The generals in the hall heard Zhang Shao's words, and their faces were different.

Zhao Xing's generals Jin Sufu and Qi Nuhou were all at the banquet. Jin Sufu is known for being resourceful, and the Marquis of Qi Nu is fierce by nature, he is not as good as Jin Sufu has a city government, and he leaned over to Zhao Xing's food table and said something.

Zhang Shao's expression was calm, his eyes were not idle, and he observed the reactions of everyone in the hall without moving, and saw this scene.

Zhang Shao picked up the wine glass, took a sip, looked at Zhao Xing with a smile, and said slowly: "Junhou, do you have something to say about this?" ”

Zhao Xing pushed away the body of the Marquis of Qinu, stood up, and replied, "The Tuoba Department has been a neighbor of my Tiefu Xiongnu for decades. The Marquis of Qi Nu and the last general said, the bottom of the Tuoba Department, I Tiefu Hun is clear, although it is claimed to control 100,000 strings, but whether it is armor or tactics, it is not as far as my Dingxi, Meng Lang is to win over the Tuoba Jin, there is no need to worry. ”

Is this the original sentence of the Marquis of Qinu?

Except for Zhao Xing and Qi Nuhou, no one knows.

Zhang Shao didn't get to the bottom of it, and after listening to Zhao Xing's answer, he took it as true, stroked his beard and smiled, dropped a sentence of literary language, and said in a crepe manner: "This statement of the Marquis of Qi Nu won my heart." Let go of his beard, pointed to the Marquis of Qinu, smiled at Gao Yancao and others, and said, "The fierce generals of the Tiefu Huns who know how to fight and dare to fight, there are several people who have passed through the Marquis of Qinu, Jin Sufu, and Zhou Xian. Tell the attendants at the banquet, "Fill the marquis with wine, and I will have a drink with him!" ”

The attendant carried the wine vessel and filled the cup on the case of the Marquis of Qinu. Zhang Shao picked up the cup and motioned for the slave marquis to drink together. The Hu people's dignity and humility are not as strict as the Tang people, and the Marquis of Qi Nu is not humble and polite, he only stood up, showed respect, and raised his glass to drink.

The two of them finished drinking.

Zhang Shao wiped off the wine stains on his beard and asked Zhao Xing and Qi Nuhou to sit down.

With these few empty sentences of dialogue, Zhang Shao cleared up his thoughts.

He said in his heart: "Gou Xiong led thousands of troops, the soldiers and horses have exceeded our department, and now Meng Lang sent an envoy to see Tuoba Beijin, needless to say, he will definitely promise Tuoba Beijin a lot of benefits, once Tuoba Beijin is tempted, betrays the covenant with me Dingxi, and joins forces with Gou Xiong, and besieges our department on both sides, this new Shuo Fang is afraid that it will be in danger!"

"When the Marquis of Shicai was talking to Zhao Xing in a whisper, I saw that his expression was shocked, and what he said must not be what Zhao Xing answered me. Zhao Xing this person, arrogant and abusive, I think he is quite ambitious, he defected to my Dingxi from Qin Yu, although it is unlikely that he will vote for Qin Lu again, but his mother is from the Tuoba clan, and his younger brother is also in Shengle today, but it is possible that the child will hook up with Tuoba Beijin in order to reoccupy Shuofang. At this time, I can't make him think differently and disadvantage me in using my troops. I'm going to have to soothe this beard. ”

Thinking about it, Zhang Shaoxiao said to Zhang Gui, "Qianli, didn't we receive a letter from Gong Xin the day before yesterday?" Tell me, what did Xin Gong write in the letter? ”

Xin Er's letter was sent to Shuofang along with Zhang Shao's order.

In the letter, Xin Er made a detailed analysis of the current situation in Shuofang, and at the same time, put forward several judgments he made based on this situation, and how to deal with it. Of course, these analyses, judgments, and responses in the letter are not Xin Er's opinions alone, but are the collective wisdom of Xin Er after discussing with Zhang Shengcheng, Tang Ai, Yang Chao, etc.

Zhang Gui respectfully agreed, held down the desk, dragged his lame leg to stand up with difficulty, looked around at the people in the banquet, and waited until the generals, including Gao Yancao, were completely quiet before he spoke.

He said: "Xin Gong mainly talked about two things in the letter, one is about the inevitable counterattack of the Qin Dynasty, and the other is related to the Tuoba Department.

"Don't mention Qin Yu's counteroffensive first. Regarding the Tuoba Department, Xin Gong made three general points.

"The first point, Helan Yannian did not talk about credit, and seized Xi'anyang and other counties, it was he who first violated the covenant between Tuoba Beijin and me Dingxi, and then some of us slaughtered Huze Zhuhu, and decided not to hand over the Hebei grassland west of Xi'anyang to the Tuoba Department These two things, we have to do it, we can't be bullied, but we don't do anything, right? The truth is on our side. Xin Gongda praised General Zhang and praised him for making these two counterattacks, and Xin Gongshu said, 'Repay grievances with virtue, and gentlemen do not take them'.

"The second point, although the truth is on our side, Tuoba Beijin will definitely be dissatisfied with this. So if he is dissatisfied, what will he do? In the letter, Xin said there could be two moves. One is to go to war directly with our army; One is to form an alliance with one of the two sides of the Murong clan or the Pu clan, so as to coerce our army and force us to give them the Hebei pasture.

"Of these two moves, the former is less likely.

"There are two reasons, the first is that Tuoba Beijin's primary enemy is not my Dingxi, Rouran in the north of Daibei and his old lord Murong Xianbei, who is eager to get rid of, are his great enemies, and he is unlikely to invest heavy troops to fight with me because of the grasslands of Hebei; Secondly, although Shuofang is important to Daibei, with Shuofang, Daibei can stretch out Guanzhong and peek into the state from the west, thus greatly improving the strategic environment of Daibei, and can make Tuoba Beijin get rid of the dilemma of Murong Xianbei in the north and Murong Xianbei in the south, but Shuofang is connected to Guanzhong in the south, and it is easy to fight down, but what about after defeating? has to face Qin Yu. Daibei's strength cannot be compared with Qin Yu. This means that we need to form an alliance with Tuoba Beijin to resist the Qin captives; If Tuoba Beijin wants to get his hands on Shuofang, he also has to rely on us to give him a strong momentum, and from this point of view, it is unlikely that Tuoba Beijin will completely turn against me and directly start a war with me.

Therefore, the latter is more likely.

"Judging from now, Xin Gong is like a god, and Tuoba has hooked up with Meng Lang!"

Gao Yancao interrupted Zhang Gui's words and said, "Joining the army, do you mean that Meng Lang sent an envoy to Daibei, not because Meng Lang took the initiative, but because Tuoba Beijin took the initiative to show favor to Qin Yu first?" ”

Zhang Gu said: "We can't say for sure yet, but whether it is Tuoba Beijin who sent someone to see Qin Lu first, or Meng Lang who sent an envoy to Daibei after hearing that there was a conflict between our army and Tuoba Beijin, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that the result is the same as Xin Gong expected!" ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Gu paused.

He raised his face and thought for a while, then turned to Zhang Shao and said: "General, the Marquis of Xihai said that it was his younger brother Gu Yan who secretly sent a slave to Heyin to report this news to him. General, I think that the lonely man is a hostage in Daibei, and he is young, where can he be able to understand his ears and eyes, and he actually knows that Meng Lang sent an envoy to meet Tuoba Beijin? If he knew about this, how could he have the ability and courage to send a slave to Heyin secretly to report to his brother? This matter is very suspicious. ”

Zhang Shao said: "What Qing said is indeed suspicious. What do you think the truth might be? ”

Zhang Gu said: "Based on the turtle's speculation, maybe, this so-called 'sending slaves to report the news' was actually not done by Zhao Guyan at all, and the real mastermind behind it is very likely to be Tuoba Beijin!" ”

Zhang Shao groaned and said: "Qianli, what Qing means is: the reason why Zhao Guyan sent slaves to report the news may be because he was instructed by Tuoba Beijin?" ”

"Exactly!"

Why did Tuoba do this? Combined with the analysis of Xin Er and others relayed by Zhang Gui Shicai, the reason is self-explanatory. Tuoba did this in order to pretend to form an alliance with Pu Qin in order to threaten Dingxi, thus forcing Dingxi to give him Hebei grassland.

Zhang Shao and everyone in the hall were thoughtful.

The more I thought about it, the more everyone felt that Zhang Gui's guess was still very possible.

Gao Yancao patted his thigh and said, "It must be as he said when he joined the army!" Hehe, Tuoba Beijin, this Hu chief, is cunning. ”

Zhang Shao asked Zhao Xing, An Chong and others, and said, "What do you think?" ”

An Chong said: "Tuoba Beijin is indeed unlikely to start a war with our army, so Zhao Guyan sent slaves to report this matter, maybe he instructed it." ”

Zhao Xing replied: "Tuoba is a double catty, Xing Su knows also, he is indeed cunning, he is a person who can do this kind of thing." He also said, "Whether this matter was instructed by Tuoba Beijin or not, it is not difficult to know the bottom of it." Suggesting Zhang Shao, he said, "The general sent an order to order Brother Xing to torture the slaves sent by the lonely man." ”

People are here to report the news, but they want to beat them up and torture them, which is not kind enough, but this matter is related to the military, but it can't be controlled so much. What's more, it's just a small slave, even if he is killed, it doesn't matter.

Zhang Shao bowed his head, immediately ordered, and said: "Send someone to Heyin immediately, ask Xihaihou to inquire about the truth, and repay me within two days." ”

The military officials on duty outside the hall immediately complied with the order and sent people to Heyin overnight.

Lan Baozhang listened to them for a long time, and already had a general understanding of the relationship between the current Tuoba Department and Zhang Shaojun, and was anxious to listen to the next content in Xin Er's letter, and said: "Zhang Gong, since Xin Gong has a clear idea of Tuoba Doujin's thoughts, Xin Gong will definitely have a countermeasure to this." I don't know what kind of order Gong Xin has for us in his letter? ”

Zhang Gui then continued what he had just said and said: "Gong Xin said in the letter that based on the analysis that the Tuoba Department is unlikely to directly fight our army, even if there is news that he has contact with Qin Lu or Murong Xianbei, our army does not need to panic about this, just do two things. ”

Lan Baozhang asked, "Which two?" ”

Zhang Gui once again looked around at the people in the hall with one eye, and said: "First, send the other troops to guard the ferry on the south bank of the river, and block the troops of the Tuoba Department on the north bank of the river. Second, it is still important to meet the troops of the Qin Yu counterattack. ”

is like the "Jun Order" that Lan Baozhang said, which is equivalent to Zhang Gui conveying Xin Er's order.

Gao Yancao and the other generals got up in unison and responded: "No! ”

It was originally a banquet for Lan Baozhang and Cao Hui to wash the dust, but at this time, it unknowingly turned into a military meeting.

Gou Xiong crossed the river violently, and to be honest, Zhang Shao was under a lot of pressure.

These days, he has been thinking about the battle strategy, after many days of thinking, it has been roughly formed, but it has not been officially announced, so he simply decided to take this opportunity to talk to the generals to listen, so as to brainstorm and keep improving.

Zhang Shao said: "Fang Cai Changling conveyed to Jun and others the analysis of the Tuoba Department and the order on how our army should deal with the Tuoba Department, and in the letter to me, Xin Gong also mentioned the possible counterattack of Qin Yu. Elder, you can tell everyone about this as well. ”

Zhang Gu replied, "Yes." ”

He said, "In response to Qin Yu's counteroffensive, Xin Er instructed our army a total of five points.

"The first point is that Qin Yu is now fighting fiercely with Murong Xianbei and He Hun with Hebei, and there will not be many soldiers and horses sent by Pu Maoneng to counterattack Shuofang; The second point is that Pu Mao is most likely to send the main general to counterattack Shuofang,—— should be Gou Xiong of the former Zhenshuo Fang Gou Xiong has now led his troops to cross the river and stationed on the front line of Shanan and Manbai.

"The third point, although Gou Xiong has a brave reputation, he is not a wise general, and the brothers Xihai Hou and Linrong Hou grew up Shuofang, and they are very familiar with the local situation, and their family's prestige among the local Hu tribes is not low. Fourth, even if Gou Xiong brought more soldiers and horses than our army, this battle was not difficult to fight.

"Fifth, no matter whether Pu Mao wins or fails in the war for Hebei, the three counties of Qinzhou are now owned by me, and if Shuofang is owned by me again, then the hinterland of Guanzhong will always be in danger of being sandwiched by my Dingxi three breads, so Pu Mao will definitely not sit back and watch Shuofang for my possession, it can be expected that Shuofang's county will inevitably become the place where I Dingxi and Qin Lu are entangled in a long period of time. Gou Xiong's subordinates are all the elite of Pu Qin, and our army should seize the situation of the melee in Hebei has not yet been clear, which is the first point, Pu Mao has no way to send more reinforcements to help Gou Xiong's opportunity, and strive to give Gou Xiong a heavy blow! In order to raise the prestige of our country, deter Qin Lu, stabilize the hearts of the people, and also consume Qin Lu's elite soldiers, so as to reduce some of the pressure on our army in the future entanglement with Qin Lu. ”

The generals listened attentively to Zhang Gui's retelling of the contents of Xin Er's letter.

The letter about Pu Qin's counteroffensive is over.

Zhang Gu turned around and said to Zhang Shao: "General, I'm done relaying." ”

Zhang Shao said, "Please take a seat." Waiting for Zhang Gu to sit down, Zhang Shao asked the generals and said, "What Gong Xin meant, do you understand?" ”

Gao Yancao, Zhao Xing and the others replied: "I understand." ”

Zhang Shao said: "Gong Xin ordered our army to inflict heavy losses on Gou Xiong's department. I think about it, if we want to achieve this order of Xin Gong, the place where our army will fight with Gou Xiong cannot be in the area of Shanan and Manbo, where he is now stationed. ”

If the battlefield is selected in Shanan and Manbo, first, Gou Xiong has been stationed here, and there is a solid fortification, on the other hand, Zhang Shaobu's soldiers and horses are less than Gou Xiong, and they are rushing to attack, and there is no reliance, in this case, the battle can be won, the battle can not be won, and it is possible to do both; Second, Shanan, Manbai, located on the west bank of the vertical on the right side of the Yellow River, behind is the Yanmen and other counties of the state, Gou Xiong and Puqin's upper county is too guarded Yang Man, after the battle in recent months, has been the Yanmen and other counties have been defeated, Gou Xiong has Yang Man's department behind him, even if Yang Man does not have enough troops to support him, but send some troops to take him across the river back still has this ability, that is, even if Gou Xiong wins the battle, Gou Xiong can escape, it is not easy to hit his troops hard.

Gao Yancao and others are mostly generals in the army, and they don't need Zhang Shao to elaborate, and the reasons why they can't choose Shanan and Manbo as the battlefield are clear.

Gao Yancao asked: "Shanan and Manbo are incomprehensible, so where does the general plan to choose as the battlefield?" ”

Zhang Shao said: "When our army fought Shuofang the day before yesterday, what kind of tactics did you use, do you still remember?" ”

Gao Yancao said: "Then how can you forget? What is used is to lure me deep and set up an ambush and flank strategy. ”

At that time, Gao Gao used Wen Shilan's strategy to give up the defense of Linrong and other counties in the west of Shuofang, and let Minister Zhang Shao drive straight into Guangmu County, and then he held in Guangmu City, Wen Shilan led his Rouran cavalry to ambush the desert south of Guangmu, waiting for an opportunity to march, and attacked Zhang Shaobu on both sides with Gao. It's just that although this strategy is good, it is bad for Helan Yannian.

Now that I think about it, if there is no Helan Yannian and Wen Shilan's real "heroes see the same", and they also want to attack Shuofang's Puqin defenders with roundabout tactics, they happened to encounter and defeat Wen Shilan's troops in the desert, and Zhang Shao's attack on Guangmu The ending may really turn from victory to defeat. To be fair, Dingxi laid down Shuofang, and Tuoba and Helan Yannian made great contributions.

Zhang Shao smiled slightly, his fat face showed a light of wisdom, and said: "I plan to leave this strategy unchanged and give it to Gou Xiong to taste!" ”

Gao Yancao was stunned and said, "What does the general mean?" ”

"I plan to divide the army into two parts, one is led by me, to guard Shuofang County, spread the word to Heyin, tell Xihai Hou and Li Liang to show weakness to Gou Xiong, lure Gou Xiong to fight, and then abandon the city and come to Shuofang to join me; One is around the back of Gou Xiong's department, and Hou Gou Xiong leads his troops to advance lightly, and when he comes to fight Shuofang, the soldiers in my city and the soldiers behind him are attacked on both sides! I have a strong city for the king, and there are strange soldiers coming out, both offensive and defensive, just strange together, don't say that Gou Xiong is hit hard, and it is not impossible to beat him to annihilate the whole army! ”

There was a "pop" in the hall.

Everyone saw that it was Gao Yancao who slapped the case violently.

Zhang Shao was stunned and asked, "What?" Does General Gao have any objections? ”

"No objections."

"Then what is the general's case?"

Gao Yancao said: "My department is also riding! I think it's all about going around the future! The general said that since Gou Xiong crossed the river and entered Shuofang, the last general had long wanted to give him a hard blow, and he couldn't bear to sit lonely in Shuofang County! Thinking of leading the cavalry to gallop, around the back of the Gou Xiong Department, covering up and killing, capturing and beheading this Hu Hu, and destroying his army, the last general was full of blood, because he couldn't help it, so he took the case. ”

Zhang Shao smiled and said, "I see! He touched his beard and said, "General Gao is not bad, this is a task to go around the future, and it is true that the general must be!" However, there are not many soldiers and horses in the general's department, so I would like to ask the Marquis of Linrong to lead his headquarters and share this important task with the general. Asked Zhao Xing, "Is the prince willing?" ”

Zhao Xing is unwilling, Gou Xiong is a famous general of Pu Qin, and his subordinates are all Pu Qin's elite, and their combat power is very strong, this battle, this army behind the circle, unlike this one stationed in Shuofang County, has no city wall to rely on, and is completely in a state of field warfare, and will definitely lose a lot, he wants to refuse Zhang Shao for the purpose of preserving his strength, but his Tiefu soldiers are all cavalry, he has no reason to refuse, and it is rumored that Meng Lang sent his lover Yang Hezhi to Gou Xiong's army, and gave Gou Xiong a strategy for this battle, Yang Hezhi had a grudge against him for killing his father, and he couldn't refuse, so he said conveniently: "The last general will obey the order." ”

One person asked, "General, the last general, please go around from General Gao!" ”

It was Lan Baozhang who spoke.

Lan Baozhang is Xin Er's cronies, knowing that the risk after the circumambulation is greater than in Shuofang County, Zhang Shao naturally will not agree to Lan Baozhang's invitation to fight, he said: "Captain Lan can guard Shuofang County with me." But because of Lan Baozhang's invitation to fight, he thought that Cao Hui was born in the Taima camp and was good at riding battles, so he smiled and said to Cao Hui, "Captain Cao is outstanding in cavalry and shooting, and I am also a general in the west, and I have heard of the name for a long time. ”

Cao Hui is Cao Fei's favorite general, but Cao Fei's weight is obviously not as heavy as Xin Er.

Cao Hui responded: "Yes." ”

Gao Yancao stood up and asked eagerly, "Dare to ask the general, when are you going to do this strategy?" ”

Zhang Shao said: "If you have no objection, you can implement it tomorrow." ”

Zhao Xing and others had no objection.

Yang Hezhi said: "Gou Xiong is brave and brave, in the past month in the battle with the defenders of Murong Xianbei and the state, he has won many battles, this brave and proud general, and Shuofang County, is the place where he was in front of the town, he thinks that the terrain is familiar, the three are compatible, the general is weakly tempted, and the following officials estimate that he will definitely be blatant!" The general's strategy will surely succeed. ”

Because of this policy, Yang Hezhi's view of Zhang Shao has changed greatly.

The only thing that stands out is that he has a very good set of skills in encircling his subordinates and winning the hearts of the army, but that's all, but he doesn't mean that this person can also be called a little resourceful. ——In Yang Hezhi's eyes, Zhang Shao's strategy of luring the enemy into depth can only be regarded as "some wisdom".

It was decided that this policy would be carried out tomorrow.

……

The next day, Gao Yancao, Zhao Xing, and Cao Hui each selected the elite cavalry of the headquarters, the first cavalry, the light cavalry, a total of more than 2,000, plus the first cavalry, more than 3,000 people, with Gao Yancao as the main general, quietly out of the camp, to the southeast.

Later that day, Zhang Shao's military orders to Zhao Rangan and Li Liang were sent to Heyin County, and the two began to act according to the plan. However, the little slave sent by Zhao Guyan to Heyin to report the news, after being severely tortured by Zhao Rangan, confided the truth, confirming Zhang Gui's guess that Zhao Guyan was indeed instructed by Tuoba Beijin to send this little slave to Zhao Rangan to report the news. Let's not talk about it.

Gao Yancao waited out of Shuofang County, went south into the desert, and traveled east until the afternoon, when Gao Yancao, who was at the forefront of the army, suddenly stopped his horse.

As soon as he stopped, the troops stopped.

Zhao Xing, who was walking in the army, and Cao Hui, who was behind, didn't know what was going on, so they hurriedly caught up.

Passing the hundreds of Tai Tai horse armor riders and nearly 1,000 armor riders of Gao Yan Cao's department on the pause desert, Zhao Xing and Cao Hui arrived close to Gao Yan Cao, and raised their eyes to see him sitting on a tall white horse, his left hand pressing the saber at his waist, and his right hand scratching his face, sometimes raising his eyes to look up, sometimes looking into the distance, looking thoughtful.

Zhao Xing asked, "General Gao, did the scouts discover the enemy situation in front?" ”

Gao Yancao shook his head and said, "No." ”

Cao Hui said: "No? The army is marching, why did you suddenly stop? ”

Gao Yancao said: "Don't talk! ”

Zhao Xing and Cao Hui didn't know what medicine he was selling in the gourd, so they had to keep their mouths shut and accompany him in a daze in the desert under the scorching sun.

After a long while, Gao Yancao came out of his contemplative state, revealing a satisfied expression.

Cao Hui said: "Lao Gao, what kind of fame are you doing? ”

Gao Yancao said: "I was ordered to send troops, go around the captivity, and go on this desert, and there will be a war of extermination!" I felt something in my heart, so I wrote a poem. ”

Cao Hui and Zhao Xing looked at each other.

Zhao Xing said: "What poem did the general endow? Please listen to the next daring. ”

Gao Yancao said: "You two listen up! He chanted loudly, "The sun is big on the desert, and the red flag and white horse are from." Cut off the head of Gouxiong, the king appreciates the wine! After chanting, he looked at Zhao Xing and the two proudly, and asked, "How is this poem?" 'Red Flag White Horse from', I'm proud! The desert yellow sand, the scorching sun hangs high, the red and white colors reflect each other, how spectacular! Have you two experienced the pride in my poem? ”

Although Zhao Xing is a Hu person, he reads Tang books and knows the quality of poetry, so he reluctantly said: "The general is heroic and dry, this poem is very good." ”

Gao Yancao became more and more proud, squinted his eyes and asked Cao Hui, and said, "Have you realized it?" ”

Cao Hui said: "Poetry is a good poem, but the most wonderful thing is not 'Red Flag and White Horse', it is another sentence." ”

"Which one?"

"'The king appreciates fine wine', these five words are the best."

"Why?"

Cao Hui said: "It shows Lao Gao's simple loyalty to the king!" ”

Gao Yancao, couldn't he hear the ridicule in Cao Hui's words? Said angrily: "You laugh at Lao Tzu? ”

Gao Yan Cao Guan is taller than Cao Hui, Cao Hui can't beat him, Cao Hui really didn't dare to blush with him, softened his tone, and said: "I am speaking from the bottom of my heart, how dare I laugh at the general?" ”

Gao Yancao snorted and said, "That's it, I don't know you like a rough person." He ordered the official to take a pen and paper, so he rode on a horse, wrote down the poem himself, folded it carefully, put it in his arms, and said to himself, "When I behead Gou Xiong, I will send this poem to Xin Gong." Xin Gong is also a hero, and he is a gentleman, and he is my bosom friend of the tiger! ”

Under the high sun, on the endless yellow desert, nearly 3,000 Dingxi cavalry set off again and galloped.