Once a soldier is defeated on the battlefield, even if it is hundreds of thousands of soldiers, not many can survive in the face of such a situation.

However, in two large countries with vast territories and sound military and political conditions, it is impossible for the attacker to attack faster than the defender's speed of withdrawal.

In their own country, as long as they have the will to resist, the defender will definitely be able to form an effective defensive front in the next suitable place after the initial defeat to resist the attacker's next onslaught.

However, due to the pressure of logistics and transportation, and the burden of dividing troops to occupy various places, it is impossible for the large army to advance without stopping.

This is the reason why Mullen was able to fortify on the front line of Mulu City.

Therefore, a large country with a vast territory and not weak combat power will not be destroyed in the first war.

"The army has excellent foot strength and rapid progress, and Mullen has built a defensive line in Mulu City, and it has only taken less than a month from the very beginning to the attack of the army. Although the defense line was well arranged, it was not perfect in terms of depth and solidity. Otherwise, with the terrain on the edge of the plateau, it will not be easy for us to attack it. ”

In front of the Kopet Mountains, Li Ye and King Qi observed the defense line of Mulu City.

To the northeast of the Kopet Mountains is the Karakum Desert, and the city of Mulu is built in an oasis at the northern foot of the southeastern end of the mountain range, facing the Mulghab River. The vanguard of the Chang'an Forbidden Army, the cavalry, had already begun to camp not far away.

"On the whole, the topography here is similar to the situation in the four towns of Anxi, except for the difficulty of attacking the plateau fortress, the terrain of the desert oasis is nothing. King Qi brushed the hair of her sideburns, and the wind here was also dry, blowing her hair a little loose.

Because of the mountain tops in front of them, there were also great monks who were waiting for them, and the two of them did not stay in mid-air all the time.

They didn't get too close to Mulu City, after all, Ma Lun was there, and Li Ye's cultivation was still in the Immortal Realm, so there was no reason to send himself to the other party's mouth. The two soon came to a pasture in front of a hillside near the Xiao Cavalry, where they waited for the follow-up army to arrive.

The pasture is not small, and the water and grass are quite abundant, but it is a pity that until now, the original herdsman and the cattle and sheep are not seen, and I don't know whether they escaped the war or were swallowed by the war disaster.

Wandering the pastures at the moment are herds of cattle and sheep driven by the cavalry, which are the main rations they carry from the pastures of all sizes in the Black Khanate.

Li Ye and King Qi found a location with a good view, set up a fire, and caught a lamb that looked very cute and docile, and liked to look up at the two of them bleating, ready to slaughter and skin it to make a roast sheep.

The person who works today is not Li Ye, but King Qi, who has always been very bad at cooking.

Ever since the practice of singing and dancing ended in failure, King Qi diverted her attention, gave up the long sleeves of her feather coat, which she really couldn't handle, and plunged into the kitchen without extricating herself. Today, she claims that after many days of hard work, she has been able to cook seven or eight exquisite dishes, each of which is full of color, flavor and taste, and will definitely make the eaters full of praise.

Li Ye was accustomed to King Qi's boasting, and he firmly believed in it from good intentions.

Until they saw the other party and the little lamb face to face, one muttering and one bleating, no one stopped, as if they were doing a soul-deep exchange, or negotiation, that they felt that things might not be as King Qi boasted.

The water in the cauldron next to him was about to boil dry, and Li Ye didn't see King Qi take the knife, but began to caress the head and body of the little lamb, and his movements were so gentle that he seemed to smooth his hair, looking so intimate that he couldn't do it. This is like slaughtering the other party, plucking the feathers and eating meat and sucking it

The pith, like I want to keep it as a pet.

Li Ye, who was sitting and waiting for dinner, finally couldn't help it, and teased: "His Royal Highness King Qi, it's almost dark this day, and you still have to talk to a little lamb about life?

King Qi turned his head and laughed embarrassedly, and said with little confidence: "I think it is quite spiritual, and it can ask and answer with me, as if it can understand me, and it can't do it for a while."

Her so-called question and answer means that when she says a word, the little lamb will call twice, without interjecting or speaking, and knows the rules very well.

Li Ye asked seriously: "Then did you understand what it said?"

King Qi nodded seriously: "I can see from its eyes that it doesn't want to die, it wants to live very much, and it is trying to convince me." ”

Seeing that King Qi said something serious, Li Ye opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer, so he could only wave his hand, and said helplessly: "Then let it go, hurry up and change it, I'm still hungry." ”

King Qi smiled, touched the lamb's head a few times, and sure enough, let it go from his arms, got up and went to look for the next prey. The little lamb seemed to really know that he had been let go, and he screamed very happily, and jumped up and down at the feet of King Qi, but did not leave, as if he had changed his appearance, and became a pet.

When King Qi brought back the second sheep, he didn't communicate with the other party before death, and cut the other party's neck cleanly, and threw it into the pot of boiling water to pluck the feathers.

When the sky was full of stars, Li Ye finally ate the roast lamb made by King Qi himself, and a mouthful of meat entered his mouth, and the mysterious taste made his face wrinkled into buns.

"How is it?" King Qi held a leg of mutton in his hand, but did not eat it, but looked at Li Ye with a nervous and expectant expression.

Li Ye swallowed the meat in his mouth with great perseverance, gave a thumbs up, and praised without blushing and heartbeat: "Delicious, it is really a rare delicacy in the world!"

King Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, and his eyebrows fluttered and he laughed: "Sure enough, I still have talent in the way of cooking, if you want to eat roast sheep in the future, just come to me, I will cook as much as you want."

made a promise, King Qi patted his chest, then bowed his head contentedly, and did not use a knife to cut, opened his mouth and bit on the leg of mutton of Huang Chengcheng, and tore a large piece of meat cleanly, eating proudly.

There was no accident, just two bites, King Qi's triumphant expression suddenly stiffened on his face, his eyes widened, he turned his head mechanically, and looked at Li Ye in disbelief, full of doubts.

Li Ye just didn't see anything, picked up the wine bag and drank by himself, he had already done what he could, since King Qi couldn't eat it himself, then he couldn't be blamed. In the process of barbecue, Li Ye wanted to guide the other party several times, but she confidently said no.

After hearing King Qi spitting out food and wailing in despair, Li Ye handed the wine bag to the other party and signaled that she could rinse her mouth. After pouring several sips of wine, King Qi threw aside the leg of mutton in his hand and said with a hurt face: "How can I not do such a simple thing?"

"You've mastered the heat well, this is the most difficult, the so-called taste is not good, but the condiments are not particular. ”

Li Ye stood up, beckoned, took a sheep over from the air, twisted his neck, threw it into the pot of boiling water to remove his hair, and encouraged King Qi, who was self-pitying and pitiful and looked at him pitifully: "Let's do it again, it is guaranteed to be beautiful in the world."

Taste. ”

King Qi hesitated and said, "Just now you also said that the world is delicious. ”

"This time it's true. ”

King Qi quickly walked out of the shadow of failure, and with an unyielding temperament, she plucked her hair with Li Ye, this time she planned to accept Li Ye's teachings with an open mind. The little lamb that was let go by King Qi was munching on the leg of lamb she discarded at this time, and it was eating it.

"Sheep also eat meat?" King Qi stabbed Li Ye's arm curiously.

Li Ye looked at the strange lamb and thought, "Maybe they didn't eat it, but they couldn't eat it before?"

The two ignored the little white sheep who thought they had been co-opted, and cooperated to roast a truly delicious roast sheep, and this time both of them ate heartily and shouted happily.

Especially King Qi, after confirming that the mutton tasted good, he laughed and announced that he was a master of roasting sheep, and repeated the previous sentence, as long as Li Ye wanted to eat sheep, she would do it.

When Li Ye was roasting sheep and eating sheep with King Qi Youya, and inadvertently adopted a strange lamb that ate meat, in Mulu City, Ma Lun was listening to the report of the monk of the Great Temple on the progress of the implementation of the conscription order with a focused and serious expression.

"As long as the first three batches of monks and supplies can arrive at the predetermined location within a month and a half, I will be able to turn the defense line here into a strategic zone with a depth of four hundred miles, and even if the Tang Army captures Mulu City, it will not be able to break through our war zone!"

After listening to the report of the monks of the Great Temple, Ma Lun affirmed the progress of their mission, especially the plan of the Great Temple to "lure the snake out of the hole" to trap and kill the Tang Dynasty, and then talked about the war deduction on the front line of Mulu City, in order to strengthen everyone's confidence in the war.

Through the war with the Tang army in the Seven Rivers Valley, Ma Lun already had a full understanding of the combat power of the Tang army. In particular, he has a personal experience of the Tang Army's strong bows and crossbows, as well as the ability of the soldiers, especially the wolf's tooth army led by Shangguan Chengcheng.

Now his deduction of the battle situation does not show the slightest sign of belittling the Tang Army and exaggerating the combat power of the army.

After the conscription order is issued, it will take about two months for all the expected monks and supplies to arrive at the predetermined location. With the strength of the Crescent Moon Sect, there will be millions of monks participating in the battle, and the strategic depth formed will reach 800 li, with a total of four lines of defense.

"If the Tang army can't capture Mulu City, of course it's the best, the battlefield will only be on the eastern border, and the impact on the country will be controlled within a small range;

When Mullen said this, he seemed full of confidence.

Of course, this is different from the previous certainty, and his current speculation of the battle situation is in line with the combat strength of the two armies, including the influence of the Lingnan fleet, he has taken into account, which can be described as foolproof.

Deep down, Mullen was actually in great pain, because at this point in the battle, he was left with only room to defend with all his strength, and there was no room to attack. It can be said that the initiative on the battlefield is completely in the hands of Li Ye.

But at the same time, Mullen also knew very well that once the Tang Army could not break through the strategic depth of 800 miles, it would be defeated and eaten.

At that time, it will be easy to attack and defend, and the development of the war situation will usher in a new look, everything is still unknown, and the Crescent Sect may not have the possibility of recovering the Seven Rivers Valley or even advancing into the Western Regions.

In all fairness, this is a good possibility.