Because of the wind and snow blocking the road, it was not until the evening of the fifth day of the first month of October that Sima Li Shen and Ximen Sheng, the two armies of Yanshan and Ximen Sheng, who were urgently appointed by the imperial court, arrived in Yanzhou.

At this time, the situation in Yanshan deteriorated even more. On September 29, Chu County was lost, the county lieutenant Zuo Luan was killed in battle, the county commander Hu Dan was martyred, and more than 1,700 people died in the battle of the soldiers and soldiers of the city guarding the city of Chu County; On the second day of the first month of October, the Tuqi people came out of the south entrance of Baichuan and approached the city of Duanzhou. In the middle road, 6,000 enemy soldiers divided into two routes, attacking Pei County and Xiasheng Pass day and night. On the third day of October, the two battalions of guards who were ordered to rush from Cangcheng to aid Pei County were attacked by the enemy in the middle of the pick-and-shoot at Huadu, and suffered heavy losses in the resistance for a long time, and were forced to retreat south along the original road......

The situation was so grim and difficult, Chen Pu didn't care to sympathize with and comfort the two generals who had worked hard all the way, while letting the two generals go to change clothes and eat first, and on the other hand, he sent people to gather several chief officials of the camp and the head of the Wei Mansion and Wei Mu Lu Ji, and discussed how to deal with the current situation in the council hall of the Admiral's Mansion overnight. Because it was a temporary military meeting, everyone didn't know it beforehand, and by the time the person who delivered the order found Lu Ji at the porridge factory outside the north gate, it was already dark. At this time, the state city has been curfew, the east, west and north three gates of the city gate have also been locked, and the people who came out of the governor's mansion only have warrants and no tokens, although Lu Ji is a civil official from the third grade, and the dignified Yanshan Weimu, but there is no token and can not open the city gate, so he had to take a few personal horses to bypass half of the state city and enter the city from the south gate.

By the time he arrived at the council chamber of the Admiral's Palace, the others had already arrived, and a bunch of officers were arguing around a large map set up in the middle of the room.

Lu Ji is a civil official, knowing that he can't talk about this kind of thing at all, so he simply doesn't squeeze forward, looking at Chen Pu, who is presiding over the meeting in the center, arches his hand, and quietly avoids the side to catch his breath and rest.

When he entered, several of the officers who were deliberating were arguing with each other. He sat in the seat next to him with a cup of hot tea and soup, and it took a long time to hear a little eyebrows, it turned out that these dozen generals and lieutenants surrounded the two directions of Pei County and Duanzhou, and had been divided into two distinct factions, one group of people advocated saving Pei County and Xia Shengguang first, and the other group of people insisted that Duanzhou was the main point of the war, and people on both sides felt that their ideas were not wrong, and they were desperately trying to persuade the other party to agree with their views.

Lu Ji listened for a while and felt that what both sides said made sense. Pei County and Xiashengguan are the gateways of Yanzhou, which is indeed impossible to lose, but Duanzhou is an important town in Yandong, and if this place is lost, the Tuqi people will be able to threaten the flank of Yanzhou, and they can also move along the official road at any time and go around to the south to cut off the connection between Yanzhou and the mainland...... While listening to the discussion of the officers, he pondered in his heart: Can't you do both at the same time, both to keep Duanzhou and Peixian?

The question was quickly raised. Another civil official who participated in this meeting, Lord Di Xu, the Yanshan Inspector, obviously thought exactly the same as Lu Ji, and asked, "Isn't it possible to use troops on both sides to protect Duanzhou and hold Yanshui at the same time?" He was not tall, but his voice was high and loud, and as soon as he spoke, he silenced all the voices in the room.

A camp master standing next to him sneered, "Master Di said it easily. Where did the soldiers come from? ”

Di Xu was stunned, squinted his eyes by the light of the candles on the candlestick, and looked up at the principal. His eyes were short-sighted, not to mention that in this bleak and shadowy council hall, just in broad daylight, he had to get closer and look at someone for a long time, stared at the officer several times and couldn't tell who the speaker was, and said in silence: "What this general said is unreasonable. There are 5,000 guards stationed in Yanzhou City, and there are more than 10,000 people outside the city. Even if the soldiers in Yanzhou City don't move, the 10,000 soldiers outside can always be dispatched, right? For these people, the siege of Xie Duanzhou and Pei County is more than enough. Besides, there are still a few thousand people in Cangcheng, and you can also order them to send troops to assist. He spoke quickly and quickly, and as he spoke, the light scarlet official uniform hanging on his thin and tendonous little body was also dangling, which always made people feel a little funny.

Lu Ji was wondering how Di Xu, who was being promoted by officials, ran to join in the excitement at the military meeting, and the officer who spoke just now said: "I am a six-rank captain, but I don't dare to be the title of general." Master Di has good eyesight, and he can actually see that there are 10,000 guards outside the city......" These words clearly praised Di Xu's good eyes, but in fact, he was a mockery of his short-sightedness, and the officers around him all laughed and said in a strange voice:

"Master Di doesn't say it, we people don't know yet, there are soldiers outside the city for a long time!"

"You don't have the ability of Master Di, of course you don't know!"

"Oh, what is Lord Di's ability?"

"Didn't you see how carefully Master Di looked at the map just now? We are 'seeing', and others are 'smelling'......"

"'Smell'? Impossible! Why do I think Master Di is 'eating' the map? ”

The lieutenant who spoke ignored the cynicism of his colleagues around him and continued: "...... Since Master Di has found so many soldiers for us, I wonder if Lord Di still has a way to let these rout soldiers who have just gathered go to war? ”

Di Xu was so sarcastic that he was speechless for a while, and he covered up his embarrassment and shame by bending down to look at the map. But he immediately found a new basis for his idea, raised his head, looked at the officers around him coldly, and said in a defensive voice: "The Right Route Army still has 4,000 cavalry in Fangzhou, and it is not necessary to defend the city, so it is just right to transfer them over to reinforce Duanpei and Pei." ”

As soon as this stupid idea came out, all the officers sneered with contempt on their faces. Or the captain said: "Fangzhou doesn't need cavalry to defend the city, but Duanzhou Pei County needs to use cavalry to defend the city?" Besides, from Fangzhou to Duanzhou, it is necessary to cross most of Yanshanwei, a distance of 400 miles, not to mention the difficult obstacles on the road, just say that the transmission of military orders and the delay of the march, these two things should not take time? Hey...... According to Lord Di's method, when the cavalry of the right army arrives, maybe Duanzhou will be lost long ago, and then Lord Di will still propose that we take the cavalry to attack the city? After speaking, he ignored Di Xu, whose face was blue and white for a while, pointed to the map and said: "Duanzhou is the state capital, the city is far stronger than Pei County and Xiashengguan, and the garrison and population are also far superior. Moreover, Duanzhou is one hundred and sixty miles away from Yanzhou, half of the road is in the mountains, and there are two rivers blocking it, even if the enemy takes Duanzhou, we will have enough time to set up a defensive line. Therefore, the direction of Duanzhou seems to be dangerous, but in fact, there is no big danger. The only thing that needs to be guarded against is to divide the troops to fight Yi County. As long as the Nanguan camp is kept, no matter how the situation in Yandong deteriorates, it will not be a failure, as long as there is food support, it is a matter of time before the lost territory is regained. After a pause, his fingers shifted and his tone became heavy. Pei County and Xia Sheng Guan are different. These two places hold Yanshui, once lost, the two hundred miles south of Yanshui Plain is not safe to defend, just let the Tu Quan people give full play to the advantage of their cavalry moving fast, when they rely on Pei County's Xiasheng Pass, they can sneak attack Yanzhou within a day, even in the cold winter, they can harass Yanzhou and nearby counties at any time. He raised his head, looked at Chen Pu and said, "General, I seconded General Li Shen's opinion, we should now use Xirao, Yanshui, Duanzhou and Yixian as strongholds, establish the first line of defense, focus on defending Xiashengguan and Pei County, and strive to block the Tuqi people in the north of Yanshui and east of Yi. At the same time, the second line of defense was established with Yanfang Erzhou as a base to prevent accidents. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately objected: "What can the Tuqi people do if they occupy Pei County?" When the weather is cold and the ground is freezing, if they dare to send troops to attack Yanzhou, they don't need to do anything, as long as they drink the northwest wind under the city for two days, they will have to get out......"

Some people also jumped out and ridiculed each other: "If the enemy sneaks up, what is the use of the city wall?" Even if you don't attack the city, just set a fire outside the city, how can so many refugees be resettled? ”

"That's better than losing Duanzhou! To hold Duanzhou, the people of Tuyi must have scruples, and they will not be able to let go when they fight Yixian. If you lose Duanzhou, how many days can the palm-sized place in Yi County last? ”

"If you can't hold it, you have to hold it!"

“…… Joke! How can you hold it if you can't hold it? ”

Chen Pu saw that these people had different opinions, and before they could say two sentences, they began to quarrel again, frowned slightly, coughed lightly, and saw that the room was quiet, and then turned his head to stare at Ximen Sheng beside him, and asked, "What about General Ximen's opinion?" ”

Since the beginning of the military meeting, the newly appointed Sima Ximensheng of the Yanshan Left Army has been listening to other people's discussions with his eyelids lowered as if he was asleep, but he has never said a word. This stocky middle-aged man had a softly contoured face, and his bronzed face was nothing outstanding. He probably had an arrow wound on his left cheek, leaving a small scar, so that he always had a smile on his face, and the whole thing looked like that of a rich country man who had accumulated some land and property. Hearing Chen Pu's question, he couldn't stop answering at this time, so he smiled and said: "I just arrived, and I only knew a lot of things by reading the military newspaper documents. I think everyone has a point, Shouduanzhou is good at Shouduanzhou, Shoupei County is good at Shoupei County, and Yanzhou is the center of Yanshan, which is naturally the top priority, and there must be no mistakes. ……”

A room full of civil and military officials were silent, muttering together in their stomachs: This person is sophisticated and can speak.

“…… However, how to defend Yanzhou, I think we should also listen to General Shang Cheng's opinion, after all, half of the current garrison in Yanzhou is his subordinates. ”

As soon as he said this, everyone realized that Shang Cheng was indeed not present, and they were a little unhappy. At present, almost all the main forces from Yanzhou to Peixian are the soldiers of the blind man, and he has not come to attend the military meeting, so what are you arguing about here?

Chen Pu said: "General Shang has been recuperating for the past two days, so I didn't notify him to come to the meeting......

Ximen Sheng asked with concern: "I heard that General Shang's eye disease is very serious, hasn't he been cured yet?" ”

“…… It's almost there. ”

Ximen Sheng nodded and didn't say anything more.

Chen Pu had already heard the meaning of Ximen Sheng's words. She did not inform Shang Cheng to participate in this military meeting, although it was so that Shang Cheng could have more time to recuperate, but it was precisely because of her kindness that this meeting was meaningless from the beginning......