Xue Shao's troops had not yet arrived in Suizhou, and Guo An found Xue Shao first and took the initiative to return to the team.

As the most important intelligence officer by Xue Shao's side, it is impossible for Guo An to leave for too long. As soon as he returned, he brought with him several important pieces of military information.

One of the most important is the change of commanders of the Turks.

At the beginning of the war, the Turkic commander who commanded the invasion of the Lingzhou Metropolitan Governorate was actually the great leader of the Servant Bone Clan in the northern grasslands. After the Servant Bone Clan and the Tongluo tribe broke away from the Tang Dynasty and joined the Turks, in order to prove their worth and ability as soon as possible, the two tribes took the initiative to take charge of this war together. At first, they fought well, but when it came time to grab the territory and divide the spoils, the two clans began to fight among themselves. So Gu Lulu sent his own brother, Ye Hu Silu of the Turkic Khanate, to personally come to suppress and supervise the battle.

Speaking of this, Xue Shao is no stranger. At the beginning, he once came to Chang'an to "negotiate peace" on behalf of the Turks. In Xue Shao's impression, this is a cunning and shady guy, and he is proficient in Chinese. As for how talented he is in military affairs, it is really relatively unfamiliar.

From this, Xue Shao thought of a question and asked Guo Andao: "Didn't you find the news of Gu Lulu, Yuan Zhen or Mo Si?" ”

"Nope." Guo An replied, "It's strange to say, on such a big battlefield as Helong, Yuan Zhen didn't come to command it in person, and their most capable general, Mo Si, didn't come in person. If it weren't for the infighting between the two tribes, the servants and Tongluo, they wouldn't even have appeared. ”

Xue Shao wrung his eyebrows and pondered for a moment, and a bad premonition rose in his heart - the three most important backbones of the Turkic Khanate's military affairs were none other than their Khan Gu Lulu, the mastermind Yuan Zhen, and Gu Lulu's younger brother Mo Si. If any of the three of them didn't come to Helong, it would only prove that this was just a sub-battlefield. Their main target is not Helong!

"Guo An, send someone to check the news from Hebei!"

"Yes!"

Xue Shao felt that his heart was pressed by a big stone again.

It is now basically certain that the main body and grassroots troops of the Turkic Khanate are the largest in number fighting in Helong, and they are the people who control the strings. And the two small tribes of Servant Bone and Tongluo are the core of this coalition army at present. According to preliminary estimates of the battle situation, the Turks committed no less than 100,000 troops here. But if the main battlefield of the Turks is really in Hebei, then the troops they have invested in Hebei are at least two or three times more than that of Helong, and the elite troops of the Turkic Khanate will be attached to the wolf cavalry as the main combat force, and at the same time, the pro-Xun Tuoqi under the command of Yuan Zhen will definitely appear on the battlefield in Hebei.

Xue Shaobi knew the combat power of the Turkic army by everyone. Compared with the attached wolf cavalry and Tuanqi cavalry, the 100,000 string control men in Helong are simply a rabble. This also means that once the Turks invade Hebei on a large scale, Hebei's defense line full of holes will definitely not be able to be defended by Xue Ne alone. Even if Xue Rengui is reborn, it won't work.

Thinking of this, Xue Shao really wanted to immediately jump in front of Wu Zetian and roar at her loudly - I had already asked you to send additional troops to the Hebei border defense, but you just didn't listen! Now you're happy? Happy?!

Thinking about it, Xue Shao felt that the biggest task in front of him was to find out all the movements and internal realities of the enemy as soon as possible. If Helong is a sub-battlefield of the Turks, then the main purpose of this group of enemies in front of them is to distract the attention of the Tang Dynasty and attract our military strength to assist the Hebei battlefield. Then Xue Shao himself must not be led by the strategy of the Turks. Be sure to take out the enemy in front of you as quickly as possible, and then support the Hebei battlefield from the flank.

Only in this way can the entire military deployment of the Turks be broken and thus the strategic initiative will be found.

This may be the focus and turning point of the whole battle.

But looking at these soldiers around him, Xue Shao's heart was worried again. Although he has done his best to boost their morale and make them regain their faith as a warrior. However, there are less than 13,000 people here, and many of them are recruits who have never fought before. The most capable part of the people is the Tuanqi cavalry under the Mei Rakshasa command. But their numbers were too small, and it was difficult for him to trust them at a critical time—at least, it was impossible to trust them like he trusted Xue Chuyu and the Jumping Army.

"Guo An, is there any news from Fengzhou?" Xue Shao asked a question that he was most reluctant to ask. I remember that when I had just withdrawn from Shuofang, Wei Zhiwei said that Fengzhou must have fallen, otherwise it would not be possible for so many enemy troops to come from the north.

"Toyosu has fallen." Guo An's answer was not unexpected by Xue Shao, but he immediately changed his words, "But the men and horses under General Xue Chuyu and General Guo Yuanzhen have all been safely transferred. ”

"What?" Xue Shao was suddenly surprised, "Let's talk about it in detail!" ”

Guo An said: "Originally, Xue Guo and the second general stayed in Fengzhou together, but after receiving the news of the defeat of Helan Mountain, they decisively withdrew their troops and horses to abandon Fengzhou, and burned all the bridges and boats on the Yellow River. Then, they took their respective men and horses to Yinchuan Juntun! ”

"The rear has fallen, and the lonely city of Fengzhou cannot be defended for a long time, and even if it is held, it will not make much sense - they did the right thing!" Xue Shao was pleasantly surprised, "Then how are they doing now?" ”

"I've been stationed in Yinchuan Juntun." Guo An replied, "The last time the Turkic men and horses killed Shuofang from the north, they were actually misled by Xue Chuyu. According to the original plan of the Turks, the purpose of this army should have been to capture the Yinchuan military tun. But they were eager to fight for merit and fell into Xue Chuyu's trick of luring troops, so they went all the way south to Shuofang and fought a confused battle. At the same time, another Turkic soldier came to attack Shuofang according to the original plan. The Turkic people and horses on both sides met unexpectedly in Shuofang, and they were very resentful of each other coming to compete with themselves, and almost fought with their own people. Later, their khans were furious when they heard the news, and immediately withdrew the two armies, and sent Ye Hu to serve as the new commander to take command of the battle. At present, Du Xilu is commanding the army to attack the Yinchuan military tun with all its might. ”

Xue Shao frowned, "We must go to the rescue!" ”

Guo An nodded solemnly, "My subordinates will do their best to get in touch with General Xue Chuyu or General Guo Yuanzhen as soon as possible." Inside and outside, the odds are greater. ”

"At the same time, we can't afford to give up. Some of the Turkic soldiers and horses are eyeing Lingzhou. As soon as we make a move in Shuofang, it is very likely that they will take advantage of the weakness to attack Shuofang and cut off our back. Xue Shao said, "I need Wei Zhiprice's cooperation." Guo An, contact Wei Zhiqi as quickly as possible, and ask him to come in person or send someone to discuss the details of the battle with me. ”

"Yes!"

Guo An rode away, and Xue Shao ordered loudly, "March at full speed." Target - Shuo Fang! ”

The generals were stunned, "Young marshal, don't you go to Suizhou?" ”

"The situation has changed, change the route!"

"Yes!"

Most of the men and horses accelerated their march, and all the heavy grain and grass were temporarily separated from the large army and delayed the escort.

Mei Luoshasa rode to Xue Shao's side on horseback, "Young Marshal Xue, you need a brave and capable cavalry force to attack the fortifications. It's like Mesakshasa needs her scimitar. ”

"Are you here to fight?" Xue Shao smiled, and said in his heart that this Nizi finally stopped calling me "man", presumably this title now belongs to Niu Ben!

"Sort of!" Meek Rakshasa grinned and said, "We have a new leader, and he is eager to prove himself. ”

"The new chief?" Xue Shao was puzzled.

"Li Tieshi." Mei Rakshasa laughed, "Of course, you all call him Niu Ben. ”

Xue Shao was slightly startled, "When did Niu Ben become your new leader?" ”

"Just now." Meekrakshasa laughed, "After he defeated my Sixteen Iron Guards. ”

"You still have Iron Guards?" Xue Shao smiled, "They won't cheat and release water, right?" ”

"Impossible." "We live on horses and war, the sword is our most loyal companion, and the strongest warrior is qualified to be our leader." My sixteen guards have sworn in the name of their ancestors and gods that they will do whatever it takes to obey my orders and protect my safety. And I'm sure they all love me and want to marry me. When they knew that Niu Ben was the rival of all of them, they could not be relentless. ”

"In other words, Niu Ben used his bravery to conquer you, conquer the Sixteen Iron Guards, and conquer all of you?" Xue Shao asked.

"Yes." Mei Rakshasa smiled proudly, "Just like my brother did back then." ”

Xue Shao smiled, "Call Niu Ben, I want him to tell me in person." Instead of hiding behind his woman, like a coward. ”

The Rakshasa giggled a few times and slapped his horse back. After a while, the bull came running.

"Congratulations, Niu Ben." Xue Shao smiled, "So soon, I became the new leader of the Tutuo cavalry. ”

"Young marshal, don't make fun of me!" Niu Ben was ashamed like a little daughter-in-law, "I just played with them, but I didn't want to finish the fight, so they coaxed together, saying that they had to recognize me as their new leader - the conscience of heaven and earth, I am the general of the Tang Dynasty, and the personal escort of the young marshal, how can I fool around with them all day long?" ”

Xue Shao smiled: "Then you want to marry Rakshasa and play with it?" ”

"This ...... It's true! Niu Ben laughed.

"That's going to be hard." Xue Shao said, "It is impossible for Mei Luoshasa to give up his Tutuo brothers, and you are not willing to leave the army of the Tang Dynasty. ”

Niu Ben was stunned, "What can I do?" ”

"I have a solution." Xue Shao said, "After the Lingzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is recovered, I can place Mei Luoshasa and her Tuoba brothers in Liuhu Prefecture to settle down and graze, and the government will fund and distribute some cattle, sheep and tents necessary for their lives, and designate pastures as their pastoral areas." They can graze in their spare time and serve as soldiers in wartime. ”

"Soldiers?"

"Yes."

Niu Ben was overjoyed, "This means that they will all be the people of the Tang Dynasty by then?" ”

"Of course." Xue Shao smiled and said, "The soldiers of Liuhu Prefecture definitely need to be commanded by the commander of the capital. If you're interested......"

"Yes, yes!" Niu Ben nodded vigorously and smiled from ear to ear, "When the time comes, I can stay in Liuhu Prefecture and continue to manage them." At the same time, I can also accompany Shi Xiaomei! ”

"And your home, your children." Xue Shao smiled.

Niu Ben looked at Xue Shao gratefully, his eyes were actually red, "But in this way, I can't follow the young marshal day and night and be your personal escort." ”

"Niu Ben, every man should have his home, have his family. Without that, the man would be incomplete. Xue Shao stepped forward and punched him twice on his solid arm, "You can't be my personal escort for the rest of your life." Even if you wanted to, I couldn't be so selfish. ”

Niu Ben wiped his tears, "Then let me take these Tuan brothers to fight the pioneer once." I want to take a big credit to repay the young marshal! ”

"Then your chance has come." Xue Shao said, "Go back and tell Mei Rakshasa and your Tutaka brothers to prepare for war!" ”

"Yes!"

Niu Ben rode his horse and ran away energetically. Soon, there was a loud cheer from the Tuo cavalry.

Xue Shao breathed a sigh of relief with a smile on his face, this is really an unexpected surprise, Niu Ben actually helped me completely control the entire Tuoban cavalry unit, and can play a major role in stabilizing Liuhu Prefecture in the future.

It's really in response to the old saying, stupid people have stupid blessings. Niu Ben, what a blessing!