Walking westward for more than a hundred miles along the Zihe River, the mountain reaches its end, and there are no more mountains to the west for more than two hundred miles. The Yellow River flows down through it, forming a huge strategic pass.

Through this pass, it was a flat mountain that posed a great threat to the Central Plains. In the third year of Daye, Yang Guang ordered the mobilization of nearly one million civilians from the five counties of Loufan, Mayi, Yanmen, Dingxiang and Yulin to build the Great Wall.

This Great Wall starts from Yulin in the west and reaches the end of Zihe Mountain in the east, and is about 200 miles long, blocking this strategic pass. At the easternmost point of this Great Wall, near the end of the mountain is Zihe Fort.

To be precise, Zihe Fort is a military city with an early circumference of less than three miles. Zihe passes through the city, leaving a moon-shaped water hole on the city wall.

After annihilated Liu Wuzhou, Yang Yuanqing ordered the expansion and heightening of the military city, making the circumference of the military city eight miles, becoming a small county-like city with two thousand troops stationed for many years.

This time, Li Jing became the general manager of Daizhou. Considering the Turkic army's upcoming large-scale southward, he ordered the increase of troops to 5,000 Zihe Fort, and the 5,000 defenders of Zihe Fort were responsible for the defense of the entire western part of Mayi County.

The guardian of Zihe Fort was named Xue Shao. He was the nephew of Xue Shixiong, the general of the Sui Dynasty, and the clan brother of the Xue brothers. He was appointed as the general of the Asian general and guarded Zihe Fort under the order of Li Jing.

Early this morning, when the bright sunlight had just shined on Zihe Fort, a team of patrols brought news that a group of Wutu cavalry was coming to Zihe Fort.

This news brought the defenders of Zihe Fort to the top of the city, holding spears and military crossbows, and looked towards the northeast with a slightly nervous look.

The chief general Xue Shao's eyes were as serious as those of the soldiers. He knew what would happen recently. Before he came to Zihe Fort, General Manager Li Jing repeatedly told him that a war was about to break out recently. The Turks might overwhelm the Zihe Fort like locusts on the grassland.

Although it was just a possibility, Xue Shao knew that Li Jing's intention to increase three thousand troops to Zihe Fort was not impossible. Now that the Wutu people are defeated and fled, what will be behind them? Are there a group of Turkic people walking leisurely?

Soon, the sound of horse hooves like thunder came from afar. A group of scattered Turks appeared, about two or three thousand people, holding a white wolf-headed flag in their hands, which was the flag of the Wutu tribe.

The deserters were getting closer and closer to Zihe Fort. They were as frightened as dogs, throwing their helmets and armor, and spitting white foam in war horses. They were as strong as the end of their power and were about to be unable to support them.

A few miles behind them, another black line appeared, which was a black Turkic cavalry that was covered with overwhelming horse hooves hitting the grassland. The earth began to shake slightly. The defenders on the city changed color in horror, and the sound of sob horns kept blowing at the top of the city.

Seeing that the soldiers of the Wutu team were getting more and more advanced. Less than a hundred steps away from Zihe Fort, they waved desperately and begged the castle defenders to let them enter the city. A general rushed over and asked Xue Shao nervously, "General Xue, what should I do? Do you want to open the door?"

Xue Shao was very embarrassed. Although he knew that the Wutu tribe had a good relationship with the Sui Dynasty and they came to rely on the Sui Dynasty, he didn't know what happened in Qifubo? What if this was the Turkish plan to lure troops? He was actually pretending to be a Turkic person under the banner of the Wutu tribe.

Xue Shao stared at the thousands of defeated soldiers. At this time, he suddenly recognized the general who was the leader, Amutu general. Last month, he accompanied Chief Anulli to visit Li Jing, the newly appointed general manager. Xue Shao was also present. At this time, Amutu's face was pale and two arrows were inserted on his back. He was about to be unable to support him.

"So quickly open the city and let them in!" Xue Shao said anxiously.

The gate of Zihe Fort slowly opened, and thousands of defeated soldiers of Wutu team rushed into the city with their last strength. The gate slowly closed again. The suspension bridge was pulled up, and five thousand defenders took bows and arrows, waiting for the battle, staring at the Turkic army that was quickly coming from afar.

Several Sui soldiers in armor carried a pair of stretchers and walked quickly to the city. On the stretcher, he was dying Amutu. He escaped the disaster several times, but was eventually shot by enemy arrows when he was about to arrive at Zihe Fort.

Xue Shao rushed forward, squatted down and held his hand, "General Amuti, what happened?"

Amutu smiled miserably, his pale face showed an extremely painful expression, "The Wutu team is over, and more than 200,000 Turkic troops have caught up with us. The man was killed, the woman was stolen, and my wife and daughter were also stolen."

"Where is Chief Anulee?"

"She took thousands of women and children from the Dark Valley, and we... led away the Turkic pursuers." Amutu said with difficulty.

Xue Shao knew that the dark valley he mentioned was the Zihe River Valley. He shook Amutu's hand, "You will not die, nor can you die. If Your Highness of Chu wants to see you, you can rest assured to recuperate in Zihe Castle."

He stood up and ordered, "Shit the military doctor to heal his wounds!"

The Sui army soldiers carried the stretcher down. At this time, the earth began to shake again, as if an earthquake occurred. Twenty thousand Turkic cavalry roared and rushed to dozens of steps away to shoot arrows. The overwhelming arrows shot at the top of the city angrily.

...........

Twenty thousand Turkic cavalry did not carry siege weapons. Facing the towering and solid city walls, they had no choice but to shoot arrows at the head of the city with no sense of anger.

After more than an hour of struggle, Haji, the commander of the Turkic ten thousand men, saw that it was irreversible, had to order the withdrawal of troops back to Qifubo's main camp, and 20,000 Turkic cavalry retreated like a tide.

But just as the Turkic cavalry had evacuated, several Sui army scouts rode horses out of a forest in the east. They ran to the city and shouted loudly: "Where is General Xue?"

A soldier ran to report to Xue Shao. Xue Shao hurriedly walked up to the city and leaned over and asked, "Where are you from?"

"We are ordered by General Li, and General Li has an order to hand it over to General Xue."

When Xue Shao heard that it was Li Jing who sent him, he hurriedly ordered people to open the city and let them in. After a moment, a soldier led the scout to the city. The scout took out a letter and knelt down on one knee to present it, "This is the order of General Manager Li, please receive it!"

Xue Shao opened the warrant and looked at it. His eyes suddenly showed a look of surprise, and then he became excited. He took the warrant and turned around and shouted loudly: "Order the entire army to line up and prepare to attack!"

.........

From Zihe Fort to Wuzhou Mountain Pass about 200 miles and 60 miles, the Turkic cavalry also rushed to Zihe Fort for a day and a night, but when they returned, their speed was much slower. The main reason was that the war horses were exhausted, and they had no mission pressure.

The ten thousand men who led the 20,000 troops was named Haji, who was about twenty years old. His skin was dark and rough, and his appearance was like he was in his thirties. He was six feet and five feet tall. He weighed more than two hundred kilograms and was as strong as a black bear. He was a famous Turkic warrior and could fight tigers and leopards with bare hands. Although he had developed limbs, his mind was not simple, and he was even very careful.

He led his army to pursue the army to the end and gradually caught up with the Wutu tribe, but found that there were obviously fewer people. It was obvious that tens of thousands of people fled, but why were there only two or three thousand left in the end, and all of them were young soldiers. Where did Anulli go? Where did women and children go?

He already knew in his heart that he must have been trapped in seduction. Anulli and thousands of women and children escaped from another road halfway, but he was puzzled by which route they escaped. Haji was not familiar with the terrain in this area.

But at this time he was very worried about what to explain when he went back. Khan ordered him to lead 20,000 cavalry to chase Anulli, and he must kill all the Wutu tribes without leaving any trouble. Unexpectedly, he did not catch anyone, and even a woman or a child was not captured.

Going back empty-handed is not only a question of being ridiculed, but the key is how he explains to Khan? Could it be that his 20,000 cavalry can't run away from thousands of women and children?

Haji was extremely anxious. At this time, an elderly thousand-man leader stepped forward and said, "General, will Princess Anulli and the others escape from the Dark Valley?"

‘Dark Valley?’

Haji was stunned, "Where is it?"

"It is the river valley where the Zihe River passes through the mountains. The Sui Dynasty called it the Zihe River Valley. Sixty miles ahead, I followed the Khan of Qimin. After passing through the valley, I reached the hinterland of the Sui Dynasty, and there were many villages."

Haji's heart moved and asked quickly, "Can you go around Zihe Fort?"

"sure!"

Haji's heart suddenly became hot. The thousands of Utu soldiers they were chasing entered Zihe Fort and would not stay for too long. After a little rest, they would continue to go south to meet with Anulli.

Maybe Anulli will wait for them halfway through the road and fight to the south first. Even if Anulli can't catch Anulli, she can still intercept thousands of Utu soldiers and kill them all. She can also hand over the orders to Khan with her head.

Thinking of this, Haji immediately said to the commander of the thousand-man commander: "You will lead the way, and the army will immediately cross the valley to the south."

With Haji's order, 20,000 Turkic cavalry accelerated their speed and ran along the Zi River toward the mouth of the valley.

In the afternoon, 20,000 Turkic cavalry rushed to the turn of the valley. They turned south and headed deep into the hills. Soon they found clues, dense horse hoof prints on the soil, indicating that a large group of people passed by here and some lost sheepskins were found.

Haji became more excited and led 20,000 cavalry to rush toward the depths of the valley, and soon entered the dark valley as the legendary Turks.

Just about half an hour after the Turkic army entered the valley, Xue Shao led 4,000 Sui cavalry to chase the valley entrance. He had already waited for twenty Sui army scouts at the valley entrance, and they were the responders who were Li Jing left here.

A school captain urged him to step forward and salute, "Report to General Xue, the Turkic army entered the valley for half an hour without the expectations of General Manager Li."

Xue Shao nodded and turned around and ordered, "Half of them went up the mountain, and the other half went in with me!"

The Sui army divided into two groups, following Xue Shao into the valley, while the other group carried more than a thousand buckets of turmeric oil up the mountain, climbing towards the top of the mountain along the edge of the mountain stream...

The valley is about thirty miles long. As the river water condenses into ice, the roads in the valley are relatively flat. It only takes more than one time to get out of the valley. Twenty thousand Turkic troops lined up in the valley, stretching for several miles. The valley is very dark, and there is a line of sky above the head. After about ten miles, the soldiers in front suddenly shouted loudly, and there was a noise.

"What's wrong?" Haji asked immediately.

"General, the road ahead is blocked by big rocks, we can't get through!"

Haji was stunned and urged the horse to run forward. Sure enough, he saw that the narrow part ahead was blocked by dozens of huge rocks. Each huge rock weighed thousands or even tens of thousands of kilograms, which was more than tens of thousands of kilograms. It was more than tens of 10,000 kilograms. It was sealed tightly. People could find ways to climb over, but the war horse could not get through it no matter how it was.

A very ominous feeling suddenly surged in Haji's heart. He seemed to realize something and immediately ordered: "Go back quickly, go back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from above his head. When they looked up, they saw dense stones falling from the sky and hitting their heads.

.........

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