Li Congjing walked up to the wall of Bianguan and overlooked the Khitan army attacking the fortifications in front of the pass.

At the beginning of the war, the fighting came to an end, and on a messy battlefield, blood and fire were the unchanging hues, and all kinds of flags and weapons were scattered in the middle, like a poem without melody.

From Khitan to Bianguan, it has been more than ten days since the start of the war, although the war has continued non-stop, but up to the generals of the two armies of Baizhan and Lulong, down to the ordinary soldiers, there is no hard fighting and worry, on the contrary, most of the soldiers are full of fighting spirit. In the dark and shining eyes of these soldiers, there was a flame burning in connection with victory, as if they had never fought eight thousand against fifty thousand.

Meng Ping walked over with powerful steps from not far away, saluted beside Li Congjing, and before Li Congjing could speak, he smiled and said: "The Khitan barbarians don't have any strength left, according to their offensive, this battle will be fought for a year, and they don't want to attack the city head half a step!" Childe, in my opinion, you can go back to Youzhou to preside over the Youyun event, it is enough for us to deal with the Khitan barbarians, and in less than three months, we will be able to call the Khitan to return! ”

Li Congjing turned around to straighten Meng Ping's helmet, patted his hand on his shoulder, and said, "Go down and rest, I'll take you for a day." ”

Meng Ping's eyes were hot, his chest was straight, and he smiled nonchalantly: "Just a thief, He Lao Gongzi personally refused, Meng Ping is enough!" ”

Li Congjing was not reluctant and continued to look out of the city. In front of the flat pass, the world is vast, you can see the mountains dozens of miles away, there is a Khitan camp stretching for more than ten miles in front of you, and there are countless people and horses galloping back and forth during it.

A month ago, Yelubei joined up with Yelu's enemy and attacked Yingzhou with an army of 50,000. After the Khitan "recovered" Yingzhou, they stopped for a while, and then waved their troops south, intending to take Pingzhou in one go. However, Yelu would not have thought that the previous failure of the attack on Yingzhou was not the end of his nightmare, but the beginning.

After entering the boundary of Yingzhou, the Khitan army, which marched south, fell into the quagmire of "guerrilla warfare".

When Li Congjing led the Hundred Battles and Lulong armies out of Pingzhou, he had a series of operational plans for Keying Prefecture and recovering Pingzhou, and one of the most important links was to start a "guerrilla warfare" after abandoning Yingzhou and before the Khitan left for Bianguan, relying on the vast and complex terrain of Yingzhou, so as to achieve the strategic intention of exhausting the enemy before the war.

In order for the Tang Army to successfully fight this "guerrilla warfare," there are several crucial factors that need to be grasped well. First of all, it is necessary to know the topography of Yingzhou well; Second, a large number of indigenous forces are needed to help; Third, we must always grasp the initiative on the battlefield.

In order to achieve the first two points, it is not enough to have a military intelligence department, and it is necessary to play a role in the "righteous army" of Yingzhou. With the subordinates of Huang Zong, Xu Boxian, Lu Junyan and others, there is no problem with the first two points. And to achieve the third point is extremely difficult. The Khitan has an army of 50,000 troops, many fine cavalry, once it is deployed, a hundred miles of land is arbitrary, it is very capable of seizing the initiative, in the past border battles, the Khitan also relied on its high degree of mobility, and always made the border army miserable.

Fortunately, the Hundred Battles Army had been tempered by Dai Siyuan's guerrilla warfare, and the deliberate preparation of the Military Intelligence Department, as well as the help of the Yingzhou "Righteous Army", so that it had the strength to fight. However, the key to the real victory lies in the manager's arrangement.

In the past few months, Li Congjing dragged the Khitan army to Yingzhou, taking advantage of the convenience of the terrain and topography to give full play to the subtleties of guerrilla warfare. Within a month, he had burned thousands of Khitan elite horsemen with one fire; He also poisoned the upper reaches of the river and the water source, which greatly damaged the Khitan vitality; Whenever the Khitan encountered a blow, he attacked head-on with a large army, and after the victory, he quickly retreated, combining the right and strange ways of war seamlessly.

It is also thanks to the Hundred Battles Army that it can withstand such a toss by Li Congjing, and it is also thanks to the help of the "Righteous Army", every time the army attacks and retreats, the dragon can see the beginning and the end. In the biggest battle, Li Congjing made the Khitan leave thousands of corpses, and retreated fifty miles in embarrassment in one day, almost the entire army collapsed.

In such a situation, although the Khitan army still reached Bianguan in the end, the military strength has been seriously damaged, and there is no overwhelming advantage, in addition, the fatigue and low morale of the Khitan army also make them unable to have the size of the city although they have sieged the city for many days.

When Li Congjing retreated to Bianguan, he left Huang Zong's "righteous army" and some of the elite of the Hundred Battles Army outside the pass. Especially when the Khitan army went out to fetch water, and the auxiliary soldiers - to transport grain, they were extremely careful. In this way, it not only restrained part of its military strength, but also caused it to suffer many losses. Once the Khitan divided his troops to fight, he retreated into the mountains under the leadership of the "righteous army", and concealed his whereabouts with the method of "hurricanes passing through the post and bowing the grass" commonly used in the green forest. And once the Khitan army withdrew, it came out again, and it was impossible to prevent it, so that the Khitan soldiers were exhausted.

"The Khitan has become the end of the strong crossbow, although he is still powerful, but it is no longer able to form a joint force, at this time, it is not difficult for us to hold the flat pass." On the Xiongguan, Li Congjing pointed to tens of thousands of fierce opponents outside the pass, and said to Li Shaocheng, Li Yanchao, Guo Wei and other generals who gathered around him. He was in a high spirit, and there was a calm look in addition to his self-confidence, "It is not difficult to win this battle, but what we need to consider now is how to win." ”

"Is there a difference between winning and winning?" Li Yanchao asked puzzled. If it had been placed in the past, he would have said something like "If you can win, how to win is not the same", but after following Li Congjing for many days, his thinking has quietly changed, and he has understood that he can think deeper about everything and should see farther.

Li Congjing said with a smile: "There are many ways to win, you can't say everything, roughly divided, but there is a difference between long and short wins." ”

"What is a long win and what is a short win?"

"The long-term victor is based on the long-term, and the one who worries about it is in the future, with the intention of laying the foundation for tomorrow's victory with today's victory; The short-term winner, based on the present, is not seeking in the future, but in the results of the first battle, and expanding the current record as much as possible. ”

"With the current situation, how about the long win and how about the short win?"

"At present, although the Khitan has a large army in front, it seems that the offensive is fierce and invincible, but in fact, its strength is weak, and it is easy to win over time. If you want to win in a short time, you only need to accumulate some time, use some means, and give a thunderous blow when it is exhausted, and you will surely gain a lot; If you want to win for a long time, you need to see that if the Khitan defeat in Bianguan is too miserable, it will definitely anger Yelu Abaoji, and it may be reported to revenge, if you want to take care of this situation, the method is simpler, wait for the Khitan soldiers to be tired, and retreat in the face of difficulties! ”

After Li Congjing finished speaking, all the generals fell into deep thought.

In all fairness, a short victory is more direct and refreshing, but it is very likely that Abaoji will bring the crowd to attack, although the Youyun border army is strong, it is not realistic to resist hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops, so it is not advisable to win a short victory, and you can only seek a long victory.

Li Shaocheng's thinking and vision are closest to Li Congjing, and he pondered: "People have no long-term worries, and our border army wants to 'protect the border and fight thieves', and the military commander intends to curb the Khitan rising national power, and all plans are big." If the plan is big, we can't be narrow-minded, limited to immediate interests, step by step for the sake of the future great cause, win small is better than win big, win a time is better than win long, win a battle is not as good as win the national war. Because of this, the last general thinks that the best strategy should be the strategy of 'long-term victory'. ”

Li Yanrao also agreed with Li Shaocheng's opinion, but still added: "It's just that in this way, it is inevitable that this war will drag on for a long time, and it may be fought next year." ”

As long as he can win, how to win doesn't matter much to Li Yanchao, he said: "It's okay, I'll wait here to accompany Yelu to spend a lot, and the military commander can go back to Youzhou and sit in Youyun." ”

The generals talked about it for a while, and Li Congjing watched them talk with a smile and did not comment.

Among the generals, Meng Ping and Guo Wei knew Li Congjing best, and the two of them spoke up almost at the same time: "Short wins heroic, long wins wise, but each has its own shortcomings, the army is handsome and relaxed, there must be a strategy for both!" ”

When the two of them said this, they reminded the generals. The generals pondered for a while, recalling that Li Congjing had fought several times since he went north, and they all felt that it was very possible, so they looked at Li Congjing together.

Li Congjing laughed, but refused to say what he thought.

……

Danzhou, Gubeikou.

The cold wind in winter is bitter, especially in the border areas, and the pass in front of the mountain, the cold wind is as sharp as a knife.

A few months ago, Huang Fulin led 3,000 soldiers from his headquarters to garrison Gubeikou, and he did not move half a step for several months. Li Congjing entered the grassland and went out of the grassland, entered Pingzhou and then entered Yingzhou, retreated to Pingzhou a month ago, led the army and the Khitan fought repeatedly, the battle was fierce and powerful, like an earthquake, shaking the hearts of the army and the people of Youyun. When this hundred battle army took the initiative to show its sword, fight thieves for Youyun and the Tang Dynasty, and win the attention of most of the world, Huang Fulin's troops still stood quietly in a corner, without any signs of mobilizing and fighting.

Also a few months ago, rumors spread in the army at that time, all saying that Li Congjing was dissatisfied with the emperor Fulin leading the army in Daliang City to resist the Tang army, and deliberately sent the soldiers of the original control crane army to this border. The deputy general Sima Chang'an was convicted for this and was demoted to a partner by Huang Fulin, who had been a partner for several months.

Today is "Xiaohan". A little cold means that the season has entered the coldest time of the year.

In the room, the fire was bright in several rows of large stoves, and the men in front of the cutting boards waved kitchen knives, serving the food of the whole army, and were so busy that they were sweating profusely. In the corner, Sima Chang'an, who had ignored his beard for several months, squatted on the stove to add firewood to the stove, his face was calm.

In the first few days when he arrived at the room, Sima Chang'an's complexion was not smooth, and he often got angry, which caused everyone to dare not approach him. Now that a few months have passed, Sima Changan has gotten along with his husband, and he is the most ordinary guy who can gag with the former deputy general.

A small-eyed, thin-eyed, but extremely clever son-in-law ran in from outside against the wind and snow, passed through the crowd, went straight to Sima Chang'an's side, sat down, and said to Sima Chang'an in a mysterious tone: "Brother Sima, do you want to listen to the latest news?" ”

Sima Changan put the dry firewood in his hand into the stove without hurry, and said lightly: "You windless and automatic guy, what kind of gossip did you say by hearsay?" ”

There is no decent name, Erlang, who was called by everyone as a mouse head, was immediately unhappy when he heard this, rolled up his sleeves, and said solemnly: "Brother Sima, I can tell you, this is true news, not only true, but also absolutely shocking!" Do you listen? If you don't listen, forget it! ”

Sima Changan laughed, not curious at all.

The mouse waited for a while, but he didn't see Sima Changan asking, he was greatly discouraged, and pouted, but he couldn't hold it back, and told the news he had just heard, "The military situation that just arrived yesterday, the military commander fought against the tens of thousands of troops of Yelubei's thief in Bianguan, you know this, right?" ”

"Isn't that the news from a month ago?" Sima Changan said casually.

"Of course I know!" The mouse's head shouted, then lowered his head, lowered his voice, and became more and more mysterious, "But do you know, I heard that the military commander has left Bian Guan a few days ago!" ”

"The commander left Bianguan?" Sima Changan was taken aback, "Is this true?" ”

Seeing that Sima Changan was finally aroused, the mouse head was greatly satisfied, patted his chest, and swore solemnly: "That's nature, I listen to ......" Before he could finish speaking, a sergeant with a tiger's back shouted inside at the door of the room: "Sima Changan, the general wants to see you!" ”

Since being assigned a room, this is the first time that Huang Fulin has summoned Sima Chang'an.

Sima Changan stood up, patted the dust on his body, and strode out of the room.

The mouse head watched him walk out of the room, his wide, but still small, eyes full of surprise and bewilderment.

"I've seen a general!" In the big tent, Huang Fulin was meditating in front of the hanging map, and Sima Changan hugged his fists and saluted.

Turning around, Huang Fulin glanced at Sima Chang'an, and said indifferently: "Are you still comfortable in the room?" ”

"General Hui, the food in the room is good!" Sima Changan said truthfully.

Huang Fulin laughed dumbly and scolded: "Don't pretend to be a bear in front of me!" Let me ask you, after touching the kitchen knife for several months, do you still make a habit of horizontal knives? ”

Sima Changan was stunned, then his eyes were hot, and he immediately bowed down, his voice trembled, "General, I have been waiting for a long time today!" ”

Huang Fulin was slightly moved, stepped forward to help Sima Changan up, carefully looked at Sima Changan, who was about to burst into tears, and called "Okay".

After letting go of Sima Changan and returning to the general's case, Huang Fulin said solemnly: "Sima Chang'an listens to the order, from now on, restore your position as deputy envoy of the Xinzi Battalion in the left wing of the Hundred Battles Army, and tonight, lead the vanguard of the army to battle!" ”

After Sima Chang'an left, in the empty tent, Huang Fulin faced a huge military plan, and was silent for a long time.

"Chang'an, Ben Jiang knows that you have been waiting for this day for a long time, why shouldn't Ben Jiang?"

……