"Minister Lin, why is there a message from the navy for us to retreat urgently? Did something happen? Although it was the middle of winter, but in Egypt, Xu Anmo couldn't feel the breath of winter at all, and hurriedly rushed to Lin Yuantu's residence in a short shirt early in the morning.

Xu Anmo was just about to confess but was left behind by Lin Yuantu, only to listen to him and say: "This is Li Shaozhou, the supreme general of the Marine Corps in charge of the defense of the canal, and General Li is here precisely because of this incident. General Li, this is Xu Anmo, the person in charge of digging the Phoenician Canal. After introducing the two to each other, Lin Yuantu continued: "General Li has received urgent information that the Great Qin Empire has landed in Phoenicia Harbor and is sweeping through the entire Egyptian province. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army demanded that all the Tang personnel of our Canal Excavation Headquarters immediately withdraw to Suez City and wait for the next battle situation to become clear. ”

"XCMG, the counteroffensive army of the Great Food Empire has also been coming towards Egypt day and night, so the whole of Egypt will be in the midst of war in the next step. You are non-combatants, although there is a treaty between Datang and Dashi, but the war is ruthless, the command requires our marines to ensure the safety of all construction personnel, and the Western Expeditionary Army also transferred a battalion of troops from Persia to Suez on a transport ship. If necessary, they will even withdraw you to Wolong Port. Li Shaozhou saluted Xu Anmo and replied. Many of the titles brought by Li Xuanqing from later generations also spread in the Tang Dynasty with the popularization of industry, so no one was surprised that Li Shaozhou called Xu Anmo "XCMG". On the contrary, Xu Anmo frowned and said: "Thank you general for taking care of me and other people, but in this way, the construction of our canal will inevitably be delayed, and we are fine, but the empire needs to pay a lot of money without delaying a day, so does the general have a plan for both?" ”

Xu Anmo's words made Li Shaozhou frown, this place is about to become a battlefield for the two countries of Great Qin and Great Food, at this time, it would be good for these unarmed ordinary people to be able to save their lives on the battlefield, why are they still thinking about money? However, what the other party said was also good, so many people in this place have to pay a huge amount of wealth and materials for every day of delay. So for a while, Li Shaozhou had no idea.

"In this way, General Li, we will immediately arrange for the front of the men to withdraw to the vicinity of Suez City, anyway, that section of the canal has been repaired, and if necessary, won't the warships of your navy also rush over?" How about we wait there now, and if the situation is clear, we can make up the previous deadline? Lin Yuantu also didn't want the canal that his gang had spent nearly a year digging to dig because of the delay of the war, and he didn't want the interests of Datang to be damaged, so he said: "The general can ask Daqin and Dashi to avoid the canal area when the two countries are at war in the name of the defense commander of the Datang Canal, so as to ensure that the interests of my Datang are not violated." ”

Lin Yuantu's words made Li Shaozhou nod with a deep sigh and said, "Minister Lin's meaning will be understood. Without further ado, organize your men to retreat at once, I have already arranged for the ships to come to this place, and as for those who are willing to follow us, they can also take them, and those who are not willing to go will be disbanded on the spot. ”

After several people discussed, they immediately began to act separately, Lin Yuantu and Xu Anmo arranged for their subordinates to notify the various engineering teams to immediately pack up their bags and various machinery and devices, and the entire canal excavation team of more than 100,000 people began to cause an uproar after the news of this sudden retreat spread. Countless workers and technicians need Lin Yuantu and others to go separately to appease and inform, in addition to those people recruited by the Great Food Empire, many of them are natives of Egyptian Province, when they learned that there was a big war on the front line, these people couldn't sit still, many people shouted the slogan of the Heavenly Sect and directly began to go to the north to prepare to participate in the war, and many people planned to return to their hometowns to check if their families were okay, so more than 100,000 people walked nearly half of them in half a day. By the time the navy's transport ships arrived in the Great Kuhu area, turned around and docked at the temporary docks, less than 60,000 people boarded the ships and returned to Suez and other places in the south to wait for the war to end.

After arranging for the evacuation of the engineers, Li Shaozhou took his own Marine Corps to go on the defensive, used the ground fortifications established by the Chang'an Construction Company on both sides of the canal to build a temporary fortress, and applied for the transfer of three newly renovated Fuxing-class warships from Wolong Port to assist the Marine Corps. At this time, Pang Lingming had already led his headquarters to Suez City. This former small city has completely changed because of the Tang Dynasty's re-opening of the canal, countless houses and docks began to rise from the ground, and even for the sake of water problems, Suez City also imitated Lin Yuantu's previous method of diverting water along the canal from the northwest to attract new water sources from the mountainous areas in the northwest to ensure the drinking water needs of the original larger personnel stationed. However, Pang Lingming didn't bother to check the new changes in Suez City at this time. As the head of the army, he and one of his battalion soldiers were almost dismantled by the turbulence of the sea along the way, and after getting off the boat, these soldiers of the Tiance Army, who had been invincible in the northwest for several years, almost vomited out all their bitter gall, which made the marines who accompanied the disembarkation laugh.

"Well, what kind of thing is this?" Pang Lingming himself was no better, but he couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the Marine Corps officers and sailors who treated the ship as their home. But before they could rest for a while, the military order arrived again.

"What? Still on a boat? No, if I sit down again, my soldiers will be useless. Pang Lingming took the military order, and when he saw it, he almost sat directly on the yellow sand next to him. But fortunately, the Marine Corps soldier who came to give the order forced a smile on the corner of his mouth and saluted: "Don't worry, general, when you enter the canal, the water is gentle, and it is more stable than our inland river, and it will not be as crazy as the sea." ”

"Grandma, isn't it just a boat? Can you be laughed at twice by your sea ducks? The smile of the Marine Corps soldier was seen by Pang Lingming, and he naturally knew the other party's careful thoughts, so he stood up and immediately sounded the trumpet and ordered the headquarters to gather immediately, and after a while, the army of more than 10,000 people set off for the north again after changing to other ships. This time the Marines were no joke, the water in the canal was gentle, and the boats were steady when walking, which made many soldiers relax. After a journey of dozens of miles, Pang Lingming and Li Shaozhou finally met that night.

"Haha, General Pang, you are really a charcoal in the snow, I am worried about the lack of troops, you said that if the Great Qin people in the north rush us, it will really be unstoppable." Li Shaozhou's enthusiasm made Pang Lingming can't help but snort, it's not that he has an opinion on Li Shaozhou, but what he encountered along the way makes him really dislike the navy that laughed at him at that time. However, after rubbing his sore shoulders, he walked up to him and said, "Do you have the latest information?" At this time, where is the main direction of Daqin's assault? ”

"Yes, it's in our direction, but the dark guard has also transferred news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already negotiated with the Great Qin Empire on this matter, but because of the long distance, I am afraid that it will take time to reach the hands of Eridoan. Moreover, Eridoan was afraid that he might not really carry out the Byzantine orders, after all, he had no time to delay in Egypt. Li Shaozhou's words made Pang Lingming nod and said, "That means we still have to base ourselves on fighting, right?" ”

"I think the same way, especially since the Great Qin Navy has not fought with my Datang, compared to Elidoan, I also want to test the depth of my Datang army." Li Shaozhou's words made Pang Lingming look down on him. The seemingly inconspicuous Marine officer in front of him seemed to be no less knowledgeable than these generals who had been stationed in the border land for many years. So after thinking about it, he accepted the exquisite meaning in his heart, nodded and said: "Then find a way to hurt them, otherwise this canal will really not be repaired in the future." ”

"You and I have a total of 15,000 people, plus Suez and Wolong Harbor can still transfer 5,000 people to the north, that is, the strength of two battalions, if you want to block it, it will be enough. What's more, when necessary, I can mobilize naval warships to go north to fight, so that they can understand the difference between wood and steel. Li Shaozhou and Pang Lingming discussed the deployment of coastal defenses while leaning against the fire. This place is located at the north end of the Great Bitter Lake, relying on the communication between the Great Bitter Lake and the canal, and your side can dispatch warships to the north at any time to fight a big battle with the other side with the support of warships in this desert. So although the difference in strength is very large, the two have nothing to worry about. Compared with the other party, it is still in the era of cold weapons, and its own side is all gunpowder weapons, not to mention the epoch-making revolver.

Although the north shore of the lake is also a desert area, there are several rivers that flow into the lake, so there is no problem with the water source. However, it is precisely because of the water source here, so the two of them expected that both Da Shi and Da Qin would come to fight for this place, as long as they won this place, then the entire Great Bitter Lake area would be pocketed, and they could also force the place to completely withdraw from the Great Bitter Lake area. Although the area of Egypt is not small, there are only a few places that can live on a large scale, except for the banks of the Nile, there are only other places where other rivers flow, so it is not only Li Shaozhou and Pang Lingming who are discussing this matter. Even Elidogan, who had taken the Phoenician port with a disgrace, was thinking about it. He knew that the Tang Dynasty sent people to build a canal in Egypt, but from the perspective of the front-line commanders, this method of handing over the other party to operate for decades after it was dug out was really a betrayal, not to mention allowing the other party to station troops along the canal, and I don't know how the high-level leaders of the Great Food Empire agreed to this matter in the first place? What other Canal Treaty was specifically signed? However, at this time, the other party's treaty obviously caused a lot of trouble to itself, if the other party's army advanced from south to north through the section of the canal controlled by the Tang Dynasty, wouldn't it be a bogey?

Eridogan's fears soon became a reality, and reinforcements from Celestial City appeared directly in southern Egypt after crossing a stretch of desert, and then successfully traveled north from Suez and other places to participate in the Battle of Egypt. It's just that the army of Celestial City has not yet set off at this time.

"Anyway, immediately inform the forward troops to immediately cross the Bodana Hill and march south. Tell them to call me back if anyone stops me. After thinking about it for a long time, Eridoan decided to ignore it and began to give the order to march. He must destroy all the military forces of the Great Food Empire in the Egyptian region, only in this way can he make the central breakthrough tactics quickly affect the two wings, and make the opponent's east-west advance quickly bankrupt. So even if he understands that there are Datang people in front of him, he has to do it. However, after thinking about it for a while, he still ordered the forward troops not to be allowed to move if the other side did not resist. In his opinion, Datang would not do anything to his huge field corps of more than 100,000 people. If there is really a conflict, Eridoan has even thought about it, and then a misunderstanding can be resolved, anyway, as long as the battle is won, is it possible that the Tang Dynasty will be able to start a war with Daqin in Egypt thousands of miles away? I just happened to try how much combat power the Tang Tiance Army had, which had been widely discussed.

Eridoan's idea quickly brought disaster to him later, and the Great Qin warriors who had won consecutive battles were already high morale at this time, and they didn't pay attention to Elidoan's last advice at all, not to mention that not everyone in Great Qin was in awe of the prestige of the Great Tang Dynasty. So a big battle broke out quickly over the next few days, a massacre to be precise. Pang Lingming and Li Shaozhou teamed up to divide their forces into two with only 15,000 men, guarding the water source and the defense of the north shore of the Great Kuhu Lake respectively. The dense bullets and shells directly slaughtered more than 10,000 people in the desert that had dried up for tens of thousands of years. The bloody slaughter even changed the faces of some of the recruits of the Marine Corps, when did the weapons in their hands become so powerful? And is it difficult for the other party to be a fool? In front of the dense bullets, they still lined up in a neat pace and rushed straight forward?

"Wait, there's still a fight in the back." Pang Lingming and Li Shaozhou shook their heads at the same time after seeing each other retreat, although they gave the other party a slaughter as soon as they got started, but with the other party's posture, they were afraid that they would not wake up if they didn't come a few times.

"I have long heard that this Great Qin people are rigid in fighting, but I didn't expect it to be the case. I heard that the last time the Uighur army was on the side of the Uighurs, they directly defeated the other side. Pang Lingming took the half roast leg of lamb handed over by the other party, took a bite and said with a smile: "I just don't know if our brothers will come to this ghost place this time." ”

"It's hard for me to see it, there are more than 30,000 people who died on the other side, and they were beaten off by themselves, and the commander of the other side is not a fool." Li Shaozhou said with a smile: "I think Minister Lin should be allowed to come up, they can't beat it, they will definitely send someone to negotiate." ”

"What kind of judgment to talk about, if you can't win the battle on the battlefield, can you talk about it?" Pang Lingming smiled shamefully: "Minister Lin is too late, you see that there is a white flag raised over there, which is a sign that he intends to suspend negotiations." With his words, Li Shaozhou really saw a white flag rising in the distance, and then several people rode towards their positions.