The cavalry flowed like water on the green and yellow grass, and Yang Wen'an was preparing to lead his troops to intercept Yang Ben's retreat.
"Commander, Commander-in-Chief Zhang, please come over."
Yang Wen'an was very surprised when he suddenly heard the messenger coming and saying something like this.
He glanced at the grassland in the distance, and saw the flag of the Tang Army waving faintly at the intersection of heaven and earth. He couldn't help but said: "The war is imminent, what does he want from me?"
"Commander Zhang said there is something important to discuss."
Yang Wen'an frowned and murmured: "It's definitely not good news."
The troops and horses were temporarily handed over to Yang Wenzhong's command, and he then rode towards Zhang Hongfan's camp.
This section of the road is not very close. In order to form a pincer attack on the Tang army, Yang Wen'an marched more than 20 miles southwest just this morning. By the time he arrived in front of Zhang Hongfan's tent, the horses were already dripping with sweat.
Zhang Hongfan was talking to several generals. When he saw him coming, he waved his hands calmly and said, "Uncle Tai is here, tell me this way." "Brother Zhongchou."
The two of them neither called each other according to their official positions, nor did they call each other "Jiulang" or "Erlang". They called each other by their surnames. They both seemed to be polite and polite, but there was a hint of alienation in their closeness.
Zhang Hongfan is two years older than Yang Wen'an and is the commander-in-chief. He appears calmer and calm even when delivering bad news.
"The news I received today is that a small group of Tang troops attacked the Baotou camp and killed the king."
"What?"
Yang Wen'an frowned even more tightly, and his face suddenly turned ugly, looking ferocious because of the arrow marks on his face.
"Why did the Tang army come around to the back? They crossed the Yellow River from the south? You didn't send anyone to guard it?"
"It's the Tang army that fled to the north of Yinshan Mountain and was defeated."
"The last time a Tang army was defeated was probably a year ago." Yang Wen'an said, "After being defeated for so long, it still has fighting strength?" "Yes."
Both of them were silent for a while.
They were in similar situations, and both were greatly supported by Kublai Khan after he put down Li Fen's rebellion.
Their young age and high position in Chad make it even more obvious that they are deeply benevolent to the king. In addition, they are all conceited characters and do not care about the changes in the world situation. They believe that no matter how dangerous the situation is, they can turn the tide on their own.
In recent years, more and more people have chosen to submit to Li Xia, but they still insist on their choice.
But now, the situation is getting worse and worse, and it is inevitable that I still feel discouraged.
"Damn it." Yang Wen'an spat and took a few steps irritably, "If you don't station yourself in Jiuyuan City, you have to set up a tent on the grass. What a waste."
He was no longer afraid to show his dissatisfaction in front of Zhang Hongfan.
After calming down, he asked: "What to do next? Are we still sure to defeat Yang Ben?"
"No." Zhang Hongfan shook his head directly and said: "Thousands and thousands of households in Mongolia have shown signs of dissatisfaction with me. It is not appropriate to continue this war."
After Yang Wen'an heard this, a sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't know what he was laughing at.
He had hopes for this battle and wanted to take advantage of Li Xia's Northern Expedition and the main battlefield between the two countries to shift to the Central Plains to regain a foothold in the northwest. Now this hope has become increasingly slim.
"Don't be discouraged." Zhang Hongfan patted Yang Wen'an on the shoulder and said, "You and I are both people who become more courageous the more we are frustrated. We just need to regroup and fight again."
"How to get back on track?"
"Shrink the defense line." Zhang Hongfan uttered four words, looking a little helpless and as if he had already accepted the result. "Your Majesty ordered me to lead the troops back to Yanjing as soon as possible. I originally wanted to defeat Yang Ben first, but now it seems that it is too late.
From the overall situation, we should defeat Li Xia’s main force first.”
Yang Wen'an heard the words "too late" and secretly thought that Zhang Hongfan really knew how to find reasons. As for why he rushed back to Yanjing as soon as possible, it was just because he was not qualified to command so many Mongolian troops.
Fortunately, at the end of the discussion, Zhang Hongfan proposed that the entire army retreat eastward and Yang Wen'an be stationed in the ancient city of Yunzhong, which made him feel a little relieved.
some.
After all, shrinking the defense line is better than the flat Hetao grassland, so we can breathe a sigh of relief.
Having made up his mind, Yang Wen'an rode back to his army.
After running back and forth for dozens of miles all day long, it was already evening when he returned to the camp, and the first thing he saw was Yang Wenzhong.
When the death of Tuohu was mentioned, Yang Wenzhong was not surprised, but sighed: "I thought Mongolia was strong and prosperous back then, but now it has suffered repeated defeats."
"Victory and defeat are common matters in military affairs." Yang Wen'an said.
Just now Zhang Hongfan, who was more determined, comforted him, and now it was he who comforted Yang Wenzhong, who was even less determined.
"In these wars in recent years, Dayuan has suffered losses, but if it does not survive, it may soon turn defeat into victory."
"Really?" Yang Wenzhong no longer had any expectations and said, "Maybe my uncle was right when he planned to submit to Li Xia."
"Back then, my uncle wanted to surrender to Meng Ge. He killed all the envoys, but he still surrendered."
"My second brother never thought about it."
"Don't repeat it again." Yang Wen'an said decisively: "Shouyunzhong is a good choice for us. With the Yinshan Mountains and Daqing Mountains as barriers, we can rest for a period of time, accumulate strength, and then look at the world situation."
"Recuperate? I'm afraid we will be called up again soon."
"Brother, stop talking!" Yang Wen'an made a face and said, "Let the soldiers prepare and retreat overnight."
Yang Wenzhong was silent, nodded, turned around and went out. Only Yang Wen'an was left in the tent.
He sat there alone, closed his eyes tiredly, and soon fell asleep.
In his sleep, he felt that he had finally returned to a certain room.
I'm really tired of living in a tent, with drafts leaking everywhere and shaking constantly, but it's still more comfortable to live in a house.
The house made of stone is strong and warm. When I turned around, I could see the inscription on the couplet, "The blessed land of Yunshan will stay far away and be prosperous for thousands of years." In his sleep, Yang Wen'an knew that he had returned to Dahuo City.
Wangdu Township in Cangxi is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the scenery is unique. "Commander! Marshal!"
Suddenly, anxious shouts were heard, as if the Mongolian army was attacking too quickly, and a general was asking Yang Dayuan for advice.
Yang Wen'an then opened his eyes.
The green mountains and rivers and the warm mountain city disappeared before his eyes. He found that he was still in this tent with air leakage everywhere, and in front of him was his trusted general Han Fu who looked frightened.
"Commander! It's not good, they said they want to surrender to the Tang army." Yang Wen'an said: "Without my order, who dares to surrender?"
Han Fu was startled by the flat tone and said anxiously: "They have colluded and are going to force the commander-in-chief soon."
"Are you the only one here to report the news?"
"This is, only the last general. The last general deceived them by pretending that he also wanted to surrender, and then came to report the news to the commander."
Some shouts could be heard faintly in the distance.
Han Fu became more and more anxious and said: "Hurry up and lead the troops to suppress the rebellion? They will come to deal with you soon."
The main force of this army was veterans brought from Dahuo City. Apparently some of them were controlled by Yang Wenzhong and planned to surrender to Li Xia.
However, there are also many soldiers in the army who were recruited by Yang Wen'an later, and there are also several thousand-man troops sent by Zhang Hongfan.
Yang Wen'an seemed to be thinking about what to do. He rubbed his face with both hands, as if to wipe away the fatigue from his face, but in fact he was so tired that his eyes were red.
"Do you think my eldest brother will kill me?" he asked.
Han Fu was stunned again and said anxiously: "Commander, what's the point now? Let's put down the rebellion quickly."
"Whether he kills me or not," Yang Wen'an said, "Li Xia will use him more in the future. By doing this, he will take the military power away from me. No, Li Xia will take away our military power."
"Does the commander also want to surrender?" "No." Yang Wen'an said.
He stared at the tent door with his red eyes, as if waiting for his elder brother to lead someone to come in.
After a long time, dense footsteps sounded, and there were soldiers
He rushed into the tent with a knife, followed by Yang Wenzhong, who was striding like a meteor.
But when Yang Wenzhong took a closer look, he found that Yang Wen'an was not in the account.
"not good!"
Yang Wenzhong was startled and shouted: "Go quickly and surround thousands of Mongolian soldiers and horses."
"yes!"
Only then did he pull out his sword from his waist, turned around in a hurry and continued his mutiny to seize power.
However, the expected conflict did not occur, and Yang Wenzhong's seizure of power went smoothly.
The situation was slightly calmer, but someone escorted Han Fu over. "It was this traitor who tipped off the news."
"I'm not a traitor." Han Fu shouted, "I'm just loyal to the commander-in-chief."
Yang Wenzhong stepped forward, picked up Han Fu, and asked, "Where is Yang Wen'an?!"
Han Fu didn't need to answer. Just at this moment, a soldier came back in a hurry, holding a pair of armor in his hand.
Yang Wenzhong understood immediately at first glance. Apparently, Yang Wen'an had escaped in disguise.
He was suddenly furious, but he didn't know what he was angry about. He shouted at Han Fu again: "Say! Where is Yang Wen'an?!"
Han Fu was willing to answer at this time and said: "The commander-in-chief said that he wants you to take all the soldiers back to Sichuan and Shu, and let the fallen leaves return to their roots."
~~
The flag of the Tang Army was blown violently by the wind and stopped dozens of steps in front of Yang Wenzhong.
Yang Ben, accompanied by Li Dehui, came on horseback. When he saw a row of kneeling generals in front of him, he quickly got off his horse and stepped forward to help Yang Wenzhong.
"The sinner Yang Wenzhong has abandoned the darkness and turned to the light."
Yang Wenzhong just spoke, but Yang Ben had already said: "Brother Yang, you don't have to be like this. You are a loyal and good man who guarded the people and died fighting the Mongolians. You also defended Dahuo City for several years. It was actually because of the corruption and incompetence of the Song Dynasty that you accidentally made a mistake."
I went astray, but now I can wake up in time, there is no greater good."
Yang Ben, with his stinky face, couldn't say these words. Li Dehui taught him this.
Li Dehui also taught Yang Ben to understand the difference between a general and a commander.
Now that it was able to defeat the enemy without a fight, the Tang army was able to invade the Hetao again, put pressure on the Central Plains from the west, and formed a pincer attack on the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
As a result, the situation has become even worse for Kublai Khan.
From the Hetao Grassland to the north, the sky and the earth are vast.
The man with the arrow scar on his face rode his horse wildly alone in the west wind. He did not get off the horse until the horse gave out. He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground.
"It's all in vain."
Lying on his back and looking at the sky, he murmured: "Success or failure will turn around in vain."