"Marshal, the chief of staff has already led the team to set off, taking the road of Daqin, you can go directly to Byzantium, the royal city of Daqin, and then go to Amiens or set off with the navy to the Apennine Peninsula as appropriate." Standing outside Shule City, Gauss Ji said with a smile: "If it weren't for the fact that our navy couldn't reach the Mediterranean Sea directly, I think it would be better to take a naval warship." ”

"You just gloat over there, once the naval warships penetrate deep into the Mediterranean, I'm afraid that these two will not have the heart to fight. Our purpose now is to avoid letting the Great Qin and Great Food families think that my Datang is too powerful, so as to prevent the two of them from secretly joining forces to deal with my Datang. At least don't provoke them until the emperor finishes integrating the country. As soon as the navy goes, the scale of the ironclad battleship is only afraid that it will scare the Great Qin people to retract immediately, is it possible that they still want to do the scene in Baghdad again? Wan Yi glanced at Gauss Ji and said with a smile: "The deputy prime minister's side has already built the railway to Xiliuzhou, and there is only one point left to go directly to the seashore and lead to the Persian Governor's Palace, and there can be no more waves at this time." ”

"But I'd like to hear that there is a record from the General Staff that it is possible to try to dig a canal near the city of Phoenicia that the Great Cannibals currently occupy, and connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, so that it can lead directly to the Mediterranean." As soon as Liu Xuan left, the work of the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army basically fell on the hands of Gauss, so there was this sentence, but then he smiled and said: "This matter is marked as top secret by the General Staff, and I don't think it should be passed on." ”

"I know about this matter, but the emperor marked it as top secret at that time because he was worried that the big cannibal would dig the canal himself while the Tang Dynasty was not ready after knowing the news. However, I don't think this news means much to the Great Cannibals, who don't need the canal to get in and out of the Mediterranean and Red Seas freely, and their navy doesn't need to move on both sides for the time being. Of course, this was when the Great Qin people had a naval advantage in the Mediterranean region, but once they had a dominant position on the battlefield, the linkage between the two oceans became very necessary. Wan Yi shook his head and said: "Now once we build the railway to the Persian Governorate, then the Persian Governorate will be our farthest stronghold in the Western Ocean, and after the port here is repaired, the next goal of the navy will definitely be to advance along the coastline and occupy the overseas communication arteries, and then we can use other methods to take this piece of land." ”

"Wouldn't it be better for them to fix it themselves, and then we will rob it?" Gauss Ji smiled: "But with the level of the big cannibal, I'm afraid I won't be able to cultivate any tricks." ”

When Gauss and Wan Yi studied the changes on the Taixi side on the map every day, and even began to gather some people to study the changes in the situation of the enemy and us after the construction of this legendary canal, Liu Xuan also arrived in Byzantium at the end of October of the tenth year of the Apocalypse.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency Asshel." Liu Xuan learned the basic Taixi etiquette on the road and the interpreter, although these are just scene words, I heard the person in charge of the accompanying caravan say that with the increasing power of the Tang Dynasty, Taixi needs to contact the Tang Dynasty day by day, so many nobles even began to learn the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, and the food and all kinds of clothing culture of the Tang Dynasty began to follow this perennial trade route from the far east over the mountains and mountains to this strange land, bringing the charm of the oriental civilization to the people here.

"Oh, honorable General Chief of Staff, please extend on my behalf the most sincere greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of your country." Asell came on behalf of Emperor Daqin, so he took over and led Liu Xuan into the endless Byzantine city and said with a smile: "My country has received an official letter from your Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and His Majesty the Emperor of our country has agreed to your country's request, Your Excellency the General will rest in my capital for a few days, and I will send someone to send you to the front line." ”

Liu Xuan nodded, he didn't have any opinion on Atholl's arrangement, but he was a little curious about the bishop who didn't speak beside him, according to the information from Xuan Yingwei before, the religions on Daqin's side are basically Orthodox, and the cardinal in front of him should be the leader of the Orthodox Church, but Liu Xuan looked at the other party's eyes and was a little curious, the other party obviously had a hostility towards him, and even Liu Xuan could feel that if he didn't come on behalf of the Tang Empire, these people would even have plans to do it to themselves.

But even if he guessed this, Liu Xuan didn't take it to heart at all, he had served as the chief of staff of the Western Expeditionary Army for many years, so that Liu Xuan was no longer the young man who was a fledgling back then, and his words and deeds already had the kind of calmness and bearing comparable to Liu Yi's, so he just glanced lightly at the Flying Eagle Brigade soldiers who were serving as guards around him, and the latter immediately understood that the suppressed dead air on the Flying Eagle Brigade soldiers who were with him suddenly gradually spread, cold and ruthless, There was not the slightest bit of anger, so that all the people around him, even the people of Daqin, who were ready to watch the excitement, were frightened at that moment.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, your deployment is too heavy, and it needs my lord to send down a baptism of glorious pure water to dissolve it." The death of the Eagle Brigade made the bishop speak suddenly, and it was obvious that he had been taken aback just now. But Liu Xuan smiled and said: "The people on the battlefield should be murderous and shocking, and they don't need to be resolved." As for the glorious purification water of your religion, I think it is better to be exempt. As the saying goes, there are different customs for a thousand miles, and the customs of our two countries are different, and we will talk about religion later. ”

Liu Xuan's words made the bishop's face change, but then he continued to speak: "Your country is not the right way to strictly guard against people of all religions. Although my lord is different from other religions, I protest against the suppression of people of other religions in your country. ”

"Protests are ineffective." Liu Xuan didn't pay any attention to the bishop's face, and his cold words directly blocked the other party's other words, and then walked forward, actually throwing the bishop and Arthur directly in place.

"Let's not mention this matter for the time being. What we need at the moment is Datang's weapons and food, and if Datang favors those damned infidels, then we won't be able to defeat them at all in the future. The crusaders organized on the Pope's side would inevitably collapse with it. Arthur shook his head and pulled the bishop as he spoke.

"Not to mention the Crusaders, they are afraid that they will not be able to leave Rome anytime soon." The cardinal seemed to know something, but after saying a word, he didn't continue, and Acer's face changed, but the two quickly caught up with Liu Xuan and led him in the direction of the Byzantine palace.

After spending a few days in Byzantium, Liu Xuan followed Daqin's followers towards Amiens. On the tenth day of October in the tenth year of the Apocalypse, Liu Xuan arrived in Amiens, but after seeing the layout of the military camps of the two sides, Liu Xuan's face became extremely exciting.

"Captain Li, you arranged for some of your men to lurk in each other's military camp with the secret guards at night to see what the Gauls were doing? I always feel that this Tessie people are fighting so strangely. After Liu Xuan hurriedly met with the commander of the Great Qin front, he returned to his camp and began to secretly arrange for the Flying Eagle Brigade to take advantage of the night to see what the Gauls were doing. After getting used to fighting all kinds of battles on the battlefield on the Tang side, he was still a little uncomfortable with these Taixi people who had gathered so many troops and could still wait for him in peace. According to his understanding, it should be that before the arrival of the follow-up troops of both sides, the Great Qin, who already occupied a dominant position, should concentrate the main force to attack the Gauls with all their might, and strive to defeat these armies that confronted him before the arrival of the main forces of the other side, so as to win the opportunity for the next battle. But these conceited Great Qin generals were not in a hurry, and in addition to admiring the firearms of the Tang Dynasty, they boasted about the strength of their own side. Unlike the Great Cannibals, who almost completely abandoned the heavy infantry phalanx, although the Great Qin used firearms to defeat the heavy infantry phalanx in Athens and Macedonia in the south, their own army was actually essentially a heavy infantry phalanx plus cavalry, without the slightest novelty. Thinking of this, Liu Xuan couldn't help but sigh secretly, the Tiance Army did not have this kind of confusion in strategy and tactics when it first had firearms, in addition to the need for the Tiance Army to continue to fight to complete the unification of the empire, more importantly, the Tang Dynasty has a far-sighted and even perceptive emperor, it is precisely because of the eyes that seem to see through all the obstacles that the Tiance Army can complete its own transformation in the shortest possible time, and adapt to the changes of new weapons on the battlefield of war, and it is precisely because of this, Whether it is the battle formation and tactics of Daqin or Da Cannibal, in the eyes of the generals of the Tang Dynasty, there is undoubtedly flaws everywhere, and there is a natural suppression.

"I hope that the emperor can complete the integration within the empire as soon as possible, so that we Datang will have the opportunity to plant the battle flag on this land one day, so that all the lands and people in the world will be bathed in the glory of Datang." Liu Xuan looked at the city walls and defenses of Amiens City in the distance, which were completely different from the Central Plains City.

The speed of the Flying Eagle Brigade was very fast, and in the second half of the night, it had quietly returned from the camp of the Gauls on the opposite side, but the news brought back made Liu Xuan bored, because with the interpretation of the secret guard, so the Flying Eagle Brigade did not need to arrest people at all, just sneaked in and eavesdropped on the conversation of their boss, and roughly understood the other party's mind, after all, after the arrival of the follow-up troops on the Daqin side, the other party could not say anything if there was no other action.

"It seems that the Gauls didn't expect a quick victory, but there are still changes in the follow-up reinforcements of their coalition army?" Liu Xuan asked, the news that Xuan Yingwei had brought back just now was slowly marked on a map he carried with him, and he continued to ask after a little hesitation.

"That's all the Admiral has heard, but I've heard that the Gauls are already assembling warships, and I think there should be other moves on the Navy side in the near future, but we haven't heard any useful news from the Army." The Flying Eagle Brigade's answer made Liu Xuan nod thoughtfully, and instructed the Flying Eagle Brigade to send men to secretly infiltrate the Gauls' military camp every night to find out the news. However, Liu Xuan did not intend to pass on this news to the people of Great Qin. Before Liu Xuan came, Wan Yi had explained that the longer the delay on the side of Daqin, the more beneficial it would be for Datang, so if the current advantage of the Daqin people on the battlefield could be offset by the Gauls, it would actually be good, at least the balance of forces between the two sides would make the battle more tragic. However, although Liu Xuan did not pass on this news to Daqin, he did not expect that in fact, Daqin's side also had other preparations, just when the reinforcements from the Gauls came to Amiens, Daqin's other allies also came towards Amiens at this time, and it was seen that their route was not a straight line, but along the northern coastline.

However, Liu Xuan couldn't take care of these things for the time being, and after sorting out the news here, Liu Xuan began to record what he saw and heard on the battlefield one by one, as battlefield notes, so that they could be transmitted back to the base camp in the future to provide reference for the General Staff to formulate strategic plans in the future. Coincidentally, the diplomats sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Daqin and Dashi also received an order from Wang Shoutian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking them to record all the customs and geographical terrain of the two countries on a daily basis and then send them back to China. This kind of large-scale survey of foreign terrain and life was naturally unnoticed in this era, and even some questions from the diplomats of the Tang Dynasty were directly asked to the officials of Daqin and Dashi, and the other party's straightforward information then made the officials of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Tang Dynasty feel surprised.

"Chief of Staff, there is a notice from the Great Qin Command that they are preparing to hold a pre-war meeting and ask if we want to participate." When Liu Xuan was recording little by little, the voice of the guards outside the tent also came in.

"Naturally, I want to participate, and I just want to know what these people think for the first time." Liu Xuan stood up and said to himself while following the Great Qin soldiers who came to inform him, Liu Xuan took the interpreter and personal guards to walk forward: "But what are the ideas of these Great Qin generals? Is it possible for me to give him an idea? Or is it really defenseless against my Datang? The pre-war meeting actually allowed me to participate as an outsider. Although Liu Xuan was talking to himself, he was not afraid that someone around him would be able to understand, these soldiers could not understand Liu Xuan's muttering at all except for the Tang people he brought, and even the Daqin soldiers who came to give orders were only conveyed through Liu Xuan's interpretation. After all, people who are proficient in Tang Yan are scarce talents in today's Great Qin, and it is naturally impossible to have them in the army.

"Chief of Staff, the golden tent in front of you is their handsome tent." The guard pointed to the golden tent in front of him and introduced it to Liu Xuan: "The mark on it is the cross, and the one next to it is the battle flag of Daqin, which seems to be some kind of eagle flag." ”

"Whatever, the Eagle Banner is the Eagle Banner, but this cross is very strange in the army." Liu Xuan nodded all his thoughts, and then followed the Great Qin soldiers in front of him into the big tent.