Li Jiuzhou newly acquired Jiang Chong and his entourage, so he arranged them as his followers. He thought that he was also a Dingyuan general after all, and it was not too much to have dozens of followers.

Not long after they passed Jiannan Pass and entered Jiannan Road, Li Jiuzhou ordered his troops to be stationed in Chengdu Prefecture first, waiting to join Yang Guozhong's army.

Yang Guozhong's march here was extremely slow.

Yang Guozhong wished that the war would be over by the time he reached the border, and the soldiers did not want to come to fight in the first place, so he stopped and dilly-dallyed along the way, arriving at Chengdu five days later than Li Jiuzhou and his party.

Yang Guozhong had previously served as the military governor of Jiannan, and he had many old acquaintances. He also held a high position in Beijing, so local officials of all sizes came to welcome him.

Another banquet was held to welcome Yang Guozhong, but this was delayed for several days.

The war on the border was already tense. After hearing the reports from the soldiers returning from the front line, Yang Guozhong felt a little timid. He also added the local officials to add fuel to the fire, saying that Nanzhao was ferocious, so he hesitated whether to lead troops there.

So many generals gathered in the hall to discuss what to do.

Most generals advocated watching the fire from across the bank first, and then making decisions based on the war situation at the border.

There were also several generals who did not express their opinions.

Only one loud voice came out, causing all the generals to look back.

Li Jiuzhou took a strode forward and said in an excited voice: "At this time, the soldiers on the border are killing the enemy in a bloody battle. There are 200,000 of us. If we stand still, we are afraid of chilling the hearts of the soldiers on the front line."

Li Jiuzhou was also afraid of death. Before he came, he was unwilling to do so, but now that he has come and has many soldiers, he should fight well.

Yang Guozhong hummed softly, "Our army has traveled a long distance and is facing it with a tired army. I'm afraid there will be something wrong. Let's rest for a few days first."

Li Jiuzhou argued rationally: "Nanzhao's sergeants have been fighting for days, and they are already exhausted. Our army of tigers and wolves, using leisure to attack labor, will surely be invincible."

Yang Guozhong didn't want to pay attention to him and turned around.

Li Jiuzhou caught up with him and said, "Mr. Yang, the people on the border are living in dire straits. If we don't send troops again and let the people from Nanzhao come over to kill the generals, I'm afraid it will be hard to explain to the emperor in the future."

Yang Guozhong pondered, and what he said seemed to make sense.

If you lose your territory, it will be difficult to explain it in front of the emperor. Even if you want to make a false report, it will not be easy to tell the lie.

Yang Guozhong looked at the generals in the hall, but no one agreed with Li Jiuzhou.

"General Li's words make sense. Let's reorganize first and send out troops tomorrow." Yang Guozhong agreed with Li Jiuzhou's opinion and then said, "General Li, you will lead five thousand troops and lead the charge."

Li Jiuzhou felt a chill in his heart. Yang Guozhong was so cunning that he allowed himself to take the lead while he watched from behind.

If he wins, he can lead his troops forward and take the credit.

If he was defeated, he would have time to retreat.

But that was it, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet.

Li Jiuzhou led five thousand soldiers and rushed to the border of Sizhou first.

He saw many fleeing soldiers along the way, and Li Jiuzhou forced them to join the team.

According to these soldiers, the war situation on the front line is no longer optimistic and has even reached the point of pessimism.

It is said that Tubo sent 600,000 troops to rescue Nanzhao, but the tens of thousands of Jiannan troops on the front line could not resist it and retreated steadily.

This is not surprising. A series of manipulations by frontline officers Zhang Qiantuo, Xian Yu Zhongtong and others forced Nanzhao to directly turn to Tubo, turning from a junior partner of the Tang Dynasty into a good brother of Tubo.

Since the last defeat of Xianyu Zhongtong, Tubo granted Nanzhao the title of brotherly kingdom, named Geluofeng the "Zanpu Zhongnan Kingdom Great Imperial Edict", and gave it a gold seal.

With Tibetan reinforcements, Nanzhao's army gained a huge advantage on the battlefield.

It's just that the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty and the Manchu Dynasty still thought that the Tang army defeated Nanzhao and were immersed in joy.

When they arrived at Yizhou, Li Jiuzhou had more than 6,000 troops and entered the city to join the defenders.

The main general had died in battle, and the deputy general, Lu Qianqian, was a young general. He briefly received Li Jiuzhou and introduced him to the battle situation on the front line. In both cases, he lost more than he won.

It is said that at this time, Nanzhao implemented the land grant system and the rural soldier system. Only those who passed the screening and passed the military skills could be assigned the fields given by the court, and were exempted from taxes and corvee.

This system also allowed Nanzhao to mobilize a large number of troops in its own territory and pose a huge threat to the Tang army who had traveled a long distance.

As for the Tang Army, the imperial military system was ineffective. Most of the soldiers in the expedition to Nanzhao were temporarily recruited civilians, and the combat capabilities of the two sides were not at the same level.

"Dizhou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Although the enemy has a large number of troops, they can't attack it for a while. The enemy has been attacking the city for days and is now exhausted. I heard that Mr. Yang is coming with an army of 200,000 people. He should be able to defeat the enemy."

Lu Qianqian's eyes were full of expectation, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was tired. It looked like he had not slept for many days.

Li Jiuzhou sighed softly: "I hope so. I am the advance troop, and the army will arrive soon. I wonder if General Lu has any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Lu Qianqian pointed out a place on the map, "The enemy is coming fiercely, but they are not good at warfare. Thirty miles southwest of Yizhou, there is Hushan. The terrain is dangerous. The enemy's granary is at the foot of the mountain. If we can capture this mountain

, destroying their food and grass may be able to repel the enemy."

Li Jiuzhou said: "Yes, without food and grass, the enemy's hundreds of thousands of troops will not be able to sustain it for long."

"The mountains in this area are long and mostly covered with jungles. This Hushan Mountain is even more densely covered with jungles, making it easy to hide troops. It is also close to where the enemy stores their grain and grass. If thousands of people can hide in the mountains, they will wait for the enemy to attack.

When the city is attacked, by taking it by surprise and burning its food and grass, it will definitely disrupt its position, but..."

What he said made sense. If there were more people, it would be easier to detect, but if there were fewer people, it wouldn't be a threat. One or two thousand people was just right. Seeing his hesitation, Li Jiuzhou asked, "Just what?"

"Hushan is far away from the city of Yizhou. If the soldiers hiding in the mountains are discovered by the enemy in advance, they will be isolated and helpless, or if the city's support is not timely, those thousands of people will become abandoned, so I don't have enough

The certainty.”

"Well, war is about winning in danger." Li Jiuzhou held his chin and fell into thinking.

Lu Qianqian added: "Moreover, Yizhou is now completely surrounded by enemy troops. It is not easy to sneak into Hushan from Yizhou."

Li Jiuzhou looked up at him, "Since General Lu proposed it before, he must have a way to get out."

"There is a way. I know there is a trail that can bypass the enemy's large army and go straight to Hushan. What I am most worried about is that if the enemy discovers us on the way, these people will become alone."

"So, those who sneaked into Hushan wanted a death squad, right?" Li Jiuzhou asked.

Lu Qianqian was confused, "What is a death squad?"

Only then did Li Jiuzhou realize that he shouldn't use modern terms and hurriedly explained: "They are thousands of soldiers who are not afraid of death."

Lu Qianqian's eyes were very sure, "Yes, no matter whether the plan succeeds or not, these thousands of people are trapped in the hundreds of thousands of troops, and they will never come back."

"We will discuss this matter tomorrow. I see that you are also exhausted. Go and rest for a while. I will be on duty tonight."

Lu Qianqian shook his head, "How can I sleep when the national crisis is facing us?"
Chapter completed!