Changsun Cheng and Mai Tiezhang's 20,000 elite cavalry came from Lintao County. Their goal was to attack Mantou City directly, but if they wanted to capture Mantou City, they had to pass through Chishui City.
Chishui City is the source of the Yellow River and is the largest city south of Tuguhun King's City.
Mantou City, Chishui City, and Shudun City are the three southern parts of the royal city, Fuqi City.
Changsun Cheng first sent two thousand cavalry troops to harass Chishui City and led most of his main force out of the city. Then they formed an encirclement with superior force in a river valley and wiped out 4,000 people.
Mai Tiezhang took this opportunity to attack Mantou City, and captured Mantou City before the opponent could react. Then he joined Changsun Cheng, and with almost no loss of 20,000 elites, he attacked Shudun City again. In Shudun City, they encountered the elite army of General Bo Chutu under Murong Fuyun.
After a fight, Changsun Cheng and Mai Tiezhang "fleeed" southward. Bo Cuitu was not fooled, but urgently asked for help from the royal city and found the main cavalry of the Sui Dynasty.
Shudun City and Mantou City were only one hundred and sixty miles apart. If they could not capture Shudun City, they could not garrison in Mantou City. So Chang Suncheng and the others retreated to Chishui City and sent out rangers to spy on the surrounding enemies.
The reason why Bochu Tu appears in Shudun City is because Shudun City borders Chuihe County in the Sui Dynasty, and Zhou Fashang's southern army was stationed in Hejin County, one hundred and twenty miles away from Shudun City.
With the Sui army to the west and the main cavalry force to the south, it was impossible for Bo Chutu not to panic. The troops in his hand plus Shudun City totaled only 16,000 cavalry, which could not stop the enemy forces from both directions. , but Shudun City cannot be lost. If it is lost, the Sui army can march straight in from here and kill the royal city.
After waiting for three days, news came from the direction of the royal city. The Great Khan Murong Fuyun ordered him to lead the famous kings of Shudun City to withdraw to the royal city. Bo Chutu breathed a sigh of relief and began to arrange suspicious troops in order to withdraw safely.
Of course Chang Suncheng refused to let go of this opportunity, so he harassed him frequently along the way.
However, Mai Tiezhang believed that the time had come to completely annihilate the enemy army, and there was no need to drag them to the south to fight. So he ignored Chang Suncheng's dissuasion and led his main force to fight with Bo Cui forty miles south of Mantou City. Figure starts a decisive battle.
At the same time, Murong Lianchi's tribe sent by Wangcheng to deal with Bo Cuitu came out from the west and attacked Mai Tiezhang.
Seeing this, Chang Suncheng could only contain him from the side, and a melee between the four armies began.
The two sides surrounded Mantou City and Shudun City, fighting intermittently, so that abandoned war horses and dead soldiers could be seen everywhere in the surrounding valleys.
】
In the direction of Hejin County, after receiving the news, Zhou Fashang urgently dispatched his only three thousand cavalry to go out for support and reported to the Marshal's Mansion in Jincheng County.
"Why are they fighting here?" Gao Jiong slammed the table angrily: "This place is less than four hundred miles away from the royal city. If Murong Fuyun leads the main force to attack, the main force of our southern cavalry army will be in danger."
Now the only one who can support Zhang Suncheng and others is Zhou Fashang, but Zhou Fashang's main task is to provide support to the south of Shi Wansui's department, and the majority of them are infantry, so the support is very limited.
According to the military report from the front, Murong Lianchi's troops had at least 15,000 cavalry. As a result, Chang Suncheng and the others were already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Of course, 20,000 versus 30,000 are not impossible to fight, but they cannot be spent here, so that the few cavalry troops of the Sui Dynasty will be overly consumed.
As for Yang Ming's marshal's department, after taking away Shi Wanbao's 5,000 cavalry, there were only about 7,000 left.
At this time, Gao Yan looked at Yang Ming and said:
"Chang Suncheng and Mai Tiezhang are the main forces in the decisive battle in the future. They must be rescued. If they are used up, even if we take Fuqi City, it will be in vain."
Yang Ming said with a gloomy face: "What are they doing? My king's general order made it clear at the time that the attack could not be carried out until it was delayed to Jishi Town. Changsun Cheng should not have made such a big mistake."
"The eldest grandson has always been strict. The problem should be with Mai Tiezhang. It is useless to say more now. Your Highness should send troops to support immediately and strictly ordered the eldest grandson and his two men to withdraw south immediately," Gao Yan said.
Yang Ming nodded, he had to save it. Most of Shi Wansui's troops were infantry. Even if they captured the royal city in the future, there would be no way to defend an isolated city without the support of most of the cavalry outside.
Then, it depends on who is suitable to rescue.
In the hall, many generals took the initiative to ask for help.
It would be best if Li Jing was here, but it's a pity that he was not brought out.
Yang Ming felt that this task was not suitable for an experienced person to do. Older people were too hesitant to be a surprise soldier.
"Su Lie," Yang Ming said solemnly.
Su Lie was stunned, then quickly turned to Yang Ming, saluted and said, "I'm here for my humble duty."
"I will allocate five hundred men from my army to you, and I will equip you with five thousand cavalry, all of whom are under the age of twenty. Remember, after charging into the formation, kill them all, and order Changsun Cheng and Mai Tiezhang to retreat southward. , retain the main force, and those who do not follow will be beheaded on the spot."
Su Lie took a deep breath, looked extremely excited, and said loudly: "I accept my order in this humble position."
Although Gao Yan was also surprised as to why Yang Ming sent a young man with no experience in commanding troops to take on this important task, but thinking about it on the other hand, this kind of thing is really only best done by a young man who is brave enough to risk his life. , those aristocratic families cherish their lives too much.
After receiving the general's order, Su Lie immediately prepared his troops and horses with the assistance of the royal family.
It only took two hours for five thousand elites to leave Xihe County.
On the way, Su Lie ignored the fatigue of his men and horses and marched as fast as possible. After a day and a night, he successfully arrived at Shudun City.
Mai Tiezhang also knew that he had made a mistake and had been trying to break out to the south. He could not lead his troops westward into Chuihe County, otherwise it would implicate Zhou Fashang and disrupt the deployment of the Chinese army.
But there is another problem when heading south, and that is the Yellow River.
Although this is the uppermost reaches of the Yellow River and the water level is not very high, crossing the Yellow River is not an easy task, especially if there are pursuers behind, and it is impossible to cross the river by force.
But now, he has been completely separated from Chang Sun Cheng by the enemy. He doesn't even know where Chang Sun Cheng is now.
If it continues like this, not to mention being surrounded by enemy troops, there is also the danger of being dispersed. At that time, he will have no choice but to commit suicide and apologize for losing the main force of the cavalry.
It was at this time that scouts came from the rear to report that reinforcements had arrived and rushed directly into the enemy's Shudun City. They tore apart the formation and dispersed the Shudun City. The general had an order from the King of Qin and ordered Mai Tiezhang to withdraw south immediately.
Mai Tiezhang was overjoyed: "Who is the general?"
"It seems to be King Qin's Ku Zhi," the scout said.
Mai Tiezhang said in surprise: "But that young boy in the arena in the suburbs of Beijing?"
"That's him!" said the scout.
I thanked him for his eight generations of ancestors. If I can save the main force this time, I am willing to become a brother with him. Mai Tiezhang did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly led the army south along the Yellow River, collecting scattered tribes, rectifying the troops and horses, and encountered a small group of obstacles on the way. , it doesn’t matter anymore.
The troops commanded by Su Lie are all young men, the kind of young men who can punch through steel plates. They are all very murderous.
Such a new force is undoubtedly very terrifying. Su Lie has no experience in commanding troops and does not understand tactics. Apart from having a map, he only has the courage to not be afraid of death.
Five thousand people directly attacked the Shudun City to pieces. Of the three thousand cavalry sent by Zhou Fashang, only two thousand were left. After seeing the reinforcements, they subconsciously moved closer to Su Lie.
But they found that as they got farther and farther away, the supporting army in front seemed to have no intention of joining them.
So these two thousand people, led by the general Yang Cai, always stayed behind Su Lie.
Chang Suncheng had already withdrawn to the south. After he was divided by the enemy, he knew that he could no longer save Mai Tiezhang, so nothing could happen to his unit, otherwise the main cavalry army in the south would be completely destroyed.
After entering Chishui City, Changsun Cheng sent scouts everywhere to spy on the whereabouts of the Mai Tiezhang Department. In the evening, the good news came that there were still 7,000 people in the main force of the Mai Tiezhang Department, and they were heading towards Chishui City.
Su Lie simply attacked wherever he went. He didn't send any scouts at all. He marched in a hurry all the way. Wherever there were enemy troops, he rushed to kill them.
If you can't stand the sitting horse, it doesn't matter. There are ownerless horses scattered around, so you can just change horses.
Can’t stand it? Those who don't exist are all young people with high spirits. Each one of them has long been interested in killing. They can continue to work after drinking water and eating solid food.
Murong's Lianchi tribe, Bochu Tu tribe and Shuduncheng tribe all fled and were killed by five thousand people.
Fuqi City, the Royal Palace.
Pushe Tuoba Shiya said:
"It seems that the main force of the Sui army's cavalry should be in the south. In Qilian City in the north, there will not be many cavalry. If we advance from the north to the south, I am afraid that the main force of the King of Qin will be in the middle, aiming to locate our royal city."
Murong Fuyun said with a gloomy face: "Pei Ju, this sinister villain, still writes to me, saying that the Sui army is looking for war horses. Qilian City is gone, and he is still looking for horses?"
"This man is the most insidious. You can't believe a word he says," said Shangshu Zhao Xin: "We can order King Tuolai, King Datongshan and King Linqiang to unite and recapture Qilian City."
"Qilian City is no longer important now. King Qilian is gone. What's the use of taking it back?" Pushe Tuoba Shiya said.
In the palace at this time, Bamushe, the son of the famous king of Qilian City, was also there. Hearing this, he stood up and said:
"Although my father is dead, the tribes are scattered all over the place. Please give me 2,000 men from the Great Khan so that I can collect tribesmen from the north."
Murong Fuyun nodded: "You go down first and let me think about it again."
Bamushe looked helpless and could only retreat.
Without the famous king of the tribe, he was nothing. If he didn't need to know the battle situation on the front line from him, Murong Fuyun would not let him enter the palace.
After the people left, Murong Fuyun said: "I also guess that the Sui army is targeting the Royal City, but there are large armies in the north and south. If I give up and don't save it, the Royal City will also be lost. What do you think?"
Tuoba Shiya said: "The Great Khan had better take his family papers and move westward to the Danghe area. We can gather all the elites of the Royal Court, and we can go south or north. As long as my main force is here, it doesn't matter even if we lose the royal city." "
"I agree," Zhao Xin said: "As long as the main force of the Sui army's cavalry is defeated, the infantry is nothing to be afraid of. We can get it back even if we lose the royal city. What we are most afraid of is that the Sui army will attack them separately, causing our main force to Scattered and fighting on their own, this is the worst possible situation."
After Murong Fuyun was silent for a long time, he gritted his teeth:
"Contact all the ministries immediately, move closer to the royal court, and then concentrate the main force to kill Changsun Cheng in the south first."
