Hearing Su Dingfang's evaluation of Hou Junji, Qin Mubai was stunned, "How can you see it?" ”

"If he is cautious enough, how can he be implicated in the prince's case?" Su Dingfang said, "The former crown prince Li Chengqian and the Han king Li Yuanchang raised troops to rebel, and Hou Junji did not directly participate in it at that time, but he was still found out by the eldest grandson Chuan Wuji. (Ye Zi Yo ~ Yo . YZuU.) Although there is a suspicion that the eldest grandson Wuji is using the topic to eradicate dissent, it is not all groundless? Otherwise, there is His Majesty the Emperor above, and the eldest grandson Wuji would really dare to brutalize the heroes so arbitrarily? - Grace Shi Wei Gong once said that Hou Junji is uninhibited, he is spicy and fierce with his troops, and he is good at attacking but not good at defending. It's not that he doesn't know how to defend, it's that he doesn't bother to defend. In his opinion, the only fierce attack on the battlefield is all. ”

"Are you afraid that he won't be able to hold his breath and will not obey my military orders and make assertions?" Qin Mubai said.

"I don't know." Su Dingfang shook his head and said, "I'll say it bluntly, don't be surprised by Mu Bai. I think that in terms of defense alone, Lanzhou at that time was not without generals except for Hou Junji - Xue Wanjun was more suitable than Hou Junji. Previously, he had also been guarding Dafeichuan and had never gone wrong. That place, he knew. And for defense, Xue Wanjun, who is also a fierce general, is stronger than Hou Junji. ”

"Makes sense." Qin Mubai nodded and said, "Actually, I didn't know that Xue Wanjun was more suitable than Hou Junji?" But if you really want to fight, Xue Wanjun is not the opponent of Garqinling. Although I asked Hou Junji to defend instead of attacking, Garqinling would not listen to me, he had to fight, what could he do? Moreover, he will definitely fight. If I send Xue Wanjun, Dafeichuan may fall again. The previous results were all buried again. ”

"This is also ......" Su Dingfang twisted his brows, "I hope I am worried about the sky, Hou Junji, our senior brother, the ability is still very strong." I just hope he doesn't make a mistake at this time. ”

"At that time, if you and Rengui were alone with me, I wouldn't have sent Hou Junji there." Qin Mubai smiled, patted Xue Rengui, who was silent next to him, and said, "Especially Rengui!" I very much want to let Garqinling and the Kunlun Iron Cavalry he is proud of, and also taste the power of my Tang Dynasty god general! ”

Xue Rengui smiled bitterly, "Mu Bai, even you made fun of me like that?" ”

"Haha!" Su Dingfang laughed, "This name is not made up by us, it is recognized by the people of the grassland tribes!" In the early years, when I followed my mentor Wei Gong to the Northern Expedition to the Turks, I heard an arrogant rumor among the Turkic tribes, saying that 'Qin Qiong is sick and old, and there are no fierce generals in the south'. It is true that the Turks at that time were lonely and unaware of our Tang Dynasty generals, but it also shows that in the eyes of the steppe nomads, they are quite disdainful of things such as military strategies and tricks, and only respect warriors with high martial arts. Now, they worship you as the 'Tang Dynasty God General', which is a great honor! Your image in their minds is on the verge of being deified. ”

"Then we must let Rengui be 'deified' again in the minds of the Tubo people." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "When the heavy snow stops and the road is clear, I will lead my troops back to Shanzhou." Dingfang, I will divide with your 20,000 elite iron cavalry, together with the friendly troops of General Ba Ximi of the Turkic Southern Court, and still stationed at Tunyimen Pass. Their detachment may leave at any time. If you go, you don't have to stay, just give enough grain and grass to carry weight. But if there is an urgent situation of war in the Western Regions, you can act cheaply, and you can consider leading your army to the Western Regions. But remember, there must be a suitable reason to send troops, and the people of the Western Regions must not think that we are going to avenge my father! If the revenge division is unknown, it will leave a handle among the local people, which is not conducive to the future. ”

"Good!" Su Dingfang was in high spirits and responded solemnly.

Qin Mubai nodded and said, "We can't fight here in Helong, and we can't afford to look west, and it is difficult to ensure that there will be no changes in the Western Regions." Not to mention anything else, Beiting, who has always been ambitious, may follow the behavior of the Xue Yantuo clan at this time, and take advantage of 1uan to attack Nanting and other small countries in the Western Regions, resulting in the established fact of unifying the Western Regions, forcing our Tang Dynasty to accept recognition. If this is the case, it will cause great trouble for us to conquer the Western Regions in the future. And I estimate that this one may not be small. ”

"Indeed." Su Dingfang said affirmatively, "Previously, Beiting had just turned against my Datang after the raid on Gaochang, and immediately came to make peace. Their purpose and ambition are clearly revealed, that is, they want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. Now that my Datang and Tubo are fighting the most tragic and tense time, it is time for them to make a move. Otherwise, once we and the two sides come to a final result, the winner will have the kung fu to attack the Western Regions. For Beiting, now is the time not to be lost, and it will not come again. ”

"In this way, it is very likely that Beiting will take the opportunity to make 1uan." Xue Rengui said, "Mu Bai, it's better to leave me at the yù gate!" I have a way to deal with Beiting! As long as Mu Bai gives me a letter, I can add tens of thousands of soldiers in my hands! ”

"No, you have to go back to Shanzhou with me. Before, I had endured all the hardships of not having a strong arm, and now I finally caught you, how can I let go? Qin Mubai said with a smile, "The 'piece of paper' you said was to be taken to the Tianshan Hulu Department that was originally attached to Beiting?" ”

"Exactly." Xue Rengui said, "I came back via the Hulu Department of the Tianshan Mountains, and he secretly promised to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. (Ye Zi Yo ~ Yo . YZuU.) Although they are suspected of stepping on two boats in a secret way, if they can be carefully controlled, this power is not impossible for me to use. As long as Mu Bai issued a letter agreeing to accept Hu Lubu's vote, this possibility would be greatly increased. ”

Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Rengui, you are extremely right. Fighting a war is not all about charging into battle and fighting with the enemy and us. Tens of thousands of male soldiers of the Hulu Division, if they were on the side of the North Court, would be my fierce enemy; If you come to us, it will be a big help. The balance of forces between friend and foe will change dramatically. But we can't expect much from him. To put it bluntly, such a 'power' is too capricious to be trusted. If he can betray Beiting today, he may betray my Datang tomorrow. Rengui, although you are both wise and brave, you are too upright, full of chivalry, righteous and awe-inspiring, which is very similar to my late father. So you said that you were going to take care of the Western Regions, and I didn't feel at ease. You are invincible on the battlefield, but when it comes to dealing with this kind of cunning and insidious enemy, the fixed side is definitely better than you. Therefore, I can rest assured and boldly entrust the affairs of the Western Regions to the given party. Rengui, you still go back to Lanzhou with me with peace of mind;! ”

"Hey, why do I hear this, it's a little strange?" Su Dingfang wheeled his eyes, "Mu Bai, what do you mean?" ”

"Aren't you complimenting?" Qin Mubai said with a smile, "I have always felt that you, Second Senior Brother, are indeed a talent in this area!" ”

After that, he laughed with Xue Rengui.

"Okay, whatever you want to make fun of!" Su Dingfang clapped his hand, and he couldn't help laughing, and said, "I think I, Su Lie, have been in the army for more than 20 years, and only today can I have the opportunity to show my strength-Mu Bai, you can write a letter to me!" As long as he dares to make trouble in the North Court, Su will go out of the Yimen Gate and go to the Western Regions to compete with him! ”

"No problem." Qin Mubai nodded with a smile, "I think back then, the teacher appointed you to personally lead the troops and horses to attack the Turkic king's tent, and as a result, Jieli Khan was captured. It can be seen that you are trustworthy and worthy of great responsibility. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have asked you to come and guard the yù gate before. Now, I have carte blanche to entrust you with the affairs of the Western Regions, and I ask you to stand alone. To tell you the truth, the Western Regions is the place where my father broke his halberd and sank in the sand, and I don't know how much I want to go there in person. But now, I can't go. So, I ask you to go for me. ”

"Understood." Su Dingfang frowned slightly, and nodded with a straight face, "I know what the current Western Regions means to me and to Mu Bai. That is not only a kind of tragedy and hatred, but also a kind of responsibility and glory. Su Lie, I am so honored to take over this responsibility! ”

"Good!" Qin Mubai breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "In the future, the strategic deployment of our Kansai Army is roughly like this. The main energy is still to target the Tubo people on the opposite side of the Dafei River; On the Western Regions side, I will give carte blanche to the given party first. As long as the ice and snow melt and the road is smooth, Rengui and I will lead the army first. ”

"Then how to arrange the soldiers and horses?" Xue Rengui asked.

"Take it away." Qin Mubai said seriously, "People are so enthusiastic to come all the way to help in the war, what a good friendly army, they must be taken away together!" ”

Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui laughed together without saying a word.

The next day, Qin Mubai and the other three were invited by Xuelian to go to the military camp in Huifu to "guide training". Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui laughed together. Since Qin Mubai and Blood Lotus "danced with veneers" on Chinese New Year's Eve, the two of them have been completely sticky, and they can't figure it out. Clear-eyed people know that Blood Lotus already regards Qin Mubai as a lover, but her lover also carries a lady with her, and this lady is still a child and her mother.

That's a bit tricky.

In fact, the grassland people are quite open to the affairs of men and women, and they are more romantic and bold than the Tang Dynasty, which is open to the people. If the Turkic sons and daughters are happy with each other, so they don't have this and have many scruples, and it is not surprising that the heavens and the earth should be netg to perform the Zhou Gong ceremony on the Yinyin grassland. If you are pregnant with a child, you will raise them together; If both parties are in love, they can also become husband and wife. But if you don't have anything to do with it after you break up, you don't have to bear any moral accusations.

Therefore, there are many people on the grassland who only know their mothers but not their fathers. Whenever Blood Lotus found all kinds of excuses to invite Qin Mubai to her military camp, it would cause people to think about it.

It's just that Xuelian's mother is the county lord of the Tang Dynasty, and she has been instilled with a little bit of the moral cultivation of the Tang royal family since she was a child. For so many years, this recognized first beauty of the grassland has been refusing to guard people thousands of miles away, causing countless grassland boys to drool day and night.

When the three of them arrived at the Huifu military camp, Blood Lotus was really training cavalry in CAO. And he personally put on the battle and led his guards to practice riding and slashing.

The so-called riding chop is to ride a horse at a gallop with one hand and cut it when it passes a wooden stake wrapped in thick sheepskin. You can't underestimate this seemingly simple kung fu, riding a horse to sprint and swing a knife to cut down to have a reasonable arc and degree, if you can't do it, it is not uncommon to cut down with a knife, and it is also possible to break your arm by the force of the rebound.

"This is the sword technique that the grassland people have practiced for thousands of years." After Qin Mubai looked at it for a while, he sighed with emotion, "It seems simple, but in fact, it is very clumsy. The knives of the steppe people are curved, not just for the sake of good looks, but for the convenience of the cavalry, which is not only easy to handle, but also lethal and not easy to break. Look at our horizontal knives, straight! Although Datang's casting knife craftsmanship is exquisite, it is unique in the world, but in fact, our horizontal knife is more suitable for foot combat. If the cavalry rushes and slashes, the horizontal knife is far less powerful than the scimitar of the Hu people, and it makes it difficult to break easily. ”

"Mu Bai is right, the reason why Hu Qi is so powerful, knives are an important reason. In order to restrain Hu Qi, none of the officers and soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army under my command were sword-wielding, and all of them were horse lances. Even if you used to use knives before, you have changed. Xue Rengui said with deep feelings, "The Hu people take horses as their home, and they have learned to ride horses since they learned to walk. When they fight, their horses are like they grow on their buttocks, and their knives are like extensions of their arms. If it weren't for my morale to destroy my own prestige, no matter how our Central Plains cavalry practiced, its individual combat ability would always lose to the Hu cavalry. Therefore, instead of training the cavalry hard, it is better to use local materials and control them well, and practice 'using Hu to control Hu'. Previously, Mu Bai recruited many excellent knights from Gaochang and Tubo, and I was really secretly happy. ”

"What about this one?" Qin Mubai snorted at the blood lotus who was sweating like rain on the school field, and smiled ambiguously.

"I have to ask you!" Su Dingfang smiled, "Isn't this clear?" When you obediently walk into the boudoir of other girls, these 40,000 fine horses will be yours! ”

"Hey, I can't imagine that my Qin someone's chastity cao is still so valuable!" Qin Mubai grinned.

Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui almost didn't laugh on the spot.

The three of them were happy, and a Tang Army pawn came to report, saying that an envoy had come from Shanzhou and sent an urgent report on the military situation.

Qin Mubai raised his eyebrows, "What about the military report?" ”

"Back to the young marshal, the messenger is General Yuwen! He had just gotten off his horse and was roasting the fire when he entered Guancheng, and everyone was freezing and fainting, and he couldn't move! ”

"Yuwen Hongtai?" The three of them were all shocked, and they all had a bad premonition in their hearts - Yuwen Hongtai, didn't he guard Dafeichuan with Hou Junji? How did you get here!

In Qin Mubai's heart, a shadow even appeared: This dead black man is really a mourning star! Last time he suddenly appeared in Lanzhou, holding my father's spiritual seat in his arms; This time......

"Let's go, go back to Guancheng!"

Today, it is rare for a sweetheart to observe from the sidelines, and the blood lotus is practicing vigorously on the school field. Looking back, Qin Mubai and the others actually walked away. She suddenly felt angry in her heart, and galloped her horse and slashed it with a sword, and actually cut off a large part of the thick sheepskin stake at the mouth of the bowl, and the Hui warriors next to her were a little dumbfounded.

"What a romantic character, I don't understand the amorous feelings, hum!"