It was early autumn in the north, the morning was slightly chilly. At the place where the Turkic army was stationed, Xieli woke up early and ordered the soldiers under his command to blow the horn, calling all the soldiers to gather.
But when Xieli looked around, he frowned. Because everywhere he looked, the soldiers under his command were all listless, even Kang Sumi and Si Mo beside him were like this.
Whether it was Kang Sumi or Si Mo, their faces were somewhat pale.
Xieli's expression was somewhat gloomy, he said in a deep voice, "You guys, what's going on?"
Si Mo said, "Khan, it's nothing, it's just that my stomach is a little uncomfortable, maybe I ate something bad."
Kang Sumi said, "Me too."
Xieli looked around, finally his gaze fell on Si Mo and Kang Sumi, he said, "Not only you guys, even the soldiers in the army are like this. I'm afraid there's something wrong with the food in the army. But now there's no way to solve it for the time being, we can only attack Yanmen Pass first. After we break Yanmen Pass today, we'll think about other things. "
"Report!"
At this moment, a soldier quickly ran over.
After the soldier stood still, he cupped his fist and said, "Khan, the situation is not good. Last night, many soldiers had a fever, the fever won't go down. We went to see them this morning, they've been dead for a long time. "
Xieli's expression was cold, he asked, "How many?"
There was a hint of worry on the soldier's face, he reported, "Three hundred and sixty-eight died last night in the middle of the night. We don't know the exact time of death. Apart from that, there are nearly a thousand people who continue to have a fever and are unconscious. "
Xieli's expression changed greatly.
More than three hundred, nearly four hundred people died all of a sudden.
This was not a small number.
Especially since there were more than a thousand people who continued to have a fever, it might cause losses.
Xieli took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and thought about this matter.
Kang Sumi's eyes flashed with wisdom, she said, "Khan, the soldiers were injured by arrows, but it's unlikely that nearly four hundred people died all of a sudden because of arrow wounds, and there are more than a thousand people who continue to have a high fever. I'm afraid the arrows of the Tang dynasty army were smeared with medicine, that's why so many soldiers died even though their wounds had been treated and bandaged. "
Xieli gritted his teeth, Xieli said, "These Tang dynasty people are really ruthless!"
Kang Sumi said, "Or rather, it was Du Qi who was ruthless. We've never encountered such a situation when we fought against the army of the Tang dynasty. Only this time, it happened. "
Si Mo also echoed, "I agree with Kang Sumi's words. Especially when we attacked Yanmen Pass yesterday, the Tang Army threw out a fireball. The smell it emitted was disgusting. All of this should be Du Qi's plan. That's why this brat is so vicious and crafty. "
Xieli said with certainty, "It must be so."
Si Mo said, "It won't be easy to attack Yanmen Pass this time. But no matter what, Yanmen Pass had to be taken. Otherwise, after losing so much of our army, once we return with our tails between our legs, it will affect the Khan's prestige. No matter what, we must kill our way through, take down Yanmen Pass, and slaughter for three days. Only then can everyone vent their anger. "
Xieli said, "Simo's words are reasonable."
"Forget it, let's go!"
Xieli gave the order to send out the army. The army moved majestically and quickly, heading straight for Yanmen Pass. And after Xieli's army moved out, this situation was quickly discovered by the surrounding sentries.
The Tang Army's sentries were the first to send back the news of Xieli's army.
After Du Qi received the news, he said with a relaxed expression, "Dingxiang County Prince, Xieli has led his army here again. According to the sentries' report, many of the soldiers under Xieli's command are obviously weak. From the looks of it, our arrangement worked. Speaking of which, Xieli is also a veteran general on the battlefield. He didn't expect that we would tamper with the nearby water source. "
Zhangsun Shunde said, "Xieli may not have discovered it yesterday, but when he saw his men today, he must have taken precautions. But now that things have come to this, they have no way out. "
In Du Qi's previous arrangement, he had long asked Li Daen to send people to tamper with the water source near Yanmen Pass.
Du Qi did not let people poison it.
Because once poison was used, it would be very easy to be discovered. But it was possible to tamper with the water source. Du Qi had people take the rotting corpses of animals, tie them to stones and sink them to the bottom of the water.
In this way, the water source would be contaminated.
If they drank unboiled water, it would definitely cause discomfort to the body. Those with weaker physiques might even die. If it was boiled, it would be slightly better. They would not fall ill, but it might also cause discomfort.
Xieli's men were stationed near Yanmen Pass, so they naturally fetched water nearby. Therefore, after drinking water, Xieli's men all showed different symptoms of discomfort in their stomachs, so that their bodies were somewhat weak.
This was the battlefield.
As long as they could win, they would do anything.
Behind Du Qi were tens of thousands of people of the Tang dynasty. He could not fail, so in this battle, he used all kinds of methods.
Du Qi smiled and chatted with Zhangsun Shunde and Li Daen. Time passed little by little. When it was close to nine in the morning, the sun was high in the sky and the weather was much warmer. The army led by Xieli finally arrived.
Xieli's expression was solemn. This time, he did not say much to Du Qi. Because he knew that Du Qi's mouth was crafty. If he spoke to Du Qi, it was very likely that he would slip up if he spoke too much.
He might as well start the battle directly.
Under Xieli's order, the army under his command attacked again. For today's attack, Xieli still sent thirty thousand soldiers off their horses. Then, carrying ladders and siege chariots, they quickly charged forward, so that they could attack the city of Yanmen Pass.
When the army attacked the city, the defense of Yanmen Pass was still the same. They adopted the same method of resistance as yesterday.
The morning quietly slipped away.
In the afternoon, the fighting continued.
Du Qi observed the fighting on the battlefield. He found that Xieli's offensive had been weakened to a large extent. If yesterday's attack of thirty thousand people could exert the fighting power of thirty thousand or forty thousand people, then today's attack of thirty thousand people did not even have the fighting power of ten thousand people. Their strength had been weakened too much.
When it was close to five in the afternoon, the attack of thirty thousand people was close to nothing.
Du Qi found that when many Turkic soldiers attacked, they showed signs of weakness and lack of strength. Originally, they were going to attack fiercely. But suddenly, they felt a throbbing pain in their stomachs. The strength of their attacks paused. Such a pause was fatal on the battlefield.
As a result, countless Turkic soldiers died.
Du Qi roughly estimated that before the sky turned dark, the number of Turkic soldiers killed was definitely no less than ten thousand people.
Because the Turkic side's offensive was too weak.
Du Qi's eyes were sharp. "Duke Dingxiang, the strength of the Turkic side has been weakened too much. I predict that after tonight, or even after Xieli retreats, he will probably lead the troops to retreat. We must seize the opportunity. So, I suggest that we immediately open the city and counterattack. "
Although Li Daen had been looking forward to it, when it came to it, he still had a trace of worry. Because now, if they fought the Turkic people head-on and could not defeat them, then Yanmen Pass would not be able to hold.
Just as Du Qi said, once they missed the opportunity, Xieli would run away.
This was risky.
But there was also an opportunity.
Du Qi looked at Li Daen and did not rush him. Because he believed that Li Daen was not an indecisive person. He believed that Li Daen would make a decision in the end.
Li Daen hesitated for a moment and then made a decision. He shouted, "Pass down my order, open the city! Cavalry charge, infantry follow closely behind and counterattack the Turkic people. "
Li Daen had twenty thousand cavalry under his command.
This was all the cavalry he had prepared for this battle. But other than the twenty thousand cavalry, Li Daen also had twenty thousand infantry. These forty thousand close to fifty thousand men were all of Li Daen's strength.
Even so, there was still a gap between them and the Turkic forces. But the Turkic forces had been weakened by a lot. So, Li Daen was willing to give it a try.
"Dong! Dong! "
Suddenly, the sound of war drums came from the city gate tower.
The drums rumbled.
The beat of the war drums was extremely hurried. The sound became louder and louder, as if it was going to break through the clouds.
Accompanied by the fierce beating of the war drums, the cavalry in Yanmen Pass were all in position. The person at the front of the cavalry was Mordor. Now, he was not by Du Qi's side. Instead, he had entered the cavalry as the person leading the charge.
The cavalry needed Mordor's fighting strength.
"Creak!"
The gate of Yanmen Pass was already open.
"Kill!"
Mordor raised the long iron staff in his hand and pointed to the front. He slapped the back of his horse and quickly charged out. Accompanied by Mordor's charge, the twenty thousand cavalry charged out with the mighty beating of the war drums.
The twenty thousand cavalry shouted and the sound of killing rose from all directions.
Following the twenty thousand cavalry charging out, another twenty thousand infantry charged out. Countless soldiers shouted. The Tang army outside the city had already entered the battlefield, covering the sky and the sun. Especially the cavalry. After they spread out, they charged into the crowd and killed the attacking Turkic soldiers.
No one could stop them.
This scene fell into the eyes of Xieli in the distance. Xieli's expression was very calm. There was no panic. Xieli saw the Tang army enter the battle. Not only was he not worried, but he was still confident.
Xieli thought that even if his soldiers were affected, he could still fight. But he believed that he could fight, therefore, Xieli was not afraid, instead, he was delighted. He shouted his order loudly, letting the cavalry under his command launch the attack.
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