"Is there any news of Dequan?"

Gao Xianzhi sat in the handsome tent, his expression was annoyed, and his complexion was not very good.

"No, ask those Hu people who are transporting supplies, and they all say that they don't know the way." Li Siye also felt that the atmosphere was very depressing.

"Is there a problem with supplies?"

"No, there are plenty of them."

"I really don't know what to do," Gao Xianzhi scolded.

Li Siye knew that it was not Ye Chang who was scolding, but Zheng Dequan. He asked Zheng Dequan and Bi Sichen to monitor Ye Chang, but the two of them didn't get any news to the front, it was nothing more than Gao Xianzhi's instructions at the beginning, but they acted so unconsciously.

Of course, Bi Sichen is better than less than one thing, but Zheng Dequan should not be like this.

"Out of the army, continue to attack the city" After scolding, Gao Xianzhi shouted loudly.

Only half of his anger is directed at Zheng Dequan, and most of it is because of the situation he finds himself in. According to his plan, he first captured the city of Talas, and then defended the city for the Great Eclipse army. For the advantages and disadvantages of the Tang army and the Great Food Army, he knew in his heart, the Tang Army was suitable for defense, not conducive to field warfare, if he could capture a city, with a strong city, consume the sharp spirit of the Great Food Army, and then counterattack, it was enough to win a complete victory.

But the city of Talas was not taken down by a single blow, as he had expected. At first, he thought that as long as the army came to the city and sent an envoy to persuade him to surrender, the city of Talas would naturally open its doors to meet it, and the battle would be decided. However, his envoy sent twice, but the city of Talas did not surrender, and the words brought back by the envoy were that he had deceived the capital of the Stone Kingdom in the past year and wantonly killed and plundered, so that the whole city of Talas had the same hatred of the enemy, and would rather die in battle than surrender.

Gao Xianzhi could only order the siege of the city, but he led the army on an expedition and crossed the mountains and Gobi, and it was impossible to carry heavy siege equipment. There are no siege engines, no stone throwers, no eight-oxen crossbows, and even ladders are extremely lacking, in such a situation, how can you capture Talas by relying on the lives of soldiers to fill it?

He has been attacking the city for three days in a row, and he has not gained anything except the loss of a few hundred soldiers.

"Let the rear send us siege equipment, isn't Ye Chang known as a good hand, let him also hurt his brain, this siege equipment can't keep up, how can the city be broken?" Gao Xianzhi suddenly said again.

He didn't want to say this, but none of the generals in the audience said it, which forced him to say it himself.

On the surface, Ye Chang was asked to take on part of the task, but in fact, everyone knew that Gao Xianzhi was already preparing for not being able to achieve his goal. When the time comes, as soon as he retreats, he can turn around and make it clear to the imperial court that he fought well, but Ye Chang failed to transport the siege equipment in time and had to retreat under the fortified city - so that there is no responsibility for achieving the strategic goal, Ye Chang has to bear at least half of it.

"Yes." Li Siye answered, not daring to speak.

The person in charge of the logistics and supply of the Anxi Army was the Bahanna, and this expedition was originally the Tang Dynasty armed Yu She, which was caused by the dispute between Bahanna and Shiguo. Gao Xianzhi insisted on letting Ye Chang come to deliver the ordnance, and it was already clear that he had bad intentions.

It's just that Li Siye hasn't been able to get out of the country to give orders, so he can hear the roar of the ranger scouts outside. Immediately afterwards, the two scouts were led into the big tent, Gao Xianzhi looked at them, his fists clenched tightly: "What's the matter?" ”

Both of them were accompanied by the city army, that is, the Hu army under the direct management of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, both of them were soaked with sweat, and after kneeling down on one knee and said: "Ambassador, the big cannibal is coming"

"The Great Cannibal is Coming"

There was a buzz in the army, and everyone began to talk.

Gao Xianzhi's eagle eyes turned, and under his forced gaze, all the generals in the army were silent. Gao Xianzhi snorted coldly: "The big food will come, isn't this something that has been understood for a long time, what's the fuss?"

Seeing that everyone was quiet, Gao Xianzhi suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and asked the scout: "What is the strength of the Great Food Army?"

"The army strength of the Great Food Headquarters is 20,000, but the number of servants of various countries is 90,000, and the number of the combined army of the nine surnames of Zhaowu is not counted

Gao Xianzhi was slightly shocked in his heart, this is that there are more than 110,000 soldiers, plus the strength of the Zhaowu Nine Kingdoms, although the news he reported to Li Longji said that the Great Food had more than 200,000 troops, but it was his nonsense to deceive people to get more support, but the fact that the Great Cannibal could entangle these more than 100,000 troops still made him feel the pressure.

The Tang army is more than 20,000 Han soldiers in Anxi Town, about 40,000 troops attached to the city and various departments, plus the soldiers of Ge Luolu and Bahan, the total military strength is about 100,000.

In terms of strength on both sides, Datang does not have an advantage. Naturally, this was due to the fact that both sides were fought by a local military district similar to a governor-general, and neither of the two behemoths was mobilized for war, and both were preparing to fight on several fronts at once. Like the Tang Dynasty, nearly 100,000 elites in the hands of An Lushan, more than 20,000 soldiers in the hands of Fumeng Lingcha, 30,000 Jiannan soldiers that were originally under the management of Ye Chang and are now temporarily under the control of Gao Shi, and the Liaodong Army created by Ye Chang were not used. Shuofang and Longyou only used part of the army, and the Hexi Army served as a reserve

"How far is it from our army?" Gao Xianzhi asked again.

"More than 50 miles"

It is about more than 700 miles from Talas to Broken Leaf City, and it is more than 800 miles to Zhexi City, the ancient capital of Shiguo, and there are only 50 miles left

"Doctor, we are trapped under the city, not a place of war, why don't we retreat temporarily?" Li Siye said.

"Hmph, the city will be broken soon, how can you retreat like this" Gao Xianzhi thought that if he returned in vain, he was about to face Ye Chang's face, he felt irritable in his heart, and then glared: "Continue to attack the city"

"Doctor" Li Siye was a little anxious, but Gao Xianzhi ignored him and strode out of the camp.

Li Siye still had to be persuaded again, and Duan Xiushi beside him grabbed him: "Li Gong, if you don't persuade at this time, let Doctor Gao attack again, if you can take Talas, the battle situation is still favorable to our army, if you can't take it, in the afternoon, I think Doctor Gao will make another decision." ”

"In your opinion?" Li Siye asked.

"Just be prepared to fight the thief." Duan Xiushi sighed: "Unwilling, ......"

Li Siye pondered for a while, and then caught up with Gao Xianzhi from behind: "Doctor, please take me as the leader of the team and take the lead in the city."

"General Li is brave, if you are the leader of the team, it will be great......"

Although Li Siye was brave and even once boarded the city of Talas, he had to retreat at first, because the battle was only halfway through, and someone came to report that the Great Food Army was furious overnight, and the vanguard was only more than ten miles away from Talas. The Great Food Army came so quickly that Gao Xianzhi changed his mind about fighting the last and had to retire from the army to recuperate.

He withdrew his troops to the east of the tributaries of the Talas River, broke the pontoon bridge, and at this time the Great Food Army also rushed to the battlefield, and the two sides faced each other across the river. Because of the river, the Great Food Army did not immediately catch up with the attack, and Gao Xianzhi did not cross the river again to invite the attack in order not to be flanked by the enemy.

The two sides briefly confronted each other across the river for a day, Gao Xianzhi still hadn't decided to retreat, he wanted to test the combat power of the big cannibal first. If the Great Cannibal has nothing to show for itself and can be defeated in a battle, then it is also a choice to destroy the reinforcements first, and then destroy the city of Talas.

He didn't know that Ye Chang had already led the army to arrive at the city of Ashibulai, which was only one hundred and thirty miles away from Talas.

Gao Xianzhi oversaw that there were 100,000 troops, and the troops in Ye Chang's hands were 30,000, 20,000 Tianwei troops, and 10,000 city annexes and tribal soldiers put together from all sides. Gao Xianzhi left Chang'an in April and began to move westward in July, and he set off on the fifteenth day later than Gao Xianzhi. If it weren't for the fact that the main force of the Tianwei Army had already arrived in Shattered Leaf City, he would not have been able to catch up.

Fortunately, Gao Xianzhi was still delayed along the way, and he acted smoothly, so he was able to barely catch up with Gao Xianzhi's trip. He is the head of the rear army, so he naturally has the power to control the logistics of the armies, and the logistics of Gao Xianzhi's department mainly rely on Bahan's person, who is not familiar with the situation of the Tang army, and Ye Chang deliberately conceals it, only saying that Gao Xianzhi is heavy, so they do not suspect him.

"The Great Eater has arrived?"

The person who came back from the front brought the news, and Ye Chang's expression was suddenly solemn.

"Yes, three days ago, the big food soldiers arrived at the city of Talas, and the high public soldiers retreated across the river, and then two days ago, the big food soldiers crossed the river to invite the battle, and the two sides fought fiercely on the flat land east of the river for a day, and they won and lost each other." The man who was holding a sweat glanced at Ye Chang cautiously: "Duke Gao has an order for you to go to help quickly." ”

Ye Chang pouted, this guy is pretending to pass on military orders.

Gao Xianzhi definitely didn't know that he was coming, otherwise he would never dare to pass on such a military order, and maybe he would give up the Battle of Talas and return to the army directly - he wouldn't believe Ye Chang, just as Ye Chang didn't trust him.

Now Ye Chang is full of distrust of Gao Xianzhi, Ge Shuhan, An Lushan, An Sishun, and other generals. It's not that these Hu generals don't have a military strategy and Wu Tao, but because they don't regard the lives of the Han army as human lives, they have repeatedly made risky moves for their own glory and wealth, and they have lost tens of thousands of teachers at every turn, which are mostly Han family children.

"I know what to say, you go back first, continue to escort military supplies, and send more cattle and sheep." Ye Chang sent the man away.

"The fight has started, our opportunity has come" By Ye Chang's side, Wang Yang'er was very excited: "Ye Zhongcheng, let me be a pioneer"

"When I was a pioneer, you were in Yunnan, and you had already worked for Ye Zhongcheng, and now it's finally my turn," Li Sheng said excitedly.

"Don't fight." Shanzhi persuaded him, and the two turned to him, knowing that he had a close relationship with Ye Chang, and yelled for him to comment.

Shanzhi touched his helmet and laughed: "Don't fight, since I followed my fifth brother, every time there is a war, I must be the vanguard, and I should be right."

"How can I, Bai Xiaode, lag behind others"

"Wei Boyu is also willing to be the vanguard of this thief and will break the thief army"

They couldn't argue, so they could only let Ye Chang judge. The generals were all vying for the lead, Ye Chang was very happy in his heart, he smiled and said: "Why fight, are you still afraid that there will be no chance to make meritorious contributions?" I have already seen the martial arts of Shanzhishi and Yang'er, so you two will follow me first. Li Sheng's archery technique, I have seen it at the beginning, and it must be of great use, but you are not familiar with the geography here, so it is not suitable to be a pioneer. Bai Xiaode, I know that you are brave and champion the three armies, but it is a pity that Gao Xianzhi failed to use you, so I will take you as the vanguard today...... Boyu, you don't have to be angry, I also have something important to hand over to you, you wait"

He arranged them one by one, and although the people who did not have the turn of the vanguard were a little dissatisfied, they did not say anything. He said to Bai Xiaode: "You take two thousand light horsemen and go to Talas, don't be in a hurry to join the battle, if the Great Food and Gao Xianzhi are in a stalemate, you will hide in the valley and don't go to war." If Gao Xianzhi is defeated, you must respond, be sure to reduce the losses of our army, and then retreat to Baishiling. ”

Hearing that it was not an all-out attack, but such a task, Bai Xiaode was a little displeased, and he asked, "What if Doctor Gao wins?" ”

Ye Chang patted him on the shoulder: "There are plains around Talas, the enemy is outnumbered, and it is said that the big food soldiers are good at setting up fish scale formations, and Gao Xianzhi is fighting with the enemy here, but he doesn't know the enemy." Grolu secretly harbored different intentions, Bahanna had other selfish intentions, and Gao Xianzhi trusted these two armies too much, but he didn't know himself. If you do not know the enemy or yourself, and the enemy is outnumbered, how can you be invincible? I ordered you to answer, but I couldn't bear to let me be a Tang sergeant, an iron-blooded man, and throw your life on the bank of Talas in vain. This first merit must belong to you, and the more Datang sergeants you save, the greater the credit."

Hearing him say this, Bai Xiaode was happy and received his order immediately. He was about to leave, but Ye Chang said, "Don't worry, you listen to me and finish arranging." Li Sheng, you lead 6,000 soldiers, carry more crossbow arrows, follow Bai Xiaode, go to Baishiling, ambush on both sides of the mountain road, pay attention to hide well, and enlarge the food soldiers to come...... Filial piety, it's up to you to lure the big food soldiers over. ”

Bai Xiaode responded, and Li Sheng's eyes flashed, and he understood what Ye Chang meant.

"What about me, what about me?" Wei Boyu screamed, his heart was in a hurry, now even Li Sheng has something to do, but he hasn't yet

"You naturally have a heavy responsibility, I see that you are both wise and brave, and the matter of seizing Talas will be handed over to you."

"What?" Wei Boyu was stunned.

"Prepare yourself to choose those who can climb the mountains and mountains, and get ready to climb the snowy ridges, and follow the north of the snowy ridge and the edge of the moraine to the city of Talas. If you can take the city, you will take the city, but if you can't take the city, after the defeat of the Great Eclipse army, you will cut off its way back."

Wei Boyu only felt that his scalp was numb, and his eyes almost protruded.

This is not an easy task to complete, climbing over the snow ridge is already an extremely difficult thing, and then detouring through the sand moraine, it is even more dangerous.

"Zhongcheng, if it weren't for my fear, this matter would be really difficult...... he shouted, "I would like to ...... for the leader"

"Don't be in a hurry to call it difficult, you can come and see." Ye Chang said with a smile.

With his order, several soldiers brought a large wooden plate, and Ye Chang lifted the wooden plate: "Come and see"

Wei Boyu was taken aback when he saw it: "This is?" ”

"Sand table map, these days, I let you find more guides who are familiar with geography here, for this reason, you see, the guide said that there is a trail here, you can go over the snow ridge, walk on the snow ridge and the sand moraine, and the mountains guide the way, so you are not afraid of getting lost in the desert. The trail is narrow, the army is difficult to walk, but for hundreds of people to walk, there is still no problem, if you can't take it, I will change the good straight division to do, when in Yunnan, he and Gao Shifei captured the Iron Bridge City, it is five days and nights over the mountains hundreds of miles"

Wei Boyu glanced at the monk and gritted his teeth, he was in danger of seeking wealth and wealth, he finally got such an opportunity to make great contributions, and he couldn't miss it