Three days later, Dong Tianxing set out from Luoyi with the holy decree, passed through Yichuan and Luanchuan, marched in the southwest direction, and went straight to the main camp of the Jingxiang army in Wuguan.

Ma Hongjie and the others are already very familiar with him now, and when they heard that this old Dong had only returned for less than half a month, they couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

Because the relationship is good, no one has anything to do with him, and he directly pulls it to the table to drink a big drink first.

Dong Tianxing was violently poured by Yan Huiqing and Mi Pei, two veterans, and touched the bottom of the wine glass in a daze, and sighed: "Generals, I am afraid that I will offend you when I come this time." ”

Hearing him say this, Ma Hongjie was a little curious: "I don't know what Lord Shilang has ordered when he comes this time?" Is there any new instruction from the Emperor? ”

Dong Tianxing glanced at the generals present, and replied hesitantly: "Your Majesty does have a will, eh...... I want you to attack Tongguan. ”

"Hey, what else should I do?" Mi Pei stroked his beard and smiled: "Even if the emperor doesn't say it, we have already begun to discuss this matter." Capture Wuguan, and then capture Tongguan, with Li Jiangyao's Zijin Pass and Shengyu Pass, the Turkic ghosts were completely sealed in the Guanzhong Plain. ”

Yan Huiqing also bowed slightly: "That's right, the battle of Tongguan is the right intention, and the sons and daughters have made sufficient preparations for this, and they can start at any time." ”

Dong Tianxing scratched his head: "Hmm...... The emperor also has an idea that needs the cooperation of the generals. ”

"Oh? If there is any other will, please tell me directly. Ma Hongjie said.

"The emperor wants General Murong Xue to be the chief general."

As soon as Lao Dong said this, the generals present were stunned on the spot. Ma Hongjie subconsciously looked at Yan Huiqing and Mi Pei, holding back his silence.

Mi Pei had a straightforward personality and couldn't help but say: "Lao Dong, this is different from what we said at the beginning." Murong Xue is the main general, so doesn't the soldiers and horses under his command directly have a position? ”

Dong Tianxing shook his head embarrassedly: "You can't say that." After all, they are still fighting the Turks, and they have not violated the previous agreement. ”

"!" Mi Fu waved his hand: "You coax a three-year-old child?" Fighting the Turks, if the King of Huaiyang suddenly came to attack in the middle of the battle, could Murong Xue let go of the troops in his hands? ”

Yan Huiqing patted Mi Pei's shoulder, signaling him not to get excited first, and then said to Dong Tianxing: "Lord Dong, he is right, I think you should also know very well how much influence a master general has on the legion under his command. Once the soldiers and horses are handed over to the people designated by the emperor to command, our southern army may immediately fall into a divided situation. ”

Mi Pei agreed, "That's right. Originally, some people supported Li Bing and some people supported Li Kui, and both sides insisted on their own words, so there was a lot of trouble. Later, in order to work together to fight the Turks, everyone temporarily put down the mustard and went out together. It's good now, you gave part of the army to the emperor, so what about the people who support the king of Huaiyang? Do you also pat your ass and leave? ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Ma Hongjie again: "Also, why did I recommend Xiaoma as the new coach before, it was because his position was impartial and neutral, and the generals of the three factions believed that he could concentrate on dealing with the Turks, so they would respond to your proposal as a minister and follow Ma Hongjie north to participate in the war." Murong Xue? Can he guarantee that his ass doesn't sit crooked? ”

Dong Tianxing, who has always been talkative, was so speechless that he was coarsely scolded by Mi Pei at this time, and he couldn't help but be extremely depressed. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start.

Ma Hongjie spoke at this time: "My lord, can you tell me why General Murong has to command the battle of Tongguan?" We go to fight, we command ourselves, can't we? ”

Dong Tianxing wanted to tell him very much, of course this is okay, but after all, he has the emperor's order, and he must always be worthy of this errand.

"Ma Shuai, generals, since you have made your words clear, then the old man will be honest." Dong Tianxing thought to himself, just order it directly: "The reason why the emperor has such an arrangement is actually not as simple as military power. Your Majesty wants to see if the Jingxiang army is still the army of the Holy Tang Dynasty. ”

Ma Hongjie frowned: "What do you mean by this, my lord?" We are not the army of the Holy Tang, how can we run to fight the Turks? ”

Dong Tianxing said lightly: "Since it is the army of the Holy Tang, can you still not see the situation in front of you clearly?" Do you still hesitate and wait at both ends of the first rat? When you attacked Wuguan a while ago, the emperor's troops were originally going to act at the same time and fight with you, but why didn't they participate later? Just because Li Kui, the king of Huaiyang, suddenly sent troops to attack and dragged Murong Xue to death, this is obviously helping the Turks. Can't you tell who is an enemy and who is a friend? ”

When a general heard this, he said, "Lord Dong, are you wrong?" We heard that at that time, it was Li Bing's troops who first provoked the battle and attacked Bozhou, the king of Huaiyang, and the Huaiyang army was forced to launch a counterattack. ”

"yes." The other general pouted: "Let's go north, but you just happened to go to fight the King of Huaiyang, this abacus is very shrewd." ”

Dong Tianxing was slightly stunned, he didn't expect the other party to not eat his own set.

Ma Hongjie said: "Lord Dong, we know that now the Yizhou court is gradually leaning towards the emperor, and then all of them will be moved to the eastern capital, and the imperial regime is about to establish its final belonging." Therefore, the emperor also began to move our minds, thinking about changing the previous agreement and grasping the military power in advance. However, please tell the emperor what the soldiers think. We still believe that the most important thing at the moment is to drive out the Turks, and not the so-called counterinsurgency. Until then, the Jingxiang Legion would remain obedient and concentrate on fighting the Turks. Even if we are investigated by the imperial court for the crime of resisting the decree in the future, we will not be afraid. ”

Yan Huiqing and others nodded one after another, expressing their support for Ma Hongjie's statement.

Dong Tianxing had no choice but to respond with a wry smile: "Okay, I will definitely tell Your Majesty the truth about Ma Shuai's words." To tell you the truth, I'm not very much in favor of this arrangement. Including General Murong, he also objected, and was rebuked by the emperor and courtiers for this. However, it is difficult to disobey the Holy Command, and sometimes we can't help it. ”

Yan Huiqing nodded understandingly: "Old Dong, I know your difficulties. Encountering such a chaotic world, it is not easy for those of us to be courtiers. If you can't see the direction clearly, you can't distinguish between right and wrong, then you can only ask for a clear conscience. ”

He touched his wine glass with Dong Tianxing, and then said, "Okay, let's not talk about the troublesome things first." Tell us what's new on the Zhenjiang Army's side? ”

Dong Tianxing drank all the wine, and asked instead of answering: "Have you read the anti-enemy strategy that Li Jiangyao has protected?" ”

Ma Hongjie nodded: "I've seen it, it's very insightful." ”

"That's true." Dong Tianxing praised convincingly: "Li Daduhu has been fighting with the Turks for a long time, and he has very rich experience, and he has indeed broken the key strategy of restraining the enemy's elite iron cavalry in one sentence. At the moment, the Zhenjiang army is preparing for war with all its might, and once the Turks show their defeat, they will immediately set out from Zijin Pass and deal a fatal blow to the enemy. ”

Yan Huiqing said: "We also think the same way. In a war with the Turks, we must not give up our strengths and weaknesses, and we must be completely led by the other side. Infantry, you should give full play to the advantages of the infantry, with the help of the city and terrain, to jam them. ”

Ma Hongjie continued: "Actually, before Li Jiangyao sent someone to send the strategy, we had already thought so, and we thought about it more thoroughly than him. As soon as the army conquered Wuguan, it quickly captured six county towns such as Luonan and Danfeng, in order to form a joint fortification, defend Wuguan from the periphery, avoid fighting with the Turks on the plains as much as possible, and at the same time use the city to consume the enemy. ”

"Including attacking Tongguan, it is also one of our plans." Mi Peiying said: "Tongguan is in the north, Wuguan is in the south, the two are in your hands, the Turks don't want to go east half a step, and those ghost and poisonous soldiers are also planning to plague the Central Plains again." ”

Yan Huiqing said: "You see, Lao Dong, we have already arranged everything, all the way from east to west, one route from west to east, the two troops and horses are attacking Tongguan at the same time, and Hong Jie is in charge of coordination, sending troops to block the enemy's reinforcements at any time, and there is really no need to bother General Murong to go out." You go back to report to the emperor, please rest assured that the Jingxiang army will definitely take down Tongguan. ”

Dong Tianxing stretched out his thumb and said in admiration: "You are worthy of being the generals of the Holy Tang Dynasty, since the combat operations in Tongguan are all well planned, then I will immediately go back to Luoyi and report to the emperor." ”

At the end of the banquet, Lao Dong Wan rejected the suggestion of Ma Hongjie and others to leave him to rest for one night, and set off overnight to return, walking for two days and returning to the Eastern Capital.

After listening to his report, Li Bing showed an expression of "I knew it was like this", and smiled faintly: "It seems that people still refuse to sell my face." ”

Tian Mu said sympathetically beside him: "Your Majesty, just as the minister's previous analysis, the Southern Army and the Western Army, like the Western Army, support the army with self-respect and no emperor, if it continues like this, it will become a problem of elbows and armpits!" If you don't plan early, the day the Turks are driven away will be the time to divide the territory and split the Shengtang Dynasty. ”

Dong Tianxing couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this. He never thought that in the eyes of Li Bing, Tian Mu and others, whether it was Ma Hongjie or Li Jiangyao, these soldiers who fought against foreign enemies had already become targets that needed to be guarded against.

I only heard Wei Zixuan say: "The southern army is still different from the western army. At least, the people under Ma Hongjie's hands all have pure Shengtang blood, and have been civilized and educated by the Holy Religion since childhood, and they still know etiquette and shame at the root, unlike the barbarians in Western Xinjiang, who have long since known which Li character the Shengtang royal family has surname. ”

Li Bing was noncommittal about their words, and turned to Murong Xue and said, "Since the Southern Army insists on its own plan and refuses to accept your command, then just let them do it first." Of course, it is best to be able to play Tongguan, but if you can't beat it, you can go again. ”

Murong Xue nodded, and was about to open her mouth to refute Wei Zixuan's fallacy just now, but she didn't expect Li Bing to continue: "Murong, I have an important matter here, and I need you to make a trip in person. ”

Murong Xue was a little surprised, and said curiously: "I don't know what Your Majesty has sent?" ”

"I know that your hometown is in Jiannan, right?" Li Bing smiled and asked, "How long have you not been back?" ”

"Uh...... It's been about six or seven years. ”

"I want you to go back and see your family."

Murong Xue reacted: "Are you going to greet and escort the imperial court to move to the Eastern Capital?" ”

"It's just one of the missions." Li Bing bowed slightly: "There is another more important matter, which must be handled by you on my behalf." ”

"I want to marry."