Liaodong, Liaoyang.

Chen Kefu lightly knocked on the imperial case and said: "Give Xiao Guan a holy decree and tell Chen Kedi that this time to take Xiao Guan, the soldiers are all miraculous." The officers and non-commissioned officers of the whole army of Xiao Guan and below are all promoted to the first rank, the lord above the captain is added one level, and the Lang general and above are all added to the rank of scattered officer. In addition, except for the various books and archives in Xiao Guan, all the rest of the gold and silver property were given to all the soldiers. Da Chen's war with other countries this time, the situation in Xiaoguan has affected the situation in the entire northwest. Give Chen Kedi another secret, and when we have no choice, we can temporarily withdraw from Xiaoguan and preserve the strength of our soldiers and horses. In addition, Chen Kedi let Xue Ju's two sons go, regardless of whether Xue Ju surrendered or not, and temporarily maintained the current situation with Western Qin. ”

Fang Xuanling nodded: "Okay, after the minister drafts the edict, it will be handed over to the province for consideration and issuance." ”

Over there, Du Ruhui hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, if General Chen guards Xiao Pass this time and can make new contributions, then his contribution this time will be great." I'm afraid it's not enough to just raise the first level of the scattered rank. ”

Fang Xuanling frowned and said: "General Chen Kedi is only sixteen years old now, and after he has just been promoted to the first rank, he will be promoted from the champion general of the third rank to the general of the town army from the second rank. In addition, he is already the marquis of Zhengsanpinguo with 2,000 households. Although he has made great achievements, it has only been half a year before and after he became an official in the court, and the speed of improvement is already rapid. If you are promoted again in a short period of time, this is inconsistent with the rules and regulations for the promotion of officials in the ministry. Besides, if he has been promoted several times in a year, how will the imperial court be promoted again in the future? ”

"In the opinion of the minister. It's better to reward it again. Liters are not good to rise again. This time, he was promoted to a scattered rank first, and he was promoted to the general of the Jin Zhen Army. After this war, we will talk about meritorious deeds and rewards, and then we will have to rise again. For now, it is better to reward him heavily, increase his knighthood, reward more gold and silver, and give him some land, which is also appropriate. ”

Chen Kefu pondered for a while, and finally nodded in agreement. After all, Chen Kedi is too young, and in real terms, the merits of many marshals and generals in the DPRK and China are actually not much worse than Chen Kedi. Now if you really want to break the promotion system of the imperial court, then it will be chaotic next.

Northwest, in the city of Xiaoguan.

Just received the holy decree delivered by the Imperial Court Flying Eagle, and all the generals of the Pioneer General's Mansion were full of joy. This time take Xiao Pass. Emperor Longyan Dayue, who was far away in Liaodong, not only was promoted from top to bottom, but also gave all the property of the entire Xiao Pass to the soldiers of the whole army, and he did not need to hand over a penny.

"Congratulations on the general's promotion to deputy marshal, congratulations to General Xi." Hu Haizhu's generals congratulated Chen Kedi one after another.

On the basis of the holy decree just now, Chen Kedi was not only promoted from the champion general to the general of the town army from the second grade, but also specially promoted him to the deputy marshal of the march of the westward marching battalion, and concurrently the vanguard general of the western expedition, and the general of Xiaoguan Zhenshou.

A team of soldiers rushed from outside, and Xu Shiji said: "There are scouts to report!" ”

"Tell me!" Chen Kedi said urgently.

"Report to the General. Fifty miles northwest of the Guanwai, the ranger sentinel found the vanguard of the Qin army. The Western Qin army was marching east along the Yellow River, and its vanguard had now entered the city of Ulan in Lingwu, north of Pingliang County. Scout reports.

Shan Xiongxin shouted: "Xue Jumo still wants to attack Xiao Pass?" ”

Chen Kedi frowned and said, "It's unlikely, Xue Ju's two sons are still in our hands." As far as Ben Jiang knows, Xue Juke only has two sons, except for these two sisters-in-law, he doesn't even have a son. It is impossible for Xue Ju to come to fight Xiao Guan, and it is impossible for him to even want his son. In addition, His Majesty also said in the holy decree just now that he had already sent someone to recruit Xue Ju, although it was unlikely that he would let a hero raise troops to join him with a few words. But at the very least, Xue Ju knew that we had no intention of dealing with him for the time being, and it was impossible for him to take the initiative to provoke us at this time. ”

"Ulan City." Xu Shiji stroked his short beard under his chin, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Xue Ju is definitely not here to fight us, since he has sent troops along the Yellow River, and the forward is directed at Wulan City. In my judgment, the biggest target of his attack is likely to be Liu Wuzhou. Otherwise. Huining, Longxi, and Tianshui, the three important towns of Western Qin, the Qin army will attack Xiaoguan from any county, and it should not run to Ulan. Xue Ju, a cunning old fox, must have seen that Liu Wuzhou was having a hard time now, so he wanted to take the opportunity to swallow Liu Wuzhou's territory. ”

"What now? Do the Xue Rengao brothers still want to put it? Hu Hai asked.

"Put, of course, our main force can't reach Xiaoguan for a while, at present we are alone in Xiaoguan, Yu Wenhua, Liu Wuzhou, Xue Ju, each of them is not something we can easily deal with. Since Xue Ju wants to take advantage of Liu Wuzhou, it is better to give him this opportunity for the time being. Let Liu Wuzhou and Xue Ju eat dog, we can just deal with Yu Wenhua with all our might. When we get Yu Wenhua, no matter which one is the winner of Xue Ju or Liu Wuzhou, we will not be able to stop us in the end. Xu Shiji said with a sneering expression.

While everyone was discussing, another guard came to report, saying that a team had been sent out by the rangers outside the Guan, and the other party claimed to be an envoy of the Qin State.

After the summons, the leader was a middle-aged scribe. After some politeness, the envoy handed over the letter of the Western Qin State and the table of surrender.

According to the letter of state, Emperor Xue Ju of Qin accepted the persuasion of Emperor Da Chen, officially submitted the letter of surrender, and since then he has been the king of Qin. In order to show his sincerity to this return, the king of Qin was willing to raise the troops of Longxi and help the Chen army to unify Guanlong.

As for why, since it had been attached, the Qin army did not come to Xiaoguan to accept the command, but suddenly went straight to Lingwu, all of this was not explained. But anyway, what is the truth of the matter, in fact, General Chen Jun has already made a conclusion. With the emperor's edict first, and the military discussion just now, no one has to pick the thorn in it at this time. After Chen Kedi said a few kind words, he took the envoy down.

After meeting the envoy of the Qin army, the judgment of the generals of Xiao Pass and Chen Jun on the current situation was more and more firm, and everyone had decided to stick to Xiao Pass and wait for the arrival of the main force of the Western Expedition.

The seventh day of November.

Wei Wensheng led 40,000 infantry and 10,000 light cavalry to return to Xiaoguan from Chang'an in the starry night, and in the evening of the same day, Xu's army entered Xinping County, Beidi County along Jingshui. At the same time, Chen Jieqin led 20,000 light horsemen from Yan'an all the way to the road, and finally crossed the Meridian Mountain and entered Luochuan County, Beidi County. The two armies are no more than a hundred miles apart!

The rangers sent by the two armies spotted each other almost simultaneously, but while the Xu cavalry was galloping back to report the news, Chen's rangers released the flying eagles that they were carrying.

The commander of the Chen army's reinforcements got this latest information first, and after receiving the information, Chen Jie immediately convened his subordinates to discuss. In the end, the military agreement was to take advantage of the communication advantage of the Chen army, immediately march overnight, take a step ahead of the Xu army, and seize the city first.

Zhejia City, a military town in Longshang, is located in the territory of Anding at the junction of Beidi County and Anding County, is the key point of the ancient "Silk Road", known as the "Three Qin Barrier, Qinlong Gateway", and its strategic position is self-evident! Folding the city is an important barrier of Xiaoguan, an important gateway between Guanlong, once the folding city is lost, then the Guanzhong and Xiaoguan will be cut off.

Chen Jie was born in the Guanlong lord Li family, and he is very familiar with the Guanlong area. In this blockade battle, he had 20,000 light cavalry, while Wei Wensheng had 50,000 foot cavalry. What's more, Wei Wensheng can be said to be his elder, the Li family and the Wei family used to be world friends, and he once called Wei Wensheng a world uncle. Now that we meet on the battlefield, this pressure can be imagined.

In order to narrow the gap between the two armies, Chen Jie chose the military town of Zhejicheng.

It was not only an important town in Guanzhong, but also a heavy garrison. However, Wei Wensheng took away a large part of the soldiers and horses from Zheji City, and later Yuwen Chengtoe attacked Jitou Mountain, and then drew some of them. At this time, the city was extremely empty, and it was completely empty. Chen Jie was confident enough to easily take down the city.

Chen Jie's choice was to consider the result after repeated considerations, to seize the city of Zhejia, and to be on the only way between Guanzhong and Xiaoguan. Occupying the city, Wei Wensheng could not bypass the Chen army and attack Xiao Pass, and could complete the plan to block the Xu army and rescue Xiao Pass. Second, as a military town, the city is high and strong, as long as the city can be taken, the Chen army reinforcements can wait for work at ease, relying on the strong city.

The decision has been decided, and all that remains is to march quickly and seize the city.

Chen Jun's actions soon reached Wei Wensheng's ears. When he heard that Chen Jiezheng led 20,000 light horsemen straight into the city, Wei Wensheng couldn't help but change color. As the original marshal of Xiao Guan, of course he understood the importance of the folding city, once Chen Jun won the folding city, it would be a big trouble.

Chen's army had 20,000 soldiers and horses, and when it was time to occupy the fortified city, if it wanted to capture the fortified city, according to the usual practice of the art of war, it would have to be at least three to seven times the number of soldiers and horses of the defenders. And with the high combat power of Chen's army, if he wants to win the 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, it is impossible to take it for ten days and half a month. Even if Yuwen Chengdu can arrive later, he can only look at the city and sigh. What's even more important is that even if you take the fold at that time, there is a stronger fortress behind Xiao Pass.

And once it is delayed for a while, then Chen Jun's follow-up reinforcements will also arrive. At that time, the offensive and defensive battle of Xiao Pass will turn into a huge meat grinder that will slowly devour all the forces in the pass.

Wei Wen has been promoted to a generation of famous generals, and he has clearly calculated the evolution of things before and after in a thought.

"We can't let things go this way." Wei Wensheng pushed his forehead with his hand, straddled it, and immediately called out to the herald.

"Immediately upload this commander's military order! The 10,000 light cavalry immediately stopped resting, and the whole army set off and marched rapidly, and it was necessary to rush to Zhijia City before Chen's army! ”

The accompanying generals were taken aback: "Marshal, the soldiers came all the way from Chang'an, the soldiers and horses were tired, and they hurried overnight, and the soldiers were physically exhausted." Not to mention, the infantry could not keep up with the pace of the cavalry. ”

Wei Wensheng shook his head: "Ben Shuai led 10,000 light cavalry to gallop to the city, and you led the infantry to rush to the city, as fast as you could, you can run as fast as you can." No need to say much, let's go! ”……)