Heng Sai took the Fengyun Iron Horse and rushed back to Gaoping City first. The Xianbei people did not mobilize an army to attack Shimen Pass, which allowed them to retreat very calmly.

Koji Yoshiki followed. After dusk, the Xianbei people immediately stopped attacking, and the Ritsuri deduction and the banquet Liyou obviously did not want to lose too much.

Li Hong rushed to Gaoping City at dawn. Due to the continuous days and nights of travel, Li Hong and his subordinates looked exhausted.

After a little greeting with Koji Yi and other generals, he immediately asked, "What about the wind and sand?" He is the closest to Gaoping City, why hasn't he arrived yet? ”

"He's probably red-eyed, and he's taking orders as wind again." Koji Yi shook his head helplessly and said, "When he was in Gaopingchuan, he didn't listen to the command and attacked against the order. Although these Xianlingqiang people are brave and good at fighting, they are all arrogant and arrogant, taking military discipline as a child's play and doing whatever they want. ”

Li Hong smiled: "Then how did you deal with it?" ”

"How dare the lower officials deal with it?" Koji Yi glanced at Li Hong and replied cautiously, "My lord, let's do it." ”

Although Storm Sand violated military discipline, he was his subordinate after all, and with Storm Sand's special status, of course Li Yi hoped that Li Hong would be punished lightly.

Li Hong smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said: "The Qiang people value righteousness, as long as we treat them as brothers, after a long time, we will naturally obey our words." ”

"Shou Yan......" Li Hong shouted to Zheng Xin, who was standing nearby, "immediately send someone to Muxia Pass with my seal, and tell the wind and sand to withdraw quickly." ”

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"My lord, why did you let them withdraw overnight?" Taishou Kong Chang bowed down and asked, "If the three passes are abandoned, the door in the gate will be wide open, and the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"What if you don't withdraw?" Koji Yi said angrily, "In Xiao Guan's arsenal, there are only 10,000 long arrows, and the combined swords and halberds are not 1,000, and the shields are all rotten, so you let us fight with our bare hands?" ”

Kong Chang probably knew about this situation, and his expression was quite helpless. Li Hong smiled and did not speak.

"My lord, in order to rush to the north as soon as possible, we didn't carry grain and grass baggage." Heng Shi explained, "The number of weapons we carry with us is very limited, and we can't last two days with just such a few weapons, and besides, the food rations for more than 20,000 of us are also a problem. It's also a helpless move to abandon the three levels. ”

"After fighting all the soldiers, the battle behind it will be even more impossible to fight." Tie Yue added, "Only we have some people, and sooner or later we will defeat the Xianbei people." ”

Kong Chang nodded and said: "I have fought with the Qiang and the rebels in Xiliang, I know what you said is the truth, but the question is, where do we retreat before the grain and grass are not delivered?" ”

Everyone turned their attention to Li Hong.

"Withdraw to Liupan Mountain." Li Hong said with a smile, "We have been withdrawing from Liupan Mountain. ”

Everyone was stunned.

"My lord, why did you retreat to Liupan Mountain?" In a hurry, the tube shouted, "After withdrawing Liupan Mountain, we will have no danger to defend, and the army of the Xianbei people will be difficult to resist as soon as they fall down." ”

"My lord, we now have 40,000 people, and we can completely stick to the area of Fanting Mountain and Chaona, and besides, Lord Jade will soon rush to Liupan Mountain with grain and grass baggage. We have the ability to keep the Xianbei people north of Liupan Mountain, so why give up? Tie Yue also said excitedly and loudly, "My lord, we are facing 120,000 Xianbei people, it is 120,000 Xianbei iron horses, as long as they climb over Liupan Mountain, with our 70,000 people, they can't resist at all." ”

Li Hong looked at everyone and said, "We now have 100,000 people, not 70,000. ”

"100,000?" Koji asked curiously, "Do we still have reinforcements?" ”

Li Hong did not answer, and continued: "It is precisely because the Xianbei people have 120,000 iron cavalry that we have to retreat all the way until the 120,000 army of the Xianbei people is disjointed. ”

"Adults are going to beat them?" Koji asked in surprise.

"I won't let go of Kazuren this time no matter what." Li Hong said with a resolute expression, "To fight and fight the company, we must first ensure that our own strength is strong, otherwise we will not be able to defeat him, so I will not waste the lives of the soldiers on holding the pass." In addition, the closer he lured Helian to Guanzhong, the worse his vigilance became, and the less likely he was to escape back to the Yellow River. ”

"But will Your Majesty agree with your lordship?" Kong Chang asked worriedly.

"Your Majesty's affairs, I'll take care of it." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "As long as you kill Helian, all the problems will be solved." ”

"Zhong Yuan, you tell everyone about it carefully."

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After retreating to Fengyi Mountain with more than 4,000 people, Storm Sand met Yan Rou.

Like Yan Rou and the others, he was worried that Helian and Tuoba Feng's overseers would chase after him and take the lead in besieging Gaoping City and cutting off the retreat of Koyi and Heng Sai, so he ordered the army to temporarily stop at Fengyi Mountain in order to assist Yan Rou in blocking the enemy.

After dawn, the scouts came to report that the Xianbei people occupying Muxia Pass had not left the pass, and there was no sign of continuing to advance.

Yan Rou and Storm Sand and the others were shocked, not knowing why the Xianbei people didn't take advantage of the victory to pursue. After a few people deliberated a little, they hurriedly led the army to retreat to Gaoping City.

On the way, they received an urgent letter from Li Hong urging the withdrawal of troops. Knowing that the army of Koyi and Heng Sai had returned to Gaoping safely, several people were overjoyed and hurried to Gaoping City to meet Li Hong.

After more than four months of separation, we were very happy to see each other again.

Li Hong put his arm around Xiao Lazy's shoulders, looked at it again and again, and then said in surprise: "You have grown again." ”

After seeing Li Hong, Xiao Lazy was very excited, and pulled him to talk non-stop, smiling happily.

Yan Wuxing teased on the side: "This kid, the amount of food is amazing, he is so hungry that he even grabs horse food." Don't just look at his length, look at his horse, it's so thin that it's bones. ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

Li Hong pointed at Zhang He and said, "Junyi, I asked you to go to Jizhou with Hutou, why don't you go?" ”

Before Zhang He could speak, Yan Rou immediately said loudly: "My lord, it's too much for you to transfer my two subordinates away." Wen Chou and Zhang He, no matter what, they have to leave one. I didn't let him go. ”

Li Hong smiled and said to Zhang He: "It's okay not to go." Even if you get to Jizhou, you won't have time to go back to Hejian Country. This time, we walked to Shin Capital Castle and turned back. Next time I have a chance, I'll let you go back to your hometown in Jizhou. ”

Zhang He thanked him gratefully.

The wind and sand and the nine sheepskins and the chopping horse saw Li Hong coming over, and hurriedly knelt on the ground to plead guilty.

Li Hong helped them up one by one, and after greeting them, he asked with a smile: "Okay, what kind of crime is it please?" ”

Tempest Sand glanced at Koji in surprise and didn't make a sound.

Li Hong glanced back at Koji Yi, whose face was extremely unnatural, then looked at the three of them, and said with a smile: "Lord Koji said to me, you are brave and good at fighting, and the Xianbei people you killed are terrified, didn't you say that you have any guilt?" Then his face sank, and he turned around and asked, "Yuntian, but what is there to hide?" ”

At this time, Koji Yi and Heng Sai all knew that Li Hong was unwilling to punish the storm sand, and he was even more unwilling to make the storm sand's violation of military discipline public. At this time, when employing people, it is understandable that Li Hong deliberately protects the wind and sand.

Since Li Hong was unwilling to pursue it, of course Lu Yi was very happy, and he smiled happily: "Qu Shuai is probably a little too happy to see the adults coming back, and he is confused, haha......"

Everyone laughed.

Li Hong introduced Li Wei, Xie Ming, Song Wen and others again, and then discussed the military situation again.

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Hearing that the imperial court had issued an order to let the general Dong Zhuo lead his army from the Great Wall fortress in Shangjun to Lingzhou in Beidi County, in order to cut off the enemy's retreat and force the Xianbei people to withdraw their troops, the opinions of several generals of the unified army diverged again. In the final analysis, everyone is still very afraid of the powerful Xianbei people, and they are not sure whether the Han army can find an opportunity to annihilate them after the Xianbei people cross Liupan Mountain.

Since the imperial court has a clear strategy to defend against the enemy, why should it risk giving up the Liupan Mountain Heavenly Insurance? As long as they stay on the Liupan Mountain and Chao line, and wait for General Dong Zhuo's attack to succeed, the Xianbei people will naturally withdraw their troops and leave. Although the cost of holding on to the defense is great, there is no need to take risks, let alone offend the imperial court and cause unwarranted disasters.

The generals who supported Li Hong's abandonment of Liupan Mountain believed that it was more risky to pin their hopes of defeating the Xianbei people on Dong Zhuo's army, who knew nothing. If Dong Zhuo's attack on Lingzhou fails, or if he fails to take Lingzhou for a long time, and his own army suffers heavy casualties and loses strength in the process of holding on, then the entire northern territory of Beidi County and Anding County will definitely fall. In other words, the purpose of the Xianbei invasion was all achieved. After that, if the Han army wants to recapture these lands in the short term, it is impossible for the current national strength of the Great Han State. It will take a long, long time just to gather another hundred thousand troops.

"If we pin our victories on others and want to get something for nothing, we must be the ones who are unlucky in the end." Zhang He said loudly, "No one will give away victory, victory depends on our own blood and sweat, and we can only get it by fighting bravely." ”

Li Hong did not join the argument, he stood silently in front of the window, looking at the clear blue sky. He suddenly remembered Fengxue's eyes, those eyes that were so blue that they were intoxicating.

Yan Wuxing walked behind him lightly, and said with a small body, "If you want to kill Helian, this is the only chance. ”

Li Hong nodded.

"Back then, you said that as long as you kill Helian, Fengxue can return to Xianbei and return to Tanyue Valley."

Li Hong thought for a moment and nodded again.

"Then what are you hesitating about?" Yan Wuxing said, "For the sake of the wind and snow, we also have to retreat to Liupan Mountain. ”

Li Hong was silent. He thought of what He Hao told him when he left Jizhou. He Hao said that it is best to have a quick and quick victory in the war in western Xinjiang and end it within two months, otherwise, the food supply will be cut off, and the defeat will be irreversible. He Hao's words are by no means alarmist. He remembered that when the rebellion was quelled in Western Xinjiang last year, there was no food and salary later, but the Taiwei Mansion kept it a secret. If it weren't for the fact that he suddenly cracked down on corruption and confiscated a large amount of stolen money, and saved the emergency, not to mention the later Battle of Yicheng, it would be a problem whether his army could return to the Zixiu Mountain camp smoothly. If the same thing happens again, it will be a catastrophe for the army that sticks to Liupan Mountain, and there will be no way to live.

"Don't fight anymore." Li Hong said loudly, "Order all the troops to quickly retreat to Chaona City." ”

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Dong Zhuo's army was ordered to go north, and rushed along Luoshui all the way, driving 600 miles in a row, and arrived at the fortress of the Great Wall of Baiyu Mountain.

In the big tent in the army, Sima Liru put down the paperwork in his hand, leaned over and looked at the map carefully, and did not speak for a long time.

"The general asked us to slow down, and His Majesty urged us to hurry, these two orders are completely different, who do we listen to?" Hu Zhen looked left and right, then looked at Dong Zhuo and asked respectfully.

Dong Zhuo's expression was indifferent, and he brushed his beard and said, "Let's listen to what Master Sima has to say first?" ”

"Let's slow down." Li Ru said, "The army of the Xianbei people is attacking Sanguan, the morale is high, the strength is strong, and the timing is very bad to attack Lingzhou at this time." When the Xianbei people learned that we had cut off their back route, they would have been furious and would have fought all the way back, and we would bear the brunt of the attack and suffer heavy losses. ”

"We walked slowly, fifty miles a day, ten days and a half months. Half a month later, Xianbei and Li Hong had already been exhausted, and their strength was greatly damaged. At that time, we will attack again, not only can we successfully capture Lingzhou, but we can also beat the Xianbei people who have suffered huge losses in strength, and take the opportunity to win more military merits. ”

Li Ru paused for a moment and continued: "The imperial court only wants to drive the Xianbei people out as soon as possible, and they have no confidence in winning, they all pin their hopes on the resistance of Li Hong's army, and they don't attach much importance to our soldiers and horses. Even if we defeated Lingzhou and defeated the Xianbei people, our merits were far inferior to Li Hong's army. ”

"We traveled more than 1,000 miles to fight, and the credit was given to someone else, which is unreasonable. Therefore, we wait until Li Hong's army is basically lost, and even the strength to pursue is gone, and the army of the general is left in the entire battlefield, then all the credit will be ours. ”

Li Ru smiled faintly and said, "As for Li Hong, after the great loss of strength, it is difficult to become a climate. How the general wants to solve him, that's the general's business, and it has nothing to do with us, but this favor, the general must return it to us in the future. He picked up the bamboo slip, rolled it carefully, and put it in Dong Zhuo's hand, "The general put it away, maybe it will have a role in the future." ”

＝＝＝

"Hou Ye came to the book and said that the Taiwei Zhang Wen has been dismissed, and the military affairs are now temporarily handled by Shang Shutai. Lord Huangfu Song is now the Shangshu Order of Shangshutai. Li Su said, "Lord Huangfu personally commanded the Great War in the Western Frontier, and he will definitely see our intentions. If he makes irresponsible remarks in front of His Majesty......"

Li Ru shook his head and said: "Although the imperial court has repeatedly issued orders and urges, they also know that the mountain road is difficult to walk and cannot be walked fast, and once we enter the western foot of Baiyu Mountain, we basically lose contact with the imperial court. In the future, we will win the war, and the emperor will not dare to talk too much. ”

Everyone in the tent nodded their heads one after another.

"Changsheng, once we lose contact with the imperial court, we have no way of knowing the stable battle situation, so how can we grasp the timing of the attack?" Dong Zhuo thought for a moment and asked, "If you want to annihilate the Xianbei people south of the Yellow River, the timing of this attack is very important. ”

"Li Hong currently has at least 100,000 people in his hands, and the terrain of Sanguan and Liupan Mountain is dangerous, so it will not be a problem to defend it for a month or two." Li Ru said, "But the timing of this attack is really difficult to grasp, especially when the general said that he would annihilate the Xianbei people south of the Yellow River." He raised his eyes to look at Changshi Liu Ai, and the corners of his mouth showed a hint of imperceptible mockery, "Does the general have the determination to annihilate the Xianbei people south of the Yellow River?" ”

Dong Zhuo nodded, and said very confidently: "I occupied the class a few days ago, and I will win this battle." ”

He pointed to Liu Ai, who was sitting beside him, and said, "Wen Qi also looked at the sky and divined the turtle, and he was sure that there was such a good omen. ”

Li Ru finally couldn't help but let out a sneer.

Liu Ai is Dong Zhuo's long history, and he and Li Ru are Dong Zhuo's right-hand men, but the relationship between the two has always been bad, and they insult each other constantly. Liu Ai is in his forties, medium build, weak in appearance, mild in temperament, he is proficient in mathematics, familiar with yin and yang, and is relied on by Dong Zhuo. Li Ru studied ancient literature and scriptures, while Liu Ai studied modern literature and classics, so the views of the two are very different.

Most of the officials in the Han Dynasty were filled by scholars who studied scriptures, and most of the scholars at that time studied modern scriptures, and modern scriptures were taught scriptures with 谶wei (read chen, wei), so scholars studied the number of scriptures became a common practice.

(Prophecy is the use of mysterious hidden words, prophecy as God's revelation, to people to announce good fortune, evil and good fortune, the rise and fall of chaos, often with pictures and texts, also known as diagrams.) Wei is an interpretation of the Confucian classics from the point of view of religious superstition. ）

The civil and military positions of the dynasty were not fixed, and civilian officials could go out to lead the army at any time, so this atmosphere also spread to the army. In the army, when the general military officer above the rank of Sima studies the art of war, he must learn the classics of the Yin and Yang family of soldiers, and he must know the art of dividing the wait, otherwise it is difficult to be promoted, and only by mastering the number of techniques can he be a general. Many high-ranking generals of this dynasty vigorously recruited technical talents when they went out on the expedition, which was not only to make up for their own shortcomings, but also to directly store their combat effectiveness.

Dong Zhuo has been playing the lesson number for a long time, and he also believes in witchcraft, and whenever he encounters something incomprehensible, he will call witch Zhu to ask. Changshi Liu Ai did this specifically for Dong Zhuo, and was very loved and admired by the soldiers in the army.

Dong Zhuo saw Li Ru's unhappy face, and knew that he didn't believe this, and was about to open his mouth to scold, so he immediately said: "Changsheng, how sure do you think we can annihilate the Xianbei people?" ”

Li Ru glared at Liu Ai fiercely and said, "It depends on how Li Hong fights." ”

"If Li Hong is determined to defend to the death, the casualties on both sides will be heavy, especially the Xianbei people, they are all cavalry, and they will suffer a great loss when attacking the pass and the city. However, Li Hong suffered even more losses, because his army was slow to mobilize, and entered the stability in batches, and was always at an extreme disadvantage in numbers, and the losses must have been even greater. In this case, when the Xianbei people heard that we had captured Lingzhou, they would have retreated in a hurry, and we would wait for our work, and victory should be possible. ”

"If Li Hong intends to preserve his strength and retreat step by step, the losses of both sides will not be large, and we will not be able to fight. If we strike early, we may be damaged, and if we strike late, we will not only be punished without merit. Therefore, it is better for the general not to be too optimistic, thinking that we can annihilate the Xianbei people south of the Yellow River. ”

Dong Zhuo nodded, his expression grim.

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The four gates of Gaoping City were wide open, and the city walls were empty, only the fluttering battle flags were hunting.

The law and day deduction, the banquet and the tour, the twilight getting, and Xu Hui stood side by side outside Gaoping City, amazed.

"I have fought with the Han people for decades, and this is the first time that I have successfully fought to Gaoping City." Xu Ji smiled bitterly, "I can bet with you with my head that the Han people must have a conspiracy." ”

"You're scared." Yan Liyou touched his bald head, and said with a smile, "You don't want to go into the city?" ”

"I'm not in." Xu Qi said resolutely, "I want to go in, you go in." ”

Ritsuri gave him a strange look and asked, "Are you scared of the Han people?" So timid? ”

"Then you can't cross Liupan Mountain?" Twilight Gaiting laughed, "You can't even be a Liupan Mountain, are you?" ”

"I just want to live with you." Xu Hui glanced at them and said solemnly, "The thunder in June has been rampant in Western Xinjiang for decades, and no one can beat him, Duan Cheng was so powerful back then, it was just a tie with him, but this leopard killed him as soon as he arrived in Western Xinjiang, and Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu had more than 100,000 people, and they were also beaten by him and fled." ”

"The leopard has always won with odds, and we can't speculate on him with common sense. If he led his troops to defend here today, it would be fine, but if he gave away a city today, there must be a trick here. ”

"Yo, you're quite knowledgeable." Ritsuri deduced and laughed, "No wonder you always defeat battles, it turns out that your knowledge is so high." ”

Xu Ji smiled, didn't think he was angry, and turned to leave.

"What do you think?" Ritsuri asked.

"The leopard is short of troops, food and grass are scarce, in the face of our 120,000 army, can he not run?" Yan Liyou scoffed and said disdainfully, "If it were me, I would have run faster than him." ”

"Haha......" Twilight laughed, "Wolfhead is right. Han people generally have a dead face, obviously they can't beat it, and they have to hold on, saying that for the sake of righteousness, they have a disgusting face. I think this leopard is similar to us, if you can't beat it, you can't beat it, you turn around and run. ”

"He is a slave of our Xianbei people, of course, he has to touch a little bit of our Xianbei people's temperament." Ritsuri said with a smile, "Two, who will enter the city?" ”

"I'm first." Yan Liyou said, "I don't believe there is an ambush inside. ”

＝＝＝

and connected to the news sent by the Ritsuri deduction, and immediately ordered someone to call Ye Lao.

"You take 10,000 iron horsemen, ask a few Qiang people to lead the way, and rush to Fanting Mountain overnight." He Lian pointed to the eastern foothills of Liupan Mountain and said, "We are going to close the door and fight leopards." ”

Ye Lao was in his forties, tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a thick black beard on his purple-red cheeks, and a pair of small eyes full of essence. Without saying a word, he bowed down and went out to gather his men.

Tuoba Feng and Tuoba rushed over when they heard the news.

"The king still insists on taking Fanting Mountain?" Tuoba Feng asked.

"Then tell me, what reason do I have for not taking Fanting Mountain now?" He Lian asked rhetorically, "What is the reason why the leopard gave up Gaoping City, in addition to the lack of troops?" From Gaoping to Chaona, from Chaona to Fanting Mountain, is there any other place where he can ambush us? ”

"What if the leopard is stationed in Fanting Mountain?" Tuoba Feng asked, "As long as the leopard drags us in Chaona City, he can gather his forces and eat the king's 10,000 iron horsemen." ”

"If he has reinforcements stationed in Fanting Mountain, why is he in such a hurry to give up Gaoping City? Gaoping City is an important city in Western Xinjiang, and it is not a problem for 20,000 people to hold on for ten days, why did he give it away? ”

"He wants to abandon Liupan Mountain?" Tuoba Yan stared at the map and muttered to himself, "Does he want to abandon Liupan Mountain?" ”

"Impossible." Tuoba Feng said without hesitation, "Han Ting will not abandon Liupan Mountain no matter what. Liupan Mountain is lost, Guanzhong is our bag, so what is the leopard leading the army for? It's better to go directly to guard Chang'an City. ”

"Why can't he abandon Liupan Mountain?" He Lian looked excited, his eyes were sharp, and his fingers tapped the map on the desk and said, "From Gaoping to Liupan Mountain, it is only more than a hundred miles, but there are 120,000 of us gathered, and no matter how he fights, he will lose." If he wants to defeat us, he will have to disperse our forces. How to disperse? ”

He Lian pointed to Linjing and said: "From Sanguan to Gaoping, from Gaoping to Liupan Mountain, from Liupan Mountain to Linjing, about 700 miles, think about it, along the way, the terrain is complex and changeable, is it possible for us to advance as a whole with an army of 120,000?" If we are the slightest careless, we may be eaten by him. He withdrew again and again, and his intentions were exposed. ”

"Originally, his army rushed to Gaoping in batches, which was a huge disadvantage in the process of blocking, but now it has become a huge advantage, and his tens of thousands of troops are distributed between Liupan Mountain and Linjing, and can quickly rush to an ambush site to assemble."

"If the leopard retreats across Liupan Mountain with a large army, our plan to attack Chang'an City may have to be abandoned, so we must leave the leopard north of Liupan Mountain no matter what."

Tuoba Feng shook his head again and again, and persuaded: "The king is too worried. If the leopard dares to abandon Liupan Mountain, then Chang'an City must be ours, because the emperor of the Great Han Kingdom has already killed him at that time. As soon as the leopard died, the Han army was in turmoil, what kind of battle did they fight? ”

"Your Majesty, let's concentrate our forces and hurry to the city of Chaona. When we take Chaona City, we will only be left with the obstacle of Fanting Mountain. At this time, there is really no need for us to take the risk of taking Fanting Mountain. Once it misses, it will shake the morale of the army. ”

Tuoba Hui also persuaded: "King, since the army has gone south, it has been invincible all the way, and the momentum is like a bamboo, and the morale of the soldiers is very high, if there is a sudden branch at this time, I am afraid it will ......."

And even ignore them.

"We set out overnight for Asahina."

"Order the Ritsuri to deduce and feast, and march to the city of Chaona early tomorrow morning."

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