In the Qingluo Plain, the smoke of gunpowder filled the corpses all over the field, there were countless huge craters on the ground, and the huge Tubo army was on fire everywhere, and the thick smoke rolled for dozens of miles. Teams of Tibetan prisoners were escorted by Tang soldiers and walked outside the camp.

Hou Junji rode a horse and walked in the military camp, his face was tight, and his eyes were as cold as ice. There was a group of captives around him, and he saw that several of them seemed to be Han Chinese, so he raised his hand and waved his whip and pointed: "Bring those two people over." ”

The guards stepped forward and escorted the two Tibetan prisoners who were suspected of being Han Chinese.

"Are you Han?" Hou Junji asked.

"Yes, we are the captured people of the Tang Dynasty, who were used by the Tubo people as serfs for grazing and planting, and when the war began, we went to the military camp to feed the horses as the head army and serve the knights of the Kunlun Iron Cavalry. Every Kunlun Iron Rider was served by slaves, and there were three or four more. One of them replied tremblingly in Chinese, which was indeed an authentic Kansai accent.

Hou Junji squinted at them, his eyes pierced into their hearts like a blade, and carefully judged that these two people did not look like they were lying.

"Don't be afraid, I won't kill you. When it is verified that you are really a captive Han Chinese, I will let you return to your homeland and reunite with your relatives. Hou Junji said.

"Thank you, General, thank you, General!" The two Hannu knelt on the snow in amazement, kowtowing incessantly.

"Get up. Ben will ask you, why is it that in the camp of Qingluoyuan, there are only these old and weak soldiers and horsemen and slaves left? What about the main Kunlun Iron Cavalry of the Garqin Mausoleum? Hou Junji asked.

"This ...... The villain is just a subordinate who feeds the horse and boils water, so he doesn't know very well. One of them replied, "I only know that in the middle of the night about three days ago, there was a great movement in the barracks, and most of the men and horses turned around and drove away to the southwest of Jishi Mountain." Before dawn the next day, the general in charge of the affairs made us fire-headed horsemen mount our horses and run around the barracks with banners. In the middle of the night, we were running back and forth with torches, but we were not exhausted. ”

"Bluff, secretly cross Chen Cang!" Hearing this, Hou Junji had completely understood in his heart, and he was completely cold.

The previous bad premonitions and speculations have now been verified.

Since Hou Junji was ordered to lead the army to defend Dafeichuan, the "wounded beast" Garqinling has never stopped provoking and attacking Dafeichuan. Although the Tibetans suffered two defeats in a row, they still had the remnants of the 150,000-strong army after all, and the main force of the Kunlun Iron Cavalry still existed, and the Garqin Mausoleum was still in charge in person. With only the strength of 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, it is really difficult to compete. So, according to Qin Mubai's instructions, he strictly guarded the camp to defend the attack, and let time, cold and hunger wear down the fighting spirit and strength of the Tubo people.

In the cold winter, it is difficult to transport grain and grass in the mountains due to heavy snowfall, in fact, not only the Tubo people, but also the entire Lanzhou has been short of grain. According to Qin Mubai's pre-plan, when the ice and snow melt and the grain road is unblocked, the battle line will be reduced to concentrate troops, and then enough grain and grass will be raised to fight a head-on battle with the Tubo people. Moreover, in the cold winter season, the field combat ability of the Tang army will be greatly reduced, far inferior to the Tubo iron cavalry, which is accustomed to the severe cold of ice and snow.

For all these factors, the tactic of "defending instead of attacking" was reasonable, and he did not raise any objections at that time. Although he was eager to make meritorious contributions, he also recognized Qin Mubai's tactics.

In the end, however, mistakes were made.

The hard-hit Garqin Mausoleum, on the surface, looks like a beast that has been provoked to rage, provocative battles again and again, and even desperately braved the mighty of Shenwu cannons to send troops to attack Dafeichuan, and all of them were repulsed without exception.

Such a crazy offensive seems to have confirmed Qin Mubai's prediction - the Golmudqi attack was successful, and the Tubo people had no food and grass, so they must rush to take Dafeichuan, otherwise they will really die in this harsh winter. Unexpectedly, behind the crazy attack, there was also a gloomy plan - Garqinling abandoned his 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses like a broken arm to survive, and let them half defend the village and half continue to provoke Dafeichuan, in order to contain and paralyze the Tang army; Secretly, he personally led the elite Kunlun Iron Cavalry of the headquarters to detour to the southwest and climbed the snowy Jishi Mountain!

By the time Hou Junji found out about the fraud, it was too late. Although he immediately decided to lead the army to take the initiative to attack, and with the help of the Shenwu cannon, he defeated the remaining Tubo soldiers and horses in only half a day, and captured the Qingluoyuan army in one fell swoop, but the Garqinling and the nearly 100,000 Kunlun iron cavalry under his command have disappeared.

……

Hou Junji almost expected the consequences. He personally came to the vicinity of Jishi Mountain, and sure enough, he found traces of a large number of cavalry moving here. Looking up, there is an endless mountain of ice and snow and towering dangerous peaks.

"What a hell of a life! Do Garqin Mausoleum and his Kunlun Iron Rider have wings on their bodies? Hou Junji scolded angrily in his heart, "With such mountains and steep ice peaks, birds can't fly, how can the cavalry pass?" ”

The lieutenant generals around him also realized the seriousness of the problem, and whispered: "Jishi Mountain stretches for dozens of miles, and it is a natural military barrier. In the past, it was the watershed between Tubo and Tuyuhun, and the soldiers and horses of the Central Plains could fight here, which was almost the end. Now the Garqin Mausoleum has climbed over from here like a ghost, and then crossed a plateau and plain to the southeast, hundreds of miles deep, and then it will directly face the newly established state and county of my Tang Dynasty in Tuyuhun's hometown! ”

"Garqin Mausoleum, I will definitely go to invade Taozhou!" Hou Junji frowned and said, "Because in the Songzhou area, there are tens of thousands of troops led by Chi Jingde, the head of the Jiannan Road march, to guard it. Previously, it had also been a battlefield. However, between the Songzhou Military Region and Taozhou, there is a plateau and ravine area of about dozens of miles, because of the rugged roads and bad weather, it is usually rarely populated, and it is almost a land where no one dies. Since the Garqin Mausoleum can climb over the Jishi Mountain, it will definitely choose such a place to escape from Wei Chi Jingde's eyes and go straight to Taozhou! ”

"If he is allowed to defeat Taozhou, it will be a big deal!" The left and right deputy generals exclaimed, "Taozhou is one of the most convenient cities on the western frontier defense line of my Tang Dynasty, after the Garqin Mausoleum is laid here, the southeast and northwest can be marched, I am afraid that he will go deep into the Guanzhong and harm the Central Plains!" ”

"Now I hope that General Wei Chi will be able to discover and snipe the Garqin Mausoleum halfway!"

"Count on a fart!" Hou Junji snorted in annoyance and said, "Who would send soldiers and horses to the Peerless Plateau dozens of miles away to guard the sentry when the snow is freezing and the mountains are cold?" Wei Chi Jingde is just a fierce general who charges into battle, and he can't do this kind of delicate work. Besides, even if he finds out, he may not have time to save it! Since Galkin Mausoleum dared to go, he must be ready for an encounter halfway. In that kind of place, when encountering the Kunlun Iron Cavalry, the tens of thousands of Sichuan and Shu infantry under Wei Chi Jingde are not eaten alive! ”

"Doesn't that mean that the Garqin Tomb must have succeeded and captured Taozhou? Next, the Western Xinjiang and the Central Plains don't know how much poison they will suffer! The deputy generals on the left and right all regretted and complained, "I am a major dereliction of duty, and I actually let the Garqin Mausoleum slip under our nose!" ”

"He'll be back." Hou Junji gritted his teeth and said word by word.

"Come back?" The crowd was amazed.

"Taozhou, extending in all directions. After the Garqin Mausoleum has been plagued in the western Xinjiang for a while, it will definitely not kill Guanzhong, which is undoubtedly looking for death. Hou Junji said, "His move is to create chaos to attract and contain the troops of our Tang Frontier, and to seek an opportunity for himself to escape." ”

"Then why didn't he simply retreat directly from Qingluoyuan to the plateau? Isn't the surprise attack on Taozhou an extra move? ”

"He's going for revenge." Hou Junji closed his eyes slightly, looked at the white snow-capped mountains in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "The three consecutive defeats of Phantom Moon Valley, Dafeichuan and Golmud have greatly damaged his vitality and lost face, which is not only a military defeat, but also more likely to affect his position in Tubo and shake the national policy of Tubo that he has always advocated as a fanatical main battle faction. If he retreats like this, he may never be seen on the battlefield again. You say, would a heroic figure like him be willing? In addition, he may have other conspiracies and tricks after defeating Taozhou, and it should be more than just revenge. ”

Listening to Hou Junji's words, the hearts of all the generals were pressed on a boulder.

"General Hou, what should we do now?" Left and right asked, "Qingluoyuan has already been defeated, but except for some prisoners of the old and weak soldiers, we have found almost nothing. Such a major dereliction of duty, how can we explain to Young Marshal Qin? ”

"This is no longer a matter of how to explain to 'Young Marshal Qin'......" Hou Junji slowly spit out this sentence, and said the word 'Young Marshal Qin' with extra weight.

The generals had a wall in their hearts - he was alluding to the fact that His Majesty the Emperor would ask for guilt in the future?

At this moment, Hou Junji's face gradually became gloomy, and there was a faint layer of dead ash. He thought in his heart, I, Hou someone, was displaced and humiliated, and finally managed to come out and take charge of the military to do a great thing, but he made the most important military mistake in his life!

Hou Mou, who was already an abandoned pawn of the emperor and a victim of the party struggle in the imperial court, if Qin Mubai hadn't boldly used me, Hou would have either died in the old Liangzhou alone, or someone would have found an excuse to cut down the grass and eradicate the root to get rid of future troubles. Now everything is irreparable, because of my mistakes, Qin Mubai will also bear the charge of poor deployment and improper employment, and Wei Chi Jingde will also be implicated by me. The military's power has finally recovered and raised its head above the court, and it will definitely suffer a heavy blow because of Hou's mistake!

Even if the emperor is magnanimous and forgives me Hou someone again, can the eldest grandson Wuji let me go? What a chance to put someone to death! -- If Taozhou is lost, the western Xinjiang and the interior will inevitably suffer huge losses, and how many heads will it take to calm public opinion and public anger for such a vicious result? But Qin Mubai is a rare young general who has been a great hero, a big celebrity and a young general that the emperor has focused on cultivating in recent years; Although Wei Chi Jingde was implicated, he did not bear the main responsibility, and he was one of the four great heroes of the Kaiyuan Dynasty and was trusted by the emperor, and now he is the mainstay in the limelight...... Even if these two people are punished, the emperor will definitely not kill them, at most they will be punished without pain!

……

After thinking for a long time, Hou Junji couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"This time, Hou is certain to die, and there will be no day to turn over!"

"General Hou, what did you say?" Left and right didn't hear clearly, and asked.

"Nothing." Hou Jun recovered his thoughts and said, "The Tubo soldiers who have just been captured in Qingluoyuan don't need to be brought back to Dafeichuan - they will all be executed on the spot!" ”

"Huh? General Hou wants to kill prisoners? All the generals were surprised, "It's still ...... All? ”

Hou Junji narrowed his eyes, looked up at the sky, and said, "Pick out the Han slaves among them, give them some grain, and let them escape for their lives!" ”

At this moment, he said in his heart: "This is also the last good thing that I, Hou, have done in this life!" ”

"But General Hou, my Tang Dynasty military law is strict, and it is not allowed to kill prisoners indiscriminately! When leaving, the young marshal also solemnly told the general......"

"The great sin of the heavens, Hou will bear it by himself!" Hou Jun drank vigorously.

"Twenty or thirty thousand!"

"If you dare to disobey this general's order, you will cut it now!" Hou Junji drew his sword.

The left and right adjutant generals didn't dare to say any more, so they had to take the promise to retire and carry out the military order.

A gust of cold wind swept by, blowing the battle robe on Hou Jun's body and covering his chest and face. He stretched out his hand and shook his robe behind him, his eyes full of anger, like a lone wolf who has been hungry for a long time, facing the flock—

"Take the Tubo captives in Dafei Chuan, take them out in ten batches, and kill them all! Not a single one to stay! ”

"Yes......" The generals were all cold, but looking at the cold blade in his hand, they didn't dare to say much.

"Let's get busy!" Hou Junji put his knife into the sheath and waved his hand with his back to the generals, "At this time tomorrow, all the fifty or sixty thousand captives will be killed!" Time is tight! ”

The generals' hearts jumped suddenly, and they looked at each other and said secretly: Time is very tight? What was he going to do?

But no one dared to ask, although Hou Junji led the troops well, especially good at training, and could share weal and woe with the soldiers, he often took the lead in killing the enemy in large and small battles, coupled with the clear rewards and punishments, he was already quite prestigious among the soldiers; But in terms of temperament, Hou Junji is a rather withdrawn, arrogant and difficult person to get along with, and he is ruthless and ruthless when he says what he says.

But at the thought that fifty or sixty thousand Tibetan prisoners would be executed soon, all the generals felt cold in their hearts! ——At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, such a thing really never happened! Hou Junji, this is to risk the world's condemnation, doesn't he want to live? Even if the Tubo people don't fight to avenge him, the court of the Tang Dynasty may not let him go!

All the generals left, and Hou Junji was still standing alone at the foot of Jishi Mountain, and even the flag envoy and personal guards who held the flag did not dare to approach him ten steps away.

"Death is death, Hou has no scruples!" Hou Junji took a deep breath, smiled coldly at the corner of his mouth, and said to himself, "In the past, Hou always lived under the emperor's protection and kindness, taking into account the law and law everywhere, but he hesitated and was afraid and finally lost to the eldest grandson Wuji; After that, Hou admired Qin Mubai's righteousness and generosity, and obeyed his words, which was even better than the emperor! ——Today, Hou wants to be himself! Do something you've always wanted to do before, but can't do, dare not do, or can't bear to do! ”

"Even if you are not afraid of death, what else is there to fear!"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty! The next thing I'm going to do may make you regret that you didn't kill the killer and slaughtered Hou Junji! - You should be a wise man, and a thousand thoughts must be lost! ”

"I'm sorry, Qin Mubai! Hou once planned to stop believing in anyone in this life, except for you. But now, Hou is also going to do something to be sorry for you! But don't worry, no matter what, Hou won't kill you! In addition, maybe Hou has a bad heart and does good deeds, and he can also lay some foreshadowing and create some convenience for you, which can be regarded as repaying your righteousness and generosity! If you can't figure it out and can't get angry, you should have raised a white-eyed wolf! ”

"Wolves, not dogs after all!" Hou Junji couldn't help but grin indifferently, "Nature is like this, you should have thought of it a long time ago, didn't you?" ”