The calling northwest wind swept along the spacious and unobstructed Wei River Valley.
The wind was full of dust and sand, which hit people's bodies painfully.
Therefore, the sky is yellow, the ground is yellow, the city is yellow, the people are yellow, and even the snow is yellow.
The shaky people walking in the wind are like reeds that break at any time, adding to the misery.
Although a fire was lit in the lee of the city gate tower, the warmth could not be felt.
Liang Yue, Jiang Chaoyun, and Zhao Silie gathered together, all tightly wrapped in their furs, looking at the desolate world, their tone of voice was quite heavy.
"Wang Zhong received news that Hanzhong is relatively calm now. The Sichuan National Defense Force stopped after taking Jianmen Pass. It seems that they are not elite soldiers and will not attack Hanzhong in the short term."
It was more or less good news, which made Liang Yue look a little more cheerful.
"Tell Wang Zhong that we need to be more vigilant. Zuo Menggeng has no clue when it comes to his military use. The more unexpected the place, the more likely he is to take advantage of him."
Jiang Chaoyun and Zhao Silie nodded and gave their orders later.
The city gate tower was quiet for a while.
Zhao Silie looked at the flickering fire and suddenly asked.
"Brother, if we can't fight, where should we go?"
Liang Yue was also looking at Huotou in trance.
“You can go wherever you want, the sky is high and the sea is vast, you don’t have to worry about not having a place to stay.”
Zhao Silie was not comforted.
"Do you really want to be a thug for the Mongols in the Western Regions?"
"Even if I am shattered to pieces, I will not kneel in front of Baturhun Taiji. I am a Han, an upright Han."
Jiang Chaoyun sighed.
"Then there's really no place to go."
The three senior leaders of Liang Jun were speechless for a moment, all feeling powerless.
Only when you actually face the National Defense Forces can you feel the horror.
Over at Tongguan, although the National Defense Forces did not launch an attack, seeing the weapons that kept being unveiled still put a lot of pressure on the Liang Army.
The Tongguan garrison decided to strike first and launched a night attack.
As a result, none of the three thousand elite troops sent out came back.
The people in the city only saw the light and roar suddenly flashing like a violent storm in the dark night, and then...
There is no more.
Liang Yue personally rushed to Tongguan and inspected the battlefield without saying a word. When he returned to Xi'an, his energy and energy were much weaker.
They are all old men on the battlefield and have extremely rich experience.
"If Tongguan cannot be defended, the National Defense Forces do not need to bypass it."
Jiang Chaoyun told a reality that made Liang Jun extremely desperate.
The city wall of Tongguan is not weak, but it will never last three days in the face of the artillery fire of the National Defense Forces.
Once Tongguan is lost, the flat Guanzhong Plain will no longer be safe.
However, the Guanzhong Plain is the most exquisite place in the whole of Shaanxi.
If they cannot defend this place, the Liang army will lose their food and financial resources, and they will lose a foothold.
The only places they can retreat to are Gansu and Qinghai.
But all three of them understood that even if they went there, the National Defense Forces would easily catch up.
At that point, there will really be no retreat.
"Yulin has not sent troops. If the National Defense Forces come around and cut off our retreat, then everything will be over."
Zhao Silie was still worried about the situation in Yulin.
During the chaos in Shaanxi, Yulin was Tang Tong's territory. Later, Tang Tong surrendered to the empire, and Yulin became a blank land.
Because winter was coming, the National Defense Forces did not cross the Yellow River to seize Yulin. However, Liang Yue also did not send troops north to seize this strategically important area.
"Yulin is really too far away, thousands of miles away, and the food and grass we have on hand can't support it."
Liang Yue mentioned an objective difficulty.
The whole of Shaanxi has long lost its vitality due to years of war. In the past year, Shaanxi has harvested nothing.
The only food and grass left in the Liang army's hands now was confiscated from the liquidation of landowners and vassals, which could not last long at all.
If there is no war, when the weather warms up and the people are mobilized to reclaim the fields, they may be able to get good harvests. But all three of them understand that after winter has passed, the attack of the National Defense Force will come.
The situation faced by Shaanxi was equally clear to Baturhun Taiji who was far away in the Western Regions.
He had already sent an invitation to Liang Yue, hoping that Liang Yue could lead his troops and return to the Junggar tribe.
Baturhuntaiji planned to use force against the Yarkand Khanate to retake the Ili Valley, but it was difficult for the Junggar tribe to achieve this with its own strength.
He has long coveted Liang Jun.
It's a pity that he didn't know that Liang Yue was a staunch Han chauvinist.
Even though he had cooperated with Batur Huntaiji, in his heart Liang Yue always believed that he was just a barbarian.
But after rejecting Batur Hutaiji's kindness, looking at it, although the northwest is huge, the Liang army really doesn't have much room for maneuver.
Under such circumstances, Zheng Jiada appeared in front of Liang Yue.
Today Zheng Jiada is the head of the Northwest Region of the Ministry of Military Intelligence.
Because of good performance and sufficient merit, Zheng Jiada's promotion is inevitable.
He is now a major general.
He was sent by Zuo Mengeng and Huang Sanhu to contact Liang Yue.
"Why does Zuo Mengeng think that I will surrender to him? My hatred with him will never end."
Zheng Jiada was entrusted with an important task, so he naturally had an understanding of the causes and consequences. Faced with Liang Yue's anger, he was very calm.
"Whether Prince Liang believes it or not, I must express my grievance to my Majesty. When the tragedy happened, my Majesty was on his way back from Liaodong. His Majesty was not aware of all the incidents. Afterwards, he not only punished those who had done wrong
My servant, I will bury Prince Liang’s family members properly. Prince Liang can go back to pay homage to his old friend at any time, so you can know that what I said is true.”
Liang Yue suddenly stood up and drew out the knife, pointing it at the tip of Zheng Jiada's nose.
"Does Zuo Mengeng think I'm a three-year-old child? He can't tell such ridiculous lies."
Life or death can happen in an instant, but Zheng Jiada doesn't care.
"My Majesty is the co-owner of the world. Is it necessary to lie to you? Or even say that with the strength of our national defense, is it necessary to persuade us to surrender?"
Liang Yue yelled loudly and slashed down with his sword, cutting the table next to Zheng Jiada into two halves.
"Then what are you here for?"
Zheng Jiada still sat as straight as a bell, fearless.
"My Majesty said that Prince Liang is a good man. In this chaotic era, good people should be rewarded."
Liang Yue said angrily: "That's good, as long as Zuo Menggeng pays for his life, I will surrender."
Zheng Jiada stopped talking and just looked at him steadily.
The atmosphere became tense and no one would give in.
However, Jiang Chaoyun and Zhao Silie hurried forward and comforted Liang Yue.
Apparently they understood that Liang Yue confused personal matters with official matters.