Xu Youchang muttered while stuffing big cakes into his mouth: "In my opinion, there are only two possibilities. One is that they deliberately control the rhythm of the attack and are secretly making some secret deployments. When the conditions are ripe, they will suddenly launch Attack fiercely in an attempt to disrupt our position at once. Secondly, Ronya's target may not be here, but at Shengyuguan. They want to hold us back so they can sneak attack Du Jian."
Li Jiangyao thought for a moment and nodded slightly: "Well, these two speculations are very likely. Intelligence shows that Du Jian and the others are facing the Turkic prince Chili. On the surface, except for a golden The main army of the clan, and the rest are tribal armies. However, the enemy may also be spreading suspicion in the old formation, but actually quietly increasing the strength there."
Xu Youchang stuffed the last piece of cake into his mouth and said: "The problem now is that the enemy, as the attacker, has the initiative. It is difficult for us to determine the real direction of his force at the moment. We can only observe and judge while fighting. Okay. The troops at Shengyuguan are not weak, and even if Chili launches a surprise attack, they will not gain much advantage."
Li Jiangyao nodded and was about to say something else when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside.
"Report to the Protector, Xu Shuai." A lieutenant on duty hurried in: "The spy was found!"
Xu Youchang frowned: "What spy? Please explain clearly."
"The patrol just met two suspicious-looking guys, both wearing our military uniforms," the officer reported: "However, the logo on their shoulders was the emblem of the Fourth Army. So, the brothers immediately stopped and questioned them, and suddenly discovered Those two people are Turks in disguise."
"Have you been caught?" Xu Youchang asked.
The officer nodded, then shook his head: "It can't be considered as caught. They injured more than a dozen of our brothers, and then one was killed on the spot and the other committed suicide."
Xu Youchang said angrily: "What happened?! In our own territory, we have a numerical advantage, but we were injured so many times by the opponent, and we haven't caught anyone alive yet?"
"Please forgive me, Commander Xu," the officer quickly handed over his hand: "I will severely punish the patrol leader when I return from my humble position."
"Don't worry about the punishment in advance," Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "You should notify the Intelligence Department now and ask them to immediately send someone to identify the body and see which Turkic tribe it comes from."
He turned to Xu Youchang and said: "Sending spies is not in line with the Turkic style."
Xu Youchang nodded in agreement, first asked the officer to go to the Intelligence Department, and then said in a deep voice: "The spies must have taken advantage of the poisonous soldiers' attack last night to sneak in. In this case, there are definitely not just two That’s all. It’s a pity that no one has been caught alive now, and I don’t know how many people they came and what their purpose and mission were.”
Li Jiangyao said calmly: "That's why I asked the Intelligence Department to identify them. If they are from the Golden Clan, then their missions are mostly sabotage and sneak attacks. For example, when the enemy launches an attack, cooperate to capture the city gate or the city head position. But if it’s from other tribes, it’s hard to say.”
"Other tribes? You mean..."
"For example, Brother Shuxuan's Gui Dou clan," Li Jiangyao said solemnly, "Then the spy's mission must be poisoning or assassination."
Xu Youchang reacted and immediately shouted: "Here comes someone!"
"What are your orders from Commander Xu?"
"Remind all officials at the level of deputy general and above that there are spies and assassins entering the customs, and ask their guards to be on guard and beware of attacks!" Xu Youchang quickly ordered: "In addition, notify the quartermasters of each battalion to re-check the assigned military rations and water sources. Prevent Turks from poisoning."
"As ordered, I will take care of my humble duty immediately!"
Li Jiangyao added: "Deploy more troops to protect Mr. Xie, Mr. Situ and Mr. Ma Mu. They are all civil servants. They don't have many elite combat forces around them, so they need to be protected."
"Yes, I understand!"
Looking at the back of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army hurriedly leaving, Xu Youchang sighed: "The fighting power of the Turks is really much weaker than before. Back then, Ashina Zhijin led the army to the east, and 550,000 cavalry swept across the Western Xinjiang. , to conquer the imperial capital, at that time they would never consider sending spies. Now, even this trick is used."
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "Yes, in the thirty years of Hedong and the thirty years of Hexi, the so-called wind and water have changed. The Turks are far away from their homeland. Although they occupy a large area of our land, they cannot effectively supply them. Their military strength is less than one person dead. One becomes more and more valuable, and more and more he cannot afford to lose. There is no other way to use some tricks."
"So I very much agree with your original idea," Xu Youchang said: "As long as we hold on to those key strategic locations and block the Turks, they will have only one way left except waiting to die. ——Desperately break through. When their troops are severely depleted by this process, our opportunity to counterattack will truly come."
He paused for a moment, then sighed softly: "However, God seems to be deliberately making things difficult for the Holy Tang Dynasty. Not only are there Turks, but also Lao Jianhua and Li Kuang. They are collaborating with Ashina's clique and trying their best to hold back the imperial court. , delaying our pace of accumulating counterattack force."
Li Jiangyao also felt deeply about this: "Murong Xue also specifically mentioned this issue in his last letter to us. For the court, the threat of the rebels is indeed no less than that of the Turks. Especially the rebellion of Bao Yuchun and the navy, This directly caused the state capitals south of the river to fall into the hands of the enemy, and the court could not even collect normal taxes, which was a headache."
Xu Youchang said worriedly: "Murong Xue and his family's home is in Jiannan, and it has been occupied by Lao Jianhua. I don't know if anything will happen."
"I specifically asked about this last time," Li Jiangyao comforted him: "The Murong family is a world-famous wealthy businessman. They have great influence both in the government and among the people. If Lao Jianhua If you don’t want to cause trouble, you definitely don’t dare to provoke the head of the family, Murong Qianqiu. In addition, the Nangong family has a deep relationship with the Murong family and has specially sent experts to provide protection, so you don’t have to worry."
Xu Youchang is still a little unable to let go: "Having said that, if possible, we'd better send some people there."
"Do you still need to remind me?" Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "I asked Yuduoluo to handle it a long time ago. Dozens of experts from the Intelligence Department are monitoring day and night. At critical moments, they can even escort Murong Xue's relatives directly to us. here."
Hearing this, Xu Youchang suddenly showed a happy smile on his face.
The love between good brothers will never change in the slightest.
He was about to praise Li Jiangyao a few words, but unexpectedly, a white-robed guard suddenly broke in at this moment: "Sir, it's bad! Master Xie was plotted just now and his life is in danger!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jiangyao immediately jumped up from his seat: "Where is he now? Take me there quickly!"
Xu Youchang also stood up and walked out, asking anxiously: "What's going on?"
The guard followed them and responded: "A quarter of an hour ago, Mr. Xie came back from inspecting the baggage camp. As soon as he arrived at his residence, he was shot by an ambushed assassin with a poisonous needle. At this time, he had been carried to the nearest It’s a battlefield medical center.”
Li Jiangyao didn't say anything more, walked as fast as flying, and arrived at the medical center in just a moment.
At this time, Xiahou Ninghan was also here, using the antidote given by Wu Rong to detoxify Xie Tanzhi. Li Jiangyao pushed aside the crowd and came closer, only to see Xie Tanzhi's eyes closed, his face covered with a layer of blue-grey, and his lips completely purple-black.
"How's it going?" Li Jiangyao didn't dare to make a loud voice, but his tone was full of nervousness and urgency.
Xiahou Ninghan looked solemn: "Fortunately, I was helping at the hospital today and rushed over as soon as I got the news. At present, the antidote has temporarily protected Mr. The toxins contained in human body are very corrosive to the internal organs, and all the toxins must be expelled from the body as soon as possible, otherwise..."
She didn't finish her words, but everyone in the room understood what she meant.
Li Jiangyao said in a deep voice: "How can we completely eliminate those poisons?"
Xiahou Ninghan looked at him: "Either use internal power or use antidote to the disease. Mr. Xie is not a martial arts practitioner. His meridians throughout his body have not been experienced, and the toxins corrode very quickly. Therefore, even with the strength of senior Wu Rong and Amenta, Antidotes cannot be 100% effective."
"According to this, doesn't it mean we can't use internal force?" Xu Youchang asked: "If we use internal force to force poison on him, he will also be injured by internal force, right?"
Xiahou Ninghan nodded painfully: "Yes. Ordinary people's muscles, bones and meridians are very fragile. If the internal force we input is slightly stronger, they may not be able to bear it."
"It seems that we can only find the right antidote." Li Jiangyao said in a deep voice: "Has the assassin been caught?"
"The assassin committed suicide," one of the officers replied.
Xu Youchang said anxiously: "Search him! See if there is an antidote on him, or find a hidden poison needle and try to make an antidote."
"It's too late." Xiahou Ninghan frowned: "Such a desperate assassin will definitely not carry an antidote with him, and it is even more impossible to develop it temporarily. Even Wu Rong and Amenta can't do it here."
Li Jiangyao thought for a moment and asked Xiahou Ninghan: "How long can Wu Rong's medicine help Xie Tanzhi survive?"
Xiahou Ninghan thought about it seriously: "Three days at most. After three days, even if the heart is not damaged, damage to other organs will cause life-threatening injuries."
Li Jiangyao said coldly: "In this case, there is only one way."
Xu Youchang asked curiously: "What can we do?"
Li Jiangyao's eyes flashed with cold light: "Exchange the life of the Turkic general for Lao Xie's life!"
