Dingxi Fort is located in the mountainous and hilly area at the junction of the southern border of Huizhou and Lanzhou, Longxi and Weizhou, the military fort is not big, the circumference is only six miles, it is located on the west bank of the Guanchuan River, it mainly plays the role of border early warning, and the daily garrison is at most a command. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The camp of the Western Expedition is set up in the mountain pass of five miles northwest of the military fort, built very large and stable, there are three trenches of two zhang wide dug around it, it occupies a huge circle of eight miles, as a logistics grain and grass important place, by Changyi, Hexi Observation Envoy Zhai Cong'en, Huizhou Sima Li Duojin led two thousand township soldiers to garrison, and supervised the collection and transportation of grain and grass.

Zhang Yue inspected the camp and was very satisfied, it was divided into several districts, the northeast is the granary, the middle is a large school field, the southeast is the camp for medical wounded soldiers and craftsmen, and the others are the camps for the army. The battalion-level units are very important, and they are divided into canteens, bathhouses, and toilets.

That night, Zhang Yue held a military meeting, Zhai Congen and Li Duojin observed, and the officers participating in the meeting had a brigade commander Shi Chenghong and Zhang Quanyi, and the staff officers were Wei Yuan and Feng Shouxin; The commanders of the Second Brigade Gao Changhai and Shang Huaqing, staff officers Lu Zhaoyi and Wang Quanbin; Du Yanhui and Liu Wenbai of the Third Brigade, staff officers Jin Guangda and Niu Jianzhen, and officers of 15 subordinate regiments, totaling more than 100 people.

Of course, they can't sit in the military tent, not to mention that Shen Xuelian lives in the back tent with Youlan and Youqiao, they know all kinds of Qiang languages, and by the way, they also take care of their daily lives, and they can fight on horseback and are not afraid of the cold, so Zhang Yue took them with him.

A group of officers sat in a fan-shaped manner on the carpet spread out in front of the Chinese army's tent, and several crackling bonfires next to them were illuminated far and near, but the visibility was still not good under the cover of night, and the regiment leaders in the back row could not see clearly the open inner circle, hanging on the wooden shelf like a screen-like map.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Hehuang was originally the sacred land inherent in the Central Plains, and was invaded by the Qiang and Qiang for more than 100 years, and now it is full of fishy, and the Han population is not seen, and they have all been reduced to the Qiang, and they have entered and exited to claim to be a tribe, and they do not care about the etiquette of the Central Plains. Therefore, our westward expedition is of far-reaching and significant significance, and I hope you will realize that we are doing a great event that will go down in history. Now the enemy is very strong, there are more than 50,000 troops in the south, Zhuo Luozun, the head of 10,000 households, and 20,000 cavalry from Wenqishi in the west, and 10,000 soldiers from Lanzhou Nebsong, the total strength is 80,000. ”

Zhang Yue stood in front of the handsome case, made an opening remark in a frustrated manner, picked up a wooden pole and walked to the map, pointed to the places marked on the map, explained the distribution of enemy troops, and then waited for the officers under his command to speak.

As a veteran officer from the Zhenyuan Army, Sima Shi Chenghong, who marched to the Changyi Festival, was the first to get the moon near the water, and he knew much more about the military situation, and he was also very familiar with Zhang Yue's military habits. He got up and took the wooden pole from the handsome case, pointed to the golden city of Lanzhou Prefecture on the map, and began to publish the combat strategy.

"A certain thinks that when the first concentrate troops to march into Jincheng, meet Wen Qishi, Nebson, if the enemy army is solved this way, and then along the Limen water defense, the main force can be divided into troops south to Hezhou to attack the nest of Caohanqiang, the partial division only needs 5,000 troops to take Di Dao in the south, cut off the back road of Xiangwu Zhuo Luo Zunli, wait for the main force of Hezhou to catch up, and Zhang Jianxiong of the Xiongwu army to attack Zhuo Luo Zunli. If it can succeed, the places where the Hanqiang and Tangchangqiang are located will be completely restored, and the purpose of the early operation will be completed. ”

Shi Chenghong retreated after speaking, and the Jingyuan officers had been following Zhang Yue for a short time, and they were all a little restrained. Shang Huaqing, the deputy commander of the Second Brigade, was also transferred from Huizhou, and when he saw that everyone was thinking and had no intention of appearing, he got up and stepped forward.

"What General Shi said is a middle distance, why? The so-called knowing oneself and knowing the other, our Jingzhou army has moved as early as August and September, so Zhuo Luo Zunli, Zongge City Tubo must have known about it, so they have made a current reaction, from this point of view, their marching strategy is: to support Jincheng with Wen Qishi, to block the Xuanchongwen and Zongjingcheng troops who are moving south from Liangzhou and Huizhou to the east, and they should have arrived at Jincheng according to the time, and it is estimated that they have fought with our army.

And Zhuo Luo Zunli defeated Liangzhong Jiaye, took Xiangwu and then went east to Longxi, and Qinzhou was very close to Longxi, Zhang Jianxiong's troops should have rushed to Longxi, maybe now they are already fighting. But he only has 5,000 soldiers, and the remnants of Liang Zhongjia may be around 10,000, so I'm afraid he only has the strength to defend. And Liu Xinfa's attack on Minzhou and Danzhou from Chengzhou is also facing the problem of insufficient troops, so he should rush to Longxi to join Zhang Jianxiong, contain Zhuo Luo Zunli, and create opportunities and time for our troops to meet Wen Qishi. Complete! ”

"Based on what the two generals said, we should take Jincheng as soon as possible, and then take Xiangwu!" Liu Wenbai also stood up and suggested.

The three of them analyzed and summarized the situation of our forces, but they all paid too much attention to one city and one place. We have to focus on the enemy, the enemy! It is necessary to first avoid the real and attack the weak, and to divide and encircle it in advance to annihilate its combatable forces. ”

The officers who came out of the Zhenyuan Army were different, and the overall situation was very strong, Zhang Yue was a little relieved, and after waiting for a while, seeing that no one came out to speak again, he redefined and issued the combat mission and the route of the march.

All the officers were present, and after receiving their military orders, they understood that Zhang Yue's combat strategy was really different, and they were immediately surprised, and they all showed a sudden expression, and suddenly understood a lot.

Because of the early deployment, Xuan Chongwen, Zong Jingcheng, Zhang Jianxiong, and Liu Xinfa, the three troops, can only be regarded as forwards, playing the role of bait for throwing bricks and attracting jade. In this way, as soon as the enemy army moves, the flaws will be exposed, and the men and horses of their own side are in a state of looking around with their swords, and there are many routes and combat strategies to choose from.

On the 11th, Shi Chenghong and Zhang Quanyi led the first brigade of the Changyi Army, with part of the baggage out of Dingxi Fort, and marched rapidly to the southwest, aiming at the Dalai Valley southwest of Didao, which was 250 miles away, where was the logistics supply line of Zhuo Luozunli's main force of 30,000 cavalry.

Because of taking the southeast Wujie of Di Dao and the Dalai Valley Mountain Road, Zhuo Luo Zunli and Wen Qishi were separated, so as not to divide them, otherwise it would be too dangerous for an army of seventy or eighty thousand. First seize the weak place of the defenders, and control the main road, so that they can not cooperate with each other, this is the royal road, blindly hard to fight will only suffer a big loss.

And Zhang Yue's main force of 10,000 foot cavalry instead stopped at Dingxi Fort to rest, and was not in a hurry to set off, there are Zong Jingcheng 7,000 in the direction of Jincheng, Xuan Chongwen 5,000, a total of 12,000 cavalry, this is the trump card power in his hand, in terms of army combat effectiveness, it is also half a catty and eight taels to deal with Wen Qishi and Nebson, so where to fight first, of course, there is no hurry.

In the afternoon of that day, some scouts rushed north from Qinzhou over the mountains and mountains to Dingxi Fort, bringing the latest battle situation of Zhang Jianxiong, Liang Zhongjiaye and Zhuo Luo Zunli in Longxi, and the situation was a bit bad.

There are 30,000 soldiers in the Zhuo Luo Zun Division, all of whom come on horseback, so not all of them are cavalry, the actual light cavalry is 10,000, and the other 20,000 are dismounted to fight, with the ability to attack fortifications. Now he is leading 20,000 infantry to attack the county seat of Longxi, and Zhang Jianxiong has divided his troops out of the city several times to fight, but they have been repulsed.

And Zhuo Luo Zunli was very cunning, after seizing Yanxian with 10,000 horsemen, he attacked Wushan County along the east of the Yanhe River, attacked Luomen Village by Weishui, Yongning County, and these two places were Zhang Jianxiong's logistics supply line, and the troops were insufficient, and they fell into an embarrassment for a while.

After that, Gaolan County, Lanzhou also sent a report from Zong Jingcheng, and had joined forces with Xuan Chongwen to garrison Gaolan, relying on Huining in the northeast and Ningguan in the southeast as logistics supply lines. Winchish led 20,000 troops to Jincheng, and after joining forces with Nebson, he led a total of 25,000 troops to the north.

Zhang Yue asked the scout who sent the military newspaper, this was already the news five days ago, and according to the time, the Lanzhou side may have already started fighting. Zhang Yue immediately ordered him to transfer additional township soldiers from Huizhou to wait for reinforcements, and led 10,000 troops south to Longxi the next day, intending to solve Zhuo Luo Zunli first.

Because Zhang Jianxiong's logistics were cut off and fell into the danger of encirclement, Wushan was lost, and if the gate was lost, Liu Xinfa's road to the north was blocked, and he could only retreat to Chengzhou without food supplies. (To be continued.) )