On the first day of the first month of March in the second year of Longchang in Xiali, Yang Zhi, who was far away in Jinling, received a secret report: Ling Kaiyang and Geng Chao's 20,000 elite cavalry formed a mobile attack group, with Ling Kaiyang as the main general, and Geng Chao as the deputy.

Obviously, Zhao Qi unceremoniously adopted Geng Jin's advice. Geng Chao's reputation in the minds of the Turks is far above Ling Kaiyang. Suoli begs for hopelessness, and people make it clear that they want to force you to a dead end, and you will do a battle of trapped beasts. Left and right is the last desperate fight, both to pull people back, no matter how you say it, you have to choose a famous one. It is of great practical significance to see who is the main and who is the secondary. At most, it can only show that Zhao Qi is a little weak-hearted, and at the same time give Geng Jin a symbolic psychological comfort.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Qi's defeat of the Turks was quickly extinguished.

It is also a coincidence that on the first night of the first month of March, Yang Zhi received another secret report, and Zhao Qi received an 800-mile urgent military report from Yang Yao, the general guarding Suizhou.

The Chu army under the command of Wen Huanzhang, a veteran general of Southern Chu, has been in a confrontation with the Xia army for many years, and has always been on the defensive of being passively beaten, and rarely has the upper hand. At the beginning of the year, he suddenly took the initiative to attack and sent troops to clear the sentry cavalry of the Great Xia garrison from Jiangxia to the periphery of Suizhou. Not only the emperor and several important ministers, but even Yang Zhi thought that Southern Chu and the Turks had already secretly colluded, and the Chu army was just putting on a posture that echoed each other from afar, and put on a façade. Everyone's eyes were attracted by the big war in the north, coupled with the limited losses on the Suizhou side, it was common for the two armies to fight each other in the buffer zone from Jiangxia to Suizhou, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

However, this expedited military newspaper is clearly written and shocking: the Chu army did not stop there after clearing the periphery of Suizhou. Instead, it was still like a chicken blood, and a small army of three or five thousand people was sent to ride under Suizhou City to shout and invite to fight. Yang Yao is also a veteran who has commanded the army for many years. Knowing that the new emperor of Great Xia had just ascended the throne and changed the Yuan, and the northern war was in full swing, if he dared to send troops to fight, it was possible to make Great Xia fall into a situation of fighting on two fronts. It was a strict order to ignore the generals under his command, but he couldn't hold on.

It is expected that since mid-February, the Chu army has still sent 35,000 men at a time. But a small-scale siege began! If it still hits your door and spits at the beginning, it is tantamount to a blatant slap in the face! Great Xia is a martial artist, the Xia army has always been good at fighting and warlike, after the founding of the country, it was almost invincible and invincible, how could it have suffered such grievances? If you don't scold back, you can barely grit your teeth and endure it, and if you don't fight back, you can't accept it anyway. If this goes on for a long time, what kind of morale do you need to talk about? This is precisely what the commanders of the unified army are most worried about.

Then let's fight! On February 26, Yang Yao ordered Lin Cheng, a general, to lead 20,000 troops out of the city to fight. But for an hour. More than half of the 5,000 Chu troops who attempted to attack the city were killed, and the rest were defeated. Lin Cheng led his troops to pursue the victory, but was lured into the ambush circle set by the Chu army. By the time Yang Yao reacted, it was too late, the 20,000 Xia troops were almost wiped out, and Lin Cheng was killed in battle.

Yang Zhi frowned and said, "All annihilation? …… Annihilation! The 20,000-strong army was annihilated, and the main general was killed in battle. As far as I know, this is the unprecedented defeat that Great Xia has suffered in the past ten years! It's not that I underestimated Wen Huanzhang. He definitely doesn't have the courage to do this, and he doesn't have the ability! - Brother Qingyun. Have you found out what I told you a few days ago? ”

"It's clear." Xue Qingyun submitted a few pages of information according to his words: "Hou Ye's expectations are not bad, Xia Jun's defeat this time is not from Wen Huanzhang's handwriting. As early as before the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, a mysterious figure came to Wen Huanzhang's account to help him counsel the military aircraft. This man lives in seclusion. Even in the army, he rarely shows up. At present, it can be confirmed that this person is the son-in-law of Tan Chongyuan, the number one minister in Southern Chu and the first assistant prime minister. Tan Chongyuan has a group of concubines and many children, with a total of twenty-two people. This man's wife was a concubine, and she was fourteenth. And not spoiled. After marriage, he lived in the prime minister's mansion for three years before he was recommended to serve in the army. The man was about 30 years old, of unknown origin, of unknown origin, but of unknown origin, but with a disability, he occasionally appeared in the army, and was able to walk ...... with the help of a four-wheeled seat. ”

Yang Zhi had a flash of inspiration in his mind and interrupted: "If I guessed correctly, this person should be named Zhang Bohu!" ”

Xue Qingyun was stunned and said, "Exactly!" How does Master Hou know? …… Don't you recognize this person? ”

Yang Zhi smiled bitterly: "Isn't it just acquaintance? It's really a place in life where we don't meet! In retrospect, it was still twenty-five years after Wu Cheng. Do you know why he is disabled and has difficulty walking? Because his right leg was cut off by my own hand. Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye, and he has not been heard from since, and I thought he was no longer alive! I didn't want to go to Nanchu and become Wen Huanzhang's military advisor! ”

When the entanglement with Zhang Bohu was about to be narrated, Xue Qingyun was dumbfounded: "If it weren't for the Hou Ye himself, it would be hard for me to believe that there are such people in the world!" The depth of this person's scheming, his tenacity, and his ruthlessness are incredible! If this person is not arrogant and extreme, and his heart is not right, he will definitely be a masterpiece of a generation! ”

Yang Zhi sighed: "Do you think he is not a masterpiece now? Hiding and hiberning is to wait for an opportunity, to catch Xia Jun off guard, and to prove his ability. Characters like Zhang Bohu are extremely strict with themselves, and they can't tolerate the slightest mistake, and they must be accurate in every step. After seeing success in this battle, he knew that he would surface sooner or later, and he must have appeared as a military advisor of the Chu army soon. ”

Then he instructed: "Brother Lao Qingyun has been in contact with the local branch offices, the islands off the coast of Shandong, and Yizhou in the past few days, and ordered them to transfer to me the secret spies of the Detective Department if they have any problems." Within a month, the emperor will summon me to Beijing. ”

Xue Qingyun said curiously: "This is not the beginning of the year and not the ......end of the year, how can the Hou Ye be so sure that the emperor will summon you to Beijing?" ”

Yang Zhi said solemnly: "The long is half a month, and the short is a few days, and the final result of the war between Great Xia and the Turks will be known." Xiaocai General Li Wei has died in the desert, Geng Chao is also extremely difficult to survive, these two people and I have both the love of robes, but also the righteousness of blood side by side, in public and private, in love and reason, I should go back to Beijing to pay respects. ”

"Secondly, it's not that I overestimated Zhang Bohu, nor did I underestimate Yang Yao, Wen Huanzhang got Zhang Bohu's help, Yang Yao is definitely not an opponent, Suizhou City is broken, I'm afraid it's an overnight thing. As soon as Suizhou was lost, the Xia army could only retreat to Xiangyang. Suizhou was defeated by Zhao Dang, the king of Ning, ten years ago, and the emperor was already quite jealous of the influence of King Ning in the army, so it is conceivable how much pressure he will face, so he can only change generals. I dare to say that as long as the emperor does not use Geng Jin or Wei Feiyang, Xiangyang will be difficult to hold. Once Xiangyang is lost again, Daxia will open the door! I don't need to say more about that, right? ”

Xue Qingyun saw that Yang Zhi said so mysteriously, and he was still skeptical: "It is said that victory and defeat are common things in soldiers, just one Zhang Bohu, is there really such a powerful thing that Hou Ye said?" The strength of the Great Xia soldiers has always been proud of the world. Occasional small defeats, why hurt the overall situation? Zhang Bohu got lucky this time, how do you know that he won't be a flash in the pan? ”

"Besides, I have heard Lord Hou comment on the famous generals of Great Xia. Zhou Ting, the general of the forbidden army, Luo Huizu who guarded Youzhou, and Yang Yao, who is now guarding Suizhou, didn't Hou Ye say that they were all outstanding and good generals? Why did you think that the emperor had to use Geng Jin or Wei Feiyang? I listened to the meaning of Hou Ye's words, the emperor summoned him to inquire about the strategy, why would he not use Hou Ye as a general? In case I say it, will Master Hou obey the order? ”

Yang Zhimuran said: "20,000 fresh lives, if you don't say it in one day, it will be gone." Even who the real opponent is behind the scenes is only found out after the fact. It's clearly a big loss, can it be regarded as a small defeat? ”

"The Chu army first cleared the outlying garrison sentry cavalry and cut off the eyes and ears of our army to ensure the suddenness of the battle and the concealment of the ambush. After that, he unhurriedly sent a small army to shout and scold the invitation to fight, in order to provoke our army. When it didn't work, he simply began to attack the city, using the morale of our army to put pressure on Yang Yao and induce our army to go out of the city to fight. In the end, a tiger washed his face, and when our army did not have time to send reinforcements to respond, it was completely annihilated in one fell swoop. The whole process is well-planned and interlocking, like a smooth flow, how can it be a fluke? ”

"And the commander of the army as a general, not only to be good at defending, but also good at attacking. You must know that the best defense is to attack. Therefore, first of all, we must be both offensive and defensive, and use it freely. Secondly, there is a difference between the generals and the commanders. To be a commander, you must not only be good at generals, but also good at generals. We must be able to see the overall situation at all times and control the three armed forces. Looking at Great Xia, there are actually not many high-ranking generals who have these two conditions at the same time. In addition to Geng Jin and Wei Feiyang, Ning Wang Zhao Dang, Wei Su, Zeng Yingming, the newly famous Ling Kaiyang, and Ye Chuang, who succeeded Geng Chao, can also be among them. ”

"Although I am famous for fighting in the desert, I have never had the experience and experience of commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, so it is difficult to say whether I can be ranked. I don't even know the bottom of my own heart, let alone the emperor. Moreover, the two generations of emperors have prevented me from taking charge of the army, and the reason is clearly there, unless it is a last resort. ”

"But Brother Qingyun also asked me a few days ago, if Geng Chao dies in battle, how will I feel? If so, I will say yes! It's not that I'm too conceited, I think I'm still a little sure of people like Zhang Bohu. ”

In the final analysis, Yang Zhi still has the last glimmer of hope for Zhao Qi in his heart, and he doesn't want to see him become a ruthless monarch who is good at scheming and keen to play with the emperor's mind. Who dares to guarantee that Geng Chao's today is not his Yang Zhi's tomorrow? is the so-called rabbit dead fox sorrow, no one in this world owes anything, why be stupid to that point?

It is no exaggeration to say that Yang Zhizhen has the ability to plant a large area of land with a single seed. Never king? Not a problem at all. This did not prevent him from sowing seeds in the army, believing that sooner or later there would be a day when the harvest would come. (To be continued.) )