A sentry was taken to Wang Bodang. He was the first sentry to ring the alarm bell. It is said that what did he see?

"What did you see? Let's talk about it in detail!"

Wang Bodang stared at the sentry with sharp eyes. He really couldn't figure it out. His defense was extremely strict. No soldier was allowed to bring fire into the camp, nor was he allowed to light the light when he was sleeping. Even the fire-headed soldiers were cooked at Xiguguan and then sent to the camp. How could it catch fire? Moreover, it was still on fire in the inner camp, which made Wang Bodang puzzled.

The sentry whispered: "Whitei saw three groups of fire falling from the air, probably falling along the cliff. One of the fire balls bounced on the cliff and then dispersed. Hutei saw it very clearly."

Wang Bodang couldn't help but look up at the Yubi Mountain, which was reflected by the fire. There was a cliff in the middle, and there were dense forests on it, but isn't there no way to go? Who can climb up?

"General, could it be a ghost fire?"

A school captain whispered: "In the cemetery, we often see clusters of yin fires. Our hometown is called ghost fires."

"Impossible, the kind of fire does not burn the tent. This must have been intentional arson by someone."

Although Wang Bodang believed that someone was deliberately setting fire, he really couldn't determine the identity of the arsonist, whether it was a scout of the Sui army, a local native, or a Tang army soldier who held revenge and vented his anger. After thinking for a long time, he said to a side general: "Send more soldiers to search around to find all clues. If you have any news, report to me immediately."

The general De Ling rushed to arrange the situation. Wang Bodang looked at the food camp that was completely engulfed by the fire. His face became more and more ashen. He really didn't know how he explained to the prince.

Zhang Xuan attacked Youzhou and called on 80,000 elite Sui army. In fact, these 80,000 elite troops were not just to attack Youzhou, but more to deal with the Tang army in the eastern expedition. Now there are not only 80,000 troops, but also 20,000 surrendered Youzhou army. This is also an elite force who is good at fighting. However, they need to be reorganized a little and cannot immediately enter the battle, so Zhang Xuan handed over the reorganization to Yuchi Gong. At the same time, he asked him to lead 20,000 troops to defend Zhuo County, and Li Jing and Zhao Liang continued to lead 10,000 troops to defend Lushui Cang, and Zhang Xuan personally led 60,000 troops to fight the Tang army in the eastern expedition.

Zhang Xuan's camp is located on a high ground ten miles north of Xianyu County, Boling County. Hundreds of steps away is the official road to Youzhou east. This is the only way for the Tang army to fight the Eastern Expedition. The scouts have sent the exact information to Zhang Xuan, a total of 70,000 Tang army to fight the Eastern Expedition.

Among them, there were 30,000 front troops, led by Li Yuan's cousin Li Shuliang, and 5,000 pioneers were commanded by general Zhang Rubin. Their march was extremely fast and had entered Boling County. At the latest, the vanguard general arrived in Xianyu County around the evening of this latest.

In the big tent, Zhang Xuanzheng, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui discussed combat strategies, and concentrating troops to annihilate the enemy was their consensus. The key was to first attack Tumen Pass, cut off Li Shuliang's army's retreat route, or directly attack Li Shuliang's army. The opinions were not unified, so Fang Xuanling suggested to attack Tumen Pass first. Not only did Li Shuliang's retreat route, but Li Jiancheng's support army could also be cut off. However, Du Ruhui advocated directly attacking Li Shuliang's army, concentrating troops to annihilate Li Shuliang's army, and then attacking Li Jiancheng's army. It was time to go.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a long time and said to Fang Xuanling: "If Shen Guang succeeded, he would restrain Li Jiancheng's army. Li Jiancheng's army would probably not leave Jingxing. In fact, it is equivalent to Li Shuliang's army, and Qu Tutong's army is even more difficult to fight. I was worried that Tumen Pass would not be able to fight for a long time, so I also thought it would be better to attack Li Shuliang's army directly. You can use cavalry to cut off their retreat. What do the military advisors think?"

Fang Xuanling nodded and smiled, "Actually both solutions are OK, and I have a clever plan to kill Li Shuliang's pioneer without any effort."

Zhang Xuan and Du Ruhui looked at each other, and they suddenly understood Fang Xuanling's plan. Zhang Xuan laughed and said, "It's indeed a good plan, you can try it!"

As night was about to fall, Li Shuliang's vanguard, General Zhang Rubin, led 5,000 troops to Xianyu County. Although Xianyu County is the capital of Boling County, the county town is not large, with a circumference of less than twenty miles and a population of tens of thousands. As soon as Zhang Rubin's army arrived at the city, the county magistrate Zhao Encai greeted him. He bowed and bowed to Zhang Rubin immediately, "Welcome the arrival of the Tang King's army, and beg the general to be merciful and do not hurt the people."

"We have been here without any trouble. Can there be food in the official warehouse?" Zhang Rubin asked.

"Only about a thousand stones."

"One thousand stones are enough. Let's prepare first. We will take it away tomorrow. In addition, there will be empty spaces in the county town."

"There is a military camp in the north of the county town, but it's a bit old. If the general doesn't dislike it, he can probably station four or five thousand people. It was originally built by Governor Luo."

"Oh! So that's it, then stay in the military camp! I'll send someone to move the food later."

"No need to worry about the general. I will ask the yamen runners to send food here immediately, and then let the big families in the city gather a few pigs and sheep to reward the army."

Zhang Rubin knew that they were afraid that their soldiers would take the opportunity to rob, so he laughed and said, "Since that's the case, there will be a county magistrate. We will stay for one night and leave, so we will not disturb the people."

Zhang Rubin ordered the army to enter the city and checked in directly at the Beicheng Military Camp, so that the soldiers would not disturb the people.

Five thousand Tang troops entered the city in a mighty way. The city was pitch black. Every family closed its doors and doors, and even the windows were tightly closed. There was no pedestrian on the street. Five thousand Tang troops did not disturb the people and went directly into the military camp close to the north city.

The county magistrate brought dozens of yamen runners and more than a hundred young and strong men, and drove a large cart to deliver hundreds of stones of food to the army. In addition, several large households gathered more than 30 pigs and sheep and dozens of barrels of wine to deliver to the army.

Seeing that the county magistrate was quite tactful and thoughtful, Zhang Rubin was very happy and asked, "What is the situation in Youzhou? Does the county magistrate Zhao know?"

"I heard that Zhuo County is also fighting, and it is not clear what the details are. No merchants have come here in recent times."

Zhang Rubin nodded. At this time, he suddenly found that a few of the young and strong people who were delivering food were actually wearing rough leather armor. He felt a move and asked, "Is there any county soldiers in Boling County?"

The Zhao County Magistrate smiled and said, "Xianyu County is the county governor. Of course, there are some county soldiers. There are five hundred county soldiers in the county town. They were originally stationed in the military camp. Because the general arrived, they were given up."

Speaking of this, he whispered again: "It's actually the private army of the Cui family."

Of course, Zhang Rubin knew that many counties had county soldiers, but they were just nominal county soldiers. In fact, they were private soldiers from major aristocratic families, and the aristocratic families paid for their money and grain. Since this is the old nest of the Cui family of Boling, it would be strange if there were no county soldiers.

Seeing that these county soldiers were incompetent and even worse than rioters, Zhang Rubin was slutty and timid, so he didn't take them to heart. He immediately instructed the county magistrate: "They can maintain order in the county at night, but the city walls and gates are controlled by my army. We will return them to you tomorrow after we leave."

"It's up to the general to decide everything!"

Tang Jun cooked and ate meat. After more than an hour of busyness, he gradually became quiet. He went back to the barracks to sleep. There were 100 people guarding each of the two city gates in the north and south, and there were 300 people patrolling the city walls. After Zhang Rubin made arrangements, he himself was very tired and went back to the camp to rest.

The entire county town fell into silence, and teams of county soldiers wearing leather armor appeared on the streets and alleys. The soldiers guarding the city did not take them seriously and each held their duties.

At about the first update, soldiers guarding the north city gate accidentally discovered dozens of jars of good wine stored in the small house in the city cave. Everyone was surprised. Although they had eaten meat today, the wine sent by the wealthy families was not distributed to the soldiers. Zhang Rubin did not allow the soldiers to drink, and all of them were sealed.

Unexpectedly, a good wine was found in the city gate. The wine smelled so mellow and the soldiers were all addicted to alcohol. More than a dozen old alcoholics were even anxious to reach out their hands. They couldn't wait to open the wine jar and drink happily. The soldiers guarding the city joined the drinking ranks. Perhaps because the wine was too mellow, someone soon drank drunk and lie down under the city wall.

Outside the north gate, Zhang Xuan led 10,000 soldiers to wait patiently for the city gate to open. In the temple in the west of the city, three thousand elite soldiers gathered from all over the city, led by the general Su Dingfang. Zhang Rubin never expected that the Xianyu County where he settled in had been set up by the Sui army.

At this time, two county soldiers came to report: "Report to General, most of the guards in the North City Gate were drunk, and several soldiers who did not drink were also controlled by our brothers. The North Gate had fallen into our hands."

Su Dingfang sneered and asked, "When is it now?"

"About two updates!"

Su Dingfang nodded and ordered: "You can open the city gate!"

Two county soldiers rushed away, and Su Dingfang waved his hand and ordered the three thousand soldiers: "Follow me to the military camp!"

He led three thousand soldiers to rush towards the military camp in the north of the city. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!