Pingzhou, Jianchang City.

The shouts of killing were deafening, the sound of explosions came and went, and the Liao army was risking their lives to launch an assault on Jianchang City again and again. And above the city, the Tang army did not give an inch, and under the city wall, the corpses of the Liao army were paved layer after layer.

Every attack of the Liao army began with the first rush of the guilty slaves, and then ended with the Liao army attacking the city and being killed and retreated by the Tang army, and this battle process has continued for several days.

Zhang Zhongwu couldn't help but shake his head after watching the last Liao army attacking the city being submerged by the Tang army that was pouring in like a tide, and that's it for today.

The Tang army was difficult to fight, which he had expected for a long time, but it was so difficult to fight, it was still beyond his expectations. In the past few years, he felt that the combat effectiveness of the Liao army had risen to a higher level than that of the Lu Long army back then, but what he didn't expect was that the Tang army's level of progress was faster.

In particular, what made him blush was the equipment of the Tang Army.

In addition to sharp swords, countless arm-drawn crossbows, longer range and faster fire trebuchets, artillery carts, and fierce fire bombs that gave him a headache.

The Liao army also has this thing, and it can also explode and bring losses to the enemy, and it can also be splashed without extinguishing, but compared with the Tang army's fierce fire and oil bombs, it is like two things. The power of the Tang Army's fierce fire oil bomb was too powerful, and every time he saw the strong light generated by the sound of the explosion spreading the flames into the several zhang square garden, Zhang Zhongwu's heart twitched.

The Liao people have been carefully researching and improving the power of the fierce fire oil bomb, but the effect is unsatisfactory, which is naturally better than back then, but it still cannot satisfy Zhang Zhongwu.

Even if you can't surpass the Tang Army, you can't be weaker than them.

With the sound of the golden gong, the Liao army began to retreat slowly, and on the city wall, the Tang army waved the weapons in their hands and let out bursts of cheers.

The night was dark, and in the big tent of the Chinese army, Deng Jingshan and Zhang Zhongwu were sitting opposite each other and drinking. Although he was on the march, Zhang Zhongwu's diet was not sloppy, the whole set of expensive porcelain from the Central Plains was filled with all kinds of delicacies, the fine wine exuded a rich fragrance, and the exquisite glass lamps illuminated the huge military tent.

All these extravagant items come from the Central Plains. From the place of Zhang Zhongwu's dreams.

"Tell me, why are those craftsmen under Li Ze's rule so ingenious?" Zhang Zhongwu pointed to the two glass lamps in the tent, "Let's take this lamp as an example, it is so exquisitely designed, it can magnify the bean-sized light into such a bright light, it's really incredible!" ”

Deng Jingshan nodded and said: "These are still some civilian products, those lights at the head of Jianchang City, you have also seen it, and they have turned the night into as bright as day, making it a luxury for us to sneak attack at night." ”

"Why can't our craftsmen do it?" Zhang Zhongwu sighed: "Now we also know that the so-called glaze is just fired from sand, but why is the glaze we made so dim and unusable!" ”

"Lord Wang, it takes time, in fact, what they fired this year already has a little appearance!" Deng Jingshan persuaded.

Zhang Zhongwu laughed: "When we hit Wuyi, we won't need these three-legged cats here." I really didn't expect Xue Chong to be so difficult to deal with. ”

Deng Jingshan shook his head: "Lord Wang, it's not commanded by Xue Chong, the Tang Army's combat mode, with a strong Gao Xiao style, should be commanded by Han Qi." Originally, we thought that Han Qi was exiled here, but now it seems that this is really not the case! ”

"Xue Chong is a smart man, otherwise, with the fact that he was just a small part of the Luzhou Army, how could he become one of the twelve generals under Li Ze within a few years! He knew that he was not my opponent, so he arched Han Qi in front. However, this army should still be in his hands. Zhang Zhongwu said.

"Tang Jun is much more than we expected!" Deng Jingshan Road.

"Didn't you capture a batch of Don troops two days ago? Some information came out of where they interrogated. Zhang Zhongwu said: "Xue Chong has more than 50,000 troops in his hands. ”

Deng Jingshan was silent for a moment and said, "Where did he get so many soldiers who can fight well?" These people are obviously not novices. ”

"Immigration." Zhang Zhongwu said: "Over the years, Li Ze has been persevering in immigrating to Pingzhou, Mozhou and other places, and the vast majority of these immigrants were once Tang Army soldiers. ”

After a pause, Zhang Zhongwu said: "I have to say admiration to Li Ze." The military system he created single-handedly created an endless stream of excellent soldiers for him. Every year, soldiers retire, every year new recruits join, and after a few years of hard work, the recruits become veterans again. Once something happens, these retired veterans are re-drafted into the army and can immediately exert their combat effectiveness. It's a pity that even if we knew, we couldn't follow suit. This requires a lot of money to prop it up. Where did we get so much money to train new soldiers? Li Ze's hundreds of thousands of troops have maintained the mode of standing army, and this alone is breathtaking. His ability to make money is really unsurpassed. ”

"He mainly mastered two lines of foreign trade." Speaking of this, Deng Jingshan suddenly became angry: "We also had fleets to move overseas, but unfortunately, they were all robbed and destroyed by Li Ze's sailors. ”

"The skill is not as good as the person, what can I do?" Zhang Zhongwu looked at the angry Deng Jingshan and laughed: "But as the so-called wood shows in the forest, the wind will destroy it, Li Ze is too good, so everyone doesn't want him to stand alone, so this is why there is a joint attack this time." ”

"Xiang Xun is as cunning as a fox, Zhu Youzhen is good, and we are good, but they all came out with their old books and worked hard, but he hid behind and wanted to pick up ready-made?" Deng Jingshan sneered.

"Being too smart isn't necessarily a good thing!" Zhang Zhongwu said with a smile: "Of course, I have to admit that he bears the most difficult part of it. As long as Li Ze can be killed, then our current efforts are worth it. Don't forget, as long as Li Ze dies, we are most likely to fight Wuyi first. At that time, the richest places under Li Ze's rule will all be ours. When the time comes, because of Li Ze's death, the hundreds of thousands of angry Tang troops gathered in Luoyang, Chang'an and other places will point the finger at who first? ”

"Naturally, he is the culprit who killed Li Ze!" Deng Jingshan Road.

"That's it! So, we don't have to envy Xiang Xun now, if it really happens, we will bear the brunt of it! Zhang Zhongwu said with a smile.

After drinking a glass of wine, Deng Jingshan was still worried: "Lord Wang, it's already October now, if it continues like this, it will rain on our side, and once it is the snow season, our logistics will be troublesome." Therefore, we still have to strengthen the offensive, and strive to completely defeat Xue Chong before the arrival of the snow season, and bring Pingzhou and Mozhou under our rule, so that we can survive the winter! ”

"It won't be long before Xue Chong will take the initiative to retreat." Zhang Zhongwu is confident.

"Now that Jianchang is still as solid as a rock, how could he take the initiative to retreat?" Deng Jingshan was puzzled.

"When Jianyuan and Suihua are lost, he will inevitably retreat and will not stay here and die with us!" Zhang Zhongwu said: "Han Qi, Xue Chong is playing a trick of exchanging space for time with me!" Resisting step by step, retreating step by step, delaying time little by little, they are nothing more than waiting for the arrival of the snow season, or waiting for Li Ze's army to come to help. ”

"If the opponent is not defending Jianchang, if you retreat further, you will have to retreat until Zunhua has a strong city to compete with us. Retreating so far is equivalent to almost giving up the entire Pingzhou and Mozhou, so Xue Chong and Han Qi are not afraid of Li Ze's blame? ”

"Have you read the textbooks of the Wuwei Military Academy?" Zhang Zhongwu asked.

Deng Jingshan shook his head.

"I've read it!" Zhang Zhongwu said: "In the preface made by Li Ze, there is a paragraph in which Li Ze said that the lost land saves people, people and land are saved, people and land are lost, and people and land are lost. Therefore, Li Ze would not blame Xue Chong and Han Qi for their tactics of retaining their strength and retreating step by step. Because this itself is Li Ze's thinking on governing the army. Otherwise, even if Xue Chong and Han Qi fight to the death, they will still not be my opponent in the end, and then the bamboo basket will be empty. ”

"Li Ze, this person, is really a generation of ghost talents, civil governance, military affairs, there seems to be no one he is not proficient in!" Deng Jingshan sighed.

"Yes, it is our misfortune to be in the same era as this person, so this time, I have done everything to make a break with him on this opportunity, otherwise the further we go, the less chance we have, even if we want to be in a safe corner. When he swept away the Central Plains and then looked back at us, he was afraid that we would want to ask for a public apartment but we wouldn't be able to get it. Zhang Zhongwu said: "When I came out this time, I was not ready to go back." Either they will be sent to Chang'an, or their heads will be sent to Chang'an. ”

Deng Jingshan laughed: "Since the prince thinks so, then Deng naturally wants to accompany him, either send the prince to sit in that seat, or put his head on the side of the prince's head and give it to Li Ze to watch!" ”

The two cups were raised, and there was a crunch sound, and the two of them drank it all.

As soon as they put down their cups, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves outside the tent, and the two of them looked at each other and turned their eyes to the curtain.

The two messengers stepped into the tent almost one after the other.

"Lord Yu, the Left Route Army has taken Suizhong."

"The Right Route Army has taken Jianyuan!"

Zhang Zhongwu nodded slowly, looked at Deng Jingshan and said, "Xue Chong and Han Qi are going to run away again." ”

"We can win the pursuit, and in the field, our cavalry has a big advantage." Deng Jingshan's eyes flashed.

"Be careful, I'd rather miss it than step into the other party's trap, Han Qi, this old thief, is very damaged!" Zhang Zhongwu squinted his eyes and said.