After Zhao Xingde led his troops to set off, Zhang Shanfu left Basra and went to Baghdad to meet Xu Wenhu.

When he arrived in Baghdad, Xu Wenhu was patrolling the barracks, and the old general did not have any special treatment, taking his staff officers and a group of strange swordsmen around the cauldron to cook and eat.

So, Zhang Shanfu naturally joined in. The dried fish sent by Zhao Xingde was chopped and added to the cauldron, and the sailors wanted to vomit the smell of the sea, which was also a rare delicacy for the undersupplied Western Expeditionary Army. This meeting made him feel as if he had gone back to a few decades ago, when he was walking around the Gobi with cavalry and horse thieves. Fighting in the Gobi Desert, many times, it is not about how high your martial arts skills are, or how brave you are, but your patience with the harsh environment. The war between the Xia Kingdom and the Roman-Turks reached this stage. The Romi Turks preferred to abandon large cities like Baghdad and Basra without a fight than to fight a decisive battle with the Western Expeditionary Army, dragging the Xia people into a dilemma.

Similarly, life for the Turks was not easy. Now, it is a matter of seeing who can hold out to the last breath. Some of the Turkic peoples, accustomed to sedentary life, suddenly migrated from places of abundance to desolate places, which led to the death of a large number of livestock in their own territory, and the people complained. At the same time, the strategy of avoiding war and not fighting dealt a serious blow to the prestige of the Sultan of Rûm, and the new "king of kings" Li Sihai kept sending people out to liaise and draw more and more tribes under the former Baiyi dynasty to his side. According to information received by the Department of Military Intelligence, some of the Roma Turkic cavalry had begun to raid neutral tribes, while others had left the Sultan and fled back to their own tribes. If the rebellion in the river was a major problem for the Western Expeditionary Army, Li Sihai was the sore on the back of the Roma Turks. However, the baggage staff officers of the Western Expeditionary Army also complained that the tribes claimed to be Li Sihai's subordinates were in rebellion, and there were not a few who colluded with the Turks 'privately', and almost all the tribes refused, or at least did not cooperate with the Western Expeditionary Army's requisition and distribution of food.

"Two juniors, Zhao Xingde is not as slippery as Li Sihai," Xu Wenhu muttered after listening to his introduction.

"Old man," Zhang Shanfu smiled bitterly and shook his head, "If they really have no second thoughts, we old fellows don't need to brave the wind and sand to gnaw sand." ”

"This is how good people are deceived by others." Xu Wenhu stretched his waist and sighed: "If you don't say 'one blow will win two tigers' one day, the sun will definitely come out of the west that day." If the river is broken, even if the counterinsurgency is successful, more than 100,000 people here will not rest. He shook his head, lowered his voice and sighed, "I don't understand, Chen Ang too, you too, why 'bother' about those illusory things." It turns out that the military spirit can be used, and it is not a problem to sweep away the Turks, why do you let those guys 'confuse' and 'mess' the military morale, and what kind of motion is there? Are you behind this? Or was it Liu Yi's idea? ”

"The military heart is available?" Zhang Shanfu sneered, he looked around, several staff officers had already finished eating first, standing aside and watching in awe the two generals who were the most senior in the Xia Guojun to talk in a low voice, seeing Zhang Shanfu looking over, the staff officer consciously took two steps back. "Isn't the motion that the legion can't easily leave its homeland to fight? Could it be that the captains are all 'hairy' boys, can they be commanded by me and Liu Yi? Zhang Shanfu picked up a stick and stabbed it under the big iron pot, the originally somewhat dim flame burst into flames, and under the greedy 'licking' of the flames, the soup in the big iron pot "gurgle" and boiled again, "I forgot, it's you" Xu Zahu ' himself, and these lieutenants are probably only fifty steps and a hundred steps different, right?" Listening to his unkind words, Xu Wenhu's face showed anger, coughed, Zhang Shanfu pressed his arm, and said, "People are at ease, who doesn't love their family, this is not a big mistake." It can only be said that the time has changed, and the system of conquest by sergeants set by the founding dynasty is no longer suitable for today's territorial expansion. ”

"Who said that?" Xu Wenhu squinted his eyes slightly, and slammed his rice bowl on the ground, "Since the founding of the country and the westward expedition, isn't such a big territory beaten down?" ”

Zhang Shanfu shook his head, drank porridge in a bowl and did not speak. The two highest-looking generals are well aware of each other's views, but they have never fought so red-faced.

"Don't be afraid of war, you said please Chu?" Xu Wenhu pulled Zhang Shanfu's arm down and almost knocked over the bowl.

"Cowardice?" Zhang Shanfu's eyes flashed with coldness, and he said in a deep voice, "I, Zhang Shanfu, have never been afraid of war!" ”

He spat a mouthful, calmed down the anger in his heart, and said: "When the founding of the country was founded, there was a great 'chaos' in Middle Earth, and the founding emperor collected the 'elite' soldiers of Tang Houshu and conquered the west, and conquered this territory. The land, the shade, had to be snatched from the enemy, and the soldiers had to fight to the death. And now? Hezhong, Guanzhong, and Shuzhong are all rich places in the world, not to mention the sergeants, even if they are shaded households, they are all very happy! However, if a person is in danger, if you give him a cooking cake, he will be able to risk his life to rob it! But now, everyone is living more and more happily and richly, if you give him a golden cake, he may not be willing to leave his hometown and be born and die! In my Great Xia, there are still many people with strong martial arts, but there are fewer and fewer 'outlaws', and for the imperial court, it is a good thing that the world is peaceful! But it's not necessarily a good thing for expanding territory! The Kwantung two countries are holding on to the remnants, and our country may not have the power to annex them, but the Protectorate has always refused to agree to the requisition of the army to destroy it under the guise of the ancestral motto of 'one blow will win two tigers'. At present, the Turkic war is still like this, but the sea of hot sand is only defeated, Zhou Li died in battle, tens of thousands of soldiers were martyred on the same day, and the enemy was killed and wounded. Some say that the sergeants sacrifice too much to gain more than they lose, some are eager to pull Zhou Li out and whip the corpse, and some say that I, Zhang Shanfu, am a 'traitor' who deliberately sent tens of thousands of sergeants to death. "After the Battle of the Hot Sand Sea, not only did the Marching Division suffer great pressure, but Xu Wenhu was the same, and even had to put on the golden armor again after retiring and once again became the general of the Anxi Military Division.

"These vain discussions," Xu Wenhu said with a 'pale' and 'gloomy' face, "What are you doing?!" ”

"People don't bark, people don't bite dogs, but dogs bite people after barking." Zhang Shanfu snorted and said in a deep voice, "There are people who are good people, sympathetic to the army, so that the sergeants can defend their homeland in peace, why should I be a wicked person, and let everyone leave their hometown?" In the future, the war will still be fought, so it is better to form an expeditionary army with the Praetorian Guard and the recruitment regiment to train the army. Then select the real national cadre city from among the millions of sergeants and serve as an officer in the regimental training. With the Praetorian Guard as the backbone and the regimental training army as the wings, they can still expand their territory. I have tens of thousands of men in Daxia, and martial arts are popular, and in this country, there are always people who are not afraid of death and want to risk their lives to do something. Zhang Shanfu seemed to think of something, "Even in Kanto, which is content and happy, there is no shortage." ”

"Recruiting regiments for military training, you thought of going with Chen Ang." Xu Wenhu said sarcastically.

"It's just the trend of the times." As Zhang Shanfu spoke, he picked out the coarse sand in the bowl and took a sip, "Fighting always depends on soldiers and horses, what if you don't do this?" ”

Xu Wenhu snorted, the river is rich, although the sergeants are strong, but they have been away from their hometown for a long time, and they still complain, and the current situation is very different from the founding of the dynasty. However, he was just a pure sergeant. Whether it is Chen Ang or Zhang Shanfu, trying to replace the sergeants with sparse martial arts and unbearable regimental training to go on the expedition, it is like replacing the war horse with a horse pulling a cart, which is ridiculous in the eyes of the old general. However, Zhang Shanfu refused to stop there, Xu Wenhu had great prestige among the sergeants in Hezhong, and it was precisely because of his position with the sergeants in Hezhong that Chen Ang and others had to take risks. As for the plans made in the future, he also hopes to get Xu Wenhu's support, at least not to oppose it.

"In the future, not only will we recruit regimental training, but if it is not necessary, regimental training will be changed every five years, and after five years of service, they will be disarmed and returned to their hometowns. If the war requires the recruitment of a large army, it will be cut immediately after the war is over, and there will not be too many soldiers raised in peacetime, and a small number of 'elite' soldiers can be selected into the Praetorian Guard. Zhang Shanfu looked at Xu Wenhu, whose face was full of 'yin' clouds, and said unhurriedly. Fuck, can such a man still fight? Xu Wenhu couldn't help but scold. As long as it is a little stronger than the soldiers and horses of the enemy country, I will think about it," Zhang Shanfu said softly, "Firearms are popular, and the Kwantung regiment practices with fire guns and artillery, and in the Kwantung region, it has been able to 'engage' the Liao army's iron cavalry head-on, and the 'chaotic' army in the river can also be regarded as capable of fighting, which is enough." After the end of the war, the army was disbanded, and the regimental training did not have much martial arts, and without the support of firearms and artillery shells, the imperial court was appeased a little, and they lived and worked in peace and contentment. Even if there are one or two young people, how can they be the enemy of millions of soldiers in the country. ”

"A sergeant who doesn't go on the expedition," Xu Wenhu sighed, "is it still a sergeant?" ”

"Forcing sergeants who are unwilling to go on the expedition is not necessarily a blessing to the country." Zhang Shanfu said, "The territory is getting bigger and bigger, and if the war drags on for a long time, it is inevitable that the border generals will have heavy troops." The 'chaos' of the Anshi of the Tang Dynasty in the Eastern Tu, the example of Lu Meiguo's border supporting troops as 'chaos' is placed there. It has only been a hundred years since the founding of this dynasty, who dares to pat on the chest and say that the story of the Tang Dynasty and Lu Mei will not be repeated in this dynasty? Xu Zahu, you are loyal, but I think that the generals of the Tang Dynasty and Lu Mei may not be disloyal, just because the sergeants have been out for a long time, and the bottom and the court are gradually separated, as long as one or two 'traitor' males temporarily obtain the military talisman, and with a little incitement, this sword will immediately turn around to face their own people. The sergeant is the dry city of the country, and he should not be moved lightly. At the beginning, the Protectorate impeached and abolished the emperor, and now Chen Ang is in the 'chaos' river, so it is not necessarily a blessing for the country that the sergeants have been out for a long time. But on the other hand, let the sergeants be content to defend the homeland, and the hearts of the people can be used, which is the way to long-term peace and stability. Lao Xu, you only saw that the founding dynasty laid down this large territory, but you didn't see that for a hundred years, the territory of our dynasty has only been slowly encroached on by the west, and there is no whale swallowing thousands of miles, so you know that even at the beginning of the founding of the country, the sergeants of the ordinary army are not willing to leave the country for a long time to fight. ”

"You think about it slowly for a hundred years, don't talk about it, the soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first," Xu Wenhu stood up and said in a deep voice, "Now I want to see who can consume whom." ”

He stood up and called the staff officers of the Western Expeditionary Army who were waiting not far away, and Zhang Shanfu drank all the 'meat' and vegetable batter in the bowl in three or two gulps, and sat down next to them to discuss how to launch the next attack on the Turkic cavalry that was wandering west of Baghdad.