The long march continued, and the fatigue on the faces of the soldiers had grown worse over the past few days.

The cold has become their worst enemy, unlike the animal skin clothes of the Turks, the clothing of the Han people is not very good at keeping out the cold, and here, even a hot meal has become the best wish.

took out the piece of flatbread that had been warm for a long time from his abdomen, it was hard to swallow, and he took out a small water bag from the other side, which was filled with snow melted water, and put it under his armpit to warm it up a little, but it was still very cold.

The food was the same for all, there were no trees, no hay, no black charcoal, not even cow and horse dung of the Turks, and it became impossible to light an arch fire.

"What are your plans after this battle?" In the Chinese army, the speed of the march has been accelerated a little, and Li Yuanji recruited Su Dingfang back from the front army, and asked in a flat tone.

"I don't know!" Su Dingfang's face was a little tangled, and he didn't even have an idea about his future.

According to his resume, he is not qualified to serve as a general of the former army, and at most he will command three or five thousand people, but Li Yuanji promoted himself to the general of the former army and commanded 10,000 cavalry, which is a great trust, and Su Dingfang feels that he has nothing to repay.

Li Shimin's approach made him feel cold again, and his heart was to the court, but at this moment, he was shaken.

Luo Cheng's death, he completely offended Li Shimin and took refuge in the prince, but Li Shimin was on the throne, if it wasn't for King Qi repeatedly giving himself opportunities, it would be now, I am afraid that I still have to stay in Kuangdao Mansion to serve as a fold, a small military mansion folding, compared with the previous status, the difference is too far.

Su Dingfang felt that he could wait, wait for that opportunity, but Li Shimin's approach to Li Yuanji made him really lose confidence.

Even siblings can be treated like this, so how can he, an insignificant little person, talk about the road to rise?

In his opinion, although the Northern Expedition to the Turks was proposed by Li Yuanji himself, Li Shimin planned to take the opportunity to trap Li Yuanji to death, which was what he hated the most.

Therefore, when Li Yuanji asked this sentence, even Su Dingfang himself was confused.

"The Sixteen Wei generals have nothing to do with you, you are still young and your qualifications are not enough, but a Sixteen Wei Zhonglang General is still no problem, the future is bright, the emperor is a person who likes talents, after this battle, he will definitely be interested in you, this is an opportunity." Li Yuanji calmly analyzed, the 16th Wei Zhonglang General, basically a high-level figure in the military, can also express his opinions on some things, in addition, make some merits, do not make mistakes, the future will definitely be bright.

Li Yuanji's analysis made Su Dingfang very moved, from the beginning of his own downfall, to have today's status, it is completely because King Qi has promoted himself step by step, and Li Shimin has never shown interest in himself.

On the contrary, Li Jing felt that he was not bad, and gave him some opportunities and training.

But compared with Li Yuanji, their kindness is still too little.

"What about you, Your Highness? What are your plans for this battle? As if relieved, Su Dingfang abandoned the identity gap between the two sides and asked as if they were friends.

"Me?" Li Yuanji smiled and continued: "If nothing else, I will stay here, in fact, the grassland is also quite good, except for nothing, this is a good place." ”

Crowned king in the steppe? Su Dingfang was stunned, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly and looked at Li Yuanji, his calm expression made him feel deeply ashamed, and his heart was like numbness, so he could only echo: "The scenery here is indeed quite good!" ”

"Alright, don't say these useless words." Li Yuanji let out a long breath and patted Su Dingfang's shoulder heavily, the hope of this battle was all carried by this young guy, and he didn't want to put too much pressure on him at this time, so he continued to encourage: "It's time to fight with the Jieli Department in the next two days, the cavalry you lead will be the main force in this battle, remember the essentials of the battle, your head must be flexible, and if you encounter difficulties, you can lead the enemy to this formation." ”

Su Dingfang nodded solemnly, he had a hunch that this would be the case, so he never slacked off along the way.

The cavalry didn't know how long they had been running, and the people sat on their horses with difficulty, their horses gasping for breath, their faces were red from the cold, and the silk scarves that covered their faces were covered with a thick layer of frost.

"Your Highness, the rear military report!" Li Jing did not stop the cavalry from the rear, and after coming to the Chinese army, several cavalrymen collapsed to the ground in an instant, and one of them jumped off the war horse with difficulty, and handed the information with the seal and residual temperature in his arms to Li Yuanji.

"Good work!" Li Yuanji could only express his mood with the three slightly pale words, but this was far from enough: "Carry them into the king's carriage, light the charcoal fire inside, and boil some hot water for them." ”

"Xie Dian......" Before the tired cavalry finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground, and the left and right guards hurriedly stepped forward to help him up and blend into the carriage not far away.

Since leaving Toyozhou, this carriage has not been used, and occasionally wounded soldiers will put it in it to rest for a while, and the charcoal reserves in it are not much, and no one is willing to use it.

A person quietly read this information, it is extremely important, this will be the information that will affect the outcome of this war, but it makes me feel very cold, such an important information is not sent to him by the imperial court?

……

The four cavalry scattered from the middle army and rushed straight towards the four armies in the front and back, left and right, and saw that there were cavalry coming from the rear in front, and they also expected that the king of Qi would send someone to deliver the news.

Therefore, the various departments also made way for a passage, so that the cavalry from the Chinese army could directly reach the general.

"King Qi Order! The troops have quickened their march, and the camping time has been postponed by an hour today! ”

One after another military orders were conveyed to the four partial armies, and the results were dizzying, and the news that came from behind did not return to the reinforcements or reports, but accelerated the speed of the march and postponed the camping time, what kind of routine is this?

After the herald left, except for Su Dingfang, who didn't think much about it, and just conveyed King Qi's order to his subordinates truthfully, the other three were puzzled.

"General, those subordinates in the past seem to have seen it!" The general next to Li Jing said hesitantly.

"Have you seen it? Where is it? Li Jing felt that it was a little unlikely, he was his own general, he followed him when he went out on the expedition, and when he returned to Chang'an, he stayed at home to take care of the family's home, and those cavalry were obviously dressed as border soldiers, how could they have seen it? How could this be such a coincidence?

"In Chang'an! He was the former guard of the King of Qi, and his subordinates were once beaten by him because he blocked the way of the King of Qi, so he was very impressed, and his body shape and movements were very similar. The family general is still trying to recall, the time of the incident is not long, only about half a year, the head as much as possible to recall the scene just seen, after a few breaths, seems to recall the similarity, stunned: "It is the former guard of the King of Qi, there is a horse I have seen, it is very easy to recognize, brown horse, there is a white piece on the head, there is a long scar on the left side." ”

"Yes, I seem to have seen a brown horse just now, with a white patch on its head and a long scar on the left side." The other general nodded his head in affirmation.

King Qi's guards? Border soldiers?

Li Jing couldn't think of a reason, why would they come all the way from the rear to send information? And what is the information sent?

……

Less than two days away from the Turkic tent, the troops led by the Turkic Khan were stopped, and enough supplies to sustain them for three or five days were blocked here.

"Bo Yuan, the Great Khan ordered you to supply on the spot, and counterattack the Tang army on the spot tomorrow." The person who sent the supplies roared arrogantly, what could the Khan of the past do? As a winner, he has the right to roar.

"Get out! My department has been hungry for so long, to say the least, I have to have a day to repair, and tomorrow I want to beat you yourself, Lao Tzu will not fight. The Khan kicked the man away with a fierce kick, cursing with jealousy and contempt.

"This is the Khan's order, if you don't agree, I will pull these supplies back, you go and figure it out yourself!" I was kicked and angry, but I didn't dare to go back.

"Want to pull it back? Then ask the warriors if the sword in their hands is willing! Tuli snorted coldly, waved his big hand, and Tuli, who was still exhausted before, seemed to have regained his strength in an instant, and rushed towards the grain and grass frantically.

The grain and grass were soon snatched up, the horses ate very well, and the soldiers ate very well.

Looking at this scene, Tuli Khan smiled with satisfaction and said to the man: "Tomorrow I will slow down, be ready to fight back, and go back and tell Jieli that if I can't see his soldiers and horses, I won't fight back." ”

The next day, the Turki Khan really led his troops to slow down the march, but the Tang army chasing behind him also took advantage of this to shorten the distance between the two sides, and at this moment there was only less than half a day's journey left.

Jieli Khan was not lightly angry, and scolded that the bowl was not a thing, and he robbed the grain and grass but did not work.

But there was nothing to be done about it, and after confirming that there would be no fighting that day, Jieli did not rush to send troops, but waited until the third day to send troops.

The marching speed of the Turk tribe was still not fast, and the Tang army behind him seemed to have reached the limit, and the speed of the march had slowed down accordingly, which made the happy and suspicious Jieli Khan a little confused.

By the time the Jieli Department and the Tuli Department met, it was already noon on the fourth day, and at this time, the figure of the Tang Army was already far away.

It was supposed to be Tuli who first clashed with the Tang army, leading to the battle situation of the hidden army behind the Tang army, but now it has become a confrontation between the two armies, the hidden forces of the Tang army did not appear, but Jieli appeared on the front line of the battlefield, although there was still a Tuli in the middle.

The soldiers beside Jieli Khan suddenly pointed forward with trembling fingers, and said with a face full of fear: "Great ...... Great Khan ......"