The wine has passed three rounds, and the dishes have passed five flavors. After Wang Yuan briefly asked about the situation in Jiannan and other places, he finally asked: "General Li, among the materials this time, in addition to the grain and grass materials, have the materials I asked Zhang Zhengyi to provide have arrived?" ”

Li Mi said with a smile: "I knew that the big man was going to ask, it was dark, didn't the big man see the dozen or so big cars in the middle?" Zhang Zhengyi supplied 2,200 grenades. I brought all the bullets, and along the way, I ordered someone to be responsible for escorting, and I must have handed over to General Liu Dehai at this moment. In addition, there were ten tiger squat cannons and two thousand iron shells that arrived with them. The marshal didn't see all of them, did he? ”

Wang Yuanxi said: "Okay, this is great." This is exactly what I need. Liu Xunzhi and Zhang Zhengyi are still capable. Unexpectedly, after more than a month, Zhang Zhengyi actually created so many **. Liu Xunzhi is also like a roundworm in my stomach, originally the tiger squat cannon was just pulled for drills, but now I need to come in handy, he really sent me ten more, and so many iron cannonballs, good very, good very. ”

Li Mi said with a smile: "Dashuai also said, there is something I don't know whether to talk about or not." As soon as Zhang Zheng complained in front of me, he almost scolded the handsome. said that the handsome man simply used him as a cow and a horse, forcing him to have no time to sleep and eat. said that Da Shuai was the nemesis of his life, and this life was ruined in the hands of Da Shuai. ”

Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi laughed. Wang Yuan scratched his head and said: "Zhang Zhengyi scolded me, I really forced him to be cornered." But those things can only be done by him, and if he wants to scold me, he can scold me. When you go back, bring him a message for me, and say that I, Wang Yuan, remember his merits, and there will be rewards in the future. In the future, he will be idle and fully support his alchemy. ”

Li Mi stroked his beard and smiled: "Zhang Zhengyi is just complaining, before I came, he also asked me to tell Da Shuai, saying that he had made a new discovery, and when Da Shuai returned to Chengdu, he would personally report to Da Shuai." ”

Gao Xianzhi laughed and said, "It seems that this Heavenly Master is not full of complaints, but enjoys it." ”

Several people laughed at each other.

After a few more glasses of wine, Wang Yuan put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth, and said to Li Mi in a deep voice: "General Li has worked hard to escort grain and grass all the way, and the old general can stay in the army for a day, but I'm afraid I will ask General Li to lead his troops and horses back to Chengdu after handing over the grain and grass materials tonight." ”

Li Mi was surprised and asked, "Why is that?" The soldiers, horses, and people were very tired along the way, so why should they rest for the night before they could go on the road. Is it because tomorrow's army will cross the river and pull out? That's okay, the old people only rest in the city, and they won't delay the army's journey. ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said: "It has nothing to do with this matter, please ask the old general to return to Chengdu immediately, that is because there is an extremely important matter that the old general needs to return to Chengdu to arrange as soon as possible." I'm afraid I can't delay for a moment. ”

Li Mi saw that Wang Yuan said solemnly, his heart was awe-struck, and he arched his hand and said, "What's the matter?" Please command. ”

Wang Yuan said in a deep voice: "The old general immediately rushed back to Chengdu and passed on my military order, we must gather all the soldiers and horses of the three right roads of Jiannan, Hexi, and Longyou within a month, including the garrison of the Shence Army and the local regiment to train soldiers and horses." Except for the necessary local security manpower, the rest of the manpower was assembled. I estimated that there are still 30,000 soldiers and horses scattered in various state capitals, plus 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers and horses trained by the regiment, and it should be possible to gather 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers and horses. After these soldiers and horses were assembled, they were stationed on the front line of Ning, Qing, Qi, Tong and other state capitals to prepare for defensive attack. ”

Li Mi was surprised: "Why is this? What does the marshal mean is that someone wants to attack us? ”

Wang Yuan nodded slightly and said, "It may not necessarily happen, but prevention is better than prevention." And I think there's a big chance of it happening. ”

Li Mi was puzzled: "But who has the ability to attack my Shu land?" Could it be Li Mao? How is that possible? Didn't Li Heng, Li Pu and others lead an army of 60,000 to promulgate a crusade against Li Mao and march into Chang'an? Li Mao was too busy to take care of himself, how could he still attack my Jiannan, Longyou and other places? ”

Wang Yuan sighed lightly, and immediately told the changes that happened to the Cui family in Jiangnan. Li Mi listened to Wang Yuan's narration, and her mouth couldn't close in shock. At the same time, he was aware of the seriousness of the matter.

"Is what the marshal said true?" Li Mi asked in astonishment.

Wang Yuan smacked his lips and said, "Am I still talking nonsense?" The reason why Li Mao dared to return to the Fu people to help Fengzhou was because he had no fear. I estimate that the soldiers and horses in Jiangnan have already reinforced Chang'an in large numbers. ”

Li Mi swallowed and foamed: "According to what the big marshal said, wouldn't it be that this crusade against Li Heng, Li Pu and others will suffer a great setback?" They launched a crusade when the Hui people left Chang'an and Chang'an was empty. They didn't know that Li Mao would have a large number of reinforcements. That's a problem. ”

Wang Yuan said: "Yes, although I have already sent someone to inform Li Heng and Li Pu, I am afraid it is already too late." The soldiers and horses of Li Heng, Li Pu and others sent troops from Ningzhou to attack Chang'an, and it only took five or six days to reach the city. At this moment, I am afraid that I have already arrived at Chang'an City. By the time my news arrives, I'm afraid the winner will already be known. What I fear now is that if they do not know the changes and take the liberty of attacking the city in an all-out way, they will inevitably suffer defeat. Once they fail, Li Mao is likely to take advantage of the emptiness of Shu to attack Shu while we are fighting the Hui people in the north. This is also the reason why I want you to rush back to Chengdu immediately to gather troops and horses to get ready. ”

Li Mi nodded and said: "Lao Yu understands, Lao Yu will rush back to Chengdu tonight and immediately gather troops and horses to deal with it." But the marshal, since the situation has changed, why didn't the marshal immediately withdraw his troops and turn back, in case Li Heng was defeated and retreated, Li Mao took advantage of the situation to attack Shudi, and fifty or sixty thousand soldiers and horses may be difficult to resist. Isn't it someone who has raided the old nest? ”

Wang Yuan said in a deep voice: "Old General Li, now that I have to send an arrow, if I retreat and return to Shu at this moment, this trip will be in vain." And at this moment, I can't save Li Heng and Li Pu when I turn back. Besides, the Hui people are always a problem for their henchmen, so instead of letting the Hui and Li Mao join forces to form a powerful cavalry army several times larger than my Shence army to defeat me, it is better to seize the time at this moment to defeat each one. This is a good opportunity to defeat the Hui cavalry, because there are Li Hui and Li Pu to contain Li Mao, so that my Shence army and the Hui people can fight alone. Only by defeating the Hui soldiers and horses in this battle can it be possible to turn back and deal with the next situation. At this time, turning back may be peaceful for a while, but what you will face is a catastrophe. ”

Li Mi nodded slowly, he understood Wang Yuan's words. The more this time, the more unable to withdraw troops back to Jiannan. Because if he did that, it would give Li Mao the opportunity to reunite his soldiers and horses with the Uighurs. And this time, Wang Yuan has turned against the Hui people, and the Hui people will not leave their hands, and they will want to get rid of them as soon as possible. This retreat will face a comprehensive encirclement and suppression of hundreds of thousands of troops joined by the Hui and Li Mao in the future. Rather than this, it is better to deal with the Hui people now, and take advantage of the great opportunity for them to fight separately at the moment.

"Dashuai, please rest assured, the old man will defend the city to the death, and he will not let Shu fall into the hands of others if he fights this old bone." Li Mi shouted in a deep voice.

Wang Yuan waved his hand and said: "Old general, this is exactly what I am worried about, if what we are worried about happens, you must not fight for your life." What you have to do is to take advantage of the strong city defenses of our Shu land to delay time everywhere. Even if you lose all the cities, as long as you defend Chengdu in the end, you will be considered to have completed your mission. After the army of our Shence Army settled the Hui people, they immediately went south. If they dare to attack my Shudi, I will give them a siege of Wei to save Zhao, and I will go straight to Chang'an City, and he can only return to defend it. So you just have to delay enough time. I think it will take a month to see what happens. ”

Li Mi got up and arched his hand: "Obey the order, I can't hold on for a month, then I, Li Mi, don't have to gain a foothold." Dashuai, I can't stay here, I'm so anxious at the moment that I can't sit still. I didn't drink any more wine, so I hurried to urge them to unload the supplies, grain and grass, and rush back overnight. If you are delaying and being exploited by Li Mao, it will be really amazing. ”

Wang Yuan hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't be in such a hurry? Not at this time. The distribution of materials in the warehouse will take at least until midnight, and it is useless for you to be in a hurry. Come on, let's have a few more drinks, and it's okay to talk about conversation. ”

……

At the time of the third watch, all the grain and grass materials were handed over, Li Mi did not delay at all, and left Huaiyuan City overnight with his soldiers and horses and people, and rushed back to Chengdu in a hurry. Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi sent him away before returning to their residences to rest. But in fact, it didn't take a moment to rest, and as soon as the day dawned, all the soldiers began to put on new clothes.

At the end of the day, the army arrived at the Yellow Sheep Ferry and began to cross the river. It took 100,000 soldiers and horses five or six hours to cross the Huangyangdu under the scorching sun and come to the high ground on the opposite bank. Then reorganize the formation to draw water and replenish, as well as various arrangements, and toss until it is completely dark, which is considered ready.

Everyone was tired enough, and they thought they could rest in place and set off tomorrow, but the order of Deputy Marshal Gao was issued, and the whole army took advantage of the cool weather at night to march overnight, and could only rest tomorrow when the weather was hot. The whole army had no choice but to set off. So under the starry sky, the ground was also full of torches, and the 100,000 troops formed a formation and spread all over the Gobi wasteland and marched north.

After a night march, it was actually only more than 40 miles. At the end of the day, when the sun began to burn, the army stopped to escape the heat. It is said that it is to escape the heat, but in fact, it is impossible to dodge, the scorching sun is shining, and the sun tent is still hot like a fire, which is really unbearable. But fortunately, the supply of clean water was sufficient, and after crossing the river, Wang Yuan, who knew the hot state of the Gobi, specially ordered to replenish an additional 500 truckloads of fresh water, which would not cause a crisis in the supply of clean water. But even so, the fresh water in the army will not last for eight or nine days with such a huge amount of consumption. In other words, it was necessary to rush to the city of Fengzhou within eight or nine days, and defeat the Hui soldiers, otherwise it would fall into a water crisis.

At the end of the day, when the sun was a little hotter, the army was back on the road. Another night passed, and most of the journey of the soldiers and horses was already halfway. After another night's march, they will reach the city of Toyoshu. Before the start of the third day, the army made adjustments to its formation. With 30,000 cavalry as arrows, the front and flanks were divided into zigzag formations. Secure the flanks of the army ahead. 10,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry and more than 10,000 artillery battalion soldiers marched in the center of the army with a large amount of supplies, grain, grass and heavy vehicles. The remaining 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry were left behind in the rear. The entire army was put on full alert.

At the second watch of the night, when the army marched forty miles away from Fengzhou, it encountered the scout reconnaissance cavalry of the Uighurs for the first time. After that, the news of encountering the Hui cavalry continued. On the front and rear flanks of the army, there were cavalry figures of the Hui people. At dawn in the early morning, a small group of more than 1,000 Hui cavalry went around the rear of the large army and tried to approach to harass and attack. The cavalry of the Shence Army sent 2,000 cavalry to drive them away and force them away. Soon after, however, several more cavalry units of 1,000 men provocatively approached and harassed the army to the left of the army, and this harassment did not cease until the afternoon when the army reached a halt on the vast Gobi desert 15 miles south of Fengzhou.

The nerves of everyone in the army were tense and annoyed. In the combat experience of the Shence Army, it has never encountered such a provocation. The constant provocation and provocation of the Hui people successfully aroused the anger of the soldiers of the Shence Army.

After the army temporarily stopped advancing, Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi led the generals to gallop to the front camp cavalry formation to take a look. A few miles ahead, was the place where Wang Yuan and the others had approached that night to observe and decide to use the six or seven small hills. Because they didn't know if the area of Xiaoshanbao had been occupied by the Uighurs first, the army did not dare to approach rashly.

"Brother, how many mountain bags are you talking about?" Gao Xianzhi asked, pointing to the terrain in front of him.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "It's here, does my brother think that strategy is feasible?" Is the topography of these mountain packs exploitable? ”

Gao Xianzhi looked at it for a moment, nodded and said, "I think it's okay." These mountain packs are distributed in the shape of plum blossoms, which can definitely isolate and block the enemy's charging troops and horses. But now it is not known whether it is occupied by the Uighurs. ”

Wang Yuan said in a deep voice: "Even if they occupy it, they will take it over." Otherwise, the plan cannot be implemented. You have to take a risk and send someone to rush between the mountain bags to take a look. I guess that even if the Uighurs occupy it, they will not be all encamped in it, because the mountain bag is meaningless to them. Generally speaking, they should camp with their backs to the city. I hope this bone force Pero is not a freak. ”

Gao Xianzhi nodded and said: "This is true, even if there are Hui people occupying it, it is only a small group of soldiers and horses." ”

Wang Yuan shouted in a deep voice: "Which general is willing to go to the valley ahead and take risks? ”

As soon as the words fell, Liu Jun threw up his hand and shouted: "Dashuai, Liu Jun is willing to go." ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "You are the commander of the cavalry, but you don't need to go." One of your generals led 5,000 cavalry to search. ”

Liu Jun nodded in response, and turned to look at the generals beside him. A group of cavalry generals rushed forward to ask for errands, Liu Jun pointed at Chang Youwang and said, "Chang Youwang, your opportunity to make meritorious service has arrived." With you leading your headquarters of 5,000 cavalry to break through. If there are any returning soldiers, drive them out of thence. I warn you, don't embarrass me, if you are kicked out by others, don't blame me for being unkind to you. ”

Chang Youwang shouted in a deep voice: "Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry." The last will not be dishonored. ”

Chang Youwang gave a loud order, and soon after the cavalry of the front 5,000 battalions was assembled, Chang Youwang gave an order, and the 5,000 cavalry galloped out of the battle, rushing forward with billowing wolf smoke and rushing to the front of the mountains and bags. Everyone in the formation raised their eyes to watch, but saw 5,000 cavalry rushing in from the passage between the mountains and bags on the southwest side, stirring up smoke and dust between the mountains and bags. A moment later, the valley was covered with billowing dust for six or seven miles, as if a fierce battle had taken place in it.

But only half an hour later, dozens of horsemen galloped back and reported: "There is no one in the mountain bag, and there are no Hui cavalry occupying it. General Chang led his troops to guard the three valley mouths in the north and asked for orders from the marshal and deputy marshal. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Sure enough, this Guli Peiluo is not a freak, our worries are unnecessary." From this point of view, he must have set up the battlefield under the city of Fengzhou. It was an open and flat terrain that would be the best place for his cavalry to charge, but he didn't know that I wasn't going there. Passing on the order of our army, the army advanced and set up camp near the south of Shanbao. ”

The Shence army advanced five miles to the south side of the mountain pack, relying on the terrain of several mountain packs and camped on the spot. Two hours later, the large military camp was entrenched, and Wang Yuan ordered that the defensive facilities should be arranged immediately. Suddenly, the soldiers and horses in the army began to be busy. Shenwei artillery tiger squatting cannon began to be hauled to several mountain bags, leveling the terrain as a battery position, and simple fortifications began to be erected.

Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi inspected around, then rode horses and Gao Xianzhi with a dozen generals to the north under the mountain bag. After walking for several miles, we hiked up to the northernmost mountain, which is the best place to observe Toyosu Castle.

Standing at the top of the mountain, under the dazzling light of the scorching sun, everyone built a pergola and looked at the north of Fengzhou City, the sky was high and cloudless, and the visibility was excellent. But see. Ten miles away, under the city of Fengzhou, on the ochre-red earth, the military camp of the Hui people stretched for more than ten miles, lying on the ground in the distance. Countless tents are placed on the ground like dense steamed buns, and there is no end in sight. In the sunlight, the white tent reflects a dazzling halo and emits a dazzling light. Countless ant-like cavalry shuttled from camp to camp, puffs of smoke and dust rising from the ground and being blown away by the wind in the air. Hot