Li Jiangyao said to Xiahou Ninghan: "Brother Shen said that the Turks are changing their strategies recently and are shrinking in an orderly manner. On the contrary, King Huaiyang has become active."
"This is also expected," Xiahou Ninghan told Li Jiangyao what he had seen and heard in the imperial capital before, and finally said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made it clear at the beginning that the priority was to expel foreign enemies, and the disputes within the Holy Tang were left to be dealt with later. , but now it seems that the trees want to be quiet but the wind is not stopping."
Li Jiangyao agreed: "Ashina's sudden move suddenly muddied the waters again. With the fall of the capital and the martyrdom of the emperor, the legitimacy of the court's orthodoxy has already been shaken. Now that there is a dispute over the succession of the throne, it is enough to It is difficult for local and state governments to decide who should listen next. The situation of chaos in the world will become even worse."
Xiahou Ninghan knew that what he said was true, and frowned slightly: "Although the prince has the imperial edict of the late emperor to pass the throne, and has been temporarily recognized and supported by the Yizhou court, the imperial capital was in chaos at that time, and the authenticity of the edict was easily compromised. People are questioning it. Now that Huaiyang King Li Kuang has jumped out to fight for power under the instigation of the Turks, I wonder how many state capitals will fall to his side, alas."
Xiahou Ninghan looked at Li Jiangyao: "General, what is your attitude?"
Li Jiangyao was slightly startled: "Are you asking me who I listen to?"
"Well, yes." Xiahou Ninghan nodded: "The Zhenjiang Army is also the army of Shengtang after all, who is it loyal to?"
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "To be honest, we have never seriously considered this issue. In the Battle of Crescent Bay, almost all the 150,000 soldiers of the Zhenjiang Protectorate and the Fierce Blade Legion were wiped out. Since then, the Holy Spirit has The Tang Dynasty's rule in Guimo, Western Xinjiang, was completely eliminated, and we became a lonely army that no one cares about. Except for Brother Shen of Nilin Division, no one has cared about or contacted us in more than five years. Pass us. Now if we ask who we are loyal to, I can only say that the Zhenjiang Army is loyal to Shengtang."
Xiahou Ninghan chuckled, waved his hand quickly, and said with a smile: "General, there is no need to be so serious. Ninghan is not anyone's lobbyist, and I have no intention of questioning you. I just remind the general from the standpoint of a friend, but you must not The imperial court regards him as a warlord who is part of a separatist regime."
Li Jiangyao laughed when he heard what she said was interesting: "I have also considered the issue you mentioned. Maybe it will be misunderstood in the end. The Xiahou Sect Master, eight armies of the Zhenjiang Army, 350,000 Seventy percent of the officers and soldiers are natives of the country, and half of the eight army generals are from Western Xinjiang, and the majority of the more than fifty main officials are from Western Xinjiang. Although they are loyal and affectionate to Shengtang, more It is still the love and protection of their hometown. It was for the peace of the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang that they took up arms and followed me to fight the rebellion and resist the enemy regardless of life and death."
Xiahou Ninghan nodded slightly and said: "I understand what the general said. Those who sacrifice their lives to protect the land and the people are the real passionate men. Ninghan admires the Zhenjiang Army. However, now that Shengtang is facing the crisis of falling apart, the general should have Make a statement and let the people see hope."
She paused and then said, "Didn't you keep in touch with Shen Changshi? He is now following the late emperor's orders and loyal to the prince."
Li Jiangyao really wanted to tell Xiahou Ninghan that there were doubts about Prince Li Bing's life experience, and there might be another twists and turns in the future, and Shen Lie might not be 100% free from worries. However, when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back and said with a smile: "Our current contact is limited to the cooperation between the Intelligence Department of the Zhenjiang Army and the Nilin Department of Beiya. The purpose is to deal with the Turks in an unified way. The two fronts work closely together.”
Xiahou Ninghan asked smoothly: "How is the situation here at Zijin Pass?"
Li Jiangyao replied: "Didn't we just have another fight yesterday? The Turks were afraid that their retreat would be cut off, and they were really anxious. Ashina Zhijin sent his son and son-in-law to fight together, with a force of about one hundred thousand. .”
"Can it be defended?" Xiahou Ninghan was a little worried: "On the way here just now, I saw that the city walls and gates were seriously damaged, and there were bloodstains everywhere."
Li Jiangyao nodded, and then comforted her: "As long as I'm here, they can't even think about getting there. The First Army, the Fourth Army, and the Sixth Army are on their way here. They'll be here soon."
Xiahou Ninghan felt a strong sense of confidence from Li Jiangyao's words, and couldn't help but admire her in her heart. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from outside: "Who are you adults eating with?"
Following the words, a figure appeared at the door of the command post.
Wearing a sky-blue silk jacket, a light blue patterned pleated skirt, and foundation embroidered gold shoes, a typical wealthy lady walked into the house with a high bun in a bun.
Xiahou Ninghan looked carefully and couldn't help but realize that the woman who came in was actually the unruly girl she had met in Luoyi before - Lian Ji.
At this time, Lian Ji also recognized Xia Hou Ninghan and couldn't help but wonder: "Huh? Why is it you?"
Xia Hou Ninghan had been introduced to Li Jiangyao and Shen Lie before, so he also knew that this girl's background was related to Lao Jianhua. Since they were enemies rather than friends, why did she appear in the Zhenjiang Army and seemed to be related to Li Jiangyao? It was very unusual, and he immediately looked at Li Jiangyao with a little doubt.
Li Jiangyao shook his head helplessly: "Lian Ji came to me from Zhongyuan some time ago, and then she stayed there, and I didn't do anything."
"What do you mean by not leaving?" Lian Ji pouted her lips in dissatisfaction: "I told you where to buy it at the beginning, and you have to be responsible for me. Do you want to default on it now?"
Xia Hou Ninghan remembered that when he first met Li Jiangyao, he lived with Lian Ji in Murong Xue's small courtyard, and Lian Ji kept saying that Li Jiangyao was her husband.
Now it seems that there is indeed something going on between the two.
Li Jiangyao seemed to see Xiahou Ninghan's thoughts and quickly defended: "Don't listen to her nonsense. She and I really have nothing to do, they are just ordinary friends."
Seeing that he was so anxious, Xiahou Ninghan couldn't help but be stunned. Then she blushed with a rare beauty and muttered: "What are you explaining to me?"
-
The imperial capital, the imperial study room in the imperial city.
Ashina closed the book in his hand, and after thinking for a moment, he turned to look at his brother Shuxuan who was standing in front of him: "According to what you just said, if the ingredient of lead is missing, the poisonous soldier will not be able to make it." Yes, right?"
Ge Shuxuan replied seriously: "The role of the lead is to regulate the period and intensity of the toxin explosion in the poison soldiers' bodies. Therefore, if there is no lead in the soul-sucking sand, the toxins will be completely out of control. Once the poisoned people initiate If they go crazy, they will no longer be poisonous soldiers who can obey orders, but will become terrifying monsters that have completely lost consciousness."
"That's it..." After hearing this, Ashina Zhijin fell into deep thought again.
After a while, he waved his hand for his brother Shu Xuan to sit down and asked gently: "Have all the raw materials at Beizhao Temple been destroyed by the enemy? Are there not any left?"
Ge Shuxuan shook his head in annoyance: "I beg the Great Khan to punish me. It's all my fault for my negligence, which allowed the Shengtang people to take advantage of the loophole. Fourteen boxes of weights and lead were all burned."
Ashina Zhijin showed no concern and continued: "Shubman told me last time that there was a lead mine in Western Xinjiang, but what about Shengtang? Will there be any unexpected discoveries?"
Ge Shuxuan responded: "Maybe there is, but we don't have any information in this regard yet."
Ashina nodded, and suddenly asked another question: "This time the poisonous soldiers came east to the front line, what was the result?"
Ge Shuxuan was slightly stunned. How did the poisonous soldiers behave? Old Marshal He Lianxiong should have given the Great Khan a detailed report. At this time, the Great Khan asked himself specifically, not knowing what it meant.
However, no matter how confused he was, Ge Shuxuan did not dare to neglect and responded quickly: "According to your order, I led the poison soldiers to join the eastern battlefield. In twenty days, we fought a total of eleven times, including five attacks on Shengtang and other counties. He ambushed the scout troops of the Liaodong Protectorate three times, and the two sides encountered each other three times, winning all of them."
"What was the result? How much was lost?"
"Report to the Great Khan," Ge Shuxuan said proudly: "The poisonous soldiers killed more than 3,600 Shengtang troops and more than 13,900 Shengtang civilians, and suffered 47 losses themselves."
Ashina Zhijin's face was calm, but his eyes were dancing with flame-like light. He said lightly: "Forty-seven poison soldiers, 17,000 lives were exchanged. This effect... is very good."
Ge Shuxuan was a little proud: "Moreover, those forty-seven poisonous soldiers are also from Shengtang. This is equivalent to letting them kill each other without costing us Turks a single soldier."
"Killing each other?" Ashina smiled calmly: "Well, you made a good point. At this stage of the Eastern Expedition, the next strategic plan is to find a way to make the Shengtang people kill each other and fall into this situation again. Amid chaos and fear. Your poisonous soldiers arrive at just the right moment.”
Brother Shuxuan couldn't help frowning and said sadly: "It's a pity that the lead is exhausted and there is no way to create more poisonous soldiers, otherwise..."
Before he finished speaking, Ashina Zhijin interrupted directly: "Without the material of lead and weight, is it impossible to control the poison soldiers, or is it impossible to create poison soldiers?"
Ge Shuxuan was stunned: "...It can be created, but it cannot be completely controlled..."
As soon as the words came out, he seemed to suddenly realize something, and looked at Ashina in surprise.
The Turkic Great Khan's handsome face now had a bit of bitterness and unspeakable expression. However, his tone was still firm and forceful: "Go ahead. There are five thousand Holy Tang prisoners detained by the Blood Wolf Fourth Army, and they will all be handed over to you. After everything is handled properly, they will be driven to Li Bing's territory. , the further away the better.”
I am afraid no one knows better than Ge Shuxuan what it means to use soul-destroying sand without the addition of lead to refine poison weapons.
Five thousand Shengtang prisoners turned into five thousand man-eating demons who had lost their true nature. Although sooner or later they will be eroded by the poison and tortured to death, but before that happens, millions of Shengtang people will surely suffer!
And the troops under Li Bing's command would have to pay at least tens of thousands of casualties just to eliminate this terrible threat.
Their defense line will become fragmented due to the attack of poisonous soldiers.
"I understand, sweat!" Brother Shuxuan, who was equally crazy in his heart, had a restless excitement in his eyes, and he shouted tremblingly: "I will definitely let the people of Shengtang feel what fear is! "
