The sudden appearance of the Anxi Tiger Division was actually not "sudden" for Xue Shao. Because Wu Zetian had discussed this matter with Xue Shao alone a long time ago, there was still a big difference between Xue Shao and her opinions. But at that time, Xue Shao's attitude could not change much, and Datang's major move of abandoning the operation of the four towns of Anxi had been implemented before Xue Shao knew it.

At the moment, it seems that it is reasonable that the Anxi Tiger Division took so long to withdraw from the entire army of Gongyue City in the Western Regions, which was thousands of miles away.

But the problem is, how did this expeditionary force, which was supposed to withdraw to the capital and wait for reorganization, come to Lingzhou by the way, and launch an attack on Lingzhou without authorization? Who gave them such an order? Who gave them the power to open fire without permission?

Xuan Yunzi had just pronounced a holy decree to the whole army, confirming Xue Shao's military and political power in the Helong area, and assuming absolute leadership over the war against the Turkic invasion. The sudden intervention of the Anxi Tiger Division was undoubtedly a new challenge for Xue Shao, who had just obtained "legitimate authority".

"Young Marshal, we must immediately lead the army south." Li Duozuo's attitude is very clear.

"It's inevitable to go south." Xue Shao said, "But we need to figure out first, what are we going to do? ”

"Of course, it's to recover Lingzhou." Li Duozuo said, "Anxi Tiger Master Dog takes rats, and they can't let them come nonsense." ”

"General Li, I understand that you and your subordinates are anxious to make meritorious contributions. But the Anxi Tiger Division is not an enemy, and their siege of Lingzhou is probably not just out of the intention of grabbing merit. Xue Shao said, "If we go south with hostility towards the Anxi Tiger Division, then we might as well not go." Before the enemy has been destroyed, the last thing I want to see is internal strife among our own people! ”

Li Duozuo was slightly stunned, and said with shame: "Young marshal forgive me, I may be a little anxious." But the entire Helong battlefield should be under your command, so as to ensure the smooth progress of the entire battle. Now that the Anxi Tiger Division is acting without authorization, it is very likely that our military deployment will be broken. Therefore, I think that they can also take charge of the battle of Lingzhou, but only if they are willing to accept your unified command. Otherwise, they should move to Luoyang according to the original plan! ”

"Yes." Guo Yuanzhen agreed, "There are no rules, there is no circle, I support General Li's opinion." ”

Xue Shao nodded with a smile, "It makes sense to say that." But it's probably just wishful thinking on our part, otherwise we wouldn't be where we are. In other words, Anxi Tiger Master probably didn't take me Xue in his eyes. ”

Guo Yuanzhen immediately reminded: "It is also possible that the Anxi Tiger Division does not know that it is Young Marshal Xue who has come to Helong to lead the military. ”

"How did Nawei die?" Xue Shao asked rhetorically.

The generals were stunned and could not answer.

Xue Shao patted the table and stood up, "There must be a lot of this, we can't guess the inside story." Therefore, I must go south to Lingzhou as soon as possible to find out the truth of the matter. ”

"I've got to go along." Cheng Boxian immediately said, "It is an important mission of my trip to take Wei back to Beijing. ”

Li Duozuo was about to speak, when Xue Shao said, "General Li, you go back and prepare your troops to set off." ”

Li Duozuo simply breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately hugged his fists and bowed, "Yes!" ”

"Guo Yuanzhen, Xue Chuyu, the two of you stay in Yinchuan Juntun." Xue Shao said, "There are a lot of prisoners in the fort, and there are still a lot of scattered Turkic routs nearby to collect, these things are very important. In addition, Xue Chuyu should also pay attention to being ready to receive the subordinates of the Tongluo tribe to go south to Yinshan at any time. You two have a great responsibility! ”

The two generals originally wanted to go south together, but when they heard Xue Shao say this, they all took back the words that came to their mouths and responded to their orders.

"In addition to Li Duozuo's men and horses as the main force, I only took the Tutuo cavalry under Niu Ben and my personal troops south to Lingzhou." Xue Shao said, "Pass the order and let Duan Feng hand over his men and horses to Guo Yuanzhen." He himself will go with me. ”

Everyone's eyes lit up, "Yes, Duan Feng was originally from the Anxi Tiger Division. The young marshal took him with him, it will definitely work! ”

Xue Shao nodded and didn't say more, but he was thinking about some questions that these brothers present might not be able to think about.

In fact, the matter of who will defeat Lingzhou is more concerned about Li Duozuo and his subordinates at most, and the difference is not big for Xue Shao. What Xue Shao cares about is that if the Anxi Tiger Division defeats Lingzhou, what will happen next?

- Revenge, massacre!

This is the last thing Xue Shao wants to see. Otherwise, he would not have gone to great lengths to persuade the brothers around him to agree to release Shenasi and take a thousand horses back to the grassland.

There are also some things that few people know except Xue Shao. That is, Wang Fangyi's transfer (more precisely, dismissal) from the Anxi Tiger Division caused great indignation within the Anxi Tiger Division. At that time, Xue Shao had just served as the secretary of the military department, and many generals of the Anxi Tiger Division pointed the spearhead of their resentment directly at Xue Shao himself. And Xue Shao didn't have a chance to explain anything at all. Or rather, it's something that can't be explained at all.

These things were learned by Xue Shao from Duan Feng. Anxi Tiger Division has prejudices against himself, and Xue Shao believes that this is not strange for the border soldiers who are far away from the capital, upright and do not understand the government. In fact, including Wang Fangyi himself, he may still disagree with his strong advocacy of "changing the flag".

Although there is a period of sympathy between Xue Shao and Wang Fangyi, it is indeed an indisputable fact that "different ways do not conspire with each other" on the basis of major political positions. This is very understandable, why Wang Fangyi threw down a letter of resignation after returning to Beijing and did not say goodbye, but at the same time entrusted Duan Feng, whom he regarded as his "righteous son", to Xue Shao.

There is a clear distinction between public and private, Wang Fangyi is a bright and upright person, and Xue Shao has always admired him. And Xue Shao has heard others mention it more than once, although Wang Fangyi does not agree with some of Xue Shao's actions in the court, he still praises Xue Shao as the most outstanding military commander in this dynasty, and one day he will be the successor of the Wei Gong lineage.

However, not everyone can understand these grievances between Xue Shao and Wang Fangyi. Xue Shao can imagine that in the eyes of many soldiers of the Anxi Tiger Division, he is the enemy of Wang Fangyi and the Anxi Tiger Division, and even Duan Feng is a "betrayer".

This is obviously not a simple "misunderstanding" that can be encompassed, but a major issue involving the loyalty, honor and faith of Datang soldiers.

The next day, Xue Shao and Li Duozuo led the army to the south.

Before leaving, Guo Yuanzhen privately said to Xue Shao that although Li Duozuo is our old brother, this army is not the young marshal's "own people". He finally persuaded Xue Shao once, it was best to take Xue Chuyu and the Jumping Army with him. In case there is any situation, it is still reliable.

Xue Shao refused, saying that if I didn't even have the courage to face friendly forces, where would I be qualified to lead them together to challenge enemies like Gu Lulu and Yuan Zhen?

Guo Yuanzhen didn't insist anymore, only said, when the matter of Lingzhou is finished, our brothers will work together to fight in Mobei. Whether it is the royal rate or the Anxi Tiger Division, since we can't work with one heart and one mind, then we don't force it.

Xue Shao smiled and nodded without saying more, but he was thinking in his heart: There is no innate unity of heart and one mind in the world. Aren't all of you brothers that I have fought for for for many years, or even forced on?

The large army marched southward, marching at a fast pace.

In the big battlefield of Yinchuan, when Li Duozuo led the army to arrive, the victory or defeat was decided, and even the battle was nearing the end. The arrogant Yu Linwei will not be satisfied with just following behind Xue Shao and picking up some dead fish that have rolled their eyes. So now, Xue Shao can see at a glance that they have all held their hearts and want to make a big difference.

However, before the troops left Helan Mountain, Xue Shao received a major military information from the scouts in front.

The Turkic enemy army trapped in Lingzhou, under the leadership of Yi Li Si, the leader of the Servant Bone Tribe, broke through at night and wanted to flee north. As a result, he fell into the plan of the Anxi Tiger Division and fell into the encirclement and was ambushed. In only one battle, the Anxi Tiger Division killed more than 10,000 enemies and recaptured the city of Lingzhou.

All the captives, not one of them were killed!

Hearing this, Xue Shao's heart sank suddenly-as I expected, the Anxi Tiger Master launched a stern revenge!

The defeated remnants of the Turkic army broke through to the east and fled, but they ran to Yushi Mountain, where Wei had arranged suspicious soldiers at the beginning. The Anxi Tiger Division took advantage of the situation to set up an encirclement, and the remnants of the Turkic soldiers hiding on a lonely mountain had no way to enter the sky, no door, no food and grass inside, no reinforcements outside, as if they had become turtles in an urn.

"Hey, there's no head!" The first reaction of Li Duozuo and his generals was that all the credit was taken away by the Anxi Tiger Division. Now I can only pick up a few dead fish that have rolled their eyes. And this time, it will be viciously disliked!

Of course, Xue Shao's thoughts would not be the same as those of Yu Linwei, and he ordered to speed up the march and rush to Lingzhou as soon as possible. Although he was already a little unhappy, Yu Linwei would not resist the order. So the army continued southward and increased the speed of the march.

When he was about to arrive in Lingzhou, Duan Feng, who had always been a little taciturn, took the initiative to say to Xue Shao: "Wang Xiaojie, you are very capable of fighting. ”

"What else?" Xue Shao asked.

Duan Feng said: "Once, Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhongjie were the right-hand men under the command of General Wang, just like Xue Chuyu and Guo Yuanzhen under the command of the young marshal. When the Tiger Division marched west|When the rebellion was quelled, Ashina Zhongjie stayed in Shuofang. Later, General Wang Lao was transferred, and Wang Xiaojie succeeded him as the general of the Anxi Tiger Division. ”

Xue Shao nodded, "How is your relationship with Wang Xiaojie?" ”

Duan Feng suddenly smiled bitterly, "If he can tolerate me, where can I leave the Anxi Tiger Division?" ”

Xue Shao was slightly stunned, "There is still this layer?" I've never heard you mention it. ”

"Don't make a family ugly!" Duan Feng, who had always been stingy with words, showed a rare and complicated look, and sighed, "Wang Xiaojie, this person...... It may not be easy to get along with. ”