"Major General, you misunderstood, it's not that I can't trust you, it's really that I think we have made too many concessions in this negotiation. It is never before in history that a few thousand captives should be required to pay such a large ransom, and our finances are not abundant; It is against morality to expel His Highness Burley from the country! ”

"When His Highness Burley came to us, we accommodated him as a refugee, and now we want to expel him from the country, which is unreasonable! If the people were to find out, it would seriously damage the reputation of the Principality, and I am worried about the Prime Minister's opinion on this matter. How useful can it be to sign a covenant and not announce it to the public, but only to have the Archduke Catherine testify? The Secretary of State finally spoke his opinion in one breath.

Sighing softly, the young man was a little disappointed in his father's assistant, and he didn't know how he got into this position?

"Secretary, the prisoners, I want to tell you, they are all fighting for the survival of the country, they are all heroic warriors, they must be redeemed, as for the amount of money, I think it is okay to have more, now we have to ask the Komini people to have more, and those who give more should be paid for peace."

"As for the problem of Burley, I don't approve of it in the first place, it's just a private matter in China, and we can't even take care of ourselves at the moment, where do we have the energy to care about anything else? Now that his brother has become the Grand Duke, we have not handed him over to his brother is already benevolent and righteous, and the reputation problem you mentioned, I am thinking, if even the survival of the country is a problem, I am afraid that the reputation problem will only be put aside. ”

There was a hint of ridicule in the young man's words, his own survival was not guaranteed, and he was still talking about benevolence, righteousness, morality, and the image of the country there, which was simply funny!

"The Covenant Thing. It was originally a formality, and it was useless to announce it now except to stimulate the Pasha, not to mention that the Pasha people would know about it sooner or later. The fulfillment of the covenant lies in the needs of both parties, and there is no dependence on interests, even if the jade seal of the country is sealed, no one will follow it, but if there is a combination of interests. There is no half-word paper, but you can fight with all your might! Secretary, you don't understand this, do you? The young man's last few words were a little loud, and the secretary of state nodded yes again and again.

For a moment, there was silence in the carriage, save for the creaking of the wheels of the carriage across the road.

"Why is Archduke Catherine so active in bringing about a reconciliation and alliance between us and the Kominis? She was clever because she sensed the danger of the Pasha's growing strength, and once our Loulan and Komini countries were destroyed, it would be the day when Liberty City would become the new capital of the Pashas! ”

The young man finished his sentence. Without further ado, he leaned back, rested his head on the cushion of the chair, closed his eyes, and fell into silent contemplation.

"Everything is ready, division commander, we can send our forces out."

Zhong Wu carefully inspected the subordinates who disguised themselves as the Holy Sect Army of the Taiping Sect, and knew that he could not see any flaws. Only then did he report to Zhao Zhongyao.

"Well, let them go. Remember to take a detour to Lulong's side, a little farther away but not easy to expose. ”

Zhao Zhongyao also seriously told Zhong Wu, who led the team, that Zhong Wu would lead a wing of the "Holy Sect Army" to bypass the mountainous area at the southern end of Lulong Mansion and enter Guanxi, attack Partridge Pass from the back, and force the garrison stationed at Partridge Pass to ask for help from Lishan County, so that Zhao Zhongyao could lead the army to enter the country in a bright and bright manner. Before that. Lishan County had already sent people into the Partridge Pass, and just when Zhong Wu led the disguised troops to the north across the steep Liupan Mountain and detoured to Longdong, the other two troops were also advancing westward without stopping, and according to the established route, they converged in a small town 100 miles away from the Partridge Pass, and the "Holy Sect Army" led by Zhong Wu at this time had only drilled out of the Liupan Mountains and entered the plains after two days and one night of marching, and there were still more than 60 miles away from the road leading to the northwest.

Both forces did not detect each other. Confused, he stumbled towards a destination.

Although the commander of the sensitive Partridge Pass garrison did not have any confidence in defending the fortress, he did not slack off in the slightest in reconnoitring the situation, and when the Taiping army appeared in the town of Shan, a hundred miles away from the garrison, he immediately sensed the menacing attack of the other party.

After a brief consideration and discussion, several officers quickly reached an agreement, that is, immediately to the northwest garrison in the west for help, and quickly sent fast horses straight to Yangmakou, sixty miles away, in their minds there are not many garrisons in Yangmakou, but as long as the other party comes, the responsibility for losing the fortress can be borne by the other party, after all, the entire territory of Guanxi County has been lost for many days, and it is commendable that they can "hold" the Partridge Pass fortress for so long without falling, and it will fall as soon as the Northwest Army takes over, which is naturally the incompetence of the Northwest Army, of course, the superiors do not blame themselves.

After receiving the letter of request for help, Zhao Zhongyao immediately ordered a cavalry wing to go first, and the light infantry of the other three companies also quickly followed, followed by logistics troops and baggage vehicles. In the face of such an "efficient" Northwest Army, the soldiers who came to ask for help also had to sigh to themselves.

When the garrison officers who were waiting for reinforcements from the northwest to come and take over in the pass learned that the number of the Holy Sect army that was rapidly advancing towards Partridge Pass was as high as 30,000, they were all stunned, such a large number of Taiping rebel troops were not expected at all, and let them wait a moment longer They also felt that the knife of the rebel army seemed to be about to be cut down, without any discussion, almost all the officers immediately gathered their men and horses and swarmed out from the west gate of the fortress, completely leaving their responsibilities behind.

The common people in the fortress also dragged their children and daughters, helped the old and the young, and joined the ranks of the refugees.

Zhao Zhongyao, who came on, was completely confused by this group of fleeing guys, while secretly laughing at Zhong Wu's realistic performance, and on the other hand, he also pretended to say that he wanted to speed up the march of the troops and must not let the chaotic army control the Partridge Pass, he never thought that he was about to face the real Taiping Sect army, and in his mind, he didn't care about the information obtained by the garrison scouts, such a timid scout actually increased the number of camouflage troops he sent several times, how could this not make him feel ridiculous.

While ordering the cavalry wing to advance quickly and stationed at Partridge Pass, and on the other hand, asking the infantry wing to keep up with the progress, Zhao Zhongyao personally led the cavalry to gallop wildly, hoping to occupy Partridge Pass as soon as possible. (To be continued......)