As soon as the autumnal equinox passed, the war outside Liangzhou Pass suddenly became tense.
Previously, the scouts from both sides of Liangmang were roaming around outside the pass, and their forces were roughly even. Although Beimang Malanzi had the numerical advantage, due to the battle of Longyan'er Plain, the two elites who were most familiar with the terrain of the frontier army and had the most outstanding combat power were The scouts, Dong Zhuo's Crow Lanzi and General Liu Gui's Black Fox Lanzi were almost completely lost. They followed the army and advanced to the Ma Lanzi south of Hutou City. It's hard to say that they were headless flies, but compared to the opponent's opponent. The second-class scouts from Liangzhou, who were extremely familiar with the geographical situation, still could not take advantage. Once the two sides encountered sudden contact, the scouts outside the Liangzhou Pass were ordered not to fight without authorization, but Beimang Malanzi was ordered to take the initiative regardless of casualties. Attack, many encounters on narrow roads, even though Beimang Malanzi was at a disadvantage in local battlefields, he still launched a charge without fear of death, even if it was three for one, the wealthy Murong Baoding personally promised that as long as he pushed to the front line In Ma Lanzi, regardless of the direct lineage or other troops under his command, military merit can not only be judged by the number of heads captured, but also by relying on one's own battle losses in exchange for military merit!
In the unreasonably fierce offensive situation of Beimang, the Beiliang scouts never suffered heavy casualties in a single battle. However, after the losses continued to accumulate, in just two decades, the Beicheng feudal residence came from the left and right cavalry. The intelligence learned that more than 700 people had been killed!
The Liangzhou frontier army had to start to gather small groups of scouts, and at the same time reduce the width and depth of the reconnaissance defense line, decisively giving up the risky move of having only a few scouts dare to travel across a large area and go in and out in depth. The consequences of Beiliang's original choice to focus on the Liuzhou battlefield and tilt its forces westwards, for example, when Li Hanlin led all the white horse crossbowmen to move into Liuzhou, gradually became apparent. Not to mention Jubeicheng's control over the border defense line of Huaiyang Pass, Liuya Fuling Chongqing, and the Three Towns of One Pass and Three Towns. Under the situation of Beimang Malanzi's large-scale and crazy penetration to the south, the connection with the left and right cavalry has also become more and more intense. Thin, this is definitely not a good sign. As the main field force of the Beiliang frontier army, the left and right cavalry troops are not to kill the enemy, but to serve as the connection between Jubeicheng and Huaiyangguan defense lines to prevent the Beimang cavalry army. Completely divide the battlefield outside the Liangzhou Pass, but at present, unless Murong Baoding supports his own troops, is unwilling to sacrifice the Donglei Jingqi and Rouran Iron Cavalry, slows down the horses heading south, and the Liangzhou scouts take the opportunity to regain the initiative, otherwise they will Judging from the chessboard, the two sides' central forces are facing each other, and the overall situation has been decided. During this period, Li Gongde, the only official in Beiliang Road in Jubei City who was ranked as the second-rank official, proposed that Li Hanlin lead all the remaining white horse crossbowmen in Liuzhou back to the battlefield outside Liangzhou Pass, but He was rejected by the young vassal king and deputy governor Yang Shenxing at the same time.
What was the outcome of the magnificent cavalry battle at Laonu Mountain in Liuzhou that was destined to go down in history? Accurate intelligence has not yet been obtained from Liangzhou Pass and Beicheng. The last six-hundred-mile expedited military message from the scouts under Liangzhou General Shi Fu is still correct. It is placed on the desk of the small study room next to the signing room. Even though he knows that the powerful new Liang King attaches great importance to the Chu Shuangbi, no less than the two confidant Yu Luan Dao Cao Wei who was born in Northern Liang. , but the military letter written by Shi Fu was still straightforward, revealing the unique cruelty of fighting on the battlefield: "Thanks to the monks and soldiers of the Western Frontier, on the corridor with no danger and no way to retreat, with fifteen thousand infantry Forgive me for not being able to rescue the blocked 50,000 cavalry. In the end, the general will only block the southward route of the remaining border cavalry of the Southern Dynasty according to the established strategy. Together with the 4,000 iron pagodas of the Ning'emei tribe, they will definitely cut off the main force of the Huang and Song Pu tribes from retreating north. Lu, Xie Xiqiao and the monks and soldiers in Landa Mountain are dead or alive, and we, the Qingyuan Army Town Cavalry, are helpless."
In fact, the real ruthlessness of the battlefield lies in the implication of Shifu's military inscription: Even if our Shifu cavalry can arrive at the corridor battlefield in time, as long as the Xiexi Frontier Infantry still has the strength to stop the Southern Dynasty's border cavalry. The main force, then the Qingyuan Army Town Cavalry will stop their horses far away and choose not to save them! In case the main force of the Southern Dynasty cavalry gave up rushing to the aid of Laonu Mountain, but fled north decisively, returned to the Southern Dynasty and re-dispersed into the Dajunzhen Pass.
The young vassal king did not summon the generals to the council hall to discuss the matter, and he did not even send the stone talisman's military text, which warned in advance to "go directly to the study room", to the military room for browsing and circulation. That evening, Xu Fengnian sat quietly in the study for a while, then wrote a letter and handed it back to Liangzhou General Shi Fu. The content was also concise and comprehensive. It roughly talked about the follow-up disposal of the battlefield in that corridor. Since you are a general of a state, Shi Fu, naturally Do things expediently and don't have to report everything to Beicheng. When the young vassal prince finally stamped the official seal of "King of Northern Liang" on the large blank space on the letter, the green-shirted counselor took the official document and turned around and left in a hurry. The young vassal prince sat alone in the study, silent for a long time.
The night is as cold as water, but the lights of the feudal residence in Jubei City are still bright, and the sound of footsteps is like the sound of drums, which has long been accustomed to it.
Xu Fengnian was in the study, looking down at the two situation maps on the table, which were mainly about Laohu Mountain and Huaiyang Pass. He suddenly looked up and saw Yang Shenxing, Gu Dazu and Bai Yu walking together with serious expressions on their faces. Gu Dazu's voice was hoarse and he said in a deep voice: "I just got the news that Murong Baoding personally led two troops each.The Donglei Jingqi and Rouran cavalry, plus the 30,000 reinforcements from Wang Yong, the commander of the Aquarius Prefecture, successively attacked the main force of 24,000 left cavalry in the far reaches of the mainland. Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao were unable to rescue them! "
Yang Shenxing said bitterly: "From this point of view, the 10,000 Rouran cavalry who fought with the right cavalry Li Yanchao earlier were just bait. The remaining 20,000 Rouran cavalry have already joined Murong Baoding's direct troops. They have been fighting since the beginning. They came to the left cavalry. The so-called splitting the troops into two groups and sending 30,000 Rouran cavalry to attack our Liangzhou right cavalry, while Murong Baoding sat in the camp of 20,000 infantry and stood still, is all a pretense. The infantry pretended to be Rouran cavalry, and finally joined forces with Wang Yong to encircle and suppress the Zuo cavalry."
Xu Fengnian's face turned pale and he murmured in a low voice: "Twenty thousand Donglei private cavalry, twenty thousand Rouran cavalry, plus 30,000 Aquarius State elite cavalry, and a total of 70,000 Beimang first-class cavalry."
Just as Yang Shenxing was about to speak, Bai Yu tugged on the cuffs of the Spring and Autumn veteran, signaling with his eyes that the old man should not speak for the time being.
The young vassal king, who was sitting attentively behind the desk, slowly raised his head and asked: "How are the casualties among the Beimang barbarians?"
Yang Shenxing tried her best to calm down the fierce emotions in her heart and replied: "Murong Baoding did not invest all its troops at once. After the Donglei private army lost more than 9,000 people in the battle, it still did not withdraw from the battlefield, and then invested 20,000 Rouran cavalry in one go. Lu Dayuan The Zuo Cavalry fought until Wang Yong's cavalry entered the battlefield. At that time, the remaining Dong Lei Cavalry had to stand by and watch. On the battlefield, there were almost no Rouran Cavalry. The Aquarius State Cavalry still lost more than 6,000 people. . Only 800 riders of the Zuo Cavalry Army broke out of the siege and returned to Jubei City. The first deputy commander of the Zuo Cavalry Army, Lu Dayuan, and the other two deputy commanders were all killed in the battle. "
In the early autumn, there were strong soldiers of the Zuo Cavalry Army, and hundreds of cavalrymen raised their arms and flew eagles outside Jubei City. I still vividly remember this.
Gu Dazu suddenly said bluntly: "With the left cavalry army gone, the right cavalry army is alone and unable to contain the situation outside the Liangzhou Pass north of Jubeicheng and south of Chongzhong. The prince must not agree to Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao's initiative to ask for war!"
Xu Fengnian nodded and said: "Immediately pass the order to Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao. The right cavalry army should try its best to avoid Beimang's main force going south next!"
Bai Yu said helplessly: "The military order of the Golden Partridge actually arrived at Yang Jiedushi's barracks. From the commander to the three deputy commanders and all the captains, they all signed their bloody fingerprints, requesting a fight to the death and guaranteeing at least total annihilation. Murong Baoding's Dong Lei Cavalry and Wang Yong's main force."
Xu Fengnian stood up and said sternly: "Then add one more sentence and clearly tell Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao that it is easy to die. If they dare to disobey the military order of Beicheng, I, Xu Fengnian, will personally go outside the customs and twist off their heads!"
Yang Shenxing, who had never seen a young feudal king angry in front of him, was horrified. Gu Dazu sighed softly, while Bai Yu was calm and composed, smiling and said: "If Jubeicheng replies to the right cavalry army like this, it will be much easier for Old General Yang and me, the governor of Liangzhou. .¡±
The three Jubeicheng bosses left quickly with their own thoughts. Wang Jijiu, who was on duty in the ceremony room, carried two bottles of green ant wine and walked into the study. He saw that the young feudal prince had not yet sat down and was standing on the desk. Finally, looking down at the two large seals on the table, one was naturally the seal of King Liang who moved the world. It was regarded as the most powerful small object in the world during the entire Liyang Yonghui period. In the past twenty years, as long as it involved five thousand people in the northwest border, The above-mentioned deployment of troops and generals all need to be stamped with this seal. The shape of this seal is exactly the same as that of the Zhao Dynasty today. It imitates the orthodox Chu style of the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is a jade seal with jade chopsticks. The strokes of the seal are evenly fat and thin without being sharp. It is well versed in the meaning of righteousness and peace in Confucianism and has always been praised as authentic calligraphy. . But next to this seal of the King of Liang, there is also a seal that has long since withdrawn from the officialdom of Beiliang. After the Xu family's cavalry followed the king to vassal Beiliang, Tu Xuxiao entered Beiliang, this side was customarily called the seal of the general. The simple copper seal was occasionally seen in some important military documents outside the Pass. With the official hereditary succession of the crown prince Xu Fengnian as the King of Northern Liang, it was completely out of sight of the frontier army. The general's seal is made of willow leaves and copper seals with tiger buttons. It is three inches square and nine inches thick. It is shaped like a tiger sitting on a dragon's plate. Nowadays, the permanent powerful generals starting with the three characters "Wuzheng Zhenping" of the Liyang Army have already switched to the Chiding script. The silver seal, the willow leaf script with a knife-like font, was discarded. There is actually a large seal in Qingliang Mountain, which is mainly used for the promotion and promotion of Beiliangdao officials. Xu Fengnian left it to the deputy economic officer Song Dongming, allowing him to stamp the seal on his own after approving the official document to show that he "solely holds power" ¡± transcendent status.
After the king sat down with wine, he opened two bottles of wine, leaned forward and handed one to the young feudal king, enjoying himself alone was not as good as everyone else.
The old Confucian scholar raised his head and drank a sip of strong wine, shouted happily, and then looked sideways at Xu Fengnian, "I have heard about the Zuo Cavalry Army. Some words have been accumulated in my stomach for twenty years, and I won't spit it out. You don¡¯t have to say anything, just drink and listen to me.¡±
Xu Fengnian sat back in the chair gently and nodded.
This well-known literary master and scholar leader said slowly: "I have always been knowledgeable about military matters on the battlefield, but I know nothing about them. So in addition toI have brought some scholars to Beiliang, which is a small achievement, but I have no real achievements to show for it. I can only stay in the academy in the backcountry to study. Over the years, I have secretly traveled to Beiliang many times. I have met Xu Xiao a few times, and I have met Li Yishan from Tingchao Pavilion a few times. Xu Xiao is famous for being a bad chess player. His chess playing skills are at the bottom of the world, but his chess skills are the best in the world, so I don¡¯t like him. Deal with him"
Sensing the strange expression on the young feudal lord's face, the old master continued to say shamelessly: "Li Yishan is a rare person who transcends the customs. It is natural that he will put his eyes above his head and regard me as his confidant."
Xu Fengnian finally couldn't help but said: "That's almost enough."
The old master probably choked on his drink and coughed several times. The pot of green ants' wine spilled all over his clothes. The old man patted his robe casually and said, "Li Yishan, who is in retreat on the top floor of Tingchao Pavilion, stands too high and sees too far, so Loneliness is unavoidable. All saints and sages have been like this since ancient times, and there is no way to escape it. Every time I go there to visit, even though Li Yishan doesn't give me a good look, I actually know that this guy must be a little happy in his heart. He got drunk a few times. Li Yishan would also say some heartfelt words to me, never talking about what was going on with the Liyang court, saying that there was less of a mastermind Xu Xiao, and more of things happening in the northwest"
At this point, the old master, who was extremely suspected of relying on his old age, paused for a moment, drank a big sip of green ant wine, stuffed it in his mouth first, then suddenly raised his neck, and poured it into his stomach in an instant. His old body could not help but tremble, and his cheeks were vicissitudes of life. He blushed a little, and then continued: "As for the strategizing of the literati and the military strategy of the scholars, I don't accept Liyang Yuan Benxi, let alone Nalan Youci in southern Xinjiang, and even Huang Longshi doesn't accept it. As for suppressing it even after death. Zhao Changling, who is on the other side of Li Yishan, hey, let alone that. As for why Zhao Changling was more famous than Li Yishan before and after his death, both Li Yishan himself and Xu Xiao, who was actually well-connected, all had their own difficulties. Li Yishan Zhao Changling, who was born as a humble scholar and the grandson of the great Chu lord, is almost the same as the 'Song Family Yushu' in Song Maolin in Western Chu. Zhao Changling originally chose to assist Xu Xiao when he was in trouble. What kind of battle was it? Eight hundred families in the mighty family. Servant, can you imagine? Anyway, old man, I don¡¯t want to think about it. The more I think about it, the more envious and jealous I become. If Xu Xiao wants to win over the nobles from the north and south of the Yangtze River, Zhao Changling is an eye-catching banner, otherwise Xu Xiao will say, ¡®The whole army can If you die in battle, Mr. Zhao must live, are you talking about such nonsense?"
The old man smiled and said, "Of course, Zhao Changling is also very capable. In the middle and late wars when Xu Xiao destroyed the Six Kingdoms in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhao Changling contributed a lot and became famous and had such a good reputation that even the old Emperor Liyang Zhao Li wanted to invite him to the center of the temple to become a marquis and prime minister, but what about Li Yishan? The old emperor Zhao Li never mentioned it. In fact, Xu Xiao highly praised Zhao Changling every time he reported military exploits. There are flowers in bloom, but as long as it¡¯s about Li Yishan¡¯s plan, there¡¯s not a word about it. My lord, do you know why?¡±
Xu Fengnian said calmly: "I only know that those gorgeous and beautiful articles were instructed by Xu Xiao and then written by my master."
The old man nodded, "So, the old emperor and Xu Xiao actually have a good understanding. Mr. Zhao, if the Liyang court can dig out the foundation with a hoe, then Xu Xiao will admit defeat, but Li Yishan, who is relatively unknown in the government and the public, don't even think about it, otherwise he will If we cross the line, Xu Xiao may actually start a rebellion."
Xu Fengnian smiled and said: "Revolt is an exaggeration. My master was the first to object."
The old man opened his mouth and stared angrily: "Give me an example, don't you understand?"
Xu Fengnian finally picked up the pot of fragrant green ant wine and took a sip, "Old sir, please continue to point out the country."
The old man suddenly asked: "What do I want to say first?"
Xu Fengnian put down the wine bottle and said, "Speaking of which, you two often talk about things in the northwest."
The old man suddenly realized, "Yes, yes, Li Yishan once revealed a secret to me when he was drunk, saying that if Beiliang wants to defeat Beimang in the worst case scenario, it must first create a situation!"
Halfway through his mysterious words, the old man stopped talking, squinted his eyes and smiled, looking at the many objects placed on the desk with the corner of his eye. When the old man's eyes rested on the seal of King Liang, Xu Fengnian asked with a smile: "Even if I am willing to give it to Mr. , Sir, dare to accept it?"
The old man's gaze shifted slightly to the bronze seal of the general, which now only had symbolic meaning. Xu Fengnian glared at each other and said unceremoniously: "Don't even think about it!"
The old man who originally planned to take advantage of the situation looked reluctant to part with him, and murmured regretfully: "Liu Yewen, who has the character of a Dafeng frontier fortress, is not common."
?Then the old man raised his chin and saw the white jade seeds next to the pot of green ant wine of the young feudal lord. His eyes lit up. This pauper, the new Liang King, actually left behind something worth a piece of silver?
Xu Fengnian put away the piece of seed material and sneered: "Mr. Wang has the ability."Grab it, or stop dreaming. "
The old man curled his lips and grabbed something from a great master of martial arts. With Wang Jijiu's martial arts qualifications, I'm afraid it would be useless to give the old man another thousand years of martial arts training. No such young man would bully the old man.
Xu Fengnian gently held the white jade seed material and said bluntly: "I can actually guess what the master said. The only chance for our Beiliang cavalry to defeat Beimang is to first defeat the first-class border troops of Beimang and the Southern Dynasty and the elite private troops of the grassland." If they are exhausted, then Beimang can still support the third Liangmang war even if its national strength is exhausted. However, the hundreds of thousands of Beimang cavalry who seemed to be equally powerful at that time were less powerful than Liu Jinu when he guarded Hutou City. Compared with me currently defending Jubeicheng, the Beimang cavalry I faced was actually an embroidered pillow that was useless. From Dong Zhuo¡¯s private cavalry in the first Liangmang battle to Yang Yuanzan¡¯s direct cavalry in Hulukou, Liu Gui's trusted cavalry, and now the Qiang cavalry in the second battle, Hong Jingyan's Rouran cavalry in the past, Murong Baoding's Donglei Jingcai, the 20,000 cavalry of Huang Song Puzhong's army in Liuzhou, Wanyan, the powerful lord of Longguan The family¡¯s cavalry, etc., are all included here!¡±
Xu Fengnian said in a calm tone: "For example, as long as we in Liuzhou win the battle of Laomu Mountain, not only will the Gusaizhou frontier army have no elites, but most of the Southern Dynasties will be destroyed by us. This will be the first Liangmang battle. The potential advantages it brings to Beiliang.¡±
The old man asked doubtfully: "You mean there is a fatal flaw in the Beimang Taiping Order's plan?"
Xu Fengnian shook his head and said: "It's only half right."
The old man was confused and almost scratched his head.
Xu Fengnian thought for a while, picked up the wine bottle, tilted it slowly, as if he wanted to put it in front of his eyes, "So far, Beimang still has a better chance of winning, but so many people have died in Beiliang just to get this bottle." The wine pot tilted little by little. By then, the more powerful Beimang's country was, the more violent the collapse would be."
When the wine pot tilted more and more and the wine was about to pour out of the pot, Xu Fengnian gently put it away and put it back on the desk.
Xu Fengnian suddenly said for no reason, "Now I'm afraid that the old woman and the Taiping Order are willing to break the pot, not only Xijing, but also half of the Southern Dynasty. They are determined to conquer Jubei City."
The old man looked pale and asked tentatively: "Beimang isn't so crazy and decisive, is he?"
Xu Fengnian looked out the window at the night, "God knows."
The old man only thought it was a casual remark made by the young feudal lord, but he did not know that the words "God knows" were exactly what they meant.
Tuoba Bodhisattva inexplicably obtained a heavenly body, and his martial arts cultivation reached the peak of Wang Xianzhi. At the critical moment, he even surpassed it.
Since Lian Tuoba Bodhisattva is so lucky, wouldn¡¯t the old woman from Beimang, who holds half of the world¡¯s luck, be more benevolent?
Thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness.
It¡¯s a blessing from God!
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Wang Jijiu took the empty wine bottle and left.
The young vassal king once again stared at the map of the situation outside the Liangzhou Pass spread on the desk.
At the same time, in a heavily guarded tent in Beimang, a candle as thick as a baby's arm was gently swaying. The Taiping Order was independent of the table. He was also overlooking a broader map of the four states of Beiliang. He smiled and said, "All the chess players in the Central Plains say that the golden horns and the silver edges are the grass belly. Is this really true?"