Fengxiang Mansion.

In the Tang Dynasty, Fengxiang Prefecture, Chengdu, Jingzhao, Henan, and Taiyuan were collectively known as the "Five Capitals" and were named "Xijing".

Liu Heima also had the title of "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses who stayed in Xijing".

Fengxiang is also one of his foundations.

After yesterday's defeat, he hurriedly retreated with his remaining troops and fled back to Fengxiang Mansion overnight.

Fortunately, Fucheng is still there.

What Liu Heima was worried about was not the Song army, but that Lian Xixian would take control of Fengxiang Mansion first.

Before the war, he and Lian Xixian said, "If we win, we will recover Longxi," but did not say what we would do if we lost.

Neither of them dared to say anything, so they were relatively speechless.

If defeated, Liu Heima plans to discuss surrender with Li Xia.

Too many soldiers and horses were captured by Li Xia, and his son was in the hands of the other party. Hanzhong and Longxi had formed a condescending attack on Guanzhong. In addition, Kublai Khan may not be able to defeat Brother Ali... In short, there are many reasons.

Even the words that Li Xia had talked with Jia Hou in detail would occasionally come to Liu Heima's mind.

The reason why he wanted to fight to the death again was not only to repay the great kindness shown to him by the great khans of the past dynasties, but also to try his best to preserve his pride.

Without a fight, he would not be convinced by Li Xia, nor would he dare to put all his family's lives on Li Xia.

The only way to determine victory or defeat in a battle is to see the situation clearly and be willing to do it.

This is a very subtle thought.

To put it simply, Liu Heima still wants to give it a try to see if he can stabilize the situation.

The still weak Li Xia surrendered, but in the end he was forced to make a helpless choice...

Lian Xixian could clearly see what Liu Heima was thinking, and of course he could see clearly that Liu Heima's intention of not adjusting the Fengxiang Mansion garrison and preserving his retreat was obvious.

Therefore, it is said, "Please let Mr. Liu go and do whatever you want, don't worry."

The implication is that he agrees to let him give it his all before making a decision.

Lian Xixian had no choice, otherwise if he was forced again, Liu Heima would not even be willing to fight.

A fight, at least there is a chance of victory,

Then call Wang Zhichen for reinforcements and strive for victory.

But in the end, he still failed.

Lian Xixian retreated only half a day earlier than Liu Heima. He had no time to control Fengxiang Mansion, so he led his confidants straight to Jingzhao Mansion.

This means that there is no longer any trust, and there is no reason to trust Liu Heima anymore.

Because he put his family's interests above those of the imperial court, he had a way of retreat before the war, but during the war he fled when he saw reinforcements arriving, secretly thinking of repeating himself.

Liu Heima knew that he could no longer be trusted, so surrendering to Li Xia was a better choice to preserve his family's fortune.

He still had the confidence to negotiate terms with Li Xia, which he had made clear before the war.

The more than 15,000 fighting forces left after the Lintao Battle were wiped out in the surprise attack on Hanzhong, and the more than 5,000 were wiped out in the decisive battle on the Weishui River. Only 1,400 were left...but there were still 5,000 elite cavalry scattered throughout the country.

.

As for the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong, there are still more than 20,000 troops garrisoned at each pass. Although their combat power is inferior, they are still enough to defend the city.

Moreover, Liu Heima has been guarding Shanxi and Shaanxi for nearly twenty years, and his status in the army is much higher than that of Lian Xixian and others.

Just by looking at a few things, we can see that when Alan Daer went south to take the exam, he dared to touch Lian Xixian and Shang Ting, but he did not dare to touch Liu Heima.

Looking back at Li Xia, although there are currently 10,000 elite troops in the Northern Expedition, Longxi is empty, so Li Xia really dares to lead his troops deep into Guanzhong? How can he capture Guanzhong? Can Sichuan and Shu sustain such a war after years of war? How to defend it after capturing Guanzhong?

There is no doubt that Li Xia needs Liu Heima's service.

Even as early as the Lunar New Year, Li Xia had already decided on the strategy to conquer Guanzhong, that is, to conquer Liu Heima.

But, how to talk about it, the difference is huge...

~~

"If you have something to say, the commander-in-chief wants to fight for Guanzhong, but he must not fight for his temporary anger..."

In the Song army's tent, Jia Hou saw that Li Xia really dared to kill people, and he looked anxious and tried to persuade him.

This is why he used his eyes to signal Liu Yuanzhen to say tough words.

Liu Yuanzhen had to tell Liu Yuanzhen hard words so that he could say soft words and restore the situation.

Li Xia, however, does not have so many skills, and he never takes advantage of others. His expression is always calm, and his tone is calm with some sincerity.

"It's not just a matter of anger. If you don't have the sincerity to talk, the two prisoners will be killed. I won't talk about it."

Jia Hou was slightly surprised that Li Xia could be so determined. He bowed and said, "You are sincere. It is precisely because of your sincerity that my brother-in-law wants to marry his daughter to the handsome man."

"Is this sincerity?" Li Xia asked, "Isn't this because you want to gain my power?"

Jia Hou didn't expect him to be so direct. He hesitated again, and finally said frankly and honestly, "When it comes to power, the Liu family's power now is not small."

"No matter how small it is, I won't argue with you." Li Xia said: "In the first month of the year, I thought it was a perfect match for my brother to marry a daughter of the Liu family as his official wife, but now, the Liu family's power is much smaller."

Jia Hou was disdainful and maintained his etiquette, and said slowly: "My brother-in-law wants to get closer to the commander-in-chief. I want my brother to marry the twelve sisters. The commander-in-chief will..."

"You call me Marshal now. If I let go, you will call me by my name tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, Liu Heima will boss me around. Will I fight for the world or he?"

It was obviously a calm tone, but when the words "fight for the world" hit their ears, Liu Yuanzhen and Liu Yuanli raised their heads, still feeling that Li Xia was so crazy.

Jia Hou was not surprised and responded: "Brother-in-law does not dare to have such an ambition."

Li Xia said: "Therefore, he lost to me."

What the two seemed to be fighting for was Liu Heima's marriage to Li Xia or Li Zhaocheng, but in fact it was the status of the Liu family after they were annexed.

"Commander, please forgive me." Jia Hou had no choice but to roll up his sleeves, pointed to the map hanging in the tent, and asked: "Can I introduce the situation in Guanzhong to the commander?"

"Can."

"This place is Fengxiang Prefecture, with more than 3,000 garrison troops. After my brother-in-law led the troops back, there are still 5,000 people. The city is located to the north of the Wei River, with open fields; this place is Xunzhou. To guard against the Song army at Xieguguan, we deployed

Two thousand soldiers..."

Jia Hou talked eloquently, first pointing to the east along the Wei River, then north along the Jing River, then along the Yellow River to talk about defense in the east, and finally circled around Shangzhou and Tongguan, talking about cities and passes.

troops.

"On the other hand, Commander-in-Chief, he only occupies a stronghold in the westernmost part of Guanzhong. How can his troops face the entire Guanzhong?"

Li Xia asked back: "Can you really report the strength of Guanzhong troops to me truthfully? It's just an exaggeration."

"But it is certain that without the Liu family, the commander would not have been able to occupy Guanzhong."

"I already have tens of thousands of prisoners of war. It won't take long to build an army of tens of thousands."

"It won't take long. My brother-in-law can also train soldiers and horses from Guanzhong. Guanzhong has this population, money and food." Jia Hou asked: "But I wonder if Shu can support the tens of thousands of troops in the Northern Expedition?"

"If you don't believe it, why don't you take a look?"

Jia Hou smiled and said: "The commander-in-chief can only deal with the Mongolian power by taking Guanzhong as early as possible. Otherwise, when the battle for the throne of Khan is over, disaster will be imminent. Why bother?"

Li Xia asked back: "Why didn't Liu Heima surrender earlier? Why did he have to wait until his second son was captured and lose his troops and generals?"

Jia Hou didn't even look at the Liu brothers who were tied there, and said calmly: "My brother-in-law has fourteen sons. It doesn't hurt to kill two of them. There are many soldiers and horses, so we can afford to lose them."

"But these two sons are the most outstanding." Li Xia said. As for how many troops Liu Heima had, he was too lazy to argue.

Liu Yuanzhen and Liu Yuanli looked embarrassed when they rarely heard Li Xia praise them.

Jia Hou held the salute again and asked: "Why doesn't the commander give in even a step?"

"I have been on the edge of a cliff for a long time and have never learned to retreat."

"The commander-in-chief is too arrogant." Jia Hou stamped his feet angrily and said with a flourish of his sleeves: "If you are so difficult to get along with, it's okay for my brother-in-law not to agree with you!"

"good."

Li Xia could calm down because he could see the situation clearly.

The Liu family has power and must borrow it.

But propriety cannot be lost.

Jia Hou looked at Li Xia deeply for a while and sighed.

He knew that he could not convince Li Xia to rely on the Liu family.

It's not that they didn't have the opportunity. In the first month of the year, the two had a deep talk.

It was that time that Li Xia looked him straight in the eyes, spoke his mind frankly.

"I have the ambition to clear up the emperor's universe and help all living beings..."

But at that time, not seeing Li Xia's strength, Jia Hou only thought that the young man was boasting.

Isn't it ridiculous that a Shu commander temporarily appointed by the weak Song Dynasty was young and arrogant and dared to claim to conquer the world without any foundation?

Later, he saw his people using strategies to annihilate an army of 40,000... and he was overwhelmed with great victories.
To be continued...