Inside the big tent of the Chinese army, Tao Qian's attendants spread out a huge map on the ground. Tao Qian served as Sima in the Taiwei Mansion and was mainly responsible for military affairs.

"In the middle of last month, Bian Zhang, the main force of the Xiliang rebels, and 80,000 people from Han Sui's army set out from Longxian and Wangyuan (read yuan) in Hanyang County respectively, and went down the Weishui River to conquer Wang County and Yulu County all the way. Now the general Zhou Shenzheng led 30,000 troops to block the attack in the Yongxian area, the commander of the Pingyu school Huang Fuhong, and the commander of Wumeng Du Liyi led 10,000 troops to hold on to Chencang. ”

At the same time, Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou led Huangzhong Hu, Yi Conghu, Xian Lingqiang about 50,000 steps to ride from Wuzhi, out of the Boluo Valley, all the way to conquer the three cities of Linjing, Yinpan, and Quail, and attack Duyang who was supporting the wind on the right. Now the 30,000 men and horses of the general Dong Zhuo and the 5,000 men and horses of Lord Bao Hong, who is supporting the wind, are leading Du Yang to meet them. ”

"In addition, we have received news that the June thunder of Baimaqiang, the snow mountain fox that burned Dangqiang, the heavenly wolf that burned He Qiang, and more than a dozen kinds of Qiang Hu such as Xiqiang, Dangfang, Sister Le, and Dian Na are marching towards Hanyang County one after another under the leadership of each proud handsome, and it is estimated that in a few days, they may complete the assembly near the Tiger Valley in Zhu Yuan (read yu) Mountain. They had at least 30,000 iron horsemen. ”

Tao Qian pointed to the Shooting Tiger Valley and said: "The Shooting Tiger Valley to Shangqi City, to Wangyuan City, to Jicheng are more than a hundred miles, we can't be sure where they crossed the Weishui River from, and we don't have the strength to stop it, so we can only watch as they cross the river, follow behind Bian Zhang's army, and rush down." ”

"It was a disaster. With more than 30,000 iron cavalry, if we can't resist it and let it pounce on Jingzhao, it will be a huge disaster for the more than 600,000 people living in the land of Sanfu. Gai Xun stood up and said slowly, "Although your arrival has changed the disadvantage of the Han army on the Xiliang battlefield, we still do not have the absolute advantage of annihilating the enemy. There are only 10,000 Fengyun iron cavalry, which is not enough to resist 30,000 Qiang Hu enemy cavalry, this is a fact. ”

"Among these three people, the strongest ones are Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, who attacked us from the north. They have 50,000 horses, and most of the soldiers are Qianghu belonging to our Han Dynasty, all cavalry. Although they are not as brave and good at fighting as Baima Qiang and Burning Dangqiang, they have a numerical advantage. Sang Yang said worriedly, "From last year to this year, General Dong has never beaten them. ”

Li Hong and his subordinates sat around the map, and when they saw that the situation of the Han army was so sinister, they all felt very heavy.

"But this time it's going to beat him." Gai Xun said loudly, "Your Majesty has concentrated 150,000 troops this time in an effort to solve the Xiliang problem in a battle. Xiliang always fights like this, which not only takes time, effort and money, but also drags the Han Dynasty into poverty. ”

"Liangzhou is a barren and barren land, the territory is densely covered with desert snow-capped mountains and forests, sparsely populated, and many people don't understand why we are fighting to the death on this land, even including a high-ranking and powerful Lord Situ."

"For more than two hundred years, we have been fighting with the Qiang people in Liangzhou, stopping and fighting, spending tens of billions of dollars and sacrificing the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, for what? It is for this land, for the Tianwei of my Han Dynasty. This land is ours, it was left to us by our ancestors, and no one in future generations has the right to discard it. Guarding it means guarding the dignity of our Han Dynasty and the heavenly prestige of our Han Dynasty. ”

"It is also the barrier to the west of our Han Dynasty, without its existence, Chang'an, the land of Sanfu, is the border, it is the place where the war is raging. It is precisely because of its existence that it has borne the scourge of continuous wars, and it has the tranquility of Sanfu, the tranquility of the Central Plains, the tranquility of the Han Dynasty, and the tranquility of the people of the world. ”

"We have been fighting the Qiang people for several generations, they did not occupy Liangzhou, and we did not defeat them. Their losses, together with ours, can double the population of Liangzhou and keep these people fed and clothed for generations. But why should we fight? Why keep fighting? And to that generation? ”

Gai Xun stomped the ground under his feet a few times, and said with a wry smile: "It's for it, for this land, for this land that can feed many people." ”

"The Han Dynasty has not used more than 100,000 troops to fight for decades. This time, His Majesty was ruthless, and asked Lord Taiwei to succeed in one blow, completely resolve the rebellion in Western Xinjiang, and ensure that there will be no more war in Xiliang within ten years. ”

"One hundred and fifty thousand troops?" Gai Xun shook his head and said, "According to my Han military system, except for the county soldiers and border soldiers who guard the city and the frontier, only 30,000 northern troops can fight in all directions. To recruit more than 100,000 troops, it is simply impossible to do without a year or two. If it weren't for the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the prefectures and counties would have recruited their own troops to suppress the thieves this time, and it would have been difficult for us to gather so many troops. Therefore, the emperor cherishes this opportunity very much, and hopes that we can take advantage of the advantages of the official army to pacify Xiliang and completely solve this chronic disease in the Great Han Kingdom. ”

Gai Xun looked at Li Hong and his subordinates, and said solemnly: "If you adults want to build an immortal career and shine for a thousand years, at the right time, can you have such a lofty ambition?" ”

"There are ......" Li Hong and his subordinates were excited by Gai Xun's words, and they shouted loudly, hoping that they could not immediately go to the battlefield and serve the country.

"Good ......," Gai Xun praised loudly, "Since ancient times, the people of Yan and Zhao have all been impassioned and swallowing mountains and rivers. Good. There is momentum. ”

Sang Yang clapped his hands again and again, praised a few words, and then said: "In order to complete His Majesty's will and achieve the goal of annihilating the Xiliang rebels, Lord Taiwei has specially drawn up a plan, please explain it in detail to Lord Sima." ”

Tao Qian stood up, looked at the map, and said slowly:

"We have not been able to achieve a decisive victory on the Xiliang battlefield, in addition to the unfamiliar terrain, the difficulty of supply, and the lack of troops, the main reason is that the enemy adopts guerrilla tactics. They were divided into pieces, with thousands and hundreds of people, taking advantage of the cavalry and terrain, frequently attacking our grain, grass and soldiers, and resolutely not fighting a decisive battle with our main force. When we retreated, they broke up and followed us and ambushed us along the way, inflicting great losses on us. ”

"But this time it's different, this time the battlefield is on the right side of the wind, and it was they who took the initiative to attack us."

"At the end of last year, they attacked the vicinity of Huaili City, but because of the heavy snowfall, they took the initiative to retreat. In that attack, they exposed many problems, the most important of which was the lack of coordination between them and the lack of a unified command. ”

"After Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou rebelled, because they were not Han, many things could not be solved, so Bian Zhang was elected as their commander. But after Bian Zhang became the commander, he set up many rules, which caused Qiang Hu to be dissatisfied and did not listen to his command at all. So the Xiliang rebels produced two marshals, the Han people listened to Bian Zhang, and the Hu people listened to Beigong Boyu. As for Bai Ma Qiang, they simply want to fish in the muddy waters of Xiliang, let alone listen to anyone's command. ”

"Qiang Hu, led by June Thunder, and Qiang Hu, led by Beigong Boyu, did not listen to Bian Zhang's command in the attack at the end of last year, and they each had their own set, and they were very chaotic when attacking and retreating. At that time, we had too few troops, otherwise we could have beaten them. ”

"This time, Bian Zhang Han Sui led his troops to attack the right side of the right side of the wind, and Beigong Boyu attacked the left side of the right side of the wind, and the June thunder followed suit. Their meeting point is estimated to be in Huaili City. However, due to the lack of unified command, the distance between the three troops was very long and quite disjointed. ”

"Lord Taiwei is ready to lure the enemy with Zhou Shen and Huangfu Hongbu, let them abandon the city all the way and retreat, and lure Bian Zhang to the vicinity of Xiaohuaili as quickly as possible."

"In the direction of Duyang and Meiyang, use Bao Hong's delay to block Beigong Boyu."

"With Dong Zhuo's army of 30,000, Li Zhonglang's army of 50,000, Zhou Shen's army of 30,000, Huangfuhong's army of 10,000, and Lord Taiwei's personal leadership of 20,000 people, a total of 140,000 horses surrounded and annihilated the 80,000 rebels of Bianzhang in Xiaohuaili."

"There are two things that happen at this point."

"First, we have completely annihilated the rebels of Bianzhang, and Beigong Boyu has never arrived. When he learned that Bian Zhang's troops had been wiped out by us, he immediately turned around and fled. At this time, we must quickly move forward in the direction of Meiyang and Duyang, and we must surround Beigong Boyu between Duyang and Meiyang, and strive to annihilate it. These two cities are located in the front and back of Qishan, and the terrain is complex, and it is difficult for Beigong Boyu's cavalry to run. Therefore, as long as our speed is fast enough and the number of troops is large enough, it will not be a problem to encircle and annihilate Beigong Boyu's 50,000 horses. ”

"The second is that Beigong Boyu's troops arrived at the battlefield in time, and we fell into the enemy's back. At this time, there is no other way but to fight to the death. The result of the battle to the death was that the rebels were either completely defeated or successfully broke through. ”

"If the rebels of Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu are wiped out by us, Qianghu's cavalry is estimated to be coming at this time. Now the question is how many of our 150,000 people will be left after two wars? Can you still block the impact of 30,000 Hu horses? If it can't be stopped, what will Chang'an do? ”

There was silence in the tent. After two fierce battles in a row, everyone knows how many soldiers are left, but no one wants to say.

Tao Qian glanced at them and said with a smile: "If there is a miracle, we will have at least twenty or thirty thousand people left after the two wars." Then he asked Li Hongdao: "Li Zhonglang, 30,000 people, can you block 30,000 iron horses?" ”

Li Hong shook his head, sighed and said, "30,000 infantry, it can't be stopped no matter what. If we still have 10,000 iron horsemen in our hands, we can block it. Qiang Hu knew that Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu's troops had been wiped out, and he would definitely not fight. ”

Tao Qian, Gai Xun, and Sang Yang glanced at each other and exchanged a knowing look with each other.

Tao Qian continued: "We surrounded and annihilated the rebels with 140,000 people, which is not much of an advantage in numbers, especially since the enemy knows that his reinforcements are behind him, and he is bound to resist desperately. Therefore, we must rush to annihilate the enemy or most of the enemy before Beigong Boyu's troops arrive, even if our vitality is greatly damaged, but the development of the entire battle situation is still in our hands. ”

"So what Lord Taiwei means is that if Li Zhonglang is absolutely sure that he will use 10,000 iron cavalry to block Qianghu's 30,000 iron cavalry, we will throw all our troops into the battle to annihilate Beigong Boyu, even if all the soldiers are killed, we will not hesitate."

Tao Qian looked at Li Hong and said, "The Wind and Cloud Iron Cavalry is the last barrier to ensure our victory. ”

Li Hong stood up abruptly and said loudly: "Please rest assured, please also tell Lord Taiwei that the Fengyun Iron Cavalry swears to block the attack and never let any Qiang Cavalry enter Huaili City." ”

"Good. Tomorrow you march into Xiaohuaili. ”

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