The rain was pouring down, but the dark clouds in the sky were still gathering rapidly, and there was no intention of stopping.

In August of the fourth year of Xuantaihe, Meng Yan, Gu Yanfeng, Yanlan, Da Xi Qianbi and Chaoqun, who had just taken over the baggage department, looked at the tyrannical rain, their faces were full of sadness, and the five of them did not speak, each of them was thinking about an account in their hearts.

A bolt of lightning struck, Meng Yan blinked, and said expressionlessly, "Haven't you heard from them yet?" ”

The remaining four people looked at each other, Yan Lan and the other three took the initiative to take a step back and leave enough space for Gu Yanfeng to give up, Gu Yanfeng looked around at the three of them, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, Ming Jian Si and Bai Yi came to report early in the morning, Lu Shuai and General Xiaojing still haven't been found, Di Hou and Neijiang Gong are also sending people to step up contact, the big river is surging, Di Hou's people and the people of the big camp can't return south for the time being, but they are safe." ”

Meng Yan still kept calm, but his toes kept rubbing the ground, most of the snow wolf marshal's mansion, nearly 200,000 troops were all trapped on the grassland on the north bank of the river, and supplies, marching and diseases began to find their doors.

This is the first battle that Meng Yan wants to give up since he led the troops, if nothing else, the lives of 200,000 soldiers are the most important.

"Daxi, Chaoqun, does the baggage department have any solution to the supply problem?" Meng Yan then asked.

Hiding is not able to hide, Da Xi Qianbi and Chao Qun glanced at each other, as the official Da Xi Qianbi stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the fastest way to support is to go to the Western Regions, but since the Ming Wu Empress ascended the throne, there has been a lot less contact between our dynasty and the Ling Dynasty, and the minister has convened staff officers in the Dadu Governor's Mansion to discuss whether it is recommended to take this road." ”

After hearing this, Meng Yan thought for a while, and seeing that His Majesty did not interrupt, Da Xi Qianbi wiped the sweat on his forehead, and he didn't know whether he was scared or nervous, and then said: "The second way is to go to the north of Sichuan, and let the garrison of the north of Sichuan send troops to bypass the muddy mountain, this road takes too long and is very difficult; The third way is to take the waterway, going upstream, the loss is not much, but the danger is very great, once you can't figure out the water potential ahead, you will fall into a catastrophe. ”

"A few of you are also talking and working together." Meng Yan frowned and turned to look at everyone.

"The minister thinks that he can take the third way, and asks the Marquis Cheng to lead the fleet." As soon as Meng Yan's words fell, Yan Lan said directly, it was not that he didn't want to speak, but he was thinking about what to do to solve the dilemma of the Snow Wolf Shuaifu as soon as possible.

The soldiers of the Snow Wolf Marshal Mansion cannot be lost, they are an important force for the imperial court to march into the Western Regions and Guanwai in the future, or even to eliminate the Beimu army.

"The minister seconded the proposal!" Gu Yanfeng's eyes rolled when he heard Yan Lan's words, and he immediately understood the meaning, and hurriedly echoed to enhance His Majesty's confidence.

On the side, Da Xi Qianbi's face was solemn, he didn't want a third way, and it could be seen from his report that he preferred His Majesty to choose to reconcile with Daling, but Gu Yanfeng and Yanlan, the two of His Majesty's confidants, stood up, and a newcomer like himself could only conform to it.

Meng Yan didn't decide immediately, but turned around and looked up at the sky, he was thinking, Da Xi Qianbi was right, it was too dangerous to take the waterway, the water of the big river was the most terrifying, there were three feet of waves without wind, and a person who accidentally took a boat was finished, and he repaired with Daling? Meng Yan shook his head, Quan Qing, this girl is worried that there is no excuse to go to war, and she can't be given a chance for the time being, the war in Yuzhang is about to break out, and Yu Laohu has returned to Changsha to prepare to go east.

It was because of the imminent war in Yuzhang that he agreed to Lu Ping's approach of completely destroying the enemy of the grassland, the clinker was not beautiful, the rain in August was too great, and the grassland almost became muddy.

While Meng Yan was thinking, An Cang hurried over, and everyone knew that something big must have happened when they saw An Cang, otherwise he, the head of the internal guard, would not have been in such a gaffe.

An Cang saw that the four of them just nodded in greeting, and then whispered to Meng Yan, Meng Yan sighed lightly after hearing it, and then turned around and said helplessly: "Everyone, we don't have to choose, Luo Chen's female baby soldiers are out of Chen Cang and attack Hanzhong!" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that there will be nothing wrong with King Qin in Hanzhong." Gu Yanfeng was very confident, he even felt that Quan Qing was looking for pleasure, the generals of Hanzhong had been waiting for this moment for many years, and estimated that Chen Cang would soon be included in the territory of Daxuan.

"I know that Hanzhong will be fine, but this woman also forced me to choose the waterway to support the snow wolf." Meng Yan was a little tight, this girl really knew how to make trouble.

"The minister thinks that there should be no problem for the Cheng Marquis to be supplemented by a person who commands the army, the Snow Wolf Army is in a bad situation now, and can only follow King Xiang's example to fight against the water, but they are better than King Xiang at that time, and the court is their strongest backing." Yan Lan was full of confidence, and even some bold words.

"That's it, it's not smooth sailing to unify the Central Plains, Gu Xiang, please invite Marquis Cheng into the palace, transfer Jinping County Gong Tong Yan back, and organize a grain fleet." Meng Yan decided.

But Lu Ping's side is already in a desperate situation, Gu Siman can no longer care about the dignity and humility, and persuaded for the fifth time: "Marshal, let's go back to the army!" The brothers can't hold it anymore! ”

Lu Ping's beard was unshaven, his face was gloomy, this was not a barbaric man, but a tall man, he looked around at the curling smoke rising in the camp, and said coldly: "Can't retreat!" Brothers, there is still a heart! We've come this far, and we can't afford to waste our efforts! ”

"But handsome! We want to seek a decisive battle with the main force of Haiqing City, but we don't know where the people are, all the military Tanma and Mingjian Division, and even the people from the White Clothes Temple have been dispatched, and we haven't even found a shadow of the main force of Gao Shuo for more than a month! Gu Siman was also annoyed, he was from the grassland, he admired Lu Ping's perseverance, but he didn't expect Lu Ping to simply go his own way.

"According to the tongue man, we have now reached the periphery of Haiqing City, at most two hundred miles, and it has rained heavily recently, and Ben Shuai judges that their main force must not be far from Haiqing City, and it is a barren gravel land." Lu Ping ignored Gu Siman's suggestion and got angry, and pointed to a place called Zhaga on the cowhide map as he spoke.

Gu Si couldn't care where the main force of Gao Shuoren was, and continued: "Dashuai! Let me tell you that now our grain and grass will last for a maximum of ten days, and the supplies of the big camp will not be able to survive at all, and there may not be much grain in stock on the side of the big camp, so we can return it now! ”

Lu Ping glanced at Gu Siman, his eyes were full of determination, and then said: "As long as we break the main force of the Gao Shuo people and enter Haiqing City, we will not be sad for the grain and grass, and Ben Shuai believes that the imperial court must be trying to find a way to help us, and our only purpose and method now is to break the Gao Shuo people!" ”

Gu Si was reluctant to see it, but he could only go down to appease the soldiers, his heart was desolate, he didn't know what they would face in the future, death? Annihilated? Or slavery?

However, the only thing Gu Siman didn't think about was surrender, in his heart Daxuan is the best court, most of the herdsmen have begun to move closer to the way of life in the Central Plains, although the herdsmen are still mainly grazing, but most of them are divided by the government, in addition to the needs of their own tribes, the court will unify the door-to-door purchase, and each tribal settlement has a branch of the people's court to listen to the suggestions of the herdsmen, basically reasonable demands will be solved, and it is said that the civil and commercial department and the general division are studying the use of wool clothing, if it becomes, The richness of the steppe can be imagined, surrender? The stupidest choice, just die in battle, and the family will be properly settled.

Lu Ping's problem is not only that Gu Si is worried, Di Xin is even more worried, the imperial court has sent Cheng Hou along the river to send to the feed, now Lu Ping's middle route army can't be found at all, and Jing Mu's west route army has also broken contact, but he and Jing Mu have an agreement, if things don't go well, they will send someone to deliver the letter at the pre-agreed place, so far no one has come to this place, indicating that the progress is quite smooth.

"Auxiliary Marshal, the fleet of Cheng Hou and General Tong has arrived at the Sheep Canyon Waterway, shall we send someone to meet it, it is said that two of the thirty warships have been lost, and there are also a lot of losses in personnel." Di Yuan knew that Di Xin was worried about the Middle Route Army, seeing that it was September, the weather was not improving, and the Middle Route Army didn't know anything.

"Let's go, take three thousand people and set off to the garrison camp now, and repair it first after arriving, the important thing is to prevent the high-level people of Haiqing City from sneaking across the river from attacking." Di Xin said as he licked his dry lips.

"Auxiliary marshal, do Gao Shuo people have the guts? Didn't our people get in touch with Gao Shuo Yanxi? Haiqing City should be quite chaotic now, right? Di Yuan felt that Chenghou and his party had not been ambushed all the way, and there must have been chaos in Haiqing City.

Di Xin patted Di Yuan's shoulder and said, "It's better to be careful, are Shiqu Daping's people still stable?" ”

"They are not bad, fortunately, you made a good decision before the heavy rainstorm, and let some people take their families south to the White Horse Mansion, and then they may have to re-sentence." In Di Yuan's eyes, only Di Xin is the best.

"You go, let Qu Hou come over to see me, we can't sit and wait like this, there is no movement on the side of Gao Shuo after Shiqu Daping is attached, this is not normal, even if the heavy rain blocks our way forward, but it is abnormal to ignore us at all, I have to talk to Qu Hou."

Kung Fu Shiqu Daping, who had less than half a pillar of incense, came over and asked with a smile: "Di Shuai, has the support of the imperial court arrived?" ”

Di Xin also smiled kindly: "Well, I've already arrived at Yanggu Road, Di Yuan went over to answer, Qu Hou, Ben Shuai came to you to talk to you about Haiqingcheng." ”

"Haiqing City? Isn't Di Shuai already in contact with Gao Shuo Yanxi? Did he repent? Shiqu Daping was a little nervous, Gao Shuo Yanxi patted his chest to ensure that it was okay, if something went wrong at this time, it would be fatal!

Di Xin waved his hand and said, "No, everything is going well, it's just that after our two armies joined forces, there was no movement at all on Haiqingcheng's side, do you think it's normal?" ”

Shiqu Daping sighed and said: "Di Shuai, I am in charge of our internal line, maybe it's because Gao Shuo Baixi has been a little yang and yin recently, right?" ”

Di Xin frowned, unhappy, Shiqu Daping still didn't know where the key was, such a thing was not reported, but after all, it was a new descendant, and he was a grassland person, and some things were in a hurry, so he suppressed his anger and said: "Oh? What is the situation of Gao Shuo Baixi, Qu Hou, let's listen to it in detail. ”

Shiqu Daping didn't care about Di Xin's emotional changes, and said slowly: "Gao Shuo Baixi thinks that Gao Shuo people should move closer to the Western Regions and go west to the west of the river into the Western Continent. ”

Di Xin fell into deep thought, although this would affect Gao Shuoren's judgment, it was not enough to ignore his right army, no, there should be other reasons.

"Qu Hou, inform our people in Haiqing City to see if there is a situation on the Chaka side, and let the Tanma in your camp continue to look for Lu Shuai's traces."

Shiqu Daping pursed his lips, he didn't understand what Di Xin was worried about, he felt that with their current strength, it must be no problem to threaten Haiqing City, even if they were stationed here, they were not afraid, but Di Xin was the commander of the Right Route Army, so he should listen to him.

It was getting late, Di Xin was fidgeting alone in the big tent, and suddenly a familiar female voice sounded, "General Di, I haven't seen you for a long time!" ”

Di Xin fixed his eyes and saw that it was Su Qing, and hurriedly half-knelt down and saluted: "The last general Di Xin will meet Chenghou!" ”