The stalemate in the north was broken by the Battle of Yanzhou, and the Khitan army lost nearly 600,000 soldiers, including the hinterland of one of the core elites of the grassland.

At this point, the four or five hundred thousand Chang'an forbidden troops in the north of the Tang Dynasty, plus the border army with a small difference in number, in terms of the number of troops, although it is still at a disadvantage compared to the Khitan, it no longer has the absolute suppressive power of the other party several times that of itself.

As a result, under Li Maozhen's command, the Tang army began to launch an all-out offensive against the Khitan in an orderly manner to determine the outcome of the war.

In addition to Fuzhou, the northern battlefield, which had been calm for a while, was once again in flames, and battles of varying scales but absolutely fierce broke out in various places.

When the Khitan attacked in an all-out way, although the main force was blocked in Juyong Pass, Beikou, Yuguan and other places, and could not enter the Great Wall, the small-scale rangers, through continuous efforts, still infiltrated the border from other places.

They burned, killed and looted everywhere, and frequently engaged the border army of the Tang Dynasty.

When the battle was deadlocked, the main forces of both sides were safe and sound, but the skirmishes did not stop.

Because of the previous defense strategy of the Tang Army, the border troops in many prefectures, counties and townships had no reinforcements and were weak, even if they found the Khitan rangers invading, they could not annihilate them, and could only protect key targets, which can be described as extremely aggrieved.

And now, the first to launch a counteroffensive and achieve results are the Tang border troops in these small places. Now Li Maozhen's military order is to eliminate all Khitans in the territory, not one of them will be let go, and none of them will be left.

The reinforcements that these border troops had been waiting for day and night had arrived, and they were all elite, unexpectedly elite. With the cooperation of reinforcements, those Khitan cavalry, who had long been targeted to death by the border army, but made them powerless to deal with alone, were now wiped off the ground one by one.

Although the number of reinforcements in each place is not large, whether it is armament or combat strength, it makes the soldiers of the border army dumbfounded. Those Khitan cavalry faced them, even if they had small troops, they would be beaten and had no power to fight back, and could only be slashed and killed in despair with wailing.

These reinforcements are all the Chang'an forbidden army that has been temporarily "reduced to zero", and they are only a small part.

Within the Great Wall, the border army and the forbidden army joined forces to sweep away the leaves with the autumn wind, and soon wiped out the Khitan cavalry that had infiltrated from the grassland.

Li Maozhen arranged such an action for a very clear purpose, and there were two main ones.

First, boost morale. Although the absolute number of Khitan cavalry eliminated in various prefectures, counties and townships is not large, and the total number is less than 100,000, the clean victories one after another are conducive to stimulating the morale of the army.

In the case that the Tang Army has been passively defending for a long time and the battle situation has been calm for so long, it is very important to boost morale for the next main battle.

Second, sweep away all the eyeliner of the Khitan to ensure that the rear is comprehensive. In the process of cleaning up the small Khitan cavalry, those Khitan monks who used this to hide their whereabouts almost did not miss the net under the strong targeting of the Tsing Yi Yamen.

In this way, even if the Khitan side knew that the Tang army was very likely to counterattack, it could not know the specific time, which was conducive to the actions of the main army.

And once the decisive battle begins, these Khitan cavalry, who were originally in the Great Wall, may cooperate with the monks and threaten the Tang army's grain routes, granaries, and even cause trouble to the township, causing the possibility of instability in people's hearts. And now, that never happens again.

Even if the decisive battle enters the scorching stage, Yelu Abaoji wants to send people to infiltrate the Tang Dynasty and do something to change the situation.

To a certain extent, Li Maozhen's arrangement is also to prevent Yelu Abaoji from returning the favor to the other in his own way, following the example of the Quanzhen Concept and the old things of the Empty Liberation Gate in Yanzhou.

North Exit.

The mottled castle of the years

The two dogs rested under the collapsed earthen wall, and the afternoon sun hit the dirt, and countless fine dust rolled under the beam.

Thanks to this period of truce, Ergouzi's injuries have recovered, although he is still in the injury period and has not been classified into the battle sequence, but the training of battlefield skills, Ergouzi has been consciously doing.

Just now, I was practicing boxing and swords, tossing for an hour, and my body that was still recovering was so tired that I was panting and sweating profusely. Now he sat on the ground like a dead dog, spitting out his steaming tongue.

"It's going to get cooler. ”

In the shade in front of the earthen wall next to him, the sound of all cow eggs sounded, and he was looking up at the bloody remnant sun, with a face of vicissitudes and seriousness, and his eyes were also extraordinarily deep, "Ergouzi, do you know what this means?"

The second dog disturbed his head, and said a little embarrassedly: "I may not understand what the weather means when the weather turns cold, but I know very well that after you are injured this time, I am afraid that my brain will not be able to go back to before." ”

Niu Dan turned his head to look at Ergouzi, this clay leg with a hot temper and a hard personality, if he was so disrespectful by his subordinates in the past, he would definitely make the other party increase his memory. But now, his face was not gloomy at all, and his eyes were full of affinity and concern.

He said softly: "Ergouzi, how can you let me say that you are good, you are young, but you have no motivation to improve, this is not good." You have to learn to think about things and think more about the situation, so that you can go further in the army......"

Seeing that the cow egg was going to make a long speech, the second dog wailed and hugged his head in pain.

Since the Khitan was repulsed, the Confucian scholars represented by Zhang Zai have shown great combat power here, and they have become a very popular group of people in the military camp. After getting along, the influence is mutual, Zhang Zai and others were infected by the Beikou border army to be brave and heroic, and correspondingly, people like Niu Dan gradually became a little bookish.

Of course, the two dogs will not admit that they all have a bookish atmosphere on their bodies. A more reasonable statement, he thinks it should be vassal elegance, and the most accurate statement should be Handan toddler.

However, this did not stop Niu Dan's enthusiasm for "seeking progress", he taught Zhang Zai what is the way to fight in battle formations, and also let the other party understand what is the meaning of comrades, and what is the true details of the horse leather shroud.

And Zhang Zai's thoughts also made Niu Dan understand that if he wants to become an excellent soldier, general, and general, he can't be vulgar all the time, not to mention such things as literacy, learn how to get along with his subordinates better, command the troops, care about the battle situation, think about ways to win, etc...... are all necessary.

In a word, Niu Dan and others stimulated Zhang Zai's blood and armed Zhang Zai's limbs, while Zhang Zai wised Niu Dan and others' minds and stimulated their upward fighting spirit.

But just like when Zhang Zai was fighting, he often didn't care about anything when he was red-eyed, and yelled at the sacrifice of his life to serve the country and wanted to die with the Khitans.

Anyway, Ergouzi feels that the current cow egg no longer kicks himself a few times when he has nothing to do, but begins to reason with himself as much as possible, which is still a good phenomenon.

"The weather is getting cooler and autumn is approaching, which means that this war has been fought for a long time, and it is likely that the decisive moment will come. ”

Niu Dan restrained his cultural temperament, mainly because of the desperate demeanor of being hugged by the two dogs, and he was hit with no confidence, so he could only sit beside the other party and talk to the other party in an ordinary tone.

Seeing that Dutou finally returned to normal, Ergouzi put down his hands and looked at each other curiously: "What news did Dutou hear?"

Niu Dan nodded solemnly, and said in a proud tone: "Not long ago, the deed in the direction of Yanzhou

The Dan army was wiped out by our king's division, and 600,000 Khitan soldiers were almost wiped out, what a brilliant record!

"Do you know what that means...... Forget it, this means that there is not much disadvantage in the comparison of the combat power of our army and the Khitan army!

"The battle has been stalemate for a long time, and now that Wang Shi has opened up the situation, the next step will be the decisive moment of the counteroffensive - Zhang Zaina said. And for you and me, this will be a bloody battle of life and death crisis and meritorious service!"

Hearing this, Ergouzi looked excited.

But soon, his eyes were a little dazed.

Niu Dan glanced at him, and said with a smile: "What's the matter, I received a letter from home the day before yesterday, and I know that the little lady of the Liu family at the head of the village heard that the soldiers in Beikou are fierce, and they are worried about you day and night to wipe their tears, you are distressed, and you can't wait to go back and marry someone else?"

These words made Ergouzi's face flush all of a sudden.

He looked at Niu Dan in disbelief, "How do you know...... You peeked at my letter?!"

Niu Dan pursed his lips disdainfully, "Look at your unpromising appearance, do you still need to peek at your letter for this kind of thing?" Old Niu, I am the father of two fat boys, and I am from here!"

When Niu Dan said this, the two dogs' faces were red to the base of their necks, and they were so ashamed that they wanted to dig a hole in the ground and get into it. Niu Dan is from the same village as him, and these things are originally things that can be clear without too much guesswork.

Niu Dan didn't intend to let him go, and continued with a smile: "If you want to say that the little lady of the old Liu family is indeed handsome, it is rare to have a good temperament and be sensible. If you die on the battlefield, she will definitely not worry about getting married!"

Ergouzi thought about it along with Niu Dan's words, this young man who can be regarded as able to enter and exit three times in the battle formation, and has stabbed a lot of Khitan soldiers in the north entrance, a real hero, but at this moment, his face is gloomy, his eyes are sad, and he looks very unproductive.

Niu Dan patted him on the shoulder, and said seriously: "Ergouzi, listen to me, go back and get married." When you have been fighting for a long time in Beikou, the military exploits of killing the enemy are enough for you to rise to my position, which is not an insult to your ability, and you are about to take your life last time, and you can be regarded as a big husband.

"The next battle will be even more cruel, if you don't go back now, I'm afraid that you won't take a daughter-in-law in this life and confess, won't you panic?"

Ergouzi was stunned and said: "Dutou, this is not like what you said, you let me be a deserter?!"

Niu Dan slapped him on the head, hated iron and said: "There is no more of you in the army, and there is no less of you, do you really want to live up to the little lady of the Liu family?

After saying this, Niu Dan stood up, patted the dust on his buttocks, and finally turned back to Ergouzi and said: "It is not easy for people to live for a lifetime, and it is even more so for ordinary people like us.

"It is a great blessing to be able to be fed, clothed, and passed on to the next generation, and to live a life in peace and stability. Now that you have military merits, you can return to your hometown, so don't drill the horns of the bull and make the people who are looking forward to your return home every day sad!"

Du Tou said what he shouldn't have said, and then left.

Leaving the two dogs at a loss.

He originally thought that Dutou mentioned the imminent decisive battle to stimulate his fighting spirit and pride, so that he could follow the other party to fight selflessly in the battle array, so as to inspire other companions to move forward bravely, and finally win good results and achieve Dutou's own dream of "progress".

Looking at the back of Niu Dan in the distance, Ergouzi realized at this time that no matter how many Confucian scholars Zhang Zai instilled in Niu Dan the idea of making meritorious achievements and glorifying the lintel, Niu Dan, a man who has been on the battlefield for many years, has never forgotten what he really cares about and wants to cherish.