The team has entered Fanchang County, twenty miles away from the county town. It is midnight. The official road heading south of Yingchuan County is pitch black, and the stars and moons are covered with thick clouds. The black clouds are like a cover on a steamer, making the accumulated heat in the earth during the day unable to be dissipated, and the weather is particularly stuffy.

Without a trace of wind, the solemn air indicates that the storm is coming. Suddenly, a dazzling light cuts through the clouds, and branches of lightning shakes the plains and forests.

The moment the lightning flashed, the official road became brighter, and the official road was covered with dense troops, and ox carts were loaded with food and military supplies, slowly heading south with difficulty.

On both sides of the chariot, the slender army was like water, some were infantry, and some cavalry intersected. The dazzling lightning frightened some livestock, screamed in panic, and rushed around, causing chaos in the team.

Li Xiaogong was in the middle of the team. He looked up at the night sky from time to time. The upcoming storm made him feel heavy. He felt that this was a sign that the dangers of his journey southward.

At this time, Dugu Huai'en rode a horse and ran to catch up, "Your Highness!"

Li Xiaogong slowed down his horse speed. He respected Dugu Huaien very much. This was not only because Dugu Huaien had a noble status, but also because he was the nephew of Empress Dugu of the Sui Dynasty, but also the Minister of Works of the Tang Dynasty, and was a high-ranking vocational official.

Importantly, Dugu Huaien is the legitimate legitimate of the Dugu family, and behind him is the powerful Dugu family. He is one of the representatives of the Dugu family's interests. With Dugu family as the second nobleman in Guanlong, Dugu Huaien is enough to win the respect of the Li royal family.

"Your Highness, if you continue to march like this, it may not work!" Dugu Huaien said worriedly.

Li Xiaogong looked back and saw another lightning flash across the sky. He saw clearly the team and stretched for more than ten miles. If the Sui army caught up from behind, his rear army would be defeated immediately.

Li Xiaogong also realized the danger and looked around. Not far away, there was a dark shadow. He remembered that at that time a black pine forest covering hundreds of acres.

"Tell me my order, the army will go to the Black Pine Forest to shelter from the rain!"

The team left the official road one after another. Turning to the empty field, the soldiers ran in the wilderness and headed towards the black pine forest three miles away, but the ox cart full of baggage was difficult to walk in the wilderness. The coachman desperately drove it away, and the wilderness was in chaos.

At this time, a burst of raindrops as big as beans crackled down. The downpour finally came, and the white rain covered the earth, and the air was filled with the smell of soil.

The soldiers shouted, pulled their feet and ran towards the pine forest. Even the coachman didn't care about the ox cart. He simply covered the ox with a tart cloth, threw it away and ran towards the pine forest.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the world was covered with dust. Even ten steps were invisible. Fifty thousand Tang soldiers squeezed into the forest hundreds of acres, waiting for the sudden rain to stop. The pine forest was dense, like a natural shelter. Although rainwater drifted in, it was much better than outside.

Li Xiaogong sat on a big rock. Although his expression was calm, the slightest uneasiness that flashed in his eyes from time to time revealed his true mentality. He was estimating the position of the Sui Army at this time.

Although the Sui army was located in Xuchang County, fifty miles away from Yingchuan County, it should have to march 130 miles at this position. Even if the Sui army was slower to get the news, they were light and chased for more than 100 miles a day and night. In this way, the Sui army pursuers should be very close to them, and only twenty or thirty miles away.

At this moment, two scouts ran back in the heavy rain. The heavy rain had already poured them into a rooster. They were led to Li Xiaogong and knelt down on one knee to report, "Report to Your Highness, the main force of the Sui army has no supplies and is chasing them. They are now in a forest twenty miles away."

Li Xiaogong was suddenly shocked. If the rain stopped, wouldn’t the Sui army catch up with him? He could no longer sit still and stood up and ordered: “Send my order quickly, and all the generals above the generals will gather quickly… The Tang army’s intelligence is very accurate. At this time, the main force of the Sui army was indeed in a forest twenty miles away. They were about to catch up with the Tang army, but a sudden heavy rain forced them to stop. The 60,000 troops hid in another forest, waiting for the heavy rain to stop.

A marching tent was set up in an open space in the forest. Li Jing was discussing the upcoming battle with more than a dozen generals. A small sand table was placed in the tent, which happened to be the terrain of this area.

"There is only a black pine forest twenty miles ahead."

Li Jing pointed to a pine forest made of pine needles, "This black pine forest has about three or four hundred acres. It rains so heavily, Li Xiaogong has no choice but to shelter from this pine forest. The pine forest is surrounded by plains, which is very suitable for setting up a battlefield. I guess Li Xiaogong should have discovered us at this time. He will definitely not continue moving forward and will set up a battlefield outside the pine forest."

Li Jing glanced at everyone, and he couldn't help but feel excited, "We have been fighting for more than a month, and the final battle will come soon."

Everyone rubbed their hands, and everyone's faces showed expectation. After more than a month of suffocation, the war finally came. At this time, Qin Qiong suddenly asked: "Shi Shi, where is Xu Shiji's army now?"

Li Jing smiled slightly, "I think he will definitely appear at critical moments... Heavy rain fell all night, the wilderness was filled with rain, and there were puddles falling, the ground became very muddy, and if you were not careful, you would slip. Thousands of large trucks of supplies were raining all night, and many old cows were weak and fell into the mud.

But at this time, the Tang army no longer carts to take care of the supplies. They arranged a large battle array to the north of the black pine, waiting for the upcoming battle.

It was already dim and the morning light shrouded in the clear morning. This was a cool morning since summer began. The sky was still drizzling like a needle-tip, and it was fine and dense. The soldiers' hair was covered with water droplets. The situation in the distance was faintly clear. The forest was covered with a layer of blue smoke, like a thin green gauze covering the forest.

On this quiet morning, heavy drums sounded one after another, "dong-dong-dong-dong!" monotonous and boring, but every sound it would hit the soldiers' hearts, reminding the war was coming.

Li Xiaogong stared into the distance, and he had already vaguely seen a black army appearing several miles away. At this moment, he calmed down. He could not escape this disaster. This was God's arrangement, and they were destined to fight the Sui army.

Li Xiaogong took a deep breath, and a kind of courage for the general began to burn in his heart. Whether it was a victory or a loss, he had to fight with all his might. In order to defend the honor of the Tang army, he must never retreat.

He slowly pulled out his battle knife and shouted loudly: "This is the moment of our decisive battle. Let us muster up the courage and cheer for victory!"

Fifty thousand Tang soldiers raised their arms and shouted, their momentum soaring into the sky. Li Xiaogong rode a horse and ran away, raising his knife again and shouted: "Victory!"

"victory!"

The shouts of shouting made the Tang army start to cheer up. The spear was raised, the sword was unsheathed, and the morale began to rise...

Li Jing led 60,000 Sui troops to stop two miles away from the Tang army. He did not shout slogans, but calmly observed the formation and branches of the Tang army. Like the Sui army, a heavy rain caused each other's crossbows to lose their combat effectiveness. The crossbows and crossbows became spear soldiers and were listed on the left formation.

On the front are cavalry, about 15,000 people, arranged neatly into three large arrays, and on the right are sword and shield troops, about 10,000, and thousands of scouts are distributed around.

The equipment of the Tang and Sui troops was similar, with the same armor and weapons. The difference was that the Sui troops had 10,000 more cavalry than the opponent, including 3,000 heavy armored cavalry. This was Yang Yuanqing's deployment. The heavy armored infantry was on the western front, while the heavy armored cavalry was arranged on the eastern front.

"Where is General Qin?" Li Jing shouted sternly.

Qin Qiong stepped forward and bowed, "The last one is here!"

"I appoint you as the chief general of the right wing and lead 5,000 cavalry to fight against the sword and shield soldiers. Don't rush to rush to the death. After the fierce battle between the central army, then attack the enemy!"

"The last one will obey the order!"

Li Jing glanced at Luo Shixin again and ordered: "Where is General Luo Shixin?"

"The last one will be here!" Luo Shixin's voice was passionate and he left the order.

"I will give you 15,000 spear troops on the left wing. Against the enemy spear troops, just like the right wing. Don't rush to fight. After the Central Army fights fiercely, then take action."

"Abide by the order!"

Li Jing arranged the generals one by one, and then he looked at the opponent's camp deeply and shouted loudly: "Beat the drum, and the heavy cavalry attack!"

"Dong!Dong!Dong!Dong!"

Five hundred big drums were beaten at the same time, and the sound of the drums was earth-shaking, causing the heaven and earth to change color. The Sui army's cavalry split like water waves, scattering to both sides. A heavy cavalry team with both men and horses in heavy armor appeared, and everyone held a horse lance.

Xue Wanche suddenly shouted, "Kill!"

"Kill!"

Amid the sound of drums that shook the soul, the three thousand heavy armored cavalry suddenly started, the sound of horse hooves made the earth tremble, and the cavalry team rushed to the sky with an invincible force... Li Xiaogong's face changed drastically. He did not expect that heavy armored cavalry would appear in the Sui army. Although he had a bed crossbow to deal with heavy armored cavalry, he did not remove it from the baggage truck. The important thing is that after a night of heavy rain, the bow string was soft and the bed crossbow could not be used.

Li Xiaogong reacted very much, and he immediately called out, "Push up the chariot to stop him!"

The speed of the heavy armored cavalry was not, their strength lies in their strength. The Tang army immediately set up hundreds of chariots, but before the arrangement was completed, the craze of the heavy armored cavalry rushed over.

Although dozens of armored war horses were knocked down by soldiers, the powerful force carried by the three thousand heavy armored cavalry still smashed the soldiers to pieces, and the three thousand heavy armored cavalry rushed into the Tang army's formation.

The decisive battle in the Central Plains, which had been accumulating nearly a month and a half, finally kicked off in the wilderness north of Fanchang County. The sudden rain had just stopped and the war broke out... to be continued) RQ
Chapter completed!