Rongtian County is a small and ordinary county town in the northwest, about 50 miles away from Pingchang County in the south.

In peacetime, no one would have noticed such an impoverished county town, but now, it has become a key factor in the war.

The surprise attack of the bearded soldiers caused the unprepared Datang to lose a large area of territory in the Western Regions, and as a last resort, the Datang defense line could only shrink to the east and north.

The original 120,000 horses of the Western Frontier Army only left 90,000 troops after losing the 30,000 main force of Gucheng. These 90,000 soldiers and horses have now formed an iron wall in the ten towns and villages in the west, but they have lost the backbone of Zhan Lingyun, and the ten points have lost their linkage, and no one dares to rush forward, greedy for such a great merit as recovering the lost land. Because as long as they make one more mistake, they will be the sinners of the entire Tang Dynasty.

And Rongtian County is the northernmost fulcrum.

In such a barren county, the original garrison was only 1,000 people, but now these 1,000 people have long been withdrawn cleanly, and they have been replaced by 50,000 gold and iron horse troops.

The commander of this army is Peng Yuanzheng, a new commander from the Central Plains.

Before setting out on the expedition, Peng Yuanzheng had prepared for the worst, but when he actually arrived in the Western Regions, he found that the difficulties he had to face were far more than he imagined.

The uninhibited and uninhibited army of the Western Frontier is well-known throughout the Tang Dynasty, just like the wildest and untamable fierce horse in the Western Regions. They are emotional, righteous, and xenophobic. It wasn't until Peng Yuanzheng personally dealt with those vulgar soldiers that he knew how great Zhan Lingyun was.

I'm afraid there is no one else who can convince these guys who have a temper bigger than the bull. He is the only one who can lead such a group of people and make it difficult for the fierce beard to cross the city.

These border generals are all Zhan Lingyun's henchmen.

To their new commanders, they were ostensibly polite to themselves, but when it came to sending troops, a group of generals immediately raised one difficulty or another. What is the shortage of troops and the key to strategic location...... Everyone seems to have a hundred excuses waiting for them.

This is not because they don't want to recover the rivers and mountains, but because they don't trust Peng Yuanzheng.

In their opinion, how can a guy who is used to being comfortable in the Central Plains understand the dangers and hardships of the border? They are not afraid of war, but they are afraid to entrust the lives of a bunch of brothers to a guy who does not know the depths.

Peng Yuanzheng sighed in his heart, he had been in the imperial court for many years, how could he not understand what calculations these generals were making? Although he was the commander of the First Army, he could not punish everyone who raised objections according to military law, and he was afraid that a contest with the beard would cause a mutiny in the army; Second, he knew that these people wanted to explore their own abilities. If you want to convince these people who have really been on the battlefield, you have to show some decent results.

Therefore, Peng Yuanzheng left the headquarters of the army and personally led the army to the Rongtian line in the far north, ready to use his actions to prove that he had the capital to call the shots.

Pingchang County, which was occupied by the Hui people fifty miles to the south, was his whetstone.

Fighting a war is not a child's play, and it is necessary to make adequate preparations in advance. A series of work such as spying, reconnaissance, division, supply, and general assignment came one after another, and a tense atmosphere permeated the small Rongtian County.

And the most nervous are probably these scouts roaming the border.

Since the occupation of Pyeongchang, the Xia people suddenly died down, as if satisfied with the interests at hand, and no longer provoked war against the new "border".

Such tranquility made Datang breathe a sigh of relief, but he also spent the whole day in tension, because they didn't know when the Xia Kingdom would charge again.

The north wind is howling, and the Western Regions has entered the most bitter winter.

The poplar that stood tall had long since lost its leaves, and a desperate gray was reflected in the wind, and the vast earth had no bright color, but was full of hard frozen soil. The rolling dark clouds seem to be overhead, connecting with the gray trees and the gray earth, forming a barren and extremely oppressive picture.

A blizzard is coming.

In the boundless land, a natural boulder is like a giant egg falling from the sky, standing between heaven and earth. On the back of the "Dome", two Tang scouts wrapped in thick cotton clothes shrank up to keep warm, as if using this boulder as a natural haven.

The man wearing a cotton hat on the left shuddered and took out the wine jug, poured down a spicy burning knife, and couldn't help but let out an "ah" sound, Mei Zizi groped the stubble on his chin with his rough hand, and closed his eyes comfortably.

He handed the worn-out flask to the man next to him: "Boy, take a sip?" ”

The person next to him looked to be in his twenties, trembling like a chaff sieve. He took the flask with an uneven face, and took a few mouthfuls of "coo dong dong" angrily, and the palm-sized wine jug was instantly empty.

The big man in the hat was full of distress, snatched the wine jug back, and shook it upside down, but only the last drop of crystal wine hung shyly on the spout. The big man reluctantly licked it clean, and said unhappily: "Straight thief, who made you drink it all?" We're going to stay up until the afternoon, and it's all up to it! ”

"Go back and return your two pots!" The young man from before burped and frowned, "Old Wu, tell me, why did we Xiyuwei come all the way to this place where birds don't?" It's not about getting rid of the beard yet. But if you look at the faces of these grandsons in the Western Regions, do you really think that you will be invincible in the world after a few battlefields? Think we don't fight all year round and become embroidered pillows? Damn, now that the war can't be fought, there is no place to freeze even a figure here! ”

Lao Wu leaned against the stone and said slowly: "You don't understand this, do you?" Lao Tzu followed the general to the camp in the Western Regions, and the soldiers of the people were full of fierce energy from their bones. If you want to say that such a person doesn't dare to fight, you don't believe it if you kill Lao Tzu! ”

The young man blinked and said confusedly, "Then why ......?"

"Why don't they send troops?" Lao Wu smiled and spoke, with the wisdom of someone who came over to pass on the scriptures and send treasures to the recruits. "If our Xiyuwei suddenly changes a coach who no one knows, you will be willing to hand over your life to him?"

The young man tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "Naturally, I can't believe it." ”

"That's it!" Tiger nodded, "To put it bluntly, these border troops in the Western Regions don't trust our general and want to see his depth." In their eyes, only the old general Zhan Lingyun was the god of war worthy of their desperate allegiance. ”

At the mention of the three words "Zhan Lingyun", the young man had a touch of reverence on his face. This old man, who is past his prime, has already become the target and idol of all soldiers.

"We have an army of 50,000 people, and we are afraid of a ball of beard! They don't believe us, let's fight until they do! ”

"What do you think our general is doing with his army and running to Rongtian? General Peng just wants to give these border troops a little color. If they were convinced, they would be more ruthless than anyone else! Lao Wu sighed and said with some regret: "There are 30,000 people, which is equivalent to most of the West Yuwei, all of whom were buried in Gucheng." It's their robes, their loved ones, can you imagine the feeling of hearing about the tragic death of your brother and not being able to do anything about it? ”

The young man unconsciously clenched his fists, stood up with anger on his face, and said, "I really want to hit Xia Guo in one go, hit their nest, and let them taste this kind of fucking taste!" ”

"Hit Xia Guo?" Lao Wu shook his head and smiled bitterly, stretched out his hand and pointed to the west: "For hundreds of years, we have been bullied by beards, but no one has ever been to that grassland to see and understand." Generations of soldiers have all taken this as the biggest regret of their lives. Alas, but ... Who wouldn't! Lao Tzu wanted to go over and take a look, and he wanted to pull a handful of weeds in the Western Regions, and tell his grandson that his grandfather had beaten his beard and hit their hometown! ”

"There will come a day!" The young man's face was full of excitement, and he patted Lao Wu's shoulder, which looked gloomy, "If you can't wait for the day when you are discharged from the army, I will do it for you, if I can't wait, and my children, there will always be someone who can fight over and hit there-huh!" ”

The young man looked to the west, suddenly with a solemn face, and said, "Old Wu, get up quickly!" Somebody is coming over there! ”

"Fart! Seeing that a snowstorm is coming, could it be that these bearded people are stupid and choose to launch a sneak attack in such weather? ”

Lao Wu said disapprovingly, but he still jumped up smartly, covering his forehead and looking west.

Just one glance, and his face changed drastically.

In the midst of the gray, a force approached in the distance. Between the howling north winds, every step of the team was extremely difficult, but even so, they still moved forward in the cold wind, as if nothing could stop their progress.

Although they look like a group of herdsmen at first glance wearing the cotton clothes that can be found everywhere on the grassland, the black hair reveals their identity.

Han!

One person walked in front and held up a large flag with a long bamboo pole. It is said that it is a "flag", but it is better to say that it is a rag, and there are even two large holes broken on it. However, a crooked "Tang" character on the cloth is extremely eye-catching.

The army of the Tang Dynasty!

"It's... It's ......"

The young man was dumbfounded, looking at the army that had jumped out of nowhere, and he was speechless. In other words, he couldn't believe what he saw in front of him, and he couldn't believe why this army under the banner of the Tang Dynasty came from the west?

"Click!"

The flask fell to the frozen ground and shattered to pieces. An old Wu's hand holding the pot trembled uncontrollably, and he didn't know if it was too cold or too excited.

The young man swallowed his saliva and said, "Will these people... Is the beard pretending? ”

"Pretend? Are you really stupid enough to go to war in this weather? In a place like Rongtian, what is the beard picture? Lao Wu made a little noise excitedly, with tears in his cloudy eyes, and his face was full of pride: "This is our Datang soldiers!" Although Lao Tzu has never been to the Xia Kingdom, Lao Tzu can also brag to his children and grandchildren in the future and tell them that some of our people in the Tang Dynasty have once hit the grassland! ”