Liu Wuzhou's surrendered army was too short and his combat-effectiveness was weak. Although the captured Tang army had combat-effectiveness, the reorganization time was too short and his loyalty was not high, he was not relieved.

In terms of military strength, he only has 60,000, while Li Shimin has 90,000, including more than 30,000 cavalrymen, and famous generals like Qu Tutong. If he fights hard, he will not be likely to win. If he loses this battle, then all the generals south of Taiyuan will be occupied by the Tang army, and Xu Shiji is alone in the south, and he will most likely be wiped out.

Yang Yuanqing said to Li Jing again: "The reason why Li Shimin was unwilling to fight against me in the past was because Xu Shiji's 20,000 troops were on the flanks, which made Li Shimin dare not act rashly. Now that the threat on the flanks has disappeared, he can concentrate his troops to fight us. The reason why he dared to take a gamble to challenge us was because he knew that he could win more, and I would rather avoid fighting."

Li Jing nodded, "The General Manager is right, avoiding fighting is the best strategy. When the Tang army's morale collapses, we will win without fighting."

At this time, a soldier reported in front of the tent, "Report to the Chief Executive, Mayi County emergency information!"

Yang Yuanqing and Li Jing looked at each other, and both thought of Luo Yi at the same time. At this time, something happened in the north. Either Wei Daoer took advantage of the chaos to rob, or Luo Yi was the one who was trying to kill them from behind.

After a moment, a personal soldier came in and presented the letter to Yang Yuanqing. Yang Yuanqing opened it and read it. It was indeed Luo Yi, and he handed the letter to Li Jing again.

After reading the letter, Li Jing frowned slightly, "Luo Yi seems to have stopped at Hengjun Fort."

Yang Yuanqing sneered and said, "This is Luo Yi's cunning point. If we are defeated by Li Shimin, he will take advantage of the situation and send troops to Yanmen County. If we defeat Li Shimin, he will retract his claws again, but he will defend Junduxing and will not allow us to enter Zhuo County from Junduxing. He did this and showed kindness to Li Yuan. He has sent troops to restrain me."

"So should I send troops to confront him?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "Don't pay attention to him and act according to the original plan."

One hour later, 60,000 Fengzhou troops evacuated towards Huoyi County. That night, the Fengzhou troops withdrew back to Huoyi County, and the Tang army's advance gradually slowed down. Yang Yuanqing's avoidance of war caused Li Shimin's army to encounter an unprecedented crisis.

As night gradually fell, the Tang army camp was silent, and the soldiers were already asleep, and thousands of patrols were deployed around the camp to prevent the Fengzhou army from attacking the camp at night.

In the big tent, Li Shimin was worried and paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. He had received his father's order to return to Guanzhong, but now his way back to Guanzhong has been cut off and he can't go back. He wanted to fight with Yang Yuanqing, but Yang Yuanqing avoided the battle, which made him in a dilemma.

Now, the news that the retreat was cut off has been spread, and morale has begun to be affected. If it is delayed for one day, morale will drop by one point. If it is delayed for half a month, morale will be exhausted and his army will be defeated without fighting. Li Shimin is very clear about such consequences. What should he do now?

In fact, Li Shimin also has a plan. One plan is to occupy the southern part of Hedong Road, hold on for three months, and wait for the Yellow River to freeze in winter, and then he can return to Guanzhong smoothly. This plan takes too long and he can't afford it, and the risk is too great.

Another solution is to regain the Hejin Ferry and ask Guanzhong to assist in finding the river crossing tools, boats or sheepskin rafts, but Yang Yuanqing has burned down the ferries on both sides of the Yellow River. For a while, he may not be able to gather so many ships.

Another solution is to go from the other side of Fenglingjin Ferry River to enter Guanzhong from Tongguan. There should be a ferry there.

The current problem is that if the army goes south, it will definitely be followed by Yang Yuanqing. If he attacks while his army crosses the river, he will undoubtedly be defeated. All kinds of worries make Li Shimin unable to settle down and extremely worried.

At this moment, the personal soldiers reported at the door: "Duke Qin, General Qu Tu is here to see you!"

Li Shimin was excited. Qu Tutong came to see him at this time and must have a way to get out of trouble. He hurriedly said, "Please invite him in!"

After a moment, Qu Tutong hurried into the camp, knelt down on one knee and saluted: "I am not good at ease, please see Duke Qin!"

"General Qu Tu doesn't have to be too polite, please get up quickly!"

Qu Tutong stood up and smiled and said, "Donald Qin is worried about being unable to withdraw his troops back to Guanzhong!"

Li Shimin sighed, "It's true. The retreat was intercepted, which made the morale of the army unstable. I wanted to fight with Yang Yuanqing, but he avoided the battle. I don't know what to do now? General Qu Tu has a good idea."

"Mr. Qin doesn't have to worry too much. Although the retreat is broken, as long as we grasp Yang Yuanqing's weakness, we still have a chance."

Li Shimin slowly sat down. He always claimed to be a military genius, good at planning and brave decision-making, but this battle in Hedong made him finally realize that he was inexperienced. When he met the stronger Yang Yuanqing, he seemed passive everywhere and was almost led by Yang Yuanqing.

At this time, experience became particularly important. He had no experience, but Qu Tutong was a veteran with extremely rich experience. Only then did Li Shimin realize his conceit and stupidity, and he had good generals to do without.

He waved his hand, took a deep breath and said, "General Qu Tu, please sit down."

Qu Tutong sat down and smiled and said, "The reason why Yang Yuanqing avoided fighting is not because he wanted to hold us back, but that most of his army was surrendered. According to my experience, it would take at least three months to half a year to turn surrendered soldiers into his own elite army, and it took him more than a month, not to mention that many of his surrendered soldiers were Tang army, so it took time to reorganize. Yang Yuanqing himself knew this, so he avoided fighting."

Li Shimin showed a look of annoyance on his face. He didn't consider this and knew that he could have fought a decisive battle with Yang Yuanqing.

Qu Tutong seemed to know his thoughts, shook his head and smiled: "It was not possible before. His wings were very powerful. If we gave up Linfen City at that time, his wings would attack us from behind and attack us from the back and forth. Our chances of victory were very small, but now his wings were gone, so he could only retreat north to avoid it.

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and asked, "What should General Qu Tu think we should do now?"

Qu Tu Channel: "Although Qin Gong can also occupy the southern part of Hedong Road to fight him, in the long run, we still cannot keep Hedong Road. I still recommend withdrawing troops back to Guanzhong. If Qin Gong is willing to follow my strategy, I can at least guarantee that 80,000 troops will be safely withdrawn from Guanzhong."

Li Shimin was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "General Qu Tu, please say, I will definitely obey."

That night, three thousand Tang cavalry rushed towards Fenglingjin, and Li Shimin's army also began to rise up and retreat south overnight.

…” (To be continued
Chapter completed!