The 80,000 Sui troops deployed in Loufan County had retreated to Shiai County, which was later Yangquan, Shanxi, and belonged to Taiyuan County. Its importance is because of its location, and it is the western entrance to Jingxing.

Shiai County itself is a small county. After being occupied by the Sui army two years ago, the Sui army immediately expanded it, raised the city walls and strengthened it, and garrisoned 3,000 troops there.

This was also a nail inserted by the Sui army in Taiyuan County, which also made Li Yuan feel resentful, but interestingly, neither side mentioned this matter and would rather argue about the ownership of Shangdang County and Changping County, but ignored Shiai County, as if there was no such thing.

It is precisely for this reason that most people in Chang'an did not know that the Sui army actually occupied a county in Taiyuan County. Even the ministers in charge of the matter were very secretive, and no one dared to mention this matter in front of the emperor.

Zhang Xuan stood at the head of Shiai County with his hands behind his back, staring at the Sui army camp in the north and outside the city. The food and food of the 80,000 troops were stored in the city, but the army was stationed outside the city, and the tent lasted for more than twenty miles, which was very spectacular.

At this time, Fang Xuanling slowly walked behind Zhang Xuan and smiled and said, "Are your highness worried about Shanyang County?"

Zhang Xuan nodded, "Although we intend to withdraw Loufan Pass, we can't stop the enemy's sea of ​​people sooner or later. I'm worried that the Turkic Khan will use this strategy to attack Shanyang County."

"Your Highness, Shanyang County is not Loufan Pass. Loufan Pass can only accommodate up to five or six thousand defenders, but the 30,000 defenders in Shanyang County can all be put into battle. In addition, our long-range strikes are far stronger than the Turkic army, and the officers and soldiers will unanimously defend the city. I believe that Shanyang County will never be captured."

"Maybe you said it right, I'm a little too worried."

Zhang Xuan smiled and asked again: "Does the military advisor think the Turkic army will go south?"

Fang Xuanling said lightly: "The enemy chief will not know the risks of going south, but many things are because he has no choice. Whether he leads his army south is the key lies in the battle situation in Shanyang County. It can be said that General Yuchi decided the choice of the Turkic Khan."

"Yes! I think so too, so I am worried about whether Shanyang County can hold on!"

Zhang Xuan's concerns were not unreasonable. The news that Kang Shuoli captured the Loufan Pass reached Shanyang County, which greatly boosted the morale of the Turkic army. Kang Shuoli's strategy of conquering Loufan Pass with the sea of ​​people tactics inspired Chu Luo Khan. He immediately dispatched an army of 80,000 to launch the largest offensive on Shanyang County.

The siege war has been on the third day, and the war has been extremely fierce. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties. The 80,000 Turkic army has been killed and killed more than 30,000, and the Sui army guarding the city has suffered more than 7,000 casualties. This is the heaviest loss of the Northern Sui army since the establishment of Beihai County.

However, the Turkic army was unable to capture Shanyang County, which fulfilled Fang Xuanling's words. The Sui army's will of the army to defend the city together, making Shanyang County stand tall.

Before dawn, more than a hundred Sui army fortification soldiers were busy replacing the Xicheng Gate. The Xicheng Gate had been damaged by the Turkic military attacking ram, revealing the huge rocks blocking the gate in the city, but this was a hidden danger. The Turkic army could pull away the huge rocks from outside and hollow out the city gate.

Therefore, the Sui army craftsmen in the city built two new city gates day and night, and took advantage of the night to protect them, moved the huge rocks and replaced the damaged city gate.

On the top of the city, Yuchi Gong held a large iron spear and personally kept a watch for the soldiers who replaced the city gate. Hundreds of crossbow-holding soldiers stood beside him.

At this time, a soldier pointed to the hillside and whispered: "Look at General, there are enemy spies!"

Yuchi Gong had already seen it. There were about five or six cavalrymen, who immediately looked here two hundred steps away. They were obviously Turkic military spies, and only Turkic military spies would be just outside the range of the military crossbow.

Yuchi Gong was angry and immediately ordered: "Change the big yellow crossbow!"

Immediately, twenty soldiers rushed over with crosses of yellow crossbows. Yuchi Gong pointed a big gun, "Shoot them for me!"

The ten yellow crossbows were mounted on the city wall and aimed at several Turkic spies two hundred steps away. They shouted softly for the leader of the brigade. Five yellow crossbows were shot first, and the arrows shot towards the Turkic spies in the distance like lightning. The six Turkic spies were immediately dropped and three of them. The other spies were shocked and turned their horses and fled. The second five crossbow arrows were adjusted and also shot at the cavalry. The two Turkic spies running behind fell to the ground. The spies in the front escaped by luck because they got the arrows of the two behind, and ran away in the distance, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

At this time, Chuluo Khan also stood in front of the camp and looked towards Shanyang County under dozens of generals. He was a little shaken by the heavy casualties for three consecutive days.

Not only him, but all the Turkic soldiers complained. Even though the gates of Bingzhou had been attacked, the wealth and women of the Central Plains were right in front of him. Khan did not lead everyone to seize them, but he fought to the death to attack Shanyang County here. What can he get if he captured Shanyang County?

The war-weariness gradually spreading across the army put huge pressure on Chuluo Khan, but Chuluo Khan knew the danger of going south. If they did not handle the retreat of Mayi County well, their southward journey would face great risks. If they were not careful, they would interrupt their supply and the army would be trapped in Bingzhou.

It is not impossible to go south, but Shanyang County must be taken down and logistics support with Shanyang County as the main supply area so that they can go south without worries.

But it was so difficult to take Shanyang County, and Chuluo Khan was a little shaken. His intuition told him that they might not be able to take Shanyang County in the end.

At this time, a soldier shouted: "I'm back from surveillance!"

Chuluo Khan sent a team of siege to check the situation of the city gate in Shanyang County. The main reason was that the siege ladder was too much casualties. At least 20,000 soldiers died on the siege, and their siege ladder was almost exhausted. At this moment, the craftsmen in the army made an extremely huge siege ram from a thousand-year-old oak tree, which gave Chuluo Khan a glimmer of hope.

After a moment, a sentry-seeking soldier was brought up and he knelt on one knee to salute, "See Khan!"

Chuluo Khan hurriedly asked, "What's the situation?"

"Khan, we found that the Sui army was replacing the west city gate, but was eventually shot by big arrows on the top of the city. The other brothers were unfortunately killed, and only the villain escaped."

Chuluo Khan didn't care about the life or death of the soldiers. He was more concerned about the situation of the city gate and asked again: "Are other city gates replaced except the West City Gate?"

"Not yet, I only see the replacement of the West City Gate."

Chuluo Khan was secretly happy. They not only attacked Xicheng, but also launched too fierce attacks. The change of Xicheng gates means that the North Gate and South Gate could not support it. Although the soldiers were dissatisfied with each other, Chuluo Khan decided to take a gamble and launched the maximum intensity of the attack after dawn.

As soon as dawn was dawn, Chuluo Khan summoned all the main generals to discuss the matter in the king's tent. The generals were talking about the losses of their tribe. At this time, Chuluo Khan coughed heavily, and the tent suddenly became quiet.

Chu Luo looked at both sides and said coldly: "I know you don't want to attack the city anymore, but the Sui army's strength is far less than us, and they should be almost unable to support it. I don't want to turn around and leave before the victory comes."

Everyone understood what Khan meant, and they wanted to attack Shanyang City again. Everyone looked at each other, dissatisfied, but no one dared to say it.

At this time, the Uighur tribe leader Tu Midu said, "Khan, we are not unwilling to follow Khan to fight, but we are all cavalrymen, good at fighting immediately and not good at siegeing cities. Why do we have to capture Shanyang County? We can completely attack Bingzhou and even enter Guanzhong. If we take a step back, maybe we need a county town as a logistics center, so why don't we attack Taiyuan City?"

Tu Midu's words represent everyone's voice. Asai, the chief general of Sijie tribe, also said: "When Khan sent troops, he promised that every grassland man would return with a full load and could return home at most a month. But now almost a month has passed. Not only did our soldiers not get a penny of copper coins, but countless people died in foreign lands. We Sijie's 30,000 people have died, but the siege still has no end. Do we have to let all of us die under the city before Khan will give up?"

A Cai's words made Chu Luo Khan's face look extremely ugly. After a while, he said with a dark face: "Don't say anything that shakes the morale of the army. Today we will do our best to capture Shanyang County, and then I will lead everyone south. I will fulfill my promise and let everyone return with a full load."

"What if I still can't conquer Shanyang County today?"

A Cai's words made the big tent silent, and everyone looked at Chuluo Khan. This was an extremely sharp question. Everyone wanted to ask, but they couldn't speak. Only a newborn calf was not afraid of a tiger, so she asked a young leader like A Cai.

At this moment, Chuluo Khan felt a huge pressure. He slowly stood up, looked at A Cai with murderous intent, and then slowly said: "As long as everyone does their best, even if they can't conquer Shanyang County today, I agree to everyone go south." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!