Zhao Zhihai did not blame Zhao Zhiliang for being impatient, he knew that if the Sumeru Pass was so easy to take, it would not have been captured for the first time in more than five hundred years.

What's more, the Rong people seized the pass and opened the situation from inside the fortress, not by storming.

After comforting Zhao Zhiliang a few words, he carefully asked Zhao Zhiliang and the local officials of Wushi County about the reinforcements sent from Xijing during this time.

As soon as he heard it, it was exactly as he expected.

After he sent a military report asking for help in Xiaoguan, the government and the opposition in Xijing caused a sensation, from the doctor to the ordinary people, who were all discussing: even the bigger of the generals were surrounded by the Rong people, which shows how far the war has deteriorated.

Duke Qin personally ordered Fang Yuanheng to lead General Zuo to rescue Xiao Guan, but Fang Yuanheng repeatedly shirked it on the grounds of illness.

Qin Gong knew that he had worshiped Zhao Zhihai before and provoked Fang Yuanheng as a general, so he had no choice but to go to the door in person to invite Fang Yuanheng, and after some telling the pros and cons, and even crying bitterly, Fang Yuanheng spent a few days mobilizing 80,000 soldiers and horses from the three counties of Hexi, Shuofang, and Xiazhong to slowly and leisurely march to Yuanzhou.

During this period, Xiao Guan lost contact with the Guannei for a time, and rumors spread in the DPRK and China, some said that Zhao Zhihai led the soldiers and horses to join the Rong people, and some said that Zhao Zhihai had died in Xiao Guan, and there were different opinions.

Only Gu Daoyuan, Zhang Ziyu and others argued with reason in the court, and used the excuse that Wang Min and Zhao Zhiliang were still leading the headquarters and Yuanzhou soldiers and horses to attack the Rongren Pass, which blocked Youyou's mouth.

But Duke Qin was frightened and constantly urged Fang Yuanheng to send troops, which made the slow General Zuo leave Xijing.

And most of these news were sent by Gu Daoyuan and Zhang Ziyu to inform Wang Min and Zhao Zhiliang of the two of them.

Zhao Zhihai knew that Fang Yuanheng would not believe that he would die easily, he must have continued to collect information from all sides during this time, and he would only send troops after he knew what to do.

If the front line didn't know anything and rashly led his troops to Yuanzhou, it would not be the Fang Yuanheng who won all battles.

But in this way, Qin Guoke has really completely become a foreign power, and only half of the defenders of Hexi and Xiazhong counties that were originally guarding the border of Qi and Shu are left, and Qin Lan and Shuofang County on the back of Lingzhou are also empty.

Only Lingzhou has plenty of soldiers and horses, but it still has to guard against the invasion of the Rong people. And Shubei County is located at the gate of western Shu, and the soldiers and horses in these two places cannot be mobilized.

Therefore, this time Fang Yuanheng led the troops to help, which was already regarded as a battle for the Qin State.

In the past ten years, the Qin State has always pursued the foreign policy strategy of Xin's long-distance friendship and close attack, which is exactly the national policy set by Zhao Zhihai and Gu Daoyuan and others, and even Fang Yuanheng and Yongluan also expressed their support, and supported the war many times in action.

But it also caused Qi and Shu to not be on good terms with Qin. If this anti-war can't be resolved quickly, then after the New Year, the two countries of Qi and Shu, who know the distribution of Qin's troops, will start to make some small moves.

However, Zhao Zhihai didn't have too many worries about this matter, just one Gu Daoyuan would never let the Qi State and the Shu State easily start to invade, not to mention that Fang Yuanheng's prestige was still heavy, so the two countries didn't have the courage to touch the ass of this big tiger for the time being.

Zhao Zhihai calculated, Fang Yuanheng's army was probably still six or seven days away from Yuanzhou, but if he knew that he was still alive and stationed in Wushi County, Fang Yuanheng would probably not be in a hurry to come and selflessly help him complete the great cause of resisting Rong.

Zhao Zhihai immediately ordered that Zhao Zhiliang continue to garrison Mujiaoguan, and the rest of the soldiers of the Wu clan were included under his command, and after the arrival of the follow-up army such as Yulihua, he would go directly to Yuanzhou or Yinyangou to join Wang Min according to the changes in the situation.

As Zhao Zhihai expected, Fang Yuanheng was standing still in Wenshui City, the county capital of Xiazhong County, at this moment.

Wenshui City is located four hundred miles southeast of Yuanzhou, and after Fang Yuanheng arrived here yesterday, in addition to letting the soldiers drill the array, he also sent dozens of groups of scouts to continuously investigate the military situation in various passes and counties in Yuanzhou.

A few days ago, on the way from Xijing, he heard the news that Zhao Zhihai was not dead, and that he had spared a large circle from the territory of the Rong people and entered the customs from Yuxiao Pass, he immediately ordered the army to be stationed in Wenshui City.

Fang Mingxin's death made Fang Yuanheng's expedition of great significance, on the one hand, he hated the Rong people and those rebels to the core, especially after getting Yongyunqi's secret report, but also resentful of the officials and even the people of Yuanzhou.

On the other hand, he felt that in order to balance the national politics, the Duke of Qin's behavior of worshipping Zhao Zhihai as a general also made him quite dissatisfied. When he learned that Zhao Zhihai was besieged and his whereabouts were unknown, he was even more excited than leading the troops to win the battle.

Qin Gong asked him to lead the troops to rescue, so he wanted to delay some time and wait for the news of Zhao Zhihai's death, but at the same time, he also sent his henchmen to Yuanzhou to connect with Yongyunqi to understand the situation of the border pass.

Finally, a few days later, he got the news that Zhao Zhihai had indeed been besieged by Xiao Pass for several days without sound, and he had already run out of food and soldiers, so he reluctantly agreed to Qin Gong's request and awarded the post of General Zuo.

But Zhao Zhihai's whereabouts are unknown, and his subordinates Wang Min and Zhao Zhiliang are still at the border, so Fang Yuanheng continued to investigate the border affairs, and after predicting that Zhao Zhihai's general trend was gone, he led the order from Xijing all the way to gather the soldiers of various counties and set off slowly.

Fang Yuanheng sat in the courtyard of the back hall of the county government, looking at Zheng Lu and Edo, who were playing chess in front of them, and did not say a word, but just stared at the chess game tightly, as if immersed in the criss-crossed battlefield.

Different from Zhao Zhihai's elegance, Fang Yuanheng looked more like a martial artist.

He was three years older than Zhao Zhihai and more than forty years old, but his face was covered with horizontal flesh, and a scar crossed his nose from his left eye to his right lip, looking fierce and vicious.

After a while, the chess game was over, and Fang Yuanheng came back to his senses from the battlefield in front of him, looking at Zheng Lu and Edo with a smile on their faces, he couldn't help but laugh too, but this smile looked a little terrifying.

"Haha, this game is a good one, Lao Zheng always likes to use strange soldiers, and Lao Jiang is too steady, but the two of you in today's battle are doing the opposite, but Lao Jiang has used strange several times, so I was almost confused by your first four temptations.

I still thought that Lao Zheng would fall for the scheme, but I didn't know that he was also a thief, and he deliberately fell into your trap, but he found another way.

Although this game of chess is a draw in the end, if it continues to play, Lao Zheng will win. ”

Fang Yuanheng looked at the chess board on the table and analyzed it seriously.

When the two of them heard Fang Yuanheng say this, Zheng Lu bowed his hand to Edoyi and said, "Brother Edo, did you hear it, General Zuo said, you lose, tonight's meal will be used in your camp." ”

Edo glared and said: "This chess game is a chess game, where can I play again, this is the rule, it is the way, if the Tao is violated, what is the point of you and me playing chess, without the rules, I will not play like this." Do you want to cheat? ”

Fang Yuanheng listened to the two of you and I were deadlocked, so he smiled and grabbed the two of them and said: "Don't quarrel, why is Brother Mingxin not here, you two seem to have a feud, I have a treat tonight, go to me, after Brother Mingxin leaves, no one cares about me drinking." ”

With that, he stood up, and General Zhuguo, who was more than eight feet tall, turned around and entered the back hall.

Zheng Lu and Edo looked at each other when they heard this, and they both saw the gloom in each other's eyes, so they also followed Fang Yuanheng into the back hall.

After the three of them sat down opposite each other, they each took a glass of wine and drank it down, and after the wine bottle was put down, a sergeant on his side filled it for each of the three of them.

At this time, Zheng Lu suddenly asked Fang Yuanheng: "General Zuo, I heard that General Zuo has fled back from Yuxiao Pass, and there is not one of the remaining soldiers, why does General Zuo not move?" If the Rong people go out of the east and into the east, then we will become sinners who have lost the city and fallen to the ground. ”

As if he hadn't heard what Zheng Lu said, Fang Yuanheng just gently picked up another glass of wine, put it on his lips and sniffed it with his nose, then closed his eyes, completely intoxicated by the mellow aroma of this fermented grain.

Zheng Lu looked at Fang Yuanheng again and again, but saw that Fang Yuanheng didn't mean to answer his question at all, so he sighed, and also picked up the wine and raised his neck to drink it all.

Although Edo is younger than Zheng Lu, he is not as hot as Zheng Lu, and his ordinary temperament is more stable, although he is also full of questions like Zheng Lu, but since Fang Yuanheng does not answer, there must be Fang Yuanheng's reason.

So Edo picked up the wine in his hand and said to Zheng Lu: "Brother Zheng, you and I haven't seen each other for three years, Brother Zheng has made a lot of meritorious contributions to my Great Qin in Hexi County. ”

Zheng Lu hurriedly picked up the wine glass again and said, "Brother Jiang is serious, you have also worked a lot in the bitter cold land of Shuofang County, after seeing you today, I thought you were older than me." ”

As soon as these words came out, the two looked at each other and burst out laughing, and even Fang Yuanheng opened his eyes, with a sincere but somewhat ugly smile on his face.

Fang Yuanheng smiled, drank the wine in his hand, and after putting down the wine glass, he raised his head and said slowly to the two:

"The Rong people's attack on Qin this time is very different from the past, if the situation is unclear and they go to attack, they will easily fall into passivity, and the passive situation encountered by Zhao Zhihai is likely to happen to us again.

At present, Zhao Zhihai divides his troops to block the main exit where the Rong people may advance eastward, resulting in a serious shortage of garrisons everywhere, and the garrison locations are not dangerous places, do you think that Zhao Zhihai will not fight and act chaotically? No, he was trying to force me to rush to the rescue. ”

Hearing this, Zheng Lu hurriedly interjected: "Zhao Zhihai's troops are in danger, that is, they are sure that General Zuo will not sit idly by, but why does General Zuo know that the situation is critical, but he wants to wait and see here?" ”

Fang Yuanheng smiled and said to Zheng Lu: "You, why are you so impatient at this age. ”

He glanced at Zheng Lu, who was also smiling when he heard this, and said, "If you are the main general of the Rong people, where will you choose to go east from?" Where are we going to help? ”

Zheng Lu seemed to have thought about this question a long time ago, and he hurriedly replied categorically: "Xiao Guan or Mu Jian Guan, there is no other way. ”

Who knew that Fang Yuanheng smiled lightly and shook his head.