The capital, in the palace of nourishing the heart.

"Your brother attacked Asura Sangsai, and the ancestral shrine was hit hard, and the hearts of the people of Xiou were shaken." The emperor handed Shao An the latest excerpt from Gao Wei and said to him, "The reason why I use the newcomer is that I am afraid that the veteran will look forward and miss the opportunity. You have to use fierce generals to fight tough battles, and your brother dares to fight hard, which is very good. ”

Shao An didn't dare to hold it up, so he was busy bowing and humbling. He knew very well in his heart that the emperor had always been very dissatisfied with Gao Wei's conservative strategy, and the imperial court spent manpower and material resources on expeditions, not only to win a battle, but also to promote national prestige. However, Gao Wei's military achievements are impressive, his morality is highly respected, and the young generals are not yet able to convince the public, so he has to appoint Gao Wei as the commander-in-chief.

"Today's military meeting is related to the strategic arrangements of Li Hongyi's ministry, and you will also share your views later." As soon as the emperor's words fell, Gonggong Chen led the generals to face the saint.

Seeing that all the generals had arrived, the emperor sent Gao Wei's battle report. When everyone heard that Li Hongyi had attacked the Xi'ou Holy Land and annihilated 1,000 enemies, they were all overjoyed and congratulated the Holy Lord and the general.

The emperor waved his hand, "Don't say flattery." In its current form, Gao Wei's troops confronted the enemy's main force in Jincheng, and Zhang Ling's troops were also harassed by small groups of enemy troops near the border pass. Li Hongyi's department is still in the depths of the desert, and it is only known that he has been to Asura Sanse, but the specific location is still unknown. Although our army has won two victories, the battle situation is still treacherous, and it is not yet time to celebrate. ”

"The last general believes that Jincheng is very important, and Zhang Lingbu should be sent to support immediately."

A military general retorted: "General Zhang is naturally anxious to save him, but there are many enemy soldiers near the border pass, and I am afraid that he will not be able to come back for a while." It is better to increase the support of the box army. ”

"How can the Xiang army compare to the forbidden army? Since General Zhang could not enter the customs from the west, it was better to move to other places. If one doesn't work, take a detour to another. I don't believe that the enemy can defend everywhere. ”

Shao An suddenly spoke: "Don't take risks." Now that General Zhang has met with Xiou, his whereabouts have leaked, and Xiou will definitely send someone to track him down. Weichen felt that at this time, General Zhang should retreat to the grassland, find Li Hongyi's department, and join him. ”

"What does the prime minister mean, regardless of Jincheng?"

"The last general does not agree with the prime minister's point of view, Jincheng is the territory of our country, how can I give up easily?"

Shao An explained: "It's not to give up, it's to encircle Wei to save Zhao." Returning to the rescue at this moment is tantamount to throwing yourself into a net. "Indeed, Xi'ou has already laid a net around the border, just waiting for Zhang Ling.

"It is more dangerous to go behind enemy lines alone."

Shao An said: "No. The main forces of Xiou are now gathered in Jincheng, and the grassland troops are scarce. As long as you cover your tracks and go to as far away as possible, you can avoid enemy troops. ”

"However, Li Hongyi's whereabouts are uncertain, how can General Zhang find it?"

The emperor also asked: "Shao An, where do you think Li Hongyi is now?" ”

Shao An was suddenly asked, and his brother went deep into Mobei alone, and eighty percent was lost. However, when he led the troops in the past, he never took the wrong path, so the emperor and Gao Wei did not know the fatal flaw of Li Hongyi's poor sense of direction.

"Wechen guessed that he would go west." Shao Anxin secretly prayed that the people around his brother could identify the direction, and it would be good not to take him north.

Some people speculated: "Could it be that General Li still wants to continue to go deep behind enemy lines and attack other tribes in Xiou?" ”

"It's true that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. Just wouldn't it be too aggressive? ”

"Holy, or conservative. Let Zhang Lingbu and Li Hongyi's troops return to the border pass as soon as possible and fight the enemy together with General Gao. ”

However, the emperor's holy will has been decided, and he slapped the table and said with a word: "I don't care about the gains and losses of a city or a pond in this battle, nor do I care about the success or failure of a battle. In this battle, we can't just defend but not attack as before, just linger on the sidelines, and don't dare to take a step beyond the thunder pool. This battle is bound to give me a momentum, boost morale, deter the enemy, and tell Xiou and other foreign nations the attitude and determination of our dynasty. ”

"The Holy One is far-sighted, and the ministers can't wait."

"It is proposed to send the surrounding Xiang troops to support Jincheng, and Li Hongyi and Zhang Ling will continue to advance westward."

※※※※※

After Shao An returned home after discussing the war, Zhang San had been waiting for him in the study for a long time.

As soon as he saw Shao An, Zhang San arched his hand with a hippie smile, "I heard that Li Si attacked Asura Sanse, congratulations." ”

When Shao An heard this, instead of being happy, he had a sad face, "What is there to congratulate, he made a mistake." ”

"Mistaken?" Zhang San was stunned, "Could it be Li Si, who is lost again?" ”

Shao An nodded heavily, "You also know his problem, this time I am not by his side, he will ...... Alas, it's really uncomfortable. ”

"It is said that with Li Honghui by his side, there will be no problem." Zhang San suddenly realized that he had missed his words, and immediately changed the topic, "It's not a trivial matter to get lost in the desert, what should I do now?" ”

It is said that Shao An had already guessed Li Honghui's identity, and he was worried about his brother at the moment, and he was too lazy to debunk Zhang San. He spread out a map and analyzed: "Now my brother is in Mobei. Here to the east is the Turks, and to the north is the Tatars, so I guess their next step is to the west. ”

"Why west, and not south?" Zhang San questioned, after all, going south is the right way to return to the border.

"I also hope that he will be able to return to the mainland as soon as possible. However, if he could have found the right way, he would have gone south long ago. ”

Zhang San is right to think about it, with Li Hongyi's road idiot, I'm afraid he can't find it.

"I'm afraid I'm just afraid that he will run around and run around, if he encounters the main army led by King Xiou, it will be over." Shao An put away the map on the table irritably, and took out a pen and paper, "No, I have to write a letter to Ouyang Zhenyu." ”

"What are you going to write again?" Zhang Sanyi grabbed his wrist and asked nervously.

"I'll lie to him......" Shao An thought for a moment, "just say that Jincheng's garrison is weak and the troops are insufficient, so let him throw all the main forces here, and give his brother and General Zhang time to join forces." ”

Zhang San was dumbfounded, let go of Shao An's hand stupidly, and sighed: "Gao Wei really recruited you to provoke you, why did you carry it like this." ”

"The Xiang army is almost here, and the terrain of Jincheng is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. With Gao Wei's many years of experience in fighting on the battlefield, there is no problem in persevering for a few days. Shao An said, immediately picked up the pen and wrote, and with a wave.

Zhang San watched Shao An collaborating with Xiou under his nose, and he was really speechless.

As Shao An expected, Li Hongyi really chose to go west. It all started on the day of the assault on the Holy Land.

Li Hongyi used raid tactics and attacked Asura Sansai in the middle of the night. The enemy was unprepared, and the defenders were only 2,000, how could they resist the elite of the forbidden army, so they were defeated in a battle. When Li Hongyi entered the tent of the nobles of the Holy Land, they were still asleep, panicking and not knowing what was happening.

Li Hongyi looked at the rich loot in front of him and the several big nobles who were tied up, and ordered: "Now that we have no rear supplies, everyone will take food and equipment on the spot." In addition, the local people should not be taken prisoners, we must speed up the march and not take so many people away. ”

"What about them?" Xu Lei kicked a few captives who collapsed to the ground, "These people are all from the Xiou royal family, take them away or ......"

"Kill it." Li Hongyi immediately made a decision.

Xu Lei took the order and asked people to take them down. After a while, a screaming scream sounded outside the door......

The matter was over, Xu Lei wiped his hands and came to restore his life, and Li Honghui came with him.

"Big brother, the supplies have been counted, and the army can set off."

Li Hongyi asked: "Where should we go now?" ”

Xu Lei stretched out his hand and pointed, "Of course it's to the south, that's the direction back to the border." ”

"Nan?" Li Hongyi looked in the direction of Xu Lei's finger and found that it was the way he came, and he was immediately unhappy, "It's a desert, it's enough to stray once, and you want to go twice?" ”

Li Honghui spoke, "If the eldest brother wants to avoid the desert, let's take a detour to the west." ”

"Where is the main force of Xiou now, and what is the situation in the west, we don't know at all. It's too dangerous to venture westward. ”

"What are you afraid of?" Li Hongyi said, "The order will go down, and the army will be lightly armed and marching westward as fast as possible. ”

※※※※※

The road to the west was not a smooth road, and it was often encountered by the cavalry of the reconnaissance patrol of Xiou. Fortunately, the enemy was not numerous. Li Hongyi fought with all his courage and led the army to fight a bloody battle all the way, sweeping a large area of grassland in the west with lightning speed, causing a panic among the soldiers and civilians in Xiou.

Ouyang Zhenyu was under the golden city at the moment, listening to the bad news coming from behind one after another, and he couldn't sit still for a long time. He stared at the map for a long time, his eyes moved from the royal court to the holy land, from the holy land to the southwest, and finally found that Li Hongyi's march route was irregular, and immediately said angrily: "It's chaos, it's all chaos!" Li Hongyi's hammer in the east and a stick in the west, what kind of playing style is it? ”

The military advisor suggested: "Now it seems that the rear is in danger. For the sake of now, it is better to withdraw the troops. ”

"No, I can't. Now that the war has reached a critical moment, how can you be worthy of the sacrificed soldiers if you give up like this? In addition, Shao An wrote that Jincheng was short of soldiers and food, and could not last a few days. ”

"But the rear ......," the military adviser was quite worried, "it is better to give Li Hongyi a trap and trap him in the desert to destroy himself." ”

Ouyang Zhenyu remembered the naïve way Li Hongyi rescued him back then, and wanted to agree. But when I think about it, he is stupid, but his brother is not stupid. Set up a set, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deceive the shrewd Liu An.

"Li Hongyi attacked for thousands of miles, and it was menacing, but he didn't have supplies, so he couldn't hold out for long." Ouyang Zhenyu said, "Let the soldiers and horses of all tribes try to avoid head-on conflicts with them and preserve their strength." ”

"Yes." The military advisor sighed, he knew the temperament of his lord, and he didn't say more.