Chu Huan took out the knife from Gu Liangchen's waist beside him, the blade was sharp, and it was a terrible man, Chu Huan gently brushed the blade with one finger, but the two barbarians were still chattering, and suddenly saw Chu Huan's hand raised, but the big knife in his hand burst out like a sharp arrow, and with a "poof", it had already entered the heart of one of the barbarians.

The broadsword not only penetrated into the barbarian soldier's heart with great accuracy, but also the force did not disappear, and the inertia forced the barbarian soldier's body back a few steps, and then fell backwards to the ground.

The guards outside the tent had already come in, pulled out a big knife from the corpse, wiped the blood stains on the barbarian soldier, presented it to Gu Liangchen, and then dragged the corpse of the barbarian soldier down.

The other barbarian was stunned, opened his mouth wide, and suddenly, fell to his knees and kowtowed.

Chu Huan sneered: "The son can be taught!" Glancing at Pei Ji, Pei Ji naturally understood what Chu Huan meant, and immediately asked the frightened barbarian soldier in the barbarian language.

The two of them went back and forth, both answering each other in barbarian words, and the others couldn't understand it, Chu Huan was not worried, and Pei Ji, who knew that he should ask, would naturally not be left behind.

After a while, Pei Ji said to Chu Huan: "He knows, he should have said everything, he is just an ordinary cavalryman, and he doesn't know too much if he asks." ”

Chu Huan nodded slightly, and raised his hand to signal the soldiers to pull the barbarian soldiers down first.

"The reinforcements sent from Hexi, as we have discovered, have a total strength of 12,000 men, including 8,000 cavalry, and they are indiscriminate." Pei Ji sat on the side and said slowly: "The thirteen tribes of the barbarians have gathered a total of 25,000 cavalry, as the Qin State's subordinate army, these 25,000 people are the elite main force of these thirteen tribes, and they are all good warriors. ”

Chu Huan said: "This is all Feng Yuanpo's idea, the barbarians are afraid of Feng Yuanpo, Feng Yuanpo was a combination of grace and power to the barbarians, on the one hand, he sent troops to kill, but on the other hand, he let the traders trade with them, after many years, the barbarians were afraid of the Hexi army, and the barbarian nobles liked the goods of the Central Plains, so most of the tribes in Mobei were obedient to Feng Yuanpo and regarded Feng Yuanpo as the master. Feng Yuanpo had long been self-reliant, but Hexi was not enough to fight against the Qin State, so he worked hard to collude with Tianmen Dao and set a trap, wanting to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes. Sarcastically, "These barbarian soldiers are just tools for him to dominate the world, but he didn't expect that in the end, they fell short and made wedding clothes for others." ”

"Of the 8,000 cavalry supporting Xishan this time, 7,000 cavalry are barbarians, from the four barbarian tribes." Pei Ji explained: "The remaining 1,000 cavalry and 4,000 foot soldiers are all Hexi Army. ”

Chu Huan said: "Mobilizing nearly 10,000 cavalry to support Xishan, it seems that Dingwu still thinks highly of me." He asked, "General, these barbarian rangers appeared in Tongzhou, but they were sent by Xishan?" ”

Pei Ji shook his head and said, "This is their own initiative, and they have not been dispatched. ”

Gu Liangchen said on the side: "King, you expected them to act without permission, and it seems that this is the case. ”

Chu Huan bowed slightly, and said, "I guess Qiao Mingtang won't be so stupid as this." ”

"Their camp is not far from Tongzhou, and the barbarian soldiers lack discipline, and the barbarian generals use military training as an excuse from time to time, but they lead people to harass Tongzhou." Pei Ji twisted his beard and said: "But listen to the meaning of this barbarian soldier, there is a problem with their food, this time to support Xishan Road, the grain and grass were originally to be borne by the Xishan Road, but Yunshan side, but there is no grain and grass for a long time, the camp is already full of resentment, the purpose of these people harassing Tongzhou is to rob the grain, and rob some property by the way." ”

"There is a problem with the grain and grass in the West Mountain?" Chu Huan raised his eyebrows.

Pei Ji frowned and said: "It stands to reason that although Qiao Mingtang was defeated last time and left a lot of grain and grass baggage, there should be no difficulty in his hands to the point of running out of food. ”

Gu Liangchen said: "Could it be that Qiao Mingtang is still preserving his strength and doesn't want to supply these grains and grass to the barbarians?" ”

Chu Huan groaned slightly, and then said softly: "Is there already a problem within them?" ”

"What does the king mean?"

"Although Qiao Mingtang was defeated, he has been operating in Xishan Road for many years, and Xishan Road is his territory." Chu Huan said softly: "Feng Poyu led his troops to help, did he have any contradictions with Qiao Mingtang?" ”

"Contradiction?" Pei Ji couldn't help but bow slightly, "This is very possible." Hexi sent reinforcements, but the logistics were provided by Xishan, and Xishan's money and food were controlled in Qiao Mingtang's hands, these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, the daily consumption is a lot, Xishan's money and food are Qiao Mingtang's painstaking accumulation, and he may not be willing to send them out in vain. ”

Gu Liangchen sneered: "Qiao Mingtang doesn't have many soldiers and horses in his hands, and Feng Poyu has arrogant soldiers and fierce generals in his hands, if Feng Poyu really asks for it, will Qiao Mingtang dare not give it?" What's more, Qiao Mingtang is Hexi's lackey, and Hexi has already spoken, so Qiao Mingtang still dares to disobey? ”

"I can't say for sure." A smile appeared on Chu Huan's lips, "Think about it, Dingwu was very important to Qiao Mingtang before, what is the reason?" ”

"Qiao Mingtang is a governor, he has money and food in his hands, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and he himself is a princeling, so he must naturally be very important to him." Gu Liangchen said.

Chu Huan nodded and said: "Yes, in Dingwu's eyes, what can be used by him, he is naturally a big plus, but what if the use value disappears?" ”

"Loss of use value?" Gu Liangchen frowned and said, "King, are you saying that Qiao Mingtang is no longer useful in the eyes of Dingwu?" ”

Chu Huan said: "That's not what I said. But after Qiao Mingtang's last battle, tens of thousands of Xishan troops were almost wiped out, and even Tongzhou, which is rich in minerals, was taken down by us, what do you think Dingwu will think in his heart? ”

Pei Ji already smiled and said: "I don't need to know what Ding Wu thinks in his heart, the important thing is what Qiao Mingtang thinks Ding Wu will think." ”

Gu Liangchen was suddenly a little confused, and Pei Ji said with a smile: "After losing the city and losing the land, the soldiers and horses were defeated, after Qiao Mingtang fled back to Yunshan, if nothing else, the first thing that came to mind was what Dingwu would do with him." ”

"Such a big defeat, according to common sense, even if Qiao Mingtang finds a scapegoat, it is difficult to escape the blame, even if he saves his life, but it is essential to cut officials and demote." Pei Ji said: "Since the establishment of the Qin State, the law has been very harsh, especially the military law. Although it is not impossible to defeat the battle, but a battle like Qiao Mingtang almost destroyed all the soldiers and horses in Xishan, that is, he committed a big crime, if Xuan Yuan does not die, he will be severely punished. ”

Chu Huan nodded and said, "What the general said is exact, so after Qiao Mingtang returned to Yunshan, he must be thinking of a way to avoid this catastrophe." But according to my understanding of Qiao Mingtang, this person is not a person who only looks at the front of him, he can be regarded as a long-term vision, even if he will not be punished at the moment, Qiao Mingtang will not be sure. ”

Pei Ji said with a smile: "At least after the last battle, Qiao Mingtang must be a person who is not good at commanding troops in the eyes of Dingwu. If it was in the past, the world was peaceful, and Qiao Mingtang had some talent in governing one side, and he might be able to use it, but now that the war is raging, a governor who can't fight will naturally make Dingwu lose interest. ”

"This point, with Qiao's shrewdness, naturally will not be ununderstood." Chu Huan said with a smile: "So even if Dingwu doesn't make any moves, Qiao Mingtang will worry that Dingwu will settle accounts after the autumn, he is now a frightened bird, once there is a slight movement on the Hexi side, Qiao Mingtang will feel that a big disaster is coming." ”

Gu Liangchen understood, but he was still puzzled: "King, if this is the case, Qiao Mingtang is so afraid of Hexi, he should provide food and grass for reinforcements!" ”

"General Gu, things are not that simple." Chu Huan touched his chin and said: "Qiao Mingtang is in such a situation, thinking is much more complicated than ours, whether Qiao Mingtang really doesn't provide food and grass, we are only guessing here now, the specific situation, it is not clear." But one thing is certain, if we drag it out, I'm afraid that Yunshan will be in chaos. Xiang Pei Ji said: "General, it was too late yesterday, Jinling!" ”

Pei Ji said: "Yes, Xu Chang has already agreed to form an alliance with us?" ”

Chu Huan glanced at Gu Liangchen, and Gu Liangchen said, "The general came to the camp, and the last general didn't have time to say it." ”

Chu Huan smiled and said: "General, it seems that you don't know yet, Xu Chang has promised to provide us with 250,000 stone of grain, of which 50,000 stone is considered sponsorship, and the remaining 200,000 stone, I asked Ximen Yi to make an IOU." ”

Pei Ji was stunned for a moment, and then twisted his beard and smiled: "Xu Chang sent food, either he has other intentions, or he is helpless, I don't know which one he is?" Pei Ji has always been moody, but at this time, his face also showed joy.

"The general is like a god." Chu Huan laughed and said, "It's both." ”

Pei Ji first squinted his eyes slightly, then his brows stretched, and he said with a smile: "Could it be that Tianmen Dao is going to attack Jinling?" ”

Chu Huan exclaimed: "The general is really in his words, yes, if nothing else, Tianmen Dao will use troops next to Jinling." ”

"There are hundreds of thousands of people in Tianmen Dao, who don't produce and sit on empty food, I expected that sooner or later they would have chaos because of the problem of food and grass." Pei Ji said with a smile: "Jinling Cang is the richest place to store grain at the moment, and the eyes of all forces are focused on Jinling Cang, Xu Chang has the advantage of Jinling Cang, but because of this, it makes him the target of public criticism." Twist said: "These 250,000 stone grains are naturally the price paid to ensure that there is no worries about the future. Shaking his head, he said: "I'm afraid it's more than that, 250,000 stone of grain is not a small amount, he should have other conditions." ”

"What conditions does the general think he has?" Chu Huan asked with a smile.

Pei Ji groaned slightly, and then smiled: "Could it be that he wants us to launch an offensive against Yunshan?" ”

Chu Huan laughed and said, "It's all expected by the general. ”

"If we don't move, Xu Chang will naturally not be steady." Pei Ji said: "The covenant in the troubled times may be torn up in a blink of an eye, only if we are involved in the war, dragged into it, and have no time to separate, Xu Chang will be steady, otherwise he will never give away such a huge amount of grain and grass." ”