No one thought that the rebels who were pressed by Zhang Xutuo in the tile gang would suddenly attack the Jindi Pass, and after the capture of the Jindi Pass, the Wagang thieves took Xingyang directly, and when the Xingyang Taishou reacted, many county towns in Xingyang had been looted and scorched.

Xingyang Taishou Yang Qing was terrified, and hurriedly wrote a letter to ask for guilt, and the excerpt was delivered to Yang Guang's hands at a very fast speed.

As Li Mi expected, Yang Guang knew that the Wagang thieves had sacked Xingyang, and he was furious, and immediately ordered someone to pass on the decree, appointing Zhang Xutuo as the general guard of Xingyang, and asked him to abandon Dongjun and lead troops to guard Xingyang.

Zhang Xutuo received the holy decree, and first sent people to inform the counties of Dongjun County, so that the people of the counties could move out as soon as possible, and then delayed for two days before he left the camp and went to Xingyang to take up his post.

Li Xuanba had already returned to the barracks, and when he learned of the movements of Wagangzhai, he understood that Li Mi had defected to Wagangzhai, but he believed that with his memory, he would definitely be able to save Zhang Xutuo.

Several counties north of Xingyang have been deserted, and there are rotting corpses everywhere, and the Wagang thieves have been away for many days, but Yang Qing still does not dare to send people to clean up.

Wherever Zhang Xutuo led his army, he asked his subordinates to bury the bones to avoid the plague.

"Under the banner of saving the world, the Wagang thieves did such a hurtful thing." Zhang Xutuo said with emotion: "If you really make the Wagang thieves stronger, I'm afraid it will become a disaster." ”

Li Xuanba looked at the stenching bones, his stomach churned, he looked away, and replied: "As long as there is war, the people will suffer, this is an unchanging truth since ancient times. When Wang Bo rebelled, the general killed so many rebels, but Wang Bo was not alive and well? ”

"The people are ignorant, and they can't help but be bewitched, who is to blame?" Zhang Xutuo sighed: "Now that Dongjun has been lost, Your Majesty ordered me to retreat to Xingyang, which is equivalent to giving the entire Dongjun to the Wagang thieves. ”

"General Zhang is too worried." Li Xuanba comforted: "As long as the general guards Xingyang, the Wagang thieves will not dare to act rashly. ”

Zhang Xutuo understood this truth, but in order to test Li Xuanba, he pretended not to know and asked: "What does Xuanba mean by this?" ”

"Henan County is the foundation of the imperial court, and if the Wagang thieves want to capture it, it is not a matter of time and a half at all." Li Xuanba said calmly: "If they forcibly attack the city, General Zhang only needs to lead a few thousand people, and he can fight with Luoyang's army inside and outside, and wipe out all the Wagang thieves under the city." ”

"You have been in the army for so long, and you have finally lived up to Your Majesty." Zhang Xutuo smiled and said, "Xingyang is closer to the Eastern Capital, you must not run back if you have nothing to do." ”

Li Xuanba smiled wryly, and said embarrassedly: "The general is not going to make fun of me." ”

After a few jokes, the mood of the two was not so heavy, Li Xuanba hesitated for a moment, and said: "General, Xuanba has a reluctant request, and please ask the general to agree." ”

"What's the matter?" Seeing Li Xuanba's solemn face, Zhang Xutuo no longer joked, and said: "As long as Ben will do his best, he will do his best." ”

"I want to lead the troops." Li Xuanba looked at Zhang Xutuo and said: "Xuanba wants to do his part for the imperial court, and I hope the general will agree." ”

Zhang Xutuo was a little surprised, and said: "In the past, I asked you to learn to lead the army, but you excused yourself for various reasons, why do you suddenly want to lead the troops again now?" ”

"In the past, Xuanba knew that his ability was insufficient, and he was worried that it would affect the deployment of the general." Li Xuanba explained: "Now that I have been in the army for half a year, I have learned some knowledge of arranging troops, even if I can't talk about strategizing, at least I won't drag down the general." ”

Zhang Xutuo pondered for a moment and said, "How many people do you want?" ”

"A thousand." Li Xuanba replied, observing Zhang Xutuo's expression by the way, and seeing that Zhang Xutuo did not hesitate at all, he was ready to agree, Li Xuanba continued: "Cavalry. ”

Zhang Xutuo's face changed from calm to surprised, and then to shock, and said, "I heard you right, right? ”

Cavalry has always been scarce, and under Zhang Xutuo's command, the number of cavalry does not exceed two thousand, but Li Xuanba's opening is one thousand, how can Zhang Xutuo be calm?

"You heard me right." Li Xuanba said with some embarrassment: "Xuanba is willing to make a military order, if he can't make the combat strength of this thousand cavalry stronger, he is willing to sacrifice Xuanba's head." ”

"Ever since the first day you came to the camp, I felt that you were a little different." Zhang Xutuo frowned and said, "I want to believe in your ability, but the matter is too big, and I really don't dare to take risks." ”

"General Zhang, when you were in Dongjun, the Wagang thieves did not dare to attack, and now that they are guarding Xingyang City, the Wagang thieves will definitely not dare to invade." Li Xuanba persuaded: "When fighting on the battlefield, the cavalry is stronger than the infantry, but if you stick to the city, what can the cavalry do?" The general might as well believe in Xuanba once, anyway, there is nothing to lose. ”

Zhang Xutuo was still hesitant, Li Xuanba was a little anxious, so he had to continue: "If the general is still worried, you can send General Qin or General Luo to Xuanba's side, the ability of the two of them, the general shouldn't doubt it, right?" ”

Li Xuanba learned to ride a horse for only about two months, and Zhang Xutuo really didn't dare to compliment Li Xuanba's riding skills, but it was difficult to say it clearly because of his face.

"Shixin and Shubao are both good generals, and I am indeed relieved to have them to help you." Zhang Xutuo nodded and said: "But Shixin is more than brave, but arranging troops is not his strong point, so let's let Shubao help you." ”

In fact, the cavalry in the army was originally commanded by Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin, and Zhang Xutuo made such a decision, but it was not out of Li Xuanba's expectations.

"Thank you, General." Li Xuanba thanked him, and then said, "Xuanba still needs the general's help. As soon as the words fell, Zhang Xutuo's face became ugly again, and Li Xuanba hurriedly explained: "This time this matter involves the Turks in the north, and I ask the general to listen to Xuanba first." ”

"Turkic?" When Zhang Xutuo heard the word Turkic, his face became cold, and he suddenly remembered something, so he said: "Tang Guogong was ordered to resist the Turks, what you mentioned is not related to Ling Zun?" ”

After Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, exterminated the rebels in Jiangcheng, Yang Guang promoted him to the general of the Right Xiaowei and asked him to attack the Turks in the north with Wang Rengong, the commander of Mayi County. But the cavalry of the imperial court could not be compared with the Turks at all, and they could often only watch the Turkic cavalry loot and leave arrogantly.

"Don't hide it from the general, Xuanba saw something from an ancient book, called a horseshoe, nailed to the hooves of war horses, which can improve the combat power of cavalry." Li Xuanba said: "The main reason why the cavalry of the imperial court is not as good as the Turkic cavalry is that the war horses of the imperial court are not suitable for long-distance raids and are easily affected by the ground. ”

"Horseshoe?" Zhang Xutuo thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "You asked me for a thousand cavalry before, and you also want to use the horseshoe?" ”

Li Xuanba nodded and said: "Xuanba has tried it himself, this horseshoe does have an effect, after the red flame nails the horseshoe, although the speed has not improved, the running distance is much farther, and it is less likely to be injured." ”

Zhang Xutuo looked down at Chiyan's hooves and found that there was indeed something like an iron piece, so he said, "Do you want to send a batch of horseshoe to Tang Guogong?" ”

"The situation in the imperial court, the general should be clear." Li Xuanba sighed and said: "Although there are not many soldiers under my father's command, they are all people who can fight well, and if they are held back by the Turks, it will be a huge loss for the imperial court to quell the rebellion. ”

Zhang Xutuo naturally understood this truth, and nodded in response: "This matter will definitely not be refused, but I also have something to ask for." After speaking, he stared at Li Xuanba with a smile.

"I see." Li Xuanba said helplessly: "I will let them prepare an extra thousand sets of horseshoe falls, can the general be satisfied?" ”

"How much money to spend, it's not that General Ben won't give it to you." Seeing Li Xuanba's unhappy appearance, Zhang Xutuo scolded with a smile, and then continued: "When the book comes back, I will ask him to lead the troops to transport the horseshoe to Tang Guogong." Wu Ben is delicate, he goes, you can rest assured. ”