Early the next morning, Qin Youpeng arrived outside Gaochang City with 5,000 Song troops and slowly spread out a formation in the east of the city.

Long Luo Dusha looked at the city and hurried to the royal court. Invited into the living room, Fugu Huaien hurried over and asked, "What is the matter?" Could it be that Song Jun has already arrived? ”

Long Luodu Sha said: "Back to the king, it is indeed the Song army that has arrived." And I saw clearly at the head of the city, about five thousand men, all of them cavalry, arrayed on the east side of the city. These people don't use knives and guns, they all hold a short gun in their hands, and the blade in front of them is what people used to call muskets. Their formation is also very strange, and the formation is not dense. The men in the middle all dismounted, with short guns in their hands, in rows and rows, quite sparse. On both sides were cavalry, both with knives, which were slender and elongated, and had not been seen much before. ”

Fugu Huaien said: "The soldiers who went to Shengzhou said that the Song army was strange, and it seemed that it was really different from the ordinary army. ”

Long Luodu Sha said: "King, since the Song army has arrived, do you want me to lead the troops out of the city to fight?" ”

Fugu Huaien shook his head: "I think more than ten years ago, we also sent envoys to Kaifeng Mansion to pay tribute to the Song Kingdom. The two countries are on good terms, and they are fighting against Wu, and now they suddenly send troops to attack, and they must have nothing to say. You can first send an envoy to interrogate the Song army for the crime of raising troops for no reason. ”

Long Luo Dusha said: "The army has arrived, what is the use of sending envoys now?" The soldiers are coming, and we will fight first! ”

Fugu Huaien said: "The Song army is a teacher for no reason, we are already rational, how can we be invincible and raise troops?" The general ordered the troops first, and sent the envoys out of the city first. ”

Long Luo Dusha had no choice but to go. This time, the Song army came too suddenly, and all the important places west of Gaochang were lost. Originally, Liuzhong City was in the west of Gaochang, guarding the valley mouth where Puchang came, and it was just the main road. I didn't want the Song army to attack suddenly, Gaochang didn't even have news, and before Liuzhong had time to close the city, the army had already passed. At this time, there was no danger around Gaochang to defend, so he could only fight hard with the Song army.

Zhang Qi stood on the watchtower of Puchang City and looked south. I saw a piece of yellow sand in the south, and the mountains were towering, which was extremely magnificent. The road out of the city, along the northern edge of the desert, goes southwest.

Amari stood aside and followed Zhang Qi's gaze and said, "General, there is a great calamity and ghostly moraine, and there are many sand mountains, which is extremely difficult to walk. In the Tang Dynasty, to the south was the sea road to Shazhou, which has been unpassable for several years. ”

Zhang Qi nodded and asked, "If you go to Gaochang again, what other cities are there on the way?" Is it better than Puchang to attack? ”

Amari said: "General Hui, go south to a place called Baozhuang, which is smaller than Puchang, there is no city, just a village. After Baozhuang out of the valley, it is Yanaka City. There are plenty of springs and are suitable for irrigation, which is not much different from here. After Liuzhong City, there will be no big city until Gaochang. The general's artillery can collapse Puchang, and naturally it can also collapse Liuzhong City. As for Gao Chang, I don't know. ”

Zhang Qi said: "I don't need to know how Gao Chang is. This time, I only need to capture the cities except Gaochang. Tomorrow I will send troops to Baozhuang, can I arrive? ”

Amari said: "Baozhuang is thirty miles away from here, and it is more than thirty miles to Liuzhong. If the general had gotten up early, Yanaka would have arrived. ”

Zhang Qi listened and asked, "You said that there is no city in Baozhuang?" If the army marches forward, can't it go directly to the willows? ”

Amari said, "Yes. This Puchang to Liuzhong is the valley road, the north is the flame mountain, the south is the ghost moraine, this area is the east gate of Gaochang. As long as you pass through the willows, there is no danger to defend behind, and you will be flat. ”

Zhang Qi looked at the south, the valley road in Amari's mouth, the flaming mountain in the north was southward, but the ghost moraine in the south was not dangerous, it was just a desert area, which was naturally not suitable for walking. However, it is not necessary for the army to force it over, in fact, it is not a sad place. Of course, this time it was an army of 70,000 or 80,000 attacking, and the difference in strength between the two sides was too great, so this area was naturally useless. If the difference in strength between the two sides is not so big, Gao Chang can use the terrain in this area to block the Song army. The rear of Illis hundreds of miles away, and it is still useful.

Amari is an indigenous, and now there is no trade route to Yizhou, Gaochang does not pay attention to Puchang, and does not send officials to make him the lord of the city. This is the case in many places under Gaochang, except for important places, and the previous governance structure is continued. Since he is an indigenous, Zhang Qi collapsed the city gate, and Amari did not feel that a catastrophe was coming, but just came back as the former Central Plains Dynasty, and treated Zhang Qi with respect. Especially after descending, seeing the endless flow of troops behind me, I felt even more wise. Unexpectedly, in this attack on Gaochang, the Song army actually dispatched such an army.

After looking at it for a while, Zhang Qi said: "Zhao Zi's army has passed, Gao Chang should know that the imperial army has arrived, and there is no need to cover it up." Tomorrow the day is unknown, so set off early, and it is best to capture Liuzhong. Zhao Zi's army in the back was unhindered all the way, but it reached the city of Gaochang. ”

After saying that, he took Amari with him and went down the city wall. Entering the City Lord's Mansion, Zhang Sheng was looking at the map, and when he saw Zhang Qi coming in, they each saluted.

The two sat down, and Zhang Sheng said: "After Puchang, there is no city in Baozhuang, and there is Liuzhong City in the south." It was an important place in Gaochang, and Wang Yande was sent to the Western Regions by edict, and it was recorded there. It is only 80 miles from Liuzhong to Gaochang City, and it takes one day to walk fast, and it takes exactly two days to walk slowly. If we capture Liuzhong and open the door to attack Gaochang, we don't have to rush anymore. You can garrison Liuzhong, send their own troops, divide their troops to attack various places, and wait for the arrival of Zhao Zi's army. In this place of Gaochang, except for Yanqi, Beiting, Zhangbali, Yangji Bali and other important places, most of the local natives serve as the city lords, as long as the taxes are paid, Gaochang does not care. Zhao Zi besieged Gaochang, and we can explore all over the country as much as we like. ”

Zhang Qi said: "The defenders of Gaochang, the most powerful corps should be in Yanqi, opposite to Black Khan. There are not many garrisons in other places, and there are not many indigenous people here, so as long as there is a small garrison, they will be suppressed. After we occupy Liuzhong, we should also go to occupy the valley mouth of Yanqi to prevent the Yanqi army from returning to Gaochang. There are a few small towns, and it is not difficult to conquer. ”

Zhang Sheng nodded: "The general is right, those small cities should be captured first." It's just that the roads in this area are all east and west, and where to go has to pass through Gaochang. After Zhao Zi's army arrived, we followed him and went to the southern mountain pass. ”

Zhang Qi was a little unwilling, his army of 50,000 was subject to Zhao Zi everywhere. But after thinking about it, the most important thing this time is Gaochang City, Zhao Zi is the main force attacking there, and he still agreed. As long as Gaochang's army is isolated from the basin, Gaochang is a dead city.

Zhang Sheng said: "In fact, since the whole army has been reorganized and the personnel have been overhauled, the commander has some lack of confidence in the current Hequlu army. At this time, Gaochang was only 350,000 people, and our 80,000 army, all guns and artillery, should be easily captured. The marshal did not declare war and planned to create such a situation, and what he was afraid of was that the army of Gaochang would concentrate and fight against us. I think how sharp he was when he took 30,000 people into the winding road of the river. First defeated Yelu Chongyuan, and then destroyed Yelu Zongzhen, and won thousands of miles of the party's land in three wars, without the slightest hesitation. Compared with the Khitan and the party, what is Gaochang? ”

Zhang Qi sighed: "Speaking of which, Jie Shuai may think that I, like me, are not as capable of fighting as generals like Zhao Zi and Yang Wenguang." ”

Zhang Sheng shook his head: "It has nothing to do with you, it's still a matter of middle and lower-level generals." In the previous camp and field and box army, those who were able to go up, and those who couldn't do it except for the service of the box army, did other things with peace of mind. Most of the generals who are now being added have forbidden military positions, and it is easy for those who can do it, but it is difficult for those who can't. ”

What Du Zhongxiao is really worried about is that the middle- and lower-level generals of the current army cannot adapt to the war situation. The whole army has just been reorganized, and the measures that have been effective in the past still need to be tested in actual combat. After fighting Gaochang, it is time for this army to mature.