Wudu County under the city.

In a huge slab house with an extraordinary momentum, an old man about fifty years old sits. The old man has broad eyebrows and broad forehead, slender phoenix eyes, strong and flexible facial contours, and he has five strands of white beard, the beard is not long, and it is not too thick, but it is well-trimmed and quite magnanimous. This person is the big leader of all the Longnan Di people in the two counties of Yinping in Wudu, Yang Maoso, the king of Di.

Yang Maosou was sitting alone in contemplation. An urgent military report was received the night before yesterday that Xihe had been lost. He had no sleep all night, and his heart was so troubled and angry that he did not know the taste of food, and he had no intention of eating it. The so-called seeking his own government in his position, he is the king of Di, the second county of Yinping in Wudu, and the fate of hundreds of thousands of Longnan Di people is closely related to him, and all of them are heavily pressed on his aging shoulders. He never wanted to unload his burden, but the situation was chaotic and the beacons were everywhere, and where was the time for him to enjoy his old age.

Xihe fell into the hands of the enemy, what does it mean, don't talk about him, even a random person in the city of the next debate, and he also knows that it is not trivial. Xihe is one hundred and twenty miles away from Xiabian, all of them are plains and smooth roads, and there is no geographical advantage. After the enemy army rests and replenishes in Xihe, he can wave his army to attack without hurrying, and all kinds of siege equipment, ordnance, grain and grass, convenient and smooth transportation, can be calmly pulled to the lower city.

He argued that the city was full of infantry, and that if the city were to be opened, the enemy army was said to have hundreds of elite cavalry, which could be interspersed and divided, and harassed, assaulted, and charged the infantry on the plains without any fear.

Moreover, Yang Wanfu is still in the enemy's hands, Yang Jiantou returned defeated, the Di soldiers have repeatedly lost, and their morale is low, on the contrary, the Longxi army is high-spirited. Therefore, strictly speaking, the current time, location, and people are not advantageous, how is this situation good, there is no hole card in the hand, and it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice.

In addition, according to the military newspaper, after Gao Yue got Xihe City, the whole army and the people were pacified, and there was no crime in the autumn, and Xihe is now as stable as ever. The Longxi army then began to recruit troops, it is reported that there have been more than 600 young and strong recruits in one day and one night, although most of them are Han Chinese, there are still more than 100 people of the Hu nationality and even the Di nationality, it seems that the people's heart, the Longxi army has gradually converged.

Yang Maosou was very upset, but he didn't want to make a loud attack or anger his subordinates, so he sat sullenly for a while, stood up and paced around the room. He was a burly and muscular man, and although he was fifty-one years old, he still managed to straighten his waist and walk steadily.

After pacing for a moment, he walked to the wall and looked at the old map hanging on the wall in a daze. The topography and important cities of Wudu and Yinping are briefly marked and painted on a large cowhide. He has been looking at this picture since he was young, and now he can redraw it with his eyes closed, but in the past two days, he has looked at it frequently, and his eyes are deep.

"Father, father!"

When Yang Maosou was looking at the map and thinking for a while, a rapid cry came from outside the hall, accompanied by the rapid pace of cowhide boots stepping on the ground, which came into Yang Maosou's ears.

As soon as Yang Maosou turned around, a striding figure crashed in, it was his second son Yang Jiantou. Yang Jiantou was defeated and returned, and many noble elders demanded that he be severely punished, and Yang Jiantou was ashamed and frightened, and he was at a loss. Yang Maosou did not deal with it in the end, victory and defeat are commonplace, and Yang Jian's head was defeated in a battle, which is also a trend, not a delay and dereliction of duty can be compared. Besides, at this time, the enemy is at present, and it is useless to deal with Yang Jiantou, and it is also a blow to the morale of the army.

Yang Maosou actually loves this little son very much. Di people are good at martial arts, and Yang Jiantou can have the title of the first fierce general of the Di clan, not by virtue of his identity as the son of Yang Maosou, but by his own real sword and gun. Yang Jiantou is young and strong, energetic, bold and uninhibited, which is very suitable for Yang Maosou's heart, every time Yang Maosou sees him, he thinks about himself thirty years ago, and it is the same.

Yang Jian's head is good in everything, but he is too impatient, and he is not broad-minded enough to listen to the wind and rain, and he does not have the kind of kingly bearing that the Central Plains people say, and he is far less than the deep and steady of his brother Yang Nandi's joy and anger, and the orderliness in handling government affairs. When choosing an heir, Yang Maosou was not without entanglement, and finally referred to the rules of the Han people, and from a long-term perspective, he set up an eldest son with better comprehensive ability.

"Jiantou, what's the matter, speak slowly, don't worry."

The sunset outside the window shone on Yang Jiantou's young and bloody face, and his appearance was dignified. Looking at his son's face, Yang Maosou smiled and said gently. He always felt that he owed something to this little son, so he accommodated him in big and small matters, and asked himself, if other generals were defeated and returned, maybe he would be severely punished.

Yang Jian walked to his father's side in the first few steps, and said hurriedly: "Father, according to the latest report, there seems to be a happy event for the Longxi Army. At the beginning, although Gao Yue was appointed by the imperial court as the Taishou of Longxi, he only got two of the four major cities in Longxi County, and there were two other cities, Di Dao and Lintao. ”

"That Gao Yue sent troops to fight us, and the rear was relatively empty. It is said that Gao Yue walked on the front foot, and Di Dao Lintao was in the second city, and suddenly rebelled. Among them, Di Daocheng directly sent troops to attack Shouyang, besieged the city for more than ten days, the defender Li Hu could not hold out, and Di Dao's army could not attack it. Han Yong, who stayed in Xiangwu in the Longxi army, made a surprise attack at night, attacked the Di Dao army with fire, and won a big victory, and then took advantage of the situation to counterattack Di Dao City. ”

"What is the name of the Didao County Order, I can't remember, anyway, he was wiped out, and he fled to his ally Lintao City in a hurry alone, but he was turned over and cut off his head by the Lintao County Order, and sent to Han Yong's tent to ask for guilt."

That Han Yong was not moved at all, and on the surface he agreed to accept Lintao's reparation anyway, but secretly ordered Li Hu to lead two thousand troops, and attacked Lintao for a long time. And he was condemned to him. So now, Gao Yue has completely owned Longxi and has become a veritable lord of Longxi. ”

Yang Jian said this in one breath, and hurriedly beckoned the attendant to pour a large glass of water, and poured it down in a few gulps, he didn't notice his father's frowning brows, wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, and said loudly to himself.

"This is not the point, after the two cities of Didao and Lintao changed hands, Han Yong reorganized and recruited a total of 6,000 capable soldiers, and even the auxiliary soldiers, what kind of army they called, expanded to 3,000 people. A few days ago, Xiangwu had 2,000 new infantry and 300 cavalry to the front line of Wudu, and now it is estimated that it has arrived in Xihe City, Gao Yue told the whole city, and the Longxi army cheered, so our army scouts can find out these things relatively smoothly. ”

"A blessing to the enemy, a curse to me."

Yang Mao listened and sighed heavily. He didn't speak again for a while. There are no outsiders here, he doesn't need to be calm anymore, and all the anxiety and sorrow in his heart are written on his face. He turned and walked slowly to the desk, sat down weakly, still silent.

Although Yang Maosou is the king of Di, he is just the big leader of the Baima Qiangdi tribe in Longnan, and his power and strength are actually not very strong. In the early years, the north was stable, the northern place of the Di people Hao chieftain Qi Wannian, rebelled against the Jin Dynasty, once called the emperor, in the heyday of the northwest, no one dared to take its edge, the two major Di tribes of Luoyang County, Yang Feilong, Yang Maosou father and son, Fu Huairen, Fu Hong father and son were afraid of the Shun Qi Wan Nian.

Although Yang Maosou and Qi Wannian are both from the Di tribe, they are not the same tribe. Because he couldn't stand Qi Wannian's oppression and tyranny, Yang Maosou and Qi Wannian turned their faces, but they couldn't resist it, and finally moved south from Luoyang to Wudu, trekking hard all the way, just wanting to give the people who relied on him a stable home. It hasn't been a few years now, and he was attacked by Gao Yue so fiercely, which really made Yang Maosou worried.

Yang Jian was very sad when he saw his father's lost appearance. For as long as he can remember, he saw his father straddle the horse and dance the knife, fighting vertically and horizontally, and daring to fight against one strong enemy after another, so that the people of Longnan would not decline. When his grandfather Yang Feilong passed on the throne to his father, he happily patted him on the back and said to the elders and nobles, here is the horse of my family, and I will be the pillar of optimus in the future!

In Yang Jiantou's impression, his father has always been the man cast in steel and iron, with a majestic body and an invincible reputation. The person he admired and respected the most was his father. Now twenty years have passed by in a snap of a finger, and the figure that stood up to the sky and the earth back then has unconsciously bent his spine by the burden, his beard has been dyed white by wind and frost, and his eyes that used to be as bright and sharp as a divine eagle are also a little dull and cloudy.

Yang Jiantou slowly walked to his father's side, poured a glass of water and handed it over, lowered his head and said: "Father, I am incompetent, and my father is worried about losing the battle, and I am not filial." ”

Yang Maosou took the water cup, drank it all, and said with a forced smile: "That's not the case." I heard that you and all your sons fought bravely without caring about death, but they couldn't resist Gao Yue's footsteps, which shows that this person is a strong enemy, where can he be easily defeated. You don't always dwell on the matter of defeating the battle, the tigers and wolves in the mountains and wilderness can only catch their prey after sharpening their minions. Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, so don't care too much. ”

"But where did my father lose any battles back then, didn't my grandfather also say that you are invincible?"

Yang Maosou laughed, patted the back of his son's hand, and said, "Those are your grandfather's words to encourage and motivate me." I'm not a man of God, so how can I not eat a defeated battle? It's just that I have a good mentality, and I can always muster up the courage as soon as possible, recover my strength, and then launch a counterattack, and finally turn defeat into victory. Jiantou, a man has suffered some setbacks, it's nothing, you are still young, and the road ahead is still long. ”

Thinking of the burning years when he was young, Yang Mao Sou laughed and sighed for a while, he straightened his body, and said to Yang Jian with blazing eyes: "Now that the situation is critical, I plan to personally lead the troops to the battle." While I still have some strength left, and I can still lift my sword, I will pave the way for your brothers a little farther and farther. ”