When Yang Zhi died in the desert, he crossed almost the entire territory of the Turks from west to east. Field research and memories of past lives gave him a comprehensive and intuitive understanding of the Turks. If you don't experience it yourself, it's hard to get a real sense of the tenacity and toughness of the nomads.

Xue Qingyun said it well, it was late autumn, the harsh winter was coming, the autumn grain of the border people in Great Xia had already been harvested and put into the warehouse, and the northern border was bleak and rarely crowded. Shuofang City is tall and strong, and there are still no less than 200,000 heavy soldiers in the border cities and sentry towers along the line centered on Shuofang. As far as defense is concerned, the life of the Shuo army and civilians is much better than that of the Turks.

The Turks, as the Chinese dynasty called, were actually a loose alliance of many large and small nomadic tribes living in the steppe desert. The wars waged by successive khans were not only a practical need to maintain survival due to lack of materials, but also an important means to strengthen internal rule and cohesion.

My family can't live anymore, so I'm here to rob yours. It is precisely because of this unreasonable truth that the conflicts between the Chinese dynasty and the northern nomads have been frequent, and they have not stopped since ancient times. Super bulls like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty are only a few after all.

Great Xia supported Suoli to ascend to the throne of Khan, and he didn't have any good intentions. Suoli will definitely not be grateful to Da Xia for this, but will regard it as a great shame. I have been a good child for a few years, but I am forced to be helpless. But the meal has to be eaten bite by bite, and it is not that Suoli does not want to fight, but that he thinks that it is not yet time to let go of the fight.

As for Zhao Qi, Yang Zhi never doubted his IQ. …… This is also a person who is unwilling, unwilling, and will not suffer any loss in his bones.

The desert has a bitter winter, and the Turkic people live in pursuit of water and grass, and most of the tribes will help the old and the young to drive their livestock south for the winter. Although the scale of the Great Xia Elite Cavalry Corps is limited, based on the concept of "nourishing war with war", it has gradually gotten rid of the drag of needing a large amount of grain and grass as logistical support in the past, and has gone through several years of training and polishing. The equipment is more sophisticated, the distribution is more reasonable, and the tactics are more mature. In the same severe weather conditions, the mobility and combat effectiveness were superior to those of the Turkic cavalry.

The two countries are at war, and when both sides are ready, the battle will start again after the soldiers and generals are in a position. That's a strange plot that only appears in the drama.

If you decide to hunt in the desert, you must first know where the prey is most abundant and fatter,...... And where the prey is the most ferocious. As soon as Geng Chaofu arrived, he sent out more than ten batches of scouts one after another.

The winter solstice, let alone the war, is an extremely severe test for the survival of the population and livestock. At the beginning of November, Geng Chao fully comprehended the fighting spirit of "a handful of fried noodles and a handful of snow" ordered by Yang Zhi, and each person carried 30 catties of fried noodles as basic combat rations per rider. The remaining 20,000 elite cavalry were left in Shuofang as a garrison and reserve, and Dong Jian and Li Wei were ordered to lead 5,000 elite cavalry in front. After leading the 10,000 fine cavalry halls, the three teams of men and horses were within a hundred miles of each other, so as to coordinate with each other, and the finished word formation marched to the depths of the desert.

Unexpected, uninvited, undeclared. The reason is very good and powerful, and Suoli must sound familiar: don't you say that there are remnants of the Eastern Turks attacking and causing trouble? If you can't, that's fine. I'll take care of it for you. However, the sword and arrow have no eyes, and it is inevitable that there will be "accidental injuries". Presumably it won't have much impact on the friendly relations between the two countries, right?

There is a lesson from the almost annihilation of the entire army six years ago, this time taking advantage of the surprise attack, dispatched 20,000 elite cavalry to "suppress bandits", if you don't make a name for yourself, you are embarrassed to greet people.

However, Yang Zhi paid close attention to Shuo Fang's secret report every day, but he became more and more worried day by day.

Geng Chao led the army deep into the desert. From fighters to combat power, they have a very active advantage, and there is no suspense about victory or defeat. In the cold and severe winter season, the further north, the more rarely there are people, and the 500 miles out of Shuo can be called the limit. There is no tactical point in moving north again. The monarchs of both countries had no intention of fighting to the death for survival, and Zhao Qi aimed to warn Suoli with an appropriate show of force, and Geng Chao only needed to wait for an opportunity to destroy more than 50,000 enemies like a swift wind sweeping leaves, and the strategic goal of waging war could be regarded as a successful achievement. In other words, this battle should only be resolved quickly. The two monarchs were then allowed to return to the negotiating table to buy time for each to accumulate strength.

What made Yang Zhi quite puzzling was that Geng Chao led his army out of Shuofang for less than 300 miles, and after sweeping the front of Shuofang's periphery, not only did he show no signs of shrinking and resting, but instead waved his army to the east and attacked and advanced with great fanfare. It has always been taboo for soldiers to go deep alone, not to mention that there is a lesson from the past that has fallen into a heavy encirclement, what does Geng Chao want to do? …… Or should I say, what does Zhao Qi want to do?

The Turks are by no means lambs to be slaughtered, and the ambitious Suoli is not an incompetent khan, and will certainly quickly organize a powerful counterattack. The vast desert is very conducive to the roundabout outflanking of a large cavalry corps, and if Geng Chao goes too far to the east, it is easy to be cut off from the back road, and it is easy to be blocked head-on, and it is difficult to retreat smoothly to Shuofang. The closest way to retreat to the territory of Great Xia is to turn around and head south in the direction of Jingzhou. Jingzhou is nominally the territory under the jurisdiction of the Northern Yan, but because of its location on the border and the barren land, in fact, it has long become a staggered area of the Northern Yan, Daxia, and Turkic forces.

On December 17, Yang Zhi again received several secret reports from Xue Qingyun: Geng Chao had led his army to march for more than a month, and he had traveled nearly 1,300 miles east of Shuo. On the ninth day of December, the 20,000 elite horsemen who stayed in Shuofang, led by the partial generals Xiao Gang and Guo Rui, each led 10,000, and went to meet Geng Chao. On the third day of the first month of December, Luo Huizu, the general of Youzhou, sent a 10,000-strong cavalry to Jingzhou to replace the border army garrisoned in Great Xia to change the defense.

Yang Zhi frowned and asked, "How many troops is there in Daxia in Jingzhou?" Who are the leading generals? Has the detective department been scouting? ”

Xue Qingyun was ordered to cooperate with Yun Niang to set up the Commercial Investigation Division, and only then did he really come into contact with the intelligence collection industry. Yun Niang is still the commander of the Detective Department, because of her sensitive identity and the fact that she is a woman, after the two got married, Xue Qingyun shared a large part of the responsibilities for his wife. But Xue Qingyun is not afraid of trivialities in everything, and strives to be in the front and do it in the front, which is more in place than Yun Niang.

He replied calmly: "Great Xia has 10,000 border troops and 20,000 government soldiers stationed in Jingzhou. When the first emperor was disarmed, the Jingzhou government soldiers did not cut a single person. The leading general was named Ling Kaiyang, who was originally a partial general under the account of General Shuo Fangwei, and was later transferred to Jingzhou by himself, and became a subordinate of King Kang who was guarding Youzhou at that time, and has been stationed in Jingzhou for more than ten years. ”

Yang Zhi patted his forehead lightly and muttered, "You have been stationed in Jingzhou for more than ten years? …… You said that the name of the leading general is Ling Kaiyang? ”

Xue Qingyun said eloquently: "Yes. The generals of Great Xia are like clouds, there are thousands of generals who command the army to fight on the border, Ling Kaiyang is unknown, and Hou Ye feels unfamiliar with this name, which is normal. Hou Ye should know that the army is like a place, and the ministry is also divided into good and bad, fat and thin. Jingzhou is barren and poor, and it is also a place where Great Xia, Northern Yan, and Turkic are fighting for each other, and it is a drudgery to lead troops to garrison. According to common sense, leading generals are meritorious, and even if they are qualified, there is no reason why they will not be promoted and transferred after being stationed for more than ten years. It can be seen from this that Ling Kaiyang, whether he is capable of leading soldiers or sophisticated, is only average at best. ”

"Brother Qingyun, this is wrong!" Yang Zhi shook his head slowly and said: "The garrison of Jingzhou is a wedge deliberately driven into the first emperor in order to annex the Northern Yan and defend the Turks in the north. Although there are not many garrisons, the generals who lead the troops must be capable. Your evaluation of Ling Kaiyang may be reasonable, but don't you think it's amazing to stay in the place where the bird doesn't for more than ten years, although it is unknown, it is also calm? I've been thinking about it just now, and it's very coincidental that I've heard of Ling Kaiyang. Brother Qingyun, have you ever heard of Xiong Zhan? ”

Xue Qingyun had been following Yang Zhi for many years, so he naturally knew a lot about his past, and nodded: "My subordinates heard that Xiong Zhan is a close friend of Hou Ye, and it is said that his martial arts skills and courage are not comparable to Hou Ye. Because he didn't want to be a general in Daxia, he was quietly away and went overseas. ”

Yang Zhi sighed: "That's true! It's not that I don't think the name Ling Kaiyang is unfamiliar, on the contrary, it sounds familiar. It was only after I thought about it that I remembered that Xiong Zhan had mentioned this person to me, and only said that I had been friends with him in life and death back then. ”

"Xiong Zhan once made it clear at the beginning of his acquaintance with me that the reason why he was willing to befriend me was because I did not become famous because I did not step on the white bones of the Chinese people. Xiong Zhan and I had nothing to talk about, and when it came to martial arts and bravery, we all thought that I was only slightly better in terms of physical strength and adaptability. Xiong Zhan and Ling Kaiyang were originally both generals of the Northern Han Dynasty, after the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed by Great Xia, Xiong Zhan fell into the sea as a bandit, and Ling Kaiyang descended to Xia as a general. According to Xiong Zhan, the bravery of the two was already famous back then, and Ling Kaiyang's strength was even above Xiong Zhan. ”

Xue Qingyun pondered for a moment and said solemnly: "It is said that the small is hidden in the wilderness, the middle is hidden in the court, and the big is hidden in the city. When his subordinates heard Hou Ye say this, Ling Kaiyang was a strange person! ”

Yang Zhi shook his hand and smiled: "It's not as evil as you say." Strange people are not strange people, in fact, that's what is going on. A person like Ling Kaiyang, although he has some real skills and is resolute, is far less pure than Xiong Zhan. Unwilling to rely on the unification war of the Chinese Dynasty to slaughter his fellow clans and make contributions, he was unwilling to let him return to the field to farm and hold his children. So he asked himself to stand by, which not only satisfied his greatest psychological comfort, but also his best choice. ”

Then his face suddenly turned sad and said, "I underestimate the emperor too much!" It's so magnificent! Geng Chao...... Poor Geng Chao, can you come back alive? ”

Xue Qingyun was stunned and said, "Why did Master Hou say this? Didn't Hou Ye say that the 40,000 elite cavalry under Geng Chao's command were not afraid of even the hard fight with the Turkic cavalry legions! ”

Yang Zhi smiled bitterly: "The strength of the Turkic cavalry legion is unique in the world, I have seen it with my own eyes and experienced it myself. Face-to-face hard fighting is not only about courage and tactics, but more importantly, under the condition of basic equality of strength. Brother Qingyun, haven't you seen it at this time? Geng Chao went here with the intention of being a bait! ”

Xue Qingyun was shocked when he heard this: "What?!" Using 20,000 fine horses as bait? Isn't the emperor crazy?! ”

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PS: Congratulations to all the officials for a great New Year! …… Others don't explain, and will try to finish writing. (To be continued.) )