It was day and night, and it was also the day before setting off for Qiandu City.
Li Changkong frowned as he looked at the headcount sent by the military affairs department in front of him.
In the battle of Ziwu Valley, nearly half of the 10,000-strong army was killed. Adding in the wounded, there were only 3,000 combat-ready troops left.
Although this battle was won, it was only a miserable victory.
If we really take three thousand people back, I'm afraid if something happens, three thousand people won't be able to help.
So Li Changkong and Liu Yucai decided to rest for one night, borrow 5,000 troops from Sheng Jin in Jiaozhou City, and gather 8,000 soldiers.
It's not that I don't want to borrow more, it's just that a large number of prisoners were captured in the Ziwu Valley battle, plus the refugees who pretended to be rebels before. Now these people are called Jiaozhou and are under the jurisdiction of Shengjin.
Five thousand is already the limit. If there is more, if something happens in Jiaozhou City, there will be another rebellion.
"General, are you looking for me?"
The shouts of Yanshan Tu came from outside the camp, interrupting Li Changkong's thoughts.
"Well, come in."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yanshan Tu, who was eight feet tall and carried a long bow, walked in slowly and looked at Li Changkong with uncontrollable heat.
Although Li Changkong didn't know martial arts, couldn't kill the enemy bravely, and take the lead, once he stopped in Ziwu Valley, he had proven to everyone the value of the four words General Anbei, and he was worshiped by the soldiers of the three armies from then on.
The Yanshan Massacre was naturally no exception.
In such a desperate situation at that time, he thought that he would definitely die. He was still thinking about how to carve out a bloody path so that His Highness the Crown Prince could escape.
Who would have thought that the next moment, Li Changkong's words would completely turn the tide of the battle.
Who doesn’t admire such a general?
"I've seen the general." Even though Yanshan Tu was wearing armor, he still knelt down on one knee and saluted.
"Yanshan Tu, I have a top-secret matter that I want to entrust you to carry out." Li Changkong didn't waste any words and got straight to the point.
When Yanshan Tu heard this, he suddenly became excited and his eyes shone.
This is a great opportunity for promotion and salary increase!
He immediately replied: "The general will not give up until he dies!"
When Li Changkong heard this, he didn't say anything, but took out the star soft armor, put it on the desk, and said: "Chop it with all your strength."
Yanshan Tu's sharp eyes saw at a glance that this was the armor Li Changkong usually wore, so he was a little worried and said: "General, the last general is very powerful. If he cuts it down..."
"It doesn't matter, just let it go and do whatever you want." Li Changkong said confidently.
Seeing what Li Changkong said, Yanshan Tu narrowed his eyes slightly and realized that the armor might not be a mortal thing, so he pulled out his waist knife and chopped it off with one blow.
when!
There was just a crisp sound, and the long knife was bounced directly, and there were even some cracks where it was struck.
"This..." Yanshan Tu was shocked and exclaimed: "This armor is so strong."
Li Changkong nodded, put away the Star Soft Armor and said, "More than that, it only weighs as much as leather armor."
When Yanshan Tu heard this, his pupils shrank instantly: "It only weighs as much as leather armor, but has the hardness of heavy armor. If such armor can be mass-produced..."
"This is the reason why I, the general, came to you." Li Changkong interrupted him and said, "This armor is made of a rare metal called star iron, and I received news that it is not far from Yizhou. There is an island somewhere, and there is a vein of star iron on it!"
"It's not even just star iron, there's also a rare metal vein called Wujin."
"No matter what kind of weapon you make, as long as you add a little black gold when making it, it can cut iron like mud and blow hair off."
"It can even break through heavy armor!"
When Yanshan Tu heard this, his breathing suddenly became rapid.
A single Star Iron is terrifying enough, but if there is another Wujin.
It was hard for him to imagine how terrifying it would be to have an army armed with armor and weapons made of these two metals.
I'm afraid that facing the cavalry that Bei Yuan is proud of, they will also suffer a devastating end.
"General, you want me to lead my troops to find this island and dig out star iron and black gold?" Yanshan Tu said.
"No, you just need to determine the location of the island and whether there are really star iron and black gold veins on the island."
"This island is not deserted. There are many Japanese pirates living on it. Now our army needs to return to defend Qiandu, and we will not give you more than two hundred people."
"With such a small number of people, not to mention digging, even Japanese pirates can't deal with them, so you only need to do reconnaissance."
"The general knows it." Yanshan Tu was a little disappointed. Such a treasure mountain was right in front of him, but he couldn't dig it out. What a pity.
However, he also knew that the current situation was strange, and it would be better for the army to return to Qiandu City immediately.
If Qiandu City is gone, no matter how much Star Iron and Wujin there are, it will not help.
"Well, there is one thing that needs extra attention."
"According to my speculation, this island should be located southeast of Yizhou."
"That is to say, not only we in Daqian, but Dachen and Daliang in the south may also discover it!"
"It's okay for Da Chen. My father's previous battle on the Xiangjiang River almost destroyed all their naval forces. It's unlikely that they will come out to investigate in a short time."
"But Daliang's navy has to guard against it."
"So the mission I give you is just to investigate! Once you find someone from Nanliang, retreat immediately. You must not let the other party discover you!"
Upon hearing this, Yanshan Tu immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.
According to what Li Changkong just said, the people born and raised on the island should be Japanese pirates. They are short in stature, have beards everywhere, like to wear wooden clogs, and speak mixed dialects. They are very different from the people in the Central Plains. It is almost impossible for them to impersonate them.
So once someone from Nanliang sees him, his identity will be exposed immediately.
And Daqian is in the land of the Fourth War and has many enemies. It would be unwise to have another conflict with Nanliang...
It seems that the difficulty of my mission this time is quite high.
After thinking about this, Yanshan Tu nodded heavily and said: "No."
"Okay, once this matter is discovered, someone will rush to deliver the news to me."
"In addition, this is a top secret. Except for you, no one else involved in this operation can be informed."
"If the general knows this, he will surely live up to the general's expectations."
After everything was explained, in the early morning of the next day, Li Changkong and others led the eight thousand soldiers and embarked on the road back to Qiandu City.
…
Shanhaiguan.
Liu Gong frowned as he looked at the Beiyuan army under the city wall, which was like a black cloud pressing down on the city.
Especially the young man who was surrounded by stars in front of the army formation.
This man was none other than Tuoba Tianhan, the Lord of Beiyuan who had pacified the three major tribes on the grassland in just two years!
In northern Xinjiang, this person's name can stop children from crying!
Twenty years ago, his father Tuoba Feng died at the hands of Liu Gong.
Twenty years later, he returned to Shanhaiguan again as a king, and the army pressed on the city!
No matter how confident Liu Gong was, when facing this person, his heart was still full of solemnity.
He turned his head, looked at Zheng Lun behind him, and asked, "Have the reinforcements from the imperial court arrived?"
Hearing this, Zheng Lun replied: "After receiving the news, the imperial court raised 200,000 troops as quickly as possible and rushed to Shanhaiguan at night. Now there are only two or three days left."
Hearing this, Liu Gong suddenly felt confident.
As long as he survives these two or three days, he believes that Tuobatian Khan will be unable to do anything to Shanhaiguan.
