Shi Huaiyi is the most powerful general under Li Xiaogong's tent. He was captured alive by the Sui army's water ghost during the Battle of Fushui in Jiangxia County. He would rather die than surrender. Zhang Xuan admired his backbone, so he did not make things difficult for him, but imprisoned him. Finally, when Chen Shubao negotiated, he was replaced by the Tang army as a bargaining chip.

Li Xiaogong was unquestionable in employing people. He did not neglect him because Shi Huaiyi was captured, but continued to appoint him as a pioneer. It was this trust that moved Shi Huaiyi very much. He held a shield on his back, and was the first to climb to the city.

The moment Shi Huaiyi approached the city wall, he threw away his big shield, pulled out his two guns from his back, and jumped onto the city wall. Tens of thousands of Tang soldiers under the city cheered.

Immediately afterwards, more than a hundred Tang soldiers climbed to the top of the city and ran into the city. Soon, the gate of Wuguan opened, and a Tang soldier ran out of the city and shouted: "The enemy has indeed retreated, and no one is there."

The Tang soldiers cheered and rushed into the city, but Li Xiaogong was puzzled. The Sui army could obviously refuse to defend the city and cause severe damage to itself, so why did they abandon the city and leave?

At this time, the warrior walked forward and slowly said, "Your Highness can't think of it?"

"What came to mind?"

The warrior smiled bitterly and said, "It is a matter of rushing the Sui army to attack Shangluo County, but it is a matter of rushing us out of Xiyang County. In this case, how could the Sui army guard Wu Pass to the death?"

Li Xiaogong was speechless. After a while, he nodded silently and said, "But the problem now is that you know that Zhang Xuan's strategy is like this, and you have to follow his transfer. If you really lose Shangluo County, no one can afford this responsibility."

"Your Highness, should we do this next step?"

Li Xiaogong shook his head, "I don't know what to do, but in short, I have to recover Shangluo County first and give the emperor an explanation."

"Your Highness is right!"

Li Xiaogong immediately arranged two thousand people to defend the city. He and the warrior led a 33,000 army to fight to Shangluo County and Shangluo County, preparing to fight to the death with the Sui Army."

There is also a river that is not big or small about eighty miles northwest of Wuguan, called the Xiwuguan River. The river water flows directly into the Danshui and becomes one of the tributaries of the Danshui.

The terrain of the Xiwuguan River is far less steep than that of the Dongwuguan River. This area is dominated by hilly terrain. Thanks to the irrigation of the Dongwuguan River, there are scattered farmlands of all sizes around the hills, and it is also a small agricultural area in Shangluo County.

At the same time when the Tang army arrived at Wuguan, the 6,000 cavalry led by Liu Lancheng arrived here. This was a plan formulated in advance by Zhang Xuan. The Tang army that came to support from the south would inevitably go north to Shangluo County and Shangluo County. Then the Sui cavalry would then go south from Wuguan and return to Xiyang County.

According to Zhang Xuan's negotiations, Li Yuan would no longer allow Li Xiaogong's army to leave Shangluo County, which ensured the Sui army's full occupation of Xiyang County and completely cut off the Nanxiang Road that the Tang army had worked hard to open.

At this time, a cavalry reported to the news from a distance and rushed to the Sui army camp and turned over and dismounted. A soldier led the cavalry into Liu Lancheng's tent. The soldier knelt down on one knee and said, "Report to General, the Tang army has captured Wuguan. The army has all its might to go north. Only two thousand troops have been left to guard Wuguan."

"Where is General Li now?"

"General Li is on his way to Dongwuguan River."

Liu Lancheng knew that the time was ripe, so he immediately ordered: "Tell the entire army and immediately set off the camp and head south!"

.........

The most important strategic location of Shangluo County is the official road that runs across the north and south, as well as the Shangluo and Shangluo counties on the official road. These two counties are the most prosperous areas in Shangluo County, with convenient transportation and sufficient water resources. It concentrates 80% of the population and most of the grain fields in the county. It is the cabbage core of the entire Shangluo County.

Except for Shangluo and Shangluo counties, most of the rest of Shangluo County are mainly mountains and hills, and there are endless mountains and ridges to the north and west. Several other small counties such as Luonan, Fengyang and Shangjin are almost all distributed in mountainous areas. They are sparsely populated and have little products and are not valued. For the Tang army, as long as they control the north and south official roads and Shangluo and Shangluo counties, it means controlling the entire Shangluo County.

So when Li Xiaogong seized Wu Pass, he immediately sent a letter to Chang'an. His main army rushed north and rushed to Shangluo County hundreds of miles away. After Li Yuan learned that Li Xiaogong had regained Wu Pass, he also urgently ordered Li Shentong from Lantian Pass to immediately lead 30,000 troops to attack the Tang army north and south, and must annihilate the Sui cavalry that invaded Shangluo County near Shangluo County.

Shangluo County is the capital of Shangluo County and the largest city in the county. It is the core of the entire Shangluo County. The terrain is flat and is very conducive to the cavalry's advantage of rapid maneuver. Moreover, there is a lot of grain inventory, which can bring sufficient supplies to tens of thousands of troops. Whether in terms of strategic influence or military operations, Li Shentong and Li Xiaogong both agreed that the main force of the Sui army was near Shangluo County.

Three days later, Li Xiaogong's army took the lead in recapturing Shangluo County. County magistrate Zhang Zhi and County Magistrate Li Shiche came in to meet Prince Zhao with fear. Before, Liu Lancheng led his army to Shangluo County, but these two men left the city to surrender to the Sui army. Now that the Sui army has withdrawn, they are really embarrassed to face the Tang army who has returned.

"I'm going to see Your Highness, the Prince!"

The two knelt down and kowtowed to Li Xiaogong. Li Xiaogong did not care whether they surrendered to the Sui army before. This was the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel and had nothing to do with him. He only cared about whether Shangluo County was stable and the detailed information of the Sui cavalry.

"Get up! I have something to ask you."

The two of them heard that the prince was not harsh and did not seem to be planning to pursue their surrender to Sui. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief, stood up together, and waited for instructions with their hands hanging down.

Li Xiaogong said again: "First of all, I want to know what the name of the Sui Army's chief general is. I think you two should know."

County Magistrate Zhang Zhi said: "I know that his surname is Liu, and the soldiers all call him General Liu."

"What does he look like?" Li Xiaogong asked again.

“The hands and feet are long.”

Zhang Zhi recalled and described: "He has a square face, thick eyebrows and dark skin, and looks like a very dedicated farmer."

After hearing the county magistrate's description and knowing that his surname was Liu, Li Xiaogong knew that it must be Liu Lancheng. It seems that His Highness Qin's inference is correct. He is indeed the most elite inner guard cavalry of the Sui army. If his 20,000 troops rushed into Shangluo County, he would probably suffer the fate of the entire army being destroyed. Fortunately, the warrior army arrived in time.

"Then where are they now?" Li Xiaogong continued to ask.

"I don't know where exactly it is. I only know that they went north to Shangluo County five days ago."

“Have you been back?”

The county magistrate next to him shook his head, "I have never come back, they seem to say they want to attack Lantian Pass."

Li Xiaogong asked a few more questions and asked the soldiers to take them down. At this time, he asked the warrior and said, "What do you think Wu Gong?"

Warrior kept silent just now, and he finally said slowly: "Do your Highness remember what I said when we took down the Wu Pass?"

"Duke Wu thought that the Sui army deliberately let us go north."

The warrior nodded, "That's all, your highness has thought about it. Since we have gone north and the Sui army has achieved its goal, will they still fight to the death in Shangluo County and the two Sui army north and south?"

"Probably not!"

“I don’t think so.”

The warrior sighed and said, "Since that's the case, where should the Sui army be now?"

Li Xiaogong thought about it and suddenly realized, "Did the Sui army have gone south?"

The warrior nodded, "I think so too. Liu Lancheng has led his army south and is likely to be in the Wuguan area."

"Then why didn't they ambush us? You must know that Li Shentong is still far away and cannot support us at all." Li Xiaogong looked confused and puzzled.

The warrior shook his head, "I don't know the reason. Maybe they don't have this plan, or maybe they are short of troops. Didn't the magistrate Zhang just said it? The Sui army had only five or six thousand cavalry. If it was really only five or six thousand, no matter how elite they were, they would not be able to fight against our 35,000 people."

"Mr. Wu said it makes sense. What should we do now? Turn around and kill you back?"

Warrior bit his lips and said, "If we think about it from a military perspective, I think we should turn around and fight back, but if your highness is still trying to gain a foothold in the court, then we can seize Shangluo County as quickly as possible before Li Shentong. Does your highness understand what I mean?"

Li Xiaogong was silent for a moment and finally nodded, "I understand."

The warrior looked at him and said, "Then your highness knows what to make a decision!"

Li Xiaogong sighed helplessly, "I know, immediately raise an army to attack Shangluo County."

Half an hour later, Li Xiaogong's army left Shangluo County and continued to fight towards Shangluo County. The army marched very quickly. Li Xiaogong had to seize Shangluo County before Li Shentong and put the credit for the recovery of Shangluo County into his own pocket. (To be continued.).
Chapter completed!