In Heyang County, Hanoi County, the Yellow River is still frozen for thousands of miles. The river surface is covered with thick ice. The north wind is howling and the cold air is blowing. In this icy and snowy world, you can see vendors and carriages traveling on the ice from time to time.

Thousands of cavalry lined up on the north bank of the Yellow River. Yang Yuanqing was accompanied by Xu Shiji to inspect the situation in the Yellow River. Yang Yuanqing stayed in Hedong County for only three days and turned to Hanoi County. He came to Hanoi County to appease the soldiers and spend the New Year with the soldiers, but Xu Shiji told an unexpected information.

"The manager, that's it!"

Xu Shiji pointed to a faint black dot in the Yellow River, "There is Zhonglizhou, and there is Heyang Pass on the island!"

Zhonglizhou is an island in the Yellow River, covering an area of ​​thousands of acres. Heyang Pass is built on the island. It is an extremely important military fortress in the Yellow River. It is currently occupied by Li Mi. Zhonglizhou is only two miles away from the south bank of the Yellow River and eight miles away from the north bank of the Yellow River. When Li Mi wanted to take advantage of Dou Jiande's opportunity to invade Hanoi, he used Zhonglizhou as a springboard.

By capturing Zhonglizhou, he mastered an important bridgehead to go south, which is of great strategic significance. After Li Mi failed to attack Hanoi, Xu Shiji once wanted to capture Zhonglizhou, but the time was not ripe and he did not take action for the time being. Now Li Mi's main force is dragged by Yu Wen and Pengcheng County, and he is unable to fight with the Northern Sui army anymore, so the time is ripe.

In the afternoon sun, the sky was particularly clear and you could see far. Yang Yuanqing saw Zhonglizhou in the distance, but was thinking about Xu Shiji's suggestions in his mind.

The other side of this island is the famous Mengjin Ferry. Thirty miles south is Limi's capital Luokou City, and about a hundred miles southeast is Luoyang City. If you can seize Zhonglizhou, it can indeed become a springboard for seizing Luoyang City in the future.

But at this time, Yang Yuanqing was not only considering a Zhonglizhou, but also Li Mi's other strategic resources. Li Mi is now being dragged by Yu Culture and the army. The rest of the troops strictly guard Luokou City and dare not come out, while Wang Shichong was eyeing him and preparing to attack Luoyang's ministers. The power on both sides of the Yellow River was blank. Only Hanoi County was the dominant one, and he would be stupid if he didn't take the opportunity to seek any benefits.

"How many defenders are there in Zhongli Prefecture now?" Yang Yuanqing asked without saying a word.

"About a thousand people."

"What about Li Mi's ship distribution? Do you understand?" Yang Yuanqing continued to ask.

"Report to the general manager, he sent a scout to patrol a month ago. Li Mi's ships had about 4,000, mainly distributed in Mengjin Ferry and Liyang Ferry. He went south to Pengcheng County to take more than 1,000 ships to transport grain. More than 400 ships were parked in the harbor in front and back of Zhonglizhou."

"Do you know how many garrisons are in Liyang City?"

Xu Shiji's eyes gradually lit up, "What does the general manager mean to capture Liyang City?"

Yang Yuanqing nodded with a smile, "Do you know the situation of the defenders in Liyang City?"

"I probably know one thing about it. The defenders are about three thousand, led by General Zhang Tongren."

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment, picked up a branch and drew a river channel on the ground. "If you have to pass Jijun on the north bank, you will easily be discovered by the other party. If we go to the south bank and attack Liyang City after passing Dongjun, you will have unexpected results."

"But...If we take Liyang City, will Dou Jiande accept it?" Xu Shiji asked with some concern.

Yang Yuanqing smiled and said, "Liyang City was indeed very important when there was food in the past. Now that the food is empty, there is no difference between Liyang and ordinary cities. Except for thousands of ships, it has no strategic significance for Dou Jiande, but it is not the case for us. I mainly consider that in the future, the fleet will move northward and take down Liyang City, which will remove the biggest obstacle to the fleet going north. When Liyang City was you who led the Wagang Army to capture it, you should be very clear."

Xu Shiji was speechless. He did know that standing on Liyangcang City, he could attack the canal from a high point, and by erecting a hundred catapults, he could destroy all the thousands of large ships. He could seize Liyang City, and by becoming a logistics center for attacking Dou Jiande's army on the southern front.

"Master General, let me attack Liyang City! Only I am the most suitable."

After talking for a long time, Yang Yuanqing meant this. He laughed and said to Xu Shiji: "Today is the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month. There are three days left before the New Year. It is the weakest moment of defense. You set off now. I will give you five thousand cavalry. In three days, be sure to capture Liyang City for me and capture the Liyang Ferry's ship at the same time."

"I will obey the order!"

Xu Shiji turned over and led more than a hundred personal guards to Xinxiang County. Yang Yuanqing turned around and looked at Zhonglizhou, with a strong interest in his eyes. He had not been on the battlefield in person for a long time.

...........

The night gradually fell, and the night color enveloped both sides of the Yellow River. The night sky was filled with stars. The snow on the ice of the Yellow River reflected faint starlight, making the river surface seem to be covered with a layer of silver light. In the night color, an army of three thousand people marched rapidly on the river surface.

The Yellow River was extremely frozen and strong, with a thick layer of snow on it, which made the river surface not slippery. It made a creaking sound when stepped on it. Yang Yuanqing rode on his horse and stared at the Zhonglizhou that was getting closer and closer in the distance.

Zhongli Island is a long island covered with dense trees. It is part of the land itself. At some point, a flood in the Yellow River caused the land to be swallowed up by the Yellow River. The original Hezhong Peninsula became an isolated island. Zhongli Island has an area of ​​1,000 acres and a fishing village. More than a hundred years ago, another castle was built on the island, called Heyang Pass. The castle is also rectangular, with a circumference of three miles and can be stationed for more than a thousand people.

At present, there are indeed a thousand soldiers in the castle. The defender is Sun Fu, who is the General Yingyang Lang in Li Mi's army. Two days ago, Sun Fu received a report from a spy that a large number of Sui troops gathered in Heyang. Sun Fu immediately realized that the Sui army was likely to attack Heyang Pass. If it weren't attacking Heyang Pass, it would be to attack Mengjin Du.

Sun Fu was extremely nervous. On the one hand, he sent people from Luokou City to seek emergency help from the guard general Wang Bodang. On the other hand, he sent spies to patrol day and night to observe the movements on the north bank of the river.

At this time, Sun Fu was patrolling the city. Although the weather was cold at night, he still did not dare to be careless. During the day, the Sui army generally did not attack during the day, and it was very likely to attack at night with weak defense and vision.

He divided a thousand troops into three squads, patrolling the city day and night. At this time, a patrol cavalry rushed from a distance and shouted under the city: "General, we found a Sui army coming to our castle, about three thousand people, who had reached two miles away from the river."

Sun Fu was shocked, and the enemy was indeed coming. He immediately turned around and shouted, "I will ring the alarm bell and order all soldiers to come to the city to defend!"

‘Dang!Dang!Dang!’

The harsh alarm bell rang, and it was particularly far away in the quiet night.

Yang Yuanqing stopped the war horse. He clearly heard the warning bell. The other party had already noticed him. He immediately ordered: "The whole army stopped advancing!"

The team stopped moving forward. At this time, they were still one mile away from Zhonglizhou. They could clearly see the forest on the island, but they could not see Heyang Pass, blocked by the dense forest.

Yang Yuanqing turned around and said to the two personal soldiers: "Go to tell the city and say that Yang Yuanqing personally brought the troops to surrender and could be granted the title of officials, otherwise he would not live tomorrow morning!"

Two personal soldiers urged the horse to go, and walked around the forest, and rushed to the city for a moment. A few dozen steps away, a soldier shouted: "Listen, the Lord of the City, Your Highness, the King of Chu, personally led his troops and ordered you to put down your weapons and surrender, and you can be awarded an official title. If you dare to resist the heavenly soldiers, you will not live until dawn!"

The defenders in the city were in an uproar. It turned out that Yang Yuanqing personally led the troops. Many people showed fear in their eyes. Sun Fu was once Li Mi's personal soldier and was loyal to Li Mi without any idea of ​​surrender. He sneered and turned around and shouted loudly: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot them to death."

Arrows were scattered under the city, and two personal soldiers met with giant shields and quickly retreated. A war horse was unfortunately shot and fell to the ground with a tragic neighing, overturning the personal soldiers to the ground. The other quickly stepped forward to protect them. The two rode a horse together and quickly fled far away.

The report of the two personal soldiers made Yang Yuanqing furious. A small guard dared to bully him. He pulled out his battle knife and swung it out, and ordered loudly: "Snatch the city and give double rewards. The person who killed the guard's head first will be promoted to three levels and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

The morale of the Sui army was boosted, and three thousand soldiers rushed towards Heyang Pass. The three thousand Sui army brought ten siege ladders and a siege ram, which was dragged by thirty horses.

After a moment, the army arrived at Heyang Pass. They were not in a hurry to attack the city, but lined up one hundred and fifty steps away, waiting for Yang Yuanqing's orders.

Yang Yuanqing immediately looked at the castle on a mound. Under the stars, the head of Heyang Pass was about two meters high, with only one north gate. The moat that was ten feet wide had frozen into ice. The city was covered with dense soldiers. It was obvious that the other party was ready. Water was poured on the top of the city, making the whole city become crystal clear.

It is not easy to capture the city with a siege ladder. Yang Yuanqing's eyes fell on the city gate. It is more reliable to use a siege ram. He immediately ordered: "Check the caltrops first!"

Immediately ran up to several soldiers, lay on the ground and groped, and came back for a moment to report: "Report to the general manager, there are a lot of caltrops sprinkled on the ground!"

As expected, Yang Yuanqing looked back at the dense forest around him. He waved his sword and ordered, "Cut the pine forest and pave the road!"

The best way to deal with caltrops is to pave a new road, such as paving a road with a bag of soil or a wooden board. If there are many trees around, paving a road with trees is also a simple and effective way, especially for pine trees. If the pine trees are tall and dense, dozens of trees can pave a new road.

More than a thousand soldiers started to work together, and in a short while more than a hundred pine trees were cut down. The soldiers rushed to the city. At this time, arrows were fired on the top of the city. The Sui army raised huge shields to defend themselves and paved the pine road in the dense rain of arrows. Five pine trees were lined up, and soon a wide pine road was paved. The caltrops on the ground lost their function.

At this time, more than a hundred soldiers held shields in one hand, carrying turbulent oil barrels, and rushing along the pine road toward the city gate in the rain of arrows. Buckets of turbulent oil hit the moat bridge, and black oil flowed all over the ground. The soldiers rushed back, and a rocket rose into the air, drew an arc in the air, and shot into the turbulent oil. The fire immediately burned away, and the flames engulfed the moat bridge.
Chapter completed!