"Brother Lao, what do you think of Murong Xue?"

Bao Yuchun asked with interest while sipping fragrant tea.

Lao Jianhua sat opposite him, smiled quietly, and said indifferently: "This son is in a high position at a young age, and there are no more than three conditions. ”

"Oh? Which three? Bao Yuchun put down the teacup and stared at Lao Jianhua: "At his age, I don't have such a prominent official position." ”

Lao Jianhua smiled slightly: "First, Murong Xue was born in a wealthy family in Xishu, and his family is not only rich and rivals the country, but more importantly, his business is all over the world, he has a wide range of friends and a strong background, and many people in the court want to give him face." Second, Murong Xue accompanied the East Palace at the beginning, and because of Xie Guang, he won Li Bing's trust and even formed a friend of life and death. Becoming friends with the emperor, how can there be no reason to be unsuccessful? Third, according to rumors, Murong Xue is not Murong Qianqiu's own son, but the illegitimate son of Nian Jinsong and Murong Qianqiu's sister. Therefore, Nian Jinsong once cared for Murong Xue and deliberately cultivated it. ”

Bao Yuchun was slightly stunned, and then waved his hand: "These things are not what I am interested in." Brother Lao, I'm asking, what kind of person is Murong Xue? Personality, likes and dislikes, style, habits, and so on. ”

Lao Jianhua knew that he was figuring out his opponent, so he nodded in understanding, and continued: "Murong Xue has been trained by his family since he was a child, and he is both civil and military, and he does have some talents. But ......"

He paused slightly, and said with a smile: "This person is young and vigorous, and his heart is arrogant. They are often more clever than they are, but they are not cautious enough. In particular, it is easy to be emotional and indecisive. This is quite similar to Li Bing, and it is no wonder that they can become friends. ”

"How brave is Murong Xue? Is it big? Bao Yuchun asked.

"Hmm...... Guts, objectively speaking, Murong Xue still has the strength to be afraid of heaven and earth. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to the Eastern Capital alone. ”

Hearing this, Bao Yuchun bowed slightly, thought about it and asked: "I heard that Murong Xue left the martial arts hall as a special martial arts department, and I still have some skills in the way of using soldiers, right?" ”

Lao Jianhua smiled and said: "Bao Shuai, you were the first teacher of the Yanwu Hall, don't you know the level of your students?" ”

Bao Yuchun also smiled: "I'm just a name." When Murong Xue was studying in Yanwutang, I was leading the navy to exterminate pirates in the open sea, so I didn't really teach him. ”

Lao Jianhua stroked his beard: "This time, you, the teacher of the Yanwutang, can teach this unsuccessful student well." Bao Shuai, is there a strategy for dealing with Murong Xue? Or is it a reinforcement from a surrounding point? ”

Bao Yuchun shook his head: "The strategy may have to be slightly adjusted." In recent days, I have studied several battles against the Huaiyang Army before Murong Xue again. This guy is still a bit expected to command the operation. He is very bold and flexible, and he especially likes to be surprised and take the sword sideways. Therefore, I don't think he will directly send troops to help Gong Chengze. ”

"Oh? So what kind of action might he take? Lao Jianhua was curious: "Is there any other trick?" ”

"If you want to talk about tricks, that's a lot." Bao Yuchun smiled: "One of the most powerful tricks is to send troops to raid the Tang River." ”

Lao Jianhua thought for a moment, and then said in agreement: "Well, Bao Shuai is reasonable. At present, Tanghe County is empty of troops, and there is a large battalion of our army's grain and grass, and if it is attacked there, it will indeed cause great damage to us. Although it will not defeat our army, it can completely disrupt our plan to attack Nanyang. ”

Seeing that the other party also agreed with his judgment, Bao Yuchun said in a deep voice: "I think it is impossible for Murong Xue not to guess that I will surround and send reinforcements, so I will never obediently fall into the trap." On the contrary, if he takes advantage of the fact that our army is now concentrated in Nanyang and sends a surprise army to attack the rear of our army, he can not only avoid being ambushed by us, but also have the effect of disrupting us and rescuing Nanyang. ”

"So...... How does Bao Shuai plan to deal with it? Lao Jianhua stared at Bao Yuchun with burning eyes.

Bao Yuchun smiled casually: "Then I will make another trick, the little Che Murong Xue stabbed, just like Gong Chengze, although I don't kill him, I want to hurt him, hahaha." ”

According to Bao Yuchun's plan, the 80,000 soldiers and horses who attacked Nanyang will remain in place and continue to besiege the city; The 40,000 Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, who were responsible for blocking the ambush, also followed the plan made before, and were still lurking in the jungle area between Nanyang in Caizhou, waiting for the imperial army.

The 40,000 follow-up troops left behind in Xiangcheng were ordered to secretly go north, making a special detour into the hilly and mountainous areas to the west, and then passing through Xinye County and arriving at Tanghe County. The whole process was day and night, and he disappeared, completely avoiding the eyes of the scouts of the court.

On the third day after this army quietly entered the Tang River, Murong Xue's surprise attack force really came.

Twelve thousand cavalry is all the mobile force that Murong Xue currently has in his hands, and this time he is determined to gamble big.

However, it backfired.

In Tanghe County, which was originally empty, tens of thousands of rebels suddenly appeared, not only did not let the surprise attack force succeed in stealing their homes, but they were also beaten by the other side in a standard ambush near the grain and grass camp.

Fortunately, the imperial army was all fast, flexible, and powerful cavalry, and the rebels here in the Tang River were mostly infantry, so Murong Xue's subordinates were not besieged to death. After paying the price of more than 4,000 casualties, he finally succeeded in breaking through and retreated to Caizhou in a hurry.

In a month's time, Bao Yuchun fought with Murong Xue and Gong Chengze three times, won three battles and three victories, annihilated nearly 40,000 imperial troops in total, and completely besieged Nanyang City, and at the same time, in essence, cut off the connection between Nanyang and Caizhou.

The triangular defense line became crumbling in an instant.

Taking advantage of the victory, Lao Jianhua transferred an additional 80,000 troops from the south, and successively captured Suizhou, Jingzhou, Gwangju and other important towns in Jiangbei, and the Jingxiang area completely fell into the hands of the rebels.

When the news came, the government and the opposition were shocked. The ministers of civil and military affairs were all worried about the situation at the front.

You must know that Luoyi is not like the imperial capital, surrounded by eight rivers, the Qinling Mountains are stacked, and the dangers of mountains and rivers are natural. The eastern capital is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, except for the Jinhe River in the north and the Tiger Prison Pass in the east, there is almost no danger to defend in the west and south.

Once Nanyang and Caizhou are lost, the rebels' troops will approach Luoyi!

Li Bing also realized the seriousness of the problem, and issued four edicts in succession, urging Murong Xue to ask if there was a good way to break the enemy.

Murong Xue thought about it seriously for a long time and proposed a solution: Caizhou left 15,000 soldiers and horses to defend it, and he personally led an army of 30,000 to the northwest first, and joined Dong Tianxing's 20,000 reinforcements near Li Zhai Mountain, and then turned around and went southwest, crossing the Baihe River to Nanyang.

Such a winding march route can take some time, but it can effectively avoid the interception or ambush of the rebels.

Of course, the premise is that Gong Chengze can hold out until the day when reinforcements appear.

Li Bing quickly approved the plan and urged Murong Xue to hurry up and implement it. Gong Chengze now sends eight envoys a day to the eastern capital to ask for help, and Li Bingdu is almost annoyed to death by him.

Murong Xue received the emperor's will and immediately began to deploy. A day later, he led 30,000 elites out of Caizhou and went straight to Li Zhai Mountain. To be honest, they suddenly made such a big turn, which was indeed beyond Bao Yuchun's expectations. By the time Bao Yuchun learned from the scouts that the imperial reinforcements had not gone east from Caizhou, but had gone directly to the northwest, Murong Xue's troops had already entered the Wufeng Mountain Mountains, which were only more than seventy miles away from Li Zhai Mountain.

Dong Tianxing, who had been waiting in Li Zhai Mountain for a long time, smoothly joined Murong Xue, and the 50,000 soldiers and horses turned again, marched quickly to the southwest, and approached the bank of the Baihe River with a strange route.

Taking advantage of the fact that the rebels did not react, Murong Xue ordered to cross the river quickly. It took the troops two days and one night to cross the river and reach the west bank of the White River.

Although he deliberately avoided the enemy and walked all the way around, he felt a bit of a nest, but after all, he avoided the edge of the rebels and gathered the living forces together.

Next, nearly 100,000 troops can start a battle with the enemy in Nanyang.

In the face of the imperial soldiers and horses that suddenly appeared on the west bank of the White River, the Xuanjia Legion and the Navy Army immediately raised their vigilance. In order to prevent being flanked by the front and back inside and outside the city, the rebels who were close to Murong Xue also took the initiative to retreat south, making way to enter Nanyang City.

In this way, Murong Xue successfully joined forces with the troops guarding Nanyang without much effort.

With reinforcements and grain and grass, the morale of the defenders of the whole city was suddenly boosted, and Gong Chengze was also excited and burst into tears: Fortunately, this time the little life is finally expected to be saved.

Murong Xue left most of the soldiers and horses outside the city, and set up two strong camps separately to echo the city, while himself and Dong Tianxing entered the city and commanded the next battle with Gong Chengze.

According to the strength of the battle, he reorganized the existing troops and divided them into three armies: the left, the center, and the right. The Chinese army of 45,000 men was responsible for guarding the city, under his personal command; There are 20,000 troops on the left and right sides, responsible for the military fortress outside the city, which is commanded by Dong Tianxing and Gong Chengze respectively.

He set several principles for the subsequent battles: First, the rebels must not be allowed to surround Nanyang City, and the communication with the outside world must be kept unimpeded, and grain and grass materials can be smoothly transported in. Therefore, as soon as the enemy shows signs of siege, it is necessary to launch a counterattack without hesitation.

Second, the Turkic Helianxiong and Ma Hongjie, and the anti-Wang Li Kui and Chang Tao were all fighting fiercely at this time, so the imperial court had no spare strength to reinforce Nanyang, and the whole army should focus on holding the city and waiting for a favorable change in the war situation. It is not necessary to repel or completely annihilate the invading enemy, let alone fall for Bao Yuchun's plan to lure the enemy into depth.

Third, the main forces of Xuanjia and the naval army are concentrated here, and most of the new rebels in the Tang River will take the opportunity to attack Caizhou, and he knows that Chang Tao, who is fighting on the front line of Bozhou, is ready to divide his troops to help Caizhou City at any time to relieve the defensive pressure there. Therefore, the Nanyang Army does not need to be distracted by Caizhou, and can only focus on this.

Fourth, Bao Yuchun is a famous general of the Holy Tang Dynasty, who uses treacherous soldiers and good tactics, and must not be careless in confrontation with the enemy, and is not allowed to act without authorization, so as not to fall into the trap of the other party by mistake.

"Especially the unauthorized action!" Murong Xue glanced at Gong Chengze coldly: "I said ugly things in front, who dares to disobey the general's orders, don't blame me for being unsympathetic!" ”