The first snow fell in Anyi Castle after winter.

Goose feather-like snowflakes are falling one after another, carefully decorating every corner of this bustling imperial capital.

At this moment, on the northern wall of Anyi City, hundreds of armored warriors were holding honor guards and staring solemnly at the front.

At their feet is the famous North Gate of Anyi City, which is specially used for military conquests, and for decades every time a general goes out to fight, it is from this gate, so some people call it "Changsheng Gate".

"The auspicious time has come!"

With the loud voice of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, under the impetus of more than a dozen soldiers, the Changsheng Gate was slowly opened from the inside out.

The two unusually heavy doors shook off the layers of snow in an instant, revealing the huge tiger head ornament that had been hidden by the snow on the top.

"Knock knock!"

When the gates were completely opened, the sound of stirring snare drums began to be heard from the top of the city.

Immediately afterward, a huge guard composed of more than 1,000 elite horsemen joined the dull drum beat and streamed out from under the city walls.

After leaving the city, the guards turned around and headed west, and soon disappeared into the snow, leaving only a hideous path trampled by the horses' hooves......

A few days ago, a military report came from Chang'an City, and in just two months, the 100,000 royal divisions of the Great Wei Dynasty had been assembled in Chang'an from all over the country.

Yiying baggage has also arrived one after another, and now Chang'an City can be said to be full of soldiers and horses, with plenty of grain and grass, just waiting for the boss to come.

The team in front of him is the personal guard escorting the commander of the Shu Dynasty, General Zhou.

And I, unsurprisingly, was in the queue.

At this time, I was clutching the reins in my hand, struggling to control the war horse under my crotch, and following behind the old general's car with a cadre of army staff.

Although on the eve of departure, I specially invited several servants from the Third Highness's Mansion to teach equestrianism.

However, compared with civilian horses, war horses are still more temperamental, so when I really ride a horse under the crotch, I can't help but look a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, the guards stepped on a flat military road not long after leaving the city, and I had the opportunity to "train in battle" and gradually explore the feeling of riding a horse.

"Counselor Xu, why is your face so embarrassed? But are you feeling unwell? ”

I was still concentrating on finding the reins, when a figure on a white horse suddenly flashed on the side of the road, and I was startled, and in an instant a figure was unstable and about to fall off the horse.

I hurriedly grabbed the reins and tried to adjust my sitting position, and finally stabilized my figure.

After seeing the faces of the people who came, I smiled helplessly:

"Hero, it's embarrassing enough, don't laugh at me......"

The swordsman Xiao Bai laughed, rode closer to me, stretched out his hand to take my reins, and said with a smile:

"Now I, Xiao Bai, am just an adult's bodyguard, and adults don't need to call me that."

What he said is indeed true, this time I went out with the army, and His Royal Highness remembered that I was weak, and he was afraid that I would make any mistakes in the chaotic army, so he specially arranged for Xiao Bai to accompany him all the way to protect him, so it is okay to say that he is my guard.

However, judging from the situation I got along with him in the past, this person is really not a good stubble, if it weren't for the gentle temperament of the Third Highness, my little life might have been handed over to him a long time ago.

Therefore, with this evil star all the way, I don't know whether I should be happy or afraid.

At this time, when I saw that he actually called me "adult", I was even more frightened, so I denied it again and again:

"If it weren't for the love of His Royal Highness, I, Xu Junwen, would not be worthy of a guard with strong martial arts like a hero, and as for the big or not, I wouldn't dare to be ashamed, from now on, you can call me a cousin?"

"That's very good."

Xiao Bai saw that I was still quite interesting, so he nodded yes and said yes while keeping pace with me.

With Xiao Bai holding the reins for me, I immediately felt that the horses under my crotch were a lot more secure, and what surprised me even more was that even though the distance between our two horses was so close, there was no collision and friction during the ride, which shows how superb his equestrian skills are.

Comparing the two, I can't help but feel emotional.

The two of us rode in silence for a while, I just felt a little bored, so I casually talked to Xiao Baipan.

"Brother Xiao, I don't know what you think of this expedition to Shu?"

Xiao Bai still looked ahead after hearing this, and said without replying:

"I'm just a martial artist, and I don't know how to march and fight, but if I want to fight, there shouldn't be much difference between fighting and fighting on the rivers and lakes, it's all ever-changing and unpredictable, otherwise what would a military counselor like you do?"

I nodded and complimented:

"Brother Xiao said it thoroughly, as the saying goes, soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, it seems that it is difficult to predict such a catch and fight on the rivers and lakes, not to mention the fight between thousands of people? However, based on the available information, I still think that our Great Wei has a relatively better chance of winning. ”

"Oh? How so? ”

Xiao Bai was not interested in this topic, but it was a long road, and he was idle, so he simply listened to my nonsense patiently.

I saw that the topic had opened, so I took the opportunity to start analyzing the information I had seen in the military department to him.

This time, the Great Wei went on an expedition to attack Shu, and the main generals of the army were:

The old general Zhou Xin, with the rank of squire in the leading army, and the governor of Longyou, is the commander-in-chief.

Fenwei General Fei Zhen and Fenwu General Deng Zai were the pioneers of the former army.

There is also the younger brother of His Majesty, Liu Long, the king of Qinghe, who personally went to the front line to supervise the army to boost the army's prestige.

Needless to say, the governor of Zhou Dadu fought in the south and north under the command of Emperor Wei in the past, known as the Huchen, and was one of the only remaining founding fathers of the Great Wei Dynasty.

Although due to his age, the old general has retreated to the second line and received the false title of a soldier squire, but this time the old general can re-command the battle, and the officers and soldiers in the army seem to be like Optimus Pillar, which undoubtedly adds some confidence to the success of this expedition to Shu.

Fei Zhen and Deng Zai are the rising stars in the Great Wei army in recent years, these two people have been following the hussar general Han Li to garrison Julu all the year round, and have fought with the Northern Qi Iron Cavalry for more than ten years.

Among them, General Fei is good at cavalry running, and is famous for his invasion with soldiers like fire and fast as thunder, even the famous Northern Qi Xiaocai is also in awe of the tiger Ben under his command.

On the contrary, General Deng has a serious temperament, is good at using regular soldiers, especially the way of formation, and has repeatedly defeated the Northern Qi forces with his original three-talent glaive array.

These two generals are also the bears and tigers of the Weizhen side, and this time they can work together, and it is even more appropriate to attack and defend, and cooperate seamlessly.

"Sun Tzu has a saying in the Art of War: the general who knows the soldiers, the commander of the people, and the master of the country's security. Now that these three generals have been selected, they have laid a solid foundation for our army's future operations. ”

I sat down on my horse and talked about it, and finally came to this conclusion.

Xiao Bai on the side seemed to be a little fascinated by this sound, and when he saw that I didn't say any more, he took the initiative to ask:

"According to what you say, our army has a large number of generals, isn't it inevitable that we will win?"

I pondered for a moment, shook my head, and whispered:

"Not really, since His Majesty issued an order to send troops to attack Shu, it has been more than two months, and we need to rectify the army after arriving in Chang'an, which will take some time, so it will take another two months before the army officially starts from Chang'an City, and it will take more than four months before and after, which is enough for Shu to have enough time to reorganize the army. Although the Ministry of War had previously predicted that the troops deployed by Shu in Longyou would not exceed 50,000, after all, they had been operating Longyou for 30 years and had a geographical advantage. ”

Xiao Bai was a little puzzled when he heard this, and asked instead:

"I heard that there are also cavalry troops in Shu, how can you conclude that they will not fight with us in the field?"

I laughed, pulled at the big that was about to slip, and replied:

"Haha, don't you know, the Xiliang area is indeed rich in good horses, and the Shu army has also formed cavalry, but they have hardly really been on the battlefield over the years, if they are really willing to fight in the field, I'm afraid General Fei can wake up with a smile in his dreams, you must know that the iron cavalry under the command of the general is perennial and competes with the Northern Qi. Therefore, I dare to assert that as long as the commander of the Shu army is not stupid, they will definitely not be able to defend the city. ”

"There's nothing to be afraid of if you don't come out of this city, I heard that Zhou Dudu and General Deng are very knowledgeable about the way to siege the city, not to mention that even if we are worried that the siege will cost more, we can also besiege it without attacking, and wait for them to run out of food on their own."

I sighed and continued to patiently explain:

"Hey...... This is the problem, our army has exhausted the elite of Shu this time, and transferred a lot of people from the garrison stationed on the border of Northern Qi and Southern Tang, so these days several border troops have been somewhat empty, so this time our army will not only win, but also strive for a quick victory, otherwise it is very likely to give the other two countries a chance. Therefore, we do not have enough time to wait for them to defeat themselves, only to storm city by city. ”

Xiao Bai still seemed to be unwilling, and asked again:

"What about a detour? The city is a dead thing after all, if we bypass the innocuous city and take a few key joints, they can only rush out of the city to help, right? ”

I still shook my head and said indifferently:

"There is no way to do this, if you directly take the important towns of the country like Chengdu and Anyi, or you can also attract the rest of the cities to send troops to help, but Longyou is not as good as Shuzhong, not the core of Shu, if our army rashly goes around the city to go deeper, not only can not lure the enemy to help, but will be attacked and disturb the grain road. At that time, the enemy army will sit on the city defense, and can advance or retreat, and wait for work. Our army has to come back and forth to rescue, tired of running for their lives, and the two are not worth the losses in comparison. ”

Xiao Bai seemed to have an understanding after hearing this, and sighed:

"You can't go around the city, you can't besiege without attacking, and it takes time to attack, so isn't Longyou a dead end?"

I smiled slightly and said lightly:

"It can't be said that the commander of the Shu army can indeed adopt the strategy of defending the city, but to implement it in a specific place, it must be carried out by his subordinates, these people are flesh and blood like us, not dead things like gold and stone. Just imagine, if you were to lead the army to defend the lonely city alone, and you encountered a situation where you had no chance to get around, what would it be like? Maybe you can implement the commander's will at the beginning, but over time, even if you Xiao Daxia is strong-willed, how can you ensure that your subordinates will not waver? My husband often said that people's hearts are like water, like waves overturned, and this is the truth. ”

"Aren't you talking about the way to besiege but not attack?"

I shook my head and said categorically:

"No, no, no, the law of siege is only to hit the morale of the defenders of a city, and it does not play much role in the overall situation, if you want to successfully disintegrate the morale of the entire Longyou defenders, you must be the strongest when the other party is the strongest. If our army can win the first battle and quickly capture Chencang, it will be a momentum, and the morale of the rest of the cities will also be shaken. And vice versa, if our army's offensive is blocked, the opponent's confidence will also be greatly boosted, and even if Chen Cang is finally taken, it will be difficult to move forward after that. Therefore, the first formation of our army to send troops to Longyou this time is also the one that determines the entire battle! Let's wait and see. ”

After that, I said no more, and continued to follow the large army on the way.