Tibet

There are not many sections on the north bank of the Han River that can be crossed. Most of the coast is densely covered with hills and mountains, especially the Xiangyang section to the west, which is the edge of the Nanyang Basin. This is the end of the southern branch of the Funiu Mountains, a branch of the Qinling Mountains. Intertwined with plains, the terrain is very complex.

In the early morning, a thirty-man Tang Army scout cavalry team came out of a canyon. The leader was named Zhang Dian, a scout captain and a native of Xinfeng County, Jingzhao Prefecture. He joined the army when he was seventeen years old. Not long after, he joined the army. He went to Anxi and became the Hezhong Army.

After several years of hard work on the frontier, Zhang Dian has gradually matured and become a young scout captain. He is not only rich in experience, but also has a deep understanding of the fighting style of the Hezhong army.

"Captain, how come there are spies from the Yan Army in this barren mountain?" A subordinate of seventeen or eighteen years old couldn't help but ask.

"what do you know?"

Zhang Dian glanced at him disdainfully, "This is the only way to go west. The Yan army will definitely take this road if they go west!"

"But what are the Yan troops going to the west? Are they going to Hanzhong?"

A veteran couldn't help but said angrily: "Yang Xiaoqi, why are you asking so much nonsense?"

The young soldier lowered his head and remained silent. Zhang Dian thought for a moment, then waved his hand to gather the thirty men.

"One of the traditions of our Hezhong Army is to let every soldier know what he is doing? Only in this way can the soldiers grow up quickly, so I want to tell you, why don't we go to the south bank of the Han River, and on the north bank Western patrol?"

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, Zhang Dian said calmly: "Our defenses in the Xiangyang area are fully prepared, the defenses can be very solid, and the enemy is impeccable. The enemy will inevitably find another place to cross the river, or else To the west or south, so our task is to monitor the enemy's main force moving westward, and once we discover the enemy's westward advance, we must notify Xiangyang in time."

"Since it's surveillance, why don't we patrol the river?" Young soldier Yang Xiaoqi asked weakly.

Zhang Dian smiled and nodded, "This is a good question. Why are we not on the riverside? The reason is very simple. We want to ensure safety. If we patrol the riverside, we will be easily spotted. We must stay a little away from the riverside. , otherwise once we are discovered by the enemy, our lives will be at risk. In the same way, the enemy is also afraid of being discovered by patrol boats on the water. They will also be some distance away from the river, so our position is the only place where the enemy's main force must pass. .”

Everyone was stunned. At this moment, several deer suddenly rushed from a distance. Zhang Dian's heart was moved and he immediately ordered: "If there is an enemy, let's hide!"

They quickly ran into a nearby forest. Zhang Dian waved his hand, and everyone reined in their horses and stopped, holding their breath.

Not long after, a group of Yan Army cavalry appeared from the opposite path. Thirteen people in total were carrying deer they had just hunted. Zhang Dian immediately realized that these thirteen Yan Army cavalry appeared here. They must be spies. He immediately decided to capture this army.

He made a gesture to the two fire chiefs, pointing to the front, back and sides, and extending five fingers, meaning that they should each lead five soldiers to block the enemy's retreat in front and behind.

The two fire chiefs understood and each led five soldiers to retreat. At this moment, a dozen Yan Army soldiers suddenly found two deer on the edge of the woods. They immediately divided their troops and surrounded them.

This opportunity was rare. Zhang Dian clenched his fist and waved forward. The soldiers fired arrows together, and the crossbow arrows were fired intensively. The Yan army cavalry were caught off guard. They were hit by arrows and fell off their horses. There were screams. Eight people were killed in an instant, leaving five people. Seeing that the situation was not good, he turned his horse's head and fled.

Zhang Dian shouted: "Shoot the horse!"

His soldiers raised their crossbows again and fired. The crossbow arrows were so powerful that three horses were shot down. Three cavalrymen rolled off their horses and fell to the ground. Zhang Dian rushed up and put a spear to the throats of the cavalrymen. "They are all Han people. If you don't want to die, surrender!"

The three cavalrymen obediently raised their hands and surrendered, and were tied up by Tang Army scouts. The two cavalrymen who escaped were also intercepted, one was shot and killed, and the other was captured alive, and was tied up and brought back.

The Tang Army immediately conducted an interrogation. Several prisoners of war did not dare to hide anything and honestly explained the mission of their trip. They had two tasks. One was to find a place to cross the river, and the other was to find the Tang Army patrol post on the north bank. And an intelligence team like them There are more than twenty in total, and they are just one of them.

This information was very important. Zhang Dian immediately sent the fire chief and several soldiers to escort the prisoners across the river and sent the information back to Xiangyang.

Zhang Dianze and his other men continued to be active on the north bank of the Han River to detect enemy intelligence.

In the Xiangyang camp, Li Mi hurriedly sent the latest information from the scouts. Not only Zhang Dian found the information, but several other scout teams also discovered traces of the enemy.

"It seems that the enemy is preparing to cross the river from Gucheng County."

Li Mi thought for a while and said: "The signs are already obvious. Jiedushi intends to go there in person?"

Li Ye nodded, "Of course!"

"But what if the opponent is just attacking from the east and west, pretending to go to Gucheng County to cross the river, but is actually still in Xiangyang? Or they have strong troops and they plan to cross the river in two lines at the same time. Has Jiedushi ever thought about this? possible?"

Li Ye nodded repeatedly. As expected of a military advisor, he really saw things more deeply than himself. He smiled bitterly and said, "I really didn't think about it that much!"

"Jiedushi, the opponent's deputy general is Cui Qianyou, and the military advisor is Yan Zhuang. These two people captured Tongguan. With Cui Qianyou's cunning, I think he is more likely to use a false and true strategy to cross the river."

"Can the military advisor tell you more specifically? What kind of false and true plan is this?"

"The so-called virtual and real strategy means that troops have been deployed on both the east and west sides. You thought he would cross the river in Gucheng County on the west side, but he actually crossed the river in Xiangyang. When you were preparing to block the attack with all your strength in Xiangyang, he suddenly came from When Gucheng County crosses the river, this is called making things real when they are imaginary, and making things imaginary when they are real."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "I roughly understand what the military advisor means, but if he wants to implement a false and real plan, he must grasp the movements of our main force."

"Yes, that's the key. We can send scouts to detect the enemy's movements, so why won't the other side send people to detect our movements? I always believe that there are spies lurking near us, observing us. every move.”

Li Ye nodded, "We have to dig out the enemy's spies!"

"No! No need. Jiedushi doesn't have to worry about where the spies are. I have a few suggestions!"

Li Mi whispered a few words to Li Ye, and Li Ye nodded repeatedly.

Two days later, Li Ye received accurate information. A Yan army of tens of thousands of people headed west. At the third watch, Li Ye also led 15,000 people to quietly leave the military camp and rush to the west.

At the same time, more than 300 warships also left Xiangyang and sailed west.

Just three miles southwest of the Tang Army's camp, there is a low hill with lush trees. Standing on the hill, you can overlook the Han River from a distance.

Several men in black were hiding on the hill, paying attention to the Tang Army's camp in the distance. The Tang Army's camp was heavily guarded and they could not get close and could only observe from a distance.

These people were spies of the Yan Army. They came to Xiangyang more than a month ago. They were originally in Xiangyang City, but the Tang Army was defending on the south bank of the Han River, forcing them to go out of the city to investigate the movements of the Tang Army.

At this time, two of his men rushed back and said: "Chief, we have noticed the movements of the Tang army. Fifteen to six thousand troops have left the military camp and are heading west. They are all cavalry!"

Another spy also said: "We found that more than 300 warships were also heading west!"

The leader of the spies nodded. General Cui asked them to report immediately when they discovered that Tang Jun was heading west. He immediately wrote a letter of information and gave it to one of his subordinates, "Sneak across the river and give the information to General Cui!"