The atmosphere of discussion in the sweat tent was still the same. Tachaer felt a little proud because he guessed that Li Xia would flee to Xingqing Mansion, hoping to use this performance to make up for some of the shame of defeat.
On the contrary, Zhang Wenqian was keenly aware of the hint of displeasure in Kublai Khan's eyes. He shuddered slightly and thought to himself: "Does your Majesty think that Li Xia will not retreat?"
After thinking about it carefully, he seemed to have some enlightenment and some understanding of Kublai Khan's thoughts.
He then walked to the map and said: "It is impossible for Li Xia to fight Dayuan in the Hetao Plain. The question is whether he will defend it after returning to Xingqing Mansion, or even attempt to fight His Majesty in a vain attempt to recreate the Battle of Diaoyu City."
"Diaoyu City?" Tacha'er asked in surprise, "Xingqing Mansion is not like Diaoyu City. The terrain there is much flatter."
"But this is very much like Li Xia's style." Ai Buhua said, "This person is always thinking about opportunism and may have a decisive battle in Xingqing Mansion."
Kublai Khan finally turned around and looked over.
This is exactly what he needs his ministers to do, to pay attention to their opponents, analyze them carefully, and avoid risks in the war, instead of laughing and taking it lightly.
Zhang Wenqian quickly sensed Kublai Khan's thoughts and believed that Li Xia had the courage to fight decisively.
But Zhang Wenqian did not intend to follow the king's wishes and tell lies.
In his opinion, the reason why His Majesty thinks so is because since the imperial commander has personally marched, he certainly hopes to confront Li Xia directly instead of facing a Li Xia who can only run away.
He will only analyze the situation objectively.
"Having said that Li Xia will escape, I will deduce what will happen after Li Xia escapes."
Zhang Wenqian looked directly into Kublai Khan's eyes, showing the uprightness and wisdom of a courtier.
"Xingqing Mansion was lost in my hands, and I know where it is. After the destruction of the Xixia Kingdom, the population was sparse, the farmland was deserted, and the city was not repaired. In terms of military strength, city defense, and materials, it was simply not enough to withstand His Majesty's army. There was no decisive battle.
Conditions. In my opinion, his best way is to shrink his troops and defend here...Longshan."
He clicked on the map and said: "If I were Li Xia, I would give up the entire territory of Xixia, abandon Liupan Mountain, strengthen the walls and clear the wilderness, only guard Longshan, and try to protect Guanzhong."
Ai Buhua asked: "You mean, if the Great Khan fights all the way, he will encounter another real tough battle in Longshan?"
"This is the wisest thing to do. Since he has retreated, he might as well give up the entire Xixia, which is vast and sparsely populated."
"Why?"
"Because he absolutely can't hold on."
Ai Buhua was a little puzzled and asked: "Mr. Zhang, are you underestimating the enemy too much?"
"It's not that I underestimate the enemy."
Zhang Wenqian took two steps, took the strategic map from Heli Huosun, took a look at it, and saluted Kublai Khan. When Kublai Khan nodded, he said: "Just now, there was an army that didn't say anything... King Anxi
He has returned from the Western Region."
"How dare he?!"
Many ministers were very surprised and said: "King Anxi led the army to march westward, how dare he return without permission?!"
"This is His Majesty's will."
Everyone turned around and saw that Kublai Khan had a sullen face and did not deny it, and then they stopped talking.
Only Tachaer knew what was going on, and sneered in his heart: "This is the tradition of the Great Mongolia."
Zhang Wenqian calmly drew another stroke on the map and said: "The army will not conquer the Western Regions, but conquer Li Xia first. If he is unwilling to give up the land of Xixia and Liupan Mountain, and then hand over Xiliji, then he will not even fight
There is no need to fight a tough battle, he will die in the northwest before he returns to Chang'an."
No one in the sweat tent denied this.
When the 150,000-strong army returns from the Western Expedition, if it is in the hands of Tacha'er or Ai Buhua, there is still a chance that it will be defeated by Li Xia.
But this time it was Kublai Khan himself.
The two armies combined totaled more than 200,000 men. Their strategy was sound and their command was smooth, so they could not be defeated.
Zhang Wenqian said that Li Xia was able to hold on to the wall and defend the pass, which was a high regard for him.
"What Duke Zhong Qian said is true. I assert that Li Xia will not only escape, but also lose the entire northwest!"
The person who stood up to speak at this time was Zhang Yi, the minister of the Jinlianchuan shogunate and the commander of the Eagle Guard.
Zhang Yi was a close friend of Liu Bingzhong, Zhang Wenqian and others, and was hailed as one of the "Five Heroes of Purple Mountain" by people at the time. Three years ago, he was recommended by Liu Bingzhong to be the commander of the Eagle Guard, and he became a prominent figure in the Yuan Dynasty.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, there was some subtle darkness in Kublai Khan's eyes.
Because no emperor would like his spy chief to be too close to his eldest son.
In this regard, both Zhang Yi and Zhen Jin were in trouble with Kublai Khan, so Kublai Khan sent Zhen Jin to Tibet. Unexpectedly, these things happened later.
Only Emperor Dayuan knew whether he would blame everything on Zhang Yi.
"Based on my knowledge of the intelligence in Guanzhong, Tang State is definitely not ready for a big war with Dayuan. Li Xia has no choice but to withdraw to Chang'an. It can even be said that it is impossible for him to defend Guanzhong. Chen
It is also believed that Li Xia already knew about the withdrawal of King Anxi's army, and Lian Xixian must have sent him a message since he was in the Western Regions. In addition, based on the movements of the Military Intelligence Department, he should also be aware of Dayuan's troop distribution, so
, he sets up a defense line and will definitely shrink it to Guanzhong..."
Zhang Yi said a lot.
As the commander of the Eagle Guard, his analysis was very methodical, and all the ministers nodded their heads.
Kublai Khan finally lost his anger and realized that his ministers did not underestimate the enemy, but had carefully analyzed it.
However, Zhang Yi said two more words later.
"Another point is that Li Xia doesn't need to rush into a decisive battle. It is the most suitable strategy for him to huddle up and defend for the future. After all, he is only twenty-six or seven years old..."
Kublai Khan glanced at Zhang Yi indifferently, and couldn't help but wonder whether Zhang Yi meant that Li Xia could outlast him.
A murderous intention sprouted in my heart...
~~
Bank of the Yellow River, Nanhaizi Wharf.
It was more than two hundred and fifty miles from Wulate Ranch. The horses ran wildly all night and finally fell to the ground and foamed at the mouth. But the messenger still handed Li Xia's letter into Zhang Jue's hand.
Zhang Jue looked at it for a long time, then sniffed sharply.
He summoned the generals, patted his helmet, and wanted to speak, but he cursed "mother" instead.
"Commander?"
Liu Jinsuo said loudly: "If you have anything to do, just tell me, what part of the world have I not seen?"
"Commander, please tell me straight. The generals will never lose their morale."
"The morale is so bad." Zhang Jue suddenly grinned, showing his teeth, as if he wanted to eat someone, and said: "Good thing, great thing."
He took off the armor on his head, pointed to the Yin Mountain to the north, and said: "Here comes the chieftain, just at the other end of the Yin Mountain. Hahaha, the opportunity for our brothers to make contributions has finally come. Let me tell you, Kublai Khan's head will not be lost."
Will he be killed by any other army? He will die at the hands of our Yan'an army!"
"Kill the chieftain! Kill the chieftain!"
There was even a former member of Diaoyu City who slapped his chest and said: "Behead Brother Meng first, then Kublai Khan! You have to look at us Shu people to kill the captives! Damn it, we have to look at us Shu people!"
"good!"
Seeing the morale of the army, Zhang Jue nodded vigorously.
In this somewhat cold weather, my forehead was covered with sweat.
Patting the letter in his hand, he turned to look at the Yellow River in the south and said: "Today, His Majesty sent dozens of orders to Chang'an and mobilized a large number of reinforcements to meet us."
"good!"
"But until these reinforcements arrive, we are the only one who can hold off Kublai Khan."
"Then hold him back!"
Zhang Jue was silent for a while and then said: "I tell you the truth, this battle is difficult. It is more difficult than the battle of Diaoyu City. The strength of both sides is similar to that of the battle of Diaoyu City, but we do not have a mountain city and no baggage. Here
We are still in enemy territory, we are facing Kublai Khan."
He turned his head and looked at the generals under his command, Liu Jinsuo, A Ji, Cheng Cong, Shi Jin, Shi Zheng... and then looked at his soldiers further away.
After a long time, he continued.
"Many people will die, and the entire army may even be wiped out. Are you afraid?"
"Handsome."
The speaker was Cheng Cong.
This is when Zhang Jue personally went to the city to persuade him to join Li Xia, an old general from Diaoyu City when he was in Chongqing Prefecture.
He raised his finger and pointed to the sky, smiling, and said.
"General Wang is watching from the sky."
"..."
Zhang Jue cursed again and shouted: "Then listen to my military order. First, connect all our ships together, fix them on the Yellow River, and build a pontoon bridge."
"yes……"
~~
At noon, Zhang Hongfan got on his horse and prepared to go west to pursue Li Xia.
But just as he sat down on the saddle, he glanced back to the east and muttered: "Li Xia has retreated, has Zhang Jue retreated?"
"Commander, His Majesty's decree is for us to pursue Li Xia." Qianhu Li Ting, who was accompanying him, reminded him.
"I know." Zhang Hongfan pondered, and then said: "I just think that with Li Xia's temper, if he wants to retreat, he should let Zhang Jue retreat at the same time."
Li Tingdao: "But Yang Ben was defeated, and Li Xia's west route had less than 10,000 troops left, and the road back was far away; on the contrary, Zhang Jue's 20,000 troops could retreat intact as long as they crossed the Yellow River."
Zhang Hongfan thought for a while, then finally nodded and said, "Yes."
"What are you worried about, Commander?"
"It's nothing to worry about, it's just a little weird."
"The two Zhang Gongs in the Khan tent made a very clear analysis. Your Majesty is going to fight in person. If Li Xia doesn't escape, he will die. If he escapes, he will lose the entire northwest first."
"That's what I deduced." Zhang Hongfan smiled lightly, "But I'm still thinking about whether there is a third possibility."
"Have it?"
"Not yet. By the way, who is going to annihilate Zhang Jue?"
"Mangu leads the marshal."
"I got it." Zhang Hongfan pinched the horse's belly and ordered: "Speed up the whole army and don't let Li Xia get too far."
Because he was facing Li Xia, he was unconsciously alert and kept sending out probing horses. What he feared most was to have Li Xia's soldiers and horses out of his sight.
He vaguely felt that if there was a third possibility in this battle, even if it was a slim possibility, Li Xia would fight for it desperately rather than lose the northwest.
Then you must keep an eye on Li Xia's troops to avoid such an accident...