After hearing Li Zhengbao's words, the Turkic envoy just nodded noncommittally. Before he left, he was specially instructed by the Hu people of the Western Regions in the Turkic tent: The Han people in the Central Plains are cunning, and what they say is only two or three percent credible. Previously, when I passed by the wounded and sick camp, I looked at the expressions of those wounded soldiers, which did not seem to be disguised. Moreover, the foul smell in the camp must have been caused by filth such as suppuration from the wounds of wounded soldiers. Therefore, the Turkic envoy had some faith in Li Zhengbao's words in his heart, but out of trust in those Hu people in the Western Regions, the Turkic envoy still had a trace of doubt in his heart. It's just that at this time, the enemy is present, and it is difficult to say anything. Moreover, this army had indeed been marching towards the border, and he could not catch any of them, so he decided to wait a few more days before making a decision.

The pace of the march remained slow for the next few days. However, the Turkic envoy did not see the bandits in Li Zhengbao's mouth coming to attack the camp again, so he found Li Zhengbao and asked: "As the general said before, there are often bandits who come to attack the camp. But why did I see these bandits in the camp for a few days? ”

Li Zhengbao raised his eyes to look into the distance, and then frowned and said: "You may not know, these bandits are all bullying people who are afraid of the hard, I believe that the news that the noble envoy brought the warriors on the grassland into the military camp and walked with the army has been learned by them." Presumably, they should have been afraid of the bravery of the warriors on the grassland, so they did not dare to attack the camp. It is probably because of the fear that the warriors brought by the envoy will shoot them one by one, which is why the envoy did not see the bandits on the march for several days. ”

When the Turkic envoy heard these words, he also nodded thoughtfully, the hundred and ten people he brought were all warriors among the tribes of the grassland, and in the face of those Han people in the Central Plains, it was no problem to be ten people. If his whereabouts were really known by those bandits, it would be reasonable even if he didn't dare to come to attack the camp, so the Turkic envoy nodded and said:

"So, General, since those bandits dare not come to attack the camp, can we increase the speed of the march and rush to the border as soon as possible? You must know that Shibi Khan is still waiting for your army to reach the border and attack the Khan on both sides and completely capture Wuwei County. ”

"It's easy to say, since the arrival of your envoy deters those bandits who dare not make a mistake, then our army can rush through the stars and nights, reach the border in a few days, and wait for the Khan to convey the news of the attack." Li Zhengbao nodded hurriedly and said.

At the same time, Li Wenyuan, who was in Dunhuang County, put the information in his hand on the table. Then he closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and cursed in his heart all over the ancestors of Shibi Khan. He was not because Shibi Khan and Liang Shidu invaded his own Wuwei County, but because in the days when the Liang Shidu Army was delayed, a large number of advanced firearms and fire bottles and other weapons to defend the city were distributed to the defending troops of the Wuwei Army, so at this time, there was only one legion on the defense line of Wuwei County, but with the help of Wuwei County's strong city defense, it could withstand the siege of ten times its own troops.

What really made Li Wenyuan angry was that these barbarians on the grassland chose to invade Wuwei County in the autumn, and if the armies of other forces rose up to attack at this time, they would at least know that they would not destroy the farmland to ensure that after the capture of Wuwei County, their own food sources would have a stable guarantee. But for these barbarians grazing on the grasslands, their food source does not depend on the crops in the fields, so their marching route will not deliberately bypass the farmland, but will choose to run directly on the farmland. When I thought of the countless fertile fields newly developed in Wuwei County, it was about to be destroyed by these Turks at harvest time. Li Wenyuan felt a headache very much, and secretly made up his mind in his heart: In the future, once he freed up his hands, he must organize the army to carry out the Northern Expedition, even if it was a Northern Expedition war with no profits, he would grit his teeth and fight hard. In any case, it is necessary to completely defeat the courage of the Turks to go south through a campaign, and they dare not go south to graze for decades.

However, these are all later stories, at this time, Li Wenyuan did not have the ability to go on the Northern Expedition, and even the lack of troops led to a relative disadvantage in the passive defense of Wuwei County. Li Wenyuan could only delay the time of the Turkic attack as much as possible, and it was best to delay the date of the Turkic attack until after the autumn harvest, as long as he insisted on fighting after the autumn harvest, then Li Wenyuan's army would be able to fight freely.

As far as Li Wenyuan's own information is concerned, the desire to attack the Liang Division's capital is not very strong, and it can even be said that the Liang Division's capital is in a state of passive avoidance of war. In the results of his previous staff exercises, it was also indicated that the Eastern Turkic troops must attack the Great Wall defense line first before they hit a wall in the Great Wall defense line, so they chose to advance east to join the Liang Division. Attacking Wuwei County from the direction of Lingwu County, the defensive strength of the Great Wall defense line is crucial if the strategy of delaying time is to be implemented at this time. Thinking of this, Li Wenyuan immediately wrote a letter and printed his big seal, and handed it over to the night owl's personnel to personally send it to the Great Wall defense line.

After receiving Li Wenyuan's paperwork, Zhang Deqing, the commander of the Great Wall defense line, immediately adjusted the defensive strength on the Great Wall defense line, hoping to give the Turks a purpose of attacking the Great Wall defense line when the Turks arrived, but they could not attack the Great Wall defense line anyway.

A day passed, just when Cheng Yanjin led the army to attack the large grasslands south of Jinshan and north of Baishan, Chai Huanxing led the army to capture Khotan and Zhu Jubo, planted the battle flag on the border of the Drinking Pantuo State, and when half a foot had already stepped on the Green Ridge, the army led by Zhang Juntai in the middle of the road also forced the Western Turkic army back to the territory of Yanqi State. After a month of fighting, both the Western Turkic and Western Regions armies suffered losses. However, in general, it was the Western Turkic side that suffered more losses.

It has to be said that the appearance of firearms has allowed Li Wenyuan to set the conditions wider when selecting soldiers. Therefore, at this time, on the one hand, the Western Regions Army still occupies a certain advantage, on the contrary, the Western Turks still rely on the traditional strong bow and crossbow and melee cold weapon combat methods, and the requirements for soldiers are relatively high, so there are relatively few people who can be recruited. Therefore, in the face of the coercion of the Western Regions army, when it was forced to fight a war of attrition, the Western Turkic side was a little unable to bear the casualties, and began to take the initiative to retreat into the territory of Yanqi.

It's time now. It's autumn.

(End of chapter)