In the middle of November of the sixth year of Xuanren, the imperial court officially appointed Zhang Huanshi to lead the military department and the imperial history doctor, and the Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and named him the generalissimo of the expedition to the west, with full responsibility for handling Hexi and Anxi affairs.

After a series of personnel changes, 50,000 soldiers of the Longyou Army were divided into two routes, one way to Dasanguan, taking over the defense of the Fengxiang Army, and the other way to guard the Slope Valley, and divided 5,000 people to guard the Meridian Valley to prevent Zhu Zhu's surprise troops from attacking Chang'an.

At the same time, Zhu's vanguard failed to raid Dasanguan, retreated for thirty miles and waited for reinforcements from the main force.

Zhang Huan's army was not in a hurry to attack after entering Guanzhong, on the one hand, it guided the refugees who escaped from Hanzhong to live in Longyou, and on the other hand, it expanded the grain depot and actively prepared for war.

At the beginning of December, the situation in Hanzhong gradually stabilized, but the news that Cui Qinggong wanted to attack Huainan spread far and wide, and Chang'an's eyes looked back to the east and cast it to the southeast.

The river is rushing, the blue sky is like washing, a fleet of 300 big ships sailed on the Yangtze River, carrying the breath of Bashan Shushui to the southeast, this is an army that will march thousands of miles to Jianghuai to support the Chu family, a few days ago, Chu Xingshui specially detoured to Fengxiang. Asked Zhang Huan to send troops to support Huainan, although thousands of miles apart, Zhang Huan still generously agreed, and ordered 30,000 Longyou troops to board the ship from Nanping County, Shunan.

The fleet had been sailing for five days, and on this day the fleet passed through Yiling, and in front of it was Yidu City, and the river suddenly widened. The sky and water are connected, and the river breeze with a fishy smell blows from behind, slapping the merchant flag! Straight sound.

On the bow of the first ship, Lin Jiuhan, who was dressed in short clothes, looked into the distance, and the excitement and solemnity in his eyes were revealed at the same time, today is exactly his thirty years old, the man is thirty years old, and the thirty-year-old Lin Jiuhan has been out for fifteen years. He once carried a lone sword across both sides of the Huai River. broke into the name of a thief, and was tied to the law field, and got away with it in the grim smile of death, but no matter how brilliant the past years were, no matter how mature his mind was, it was difficult to suppress the excitement in his heart compared with his state of mind at this time.

This goes to the south of the Yangtze River, called to save Chu, it is really a chess, two Huai things, Jun Ke leads the army in Changsha, monitors the two Huai movements, and responds to the right outside of my Long.......

Zhang Huan's entrustment seemed to be still flashing in his mind at the moment, and he took a national step in the distance. This indicates that the Governor's thinking has broken through the shackles of one place and one domain. began to have the world in his heart, and this burden was handed over to him Lin Jiuhan, Lin Jiuhan's heart was surging, and he suddenly had an urge to die for his confidant.

"General Lin." A soldier shouted from the belvedere, "There is a boat blocking the right front." ”

Lin Jiuhan was slightly stunned, and then he walked to the right side of the boat string probe to look, only to see more than a dozen small boats lined up. Lin Jiuhan has a heavy responsibility. He didn't dare to be careless, and immediately ordered left and right. "Let all the brethren go into the cabin."

In a moment, the small boats approached the big boats, and they scattered at once, like a school of nimble small fish, shuttling back and forth between the big boats, and there were about a dozen soldiers in each small boat, some shouting to stop the boat, and some stretched out their long hooks to find a place to take the hook.

Lin Jiuhan's lieutenant Lu Sheng looked at it for a long time, and he suddenly pointed to a middle-aged officer on the boat and turned back to Lin Jiuhan and said: "General, this is the army of the Shannan Wang family, and in front of it is Yidu City, where there are three thousand troops, and that thin and tall man is Yang Hao, the envoy of soldiers and horses, I know him." ”

In this Eastern Crusade, Zhang Huan specially selected three thousand soldiers from Jingchu from the army to accompany him, and the deputy general Lu Sheng was a native of Changsha County, who had served in the Shannan Army, so he recognized the officer on the boat at a glance, he pouted, and sneered disdainfully: "The only thing they have to do here is to extort the passing merchant ships, and it is estimated that they regard us as big fat sheep from Shuzhong!" ”

Lin Jiuhan pondered for a moment, and then said to the shipowner behind him: "Li Dongzhu, you come forward and ask, how much money do they want to buy the road?" ”

This troop transport ship mainly recruited seven large merchants on the Minjiang River and three merchants on the Yangtze River, among which from the largest Min'e trading house on the Minjiang River collected nearly 100 thousand-stone ships, the Min'e trading house Li Dongzhu felt sorry for the ship, so he insisted on following the shipowner, he often sailed on the Yangtze River, well aware of the toll market, so he said with a bitter face: "General, there is no fixed number, like this large-scale fleet, they have to go on the ship to inspect the goods and then decide." ”

Lin Jiuhan's face sank, and he said to Li Dongzhu: "You go and ask, let them make a price." ”

"I'll go." Li Dongzhu didn't dare to say any more, so he hurriedly negotiated.

"Bang!" With a punch on the ground, Li Dong, who had just gotten on the boat to negotiate, had not yet spoken, and was smashed down the river by Yang Hao, the soldier and horse, and he scolded angrily: "*** actually dare to bargain, don't you understand the rules of Lao Tzu?" ”

Several boatmen hurriedly jumped into the river to rescue the proprietor, and the river was bitterly cold in December, and several boatmen took great effort to find the proprietor of Li, and tied him to the waist with a rope, so that the people on the big boat could pull up the proprietor Li who had lost half his life little by little.

The soldiers and horses made Yang Hao rely on himself to be an army, a little more ruthless than a robber, he had long lost patience, and shouted loudly: "Give Lao Tzu a shore, whoever dares to escape will sink." ”

On the big boat, Vice Admiral Lu Sheng hurriedly said: "General, they really know how to scuttle the ship, let's dock!" ”

Lin Jiuhan's eyes showed murderous intent, and he smiled coldly: "I don't know what is dead or alive, since I don't want to live, then it will be fulfilled for you!" ”

"Dock!" Lin Jiuhan gave an order, and the three hundred big ships that stretched for several miles slowly sailed towards the revetment of Yidu City.

On the shore, five or six hundred soldiers who had been waiting for a long time saw the big ship approaching the shore. Immediately cheered, since Zhu was in charge of Shuzhong, the original busy river road has become more and more deserted, and this fleet of hundreds of big ships has not seen each other for two years, just like people who eat bran and swallow vegetables suddenly see big fish and big meat on the table, how can they not be ecstatic.

But no one could have imagined that it was not a big fish and a big meat that were coming to them. It's the Grim Reaper.

The order had been handed down, the soldiers had changed their armour, their swords unsheathed, their arrows wound, and on the side of each ship lay countless crossbowmen, who were holding their breath and waiting for the order of the group.

In fact, such large ships can only stop at most a dozen at a time on the revetment of Yidu City. The anxious soldiers on the shore had already run to the barge and waved and shouted. They were already impatient to get on board for a routine inspection, and when they saw a dozen large ships approaching the shore, less than fifty paces, the sails had already fallen, and the soldiers could not help laughing.

But the accident happened at this time, the big ship suddenly turned around in unison, sailing parallel to the barge, and a dozen big ships were connected in a line, like a tall city wall.

The soldiers and horses made Yang Hao furious. He was just about to give the order to the water ghosts to scuttle the ship. But I saw a red flag rising on the first big ship, and a shout broke out on more than a dozen big ships, and nearly a thousand heavily armed soldiers appeared on the side of the ship, all holding crossbows, and a cold murderous aura rushed towards them. An overwhelming barrage of arrows came down the shore. A wail suddenly sounded on the barge, and more than half of the five or six hundred soldiers were shot down. The rest of the people were all scattered, stumbling and running back, the soldiers and horses made Yang Hao see that the situation was not good, turned over and was about to jump down the river, but was shot in the back by an arrow, he screamed wildly, and fell down the river heavily.

The sails of the great ship were raised again, and sailed into the depths of the river, and the shore became very quiet, and hundreds of dead bodies were piled up on the shore, and occasionally the groans of the undead were heard, and the blood pooled into the river, and then flowed into the river, rendering a red color.

Just after the fleet was far away, he slowly stretched out a withered yellow hand from the water, and struggled to climb the bluestone on the barge, and an officer with an arrow on his back gradually surfaced, he lay on the bluestone and gasped for breath, for a while, he looked at the shadow of the ship that had gone away and couldn't help muttering, "Are they going to attack Xiangyang?" ”

The big boat is like a line of egrets, which has disappeared far away from the end of the water and sky.

Chencang County, Fengxiang Prefecture, where the temporary command center of the Longyou Army is located, early in the morning, the gate of the city is heavily guarded, and nearly 100 farmers who have entered the city to sell vegetables are queuing up for inspection.

At this time, a carriage was escorted by more than 100 cavalrymen galloping from the west, and on the window, Hu Weiyong, wearing a gauze hat, was looking at the city wall, he had lived in this area for many years, and was very familiar with this place.

The carriage is close to the city gate, the people who sell vegetables have dodged a road, a cavalry stepped forward to hand over the token to the defenders, the defenders immediately let it go after inspection, the carriage drove into the city gate, at this time the city of Chencang County is already a scene of the big war approaching, most of the shops are closed, there are no pedestrians on the street, only a group of soldiers are patrolling in the queue, it is not possible to see the carriage full of military products speeding through the street, a cavalry asked the road, the carriage immediately turned to the right, and galloped in the direction of the county government.

The county government is located on the central axis of the county seat, quite old, here is now temporarily changed to the temporary line of the festival degree, Zhang Huan also lives in the county office, he has been in Fengxiang for almost ten days, his injury has been much better under the careful care of Cui Ning and Yang Chunshui, basically can walk on the ground.

At this moment, Zhang Huanzheng and Lang General Li Shuangyu and Cao Hanchen studied the battle situation in the room, however, they did not study the Hanzhong war situation, but the Hexi war situation, just two days ago, Zhangye's Tang army suddenly launched a large-scale attack on the Tubo army in Jiuquan County, and Siyu, the king of Dunhuang County, also cooperated with He Lou Wuji, led 20,000 cavalry from the north of Hexi to outflank, has captured Yumen Pass, cut off the retreat of the Tubo army.

In the center of the room is a sand table, which clearly marks the mountains and rivers of Hexi and the Gobi Desert, and one of the cities is like a string of pearls, scattered dotted on the narrow Hexi corridor.

Zhang Huan stared at the Yumen Pass tightly, his brow furrowed, his fingers moving west along a green line, and finally stopping at a pass with the high Qilian Mountains to the south and the vast desert to the north. This is the end point of the Hexi Corridor, and it is also the east gate of Anxi and Beitingdi, and the geographical location is extremely dangerous, but there is no name on the sand table.

"General Cao, what's the name of this place?"

Cao Hanchen has lived in Anxi since he was born and is very familiar with the geographical environment here, and he asked Zhang Huan when he saw him. hurriedly replied: "This place is called Xingxing Gorge, and it is the only way to go to Anxi." ”

"The governor is worried that the Tubo people will come from Anxi to pick them up?" Li Shuangyu next to him suddenly interjected and asked.

Zhang Huan nodded, he said with some concern: "Anxi's intelligence is still a month ago, anything will happen this month, I am worried that the Hui people have withdrawn under the cover of heavy snow, if the Tubo army in Anxi comes to help, then Wang Siyu will be attacked on his back." ”

Speaking of which, Zhang Huan nodded at Xingxing Gorge. "But if you take it first. In this way, even if the Tibetan army comes to help, it can be prepared calmly. ”

As soon as Zhang Huan's words fell, a laugh came from the door, "The governor not only has to take into account the arrival of the Tubo army, but also the movement of Lingwu County. ”

As soon as Zhang Huan turned around, he saw Changshi Hu Weiyong appear at the door, but he didn't know when he would arrive? Zhang Huan couldn't help but be surprised and delighted: "Why is Mr. here?" ”

"When I heard that the governor had been wounded by an arrow, my wife was very worried, so she ordered me to come and deliver a letter to the governor." Hu Weiyong stepped forward and took out a letter and put it on the table. smiled again: "Live up to the trust." Successful completion of the task. ”

Zhang Huan saw that he said something interesting, he couldn't help but pick up the letter and smile, and gave the pro-soldiers a look, several pro-soldiers hurriedly stepped forward to remove the sand table, but Hu Weiyong stopped them, "Don't move away, I may need this thing later." ”

Zhang Huan looked at him deeply. Immediately waved his hand and said, "Sir, please sit down and speak." ”

He sat down opposite Hu Weiyong. Li Shuangyu pulled Cao Hanchen, and the two quietly retreated. Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and asked, "What does Mr. Shicai mean when he said that Lingwu County is moving?" ”

Hu Weiyong took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Zhang Huan, "It stands to reason that I shouldn't interfere in military affairs, but this matter is very important, so I specially rushed to discuss with the governor." ”

Zhang Huan took the letter, only to find that the letter was actually written by the party king Tuoba Wanli, in which he first expressed his desire for Zhang Huan to go north, and then revealed to Zhang Huan that Li Zhengji, the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, had recently collected grain on a large scale and began to gather troops in Huijun.

Huigun! Zhang Huan was taken aback, according to the understanding he reached with Pei Jun three years ago, in addition to the beacon guards, neither side can garrison troops there, as a buffer zone for both sides, how can Li Zhengji send troops to Huijun, is this what Pei Jun meant? Wrong! Pei Jun is now asking for himself, hoping that he will restrain Zhu for him, and the Tang army is attacking Hexi on a large scale, and he will not bear the infamy of obstructing the recovery of his homeland no matter what, so Pei Jun will definitely not send troops to Huijun at this time.

So what does Li Zhengji mean by doing this?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhang Huan's mind, "Could it be?" He looked at Hu Weiyong with some incredulity.

Hu Weiyong nodded slowly, "That's what I mean." ”

Zhang Huan couldn't hold back the turmoil in his heart, he stood up and walked to the window, the question is not what Li Zhengji wants to do, there are still 150,000 elite troops in Jincheng County, and he is not afraid of his sneak attack, this is not important, the important thing is that Li Zhengji is very likely to act without Pei Jun's authorization, what does this mean? If the speculation is true, I am afraid that another Cui Qinggong will be born.

"Governor, this is our chance to reclaim Shuofang." Hu Weiyong looked at Zhang Huan's back and said unhurriedly: "We should create opportunities for Li Zhengji to stand on his own, so that we can also become famous and regain the lost territory three years ago in one fell swoop." ”

Zhang Huan didn't answer him, he still stared at a few bare old trees in the distance, his eyes were full of worry, and after a long time, he shook his head gently, "I'm sorry!" My husband and I may not think the same. ”

Hu Weiyong's eyes showed a look of doubt, and he hesitated for a moment before asking, "The governor is worried that it will be difficult to deal with the multi-headed battle?" ”

"It's just one aspect, but it's not the main reason."

Zhang Huan turned around and slowly walked to the sand table, and he knocked on the location of the Star Gorge with his finger and said: "Recently, I have been thinking about whether to take Anxi by the trend, or stop at this Star Gorge, and put Anxi in five years, or ten years later, and then solve it. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan turned his head to look at Hu Weiyong, his gaze had become bright and firm, "It wasn't until the Fengxiang strategy was set this time that I finally decided, the battle of the Western Regions temporarily stopped at Xingxing Gorge, turned to the east, I want to eliminate the local warlords who want to split the Tang Dynasty, reorganize the military system, restrict land annexation, and attack the family, and after the Tang Dynasty is back on track, let our soldiers recover their homeland and expand our territory to the west." ”

Hu Weiyong let out a long breath, "I finally understand, then, to deal with this Li Zhengji, let's change our thinking." ”

"That's right." Zhang Huan nodded slowly, "I'll send this information to Pei Jun now." ”