"General!" Just as Guo Shifeng was looking ahead, a deputy general walked up to him and shouted. Guo Shifeng turned his head, glanced at this loyal subordinate and asked, "How many casualties did we suffer in this battle?" ”

"Four hundred killed, three hundred seriously wounded, and two hundred lightly wounded." The lieutenant replied in a low voice.

Guo Shifeng sighed and said, "So, if we fight again tomorrow, we will have another nine hundred people who can't participate in the war?" ”

The adjutant general nodded slightly, and then he asked again, "I don't know if there is any news from Your Highness?" If reinforcements don't come, we're afraid we won't be able to support it for a few days. ”

Guo Shifeng's cold color was gloomy for an instant, and he yelled sharply, "Don't talk nonsense, what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to do, can you evaluate it indiscriminately?" ”。

The deputy general was frightened by Guo Shifeng's sudden reprimand, and hurriedly pleaded with Guo Shifeng. And Guo Shifeng just snorted coldly at this, didn't pay attention to him, and strode down the city tower.

, why don't you hurry up and support Hezhou City. But there is one thing that makes him believe in Li Hong, that is, his teacher Su Dingfang. Guo Shifeng is not Su Dingfang's only student, he is not as good as Pei Xingjian and Wang Fangyi in Su Dingfang's mind, but in Guo Shifeng's mind, the teacher Su Dingfang's greatness is better than everyone else, and even Li Ji, the first person in the Tang Dynasty military, is not comparable. And His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can be trusted by the teacher, which means that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has his own plans, and what he can do now is to cooperate with His Royal Highness the Prince, externally to prevent Lu Dongzan from attacking Hezhou City, and internally to suppress his subordinates who are slowly becoming impetuous, so as not to let them complain about His Royal Highness the Prince.

The reprimanded deputy general is called Yuwen Chongtian, a son of a Jiangmen family, usually arrogant, and looks down on the children of ordinary people, and in the Hezhou army, only Guo Shifeng can suppress him.

was coldly reprimanded by Guo Shifeng, although he was not convinced, but when he thought that the person he questioned was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, and His Majesty the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he did not dare to be dissatisfied with Guo Shifeng anymore.

Now among the generals in the Tang Army, except for a few generals such as Li Ji and Cheng Wuting, who are loyal to the military queen, the rest of the generals are finally in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, in Yuwen Chongtian's heart, the first thing he thought of was military merits, and the second was to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty the Emperor.

"Brother Yuwen, what are you in a daze, could it be that General Guo reprimanded you again?" Suddenly, just when Yuwen Chongtian was stunned, another deputy general walked up to him and smiled. This person's name is Liu Wenjie, he was born in a big family, he is not a disciple of the general, he can practice bow and horse salvos since he was a child, he has superb martial arts and good leadership ability, and he is the only person who Yuwen Chongtian does not dare to despise in the Hezhou army.

Yuwen Chongtian saw that Liu Wenjie was canceling himself, so he just snorted coldly and left.

"Brother Yuwen, I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince likes cavalry, and the generals around him are all good at riding and archery, if you still want to build a career and shine on the lintel, you should think carefully about how you can behave in order to gain His Highness's appreciation, instead of questioning His Royal Highness's actions here." Liu Wenjie said.

Yuwen Chongtian was about to walk down the city tower when he stopped, he looked back at Liu Wenjie, and said after a long time, "What Brother Liu said is true?" ”

"Now the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are enough, but why does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince like cavalry so much, and vigorously discover cavalry generals?" Liu Wenjie said with a smile.

Yuwen Chongtian fell into deep thought.

Liu Wenjie continued, "Because the infantry can only defend the city, it takes a large number of cavalry to expand the territory, especially for the Western Regions and the countries west of the Western Regions. ”

Yuwen Chongtian's body was shocked, and he heard an exciting news from Liu Wenjie's words.

"Thank you, Brother Liu!" Yuwen Chongtian hurriedly bowed and saluted Liu Wenjie. This time, his thanks were sincere, because Liu Wenjie revealed to him an important news, which was enough to make him shine on the lintel, the news of wealth and wealth, and it was worth him to bow for Liu Wenjie once.

"Brother Yuwen is polite." Liu Wenjie still said with a smile and strode down the city tower.

At this time, the sun had risen to the middle of the sky, and the scorching light shone on the earth, baking the city of Hezhou into a furnace. But Yuwen Chongtian, who was wearing iron armor, didn't feel it at all, and his heart was more calm. Because he found that the opportunity he had been waiting for since he joined the army had come

A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier.

Every hot-blooded soldier has a belligerent gene in his stock, and they all want to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, glorify the lintel, and establish an immortal cause for their loyal country.

Therefore, as a soldier, what I am most afraid of is not dying in battle, but dying of old age.

For Yuwen Chongtian, Liu Wenjie, Heizhi Changzhi, Li Duoqi, Guo Shifeng and others, what they are most afraid of is that there is no war, they can't make a big contribution, and they die of old age in their own houses.

Now, Li Hong's preparations before coming to the northwest, as well as the cavalry around him when he came to the northwest, faintly reveal his inclination for war, he likes cavalry, which shows that he has the mind to expand the territory, he is good at discovering generals, and it shows that he has the ambition to establish an immortal cause.

This invisibly deeply stimulated the generals of the Northwest Army and made them see the hope that they would not be meritorious again.

Therefore, any military general who has a little insight is actually looking forward to Li Hong's northwest heart this time. Because they wanted to confirm their suspicions for themselves, they wanted to determine for themselves whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a king who could give them enough glory and wealth.

Therefore, when Guo Shifeng, who was downstairs in the city, heard the conversation between Liu Wenjie and Yuwen Chongtian on the city tower, he only shook his head slightly and left. It's not just captains like Yuwen Chongtian and Liu Wenjie, as a general, why don't he want to have another chance to make contributions?

Because of this kind of thinking, he will cooperate with the crown prince Li Hong so hard, and will suppress the message in the army about the prince's slackness in the war in Hezhou. He did this, on the one hand, to stabilize the morale of the army, and on the other hand, he also made trouble by private messages, wanting to prove his attitude in front of Li Hong.

Because the commander of the Northwest Army was Li Jing before, Li Ji did not treat the Northwest Army very well after Li Jing's death, so the relationship between the Northwest Army and Li Ji was not harmonious, and Li Ji's foundation was in the Northeast Army, and he used his influence to win the Tang Dynasty's war against Goryeo to the Northeast Army, which made many generals of the Northwest Army very unconvinced. Guo Shifeng is also one of them.

There is not much intersection between him and Li Ji, and he disdains the struggle for power and profit of the Empress Wu, he is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and he is loyal to the historical royal family.

Therefore, as a member of the Northwest Army, he hopes that Li Hong is a prince who can see the Northwest Army. In this way, he doesn't mind following in the footsteps of his senior brother Wang Fangyi and supporting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

……

In the tent of the Tibetan army, the generals gathered together to discuss the strategy of breaking the city.

Sambas was the first to get up and asked, "Prime minister, when will we be able to capture Hezhou City in one fell swoop, if we attack the city like a girl like today, it will be too embarrassing." ”

"That's right! Prime minister, we have already suffered more than 10,000 casualties in our attack on Hezhou City, and we can't continue to consume them like this. Another general stood up and said, he taught Gran, one of the most courageous generals under Lu Dongzan, and also a commander of 20,000 cavalry.

“……”

As soon as the two spoke, the generals chatted endlessly, all shouting about when they would capture Hezhou City.

The reason why the Tibetan generals are so active is not how strong the battle is, but because after capturing Hezhou City, they began to plunder the property of the people in Hezhou City, and they can indulge themselves on the Tang Dynasty women's **, so they are so interested.

For the Tibetan people, except for a few people of insight, the rest of the people have only one thought, which is to grab money, food, and women.

"Do you think Hezhou City is important to us in Tubo, or is it important for the crown prince Li Hong?" Lu Dongzan quietly listened to everyone's gossip and asked.

Sambas opened his mouth and said, "Naturally, Li Hong, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, is important. ”

"Yes." Lu Dongzan said affirmatively, "For us in Tubo, ten Hezhou cities are not as important as one Tang prince. I know what you are going to do if you want to capture Hezhou City, but have you ever thought that as long as we capture Li Hong alive, what will we gain from the Tang people? The wealth, women, and food we have acquired may not be matched by twenty river states. With such a good thing in front of us, why should we still take care of the small profits of Hezhou City? ”

"What the prime minister said makes sense, it's just that Li Hong, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, is not easy to capture!" Gran sighed and said, his courage does not mean that he has no brains, he knows how difficult it is to capture the prince of a country alive, especially the prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Lu Dongzan smiled faintly and said happily, "Don't worry about this, I already have a countermeasure in my heart." ”

"Prime minister, what should we do tomorrow?" Sambas asked, "Is it still a siege like today?" ”。

"What I want to say is that before Li Hong arrives at Hezhou City, Benxiang doesn't want to attack Hezhou City." Lu Dongzan said, "However, it is good for us to practice more of our soldiers' ability to attack the city. Because today we can capture Hezhou City, tomorrow we may be able to capture Chang'an City. It is not difficult for us to defeat the Tang army, but it is difficult to break through their city. With the experience of this siege, the next time our troops are directly approaching Chang'an City, it will be easier to defeat the Tang army. ”

Lu Dongzan was quite domineering when he said this.

Tubo continued to grow and develop in his hands, and he already had enough strength to expand outward, and the Tang Dynasty succeeded to the throne of Gaozong after experiencing the era of Tian Khan, and showed fatigue because of frequent wars in the northeast, which was a good opportunity for Tubo to expand outward. Lu Dongzan is very confident, for the Tang Dynasty, who is frail and sick, and the Tang Dynasty who does not dare to live in the harem, as long as he is given enough time, in a few years, he will have the confidence to lead the Tubo Iron Cavalry to knock on the gate of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty.

"Yes." The generals were very excited when they heard Lu Dongzan's words, and they immediately got up to receive the order, and then withdrew from the big tent in turn.