Sunset dusk, the temperature of this era seems to be lower than the average of later generations, even at sunset in summer, there will be a hint of coolness, but for the elite Han army, this coolness is not worth mentioning at all, they advance along Weishui, the line is very long, like a giant python, fast advance on the uninhabited wilderness, dusty, they must rush to Longxi County before dark, that is, the Yongzhou rear of the Liangzhou counterinsurgency war, where they will have the final rest, and then they will go to the front.

Due to Xiang Qing's unfamiliarity with the army, including that he didn't know how to arrange for the sergeants to set up camp, how to let the soldiers bury the pot and cook according to the order, and Wang Shu miscalculated the military funds once, and took less supplies, etc., they had delayed the trip for two or three days, and they should have arrived in Longxi County three days ago, and there was still plenty of time to rest, but now they had to march in a hurry, and there was not much time to rest, so that many soldiers began to show dissatisfaction.

The reason why the soldiers did not mutiny, to a large extent, was because they were the most elite Han soldiers, and a small part also benefited from Xiang Qing's personal charm, he did not have the slightest shelf of the general of Zhengxi, whenever night fell, he would call all the generals and some veterans to ask some questions about camping, these people were also happy to be valued by the general, and they would provide their own valuable advice, including how to place the antlers to resist the horse, close to the water source, choose the right terrain, the placement of the camp tent and so on.

At the beginning, when these generals answered the questions, they all had a disdainful attitude, how could a general not even know these basic questions, but later, after Xiang Qing asked for three days in a row, on the fourth day, they found that Xiang Qing didn't call them at all today, and they had already arranged these things decently, and on the fifth day, these generals and veterans put forward their opinions again, and Xiang Qing could even draw inferences and put forward better opinions, which is amazing, they are not unseen generals who have never led soldiers, but like Xiang QingIt only took five days to master these skills, which was completely impossible, but Xiang Qing did it.

When Wang Shu miscalculated the military resources, he did not have the heart to protect because Wang Shu was his own retainer, he summoned all the soldiers, in front of everyone, in accordance with the reward and punishment system he set at the beginning, meticulously implemented the punishment of Wang Shu, which is also a point that the soldiers admired, it can be said that this move has made Xiang Qing's prestige in the 5,000 Han army have been improved a little bit.

When the military rations were insufficient, Xiang Qing personally issued his own order, Xiao Hu distributed the grain, that is, the big spoon that originally distributed the grain, turned into a small spoon to reduce the consumption of food, the soldiers were unwilling, but Xiang Qing immediately issued an order, saying that his martial arts do not need to eat, and his own guards are also good men with one enemy and ten heroes, and they do not need to eat, this group of arrogant soldiers became angry all of a sudden, and one by one claimed that they were also heroic heroes, and they did not go to eat for several days. When everyone is hungry, the food gap disappears.

Then Xiang Qing ordered to cook in normal portions, and walked out of the Chinese army's tent with his own rice bowl, sat with the soldiers, teased and laughed, and went deep into the grassroots to understand the true thoughts of these soldiers.

From afar, you can see that the city wall of Xiangwu County, the seat of Longxi County, gradually became clear in his eyes, Xiang Qing let the herald on horseback gallop back and forth in the various armies to convey his orders, it was late, and the army entered the city to disturb the people, so he rested in place for a night, and entered the city tomorrow.

The army camped in an orderly manner, felled trees nearby to make antlers to resist horses, pit traps were readily available, several sergeants could work together to set up a tent, use wooden sticks to set up a brazier to illuminate the camp, open and secret sentry into their posts, the patrol team clearly divided their respective areas, handed over on time, and had a password for entering and exiting, stipulating that the password should be changed every few hours.

The air quality in this era is very good, and the starry sky is beautiful, but even if it is a beautiful night scene, Xiang Qing is not in the mood to appreciate it, and they can relax in front of them, and after entering Fufeng County, they know that the current form is not optimistic.

The lights in the big tent of the Chinese army are bright, this is the first time that Xiang Qing has held a military intelligence meeting, the soldiers are under the leadership of Liu Hu and Yun Chengxu, the big tent is surrounded by groups, no one is allowed to approach, everyone has a hand on the handle of the knife, can deal with emergencies at any time, and the atmosphere in the big tent is also very serious.

The lieutenant in charge of intelligence reported: "General, according to the latest intelligence and scout reports, Liangzhou has already fallen in its entirety. ”

Xiang Qing nodded, he was silent for a long time, and he didn't hear the captain speak again, he opened his mouth and asked: "The general location of the Liangzhou rebel Yan Zhong and the kingdom, the approximate number of rebels, the armament and grain and grass reserves, and what is the distance between our army and the rebels, you can make a detailed report first." ”

The captain's brows furrowed suddenly, and he said hesitantly: "General, the number of rebels is said to be 20,000, and the armament and food are ...... If they capture the whole territory of Liangzhou, the warehouses in all counties should have grain in stock, I estimate that it is very sufficient, and the distance between our army and the rebels is ......"

Xiang Qing raised his hand: "Okay, don't say it." ”

The atmosphere in the big tent dropped directly to the freezing point, Xiang Qing rubbed his eyebrows a few times, and said calmly: "Investigating intelligence is your business, I am the master and will plan a strategy, without accurate information, how can I anticipate the enemy first and win a victory thousands of miles away?" I don't blame you for not being able to find out the detailed data, but you can't even find out a rough data, that is your dereliction of duty, Wang Shu, according to military regulations, how should you be punished? ”

Wang Shu replied in a sullen voice: "General, the investigation of intelligence is not effective, and the delay of military aircraft is dereliction of duty, according to military regulations, the military staff is thirty, and he will be removed from his post." ”

The lieutenant immediately panicked, he knelt down on one knee and arched his hand and said: "General, it's not that I'm incompetent, this Yan Zhong and the kingdom are very cautious, our scouts are out of Fufeng County, and there are rebel sentinels everywhere, I'm afraid that my brothers will have an accident, so I let my brothers retreat, I really can't help it, General!" ”

At this time, Wang Shu looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, Xiang Qing glanced at Wang Shu and signaled that he could speak.

Wang Shu said: "General Qiyu, before we set out on the expedition, the number of rebels in Liangzhou was indeed 20,000, he was not wrong in this point, but in such a short time, the rebels captured the entire territory of Liangzhou, after several expansions, the number has been 35,000, according to my investigation, these 35,000 are not all combat soldiers, and there are many young adults who are coerced by the rebels, and there are still 20,000 people who can really fight the battle. ”

"Because Yan Zhong and the kingdom directly wiped out all the high-level officials in Liangzhou, destroyed the superstructure in one fell swoop, and the Liangzhou army lost its command, so the rebels were able to capture the entire territory of Liangzhou so easily, in fact, the Liangzhou army guarding Liangzhou did not have much loss, I have conveyed the general's order, let them hold on to the front line of Jincheng County and wait for reinforcements, and now it is estimated that there is a battle, so the distance between our army and the rebels should be the distance from Longxi County to Jincheng County."

Xiang Qing glanced at Wang Shu in surprise, he didn't expect that Wang Shu was in charge of grain and grass, and he could actually investigate intelligence, Xiang Qing asked suspiciously: "How did you find out?" ”

Wang Shu replied: "In fact, as early as after the general received the order to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou, I had already sent my capable people to infiltrate Liangzhou in disguise, and my intelligence also came from this. ”

Xiang Qing nodded: "To investigate intelligence, you can't rely entirely on scouts, sometimes, one spy can be worth ten scouts, do you understand?" This was addressed to the lieutenant.

The captain bowed his head in shame and said something clear. What Xiang Qing didn't ask was that Wang Shu was just a small servant before, where did he get such a lot of energy to cultivate such a group of shrewd and capable spies, his origin was not simple, but Wang Shu didn't say it, Xiang Qing also wanted to keep his secret, and he would naturally say it when he wanted to.

Wang Shu continued: "The strength of the Liangzhou army is still 10,000, plus the elite 5,000 Luoyang Army of our army, so the ratio of troops should be 15,000 to 35,000. ”

Hearing this one-to-three disparity in strength, the generals and colonels all lowered their heads and were silent, although they all claimed to be good men with one as ten, but these veterans who had experienced a hundred battles knew best that it was difficult to win more with less, even when the strength was equal, there would be many factors that could lead to the defeat of the army, not to mention the defeat of the weak by the outnumbered, and the weak defeating the strong.

"There is good news, in recent years, Liangzhou has been plagued by natural and man-made disasters, the grain harvest has been bad, the treasury is empty, and the imperial court has to allocate grain and grass to support Liangzhou every year, but after many deductions, the grain that can reach Liangzhou is already very small, coupled with the destruction of the rebels, so their food reserves and armaments must be extremely poor, and the lack of food and clothing is certain."

Xiang Qing didn't know whether this news was good or bad, if it wasn't for a rebellion, it would be difficult for him to imagine what kind of life the people of Liangzhou were living, this rebellion was even worse, the rebellion covered up the problems of Liangzhou, Xiang Qing seemed to have a fire in his heart, he wanted to quickly quell the rebellion in Liangzhou and restore peace, at least there was no war, and the people were living a little better.

Xiang Xu stood up, helped the captain up, and then said: "The big war is coming, I will punish you first, I'm afraid you will not be convinced, if you really feel that you are wronged, prove it to me, I will allow you to keep your position and make meritorious contributions, but let Wang Shu be your deputy, you two work together to investigate intelligence, I said when I was in the Luoyang camp, I will not risk the lives of the soldiers, so I need accurate information, let me make the right judgment, end this war as soon as possible, take the heads of Yan Zhong and the kingdom to report to the imperial court, This is our common goal. ”

Wang Shu asked, "General, what about the baggage?" ”

Xiang Qing replied with a smile: "Don't worry, someone will take care of it for you, and it is estimated that he will come tonight." ”