According to Mu Liyan's request, Shiyin's request to Zhao Junsheng was to ask the Qianguo court to order the Jincheng guards to cooperate with the troops.

There are not many defenders in Jincheng, only 5,000 people, and if you want to leave at least 1,000 guards, you can only dispatch 4,000 people at most, even if you count Yang Nandang's 2,000 people, there are only 6,000 people, and Tuyuhun can send 20,000 cavalry, so Tuyuhun completely dominates this battle.

But now the situation is different, the Qianguo Imperial Court is going to send 50,000 horses to attack Beiliang, this position makes Shiyin a little worried and afraid, Beiliang has been crippled by Tuyuhun, is it necessary for Qianguo to send 50,000 troops?

Shi Yin felt uneasy when he thought about it, so he immediately sent people to hurry up and return to Fu Qi City to report this matter to Mu Liyan, and he dared to spread the news before the envoys of the Qianguo announced the decree arrived in Fu Qi City, so that Mu Liyan could be prepared, so as not to be caught off guard at that time.

Later, Shiyin entered the palace to meet Zhao Junsheng and asked to return to Tuyuhun to serve as a liaison mission between the two sides, so as to reduce obstacles and eliminate unnecessary misunderstandings that might occur for the two sides to cooperate in the crusade against Beiliang.

After consideration, Zhao Junsheng agreed to let Shiyin return to Tuyuhun, and ordered someone to prepare some rewards as a wish for Shiyin to take back and send to Mu Liyan, who expressed his deep gratitude on behalf of Mu Liyan.

By mid-July, Zhao Junsheng summoned Cao Jiao into the palace to inquire about the progress of preparations for the expedition.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhao Junsheng put the brush on the pen stand, looked up at Cao Jiao and asked, "I called you over today to ask how you have done in preparing for the expedition!" ”

Cao Jiao clenched his fists and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, I have almost prepared, and I will be able to pull it out in a few days!" ”

Zhao Junsheng got up from behind the imperial case and walked out, "It's the first time you have led so many soldiers and horses to go on an expedition, I am still at ease with you, Beiliang lost 25,000 people in the battle in Tuyuhun, which is already a big injury to his vitality, and he is a small country with a small population and a small territory, I believe that you can fight this battle, don't have too much pressure, let go and fight!" ”

"Yes, Weichen remember!"

"By the way, has the route of the march been decided?" Zhao Junsheng remembered and asked casually.

The distance from Qianjing to Jincheng is not close, even if it is a straight-line distance, it is close to 3,000 li, and the march of 50,000 horses and horses, if you do not plan the march route well, it will not only consume a lot of grain and grass, but also delay a lot of time.

Cao Jiao said: "The minister and the generals and soldiers of the army discussed it, and thought that the road of Pingcheng, Yunzhong, Huaishuo, Woye, and Bogulu, and finally from Bogulu along the Yellow River to Jincheng should be very smooth, and the last time His Majesty led the troops to fight Daqian and Xi Huan, he walked this road, and many generals and colonels in the army have walked through it, and they are more familiar, so there should be no problems!" ”

Zhao Junsheng frowned and said: "The last time I led the army to take this road was because of the needs of the war, I had to go this way, but this time it was different, if I took that road last time, the distance would be much farther!" Now that the mountain bandits, the remnants of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the remnants of the forces in our Daqian territory have been basically eliminated, and even the Zahu in the Bingzhou and Hetao areas have surrendered, so there should be no danger on the way to the march, and there is no need to be as cautious and conservative as marching abroad in formulating the marching route! ”

Cao Jiao clenched his fists and said: "The minister will go back and discuss with the generals and soldiers of the various armies, and strive to work out a route that is best to go to the march in the near future!" ”

One day later, Cao Jiao came to the palace with a new route map for the march.

Zhao Junsheng met him, unfolded the route map he took and laid it on the imperial case, the new march route was from Qianjing, passing through Youzhou and Dingzhou along the way, passing through Jingcheng Pass at the foot of Taihang Mountain and entering Bingzhou, and then all the way west through Jinyang, arriving at Tujing Town, crossing the Yellow River and then going west to Tongwan City, after a short rest in Tongwan City, set off again to the west through the Yellow River zigzag area and finally arrived at Jincheng, although this marching route is not a straight line, but it is near this straight line, there are towns along the way, It doesn't get lost, and the water is quite adequate.

Zhao Junsheng closed the route map and handed it to Cao Jiao: "This route is well formulated, when are you going to start it?" ”

"Everything is ready, please let Your Majesty decide!"

Zhao Junsheng said: "Then let's set off in two days, but now is the time when the weather is hot, the length and time of the march must be arranged, and enough anti-heat medicine should be prepared in case of emergency!" ”

"Obey orders!"

Two days later, the army went out, Zhao Junsheng went to the altar outside the city to worship the general, appointed Cao Jiao as the marshal of the Western Expedition, and led the 50,000 army to conquer the Northern Liang Kingdom, he untied the war knife hanging on his waist on behalf of his identity and put it on Cao Jiao's hands, with this knife, anyone in the 50,000 army does not listen to the order, Cao Jiao can cut first and then play, and the role of Shang Fang's sword is almost the same.

Cao Jiao took the Emperor's Blade and stood up, turned to face the 50,000 horses on the school field, and raised it violently, "All the soldiers listen to my orders, and the soldiers will send to Beiliang!" ”

One by one, the phalanx turned to face the camp gate, six people in a row, row after row to the outside of the camp, 50,000 horses walked for half an hour, and the school field was empty.

There are 30,000 cavalry in the 50,000 army on this expedition, which is the main force of the battle, the number can not be too small, the rest are infantry, mainly used to siege the city, generally do not participate in field operations, the real strength is insufficient or the last resort, but also pull into battle to resist the charge of the cavalry, as long as they do not encounter heavy cavalry, these 20,000 infantry can resist the frontal charge of 10,000 light cavalry.

On August 17, Cao Jiao led a large army to Jincheng and sent people to Guzang to order Fuqu Muqian to surrender.

Beiliang had already known that Qianguo had sent troops, and sent someone to Rouran for help a month ago, he put his hope on Rouran, if Rouran was willing to send troops, this battle would have to be fought.

Fuqu Muqian actively prepared for war, refused to surrender, and sent his younger brother Fuqu Dong to lead 10,000 troops outside the southern city gate to prepare to meet the dry army.

Qianjing.

Although it has passed the Mid-Autumn Festival, the temperature is still very high, Zhao Junsheng held a fan in one hand to fan the wind, and threw a piece of ice into the sour plum soup with a clip in the other, and drank a sip, every pore of the body was cool.

"Your Majesty, the Rouran people have been dispatched!" Lu Xuanbo hurriedly walked in to report.

Zhao Junsheng frowned: "How many people?" Where to go? ”

"There are more than 10,000 people, the news was sent five days ago, the news shows that they are heading south along Sushui, according to the marching speed of the Rouran light horse, now they should have arrived at Junji Mountain!"

Zhao Junsheng suddenly got up and walked around the main hall, and soon he stopped and shouted outside: "Someone, convene the ministers to discuss the matter!" ”

The ministers quickly rushed over, and Zhao Junsheng didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "I just received the news that the Rouran people have dispatched 20,000 cavalry to kill me towards the border, and they have now arrived at Junji Mountain!" ”

Dongfang Chen frowned and said: "Now is the time when the water and grass are abundant, in the past, even if the Rouran people wanted to dispatch, they had to wait until the autumn to raise the horses to be strong and fat, and it was too early to dispatch now!" ”

Cui Hao stood up and said: "Ruochen guessed well, I am afraid that the Rouran people are only going to cooperate with Beiliang to resist the attack of my Daqian, and Fuqu Muqian must have promised Wu Ti some benefits, otherwise Wu Ti would not have been able to make a move against us at this time!" ”

Zhao Junsheng waved his hand: "Don't talk about this now, the Rouran people are already on the way, we still have time to deploy and deal with it, all of you can talk about your thoughts!" ”

Dongfang Chen arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, it is too late to send troops from Qianjing now, since they have taken the road of Junji Mountain, there is a chance that they will uproot Bigan City first, otherwise they will not dare to attack my northern defense line with peace of mind." The minister suggested immediately sending someone to give an order to the defenders of Bigan City as quickly as possible, asking them to send people to reconnoitre, and once they found that the Rouran people were really going towards them, they immediately sent someone to report, and strictly guarded and waited for reinforcements! ”

"At the same time, I ordered Sima Chuzhi to organize troops to take the initiative to meet the attack!"

Zhao Junsheng didn't quite agree with Dongfang Chen's idea, the grassland is vast, if you don't know the whereabouts of the Rouran people, how can you meet it?

"Now that the Rouran people have learned well, they are just afraid that they will not honestly surround Bigan City and keep attacking, I am worried that Wu Ti will only use a small number of troops to keep an eye on Bigan City, and the large team of men and horses will bypass Bigan City and go south, how will our army meet it? I don't even know where they are, how can I meet them? ”

Gao Xu stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, in the past, our northern defense line was repeatedly broken through by the Rouran people because we were always caught off guard and unprepared, but this time we got the news in advance and had enough time to deploy defense!" In the past two years, we have heightened and strengthened the cities and fortresses on the northern defense line, and it is impossible for the Rouran people to attack it as easily as before. Now the strength of Woye, Huaishuo, Wuchuan and other towns has reached more than 3,000, as long as they are fully prepared, even if the Rouran people only surround one city and storm it, with their siege ability, it is no problem for the defenders to hold out for a month! That way, we'll have plenty of time to deploy our troops! ”

Zhao Junsheng thought for a while and then ordered: "Pass the news to Sima Chuzhi and order him to organize troops to defend it to the death!" The herald ordered that Gao Jinzhi lead an army of 3,000 to reinforce Wuchuan Town and accept Sima Chuzhi's moderation! ”

"Order the general of Yuyi Town, Chi Yandong, and the king of Eile to send troops together to cooperate with Sima Chuzhi to meet the Rouran people!"

After the discussion ended, the ministers dispersed, the more Zhao Junsheng thought about it, the more angry he became, the Rouran people became more and more rampant, these years have been attacking the south every year, robbing and running, sometimes it is a sound to attack the west, which makes people unguardable.

In the past two years, Zhao Junsheng ordered the generals of the northern towns to organize the army and the people to repair the Great Wall of the north as a whole, and even the walls of cities such as Huaishuo, Woye, and Wuchuan were heightened and reinforced, and finally blocked the Rouran people from the Great Wall, and the Rouran people also dispatched several times, they could not cross the Great Wall, and they could not capture the Xiongguan on the Great Wall, so they had to give up.

"Wait for Lao Tzu to solve Beiliang and Tuyuhun, and then come to you Wu Ti to settle the general account, and then see how long you can be rampant, hum!"