Everyone would lose their temper when someone was called out late at night, but Su Ce's words made the person who was called out lose their temper.
"This is not Jiuhu, but one country."
"Everyone, I don't know if you agree with what I said!"
Su Ce took out the tray without any reservations.
I saw five people with different expressions, one who was calm, one who was frightened, one who was uneasy...all kinds of things.
"One's word is light! Write my name." Lieutenant Li did not hesitate. He had already speculated like this.
"Sign! It's urgent to send the letter to the Protector at eight hundred miles away."
…
A blank piece of paper signed by six temporary captains, a bamboo tube stamped with six red ink pads, and a team of couriers galloping through the starry night.
…
Blue sky, white clouds, bright sunshine, what should be the green grassland before the eyes, but now there are countless men fighting here.
The right time, right place, right people, and the foundation of the art of war are these six words.
"Report, Protector, Anbeicheng, urgent report!"
It took a whole day to send a letter from Anbeicheng to Li Sizhe's headquarters. Out of a group of eleven messengers, only seven arrived and four fell off their horses.
"Oh? An urgent report from Anbei Mansion." Li Sizhe turned around and took his eyes away from the map.
The bodyguard stopped the messenger and handed the bamboo tube to Li Sizhe.
Li Sizhe held a bamboo tube with six seals on it, one for the commander of the lower garrison, one for the commander of the middle garrison, and one for the brigade commander. (The six are temporary captains, and their actual duties are still their previous military positions)
This is the first time Li Sizhe has received such an urgent report, and it is all a junior officer in Daqian.
Originally, Li Sizhe would not accept such letters from above the hierarchy.
However, if the military report sent by the Eight Hundred Miles Emergency Report was false, the signer would be demoted or beheaded in the worst case. Therefore, the letter was not taken lightly just because it came from a low-level officer.
Li Sizhe was already prepared. The content of this letter may be very important.
Separate the ink pad and take out the paper inside.
Li Sizhe's gray beard trembled. He murmured: "No wonder! No wonder!"
The commander of an army must not lose courage!
Li Sizhe quickly calmed down.
"Send the order! The third guard general Wang Qi'an, with two thousand cavalry, attacks Xinhu and wants to survive! I will be of great use!"
"Here's the order, the baggage team is recruiting merchants from the north. They are going to go to the far north. Please listen to me."
Li Sizhe turned around to look at the map and made deductions in his mind.
If what the letter said is true, then what the Northern Expedition Army is doing now is not to attack, but to gather the troops and return to the Anbei Protectorate.
But Li Sizhe didn't dare to make this decision.
The Anbei Protectorate worked hard for ten years, constantly encroaching on the grassland and accumulating strength, and finally managed to accumulate 100,000 elites. But now Li Sizhe is not willing to lead the army to withdraw.
The emperor of the imperial capital would not be reconciled.
All the efforts were accomplished in one battle. This battle almost emptied the pass. If we win, everyone will be happy. If it is really like what the letter said, it will not be as simple as withdrawing the troops. How can the 1.5 million people on the north bank be evacuated? Where to evacuate?
where.
Li Sizhe's body swayed, and he leaned on the table, feeling his rapidly beating heart, inhaling in large gulps and exhaling in small gulps, trying to calm himself down.
The general has gray hair, how sad!
Two hours later, Wang Qi'an personally pressed the two prisoners to the commander's tent. He was getting more and more confused now. Today he went to arrest people. Two thousand cavalry faced three thousand infantry, with a loss of 20%. If he hadn't bullied the other party and had no cavalry, he might have been afraid.
It means leaving half of your son behind.
"Guard Protector, I brought what you asked for!" Wang Qi'an looked at the Protector's pale face and thought it was because he was worried about the war and didn't get enough rest, so he didn't think about anything else.
As it was getting late, eight merchants arrived. The merchants looked frightened. The baggage train was a caravan organized by the local state government. After all, there were no big cadres or spare money to maintain so many carriages during non-war times, so the baggage train was usually composed of Businessmen can join only after being guaranteed by wealthy families in various places.
"Have you ever been to the north?" The merchants were seeking profits, and Daqian tacitly allowed the merchants to go to Jiuhu chassis to do business, but the types of goods were restricted, such as porcelain, fine wine, silk and other luxurious items.
"Yes, Marshal, I strictly followed the rules of the Daqian Merchant Company and never bought any grain or iron materials..." A leading businessman took a step forward and explained quickly.
Li Sizhe waved his hand and told the businessman not to explain. That was not what he wanted: "Does anyone understand what Jiuhu is going to the north?"
A businessman who was at the bottom of the pile stepped forward. His clothes were rough and he didn't look like a wealthy businessman at all.
"A certain name is Fu Di. The Shang Dynasty stipulates that each barbarian can only have one barbarian order. The villain's family is poor and cannot afford a good barbarian order, so he can only rely on other people's names. However, the villain does not mess with the rules. Jiuhu The villain has been to the north, sixteen of them, and a certain one has come back!" After Fu Di finished speaking, he listened for a moment, took a look at Li Sizhe's expression, saw the commander indicating to continue, and raised his hand to continue talking.
"Go up to the prairie highlands, cross the Langyan Mountain to the north, and cross thousands of miles of desert in the summer. On the way, you encounter giant wolves, tigers, black bears, and white bears. Further north are all snowfields, and to the east are forests. You can go in two directions. I don’t know if I can survive. The villain took the remaining seven people along a river and went to the west. I crossed a mountain range and found a country over there. The villain told me about it at the time, but because no one knew it, Proof, no one believes the villain. The villain stayed there for two years and escaped with a narrow escape. There really is a country over there." Li Sizhe waved his hand and interrupted Fu Di.
"There are two prisoners pressed outside the tent. Try to ask: Where are they coming from and what are they doing? Wang Qian will accompany him and make sure to let the two barbarians talk."
"Here!"
After a cup of tea, Fu Di and Wang Qi'an returned to the handsome tent. Li Sizhe's nose twitched and smelled of blood.
Wang Qi'an saluted, his face was heavy, and he hurried back to the commander's tent to reply without even wiping off the blood stains on his body.
"Commander, Fu Di has been arranged by me. There is a shortage of someone who can take charge of the army's baggage."
Li Sizhe nodded: "You can go back. Today's matter is just that I asked you if you can guarantee the supply of food and grass. You don't know anything else."
After sending the businessman away, Li Sizhe glanced at the bodyguard and closed the curtain of the handsome tent.
Wang Qian whispered and relayed to Li Sizhe what he had just asked.
"Commander, what we encountered this time was not the Xinhu from the north of Langyan Mountain, but a country. They started building forts at the northern foot of Langyan Mountain last year."
Wang Qi'an took the iron stick that Li Sizhe never left his hand and pointed at the map to Li Sizhe.
"The territory of this country is not smaller than Daqian, and the population is 10% of Daqian. There are kings, nobles, knights, civilians, and slaves. This time we are facing a duke who was sent to the northern foot of Langyan Mountain. He is the current king The Third Prince Duke of Lviv.”
"A total of 50,000 people came from Langyan Mountain this time. It will be difficult for the commander to fight this battle."
…
After listening to Wang Qi'an's words, Li Sizhe let Wang Qi'an go. This is a new enemy. According to this small group battle for more than a month, Da Gan can defeat this new enemy, but the cost is too high. He needs to weigh the pros and cons.