The north wind blows and the white grass breaks on the ground, and the sky is full of snow in August.

It's already December, and the scenery outside Liangzhou City is exactly like "the vast sea is covered with hundreds of feet of ice."

"Hush!"

A group of cavalry rushed towards the city gate. Li Zengbo turned over and dismounted. When the cold wind blew, his body trembled and soon became stiff.

With a "shou", a puff of white breath came out of his mouth, and his beard was covered with wind and frost.

I can't adapt to the weather in Liangzhou.

Li Zengbo was still in Guangxi two years ago, but this year he has arrived in Liangzhou. He is very impatient of the cold weather in the northwest...

Originally, only the city wall remained in Liangzhou City, but within this month, an archery tower was built in the northeast corner.

Everywhere in the city were people busy building the city, carrying wood and stones back and forth.

Li Xia came down from the arrow tower, welcomed Li Zengbo and walked in. When he entered the hall, he took out a big cloak and put it on him.

Li Zengbo felt that his nose was about to freeze off. He hissed and sighed: "In this weather, the wind and snow are like knives."

Even people who usually talk about business when they open their mouths can't help but complain a little first.

"Put up the brazier."

"The prince didn't have a brazier in the house just now?"

"I took over the military affairs with Li Gong and left immediately... Speaking of this, Brother Shanfu has already transported supplies from Gongchang, including cotton clothes, charcoal, and weapons. If there is not enough food by then, the captured cattle and sheep will be slaughtered.

Bar."

"When?"

With so many things to think about, Li Xia didn't know where to start. He walked to the arrow stack and looked outside the city, frowning in annoyance.

The cold wind blew, and Li Xia thought that Uncle Li Zeng was afraid of the cold, so he closed the window again.

"When the siege lasts longer, there will never be enough food."

As soon as Li Zengbo heard this, he knew that the Mongolian army was coming.

But the conversation still had to have a rhythm, so he said: "I was about to take Xingqing Mansion, but I was recruited back."

"I have received news that Kublai Khan has sent two armies from the east and west to attack... If Li Gong continues to attack Xingqing Mansion, I am afraid that he will have to catch up with the Mongolian west route army, which has at least 50,000 troops."

Li Zengbo only brought ten thousand people to attack Xingqing Mansion this time. When he heard the comparison of forces, he lost his temper and sat by the brazier stroking his knees.

Li Xia detailed the information he had received, including the 100,000 troops on the east route led by He Bichi and Shi Tianze.

Although he was surprised that the information came so quickly and was so detailed, Li Zengbo didn't ask any more questions.

Li Xia has a background as a spy, and his intelligence is still trustworthy.

After a long time, Li Zengbo understood the current situation clearly and sighed.

"We have been fighting for a lifetime and defending the city for a lifetime. We have just recovered a few cities and now we have to defend the city again."

"Don't be too greedy, Mr. Li. Attack and defense are common tasks for military strategists, and you can't always attack." Li Xiawei said with a teasing tone, "Recover two cities, defend one, and continue to recover in the coming year. This is

The rhythm it should have.”

Li Zengbo reacted very slowly. He looked at the brazier in trance for a while, then he spoke slowly and said in a deep voice: "Don't you plan to return to Hanzhong?"

When he said he wanted to regain the Hexi Corridor, he was very enthusiastic, but when the situation changed, he was able to remain rational.

With a thin hand in the air, he gestured to Li Xia to listen to him first.

"This time, our predictions were wrong. We thought that the battle for the throne would be endless. We calculated that after Kublai Khan got rid of Li Fen, he should send troops to Ali Buge's Wu... Wu..."

"Urusi."

"I underestimated Kublai Khan." Li Zengbo said: "I thought the Huru would definitely think, 'The territory on the grassland cannot be lost. As for the Han land, it will be the same no matter when we come to take it.' I thought the Huru did not have great talents and great strategies.

My eyes will first fall on the one-third of an acre of land in my hometown."

Li Xia responded: "It turns out that Kublai Khan did have a long-term vision and saw that we were the real thorn in his side."

Li Zengbo did not agree to this sentence because he could not distinguish the relationship between "us" Li Xia and the Song Dynasty.

He continued: "Our prediction was wrong, so let's admit defeat. There is no need to feel that we have to resist because we have regained Hexi. If you have to retreat, just retreat."

"I understand what Mr. Li means. The reason why I don't want to retreat is not because I am motivated, or because I feel that after finally retaking Hexi, retreating now will be in vain."

Li Zengbo said: "I'm just afraid that you are too young to resist."

"I think Kublai Khan can't resist us, so I dare to fight this battle with him."

"If you rely on the dangers of the Qinling Mountains and the difficulty of the Shu Road, Hanzhong may be defendable, but Guanlong is not easy to defend... The decision you make has a big impact, really a big one."

Li Zengbo did not ask Li Xia for the basis first, but reminded him like this.

"The previous judgment that Kublai Khan would go north first was already wrong. If the judgment is wrong again this time... it cannot withstand a big defeat."

"It is true that it cannot withstand a big defeat." Li Xia said: "But if Guan Long is lost, he will never be able to get it back."

He didn't sit down either. He was pacing in the hall, looking very thoughtful.

"With Mongolia's strength, we have only three chances to defeat it: Brother Meng's death, Li Fen's rebellion, and Brother Ali.

With the death of Meng Ge, we regained Hanzhong and Guanlong. This was the first opportunity. Li Fen's rebellion was the second opportunity. We did not grasp it well and failed to capture Henan, but we recovered Hexi.

corridor.

Now is the third opportunity. Before Brother Alibaba is completely defeated, we must defend these strategic locations, otherwise we will never have the chance to regain them."

The thoughtful Li Xia said this, but there was some determination in his eyes.

As a human being in two lifetimes, he has an experience saying that sometimes people have to make seemingly difficult choices.

For example, it's like in the morning in winter, no matter how sleepy or tired you are, you have to climb out of the warm bed and walk into the cold air to wake up from your sweet dreams and sleepiness, so that you can complete all the things you have to do in a busy day.

Opportunity, time, these are things that will never come back once they are gone.

"This opportunity must not be missed, and the time will never come again. I have definite information. Brother Alibaba will soon counterattack Harakhalin, so I think Kublai Khan cannot resist us."

Li Zengbo still did not ask about Li Xia's source of information. He first reminded: "Don't place your expectations on others. Brother Ali may not be reliable."

"I understand, but what I mean is that Kublai Khan will be at his weakest in the next few years. Next year, he will be stronger."

"We can withdraw first, and if Kublai Khan and Alibaba fight next year, we can counterattack..."

"This is to place expectations on others." Li Xia said, "By next year, Brother Ali will probably collapse at the first touch. That's why I said that his role is in the period before he actually fights Kublai Khan.

…His momentum is more intimidating than himself.”

Li Zengbo didn't understand this sentence. After thinking about it, he still felt that the situation was very subtle.

He finally asked: "What kind of information can enable the prince to make such a judgment?"

"The puppet arranged by Brother Ali, Aruhu, who succeeded the Chagatai Khanate, has now recruited an army of 150,000..."

When Li Xia carefully explained the situation west of the Tianshan Mountains, Li Zengbo finally understood.

He fiddled with the charcoal fire in the brazier and analyzed: "There are 150,000 reinforcements in the west alone. Coupled with the army brought from his territory in the north, Brother Ali's momentum is extraordinary. When the news reaches Kaiping, it will be enough to

Deterring Kublai Khan."

"Yes." Li Xia said, "The momentum is really powerful."

"But it's just momentum, right?"

"I don't know about Aruhu, but his territory is no less generous than that of the Great Song Dynasty. A king with thousands of miles of mountains and rivers and the ability to summon an army of 100,000 in a short period of time is just a puppet?"

"He is still the puppet of Brother Alibu... who is strong on the outside but weak on the inside." Li Zengbo shook his head, "I don't believe it."

"Did Li Gong also see that Brother Ali was a strong man on the outside?"

"Although we are thousands of miles away, we only look at these pieces of information. Brother Ali was so popular, but he abandoned Hara and Lin and fled." Li Zengbo said: "It's like..."

"Like Emperor Huizong abandoning Bianliang and fleeing?" Li Xia asked.

Li Zengbo's face turned ugly, but he still said: "Abandoning the temple and living in a distant place will cause the hearts of the people in the capital to collapse, and the situation is irreversible."

From this point of view, Ali Buge is as cowardly as Zhao Song Huang.

Li Xia had already given the news of Brother Meng's death in advance, but it was useless. What Ali did not lack was never the news, but courage.

He didn't have the courage. Even if he got the news early, he would still have to take chances and hope that Kublai Khan would attend some kind of Khulil Tai Conference.

If you don't have the guts to defend yourself, you will abandon Hara and Forest and run away. Even though you are thousands of miles away, you will be looked down upon by others.

"Aruhu seems to support Ali Bu Ge, but in fact he will never be loyal to such a great Khan. Therefore, I say that Ali Bu Ge only has momentum. Then, the impact he can bring to the world situation lies in Kublai Khan's

This period of time before going to conquer him. This time is very short and fleeting. If we withdraw from Hexi, Guanzhong, and Longxi, we will never have the chance to regain it, so we can only defend and cannot retreat."

Li Zengbo nodded.

A fallen leaf tells the world of autumn. Li Xia was able to get a glimpse of the world's trends from this piece of information. This insight was rare.

"Where did the prince get this news from the Western Regions? If we release the news, maybe the Mongolian army can retreat..."

"You can, but it's not very useful." Li Xia said, "In order for the Mongolian army to retreat, we have to wait until Brother Ali poses a threat. Only information is useless."

Yelu Xiliang was blindfolded and taken all the way to the Arrow Tower.
To be continued...