Xue Rengui felt very heavy. What is scary is often not the powerful enemy in front of you, but the robe behind you. When you go all out to face a powerful enemy but are unprepared for what is behind you, a stab in the back can make you feel heartbroken. Spleen, eternal disaster.
However, coincidentally, from ancient times to the present, it seems that what the Han people are best at is fighting in a nest...
He wondered: "Commander comes here, if those people really have evil intentions, won't Jiaohe City fall into their hands? By then, our Anxi Army will drive away tigers at the front door and wolves at the back door, and all the way back will be cut off, and we will be in a dead end!" "
Until now, how can the Anxi Army compete with a cannibal that is ten times larger than itself? It is precisely relying on the vast depth of the Western Region that we can advance, attack, and retreat to defend. From time to time, strange soldiers pop out to harass us, but we have never faced the big cannibal head-on.
However, if Jiaohe City is lost and the escape route is cut off, it will be extremely difficult to deal with it as calmly as now. We will be forced to have no choice but to confront the big cannibal head-on.
Even if each of the Anxi army is equal to ten, the whole army will only be destroyed...
Li Xiaogong cut the mutton leg with a knife and ate it with gusto. As he ate, he said, "Don't worry, Rengui. How can I be such a stupid person? I have already written about the Duke of Yue, and his right guard has left Yumen Pass." , it happened to be snowing heavily in the Western Region, so I asked him to hide and take a detour to Jiaohe City. As long as there was a change in Jiaohe City, he would immediately enter the city to put down the rebellion. Just a bunch of thieves, a group of things that cannot be put on the table, naturally turned into ashes under the full blow of the Youtun Guards. The powder is nothing to worry about."
Xue Rengui also breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xiaogong's main purpose was to use the "empty city strategy" to frighten the various forces in Jiaohe City and warn them not to act rashly.
However, they have also made complete preparations. In case those people are blinded by their power and do not care, there are also divine soldiers and generals in Youtun Guards who will put an end to the rebellion in an instant.
Of course, once a rebellion breaks out in Jiaohe City, it will inevitably affect the rule of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions. In addition, with the influx of cannibals, I am afraid that from now on, all the Hu tribes who originally submitted to the Tang Dynasty will break away from the rule of the Tang Dynasty, or Whether they are self-reliant or dependent on the cannibals, even the Turks who have long fled to the depths of the desert to survive will also intervene...
Seeing that Xue Rengui was worried, Li Xiaogong put down the knife in his hand, picked up the handkerchief and wiped his hands. He took a sip of wine. Then he smiled and said: "How can the general trend of the world be controlled by human hands? No matter how talented a person is? Nor can he. To fully grasp the situation, there will always be various accidents that are difficult to guard against. Therefore, we only need to do our best, listen to fate, and do our best as we can. As for the results, it also depends on God's will. Therefore, success or failure does not need to be taken too seriously, because it is not determined by our ability."
After spending more than half his life in the court, this former "number one general in the clan" has already seen clearly that the so-called "successful king and defeated bandit" are actually God's choices. A small accident is enough to determine a fate-related matter for the country. War, how can human beings resist it?
If God allows you to succeed, even if you are weak, you will still turn defeat into victory; if God does not choose you, even if you dominate the world, you will eventually be defeated due to various mistakes.
Man proposes, God disposes.
"Dong dong dong!"
In the cold wind? There was a knock on the tent door.
Xue Rengui immediately said in a deep voice: "Come in!"
"Hoo!" The tent door was pushed open from the outside, and a cold wind mixed with blood flowers came in. The candle flames swayed, and the charcoal fire in the charcoal basin was swept away by the cold wind, causing sparks to fly.
Two figures appeared at the tent door. The one in front was Yuanwei wearing a helmet, and behind was a scout with a beard and eyebrows covered with frost, almost frozen.
"Commander Qi, Sima, the scouts have something to report!"
Yuanwei bowed his hands and saluted.
Li Xiaogong waved his hand towards Xue Rengui, indicating that Xue Rengui was the leader here and he would not participate.
Xue Rengui nodded and threw a water bag filled with strong liquor next to him. When the scout reached out to catch it, he said in a deep voice: "Take a sip of wine first to warm yourself up, and then tell us in detail."
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, scouts often had to travel more than a hundred miles to spy on the enemy. In order to hide their whereabouts, they often lurked in the snow for several hours. As a result, there were many frostbite and frostbite deaths. It is precisely because of these scouts with tough temperament and sharp eyes and ears that the army can keep track of the enemy's movements at any time, so that the enemy troops are not still unaware when they approach the city.
Scouts are not only the eyes and ears of the army, but also the key to victory or defeat.
"Here!"
The scout was grateful, unplugged the water bag, and drank a large gulp of strong wine. A hot burning sensation suddenly reached the beginning of the chest and abdomen from the throat and esophagus, and immediately spread throughout the body, covering all the muscles and blood vessels that were almost frozen. Burning to life.
Letting out a cold breath, the scout wiped his mouth and said quickly: "In the evening, when the big cannibals arrived more than a hundred miles west of Gongyue City, they camped in a mountain col to avoid the heavy snow. Around Shenshi, a group of about five thousand people The rest of the cavalry left the camp and headed north. We followed the reconnaissance, but were blocked by the cannibal scouts. By the time we got rid of the cannibal scouts, the tracks of the enemy cavalry were already covered by wind and snow. Whereabouts."
The Western Region is vast. Although there are no roads in many places, the flat deserts and Gobi can still be used by large armies. It is almost impossible to judge the enemy's destination based on the direction in which they are traveling. What's more, the north wind is blowing and it's snowing heavily. It doesn't take half an hour for the enemy troops to pass by before all their tracks will be covered up, making it difficult to track them down.
Xue Rengui frowned and said, "Are there any signs in advance that can help us deduce his intentions?"
The scout shook his head and said: "There is no sign of it. The Great Eclipse has been advancing slowly in the past two days. At the same time, several groups of cavalry have been sent to plunder the surrounding Hu tribe. Each team has about a thousand people and is very elite. However, the Hu tribe in the Western Regions has no control over the Great Eclipse. People hated burning, killing and looting, so wherever they went, the Hu people migrated one after another, so the cannibalism had little effect. Until Shen Shi, everything was normal in the cannibalism, and suddenly there was such a group of cavalry leaving the camp. , and set up tight defenses to hinder tracking, it is obvious that the plan is very big."
Xue Rengui agreed with this inference, nodded and said: "Go down and have a rest, so you can have a good sleep."
"Thank you Sima for your consideration!"
After the scout saluted, he bowed and exited.
Yuan Wei also wanted to withdraw together, but was waved by Xue Rengui to stay.
Calling him over, Xue Rengui pointed to a stool beside him and said, "Sit down, you come and barbecue."
"Here."
Yuanwei was overjoyed and hurriedly went to the charcoal basin and took over the job of grilling meat.
Who doesn’t know that Li Xiaogong is not only the Protector of Anxi, but also the prince of Hejian County and a famous general of the clan? Being able to serve in front of such a big boss is an opportunity that cannot be obtained in several lifetimes.
Now that the Yuan family has fallen, Yuan Wei is just a descendant of the Yuan family. He has no family connections to rely on. Otherwise, why would he join the eldest grandson's family in the first place?
Xue Rengui introduced to Li Xiaogong: "This man Yuan Wei is a fierce general under the command of the last general. In the Battle of Suiye City, he led an army to sneak attack on the rear formation of the Great Eater. He burned countless grain and baggage. The reason why the Great Eater is now short of food and difficult to find." It is this person’s contribution to continue.”
"oh?"
Li Xiaogong was immediately interested. He naturally knew the ins and outs of the Battle of Suiye City. He also understood that compared with flooding the enemy under Suiye City, burning the enemy's grain and baggage stored in the rear was a great achievement. He asked: "But Yuan A descendant of the family?"
Yuanwei nodded quickly: "Commander Qizhen, that's right."
"hehe,"
Li Xiaogong held the wine glass in his hand, glanced at Xue Rengui with interest, and said with a smile: "That's really interesting. The Yuan family was destroyed by Fang Jun, and Xue Sima was Fang Jun's number one confidant. You, a descendant of the Yuan family, To be so loyal to Xue Sima...isn't it like betraying your ancestors and acknowledging a thief as your father?"
Yuanwei was startled, stood up quickly, saluted, and said solemnly: "The general is brave, the commander is wrong! The reason why the Yuan family is what it is today is certainly due to the Duke of Yue, but more importantly, it is because of his indifference to the people and his perverse actions. , commits many unjust acts and commits suicide! Even if there is no Duke of Yue, there will be others who will stand up, all of whom will make a promise, and the end of the Yuan family will not be much easier. Now the Yuan family’s children are scattered all over the world, although they are no longer The past glory of the family has also washed away the sins on the body, and can serve the king with a clean body. 'The husband holds the Wu hook with only one hand, and his ambition is higher than the Baizhang Tower. Who has made history in the past ten thousand years, and searched for the title of a prince three thousand miles away' ! Back then, this poem by the Duke of Yue was regarded as a model by our generation. We could earn glory, wealth, power, fame and fortune just by relying on this bravery. How can we just lie on the merits of our ancestors and wait to die, and then complain about everything but others?"
These impassioned words made Li Xiaogong stunned, and he laughed and said: "Oh, you are indeed ambitious! In this case, don't say that I won't give you the opportunity to become a knight for your meritorious service. Later, you will receive a brigade of soldiers. Overnight Rush to Jiaohe City, be sure to intercept the Youtun Guards before they arrive at Jiaohe City, and tell him to move the army into Jiaohe City immediately and guard the city, don't be careless!"
Xue Rengui on the side was startled and said hurriedly: "Commander, could it be that the news that Duke Yue went to Jiaohe City was leaked, and the cannibals were preparing to attack from behind?"
