As the day of departure was getting closer and closer, the preparations of the Tang Army were gradually ready. Under Zhao Ziliang's intensive training for more than two months, the garrison of the city became more and more elite. Zhao Ziliang handed over the repair and construction of the weapons of the garrison of the city to the blacksmith Fu Kun, and by the middle of July, the garrison of the city was well-armoured and had plenty of arrows, and the soldiers were full of energy and eager to fight.

On July 22, Zhao Ziliang received a notice from the town guard and rushed to Shule Town to participate in the last military meeting before the expedition.

In the hall of the town guard's mansion, all the military commanders of Shule Town, large and small, were present, standing on both sides of the hall, Fumeng Lingcha sat on the main seat, and the central envoy Bian Lingcheng sat at the bottom.

Fu Mengling looked at the generals on the left and right, and said, "I brought you here today to have the last military meeting. According to the requirements of the deputy protector of the Dadu Protectorate and the envoy of the four towns, the garrisons of Shule Town and Yanqi Town should each send 5,000 troops, and the garrisons of Qiuci and Khotan should not move, but the Qiuci Army and the Khotanese Army that are directly under the jurisdiction of the Dadu Protectorate in these two places must all be dispatched, but the Shule Army and the Yanqi Army stationed in our town and Yanqi Town and directly under the control of Dadu Protector will not move, and the remaining armies will be responsible for the security and defense of each town, and these armies will also be left to guard against the attack of the Tubo army after our army goes out. On July 28, the 5,000 men of our army and the 6,000 men of the Khotanese army will merge here to form the Southern Route Army, with the general Ben as the chief general of the Southern Route Army, and the Khotanese army making Shadezu the deputy general; Also at the same time, 5,000 Yanqi garrisons and 6,000 Qiuci troops assembled in Qiuci Town to form the Northern Route Army, with Lord Gai personally serving as the marshal of the Western Expedition, Qiuci Army envoy Mo Rongting serving as the chief general of the Northern Route Army, and Yanqi Town Guard Yang Tai as the deputy general of the Northern Route Army. However, our Southern Route Army has to undertake the heavy task of attacking Dundo City, Frozen City, He Hunting City, Yezhi City, and General Peiluo City along the way! ”

Zhao Ziliang had heard of the names Sha Dezu, Mo Rongting and Yang Tai, but these people were not recorded in the history books of later generations, and these people must have been people who did not have any great achievements, otherwise there would be no names without their names in Tang history.

Regarding the plan of the Dadu Protectorate to send troops to the north and south, Zhao Ziliang did not agree very much in his heart, because both the Southern Route Army and the Northern Route Army only had 11,000 people, which was not a small number. But it's not much, compared with the total strength of 40,000 people under the Tuqi Shi Tuhuo Immortal Khan, it is easy to be broken by the Tuqi Immortal, but judging from the current situation of the Tuqi Shi, the Tuqi Immortal definitely does not have the courage to gather all his forces to attack one of them, because he also needs to guard against Mohe Dagan in the north and Khan Erweitler in the west! There are also the three kingdoms of Bahanna, Shi and Shi from the south, which are surnamed Zhaowu Jiu, and the army of the three kingdoms is also a major threat, and the only way for the fire spit fairy is to gather all the troops and fight a decisive battle with the Tang army under the Broken Leaf City, and the victory will be decided in a battle! If he wins, then he will be firmly seated as the Khan of the Fire Spitting Fairy. From now on, Turgish will also dominate in Central Asia, and if it loses, it will be a catastrophe!

At this time, Cheng Qianli, the envoy of the Green Ridge Guard, went out of class and asked, "General, I don't know which towns in Shule Town have sent troops?" How many troops to send? ”

Fu Meng Lingcha said: "After careful consideration for a long time, the general decided that the king of Shule would send 2,000 troops, and the remaining 3,000 people would be sent by the city of Swap, the city of Sede and the city of Quanzhou, and the three cities were all in the hinterland of Shule Town, and the probability of being attacked by the enemy was much smaller than that of other towns. Moreover, the combat strength of the garrisons of these three cities is also relatively high, so it is no problem to draw out most of the troops and leave a small number of troops."

This expedition to the west is a great opportunity to make meritorious contributions. How can I not go? Cheng Qianli was suddenly anxious, and hurriedly said: "General, the combat strength of the garrison guarded by my Green Ridge does not need to be poor in the combat power of any town garrison, the last general asks the general to allow the last general to lead a thousand troops to participate in the battle!" ”

Fu Meng Lingcha didn't have Cheng Qianli as his confidant, so he took special care of it, and categorically vetoed: "No! The Green Ridge Guard is the choke point of the traffic for Tubo to go north into my Anxi land, and General Ben has asked you to garrison it in such an important position. Don't you understand Ben's good intentions? What if the troops guarding the Green Ridge were transferred, what if the Tubo people found out that there was an emptiness and sent a large army to attack? Cheng Qianli, Cheng Qianli, why are you so ignorant of the importance and so ignorant of the overall situation? How does Ben usually teach you, huh? ”

Cheng Qianli was reprimanded. His face was flushed, and he arched his hand with shame: "The last general is ashamed, please calm the general's anger, the last general will never mention this matter again!" ”

After Cheng Qianli retreated, Gao Xianzhi, the garrison of Quanzhou City, walked out of the queue of generals on the left, he was dressed in iron armor, and the armor pieces on the iron armor swished as he walked, he stood still in the middle of the hall, and asked: "General, our army set off on July 29, and within half a month, we must not only take Dunduo City, Frozen City, He Hunting City, Yezhi City, and General Peiluo City, the five cities of the Turian Cavalry Shi people, but also rush to the Broken Leaf City to join the army of the North Road, the army of Mohe Dagan, and the army of the Three Kingdoms surnamed Zhaowu. Is it a little too tight on time? Even if there is no siege on the way, it will take ten days for the army to march to Broken Leaf Town just from here, this is still in good weather, if it encounters heavy rain, it will definitely affect the speed of the march, even if it takes half a month, it may not be able to reach Broken Leaf City! ”

After listening to Gao Xianzhi's words, all the generals and schools in the hall began to discuss, because Gao Xianzhi was talking about the actual problem, that is, the time was too short. In fact, the Tang army had enough time to arrange, but the current situation was caused by the delay in the preparations for the expedition of Yanqi Town and Khotanese Town.

Fu Meng Lingcha frowned and nodded: "Gao Xianzhi said this situation, it is not that I haven't thought about it, but Lord Gai's military order has been issued, and it is impossible to change it, we can only pray to God not to rain during this time, and appoint a pioneer who can conquer and fight to lead the army first, take the cities along the way, and buy enough time for my army on the southern road!" Who is willing to take Dunduo City, Frozen City, He Hunting City, Yezhi City, and General Peiluo City for the vanguard within the specified time? ”

The generals and colonels all looked at each other after listening to Fu Meng Lingcha's words, and none of them stood up, this task was too difficult, within fifteen days in good weather, the army of the South Road could completely rush to the city of Broken Leaves, but they wanted to solve the five cities along the way. This difficulty is not ordinary, and no general dares to stand up and say that he can quickly take those five cities in a row within the specified time.

Fu Meng Lingcha turned his head to look at the generals on the left and right sides with a straight face, and saw that no one stood up, so he immediately patted the case and said in a deep voice: "What, is there no one in my Shule Town who can take on the heavy responsibility?" ”

Just when Fumeng Lingcha wanted to be angry, Bian Lingcheng, the overseer who was sitting at the bottom, suddenly laughed: "Haha, why should General Hafumeng be anxious and angry? Let's look at it. There is one person in the room who can take on this responsibility! ”

Fu Meng Lingcha turned his head to look at Bian Lingcheng, but he was puzzled in his heart, and couldn't help asking, "Who is it?" ”

Bian Lingcheng smiled, pointed to Zhao Ziliang, who was standing last on the left, and said: "General Zhao is brave and invincible, he has repeatedly defeated the Tuqi Shi people, and his achievements are impressive!" His reputation among the Turgish people is in full swing, and if General Zhao Ziliang is the vanguard officer, it will definitely not be difficult to take those five cities in a row! We believe that General Zhao has this ability, and it depends on whether General Zhao wants to contribute to the country. Do you want to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor? ”

When the generals in the hall heard Bian Lingcheng's words, they all scolded in their hearts: "This eunuch is really poisonous, these words simply force Zhao Ziliang to stand up and say that he is willing to serve as a pioneer officer, if Zhao Ziliang does not stand up, he doesn't want to contribute to the country, he doesn't want to be loyal to the emperor, if this is spread, Zhao Ziliang will be finished!" ”

After Bian Lingcheng finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Ziliang. I sneered in my heart: "Hmph, aren't you Zhao Ziliang able to fight?" Isn't it amazing? We'll let you fight enough this time. Look how you died! ”

Under everyone's gaze, Zhao Ziliang calmly walked out and stood in the middle and bowed his hand to Fu Meng Lingcha: "General, since Lord Bian has said so, if the last general does not stand up and recommend himself, I am afraid that the last general will be charged with a crime of greed for life and death, disloyalty and filial piety!" The last general asked for the order to serve as the vanguard officer of the Southern Route Army, and asked the general to give the last general 2,000 elite cavalry. The last general will ensure that the five Tirchi cities along the way will be taken by August 12, so that the main force of the southern route army can reach the city of Broken Leaves before August 15! ”

Bian Lingcheng immediately stood up and asked, "What if you can't do it?" What if the main force of the army is attacked by the Turgish army on the march towards Shatterleaf and cannot reach Shatterleaf by August 15th? ”

Zhao Ziliang glanced at Bian Lingcheng and found that this man was looking at him with a smile on his face, and knew that this eunuch must have thought of this trick a long time ago, dug a pit and forced himself to jump.

However, Zhao Ziliang knows that he must not back down now. It is absolutely impossible to show weakness, the words have already been spoken, and it is impossible to take it back. He looked at Bian Lingcheng, smiled coldly, and bowed his hand to Fu Meng Lingcha: "If you can't do it, please ask the general to behead me, if the main force of the army on the southern road is attacked by the Turgish army of the five cities along the way and cannot reach Broken Leaf Town in time during the march, please also behead me, but the last general can only guarantee that the enemy troops of the five Turgish cities along the way will not attack the main force of the army, and cannot guarantee that there will be no enemy troops in other places to attack!" ”

Bian Lingcheng immediately said loudly: "Then how to decide!" Please General Zhao make a military order! ”

Fu Meng Lingcha had no other way to solve the problem of lack of time at this time, plus Bian Lingcheng had already spoken, and Zhao Ziliang himself had made a guarantee, at this time he could only pin his hopes on Zhao Ziliang and provide Zhao Ziliang with everything he could.

Fu Meng Lingcha frowned and said, "The military order is not necessary, right?" ”

Bian Lingcheng immediately objected: "No, how can it be child's play on military affairs?" Could it be that General Fumeng deliberately favored him? ”

Fu Meng Lingcha was also forced into a corner at this time, he gritted his teeth and patted the case a few times: "Okay, in that case, bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, Zhao Ziliang!" ”

"The last general!"

"You only need 2,000 cavalry, but this general gives you 3,000 cavalry, after the formation of the Southern Route Army on July 28, you immediately lead 3,000 elite cavalry first, this general gives you a grace period of two days, before August 14, you must take the last General Peiluo City, as long as the main force of our army is not attacked by any enemy troops in these five cities along the way, you are not guilty, once the enemy army in these five cities attacks the main force of our army, causing our army to not be able to reach the city of Broken Leaves in time, General Ben will behead you!"

Zhao Ziliang lifted his cloak and bowed down on one knee: "No!" (To be continued.) )