Hearing the sound of footsteps, Yang Ben, who was sitting in the tent, raised his head and saw that it was Li Dehui, so he stood up and forced a fake smile out of his stern face.
"Sir, have you thought about it? Is there any strategy that will help me defeat the enemy?"
Li Dehui walked up to Yang Ben expressionlessly and did not sit down. He just stood there with his hands in his sleeves, looking at him with a dull look, and said: "Your Majesty just ordered Marshal Yang to contain the Hetao Yuan army. No."
Asking to defeat the enemy."
The word "marshal" refers to Yang Ben's latest appointment, who succeeded Li Zengbo as Ningxia's resettlement envoy after he took office.
Perhaps he is still immature when it comes to governing people's livelihood, but when it comes to fighting wars, he is ready to become a commander-in-chief.
"The situation has changed." Yang Ben said: "Kublai Khan has returned to Kaiping, and Zhang Hongfan has actually taken over the Yuan army in Hetao. Our West Route Army needs to do more to ensure the success of the Northern Expedition."
Li Dehui raised his eyebrows, looking uninterested.
He agreed to surrender reluctantly. At that time, Li Xia and Lian Xixian persuaded him to surrender and promised that he would not violate his loyalty.
Now that Yang Ben is out of town in Ningxia, Li Xia asked him to temporarily assist Yang Ben, obviously to make up for Yang Ben's deficiencies in people's livelihood management.
It seems that he is still not used to the change from a dignified king to a secretary under a warrior, and he is listless all day long.
But when it came time to give advice, he still told it truthfully.
"Gansu and Ningxia are already barren, and Xingqing Prefecture was even more desolate after the war. It was precisely with these considerations in mind that your Majesty ordered Marshal Yang to only contain them. Now Marshal Yang says that because the Yuan army's strength in Hetao has increased, he will do something big. Isn't it a fallacy?
?』
Yang Ben wanted to refute, but he couldn't argue with the scholar. He frowned and said, "I just want to ask you if you can come up with a strategy?"
"no."
Yang Ben couldn't help but hesitated again.
Li Dehui said: "The troops and horses supporting the northwest have been transferred back, leaving only the Ningxia army who are tired from long battles. Even the horses need to be fattened again. It is better for the marshal not to be too high-spirited."
Yang Ben was unhappy and looked closely at Li Dehui.
After a long while, he nodded and said: "Forget it, let's talk about how to contain the Yuan army."
"good."
Only then did Li Dehui agree to sit down, but he still looked like he was lacking in interest and wanted to be beaten.
Yang Ben clenched and unclenched his fists, and finally squeezed the fake smile on his face deeper and said: "By the way, the Military Intelligence Department has sent people to pick up Mr.'s family. Mr. can stay in the Tang Dynasty and serve with peace of mind.
." After hearing this, Li Dehui sighed, and his eyes finally changed, showing worry and helplessness.
He lost his father when he was five years old, and his family was poor. His mother had to dig wild vegetables to raise him, so he was extremely filial. Now that he was defeated and surrendered, leaving his family in the Yuan Realm, it was inevitable that he would feel uneasy.
But if Li Xia had not surrendered at that time, he might not have been able to keep his home when the Northern Expedition was completed.
"Marshal, don't worry. I can clearly see the general trend of the world and I must serve His Majesty."
Li Dehui finally pretended to be consulted by Yang Ben.
Yang Ben asked: "According to the news from the detective, Zhang Hongfan has been collecting defeated troops in Hetao for the past two months. I intend to send troops to sneak attack and cause some trouble for him. Due to the lack of food and grass, sir, can you make arrangements?"
This is Yang Ben's weakness and Li Dehui's strength.
However, after Li Dehui twisted his beard and pondered for a while, he said: "Send troops? With Zhang Hongfan's caution, I am afraid he has been prepared. If the marshal's purpose is to cause him some trouble, it is better to outsmart him than to attack by force."
"Outwit?"
"As far as I know, a few days ago, the Military Intelligence Department transferred how many Mongolian generals from the Ningxia Army?"
Yang Ben was slightly surprised and asked, "How do you know?"
"Last month I went to Liangzhou to transport grain and grass and talked with Shanfu."
Yang Ben was speechless for a moment.
With Lian Xixian's ability and qualifications, he always respectfully calls him "Lian Gong". However, Li Dehui, being old and an old acquaintance, always calls Lian Xixian by this name, which makes him look like he is
He is Yang Ben's superior officer.
"According to Shanfu, the few people dispatched by the Military Intelligence Department are all Mongolian generals with outstanding abilities. This time they are here to contact the remaining troops scattered north of Luoyin Mountain."
"Did Mr. Lian tell you all this?" Yang Ben was surprised again.
Yang Dehui glanced at him with those dull eyes, as if to say, "I'm more trustworthy than you think," and continued talking without answering.
"If the marshal now wants to send a small group of soldiers and horses to cross the Yin Mountain and circle to the rear of the Yuan army, Zhang Hongfan will be alert. But after contacting this group of soldiers and horses, the marshal will contain the enemy's army head-on, and they will sneak attack on the weak enemy.
Wherever you go, you’ll get twice the result with half the effort.”
Although Yang Ben did not object to this method, he felt that this was the arrangement of the imperial court and not Li Dehui's strategy.
"Outsmarting is one thing. Since I have led the troops here, I should fight the Yuan army."
Li Dehui stood up, walked to the case, glanced at the map, pointed to the nearest Yuan army stronghold marked on it, and asked: "Does the Marshal want to attack this place?"
"Yes, the traitor general Yang Wen'an has been defending Wuyuan City since he withdrew from Xingqing Mansion..."
"How about I write a letter to persuade you to surrender?"
Yang Ben didn't believe it and said: "Your Majesty failed to persuade Yang Dayuan to surrender back then, so how could he possibly be able to persuade him to surrender?"
"There's nothing to lose if you give it a try," Li Dehui said.
Yang Ben was a little sulky and took a long breath from his nose.
Like an angry cow.
"Marshal, don't be anxious." Li Dehui said again: "As a commander, you can't just consider the war. The national economy and people's livelihood, food and grass supplies, and the morale of the army will all affect the battle situation. The enemy general's thoughts will also change. How about asking the marshal to wait for a few days?"
"All right."
After Li Dehui left, a military officer in the big tent said to Yang Ben: "Commander, isn't this Li Dehui trying to take the opportunity to contact Yang Wen'an and planning to defect back to Meng Yuan?"
"Won't."
"However, it is difficult to recruit Yang Wen'an to surrender, and Li Dehui's family members are all in Mengyuan, and the old master Mang Gelu who is assisting him is also in Jiuyuan City. From various indications... Commander, you must be on guard against others."
"Go, don't bother me."
Yang Ben rubbed his forehead and felt that being a commander was much more difficult than being a general.
A general only has to fight bravely to kill the enemy, but a commander has to coordinate the affairs of all parties.
From this point of view, Zhang Hongfan is more mature than him...
~~
"Let's go!"
Wang Mancang roared and turned over to sit up.
He looked up and saw a scorching sun hanging directly above the sky. The strong light made his eyes hurt.
Then he screamed and fell to the ground again, covering his eyes with his hands.
"I...was captured?"
"Wang Hao, please open your eyes and see clearly."
Someone came over and kicked him gently, causing his wound to sting.
Only then did Wang Mancang open his eyes. First he saw Wang Li's broken boots. Then he turned his head and saw Zhurik sitting there, wrapping up his wounds.
He couldn't help but think of the battle in the early hours of last night.
At that time, a Yuan army suddenly came up and its number was three times their number. He then asked Wang Li to lead the men to break out, while he stayed behind.
I thought I would die from my injuries, but someone pulled my reins and galloped my horse out of the battlefield...
"Could it be that you kid saved me last night?" Wang Mancang suddenly patted Zhurik's head again.
Zhurik didn't respond and just smiled stupidly, showing his childishness.
Wang Mancang laughed at himself: "Damn, I was saved by a little kid." But when this rough man looked at the Mongolian child, his eyes were a little different.
"We can't run around like this anymore." Wang Li came back and said, "The further north we flee, the more we will run out of power, starve to the point of losing strength, and then be easily killed by the Yuan army."
"Well, I need to find a tribe to supply supplies and rest."
"Afraid of encountering herdsmen and tipping off the Yuan army, the Yuan army pursued them very closely."
Li Yuping, who came over with water in her hands, hesitated for a moment and said, "I know a place..."
Wang Li and Wang Mancang both turned to look at her.
Li Yuping looked weak, but she was quite courageous at heart. She lowered her head and continued: "My family and I were sold by a guide to a group of Mongolian bandits. These Mongolian bandits were stationed in a mountain called Bayinbogdu.
, there are a large number of horses, weapons, armor and food in the station, which is where I was bought..."
Wang Mancang pulled Wang Li and asked him to lean down.
"This little girl is very scheming. Her mother's family, sister-in-law, and nephews are all in the hands of those robbers. They are coaxing you, a silly boy, to rescue her."
"Let's go then?"
"Go?" Wang Mancang then asked, "Do you know where that shit place is?"
Li Yuping shook her head.
But Zhurik said: "I know! They say it is a rich sacred mountain where crystal stones used to build lookouts can be dug out. Smugglers and robbers like to go there."
"Quartz?" Wang Li was surprised.
He had always thought that the materials for the ordnance shop's lookout tubes were smuggled back from Jinghu Lake, but he never expected that quartz could also be dug out on the grasslands north of Yinshan Mountain.
As soon as the word "smuggling" hit his ears, he couldn't help but feel a sense of expectation.
Your Majesty's two intelligence agencies are able to extend their tentacles to all parts of the world through smuggling...
~~
"Report! The Tang army crossed the Blackwater River again, turned to the southwest and fled."
Several cavalry came back from exploring the horse and reported this to Xiong Er.
Xiong Er couldn't help but became furious. He felt that he had been tricked by this small group of remnants of the Tang army. This was the third time in two days that he had crossed the Blackwater River to change the direction of his escape. He was as timid and cunning as a mouse.
He quickly turned his horse's head and pursued southwest.
The distance between the two sides was not far, and the Yuan army's scouting horses always ensured that the remnants of the Tang army were in their sights. The remnants of the Tang army always drove the horses to run with all their strength, and they would be exhausted in a short time.
After chasing for another two days, low, stretching, bare mountains appeared in front of us.
The remnants of the Tang Army obviously couldn't run anymore and ran into the mountains, trying to find a place to rest. But without the dense woods, it was impossible for them to have a place to hide.
Xiong Er ordered the scouts to find out their whereabouts, and ordered them to rest for a night before annihilating the enemy army.
Before dawn, Tan Ma returned to the camp to deliver a message.
"The Tang army had a conflict with the bandits stationed in the mountains and occupied a camp."
Xiong Er was slightly surprised. It was strange that the Tang army of more than two hundred people could drive away the bandits who had been there for a long time.
"Then their losses must be great. Let's go and annihilate them."