At this time, Zhang Meng slowly spoke: "It is precisely because it is judged that the purpose of Tubo is in the Western Regions and not in Liangzhou, so we should increase the troops, however, the increase in troops does not need too much, 30,000, too much, the imperial court can not provide so much food and silver, the emperor, the minister suggested, increase the troops by 10,000, and transfer 10,000 from the Yongzhou state soldiers to form an army of 20,000, and the Chang'an Treasury will provide food and weapons and equipment." ”

Now the ministers in the study are in a clear camp, Qiuyun Zhang Meng supports the increase of troops, Pengzhu Cao Huang opposes, the emperor knows in his heart that Zhang Meng Qiuyun came back from Liangzhou, and has feelings for Liangzhou, Pengzhu Cao Huang has never set foot in Liangzhou in his life, in their hearts, Liangzhou is just a wild land, wars are endless, can be abandoned.

In his heart, the emperor is inclined to increase the number of troops, but if he increases the troops, he will have to pay food and military salaries, where does this come from? But if he does not increase his troops, he will lose Liangzhou after a few years on the throne, and how can he explain to his subjects in the world.

"The minister asks for his life, go to Liangzhou again, minister, minister," Qiuyun was a little anxious, looked at the emperor, and said with determination: "The minister only needs 10,000 cavalry, and one month's salary." ”

"General Qiu, take care of your body first, Liangzhou is poor, if you want to do something again, I still have to rely on the general. The Emperor shook his head resolutely and refused.

"Your Majesty!" Qiu Yun looked at him pleadingly, but the emperor still shook his head.

"I will transfer 100,000 taels of silver from Shaofu for military salaries, as for food, let's transfer it from the Chang'an Treasury first, and the army, transfer 5,000 from the camp of Bishan, and let the King of Qin draw 5,000 from the state army, make up 10,000, and hand it over to the King of Qin. ”

The emperor's deployment seemed to be impartial, but in the ears of the ministers

"Your Majesty, the commander of the 10,000 army is General Zhonglang. Cao Huang reminded.

"General Zhonglang?" The emperor was stunned, and Qiuyun interjected: "No, the troops this time are transferred from all over the country, didn't the King of Qin send the Eagle Ling Guard Captain Xi Feng to garrison Chen Cangkou, and let Xi Feng command the troops, when I was in Liangzhou, I heard of this person, and he was very good at leading troops to fight." ”

"Okay, let the rhino blade command the army, tell him that if he wins, I will not hesitate to reward him, and if he is defeated," he paused, "don't come back." ”

"Commandment. ”

After the ministers withdrew, the emperor was distraught and approved a few books, put down the pen, and stared at the desk in a daze.

Gonggong Cheng came over cautiously and replaced the tea, and the emperor suddenly sighed: "The old Taiding general is dead, the sick is sick, the old is old, I can't find a general who can serve as the chief general of the Liangzhou battlefield now." ”

"Your Majesty, isn't this General Qiu the best candidate?" Cheng's father-in-law asked with some confusion: "Why don't you let him go? ”

"General Qiu is loyal to the imperial court, and the imperial court has borrowed a lot from General Qiu, even if he is still in good health, he can't go to Liangzhou. The Emperor said.

Father-in-law Cheng didn't say anything more, just sighed, and then comforted: "Don't worry, the emperor, if you don't fight, you won't be able to show it. ”

The emperor nodded: "That's right." ”

As he spoke, he picked up another piece of music and began to read it, and Cheng Gonggong slowly withdrew with a teacup.

-----------------------------------

Liangzhou, Huangshaguan.

"Go down and drink some water and eat something. ”

The bloodied messenger was helped down by two soldiers, and in order to deliver this order, he was the only one of the nine people who reached Huangsha Pass alive, and he was slashed in the back, but fortunately it was not critical.

Qiu Ge looked up at the generals, in addition to his black panther stationed at Huangsha Pass, there were also 2,000 people from the state army He Lei and 4,000 people from Zhu Jing's department of the Liangzhou border army.

Zhu Jing was the same captain as him, but in Huangshaguan, Zhu Jing was willing to listen to him.

The generals looked at Qiu Ge, but after Qiu Ge saw it, he immediately turned around and stared at the hanging map, Zhu Jing stepped forward and said: "Young General, this Luoyan Pass has been broken, and the Huangsha Pass has also been broken, we have to retreat quickly, otherwise we will be surrounded here." ”

Qiu Ge didn't answer, still looking at the map, Zhu Jing smiled bitterly, this young general is a genius who leads the troops, there are 80,000 troops in Tibet outside Huangsha Pass, but this young general is like nothing, frequent attacks, every battle must be victorious, Huangsha Pass is safe and sound now, and the casualties are less than 1,000 people, all of which are the credit of this young general.

"You see," Qiu Ge finally spoke, and the generals were in good spirits and immediately surrounded him, but Qiu Ge turned around and returned to the handsome seat: "The retreat route prescribed by General Duanmu is to pass through the Huling Gorge, cross the Baqu River, withdraw to the mouth of the three rivers, and then stay there." ”

This is the order sent by the messenger just now, all the generals heard it, Zhu Jing realized that something was wrong, and asked, "Yes, what's wrong?"

"If we can't take this route, I estimate that Sanjiangkou will either be lost, or the Tubo people will be waiting for us in the Huling Gorge. ”

Qiu Ge's tone was calm, the generals were shocked, and Zhu Jing hurriedly asked, "Young General, is this true?"

Qiu Ge nodded: "It has been four days since the loss of Luoyan Pass, Qiliman is known as a famous general in Tubo, the Flying Lion Army and the Black Bear Army Golden Bull Army under his command are known as the three elites of Tubo, he has always been known for his quick action, these four days, plus how can we prepare and march for a day, these five days are enough for his troops to rush to the Fox Ridge Canyon and set up an ambush in the Fox Ridge Canyon." Therefore, if we go to the Fox Ridge Gorge, not to mention the annihilation of the whole army, at least half of the losses will be lost. ”

The generals' faces changed sharply, Zhu Jing's brows were furrowed, it could be seen that he was more nervous, Qiu Ge glanced at everyone: "Therefore, we can't retreat from the Huling Gorge according to General Duanmu's deployment, we go to Mushan, there is a trail through Mushan, we, the eight thousand men and horses, crossed Mushan in one day, and then crossed the Zamoha River, rushed to Wangchuan County to rest, and then, we will look at the movements of the Tubo people and then decide the next step." ”

"Follow the order of the major general. The generals clenched their fists and agreed.

The next day, the Tubo army scouts saw that the flag was still hanging high on the gate, and the black panther soldiers were on high alert on the wall.

But in fact, that night, Qiu Ge secretly led the army into Mushan, and after he personally led the army, the Black Panther Army left on the pass was only one hundred elites, and they were responsible for containing the Tubo army for two days.

Mushan, is the Xiongshan in the northeast of Huangsha Pass, the mountain road is rugged and difficult to walk, only some experienced hunters can pass, but Qiu Ge once entered, he walked into Mushan alone when he was fifteen years old, and a year later he went out of the mountain, and successfully broke the mirror into the martial arts master. During this year, he has traveled half of the Maki Mountains and is very familiar with the mountain roads in this area.

After entering Mushan, Qiu Ge took a thousand black panthers to open the way in front, and the soldiers of the whole army also understood the danger of the situation.

After three days of forced marching, Qiu Ge led the troops successfully through Mushan, and the moment the soldiers stepped on the grassland outside the mountain, the whole army was thunderous with joy, and everyone was smiling.

Qiu Ge was not so happy, and calmly sent scouts around, the scouts of the Black Panther were all composed of soldiers and officers with samurai or above cultivation, even against the grandmaster-level masters.

After sending out the scouts, he did not order the soldiers to move immediately, but let them rest for two hours, and when the broken troops and baggage troops arrived, he gathered the generals to discuss the next move.

In Qiu Ge's heart, the troops are not out of danger yet, and the Tubo army can't wait for him in the Huling Gorge, so he will definitely think that he will lead his troops through Mushan, but there are more exits from Mushan, there are three or four places, and it will take Kiliman one to two days to find his traces, but he only has one day, and if it is more than a day, the army will be in danger.

The meeting was very short, and the army successfully crossed Mushan, which greatly boosted the morale of the officers and men of the whole army, and the generals had already believed in Qiu Ge, but now they trusted it even more, and there was no doubt about Qiu Ge's decision.

Qiu Ge let the troops rest for half a day, and after eating, the troops immediately hit the road, and when night fell, the troops rushed to the Zamoha River.

The Zamoha River is not very wide, and down the river is the mouth of the three rivers, where it joins the Baqu River, the Zamo River is not wide, and the dry season is not deep, but now it is the season when the snow melts, the water is deep and the river is cold and biting.

Qiu Ge ignored it and sent twelve groups of soldiers to find a place to cross the river in vain, and the rest of the troops immediately dispersed, each preparing a tool to cross the river.

After a long march, the soldiers were tired and hungry, taking advantage of this skill, many troops began to bury pots and cook food, Qiu Ge saw this and immediately ordered that no fire should be raised, and all officers and soldiers should eat dry food.

After a while, twelve groups of soldiers came back one after another, only one group of soldiers found a point that could barely wade across, Qiu Ge immediately led his troops over, and quickly pulled four ropes on the river, he gave his horse to a weak soldier, and he grabbed the rope and walked across the Zamoha River like other soldiers, in fact, with his cultivation, he could cross the river with a jump, but he was like an ordinary soldier, holding the rope to cross the river.

However, there are also people who do this, from time to time there are black shadows jumping from the air and landing on the opposite bank, Qiu Ge does not stop it, on the contrary, the word is passed over, and the people who cross the river immediately form a team, search in three directions, and return after fifty miles.

After the whole army crossed the river, Qiu Ge was still not allowed to raise the fire, and the whole army immediately formed a team and marched towards the dark east.

When it was almost dawn, the whole army rushed to the water bubble, which was actually a larger pond, which was the place where the Liangzhou border army raised horses, but at this time the horse farm was empty, and it was thought that it had been withdrawn.

Qiu Ge ordered to rest here, and the officers and soldiers who had walked all night suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and were about to take off their armor, when an order came from the Chinese army camp that no one was allowed to unload their armor, and horses were not allowed to unload their saddles.

The battalion commanders were called to Qiu Ge's side again, and the two Qiu Ge's personal guards opened the map, Qiu Ge looked at the generals and said: "So far, the Tubo people have not discovered us, one day and one night, we have walked one hundred and thirty miles, the Tubo people must not have expected our march speed to be so fast, they must still be looking for us." ”

In normal times, Qiu Ge can be said to be a very boring person, but on the battlefield, it immediately seems to have changed as if he was a different person, and he is not arbitrary.

"General Zhu, you lead the troops to continue to move to Wangchuan County, and I will take three thousand black leopards out of Shahukou and move towards Sanjiangkou. ”

"If Kiliman wants to ambush us at Huling, then he will not have enough troops to capture Sanjiangkou, since General Duanmu has asked us to withdraw to Sanjiangkou, he will first send people to Sanjiangkou, although Sanjiangkou City is small, but it is water on three sides, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and a thousand people can block the attack of 10,000 people. ”

"My lord, if Sanjiangkou is still there, will we follow General Duanmu's order and guard Sanjiangkou. Zhu Jing asked.

Qiu Ge shook his head: "Sanjiangkou seems to be advantageous, but it is actually a dead land, and the garrison is only two thousand people at most, if the Tubo people don't want to capture Sanjiangkou, they only need to send a thousand people to keep an eye on Sanjiangkou."

In addition, there are two rivers at the mouth of the three rivers, and logistics supplies can be transported by water, but in fact, these two rivers are not wide, and the Tibetans can easily block them.

The third point, this is the most fatal, General Duanmu must have thought of the black panther, hoping that the black panther can attack the Tubo people's grain road when the Tubo people attack Guzang, but the black panther is a cavalry, and the cavalry is a plain that needs to gallop, and the terrain of the Sanjiangkou is narrow, which is not conducive to the cavalry galloping. ”

"But General Duanmu wants us to guard the mouth of the Sanjiang River, Major General, do we want to go, this Duanmu General wants to investigate...?" Zhu Jing was a little shocked, Qiu Ge wanted to deny Duanmu Zheng's deployment, although he would not accept the orders of the monarch outside, but he would openly disobey the military order, if something went wrong, it would be difficult to explain it in the future.

"I will report my deployment to General Duanmu, and I will take the Black Panther to look for fighters near the mouth of the Sanjiang River. Qiu Ge said and got up: "General Zhu, you lead the troops to Wangchuan, there are still seventy or eighty miles on the way, be careful on the road, and keep the scouts farther away, at least fifty miles." ”

"Understood. Zhu Jing replied.

"Alright, that's it, Black Panther Assemble. Qiu Ge ordered.

Three thousand black panthers quickly assembled, the panther banner fluttered in the wind, Qiu Ge stood at the front of the line as before, he just glanced at the soldiers in the front row, didn't say anything, turned the horse's head, and took the lead into the morning light.

(End of chapter)