At the beginning of autumn, Mobei has become high and crisp, and the south of Jinguo is still scorching sun.

When An Ran and Fan Yuntian bullied the jackals, lions and leopards in the wilderness on the way to the west, the Northern Desert Army of Feidu Point, the Northern City Wall, the Dongzi Camp and the Beizi Camp had been assembled, and the soldiers, horses, baggage carts, and siege vehicles were mixed together to form three teams to march towards the Xizi Battalion. Viewed from above, these three teams are like moving ants crawling slowly on the plain towards the west, sonorous and orderly.

Early that morning, the morning fog had just lifted, and on the horizon of the wasteland there was a young man riding on a fast horse and galloping towards one large and one small.

When he saw the two people enjoying breakfast, he turned over and dismounted, knelt down on one knee and saluted.

"The last general, Lin Xiao, meets Lord Waiting!" He said aloud.

An Ran stood up and looked at this dusty but resolute man, and did not show a surprised look. Because of the many days of wandering in this Northern Desert Wasteland, the idle rangers they met all did this action after seeing their tokens, and later-especially after the night of killing ghosts on the edge of the desert battlefield--probably because of the word of mouth of the rangers, the soldiers probably knew that there was a big and a small person in the wasteland, and the people who followed the white deer around them were the Houguan who patrolled the Northern Desert, and after seeing them, they didn't ask and directly clasped their fists and saluted.

However, although he did not show surprise, An Ran was still a little suspicious in his heart. The man in front of him didn't look like a roaming knight in the wasteland, he had come to find him on purpose, and the hat on his back was ......

"Brother Lin, please get up!" An Ran greeted him with a smile and personally helped the man up. "What are you looking for from us?"

"Returning to your lordship, the last general will come to follow your lord by order of the marshal."

"Marshal? Follow? At this time, An Ran was really suspicious, he continued to look at this tall and very athletic man wearing a black cloth shirt, with a green stubble on his chin, and said, "Who is your marshal?" Why do you want to follow me again? ”

"The marshal said that the lord would naturally know who he was after seeing the hat on the back of the general, and he also ordered the general to bring a letter to the lord." As he spoke, the man took out the letter from his bosom and handed it to An Ran.

"Great Treasure!" Fan Yuntian, who was sitting on the ground watching the conversation between the two, stood up in surprise and suddenly, "Is your generalissimo the same Li Dabao who killed wolves and monsters with us?" I'm going to be a good girl! Brother An Ran killed me, I couldn't have imagined that bastard was actually the generalissimo! ”

Lin Xiao didn't show any expression for the NPC kid's mouth, An Ran knew that Fan Yuntian's words might make the man in black unhappy, but he didn't care about it, he just opened the letter and read it.

Brother Enron:

See the words like meeting!

I guess you're wondering who is down there? I can't think of it! Hey! I am Li Jiazhen, who is in charge of the entire Northern Desert Army, the royal prince, the king of Guangmo in people's mouths, and the generalissimo in the mouth of Pao Ze in the army. But I hope that Brother Enron will forget these titles on the despicable people, so that it will not be embarrassing when you and I meet in the future. Again, introduce yourself, nice! Lao Tzu is the man who is loved, flowers bloom, uninhibited, handsome and dashing Northern Desert swordsman Li Dabao.

I can't talk about how much I miss you and Fan Yuntian's little bastard, because Lao Tzu and you haven't been separated for a long time, and Lao Tzu has to deal with a lot of things, not as leisurely and elegant as you two dogs. Lao Tzu just wants to know, have you been to the grassland? Did you see that kind of grassland girl with bee waist and duck buttocks? I don't know if you went to the Mobei battlefield or found the bones of the young man, these things can only be known after you and I meet, eat and talk, but there is an urgent matter that needs to be asked by the elder brother.

I believe that Brother An Ran probably knows that my Dajin will soon send troops to the west to conquer the Rohan Kingdom, I don't know what you think of this war? Anyway, the vast majority of our people in Jinguo will think that this is a righteous action to conquer the enemy country; But the people of the Rohan Kingdom must have thought that this was a naked invasion. As far as I'm concerned, I naturally think it's a just battle; I understand my father's determination to conquer Rohan and dominate the world, and only when the world is truly unified, will there be no recurrence of the bleak scene of life and misery on this land. But this is not to say that I, Li Jiazhen, love to kill and be belligerent, on the contrary, I am disgusted with war, When you see the person who drank with you the night before, the next day he fell in a pool of blood; When you can only hold your dearest brothers in your arms and let them die and are powerless; Who can love war? Maybe you'll say that's what military people are, and the moment they put on their armor, they should be ready for the day, well! I admit that soldiers are machines in war, and it is understandable that they die in battle, but what about the common people? Thousands of people who have been displaced and tormented by war, who are helpless, deserve to die? Why should the anger of the struggle between the ruling classes be burned on their heads? We don't know how many times we have pondered in the dark of night, how good it would be if there were no wars in this world? However, this is just wishful thinking on our part, so I wonder if war is unavoidable, then as a participant in the war, can we try to make this war as few deaths as possible, which is one of the things I ask you to do.

Brother An Ran, you adventurers are like the immortals in the sky, unlike us, you can come back from the dead, even if you go in and out of the tiger and wolf's lair, you can return safely. If you can organize a scout team of adventurers to disguise themselves as civilians and go to the cities in the south of the Rokhanate Kingdom, you can check the military situation of the enemy country and report to us; Second, when the time is ripe, we can capture the commander of the army and open the city gate, so as to reduce the casualties caused by our army in the siege battle. In other words, if the enemy army does not have the backbone of the plan and the city as a battle, their resistance and morale will naturally be much smaller, and they will also die a lot less. So Jiazhen is here to ask my brother, I hope you agree to this. Of course, I know that this is a bit of a strong man's difficulty, even if you are an adventurer, it is dangerous to go to that enemy city, there will be losses, whether the brother agrees or not, it is all voluntary, Jiazhen will never force it, even if you don't agree, it will not prevent Li Dabao from coming to you for dinner one day.

The person who sent the letter was my confidant, and he had some skills. If the elder brother agrees to this, he will follow you all the way to the Rohan Kingdom to be your escort and guide, and if the elder brother does not agree to this matter, he will also leave, and it will never be revealed and will never affect the mood of the travel of the elder brother An Ran.

Well, that's it for a long story short! Although I don't miss you two dogs very much, I really miss the well-behaved white deer! Say hello to it for me.

Take care all the way!

Your friend: Li Jiazhen

Seeing the end of the letter, An Ran couldn't help laughing, "Dare to love this stupid big guy and still have thoughts about Xiaobai, this little girl?" He thought.

"Look at you!" Fan Yuntian pouted and scolded: "I don't know if the picked up gold or silver." ”

"Brother Lin, I don't know if the marshal is allowed to read this letter alone?" An Ran asked.

"The adult can call the name of the last general," Lin Xiao said: "The eldest brother and the last general really dare not be, the marshal did not give me a special explanation when he sent me the letter, and this letter can only be read by the adult alone." ”

"Well, let's all take a look! This letter is not confidential to the three of us. An Ran handed the letter to Fan Yuntian, "Little rabbit, you are very curious, you want to know everything." ”

An Ran is ready to go to the enemy country as a scout, not only because he has a good relationship with the pseudonym Li Dabao, but actually the eldest prince Li Jiazhen; Regardless of whether Li Jiazhen used the pseudonym Li Dabao to find himself drinking and fighting because of his true temperament, or because of the purpose of letting himself work for him, An Ran didn't care, what he cared about was just like what Xiao Laodao said, 'If you can shelter innocent people this time, it will be a merit', and this generalissimo who has worn hats and tattered clothes is really good! Some people can see it in their eyes.

"It's okay if I don't call him Brother Lin," An Ran smiled and handed Lin Xiao the wine gourd and the oiled paper bag containing the beef, "You don't want to call yourself the last general again, let alone call us adults, just call me Fan Yuntian Anran, and then it will be very inconvenient for us to go west and use this title again." ”

"So it's a big ......," An Ran immediately glared at him, and the man immediately changed his words, "So An Ran always agreed to this matter?" ”

"Or else? The guy in the letter said that, can Lao Tzu refuse? The gray-robed young man handed his hand forward, "Why don't you hurry up and eat hungry?" ”

The man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a scar on his cheek stood up all of a sudden, hammered his right chest with his left fist, and said loudly: "Lin Xiao, on behalf of the robed brothers on the northern desert, has thanked Boss An Ran for his kindness. ”

"Don't you thank Lao Tzu?" Fan Yuntian raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "Don't forget that Lao Tzu is also going to the Longtan Tiger's Den in that enemy country." ”

Then this dark-skinned man, who was about thirty years old, wanted to thank Fan Yuntian again.

"Thank you so much!" Fan Yuntian stood on tiptoe and patted Lin Xiao, who was half a head taller than him, on the shoulder and said, "I said Lao Lin! Don't be so restrained, okay? You see, when your marshal was with us, he didn't care about his identity at all! Feel free, you will make everyone very restrained, and it will cause Lao Tzu to not even dare to say foul language. ”

"Hmm!" After hearing this, the man in black grinned and took the wine jug and beef bun, "Everything is up to you." ”

He ate quickly, Lin Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, if An Ran didn't agree to Li Jiazhen's request, what face would he have to return to his marshal's side?

******

On August 9, the 32nd year of Jinhui, with the three horns sounding on the head of the city of Ailaoguan, this national war, which took one year and five months and was enough to affect the historical trend of the entire Eastern Dynasty, kicked off. Those players who are still on the grassland, still in the mountains, still in the dungeon, still in the novice village, and still slashing in the county town would have thought that from today onwards, their future fate will be as closely related to war as the NPCs in this world.

The autumn wind was bleak, and the wind blew the large and small battle flags downstairs in the mourning city. Cheng Yu, the generalissimo of Zhennan who is nearly sixty years old and has gray temples, is riding on a white war horse, he is wearing a phoenix winged hood, wearing a gold lacquer mountain armor, and his hand is pressing the sword, and his eyes are blazing at the dozens of generals who are also riding on the war horse under the battle flag.

Jiang, Li, Wang, Han, Tian, Zhao, Feng, Huang, Cheng, Xiao, each black battle flag represents the surname of each general, and there are five faces under the ten-sided battle flag that are produced in Ailaoguan, Cheng Yu has personally watched them change from the original green face to today's knife and axe, these recruits from the southern counties and counties of Jinguo were finally blown into iron-blooded generals by the wind and sand of Ailaoguan, which is a masterpiece of the years and a carving in the army.

Like the dark-faced middle-aged man under the banner of Cheng Zhan, Cheng Yu regarded them as his own children, even if these people came from Xiliang, Luanshi, Zhongshan, Pinghan and the imperial court to join the team because of the war, Cheng Yu was willing to treat them as his own children.

He Cheng Yurong horse all his life, when he was young, he also had a wife and gave birth to two sons, and he also had a big house in Xiliang City, but because of the war fifteen years ago, his wife and child were both killed, leaving only this eldest son to follow him to fight on the battlefield, and since then he has sat in mourning and never returned to Xiliang City; He also rejected His Majesty the Emperor's kindness to let him serve in the military department to retire for a long time.

"What are you going back for?" The old marshal thought, "Is it hurt?" I, Cheng Yu, am a soldier, and there is only one thing to do as a soldier - to go into battle and kill the enemy. ”

On the left, he walked slowly, riding a black horse, wearing the 'dragon pattern armor' given by the emperor, and the desert lonely smoke hanging from Longhu *** directly at Cheng Yu with his fist.

"Generalissimo! The three armies are ready to assemble and await your orders! ”

"Get in the queue!"

"Yes!"

The desert lonely smoke rode slowly towards the battle flag with the word Cheng, and consciously lined up behind General Cheng Dayi. Among the black oppressive crowd, there are many people who are players he recruited from the gangs and counties he brought from the Tai'an Gang.

"Do you have anything to say?" Cheng Yu, who had a white beard fluttering in the wind, turned sideways and asked softly to the soldier beside him.

"Everything is subject to the orders of the generalissimo," the high-ranking official from the capital opened his lips lightly, "Before the lower official went out, Lord Shangshu specially explained that the people who went to the Yamen of the battlefield military department came to learn." ”

His words seemed humble, but to Cheng Yu's ears, it was very harsh, very harsh.

"Studying?" Cheng Yu frowned slightly and thought, "My 800,000 Southern Xinjiang soldiers are here for your military department to come to observe and learn?" Fuck you, Master Wangbaguan! ”

"Let's go!"

Although he didn't like it in his heart, Cheng Yu didn't show it, and the old handsome, who was nearly sixty years old, shouted a command.

The spears erected for hundreds of miles below the city of Laerao suddenly rose, and the cold light shone like the coniferous forest in the snowy region shaking the snow in the wind. The footmen, horsemen, and crossbowmen all raised their weapons in the air and shouted, "Roar! Roar! Roar! The sound was like a tiger roaring in the mountains, deafening.

A herald holding a small yellow flag rode around a neat queue on a war horse, chanting the word 'go'.

Dozens of generals on horseback turned their horses and began to run from the back of the column to the front of the line, and the generals drew their sabers or swords at their waists and collided with the spears erected by their soldiers, and finally they came to the front of the line with the clanging sound. With a wave of his big hand, the entire detachment turned around and slowly advanced with his general.

Not even one person spoke, not even one head was talking to each other, there was only the sound of neat steps and the clash of iron armor.

"What a spectacle!" The old marshal who rode his horse behind the soldiers in the line thought, "You want to ask me where Cheng Yu's home is?" My home is here, you have to ask me if Cheng Yu's relatives are alive? Please take a look at my majestic 800,000 robed brothers. ”

Indeed, from today onwards, he himself will move from the city head of Ailaoguan to the marching military tent, formulate a battle plan, and coordinate the dispatch of 800,000 southern Xinjiang troops, and he will live and die with his robe brothers.

******

The hinterland of the Arislan steppe, the capital of the Rohan Kingdom - Handu, is inlaid on the earth like a huge millstone, the reason why the word "mosaic" is used is because although the city covers a wide area, the buildings in the city are not high, all of them are the kind of domes, round walls, arches, architectural style, most of the houses have only one floor, the roof is painted with white paint, the walls are made of mud and stones, and the people of the solid point will decorate and decorate their houses, only the buildings of the palace and the Holy See will be several stories high, Outside, there are columns that symbolize power.

Two-thirds of the entire Rohan country is grassland, the rest of the north is wilderness, the south is hills, the wind blowing from the west sea brings a lot of rain, so the grassland land in the central part of the Rohan country is fertile and rich in wild grasses, basically the people of the Rohan country live by grazing, only a small part of the people live by fishing, hunting, and farming.

'Arislan' means lion in the Rohan language, so the herdsmen on this grassland are good at riding and archery and running, and the herdsmen in the wild have no fixed residence, and most of the year they will drive cattle, sheep and horses to gallop on the grassland, they live in the Luohan bag (yurt look) and eat mutton; Riding a horse, the woman is unrestrained, and the man is fierce has become one of the characteristics of this grassland.

They are not Jinguo people, and they don't seem to be too particular about food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

Therefore, even the emperor who sat on the iron throne in this palace only wore a golden cymbal crown with agate beads on his head, and wore a large red dragon robe wrapped in a golden brocade sundress.

This is a fat emperor with a dark complexion and a beard, and his full name is 'Bao Luote.***' The people of the Rohan Kingdom actually have no surname, and their so-called surnames are generally taken from their own tribes or place names, for example, the fourth emperor of the Rohan Kingdom - Luo Xianzong, his surname is taken from the tribal names of the ancestors, and his name '***' is taken by the Holy See, which means hero in the Rohan language.

Then Ye Hong stood beside the Iron Throne, holding a silver wine glass and holding a silver wine glass in the other, looking at this 'heroic' emperor who had become sad.

The Emperor fell into deep thought as he stroked his braids to his ears. Several henchmen and ministers in the audience were silent, the delicacies on the pine table were intact, and the entire hall was as silent as death.

"According to what Immortal Master Ye said," *** raised his head and looked at Ye Hong with blazing eyes, "Your country is raising troops to attack, and all the soldiers of my dignified Rohan Dynasty can't stop it?" A bit alarmist, right? I think that at the beginning, my Luohan army once broke through the Mourning Pass, and the horseshoe of the grassland children also walked through the mountains and rivers of the Jin country. ”

"Humph! You brute is not only fat, but also stupid, even if you are stupid, you are still very arrogant. Ye Hong was secretly amused in his heart, and he slowly placed the silver wine glass on the wooden table.

"Your Majesty," Ye Hong, the head of the Imperial Sword Sect, smiled playfully, "First of all, it is not the old man's country, and those who go up the mountain regard heaven and earth as their home, and there are no national borders; Secondly, the person who led the army to capture the Mourning Pass was your father's general, not you, as for how it was broken, I think your secret history records it very clearly, fifteen years ago, after Emperor Jinhui personally drove you out of the Mourning Pass, how many of your grassland sons are left? ”

Questioning the Emperor in such contemptuous language, the fat lord of the steppe, who was no more than twenty years old, was tempted to jump up and slap the old immortal, and then throw him into the wild to feed the wolves. But he didn't dare, this was a mountain man with great magical powers, and he didn't have the strength and courage to fight him, so he could only clench his fists to death.

"There is a way that is good medicine, bitter mouth is good for disease, and loyal words are good for deeds." The tall old man seemed to see through the anger in the emperor's heart at a glance, "The old man's words are really not good, Your Majesty wants to listen to flattery, you can listen to your ministers sing praises at the court meeting, but if Your Majesty wants to solve the problem, then please hold down and listen to the old man." ”

"It's the little emperor who is rude!" He stood up and clasped his fists and saluted, "I'm here to make amends to Master Ye." ”

In the face of his emperor's low voice, none of the several confidants and ministers in the audience would feel that something was wrong, because the tall old man in front of him with green sideburns and fairy desires was indeed an existence they could not afford to provoke.

"Today's Jin State is prosperous, and the army that is about to invade this time is the Southern Xinjiang Army of Mourning Pass, which is estimated to be about eight or nine hundred thousand——"

"Ahh

There was a person in the audience who made this noise and interrupted Ye Hong's conversation, and the old man glanced at him lightly, and the person immediately buried his head.

"It is not clear who will lead the army for the time being, but it is still possible for the eight or nine hundred thousand southern Xinjiang troops to rush up and capture a few pools in the Horqin hills, of course, Your Majesty wants to protect these cities with the whole country's troops, and the southern Xinjiang army may not be able to capture them, but the old man does not recommend that Your Majesty do this, the best way is to evacuate all the military and civilian materials of these cities to the Jeddah Gorge, and not leave a single grain to the enemy."

"Do you want to stick to the terrain of the Jeddah Gorge?" *** with wrench asked.

"Yes," the old man nodded, "Gilda means spear in your Rohan language, and this is the closest route from the Korqin Hills to the middle of Rohan, otherwise they would have to continue their way westward, along the coastline of the Western Sea, to reach the Arislan steppes." Defending the Jeddah Gorge, no matter which way the enemy marches from, it will cost them a lot of troops and materials, you must know that it is easy to defend the city and difficult to attack the city, and the enemy will probably have to die a lot of soldiers if he wants to break through the giant deer city on the Jeddah Gorge, which is not the deadliest. The old man took the silver glass and drank it down.

"What's deadli?" Ask.

"Their grain and grass," Ye Hong said: "As the saying goes, the three armies have not moved the grain and grass first, if their grain and grass are not guaranteed, what will happen to the dignified army of eight or nine hundred thousand?" Lying on the ground and gnawing on grass roots? The biggest enemy of sending troops on an expedition is attrition, we only need to stretch the war and the balance of victory will tilt to Your Majesty's side, but this is far from enough, Your Majesty knows why it is not enough? ”

This fat emperor could only shake his head, at his age, he was probably spending all his thoughts on the women of the harem.

"Because there will be a large number of grain trucks and soldiers stuffing into the southern Xinjiang military camp on this front, Emperor Jinhui is fully prepared for this war, and he has been recuperating for decades in order to send troops today. Wars between countries, to put it bluntly, the cost is actually the national strength of a country, according to the current situation, the national strength of the Rohan State is completely incomparable with the Jin State, so it will be you who will be the first to be dragged down. Then, the millions of Northern Desert troops on the other side behind you swung south, how can you resist? ”

"Will the Northern Desert Army also be dispatched?" The young emperor asked, feeling a little hot on his vest.

"It's like this," the old man stretched his hands out and pressed them to the middle, "this hand is like the Southern Xinjiang Army, and this hand is like the Northern Desert Army, and the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom wants them to be together, just like catching fish in a pond." If you hold on to Julu City in Jeddah Gorge, then the Southern Xinjiang Army will besiege and not attack and let the Northern Desert Army fight from the north, if you retreat step by step, the Northern Desert Army will guard the city of Ulan Bari, which is also a big pass, and let the Southern Xinjiang Army drive you there and then ......" Ye Hong's palms snapped together.

The sound of these palms striking made several ministers in the audience break out in a cold sweat.

"What can I do?" The emperor panicked and immediately bowed down and clenched his fists, "I implore Immortal Master Ye to save the people of my Luohan Kingdom!" ”

"The army is not yet overwhelmed! Are you afraid of being like this? What about the majesty of the past? Ye Hong looked at *** kindly, and his heart was full of disdain, "I think how brave your grandfather was at the beginning, why did this Iron Throne become like paper paste when it came to you?" Sure enough, the grassland barbarians are not rich for three generations, even if there is no Jin army to attack, you may not be able to sit on this throne for a few days. ”

Your Majesty is not in a hurry, the old man in a white robe brushed his beard and said: "The old man has his own good strategy, Your Majesty's army will defend the important cities in the north and south gorges and consume each other with them to prolong the war as much as possible, and you only need to give me 200,000 elites to break the enemy." ”

Ye Hong's request for 200,000 elites made it a little difficult for this young fat emperor to choose, joking that the strength of the entire Rohan Kingdom is only a million, you will go to 200,000 or elites with one mouth, and the remaining 800,000 troops will live separately in two places to hold the city, how to defend the million army in the north and south of the enemy country?

"This ...... This ......." *** stood up and rubbed his hands back and forth, "I just don't know how Immortal Master Ye will use this 200,000 army to break the enemy?" ”

"Humph! Your Majesty can't trust the old man? That's it! That's it! The old man sneered, looked at the emperor and several ministers in the audience, and turned to leave.

"Your Majesty!" A tall man wearing a white cymbal crown and a gray grandson robe bowed down and clenched his fists, "Master Ye and the emperor also have a relationship, don't they protect our grassland?" Anyway, I, Chahar, can trust Immortal Master Ye, and the Chahar Department is also willing to follow Immortal Master Ye to serve the country. ”

The remaining ministers all left the pine table and seconded the proposal, saying that we must not be indecisive when the enemy country is coming to attack.

"Immortal Master Ye, please stay!" The emperor hurriedly shouted: "I can completely trust you, but these 200,000 elites are not a small amount....... He looked at the wine jug on the table, grabbed it and poured a few large sips, as if to strengthen his courage, "Hey! According to the words of Ye Immortal Master, let General Chahar follow you to fight. ”

"The emperor is wise!" Several confidant ministers knelt down at the same time.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the old man has already planned everything, as long as you are willing to hand over people to me."

Ye Hong stopped and walked out of the hall after turning around and feeding him a reassuring pill.