Night.

Yanzhou City.

Inside the Buzheng Yamen.

Su Xiu stood in front of the huge map, repeatedly studying the various markings drawn on the map.

The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, and finally a terrible thought came to his mind.

"The Turks are trying to eat the main force of our border army!!"

Su Xiu looked at the location of the main force of the border army marked on the map, and he knew that this army was now alone!

The beacon of the message tonight came from the north, and it was lit in the form of four torches.

This shows that the number of Turkic soldiers and horses entering this time is definitely more than 10,000!

You must know that there are clear regulations on the beacon transmission of the Great Zhou army, and only when the enemy enters the country does the number of 10,000 or more will the four beacons be released!

At this time, the Turks suddenly sent tens of thousands of people deep into the pass, if they were just for plundering, then even if Su Xiu was killed, he would not believe it!

You must know that at this moment, the main force of the 100,000 main forces of the Great Perimeter Army is approaching the Turkic royal court.

On the occasion of this decisive battle, these Turks can't even want their hometown in order to loot some property, right?

Su Xiu seemed to smell something unusual, he thought that the Turks' intentions were very big, and they definitely contained a great evil intention!

It's just that now the situation of the enemy and the enemy is still unknown, how many Turkic soldiers and horses are there in the pass at the moment, and where are they at present?

These doubts made it difficult for Su Xiu to make further arrangements for a while.

However, at present, he can roughly deduce the strategic purpose of the Turks, that is, the main force of the large peripheral army that is outside the pass!

Therefore, Su Xiu immediately sent a messenger to send the news of the Turkic entry into the customs and his inference to the outside of the customs.

I only hope that the leading generals who are far away from the pass can make a clear judgment and withdraw to the pass in time to avoid being taken advantage of by the Turks.

And before that,

As the current supreme military commander of Yanzhou City, Su Xiu can only temporarily erect a wall to clear the wilderness and ensure the safety of Yanzhou City first.

There's no way, who let the previous Yanzhou commander make Zheng Yongchang fall off?

Some time ago, the imperial court had already issued a holy decree, ordering Su Xiu to temporarily take charge of Yanzhou's military affairs before the arrival of the new commander.

Therefore, now Su Xiu is not only the envoy of Yanzhou, but also temporarily takes the position of commander of Yanzhou.

In fact, Su Xiu didn't want to be so passive in his heart, but who let him only have 7,000 troops in his hands?

There is no way, with this amount of troops, let alone taking the initiative to turn the tide of the battle, it is estimated that the four walls of Yanzhou City will be enough for him!

In Su Xiu's opinion, as long as he could have another 20,000 soldiers and horses in his hands at this moment, he would definitely not make such a passive defense arrangement!

"Alas~!"

Su Xiu sighed, looked at the location of Yanzhou City on the map, which was at the logistics hub of the army in front, and muttered:

"I hope that the purpose of the thieves this time is not in my Yanzhou, otherwise, the army outside the gate will be in danger!"

……

……

And at the same time,

On the other end, Yang Xu was leading his men and horses to work overtime to rush 300,000 catties of refined salt in the salt field outside the city.

Yang Xu originally thought that this job should be relatively easy, after all, 300,000 catties of refined salt was actually only 3,000 stones.

Three thousand stone salt, converted into a packaged situation, is only six thousand bags, plus those thousands of rockets, in fact, there is not much work.

Taking Jin Peng and a thousand of his men out of the city, plus the two thousand sergeants who were originally stationed around the salt works, isn't this something that can be done casually?

I was planning to finish the trip and go home before dawn to sleep for a while.

But who would have expected that because he was in such a hurry to go out of the city this time, he would forget to bring enough oxen and horses to carry the goods.

As a result, what was originally a one-trip trip has become two!

By the time Yang Xu finished these two runs and returned to the city, it was already close to noon on the second day.

After this night's tossing, Yang Xu was sleepy and tired at the moment, and after handing over the errand to Su Xiu, he returned home and fell asleep.

By the time he woke up again, it was already three quarters in the middle of the night.

Yang Xu saw that it was late at night outside the window, and after getting up all night, he wanted to continue to sleep until dawn.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door outside the house.

"Who? It's so late......"

Yang Xu frowned, and an ominous premonition instantly crept into his heart, could it be that ... Is it the Turkic soldiers who came to the city of Yanzhou?

With this in mind,

He hurriedly put on his robe and got up and went to the courtyard.

When I opened the door, it was Jin Peng standing outside.

"Jin Peng, what are you doing so late? Could it be that the Turks have come to attack Yanzhou City? ”

Yang Xu saw that the person who came was Jin Peng, and couldn't help blurting out.

"Uncle Hui, the Turks haven't arrived in Yanzhou yet, and it was Master Su who ordered me to come and ask you to come over to discuss the matter."

Jin Peng didn't talk nonsense when he heard this, and said straight to his fists.

"Okay, then you wait for me."

Hearing this, Yang Xu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that his family is all in this Yanzhou City, if the war really burns here, won't his family members be in danger?

So when he heard Jin Peng's answer, the heart that was mentioned immediately let go.

It didn't take long, Yang Xu put on his robe, and was about to go out with Jin Peng to meet Su Xiu.

"Xianggong..."

At this moment, Luo Dong'er's timid voice suddenly came from behind him: "Xianggong went out so late, but what happened in the city?" ”

"Huh? Why are you up too? It's cold, why don't you hurry up and hide on the kang and wrap it? ”

Yang Xu turned his head and found that Luo Dong'er had already gotten up and got out of bed, still wearing a thin little coat, and her little face was full of worry when she was sleeping red, so he hurriedly stepped forward and pulled her back to the kang, and said this with a little disgust.

"Xianggong, I saw the beacon fire last night, you went out so late, did the Turks have already killed outside the city? So you're going to defend the city with those who are soldiers? ”

Luo Dong'er grabbed Yang Xu's hand and asked with a worried expression.

She has heard her father say since she was a child that in the Great Zhou Kingdom, all nobles with knighthoods, as long as there is a war in the place where they are, they must join the army as soon as possible and fight for the country!

Now Yang Xu has been knighted by the imperial court, so this has become a responsibility that must be shouldered on his shoulders.

Therefore, Luo Dong'er was worried that Yang Xu went out so late tonight to fight those murderous Turks.

"Hey, what do you think?"

Yang Xu smiled and scratched Luo Dong'er's nose, and pretended to be relaxed:

"I went out, but my teacher was looking for me to have something to do, and when I went, I came back, how could any Turks fight outside the city? Don't be cranky, be obedient, go to bed! ”

"Really?"

"Really, why did I lie to you? Well, you go to sleep first, and I'll come back and sleep with you in my arms! ”

……

Yang Xu pretended to coax Luo Dong'er back to the kang easily, and then tucked the quilt for her before getting up and walking out of the bedroom.

Luo Dong'er looked at the back of her husband leaving, although she believed that her husband would not lie to herself, but why did she always have a disturbing feeling in her heart tonight?

"Heaven forbid, don't let those murderous Turks come to Yanzhou, so that my husband won't be in danger to fight them......"

Luo Dong'er clasped her hands together and prayed silently in her heart.

It was not easy for her to meet such a good husband, who was not only good to her, gave her the warmth of home, but also did not dislike her for marrying her mother, and thought about her mother and daughter in everything.

Such a good husband, Luo Dong'er would rather die than be in the slightest danger!

……

……

The other end.

Yang Xu left the house and followed Jin Peng to the Buzheng Yamen.

As soon as he walked into the White Tiger Festival Hall, he saw Su Xiu and a group of Yanzhou military attachés with more than 1,000 generals around a sand table, pointing and talking constantly.

Yang Xu saw that they were engaged in the discussion, so he couldn't interrupt it.

So he crept over to the side and sat still, listening in by to what they were discussing.

"My lord, according to the news from Zhengjiabao tonight, the number of this Turkic cavalry is definitely more than 20,000!

And they have already passed through Zhengjiabao this morning in the direction of Yanzhou.

If they really want to take Yanzhou, then with the speed of cavalry marching, they will be under the city at noon tomorrow at the latest!

Now there are only 7,000 defenders in my Yanzhou City, and all of them are foot soldiers.

Not only must we defend the city, but we must also ensure that the southern choke point leading to the Central Plains, Jinsha Valley, must not be lost!

In such a form, I feel that we should ask the imperial court for help, otherwise with only 7,000 troops, it is impossible to divide the army into two places to hold Yanzhou City and Jinsha Valley at the same time! ”

Yanzhou commanded Tongzhi Tao Da, pointed to the sand table, and said.

"Well, what Tao Tongzhi said is not unreasonable......"

Su Xiu nodded when he heard this, then changed his words and asked everyone: "It's just in the current form, even if we ask the imperial court for help, it will be a month before the reinforcements arrive, and before that, what do you think we should do?" ”

Hearing Su Xiu's question, everyone in the hall suddenly fell silent.

It's not that they don't know how to answer, it's that the question is just too deadly!

Although there is a serious shortage of defenders in the city at present, only by dividing the troops into two defenses can we have a chance to win a chance to survive!

Because if you abandon Jinsha Valley, lead all the defenders to defend the city.

Then as long as the Turks besiege Yanzhou City and send a lot of men and horses to block the mouth of Jinsha Valley, they can cut off the way for the imperial court to come to help!

At that time, they will have no reinforcements outside, no food and grass inside, and the city will inevitably be destroyed by the Turks!

So no matter who proposes the division of troops now, then it is very likely that they will be sent to guard Jinsha Valley.

And once he was sent to guard Jinsha Valley, it was equivalent to a countdown to life.

After all, that position was bound to be attacked by the Turks first, and there was no way that the defenders of the city would come out of the city to support.

In this way, although everyone present knew that dividing the troops into two places was the best defensive plan at the moment, no one dared to take the initiative to stand up and put forward it.

After all, people are afraid of death, and if they can hide in Yanzhou City and defend the city, who would want to go to Jinsha Valley?

Yang Xu also roughly heard the current form at this time.

He looked at the terrain of Jinsha Valley presented on the sand table, and a bold idea suddenly came to his mind!