The news that the Zhenjiang Army was ready to leave Jiangnan and return to the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang soon reached the imperial capital.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion between the government and the opposition, and everyone was discussing the movements and intentions of the main force of the first ace of the Holy Tang Dynasty.

Officials of the foreign relatives group generally believed that Li Jiangyao was purely trying to cover up and say that he would lead his troops to the west, but in fact, the real target was the imperial capital.

Hundreds of thousands of tiger and wolf armies that had just won a great victory came from Jiangnan, and there was no threat to Gyeonggi? It's just a joke.

In the same way, those ministers who secretly opposed the queen's interference in politics also believed that the purpose of Li Dadu's protection this time was to save King Qin, completely overthrow those foreign relatives who were plotting to seize power, put things in order, and revitalize the dynasty. It's just that unlike the panic and anxiety of the relatives and officials, these courtiers are very happy one by one, and they feel that they have finally seen hope.

Because of this, a controversy over whether the Zhenjiang army should be allowed to return to the western frontier through Guanzhong intensified in the court.

The military department and the governor's office, which had been completely controlled by the strength of the later clans, strongly advocated blocking the Zhenjiang army in the area east of Tongguan, and even the hinterland of the Central Plains should not be allowed to enter easily. Otherwise, once things change, it will inevitably directly threaten the safety of the imperial capital.

In response to this statement, the civilian clique expressed strong opposition: why should its own army, and the meritorious man who had just put down the Jiangnan rebellion, guard against the Zhenjiang army like a thief? Even when the emperor was in charge in the past, he had never treated Li Jiangyao like this, why did the queen listen to the government when the queen came to listen to the government, and the court's attitude towards the meritorious troops was suddenly so different, could it be that there was a ghost in her heart?

More importantly, Li Daduhu made it very clear in the recital of the imperial capital above that he was worried that the war that broke out in the Western Continent might affect the Western Xinjiang region, so he decided to lead the army back in order to strengthen the vigilance.

This kind of tireless work and loyalty to defend the country, why did the military department and the governor's office obstruct it? Positionally, aren't you the ones who should be most worried about the stability of the western frontier?

The civil officials were sharp in their words and spoke in a correct manner, and they immediately dumbfounded the military department and the governor's office. However, both sides of the debate knew very well in their hearts that the transit of Li Jiangyao's army was probably not so simple, and if it was not good, it would really come to the imperial capital, and it would be necessary to cause a big mess at that time.

It's just that no one can talk about this idea explicitly, so they can only hide it, and each pretends not to think or say it in this direction.

In the end, Queen Cheng Wen forcibly made a decision: the remnants of the Jiangnan rebellion were not completed, and the task of the Zhenjiang Army was not completed, so she was not allowed to return to the west without authorization. When to agree to the departure of his entire army will be decided separately after the imperial court has deliberated.

This opinion was drafted by Zhongshu Province, approved by Menxia Province, and conveyed to the Zhenjiang Army by Shangshu Province.

The eight-hundred-mile urgent messenger rushed out of the imperial capital with the holy decree and went straight to Hangzhou, south of the Yangtze River. Unexpectedly, this distance was only halfway through, and I encountered a warship on the river that covered the sky and the sun.

The vanguard of the Zhenjiang Army had already begun to cross the river and go north at this time.

The messenger was taken aback by this meeting, and hurriedly found a small boat, squeezed across the river in the gap of the fleet, and sent the imperial capital's will to Li Jiangyao, the protector of the capital: My lord, stop quickly, the imperial court has not approved your evacuation from Jiangnan.

After reading the holy decree, Li Jiangyao casually threw it aside and smiled: "I'm sorry, when we went out to quell the rebellion, it was completely voluntary, and we didn't do anything about it. Now that the battle is over, it's normal to go home. I went to the court before, but I just notified you, whether I approve it or not, what does it have to do with me? ”

The messenger was about to persuade him again, but at this time a white-robed soldier came out, carried him out like a chicken, and "gifted" him to the boat and left.

Li Jiangyao and the Zhenjiang Army's disdain for the holy decree immediately shocked the government and the opposition, and Cheng Wen was so angry that he directly smashed the teacup and was furious. What surprised her and her ministers even more was the reaction of the state capitals along the way.

It stands to reason that Shangshu Province issued a clear decree, and the local government reported that the imperial court did not allow the Zhenjiang army to return to the west through court reports. As it is now, the army does not obey the holy order and still insists on setting out, which is no different from rebellion against the order.

However, when the returning army passed through their territory, the military officials, or the common people, not only did not have the slightest sign of hostility, but all of them were piled with loess on the road, water purified on the streets, incense and fruits, and everyone ate pot pulp, crowding both sides of the road to warmly welcome the triumphant soldiers.

The honorific name of the Dadu Protector resounded in the sky and was deafening.

Especially when the soldiers and horses passed through Luzhou, the base camp of the previous southern expedition, young people from far and near 100 miles came to join the army, hoping to become soldiers in Zhenjiang and go to the western frontier with the army to defend the border and make meritorious contributions to the country.

First, the people were active and enthusiastic about joining the army, and their emotions were high; Second, after a series of battles, each legion does need to replenish a certain amount of fresh blood; Third, the ownership and stability of the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang also need to maintain a considerable proportion of the Shengtang population. Therefore, Li Jiangyao nodded and agreed, and while the troops were resting and advancing, they also recruited young people with better qualifications to enlist in the army, so as to prepare for future operations.

In this way, under the warm welcome of the local officials and the people, the Zhenjiang Army became more and more high-spirited, stronger and stronger, smoothly entered the Central Plains region, and approached Luoyi, which was guarded by the White Tiger Army.

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The Zhenjiang army openly violated the queen's decree and marched north, which immediately aroused Cheng Nan's dissatisfaction.

At this time, he led the 120,000 White Tiger Army to guard the front line from Tongguan to Luoyi, and the main task was to resist those hostile forces that might threaten the rule of his sister Cheng Wen, and the primary target was naturally Li Jiangyao's Zhenjiang army.

However, although Cheng Nan has a hot temperament and is stunned, he is not a fool without brains. What level of army the Zhenjiang Army is, and what level of general Li Jiangyao is, he still knows very well in his heart.

So dissatisfied is dissatisfied, but he insists on provoking the temper of the elite of Zhenjiang, and Cheng Nan himself is quite hesitant.

After weighing it repeatedly, Cheng Nan made four actions: first, he ordered all the legions under his command to assemble and enter a state of combat readiness, in case the Zhenjiang army suddenly turned its face and caught him off guard; second, send an envoy to meet Li Jiangyao to dissuade the other party from stopping on the Xuchang line, not continuing to advance westward, and breaking into his core defense area; Third, strengthen the defense deployment of Luoyi and Tongguan, especially Tongguan, the gateway of the imperial capital, which must not be missed; Fourth, he sent someone to ask his eldest brother Cheng Dong for help, and asked him to immediately dispatch the forbidden army to help.

Cheng Nan has studied martial arts and the art of war since he was a child, and has always regarded himself very highly, feeling that as a descendant of the founding father Cheng Qianli, he was born to be a general in war. Although he was afraid of the prestige of the Zhenjiang Army, he felt a little bottomless in his heart, but after this deployment, he felt that he could do it again.

60,000 people guarding Luoyi and 60,000 defending Tongguan should be very safe.

But who knows, Cheng Nan's operation fell in the eyes of the generals of Zhenjiang, which was like child's play.

Du Jian made the following evaluation of this: Luoyi Tongguan, two strategic points are more than 300 miles apart, Cheng Nan actually evenly distributed the troops, in the middle of the unobstructed, one horse Pingchuan, only a strong army to cut off the waist, build fortifications on the spot, can make it impossible to take care of each other, difficult to take care of each other. Our army will then concentrate its superior forces, choose fat and devour, and fight whoever will die.

That is, the Zhenjiang Army has not regarded the imperial court as an enemy now, otherwise Cheng Nan and the White Tiger Legion would have been sentenced to death.

The other generals were also like Du Jian, they all thought that the White Tiger Army was stupid, and they would never fight again, and they would not pull their hips like this.

Li Jiangyao reminded everyone: The arrogant army will be defeated. Although Cheng Nan has never been on the battlefield, and the White Tiger Legion does not belong to the kind of army that is good at fighting, but Luoyi Tongguan is a famous giant city in the world after all, and the opponent's guard strength is also more than 100,000.

Therefore, the soldiers who can surrender without a fight are the ones who are superior.

Xiong Yunjie was quite curious: "Dadu Hu, how can you surrender without a fight?" ”

Duan Jun also asked, "Since the demon queen has bad intentions towards us, then of course her brother will never let us cross the border easily." If you don't fight, how can you get into Tongguan? ”

In the face of everyone's questions, Li Jiangyao smiled freely: "The so-called non-war does not mean that no military action will be taken at all, but that there will be no bloody clashes as much as possible. If the other party pulls his crotch again, at least it is an army of hundreds of thousands of people jumping around, and there is no actual action with deterrent effect, I am afraid it will not be good to deter Cheng Nan. ”

Jigriz nodded and said: "My lord is right, only by making the other party feel desperate can we have the bargaining chips for a peaceful crossing." ”

"Including Cheng Wen," Li Jiangyao continued: "This woman has always been confident and clever, she can turn her hands into clouds and rain in the court, and even the emperor can play with it. Don't let her know a little powerful, she still thinks the whole world is under her control. ”

Du Jian was very amused when he heard this, and hurriedly responded: "Boss, your strategic brothers have always been convinced, what should be done next, please give an order." ”

Li Jiangyao glanced at the generals around him, and said in a relaxed tone: "To put it simply, there are three strategies. Show the enemy with weakness, take the enemy with confusion, and force the enemy with strength. ”

"First of all, take the initiative to show Cheng Nan our yielding and hesitant side, so as to stimulate his arrogance, paralyze his carelessness, and relax his guard. Then he used a strategy to confuse the White Tiger Legion, and suddenly made a move, and took Tongguan, a strategic place to the west, without blood, so that our army was invincible. Tongguan is in hand, let's leave if we want, stay if we want, and take the initiative. ”

Xiong Yunjie responded: "Well, the two actions that the adults said should be to show the enemy to be weak and to take the enemy to confuse, so what about forcing the enemy to be powerful?" ”

Li Jiangyao pretended to smile mysteriously, and then asked rhetorically: "Do you know why I let Xu Shuai go back to Western Xinjiang first?" ”

"Does it have something to do with the third strategy?" Duan Jun was a little curious.

"That's right." Li Jiangyao bowed slightly: "The day we capture Tongguan is the time when Xu Shuai leads his troops east out of Zijin." In the blink of an eye, the imperial capital will face a two-sided attack from my Zhenjiang army! ”