Wang Yuan anxiously returned to the tent to rest, it stands to reason that he should rest for a while to prepare for the search at night, but how can Wang Yuan sleep?

Thirty miles away is the Boulder Pass, today is already the afternoon of the seventh day, Liu Junqingyun'er, Liu Dehai and others are unpredictable, close at hand but can not immediately save them, the anxiety and worry in the heart can be imagined. Although he said those righteous words in Li Guangbi's tent, Wang Yuan actually wanted to immediately ride to the outside of the Boulder Pass to find out, rather than waiting here to suffer.

Wang Yuan could imagine what it would be like for more than 300 people to trek along the rugged road on the side of the mountain to the outside of the Boulder Pass without food and without mounts. And if you don't know it, you will be targeted by the pursuers, and outside the Boulder Pass, it is still a place where the Turkic Xi people often haunt. Thinking of this, Wang Yuan was even more anxious.

That's not all, there is another thing that also makes Wang Yuan feel extremely bad, that is, the rumor that Yang Guozhong lost in the crusade against Nanzhao that Li Guangbi didn't know whether he intentionally or unintentionally revealed just now. I don't know why Li Guangbi told him about this, but obviously this incident made Wang Yuan's already poor mood sink to the bottom.

The purpose of Yang Guozhong's crusade against Nanzhao was to make a great contribution to resolve the recent doubts of many people in the DPRK and China about his position as left minister. Of course, the reason why these doubts arise is Yang Guozhong's own doing. If he hadn't promoted his henchmen to key departments too obviously and wantonly developed his cronies, he would not have caused a crisis within a few months of being the prime minister. And he didn't adopt the advice given by Wang Yuan, but listened to Zhang Qiu and Qiong's ideas, and blamed everything on his lack of great merit and not enough to convince the public, so he insisted on starting a war against Nanzhao.

And now, once the news of the defeat in the crusade against Nanzhao is true, Yang Guozhong's situation will become extremely difficult. Even if there is a noble concubine who is favored in front of Xuanzong, it cannot prevent Li Linfu and other political enemies from seizing this opportunity to knock Yang Guozhong from power. Even Xuanzong would not shield him in this matter.

Of course, Wang Yuan doesn't want Yang Guozhong to fall, although there is a gap between him and Yang Guozhong, but with Yang Guozhong here, he has a big tree to shelter from the wind and rain. Once Yang Guozhong falls, he will definitely be unlucky. Because he is Yang Guozhong's private person, everyone in the DPRK and China knows this. It is impossible to expect the prince to protect himself, he is just a chess piece that the prince can use, when Yang Guozhong falls, his chess piece will become an outcast, and it is absolutely impossible to get the prince's protection.

So when Li Guangbi revealed the news, Wang Yuan's whole person was even worse, and the only thing he hoped for was that it was just a rumor.

In the face of Wang Yuan's anxiety, Gongsun Lan had no good way to solve it, so she had to gently comfort Wang Yuan: "Don't think so much now, solve the matter in front of you first, it is important to save people." ”

Wang Yuanqiang suppressed the surging mood in his heart, indeed, Yang Guozhong's affairs are beyond his reach, and now he must focus on the things in front of him, and his affairs can only be understood after returning to Chang'an to understand the truth and come up with countermeasures.

There was a dead silence in the tent, Wang Yuan stiffened on the couch, his eyes watched the sunlight shining in the gap in the tent slowly slanting westward, and he forcibly suppressed his churning mood. And Gongsun Lan was obviously also affected, she also sat on the felt carpet and meditated after not meditating for a long time, Wang Yuan knew that Gongsun Lan would only do this when she was in an extremely uncalm mood.

I don't know how long later, suddenly there were hurried footsteps outside the tent walking towards my tent, and a faint voice was heard: "Is Wang Qin's envoy in the tent?" ”

The soldier who was in charge of protecting Wang Yuan outside the tent replied, "I'm resting." ”

"Please inform the envoy of Wang Qin."

Wang Yuan jumped up from the bunk, and Gongsun Lan also opened his eyes and looked at Wang Yuan.

"Envoy of the Emperor, General Li is invited." Someone outside the tent reported it.

Wang Yuan hurriedly said, "Got it." Immediately, he quickly put on his armor, tidied up his hair, and walked out of the tent with Gongsun Lan, and rushed all the way to Li Guangbi's tent.

In the camp tent, seven or eight generals have all gathered, Li Guangbi was frowning and looking at a simple map laid on the case, seeing Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan coming in, Li Guangbi hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Wang Qin, it's good that you are here, please stand aside and listen to the latest news brought by General Guo." Guo Ziyi, repeat what you just said to me to the generals. ”

Guo Ziyi stepped forward in a loud voice, his handsome face was slightly red, the beads of sweat on his forehead had not yet been wiped off, he led a thousand soldiers and horses to be stationed on the snowfield ten miles away, and he should have rushed back from the front to report the news.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after the afternoon meeting, I rushed back to the forward battalion, and according to General Li's deployment, I sent more than ten scout teams to reconnoiter the situation outside the Boulder Pass and the border from all directions, and just half an hour ago, the scouts sent back the news that they found a large number of Turkic cavalry gathered at the border, and the number was between two thousand and three thousand. The preliminary estimate is that it was a Turkic army and horse belonging to the Turkic Adar Khan Department stationed north of the border of Boulder Pass. ”

As soon as Guo Ziyi's voice fell, the generals in the tent suddenly exploded and began to talk about it, some rolled up their sleeves and rubbed their hands, some had a sad face, and some showed surprise.

Wang Yuan was also shocked in his heart, he didn't expect to really meet the Turks, he thought that in such a cold winter, after another heavy snowfall, the Turks would not appear outside the Ziah Boulder Pass at all, but now it seems that he miscalculated. Then what followed was the extreme fear for the safety of the 300 remnants. The Turkic cavalry will not appear on the border for no reason, they must have found something, could it be that they found the traces of Liu Jun and Liu Dehai's three hundred people?

Li Guangbi waved his hand slightly, and the tent was suddenly silent.

"Generals, based on the current situation, there are two possibilities. First, the Turkic scouts have discovered the traces of our army, and this is to gather troops and horses to fight us to the death. Second, the Turks found not us, but the 300 remnants of Wang Qin's envoys. According to Wang Qin's envoy, his 300 subordinates were outside the Boulder Pass at the moment according to the route, and the possibility of being discovered could not be ruled out. In the case of the former, we need to be ready for battle immediately, because the Turks are likely to attack before dark. If the latter is the case, we need to discuss whether we should risk a head-on battle with the Turks to rescue the 300 men of Wang Qin's envoy in the case of equal forces. ”

No one in the tent spoke, and their eyes were all on Wang Yuan, because this decision was related to whether or not to rescue Wang Yuan's subordinates, and no one wanted to express his position easily.

"Wang Qin, I want to hear your opinion." Li Guangbi's gaze also fell on Wang Yuan, and asked in a deep voice.

Wang Yuan slowly spoke: "General Li, generals. According to General Guo's investigation, the Turkic soldiers and horses should have assembled on the border line outside the Boulder Pass, forty or fifty miles away from where our army was stationed. Personally, I don't think the Turkic scouts would have detected such a large area, and they would never have known that we were stationed west of the Boulder Pass. The reason why the scouts sent by General Guo were able to detect the enemy's traces was because General Guo expanded the scope of reconnaissance according to General Li's deployment, and the Turks would not expand the scope of reconnaissance for no reason, so they received very little news of the arrival of our army. ”

Guo Ziyi interjected: "The last general has indeed expanded the scope of reconnaissance, General Li asked the last general to investigate a radius of thirty miles, and the last general's scout has expanded ten miles. In terms of normal combat reconnaissance, the Turks' reconnaissance range would not exceed thirty li, so the possibility of discovering ours is indeed very small. ”

Li Guangbi nodded slightly and said, "Very good, you two are similar to what I think." My army came on light horse, and the reconnaissance of the forward battalion was very good, and I don't think the Turks would know their whereabouts, I agree. However, if this first article is excluded, it is very likely that the subordinates of Wang Qin's envoy were discovered by the Turks. That's the trickiest part. If the Turks had targeted those 300 people, would they have no hope of survival? By the time our army arrived, it would be too late. However, it is necessary to consider whether to start a big battle with the Turkic cavalry outside the Boulder Pass under the premise that there is no hope of saving people. ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "General Li, as far as I think, the second possibility does not exist. ”

Li Guangbi tilted his head and said, "Oh? How so? ”

Wang Yuan said: "My three hundred subordinates should not alarm the Turks, because the order I gave them is to only wait for rescue outside the Boulder Pass, and it is absolutely impossible for them to break through to the vicinity of the border, and it is most likely to find a place to wait for rescue seven or eight miles outside the Boulder Pass." I told them that there was a lot of danger outside the Boulder Pass, and they couldn't take my words as wind on their ears. ”

According to Wang Qin's envoys, what is the reason for the gathering of these thousands of Turks on the border? Is it just for fun? There was a hint of ridicule in Li Guangbi's words.

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't know why, but this answer is not important. General Guo, if I'm not mistaken, you should have ordered someone to deliver the follow-up information that the scouts heard directly here. ”

Guo Ziyi nodded and said, "Yes, there should be follow-up news soon." My forward battalion had withdrawn five miles away, and news would arrive soon. ”

Wang Yuan turned to Li Guangbi and said, "General Li, since this is the case, why not wait for the follow-up news before making a decision." ”

Li Guangbi nodded and said, "Okay, everyone calm down and wait for the follow-up news." ”

The generals in the tent sat on the ground, no one spoke, silently waiting for the arrival of new information. Li Guangbi walked back and forth behind the case, and his eyebrows showed an anxious look. Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan sat quietly in a corner.

Soon after, the sound of hurried horses' hooves sounded outside the tent, and a moment later, the guards outside the tent reported the arrival of the scouts in front of them, and Li Guangbi waved his hand and said, "Come in and report quickly." ”

The two scouts hurried into the camp tent and knelt on the ground and quickly reported: "Report to General Li that hundreds of cavalry once approached the Turkic cavalry brigade, but there was no fighting. At present, the Turkic cavalry has been launched, and is chasing these hundreds of cavalry in the direction of Boulder Pass. ”

Li Guangbi was stunned and said, "Hundreds of cavalry approaching the Turkic cavalry brigade? Whose soldiers and horses are that? Fan Yang soldiers and horses in the Boulder Pass? ”

"General Yu, no flag, unknown identity, we are not allowed to approach to observe on the orders of General Guo, we only need to report the enemy's movements immediately."

Guo Ziyi nodded and said: "It is an order from the last general, and the close reconnaissance will expose the position of our army, and it is easy to be captured by the enemy." ”

Li Guangbi snorted and waved the scout away, turned his head and said, "Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Where are the hundreds of cavalry coming out again? Didn't Wang Qin's subordinates lose their horses? ”

Wang Yuan said slowly: "General Li, this is what I said is not the other situation that I predicted just now. Regardless of the identity of these hundreds of cavalry, the appearance of Turkic soldiers and horses is probably because of them. But it doesn't matter, what matters is that the Turkic soldiers and horses are heading for the Boulder Pass, and my 300 men will definitely be discovered by the Turks. Putting aside the life and death of my 300 subordinates, what I want to say is that this is the best chance to annihilate these thousands of Turkic soldiers and horses outside the Boulder Pass, and it depends on whether General Li is willing to do so. ”