Xue Shao stood on a high slope and looked south with his hand. The vast grassland is a green to a dazzling green, and the distant horizon is connected with the sky.

There was no movement.

Xue Shao wrinkled his eyebrows and exhaled softly, the waiting was tiring, there was no news from the scouts sent to the Etun Special Service, and Xue Chuyu's army was still nowhere to be found.

"General, there are fast horses!"

Guo An, who was in charge of "listening" below the high slope, shouted loudly.

"Which direction?"

"North, one ride!"

Xue Shao raised his eyes again to take a look, and sure enough, a horse came from the north at a gallop. The scout brothers who were sent to Tengger to inquire about the news are back!

Xue Shao jumped down directly from the high slope as soon as he twisted his body, and the scout rolled his saddle and galloped forward, reporting: "General, the Etun special service has killed Ashdwin Fu and incorporated some of the Turkic rebels. But many chiefs and generals were not convinced, and united in a crusade against him. After two days of melee fighting in Tengger, the Etun special service was outnumbered and defeated in successive battles, and led the army to break through, and finally disappeared! ”

"Missing?" Xue Shao couldn't help frowning.

"At that time, there was a scuffle within a hundred miles, and the subordinates were incompetent and did not know the exact whereabouts of the Etun special service!" The scout grimaced.

"I don't blame you, it's hard work. Go down and rest! Xue Shao said.

"Wait!" Yue Nu suddenly said, "Is there any news of Ai Yan?" ”

"Nope." The scout shook his head.

“…… Never mind! The moon slave waved his hand regretfully.

Xue Shao squinted at the vast and distant north, took a deep breath, and exhaled a long breath.

Ashdwin Fu is dead, the Etun secret service cannot serve the public, and the "Warring States Era" on the steppe - has come!

That also means that the grassland tribes can no longer condense into a unified force and become enemies of the Tang Dynasty!

"Newspaper—General! There are soldiers and horses in the south! ”

"How much?"

"A lot!"

Xue Shao went up the high slope again and looked south, only to see a large group of cavalry on the distant horizon, like a rolling tide, rushing towards Xue Shao's camp where he had been camping Hanmin.

"It's our own people, let's get in touch!"

"Yes!"

Xue Shao let out a long breath, the reinforcements came quickly, just in time!

Soon after, a large number of Tang cavalry gathered on Xue Shao's side. A general flew off his horse and ran forward, and went to Xue Shao to salute and worship, "The last general, Xue Chuyu, was ordered by the army to lead three thousand Chinese troops to ride to General Xue's command, and listen to the Hou's punishment!" ”

"Elite King, Jumping Army!" Xue Shao stepped forward and grabbed Xue Chuyu's wrist and said with a smile, "Good brother, Shuozhou is thousands of miles away, why did you come so soon?" ”

Xue Chuyu was full of exhaustion and smoke, but he was in good spirits and quite happy, and he said with a smile: "Soon after the general left, Pei Gong took the opportunity of the large army to secretly cross Chencang, and sent General Evil to lead 30,000 elite soldiers to break north, and officially occupied the Black Shaya Tent and garrisoned it here. Subsequently, Pei Gong ordered me to patrol north of Heisha and respond to the general's delegation at any time. A few days ago, the scout I sent contacted Guo Yuanzhen, so I rushed here immediately! ”

"General Evil has been stationed in Black Sands? That's great! Xue Shao slapped his fist excitedly and said, "The Turkic rebels have fallen into civil strife and melee, and it is the time for our army to use force. Previously, I was still worried that the main Wang division of my Datang Dynasty was stationed in Shuozhou, which was a bit beyond the reach of the whip. Well, now, the evil general has stationed troops in Heisha, and he can launch an attack at any time! ”

"Oh?" Xue Chuyu said in surprise, "The rebel civil war, what's going on?" ”

Xue Shao briefly told Xue Chuyu about the Etun Special Service and Ashdwin Fu.

Xue Chuyu was overjoyed when he heard this, "The rebels are self-defeating, this is great!" The victory of the Northern Expedition to pacify the grassland is just around the corner! ”

"I hope so!" Xue Shao smiled and said, "I have asked Guo Yuanzhen to send a letter to Pei Gong, I believe that Pei Gong will take action soon...... This war has been fought for too long. It's time to wrap it up! ”

Xue Chuyu let out a long breath, "Yes, it's been too long!" All the brothers are tired and homesick. ”

"Newspaper—General! There are fast horses in the north, and those who come are three horses! ”

Xue Shao suddenly came to his senses, "Send scouts to investigate in detail!" If necessary, come alive! ”

"Yes!"

With soldiers and horses under his command, he had confidence in his heart, and Xue Shao didn't have to hide his head and tail, so he directly sent a team of capable people to catch the three horsemen and bring them to him.

As soon as the three of them saw Xue Shao, it was like seeing a Bodhisattva in the sky, kneeling and kowtowing like pounding garlic.

Xue Shao recognized them as the Turkic generals who had mutinied with the Etun Special Service a few days earlier.

"Where's the secret service?" Xue Shao asked directly.

"General Xue, help!" One of the Turks spoke Chinese well, and scrambled to say, "The Etun special service rescued Princess Ashina, and after a scuffle, he led more than 1,000 people to break out of the siege and hide in the jungle at the northern foot of Yudu Mountain!" The special service sent the three of us to break out of the siege and ask for the rescue of General Xue and the Tang Dynasty! ”

"The secret service only led a thousand people to break through?" Xue Shao frowned, "Could it be that there are only more than 1,000 people in the hundreds of thousands of troops who support the special service?" ”

"About half of the clan leaders are willing to support the special service, but there are still some remnants of Wen Fu who refuse to accept the special service, and the two sides fight!" The Turk replied, "There was a scuffle at the foot of the mountain in the capital, and the special service moved into the forest with the princess for safety!" ”

"I know it." Xue Shao didn't move and just nodded, "Guo An, take them down to rest." ”

"I am willing to ask General Xue to send troops as soon as possible to rescue the special service and rescue the princess!!" The three Turks refused to get up and kowtowed vigorously.

"Take them down!" Xue Shao snorted lightly, Guo An and the others took the three Turks away last time.

"General, how do you deal with it now?" Xue Chuyu asked.

Xue Shao looked back at the jumping army that had just been disbanded, the long-distance attack without touching the ground had exhausted them to the extreme, and many people had already fallen asleep without caring about setting up a marching tent.

"There are more than 100,000 horses and horses fighting in the mountains of Yudu, and we only have 3,000 people, and they are all tired divisions, and we can only die in vain if we run away." Xue Shao whispered, "The Turkic rebels are killing hard, let them bite enough." The more ruthless their internal friction is, the more beneficial it will be to my Datang! ”

"That makes sense!" Xue Chuyu thought so.

Xue Shao pondered again and said, "Having said that, we also have to prepare in advance. Otherwise, when the opportunity arises, it will be impossible to grasp it. Has General Evil Lai ever said that he will lead his main forces to come to support? ”

"Before leaving, I went to consult General Evillai, and he said that the Heisha garrison is an important stronghold and transit point of our army, and there is no room for error. Before Pei Gong officially ordered the transfer, he did not dare to abandon the black sand without authorization. Xue Chuyu said, "Therefore, General Evil also asked me to convey his humility, please don't blame Gongzi!" ”

"You can't blame evil, Black Sands is a strategic location. If it were me, I would also be holding on to the black sand. Xue Shao said.

"Then now we only have 3,000 people, how can we do it?" Xue Chuyu asked.

Xue Shao twisted his eyebrows and pondered for a long time.

"Still stick to the previous strategy, watch the fire from the other side, and wait for the opportunity to move! I believe that Pei Gong will take action soon. Xue Shao said, "Just wait for the arrival of the main army, which is the time when the Turkic rebels are destroyed!" ”

"It's good! - Then I will take my brothers to camp first, rest and regain a foothold! ”

"Okay, let's go!"

Galloping all the way day and night, Xue Chuyu and the three thousand jumping troops under his command were all exhausted. On the same day, they settled in the camp that Xue Shao had used before, recuperating and preparing for battle.

In fact, it is only one or two hundred miles away from the base camp of the Turkic rebels. If it were peacetime, the Turks would have already reconnoitred and noticed this Don army, and they would have reacted quickly. But now that they themselves are caught in civil strife, where will anyone take care of the movements of the Tang Army hundreds of miles away?

As a result, the 3,000 Tang Army was firmly nailed to the forefront like a nail, and became the bridgehead of the Northern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty.

Xue Shao sent a number of scouts to inquire about the battle situation and all the news in Dujinshan at all times. According to the analysis of the news that came back, the hundreds of thousands of grassland rebels in the past are now roughly divided into three camps:

The first camp is dominated by generals who have fought with the Etun Special Service;

The second camp is centered on a group of henchmen and important ministers before the death of Ashdwin Fu, who can't let go of the Etun agent who killed his father and seized power, and played the banner of "avenging the khan" to destroy the Etun agent - in fact, it is to seize power for themselves!

The third camp is more strange, most of them are foreign soldiers and horses such as Murowei and Tiele invited by Ashdwin Fu in the past. They watched like grass on the wall, and when they saw which side was strong, they would take refuge in which camp, and they were capricious and capricious.

Although the Etun agent won the support of some of his old troops, he was unable to gather all his troops and horses under his command in a hurry, so he was forced to move to the vast mountains to avoid pursuit, and then sent many men and horses to break out and ask for help.

The three Turkic scouts who found Xue Shao were just one of them.

Obviously, this scout was sent by the Etun special service to "try his luck". Because he only knew that the army of the Tang Dynasty was stationed in Shuozhou, thousands of miles away, how could he have predicted that Xue Chuyu had already led the army to come? As a result, the luck of the Etun special service was not bad, and the scouts he sent really found Xue Shao here and met the army of the Tang Dynasty.

Xue Shao thought to himself, Etun Special Service, no matter what kind of promises and pulls you have made to me, if the grassland rebellion is not pacified for a day, we will be enemies for a day. If you don't lose both now, I will never let your "good luck" really come!

After nightfall, the moon slave snuggled in Xue Shao's arms, hesitated for a long time and said cautiously: "Childe, do you say that Ai Yan is safe and sound now?" ”

"Do you want to say, let me send troops to rescue Ai Yan earlier?" Xue Shao said.

"Uh......" The moon slave was told that he was in his heart, and he blinked again and again as a thief, not daring to admit it.

"Actually, I also hope that she can get out of danger as soon as possible. After all, I have also made acquaintances," Xue Shao said, "However, if Xue Chuyu and these 3,000 soldiers are allowed to go to Yudu Jinshan to fight the fire for the sake of Ai Yan's safety, then am I saving people or killing my own Pao Ze brothers?" ”

"In the army, Gongzi really can't sacrifice the lives of more soldiers for Ai Yan alone, let alone ruin the affairs of the military state!" Yuenu said.

"In the Army...... It's rare that you understand this truth too. Xue Shao sighed lightly, patted the back of the moon slave, and said, "The duty of a soldier is to defeat the enemy and achieve victory. In addition, any emotionality, hypocrisy and morality and women's kindness may mislead the country, the army, and the people!! ”