In the back house of the General Mansion, the inner hall that originally belonged to Zhao Zhize has changed its owner at the moment. And the replaced master is none other than his brother Zhao Zhihai.

Zhao Zhihai returned to the back house from the hall and immediately sent someone to summon the deputy general Zhao Zhidong, the generals Zhao Zhiliang, Wang Min, Zhong Xu, and Jie Yuan and Yongyunqi.

The six of them entered the inner hall one after another, and sat on the left and right sides of Zhao Zhihai according to the size of their official positions.

Seeing everyone seated, Zhao Zhihai asked Jieyuan: "Lord Jie, what is the current situation in the counties and passes?" ”

Jieyuan didn't seem to have the joy of being promoted, he still looked like an old monk was settled, and replied slowly:

"Back to the general's words, before the Rong people invaded the pass, there were a total of 140,000 soldiers and horses registered in my original state capital, including 30,000 in Xiaoguan, 40,000 in Yuanzhou, and 10,000 in each of the five counties outside Xiaoguan, and an average of 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers in Qiguan.

However, according to the actual survey that I have sent people to various places in these days, the number of troops that may be available is around 100,000, and the shortfall is in the counties. ”

At this point, he paused and added:

"In the past month, we have been fighting with the Rong people, Xiao Pass has lost 24,000 soldiers, Yuanzhou has lost 5,000 soldiers, and the seven passes have not encountered Rong soldiers in addition to the two passes of Mujiao Pass and Mishen Pass, and the soldiers are about 2,000 each, Yuxiao Pass and the main force of the Rong people have been fighting hard for several days, and there are less than 1,000 people left. The total number of troops in each county may be around 20,000 to 25,000.

As for the abundance of grain and grass, there have been no natural disasters in Wonju in recent years, and the hoarding of grain and grass can meet the needs of 200,000 troops for a year. ”

Jieyuan said that he was silent.

Zhao Zhihai looked at Jieyuan, and knew that it was his younger brother who caused the lack of soldiers and horses in various counties, so it was not convenient for Jieyuan to say it directly, but he only analyzed the number in general, and did not explain the reason for the lack of soldiers, and he also took care of his own face.

And Jieyuan can clearly tell the number of soldiers and horses in various places, which is also the result of Jieyuan arranging personnel to explore various places, from this point of view, his indisputable brother is indeed a world difference compared with Jieyuan.

Zhao Zhihai nodded, and said to Jieyuan: "You have worked hard for these days, and I hope that Jie Zi will coordinate logistics for our army in the future, so that the soldiers can kill the enemy with peace of mind." ”

After hearing this, Jie Yuan nodded to Zhao Zhihai and saluted, and said, "It should be so." ”

Zhao Zhihai turned his head to Yongyun and asked: "General Yong commanded Xiao Guan, and he should also know that this Rong invasion is quite different from the past, Xiao Guan and other passes have been lost unprecedentedly, according to your opinion, why are this Rong people suddenly so powerful." ”

Although he asked Yong Yunqi for inquiry, Zhao Zhihai's words were full of the momentum of the superior, which made Yong Yunqi suddenly feel a little ashamed in his heart after hearing it, and the tragic situation of Xiao Guancheng when he broke appeared in his mind.

But just for a moment, Yongyun Qi regained his clear color, and hurriedly saluted Zhao Zhihai:

"General Bingshang, when I and General Fang Hengxin guarded Xiao Pass, we didn't find any difference between the Rong people and before, there were several battles before the pass was broken, and our army won by surprise, breaking its army formation with cavalry, and then the archers held strong bows to kill and wound the Rong people and rode infantry horses.

When defeated, when the two armies were in close contact, the Rong people fought bravely alone, and our Qin soldiers could not win if they were not two or three people fighting the enemy at the same time.

However, during the month of being besieged, although the number of soldiers and horses in Xiaoguan was only half of the besieging soldiers, I also felt the tactics of the Rong army.

Therefore, on the day of the city break, it was convenient to break the Rong people in front of the battle, kill 20,000 enemies, and kill the Rong people.

If it weren't for the rebels, General Fang Mingxin and I would definitely be able to annihilate the besieging enemy. ”

After Yongyun finished speaking, he peeked at Zhao Zhihai, he thought that Zhao Zhihai would praise himself a few words, but found that Zhao Zhihai was deep in thought, and his eyes seemed to be a little reluctant and nostalgic.

This made Yong Yunqi feel a little embarrassed in his heart.

Sure enough, I only heard Zhao Zhihai say: "Fang Mingxin and I have known each other for almost 20 years, he has always been serious in fighting, although he disagrees with my politics on weekdays, but we have also worked together to resist the invasion of Qi State."

As soon as he left, Fang Yuanheng broke his arm, and my Great Qin army was even less of a pillar and beam. ”

Yong Yunqi also understood that Zhao Zhihai obviously recorded many of the exploits he had said in Fang Mingxin's name, and he suddenly felt a little red and embarrassed.

He suddenly felt that Zhao Zhihai's gaze was looking at him, and he quickly raised his head and said with a smile:

"What the general said is that Uncle Fang is the pillar of the country, and Yun Qi also did his best to retrieve his uncle's body, but he still failed to do so."

Speaking of this, Yong Yunqi also felt that his snort was sour, and what he said was not insincere, thinking of Fang Mingxin's meticulous care for him since he was a child, it was also extremely uncomfortable.

When the city was broken, he really went to snatch Fang Mingxin's corpse in person, but in the end he didn't succeed.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Zhihai just shook his head lightly and said: "According to what General Yong said, the biggest difference between this Rong people's invasion of the customs and the previous ones is that the internal response and the rebels have not become stronger?" ”

Yongyunqi nodded and hurriedly said yes.

Zhao Zhihai asked again: "How many men and horses are still in the hands of General Yong?" ”

Yongyun replied: "Back to the general, the humble post withdrew from Xiao Pass to the Xuanjia cavalry about 1,000 people, in the past four days, Lord Jie Zi sent people to the direction of Xiao Pass to collect the escaped soldiers, has gathered 5,000 people, and now the humble post now commands a total of 6,000 soldiers, including 2,000 archers, 3,000 Changge soldiers, and 1,000 Xuanjia cavalry. ”

After that, he looked at the sculpture-like Jie Yuan obliquely, and cast a grateful gaze at him, Jie Yuan turned his head to find his gaze, and nodded slightly.

Zhao Zhihai pondered for a moment and said:

"Now that the Rong people have captured all the passes, except for the six counties of Yuanzhou that have been lost to Xiao Pass, the rest of the counties are short of soldiers and horses, according to your opinion, how should our army respond?"

Jie Yuan and Yong Yunqi knew that Zhao Zhihai was asking Zhao Zhidong, Zhao Zhiliang, Wang Min, and Zhong Xu, and had nothing to do with him.

One is a civilian officer, the other is a general who has lost his city and land, and what qualifications do they have to discuss military affairs, so both of them are also consciously silent.

Only listening to the suggestions of the four people, Zhong Xu, who was burly and one head taller than the others, got up and said first: "General, you sit in Yuanzhou, Zhong Mou will lead 30,000 soldiers and horses from his headquarters to recapture Xiao Pass." ”

Except for Jieyong and the others, the others were happy when they heard this, and Zhao Zhihai also smiled and said: "General Zhong is the number one general in our army, don't worry, you can fight if you have the battle." ”

In the eyes of everyone, Zhao Zhihai obviously regarded Zhong Xu's words as child's play, but although it was child's play, it still made Zhao Zhihai rarely happy.

Zhong Xu also smiled, touched his head and sat down.

At this time, Wang Min, who had a somewhat feminine face, saluted Zhao Zhihai and said: "General, Min thinks that our army has two options, please ask the general to participate in the construction." ”

"Oh, General Wang, come on." Zhao Zhihai's eyes lit up and he looked at Wang Min.

Wang Minyan said: "In this battle, a strategy can be described as a prudent plan, divide 20,000 troops, recapture Musashi Pass from the south to the north, and at the same time divide 20,000 troops to be stationed in five counties to strengthen the defense.

The remaining 50,000 soldiers and horses will send a total of 60,000 troops to surround Xiao Pass, and after the recapture of Zhuguan, they will fight a decisive battle with Rong people in Xiao Pass.

Another strategy is to win with one blow, gather all my 100,000 troops, go to Xiaoguan quickly, and take advantage of the unstable foothold of the Rong people to encircle and annihilate all the Rong troops in Xiaoguan.

Once the main force of the Rong people is lost, it is only a matter of time before the various levels are recaptured. Then he bowed and sat down.

After listening to what Wang Min said, Zhao Zhihai pondered for a long time, and continued to deduce the two schemes, trying to grasp the importance and choose the best scheme.

There was silence in the inner hall, and everyone's eyes looked at Zhao Zhihai, and after a long time, Zhao Zhihai finally said: "Pass my general's order, order 30,000 troops, and be stationed in five counties under the command of Zhao Zhiliang, and take over the customs defense of each county."

The rest of the generals will lead 70,000 troops with me, and tomorrow they will go to Xiaoguan to seize the city and annihilate Rongkou. ”

"No!" Except for Jieyuan, the rest of the generals, including Yongyunqi, all got up at the same time to say goodbye, and then rushed out and went on the hour.

Jie Yuan also just wanted to go out, but he heard Zhao Zhihai behind him call him softly: "Jie Zi still blames me for the past events? ”

Jie Yuan turned to look at Zhao Zhihai and smiled slightly: "I never blamed you for what happened back then, it was your father and me, and I can't blame you." ”

Zhao Zhihai was a little excited: "Back then, it was really wrong for my father to force Jie Zi to write a letter to impeach Yongluan, but that was also to cherish Jie Zi's great talent and want Jie Zi to join my Zhao family."

At that time, Zhihai also persuaded my father, but Zhihai was not yet twenty years old and had never taken on a heavy responsibility, so how could my father listen to me. ”

Jie Yuan interrupted Zhao Zhihai's words and said: "The general's meaning is already clear, even if there was no one in the middle school who promised to protect me, I would also expose Yongluan's various crimes." You don't have to feel guilty about it. ”

After saying that, he turned around and wanted to leave again.

"But the teacher."

Jie Yuan, who had already walked to the door, suddenly turned around and took two steps forward, grabbed Zhao Zhihai's arm and said: "Remember, I only taught you some art of war when you were young, you and I did not perform the master and apprentice ceremony, master, don't mention it again." ”

After Jieyuan finished speaking, he let go of Zhao Zhihai's arm and said softly: "It is not easy to fight with the Rong people this time, you should be careful."

And the matter of Lihua and Yuxiao Pass that I mentioned in my letter to you....." Jie Yuan said here without saying anything, looking up at Zhao Zhihai.

Zhao Zhihai looked at Jie Yuan, finally sighed, restored the bearing that the pillar beam of the Qin State should have, and said: "Don't worry, Lord Jie, Zhao has clear rewards and punishments, and he will never hesitate to reward those who have military merits." ”

Jie Yuan gave a salute and said: "I wish the general a victory in such a humble position, and the success will be done." ”

With that, the old man with his silver hair and lonely back staggered away.

Zhao Zhihai watched the disappearance of the back, and muttered to himself: "Teacher, if there is no sea of you today, how could the sea not know that you already knew about my father's plan to kill people with a knife."

He wants to protect me, and you also want to protect me, so you will take all the plans and take on all the evidence that I have collected for the crimes of Yongluan's self-respect and collaboration with the enemy and betrayal of the country.

If it weren't for you, I'm afraid the sea would have become a piece of loess, and now you are still afraid of affecting me, how can this sea of friendship be forgotten.

Back then, the sea was young, and the naïve heart didn't listen to you and did it recklessly, which harmed you all your life, but now the sea is under one person and above ten thousand, why are you so stubborn. ”

Zhao Zhihai stood at the door of the hall, looking at the old man in a daze, unwilling to turn around for a long time.