(The extra has been updated.) ）

There are three or four thousand enemies killed, and how many of them are civilians is unknown, but Li Congjing can also guess an approximation. It's just that for the steppe tribes, where almost all adult men are soldiers, and even women can sometimes form combat power, the word civilian seems a little distant to them.

"Deep into the enemy's territory, isolated and helpless and turned to fight for thousands of miles, he can still win many battles, and win several times his own combat exploits with thousands of casualties, General Guo's achievements can be said to have created a miracle of the Tang Army's cavalry grassland conquest! After today, General Guo will be famous and respected by the empire! Mo Li took out the folding fan and shook it lightly, his gentle smile was full of appreciation for Guo Wei.

Guo Wei did not sell his reputation and reputation, and said modestly: "The victory of this conquest was first planned by the military commander and Mr. The military intelligence department responded to the quotation, and then there were all the soldiers who fought hard to be the first. ”

"Being able to lead a lone horse to fight on the grassland, this skill can be pursued to defend Huo, this is the result of the cooperation of my hundred battle army, you don't have to compliment each other. However, Guo Wei, as the main general, has made a lot of contributions, and it is also a fact, so there is no need to be too modest. Li Congjing made a summary, ended the topic, and said: "The way back to the south is long, life and death are still unknown, and everything after that has to be done has to be done together, and you can laugh the happiest only if you can laugh to the end." ”

Everyone said yes. Li Congjing asked Guo Wei and Lin Ying brothers to go down and seize the time to rest, and he and Mo Li, Du Qianshu and others, talked about some things before and after, and planned many times.

Xi'er sat not far away, holding a water bladder and drinking water, her eyes always looking straight ahead, her every move was not sad or happy, like clouds in the sky, the hair of her sideburns fluttered lightly with the wind, like poetry and painting, quiet as if not touching cause and effect.

Yelu Min sat next to her, chattering about something to her, smiling occasionally in response. After a few days of getting along, these two people have become more and more like sisters. It's just that one of them is active, the other is quiet, the former is as spiritual as a phoenix, and the latter is as quiet as a lake, which seems to be contradictory, but in fact it is harmonious.

Ye Lumin suddenly left Xian'er, walked to Li Congjing and sat down, raised his eyebrows at Du Qianshu, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Du Qianshu, are you really not going to see her?" ”

Du Qianshu hesitated for a while, but did not refuse, got up and walked over to Xi'er. His steps were slow and light, as if he were afraid of alarming something. Without pretending to be a gesture, Du Qianshu sat down next to Xi'er one step after another, smiled and began to speak. Xi'er also showed extraordinary calmness, not rejecting people, nor being sad and angry. It's just that it's far away, and Li Congjing doesn't know what they're talking about.

Ye Lumin glanced back at the direction where everyone came, exhaled, and said to Li Congjing: "Yesterday, you killed the envoy of the West Building, and forced the eldest brother with a sharp blade to force him to agree to join forces with you. Curiously asked: "Yesterday in the tent, what did you say to your eldest brother that made him suddenly make up his mind and get on the same boat with you wholeheartedly?" ”

Li Congjing put away the water bladder, and in the face of Yelumin's curiosity, he had no intention of hiding anything, and said bluntly: "Yelubei is determined to let you and me go and join forces with me, not because I said something too great in the tent yesterday that moved him. But from the beginning, he didn't think it would be really difficult for you and me. Otherwise, even if I have the ability to do everything, he is not a mediocre person, with an army of 30,000, how can he really be held hostage by me? ”

Li Congjing's words made Ye Lumin feel confused, and she asked puzzledly: "But when I was honest with him, he was still hesitating, and the envoy of the West Building was indeed killed by you by surprise!" ”

Smiling, Li Congjing said: "These are just superficial phenomena, politicians must first sing the role they should sing before revealing their true intentions." Seeing that Yelu Min didn't seem to understand, he continued: "When I was in the West Building before, I didn't come into contact with Yelu Bei, and he didn't have no understanding of my mind. This time to the west, if he intends to follow Abaoji's order, get rid of me as a threat, and kill me, then I should be placed under house arrest when I leave the West Building, so that I can not cause trouble, just wait until the time is ripe to take my head. But in fact, on the contrary, Jelubei not only did not restrain me, but instead gave me the opportunity to break into his big tent and kill the envoy of the West Tower in front of him, don't you think it's too strange? Especially after you showdown with him on my behalf, he still didn't take any precautions, and continued to drink with the envoys of the West Building, in the end, this is just creating an opportunity for me! ”

"Create opportunities for you?" Yelu Min seemed to understand a little, but he still seemed to be in the clouds, "Why does he want to create opportunities for you?" ”

"His guards inside and outside the tent are lax, and the envoys in the west building are drunk and smoked, all of which are for my convenience. And the purpose of this is to get me to vote. Killing the envoy of the West Tower, then I have no way out, and this is what Jerube wants me to do. Li Congjing said eloquently, and Ye Lu Min's eyes widened when he heard it, "You must know that although Ye Lu Bei and I have the same interests, after all, our friendship is still shallow, and we don't know the roots of each other, but to trust each other and really come together to do things, we have to rely on other media to establish a relationship of trust." Casting a name is a good choice. He created an opportunity for me to kill, and I did, and it was a two-way street. ”

Although Ye Lumin is quite scheming, after all, she is young and has experienced few power struggles, and Li Congjing said these things that she can't think of by herself, but she is smart after all, Li Congjing can understand it, and she will think it through. It's just that sometimes it's not a good thing to see the problem too clearly, because you will find that the truth of the matter is really "dirty" many times.

At this time, Yelu Min's eyes were a little unpleasant, she took a deep breath, and asked, "Then what you said in the tent is not meaningless?" ”

"How could it not make sense? Not only that, but it's huge. Li Congjing said, "What we did before was a test for both sides to establish a relationship of trust, which is the basis for cooperation." With these foundations in place, it's time to formally discuss joining forces, negotiate the distribution of benefits, sort out each other's doubts, and show each other's strengths. After all this is done, it is a complete process, and it also determines whether a thing is successful or not. ”

Yelu Min lowered his head and bit his lip and was silent for a while, "I understand. "In the eyes of those of you with big ambitions, there is always only profit and no emotion, right?" ”

Li Congjing stared at Yelu Min for a short while, and said, "Yelu Bei asked me to tell you, he said that he is not a good brother, and I hope that after you break free from the shackles and get free, you can pursue what you want and live happily." ”

Yehelmin didn't speak.

Not long after, Du Qianshu came back from Xi'er's side, and it could be seen that his steps were much easier, as if he had solved a problem that had plagued him for a long time. There is no need to ask Li Congjing to know that Du Qianshu confessed to Xianxi'er, and Xian'er didn't blame him, at least not on the surface. Li looked at Jing'er's position and happened to see that she was choked when she raised her head slightly to drink water, coughed violently, and shaved her shoulders tremblingly away from the crowd, looking extremely delicate and delicate.

After resting, the soldiers sitting on the ground beside the horses turned over and got on their horses, and it didn't take long for the army to regain its order, and in this misty and cool breeze wrapped in a faint melancholy morning, more than 2,000 people continued to rush south.

Li Congjing has been worried about whether he will meet Yelu Deguang's army when he returns to the south, and he has already prepared for the worst in his heart, so he can't talk about worrying too much, but he still hopes that his luck will be better, because there is not much difference between fighting and not fighting for him, but for many of the two thousand soldiers in Junzidu, whether the return journey is smooth or not means whether they can return to the Tang Dynasty alive.

"Brother Li, Brother Mo, do you think we will meet Yelu Deguang who came to fight a decisive battle in the search for gentlemen?" In order to free himself from the atmosphere of dialogue with Xi'er, Du Qianshu said casually.

"What if you run into it, what if you don't?" Mo Li asked with a smile.

"If you run into it, you run into it." Li Congjing said lightly.

Du Qianshu pulled the felt hat on his head, and asked a little unnaturally: "The question is whether to fight or escape?" Seeing Li Congjing and Mo Li looking at him at the same time, Du Qianshu smiled awkwardly, "After all, there are only two thousand of us." ”

Mo didn't speak, Li Congjing said slowly: "This kind of thing, it's better to talk about it when it happens." ”

As Li Congjing wished, two days later, in the afternoon, the sun in the western sky was still shining brightly, and the scouts came with news that Yelu Deguang's army was not far away. In this grassland, when one side discovers the other, it often means that the other side is also discovered, and in this situation, it is inevitable that the two armies will meet.

At the same time that Li Congjing got the scout report, Yelu Deguang also got almost the same content in return, galloping on the grassland for more than ten days, and finally caught Li Congjing's Yelu Deguang, after hearing the good news, a hideous smile appeared on his tired and anxious face. He walked into the military formation, dragged out two men dressed in grassland, and threw them on the ground, these two men were covered in wounds and were dying, but the eyes they looked at Yerod Guang were like the sky looking down on all beings, full of contempt and disdain.

Yelu Deguang grabbed one of the young men by the collar, lifted him up, and said with a cruel smile: "Since you left the West Tower, you have been far behind my army, and the secret of your whereabouts has made this king almost not discovered, and this king wonders why he can't catch that Tang cavalry all the time, it turns out that you are in the middle of the message!" But so what? Now that you are in the hands of this king, the Tang cavalry has become blind and deaf, you see, it has only been two days, and they have not been caught by us? ”

The young man, who looked delicate but had cruel eyes, held back his strength and spit out a mouthful of blood on Yelude's bare face, snorted coldly, and scolded: "Barbarian, if you meet our army, it will be your death!" ”

Yerod Guang was furious, kicked the other man down, screamed, pulled out his waist knife and cut down, and killed the unruly young man in a foreign land.

In this way, Yerod was still angry, and then he swung his knife and cut the neck of another person who was being escorted, and only then did he calm down his anger a little, took the sweat towel from the hand of the guard, wiped the blood on his face, and slammed it to the ground.

He turned over his horse, raised his knife and shouted: "Slaughter that Tang army!" ”

After Li Congjing received the news of the scout, Du Qianshu was shocked and worried, and said to Li Congjing: "There is a huge disparity in troops, and it is not wise to fight hard, why don't you take a detour?" ”

"A detour?" Li Congjing sneered, "There is no example of cowardice before a battle in a hundred battles, and a gentleman has never broken the formation, and I, Li Congjing, never fight a battle that will only run away!" ”

Picking up the lance, the feeling of the divine soldier in his hand made Li Congjing's blood boil, his fighting spirit was instantly ignited, and he shouted, "Yelu Deguang, fuck it!" ”