Although there was a greasy feeling of eating a fly, Wen Mu still forcibly suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and gave a military salute to Qi Wei, and walked up the low stone steps without waiting for Qi Wei to speak. At the moment of entering the door, he was still muttering in his heart, at this time, Qi Wei was actually in the mood to come out and greet him with a smile, could it be that there was a new battle report in the past day or two, and Yandong's dangerous situation had improved?

It is said to be a command post, but in fact, this barely a hall is not much bigger than the other mud-walled thatched houses in the stockade. Like other low mud houses with broken roofs and collapsed walls, there are no windows on the walls of the four sides of the hall, and there are still thick cotton tents hanging on the door to keep out the cold, which is not ventilated, but there is still a fire burning in the house with six or seven large branches of oil wax, and when the curtain is lifted, a burnt smell of rotten wood burning will come to his face, choking him can't help but blink a few times, and it took him a long time to see the scene in the house clearly.

In addition to Qi Wei, there were three other people in the house. Sima of the Left Army and Sun Zhongshan, the commander of the Middle Route Army, was standing in front of the wooden frame. On both sides of the map, there is a mountain of candles with two branches, and the four large sheep fat candles are blazing, and the flames are rising half a foot high, and the black smoke rises straight up with the drifting and moving fire. Sun Zhongshan's back was dragged by the swaying light and shadow on the corner wall, and the dark figure was like a quiet mountain, staring deeply at the hut. In the middle of the room was a pit of stones, and a large log crackled with fire, and every now and then a few sparks exploded, shining up and down, and the spark was gone. There were a few crushed mud bricks and pebbles randomly placed around the fire pond, and Sima Sun Huan of the Chinese army and Shao Chuan, the commander of the Chinese army, sat across the fire pond, and when they saw him come in, they just nodded silently, and then buried their heads in the fire.

Wen Mu took off his hood and walked to Shao Chuan's side, kicked most of the mud bricks backwards with his foot, and then sat down, just as he wanted to speak and ask what important military affairs needed to be discussed at today's meeting, when he raised his eyes, he saw Shao Chuan shaking his head lightly with a tense face, and swallowed back all the words he wanted to ask, and also learned from the two of them, and baked the fire with both hands to keep warm.

Sun Zhongshan also heard the noise in the house, glanced back, nodded and said, "Zhaoyuan is here." He waved his hand, signaled that Wen Mu didn't have to stand up and salute, took a stack of documents from the military case next to him and handed it over, and said in a dumb voice, "You can take a look at the battle reports that arrived last night and this morning." At the moment when he handed over the paperwork and received the paperwork, Wen Mu had already glimpsed that Sun Zhongshan's description was even more haggard than five days ago, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, his eyes were red and bloodshot like a spider's web, and his eyes were full of anxiety in addition to exhaustion......

Wen Mu stared at Sun Zhongshan deeply, and was about to say two words of relief, but Sun Zhongshan had already turned around and continued to look at Yutu.

He sighed silently, lowered his head, and began to read the paperwork in the flickering light of the fire. Since the dispatch of the army, the army and the Weifu have been in contact, from Mogan to Yanzhou to Duanzhou, or through Yanzhou to Shangjing, every two hours there are fast horses to convey the latest battlefield forms and the situation of friends and enemies. However, recently, because of the heavy rain in Yanzhong and North caused the road to be muddy and blocked, Yandong's battle report was sent to Mogan through Yanzhou, and the road was delayed for more time than usual, so it was all news more than ten days ago, and it was difficult to say what else could it do, it could only be used to understand the changes in the situation in Yandong half a month ago. It can be said that these battle reports, which are seriously lagging behind in time, are meaningless to the current problems faced by the Central Route Army, and cannot help the Zhao Army break the stalemate situation of Mogan.

A total of three battle reports arrived yesterday evening and this morning, and the situation in Yandong did not deteriorate significantly. Ximensheng has retreated to Yixian Linguan, and Zhang Shao also arrived in Duanzhou on the seventh day of September. There is still no definite news of Beizheng in the war report; However, it was also mentioned in the war report that whether it was Duanzhou or Yixian, there was no obvious sign of strengthening the strength of the Tu Xian people in both directions, and it was obvious that Tu Xian was still holding on to Beizheng. Although Beizheng has become a lonely city at present, under the strict siege of several times stronger enemies, it is only in the morning and evening to break the city, but the people of Tuqi will not be able to take Beizheng for a day, and the enemy who goes west and south will not dare to take it lightly for a day. This is probably the only gratifying news in the difficult situation that Yandong and Yanbei have encountered.

I quickly read three battle reports, and there were two letters left. One was written by Zhang Shao after he arrived in Duanzhou, and the other was sent by Huo Shiqi from Liuzhen. His eyes swept over the covers of the two letters, and he opened Zhang Shao's letter first:

"Feng Mogan Left Army Sima Sun and Zhuan Sun Shaowen three generals read together: At present, Yanfang Erzhou Chengping is fine, and Duanzhou may have a small misfortune, so Yu has moved the camp here on the seventh day of September, not for anything else, but to seek the end of the land. On the ninth day of the Double Ninth Festival, the idea of climbing with friends, but suddenly the thief suddenly arrived, fortunately the soldiers and civilians in the city gathered together as a city, and the three o'clock of the fierce battle on the day went to the evening. Looking at it, although the thieves are powerful, the flags are mixed with call signs, and the ordnance and food seem to be insufficient. Yu thought about it repeatedly, if the soldiers and civilians of Hezhou tried their best to deal with it, the thief could not do anything when he saw it, and he should be far away for a few days. Shaozi. On the ninth night of the first month of September, he paused for a long time and wished a great victory in Duanzhou. ”

At the end, there is a column of small print: "When this letter will be sent, the red flag of the general of Simenke will be reported." A few days ago, he won a small victory in Gongqian Pass in Yi County, beheaded more than 100 thieves and captured a number of horses. ”

Wen Mu pondered, and picked up Huo Shiqi's letter again. As soon as he looked at it, the first row of the letterhead made his brow furrow:

"General Sun in the middle of the road"

This is not a private message, but an official document. He pursed his lips in contemplation, his gaze following the paper from right to left.

"General Sun, commander of the middle road: Since the beginning of the month, the rain in Yanzhong has been in the north, and at the beginning of the 14th, the proclamation from all over the country has been gathered to report that ten bridges have been destroyed, 27 roads have collapsed and collapsed, and countless people have fallen and fallen to the rocks. Among them, the section of Yanshan from Liuzhen to the north was the most damaged. The fixed bridge collapsed, the flat bridge was very badly damaged, before the 15th, the Chinese army's boatman battalion and the newly established engineer battalion in the town came to report, the flat bridge must be visible for one day and night, and the fixed bridge needs three days and nights or can be supervised. Eighty miles to the south and fifty miles to the north, the road was muddy and there was no horse's knee, and the wheeled vehicles could not pass, and the people who had been wearing the grain, grass, ordnance, winter clothes and quilts accumulated in the town had passed six days. As a last resort, in violation of the general's order, the transportation of vehicles and horses was changed to the transportation of manpower, and a document has been issued to the villages and villages in the surrounding counties, strictly ordering all localities to summon people to stay in the town. However, the heavy rain filled the roads and blocked the road, making it difficult for the conscripts to lose on time, and it was also difficult for the military to lose the heavy responsibilities on time. Under Huo Shiqi, on September 15, he stayed in the town. ”

He read both letters again from beginning to end, pondering their meaning. Judging from the content, Zhang Shao's letter is indeed a private letter, but the letterhead is in the form of an official document; Huo Shiqi's letter was completely an official document, but he didn't sign the official seal, and the end was also a private seal. Zhang Shao said lightly in the letter, as if the attack on Duanzhou by the Tsz people was a trivial matter, and a few assertions about the future movements of the enemy seemed to be full of confidence. At the end of the letter, it was also specifically mentioned that Ximen won a small victory, which was probably the method of agitation, wanting Sun Zhongshan to move in Mogan and play a more beautiful victory. However, Huo Shiqi's letter is mentioning difficulties every word, either the road is blocked or the army is difficult to lose, although there is no half a word to mention others, but the whole letter between the words is a meaning to withdraw the army one by one! The sky is not with me, the logistics baggage can't keep up, hurry up and withdraw the troops, and we must withdraw immediately!

He groaned and looked at Sun Huan. There were five people in the room, and Sun Zhongshan, the commander of the army, was still pondering in front of the map and couldn't interrupt, and the rest of the people took Sun Huan, who was second only to Sun Zhongshan in rank and honor, as the head of the horse. Even if Sun Dazui has never been related to the "wisdom" in "Zhiyong Shuangquan", others can't speak before him.

Sun Huan was holding an iron cuff and holding charcoal in the fire, feeling his gaze, he furrowed his brows and pouted the corners of his mouth towards his deputy Shao Chuan.

Shao Chuan, the governor of the Left Army, has a white and pure face, and his face is extremely delicate and gentle, and at the age of thirty-four or five, he looks about the same as a young man in his twenties. He smiled and said, "Zhang Jixian and Uncle Seventeen are the same thing. As he spoke, he dug out a piece of blackened paste from the fire, turned his left hand upside down and slapped it twice with his right hand, and before the ashes were clean, he went up and took a bite, chewed twice, and spat at the corner of the wall. Not cooked yet! He threw the thing into the fire again, grabbed the gourd hanging from his waist and poured a few mouthfuls, and handed the gourd to Wen Mu casually. Wen Mu didn't like wine, so he didn't drink it, pretended not to see Qi Wei's half-raised arm, handed the gourd to Sun Huan, and said in a deep voice: "What Uncle Seventeen said in the letter, ......" He paused, pursed his lips, and said again, "I read General Zhang's letter, it shouldn't be about withdrawing troops." ”

"So the words of the scholar are not true." Shao Chuan said. He grinned and moved his left leg away from the fire. The year before last, when Mo Gan broke through, he was the vanguard of the army, this leg was hit by the medicine arrow in that battle, there was a shortage of medicine at that time, and when he returned to Yanshan, he had delayed the time for treatment, and then left a root of the disease, and every time it rained on a cloudy day, it was sour and swollen. He rubbed his thighs and said, "When is it now, Zhang Jixian dares to leave his post without permission?" He didn't stay in Yanzhou, he had nothing to do and went to Duanzhou, what did he want to do? Obviously, the situation in the direction of Duanzhou is urgent, and if others go, he can't rest assured, so he can only guard it in person! ”

Wen Mu also thought about this when he read the letter just now. Zhang Shao suddenly went to Duanzhou, and the slightest rumor was not revealed in the direction of Mogan beforehand, which made no sense anyway.

"What's the point that doesn't make sense?" Shao Chuan laughed. Zhang Jixian also suddenly received an emergency report, and he rushed to Duanzhou in a hurry before he had time to do anything; When the seventh day of the first month arrived in Duanzhou, he was afraid that he would not even have time to wash his face, so he began to arrange the defense of the city, and it was not until the ninth day of the first day that the people of the city were unable to attack the city and had to retreat temporarily, so he had time to write this letter. One by one, I still dare to guarantee the ticket, when Zhang Jixian wrote this letter, he was on the city wall in the north, and he wrote this letter in a panic without even replying to the yamen! ”

Wen Mu frowned and glared at Shao Chuan. Shao Chuan's words, the first half of which he believed seventy or eighty percent, but the last sentence said that Zhang Shaoqiang wrote a letter at the head of the city calmly, hiding his thoughts of asking for the army's return of reinforcements in the radical general's method, and he felt unreliable anyway. He unfolded the paper, lowered his head and wanted to see which sentence on Zhang Shaoxin was exposed, Sun Huan didn't say anything and smashed over a piece of half-red charcoal: "Get out of your mother!" Red mouth and white teeth, what are you shouting here! The general in front of him casually said, 'Shao Chuan's fighting style is most like me', you really fucking think you're a character and can be compared with the general? Four thousand men have been fighting for a few days, and they haven't even touched the ox cart wheels of the Turks, what do you look like a general? And the face to run here to make a guarantee! ”

The charcoal smashed directly on Shao Chuan's shoulder, and a string of sparks burst out in all directions, and some even splashed on his cheeks and sideburns. Shao Chuan casually patted the ash and charcoal slag left behind after the spark was extinguished, and said as if nothing happened: "This letter paper is cotton paper." Seeing that a few people didn't understand, he added, "Kumon usually uses bamboo paper, and it is said that it absorbs ink and writes beautifully." Cotton paper is used to paste window plugs and window cracks in ordinary people's homes. ”

Since he meditated, Qi Wei has not spoken. He asked Zhang Shao's letterhead to go over, flipped through it in his hand and read it a few times, and suddenly asked: "Even if it is cotton paper, it can't be concluded that General Jixian wrote the letter on the North Gate City, right?" ”

Although no one in the room wanted to deal with Qi Wei, Qi Wei's question was exactly what everyone wanted to know, so Sun Huan and Wen Mu also looked at Shao Chuan.

If it was Qi Wei alone, then Shao Chuan would not hesitate to let this old guy touch a hard nail. He couldn't fall in love with Sun Huan and Wen Mu, so he had to say: "There are three paper shops in Duanzhou City. The two are on Xuezi Street, and one is close to the North City Gate, Zhang Jixian is not looking for someone to ask for cotton paper at the North City Gate, where else can it be? ”

This explanation certainly does not make sense. Since Shao Chuan said that there are three paper shops in Duanzhou City, how can he conclude that Zhang Shao must have found cotton paper in Beicheng? Why can't it be the two in the city but the third?

Shao Chuan glanced at Qi Wei, who was aggressive, with contempt: "Xuezi Street used to be the Duanzhou Mansion. "Maybe Zhang Shao is full of food, and when he arrives at the yamen, he still goes to find a few pieces of tissue paper to write a letter?

Sun Huan and Wen Mu looked at each other. Both of them have spent a lot of time in Duanzhou, but they have never paid attention to these things. Whether there are three paper shops or two paper shops in Duanzhou City, whether the paper shops are south or north, it seems that they have nothing to do with them; I didn't expect that a piece of cotton paper that was temporarily used as a letterhead could be so useful. Looking at the thin piece of cotton paper in Qi Wei's hand that was about to be crumpled by the firelight, and Zhang Shao's unhurried tone on the tissue paper as if an old friend was meeting and chatting, how could he have thought that the situation in Duanzhou had reached such a critical point? Wen Mu's mind suddenly swept over the sentence written in the letter, "Fortunately, the soldiers and civilians in the city are united in their hearts"—where is Zhang Shao's self-humbled resignation to the military and the people, which is obviously a true portrayal of the bloody battle that day......

Qi Wei was even more dumbfounded by Shao Chuan's words, his face was blue and red for a while, and he trembled slightly with the thin note in his hand, and said for a long time: "According to what you said, what should Zhang Jixian say about Ximensheng's victory at the end of the letter?" ”

Shao Chuan ignored him first, pulled out a piece of venison from the ash heap and knocked off the charcoal ash on the wood roots, his eyes didn't even glance at Qi Wei, and said lukewarmly: "In the battle report that arrived in the morning, on the eighth day of the first month of this month, Ximen Sheng was still in Linguan to intercept the people of Tuqi from going south, why did Zhang Shao Chujiu's letter say that Ximen Sheng retreated to Gongqian Pass?" Small win! He scoffed. A small victory for farts is at most just a strong attack by the Turbattan people. He rolled his eyelids and glanced at Qi Wei, then looked down at the dried venison in his hand, which was almost blackened into charcoal, and smacked his mouth. General Qi has just arrived in our Yanshan, and he is not familiar with the garrisons in various passes. Gongqian Pass is the last barrier of the four counties in the east of Duanzhou, once lost, the army can rush straight down, if the Nanguan Treasury of Yi County is taken by them, Ximen Sheng is not enough to cut off ten heads! The implication is that after losing the Gongqian Pass and the Nanguan Library, Ximen Sheng will most likely not survive, but Qi Wei, who can lead the troops to act without permission, will not be able to keep the white-haired head on his neck first.

As soon as these words came out, Qi Wei was a clay man's temper, and he was about to get angry, not to mention that his temper was not good, his eyes jumped up as soon as he stared at people, and no matter what the place was or what the occasion was, he was about to jump over and fight with Shao Chuan with his fists.

At this moment, Sun Zhongshan, who had been staring at Yutu silently, spoke:

"Let's talk about it, should we withdraw, or should we not withdraw?"