The Tang army traveled all the way west, passing through Kunming, Chuxiong, and Mengzi, and after a long journey of 16 days, they trekked all the way through mountains and rivers, bypassed the smoke miasma, and finally entered the city of Yongchangfu.

And when the Tang army came all the way, Zhu Youlang, the king of Gui in Yongchang City, was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

During this time, Zhu Youlang led a thousand troops to flee west to Yongchang in a hurry, and joined the more than 2,000 defenders of Deng Kai, the general soldier of Yongchang in Yongchang City, and finally settled down temporarily.

It's just that although Yongchang is backed by Gaoligong Mountain, there are deep mountains and valleys, and the evil water and miasma are barriers, which can be described as an extremely dangerous place. But Zhu Youlang always felt unsettled, as if there was always a beast hiding in the dark night that would pounce out and bite him at any time, and he was still in fear all day long.

When he heard that the Tang army was forced to land in Kunming, Mu Tianbo, the prince of Qianguo, committed suicide, and then the Tang army led a group of Tusi to encircle and suppress the Tusi of the Shadingzhou Department who opposed the Tang army, Zhu Youlang was even more extremely uneasy in his heart.

He knew that after the Tang army eliminated Wang Lang Tusi of the Shadingzhou Department, the next target would definitely be himself.

Only by destroying the self in Yongchang, western Yunnan, can the Tang army continue to the west and south, sweeping such as the Xuanfu Division of Zhandafu, the Xuanfu Division of Longchuan, Mengdingfu, Weiyuan Prefecture and other places, and finally recover the entire Yunnan.

Of course, Zhu Youlang was unwilling to sit still, so as early as when the Tang army was still preparing to fight Sha Dingzhouhou, he immediately summoned his two most trusted eunuchs, Ma Jixiang and Li Guotai, to come to the palace to discuss.

The reason why Deng Kai, the chief soldier of Yongchang, was not allowed to come to discuss it was because Zhu Youlang felt that although Deng Kai, the chief soldier of Yongchang, had expressed his allegiance to himself, in the final analysis, this person could not be trusted unconditionally like a eunuch like Li Guotai Ma Jixiang, who had grown up with him in King Gui's mansion since he was a child. Therefore, now this important matter related to life and death, he thought about it repeatedly, and finally decided to discuss secretly with his two personal eunuchs first.

In the secret room, the candlelight jumped, Zhu Youlang's face was gloomy, and the flickering candlelight reflected his lonely face, which was indescribably weird.

Zhu Youlang slowly looked around at the two of them, and asked in a deep voice: "Two great companions, although the Tang army is still besieging Shadingzhou, which is still far from my Yongchang, but in the eyes of this king, although Shadingzhou is known as the first Tusi in Yunnan, it may not be the opponent of the Tang army. This king is only afraid that they will not last long in the end, and they will be completely wiped out by the Tang army. Next, the Tang army has pacified most of Yunnan, and will go all out to attack Yongchang in the west. What if then? ”

After Zhu Youlang finished speaking worriedly, Li Guotai and Ma Jixiang subconsciously glanced at each other.

Li Guotai coughed lightly and took the lead in replying: "King Gui, from the point of view of the slaves, although Yongchang is dangerous in the mountains and high grounds, and there is a miasma as an obstacle, if you want to keep Yongchang, with only the current 3,000 troops, I am afraid it is not enough." It is necessary to order the surrounding Tusi who are still obedient to the Hongguang Imperial Court to urgently lead their elites to aid Yongchang, and at least let the defenders reach five or six thousand people to ensure that they can be defended. In addition, it is necessary to send men and horses to immediately implement the strategy of clearing the wilderness in western Yunnan. If you want the Tang army to come to the land of western Yunnan, you can't get a grain of rice if you want to supply it on the spot. At that time, the Tang army will definitely attack weakly, and there will be no way to supply, and finally the morale will be depressed, and the old soldiers will be tired. And at that time, if our army sends troops to pursue it, it will definitely win a great victory and ...... in one fell swoop."

"Cathay Pacific, what you say is too optimistic." Before Li Guotai finished speaking, he was coldly interrupted by Ma Jixiang on the side.

He glanced at Li Guotai's gloomy face, and then said to Zhu Youlang: "King Gui, do you really think that if the Tang army can defeat the Tusi of the Shadingzhou Division, which has more than 50,000 people, how can it be stopped by this Yongchang City, which only has five or six thousand soldiers and horses?" ”

"Ji Xiang, what do you mean by that?" Zhu Youlang's face was gloomy.

Ma Jixiang sighed lightly, and replied to Zhu Youlang and said, "King Gui, forgive me for speaking bluntly." If King Gui wanted to take advantage of the steep terrain of Yongchang and the five or six thousand defenders mobilized from the various departments of Tusi to defend this place, it would be too much to take it for granted. ”

"Oh? How can you see that? ”

Ma Jixiang smiled faintly: "King Gui, he said nothing, let the slave and maid predict first, how the Shadingzhou Department will fight with the Tang Army." After listening to what the slave said, I believe that King Gui will understand. ”

"Say it."

"King Gui, in the eyes of slaves and maids, although the Shadingzhou Department is known as the first Tusi in Yunnan, the tribe has a large population, and there are more than 50,000 warriors under it, but there are more than 40,000 soldiers and horses in the Tang Army, plus the Tusi from all over the country to reinforce the soldiers and horses, I am afraid that there are nearly 80,000 people, therefore, the Shadingzhou Department does not have the strength and courage to fight a decisive battle with the Tang Army face to face. He could only defend by risk, hoping to use the geographical advantage to drag and consume the Tang army, so that the veteran soldiers of the Tang army division could no longer fight, and finally could only withdraw and return in disgrace. Then, he took advantage of the situation to chase after him, and the whole army attacked, taking the Tang army by surprise, so that the Tang army was defeated and fled. ”

Speaking of this, Ma Jixiang couldn't help but glance at Li Guotai on the side. Seeing Li Guotai sitting on the chair with an iron face, he felt an indescribable happiness in his heart for a while.

"King Gui, is the slave's analysis very similar to Cathay's suggestion just now? Then, can the Shadingzhou Department rely on its geographical advantages to let these more than 50,000 soldiers defend the mountains and dangers, and finally drag it to the logistics of the Tang Army, and finally retreat? From the slave's point of view, Sha Dingzhou's calculation is bound to fail. Moreover, it will be a quick defeat. When Ma Jixiang said this, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Oh? Why do you think so? Zhu Youlang stared at him blankly.

"King Gui, the Tang army is a battle-hardened force, how can you see that Sha Dingzhou is so attentive? This Tang army and Tusi's combined army, they will first surround the Shabu soldiers so that they cannot escape, and then they will most likely cut off the water source of Shadingzhou under the guidance of other Tusi. This move is the real ferocious killing move of the Tang Army. ”

Ma Jixiang's eyes were burning, and he continued: "Nasha Dingzhou, although it has prepared food for the whole army for several years, thought that it could be defended and fought from now on, so as to drag the Tang army to retreat. But he would never have thought that although the Tang army was traveling from outside and did not know the local terrain, he had other Tusi to guide him, so that he could find the distribution of water veins and water sources in various places, and finally successfully cut off its water supply. ”

"Although the Shabu soldiers have a lot of food, their water supply is cut off, and the wells and springs on the hills will be immediately dried up, and the Shading soldiers will be in chaos next, and the morale of the soldiers will quickly collapse. At this point in this battle, although the Tang army did not spend a single soldier and did not use a single knife or gun, in fact, the victory or defeat was already decided. ”

"Therefore, next, in order to clean up the mess, Sha Dingzhou will most likely have to surrender to the Tang army. If he is ashamed to surrender and is lucky, he may also gather his troops to have a full-scale decisive battle against the Tang army. In order to fight at the last time, he can break through the encirclement and lead his troops to break through. When Ma Jixiang said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's just that he has such a small abacus, the Tang Army must be a blind eye, how can he let it succeed easily." From the slave maid's point of view, the Tang army is such a fierce, brave and well-equipped division, after uniting with the various Tusi, it has a great advantage in troops, so it will be difficult for Sha Dingzhou to struggle to break through. This person and his troops and horses will also die at the hands of the Tang army, and there is no possibility of escaping and living. ”

When Ma Jixiang said this, he sighed and arched his hand to Zhu Youlang to show that he had finished speaking.

In the gloomy room, there was a sudden deathly silence.

The meaning of Ma Jixiang's words, of course Zhu Youlang can understand.

He knew that Ma Jixiang was talking about Sha Dingzhou on the surface, but what he really wanted to say was his current situation.

Sha Dingzhou's guy may really be as Ma Jixiang said, and finally fall into the hands of the Tang Army, that strength is far inferior to Sha Dingzhou's own, can it really continue to survive in this Yongchang City?

"Ma Jixiang, in your opinion, how should our army deal with it now, and what is appropriate?" Zhu Youlang, who had been silent for a long time, finally replied sullenly.

"King Gui, according to the slave's opinion, the current situation can only give up Yongchang for the time being." Wang Jixiang replied cautiously.

Zhu Youlang was furrowed, and his face was so gloomy that he could almost drip water.

Li Guotai interjected coldly on the side: "Ji Xiang, what you said, our family doesn't understand." It was not easy for our army to get out of Kunming and retreat all the way west to Yongchang, an important town in western Yunnan. is trying to rely on the steep terrain here to deal with the Tang army for a long time. It's good that you gave up such an important town with a single word. But I don't know where our army has lost Yongchang, where else can it be a place to survive! ”

Li Guotai deliberately aggravated the tone behind him, and Zhu Youlang's heart was like frying, and he couldn't help but sigh again.

Wang Jixiang seemed to have expected him to say this, and immediately replied coldly: "Cathay, haven't we also analyzed it just now, the current situation of our army is actually much more sinister than that of Shadingzhou!" There are more than 50,000 soldiers in Shadingzhou, and even if our army adds Tusi soldiers and horses from all over the country to help, it is only five or six thousand, and the number of soldiers is only one-tenth of that of Shabu! This small number of troops, regardless of the different aspirations of the people among them, and the selfish distractions of all the departments, even if they have no dissenting intentions and are willing to work together to defend this lonely city of Yongchang, can they successfully defend this place? As soon as the Tang army comes, as long as the local people who are familiar with the local situation are bribed or coerced to cut off the water source in the city, then our army will not fight and will be in chaos, and there is no need for the Tang army to bother and strive to attack the city. What is even more tragic is that our army is very likely to be out of control at once, and the various divisions will collapse on their own, and it will be difficult to control it again. At that point, the slave maid was thinking that even if King Gui wanted to fight to the death with the Tang army, in the name of the whole festival, I was afraid that it would not be possible! ”

Wang Jixiang's words undoubtedly stabbed Zhu Youlang again in his heart.

"Ji Xiang, even if it is as you say, what feasible way can our army do now? You must know that Yongchang, an important town in western Yunnan, is the last solid support of our army. Could it be that you can't surrender to the Tang army with our army and King Gui? Li Guotai stared at him, and his tone was unforgiving.

"Hmph, the prince is a noble man of heaven and an imperial family, how can he surrender to a lowly hunter in Liaodong!" Ma Jixiang sneered: "Cathay, don't you be so excited. Do you think we really only have one place to go to Yongchang? Definitely. In our opinion, if we abandon Yongchang, we can go to the southwest and go to the Tengyue area to settle down for the time being. And from there, enter the country of Burma, recuperate and recharge for the future. “

Ma Jixiang's words shocked Zhu Youlang and Li Guotai, both of whom subconsciously trembled. Both of them looked at Ma Jixiang with a serious face with disbelief.

"Ma Jixiang, you, you actually want this king to give up his ancestral inheritance, leave the country of Middle-earth, and go to the small state of Burma to seek refuge?! You, how dare you come up with such a bad idea! You, what are your intentions? Zhu Youlang's face turned red, he looked angry, the green tendons on his forehead bloomed, and his fingers trembled and pointed at the tip of Ma Jixiang's nose, and his words were chaotic and excited.

Ma Jixiang looked at him without fear, and continued in a cold tone: "King Gui, forgive the slave maid for being blunt, please ask yourself, do you think that if the Tang army also sends people to dig up the water source in Yongchang City like destroying Shadingzhou, what can our army do to regain its ability to fight against the Tang army again?" If at such a time, our army can not immediately disperse, and can there be no ill-intentioned people who take the opportunity to mutiny and kidnap King Gui to surrender to the Tang army in order to seek wealth and nobility, it will be a great luck in misfortune. ”

Ma Jixiang said this, and deliberately paused.

Zhu Youlang and Li Guotai both had very ugly faces, but they couldn't interject, so they had to continue to be silent in embarrassment.

Seeing the two of them like this, Ma Jixiang knew that the two had actually been moved by his own words, so he continued: "The road is not good, take the pole to float in the sea." Confucius is difficult to survive in Lu, so he travels to the world to protect his life, and what damage does his name have. There is a saying that those who seek great things do not seek details, and now that the situation is already dangerous, how can we care too much about the so-called false name? If, under such a critical situation, we can judge the situation and send an envoy to Burma before the Tang army comes to western Yunnan, ask for assistance from the current Burmese king Mangda, and let him agree that my King Gui will lead a group of retinues and soldiers and horses to Burma for refuge, wouldn't it be an excellent way out? Moreover, I believe that if we give him a large amount of gold and silk, the king of Burma, Mangda, will be very enthusiastic and finally agree to our request. ”

"As long as Mangda agrees, then our army can leave the country from Tengyue and enter the Burmese country, temporarily recuperate and gradually regain its strength. And the Tang army, although it seems that they have picked up the cheap and won the southwest lands of Yongchang and Yunnan for nothing, but they are in the land of Yunnan, after all, the foundation is shallow, and those Tusi are mostly afraid of them and do not have virtue, unless they can be stationed for a long time, so that Yunnan will not be in turmoil. Otherwise, once they withdraw their troops, they will definitely change over time, and Yunnan will be in turmoil, and then the opportunity for us to make a comeback will come. ”

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